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CURRENT 
HISTORY 


A     Monthly    Magazine    of 

3Ij£  3S>tu  fork  ®tm?s 


VOLUME  XIV. 

April — September,  1921 

With  Index 


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PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK   CITY,   N.  Y. 

1921 


Copyright  1921 

By  The  New  York  Times  Company 

Times  Square,  New  York  City 


INDEX  AND  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Volume  XIV. 
April— September,  1921 

[Titles  of  articles  appear  in  italics'] 


Airplane  Bomb  vs.  Battleship,  923. 
ALBANIA,   872,   916. 
ALBANIA'S  feud  with  Greece,  872. 
AMERICAN  claims  against  Germany,   822. 
AMERICAN  exit  from   Santo  Domingo,   813. 
American  Loan  Opens  New  Era  for  Liberia, 
152. 

AMERICAN  powers  in  Panama,   300. 
America's  Foreign-Born  Millions,  446. 
America's  Ties  With  Hungary,  222. 
ARAB  riots  in  Palestine,  525. 
ARGENTINA,    158,    337,    536,    717,    899,    1082. 
ARMENIA,  265,   878,  879. 
ARMENIAN   massacres,    879. 
AUSTRALIA,   135,   329,  510,  693,  856,   1050. 
AUSTRIA,  170,  218,  702,  862,  1072. 
Austria  Resents  Magyar  Claims,  170. 
AUSTRIA  under  a  new  Ministry,  862. 
AZERBAIJAN,   878. 

B 

BAHAMAS,  540. 

BALKAN  States  growing  neighborly,   698. 

BALKANS  and  emancipated  Central  Europe, 
516. 

BALTIC   League,   failure  of,   1062. 

BARBADOS,  541. 

BARKER,  J.  Ellis,  "  The  Nationalization  of 
Industries,"  70;  "Giving  India  Self-Gov- 
ernment,"  225;  "Can  Germany  Pay  the 
Indemnity?"  378;  "The  Colored  French 
Troops  in  Germany,"  594;  "How  Trade 
Unions  Are  Ruining  British  Industry," 
795;  "Ireland's  Prosperity  a  Force  for 
Peace,  '   955. 

BATTINE,  Cecil,  "  Japan's  Hostility  to  For- 
eigners," 1001. 

BATTLE,  Lyne  O.,  "  Japan's  Policy  of  Ex- 
pansion," 459. 

BELGIUM,  213,  686,   869,   1070,  1086. 

BELGIUM  now  Luxemburg's  protector,  869. 

BERMUDA,  541. 

BIBESCO  (Prince),  Antoine,  "  Rumania  in 
the  New  Europe,"  278. 


"  Big  Berthas  "  Only  Naval  Guns,  263. 

BIGLEY,  Loretta  I.,  "  Life  in  a  Turkish 
Harem,"   57. 

BIRTH  of  a  republic  in  Siberia,  246. 

BLINDED  warriors  of  Britain,  854. 

BOHN  (Dr.),  Frank,  "  The  Trend  of  De- 
mocracy in  Europe,"  618;  "Mexico  and 
the  United  States,"  969. 

BOLIVIA,   158,   536,    1083. 

BRAZIL,    158,    337,   537,    717,   899,    1083. 

British  Aid  in  French  Rebuilding ,  271. 

BRITISH  Imperial  Conference,  849. 

BRITISH  Premier,  home  problems  of,  687. 

BULGARIA,  171,  272,  276,  352,  516,  698,  992. 

Bulgaria  and  the  Turkish  Treaty,  352. 

Bulgaria  Counts  on  New  Sevres  Treaty,  171. 

BULGARIAN'S  plea  for  Bulgaria,  276. 

Bulgaria's  Compulsory  Labor  Law,  Text  of, 
274. 

BULGARIA'S  crimes  against  Serbia,  627. 

Business  Conditions  in  Siberia,  471. 

BUSINESS,  why  it  is  depressed,  640;  prob- 
lems of  recovery,  903  ;  at  the  upturn,  1087. 


CABLES,  President's  power  over,  582. 

CALHOUN,  Crede  Haskins,  "  How  Panama 
Paid  Off  Its  Debts,"  298. 

Caliphate  of  Islam,  981. 

CALL  for  a  disarmament  conference,  727. 

Cambridge  University  Rejects  Women,  69. 

Can  Germany  Pay  the  Indemnity?  378. 

CANADA,  134,  286,  289,  328,  426,  509,  692, 
832,   855,    1049. 

Canada  and  Other  British  Dominions,  134, 
328,   509,   85,   1049. 

CANADA'S  attitude  toward  immigration,  605. 

CANADA'S  new  Governor  General,  692. 

Canada's  New  Hall  of  Fame,  426. 

CANAL  Zone,  1079. 

CARUSO,  Enrico,  death  of,   1086. 

CARVAJAL,  Francisco  Henriquez  y,  "  Pro- 
test of  Santo  Domingo's  Deposed  Presi- 
dent," 399. 


II. 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Case  of  Constantine  and  the  Allies,  977. 

CASSAVETES,    N.    J.,    "  The    Case    of   Con- 
stantine and  the  Allies,"  977. 

CAUCASUS  States,  Union  of,  878. 

CENTRAL  Africa,  700. 

CENTRAL  America,  153,  335,  714,  897,  1078. 

CENTRAL  American  Federal   Republic,   714. 

Central    American     Union    and    the     United 
States,   294. 

CENTRAL    American    Union,    launching    of, 
897. 

CHILE,   158,   338,   537,   718,   900,   1083,   1085. 

CHILEAN  President's  attack  on  graft,  1085. 

CHINA,  143,  367,  707,  742,  746,  749,  1037,  1039. 

China  and  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,  746. 

China  "  Muddling  Through,"  367. 

CHINA,  the  sick  man  of  the  Far  East,  1037. 

CHINA'S  struggle  against  Japan,  707. 

COLOMBIA,  159,  338,  537,  541,   718,  900,  1083. 

COLOMBIAN  treaty   ratified,   541. 

Colored  F'rench  Troops  vn  Germany,  594. 

COMMUNIST  International ;   how   it   stands, 
1027. 

Constitution  of  the  Republic  of  Poland,  358. 
Controversy  Over   Yap   Island,  108. 
COSTA  Rica,  153,  295,  335,  535,  714,  897,  1078. 
Costa  Rica  Invades  Panama,  148. 
Costs  of  the   World  War,  54. 
Coumter-r evolution   in   Red   Russia,   181. 
Creating   an  Independent   Syria,  986. 
CUBA,  147,   339,  539,  715,  901,  1079. 
CUBA'S   new  President,   reforms  under,   715. 
CUBA'S  tribute  to  a  former  President,  901. 
CUMMINGS     (Dr.),     John    S.,     "Retraining 
War-Disabled  Men,"   65. 

Curse  of  Militarism  in  China,  143. 

CZECHOSLOVAK    alliance    with    Rumania, 
870. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA,    167,   219,   698,   703,    835, 
845,    870,    873,    942,    1072. 

Czechoslovakia  Vetoes  the  Hapsburgs,  167. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S     alliance     with     Ru- 
mania, 946. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S     right     to     Statehood 
assailed,  844. 


Death  of  the  German  ex-Empress,  214. 

DEBTS   of  foreign   Governments   due   to   the 
United  States,  802. 

DECLINE  of  the  great  white  plague,  737. 

DE  GOURMOIS,  M.  E.,  "  Switzerland's  Dis- 
pute  With  France,"   803. 

DEMOCRACY     and     union     in     the     Baltic 
States,  513. 

Democritic   Czar   and  Peasant   Premier,  992. 

DENMARK,    182,   342,   544,   684,   875,   1061. 

DICKIE,  Francis,  "  The  Esquimo  of  Today," 
430. 

DILNOT,    Frank,     "  The    Drama    of    British 
Labor,"   419. 

DISARMAMENT  Conference,  the,  .)17. 

DJAMBI  oil  bill  passed,  834. 


DOCUMENTS    bearing    on    China's    destiny, 
749. 

Drama  of  British  Labor,  419. 

DRINKING  from  Pontius  Pilate's  reservoir, 

587. 

Dutch  Oil  Controversy,  404. 
E 

ECUADOR,   159,   718,   1083. 

EDMONDS,    W.    L.,     "  The    New    Canadian 
Tariff,"    289. 


EGYPT,   135, 


330,  511,   693,  856,   1050. 


ENGLAND,    127,   323,    505,   687,    795,   849,   976, 
1047. 

ENGLAND  despairs  of  Persia,  1069. 

England's  Royal  Pageant,  127. 

England's  Struggle  With  Coal  Miners,  505. 

English  Labor  Revolt,  323. 

Eskimo  of  Today,  430. 

ESTHONIA,   269,   513,    682,   1062. 

EUROPE'S    financial    situation    in    view    of 
Germany's  indemnity  capitulation,  545. 

Evacuation  of  Santo  Domingo,  291. 
Events  in  the  West  Indies,  539. 
EX-KAISER'S   fortune,    1044. 


Fate  of  Prohibition  in  Russia,  251. 

FE1SAL  seeks   to  rule  Mesopotamia,   524. 

FERRERO,    Guglielmo,    "  A   Hundred  Years 
of  Italian  Life,"  911. 

FIALLO,   Fabio,   "  The  Evacuation  of  Santo 
Domingo,"  291. 

Fighting  the  Turks  at  Aintab,  590. 

FINLAND,  266,  268,  514,  680,  1062. 

FINLAND   as   Leader   of   the   Baltic   States, 
680. 

Forcing  Reluctant  Germany  to  Pay,  206. 

Foreign  Policy  of  the  United  States,  189,  400. 

FRANCE,   164,  206,   545,   685,   694,  857,  1054. 

FRANCE,   great  issues  that  disturb,  857. 

FRANCE  in  the  role   of  Hamlet,   1054. 

France  United  on  Making  Germany  Pay,  164. 

France's  Debt  to  Myron  T.  Herrtek,  Revealed 
by  an  ex-President,  416. 

FRANCE'S  plans  for  Syria,  1069. 

FRUITS  of  the  British  Imperial  Conference, 
1047. 


Gandhi^Britain's  Foe  in  India,  235. 

GARDNER,     Nellie     E.,      "  University     Ex- 
change With   Belgium,"   283. 

GEORGIA,    264,    878. 

German  Gold  Paid  to  Lenin,  56. 

GERMAN  officers  killed  in  the  war,  985. 

German   Reparations   and   the  Treaty   Penal- 
ties, 26. 

German   View  of  the  British  Power,  100. 

GERMAN  war   casualties,    703. 


INDEX   AND    TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


in. 


GERMANY,    160,   210,   384,   568,   822,   863,   869, 
899,    1009,    1041,   1045. 

Germany    Crushes    Communist    Revolt,    210. 

Germany    Regaining    South    American    Mar- 
kets, 157. 

GERMANY    to    return    American    property, 


GERMANY  underbids  rivals  in  South  Amer- 
ica, 899. 

GERMANY'S   business   recovery,    1045. 

GERMANY'S  efforts  to  meet  her  obligations, 
863. 

Germany's  Malefactions,  33. 

Germany's  Political  Changes,  384. 

GERMANY'S  separate  peace  with  China, 
1041. 

GERMANY'S  strides  in  aviation,  1009. 

Germany's  Surrender  on  Reparations,  371. 

GERMANY'S   trade  treaty  with  Russia,  638. 

Germany's   "  Watchful    Waiting,"    160. 

Giving  India  Self -Government,  225. 

GORDON-SMITH,  Gordon,  "  The  War  Won 
on  the  Eastern  Front,"  826. 

GOURAUD  (General),  "  Creating  an  Inde- 
pendent Syria,"    986. 

GRACE,  John  Gladstone,  "  Canada's  New 
Hall   of  Fame,"   426. 

GRAVES,  Sidney  C,  "  Japanese  Aggression 
in  Siberia,"  239;  "  The  Truth  About  Kol- 
chak,"  668. 

GRAY,  Beryl,  "  The  Central  American  Union 
and  the  United  States,"   294. 

GRECO-Turkish  war,  curious  muddle  of,  880. 

GREECE,  174  347,  407,  518,  698,  704,  825, 
872,   880,    977,   1065. 

Greece  and  the  Conference  on  the  Turkish 
Treaty,  174. 

Greece  Attempts  to  Impose  the  Sevres 
Treaty,  347. 

Greece  in  New  Difficulties,  518. 

GREEK  mobilization  not  suspended,  825. 

GREEK  triumph  in  Turkey,  1065., 

GUATEMALA,   153,  295,  335,  535,  714,  897. 


HAITI,    540,    716,   902,    1081. 

HEDJAZ,  981. 

HERSHEY,    Burnet,     *'  An    Inside    View    of 
the  Silesian  Peril,"  556. 

HIBBEN,    Paxton,    "  What   the   Greeks   Are 
Fighting  For,"  407. 

HILMY    (Prince),    Ibrahim,    "  The  Needs   of 
Egypt,"    269. 

HINDENBURG'S    statue    for    firewood,    682. 

Historic  Event  in  Palestine,  583. 

HISTORIC  Hoax,   story  of,  821. 

HOLLAND,   404,   687,   833,   869,   1056. 

HOLLAND'S  international  relations,  1056. 

HONDURAS,   153,   295,   336. 

HOOVER  (Secretary),  Herbert  C,  reporfof, 
on    Belgian    relief,    1086. 

Hostilities  Increase  in  Ireland,  130. 


How  Liebknecht  and  Rosa  Luxemburg  were 
murdered,  87. 

HOW   France   celebrated   the   Napoleon  cen- 
tenary, 685. 

How  Panama  Paid  Off  Its  Debts,  298. 

How     Trade     Unions     Are     Running     British 
Industry,  795. 

HOW  two  U-boat  criminals   were  convicted, 
948. 

HUNDRED   years   of   Italian   life,   911. 

HUNGARY,   169,     215,   701,   867,  871,   1071. 

HUNGARY   and  her   neighbors,    701. 

Hungary   Under  a  New  Government,  405. 

Hungary's  Restoration  Fiasco,  215. 

Hungary's    Struggle    for    a    Secure    Footing, 
867. 


IMPORTANT    facts   regarding   recent   immi- 
gration,  600. 

Increasing  the  birth  rate  in  France,  275. 

INDIA,   137,  225,  235,  528,   634,   1081. 

INDIA,  film  censorship  in,  1081. 

India's  New  Parliament  at  Delhi,  137. 

INDIA'S   welcome  to   her  new  Viceroy,    528. 

Inside  View  of  the  Silesian  Peril,  556. 

Investigation  of  Philippines  Conditions,  38. 

IRELAND,   130,   326,   507,   689,   851,  952,  955. 

IRELAND  and  the  Home  Rule  Parliaments, 
.507. 

IRELAND  the  Unknown,  poem,  136. 

IRELAND'S    prosperity    a    force    for    peace, 
955. 

IRISH  peace  negotiations,   952. 

IRVING,    Walter,    "  Business    Conditions    in 
Siberia,"  471. 

ITALY,   183,  343,  402,   719,   860,  909,   1057. 

Italy  Moving  Slowly  Forward,  183. 

ITALY  under  a  new  Cabinet,  860. 

ITALY'S  colonial  rule  in  Africa,  577. 

Italy's  Critical  New  Election,  343. 

ITALY'S    election   one   of   world   importance, 
402, 

ITALY'S   internal   problems,   1057. 

ITALY'S   new  Parliament,   719. 

Is  the  Church  on  a  Decline?  934. 


JAMAICA,    1080. 

JAPAN,  140,  239,  459,  530.  709,  887,  1001,  1035. 
JAPAN  for  a  conciliatory  foreign  policy,  887. 
Japanese  Aggression  in   Siberia,  239. 
JAPANESE    "  culture  "    pearls,    623. 
JAPANESE   imperialism,    perils   of,    709. 
JAPANESE  soldiers  at  bayonet  drill,  244. 
JAPAN'S  Crown  Prince  in  England,  530. 
Japan's  Domestic   Troubles,  140. 
JAPAN'S  fear  of  the  Arms  Conference,  1035. 
Japan's  Hostility   to  Foreigners,   1001. 
Japan's    Policy    of   Expansion,   459. 


IV. 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


JEFFERIES,  Thomas  C.,  "  The  Story  of 
Radium  in  America,"  448;  "The  Plight 
of  China,"  742. 

JERSEY  and  the  King  of  England,  976. 

JEWETT,  Frank,  "  Why  We  Did  Not  De- 
clare  War   on   Turkey,"    989. 

Jewish  Problem  in  Poland,  776. 

JONES,  O.  Garfield,  "  Uncle  Sam's  Mandate 

in  the  Philippines,"  90. 
JOSIKA-Herczeg     (Dr.),     Imre,     "  America's 

Ties  With  Hungary,"   222. 
JUGOSLAVIA,    173,    219,    516,    698,    866,    873, 

947,   1074. 
Jugoslavia  Complains  About  Bulgaria,  173. 
JUGOSLAVIA— or  what?  866. 
Jugoslavia's  Constitutional  Problems,  624. 

E 

KANN,  James  Jay,  "  The  Jewish  Problem 
in   Poland,"    776. 

KIRBY,  Francis  B.,  "  Siberia's  New  Repub- 
lic: Its  Standing,"  476. 

KRIPPENE,  H.  P.,  "  Santo  Domingo's  Title 
to  Independence,"  809. 

KNOWLES,  Horace  G.,  "  Santo  Domingo's 
Bitter  Protest,"  397;  *'  Santo  Domingo  to 
be  Free,"   734. 

KOEHN,  George  L.,  "  Menace  of  the  Anglo- 
Japanese    Alliance,"    738. 

KORFANTY  and  the  Silesian  plebiscite,  633. 

KROPOTKIN    (Prince),   death  of,   18. 

Ku  Klux  Klan  Revival,  19. 

KYDD,  Thomas  A.,  "  Modified  Prohibition 
in  Canada,"  296. 


LANE,  Franklin  K.,   "  The  Living  Flame  of 

Americanism,"   608. 
LATVIA,  267,  513,  682,  1063. 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Esthonia,  267. 
LEAGUE  of  Nations  and  the  Silesian  tangle, 

1073. 
LENIN'S  tight  for  Soviet  Russia,  677. 
Lenin's  Labor  Slaves,  245. 
Letters   of   an    Ukrainian   Soldier,   657. 
LIBERIA,   694,   1084. 
LIBERIA,  loan  to,  1084. 
Life  in  a  Turkish  Harem,  57. 
LITHUANIA,   267,    514,    681,    1064. 
Little  Entente  <md  the  Hapsburgs,  219. 
LITTLE  Entente's  problems,  873. 
LIVING  flame  of  Americanism,   608. 

LLOYD   GEORGE   (Premier),   David,    "  Ger- 
many's Malefactions,"  33. 

LOCKWOOD,  Preston,  "  The  Polish  Legisla- 
ture at  Work,"   807. 

LORD  READING'S  enemies  in  India,  634. 

LOUVAIN'S  new  library,   1070. 

LUTZ,  Ralph  H.,   "  The  Spartacan  Uprising 
in  Germany,"   78. 


LUXEMBURG,  869. 


M 

Macaulay's  Warning  to  America,  458. 

Main  Points  of  Finland's  Constitution,  266. 

MALTA'S  Constitution,  how  it  was  received, 
607. 

Mandates  and  America's  Stand  Regarding 
Them,  101. 

MARKELL,  Eleanor,  "  Stambolisky's  Re- 
form in  Bulgaria,"  272. 

Marking  the  Great  Battlefront,  107. 

M* QUEEN,  Elizabeth  L.,  "A  Historic  Event 
in  Palestine,"   583. 

Menace  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,  738. 

MESOPOTAMIA,   354,   524,   882. 

Mesopotamia  and   the  British   Mandate,  305. 

Mesopotamian  Oil  Controversy,  354. 

MEXICAN  oil  controversy,  894. 

Mexican  Recognition  Delayed,  145. 

MEXICO,   145,   331,   532,    711,   894,   969,   1075. 

Mexico  and  the   United  States,  969. 

MEXICO'S  attitude  on  property   rights,   711. 

Mexico's  Efforts  for  Recognition,  1075. 

Mexico's  Progress  Toward  Stability,  331. 

MEXICO'S  prospects   of  recognition,   532. 

MILLS,  Tom  L.,  "  Prosperous  Times  in  New 
Zealand,"  306. 

Mistakes  of  France,  573. 

Modified  Prohibition  in  Canada,  286. 

MONTGOMERY,  George  R.,  "  Secret  Pacts 
of  France  and  Italy  with  Turkey,"  203; 
"  Why  Talaat's  Assassin  Was  Acquit- 
ted,"  551. 

MOROCCO,  1051. 

Mr.  Lansing  on  Mr.  Wilson,  282. 

Mustapha  Kemal  and  the  Greek  War,  754. 

MYERS,  Gustavus,  "  The  World's  Housing 
Shortage,"  612;  "The  Rapid  Increase  of 
Divorce,"  816;  "Is  the  Church  on  a  De- 
cline?"  934. 

N 

NAPOLEON'S  granddaughter,  663. 

Nationalization  of  Industries,  70. 

Needs   of   Egypt,  269. 

NEGRO   uprising   in  Belgian  Congo,   868. 

New   Canadian   Tariff,  289. 

NEW  cancer  X-ray  in  London,  815. 

New   Law   Restricting   Immigration,   689. 

NEW  North  of  Ireland  Parliament,  689. 

New   Spanish  Cabinet,  346. 

NEW  Zealand,  306,  511,  693,  856,  1050. 

NICARAGUA,  152,  153,  296,  336,  535,  714, 
897,    1078. 

NIKOLAIEFF   (Colonel),  A.   M.,    "  The  Red 

Army,"  261. 
NINE    million    automobiles    in    the    United 

States,  110. 
NORWAY,    180,    341,    544,    683,    875,    1059. 
NORWAY'S   industrial  crisis,    683. 
Norway's  Industrial  Independence,  341. 


INDEX  AND   TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


OGG,  Frederick  A.,   "  Siberia  and  the  Japa- 
nese," 464. 

Organized   Labor    and    the    "  Yellow    Peril/' 
260. 


Pact  of  the  Central  American   Union,  153. 

PALESTINE,  525,  555,  583,  587,  882. 

PALESTINE  and  Mesopotamia,  hard  prob- 
lems in,   882. 

Palestine  and  the  Zionists,  353. 

PALESTINE  riots,  causes  of,  555. 

PANAMA,    148,    298,    299,    334,   534,    714,    1078. 

Panama  Rejects   the  White  Award,  334. 

PANAMA  still  hostile  to  Costa  Rica,  534. 

PARAGUAY,   159,  338,  538,   1083. 

PASSING   of  the  dreadnoughts,   748. 

PASVOLSKY,  Leo,  "The  Soviet  Prisons," 
672. 

Peace  Treaty  Between  Poland  and  Russia, 
479. 

PERGLER,  Charles,  "  The  Right  of  Czecho- 
slovakia to  Independence,"  942. 

PERSIA,    172,    355,    526,    886,   898,    1069. 

Persia's  Coup  d'Etat,  172. 

PERSIA'S  new  alignment,  526. 

Persia's  New  Policies,  355. 

PERSIA'S     plans  under  new  leaders,  886. 

PERU,   159,   338,   538,   718,   900,   1083. 

PESSENLEHNER  (Dr.),  Anthony,  "  Czecho- 
slovakia's right  to  statehood  assailed," 
845. 

PHILIPPINE   independence,   303. 

PHILIPPINES,  38,  303,  927. 

Plight  of  China,  742. 

POINCARE,  Raymond,  "  France's  Debt  to 
Myron  T.  Herrick,"  416. 

POLAND,  356,  358,  479,  489,  556,  562,  681,  807, 
1064. 

Poland  Four-Square  for  the  Future,  356. 

POLAND'S  trouble  with  Russia,  1064. 

Polish  Legislature  at  Work,  807. 

POLISH  rebellion  in  Upper  Silesia,  562. 

Political   Tension  in   Cuba,  339. 

POLYZOIDES,  Adamantios  Th.,  "  The  Mis- 
takes of  France,"  573;  "Why  the  Greeks 
Are  Fighting  Turkey,"   761. 

PORTO  Rico,  540,  716,  1080. 

PORTUGAL,  184,  346,  697,  1058. 

PORTUGAL'S  new  Chamber,  1058. 

PORTUGAL'S   new  Government,    697. 

POTASH   mines   in   Alsatia,    896. 

President  HardingJs  Inauguration,  39. 

PRICE,  Clair,  "  Mustapha  Kemal  and  the 
Greek  War,"  754;  "The  Caliphate  of 
Islam,"  981. 

Prosperous  Times  in  New  Zealand,  306. 

PROTEST  of  Santo  Domingo's  Deposed 
President,  399. 


Q 


QUEST  for  the  "  Missing  Link,"  767. 


RACE  Suicide  in  Central  Africa,  700. 

RADIUM,   honors  for  the  discoverer  of,   611 

Rapid  Increase  of  Divorce,  816. 

Red  Army,  The,  261. 

RELIGIOUS  feuds  divide  Hungary,  168. 

Retraining  War-Disabled  Men,  65. 

Revising   the   Turkish  Treaty,  176. 

Revising  the  Rabbinical  Court  at  Jerusalem 

277. 

RICHARDSON     (Colonel),     W.     P.,     "  What 
Ails  Alaska?  "   960. 

Right    of    Czechoslovakia    to    Independence 
942. 

RUMANIA,    170,    219.    278,   516,    698,    870,    871 
873,   946,   1000,   1074. 

RUMANIA  and   Jugoslavia,   1074. 

Rumania  in  a  New  Triple  Pact,  170. 

Rumania  in  the  New   Europe,  278. 

RUMANIA   and   Magyars,    871. 

RUSSIA,  181,  251,   253,  216,  521,  677,  876,  951, 
1005,    1030. 

RUSSIA  in  desperate  straits,  876. 

RUSSIA  scourged   by   famine,    1030. 

RUSSIAN  intellectuals,   fate   of,   951. 

Russian  Mennonites  Coming  to  America,  48. 

s 

SALVADOR,  152,  153,  396,  715,  897,  1078. 

SANTO  Domingo,   147,  291,  397,  540,   716,  809, 
813,  902,  1081. 

Santo  Domingo   to   be  Free,  734. 

Santo  Domingo's  Bitter  Protest,  397. 

SANTO  Domingo's  title  to  independence,  809. 

SCAIFE,    H.    L.,    "  What   Was    the   Matter 
With  the  Air  Service?  "  3. 

SCANDINAVIA,    political    developments    in, 
1059. 

SCANDINAVIA'S   fight  against  Bolshevism, 

874. 

SCHORNSTHEIMER,      Graser,       "  Airplane 
Bomb  vs.   Battleship,"   923. 

SCHVEGEL  (Dr.),  Ivan,  "  Jugoslavia's  Con- 
stitutional Problems,"   624. 

Scotland's  Housing   Crisis,  205. 

Secret  of  the  Marne  Victory ,  44. 

Secret  Pacts  of  France  and  Italy  With  Tur- 
key, 203. 

SHEPARD      (Dr.),     Lorin,      "  Fighting     the 
Turks  at  Aintab,"  590. 

SHEPSTONE,    Harold   J.,    "  Drinking   From 
Pontius   Pilate's  Reservoir,"   587. 

SHIPS,  too  many  in  the  world,  922. 

SIBERIA,    239,    246,    464,    471,    476,    889. 

Siberia  and  the  Japanese,  464. 

Siberia's  New  Republic:  Its  Standing,  476. 

Silesian  Crisis  and  Korfantyt  389. 


VI. 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


SILESIAN  tangle  to  be  decided  by  League 
of  Nations,  1073. 

SMUTS  (Premier),  Jan  Christian,  "Wood- 
row  Wilson's  Place  in  History,"  45. 

SMYRNA,   518. 

SOKOLOV  (Dr.),  Boris,  "  The  -  Tragedy  of 
Child  Life  Under  Bolshevism,"  664. 

SOUTH  Africa,  136,  330,  512,  693,  856. 
SOUTH  America,    717,   899,   1082. 
SOUTH  America,  trade  rivalry  in,  1082. 
SOUTH   America   turning   again    to   Europe, 

536. 
SOUTH  American  depression,  717. 
South  American  Prosperity,  337. 
Soviet  Prisons,  672. 

SOVIET   Russia's   return   to  capitalism,    521. 
SOVIET  Russia's   treaties  with  Afghanistan 

and  Persia,  741. 
SPAIN,   184,   346,   697,   848,   1051. 
SPAIN'S  Ministerial  difficulties,  848. 
SPAIN'S  Moroccan  reverses,  1051. 
SPAIN'S  murder  syndicate,  697. 
Spain's  Premier  Assassinated,  184. 

SPARGO,    John,    "  What    Broke    Russia    to 

Pieces,"   1005. 
Spartacan  Uprising  in  Germany,  78. 

Speedy  End  of  the  Armenian  and  Georgian 
Republics,   264. 

Split  Among  Socialists  WMened,  281. 

Stable  Conditions  in  Scandinavia,  179. 

Stambolisky's  Reforms  in  Bulgaria,  272. 

States'  Sovereign  Powers,  A,  455. 

STEPHANOVE,  Constantine,  "  Democratic 
Czar  and   Peasant   Premier,"    992. 

STINNES,   Hugo,   the   German   Croesus,   753. 

STOCKBRIDGE,  Frank  Parker,  "  The  Ku 
Klux  Klan  Revival,"  19;  "A  State's  Sov- 
ereign Powers,"  455;  "  The  Quest  for  the 
•  Missing  Link,'  "   767. 

STOKES,  Charles  W.,  "  Canada's  Attitude 
toward  Immigration,"  605. 

Stopping  Robberies  of  Mail  Cars,  454. 

Story  of  Radium  in  America,  448. 

Success   of   Soviet  Russia,  253. 

SUIT  of  the  inventor  of  melinite,  745. 

SWEDEN,  179,  342,  543,   683,  874,  1062. 

SWEDEN  and  the  Aland  award,  543. 

Swiss  Protest  Hapsburg  Intrigues,  25. 

SWITZERLAND,   25,   218,  803. 

Switzerland's  Dispute  With  France,  803. 

SYRIA,   527,   986,   1069. 

SZE,  Sao-Ke  Alfred,  "  China  and  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance,"  746. 


Text  of  the  Russo-British  Trade  Agreement, 
257. 

Tragedy  of  Child  Life  Under  Bolshevism, 
(J64. 

TRANSIT  facilities  of  the  world,  improve- 
ment of,  470. 


Treating  Incoming  Aliens  as  Human  Beings, 
434. 

Treaty  Day  With  the  Canadian  Indians,  428. 

Trend  of  Democracy  in  Europe,  618. 

TRUCE  in  the  Irish  warfare,  851. 

Truth    About   Kolchak,   668. 

TURKEY,    176,    347,    518,    704,    880,    982,    989, 
1065. 

TURKISH    drift    toward    Moscow,    704. 

u 

Uncle  Sam's  Mandate  in  the  Philippines,  90. 

UNITED    States,    49,    189,    197,    392,    578,    727 
928.      See   also   America,    American. 

University  Exchange    With  Belgium,  283. 

Upbuilding    of  .Czechoslovakia,   835. 

UPPER  Silesia,    556,   562,   863,   1073. 

Ups  and  Downs  of  Red  Propaganda,  88. 

URUGUAY,    159,   338,   538,    1084. 

V 

VATICAN,  694. 

VATICAN'S  new  relations  with  France,  694. 

Venizelos  at  a  Paris   Trial,  285. 

VENEZUELA,   159,   538,    719,    901,   1084. 

VLADIVOSTOK     captured     by     anti-Bolshe- 
viki,    889. 

Voice  of  Thinking  Germany,  89. 

w 

Waiting  for  Home  Rule  in  Ireland,  326. 

WALLIS,   Frederick  A.,   "  Treating  Incoming 
Aliens   as    Human   Beings,"    434. 

WALLIS,  J.  H.,  "  The  Upbuilding  of  Czecho- 
slovakia,"  835. 

War   Won  on  the  Eastern  Front,   826. 

WAR'S  harvest  of  the  unborn,  617. 

WATSON,  William,  "  Ireland  the  Unknown," 
136. 

WASHINGTON,    George,    honored    in    Eng- 
land,   806. 

Western   Capitalism  in  Burma,   64. 

WEST  Indies,   147,   339,  540,  715,  901,   1079. 

WEST  Indian  trade  crisis,   1079. 

What  Ails  Alaska t     960. 

What  Belgium  Is  Doing,  213. 

What  Broke  Russia  to  Pieces,  1005. 

What  Poland  Gained  From  Russia,  489. 

What  the  Greeks  Are  Fighting  For,  407. 

What  Was  the  Matter  With  the  Air  Service? 
3. 

WHY  French  Canada  Fears  the  Census,  832. 

WHY;  Talaat's  assassin  was  acquitted,  551. 

Why  the   Greeks   Are   Fighting   Turkey,   761. 

Why   We  Did  Not  Declare   War  on  Turkey, 

989. 

Woodrow   Wilson's  Place  in  History,  45. 
WORLD'S   housing   shortage,    612. 


Zayas  Elected  President  of  Cuba,  147. 


INDEX   AND    TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


VII. 


Portraits 


ACOSTA,  Julio,   150. 
APPONYI  (Count),  Albert,  223. 
ATKINSON,    Frederick   W,    94. 
BANDHOLTZ   (General),   Harry  H.,   223. 
BECK,  James  M.,  579b. 
BIBESCO   (Prince),  Antoine,  279. 
"  BIG  FOUR  "   of  British  labor,  422. 
BIGLEY,   Miss,    in  Turkish   costume,   59. 
BLAIR,  David  H.,  579d. 
BORGLUM,    Gutzon,    8. 
BORIS,   King  of  Bulgaria,  273. 
BROWN,    Walter   Lyman,    911. 
BURROUGHS,  John,  202. 
BYNG  (Gen.  Lord),  692. 
CARPENTER,  Frank  W.,  92. 
CHAMBERLAIN,   Austen,   324. 
CHARLES   (Ex-Emperor),   of  Austria,  217. 
CHILD,   Richard  Washburn,   579c. 
CHURCHILL,   Winston  Spencer,   129. 
CLARK,   Champ,   53. 
CLYNES,    J.    F.,    421. 
COLLIER,  William  Miller,  729. 
CONSTANTINE  (King),  of  Greece,  409. 
CRAIG  (Sir),  James,   131. 
CRISSINGER,   D.   R.,    200. 
CROWN  Prince  George  of  Greece,  411. 
CURIE,   Mme.  Marie,  449. 
DAWES,    Charles   Gates,   726. 
DEGOUTTE    (General),   29. 
DE   VALERA,    Eamon,    852. 
DOMBSKI,    M.,    359. 
DZERZHINSKY,  Felix,  675. 
EBERT    (President),    Friedrich   W.,    81. 
EICHHORN,    Robert,    80. 
EMERY,  John  G.,  731. 
ESCHERICH    (Dr.),    571. 
FAHEY    (Lieutenant),    William  J.,    7. 
FIALLO,    Fabio,   293. 
FITZALAN    (Viscount),    690. 
FLETCHER,    Henry   P.,   40. 
GANDHI,   Mohandas  Karamchaud,   237. 
GEORGE    (Prince),    of    Greece,    408. 
GERMAN    ex-Empress,    214. 
GOURAUD   (General),  987. 
GRIFFITH,    Arthur,    852. 
HARRISON,  Francis  Burton,   92. 
HARVEY  (Colonel),  George,  189. 
HENDERSON,    Arthur,    421. 
HERRICK,    Myron   T.,   201,   417. 
HIROHITO,   Shinno,   141,   531. 
HORNE    (Sir),    Robert,    325. 
HUGHES,  Charles  Evans,  6. 
JOFFE,   Adolf,   358. 


JOSIKA-HERCZEG  (Dr.),  Imre,  222. 

KAUFBEUREN   (Dr.),  Mayer,   German  Am- 
bassador to  France,  29. 

KING  GEORGE  and  Queen  Mary,  129. 

KNOWLES,  Horace  G.,  735. 

KORFANTY,    Adelbert,    391,    557. 

KRASNOCHEKOV,    Alexander   M.,    477. 

KRASSIN,   Leonid,   325. 

LASKER,   Albert  D.,   579. 

LEHAR   (Colonel),  216. 

LE  ROND   (General),  559. 

LIEBKNECHT,    Karl,   81.. 

LUXEMBURG,   Rosa,   83. 

MACREADY    (Lieut.    Gen.,    Sir),    Nevil,   853. 

MARGARET  (Princess),  of  Denmark,  875. 

MASARYK,    Thomas   G.,    836. 

MATVAEV,    M.,    478. 

MEIJEROWITZ,    M.,    515. 

MUSTAPHA  Kemal  Pasha,  351,   755. 

NAGAKO,  Princess,  141. 

NOSKE,   Gustav,  80. 

OBREGON  (President),  with  associates,  895. 

OLAF   (Prince),    of  Norway,   1061. 

PERSHING  (Gen.),  John  J.,  368. 

POINCARE,    Raymond,   416. 

PORRAS  (Dr.),  Belieario,  151. 

READING,   Lord,   227. 

RICCI,    Rolando,    345. 

ROBERTSON,  Miss  Alice  M.,  41. 

ROOSEVELT,  Theodore,  41. 

ROSEN    (Dr.),    Friedrich,    569. 

SAMUEL   (Sir),  Herbert,   585. 

SCAIFE   (Captain),   H.   L.,   7. 

SCHULTHESS,  Edmund,  805. 

SCHURMAN,   J.   G.,   579b. 

SIMONS    (Dr.),  Walter,  27. 

SMUTS  (Premier),  Jan  Christian,  47. 

SQUIER   (Major  Gen.),   George  O.,  9. 

STAMBOLISKY,  Premier  of  Bulgaria,  273. 

STHAMER    (Dr.),    German    Ambassador    to 

London,  28. 
SZE   (Dr.),   Alfred  Sao,   143,   747. 
TAFT    (ex-President),    William   H.,   93. 
TALAAT  Pasha,   554. 
TEILIRIAN,   Solomon,   554. 
ULMANIS,   Karl,    5i5. 
VIVIANI,  Rene,  193. 
WALLIS,    Frederick  A.,   434. 
WARREN,  Charles  B.,   730. 
WHITE    (Chief   Justice),    Edward   Douglass, 

579a. 
WIRTH    (Dr.),    Julius,    371. 
WOODS,  Cyrus  E.,  728. 
ZAYAS   (Dr.),  Alfredo.   716. 


vm. 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Illustrations 


ALASKA,   Summer  scene  in  interior  of,   960. 

APE-MAN,    770. 

AVIATION— Planes  at  our  American  aviation 
field,   France,  5. 

BAVARIANS  in  Munich  swearing  to  repress 
Bolshevism,   570. 

BERLIN  street  scene  showing  effect  of 
Spartacan  shell-fire,   84. 

BRITISH  coal  miners  starting  mine  on  their 
own  account,  423. 

BULGARIAN  boys  and  girls  at  compulsory 
labor,   994. 

BULGARIAN  labor  service  gang,  995. 

CANADIAN  Indians  waiting  to  receive 
treaty  payments,  429. 

CASTLE  at  Prague,  839. 

COMPULSORY  research  work,  993. 

CRO-MAGNON  Man,   771. 

"  DEN  "  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  in  uniform,  23. 

DRINKING  water  for  Jerusalem,   589. 

DUBLIN  Custom  House,  691. 

DUKE  of  Connaught's  reception  to  ruling 
Princes  of  India,  226. 

ENGLISH  King  and  Queen  in  royal  coach, 
128. 

ESKIMO  belle,  431. 

ESKIMO  grave  in  Far  North,  433. 

ESKIMO  hunting  party,   432. 

EX-PRESIDENT  Taft  taking  the  oath  of 
office  of  Chief  Justice  of  Supreme  Court, 
727. 

EXTINCT  animals  hunted  by  prehistoric 
man,   767. 

EXTRACTING  radium  from  ore,  451. 

FIELD  headquarters  of  radium  producing 
concern,  453. 

FUNERAL  of  German  ex-Empress,  388. 
GERMAN  hospice  on  Mount   of   Olives,   584. 
GREAT  square  in  Prague,  841. 
GREEK  picture  brides,  439. 

IMMIGRANTS  entertained  at  Ellis  Island, 
438. 

INAUGURATION  of  President  Harding,   39. 
JAFFA,  Palestine,  583. 
JAPANESE  infantry  in  Vladivostok,   242. 
JERUSALEM'S    new    waterworks,    with    the 
old   reservoir   of  Pontius  Pilate,   586. 


JEWISH  Rabbi  with  Indian  troops  in  Jaffa, 

585. 

MAIMED  soldiers  studying  electrical  me- 
chanics, 66. 

MARTIAL  law  proceedings   in   Ireland,   133. 

MASTODON    and    royal    bison,    775. 

MOUNTAIN  scenery  in  Czechoslovakia,  835. 

MOUNTED  guards  in  Munich  dispersing 
rioters,   86. 

NATIONAL  Theatre  in   Prague,   838. 

NEANDERTHAL  man,   771. 

NEW  Army  and  Navy  Club  at  Manila,  90. 

NEW  Parliament  Building  at  Ottawa,  Can- 
ada, 427. 

PILTDOWN   Man,   770. 

PRAGUE,  Capital  of  Czechoslovakia,  837. 

PRESIDENT  Harding  and  his  Cabinet  on 
the  White  House  Grounds,  Frontispiece. 

PRESIDENT  Harding  delivering  his  first 
message  before  the  joint  session  of  Con- 
gress, 189. 

PUMPING  machinery  in  Jerusalem  water- 
works, 589. 

RADIUM  ore  as  shipped  from  mines,  448. 

REINDEER  herd  in  Alaska,  963. 

SHELL-SHOCKED  soldiers  at  St.  Elizabeth's 
Hospital,   Washington,    D.    C,   67. 

SPARTACANS  in  Berlin  attacking  Govern- 
ment troops,   85. 

SUMMIT  Lake  on  top  of  the  Alaska  range, 
965. 

SURANG  Bridge  and  Batangas-Ibaan  Road 
in   Philippines,    95. 

TERROR  of  the  air,  5. 

THUNDERBOLT  Mine  in  Colorado,  452. 

TURKISH  women  preparing  wheat,   58. 

TURKISH  women  without  veils,   57. 

TYPICAL  Eskimo  home,   430. 

TYPICAL  Japanese  officer  at  railway  sta- 
tion in  Siberia,  243. 

VLADIVOSTOK  from  the  bay,   239. 

WOMEN  in  Turkey  washing  wool,  58. 

WOOLLY  rhinoceros,   773. 

WRECKED  cottage  at  Mellin,  Ireland,  131. 

YOUNG  immigrants  at  dinner,  437. 


INDEX   AND    TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


IX. 


Maps  and  Charts 


ALASKA'S  one  railway,  961. 

AREA   left   to   Turks    by    Treaty    of    Sevres, 

177. 
ARMIES,  comparative  size  of,  921. 
CENTRAL    American    Federation,    153. 

COMPARISON    of    vessels     of    great    naval 

powers,  918. 
COSTA  Rica  and  Panama  with  territory   in 

dispute,   149. 
EVOLUTION  of  the  brain,  772. 
GERMAN  airplane  lines,  1009. 
GRECO-Turkish  campaign,  zone  of,  349. 
GREEK  Army  operations  in  Asia  Minor,  1067. 
IMMIGRATION  chart  for  fifteen  years,  600. 
INDIA,   sketch  map  of,   229. 
JAPAN  and  parts  of  Asiatic  Continent  under 

Japanese  control,  241. 
JAPANESE   territorial    control,    461. 


NAVIES  of  United  States,  Great  Britain  and 
Japan  when  present  programs  are  com- 
pleted,  919. 

NEW   Baltic    States,    268. 

NORTHWEST    frontier    of    Syria,    527. 

NEW  boundary  between  Poland  and  Russia, 
485. 

PACIFIC  possessions  of  various  nations,  917. 

PRESENT  naval  building  programs,  919. 

RHINE  region  occupied  by  allied  forces,  31. 

ROMAN  Catholicism's  gains  and  losses,  935. 

RUSSIAN  famine  region,   1031,   1033. 

SIBERIA  and  its  principal  cities  and  rivers, 
466. 

SILESIAN  region  seized  by  Korfanty's 
forces,   389. 

TERRITORY      traversed 
Charles,   215. 

UPPER  Silesian  plebiscite  area,  563. 

ZONE  of  Spanish-Moroccan  operations,  1053. 


by       ex-Emperor 


Cartoons 

111-126;    307-322;    491-504;    641-656;    781-794;    1010-1025. 


CURRENT    HISTORY 

A     MONTHLY     MAGAZINE      OF 
QUj*  £fom  fork  (Htmni 


PUBLIS-HED     BY 

The 

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N.    Y. 

Vol. 

XIV., 

No. 

1 

APRIL, 

1921 

35  Cents  a  Copy 
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II 

ii  ii  ii 

II  II  11  II 

ii  ii  ii 

II   11 

II  II  II 

ii  ii  ii  ii  ii  ii 

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11   11   II   II 

II    II    II    II    II    II 

II    II    II    II 

4- 

TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FRONTISPIECE  ILLUSTRATIONS: 

View   of   the   Inauguration    Ceremonies 1 

The   President   and   His   Cabinet 2 

WHAT  WAS  THE   MATTER  WITH   THE   AIR   SERVICE? 

By  H.  L.  Scaife  3 

THE   KUKLUX  KLAN   REVIVAL     .     By  Frank   Parker   Stockbridge  19 

GERMAN  REPARATIONS  AND  TREATY  PENALTIES     ....  26 

GERMANY'S   MALEFACTIONS     ....     By  David  Lloyd   George  33 

TO    INVESTIGATE    PHILIPPINE    CONDITIONS 38 

PRESIDENT  HARDING'S  INAUGURATION 39 

WOODROW  WILSON'S  PLACE   IN  HISTORY 

By  General  Jan  C.  Smuts  45 

THE    MONTH   IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 49 

COSTS  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 54 

LIFE  IN  A  TURKISH  HAREM By  Loretta  I.  Bigley  57 

RETRAINING  WAR-DISABLED  MEN     .      .     By  John  S.  Cummings  65 

THE  NATIONALIZATION  OF  INDUSTRIES     .     By  J.  Ellis  Barker  70 

THE  SPARTACAN  UPRISING  IN  GERMANY     .     By  Ralph  H.  Lutz  78 

HOW  LIEBKNECHT  AND  ROSA  LUXEMBURG  WERE  MURDERED  87 

THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  RED  PROPAGANDA 88 

UNCLE   SAM'S   "MANDATE"  IN   THE   PHILIPPINES 

By  O.  Garfield  Jones  90 

MANDATES  AND  AMERICA'S   STAND  REGARDING  THEM     .      .  101 

THE   CONTROVERSY   OVER   YAP   ISLAND     (Map) 108 

Contents   Continued  on   Next  Page 

Copyright,    1921,    by    The    New    York    Times    Company.     All    Rights    Reserved. 
Entered    at    the    Post    Office    in    New    York    and    in    Canada    r.8    Second    Class    Matter. 


BS 


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I  II  II  II  II' 


qiJI  II  II  II  II  II  I II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  II  n  I 


Table  of  Contents — Continued 

PAGE 

INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS     ...  Ill 

ENGLAND'S     ROYAL     PAGEANT 127 

HOSTILITIES  INCREASE  IN  IRELAND 130 

CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH  DOMINIONS .  134 

IRELAND   THE   UNKNOWN      (A   Poem)      .      .      By  William   Watson  136 

INDIA'S    NEW    PARLIAMENT    AT    DELHI 137 

JAPAN'S   DOMESTIC   TROUBLES 140 

THE   CURSE   OF  MILITARISM   IN  CHINA 143 

MEXICAN    RECOGNITION     DELAYED 145 

DR.    ZAYAS    ELECTED    PRESIDENT    OF    CUBA 147 

COSTA   RICA   INVADES   PANAMA     (Map) 148 

PACT  OF  THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION     (Map)      ....  153 

GERMANY   REGAINING   SOUTH   AMERICAN   MARKETS     ...  157 

GERMANY'S  "WATCHFUL  WAITING" 160 

FRANCE  UNITED  ON  MAKING  GERMANY  PAY 164 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA  VETOES  THE  HAPSBURGS 167 

RELIGIOUS    FEUDS    DIVIDE    HUNGARY 168 

AUSTRIA  RESENTS  MAGYAR  CLAIMS 170 

RUMANIA  IN  A  NEW  TRIPLE  PACT 170 

BULGARIA    COUNTS    ON   A   NEW    SEVRES   TREATY     ....  171 

JUGOSLAVIA   COMPLAINS   ABOUT   BULGARIA 173 

GREECE  AND  THE  CONFERENCE  ON  THE  TURKISH  TREATY  174 

REVISING    THE    TURKISH    TREATY     (Map) 176 

STABLE   CONDITIONS  IN   SCANDINAVIA 179 

COUNTER-REVOLUTION  IN  RED  RUSSIA 181 

ITALY    MOVING    SLOWLY    FORWARD 183 

SPAIN'S  PREMIER  ASSASSINATED 184 


INDEX    TO    NATIONS    TREATED 


ARGENTINA      

AUSTRALIA     

AUSTRIA     

BOLIVIA    

BRAZIL      

BULGARIA     

CANADA      

CENTRAL    A  M  ERIC  A 

CHILE     

CHINA    

COLOMBIA      

COSTA    RICA     

CUBA    

CZECHOSLOVAKIA    . 

DENMARK      

ECUADOR     

EGYPT      


158 
135 
170 
158 
158 
171 
134 
153 
158 
14:: 
159 
153 
147 
167 
182 
159 
135 


ENGLAND    .. 

FRANCE    

GERMANY      . 

GREECE    

GUATEMALA 
HONDURAS 
HUNGARY    .. 

INDIA      

IRELAND      .  . 

ITALY     

JAPAN    

JUGOSLAVIA 

MEXICO     

NICARAGUA 
NORWAY'     .  . . 
PANAMA      .  . . 
PARAGUAY 


127 
164 
160 
174 
153 
15:; 
16!* 
137 
130 
183 
140 
173 
145 
153 
180 
148 
159 


PERSIA       179 

PERU    159 

PHILIPPINES      38 

PORTUGAL     184 

RUMANIA 170 

RUSSIA       181 

SALVADOR     152,  153 

SANTO    DOMINGO    147 

SOUTH    AFRICA    136 

SPAIN     184 

SWEDEN 179 

SWITZERLAND      25 

TURKEY      17(] 

UNITED    STATES     49 

URUGUAY    159 

VENEZUELA       159 

WEST    INDIES    147 


«Q     VncU.ru.00d    &    L  ttd 

SCENE  OF  THE  INAUGURATION  OF  PRESIDENT  HARDING  ON 

MARCH  4,   1921 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH 
THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


By  H.  L.  SCAIFE 


Formerly   Captain   in   the  United   States   Air   Service 


The  astonishing  story,  drawn  wholly  from  official  records \  of  one  of  the  most  colossal 
failures  in  human  history — How  the  United  States  spent  upward  of  a  billion  dollars 
for  aircraft  production  without  producing  a  single  fighting  plane  on  ihe  battlefront 


MAJOR  GEN.  MASON  M.  PATRICK, 
who  was  Chief  of  the  Air  Service 
of  the  American  Expeditionary- 
Forces  in  France,  having  been  duly 
sworn  as  a  witness  in  the  House  investiga- 
tion, made  the  startling  statement  that, 
when  hostilities  ceased,  our  rank  in  avia- 
tion was  far  behind  any  of  our  allies  and 
far  below  the  enemy  strength;  that  so  far 
as  the  manufacture  of  pursuit  or  bombing 
planes  in  the  United  States  was  concerned, 
we  were  in  practically  the  same  position  as 
when  we  entered  the  war;  and  that  so  far 
as  the  manufacture  of  pursuit  planes  or 
bombing  planes  in  the  United  States  is  con- 
cerned, it  would  probably  be  eight  or  nine 
months  from  the  time  they  settled  on  the 
type  before  they  would  produce  it  in  quanti- 
ties. (House  Hearings  on  Aviation,  p. 
232.) 

What  was  the  matter  with  our  Air  Ser- 
vice? Why  did  the  construction  end  of  it 
fail? 

The  great  achievements  of  the  United 
States  in  the  World  War  have  passed  into 
history  and  they  will  overshadow  many 
shortcomings  which  were  inevitable  in  so 
great  an  undertaking.  The  story  of  the 
loyalty,  sacrifices  and  daring  of  American 
aviators  will  fill  thrilling  pages.  In  all  the 
investigations  there  has  been  nothing  but 
praise  for  them;  no  breath  of  scandal  has 
touched  the  American  birdmen.  Aviation, 
commercially  and  as  an  arm  of  the  military 
establishment,  has  come  to  stay,  and  millions 
of  dollars  of  public  funds  will  be  appro- 
priated annually  for  its  maintenance  and 
development.  If  there  was  anything  wrong 
with  the  Air  Service,  instead  of  throwing 
a  sheet  over  the  corpse,  we  should  go  to 
the  bottom  of  the  tragedy  and  make  sure 


that  the  untoward  elements  in  it  shall  not 
repeat  themselves  in  our  history. 

The  casualties  among  our  aviators  in 
time  of  peace,  as  well  as  in  war,  make  this 
branch  of  the  service  one  where  the  record 
ought  to  be  an  open  book.  Because  it  has 
become  a  bone  of  contention  in  politics, 
however,  the  average  man  has  been  be- 
wildered by  conflicting  statements,  and  does 
not  know  whether  our  air  program  in  the 
war  merits  praise  or  censure.  Neither  has 
the  average  man  an  inclination  to  examine 
approximately  25,000  pages  of  testimony 
to  reach  a  fair  and  just  conclusion. 

THE  TASK  WE  UNDERTOOK 

America's  part  in  the  interallied  war 
program  was  "  to  win  the  war  in  the  air," 
and  the  special  undertaking  entrusted  to  us 
by  our  allies  was  to  create  a  fleet  of  air- 
planes which,  our  Government  officially 
announced,  would  be  decisive  of  the  war 
before  an  American  army  could  be  placed 
in  Europe.  England,  France,  Italy  and 
Germany  successfully  carried  out  their  air 
programs,  and  each  of  these  nations  pro- 
duced enormous  quantities  of  airplanes. 
When  we  undertook  the  production  of  air- 
craft, we  had  the  advantage  of  the  experi- 
ence of  our  allies;  their  best  experts  were 
sent  over  to  assist  and  to  warn  against  the 
mistakes  they  had  made. 

Preparations  for  our  aircraft  production 
began  in  April,  1917,  and  on  July  24,  1917, 
Congress  appropriated  $640,000,000,  which 
was  our  first  outlay,  to  carry  out  the  air- 
craft program.  The  official  statistics  show 
that  in  the  nine  months  from  Jan.  1  to 
Oct.  1,  1918,  Great  Britain  produced  23,509 
airplanes,  France  18,833,  and  Italy  2,928, 
a  total  of  45,270.     (Report  of  Major  Gen. 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


M.  M.  Patrick,  House  Hearings,  Aviation, 
p.  561  A.)  American  production  has  been 
a  matter  of  controversy,  but  the  main  points 
can  easily  be  cleared  up  with  proper  expla- 
nations. It  has  been  stated  frequently  that 
an  airplane  of  American  make  did  not  reach 
the  battlefront,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
has  been  asserted  by  the  War  Department 
that  at  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the 
armistice  there  had  been  delivered  for  the 
use  of  the  army  16,952  airplanes,  of  which 
11,754  were  produced  by  American  con- 
tractors and  5,198  procured  from  our  allies. 
Paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  in  a  sense 
both  of  these  claims  may  be  correct;  and 
at  the  same  time  both  are  misleading  and 
untrue. 

THE  TRUTH  IN  A  SENTENCE 

The  simple  fact  is  that  no  American- 
made  fighting  plane  reached  the  battle- 
front. 

For  military  purposes  there  are  various 
types  of  airplanes,  the  two  great  classes 
being  training  planes  and  service  planes. 
Training  planes  are  elementary  and  ad- 
vanced. Service  planes  are  divided  into 
four  classes — combat  or  pursuit,  observa- 
tion, day  bombers  and  night  bombers.  Ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  General  William 
Mitchell  of  the  Air  Service,  in  the  House 
hearings,  the  plans  called  for  20,000  air- 
planes on  the  line  and  in  reserve  by  the  be- 
ginning of  1918,  and  it  was  estimated  that 
the  losses  of  machines  which  reached  the 
line  of  battle  would  be  25  per  cent,  per 
month.  On  June  8,  1917,  the  official  an- 
nouncement was  made  that  a  fleet  of  25,000 
airplanes  would  be  created.  The  American 
program  called  for  enormous  quantities  of 
bombing  planes  and  fighting  planes  which 
could  cope  with  the  Germans  and,  with 
overwhelming  numbers,  drive  them  from 
the  sky. 

The  11,754  airplanes  of  American  manu- 
facture, claimed  by  the  War  Department, 
are  maximum  figures  of  gross  production, 
regardless  of  the  use,  if  any,  to  which 
these  planes  might  be  put.  These  figures 
include  "  penguins,"  which  were  not  in- 
tended to  fly;  training  planes  and  observa- 
tion planes,  which  could  not  be  employed 
for  fighting  purposes,  and  thousands  of  air- 
planes, such  as  the  Bristol,  the  Standard  J 
and  various  others,  which  were  found  to  be 
unsafe   and   were   condemned   and   junked. 


According  to  the  testimony  of  Colonel 
Edgar  Gorrell  and  the  tables  of  statistics 
submitted  from  the  War  Department,  the 
total  number  of  American-built  airplanes 
available  for  use  in  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces  on  Nov.  11,  1918,  was  798 
De  Haviland-4s,  of  which  196  were  on  the 
front,  270  were  being  used  for  training  in 
flying  schools  and  332  were  in  the  air 
depots.  (House  Hearings,  Aviation,  p. 
3457.)  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  greatest 
contribution  of  American  aircraft  produc- 
tion was  the  De  Haviland-4s,  which,  as 
will  be  shown,  could  not  be  used  for  fight- 
ing or  pursuit. 

The  exact  number  of  De  Haviland-4s  on 
the  front  at  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the 
armistice  has  been  officially  given  by  Gen- 
eral Pershing  and  reported  by  the  Frear 
Committee  as  213,  which  is  slightly  in  ex- 
cess of  the  actual  number,  as  shown  by  the 
following  testimony  of  Colonel  Gorrell  in 
the  House  hearings   (p.  3455) : 

In  all  our  tabulations  in  all  our  records 
we  have  used  the  figure  213  as  being  the 
number  of  DH-4s  on  our  front.  That  was 
furnished  us  by  telegram  from  our  front  at 
the  time  of  the  armistice.  A  short  time  ago 
the  same  office  that  furnished  the  figure  213 
said  that  196  was  correct  instead  of  213, 
previously   given   to   us. 

OFFICIAL  CONFIRMATION 

The  De  Haviland  -4s  being  useless  for 
purposes  of  combat,  the  qualified  statement 
that  not  a  single  fighting  plane  of  Amer- 
ican-make reached  the  front  during  the 
period  of  the  war  can  be  accepted  as  an 
historic  fact.  The  following  testimony  of 
General  Pershing  before  the  Committee  on 
Military  Affairs  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  on  Oct.  31,  1919,  (ibid., 
p.  3968),  is  both  explanatory  and  conclu- 
sive: 

Mr.  James— How  many  American  fighting 
planes  were  there  in  France  at  the  signing 
of  the  armistice? 

General  Pershing— None.  We  had  the  De 
Haviland-4s. 

On  Aug.  13,  1918,  Hon.  John  D.  Ryan, 
Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Produc- 
tion, testified  as  follows  before  the  Senate 
committee  investigating  aircraft  produc- 
tion  (p.  1162): 

Senator    Reed— That    is    true,     anyway,    is 
it    not,    that    we    were    capable    of    quantity 
production    of    the    150-horsepower    Hispano- 
Suiza;  is  that  right? 
Mr.  Ryan— Yes,   sir. 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


This  picture  was  released  for  publication  on  June  16}  1918,  by  the  Committee  on  Pubho 
Information,  under  the  official  title:  "10811.  Aviation:  Planes  at  an  American  Aviation 
Field— France."  It  is  a  picture  of  three  "  penguins,"  which  are  low-powered  monoplanes? 
ivith  short  wings  and  cannot  fly 


Senator  Reed— It  is  also  true  that  that 
engine  works  admirably  in  the  Spad  machine, 
which  was  an  up-to-date  fighting  machine? 

Mr.   Ryan— I  think  so. 

Senator  Reed— It  is  a  machine  that  is  still 
used  by  the  French  and  is  regarded  as  one 
of   the   best   machines? 

Mr.   Ryan— That  is  true. 
*      *      * 

Senator  Reed— As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
have  not  a  single  American-made  fighting 
machine   anywhere,    have   we? 


Mr.  Ryan— I  think  that  is  true;  that  is,  , 
that  is  finally  accepted. 
Although  there  are,  today,  persistent  of- 
ficial reports  to  the  contrary,  the  matter  as 
to  whether  or  not  we  produced  a  fighting 
plane  might  be  considered  at  rest  in  view 
of  the  testimony  of  Hon.  Newton  D.  Baker, 
Secretary  of  War,  before  the  House  com- 
mittee on  July  31,  1919,  (House  Hearings, 
Aviation,  p.  46) : 


.rfE^ 


This   picture,   released   by   the   Committee   on   Public    Information    under   the    caption 
"2339      The    Terror   of   the   Air,"   was   further   described   as   "the   fastest   machine   m   the 
world/'  though  it  had  been  discarded  by  the  French   because  it  was  forty   miles   an   hour 
slower  than  their  Spads 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Mr.  Frear— And  we  did  not,  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  war,  get  a  fighting  ma- 
chine  or   a   bombing   plane? 

Secretary  Baker— Not  a  fighting  machine 
or  a  bomber  of  American  manufacture. 

Notwithstanding  their  losses,  at  the  time 
of  the  armistice  the  French  had  on  the  line 
3,321  planes,  England,  1,758;  Italy,  812, 
Belgium,  153;  the  United  States,  740;  Ger- 
many, 2,730,  and  Austria,  622.  The  com- 
bined strength  of.  enemy  planes  was  3,352 
and  that  of  the  Allies  6,784  (House  Hear- 
ings, Aviation,  p.  3462).  Of  the  740  planes 
belonging  to  the  American  forces,  527  had 
been  furnished  by  our  allies,  and  the  only 
ones  of  American  manufacture  were  the 
213  De  Haviland-4s,  which  number  is  re- 
duced to  196  by  the  testimony  of  Colonel 
Gorrell  of  the  War  Department,  as  already 
shown.  The  total  losses  of  the  American 
aviation  forces  .during  the  war,  due  to 
action  on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  were  290 
airplanes  and  47  balloons,  and  one  balloon 
which  was  blown  over  the  lines  (ibid.,  pp. 
-3463  and  3464).  The  relatively 
small  number  of  casualties,  as 
pointed  out  in  the  testimony  of 
General  Menoher,  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  United  States  Air 
Service  really  entered  the  aerial 
warfare  at  the  culmination  of  ac- 
tivity (ibid.,  p.  556A).  Whatever 
the  significance  might  be,  avia- 
tion fatalities  in  this  country 
reached  a  much  higher  figure 
than  those  which  occurred  in  Eu- 
rope. 

MR.  BORGLUM'S 
INVESTIGATION 


The  first  substantial  efforts 
from  the  outside  to  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  American  air- 
craft program  was  doomed  to 
failure  unless  the  situation  was 
promptly  remedied  were  those  of 
Gutzon  Borglum,  the  well-known 
sculptor,  who,  prior  to  the  war 
had  been  interested  in  aeronau- 
tics, and  who  now  deserves  to  be 
decorated  for  his  services  in  at- 
tempting, against  insurmountable 
obstacles  and  humiliations,  to  pre- 
vent the  greatest  military  and 
financial  catastrophe  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  country.   These  words 


do  not  overstate  the  case,  for,  considering 
that  the  expenditures  amounted  to  three 
times  the  cost  of  the  Panama  Canal,  or 
about  $10  for  every  man,  woman  and  child 
in  America,  the  aircraft  fiasco  was  proba- 
bly the  greatest  financial  failure  in  human 
history.  The  public  funds  expended  reach 
a  figure  which  is  beyond  conception  and  has 
been  represented  as  being  $1  for  every  min- 
ute from  the  birth  of  Christ  to  the  present 
time.  The  purpose  of  the  people  who  fur- 
nished the  money  was  to  provide  20,000  air- 
planes by  the  beginning  of  1918,  if  it  cost 
a  kingdom. 

Mr.  Borglum's  investigations  were  begun 
with  the  consent  of  the  President,  and  his 
charges  were  generally  supported  in  a  re- 
port by  the  investigating  committee  of  the 
Aeronautical  Society  of  America  (Congres- 
sional Record,  vol.  56,  pp.  5920  to  5928). 
Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  he  encoun- 
tered, and  the  efforts  made  to  discredit  him, 
his  work  resulted  in  disclosures  and  charges 


Harris    &    Eiving") 

CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES 

Present  Secretary  of  State,  who  made  the  most  important 

investigation  of  the  Air  Service 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER   WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


sufficient  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
President  and  the  Senate.  Finally,  the 
matter  was  taken  up  by  the  Senate,  and 
hearings  were  begun  before  what  is  known 
as  the  Thomas  Committee,  which  took  1,226 
printed  pages  of  testimony,  and  its  find- 
ings were  set  forth  in  Senate  Report  No. 
555,  65th  Congress,  2d  session.  The  ma- 
jority of  this  committee  were   Democrats; 


Underwood    d-    Underwood) 


CAPTAIN  H.  L.  SCAIFE 
Entered  the  army  in  January,  1918,  and  wax 
assigned  to  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production, 
where  he  remained  until  October,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  the  Infantry.  He  was  born  in 
Spartanburg,  S.  C,  in  1872,  and  is  now  a  lawyer 
in  Washington.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Amer- 
ican Bar  Association,  the  American  Society  of 
International  Law  and  the  American  Institute 
of  Mining  Engineers.  During  tlu  pre-war 
preparedness  campaign  he  was  an  associate 
member  of  the  Naval  Consulting  Board  and  a 
State  Director  of  the  Industrial  Survey.  He 
writes  the  history  of  the  aircraft  failure  from 
the  viewpoint  of  a  trained  investigator  ufho  saw 
happenings   close   at   hand 


the  report  was  made  during  the  war,  when 
politics  were  adjourned,  and  the  findings 
were  unanimous. 

WORK  OF   MR.   HUGHES 

About  the  same  time  an  independent  in- 
vestigation was  undertaken  at  the  request 


LIEUTENANT  WILLIAM  J.    FAHEY 

One  of  the  youngest  officers  in  the  Bureau, 

of  Aircraft  Production.    When  he  vohm- 

teered   for    the    firing    line    he    was 

transferred     to     the     Infantry 


of  the  President  by  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes, 
recently  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  who  has  since  be- 
come Secretary  of  State.  This  investigation 
was  undertaken  in  response  to  the  follow- 
ing  letter: 

May    13.    1918. 
My   dear   Mr.    Hughes : 

You  have  doubtless  noticed  that  very- 
serious  charges  have  been  made  in  connec- 
tion   with    the    production    of   aircraft. 

Because  of  the  capital  importance  of  this 
branch  of  the  military  service,  I  feel  that 
these  charges  should  be  thoroughly  investi- 
gated and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  in 
order  that  the  guilty,  if  there  be  such,  may 
be  promptly  and  vigorously  prosecuted  an  I 
that  the  reputations  of  those  whose  actions 
have  been  attacked  may  be  protected,  in 
case  the  charges  are  groundless. 

I  requested  the  Department  of  Justice 
to  use  every  instrumentality  at  its  disposal 
to  investigate  these  charges,  and,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Attorney  General,  I  am  writ- 
ing to  beg  that  you  will  act  with  him  in 
making  this  investigation.  I  feel  that  it  is 
a  matter  of  very  great  importance,  and  I 
sincerely  hope  that  you  will  feel  that  it  la 
possible  to  contribute  your  very  valuabl  s 
services  in  studying  and  passing  upon  the 
questions    involved. 

Cordially    and   sincerely   yours, 

WOODROW   WILSON. 
Hon.     Charles    E.    Hughes,    9    Broadway,     Nevr 
York  City. 


8 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


In  the  Hughes  investigation  about  280 
witnesses  were  examined  and  over  17,000 
typewritten  pages  of  testimony  were  re- 
corded; the  report  and  findings  consisted 
of  182  printed  pages.  This  investigation 
was  made  with  the  co-operation  of  the  De- 
partment of  Justice,  and  the  report  was 
submitted,  through  the  Attorney  General, 
to  the  President.  To  this  work  Judge 
Hughes  devoted  five  months,  taking  testi- 
mony in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
it  is  said  that  for  his  services  he  refused 
to  accept  pay. 

THE  FREAR  HEARING 

The  last  major  investigation  of  the  Air 
Service  was  that  by  the  House  Committee 
on  Expenditures  in  the  War  Department, 
the  testimony  taken  by  the  subcommittee 
on  aviation,  known  as  the  Frear  Committee, 
comprising  more  than  4,000  printed  pages. 
Unfortunately,  while  this  committee  was 
sitting,  a  political  campaign  was  coming  on 
and,  in  the  findings,  charges  of  bias  were 
bandied  back  and  forth.  In  all  the  sub- 
committees investigating  war  expenditures, 
majority  reports,  subscribed  by  all  the  Re- 
publican members,  and  minority  reports, 
subscribed  by  all  the  Democratic  members, 
were  filed.  Hon.  Clarence  F.  Lea,  the 
Democratic  member  of  the  subcommittee  on 
aviation,  frankly  made  the  following  state- 
ment in  the  hearings  (House  Hearings, 
Aviation,  p.  450). 

The  Hughes  investigation  was  strictly  a 
nonpartisan  investigation  and  as  free  from 
political  influence  as  an  investigation  could 
be.  Here  we  have  a  bipartisan  investigation. 
Personally,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  per- 
haps Congress  made  a  mistake  in  making 
it  a  bipartisan  investigation.  I  think  an  in- 
vestigation similar  to  the  Hughes  investiga- 
tion would  have  been  a  preferable  method 
of  developing  the  facts,  and  the  results  would 
have  been  accepted  by  the  country  as  a  cor- 
rect   disclosure. 

GIST   OF   THE   REPORTS 

Political  partisanship  in  a  matter  which 
strikes  close  to  the  vitals  in  our  national 
life  is,  indeed,  not  an  edifying  exhibit; 
nevertheless,  political  rivalry  in  such  a 
hearing  is  not  without  advantage,  as  it  has 
a  tendency  to  bring  out  and  develop  the 
facts.  If  one  is  dissatisfied  with  the  find- 
ings in  the  conflicting  reports,  the  testi- 
mony of  the  witnesses  will  be  sufficient  to 
furnish  a  fair  conclusion. 


The  Senate  committee  and  Judge  Hughes 
reported  that  efficient  planes  could  have 
been  produced  in  large  quantities. 

On  Aug.  22,  1918,  the  Senate  committee 
reported  that  as  early  as  October,  1917,  we 
were  in  possession  of  the  necessary  facili- 
ties to  construct  the  Caproni,  a  powerful 


Harris 


Eirin(i) 


GUTZON   BORGLUM 

Noted  sculptor,   who  first   called   attention   to 

the    aircraft    failure 


and  successful  bombing  plane,  approved  by 
both  Italian  and  English  aeronautical  en- 
gineers, and  that,  although  expert  Italian 
engineers  had  been  on  the  ground  to  as- 
sist, only  one  experimental  machine  had 
been  produced  up  to  Aug.  22,  1918,  the  date 
of  their  report  (p.  2).  They  further  found 
that  nearly  a  year  had  elapsed  since  'we 
might  have  begun  on  these  machines,  and 
that  they  could  have,  been  in  quantity  pro- 
duction. Judge  Hughes's  report  (Congres- 
sional Record,  bound,  vol.  57,  p.  898),  filed 
about  three  weeks  before  the  armistice, 
stated : 

We  have  not  as  yet  sent  from  this  country 
to  the  battlefront  a  single  pursuit  or  combat 
plane,  as  distinguished  from  the  heavy  obser- 
vation  or   bombing  planes,   and,    after  giving 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER    WITH   THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


9 


«*ue  weight  to  all  explanations,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  such  pursuit  planes  could  have 
been  produced  in  large  quantities  many 
months  ago  had  there  been  prompt  decision 
nnd    consistent   purpose. 

Lieutenant  Testoni  of  the  Italian  Army, 
an  expert  in  the  technical  department  of 
aviation,  who  was  sent  to  this  country  with 
a  corps  of  men  to  assist  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  Caproni,  was  asked  by  the  Senate 
committee  to  detail  his  experiences.  He 
said :  "  As  to  the  Caproni  machine,  I  know 
this:  that  the  Government  will  say,  'We 
will  do  it,'  and  then  '  We  will  not  do  it '  ; 
and  then  they  will  say,  '  We  will  do  it/  and 
yet  they  do  not  do  it."  During"  the  interval 
of  delay  both  of  the  Italian  pilots  who 
were  sent  to  this  country  to  test  and  fly 
the  Caproni  were  killed  in  other  machines, 
and,  at  the  time  their  report  was  filed,  the 
Senate  committee  found  that  the  Caproni 
program  was  then  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
other  Italian  pilots  to  test  the  experimental 
machine. 

Seeing  that  the  United  States  would  not 
produce  planes  in  quantity,  early  in  1918 
France  offered  to  furnish  us  all  the  fight- 


ing planes  we  needed,  provided  we  would 
send  over  the  raw  material.  Although  it 
was  agreed  that  we  would  send  this  ma- 
terial to  France,  General  Kenley  testified 
that  we  did  not  live  up  to  the  agreement 
(Senate  Report  No.  555,  p.  9).  Lieutenant 
LaGuardia  testified  that  if  we  had  made 
good  our  promise  to  furnish  material  to  the 
Italians,  they  could  have  given  us  enough 
Caproni  planes  by  the  middle  of  1918  to 
have  bombed  Berlin  with  perfect  confidence 
and  ease;  but  that  he  had  seen  the  Caproni 
factory  stopped  for  want  of  coal;  that  at 
another  time  they  stopped  because  they  had 
no  cables  for  the  machines,  and  that  at 
one  time  they  had  no  steel  (House  Hear- 
ings, Aviation,  p.  125). 

It  has  been  stated  that  one  of  the  best 
machines  used  by  either  side  was  the  Ger- 
man Fokker.  Anthony  Fokker,  a  citizen 
of  Holland  and  the  inventor,  was  quoted 
by  the  newspapers  in  this  country  on  Nov. 
12,  1920,  as  stating  that  in  1912  he  offered 
these  planes  to  England  and  America  before 
he  turned  them  over  to  Germany. 

Eddie    Rickenbacker,    one    of    America's 


, 

fc§ 

§■ 

■  ■>*■  M  % 

P:    ;. 

( 

II  :; 

MM^FWMI              1 

::4 

,    i 

(©    Harris  &  Ewing) 

Major  Gen.  George  O.  Squier,  Chief  Signal  Officer,  and  Colonel  Deeds  of  the  Air 
Service,  examining  the  red  flag  of  the  Zeppelin  T<-',9,  nresented  to  the  Marine  Corps  by  the 
French    officers    who    brought    the    airship    down 


10 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


foremost  aces,  who  had  twenty-six  victories 
to  his  credit,  and  many  decorations,  de- 
clared that  there  were  no  American  fight- 
ing planes  sent  over,  and  he  makes  the  fol- 
lowing statement  in  his  book,  "  Fighting  the 
Flying  Circus,"  Page  14: 

The  Germans  *  *  *  had  seen  the  Spring 
months  pass,  and,  instead  of  viewing  with 
alarm  the  huge  fleet  of  20,000  airplanes 
sweeping  the  sky  clear  of  German  Fokkers, 
they  had  complacently  witnessed  the  Fokkers 
occupying  the  air  back  of  our  lines  whenever 
they  desired  it,  with  never  an  American  plane 
to   oppose    them. 

As  to  the  De  Haviland-4s,  Rickenbacker 
testified  before  the  House  committee  that 
they  were  obsolete  at  the  time  they  arrived 
at  the  front,  and  the  following  reference 
is  made  to  them  in  his  book,  Page  337: 

From  every  side  Fokkers  were  piquing 
upon  the  clumsy  Liberty  machines,  which, 
with  their  criminally  constructed  fuel  tanks, 
offered  so  easy  a  target  to  the  incendiary 
bullets  of  the  enemy  that  their  unfortunate 
pilots  called  this  boasted  achievement  of  our 
Aviation  Department  their  "  flaming  cof- 
fins." During  that  one  brief  flight  over 
Grand  Pr6  I  saw  three  of  these  crude  ma- 
chines go  down  in  flames,  an  American  pilot 
and  an  American  gunner  in  each  "  flaming 
coffin  "  dying  this  frightful  and  needless 
death. 

MISLEADING   PUBLICITY 

The  public  was  deceived  by  false  and  mis- 
leading statements  given  to  the  press  with 
official  sanction.  It  is  not  difficult  to  dis- 
cover the  day  this  began  and  the  method 
by  which  the  public  was  misled  into  be- 
lieving that  fighting  machines  were  being 
sent  abroad.  On  this  point  the  report  of 
Judge  Hughes  may  be  briefly  quoted: 

In  the  face  of  delays  in  production  a  series 
of  misleading  public  statements  were  made 
with    official    authority. 

In  February,  1918,  Secretary  Baker 
authorized  the  public  statement  that  "  the 
first  American-built  battle  planes "  were 
en  route  to  France  (Aviation,  March  1, 
1918,  p.  175,  and  other  current  publica- 
tions). After  the  public  had  been  led  by 
various  newspaper  dispatches  to  believe 
that  the  United  States  had  reached  quan- 
tity production,  the  Official  Bulletin  of 
March  28,  1918,  released  for  publication  in 
the  American  press  on  March  30,  1918,  a 
series  of  photographs,  alleged  to  be  pictures 
of  airplanes  and  aviation  fields  in  France, 
and  furthering  the  inference  of  a  large  pro- 
duction of  American-built  airplanes.     The 


public  was  invited,  through  the  Govern- 
ment's Official  Bulletin,  to  purchase  copies 
of  these  pictures  at  10  cents  each,  or  stere- 
opticon  slides  at  15  cents,  by  sending  appli- 
cations to  the  Division  of  Pictures,  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information,  10  Jackson 
Place,  Washington,  D.  C.  An  inspection  of 
these  pictures  during  the  examination  of 
Secretary  Baker  in  the  Senate  Hearings 
(Vol.  II.,  Pages  1134  and  1140)  disclosed 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  photographs  of 
American  airplanes,  but  of  French  train- 
ing planes,  and  a  closer  examination  under 
a  glass  revealed  the  foreign  names  on  them ; 
pictures  represented  to  be  airplanes  in 
France  proved  to  be  "  penguins,"  which 
could  not  fly  and  were  not  intended  to  fly, 
but  were  made  for  beginners  to  run  with 
on  the  ground  as  a  part  of  their  prelimi- 
nary training,  in  which  the  machines  rise  a 
few  feet  and  immediately  drop  back  to  the 
ground. 

On  March  29,  1918,  the  day  before  these 
pictures  were  to  be  released  for  publication, 
as  announced  by  the  Official  Bulletin  of  the 
preceding  day,  there  was  a  storm  of  protest 
from  members  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  Mem- 
bers of  this  committee  declared  that  the 
Committee  on  Public  Information  was  pro- 
ceeding with  these  publications,  although 
their  attention  had  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  information  they  were  giving  out 
was  false,  and  promise  had  been  made  to 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  that 
every  newspaper  in  the  country  to  which 
these  pictures  had  been  sent  would  be  in- 
structed not  to  publish  them.  Senator 
Thomas,  of  this  committee,  denounced  them 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  as  "  primarily, 
secondarily,  directly  and  indirectly  a  fraud 
upon  the  press  of  the  country."  (Congres- 
sional Record,  vol.  56,  pp.  4254  to  4256.) 

Notwithstanding  these  protests,  mislead- 
ing information  continued  to  be  sent  out 
until  the  end  of  the  war.  Shortly  after  this 
episode,  when  vehement  protests  were  made 
by  Senators  of  both  political  parties,  an 
article  was  published  by  Secretary  Baker, 
in  which  it  was  stated  that,  "  whereas  a 
year  ago  not  a  single  good  battle  plane  was 
being  turned  out  in  America,  now  we  are 
producing  battle  types  of  the  very  latest 
design."  (Scientific  American,  April  6, 
1918,  p.  320.)  Notwithstanding  the  sworn 
statements  hereinabove  cited,  including  that 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


11 


of  Secretary  Baker,  that  not  a  fighting 
plane  of  American  make  was  produced  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  the  war,  the  Gov- 
ernment Printing  Office  is  now  offering 
for  sale  to  the  public  a  book  in  which  it  is 
stated  (page  243)  that  we  produced  "  3,328 
fighting  planes."  (American  Munitions, 
1917-1918,  price  $2.)  It  is  also  offering 
for  sale  another  book  in  which,  under  the 
caption  of  "  Fighting  or  Service  Planes," 
the  statement  is  made  (page  47)  that  "  the 
actual  production  of  service  planes,  air- 
planes built  in  this  country  and  fully 
equipped  to  fight  in  France,  was  confined 
to  the  De  Haviland-4  machines "  (United 
States  Army  Aircraft  Production  Facts, 
Price  10  cents). 

As  to  the  persons  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment responsible  for  giving  such  informa- 
tion to  the  Committee  on  Public  Informa- 
tion, Judge  Hughes  reported  that  it  was 
evident  the  matter  called  for  immediate 
investigation  and  for  suitable  disciplinary 
measures,  but  that  no  steps  were  taken 
"  either  for  correction  or  punishment " 
(Congressional  Record,  vol.  57,  pp.  902  and 
903). 

«  THE  TERROR  OF  THE  AIR  " 

A  sample  of  the  misleading  pictures  in 
question  is  reproduced  with  the  present 
article.  On  Feb.  14,  1918,  the  Committee 
on  Public  Information  released  for  publica- 
tion Photograph  No.  2339  of  the  old  Nieu- 
port  monoplane,  which  had  been  discarded 
by  the  French  for  two  years,  and  which 
was  forty  miles  an  hour  slower  than  the 
planes  they  were  then  using,  with  the  fol- 
lowing official  description: 

No.  2339.  THE  TERROR  OF  THE  AIR. 
*  *  *  This  Nieuport  monoplane,  the  fastest 
machine  in  the  world,  and  used  extensively 
by  the  French  in  this  war,  has  been  loaned 
to  our  forces  "  Over  There  "  to  teach  our 
aviators  now  in  France  how  to  chase  and  bag 
retreating-   German   fliers. 

In  his  testimony  before  the  House  com- 
mittee Rickenbacker  explained  some  of  the 
defects  of  the  Nieuport:  the  wings  were 
liable  to  collapse,  and  the  gasoline  tanks 
were  in  a  vulnerable  position  and  exposed. 
Regarding  the  Spad,  for  which  the  French 
had  discarded  the  Nieuport,  he  said  that  in 
case  of  fire  the  machine  could  dive  and  the 
fire  would  probably  be  wiped  out  by  the 
rush  of  air;  but  with  the  Nieuport  on  fire 
the  only  chance  was  to  jump,  as  the  position 


of  the  fire  would  make  escape  impossible. 
As  to  this  Nieuport,  officially  described  as 
"  the  terror  of  the  air  "  and  "  the  fastest 
machine  in  the  world,"  Rickenbacker  makes 
this  statement  on  Page  119  of  his  book: 
From  the  frequency  of  accidents  to  our 
Nieuports  it  may  be  wondered  why  we  con- 
tinued to  use  them.  The  answer  is  simple— 
we  had  no  others  we  could  use  !  The  Amer- 
ican Air  Forces  were  in  dire  need  of  ma- 
chines of  all  kinds.  We  were  thankful  to 
get  any  kind  that  would  fly.  The  French 
had  already  discarded  the  Nieuport  for  the 
steadier,  stronger  Spad,  and  thus  our  Gov- 
ernment was  able  to  buy  from  the  French 
a  certain  number  of  these  out-of-date  Nieu- 
port machines  for  American  pilots,  or  go 
without.  Consequently,  our  American  pilots 
in  France  were  compelled  to  venture  out  in 
Nieuports  against  far  more  experienced 
pilots  in  more  modern  machines.  None  of 
us  in  France  could  understand  what  pre- 
vented our  great  country  from  furnishing 
machines  equal  to  the  best  in  the  world. 
Many  a  gallant  life  was  lost  to  American 
aviation  during  those  early  months  of  1918, 
the  responsibility  for  which  must  lie  heavily 
upon   some   guilty   conscience. 

Judge  Hughes  reported  that  there  was  no 
question  that  grossly  misleading  statements 
were  published  with  official  authority,  and 
he  recommended  that  they  deserved  the 
prompt  attention  of  the  military  authori- 
ties. 

That  a  certain  number  of  training  planes 
were  produced,  and  that  the  Liberty  motor 
reached  large  quantity  production,  as  well 
as  that  many  other  things  were  accom- 
plished, there  appears  to  be  no  deubt;  but 
as  to  the  main  thing — the  building  of  planes 
that  could  be  used  in  fighting  and  sweep- 
ing the  Germans  from  the  sky — it  is  now 
established  that  the  score  was  zero.  When 
the  Liberty  motor  was  finally  perfected,  its 
value  for  use  in  certain  types  of  planes 
was  demonstrated;  this  was  evidenced  in 
the  flight  across  the  Atlantic  by  the  NC-4 
(designed  and  built  by  the  navy,  and 
equipped  with  Liberty  motors),  but  this 
flight  was  accomplished  by  the  navy,  and 
not  by  the  War  Department. 

In  October,  1919,  several  months  after 
the  navy  had  put  the  NC-4  across  the  At- 
lantic, the  army  undertook  a  transcontinen- 
tal race,  and  this  performance,  undertaken 
with  conditions  of  peace,  resulted  in  the 
death  of  ten  aviators.  In  this  race  seventy- 
three  airplanes  of  different  types  were 
used,  thirty-nine  being  unconverted  De 
Haviland-4s  and  thirty-four  converted  De 
Haviland-4s  and  miscellaneous  planes.  Nine 


u 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


of  these  aviators  were  killed  in  the  uncon- 
verted De  Haviland-4s,  the  type  of  plane 
which  the  War  Department  had  sent  to 
Fiance.  General  Mitchell,  testifying  in  re- 
gard to  the  transcontinental  race,  stated 
that  converting  the  De  Haviland-4s  would 
save  at  least  20  per  cent,  in  fatalities 
(House  Hearings,  p.  3017).  Meanwhile, 
newspaper  accounts  of  aviation  fatalities 
have  become  so  commonplace  that  nobody 
takes  notice  except  the  stricken  widows  and 
children,  or  a  broken-hearted  mother. 

ENORMOUS  EXPENDITURES 

In  brief,  instead  of  the  20,000  airplanes 
of  American  manufacture,  which  were  to 
decide  the  war  before  the  arrival  of  an 
effective  army  in  Europe,  the  only  planes 
of  American  manufacture  on  the  front 
when  the  war  ended  were  the  196  De  Havi- 
land-4s,  America  tailing  the  list,  except  for 
the  153  planes  of  Belgium.  Was  this  due 
to  any  lack  of  money?  The  report  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Expenditures  in  the 
War  Department  (Report  No.  637,  66th 
Congress,  2d  session,  p.  2)  shows  that  the 
total  amount  expended  or  obligated  for  Sig- 
nal Corps  and  aviation  purposes  during  the 
nineteen  months  of  war  with  Germany  to 
June  30,  1919,  was  $1,051,511,988,  and  that 
theexpenditures  or  commitments  for  aviation 
alone  amounted  to  over  one  billion  dollars. 

Senator  McKellar  recently  made  the 
statement  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  that 
in  round  numbers  the  annual  expenditure 
of  Germany  for  her  entire  military  appro- 
priation— universal  training  and  all — from 
1907  to  1911,  inclusive,  was  $200,000,000; 
that  in  1912  it  was  $230,000,000,  and  in 
1913,  while  preparing  for  war,  she  spent 
$360,000,000;  and  that  in  the  year  the  war 
began  she  had  authorized  an  expenditure  of 
$210,000,000.  Measured  by  this  standard, 
it  will  be  seen  that  Americans  paid  for 
aviation,  without  producing  a  fighting 
plane,  about  three  times  the  amount  that 
Germany  spent  on  its  entire  army  during 
the  year  when  she  was  making  ready  to 
enter  into  a  world  conflict. 

During  the  last  Congress  one  of  the 
grounds  urged  for  increased  appropriations 
for  aviation  was  that  the  United  States  did 
not  have  enough  fighting  planes  to  compete 
with  Mexico  for  supremacy  of  the  air  on 
the  border,  and  it  was  recently  published, 
with    apparent    official    sanction,    that   all 


the  airplanes  now  on  hand  are  to  be 
scrapped.  However,  it  is  fair  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  even  a  first-class 
airplane  will  rapidly  deteriorate,  and,  in 
view  of  the  hazards,  the  War  Department 
is  right  in  taking  no  chances  with  the  lives 
of  aviators.  The  reasons  given  for  the  burn- 
ing of  the  airplanes  in  France  were  that 
they  were  worthless  and  that  the  parts 
burned  could  not  be  salvaged  (House  Hear- 
ings, pp.  221-224,  2407-2416,  3474-79,  3978- 
80). 

Judge  Hughes  reported  that  the  esti- 
mated profits  which  would  be  made  by  sev- 
eral of  the  large  aircraft  contractors,  if 
their  schedules  were  carried  out,  would  be 
as  follows:  The  Ford  Motor  Company, 
$5,375,000;  the  Lincoln  Motor  Company 
(partly  owned  by  the  Dayton  Metal  Prod- 
ucts Company),  $11,250,000,  and  the  Pack- 
ard Motor  Car  Company,  $15,000,000. 
Large  sums  of  Government  money  were  ad- 
vanced to  various  contractors  on  which  to 
operate.  Judge  Hughes  stated  in  the  find- 
ings that  in  the  case  of  the  Dayton-Wright 
Airplane  Company  the  paid-in  capital  was 
$1,000,000  invested  in  the  plant,  and  that 
advances  by  the  Government  to  the  extent 
of  $2,500,000  were  authorized.  The  sum 
of  $10,800,000  was  advanced  to  the  Lincoln 
Motor  Company. 

PROFITS  OF  CONTRACTORS 

The  profits  which  the  Dayton-Wright  Air- 
plane Company  would  have  received  under  its 
original  contracts  were  estimated  by  Judge 
Hughes  to  be  more  than  $6,350,000,  not  in- 
cluding profits  on  its  experimental  contract 
and  its  contract  for  spare  parts  of  De- 
Haviland-4s,  but  it  was  explained  that 
agreements,  contained  in  letters,  for  the 
reduction  of  the  bogie  price,  would  make 
the  profits  on  fhe  De  Havilands  not  less 
than  $3,500,000.  Contracts  were  made  on 
both  the  fixed-price  and  the  cost-plus  basis, 
and  the  report  alleges  that,  while  it  is 
probable  that  large  profits  were  made  on 
the  fixed-price  contracts,  definite  informa- 
tion as  to  their  extent  would  not  be  avail- 
able without  a  survey  in  detail  of  manu- 
facturing conditions  and  costs  in  a  con- 
siderable number  of  plants,  an  undertaking 
impracticable  in  the  inquiry.  William  C. 
Potter,  Assistant  Director  of  the  Bureau 
of  Aircraft  Production,  testified  that  if 
planes  were  defective  or  if  there  was  bad 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


13 


workmanship,  the  Government  stood  the 
loss,  and  that  the  contractors  would  still 
get  their  percentages  (Senate  Hearings, 
Vol.  II,  p.  1106).  As  the  subject  is  tech- 
nical and  there  are  many  details,  in  fair- 
ness to  the  contractors  and  all  concerned, 
reference  should  be  made  to  the  records  and 
to  the  full  text  of  the  Hughes  report  (Con- 
gressional Record,  bound  vol.  57,  pp.  906- 
908). 

Subjects  of  criticism  in  the  Hughes  find- 
ings were  business  relations  of  the  equip- 
ment division,  of  which  Colonel  Edward  A. 
Deeds  became  the  active  head  on  Aug, 
2,  1917,  with  former  business  asso- 
ciates and  corporations  with  which  he 
was  connected  at  the  time  he  entered  the 
Government's  service.  It  was  alleged  in  the 
findings  that  a  tract  of  2,245  acres  of  land 
was  leased  to  the  Government  by  the  Miami 
conservancy  district,  of  which  Colonel 
Deeds  was  the  head,  and  that  upward  of 
$3,000,000  was  expended  by  the  Government 
in  its  development,  although  part  of  the. 
land  was  found  to  be  marshy  and  unsuit- 
able for  the  Government's  purposes.  The 
McCook  Field,  on  which  $949,085.35  had 
been  expended  by  the  Government  to  Aug. 
14,  1918,  according  to  the  Hughes  report, 
was  owned  by  Colonel  Deeds  and  a  business 
associate  to  whom  Deeds  conveyed  his  in- 
terest, after  which  the  land  was  conveyed 
to  the  Dayton  Metal  Products  Company, 
which  then  leased  the  tract  to  the  Govern- 
ment (ibid.,  pp.  890-893,  and  Senate  Report, 
pp.  11-13). 

The  Dayton  Metal  Products  Company,  of 
which  it  was  stated  that  Deeds  originally 
owned  one-fourth  of  the  stock,  became  va- 
riously interested  in  Government  contracts 
which  were  under  the  administration  of 
Colonel  Deeds,  and  it  was  further  reported 
that  Deeds  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Dayton-Wright  Airplane  Company, 
which  was  owned  by  the  Dayton  Metal 
Products  Company.  The  specifications  of 
the  Liberty  Motor  called  for  the  installation 
of  the  Delco  ignition  system  in  the  first 
20,000  engines;  this  system,  as  Judge 
Hughes  stated,  had  not  been  used  before  in 
an  airplane  engine.  The  system  was  con- 
trolled by  the  Dayton  Engineering  Labora- 
tories Company,  which  in  turn  was 
owned  by  the  United  Motors  Corporation, 
of  which  Deeds  was  Vice  President  and 
a     Director,     until     Aug.     16,     1917,     and 


on  Oct.  13,  1917,  he  transferred  his  hold- 
ings in  the  United  Motors  Corporation  to 
his  wife.  Transfers  of  stock  which  he  held 
in  the  Dayton  Metal  Products  Company 
were  reported  by  Judge  Hughes  to  have 
been  transferred  by  Deeds  "  to  intimate 
business  associates  on  their  unsecured 
notes,  which  are  overdue  and  unpaid  save 
to  a  small  extent,"  but  it  was  not  found 
that  at  the  time  of  his  official  service  Col- 
onel Deeds  was  a  stockholder  in  the  concern 
(ibid.,  pp.  887-890). 

It  was  further  reported  in  the  findings 
that,  in  addition  to  the  profits  which  the 
Dayton-Wright  Airplane  Company  was  to 
receive  and  the  profits  on  various  other 
contracts  with  the  concerns  with  which 
they  were  connected,  four  of  the  recent 
business  associates  of  Deeds  in  charge 
of  the  management  of  these  companies — 
which  "  had  the  assurance  of  very  large 
profits  upon  a  relatively  small  investment 
of  their  own  money  " — were  being  allowed 
salaries  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
$253,000,  and  that  this  was  being  charged 
against  the  Government  as  a  part  of  the 
cost  of  manufacture.  Confidential  tele- 
grams passing  between  Deeds  and  business 
associates  whom  he  had  recently  left  to 
enter  the  Government's  service  were  set 
out  as  a  part  of  the  Hughes  report. 

Another  investigation,  not  connected  with 
the  aircraft,  recently  developed  document- 
ary evidence  that  at  the  time  Colonel  Deeds 
was  commissioned  in  the  Army  and  about 
the  time  the  first  contract  was  given  to  the 
Dayton- Wright  Airplane  Company,  a  large 
sum  was  being  contributed  by  these  inter- 
ests to  be  used  in  Ohio  for  political  pur- 
poses. 

It  was  testified  by  Secretary  Baker  in 
the  House  hearings  that  he  was  unaware 
until  this  inquiry  began  that  Colonel  Deeds 
had  been  convicted  in  the  courts  of  Ohio 
of  a  criminal  offense,  the  indictment  charg- 
ing a  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade,  in- 
cluding charges  of  corruption  and  bribery, 
the  sentence  of  the  court  being  that  he 
pay  the  costs  of  the  prosecution  and  that  he 
be  confined  in  the  jail  of  Miami  County, 
Ohio,  for  the  period  of  one  year.  The  ver- 
dict was  filed  on  Feb.  20,  1913.  An  ap- 
peal was  taken,  and  on  the  bill  of  excep- 
tions the  case  was  sent  back  to  the  lower 
court  for  retrial,  but  thus  far  the  case  has 
never    been    retried    (Patterson    v.    United 


u 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


States,  222  Fed.,  599).  Counts  in  the  in- 
dictment, the  verdict  of  the  jury  and  the 
sentence  of  the  court  are  set  forth  in  the 
records  of  the  House  Hearings  on  Aviation, 
pp.  50-51. 

THE   ENGEL  AIRCRAFT   COMPANY 

Among  other  contracts  which  caused 
comment  was  that  of  the  Engel  Aircraft 
Company,  which  was  organized  in  August, 
1917,  by  Harry  E.  Baker,  a  brother  of  the 
Secretary  of  War.  As  reported  by  Judge 
Hughes,  Mr.  Baker  testified  that  this  con- 
cern was  organized  with  a  capital  stock  of 
$1,500,000  (preferred  $500,000  and  common 
$1,000,000).  This  company  took  over  the 
plant  of  the  Engel  Airplane  and  Motor 
Company  and  issued  its  preferred  stock 
therefor  at  a  cost  of  about  $225,000.  The 
remainder  of  the  preferred  stock  was  sold 
for  cash,  and  the  $1,000,000  of  common 
stock  was  issued  to  Harry  E.  Baker  and 
his  associates  for  their  services  in  promo- 
tion. The  company  received  a  contract  for 
1,200  sets  of  spare  parts  at  a  price  of  about 
$1,000,000.  When  it  came  to  the  attention 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  that  the  company 
of  which  his  brother  was  the  head  had  re- 
ceived a  non-competitive  contract  from  the 
Government,  the  contract  was  canceled  and 
arrangements  were  made  for  his  with- 
drawal from  the  company  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  his  salary  and  $15,000  for  his  pro- 
motion services.  The  contract  was  then  re- 
instated, and  an  additional  order  was  given 
to  this  concern  for  500  sets  of  spare  parts 
for  De  Haviland-4s  at  an  estimated  cost  of 
$2,275,000  (Congressional  Record,  Vol.  57, 
p.  901,  and  Senate  Hearings,  Vol.  II,  pp. 
974-984). 

RECOMMENDATIONS  BY  HUGHES 

In  the  closing  paragraphs  of  the  report 
by  Judge  Hughes  were  the  following  find- 
ings and  recommendations,  which  were 
submitted  to  the  President,  through  the 
Attorney  General,  on  Oct.  25,  1918: 

2.  The  evidence  discloses  conduct,  which, 
although  of  a  reprehensible  character,  can- 
not be  regarded  as  affording  a  sufficient 
basis  for  charges  under  existing  statutes; 
but  there  are  certain  acts  shown,  not  only 
highly  improper  in  themselves,  but  of  especial 
significance,  which  should  lead  to  dis- 
ciplinary measures.  The  evidence  with  re- 
spect to  Colonel  Edward  A.  Deeds  should  be 
i-jresented  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  the  end 
that  Colonel   Deeds  may   be   tried   by   court- 


martial  under  articles  95  and  96  of  the 
Articles  of  War  for  his  conduct  (1)  in  acting 
as  confidential  adviser  of  his  former  busi- 
ness associate,  H.  E.  Talbott  of  the  Dayton- 
Wright  Airplane  Company,  and  in  conveying 
information  to  Mr.  Talbott  in  an  improper 
manner  with  respect  to  the  transaction  of 
business  between  that  company  and  the  di- 
vision of  the  Signal  Corps  of  which  Colonel 
Deeds  was  the  head;  and  (2)  in  giving  to 
the  representatives  of  the  Committee  on 
Public  Information  a  false  and  misleading 
statement  with  respect  to  the  progress  of 
aircraft  production  for  the  purpose  of  pub- 
lication, with  the  authority  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War. 

3.  The  absence  of  proper  appreciation  of 
the  obvious  impropriety  of  transactions  by 
Government  officers  and  agents  with  firms 
or  corporations  in  which  they  are  interested 
compels  the  conclusion  that  public  policy  de- 
mands that  the  statutory  provisions  bear- 
ing upon  this  conduct  should  be  strictly  en- 
forced. It  is  therefore  recommended  that 
the  officers  found  to  have  had  transactions 
on  behalf  of  the  Government  with  corpora- 
tions in  the  pecuniary  profits  of  which  they 
had  an  interest  should  be  prosecuted  under 
section  41  of  the  Criminal  Code. 

On  Oct.  31,  1918,  Hon.  T.  W.  Gregory, 
Attorney  General,  in  transmitting  this  re- 
port to  the  President,  stated  that  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  taking  of  testimony  both 
he  and  Judge  Hughes,  without  conference 
with  each  other,  considered  the  evidence, 
and  that  in  this  manner  each  reached  his 
own  conclusion  and  prepared  a  report;  that 
he  found  it  unnecessary  to  present  the  re- 
port which  had  been  prepared  in  the  De- 
partment of  Justice,  and  that  he  found 
himself  in  accord  with  the  conclusions  pre- 
sented by  Judge  Hughes  on  questions  of  dis- 
honesty and  malversion.  However,  the  At- 
torney General  made  many  carefully 
guarded  and  qualified  statements,  and  his 
report  needs  to  be  read  at  length  (House 
Hearings,   Aviation,  pp.   3862-68). 

EVERYBODY  PARDONED 

On  Dec.  3,  1918,  the  announcement  was 
authorized  by  the  President  that,  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  Attorney  General, 
he  had  pardoned  without  trial  Lieut.  Col. 
J.  G.  Vincent,  Vice  President  of  the  Pack- 
ard Motor  Car  Company,  and  Lieut.  Col. 
George  W.  Mixter,  who  had  owned  a  small 
amount  of  stock  in  the  Curtiss  Airplane 
and  Motor  Corporation,  and  who,  accord- 
ing to  Judge  Hughes's  recommendation, 
was  to  have  been  prosecuted  under  section 
41  of  the  Criminal  Code    (The  New  York 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER  WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


15 


Times,  Dec.  4,  1918).  Later  similar  action 
was  taken  as  to  the  others  whom  Judge 
Hughes  had  named  for  indictment.  This 
left  the  case  of  Colonel  Deeds  to  be  disposed 
of  by  a  military  court. 

The  matter  was  referred  to  Brig.  Gen. 
S.  T.  Ansell,  the  Acting  Judge  Advocate 
General,  and  a  Board  of  Review,  consist- 
ing of  Miller,  Tucker  and  Keedy,  Judge 
Advocates.  On  Nov.  11,  1918,  General 
Ansell  filed  a  report,  directed  to  the  Chief 
of  Staff,  stating  that  the  report  of  Judge 
Hughes  "  so  clearly  indicates  conduct  call- 
ing for  his  trial  by  general  court-martial 
*  *  *  "  that  "  the  only  adequate  disposi- 
tion of  the  case  as  to  Colonel  Deeds  is  the 
preferring  of  charges  against  him  as  above 
recommended."  It  was  further  reported 
that  if  Colonel  Deeds  was  under  oath  when 
he  testified  before  the  Senate  committee, 
and  if  the  statement  made  by  him  there, 
which  appeared  to  be  false,  was  a  matter 
material  to  the  investigation,  he  was  also 
guilty  of  perjury  and  should  be  court- 
martialed  for  that  offense  (House  Hear- 
ings, Aviation,  pp.  2652,  2664,  2665,  2667). 
On  Nov.  15,  1918,  the  Secretary  of  War 
directed  a  communication  to  General  Ansell 
returning  his  recommendations  and  request- 
ing him  to  re-examine  the  case  and  to  send 
for  Colonel  Deeds,  his  counsel  and  any  other 
person  who  could  aid  in  he  inquiry  (ibid., 
p.  2653).  On  Dec.  26,  1918,  in  a  lengthy 
document,  General  Ansell  reported  back  to 
the  Secretary  of  War  that  "  the  conclusion 
of  this  office  is,  therefore,  that  Colonel  Ed- 
ward A.  Deeds  should  not  be  tried  by  court- 
martial  on  account  of  any  of  the  transac- 
tions discussed  in  this  memorandum " 
(ibid.,  pp.  2670-2686). 

On  Jan.  16,  1919,  the  Secretary  of  War 
transmitted  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  a  letter  detailing  the  find- 
ings of  the  Board  of  Review,  the  letter 
closing  with  the  following  passage: 

Inasmuch  as  the  purpose  of  Judge  Hughes's 
suggestion  has  been  accomplished,  I  have 
directed  that  all  the  records  in  this  case  be 
filed  in  the  War  Department  and  that  this 
matter  be  considered  as  closed  (The  New 
York  Times,  Jan.  17,  1919). 

All  persons  under  formal  charges  having 
been  exonerated  under  the  sanctity  of  ac- 
tion by  Government  agencies,  no  further 
steps  have  been  taken  to  bring  the  guilty, 


if  there  be  such,  to  justice,  and  no   steps 
have  been  taken  to  fix  the  responsibility. 

On  Dec.  20,  1918,  a  few  days  before  the 
filing  of  the  repDrt  of  the  Board  of  Re- 
view, a  banquet  was  given  in  honor  of 
Colonel  Deeds  by  associates  in  the  War 
Department,  at  which  he  was  given  a  rising 
vote  of  confidence,  and  at  which  General 
Squier,  one  of  the  speakers,  is  alleged  to 
have  stated  that  if  Colonel  Deeds  had  not 
done  "  irregular  "  things  the  United  States 
would  not  have  had  an  air  fighting  force 
worthy  of  the  name  (Congressional  Record, 
Vol.  57,  p.  1150;  House  Hearings,  Aviation, 
p.  59). 

ENEMY  ALIENS  IN  FACTORIES 

Judge  Hughes  reported  that  650  enemy 
aliens  were  employed  in  the  factories  of 
three  concerns  making  aircraft  for  the  Gov- 
ernment. He  cited  the  case  of  one  man, 
who  had  served  for  a  year  in  the  German 
Army  and  had  been  discharged  because 
of  wounds,  who  was  a  toolmaker  in  one  of 
the  plants.  Another  German  citizen  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  milling  department, 
and  later  became  assistant  general  fore- 
man of  the  machine  shop.  Another  German 
subject,  who  had  a  brother  in  the  German 
Navy,  became  foreman  of  the  welding  de- 
partment. The  head  of  the  drafting  de- 
partment in  one  of  the  plants  making  Lib- 
erty motors  was  a  citizen  of  Germany,  and 
was  reported  for  repeatedly  making  pro- 
German  remarks.  A  conference  of  the  man- 
agement was  held,  and,  according  to  the 
minutes  of  this  conference,  reports  were 
read  "  from  various  members  of  the  draft- 
ing department  who  were  in  touch  with  the 
situation  and  who  felt  that  the  department 
was  practically  a  pro-German  institution." 
His  removal  was  refused,  and  later  a  close 
personal  friend  of  this  man  was  found  with 
photographs  and  drawings  of  the  plant  and 
was  interned. 

Instances  were  cited  in  the  testimony 
where  enemy  aliens  making  American  air- 
craft would  cheer  when  news  was  received 
of  German  successes  in  battle.  In  the  Ford 
plant  a  man  who  had  reviled  and  threat- 
ened the  President  was  prosecuted  and 
pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge.  He  was  fined 
$300  and  sent  back  to  work.  Numerous 
witnesses  testified  that  they  had  seen  air- 
plane parts  tampered  with  in  such  a  way 
as  to   cause   accidents.     A   case  was   cited 


16 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


where  an  aviator  went  to  one  of  the  plants 
to  fly  a  machine  and  was  told  that  it  was 
not  necessary  to  look  it  over,  as  it  already 
had  been  examined  by  twenty  men.  Not- 
withstanding these  assurances,  an  inspec- 
tion was  made,  and  it  was  found  that  the 
wings  were  wrong;  the  front  struts  were  on 
behind,  and  the  control  was  wrong,  which 
fact  alone  would  have  resulted  in  the  death 
of  the  aviator. 

Numerous  witnesses  testified  that  changes 
in  blueprints  came  in  at  such  a  rate  that 
production  was  impossible.  The  files  in  one 
plant  showed  that  over  2,000  changes  had 
been  ordered  within  a  period  of  three 
months;  in  some  cases  as  high  as  22,000 
castings  would  be  ordered,  and  work  would 
proceed  upon  them,  when  a  change  would 
come  discarding  them  in  favor  of  something 
else.  (Senate  Hearings,  Vol.  I,  p.  486.)  It 
was  testified  that  two  of  the  concerns  hav- 
ing contracts  to  make  airplanes  in  this 
country  for  the  Government  were  financed 
and  controlled  by  Japanese  bankers,  and  it 
was  remarked  by  Judge  Hughes  that  in 
some  way  these  Japanese  concerns  got  hold 
of  a  contract  for  nearly  every  type  of  plane 
that  was  being  built  by  the  American  Gov- 
ernment and  were  familiar  with  every  de- 
tail of  American  aircraft  plans. 

UNWRITTEN    HISTORY 

The  Senate  investigation  was  an  inquiry 
into  the  causes  of  delay  in  aircraft  produc- 
tion. The  Hughes  investigation  was  prin- 
cipally directed  to  the  charges  of  personal 
dishonesty  and  official  corruption.  The  in- 
vestigation by  the  House  committee  was 
concerned  with  war  expenditures.  Regard- 
less of  the  amount  of  testimony  taken,  none 
of  these  investigations  purports  to  be  ex- 
haustive. During  the  Hughes  investigation 
an  order  was  published  in  the  Bureau  of 
Aircraft  Production,  appointing  an  officer 
in  that  department  as  liaison  officer  be- 
tween the  bureau  and  the  Department  of 
Justice,  making  it  impossible  to  volunteer 
information  except  through  the  regular 
military  channels  without  liability  to  court- 
martial.  A  questionnaire  sent  to  all  per- 
sons who  were  in,  or  had  been  in,  the  mili- 
tary and  civilian  personnel,  would  have  af- 
forded an  opportunity  for  the  development 
of  further  information. 

While  testimony  relating  to  sabotage 
and  espionage  entered  into  the  records  of 


all  of  these  hearings  as  collateral  matter, 
not  one  of  these  investigations  was  directed 
primarily  to  such  subjects,  and  there  were 
many  matters  of  serious  import  which  were 
never  investigated.  Among  these  was  the 
disappearance  of  the  Liberty  motor  tests 
between  the  testing  field  and  Washington. 
On  one  occasion,  during  the  night,  the  desks 
of  officers  in  the  equipment  division  were 
broken  into,  yet  there  was  no  investigation, 
even  by  the  Air  Service.  On  another  occa- 
sion a  negro  employe  was  found  leaving  the 
Air  Service  Building  in  Washington  with 
official  papers  in  his  possession.  His  house 
was  searched  and  a  truckload  of  maps, 
plans,  orders,  blueprints  and  confidential 
papers  from  the  Air  Service  and  Ordnance 
Department  was  found  in  his  home.  He 
was  tried  in  the  courts  in  Washington,  con- 
victed and  given  a  prison  sentence,  but  it 
was  never  divulged  for  whom  or  for  what 
purpose  he  had  collected  these  documents. 
Many  of  those  who  were  employed  in  the 
Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production  will  recall 
the  frequent  confusions  which  resulted  from 
orders  for  suites  of  offices  to  be  moved  to 
some  other  part  of  the  building,  soon  fol- 
lowed by  orders  to  move  again,  not  a  few 
times  but  many  times. 

MORALE  IN  THE  BUREAU  OF 
AIRCRAFT  PRODUCTION 

One  of  the  important  efforts  in  war  is  to 
destroy  the  morale  of  the  enemy,  and  when 
the  morale  is  gone  the  battle  is  lost.  The 
demoralization  in  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft 
Production  finally  reached  that  stage  when 
there  seemed  to  be  in  the  atmosphere  an 
unspoken  order,  "  to  see  no  evil,  hear  no 
evil  and  speak  no  evil,"  and  investigations 
which  would  be  started  in  the  bureau  would 
summarily  end.  Reports  showing  that  im- 
portant phases  of  work  had  fallen  down 
would  be  pigeonholed  and  optimistic  re- 
ports would  be  transmitted  to  higher  au- 
thorities and  to  our  Allies. 

One  of  the  lessons  of  the  war  is  that  the 
spirit  of  the  draft  exemptions  should  have 
been  more  strictly  followed,  and  only  the 
able-bodied  with  special  technical  qualifica- 
tions placed  in  positions  which  could  have 
been  occupied  by  civilians  beyond  the  draft 
age.  Young  men  without  business  experi- 
ence were  placed  in  bureau  chairs  with  the 
rank  and  power  of  martinets,  and  millions 
of  dollars  were  squandered  without  respon- 


WHAT  WAS  THE  MATTER   WITH  THE  AIR  SERVICE? 


17 


sible  supervision.  The  young  man  is  an 
optimist,  a  qualification  for  the  firing  line; 
he  does  not,  however,  see  bridges  ahead 
which  must  be  crossed  and  which  are  ap- 
parent to  the  man  of  experience. 

In  Government  management  there  is  no 
complaint  department  where  a  man  in  the 
service  or  a  private  citizen  can  report  an 
intolerable  situation  to  some  responsible 
official,  removed  from  bureau  influences,  and 
demand  that  vital  matters  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  some  one  who  has  authority 
to  apply  a  remedy.  The  121st  article  of 
the  Articles  of  War,  giving  an  enlisted  man 
or  an  officer  in  certain  cases  the  inviolable 
right  of  appeal  direct  to  the  commanding 
general,  has  been  officially  held  not  to  apply 
to  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production 
(House  Hearings,  Aviation,  p.  2557).  The 
only  remedy  was  through  the  regular  mili- 
tary channels,  where  any  man  up  the  line 
has  it  in  his  power  to  block  relief.  Men 
who  expressed  anxiety  lest  our  program 
"  to  win  the  war  in  the  air  and  drive  Ger- 
man airmen  from  the  sky "  was  falling 
down  were  liable  to  have  their  mentality 
questioned,  and  to  have  uncomplimentary 
notations  made  in  their  military  records. 

A  DEMORALIZING  EPISODE 

During  the  Summer  of  1918  the  draft  age 
was  raised  and  plans  were  on  foot  to  create 
another  army  to  be  sent  overseas.  It  was 
necessary  to  find  men  who  could  officer  this 
army.  On  Aug.  13,  1918,  the  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral of  the  army  sent  the  call  to  the  Bureau 
of  Aircraft  Production  inviting  men  in  the 
grades  of  Captain  and  Lieutenants,  many 
of  whom  had  been  commissioned  from  the 
training  camps  or  had  received  military 
training,  to  make  application  for  transfer 
to  the  infantry. 

This  call  for  volunteers  for  the  firing  line 
was.  promulgated  in  Bulletin  No.  30  of  the 
bureau,  dated  Aug.  15,  1918,  and  from  the 
entire  organization  there  were  seven  volun- 
teers. Four  of  the  seven  were  transferred 
to  the  infantry  and  three  of  these  were  as- 
signed to  duty  with  segregated  troops  af- 
flicted with  a  venereal  disease,  one  of  them 
being  assigned  to  a  company  of  negro 
venereals.  Many  of  those  who  failed  to  re- 
spond were  later  promoted,  and  some  of 
them  were  recommended  for  the  Distin- 
guished Service  Medal.  The  comparison  is 
made  for  the  lesson1  which  it  teaches.  While 


a  soldier  should  gladly  perform  any  service 
to  which  he  is  ordered,  such  treatment,  in 
the  circumstances,  might  have  affected  the 
morale  of  an  entire  organization.  It  should 
be  understood  that  the  call  for  volunteers 
had  no  reference  to  the  Division  of  Mili- 
tary Aeronautics,  which  was  considered  a 
combatant  arm  of  the  service;  it  was  di- 
rected to  the  personnel  of  the  Bureau  of 
Aircraft  Production,  which  was  charged 
with  the  duty  of  furnishing  the  equipment. 

INJURY  TO  THE  WHOLE  PERSONNEL 

About  this  time  Eugene  Meyer  Jr.,  Di- 
rector of  the  War  Finance  Corporation,  tes- 
tified before  Judge  Hughes  that  he  was 
requested  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  in- 
vestigate and  report  on  the  aircraft  situa- 
tion, and  that  he  reported  to  the  Secretary 
that  he  did  not  think  he  had  a  man  in  the 
whole  organization  who  could  be  called  a 
man.  (Abstract  of  Aircraft  Investigation 
by  Hon.  Charles  E.  Hughes  and  the  Attor- 
ney General,  p.  292.) 

There  were  many  good,  honest,  faithful, 
efficient  and  conscientious  men  in  the  Bu- 
reau of  Aircraft  Production,  but  this 
sweeping  statement,  made  under  oath  by  a 
man  in  a  position  of  high  responsibility, 
shows  how  tense  was  the  feeling  on  the 
part  of  persons  who  were  in  a  position  to 
know  the  situation.  The  facts  regarding 
the  aircraft  in  this  war  will  be  a  matter 
of  interest  to  the  historians  of  the  world 
to  the  remotest  generation,  and  this  branch 
of  our  service  passes  into  history  under  a 
cloud  affecting  the  reputations  of  all  men 
who  were  connected  with  it.  The  War  De- 
partment, with  its  own  conduct  under  criti- 
cism, and  in  view  of  the  findings  of  a  man 
fresh  from  the  bench  of  the  highest  court 
of  the  nation,  should  have  demanded  a  trial 
through  regular  and  orderly  processes  and 
demanded  vindication  of  the  innocent. 

In  Government  affairs  there  are  perfunc- 
tory post-mortems  and  a  hurried  burial, 
rather  than  concern  in  the  establishment  of 
wholesome  precedents.  Honest  mistakes  of 
magnitude  were  inevitable  and  ought  to  be 
overlooked,  but  in  this  colossal  failure, 
which  invited  military  disaster  to  America 
and  to  the  world,  shall  public  officials  be 
allowed  to  wash  their  hands  and  tell  the 
people  to  forget  it?  The  argument  that  it 
is  of  no  use  to  worry  about  water  that  has 
passed  over  the  wheel  would  be  a  fit  propa- 


IS 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


ganda  for  the  protection  of  those  who,  in 
any  war,  take  advantage  of  the  confusion 
to  pillage  the  country. 

It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  investigations 
in  Washington  usually  amount  to  noth- 
ing, and  that  the  facts  which  reach  the 
people  are  camouflaged  by  men  who  place 
their  party  above  their  country,  and  who 
prefer  to  thrash  out  vital  matters  on  a  po- 
litical dunghill.  France,  England,  Italy 
and  Germany  had  no  failures  in  their  air- 
craft programs,  because  it  was  known  too 
well  that  the  peoples  of  those  countries 
would  not  have  stood  for  it.  The  greatest 
battle  lost  in  the  war  was  a  bloodless  bat- 


tle, lost  by  men  charged  with  a  duty  of  in- 
estimable responsibility.  They  were  far 
behind  the  battle  lines,  but  it  was  not  a 
bloodless  affair  for  our  aviators,  dashed  to 
death  by  defective  machines,  or  for  an  un- 
told number  of  American  boys  in  France 
who  forfeited  their  lives  because  of  the  lack 
of  airplanes.  Why  did  we  lose  that  battle  ? 
What  was  the  matter?  The  official  facts 
that  have  been  assembled  in  the  foregoing 
pages  indicate  the  direction  in  which  the 
answer  may  be  sought,  but  the  public,  and 
especially  ex-service  men  who  know  the 
truth,  are  asking,  What  has  become  of  Jus- 
tice? 


DEATH  OF  PRINCE  KROPOTKIN 


THE  death  of  Peter  Alexeivitch,  Prince 
Kropotkin,  was  announced  from  Mos- 
cow on  Jan.  29,  1921.  The  dispatch  stated 
that  Prince  Kropotkin  had  died  after  a 
long  illness.  So  ended  a  long,  adventurous 
and  extraordinary  career.  Born  of  noble 
ancestry  in  Moscow  on  Dec.  9,  1842,  and 
early  appointed  to  the  academy  for  the  sons 
of  nobles,  he  imbibed  the  advanced  principles 
of  politics  current  during  the  liberal  re- 
vival which  followed  the  Crimean  War.  On 
attaining  maturity  he  spent  many  years  in 
active  military  service — chiefly  in  Si- 
beria. He  retired  from  the  army  in  1867 
and  devoted  himself  to  scientific  research  in 
St.  Petersburg.  These  studies  he  combined 
with  political  agitation,  which  his  early 
ideas,  focused  by  the  abuses  of  the  Czar's 
regime,  forced  on  him  as  a  matter  of  prin- 
ciple. A  visit  to  Western  Europe  in  1871, 
during  which  he  made  common  cause  with 
the  Socialist  and  anarchist  refugees  who 
had  made  their  headquarters  in  Switzer- 
land, led  to  his  imprisonment  on  his  return 
to  the  Russian  capital.  During  his  incar- 
ceration he  wrote  a  scientific  treatise  on  the 
glacial  deposits  in  Finland  and  Sweden. 

He  escaped  from  prison  in  1876,  and 
eventually  reached  London,  where  he  lived 
by  writing  scientific  reviews  and  various 
articles.  His  strong  convictions,  however, 
led  him  back  to  Switzerland,  where  he 
founded  in  Geneva  an  anarchist  journal, 
called  Le  Revolte  (The  Rebel).  After  the 
assassination  of  Alexander  II.  he  was  ex- 
pelled by  the  Swiss  authorities  and  re- 
turned   to    England.      Later    he    went    to 


France,  where  his  anarchistic  teachings 
proved  as  unwelcome  as  in  Switzerland.  He 
was  tried  at  Lyons  in  1883 — on  a  charge  of 
which  he  is  now  said  to  have  been  innocent — 
and  was  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprison- 
ment. He  was  liberated  after  three  years, 
and  in  1886  returned  to  England,  where  he 
lived  uneventfully  until  the  outbreak  of  the 
Russian  revolution.  In  June,  1917,  he  went  to 
Russia,  but  by  1920  he  was  criticising  the 
Bolshevist  regime  in  his  usual  outspoken 
fashion.  His  last  known  message  to  the 
outside  world  was  this,  sent  last  January 
through  an  American  correspondent: 

Tell  the  United  States  that  Lenin  arrived 
in  Moscow  in  April,  1917,  and  I  arrived  in 
June  of  the  same  year.  When  I  met  him 
first  I  saw  that  the  country  would  bleed 
and  suffer.  He  has  brought  nothing  but 
disaster.  I  am  too  ill  and  too  old  to  do  any- 
thing- myself,  but  tell  them  in  America  that 
I  wish  I  could  live  my  life  over  again,  for 
then  I  would  make  it  my  business  to  fight 
Bolshevism  to  the  finish. 

Kropotkin  spent  his  last  days  at  Dmi- 
tvov,  forty  miles  from  Moscow.  He  in- 
tended returning  to  England,  but  the  Bol- 
shevist authorities  refused  to  let  him  go. 
As  a  thinker,  Kropotkin  will  be  known 
chiefly  as  the  founder  of  the  school  of  an- 
archistic communism,  the  teachings  of  which 
envisaged  (1)  the  overthrow  of  the  capital- 
istic system,  (2)  the  substitution  of  freely 
organized  human  groups  for  organized  gov- 
ernment, and  (3)  the  liberation  of  the  race 
from  religious  morality,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  "  a  free  morality,  without  duties  or 
sanctions,  proceeding  from  the  life  of  the 
community  itself." 


THE  KUKLUX  KLAN  REVIVAL 

By  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge 

An  account  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  secret,  oath-bound  order,  which  began 
in  the  South,  but  which  is  now  attempting  to  extend  its  activities  throughout  the  United 
States — Foreigners,  Jews,  Catholics  and  negroes  barred  from  membership* 


THE  Kuklux  Klan  crossed  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  in  the  Winter  of  1920-21. 
Revived  in  the  South  some  five  years 
ago,  this  secret,  oath-bound  organization 
that  had  its  origin  in  the  troublous  times 
of  the  Reconstruction  period  following  the 
Civil  War  in  America,  began  during  the 
Winter  just  past  to  extend  its  activities  into 
the  North  and  West,  with  the  avowed  in- 
tention of  uniting  native-born  white  Chris- 
tians for  concerted  action  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  American  institutions  and  the  su- 
premacy of  the  white  race. 

In  New  York  City  and  in  other  centres 
even  further  distant  from  the  region  in 
which  the  original  Kuklux  Klan  was  active 
there  have  been  planted  nuclei  of  the  re- 
vived, organization,  according  to  the  state- 
ments of  its  officials.  How  many  such  cen- 
tres have  been  established  in  the  North  and 
West  and  the  extent  of  the  membership  are 
not  revealed.  As  in  the  original  Kuklux 
Klan,  members  are  known  only  to  each 
other;  the  general  public  is  permitted  to 
know  only  certain  national  officers  con- 
nected with  the  organization. 

To  the  average  American  the  mention  of 
the  name  suggests  terrorism.  The  mental 
picture  of  the  Kuklux,  to  those  to  whom 
the  words  conjure  up  any  mental  picture 
at  all,  is  of  a  band  of  white-robed,  hooded 
riders,  appearing  mysteriously  out  of  the 
darkness  and  proceeding,  silently  and  with 
complete  discipline,  to  execute  some  extra- 
legal mission  of  warning  or  of  private 
vengeance.  That,  at  least,  is  the  reaction 
of  the  average  Northern  white  man,  whose 
knowledge  of  the  Kuklux  Klan  is  derived 
entirely  from  reading  or  the  "  movies."  To 
him  it  is  something  like  the  Vigilantes  of 
early  California  days  or  the  "  Night 
Riders  "  of  the  Kentucky  tobacco  war  of 
the  early  twentieth  century;  the  words 
carry  to  his  ears  an  unmistakable  flavor  of 
lynch  law,  and,  if  he  be  old  enough  to  have 


read  the  writings  of  Albion  W.  Tourgee 
and  other  Northern  authors  who  wrote  of 
the  South  in  the  Reconstruction  period,  he 
cannot  escape  the  implication  of  lawless  op- 
pression of  the  negro  by  the  white. 

ATTITUDE   OF  THE   NORTH 

That  substantially  the  impression  set 
down  above  is  that  prevailing  in  the  North, 
where  any  impression  of  the  Kuklux  Klan 
at  all  exists,  is  probably  a  conservative 
statement  of  the  fact.  It  was  doubtless 
such  an  impression  that  led  the  Mayor  of 
New  York  to  declare,  in  a  public  letter,  that 
the  entrance  of  the  Kuklux  Klan  into  the 
metropolis  would  not  be  tolerated.  An  As- 
sistant District  Attorney,  Alfred  J.  Talley, 
since  elevated  to  the  bench  of  the  General 
Sessions,  took  occasion  in  the  Autumn  of 
1920,  when  it  was  stated  in  newspaper  dis- 
patches that  the  Klan  was  about  to  extend 
its  organiaztion  into  the  North,  to  write  a 
letter  to  the  newspapers  declaring  that  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Kuklux  to  carry 
on  in  the  County  of  New  York  what  he  re- 
garded as  its  customary  activities  would 
be  the  signal  for  action  by  the  criminal 
authorities  of  the  county.  Mr.  Talley  un- 
doubtedly voiced  the  general  Northern  view, 
at  that  time,  of  the  Kuklux  Klan. 

[Alfred  J.  Talley,  Assistant  District  Attorney 
of   New   York,    when   informed    of   the   effort   to 


*NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOR— Current  History 
Magazine  gives  space  to  this  curious  develop- 
ment of  today— as  narrated  by  Mr.  Stockbridge, 
who  is  a  highly  reputable  and  trustworthy  con- 
tributor to  American  periodicals— merely  as  an 
impartial  chronicler  of  events,  notwithstanding 
the  conviction  of  the  editors  that  the  movement 
as  described  is  thoroughly  vicious,  dangerou.' 
and  repugnant  to  the  fundamental  traditions 
and  ideals  of  the  American  people.  This  maga- 
zine gives  space  to  the  subject  mainly  becaust 
it  believes  that  only  through  a  revelation  oi 
the  purposes  of  this  secret  order  can  the  public 
learn  of  its  essentially  dangerous  and  sinister 
character. 


20 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


organize  a  Kuklux  Klan  in  New  York  City, 
expressed    himself    as    follows: 

"  There  is  no  room  in  the  great,  broad- 
minded  State  of  New  York  for  so  un-American 
an  organization  as  the  Kuklux  Klan.  The  pre- 
tension that  it  apparently  makes  to  patriotism 
enforces  Samuel  Johnson's  definition  of  pa- 
triotism, '  The  last  refuge  of  a  scoundrel.'  No 
secret  oath-bound  organization  is  needed  to  pre- 
serve and  perpetuate  devotion  to  the  American 
Government,  nor  to  uphold  the  laws  of  the  land, 
and  the  Constitution  upon  which  our  Govern- 
ment is  founded." 

Mr.  Talley  referred  to  the  organization  as 
composed  of  "  narrow-minded  bigots  "  and 
"  scareheaded  fanatics,  who  are  opposed  to 
everything  that  Abraham  Lincoln  stood  for. 
"  There  is  no  place  for  them  in  New  York,  and 
the  citizens  and  real  Americans  will  set  their 
faces  against  them  and  their  wild  aspirations." 

When  this  announcement  was  published  on 
Dec.  17,  1920,  William  Joseph  Simmons  of  At- 
lanta, Ga.,  styling  himself  "  Imperial  Wizard 
of  the  Kuklux  Klan,"  telegraphed  Mr.  Talley, 
asking  him  whether  he  had  been  correctly 
quoted,  whereupon  Mr.  Talley  sent  this  reply: 
"  I  was  correctly  quoted,  and  my  remarks  were 
directed   specifically  at  your  organization."] 

AS  VIEWED  IN  THE  SOUTH 

To  the  Southern  white  man,  however,  the 
name  of  this  organization  brings  up  a  dif- 
ferent picture, 

"The  Kuklux   saved   the   South"  is  the 
expression  in  which  he  sums  up  in  a  phrase 
a  point  of  view  which  has   grown   into   a 
fixed  tradition  in  the  States  of  the  former 
Confederacy.      To     the     average     Southern 
white  man  of  today  the  name  of  the  Ku- 
klux Klan,  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  cen- 
tury, typifies  all  that  was  best  and  finest 
in  the  chivalry  of  the  old  South.    It  conveys 
to  him  the  impression  of  valiant  men  resist- 
ing tyranny,  of  the  salvation  of  the  white 
race    from    threatened    negro    domination 
(with  all  that  that  implied  socially  as  well 
nas   politically),   and   of   the    rescue   of   the 
j,  white    womanhood    of    the    South    from    a 
t(frightful  and  ever-present  peril, 
c.     The    purpose   of   the    Kuklux    Klan    has 
gbeen  sympathetically  recorded  by  Dr.  Wal- 
ter Lynwood  Fleming,  Professor  of  History 
e-in    the   Vanderbilt    University,   who    edited 
b  Lester  and  Wilson's  "  History  of  the  Ku- 
ajklux  Klan "  and  is  the  author  of  several 
lehistorical   books  and   articles   dealing  with 
f<the  Reconstruction  period. 
a    "  The  object   [of  the  Kuklux  Klan]  was 
ato  protect  the  whites  during  the  disorders 
j  that  followed  the  civil  war,  and  to  oppose 
the  policy  of  the  North  toward  the  South," 


says  Dr.  Fleming  in  an  article  in  the  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica.  "  The  result  of  the 
whole  movement  was  a  more  or  less  suc- 
cessful revolution  against  the  Reconstruc- 
tion and  an  overthrow  of  the  Governments 
based  on  negro  suffrage." 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ORDER 

Formed  in  1865  at  Pulaski,  Tenn.,  as  a 
social  club  of  young  white  men,  with  what 
Dr.  Fleming  calls  "  an  absurd  ritual  and  a 
strange  uniform,"  it  was  soon  discovered 
by  the  members  that  "  the  fear  of  it  had  a 
great  influence  over  the  lawless  but  super- 
stitious blacks."  In  the  difficult  situation 
confronting  the  conquered  South,  it  was* 
inevitable  that  this  power  to  terrorize 
should  be  availed  of.  "  Soon,"  says  Dr. 
Fleming,  "  the  club  expanded  into  a  great 
federation  of  regulators,  absorbing  numer- 
ous local  bodies  that  had  been  formed  in 
the  absence  of  civil  law  and  partaking  of 
the  nature  of  the  old  English  neighborhood 
police  and  the  ante-bellum  slave  patrol." 

Among  the  conditions  and  causes  that 
enabled  the  Kuklux  Klan  to  develop  in 
two  or  three  years  into  the  most  powerful 
instrument  of  regulation  in  the  whole 
South,  Dr.  Fleming  enumerates  these: 

"  The  absence  of  stable  government  in  the 
South  for  several  years  after  the  Civil  War; 
the  corrupt  and  tyrannical  rule  of  the  alien, 
renegade  and  negro;  the  disfranchisement 
of  whites;  the  spread  of  ideas  of  social  and 
political  equality  among  the  negroes;  fear 
of  negro  insurrections;  the  arming  of  the 
negro  militia  and  the  disarming  of  whites; 
outrages  upon  white  women  by  black  men; 
the  influence  of  Northern  adventurers  in 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  and  the  Union 
League  in  alienating  the  races;  the  humilia- 
tion of  Confederate  soldiers  after  they  had 
been  paroled — in  general,  the  insecurity  felt 
by  Southern  whites  during  the  decade  after 
the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy." 

"  THE  INVISIBLE  EMPIRE  " 

In  its  perfect  organization  the  old  Ku- 
klux Klan  had  at  its  head,  with  the  title 
of  Grand  Wizard,  General  Nathan  Bedford 
Forrest,  the  former  Confederate  cavalry 
leader  whom  General  William  Tecumseh 
Sherman  characterized  as  "the  most  re- 
markable man  the  Civil  War  produced  on 
either    side."      The    Grand    Wizard    ruled 


THE  KUKLUX  KLAN  REVIVAL 


tl 


the  "  Invisible  Empire/'  which  consisted  of 
the  entire  South.  Over  each  State  or 
"  Realm "  presided  a  "  Grand  Dragon." 
Counties  were  "  provinces,"  each  with  its 
"  Grand  Giant  ";  a  group  of  counties  was  a 
"  Dominion  "  ruled  by  a  "  Grand  Titan  " 
and  local  units  were  "  dens,"  over  which  the 
"  Grand  Cyclops  "  held  sway.  Staff  officers 
bore  such  titles  as  Genii,  Hydras,  Furies, 
Goblins,  Night  Hawks,  Magi,  Monks  and 
Turks,  while  individual  members  were 
Ghouls. 

The  constitution  of  the  Kuklux  Klan, 
like  that  of  the  similar  though  larger  or- 
ganization, the  Knights  of  the  White  Ca- 
melia  and  several  smaller  groups  having 
the  same  general  purposes,  contained  cer- 
tain declarations  of  principles  which  Pro- 
fessor Fleming  thus  summarizes: 

"  To  protect  and  succor  the  weak  and 
unfortunate,  especially  the  widows  and  or- 
phans of  Confederate  soldiers;  to  protect 
members  of  the  white  race  in  life,  honor 
and  property  from  the  encroachments  of 
the  blacks;  to  oppose  the  Radical  Repub- 
lican Party  and  the  Union  League;  to  de- 
fend constitutional  liberty,  to  prevent  usur- 
pation, to  emancipate  the  whites,  maintain 
peace  and  order,  the  laws  of  God,  the  prin- 
ciples of  1776  and  the  political  and  social 
supremacy  of  the  white  race — in  short,  to 
oppose  African  influence  in  government 
and  society  and  to  prevent  any  interming- 
ling of  the  races." 

Native  whites,  largely  disfranchised  be- 
cause of  their  active  participation  in  the 
rebellion,  formed  one  moiety  of  the  social 
structure  of  the  South  at  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War;  the  other  part  was  composed  of 
the  newly  enfranchised  blacks,  the  North- 
ern white  men  (called  "  carpet-baggers  ") 
who  participated  in  the  effort  to  set  up  a 
negro  government  in  the  Southern  States 
and  a  modicum  of  native  whites  who  co- 
operated with  them,  known  as  "  scalawags." 
The  Kuklux  movement  was  an  effort  of 
the  first  class  to  destroy  the  control  of  the 
second  class. 

SOME   OF   THE   METHODS 

"  To  control  the  negro,"  says  Professor 
Fleming,  "  the  Klan  played  upon  his  super- 
stitious fears  by  having  night  patrols,  pa- 
rades and  drills  of  silent  horsemen  covered 
with    white    sheets,    carrying    skulls    with 


coals  of  fire  for  eyes,  sacks  of  bones  to 
rattle  and  wearing  hideous  masks.  *  *  * 
Mysterious  signs  and  warnings  were  sent 
to  disorderly  negro  politicians.  The  whites 
who  were  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the 
blacks  were  warned  or  driven  away  by  so- 
cial or  business  ostracism  or  by  violence. 
Nearly  all  Southern  whites  *  *  *  took 
part  in  the  Kuklux  movement.  As  the 
work  of  the  societies  succeeded  they  gradu- 
ally passed  out  of  existence.  In  some  com- 
munities they  fell  into  the  control  of  vio- 
lent men  and  became  simply  bands  of  out- 
laws *  *  *  and  the  anarchical  aspects 
of  the  movement  excited  the  North  to  vig- 
orous condemnation." 

The  United  States  Congress  in  1871-72 
enacted  laws  intended  to  break  up  the  Ku- 
klux and  other  secret  societies;  several 
hundred  arrests  were  made  and  several  con- 
victions f ollowed.  Much  of  the  violence  was 
checked,  but  the  movement  undoubtedly  ac- 
complished its  prime  purposes  of  giving  pro- 
tection to  the  whites,  reducing  the  blacks  to 
order,  driving  out  the  "  carpet-baggers  "  and 
nullifying  the  laws  that  had  placed  the 
Southern  whites  under  control  of  the  party 
of  the  former  slaves. 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  the  above  sketch 
whence  both  the  Northerner  and  the  South- 
erner derive  their  contrary  impressions  of 
the  organization.  The  former  remembers  the 
congessional  investigations  and  trials  of  the 
Kuklux  leaders,  the  evidence  adduced  of 
violence  and  law-breaking,  of  the  whipping 
of  negroes  and  of  carpet-baggers  and  even 
of  men  being  dragged  from  their  beds  and 
slain;  the  latter  remembers,  or  has  had 
handed  down  to  him  the  story  of  the  time 
when,  to  quote  from  Woodrow  Wilson's 
"  History  of  t:.e  American  People,"  "  ad- 
venturers swarmed  out  of  the  Nor\h,  as 
much  the  enemies  of  one  race  as  of  the 
other,  to  cozen,  beguile  and  use  the  negroes. 
The  white  men  were  aroused  by  a  mere  in- 
stinct of  self-preservation — until  at  last 
there  sprung  into  existence  a  great  Kuklux 
Klan,  a  veritable  empire  of  the  South,  to 
protect  the  Southern:  country." 

That  the  occasion  which  gave  rise  to  the 
original  Kuklux  movement  was  a  real 
crisis,  affecting  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  a  whole  people,  the  impartial  historian 
of  today  may  well  concede;  that  in  meeting 
the  crisis  by  the  means  that  were  used  the 
South  was  fighting  for  the  preservation  of 


£2 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   H/STORY 


what  it  deemed  right,  even  holy,  with  the 
only  weapon  at  its  command,  is  hardly  to  be 
controverted. 

KUKLUX  KLAN  TODAY 

What  crisis,  what  menace  to  the  ideals 
and  the  civilization  of  any  considerable 
body  of  people  exists  today  to  give  vitality 
to  the  revival  of  the  Kuklux  Klan  after 
the  lapse  of  fifty  years  ?  Unless  some  sat- 
isfying answer  can  be  made  to  that  ques- 
tion, the  subject  is  hardly  one  to  be  treated 
seriously;  unless  there  exists  (or  it  is  be- 
lieved by  a  great  number  of  persons  that 
there  does  exist)  a  real  need  for  the  band- 
ing together  of  native-born  white  Chris- 
tians in  a  militant  organization  for  mutual 
protection,  any  organization  based  on  such 
a  premise  must  inevitably  fall  to  pieces  of 
its  own  weight.  And  while  the  original  Ku- 
klux Klan  was  purely  sectional  in  its  activi- 
ties, whereas  the  revived  Kuklux  Klan  is 
extending  its  field  to  the  entire  United 
States,  the  ground  for  its  existence  and 
continued  growth  must  be  sought  in  na- 
tional rather  than  in  local  conditions. 

Part  of  the  answer  to  the  question  just 
propounded  is  not  difficult  to  deduce  from 
such  of  the  literature  of  the  Kuklux  as  is 
permitted  to  be  distributed  to  those  not 
affiliated  with  the  organization;  part  of  it 
is  contained  in  statements  by  high  officials 
of  the  organization  or  published  with  their 
sanction. 

To  every  inquirer  writing  to  the  Klan's 
headquarters  in  Atlanta  for  information  is 
sent  a  printed  form  of  questionnaire.  Of 
the  twenty  questions  asked  on  this  paper, 
which  must  be  filled  out  and  signed  before 
further  information  is  vouchsafed,  nine 
seem  to  be  pertinent  to  the  point  under 
consideration.     These  are: 

Were    your    parents    born    in    the    United 
States  op  America? 
Are  you  a  Gentile  or  a  Jew? 
Are  you  of  the  white  race  or  op  a  colored 

RACE? 

do  you  believe  in  the  principles  of  a  pure 
Americanism? 

do  you  believe  in  white  supremacy? 

What  is  your  politics? 

What  is  your  religious  faith? 

Of  what  religious  faith  are  vour  parents? 

Do  you  owe  anv  kind  of  allegiance  to  any 
foreign  nation,  Government,  institution, 
sect,  people,  ruler  or  person? 

To  the  inquirer  sending  in  the  question- 
naire satisfactorily  filled  out  there  become 


available  pamphlets  giving  details  of  the 
organization's  present  purposes  and  prin- 
ciples. To  quote  from  one  of  these  pam- 
phlets: 

The  purpose  of  the  modern  Kuklux  Klan 
is  to  inculcate  the  sacred  principles  and 
ncble  ideals  of  chivalry,  the  development  of 
character,  the  protection  of  the  home  and  the 
chastity  of  womanhood,  the  exemplification 
of  a  pure  and  practical  patriotism  toward 
our  glorious  country,  the  preservation  of 
American  ideals  and  institutions,  and  the 
maintenance  of  white  supremacy.  *  *  * 
Only  native-born  white  American  citizens 
who  believe  in  the  tenets  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  who  owe  no  allegiance  of  any 
degree  or  nature  to  any  foreign  Government 
or  institution,  religious  or  political,  or  to 
any  sect,  people  or  persons,  are  eligible  for 
membership. 

CLASSES    THAT    ARE    BARRED 

Five  classes  of  persons  are  at  once  barred 
by  this  pronouncement.  They  are:  (1) 
negroes,  (2)  Japanese  and  other  Orientals, 
(3)  Roman  Catholics,  (4)  Jews,  (5)  all 
foreign-born  persons. 

Without  questioning  the  right  of  the  Ku- 
klux or  of  any  other  organization  to  set 
up  its  own  qualifications  for  membership 
and  to  exclude  any  individual  or  any  group 
of  individuals,  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that 
the  four  groups  particularly  excluded  in 
this  instance  are,  each  in  degree  varying 
with  local  conditions,  the  storm-centres  of 
present-day  racial  antagonisms  in  the 
United  States. 

Anti-Semitic  propaganda  is  more  open 
and  active  in  America  than  at  any  time  in 
recent  history. 

To  the  mass  mind  of  America  the  Irish 
question  is  chiefly  a  religious  question;  the 
issue  at  stake  the  control  of  Ireland  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the  persistent 
effort  of  the  American  supporters  of  Sinn 
Fein  to  arouse  antagonism  in  this  country 
toward  England  a  subtle  piece  of  religious 
propaganda.  Quite  regardless  of  its  truth 
or  falsity,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
wide  acceptance  of  this  view  by  a  large 
proportion  of  Protestant  Americans. 

That  the  Japanese  question  is  a  tremen- 
dously vital  issue  west  of  the  Rockie  is  a 
familiar  fact  to  every  newspaper  reader; 
it  is  equally  true  that  the  anti-Japanese 
sentiment  of  the  Pacific  Coast  is  shared 
by  a  large  proportion  of  Americans  in  other 
sections,  who  have  become  convinced  that 
the    interests    of   the   nation    are    seriously 


THE  KUKLUX  KLAN  REVIVAL 


23 


menaced  by  Japanese  occupation  of  Cali- 
fornia lands  and  that  war  with  Japan  may 
occur  at  any  time. 

THE  NEGRO  QUESTION 

New  impetus  has  been  given  to  the  negro 
question,  more  particularly  in  the  South, 
but  to  some  extent  throughout  the  country, 
by  conditions  arising  from  the  war.  The 
great  demand  for  labor  during  the  war 
brought  about  the  greatest  migration  in 
history  of  negroes  from  the  South  to  the 
North.  High  wages,  North  and  South, 
raised  the  negro  for  a  time  to  unheard-of 
pinnacles  of  affluence.  Then  the  sudden 
slump  in  business  threw  back  into  idleness 
thousands  who  had  become  accustomed  to 
"  easy  money."  Many  of  these  found  them- 
selves hundreds  of  miles  from  their  homes 
with  no  means  of  returning;  large  frac- 
tions of  the  whole  number  had   forgotten 


their  old  habit  of  docility  in  their  brief 
period  of  financial  independence  and  ven- 
tured to  assert  their  rights  as  citizens  in 
a  manner  offensive  to  the  dominant  white 
race. 

Renewed  agitation  for  the  recognition  of 
the  negro  on  the  plane  of  complete  equality 
with  the  whites  was  one  of  the  inevitable 
results  of  the  war  conditions  that  put  the 
ne*gro  worker  on  the  same  economic  plane 
with  the  white  workman;  the  negro  soldier 
and  officer  into  the  same  uniform  and  the 
same  service  as  the  white  soldier.  The  de- 
mands of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  the  Colored  People  for  the 
abolition  of  segregation  of  the  races  in  the 
Government  departments  at  Washington, 
the  reduction  of  Congressional  representa- 
tion in  the  Southern  States  in  proportion 
as  the  negro  is  disfranchised,  the  pardon  of 
the  imprisoned  soldiers  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth   Infantry  held   in   Leavenworth  for 


A  "  DEN  "  OF  THE  KUKLUX  KLAN  IN  UNIFORM 


24 


THE  NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  '  ftXf TORY 


the  Houston  riots,  the  abolition  of  u  Jim 
Crow "  cars  on  interstate  railroad  trains 
and  the  appointment  of  negro  Assistant 
Secretaries  of  Labor  and  Agriculture  are 
pointed  to  by  ofifcials  of  the  Kuklux  Klan 
as  proof  that  white  supremacy  is  now 
acutely  and  nationally  menaced.  The  N.  A. 
A.  C.  P.,  in  turn,  has  included  in  its  pub- 
lished statement  of  purposes  "  The  defeat, 
by  every  legitimate  means,  of  the  nefarious 
Kuklux  Klan,  both  South  and  North."  So 
the  issue  here,  at  least,  is  squarely  joined. 

NATIONAL  EXPANSION  SOUGHT 

It  is  on  such  grounds  as  those  just 
enumerated  that  the  revived  Kuklux  Klan 
bases  its  expectation  of  extending  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  the  South.  It  has  been 
in  existence,  this  present-day  successor  of 
the  old  Kuklux,  since  the  latter  part  of 
1915,  when  it  was  chartered  as  a  legitimate 
fraternal  organization  by  the  State  of 
Georgia.  The  originator  of  the  idea  of  re- 
viving the  old  institution  under  the  old 
name  was  Colonel  William  Joseph  Simmons 
of  Atlanta,  now  Professor  of  Southern  His- 
tory in  Lanier  University.  Associated  with 
him  in  the  application  for  a  charter  from 
the  State  of  Georgia  were  three  surviving 
members  of  the  old  Kuklux  Klan.  By 
virtue  of  this  fact  the  new  Klan  declares 
itself,  in  its  constitution,  to  be  the  only 
legitimate  heir  of  the  original  organization, 
with  sole  rights  to  all  its  signs,  symbols,  re- 
galias, &c.  It  is  organized  on  similar  lines 
to  the  original  Kuklux  Klan,  with  similar, 
though  slightly  different,  titles  for  its  offi- 
cers. Colonel  Simmons  is  the  "  Imperial 
Wizard  "  or  supreme  head  of  the  order,  the 
full  title  of  which  is  "The  Invisible  Em- 
pire, Knights  of  the  Kuklux  Klan."  The 
old  regalia  of  white  robe  and  pointed  cap 
covering  the  face  of  the  wearer  is  retained 
by  the  new  organization,  which  claims  to 
be  fully  organized  throughout  the  South 
and  to  have  a  considerable  number  of  local 
nuclei  planted  in  half  or  more  of  the  States. 

PRETENDS  TO   UPHOLD  LAW 

Co-operation  with  the  authorities  of  the 
law  is  set  forth  as  one  of  the  tenets  of  the 
revived  Kuklux  Klan.  "  Because  certain 
individuals  at  various  times  have  commit- 
ted acts  of  violence  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness and  shielded  by  masks  and  robes  some- 


what resembling  the  official  regalia  of  the 
Kuklux  Klan,"  says  one  of  the  organiza- 
tion's official  pronouncements,  "  they  have 
been  classed  as  members  of  this  organiza- 
tion. The  Kuklux  Klan  is  a  strictly  law- 
abiding  organization,  and  every  member  is 
sworn  to  uphold  the  law  at  all  times  and 
to  assist  officers  of  the  law  in  preserving 
peace  and  order  whenever  the  occasion  may 
arise,  and  any  member  violating  this  oath 
would  be  banished  forever  from  the  organ- 
ization. 

"  Among  the  principles  for  which  this 
organization  stands  are:  Suppression  of 
graft  by  public  office  holders ;  preventing 
the  causes  of  mob  violence  and  lynchings: 
preventing  unwarranted  strikes  by  foreign 
agitators;  sensible  and  patriotic  immigra- 
tion laws ;  sovereignty  of  State  rights  under 
the  Constitution;  separation  of  Church  and 
State,  and  freedom  of  speech  and  press,  a 
freedom  such  as  does  not  strike  at  nor  im- 
peril our  Government  or  the  cherished  in- 
stitutions of  our  people." 

Among  the  membership  of  the  old  Ku- 
klux Klan  were  many  Northern  soldiers, 
members  of  the  Army  of  Occupation  sent 
into  the  South  after  the  Civil  War  to  pre- 
serve order  and  maintain  the  reconstruc- 
tion governments  in  power.  In  the  new  Ku- 
klux Klan,  it  is  stated,  are  to  be  found 
State,  county  and  municipal  officials  of 
every  degree,  police  officers  and  men,  as 
well  as  a  number  of  United  States  officials. 
Senators  and  Members  of  Congress. 

ONE  INSTANCE   OF  OPERATIONS 

How  the  Klan  operates  may  best  be  indi- 
cated by  quoting  from  statements  publicly 
made  by  authority  of  its  national  officials. 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  recently  had  a  "  wave  of 
crime."  The  Kuklux  Klan  offered  its 
services  to  the  city  officials  to  help  stamp 
out  evil  conditions.  The  offer  was  accept- 
ed, and  the  700  local  members  directed  their 
efforts,  in  secret,  against  criminals  and 
"  undesirables  "  of  both  races.  Their  claim 
that  they  rendered  valuable  assistance  to 
the  police  is  supported  by  the  fact  that 
they  assert  that  the  Chief  of  Police  of 
Birmingham  sent  a  telegram  to  the  Chief 
of  Police  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  when  he 
learned  that  a  branch  of  the  organization 
was  to  be  established  there,  heartily  endors- 
ing the  Kuklux  movement.  They  claim  that 
many  such  letters  and  telegrams  of  endorse- 


THE   KUKLUX  KLjaS   REVIVAL 


25 


meat  from  Mayors,  Sheriffs  and  Chiefs  of 
Police  of  Southern  cities  are  on  file  in  the 
Klan's  headquarters. 

[n   Jacksonville,    Fla.,    the    method    of    a 
public  parade  at  night  was  adopted.     Sev- 
eral hundred  members  of  the  Klan,  garbed 
in   robes  and  hoods,  rode  through  the  city, 
scattering  printed  placards  which  read: 
Warning— Undesirap.les,     both     white     and 
black ,  we   know   you.     this  loafing,  thiev- 
ing and  trowling  around  must  stof. 

Knights   of  the  Kuklux   Klan. 

A  high  official  of  the  Kuklux  Klan  told 
the  writer  of  a  dramatic  though  less  spec- 
tacular demonstration  of  the  organization's 
methods.  He  stated  that  in  one  city,  in 
which  it  was  well  organized,  an  investiga- 
tion into  underlying  conditions  making  for 
crime  and  disorder  indicated  that  the  chief 
trouble  lay  in  the  manner  in  which  one  of 
the  city's  courts  was  conducted.  A  special 
committee,  he  says,  with  an  expert  investi- 
gator employed,  spent  weeks  in  drawing  up 
what  amounted  to  an  indictment  of  the 
Judge  of  this  court.  The  document  was 
handed  to  the  Judge  with  a  letter,  signed 
by  the  Kuklux  Klan,  asking  him  to  read 
the  charges  and  to  realize  that  his  future 
course  would  be  as  carefully  scrutinized  as 
his  past  actions.  He  stated  there  was  no 
threat,  no  demand  for  his  resignation;  on 
the  contrary,  the  belief  was  expressed  that 
he  could  and  would  reform  the  conditions  in 
his  court.     "A  year  latev,"  said  the  official 


who  told  this  story,  "I  was  talking  with  a 
very  eminent  jurist  who  was  familiar  with 
the  conditions  in  this  court.  He  said  that 
the  improvement  that  had  been  observed  in 
its  conduct  had  been  a  matter  of  the  great- 
est gratification  to  him,  and  that  he  had 
been  unable  to  account  for  it  until  I  told  him 
how  it  was  brought  about." 

The  power  of  the  Kuklux  Klan  today, 
like  that  of  its  prototype  of  half  a  century 
ago,  lies  in  the  secrecy  and  mystery  with 
which  it  and  its  operations  are  surrounded. 
Tts  members  are  known  only  to  each  other 
and  may  not  disclose  the  fact  of  their  mem- 
bership to  outsiders.  Outside  the  Klan  none 
can  know  whether  its  warnings  are  backed 
by  ten  men  or  thousands  in  any  community. 
To  the  assertion  that  there  is  no  need  and 
no  room  for  such  an  extra-legal  institution 
to  enforce  law  and  order,  the  officers  of  the 
Klan  point  to  the  newspaper  chronicles  of 
crime  and  disorder  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  To  the  charge  that  they  are  a 
negro-whipping  organization,  thriving  on 
race  prejudice,  they  reply  that  no  law-abid- 
ing person  of  any  race,  creed  or  color  has 
anything  to  fear  from  them;  they  assert 
that  they  are  the  friends  of  every  self-re- 
specting man,  black  or  white,  but  that  they 
maintain  the  inherent  superiority  of  the 
Caucasian  stock,  and  that  their  order  in- 
tends to  use  every  legitimate  means  to  re- 
tain it  in  control  of  America. 


SWISS   PROTEST   HA  PS  BURG    INTRIGUES 


f  Period  Ended   March    12,   1921] 


SWISS  newspapers  continue  revelations 
concerning  the  activities  of  Hapsburg 
propagandists  who  take  advantage  of  the 
right  of  asylum  for  purposes  of  their  cam- 
paign to  restore  monarchy  in  the  Danubian 
lands.  The  centres  of  this  propaganda  are 
at  Prangins  Castle,  residence  of  the  ex- 
Emperor  Charles,  further  at  Basle,  Lu- 
xe i-ne,  Montreux  and  Wartegg,  where  exiled 
Archdukes  and  their  friends  have  pitched 
their  tents.  There  is  even  an  organized 
exchange  for  couriers  and  publicity  men  at 
an  Ouchy  hotel.  There  are  complaints  that 
the  Federal  authorities  countenance  these 
activities  and  even  insure  the  safety  of  the 
arch  plotter,  the  ex- Emperor  Charles,  by 
assigning   detectives   to   him    to   "  protect " 


liim  against  possible  attempts  on  his  life. 
Special  attention  is  called  to  the  role  of  the 
Hungarian  Prince  Windischgraetz,  whose 
political  intrigues  as  well  as  loose  living 
an  open  scandal.  Other  agents,  espe- 
cially active  in  the  Swiss  press,  are  one 
Baron  Savenau  and  the  Papal  Count  Volto- 
lini.  These  intrigues,  the  papers  say,  may 
result  in  embroiling  the  world  in  another 
war.  The  Hapsburg  ex-monarch  was  grant- 
ed the  right  of  asylum  on  his  express 
promise  not  to  meddle  in  politics,  asserts 
t  he  Swiss  press,  and  "  now  he  again  signs 
himself,  in  telegrams  addressed  to  his  Bu- 
dapest partisans,  as  'Apostolic  King  of 
Hungary.'  These  conditions  ought  to  be 
stopped  by  federal  action." 


GERMAN   REPARATIONS  AND  THE 
TREATY  PENALTIES 

Story  of  the  London  Conference  and  the  deadlock  that  led  to  the  allied  occupation  of  more 
territory  on  the  Rhine — Rejection  of  Dr.  Simons's  counter-proposals  followed  by  the 
seizure  of  three  Rhenish  cities— Lloyd  Georges  indictment  and  Germany's  defiance 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


ONCE  again  German  towns  on  the  Rhine 
are  in  the  grip  of  French  and  other 
allied  forces,  and  Germany  faces  the  seizure 
of  her  Rhenish  customs  to  compensate  the 
Entente  nations,  at  least  in  part,  for  the 
losses  caused  by  the  war. 

The  decision  by  the  allied  Premiers  to  put 
into  immediate  effect  the  penalties  provided 
by  the  Versailles  Treaty  followed  the  flat 
rejection  by  France  and  Great  Britain  of 
the  counter-proposals  which  Dr.  Walter 
Simons,  the  German  Foreign  Minister,  pre- 
sented as  an  alternative  to  the  demands  of 
the  Allies.  Dr.  Simons  declared  that  Ger- 
many had  made  her  best  offers,  and  could 
do  no  more.  The  military  forces  of  France, 
Great  Britain  and  Belgium,  already  pre- 
pared for  the  contingency,  then  moved  for- 
ward (March  8,  1921),  and  occupied  the 
Rhine  towns  of  Dusseldorf,  Duisburg  and 
Ruhrort,  which  they  still  hold,  while  the 
home  Governments  set  to  work  to  draft  a 
plan  under  which  all  Rhine  customs  dues 
could  be  collected  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Allies.  The  occupation  was  not  resisted, 
and  up  to  the  time  when  these  pages  went 
to  press  no  untoward  incidents  had  oc- 
curred. Germany,  however,  was  much  in- 
censed, and  the  French  invaders  were  appre- 
hensive that  industrial  troubles  would  arise 
from  the  threatened  action  of  the  Rhine  in- 
dustrialists, notably  Herr  Stinnes,  to  close 
down  all  large  factories. 

The  story  of  how  the  German  delegates  to 
the  London  conference  rejected  the  allied 
plans  for  reparation,  and  of  how  their  own 
counter-proposals  were  bluntly  rejected  by 
the  allied  Premiers,  has  its  dramatic  fea- 
tures. Long  before  the  London  conference 
was  held  Germany  had  given  notice  that  her 
delegates,  if  they  went  at  all,  would  go  only 
empowered  to  make  counter-proposals,  not 
to  accept  the  demands  made  by  the  Allies 


some  weeks  before  in  Paris.  The  Allies,  on 
their  part,  had  similarly  given  notice  that 
they  would  refuse  to  dicker,  and  would  put 
their  plans  before  the  Germans  uncondi- 
tionally. As  it  developed,  both  parties  re- 
mained faithful  to  their  respective  pro- 
grams, and  the  resulting  deadlock  might 
easily  have  been  discounted  in  advance. 

VIEWPOINT  OF  THE  ALLIES 

Forced  by  financial  and  economic  distress 
at  home,  especially  in  the  devastated  area, 
France  was  determined  to  force  Germany  to 
consent  to  a  definite  and  adequate  scheme 
of  reparations.  Preliminary  dissensions  with 
her  ally,  England,  were  resolved,  and  Pre- 
mier Briand  and  Lloyd  George  were  solidly 
united  in  principle  when  the  German  dele- 
gation, headed  by  Dr.  Walter  Simons,  the 
German  Foreign  Minister,  arrived  in  Lon- 
don on  Feb.  28.  Some  245  notes  had  been 
sent  to  the  allied  Govcernments  by  Germany 
since  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles; these  messages,  taken  together, 
bulked  larger  than  the  treaty  itself.  Mean- 
while, the  French  alleged,  Germany  had 
done  but  little  to  fulfill  the  terms  laid  down 
by  tho  pact,  and  further  delays  and  evasions 
could  not  be  tolerated.  The  Germans,  on 
their  part,  insisted  that  they  had  sought 
faithfully  to  comply  with  the  conditions  laid 
down,  and  their  attitude  was  one  of  defiance 
to  the  threats  of  penalties  which  the  Allies 
held  over  their  heads. 

Ten  days  before  the  Germans  arrived 
Lloyd  George  was  attacked  on  the  floor  of 
the  House  of  Commons  for  the  policy  which 
he,  with  his  French  colleagues,  was  prepar- 
ing to  follow.  He  made  vigorous  and  char- 
acteristic reply.  He  had,  he  said,  promised 
to  make  Germany  pay,  but  he  had  added  the 
words  "  to  the  limit  of  her  capacities." 
What  that  capacity  was  the  allied  experts 


GERMAN  REPARATIONS  AND   THE   TREATY  PENALTIES 


had  determined.  The  question  that  remained 
was,  Would  Germany  pay? 

THE  GERMAN  ATTITUDE 

Meanwhile  in  Berlin  the  German  experts 
were  working  feverishly  to  draw  up  their 
own  scheme  of  reparations.  Before  the  Fed- 
eral Economic  Council  on  Feb.  24  Dr.  Simons 
was  asked  outright  by  Herr  von  Braun,  the 
President,  what  his  attitude  would  be  in 
London.  The  question  was  couched  as  fol- 
lows: 

You  are  making  ready  to  go  to  London  in 
the  name  of  this  assembly.  I  ask  you,  are 
you  determined  unflinchingly  to  uphold  the 
unanimous  refusal  of  the  German  people  to 
the  bitter  end  necessary,  and  only  make  pro- 
posals compatible  with  the  necessities  of  the 
nation's   life? 

Amid  dead  silence  Dr.  Simons  rose,  and 
in  a  voice  hoarse  with  emotion,  replied: 
We  have  done  everything  within  human 
possibility,  especially  as  far  as  disarmament 
is  concerned.  *  *  *  In  a  military  sense 
we  have  literally  denuded  ourselves.  Those 
who  still  accuse  Germany  of  aggressive  in- 
tentions must  be  mad.  As  to  the  Entente 
reparation  demands,  they  are  utterly  impos- 
sible, and  I  shall  say  so  in  London.  Com- 
mon sense  was  on  strike  when  they  Were 
concocted.  *  *  *  I  shall  go  to  London,  my 
ears  ringing  with  the  cry  of  all  Germany, 
' '  Never  give  in  to  the  impossible !  " 

•This  declaration  was  greeted  with  wild 
and  enthusiastic  cheers.  Dr.  Simons  and 
his  official  staff  left  for  London  on  Feb. 
26.  For  the  first  time  since  1914  the 
English  capital  on  Feb.  28  became  the  tem- 
porary abiding  place  of  a  small  army  of 
German  officials.  The  German  delegation 
was  made  up  of  about  sixty  persons,  includ- 
ing secretaries  and  general  workers.  On 
their  arrival  they  were  met  at  the  station 
by  representatives  of  the  British  Foreign 
Office.  There  were  no  public  demonstra- 
tions, save  that  the  porters  refused  to  carry 
the  Germans'  luggage  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  bear  them  to  the  automobiles  in 
waiting  with  their  own  hands.  The  finest 
suites  in  the  Savoy  Hotel  had  been  engaged 
for  them,  and  the  delegation,  weary  after  its 
journey,  retired  at  once.  One  exception  was 
General  von  Seecht,  small  and  dapper,  in 
blue  mufti  and  wearing  the  monocle  so  popu- 
lar with  the  officers  of  the  Kaiser's  regime. 
The  General  came  down  from  his  room  and 
sat  in  the  hotel  lobby,  examining  with  great 
interest  the  hotel  guests  as  they  came  and 
went. 


FIRST  SESSION  OF  THE  CONFERENCE 
The  first  session  of  the  conference  took 
place  on  March  1  at  Lancaster  House, 
better  known  as  the  London  Museum,  in- 
stead of  at  St.  James's  Palace,  which  was  the 
scene  of  a  royal  levee.    Only  a  small  crowd 


Wide  World  Photos) 

DR.    WALTER    SIMONS 

German    Foreign    Minister,    who    refused    to 

sign   the   allied  reparation   demands 

at  the  London  Conference 


witnessed  the  arrival  of  the  German  dele- 
gates. Premier  Lloyd  George,  who  came  on 
foot,  and  Premier  Briand  were  both  greeted 
with  cheers. 

The  respective  delegations  assembled  in 
the  dining  room.  Germany's  nine  delegates 
faced  sixteen  British  and  French  delegates, 
with  Lloyd  George  in  the  centre,  and  the 
Italian,  Japanese  and  Belgians  occupying 
side  tables.  The  British  Premier  opened  the 
proceedings  briefly.  Dr.  Simons  then  arose 
and  submitted  what  Lloyd  George  in  his 
preliminary  remarks  had  described  as  "  the 
German  observations  on  the  Paris  pro- 
posals." These  proposals  were  briefly  as 
follows:  That  Germany  should  pay  226,- 
000,000,000  gold  marks  (about  $56,000,000,- 


23 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


000)  by  a  system  of  annual  payments  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  forty-two  years, 
and  should  consent  to  the  payment  of  a  12 
per  cent,  tax  on  all  German  exports. 

From  the  outset  of  Dr.  Simons's  exposi- 
tion it  was  clear  that  the  proposals  which 
the  German  delegation  had  brought  with 
them  from  Berlin  were  wholly  at  variance 
with  the  scheme  of  reparations  decided  on 
by  the  Allies.  Dr.  Simons  said  that  the 
German  Government  was  not  in  a. position 
to  accept  the  Paris  proposals,  and  therefore 
put  forward  counter-proposals  of  its  own. 

THE   GERMAN   COUNTER-PROPOSALS 

Proceeding  to  definite  suggestions,  Dr. 
Simons  proposed  that  the  Allies  should 
abandon  the  scheme  for  payment  over  a 
long  series  of  years,  and  should  consent  to 
an  international  loan.  The  amount  of  this 
loan  he  evolved  as  follows:  the  sum  fixed 
by  the  Paris  scheme  was  to  be  discounted 
at  8  per  cent.,  leaving  a  balance,  under  pres- 
ent rates  of  exchange,  of  50,000,000,000  gold 
marks,  or  £2,500,000,000.  Against  this 
should  be  charged  considerable  payments 
which  the  German  experts  estimated  had 
been  made  by  Germany,  and  concerning 
which  the  Allies  and  Germany  were  still  in 
dispute.  The  .German  experts  held  that 
Germany   had    already    paid    20,000,000,000 


marks,  on  which  estimate  •the  remaining 
obligation  would  be  only  30,000,000,000 
marks,  or  £1,500,000,000.  This,  said  Dr. 
Simons,  was  the  utmost  Germany  could  pay. 
She  was  ready,  however,  to  have  a  joint 
commission  appointed  to  examine  the  value 
of  the  reparations  which  the  German  ex- 
perts had  calculated  as  already  paid. 

Dr.  Simons  then  proposed  the  floating  of 
an  international  loan,  on  the  understanding 
that  Germany  would  undertake  to  pay  in- 
terest and  sinking  fund  charges.  But  the 
experts  agreed  that  the  largest  interna- 
tional loan  which  it  would  be  possible  for 
Germany  to  float   at  present  would  be  8,- 


DR.    STHAMER 

German  Ambassador  recalled   from   London 

after   his    Government    broke   with 

the  Allies  over  the  indemnity 


(Times    Wide    World   Photos) 
DR.    MAYER   KAUFBEUREN 
German     Atnbassador     to     France,     recalled 
because    of    allied    invasion 


000,000,000  marks,  or  £400,000,000,  and  to 
raise  even  that  sum  would  be  possible  only 
if  such  privileges  as  freedom  from  income 
tax  were  conceded.  In  conclusion,  the  Ger- 
man Foreign  Minister  declared,  his  country 
was  willing  to  engage  itself  to  pay  interest 
and  other  charges  on  a  loan  of  8,000,000,000 
marks.  The  remainder  of  the  estimated 
30,000,000,000  marks,  which  could  not  be 
covered  by  a  loan,  22,000,000,000  marks 
would  remain  quiescent,  Germany,  however, 
engaging  herself  to  pay  interest  and  other 
charges.     As  final  liquidation,  the  German 


GERMAN  REPARATIONS  AND   THE   TREATY  PENALTIES 


29 


GENERAL   DEGOUTTE 
Commander  of  the  French  troops  in  Germany 


experts  thought  that  Germany  would  not 
reach  her  maximum  industrial  output  until 
1926,  but  they  calculated  that  Germany 
could  pay  annually  for  the  five  years  in- 
tervening 1,000,000,000  marks,  or  £50,000,- 
000,  toward  liquidation,  as  well  as  toward 
interest  and  other  charges  both  on  the  bal- 
ance debt  and  on  the  international  loan 
proposed.  In  1926,  he  concluded,  the  situa- 
tion should  be  reviewed,  and  a  new  financial 
arrangement  extending  over  thirty  years 
could  be  concluded.  As  a  condition  of  this 
whole  offer,  however,  Germany  demanded 
the  retention  of  Upper  Silesia,  where  a 
plebiscite  between  the  Germans  and  the 
Poles  was  pending. 

ALLIES'  RECEPTION  OF  GERMAN 
PROPOSALS 

The  indignation  with  which  these  counter- 
proposals was  received  by  the  allied  Pre- 
miers was  reflected  in  the  speech  made  by 
Premier  Lloyd  George,  the  text  of  whic?l 
is  given  elsewhere  in  this  issue.  After  a 
brief  exchange  of  views  with  other  members 
of  the  Supreme  Council,  Premier  Lloyd 
George   said: 

The  German  Government  appears  to  have  a 
complete  r)  'sunderstanding  of  the  realities  of 
the  situati  n,  and  the  Allies  have  already- 
agreed  that  the  German  proposal  is  one  they 
cannot  exai  ne  or  discuss  as  an  alternative 
to  the   Parik  proposal. 


The  conference  was  then  adjourned. 

While  Dr.  Simons  was  cabling  to  his  Gov- 
ernment for  further  instructions,  the  allied 
Premiers  were  discussing  the  application  of 
penalties.  Military  measures  had  already 
been  prepared,  and  the  final  word  was 
withheld  only  pending  the  presentation  by 
the  German  delegates  of  a  new  proposal. 
The  new  instructions  came  on  March  4,  and 
Dr.  Simons  at  once  set  to  work  on  a  new 
German  scheme  for  reparations,  as  well  as 
on  a  formal  reply  to  the  charges  made  by 
Lloyd  George  in  his  speech  of  rejection, 
especially  as  regarded  Germany's  responsi- 
bility for  the  war  and  the  failure  of  Ger- 
many to  establish  proper  taxes,  from  the 
revenue  of  which  they  could  have  met  their 
obligations.  The  pessimism  of  the  German 
delegates  was  as  plainly  apparent  as  the 
general  public  approval  of  the  points  made 
by  Lloyd  George  in  his  convincing  speech. 
Dr.  Simons,  pending  the  second  session  of 
the  conference,  made  a  public  statement 
(March  5)  in  which  he  said: 

I   must   answer   Mr.    Lloyd    George  calmly 

and  coolly,  dispassionately,  and,  if  possible, 
impartially.  On  Tuesday  we  were  both  talk- 
ing through  windows.  He  was  talking  to  the 
British  public,  but  more  especially  to  the 
French.  I  was  putting  the  case  of  my  people. 
I  must  point  out  that  by  signing*  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles  Germany  admits  that  she  lost 
the  war.  We.  agree  to  statements  of  guilt 
and  to  a  judgment.  We  see  the  justice  of 
this  judgment  from  the  Allies'  point  of  view. 
We  admit  it.  But  I  must  point  out  that  you 
cannot  expect  a  nation  to  come  into  court 
time  and  time  again  loudly  proclaiming  her 
guilt.  Germany  will  not  stand  at  Canossa 
every  week.  *  *  *  My  people  will  not  have 
the  Paris  figures.  Rather  than  bring  about 
the  economic  strangulation  of  the  country 
they  will  submit  to  the  sanctions.  I  have 
received  countless  messages  from  Germany, 
irom  people  in  the  towns  and  areas  affected 
by  the  sanctions,  telling  me  that  they  do  not 
mind   the  Allies'    measures. 

His  position,  Dr.  Simons  continued,  was 
not  a  happy  one.  On  the  one  hand,  he 
understood  the  need  of  the  Allies  for  large 
sums  of  money  immediately,  the  reason  for 
the  42-year  period  of  payment,  the  danger 
of  a  French  invasion  on  the  Rhine.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  understood  the  despair  of 
his  countrymen  on  being  asked  to  do  the 
impossible,  and  was  fearful  of  the  allied 
proposals  on  the  workmen  of  Germany.  He 
expressed,  however,  the  hope  that  the  Allies 
would  reconsider  his  proposals  at  least  as  a 
basis  for  a  new  provisional  arrangement. 


30 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  Germans  submitted  new  proposals  on 
the  morning  of  March  5  in  a  more  or  less 
formal  session  at  the  house  of  Lord  Curzon. 
The  initiative  for  this  meeting  came  from 
Dr.  Simons,  and  was  communicated  through 
Premier  Briand.  Lord  Curzon  and  Lloyd 
George  represented  Great  Britain,  Premier 
Briand  and  M.  Loucheur,  the  French  Finan- 
cial Minister,  appeared  for  France,  and  Dr. 
Simons  brought  Herr  Bergmann,  one  of  the 
German  experts.  When  the  six  delegates 
had  assembled,  Lloyd  George  said  to  Dr. 
Simons :  "  You  have  said  that  you  have  a 
communication  to  make  to  us.  We  are 
ready  to  hear  it." 

Dr.  Simons's  opening  remarks,  disclaim- 
ing German  responsibility  for  the  war  and 
declaring  that  the  Paris  decisions  meant 
the  ruin  of  his  country,  were  received  im- 
patiently. Dr.  Simons  then  formulated  the 
new  offers.  Germany,  he  said,  was  dis- 
posed to  accept  the  reduction  of  the  figure 
of  20,000,000,000  marks  fixed  by  the  Ger- 
man experts  as  reparations  already  made 
to  the  sum  of  7,000,000,000  marks.  He  then 
proposed  again  the  scheme  for  an  interna- 
tional loan,  which  he  advocated  increasing 
from  £400,000,000  to  £500,000,000.  On  this 
basis  he  suggested  increasing  the  annual 
payments  on  the  principal  in  such  a  way 
as  to  complete  the  payments  within  thirty 
years  instead  of  forty-two. 

REJECTION  OF  FINAL  OFFER 

Lloyd  George  denied  that  this  offer  held 
any  new  features.  The  allied  experts,  how- 
ever, he  added,  would  go  into  the  matter. 

The  crisis  in  the  negotiations  was  reached 
in  formal  session  at  Lancaster  House  on 
March  7.  At  the  morning  session  the  Ger- 
man delegates  formally  presented  their  new 
proposals.  A  second  meeting  was  held  late 
in  the  afternoon.  When  all  the  delegates 
were  seated,  Lloyd  George  rose  to  make 
a  statement  on  behalf  of  the  allied  Govern- 
ments. His  manner  was  grave  and  re- 
strained, and  he  spoke  with  evident  realiza- 
tion of  the  serious  import  of  his  words. 

It  was  with  much  regret,  he  began,  -that 
he  found  himself  compelled  to  say  that  Dr. 
Simons's  proposal  did  not  represent  such  an 
advance  on  the  Germans'  first  proposals  as 
to  justify  postponing  execution  of  the  sanc- 
tions and  penalties  laid  down  by  the  treaty. 
He  and  the  other  allied  representatives 
deeply  deplored  this  necessity.     The  general 


view  that  a  settlement  was  necessary  was 
justified,  but  the  German  proposals  com- 
pletely failed  to  satisfy  the  Allies,  who 
wanted  to  know  exactly  where  they  stood. 
"  Until  we  get  proposals  from  Germany 
which  will  be  a  definite,  unchallenged  set- 
tlement," declared  the  British  Premier, 
"  there  can  be  no  peace  between  us." 

Lloyd  George  then  analyzed  the  German 
counter-proposals.  He  pointed  out  the  fact 
that  though  the  Germans  seemed  to  be  mak- 
ing arrangements  for  the  next  five  years, 
their  appended  condition  that  these  ar- 
rangements would  be  contingent  on  Ger- 
many winning  the  plebiscite  in  Upper  Si- 
lesia nullified  in  effect  the  whole  proposal. 
If  Germany  lost  the  plebiscite,  the  whole 
engagement  would  fall  to  the  ground.  "  This 
is  not  a  proposal  for  five  years,"  declared 
Lloyd  George.  "  It  is  a  proposal  for  five 
weeks." 

And  even  if  Upper  Silesia  went  German, 
said  the  Premier,  there  was  no  proposal 
made  for  the  period  following  the  specified 
five  years,  nothing  on  which  the  Allies,  hard 
pressed  for  money  to  meet  their  tremendous 
post-war  expenses,  could  raise  a  penny.  The 
German  proposals,  moreover,  held  disquiet- 
ing aspects.  In  order  even  to  pay  the  low 
annual  payments  which  she  proposed  for 
that  period,  Germany  would  have  to  borrow, 
and  must  borrow  on  a  priority  basis,  so 
that  after  the  first  payments  were  made 
the  income  of  the  following  years  would  be 
mortgaged  in  advance. 

ADMISSION  OF  GUILT 
FUNDAMENTAL 

The  British  Premier  then  attacked  the 
German  Foreign  Minister's  denial  of  Ger- 
man responsibility  for  the  war,  which,  he 
declared,  was  the  very  basis  of  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles.  Not  only  did  Dr.  Simons  re- 
fuse to  accept  that  basis,  but  he  appealed 
to  "  history  "  for  a  revision  of  the  sentence. 
When  would  that  appeal  begin?  He  be- 
lieved Germany's  inclination  was  to  make 
it  the  limit  of  the  five-year  period  specified, 
when  an  appeal  for  revision  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. The  Allies,  he  declared,  could  not 
negotiate  upon  this  basis.  In  fact,  the  ad- 
mission of  responsibility  by  Germany  was 
fundamental  with  the  Allies.  The  whole 
treaty  depended  upon  it,  and  no  amicable 
relations  could  be  entered  into  until  that 
admission  came. 


GERMAN  REPARATIONS  AND   THE  TREATY  PENALTIES 


31 


The  Allies  insisted,  he  said,  on  an  imme- 
diate settlement  of  the  amount  of  payments 
and  factors  automatically  regulating  the 
same.  [He  referred  here  to  the  proposed 
12  per  cent,  tax  on  German  exports,  or,  if 
the  penalties  were  applied,  50  per  cent, 
and  of  the  method  of  payment.]  Paper 
promises  were  worthless.  In  the  interests 
of  both  the  Allies  and  of  Germany,  a  def- 
inite settlement  was  imperative.  "  Propos- 
als such  as  we  have  heard,"  he  declared, 
"  are  not  a  settlement.  They  simply  evade 
and  postpone  a  settlement." 

The  British  Premier  concluded  with  a 
telling  comparison  between  the  financial 
burdens  forced  on  France  and  England  and 
those  with  which  Germany  had  to  cope. 
Even  under  the  Paris  proposals  Germany 
would  have  to  pay  only  one-fourth  of  what 
Great  Britain  alone  must  find  for  war  debt 
charges  and  pensions,  with  a  million  un- 
employed: only  one-ninth  of  what  France 
must  find,  although  Germany's  population 
was  greater  than  that  of  either  of  the  two 
allied  nations.  And  yet  Germany  spoke  of 
this  arrangement  as  a  colossal  sacrifice! 

Germany,  declared  the  British  Premier  in 
conclusion,  did  not  realize  the 
essential  facts  of  the  situation; 
this  fact  had  impressed  him 
more  and  more  as  he  had  at- 
tended the  sessions  of  the  con- 
ference. The  difficulty  of  paying 
across  frontiers  he  admitted,  but 
this  could  be  overcome  by  any 
well-considered  arrangement  for 
deducting  from  the  price  of  Ger- 
man sales  to  allied  countries  a 
proportion  of  the  purchase 
money. 

GERMANY'S    DEFIANCE 


Dr.  Simons  then  asked  for  a 
brief  adjournment  to  discuss 
the  Premier's  reply  with  his  col- 
leagues. When  the  conference 
was  resumed  he  rose  and  made 
the  following  statement: 

Germany,  said  the  German 
Foreign  Minister,  would  agree 
to  the  Paris  decisions  for  five 
years,  subject  to  Upper  Silesia 
remaining  German.  The  allied 
proposal  that  allied  nationals 
should  pay  to  their  Governments 


50  per  cent,  on  what  they  owed  Germany 
for  purchases  had  been  discredited  in  Ger- 
man eyes  by  its  being  included  in  the  penal- 
ties. He  did  not  admit  the  allied  conten- 
tions regarding  German  taxation.  He  laid 
emphasis  on  his  proposal  for  an  interna- 
tional loan.  He  reiterated  his  denial  of  Ger- 
many's war  responsibility.  He  pointed  out 
Germany's  poverty,  and  ended  by  declaring 
that  Germany  would  appeal  against  the 
Allies'  decisions  to  the  League  of  Nations. 
He  finally  placed  the  blame  upon  the  Allies 
for  the  breaking  off  of  the  conference.  The 
Allies,  he  declared,  had  given  Germany  no 
time  to  bring  forward  new  proposals.  "  And 
now,"  he  concluded,  "  the  whole  atmosphere 
of  the  discussion  will  be  embittered  by  the 
penalties." 

These  were  his  last  words,  and  the  con- 
ference at  once  finally  adjourned.  Dr. 
Simons  on  his  return  to  the  Savoy  Hotel 
made  a  statement  which  showed  consider- 
able bitterness  against  the  French.  The 
five-year  proposal,  he  declared,  should  have 
been  accepted.  The  Allies  should  have  given 
the  Germans  at  least  a  week  in  which  to 
frame  new  proposals.     The  application  of 


MAP  OF  THE  RHINE  REGION  OCCUriED  BY  ALLIED 
FORCES,  INCLUDING  THE  NEW  TERRITORY  TAKEN 
OVER    AT    RUHRORT,     DUISBURG    AND    DEESSELDORF 


32 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  sanctions  would  make  all  future  nego- 
tiations impossible.  Dr.  Simons  and  his 
delegation  left  London  on  March  8. 

Lloyd  George,  on  his  part,  appeared  be- 
fore the  House  of  Commons  at  the  evening 
session  and  made  a  statement  which  re- 
capitulated his  words  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  conference.  He  admitted  that  the  Allies 
would  have  much  preferred  an  amicable  set- 
tlement, but  his  observation  convinced  him 
that  Dr.  Simons's  hands  were  tied  by  Ger- 
man public  sentiment  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  was  virtually  unable  to  make  a  satisfac- 
tory offer.  The  Allies  had  therefore  decided 
that  the  penalties  must  be  applied.  Instruc- 
tions had  been  given  Marshal  Foch  for  the 
occupation  of  the  Rhine  towns  decided  on, 
which  was  scheduled  to  begin  the  following 
day.  General  Degoutte,  the  French  com- 
mander, had  received  secret  instructions  to 
advance  the  day  before.  The  patriotic  spirit 
of  the  French  ran  high,  and  there  was  gen- 
eral rejoicing  in  Paris  over  the  invasion 
order. 

THE  ALLIED  OCCUPATION 

The  three  German  towns  of  Diisseldorf, 
Duisburg  and  Ruhrort  were  occupied  accord- 
ing to  plan  by  French,  British  and  Belgian 
troops  on  March  8.  The  allied  troops  were 
already  on  the  march  the  night  before.  The 
occupation  was  effected  quietly  and  no  re- 
sistance was  encountered.  The  French 
moved  from  the  French  zone  in  the  south 
and  the  British  and  Belgians  from  the  east. 
When  dawn  came  the  advance  guards,  led 
by  tanks  and  machine-gun  corps,  moved 
over  the  Diisseldorf  bridge.  British  and 
French  planes  flew  over  the  city.  All  the 
principal  squares  and  strategic  points  had 
been  occupied  by  7  A.  M.  The  British  were 
represented  only  by  two  squadrons  of  cav- 
alry, as  their  forces  had  been  depleted  by 
the  dispatch  of  three  battalions  to  Upper 
Silesia.  Ten  thousand  French  and  5,000  Bel- 
gians were  engaged  in  the  movement.  Duis- 
burg and  Ruhrort  were  not  occupied  till  the 
afternoon.  The  first  act  of  the  allied  au- 
thorities was  to  post  up  a  proclamation  to 
the  people  signed  by  General  Degoutte, 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  allied  forces. 
This  proclamation  began  as  follows: 

The  official  representatives  of  the  German 
Government  have  just  presented  to  the  Lon- 
don Conference  propositions  which  show  that 
the  German  Government  does  not  wish  to  ful- 
fill  the   engagements   it   assumed   in   signing 


the  treaty  of  peace.  Before  this  attitude  the 
allied  powers  are  constrained  to  pass  to  pen- 
alties. Unanimously  they  have  decided  to 
assure  themselves  new  guarantees  in  order  to 
force  the  German  Government  to  execute  thn 
clauses  of  the  treaty.  In  consequence,  the  al- 
lied troops  have  received  orders  to  occupy 
as  guarantees  Diisseldorf,  Duisburg  and  Ruh- 
rort. This  occupation  constitutes  in  no  fash- 
ion a  measure  of  hostility  toward  the  popu- 
lation. Under  the  reserve  of  strict  ob- 
servance of  orders  which  the  military  au- 
thorities will  judge  indispensable  to  promul- 
gate, there  will  be  no  interference  with  the 
economic  life  of  the  region  *  *  *  The 
allied  command  intends  to  maintain  in  the 
territories  newly  occupied  a  regime  of  lib- 
erty and  order  in  which  the  prosperity  of  the 
country  can  develop. 

No  demonstrations  occurred,  and  the  gen- 
eral attitude  of  the  populace  was  one  of 
apathy.  The  Belgians  seized  Hamborn,  the 
coaling  port  of  the  Thyssen  iron  works,  on 
March  9.  Meanwhile  the  allied  experts  in 
Paris  set  to  work  to  draw  up  the  plans  for 
the  other  two  penalties  prescribed — collec- 
tion of  part  of  the  value  of  German  goods 
sold  to  allied  countries,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  control  over  German  customs  in  the 
Rhine  area.  A  bill  to  legalize  the  collection 
of  50  per  cent,  on  all  German  exports  was 
drafted  for  submission  to  the  English  Par- 
liament. Friedrich  Ebert,  the  German 
President,  issued  a  proclamation  on  March 
8,  published  elsewhere,  which  rang  with 
defiance  toward  the  Allies,  but  which  urged 
calmness,  and  pointed  out  that  the  country 
was  defenseless.  Great  crowds  cheered  Dr. 
Simons  and  his  delegation  on  their  return 
to  Berlin.  France  declared  officially  that 
she  planned  no  annexation  of  the  invaded 
region.  In  the  British  Parliament  on 
March  10,  Lloyd  George  predicted  that  Ger- 
many would  change  her  mind.  The  Ger- 
mans denied  this  emphatically,  and  waited 
grimly  for  the  result  of  the  Upper  Silesian 
plebiscite.  At  the  time  when  these  pages 
went  to  press  (March  15)  there  were  evi- 
dences of  a  slackening  down  of  industry 
in  the  invaded  districts,  and  the  French 
were  apprehensive  of  a  plot,  engineered 
by  Hugo  Stinnes,  the  coal  magnate  of  the 
Ruhr  region,  to  create  industrial  unrest  by 
closing  down  all  factories. 

The  attitude  of  neutrality  followed  by 
America  was  maintained.  The  American 
forces  already  on  the  Rhine  took  no  part 
in  the  new  invasion.  Meanwhile,  following 
orders  issued  by  President  Wilson,  all  Amer- 
ican   representatives    on    the    Reparations 


GERMAN  REPARATIONS  AND   THE  TREATY  PENALTIES 


33 


Commission  were  withdrawn.  One  of  the 
last  official  acts  of  Mr.  Wilson  was  the 
sending  of  a  special  message  to  Congress 
recommending  that  Belgium  be  allowed  to 
pay  her  pre-armistice  debts  to  the  United 
States  by  means  of  German  bonds.  Presi- 
dent Harding  has  as  yet  given  no  intimation 
of  what  attitude  he  will  assume  in  view  of 
the  new  situation  created  by  the  invasion. 

The  Reparations  Commission  on  March 
16  delivered  the  following  official  com- 
munique to  the  Berlin  Government: 

Article  23.1  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  stip- 
ulates that  Germany  shall  pay  before  May 
1,  1921,  the  equivalent  of  20.000,000,000  gold 
marks.  this  20,000,000,000  marks  going 
toward  payment  of  the  costs  of  the  army  of 
occupation,  the  feeding  of  Germany  and  the 
supplying  of  raw  materials,  and  the  balance 
going  to  the  reparations  account. 

On  March  4,  1920,  the  Commission  on  Repa- 
rations reminded  Germany  of  these  obliga- 
tions, asking  if  she  would  use  for  payment 
of  the  food  and  raw  material  imports  cer- 
tain securities  owned  by  the  German  Em- 
pire, German  States  and  private  individuals 
in   neutral   countries.     On   June    15   the   com- 


mission inquired  again  what  the  German 
Government  could  offer  as  payment  of  the 
20,000.000.000   marks. 

The  German  Government  replied  to  these 
two  communications  by  a  letter  dated  June 
23,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  it  would  later 
send  to  the  commission  a  statement  showing 
how  the  20,000,000,000  marks  gold  mentioned 
in  Article  235  had  been  paid,  or  would  be 
paid,  by  Germany  before  May  1,  1921. 

On  Jan.  20,  1921,  the  commission  received 
the  German  memorandum,  which  enumerated 
and  valued  the  deliveries  made  by  Germany 
to  date,  and  of  which  the  Germans  asked 
that  the  value  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the 
reparations  account. 

In  these  conditions  the  Commission  on  Rep- 
arations has  notified  the  German  Govern- 
ment: First,  that  it  must  acquit  between 
now  and  May  1  the  balance  of  the  20,000,- 
000,000  gold  marks,  and,  second,  that  it  must 
before  March  23  make  a  first  payment  of 
1,000,000,000  gold  marks  on  account  of  the 
12,000,000,000  due. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  this  payment 
of  20,000,000,000  marks  is  quite  distinct 
from  the  reparation  payments  planned  in 
the  Paris  accord  of  Jan.  29. 


GERMANY'S  MALEFACTIONS 


Address  by  David  Lloyd  George 

Prime  Minister  of  the   British  Empire 

A  summary  of  the  deeds  for  which  the  German  Natio?i  is  being  compelled  to  pay — 
Ultimatum  of  the  Allies,  delivered  March  3,  1921,  in  reply  to  proposals  that  had 
been  made  by  the  German  delegates  at  the  London  Conference 


DR.  SIMONS  and  Gentlemen:  I  have 
been  asked  by  my  colleagues  of  the 
British  and  Allied  Governments  to 
make  a  statement  on  their  behalf  in  reply 
to  the  speech  delivered  by  Dr.  Simons  and 
to  the  document  which  he  subsequently 
put  in. 

The  Allied  Governments  consider  that 
the  statement  made  by  Dr.  Simons  on  be- 
half of  the  German  Government  constitutes 
a  definite  challenge  of  the  fundamental  con- 
ditions of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  and  must 
be  dealt  with  accordingly. 

The  Paris  proposals,  following  the  line  of 
Boulogne  and  Brussels,  involved  substantial 
relaxation  of  the  full  demand  of  the  treaty, 
both    in    respect    of    disarmament    and    of 


reparation.  These  proposals  were  tendered 
in  a  spirit  of  concession  to  induce  an  amica- 
ble settlement  with  Germany.  The  coun- 
ter-proposals mock  the  treaty. 

The  Allies  have  come  to  that  conclusion 
not  only  from  the  character  of  these  coun- 
ter-proposals themselves,  but  also  from 
perusal  of  speeches  delivered  by  Dr.  Simons 
in  Germany  after  the  Paris  proposals  and 
the  support  accorded  to  those  speeches  in 
the  German  press  and  Reichstag.  One  of 
the  most  serious  statements  made  by  him 
was  contained  in  a  speech  delivered,  if  I 
recollect  rightly,  at  Stuttgart,  when  he  re- 
pudiated German  responsibility  for  the  war. 
This  repudiation  was  acclaimed  through- 
out Germany  and,  therefore,  may  be  taken 


34 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


to  represent  the  real  attitude  of  Germany 
toward  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  For  the  Allies 
German  responsibility  for  the  war  is  funda- 
mental. It  is  the  basis  upon  which  the 
structure  of  the  treaty  has  been  erected,  and 
if  that  acknowledgment  is  repudiated  or 
abandoned  the  treaty  is  destroyed. 

The  Allies,  therefore,  feel  that  they  have 
to  take  into  account  the  fact  that  the  Ger- 
man Government,  with  the  apparent  sup- 
port of  German  public  opinion,  is  challeng- 
ing the  very  foundation  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles.  Proposals  such  as  those  made 
by  Dr.  Simons  are  simply  the  necessary 
corollary  of  this  new  attitude.  If  Germany 
approaches  her  obligations  in  that  frame  of 
mind,  such  proposals  are  inevitable.  We 
wish,  therefore,  once  and  for  all  to  make  it 
quite  clear  that  German  responsibility  for 
the  war  must  be  treated  by  the  Allies  as  a 
chose  judee. 

The  treaty  of  Frankfort  in  1871  was 
based  on  the  assumption  that  France  was  in 
the  wrong  and  consequently  Germany  not 
merely  demanded  reparation  but  payment 
by  France  of  the  whole  cost  of  the  war. 
Germany  would  never  permit  France  to 
challenge  that  verdict,  and  we  must  insist 
that  the  verdict  of  the  late  war,  supported 
as  it  was  by  the  declared  assent  of  almost 
the  whole  of  the  civilized  world,  must  be 
respected.  Until  Germany  accepts  that  po- 
sition and  consents  to  interpret  her  obliga- 
tions accordingly,  these  conferences  will  be 
futile. 

Perusal  of  speeches  delivered  in  Ger- 
many and  of  articles  appearing  in  the  Ger- 
man press  has  driven  me  reluctantly — 
very  reluctantly — to  the  conclusion  that 
Germany  does  not  realize  in  the  least  the 
true  character  of  the  demands  made  upon 
her.  I  followed  these  very  closely.  The 
German  people  are  under  the  impression 
that  the  demands  of  the  Allies  are  designed 
to  destroy  their  great  people.  Let  me  say 
at  once  that  we  regard  a  free,  contented 
and  prosperous  Germany  as  essential  to 
civilization  and  that  we  regard  a  discon- 
tented and  enslaved  Germany  as  a  menace 
and  a  burden  to  European  civilization.  We 
have  no  desire  to  oppress  Germany.  We 
simply  ask  that  she  should  discharge  obli- 
gations she  has  entered  into  and  repair  in- 
juries inflicted  by  the  war  which  her  Im- 
perial Government  was  responsible  for  pro- 
voking. 


Under  the  treaty  of  Frankfort  she  laid 
down  the  principle  and  acted  upon  it  that 
the  nation  that  was  responsible  for  provok- 
ing a  war  ought  to  pay  the  costs  of  the 
war.  We  are  not  asking  the  costs  of  the 
war,  not  a  penny.  We  are  not  going  as  far 
as  the  principle  of  the  treaty  of  Frankfort. 
The  war  charges  of  the  allied  countries  in 
the  aggregate  are  so  enormous  that  it  would 
be  quite  impossible  to  ask  any  country,  any 
single  country,  to  bear  them.  That  we  real- 
ize. In  fact,  we  are  each  of  us  groaning 
under  the  load  of  taxation  to  pay  the  debts 
which  each  of  us  incurred  to  defend  our- 
selves in  this  war,  and  to  place  the  whole  of 
them  upon  one  country,  we  fully  realize, 
would  be  an  impossible  proposition.  We 
have,  therefore,  deliberately  in  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles  not  asked  Germany  to  pay  one 
single  paper  mark  for  the  cost  incurred  by 
the  allied  countries  in  defending  themselves 
in  this  war. 

What  have  we  asked,  then,  of  Germany? 
I  think  it  is  important  that  the  German  pub- 
lic should  thoroughly  understand  the  char- 
acter of  the  demand,  because  I  am  certain 
that  they  are  not  appreciating  it.  We  have 
simply  insisted  that  Germany  shall  pay  rep- 
aration in  respect  of  the  charges  cast  upon 
our  respective  countries  by  material  dam- 
ages to  property  and  by  injuries  inflicted 
upon  the  lives  and  limbs  of  inhabitants. 
We  have  asked  for  no  more  and  we  can  take 
no  less. 

THE  BURDEN  OF  FRANCE 

These  are  not  imaginary  wrongs;  they 
are  injuries  the  reparation  of  which  is  im- 
posing a  crushing  burden  at  this  moment 
upon  the  resources  of  the  allied  countries. 
Take  France — France  has  this  year  to  ar- 
range in  her  budget  for  an  expenditure  of 
12,000,000,000  francs  toward  restoring  her 
devastated  areas.  This  is  apart  from  the 
gigantic  sum  she  has  to  provide  for  pen- 
sions. This  provision  will  have  to  be  made 
year  by  year  for  at  least  ten  years.  What 
charge  is  there  in  the  German  budget  com- 
parable to  this? 

I  feel  certain  that  the  people  of  Germany 
have  no  notion  of  the  devastation  wrought 
in  the  a1  lied  countries  as  the  result  of  the 
action  of  the  Imperial  Government  in 
August,  1914. 

Having  regard  to  the  incalculable  im- 
portance of  coming  to  a  real  understanding 


GERMANY'S  MALEFACTIONS 


35 


I  think  it  is  vital  that  the  German  public 
should  be  informed  as  to  the  character  and 
extent  of  the  devastation  wrought.  I  can- 
not help  thinking  that  when  they  realize  it 
their  attitude  of  mind  will  change.  They 
are  under  the  impression  that  the  Allies  are 
seeking  to  extort  money  out  of  them  be- 
yond their  needs,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that 
they  have  not  the  least  notion  of  the  ter- 
rible extent  of  the  ravages  inflicted  by  the 
war  in  the  allied  countries.  I  will  *give  a 
few  figures  which  will  indicate  the  extent 
of  the  injuries  inflicted  in  France. 

Nearly  21,000  factories  have  been  de- 
stroyed. The  mines  in  Northern  France 
have  been  destroyed  and  it  will  take  ten 
years  or  more  to  re-establish  them.  The 
whole  of  the  metallurgical,  electrical  "and 
mechanical  factories  in  the  devastated  area 
have  been  wiped  out.  Four  thousand  tex- 
tile factories  and  4,000  alimentary  factories 
have  been  destroyed  or  stripped  of  their 
equipment,  which  was  either  taken  away 
to  Germany  or  destroyed  on  the  spot. 

One  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-nine 
communes  or  townships  have  been  com- 
pletely destroyed.  Of  707  townships,  three- 
quarters  have  been  destroyed.  Of  1,656,  at 
least  50  per  cent,  have  been  destroyed. 

630,000  HOUSES  DAMAGED 

Three  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  houses  have 
been  completely  destroyed  and  313,675  par- 
tially destroyed;  that  is,  630,000  houses 
were  either  completely  destroyed  or  par- 
tially destroyed.  Twenty  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  three  factories  have  been  de- 
stroyed, 8,000  kilometers  of  railway,  nearly 
5,000  bridges,  52,000  kilometers  of  road  and 
3,800,000  hectares  of  soil  which  must  be  re- 
stored to  condition,  of  which  1,740,000  is 
cultivated  soil. 

There  is  a  reduction  of  50  per  cent,  of 
the  total  coal  production  of  France,  21,000,- 
000  tons  instead  of  42,000,000,  and  these 
figures  are  the  minimum. 

I  have  passed  through  this  devastated 
area  pretty  well  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
and  it  is  perfectly  appalling.  The  very 
soil  is  churned  up  and  destroyed.  A  good 
deal  of  this  devastation  was  wrought 
through  bombardments  and  movements  of 
war,  but  an  incredible  amount  of  damage 
was  done  deliberately  with  a  view  to  de- 


stroy essential  means  of  production.    This 
io  true  both  of  France  and  of  Belgium. 

[Mr.  Lloyd  George  then  quoted  General  von 
Bissing's  statement  at  the  first  meeting  of  the 
German  Economic  Mission  to  Belgium  on  June 
19,  1915,  the  "  object  being  to  provide  that  Bel- 
gium's recovering  industry  should  not  prejudice 
German  industry,"  and  told  how  great  fac- 
tories were  wantonly  destroyed,  the  mechanism 
taken  to  Germany  and  apparatus  destroyed  by 
oxyhydrogen  flames  in  order  to  cripple  French 
and  Belgian  industries  and  to  make  it  impos- 
sible for  them  to  compete  with  German  indus- 
tries when  the  war  was  over.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
„  continued:] 

There  is  a  very  numerous  class  of  cases 
where  machinery  and  equipment  was  broken 
up  in  order  to  furnish  Germany  with  metal. 
Many  of  the  mines  in  the  North  of  France 
were  deliberately  destroyed  with  a  view  to 
making  it  impossible  to  work  them  for 
years,  not  by  bombardment  but  by  deliber- 
ate acts  of  destruction.  Machinery  in  many 
of  the  textile  and  other  factories  was  either 
destroyed  or  essential  equipment  taken 
away. 

Take  the  case  of  the  French  flax  indus- 
try, a  most  important  industry  in  France. 
This  was  practically  wiped  out  by  a  process 
of  destroying  all  machinery,  so  that  Ger- 
many, which  supplied  France  before  the 
war  to  the  extent  of  8.5  per  cent.,  now 
supplies  50  per  cent,  of  flax  products.  Take 
the  case  of  the  blast  furnaces  and  rolling 
mills  in  Belgium.  They  were  deliberately 
blown  up  by  dynamite  and  the  place  left  in 
ruins,  so  that  when  the  war  was  over  Bel- 
gian industry  would  take  years  to  be  in  a 
position  to  compete  with  Germany.  I  can 
supply  many  other  cases  where  factories  in 
Belgium  and  France,  which  constituted  a 
menace  to  their  competitors  in  Germany, 
were  deliberately  put  out  of  action. 

GERMAN  FACTORIES  ALL  INTACT 

On  the  other  hand,  the  houses  of  Ger- 
many, with  comparatively  few  exceptions  in 
East  Prussia,  have  sustained  no  damage. 
The  factories  of  Germany  are  quite  intact. 
The  moment  the  war  was  over  they  were 
free  to  manufacture  their  fabrics  and  to 
sell  them  to  the  world,  while  their  rivals 
had  their  factories  and  workshops  de- 
stroyed and  their  machinery  removed  or 
broken  up.  Therefore,  unless  reparation  is 
made  by  Germany,  it  means  that  the  victors 
will  pay  the  price  of  defeat  and  the  van- 
quished will  reap  the  fruits  of  victory. 


r 


36 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


I  1  have  been  informed  by  the  Belgian  Min- 
isters who  are  present  that  the  destruction 
of  Belgian  factories  and  machinery  pro- 
ceeded to  such  an  extent  that  the  German 
Army  in  Belgium  deported  150,000  Belgian 
workmen  to  Germany  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  unemployed,  but  this  does  not 
represent  the  whole  of  the  devastation 
wrought  as  a  result  of  the  war  provoked  by 
the  German  Imperial  Government.  I  have 
not  given  the  figures  for  Italy.  I  have  not 
given  the  whole  of  the  figures  for  Great 
Britain.  I  have  simply  taken  these  as  sam- 
ples of  destruction  which  took  place.  There 
is  destruction  of  millions  of  tons  of  mercan- 
tile shipping.  Great  Britain,  a  country 
more  dependent  on  its  shippirig  than  any 
other,  had  8,000,000  tons  sent  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea. 

THE   HUMAN   LOSSES 

r  But  this  summary  is  incomplete  without 
reference  to  the  still  more  poignant  and  de- 
vastating loss  inflicted  upon  the  allied 
countries  by  the  killing  and  crippling  of 
multitudes  of  their  young  and  vigorous  men 
in  the  prime  of  their  strength.  France  lost 
1,400,000  in  killed,  and  has  to  pay  pensions 
to  3,500,000  people.  The  British  Empire 
lost  1,000,000  in  killed,  and  the  crippled  who 
are  drawing  pensions  number  about  1,700,- 
000.  I  have  not  by  me  the  figures  for  Italy 
and  Belgium. 

These  casualties  represent  not  merely  loss 
in  a  country  of  real  strength  and  capacity 
for  wealth  production,  but  a  heavy  annual 
burden  upon  the  resources  of  a  country  to 
maintain  the  dependents  and  crippled  and 
maimed  who  cannot  earn  a  living  for  them- 
selves. France  alone,  and  Great  Britain 
alone,  in  this  respect  bear  each  an  annual 
burden  which  is  almost  three  times  the 
amount  of  the  whole  annual  payment  now 
offered  by  Germany  to  meet  the  claim  for 
damages  of  all  kinds. 

Germany,  no  doubt,  has  suffered  from  the 
war,  but  in  the  loss  of  life  it  is  not  compar- 
able, in  proportion  to  the  population,  to  that 
sustained  by  France,  and  as  to  material 
damage,  that  in  East  Prussia  is  trivial  com- 
pared with  that  which  has  been  inflicted  on 
France. 

With  all  this  gigantic  injury,  what  is  now 
offered  to  France,  staggering  under  the 
load  of  expenditure  cast  upon  her  by  war 
debt  and  by  this  wanton  destruction  which 


made  of  her  richest  province  a  hideous  wil- 
derness of  ruin  and  despair,  with  the  urgent 
need  that  she  should  rebuild  the  shattered 
homes  and  restore  the  factories  which  are 
the  sole  means  of  livelihood  for  the  poor 
people  who  had  endured  for  five  years  the 
horrors  of  war  in  their  devastated  prov- 
inces, and  with  her  enormous  pension  lia- 
bilities added  on  the  rest? 

WHAT  GERMANY  OFFERS 

What  is  offered  to  Great  Britain,  with 
her  gigantic  debt  and  pension  list  incurred 
in  enforcing  a  treaty  which  her  King  signed 
with  the  King  of  Prussia,  but  which  was 
broken  by  the  latter's  dependents? 

What  is  offered  to  Italy  and  to  Belgium 
to  relieve  their  burdens?  What  is  offered? 
Not  one-fourth  of  the  sum  required  to  re- 
pair the  damage,  and  that  only  on  condi- 
tions that  those  who  need  it  most  find 
it  out  of  their  own  pockets  first,  on  highly 
privileged  terms,  when  they  can  with  diffi- 
culty raise  the  money  in  their  own  markets 
to  carry  on  the  essential  work  of  govern- 
ment.   That  is  the  offer. 

I  cannot  understand  a  psychology  which 
permits  the  representatives  of  a  country 
whose  Government  was  responsible  for  the 
most  devastating  war  the  world  has  ever 
seen  to  come  solemnly  with  such  terms  to 
a  conference  with  the  representatives  of  the 
countries  that  have  been  the  victims  of  that 
devastation. 

Had  the  German  Government  come  here 
with  some  proposal  which  indicated  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  discharge  its  obligations,  we 
should  have  given  it  the  fairest  and  most 
patient  consideration.  If  they  had  said 
"  Forty-two  years  is  too  lengthy  a  period," 
if  they  had  said  "  The  levy  of  12  per  cent, 
upon  our  exports  is  not  the  best  method  of 
meeting  our  liabilities  or  of  ascertaining 
the  amount  Germany  is  at  a  given  moment 
capable  of  paying,  we  have  other  ways 
which,  while  they  suit  us  better,  will  equally 
meet  the  case,"  we  should  have  sat  down 
at  these  conference  tables  with  the  German 
delegation  to  examine  in  perfect  good  faith 
their  counter-proposals,  with  a  view  to  ar- 
riving at  a  reasonable  accord.  These  differ- 
ences perpetuate  an  atmosphere  of  disaccord 
and  distrust,  and  that  is  fatal  to  the  peace 
which  is  so  essential  to  enable  the  world 
to  renew  its  normal  tasks. 

We  know  that  we  were  prepared  to  make 


GERMANY'S  MALEFACTIONS 


87 


all  legitimate  allowances  for  the  real  diffi- 
culties under  which  the  German  and  all 
other  people  labor  as  a  result  of  the  war, 
but  these  proposals  are,  frankly,  an  offense 
and  an  exasperation.  And  as  one  who  is 
anxious  that  real  peace  should  be  restored 
in  Europe  between  all  its  peoples,  I  deeply 
deplore  that  such  proposals  should  ever 
have  been  put  forward,  for  they  indicate  a 
desire  not  to  perform  but  to  evade  the  obli- 
gations which  Germany  has  incurred,  obli- 
gations which  are  far  short  of  those  which, 
according  to  the  precedent  she  herself  set  in 
1871,  we  might  have  imposed. 

GERMAN  TAXATION  INADEQUATE 

Had  the-  German  Government  imposed 
taxation  on  their  people  comparable  to  the 
taxes  laid  by  the  allied  countries  on  their 
citizens,  they  would  be  in  a  better  position 
to  confront  us  at  the  conference  table.  But 
here  again  the  vanquished  insist  upon  being 
let  off  more  lightly  than  the  victor.  The 
German  debt,  nominally  high,  is  not  even 
nominally  as  heavy  in  percentage  to  the 
population  as  that  of  Great  Britain.  Britain 
during  the  war  raised  £3,000,000,000  in  taxa- 
tion toward  the  cost  of  carrying  on  the  war. 
Germany  made  no  such  effort. 

Today  her  apparently  gigantic  debt  has 
been  reduced  almost  to  the  amount  of  her 
pre-war  liabilities  by  a  process  of  depre- 
ciating her  currency.  She  has  nominally 
imposed  very  heavy  direct  taxes  on  wealth, 
but  every  one  knows  that  they  are  not  fully 
collected.  Her  indirect  taxes,  which  are 
taxes  which  affect  the  bulk  of  the  popula- 
tion, are  ridiculously  low  compared  with 
Great  Britain's. 

[Lloyd  George  then  gave  the  figures  from 
which  he  deduced  that  Germany's  failure  to 
bring  up  her  taxation  to  the  level  of  the  taxes 
in  the  allied  countries  constituted  in  itself  an 
infringement  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  add- 
ing that  until  she  imposed  at  least  an  equal 
taxation  she  was  not  in  position  to  plead  that 
she  was  unable  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
Paris  proposals.  Continuing,  the  British  Pre- 
mier   said:] 

Now  I  come  to  the  conclusion  of  this 
statement.  As  I  indicated  in  a  short  state- 
ment I  made  on  Tuesday  as  President  of 
this  conference,  the  counter-proposals  do 
not  even  afford  a  basis  for  examination  or 
discussion.  They  are  simply  provocative. 
Further  reflection  confirms  our  first  im- 
pression. It  would  therefore  be  a  sheer 
waste   of   time   to   devote    any    sittings    to 


their  consideration.  Allies  have  been  con- 
ferring upon  the  whole  position  and  I  am 
now  authorized  to  make  this  declaration  on 
their  behalf: 

BREACHES  OF  THE  TREATY 

The  Treaty  of  Versailles  was  signed  less 
than  two  years  ago.  The  German  Govern- 
ment has  already  defaulted  in  respect  of 
some  of  its  most  important  provisions — de- 
livery for  trial  of  criminals  who  have  of- 
fended against  the  laws  of  war,  dis- 
armament, payment  in  cash  or  in  kind  of 
20,000,000,000  of  gold  marks,  these  are  some 
of  the  provisions. 

The  Allies  have  displayed  no  harsh  in- 
sistence upon  the  letter  of  their  bond.  They 
have  extended  time.  They  have  even  modi- 
fied the  character  of  their  demands.  But 
each  time  the  German  Government  failed 
them.  In  spite  of  the  treaty  and  of  the 
honorable  undertaking  given  at  Spa,  the* 
criminals  have  not  yet  been  tried,  let  alone 
punished,  although  the  evidence  has  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  German  Government  for 
months.  Military  organizations,  some  of 
them  open,  some  clandestine,  have  been  al- 
lowed to  spring  up  all  over  the  country, 
equipped  with  arms  that  ought  to  have  been 
surrendered. 

If  the  German  Government  had  shown, 
in  respect  of  reparations,  a  sincere  desire  to 
help  the  Allies  to  repair  the  terrible  losses 
inflicted  upon  them  by  the  act  of  aggression, 
of  which  the  German  Imperialist  Govern- 
ment was  guilty,  we  should  still  have  been 
ready,  as  before,  to  make  all  allowances  for 
the  legitimate  difficulties  of  Germany.  But 
the  proposals  put  forward  have  reluctantly 
convinced  the  Allies  either  that  the  German 
Government  does  not  intend  to  carry  out 
its  treaty  obligations  or  that  it  has  not 
strength  to  insist,  in  face  of  selfish  and 
shortsighted  opposition,  upon  the  necessary 
sacrifices  being  made. 

If  that  is  due  to  the  fact  that  German 
opinion  will  not  permit  it,  that  makes  the 
situation  still  more  serious  and  renders  it 
all  the  more  necessary  that  the  Allies  should 
bring  the  leaders  of  public  opinion  once 
more  face  to  face  with  the  facts. 

The  first  essential  fact  for  them  to  -ealize 
is  this,  that  the  Allies,  while  prepared  to 
listen  to  every  reasonable  plea  arising  out 
of  Germany's  difficulties,  cannot  allow  any 


MS 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


further  paltering  with  the  treaty.  We  have 
therefore  decided,  having  regard  to  the  in- 
fractions already  committed  and  to  the  de- 
termination indicated  in  these  proposals 
that  Germany  means  still  further  to  defy 
and  explain  away  the  treaty  and  to  the  chal- 
lenge issued  not  merely  in  these  proposals 
but  in  official  statements  made  in  Germany 
by  the  German  Government,  that  we  must 
act  upon  the  assumption  that  the  German 
Government  are  not  merely  in  default,  but 
deliberately  in  default;  and  unless  we  hear 
by  Monday  that  Germany  is  either  prepared 
to  accept  the  Paris  decisions  or  to  submit 


proposals  which  in  other  ways  are  equally 
satisfactory  to  discharge  her  obligations 
under  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  subject  to 
the  concessions  made  in  the  Paris  proposals, 
we  shall  as  from  that  date  take  the  following 
course  under  the  Treaty  of  Versailles:  The 
Allies  will  immediately  occupy  Duisburg. 
Ruhrort  and  Diisseldorf,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  levy  a  tax  on  the  sale  price  of 
German  goods  in  allied  countries  and  estab- 
lish a  customs  line  on  the  Rhine. 

[The  full  story  of  the  London  conference, 
whose  climax  was  marked  by  this  speech,  is 
told   in    the   proceeding    article,   pages   26'-,?;. ] 


TO   INVESTIGATE   PHILIPPINE    CONDITIONS 


MAJOR  GEN.  LEONARD  WOOD  was 
requested  by  President  Harding  to  go 
•to  the  Philippines  as  the  special  representa- 
tive of  the  President  to  investigate  and  re- 
port on  the  question  of  independence  for 
these  Pacific  possessions.  The  General  will 
be  accompanied  by  a  military  aid  and  per- 
haps by  W.  Cameron  Forbes,  former  Gov- 
ernor General  of  the  islands.  It  is  expected 
that  the  mission  will  be  absent  from  this 
country  from  three  to  four  months.  The 
General,  however,  will  not  be  relieved  of 
his  command  of  the  Sixth  Corps  area  dur- 
ing his  absence. 

The  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania have  offered  General  Wood  the 
position  of  Provost  at  a  salary  of  $25,000, 
and  it  is  understood  he  has  decided  to  ac- 
cept. 

Retiring  after  eight  years  of  distinguished 
service  as  Governor  General  of  the  Philip- 
pines, Francis  Burton  Harrison  received  a 
demonstrative  farewell  as  he  took  ship  at 
Manila  for  home  on  March  5.  Thousands 
joined  in  the  ceremony,  as  nearly  all  the 
organizations  in  Manila  formed  a  parade 
from  Malacanang,  the  Governor's  residence, 
to  the  House  of  Representatives.  There  ad- 
dresses were  delivered  in  English  and 
Tagalog.  In  the  evening  a  banquet  to  him 
was  attended  by  several  thousand  persons. 

Mr.  Harrison's  last  official  message  to 
the  Filipino  people  follows: 

My   greatest   regret   on   leaving  my   post    la 

the  fact  that  I  will  no  longer  serve  the  people 


of     the     Philippines     as     a     public     official. 
Wherever    I    may    be,     however,     I    will    do 
everything    in    my    power    for    the    advance- 
ment  of   the   Philippine   cause.     I    will    work 
for  its  sacred  ideals.  I  feel  the  most  profound 
gratitude    for    the    generosity    and    sympathy 
•  with    which    my    administration    was    helped 
by  the  people  of  these  islands. 
Dr.  Guy  Potter  Benton  of  New  York,  for- 
mer President  of  the  University  of  Vermont, 
was  elected  President  of  the  University  of 
the  Philippines  on  March  8,  at  a  yearly  sal- 
ary of  $15,000,  with  an  extra  allowance  of 
$1,500  a  year  for  house  rent.     Dr.  Benton 
signed   a   contract  for  one   year,   with   the 
privilege  of  renewing  it  for  nine  years  more. 
He  arrived  in  Manila  six  months  ago  as  an 
educational    consultant    for    the    Philippine 
district  of  the  United  States  Army. 

Breaking  the  world's  record  for  long-dis- 
tance wireless  telegraphy,  the  United  States 
Army  on  March  8  sent  messages  from 
Cavite,  Philippine  Islands,  to  Washington, 
a  distance  of  10,000  miles.  The  Cavite  sta- 
tion sent  test  messages  7,000  miles  to  the 
wireless  station  on  Goat  Island,  California, 
whence  they  were  forwarded  to  San  Diego 
and  on  to  Washington.  This  record  makes  it 
possible  to  do  away  with  the  present  system 
of  sending  cable  messages  via  the  Midway 
Islands,  Guam  and  Honolulu.  A  new  auto- 
matic control  eliminates  all  handling  of 
messages  between  originating  and  receiving 
points,  making  it  possible  for  warships  3,000 
miles  from  a  shore  station  to  communicate 
directly  with  Washington 


(©    Underwood  &    Underwood) 
A    dramatic   moment    of   Inauguration    Day:     President-elect    Harding,    a   few    minutes 
before  his  own  inauguration,  is  mounting  the  Senate  steps,  with  Senator  Knox  and  Congress- 
man   Gannon,   to   witness    the    inauguration   of    Vice    President    Coolidge.     President    Wilson 
remains  alone  im,  the  car,  being  unable  to  walk  up  the  steps  with  his  successor 


PRESIDENT  HARDING'S 
INAUGURATION 


Simple  but  impressive  ceremonies  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  Administration — 
Addresses  of  the  President  and  Vice  President— 7 Personnel  of  the  new  Cabinet ,  with 
other  appointments — How  Europe  received  the  policy  outlined  in  the  inaugural  address 


EXACTLY  eight  years  and  eight  minutes 
after  his  predecessor  had  been  in- 
ducted into  office,  Warren  Gamaliel 
Harding  became  President  of  the  United 
States,  March  4,  1921.  In  accordance  with 
his  wishes,  the  ceremonies  were  of  the 
simplest  character,  and  yet  lacked  nothing 
of  impressiveness.  A  crowd  much  smaller 
than  usual  saw  the  retiring  and  incoming 
Presidents  take  the  historic  ride  down 
Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The  Presidential 
parade,  consisting  merely  of  a  troop  of 
cavalry  and  a  dozen  automobiles,  was 
greeted  with  frequent  bursts  of  applause 
and  cheering  along  the  route. 

The  party  proceeded  to  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber, where  President  Wilson  signed  a  few 
belated  bills  and  then  departed  for  his  new 
home,  physical  weakness  preventing  him 
from    further    participation    in    the    cere- 


monies. Mr.  Harding  stayed  long  enough 
to  witness  the  induction  into  office  of  Vice 
President  Coolidge  and  then  proceeded  to  the 
east  portico  of  the  Capitol.  There  a  small 
kiosk  of  Corinthian  architecture  had  been 
erected  to  shelter  the  participants  in  the 
inauguration  exercises. 

SIMPLE  CEREMONIES 

A  great  throng  had  gathered  in  the  plaza. 
The  sky  was  brilliant  and  the  atmosphere 
keen,  with  slightly  .more  than  the  ordinary 
tang  to  it.  In  front  of  the  kiosk  and  below 
it  sat  the  Marine  Band,  gay  in  scarlet  coats 
and  bright  blue  trousers,  while  the  steps  of 
the  Capitol  were  guarded  by  marines  with 
color  guards  of  regulars  and  sailors.  To 
keep  the  steps  clear,  army  officers,  diplo- 
mats and  pretty  girls  were  pressed  into 
service  and  held  up  long  white  ribbons  to 


4(f 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


keep  back  the  spectators  on  both  sides.  The 
band  struck  up  a  lively  air  as  Mrs.  Harding 
came  down  the  steps,  escorted  by  a  military 
aid  and  followed  by  other  women  of  the 
new  President's  family.  Then  came  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet  and  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  Finally,  President-elect 
Harding  came  down  the  steps,  escorted  by 
Senator  Knox,  and  the  band  broke  into  a 
triumphal  march. 

After  Mr.  Harding  had  reached  his 
allotted  central  position  in  the  kiosk,  Sena- 
tor King  took  a  position  at  his  left.  The 
Marshal  of  the  Court  laid  the  open  Bible 
on  the  desk  and  Mr.  Harding  faced  about, 
laid  one  hand  on  the  Book  and  lifted  the 
other  as  Chief  Justice  White  administered 
this  oath: 

I,  Warren  Gamaliel  Harding,  do  solemnly 
swear  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  of- 
fice of  President  of  the  United  States  and 
will  to  the  best  of  my  ability  preserve,  pro- 
tect and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  so  help  me  God. 

Mr.  Harding  repeated  the  oath  slowly 
and  clearly,  and  when  he  added  the  final 
invocation  bent  over  to  kiss  the  Bible  and 
rose  smiling.  The  crowd  cheered  and  the 
band  struck  up  "  The  Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner." 

Then  President  Harding  began  the  read- 
ing of  his  inaugural  address.  An  amplifier, 
hidden  by  a  flag  spread  over  the  ceiling  of 
the  kiosk,  carried  his  words  clearly  to  the 
furthest  parts  of  the  throng.  The  Presi- 
dent spoke  with  only  perfunctory  references 
to  his  notes,  and  was  listened  to  with  defer- 
ence and  profound  attention. 

INAUGURAL  SPEECH 

The  inaugural  address  was  characterized 
by  solemnity  and  elevation  of  tone.  It  was' 
in  the  main  an  appeal  for  an  era  of  good 
feeling,  a  return  to  normalcy,  a  policy  of 
non-involvement  in  European  affairs  and 
the  cultivation  of  the  home  market.  There 
was  no  definite  pronouncement  on  proposed 
legislation,  nor  was  this  expected,  as  the 
President  had  previously  announced  that  he 
would  commit  himself  to  no  specific  policy 
before  taking  counsel  with  his  advisers. 

Perhaps  the  most  decided  stand  taken  by 
the  President  was  in  regard  to  foreign  re- 
lations.    Concerning  these  he  said  in  part: 

The  recorded  progress  of  our  Republic, 
materially  and  spiritually,  in  itself  proves 
the   wisdom   of   the    inherited   policy    of   non- 


involvement  in  Old  World  affairs.  Confidenl 
of  our  ability  to  work  out  our  own  destiny 
and  jealously  guarding  our  right  to  do  so. 
we  seek  no  part  in  directing  the  destinies  of 
the  Old  World.  We  do  not  mean  to  be  en- 
tangled. We  will  accept  no  responsibility 
except  as  our  own  conscience  and  judgment 
in  each  instance  may  determine. 

We  crave  friendship  and  harbor  no  hate. 
But  America,  our  America,  the  America 
builded  on  the  foundation  laid  by  the  in- 
spired fathers,  can  be  a  party  to  no  perma- 
nent military  alliance.  It  can  enter  into  no 
political  commitments,  nor  assume  any  eco- 
nomic obligations  or  subject  our  decisions  to 
any  other  than   our  own  authority. 

We  are  ready  to  associate  ourselves  with 
the  nations  of  the  world,  great  and  small, 
for  conference,  for  counsel,  to  seek  the  ex- 
pressed views  of  world  opinion,  to  recom- 
mend a  way  to  approximate  disarmament 
and  relieve  the  crushing  burdens  of  military 
and  naval  establishments.  We  elect  to  par- 
ticipate in  suggesting  plans  for  mediation, 
conciliation  and  arbitration,  and  would 
gladly  join  in  that  expressed  conscience  of 
progress  which  seeks  to  clarify  and  write 
the    laws    of    international    relationship    and 


Harris  '<£  Ewing) 
HENRY  P.   FLETCHER 
Former  Ambassador  to  Mexico,  now  Undo 
Secretary  of  State 


PRESIDENT  HARDING'S  INAUGURATION 


41 


establish  a  world  court  for  the  disposition  of 
such  justiciable  questions  as  nations  are 
agreed  to  submit  thereto.  But  every  commit- 
ment must  be  made  in  the  exercise  of  our 
national  sovereignty. 

Since  freedom  impelled  and  independence 
inspired  and  nationality  exalted,  a  world 
supergovernment  is  contrary  to  everything 
we  cherish  and  can  have  no  sanction  by  our 
Republic.  This  is  not  selfishness;  it  is  sanc- 
tity. It  is  not  aloof ntss;  it  is  security.  It 
is  not  suspicion  of  others ;  it  is  patriotic  ad- 
herence to  the  things  which  made  us  what 
we  are. 


Pack    Bros.) 
THEODORE   ROOSEVELT 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  a  position 
once  held  by  his  distinguished  father 


The  concluding  paragraph  of  the  address 
was  as  follows: 

I  have  taken  the  solemn  oath  of  office  on 
that  passage  of  Holy  Writ  wherein  it  is 
asked,  "  What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee 
but  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy  and  walk 
humbly    with    thy  "      This    I    plight    to 

God  and  country. 

There  was  a  roar  gjif  applause  as  he  con- 
cluded and  turned  t#  receive  the  congratu- 
lations of  those  nefe,r  by,  Vice  President 
Coolidge  being  the  first  to  shake  hands 
with  him.  Then,  as  the  President  and  Mrs. 
Harding  started  to  leave  the  stand  for  the 
Capitol,  the  band  played  "  America." 

Following  his  inauguration  President 
Harding  appeared  in  person  in  the  Senate 
and  presented  the  nominations  of  the  men 


Kadel  &  Herbert) 
MISS    ALICE   M.    ROBERTSON 
Only  woman  member  of  the  new  Congress, 
elected   in    Oklahoma 


whom  he  had  selected  to  head  the  execu- 
tive departments.  His  appearance  before 
an  executive  session  of  the  Senate  revived 
a  custom  which'  Washington  started  and 
which  Jefferson  was  the  last  to  follow. 

The  President  was  in  the  Senate  not  more 
than  fifteen  minutes,  and  himself  read  the 
names  of  the  new  Cabinet  officers  in  their 
constitutional  order,  as  follows: 

Secretary   of   State— Charles   Evans   Hughes 
of  New  York. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury— Andrew  W.  Mel- 
lon of  Pennsylvania. 

Secretary  of  War— John  W.   Weeks  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Attorney   General— Harry   M.    Daugherty   of 
Ohio. 

Postmaster     General  —  Will     H.     Hays     of 
Indiana. 

Secretary    of    the    Navy— Edwin    Denby    of 
Michigan. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior— Albert  B.  Fall  of 
New  Mexico. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture— Henry  C.  Wallace 
of  Iowa. 

Secretary  of  Commerce— Herbert  C.  Hoover 
of  California. 


Vi 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Secretary    of    Labor  —  James    J.     Davis    of 
Indiana. 

There  was  no  opposition  to  any  of  the  ap- 
pointments when  they  were  referred  to  the 
appropriate  committees,  and  when  finally 
the  nominations  were  offered  to  the  Senate 
for  confirmation  as  a  whole  they  were  ap- 
proved unanimously. 

Many  of  the  members  of  the  new  Cabinet 
are  men  of  national,  and  two  at  least  of 
international,  reputation.  Secretary  Hughes 
is  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  and  jurists  of 
the  country.  He  was  twice  Governor  of 
New  York  and  for  six  years  was  an  As- 
sociate Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  In  1916  he  was  the  candi- 
date of  the  Republican  Party  for  President. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Mellon  is  a 
Pennsylvania  banker  and  reputed  to  be  one 
of  the  wealthiest  men  in  America.  Besides 
his  banking  affiliations,  he  has  large  in- 
terests in  coal,  coke,  steel  and  iron  enter- 
prises. 

Secretary  Weeks  of  the  War  Department 
is  a  graduate  of  Annapolis  and  a  former 
United  States  Senator  from  Massachusetts. 
In  1916  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dential nomination. 

Attorney  General  Daugherty  is  an  Ohio 
lawyer  with  offices  in  Columbus,  and  was 
convention  manager  for  President  Harding. 

Postmaster  General  Hays  is  the  youngest 
member  of  the  Cabinet,  being  only  41.  He 
is  a  lawyer,  as  are  four  other  Cabinet 
members.  In  1918  he  was  made  Chairman 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee. 

Secretary  of  the  Navy  Denby  has  served 
three  terms  in  the  House  and  was  on  the 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs.  He  has  been 
an  enlisted  man  in  the  navy  and  the  Marine 
Corps. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior  Fall  has  been  a 
conspicuous  member  of  the  Senate  and  has 
taken  a  large  part  in  debates  and  legislative 
action  regarding  Mexico. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wallaee  is  an 
editor,  publisher  and  practical  farmer  of 
Iowa. 

Secretary  of  Labor  Davis  began  life  as  a 
tinplate  worker  and  afterward  went  into 
the  banking  business  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

VICE  PRESIDENT   COOLIDGE'S  IN- 
AUGURATION 

Calvin  Coolidge  was  inaugurated  as  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States  in  the  pres- 


ence of  a  notable  gathering,  including 
President-elect  Harding.  The  new  Vice 
President  was  sworn  in  at  12:21  o'clock. 
Mr.  Marshall,  the  retiring  Vice  President, 
announced  that  the  Senate  of  the  Sixty- 
sixth  Congress  was  adjourned  sine  die,  and 
handed  the  gavel  of  authority  to  his  suc- 
cessor. Every  one  rose  to  his  feet,  and 
there  was  prolonged  applause. 

After  the  chaplain  had  offered  prayer, 
Mr.  Coolidge  began  the  delivery  of  his  in- 
augural address.  He  spoke  in  a  deep, 
rather  low  voice  with  a  metallic  ring,  and 
was  clearly  heard  throughout  the  chamber. 

Mr.  Coolidge's  address  was  comparatively 
brief.  He  declared  that  the  Senate  was  a 
"  citadel  of  liberty "  in  the  constitutional 
structure  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
its  record  for  wisdom  had  never  been  sur- 
passed by  any  legislative  body. 

The  valedictory  of  Mr.  Marshall,  preced- 
ing the  speech  of  his  successor,  was  an  ex- 
pression of  deep  faith  in  the  American  form 
of  government  and  a  warning  against  hasty 
reforms.  He  received  an  ovation  when  he 
concluded. 

Prior  to  the  ceremonies,  the  Senate  had 
spent  more  than  an  hour  in  conducting  its 
closing  legislative  business,  with  some  di- 
version due  to  the  occasion  of  the  outgoing 
of  an  old  and  the  incoming  of  a  new  na- 
tional Administration. 

After  the  inauguration,  the  fourteen  new 
Senators  and  the  present  members  of  the 
Senate  who  had  been  re-elected  for  the  new 
term  went  forward  as  their  names  were 
called  to  take  the  oath.  Of  the  new  Sen- 
ators, eleven  were  Republicans  and  three 
Democrats.  They  were  sworn  in  by  Vice 
President  Coolidge  in  alphabetical  groups. 

INTERESTING  SIDELIGHTS. 

The  Bible  on  which  President  Harding 
took  the  oath  of  office  has  an  interesting 
history.  When  Washington  was  sworn  in 
at  New  York,  April  30,  1789,  for  his  first 
term,  it  was  found-rft^the  last  moment  that 
no  Bible  was  at  hand  on  which  to  take  the 
oath.  Jacob  Morton,  who  was  Marshal  of 
the  parade  and  at  that  time  Master  of  St. 
John's  Masonic  Lodge,  was  standing  close 
by,  and,  seeing  the  dilemma  of  the  officials, 
remarked  that  he  could  get  the  Bible  of  St. 
John's  Lodge,  which  met  at  the  "  Old  Coffee 
House,"  corner  of  Water  and  WaH  Streets. 
Chancellor  Livingston  begged  him  to  do  so. 


PRESIDENT  HARDING'S  INAUGURATION 


Y3 


The  Bible  was  brought  and  the  ceremony 
proceeded. 

When  Washington  had  finished  repeating 
the  oath,  with  his  right  hand  resting  on 
the  open  book  and  his  head  bowed  in  a 
reverential  manner,  he  said  in  a  clear  and 
distinct  voice :  "  I  swear,  so  help  me  God." 
Then,  bowing,  he  kissed  the  book.  Where- 
upon Livingston  exclaimed :  "  Long  live 
George  Washington,  President  of  the 
United  States." 

The  same  Bible  was  carried  in  the  pro- 
cession that  took  place  when  Washington 
was  buried.  It  is  considered  by  Masons  as 
one  of  the  priceless  relics  in  the  possession 
of  the  order  in  this  country.  It  was  taken 
to  Washington  in  a  private  car  under 
special  guard,  and  returned  to  New  York 
with  the  same  precaution. 

LOVING  CUP  TO  MARSHALL. 

Retiring  Vice  President  Marshall  received 
m  Feb.  28  from  his  "  brethren  "  of  the 
Senate,  as  he  called  them,  a  token  of  the 
high  esteem  and  affectionate  regard  in 
which  he  was  held  by  all  of  them,  regard- 
less of  party.  It  was  a  beautiful  loving 
cup,  standing  two  feet  high  and  bearing  the 
simple  legend  that  it  was  the  gift  of  all  the 
Senators  to  the  Vice  President.  It  was  in- 
tended, as  Senator  Lodge  expressed  it,  to 
remind  him  of  the  feeling  of  sadness  that 
pervaded  the  Senate  as  the  hour  of  parting 
drew  near.  The  speech  of  Mr.  Marshall  in 
acceptance  was  the  signal  for  a  great  dem- 
onstration at  its  conclusion. 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  EXIT 

The  departure  of  President  Wilson  from 
official  life  was  dramatic  and  pathetic. 
While  it  had  been  his  sincere  desire  to  par- 
ticipate to  the  fullest  extent  as  a  witness 
of  the  swearing  in  of  the  new  Administra- 
tion, the  closing  hours  of  his  own  term  of 
office,  both  in  the  White  House  and  at  the 
Capitol,  had  fatigued  him  to  such  an  extent 
that  at  the  eleventh  hour  he  decided  to 
forego  the  inaugural  ceremonies,  both 
within  the  Senate  Chamber  and  on  the 
eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol. 

The  first  of  these  was  scheduled  to  open 
on  the  stroke  of  noon.  Five  minutes  before 
that  hour  the  President  left  the  President's 
Room  in  the  Senate  wing  of  the  Capitol, 
was  escorted  to  a  private  elevator  by  Sen- 


ator Knox,  walked  with  a  limp  and  a  cane 
slowly  to  a  waiting  automobile,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  Mrs.  Wilson,  Admiral  Grayson 
and  Secretary  Tumulty,  was  driven  to  his 
new  home  at  2,340  S  Street,  N.  W.  There 
he  enjoyed  a  brief  rest,  and  after  luncheon 
figured  in  a  series  of  ovations  tendered  by 
a  throng  of  several  thousand  persons  who 
assembled  in  front  of  his  home  when  the 
inauguration  ceremonies  of  his  successor 
had  concluded. 

EX-PRESIDENT  TO  PRACTICE  LAW 

Considerable  surprise  was  caused  by  the 
announcement,  March  3,  that  Mr.  Wilson 
had  planned  to  form  a  partnership  with 
Bainbridge  Colby,  his  Secretary  of  State, 
and  begin  the  practice  of  law  following  his 
retirement  from  office.  It  had  been  gener- 
ally thought  that  he  would  devote  himself 
to  authorship.  The  White  House  statement 
read : 

The  President  made  the  announcement  to- 
day that  at  the  conclusion  of  his  term  of 
office  he  would  resume  the  practice  of  law, 
forming-  a  partnership  with  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Bainbridge  Colby.  The  firm  will  have 
offices  in  New  York  and  Washington. 

No  further  details  were  forthcoming.  It 
was  believed  that  the  new  firm  would  make 
a  specialty  of  cases  in  which  international 
law  and  relations  would  play  a  large  part. 
Mr.  Wilson  has  had  a  remarkable  oppor- 
tunity to  acquaint  himself  with  interna- 
tional relationships,  and  Mr.  Colby,  by 
reason  of  his  work  for  the  Government  as 
a  member  of  tbe  Shipping  Board  and  as 
Secretary  of  State,  has  also  had  exceptional 
facilities. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  graduated  from  the  Law 
School  of  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1881 
and  practiced  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  1882  and 
part  of  1883.  In  the  latter  year  he  went 
to  Baltimore  and  took  up  post-graduate 
work  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
He  had  some  cases  in  the  courts  of  Balti- 
more, but  in  1885  he  gave  up  the  law  to 
take  the  Chair  of  History  and  Political 
Economics  at  Bryn  Mawr  College,  later 
becoming  a  professor  and  President  of 
Princeton  University. 

FOREIGN  COMMENT. 

Comment  abroad  was  cautious  regarding 
the  President's  inaugural  address,  and  there 
was  a  general  disposition  to  await  further 


44 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


developments  before  drawing  conclusions. 
In  France  there  was  a  feeling  of  disappoint- 
ment because  there  was  no  mention  of  that 
country  or  of  the  Allies.  There  was  a 
general  agreement  of  opinion  that  the 
President  did  not  intend  that  the  United 
States  should  join  the  League  or  that 
America  should  resume  her  place  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Allied   Supreme  Council. 

A  lesser  degree  of  regret  was  felt  in  Lon- 
don, where  it  was  thought  that  the  speech 
promised  American  co-operation  in  the  re- 
construction of  the  world,  not,  to  be  sure, 
along  the  lines  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
but  according  to  plans  which  differ  more 
in  form  than  in  substance  from  those  which 
were  rejected  by  the  American  people  in 
November. 

There  was  frank  chagrin  in  Germany, 
where  the  hope  had  been  clung  to  that  some- 
thing in  the  speech  would  indicate  a  trend 
toward  the  German  and  against  the  allied 
point  of  view. 

Italian  organs  of  opinion  agreed  that  the 
passing  of  the  Presidential  power  from  Mr. 
Wilson  to  Mr.  Harding  definitely  closed  the 
historic  period  in  which  the  United  States 
collaborated  with  Europe  in  a  cause  which 
seemed  to  it  world-wide,  but  which  quickly 
became  European  again.  They  hoped,  how- 
ever, that  the  President  would  come  to  un- 
derstand the  impossibility  of  the  United 
States  completely  disinteresting  itself  in  the 
affairs  of  Europe. 

The  comment  of  the  South  American 
press  was  in  the  main  cordial,  and  felicita- 


tions were  sent  by  cable  from  the  President 
of  Uruguay  to  President  Harding. 

NEW  APPOINTMENTS 

A  special  session  of  the  Senate  was  called 
to  act  upon  nominations  to  office  under  the 
new  Administration,  and  to  this  the  Presi- 
dent sent  a  number  of  names  for  confirma- 
tion. Among  these,  the  most  important 
were  those  of  Henry  P.  Fletcher  to  be 
Under  Secretary  of  State,  Theodore  Roose- 
velt to  be  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Elmer  D.  Ball  to  be  Assistant  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  John  J.  Esch  of  Wisconsin  and 
Mark  W.  Potter  of  New  York  as  members 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
and  D.  R.  Crissinger  of  Marion,  Ohio,  as 
Controller  of  the  Currency.  All  the  nomi- 
nations were  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  An 
appointment  that  did  not  require  the  Sen- 
ate's confirmation  was  that  of  Thomas  W. 
Miller,  formerly  Representative  from  Del- 
aware, to  be  Alien  Property  Custodian. 
Anthony  Caminetti,  Commissioner  of  Gen- 
eral Immigration,  was  replaced  by  William 
W.  Husband  of  St.  Johnsbury,  Vt.,  whose 
nomination  was  promptly  confirmed. 

The  following  appointments  were  made 
March  14:  J.  Mayhew  Wainwright  to  be 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Eliot  Wads- 
worth  of  Boston  to  be  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Eugene  Mayer  of  New 
York  as  a  Director  of  the  War  Finance 
Corporation.  The  three  were  promptly  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate. 


A  SECRET  OF  THE  MARNE  VICTORY 


A  WAR  secret  unknown  to  the  general 
public  was  revealed  by  Lieut.  Col. 
Fagalde,  Military  Attache  to  the  French 
Embassy  in  London,  in  a  lecture  delivered 
at  the  Institut  Francais  du  Royaume  Uni, 
on  Jan.  21,  1921.  In  the  critical  days  of  the 
last  of  August  and  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember, 1914,  when  Fagalde  was  still  a 
Captain,  there  was  brought  to  him  the 
satchel  of  a  German  Staff  officer  of  the 
Fifth  Cavalry  Division,  who  had  been  killed 
in  his  motor  car  by  a  French  patrol.  In 
this  satchel,  destined  to  become  historic,  was 
found  a  plan  giving  full  details  of  the  ad- 
vance, beginning  Sept.  2,  of  the  whole  First 
German  Army  under  General  von  Kluck. 
The  position  of  every  column  was  plainly 


marked,  with  the  heads  and  rear  guards, 
and  the  hours  of  departure  and  arrival  at 
their  objectives.  Thus  for  the  first  time 
the  French  learned  that  the  anticipated 
march  into  the  valley  of  the  Oise  had  been 
changed  in  favor  of  a  direct  march  on 
Paris.  Captain  Fagalde  at  once  telephoned 
this  information  to  General  Headquarters 
and  dispatched  the  map  and  other  docu- 
ments by  motor  car  to  the  French  military 
command.  Through  this  information,  Gen- 
eral Gallieni  was  enabled  to  throw  his  army 
on  von  Kluck's  flank,  with  the  resultant 
victory  of  the  Marne  and  the  German  re- 
treat to  the  Aisne.  Paris  and  France  were 
saved  by  this  unexpected  discovery  on  the 
very  eve  of  a  national  catastrophe. 


WOODROW  WILSON'S  PLACE 
IN  HISTORY 

By  General  Jan  Christian  Smuts 

Premier    of    the    Union    of    South    Africa 

A  scholarly  and  eloquent  review  of  the  work  done  at  Paris  by  the  former  President  of 
the  United  States,  written  to  the  American  people  by  the  South  African  Premier  at 
the  instance  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post 


IT  has  been  suggested  that  I  should  write 
a  short  estimate  and  appraisal  of  the 
work  of  President  Wilson  on  the  termi- 
nation of  his  Presidency  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  I  feel  I  must  comply 
with  the  suggestion.  I  feel  I  may  not  re- 
main silent  when  there  is  an  opportunity 
to  say  a  word  of  appreciation  for  the  work 
of  one  with  whom  I  came  into  close  contact 
at  a  great  period  and  who  rendered  the 
most  signal  service  to  the  great  human 
cause. 

There  is  a  great  saying  of  Mommsen 
(I  believe)  in  reference  to  the  close  of 
Hannibal's  career  in  failure  and  eclipse: 
"On  those  whom  the  gods  love  they  lavish 
infinite  joys  and  infinite  sorrows."  It  has 
come  back  to  my  mind  in  reference  to  the 
close  of  Wilson's  career.  For  a  few  brief 
moments  he  was  not  only  the  leader  of  the 
greatest  State  in  the  world;  he  was  raised 
to  far  giddier  heights  and  became  the  centre 
of  the  world's  hopes.  And  then  he  fell, 
misunderstood  and  rejected  by  his  own 
people,  and  his  great  career  closes  appar- 
ently in  signal  and  tragic  defeat. 

IN  A  TERRIBLE  POSITION 

What  is  the  explanation  of  this  tre- 
mendous tragedy,  which  is  not  solely  Amer- 
ican, which  closely  concerns  the  whole 
world?  Of  course,  there  are  purely  Amer- 
ican elements  in  the  explanation,  which  I 
am  not  competent  to  speak  on.  But  besides 
the  American  quarrel  with  President  Wilson 
there  is  something  to  be  said  on  the  great 
matters  in  issue.  On  these  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  say  a  few  words. 

The  position  occupied  by  President  Wil- 
son in  the  world's  imagination  at  the  close 


of  the  great  war  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Peace  Conference  was  terrible  in  its 
greatness.  It  was  a  terrible  position  for 
any  mere  man  to  occupy.  Probably  to  no 
human  being  in  all  history  did  the  hopes, 
the  prayers,  the  aspirations  of  so  many 
millions  of  his  fellows  turn  with  such  poign- 
ant intensity  as  to  him  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  At  a  time  of  the  deepest  darkness  and 
despair  he  had  raised  aloft  a  light  to  which 
all  eyes  had  turned.  He  had  spoken  divine 
words  of  healing  and  consolation  to  a  broken 
humanity.  His  lofty  moral  idealism  seemed 
for  a  moment  to  dominate  the  brutal  pas- 
sions which  had  torn  the  Old  World  asunder. 
And  he  was  supposed  to  possess  the  secret 
which  would  remake  the  world  on  fairer 
lines.  The  peace  which  Wilson  was  bring- 
ing to  the  world  was  expected  to  be  God's 
peace.  Prussianism  lay  crushed ;  brute 
force  had  failed  utterly.  The  moral  charac- 
ter of  the  universe  had  been  most  signally 
vindicated.  There  was  a  universal  vague 
hope  of  a  great  moral  peace,  of  a  new 
world  order  arising  visibly  and  immediately 
on  the  ruins  of  the  old.  This  hope  was  not 
a  mere  superficial  sentiment.  It  was  the 
intense  expression  at  the  end  of  the  war 
of  the  inner  moral  and  spiritual  force 
which  had  upborne  the  peoples  during  the 
dark  night  of  the  war  and  had  nerved  them 
to  an  effort  almost  beyond  human  strength. 
Surely,  surely  God  had  been  with  them  in 
that  long  night  of  agony.  His  was  the 
victory;  His  should  be  the  peace.  And 
President  Wilson  was  looked  upon  as  the 
man  to  make  this  great  peace.  He  had 
voiced  the  great  ideals  of  the  new  order; 
his  great  utterances  had  become  the  con- 
tractual basis  for  the  armistice  and  the 
peace.   The  idealism  of  Wilson  would  surely 


46 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


become   the   reality   of   the   new   order   of 
things  in  the  Peace  Treaty. 

WILSON  AND  THE  TREATY 

In  this  atmosphere  of  extravagant,  al- 
most frenzied  expectation,  he  arrived  at  the 
Paris  Peace  Conference.  Without  hesitation 
he  plunged  into  that  inferno  of  human 
passions.  He  went  down  into  the  pit  like 
a  second  Heracles  to  bring  back  the  fair 
Alcestis  of  the  world's  desire.  There  were 
six  months  of  agonized  waiting,  during 
which  the  world  situation  rapidly  deterio- 
rated, And  then  he  emerged  with  the  Peace 
Treaty.  It  was  not  a  Wilson  peace,  and 
he  made  a  fatal  mistake  in  somehow  giving 
the  impression  that  the  peace  was  in  accord 
with  his  Fourteen  Points  and  his  various 
declarations.  Not  so  the  world  had  under- 
stood him.  This  was  a  Punic  peace,  the 
same  sort  of  peace  as  the  victor  had  dic- 
tated to  the  vanquished  for  thousands  of 
years.  It  was  not  Alcestis,  it  was  a  hag- 
gard, unlovely  woman,  with  features  dis- 
torted with  hatred,  greed,  and  selfishness, 
and  the  little  child  that  the  woman  carried 
was  scarcely  noticed.  Yet  it  was  for  the 
saving  of  the  child  that  Wilson  had  labored 
until  he  was  a  physical  wreck.  Let  our 
other  great  statesmen  and  leaders  enjoy 
their  well-earned  honors  for  their  unques- 
tioned success  at  Paris.  To  Woodrow  Wil- 
son, the  apparent  failure,  belongs  the  un- 
dying honor,  which  will  grow  with  the  grow- 
ing centuries,  of  having  saved  the  "  little 
child  that  shall  lead  them  yet.*  No  other 
statesman  but  Wilson  could  have  done  it. 
And  he  did  it. 

The  people,  the  common  people  of  all 
lands,  did  not  understand  the  significance 
of  what  had  happened.  They  saw  only 
that  hard,  unlovely  Prussian  peace,  and 
the  great  hope  died  in  their  hearts.  The 
great  disillusionment  took  its  place.  The 
most  receptive  mood  for  a  new  start  the 
world  had  been  in  for  centuries  passed 
away.  Faith  in  their  Governors  and  lead- 
ers was  largely  destroyed,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  human  government  were  shaken  in 
a  way  which  will  be  felt  for  generations. 
The  Paris  peace  lost  an  opportunity  as 
unique  as  the  great  war  itself.  In  destroy- 
ing the  moral  idealism  born  of  the  sacri- 
fices of  the  war  it  did  almost  as  much  as 
the  war  itself  in  shattering  the  structure 
of  Western  civilization. 


TORN  TO   PIECES  BY  HIS  OWN 
PEOPLE 

And  the  odium  for  all  this  fell  especially 
on  President  Wilson.  Round  him  the  hopes 
had  centred;  round  him  the  disillusion  and 
despair  now  gathered.  Popular  opinion 
largely  held  him  responsible  for  the  bitter 
disappointment  and  grievous  failure.  The 
cynics  scoffed;  his  friends  were  silenced  in 
the  universal  disappointment.  Little  or 
nothing  had  been  expected  from  the  other 
leaders;  the  whole  failure  was  put  to  the 
account  of  Woodrow  Wilson.  And  finally 
America  for  reasons  of  her  own  joined  the 
pack  and  at  the  end  it  was  his  own  people 
who  tore  him  to  pieces. 

Will  this  judgment,  born  of  momentary 
disillusion  and  disappointment,  stand  in 
future,  or  will  it  be  reversed?  The  time 
has  not  come  to  pass  final  judgment  on 
either  Wilson  or  any  of  the  other  great 
actors  in  the  drama  at  Paris.  The  personal 
estimates  will  depend  largely  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  that  drama  in  the  course  of 
time.  As  one  who  saw  and  watched  things 
from  the  inside,  I  feel  convinced  that  the 
present  popular  estimates  are  largely  super- 
ficial and  will  not  stand  the  searching  test 
of  time.  And  I  have  no  doubt  whatever 
that  Wilson  has  been  harshly,  unfairly, 
unjustly  dealt  with,  and  that  he  has  been 
made  a  scapegoat  for  the  sins  of  others. 
Wilson  made  mistakes,  and  there  were  oc- 
casions when  I  ventured  to  sound  a  warning 
note.  But  it  was  not  his  mistakes  that 
caused  the  failure  for  which  he  has  been 
held  mainly  responsible. 

THE  REAL  FAILURE 

Let  us  admit  the  truth,  however  bitter 
it  is  to  do  so  for  those  who  believe  in  human 
nature.  It  was  not  Wilson  who  failed.  The 
position  is  far  more  serious.  It  was  the 
human  spirit  itself  that  failed  at  Paris. 
It  is  no  use  passing  judgments  and  making 
scapegoats  of  this  or  that  individual  states- 
man or  group  of  statesmen.  Idealists  make 
a  great  mistake  in  not  facing  the  real  facts 
sincerely  and  resolutely.  They  believe  in 
the  power  of  the  spirit,  in  the  goodness 
which  is  at  the  heart  of  things,  in  the 
triumph  which  is  in  store  for  the  great 
moral  ideals  of  the  race.  But  this  faith 
only  too  often  leads  to  an  optimism  which 
is  sadly  and  fatally  at  variance  with  actual 


WOODROW  WILSON'S  PLACE  IN  HISTORY 


47 


results.  It  is  the  realist  and  not  the  ideal- 
ist who  is  generally  justified  by  events.  We 
forget  that  the  human  spirit,  the  spirit  of 
goodness  and  truth  in  the  world,  is  still 
only  an  infant  crying  in  the  night,  and  that 


GENERAL    JAN    CHRISTIAN    SMUTS 
Premier   of   the    Union   of   South   Africa 


the  struggle  with  darkness  is  as  yet  mostly 
an  unequal  struggle. 

Paris  proved  this  terrible  truth  once 
more.  It  was  not  Wilson  who  failed  there, 
but  humanity  itself.  It  was  not  the  states- 
men that  failed,  so  much  as  the  spirit  of 
the  peoples  behind  them.  The  hope,  the  as- 
piration for  a  new  world  order  of  peace 
and  right  and  justice — however  deeply  and 
universally  felt — was  still  only  feeble  and 
ineffective  in  comparison  with  the  dominant 
national  passions  which  found  their  expres- 
sion in  the  Peace  Treaty.  Even  if  Wilson 
had  been  one  of  the  great  demigods  of  the 
human  race,  he  could  not  have  saved  the 
peace.  Knowing  the  Peace  Conference  as 
I  knew  it  from  within,  I  feel  convinced  in 
my  own  mind  that  not  the  greatest  man 
born  of  woman  in  the  history  of  the  race 


would  have  saved  that  situation.  The  great 
hope  was  not  the  heralding  of  the  coming 
dawn,  as  the  peoples  thought,  but  only  a 
dim  intimation  of  some  far-off  event 
toward  which  we  shall  yet  have  to  make 
many  a  long  weary  march.  Sincerely  as 
we  believed  in  the  moral  ideals  for  which 
we  had  fought,  the  temptation  at  Paris  of 
a  large  booty  to  be  divided  proved  too 
great.  And  in  the  end  not  only  the  leaders 
but  the  peoples  preferred  a  bit  of  booty 
here,  a  strategic  frontier  there,  a  coal  field 
or  an  oil  well,  an  addition  to  their  popula- 
tion or  their  resources — to  all  the  faint  al- 
lurements of  the  ideal.  As  I  said  at  the 
time,  the  real  peace  was  still  to  come,  and 
it  could  only  come  from  a  new  spirit  in  the 
peoples  themselves 

WHERE   WILSON   TRIUMPHED 

What  was  really  saved  at  Paris  was  the 
Child — the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions. The  political  realists  who  had  their 
eye  on  the  loot  were  prepared — however  re- 
luctantly— to  throw  that  innocent  little  sop 
to  President  Wilson  and  his  fellow-idealists. 
After  all,  there  was  not  much  harm  in  it, 
it  threatened  no  present  national  interest, 
and  it  gave  great  pleasure  to  a  number  of 
good,  unpractical  people  in  most  countries. 
Above  all,  President  Wilson  had  to  be  con- 
ciliated, and  this  was  the  last  and  the 
greatest  of  the  Fourteen  Points,  on  which 
he  had  set  his  heart  and  by  which  he  was 
determined  to  stand  or  fall.  And  so  he 
got  his  way.  But  it  is  a  fact  that  only  a" 
man  of  his  great  power  and  influence  and 
dogged  determination  could  have  carried  the 
covenant  through  that  Peace  Conference. 
Others  had  seen  with  him  the  great  vision, 
others  had  perhaps  given  more  thought  to 
the  elaboration  of  the  great  plan.  But  his 
was  the  power  and  the  will  that  carried  it 
through.  The  covenant  is  Wilson's  souvenir 
to  the  future  of  the  world.  No  one  will 
ever  deny  him  that  honor. 

The  honor  is  very  great,  indeed,  for  the 
covenant  is  one  of  the  great  creative  docu- 
ments of  human  history.  The  Peace  Treaty 
will  fade  into'  merciful  oblivion,  and  its  pro- 
visions will  be  gradually  obliterated  by  the 
great  human  tides  sweeping  over  the  world, 
But  the  covenant  will  stand  as  sure  as  fate. 
Forty-two  nations  gathered  around  it  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  League  at  Geneva.  And 


48 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  day  is  not  far  off  when  all  the  free 
peoples  of  the  world  will  gather  round  it. 
It  must  succeed,  because  there  is  no  other 
way  for  the  future  of  civilization.  It  does 
not  realize  the  great  hopes  bom  of  the  war, 
but  it  provides  the  only  method  and  instru- 
ment by  which  in  the  course  of  time  those 
hopes  can  be  realized. 

Speaking  as  one  who  has  some  right  to 
speak  on  the  fundamental  conceptions,  ob- 
jects and  methods  of  the  covenant,  I  feel 
sure  that  most  of  the  present  criticism  is 
based  on  misunderstandings.  These  misun- 
derstandings will  clear  away,  one  by  one  the 


peoples  still  outside  the  covenant  will  fall 
in  behind  this  banner  under  which  the  human 
race  is  going  to  march  forward  to  triumphs 
of  peaceful  organization  and  achievement 
undreamed  of  by  us  children  of  an  unhappier 
era.  And  the  leader  who,  in  spite  of  appar- 
ent failure,  succeeded  in  inscribing  the  name 
on  that  banner  has  achieved  the  most 
enviable  and  enduring  immortality.  Ameri- 
cans of  the  future  will  yet  proudly  and 
gratefully  rank  him  with  Washington  and 
Lincoln,  and  his  fame  will  have  a  more 
universal  significance  than  theirs. 


RUSSIAN  MENNONITES  COMING  TO  AMERICA 


PEOPLE  in  the  United  States  know  some- 
thing of  that  peculiar  sect,  whose  re- 
ligious beliefs  are  a  combination  of  those 
of  the  Baptists  and  of  the  Quakers — the 
Mennonites.  Some  Mennonities  there  are 
among  our  own  so-called  "  Pennsylvania 
Dutch,"  and  a  well-known  novelist  has 
found  them  worthy  of  commemoration;  in 
the  Middle  West,  furthermore,  they  have 
a  considerable  colony.  A  movement  is  now 
on  foot  to  increase  this  American  colony  by 
Mennonite  emigration  from  South  Russia. 
Dr.  Hylkema,  a  Mennonite  pastor  of  the 
colony  in  Holland,  went  to  England  early 
in  February  to  ask  aid  there  also  for  his 
Russian  co-religionists,  about  75,000  of 
whom,  he  said,  desire  to  migrate. 

•The  Mennonites,  according  to  their  creed, 
aim  to  live  the  life  of  Christ  apart  from  the 
worjd.  They  refuse  to  take  oath,  to  bear 
arms,  or  to  play  any  part  in  the  life  of  the 
State.  Before  the  great  war  they  were  ex- 
empted from  conscription  as  "  conscientious 
objectors."  By  the  Czar's  decree,  however, 
they  were  conscripted  after  the  war  with 
Germany  began.  Many  lost  their  lands. 
Some  were  sent  to  the  North  to  work  in  the 
forests,  and  died  from  the  severe  climate. 
These  people,  all  prosperous  peasant  pro- 
prietors, whose  farms  lay  in  South  Russia 
and  Siberia,  tried  to  recover  their  shattered 
fortunes  after  the  Russian  revolution,  but 
the  Bolshevist  civil  wars  completed  their 
ruin.    They  have  suffered  particularly  from 


the  depredations  of  robber  bands,  who  have 
ravaged  their  farms,  ruined  their  land  and 
sacked  their  agricultural  factories.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  the  Bolshevist  authori- 
ties subjected  them  officially  to  any  perse- 
cution. They  wish,  however,  to  make  a  new 
start  in  a  land  where  conditions  are  more 
favorable,  and  their  friends  in  America,  all 
well-to-do  farmers,  are  preparing  to  find 
them  land  and  to  help  them  to  establish  a 
new  life. 

The  Mennonite  movement  originated  in 
the  sixteenth  century  in  Switzerland  and 
South  Germany.  Menno  Simons,  an  ex- 
Catholic  priest,  was  the  early  leader.  Per- 
secution drove  large  numbers  into  Holland. 
In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
many  emigrated  from  Germany  to  the 
United  States  to  escape  military  service. 
At  the  end  of  the  century  Catherine  the 
Great  introduced  colonies  of  Mennonites 
from  Germany  to  what  were  then  the  bar- 
ren steppes  of  South  Russia.  They  have 
never  intermarried  with  the  Russians. 
About  fifty  years  ago  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  these  Russian  Mennonites  migrated 
to  America,  where  they  settled  in  the  Mid- 
dle West.  In  Russia  they  bear  a  high  repu- 
tation as  farmers,  and  they  did  much  to 
develop  the  Ukraine  as  the  "  granary  of 
Europe."  They  have  their  own  institutions, 
their  banks,  their  schools,  their  factories. 
The  total  number  of  the  Russian  colony  is 
estimated  at  100,000. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Army  reorganization  and  important  tests  of  battleships  and  airplanes — Failure  of 
tariff  and  immigration  bills — The  Railroad  situation — Report  of  the  United  States 
Shipping  Board — Wage  reductions  and   Supreme  Court  decisions 

[Period  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


SECRETARY    OF    WAR     WEEKS    an- 
nounced on  March  8  that  the  policy  of 
the   War   Department   under   the   new  Ad- 
ministration contemplated  the  organization 
of    the    nation's   military   forces 
Army     into    one    harmonious,    well-bal- 
BiKL      anced    and   effective    army,    con- 
Vetoed    sisting     of    the     Regular   Army, 
the  National  Guard  and  the  or- 
ganized Reserves.   The  two  former  branches 
will  be  developed  to  the  strength  author- 
ized by  law,  the  announcement  stated,  and 
the  reserves  would  be  organized  as  divis- 
ions and  auxiliary  troops  with  full  officer 
complement  and  sufficient  enlisted  strength 
to  be  capable  of  rapid  recruitment  to  full 
strength. 

The  Senate  and  House  came  to  an  agree- 
ment March  2  on  the  Army  bill,  fixing  the 
figure  at  156,666  men.  The  House  had  been 
insisting  on  an  army  of  150,000  while  the 
Senate  wished  the  number  to  be  162,000. 
The  President,  on  his  last  day  in  office, 
vetoed  the  bill  outright,  because  he  regard- 
ed the  reduction  in  military  strength  as  too 
drastic.  He  had  previously  disapproved  the 
bill  against  further  enlistments  until  the 
army  was  reduced  to  175,000,  but  this  had 
been  passed  over  his  veto.  The  matter  thus 
remained  to  be  thrashed  out  in  the  first 
session  of  the  new  Congress. 


"DEPRESENTATIVE  JAMES  W.  GOOD 
■■■•'of  Iowa,  Chairman  of  the  Appropriations 
Committee,  denied  on  Feb.  23  that  Congress 
had  not  fulfilled  its  obligations  in  supplying 
beds  for  disabled  World 
War  veterans.  He  charged 
that  Ewing  La  Porte,  As- 
sistant Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  other  offi- 
cials were  neglectful  in  not  utilizing  nearly 
four  thousand  beds  in  hospitals  now  avail- 
able for  ex-service  men.  He  showed  that 
there  were  24,560  war  risk  patients  in  hos- 


Neglect 

of  Soldiers 

Denied 


pitals    and    that    there    were    3,858    vacant 
Government  hospital  beds. 


THE  Navy  Appropriation  bill  calling  for 
expenditures  of  approximately  $500,000,- 
000  failed  of  passage  at  the  last  session 
of  the    Sixty-sixth    Congress.      Determined 
opposition  by  Senator  Borah  and 
Naval    other   opponents    of   the    present 
Bill      naval     program     prevented     its 
Fails     coming  to  a  vote.     It  was  stated 
that  it  would  be  one  of  the  first 
measures  discussed  at  the  forthcoming  ses- 
sion.    President   Harding  prior   to  his  in- 
auguration had  announced  his  approval  of 
the  1916  naval  building  program. 


PLANS  for  the  greatest  naval  and  aerial 
gun  and  bombing  test  ever  conducted 
were  announced  on  Feb.  28  by  Secretary 
Daniels.  The  purpose  was  to  determine  the 
relative  effects  of  gun  and 
Fliers        bomb  hits  on  certain  types  of 

to  Attack     war  vessels. 

Warships  In  these  joint  army  and 
navy  tests,  which  are  to  be 
made  at  sea  between  June  1  and  July  15 
next,  the  obsolete  American  battleships 
Iowa  and  Kentucky  and  nine  former  Ger- 
man war  vessels  allocated  to  the  United 
States  will  be  used  as  targets.  It  is  not  the 
intention  to  sink  the  Iowa  and  the  Ken- 
tucky. Dummy  bombs  will  be  used  by  the 
airplanes  attacking  these  warships.  All  of 
the  former  German  vessels,  however,  are  ex- 
pected to  be  sunk. 

The  battleship  Iowa  will  be  radio-con- 
trolled during  the  tests.  She  will  be  at- 
tacked by  dummy  bombs  from  aircraft  at  a 
minimum  altitude  of  4,000  feet  at  a  point 
within  a  zone  between  fifty  and  one  hun- 
dred miles  off  coast,  between  Capes  Hat- 
teras  and  Henlopen.  The  Iowa  will  try  to 
avoid  being  struck  by  the  bombs. 


50 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  Ordnance  Department  has  been  or- 
dered to  prepare  298  bombs  for  use  in  the 
attack  upon  the  former  German  ships.  The 
bombs  used  will  weigh  230,  250,  520,  550, 
and  1,000  pounds,  or  even  more.  One  sub- 
marine is  to  be  attacked  and  if  possible 
sunk  by  bombs  dropped  from  an  aircraft, 
while  the  other  submarines  will  be  sub- 
jected to  shellfire  from  destroyers.  If  none 
are  sunk  by  bombs  they  are  to  be  destroyed 
by  depth  charges. 

One  of  the  three  former  German  destroy- 
ers will  be  attacked  by  aircraft  and  the  two 
others  by  destroyers.  If  the  aircraft  and 
destroyers  fail  to  sink  them,  they  are  to  be 
attacked  by  battleships,  and  afterward,  if 
still  afloat,  are  to  be  sunk  by  depth  bombs. 
The  first  attack  on  the  Frankfort  will  be 
by  aircraft  using  250-pound  bombs;  the 
second  by  aircraft  employing  520-pound 
bombs.  After  the  army  aircraft  have 
their  innings,  the  cruiser,  if  afloat,  will  be 
examined  and  then  will  be  subjected  to  gun- 
fire from  a  division  of  American  destroy- 
ers at  5,000  yards  range.  If  both  gun  and 
bombing  attacks  fail,  recourse  will  be  had  to 
depth  charges. 

The  most  spectacular  attack  will  be  di- 
rected against  the  Ostfriesland.  The  army 
aviators  will  attack  her  with  550  or  1,000 
pound  or  heavier  bombs,  either  singly  or 
in  groups.  Each  attack  will  be  followed  by 
an  examination  of  the  battleship,  if  she  is 
still  afloat.  Should  the  aircraft  fail,  the 
Ostfriesland  will  be  shelled  by  an  American 
dreadnought  firing  fourteen-inch  shells  at 
a  range  of  not  less  than  18,000  yards.  Then, 
if  she  still  floats,  she  will  be  sunk  by  depth 
bombs. 

The  ships  are  not  to  use  machine  guns, 
gas  or  incendiary  or  smoke  bombs  in  de- 
fense. The  result  of  the  experiments  and 
the  conclusions  drawn  are  to  be  held  secret 
by  the  Navy  and  War  Departments  until 
passed  on  by  the  joint  board. 


T17AGE   cuts  during  the   month   were   re- 
'  »    ported  from  all  sections  of  the  coun- 
try.     A     conspicuous     exception     was     the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation,  which  re- 
duced   neither    wages    nor 
Wage  prices.        The      Jones      & 

Reductions        Laughlin    Steel    Company 
reduced      wages      20      per 
cent.  The  larger  shipyards  in  the  New  York 


district  made  a  wage  cut  of  10  per  cent. 
The  Chicago  packers  restored  the  ten-hour 
day  and  reduced  wages  from  12  Vo  to  15 
per  cent.  Most  striking,  and  perhaps  the 
most  important,  of  all  wage  reductions  were 
those  announced  by  most  of  the  great  rail- 
roads of  the  country.  The  average  cut  was 
22^  per  cent,  and  was  expected  to  cut  over 
$600,000,000  from  the  payrolls  of  the  rail- 
roads. Most  of  the  cuts  were  to  go  into 
effect  after  a  conference  with  representa- 
tives of  the  workers  and  were  subject  to 
such  modifications  as  might  be  effected  at 
such  conferences.  The  Erie  Railroad,  how- 
ever, was  more  abrupt,  and  ordered  a  cut  of 
27  per  cent,  in  the  pay  of  certain  classes  of 
its  employes  to  go  into  effect  on  Feb.  1. 
This  action  was  reproved  by  the  Railway 
Labor  Board,  which  ordered  the  road  to  re- 
store wages  to  the  rates  ordered  in  the 
board's  wage  decision  of  July,  1920.  The 
Erie  at  first  defied  the  board,  but  later,  on 
March  12,  announced  acquiescence  in  its  de- 
cision, pending  further  action. 


A  UNANIMOUS  report  of  the  Special 
^~*-  House  Committee  which  investigated 
the  activities  of  the  United  States  Shipping 
Board,  of  which  committee  Representative 
Joseph  Walsh  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  Chairman, 
made  public  March  2, 
recommended  that  the 
duties  of  the  board  be 
transferred  to  an  executive  department,  so 
that  more  centralization  of  administrative 
authority  could  be  obtained  than  was  pos- 
sible under  a  board  of  seven  members. 

The  investigators  found  that  the  work  of 
the  board  was  well  performed  during  the 
rush  period  of  the  war.  The  report  stated 
that,  "  considering  the  program  as  a  whole, 
the  accomplishments  in  the  number  of  ships 
constructed,  the  tonnage  secured  and  the 
time  within  which  the  ships  were  delivered 
and  completed  constitute  the  most  remark- 
able achievement  in  shipbuilding  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen." 

Waste  was  admitted,  but  this  was  palli- 
ated in  part  by  the  stress  of  the  war.  The 
sale  without  delay  of  surplus  ships  and 
material  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Emer- 
gency Fleet  Corporation  was  recommended. 
Charles  M.  Schwab  was  exonerated  from 
any  irregularity,  and  the  charge  of  bribery 


Report 

on 

Shipping  Board 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


61 


against  R.  W.  Boiling,  brother-in-law  of 
President  Wilson,  was  declared  to  be  with- 
out foundation.  It  was  further  urged  that 
until  the  tremendous  fleet  of  wooden  ships 
should  be  disposed  of,  one  competent  per- 
son should  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  oper- 
ations, to  be  paid  a  salary  commensurate 
with  the  responsibility  of  the  position. 

On  March  11  President  Harding  wrote  to 
Admiral  Benson  asking  him  to  continue  to 
function  for  the  present  as  though  the  board 
were  fully  organized. 


basis.  It  would  stand  in  the  way  of 
normal  readjustment  of  business  conditions 
throughout  the  world,  which  is  vital  to  the 
welfare  of  this  country  as  to  that  of  all  the 
other  nations.  The  United  States  has 
a  duty  to  itself  as  well  as  to  the  world,  and 
it  can  discharge  this  duty  by  widening,  not 
by  contracting,  its  world  markets." 

An  attempt  to  override  the  veto  failed 
by  a  vote  of  201  to  132,  twenty-two  votes 
short  of  the  necessary  two-thirds. 


THE  destroyer  Woolsey  of  the  United 
States  Pacific  Fleet,  commanded  by 
Commander  Henry  Chalfant  Gearing  Jr., 
one  of  the  most  modern  of  the  destroyers  in 
the  navy,  was  lost  off  the  Pa- 

Destroyer  cific  Coast  of  Panama,  Feb. 
Sunk  in      26,   in   consequence  of  a  col- 

Collision  lislon  with  a  merchant  ves- 
sel. The  Woolsey  was  struck 
almost  amidships  by  the  steamer  Steel  In- 
ventor, and  immediately  flooded  and  sank 
while  in  tow.  The  collision  took  place 
while  the  Pacific  Fleet  was  en  route  from 
Panama  waters  to  its  California  base,  after 
participating  in  joint  manoeuvres  with  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  in  Panama  waters  and  along 
the  west  coast  of  South  America. 

The  casualties  were  one  dead,  two  in- 
jured and  fifteen  missing,  while  112  sur- 
vivors had  been  taken  aboard  the  destroy- 
ers Aaron  Ward  and  the  Philip,  attached  to 
the  Pacific  Fleet. 

The  Woolsey  had  a  normal  displacement 
of  1,1£4  tons,  was  310  feet  long  and  had 
about  31  feet  beam  at  the  load- water  line. 
She  was  launched  Sept.  17,  1918.  Her  arma- 
ment consisted  of  four  4-inch  guns,  two  3- 
inch  guns  and  four  21-inch  torpedo  tubes. 


THE  Fordney  Emergency  Tariff  bill  was 
vetoed  by  President  Wilson  on  March 
3.     The  veto,  which  had  been  expected,  was 
embodied  in  a  clear  and  temperate  message, 
in  which  among  ot>her  things 
the  President  said: 

"  Clearly   this    is    no    time 

for     the     erection     of     high 

tariff    barriers.       It    would 

strike  a  blow  at  large  and  successful  efforts 

which  have  been  made  by  many  of  our  great 

industries  to  place  themselves  on  an  export 


Emergency 

Tariff  Bill 

Vetoed 


PRESIDENT    WILSON   on    Feb.    25    ap- 
proved    the     Winslow-Townsend     bill, 
thus    making    available    to    the    railroads 
about  $370,000,000  due  in  Government  pay- 
ments which  had  been  held  up 
Payment     pending  the  discussion  of  the 
to  legislation.     This  action   was 

Railroads  taken  by  the  President  in  the 
face  of  protests  by  railway 
employes,  who  had  opposed  the  payment  be- 
fore the  Federal  Labor  Board.  Resolutions 
also  were  adopted  by  the  conference  of  na- 
tional and  international  unions  affiliated 
with  the  Federation  of  Labor,  asking  the 
President  to  withhold  his  approval,  on  the 
ground  that  while  the  railroad  executives 
refused  to  deal  with  the  employes  in  the 
settlement  of  disputes  as  to  rules  and  work- 
ing conditions,  they  should  not  receive  fi- 
nancial assistance  from  the  Government. 

The  bill  had  been  submitted  by  President 
Wilson  to  the  Treasury  Department  and 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  and 
approved  by  both. 


THE    House  of   Representatives   on   Feb. 
24  agreed  to  a  Senate  amendment  to 
the   Diplomatic   and   Consular  bill   to   pur- 
chase buildings  and  grounds  in  allied  coun- 
tries for  American  diplomats 
Purchase     and    consuls,    and   credit   the 
OF  purchase    price    against    the 

Embassies  money  owed  to  the  United 
States  by  allied  countries. 
The  amendment  concurred  in  stipulated 
that  buildings  and  grounds  for  embassies, 
legations  and  consular  agents  should  be  ob- 
tained in  Rome,  Brussels,  Berlin,  Christi- 
ania,  Athens,  Belgrade,  Bucharest,  Prague, 
Monrovia,  Vienna,  Budapest,  Canton,  Han- 
kow and  Amoy,  and  carried  an  appropria- 


52 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


tion  of  $300,000  to  be  used  to  buy  build- 
ings in  countries  which  do  not  owe  money  to 
the  United  States.  In  addition,  the  Presi- 
dent was  authorized  to  accept  in  his  dis- 
cretion on  behalf  of  the  United  States  un- 
conditional gifts  of  land,  buildings,  fur- 
niture and  furnishings, .  or  any  of  them, 
for  the  use  of  the  diplomatic  and  consular 
officials  as  residences. 


REPRESENTATIVES     of    the    109    na- 
tional and  international  unions  affil- 
iated   with    the    American    Federation    of 
Labor,  in  convention  at  Chicago,   Feb.  23, 
adopted     resolutions     de- 
Federation        daring  war  on  the  "  open 
of  Labor         shop,"  which  they  alleged 
Convention       was  being  fostered  by  cer- 
tain groups   of  employers 
in  order  to  disrupt  trade  unionism.     They 
demanded  freedom  from  anti-trust  restric- 
tions and  declared  the  right  of  labor  to  re- 
sist injunctions. 

They  also  issued  a  sweeping  condemna- 
tion of  the  Soviet  Government  of  Russia 
and  called  officially  on  all  workers  to  pre- 
vent the  spread  of  Bolshevism.  Investiga- 
tions made  of  conditions  in  Russia  and  re- 
ports received  from  that  country  from 
various  sources,  it  was  declared,  proved 
that  the  Soviet  rule  was  a  menace  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  working  classes. 


AN   opinion   handed    down   by   Attorney 
General  Palmer  on  March  3,  just  be- 
fore he  retired  from  office,  held  that  it  was 
not  within  the  power  of  the  Internal  Reve- 
nue   Bureau    through    regu- 
Ruling         lations    to    limit    the    num- 
On  Beer        ber  of  permits  which  could 
as  Medicine  be  issued  for  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  spirituous, 
vinous  or  malt  liquors  for  medicinal  pur- 
poses,  except  that  permits  for  retail   sale 
must  be  limited  to  reputable  druggists  who 
are  pharmacists  or  who  employ  a  pharma- 
cist. 

The  Attorney  General  held  further  that 
while  the  Volstead  act  fixed  at  one  pint 
the  maximum  amount  of  spirituous  liquor 
which  a  physician  might  prescribe  for  any 
patient  during  the  period  of  ten  days,  no 
such  restriction  had  been  placed  upon  the 


use  of  beer  and  wine  for  medicinal  pur- 
poses. It  was  held,  however,  that  regula- 
tions could  be  formulated  which  would 
prevent  a  physician  from  prescribing  at 
one  time  a  large  quantity  of  the  liquor, 
which  might  never  be  needed  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  prescribed. 

The  ruling  was  received  with  strong  dis- 
approval by  the  leaders  of  the  "  dry " 
element,  who  later  brought  the  matter  to 
the  attention  of  Attorney  General  Daugh- 
erty,  with  a  request  for  its  nullification. 
Mr.  Daugherty  promised  to  give  the  mattef 
careful  consideration. 


TWO    decisions    of    far-reaching    impor- 
tance were  rendered,  Feb.  28,  by  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.    In  the  first 
the  court  held  that  the  sections  of  the  Lever 
act      punishing      profiteering 
Supreme     were   invalid,   for   the   reason 
Court       that   they   were  not   clear   to 
Decisions    the    men    indicted    under    the 
act,   as   they   did   not   specify 
sufficiently  the  nature  of  the  crime. 

In  the  second  case,  the  right  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  exempt  from  taxation  bonds  of 
the  farm  loan  banking  system  was  upheld. 
Because  this  right  was  attacked  a  year 
ago,  the  bonds  of  the  system  have  been 
marketable  only  at  much  below  par  in  the 
meantime,  and  Congress  is  now  preparing 
to  aid  the  banks  by  appropriating  $200,000,- 
000  for  their  support. 


rp  HE    constitutionality    of   the   rent   laws 
-*■      passed  at  the  extraordinary  session  of 
the  New  York  State  Legislature  in  1920  was 
upheld  by  the  State  Court  of  Appeals,  on 
March   8,   in   a   most   sweeping 
Rent       decision.     The  determination  of 
Laws       the    Appellate    Division,    First 
Upheld     Department,  was  reversed,  that 
court  having  held  that  the  Leg- 
islature could  not  constitutionally  withdraw 
the  right  of  the  landlord  to  ejectment  at  the 
expiration  of  the  term  of  a  lease  without 
impairing  the  obligation  of  the  tenant's  con- 
tract to  surrender  possession.     The  opinion 
upheld  the  right  of  the  State  to  conserve 
public  welfare  under  all  conditions  of  life 
as  fchey  arose.    It  asserted  that  the  Consti- 
tution was  capable  of  taking  care  of  any 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


53 


Death 

of 

Champ  Clark 


emergency  that  might  come  into  being.  Con- 
tract rights,  it  was  declared,  must  yield  to 
public  welfare  when  in  conflict  with  the 
latter. 


REPRESENTATIVE  Champ  Clark  of 
Bowling  Green,  Mo.,  died  in  Washing- 
ton on  March  1.  He  had  been  for  twenty- 
four  years  a  member  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, its  Speaker 
during  four  Congresses, 
minority  leader  of  his 
party  in  the  House  dur- 
ing the  Sixty-sixth  Con- 
gress and  a  candidate  in  1912  for  the  Dem- 
ocratic Presidential  nomination.  He  was 
born  in  Anderson  County,  Ky.,  on  March  7, 
1850,  and  was  first  elected  to  Congress  in 
1892. 

On  March  5  his  body  rested  in  state  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  just  below 
the  dais  where  for  so  many  years  he  had 
presided  as  Speaker.  A  distinguished  audi- 
ence was  present,  including  House  and  Sen- 
ate members,  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
and  officials  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps.  Eu- 
logies marked  with  deep  feeling  were  pro- 
nounced by.  Representative  James  R.  Mann 
of  Illinois  and  Senator  James  A.  Reed  of 
Missouri.  Simple  religious  ceremonies  were 
held,  and  then  the  body  was  conveyed  to 
Bowling  Green,  Mo..,  where  it  was  interred. 


"PRESIDENT  WILSON  signed  on  Feb.  28 


r 


a  bill  providing  for  the  return  by  the 


Alien  Property  Custodian  of  property 
seized  during  the  war  which  belonged  to 
women  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Allies,  who 
married  enemy  subjects  be- 
fore the  declaration  of  war. 


To  ^Regain 

Alien 
Property 


A  DECREASE  of  3  per  cent,  in  the  retail 
cost  of  food   for  the   average  family 
in  January,   as   compared   with   December, 
was  shown  in  a  report  issued  Feb.   18  by 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statis- 
Decrease      tics    of    the    Department    of 
in  Cost       Labor. 
of  Living  The     per     cent,     was     the 

average  of  returns  of  fifty- 
one    cities    on    forty-four    articles    of    food, 


which  were  "  weighted "  according  to  the 
quantity  of  each  article  consumed  in  the 
average  workingman's  family. 

As  compared  with  the  average  cost  .in 
1913,  the  cost  of  food  in  January,  1921,  in 
some  of  the  cities,  showed  an  increase  rang- 


Harris  <&  Ewing', 
CHAMP  CLARK  OF  MISSOURI 
Veteran   Member  of   the   House   of  Representor 
fives,  who  died  March   1,  1921 

ing  from  76  per  cent,  in  New  York  to  53 
per  cent,  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  Seattle. 


rpHE  Sixty-sixth  Congress  came  to  an  end 
■*■  on  March  4,  1921.  Some  of  its  more  im- 
portant enactments  were  as  follows: 

Adoption    of     the     suffrage 
amendment. 

The  placing   on   the   statute 
books   of   a    national   prohibi- 
tion  law. 
of     provisions     for     vocational 
of   wounded   sol- 


End  of 

Sixty-sixth 

Congress 

Enactment 


training   and   rehabilitation 
diers. 

The  Railway  Transportation  act. 

The  Army  Reorganization  act. 

Merchant  Marine  Shipping  act. 

Amendments  to  the  Federal  Reserve  act. 

Civil  Service  Retirement  act. 

Water  Power  act. 

Appropriation  of  $50,000,000  to  provide  relief 
for  the  suffering  populations  of  Europe. 


COSTS  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Estimate  of  the  net  losses  incurred  by  the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy, 
Belgium,  China  and  Japan— Final  total,  allowing  for  credits,  is  at  $139,702,269,225 


THi:  following'  statement  showing-  the  net 
costs  of  the  war  to  the  countries  named 
was  presented  to  the  I'nited  States  Sen- 
ate by  Senator  Spencer  of  Missouri  on  March 
5,  1921: 

Gross  Cost      Credit  Indem.     Final  Loss. 

I'nited   States— 

$44,173,948,225    $2,300,000,000    $41,873,948,225 
Great   Britain— 

.-.1,0.12,034,000      0,850,000,000      41,202,634,000 

France— 

54, 272,915,000    16,000,000,000      38,272,915,000 
Italy     18,680,847, COO      3,500,000,000      15,180,847,000 

Belgium— 

8,174,731.000      5,700,000,000        2,474,731,000 

565,376,000    100,000,000     465,376,000 

Japan — 

481,818,000         250,000.000  231,818,000 

Total- 
Si  77,402,269,225  $37,700,000,000  $130,702,269,225 

The  accompanying  tables  show  the  amount 
paid    out   by   the   various   nations: 

TRIAL  BALANCE  ON  BASIS  THAT  ALL 

LOANS  AND  EXTENDED  CREDITS  AS 

BETWEEN  NATIONS  ARE  PAID 

WITH  INTEREST 

France    would    charge    off    a    total 

loss    of $30,112,015,000 

Great    Britain 32,502,634,000 

United    States 29,788,512,225 

Italy    10,140,847,000 

Belgium    2,474,731,000 

China     265,376,000 

Japan    31,818,000 

UNITED  STATES 

Military     cost     as     per     Secretary 

Houston $24,010,000,000 

Extra  cost,  Government  functions.  4,500,000,000 
Civilian     damages,     shipping     loss, 

pensions     2,300,000,000 

Red  Cross  contributions 078,512,225 

Other  relief  contributions 400,000,000 

Congressional    European    relief 100,000,000 

Grain  Corporation  credit 60,375,000 

War    Department    credits 50,000,000 

Shipping    Board    credit 3,580,000 

Credit    by    American    nationals    to 

European  nationals  1,921,481,000 

Government  loans  to  European  na- 
tions       0,760,000,000 

Total    $44,173,048,225 

It  is  explained  that  the  I'nited  States  has 
received  an  amount  of  German  shipping  as  yet 
unknown,  but  it  is  expected  that  the  amount  to- 
gether with  other  receipts  will  reach  the  sum  of 
$2,300,000,000,  which  is  the  amount  of  civilian 
loss,  pensions,  &c. 


INDEMNITIES 

The  treaty  provided  that  Germany  should  pay 
and  Germany  engaged  to  pay  only  three  gener- 
al items  of  indemnity : 

1.  Repay  Belgium  for  all  foreign  loans  made 
by  it  to  prosecute  the  war,  including  all  fines 
and  taxes  imposed  by  Germany  upon  Belgian 
citizens  during  occupation, 

2.  All  damages  to  persons  and  property  of 
civilians. 

3.  Pension  and  dependency  claims,  capitalized 
on  the  basis  of  the  French  rates. 

Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  all  moneys  spent  by 
the  United  States  was  for  items  not  coming 
under  any  of  those  three  heads.  All  of  the 
money  spent  for  cost  of  -operation  of  the  War 
and  Navy  Departments,  relief-work  contribu- 
tions and  ecnomic  assistance  of  whatever 
character  is  a  dead  loss.  We  are  only  to  be 
reimbursed  for  a  little  lost  shipping  and  for 
pensions  and  dependency  claims,  at  the  French 
rate,  which  is  considerably  less  than  our  own ; 
so  that  no  doubt  half  or  two-thirds  of  our  pen- 
sion and  dependency  claims  will  be  a  dead 
loss. 

The  treaty  fixed  at  the  time  what  was  then 


GREAT  BRITAIN 

War    costs,    estimated    by    deduct- 
ing pre-war  national  debts  of  the 

empire,     including    colonies $30,002,634,000 

Abnormal   war    taxes 1,300,000,000 

Civilian  damages  and  pensions....     9,850,000,000 

Total    $51,052,634,000 

Credit:  Square  Miles. 

(a)  German    East    Africa 384,160 

With  620  miles  coast  line  on 

Indian  Ocean.  Foreign  trade, 
^24,750,000;  cattle,  3,003,000 
head;  sheep,  6,308,000  head, 
and  1,010  miles  of  railroad. 

(b)  German   West    Africa 322,450 

With  030  miles  coast  line  on 

the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Foreign 
trade,  $17,889,056;  cattle. 
205,643  head  ;  sheep,  472,585 
head ;  goats,  500,000 ;  dia- 
monds taken  out  in  seven 
years  over  $35,000,000;  1,304 
miles  of  railroad. 

(c)  Togoland    (Africa)    33,700 

With  its  vast  forests  and 
228  miles  of  railroad. 

(d)  Pacific  islands   105,120 

New  Guinea,  Bismarck  Archi- 
pelago, Samoan.and  Solomon. 

(e)  German    shipping,    a    propor- 
tion    of     ships     taken     from 

Germany    845, 439 

The  foregoing  items  were  turned  over  to  the 
Allies  for  general  account,  but  have  since  been 
allotted   to   Great  Britaio. 


COST   OF   THE    WORLD    WAR 


55 


supposed  to  be  the  maximum  indemnity  that  Ger- 
many was  to  pay  on  account  of  the  three  items. 
She  was  to  give  up  certain  territories  in  Europe, 
which  were  then  and  there  divided  and  given  to 
Belgium,  France,  and  other  countries.  The 
United  States,  of  course,  did  not  ask  for  or  get 
any  of  that  indemnity.     Then  she  was  required 


FRANCE 

Paid   out: 
Estimated   on   basis   of   deducting 
pre-war    from   present    national 
debt       and       adding      abnormal 
taxes     $38,272,925,000 

.  Civilian  damages  and  pension 
account,  as  per  Professor 
Keynes,  King's  College,  Cam- 
bridge        16,000,000,000 

Total    $54,272,915,000 

Credit: 
ia)   Sarre  Basin  mines,  producing* 
14,000,000  tons  per  annum. 

(b)  Coal  in  two  allotments,  total- 
ing deliveries  in  ten  years  of 
210,000,000   tons. 

(c)  Chemicals:  Benzol,  35,000 
tons ;  coal  tar,  50,000  tons ; 
sulphate  ammonia,  30,000  tons. 

(d)  Live  stock:  Stallions,  500; 
fillies,  30,000;  bulls,  2,000; 
milch  cows,  90,000 ;  rams, 
1,000;  sheep,  100,000;  goats, 
10,000. 

(e)  Alsace-Lorraine :  5,605  square 
miles  ;  population,  1,871,702  ; 
annual  budget,  $18,512,326 ; 
produced  2,672,318  gallons 
wine,  21,136,265  tons  iron, 
3,795,932  tons  coal,  76,672  tons 
salt,  has  5,000  miles  paved 
roads  and  1,305  miles  of 
railroad  ;  all  private  property 
of  German  nationals,  which 
is  fully  65  per  cent,  of  all 
property  in  territory ;  all  war 
taxes  paid  to  Germany  from 
territory  to  be  repaid. 

(f)  Equatorial  Africa:    All  rights 

under  contracts  between  Ger- 
many and  France,  dated  Nov. 
4,  1911,  and  Sept.  28,  1912. 

(g)  State  bank  of  Morocco  :  Turns 
over  to  France  all  stock  of 
Germany  and  German  na- 
tionals. 

(h)  Bonds:  Is  to  receive  $15,- 
000,000,000  of  German  bonds. 

All  the  above  items  except  the  last  were  spe- 
cifically given  to  France  by  the  treaty,  and 
the  last  item  was  or  will  be  allotted  to  France. 

CHINA 

Paid  out : 

Cost  estimated  by  deducting  pre- 
war from  present  national 
debts    $465,376,000 

Add  civilian  damages  and  pen- 
sion   account 100,000,000 

Total     $565,376,000 

Credit : 

(a)  Cancellation 

of  Boxer  indemnity. $97, 875,000 

(b)  German        property 
in      China     outside 

of    Shantung 2,125,000 

100,000,000 

Net    loss $465,376,000 


to  make  certain  deliveries  of  coal  to  Belgium, 
France,  and  Italy;  of  chemicals  to  France  and 
live  stock  to  both  France  and  Belgium.  The 
overseas  possessions  in  Africa  and  the  Pacific 
Islands,  some  847,000  square  miles,  were  to  be 
held  for  the  joint  account  of  all  allies. 

Seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  cash  was 
to  be  raised  with  which  to  pay  off  Belgium's 
foreign  debt,  and  Germany  was  to  issue  some 
$25,000,000,000  of  bonds,  with  varying  maturities, 
that  were  to  be  delivered  to  the  reparation  colli- 
sion, to  be  by  it  allotted. 

With  reference  to  the  overseas  possessions  of 
Germany  in  Africa  and  the  Pacific  Islands  it 
was  naturally  expected  that,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  France  and  other  European  countries  had 
taken  the  European  territories,  the  overseas 
possessions    would    go    to    England,     minus    a 


BELGIUM 
Paid  out: 
War  cost  estimated  by  deducting 
pre-war    from    present    national 
debtand  adding  abnormal  taxes.  $3,174,731,000 
Add  civilian  damages  and  pension 
account,       as       per       Professor 
Keynes     5,000,000,000 


Total    8,174,731,000 

Credit : 

(a)  80,000,000  tons  of  coal  to  be 
delivered. 

(b)  Live  stock:  200  stallions; 
5,000  mares;  2,000  fillies; 
2,000  bulls  ;  50,000  milch  cows  ; 
40,000  heifers;  200  rams;  30,- 
000   sheep;    15,000   sows. 

(c)  Cash  or  first-lien  bonds  to 
pay  off  foreign  loans,  $700,- 
000. 

(d)  Moresnet,  both  the  original 
neutral  and  the  Prussian  ter- 
ritory. 

(e)  Kriese.  of  Eupen  and  Mal- 
medy,  both  to  be  eventually 
determined  by  plebiscite. 

(f)  Bonds:     Allotment  of  $4,000,- 

000,000.     See   Schedule   No.   9 

JAPAN 
Paid  out: 
Estimated  cost  by  deducting  pre- 
war from  present  national  debts.      $231,818,000 
Estimated  amount  of  civilian  loss 
and    pension    account $250,000,000 


Total    $481,818,000 

Credit : 

(a)  Shantung,  with  308  miles  of 
railroad  and  two  railroad 
concessions ;  40  mines  and 
equipment,  which  includes 
coal  mines  with  an  output 
of  814,000  tons  per  annum ; 
2  iron  mines  and  2  gold 
mines. 

(b)  Pacific  islands :  Pelew  group, 
includes  Yap,  Caroline  Is- 
lands, Marshall  Islands. 
Total,    1,040   square  miles. 

(c)  Cables.  All  German-owned 
cables  in  above  territory. 

Item  (a)  was  given  to  Japan  directly  by  the 
treaty  and  the  other  two  items  have  been 
allotted  by  the  powers  and  the  commission  to 
Japan. 


56 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


few  islands  in  the  Pacific  to  the  United  States. 
It  was  never  for  a  minute  supposed  that  Japan 
would  be  allotted  any  of  those  islands,  because 
she  had  received  her  share  in  Shantung,  which 
seemed  to  be  ample,  in  view  of  her  insignificant 
participation  in  the  war. 

The  United  States  had  holdings  in  the  Samo- 
an  Islands,  and  we  might  expect  England  to 
turn  Germany's  interest  in  those  islands  over 
to  America,  or  at  least  divide ;  but  not  so. 
The  islands  north  of  the  Equator  lie  in  a  string 
in  the  path  between  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines, 
and  it  was  thought  that  those  islands  would  be 
conceded  to  the  United  States,  but  that  was  not 


ITALY 
Paid  out: 
Estimated  war  cost  by  deducting 
prewar    from    present    national 
debt  and  adding  abnormal  tax.  .$15,180,847,000 

Damages      and     pension     ac- 
count as  per  Professor  Keynes. .     3,500,000,000 

Total    $38,680,847,000 

Credit: 

(a)  Coal,  85,500,000  tons,  to  be 
delivered  within  ten  years. 
One-half  by  rail  and  one-half 
by  water.    German  treaty. 

(b)  Trentino,  Istria,  and  part  of 
Dalmatia  from  Austria  terri- 
tory. About  12,000  square 
miles.     Austrian  treaty. 

(c)  Bonds:  An  allotment  of  $3,- 
000,000,000  of  bonds.  See 
Schedule  No.  9. 


to  be.  They  were  given  to  Japan,  whose  finan- 
cial participation  in  the  World  War  turns  out 
to  be  thirty  million  against  our  thirty  billion, 
or  about  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  par- 
ticipation  of  the  United   States. 

It  was  never  intended  that  the  United  States 
should  participate  in  any  manner  in  the  Ger- 
man indemnity,  so  that  whatever  it  is,  large  or 
small,  the  amount  will  have  no  effect  upon  the 
final  figures  representing  the  net  loss  appear- 
ing in  the  last  column  on  the  first  sheet  of  this 
statement.  If  the  amount  collected  is  large,  it 
will  be  added ;  and  if  it  is  small,  it  will  be 
deducted  from  both  columns  No.  1  and  No.  2, 
and  the  final  difference  will  be  the  same. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  statement  and  more 
to  illustrate  the  elements  that  must  finally  go 
into  the  last  account  we  have  used  the  tenta- 
tive issue  of  bonds  provided  for  in  various  parts 
of  the  treaty,  aggregating  $25,000,000,000  and 
in  distributing  the  items  in  Column  No.  2  we 
have  used  the*  compilations  of  Professor  J.  M. 
Keynes  in  his  book  entitled  "  Economic  Conse- 
quences of  Peace."  In  that  work  he  went  over 
the  subject  of  damages  to  property  and  persons 
with  great  thoroughness,  ascertained  the  orig- 
inal value  of  the  property  before  invasion,  and 
deducted  its  value  after. 

However,  as  we  have  shown,  any  other  items 
or  estimates  of  these  damages  will  not  change 
the  fact  that  the  United  States  has  invested 
$670,000,000  more  in  the  World  War  than  any 
other  nation. 


THE  GERMAN  GOLD  PAID  TO  LENIN 


ACCORDING  to  Edward  Bernstein,  the 
German  Socialist  leader,  the  whole  idea 
of  sending  Nikolai  Lenin  into  Russia  in  a 
sealed  railway  car — to  start  a  revolution — 
originated  with  General  Ulrich  von  Hoff- 
mann, now  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of 
Bolshevism  and  an  advocate  of  Lenin's 
overthrow  by  an  interallied  army.  In  a 
recent  manifesto  General  von  Hoffmann 
frankly  admitted  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment had  sent  Lenin  into  Russia  for  the 
purpose  stated,  but  he  said  nothing  about 
the  amount  of  German  gold  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Red  leader.  On  Jan.  14 
Herr  Bernstein  declared  that  he  had  re- 
ceived reliable  information  from  persons 
in  close  touch  with  the  German  National 
Treasury  regarding  the  extent  to  which 
Germany  had  subsidized  Lenin.  The  sum 
was    50,000,000    gold   marks,    he    said,    not 


80,000,000  gold  rubles,  as  previously  re- 
ported, and  it  was  paid  in  installments. 
Before  affixing  the  seal  to  Lenin's  draw- 
ing-room car,  said  Bernstein,  General  von 
Hoffmann,  who  had  gone  for  that  special 
purpose  to  Switzerland,  had  handed  over 
to  the  Bolshevist  agitator  several  heavy 
bags  filled  with  thousands  of  gold  "  Wil- 
helms,"  which  were  as  much  coveted  by 
Russians  as  their  own  10-ruble  pieces. 
Another  instalment,  he  had  learned,  was 
paid  to  Lenin  at  Stockholm,  and  the  last 
was  delivered  through  Lenin's  State  Secre- 
tary, Menshikov,  after  the  Bolshevist 
seizure  of  power.  The  despotic  attitude  of 
von  Hoffmann  at  the  Brest-Litovsk  Peace 
Conference,  Bernstein  adds,  was  due  to  the 
hold  which  von  Hoffmann,  Helfferich  and 
Ludendorff  had  thus  acquired  over  the  Red 
Russian  leaders. 


Undcncoocl   <£    Underrrnod) 


AN    INTERESTING    GROUP    OF    THE    MORE    ADVANCED    TURKISH    WOMEN    IN    CONSTANTINOPLE, 
WHO    HAVE    DISCARDED    THE    CUSTOMARY    VEII.    SINCE    THE    WAR 


LIFE  IN  A  TURKISH  HAREM 

By     LORETTA     I.     BlGLEY 

The  author  of  this  article,  an  American  Red  Cross  worker  from  Chicago,  recently  had 
charge  of  a  rescue  home  in  Aintab,  Turkey,  for  the  unfortunate  Christian  women  who 
had  been  forced  into  Turkish  harems  during  the  war  and  who  were  freed  in  1919 
by  order  of  the  Peace  Conference — Talks  with  Moslem  women  in  their  homes 


Allah  is  great ;   there  is  but  one  God, 
and  Mohammed  is  his  Prophet." 


FIVE  times  daily  the  Turks  turn  toward 
Mecca  and  repeat  the  foregoing  pas- 
sage from  the  Koran.  Nowhere  in  the 
entire  Moslem  world  is  this  religious  duty 
more  conscientiously  performed  than  among 
the  women  of  the  harems.  To  them  Mo- 
hammed and  the  Koran  are  oracles,  and  be- 
cause of  this  fact  the  Turks  have  been  able 
to  keep  their  women  in  absolute  subjection 
through  the  centuries,  for  the  code  of  Mo- 
hammed justifies  such  subjection  of  woman 
to  man. 

The  sixteen  months  which  I  spent  re- 
cently in  an  official  capacity  in  Turkey  fa- 
miliarized me  with  many  phases — both 
political  and  social  —  of  Turkish  life. 
Through   several  unique  experiences  I  was 


enabled  to  learn  much  of  life  in  the  Turkish 
harem. 

The  Turkish  woman's  education  is  lim- 
ited, as  she  has  been  deprived  of  all  knowl- 
edge which  would  familiarize  her  with  the 
outside  world.  The  Turks  have  realized 
that  it  would  be  a  great  handicap  to  them 
in  continuing  their  unjust  and  despotic  gov- 
ernment if  they  educated  their  people,  and 
especially  their  women,  in  lines  other  than 
domestic.  Very  few  of  the  women  of  the 
harems,  therefore,  can  read,  write  or  speak 
more  than  one  language,  though  many  'of 
the  men  are  masters  of  several  languages. 
After  reaching  her  eleventh  year  the  Turk- 
ish woman  is  forbidden  to  appear  in  public, 
or  in  the  presence  of  any  man,  even  in  her 


;>S 


THV. 


OUK    TIMh 


XT    HISTORY 


(ritoto    by   the   Author) 

WORKING    WOMEN    IX    TURKEY    WASHING    WOOL    BY    THE    PRIMITIVE    METHOD    IX    USE    slttGE 

THE    TIMT.    OF    CHRIST 


own  home,  unless  heavily  veiled.  Her  hus- 
band is  the  only  man  excepted  from  this 
rule,  and  even  he  is  not  permitted  to  see 
his  wife  unveiled  until  the  second  day  after 
their  marriage. 

The    husband    mav    add    anv    number    of 


wives  to  the  harem  without  even  consulting- 
those  he  has  already  married.  The  number, 
however,  is  determined  by  his  finances.  A 
certain  sum,  decided  upon  by  the  Govern- 
ment, is  required  for  each  wife.  Therefore, 
with   the  exception  of  those  of   the   Sultan 


TURKISH     WOMEN     PREPARING     WHEAT     FOR     TABLE     USE 


LIFE  IN  A  TURKISH  HAREM 


59 


(his  harem  is  ve.ry  large)  and  some  of  the 
Beys  and  Pashas  or  very  wealthy  notables, 
the  Turkish  harems  are  not  large.  Four  is 
the  usual  number  of  wives,  and  many  Turks 
have  only  one  or  two. 

Having  been  responsible  for  the  Christian 
women  of  the  Turkish  harems,  I  had  a  keen 
curiosity  to  learn  something  of  the  Moslem 
women.  As  a  result  of  my  position,  I  was 
rather  closely  associated  with  the  Turkish 
officials  of  the  Aintab  vilayet  in  Cilicia, 
and  this  constant  association  sharpened  my 
desire  to  familiarize  myself  with  the  life  of 
the  women  behind  the  barred  windows,  who 
came  forth  so  heavily  veiled.  These  offi- 
cials had  been  active  in  promoting  some  of 
the  worst  atrocities  in  Turkey  during  the 
war,   the   records   of   which,   dispatched   by 


Miss  Rigley,  in  the  dress  of  a  Turkish 
woman,  posed  to  show  how  her  friends  of 
th<    harem    appeared    in   their   own   homes 


our  Consuls  and  by  our  Ambassador,  and 
now  on  file  at  Washington,  compare  with 
no  others  of  former  years.  In  view  of  this 
knowledge,  I  was  astonished,  here  in  the 
"  land  of  the  Arabian  Nights,"  to  find  these 
Turkish  officials  so  apparently  human,  so 
suave,  and  displaying  an  exterior  courtesy 
worthy  of  the  most  thorough  gentlemen. 

THE  INVITATION 

It   was   one   day   early   in   June,    after   I 
had   been   in   Aintab   three   months,   that   I 
received  by  first  invitation  to  visit  a  Turk- 
ish harem.    In  the  institution  which  I  had 
organized    for    the     Christian     women     re- 
leased  from    the    harems    as    the    result    of 
an    order    from    the    Peace    Conference,    all 
women    were    permitted    to    return    to    the 
harem   if   they   desired,   after  a  week's   so- 
journ.    Children  could  not  return  under  any 
circumstances.       One    morning    a    Turkish 
woman  called.     Finding  no  men  present,  she 
raised  her  veil,  and  I  beheld  the  pleasant 
face  of  a  woman  of  about  40  years.       She 
stated    her    business    at    once.      A    Turkish 
gendarme — the    British    military   had   made 
the  police   responsible  for  the  rescued  wo- 
men reaching  the  institution — had  delivered 
to  the  Rescue  Home  a  child  for  whom  she 
had    been   caring   for   four    years,    and   she 
pleaded  with  me  to  allow  the  child  to  re- 
turn with  her.      Vainly   I   tried   to   explain 
to  her  that  she  had  no  claim  on  this  Chris- 
tian child,  and  also  that  military  responsi- 
bility   forbade    my    disposing    of    the    child 
otherwise    than    had    previously  •  been    or- 
dered.     She    left    as    abruptly    as    she    had 
entered,  and  not  in  the  best  humor.     More 
persistent  than  the  average  Turkish  woman, 
she  made  two  more  calls  before  I  was  able 
to  convince  her  that  I  was  not  personally 
responsible.     As  we  became  more  friendly, 
I  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  ex- 
plain to  her  why  we  American  women  were 
in  Turkey — that  we  were  there  as  a  neu- 
tral   people,    prepared   to    administer    relief 
among  those  who   were   in  need,   Christian 
or  Moslem,  though  in  the  majority  of  cases 
the   Christians   were   the   beneficiaries.      In 
Aintab  the  Muterseraf    (local  official)    ac- 
cepted very  little,  save  in  emergencies,  when 
he  would  call  on  us  for  relief  of  all  kinds. 
I  finally  convinced  my  Turkish  visitor  that 
though   it   fell   to   my   lot   to  care   for  the 
poor    Christian    women    rescued    from    the 


60 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


harems,  this  did  not  mean  that  I  was  not 
interested  in  the  Moslem  women. 

Soon  after  that  my  Turkish  friend  in- 
vited me  to  visit  her  home.  An  oppor- 
tunity of  this  kind  was  what  I  had  been 
waiting  for,  but,  although  I  was  secretly 
thrilled  at  the  prospect  of  such  an  excep- 
tional privilege,  I  feigned  reluctance  in  ac- 
cepting. As  Americans  up  to  this  time 
had  always  been  respected  and  protected  in 
Turkey,  I  felt  assured  of  my  personal 
safety.  On  the  appointed  afternoon,  ac- 
companied by  my  interpreter,  I  started  for 
my  first  visit  to  a  real  Turkish  harem. 

ENTRANCE    TO    THE    HAREM 

High  stone  walls  surrounded  the  harem. 
My  guide  tapped  at  the  gate.  The  heavy 
door  was  unbolted,  and  then  was  opened 
very  slowly  by  a  beautiful  young  girl.  I 
beheld  a  wide  courtyard,  in  the  centre  of 
which  was  a  fountain.  There  were  no  wo- 
men in  sight  when  we  entered,  and  my  in- 
terpreter whispered  to  me  that  there  is 
always  a  hurried  exit  from  the  court  when 
a  tap  is  heard  at  the  gate,  but  that  the 
women  can  ascertain  who  the  intruders  are 
by  peeping  unobserved  through  the  little 
latticed  windows.  While  waiting  to  be  an- 
nounced I  observed  that  the  home,  follow- 
ing the  prevailing  style  of  architecture  in 
Turkey,  consisted  of  a  two -story  structure 
built  around  a  court.  I  also  obtained, 
through  a  small  passageway,  a  glimpse  of 
a  garden,  which  later  I  found  to  be  very 
beautiful;  here  the  ladies  of  the  harem 
whiled  many  hours  away  with  no  fear  of 
the  gaze  of  masculine  eyes.  I  also  noted 
that,  like  many  of  the  better  class,  they 
had  their  private  bath.  The  "  Salamlik  " 
(compartments  for  the  male  members  of 
the  household)  are  quite  separate  from  the 
harem. 

I  was  soon  ushered  into  a  large  compart- 
ment, where  furniture  was  conspicuous  by 
its  absence.  The  woodwork  was  unpolished 
and  beautifully  carved,  and  a  number  of 
small  cupboards  were  built  into  the  walls. 
On  all  available  spaces  were  hung  the 
choicest  Oriental  rugs,  that  on  the  wall 
facing  Mecca  being  a  prayer  rug,  before 
which  the  Moslem  always  prays;  this  rug 
was  later  presented  to  me  as  a  token 
of  our  friendship;  I  prize  it  highly.  The 
floor  also  was  covered  with  richly  embroid- 


ered rugs,  as  were  likewise  the  long,  nar- 
row cushions,  which  had  been  placed  near 
the  walls. 

My  call  was  evidently  an  event  quite  out 
of  the  ordinary.  Instead  of  three  ladies, 
there  were  eight,  five  having  been  invited 
for  the  occasion.  My  reception  was  most 
cordial,  each  woman  insisting  upon  kissing 
my  hands  in  token  of  the  sincerity  of  my 
welcome.  After  the  preliminaries,  we  all 
sat  down  on  the  floor.  I  had  refused  the 
proffered  cushion,  for,  as  I  told  my  inter- 
preter, I  desired  to  do  whatever  was 
customary,  in  so  far  as  I  could.  The  ladies 
appeared  amused  at  seeing  me  on  the  floor, 
realizing  that  it  was  not  an  American  cus- 
tom, and  I  will  admit  that  it  was  difficult 
to  attain  the  graceful  posture  of  the  harem 
ladies.  They  are  in  this  respect  real 
artists. 

FIRST   IMPRESSIONS 

They  were  beautifully  dressed  in  the 
usual  Turkish  style.  Turkish  women  wear 
no  tight  clothing,  and  the  messla  (kimona) 
is  the  customary  outer  garment.  Messla* 
are  often  made  of  the  finest  silk,  embroid- 
ered in  gold  or  silver.  They  are  of  various 
colors  and  most  attractive.  The  women 
usually  choose  a  style  of  headdress  that  will 
correspond  with  the  wesslas.  A  foreign 
woman  rarely  visits  the  Orient  without  buy- 
ing a  messla. 

The  social  rank  of  the  various  castes  is 
determined  largely  by  the  display  of  finery. 
Some  wear  gold  bands  around  their  fore- 
heads and  necks,  and  often  around  their 
ankles,  although  the  latter  custom  is  prac- 
ticed more  among  the  Egyptian  ladies. 
They  apply  plenty  of  rouge  and  employ 
every  means  to  add  to  their  beauty.  Embon- 
point seems  to  be  their  goal,  and  this  is 
easily  attained,  for  the  diet  of  the  Turkish 
people  would  never  be  prescribed  where  one 
desires  to  reduce  one's  weight.  Many  of 
the  women  are  beautiful,  but  they  mature 
at  a  very  early  age. 

Soon  a  large  tray  containing  native 
sweets,  fruits,  the  ubiquitous  demi-tasse 
and  cigarettes  was  placed  in  the  centre  of 
the  group.  It  was  about  3  o'clock,  and 
during  the  next  two  hours  (it  was  quite 
impossible  to  limit  this  to  a  formal  call) 
there    was    not    a    moment's    silence.      We 


LIFE  IN  A  TURKISH  HAREM 


fil 


talked  and   ate.     Toothpicks  were  much  in 
vogue. 

These  Turkish  women  displayed  a  keener 
curiosity  in  American  affairs  than  I  had 
expected  to  meet.  Any  authentic  informa- 
tion about  the  women  of  the  outside  world 
is  always  appreciated  by  them,  I  learned, 
even  though  discounted  by  their  husbands. 
I  took  special  pains  not  to  disclose  my 
curiosity  in  their  affairs,  but  when  the 
opportunity  for  obtaining  information  pre- 
sented itself  I  took  advantage  of  it,  and 
evidently  without  arousing  their  suspicions, 
for  in  the  course  of  our  conversation  they 
discussed  the  innermost  secrets  of  their 
households. 

SECRETS   OF   THE   HAREM 

One  of  the  ladies  remarked,  "  Miss  Big- 
ley,  why  don't  you  organize  a  home  for 
Turkish  women  as  you  have  for  the  Chris- 
tian women?  "  That  gave  me  an  opening. 
I  replied  that  surely  the  Turkish  women 
were  happy  in  their  present  surroundings, 
having  no  work  to  do  other  than  that  which 
is  really  considered  a  diversion.  (Many 
hours  are  spent  in  making  beautiful  needle- 
work, weaving  rugs  and  preparing  sweets. 
All  the  undesirable  work  is  done  by  Chris- 
tian servants.)  I  also  referred  to  the  fact 
that  no  other  ladies  in  the  world  possessed 
wardrobes  as  beautiful  as  theirs,  and  that 
surely,  as  their  husbands  were  such  good 
providers,  they  must  be  very  fond  of  them. 
This  remark  caused  a  unanimous  exclama- 
tion. How  could  they  be  happy  and  enjoy 
their  husbands  with  so  many  women  in  the 
harem?  From  what  information  I  gath- 
ered, it  seems  that  the  only  cases  in  which 
the  harem  women  are  happy  are  those 
where  there  are  only  two  wives,  with  a  dif- 
ference of  about  twenty  years  between 
them.  We  saw  an  illustration  of  this  in  the 
home  of  Ali  Bey,  one  of  the  notables.  The 
younger  wife  died,  and  the  other  was  in- 
consolable. 

The  ladies  in  the  harems  are  not  always 
congenial,  and  there  is  considerable  jeal- 
ousy. The  latest  wife  is  always  referred 
to  as  "  the  bride,"  and  she  is  the  "  leading 
lady "  until  another  is  added  to  the  list. 
Few  of  the  women  desire  the  responsibility 
of  a  family,  and  unless  a  wife  is  fond  of 
her  husband  she  refuses  to  raise  one,  espe- 
cially as  she  knows  that  another  "  bride  " 
seldom   enters  the   harem   until   the  family 


is  raised.  One  reason  why  Christian  wo- 
men are  not  liked  in  the  harem  is  that 
when  one  of  them  enters  there  is  sure  to 
be  a  family.  The  Turkish  men  are  very 
fond  of  children. 

The  care  of  the  children  interested  me. 
With  arms  at  their  sides,  they  are  wrapped 
very  tightly,  and  with  a  coin  or  small  bead 
tied  to  the  hair  in  front — to  keep  away  the 
"  evil  eye  " — are  placed  in  this  uncomforta- 
ble position  on  a  pillow  and  sometimes  al- 
lowed to  remain  for  hours.  They  reminded 
me  of  American  Indian  papooses.  Some 
are  so  bedecked  with  jewelry  that  it  is  sur- 
prising they  have  any  rest  at  all.  Strange- 
ly enough,  however,  they  seem  never  to  cry. 

MATRIMONY    A    BUSINESS    INSTITU- 
TION 

The  ladies  showed  me  a  beautiful  trous- 
seau belonging  to  the  "  bride "  of  this 
harem.  As  they  love  beautiful  things,  I 
knew  a  demonstration  of  my  appreciation 
would  please  them,  so  I  remarked  that  I 
would  not  object  to  becoming  a  harem  in- 
mate if  I  could  have  such  wonderful  things. 
One  of  them  took  me  seriously,  and  said 
she  was  certain  her  husband  could  find 
me  an  eligible  Turk,  but  added,  "  Not  if 
you  allow  him  to  see  you  in  the  suit  you 
are  wearing."  I  will  admit  that  I  looked 
rather  severe  in  my  Red  Cross  nurse's  uni- 
form. That  amused  me.  "  Well,"  I  replied, 
"  this  being  all  I  possess,  apparently  my 
case  is  hopeless."  "  Oh,  no,"  she  insisted, 
"  I  will  provide  the  trousseau,  and  he  the 
jewelry." 

I  saw  that  I  was  getting  into  deep  water, 
and  not  desiring  to  appear  trivial,  Isaid :  "  I 
am  afraid  it  is  quite  impossible,  because  I 
am  a  Christian."  (I  wanted  to  say  "  Gia- 
our " — barefaced  infidel — as  the  Christian 
is  called.)  But  she  still  insisted:  The 
Turkish  men  did  not  consider  American 
women  as  ordinary  Christians.  I  was  even 
forced  to  submit  to  being  decorated  with 
the  bride's  georgeous  headdress,  heavily 
weighted  with  gold  coins. 

This  little  episode  illustrates  what  a  bar- 
gaining place  their  matrimonial  field  is. 
When  a  Turkish  girl  is  of  marriageable 
age,  that  is,  after  she  has  reached  the  age 
of  11,  the  parents  make  her  marriage  a 
business  proposition,  and  the  highest  bid- 
der draws  the  prize. 


62 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


THE   HAREM   LADY'S   TROUSSEAU 

The  trousseau  is  provided  by  the  pros- 
pective husband,  and  his  contributions  are 
usually  made  on  some  important  day,  gen- 
erally from  four  to  five  times  a  year.  I 
was  amazed  at  the  extensive  trousseaux  of 
some  of  the  women,  before  I  was  confi- 
dentially informed  that,  as  it  is  customary 
for  the  bride  to  receive  no  allowance  from 
her  husband  other  than  her  regular  mar- 
riage dowry,  which  is  not  at  her  disposal 
except  in  case  of  divorce,  they  are  anxious 
to  accumulate  all  the  beautiful  things  pos- 
sible. Afterward,  when  they  need  money, 
they  go  into  the  crowded  market — we  saw 
many  do  it,  usually  early  in  the  morning — 
and  sit  in  the  street  with  all  those  who  have 
come  from  far  and  near  with  their  wares. 
And  there,  amid  the  bargaining,  trading, 
stealing  and  fighting  of  a  Turkish  market, 
they  dispose  of  the  various  articles  of  their 
trousseau.  This  is  their  only  means  of  ob- 
taining money.  The  husband  may  be  pres- 
ent and  even  witness  the  transaction,  but 
has  no  means  of  determining  whether  it  is 
his  wife  or  not,  as  the  street  costumes  of 
all  the  Turkish  women  are  the  same,  differ- 
ing in  color  only.  All  aim  to  have  a  silk 
costume  for  the  street,  if  they  have  nothing 
else. 

There  is  one  instance  in  which  a  Turkish 
girl's  wish  is  sometimes  respected,  and  that 
is,  after  she  has  been  bargained  for  in  the 
matrimonial  market,  she  is  allowed  to  set 
the  day  for  her  marriage.  Divorce  rarely 
occurs,  but  when  a  husband  desires  it  he 
can  put  away  a  wife  by  merely  saying,  "  I 
divorce  you."  When  this  phrase  is  uttered 
a  second  time,  a  marriage  ceremony  is 
again  necessary  to  make  the  divorced  par- 
ties man  and  wife.  It  is  impossible  for  a 
woman  to  divorce  her  husband.  Allah  rather 
favors  the  men. 

A  TURKISH  MARRIAGE 

I  found  the  wedding  ceremonials  most  in- 
teresting. One  of  the  elaborate  ones  which 
I  attended  was  heralded  for  weeks  as  a  so- 
cial event  unparalleled  in  Aintab  in  recent 
years.  Both  bride  and  groom  were  mem- 
bers of  prominent  Aintab  families.  The 
American  women  had  been  invited  to  the 
wedding  reception  on  the  understanding 
that  they  would  go  alone,  as  this  was  no 
place  for  men.     The  male  members  of  our 


personnel,  however,  decided  to  accompany 
us,  with  the  faint  hope  of  learning  some- 
thing of  this  mysterious  affair.  Our 
methods  of  transportation  were  limited;  we 
had  to  choose  whether  to  go  in  an  "  arabe," 
which  would  necessitate  two  trips,  or  to 
ride  on  donkeys,  or  walk,  or  go  in  our 
never-to-be-forgotten  Ford  truck.  The  truck 
was  decided  upon,  and  it  took  hours  of 
strenuous  labor  before  we  were  assured 
that  it  could  negotiate  the  trip. 

The  ceremony  had  been  performed  the 
day  before.  In  this  the  bride  and  groom 
stand  each  behind  a  door,  while  the  priest 
says  the  words  that  make  them  man  and 
wife.  After  this  the  bride  sits  on  a  sort  of 
throne,  very  elaborately  decorated,  receiv- 
ing only  her  most  intimate  relatives,  and 
the  following  day  at  3  in  the  afternoon  she 
is-  unveiled  and  presented  to  her  husband. 
Then  the  reception  begins,  and  to  this  we 
had  been  invited. 

TREASURES  OF  THE  TROUSSEAU 

We  were  received  with  great  ceremony, 
and  after  paying  our  respects  to  the  bride, 
a  really  beautiful  girl,  and  to  the  groom 
and  the  "  in-laws,"  we  were  ushered  into  the 
boudoir.  The  trousseau,  which  we  had  been 
previously  prepared  to  see,  represented  a 
value  of  2,200  gold  liare  ($11,000) ;  it  con- 
tained a  dress  for  each  day  of  the  year, 
with  a  variety  of  the  most  inconceivable 
things.  Such  a  display  of  wealth!  Even 
dozens  of  towels  were  embroidered  in  gold 
and  silver.  We  failed  to  see  what  would 
have  been  appreciated  by  an  American 
bride,  a  display  of  silver  and  linen.  These 
play  no  part  in  the  trousseau. 

While  we  were  thus  engaged  the  brother 
of  the  groom  entered.  After  conversing 
with  him  a  short  time,  we  found  that  he, 
like  his  brother,  was  an  educated  man,  who 
had  traveled  in  Europe  and  America,  and 
who  was  well  versed  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

The  guests  were  many,  and  the  court  and 
gardens  were  crowded.  At  intervals  of 
about  twenty  minutes  the  bride  excused 
herself,  s^m  and  again,  and  soon  returned 
each  time  in  a  new  gown.  The  music  was 
furnished  by  «nme  picturesque-looking  wo- 
men, ^"d  while  several  beautiful  girls  of 
about  15  entertained  us  with  singing  and 
dancing,  these  musicians  played  weird 
music  on  their  queer-looking  instruments. 


LIFE  IN  A  TURKISH  HAREM 


63 


We  were  being  continually  served  with 
native  sweets.  After  the  entertainment 
was  over  we  were  ushered  into  a  garden, 
where  the  wedding  feast  was  served.  The 
attempt  at  a  modern  table  was  pathetic.  A 
real  table  with  plates  and  knives  and  forks 
was  provided  for  the  five  Americans  pres- 
ent, but  the  food  was  placed  in  two  large 
dishes,  as  is  the  custom,  in  the  centre  of 
the  table.  It  was  a  regular  Turkish  meal, 
and,  as  usual,  was  of  short  duration.  The 
brother  of  the  groom  entertained  the  Amer- 
ican men  until  the  affair  was  over,  and 
they  participated  in  the  wedding  feast  in  a 
private  garden. 

The  celebration  continued  another  day, 
and  thus  ended  the  one  eventful  time  in  the 
bride's   life. 

DEATH  FOR  UNCHASTITY 

Any  indiscretion  on  the  part  of  a  Turkish 
wife — and  this  refers  to  the  Kurds  as  well — 
is  followed  by  swift  punishment.  If  there 
is  evidence  enough  to  prove  that  she  has 
violated  her  marriage  vows,  the  punish- 
ment is  death.  I  had  been  in  Aintab  some 
time  when  one  evening,  returning  to  my 
rooms  from  the  Rescue  Home,  I  passed  a 
group  of  Turkish  and  Kurdish  houses. 
Evidence  of  trouble  was  nothing  unusual, 
but  a  woman's  loud  shrieks  attracted  my 
attention.  At  first  I  could  get  no  informa- 
tion from  my  interpreter,  although  I  knew 
.she  could  understand  all  that  was  being 
said;  when  we  had  almost  reached  our 
compound,  however,  she  informed  me  that 
the  husband  of  the  shrieking  woman  had 
discovered  that  the  latter  had  been  sharing 
her  affections  with  a  Kurdish  neighbor. 
As  a  result  of  this  she  must  die.  There 
was  no  escape.  The  following  morning  we 
learned  that  she  had  expiated  her  crime 
in  the  presence  of  several  witnesses,  the 
executioner  being  her  husband. 

ABUNDANT  TURKISH  FOOD 

I  have  often  been  asked  what  the  Turkish 
people  eat.  It  is  the  quantity  rather  than 
the  quality  that  most  concerns  them.  They 
have  good  appetites  and  are  especially  fond 
of  meat.  As  many  as  five  or  six  courses 
are  served  at  one  meal  when  they  can 
afford  it.  They  consume  a  vast  amount 
of  olive  oil  and  fats.  The  variety  of  vege- 
tables,   most    of    which    are    eaten    raw,    is 


limited.  They  are  fond  of  fruits  and  nuts, 
which  are  very  plentiful.  The  grapes  are 
delicious — far  superior  to  those  grown  in 
California  or  Florida.  Plenty  of  English 
walnuts  and  pistachio  nuts  are  grown  there. 
Bulgar  (wheat)  serves  as  the  basis  of  all 
their  cooked  meals,  and  a  supply  for  a  year 
is  laid  in  in  the  Fall,  although  it  is  usually 
obtainable  in  the  markets.  The  preparation 
of  the  bulgar  and  the  native  sweets  is  the 
event  of  the  season,  and  extremely  interest- 
ing to  those  unfamiliar  with  it. 

The  women  take  the  wheat  to  some 
isolated  stream  where  they  can  work  un- 
veiled without  fear  of  intrusion.  It  is 
placed  on  a  rug  in  the  water,  and  where 
the  stream  is  at  all  rapid  a  sieve  is  placed 
at  one  end  to  prevent  the  wheat  from 
floating  away.  The  water  passes  through 
the  wheat  until  it  is  entirely  free  from 
dirt.  Then  it  is  placed  on  large  pieces  of 
cloth  and  allowed  to  dry.  After  undergoing 
the  necessary  process  of  rolling,  it  is  par- 
boiled, again  dried,  and  ground  into  flour, 
fine  or  coarse,  in  a  very  primitive  mill. 

The  women  do  not  eat  with  their  hus- 
bands. The  husband  is  served  first,  and 
then  the  women  receive  what  remains.  Even 
in  the  best  families  the  food  is  usually 
served  in  one  or  two  large  dishes,  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  room.  The  Turks  al- 
ways eat  on  the  floor.  Not  being  educated 
in  the  use  of  a  knife  or  fork,  they  prepare 
a  form  of  bread  which,  when  moistened  and 
torn  into  small  pieces,  is  used  to  convey 
the  food,  such  as  rice  and  bulgar,  to  the 
mouth.  The  rapidity  with  which  it  disap- 
pears is  extraordinary. 

One  afternoon  when  I  was  passing  a 
home  which  I  frequently  visited,  knowing 
that  it  was  "  native  sweet  "  season,  I  peeped 
in  and  beheld  what  I  had  been  so  anxious 
to  see.  They  were  preparing  a  variety  of 
which  I  was  very  fond.  It  was  made  by 
stringing  English  walnuts  about  an  inch 
and  a  half  apart  on  long  threads,  possibly 
a  yard  or  a  yard  and  a  half  in  length. 
These  were  dipped  into  a  large  kettle  in 
which,  over  an  open  fireplace,  was  boiling 
a  thick  syrup  made  from  white  grapes. 
The  strings  of  syrup-coated  nut  kernels 
were  then  hung  on  a  rack  to  dry.  It  was 
most  attractive  to  see  dozens  of  these  hang- 
ing there  at  one  time.  The  women  make 
several  varieties  that  are  delicious.  They 
depend   entirely  on  charcoal   for  their  fuel. 


64 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


LIFE   AT   THE    BATH 

A  day  spent  at  the  Turkish  bath  is  a 
real  social  event.  Even  the  finest  ladies 
go  to  the  public  bath,  regardless  of  hav- 
ing bath  facilities  in  their  homes.  The 
bathhouse  is  often  reserved  by  associations 
of  friends,  who  then  go  in  large  groups, 
bringing  their  lunches  and  staying  all  day. 
It  is  a  very  large  building,  with  four  or 
five  rooms,  and  can  accommodate  as  many 
as  a  hundred  at  one  time.  Each  bather 
provides  her  own  soap  and  towels,  so  here 
a  display  of  highly  scented  soaps  and  beau- 
tifully embroidered  towels  counts  among  the 
attractions. 

The  women  first  enter  a  small  compart- 
ment and  prepare  for  the  bath,  with  the 
aid  of  numerous  Christian  attendants.  They 
then  enter  another  large  room,  very  well 
heated.  In  the  centre  of  the  floor  there  is 
an  elevation  of  about  six  feet,  through  the 
many  openings  of  which  hot  water  is  flow- 
ing continuously;  at  times  it  looks  like  a 
small  fountain.  The  bath  is  heated  by  a 
fire  underneath.  In  this  room  all  are 
scrubbed  well  by  the  attendants,  many 
times,  and  they  sometimes  remain  here  for 
hours  and  perspire.  Turkey  being  a  non- 
alcoholic country,  they  have  nothing  to  re- 
sort to  in  an  emergency.  Later  they  pass 
into  another  room,  and  their  bodies  are 
gradually  cooled  before  going  into  the  cold 
fountain.  The  system,  it  will  be  noted,  is 
different  from  that  of  our  Turkish  baths, 
where  we  pass  from  one  extreme  to  an- 
other. After  the  women  eat  their  lunches 
they  spend  the  afternoon  in  gossip,  and  aim 
to   reach   home   by   sundown,   when   all   the 


Moslem  world,  guided  by  the  criers  from 
hundreds  of  minarets,  offer  praise  to  Allah. 
Indeed,  v/hen  I  returned  to  the  United 
States  I  missed  this  familiar  cry,  which  I 
had  heard  every  morning  and  evening  dur- 
ing my  many  months  in  the  Orient. 

HAREM  WOMEN  NOT  HAPPY 

When  one  finds  the  women  unhappy  in 
the  harems  of  the  better  class,  is  it  not 
reasonable  to  believe  that  the  conditions 
are  even  worse  among  the  poor?  And  the 
vast  majority  of  the  Turkish  people  are 
very  poor.  They  dwell  in  crowded  quarters, 
and  live  a  life  of  misery.  I  visited  these 
harems  as  well  as  those  of  the  better 
classes. 

The  women  are  not  happy — not  even 
those  of  the  Sultan's  harem,  though  the 
royal  Sultanas  do  not,  as  in  the  past,  live 
in  constant  fear  of  ending  their  existence 
in  the  Bosporus.  That  fatal  place  always 
attracts  the  eye  of  the  tourist  as  he  enters 
the  harbor  of  the  Golden  Horn. 

Little  progress  has  been  made  during 
the  centuries.  Western  civilization  has  not 
had  the  same  influence  on  the  Moslem  as 
on  the  Christian  population,  the  high  stone 
walls  proving  impenetrable  barriers.  In  the 
cities — Constantinople,  Beirut  and  others — 
where  employment  was  available,  the  eco- 
nomic conditions  forced  the  harem  women 
into  the  streets  during  the  war,  and,  as  a 
result,  one  sees  many  unveiled  in  these 
cities  today;  but  elsewhere  throughout  Tur- 
key the  old  and  rigid  customs  prevail  un- 
changed. 


WESTERN  CAPITALISM  IN  BURMA 


FAR-OFF  Burma  is  known  mainly  for 
its  products — Burma  oil,  Burma  rubies, 
&c.  Latterly  a  Burma  Corporation  has  been 
created,  which  means  that  the  British  capi- 
talists, like  other  investors,  alike  Euro- 
pean, Chinese  and  Indian,  have  got  a  grip 
on  Burma. 

This  small  principality,  situated  on 
the  easternmost  boundary  of  India,  a 
part  of  Indo-China  bordering  on  the  vast 
Mongolian  realm,  with  a  coastline  on  the 
Indian  Ocean,  is  undergoing  the  fate  of  all 
backward  countries  possessing  rich  mineral 


and  other  natural  resources.  According  to 
Josiah  C.  Wedgwood,  a  British  member  of 
Parliament  with  "  opposition."  proclivities, 
British  capitalism  in  Burma  is  employing 
Indian  coolie  labor,  "  and  the  old  Burmese 
free  peasantry,  living  an  easy  life  on  their 
own  rice  fields,  will  pass  away  into  a  land- 
less proletariat."  Improvident  and  spend- 
thrift, the  Burmese  squander  lavishly  on 
funerals,  on  memorial  pagodas,  on  masses 
sold  by  mendicant  monks,  and  plaster  the 
statues  of  Buddha  with  gold  leaf,  which 
takes  their  substance. 


RETRAINING  WAR-DISABLED   MEN 

By  Jonh  S.  Cum mings,  Ph.  D. 

Formerly   of    the  >:    now   Statistician   of   th^    Federal     Board    for    Vocational     Education. 

What  has  been  done  thus  far  toward  making  every  disabled  American  soldier  and 
sailor  independent  and  se'f- supporting — Nearly  69,000  wounded  men  have  received 
practical  training  to  fit  them  to  enter  trades  or  professions — Facts  and  figures  regard- 
ing the  rehabilitation  work  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 


THE  United  States  has  never  questioned 
its  special  obligation  to  the  brave 
soldiers,  sailors  and  marines  who 
came  out  of  the  war  disabled  in  any  way. 
A  program  for  the  treatment  and  training 
of  all  such  injured  men  was  drawn  up 
early  in  the  war  period  by  the  Federal 
Board  for  Vocational  Education;  the  pro- 
gram was  approved  by  Congress,  and  there 
has  never  been  any  wavering  in  the  popular 
determination  that  it  should  be  completely 
realized — that  every  disabled  man  shall 
have  a  chance  to  take  such  a  course  of 
training  as  will  enable  him  to  overcome  the 
handicap  of  his  wounds.  The  board's  latest 
annual  report  tells  what  has  thus  far  been 
done  in  this  work. 

The  first  thing  that  the  board  did  was  to 
gez  the  co-operation  of  as  many  existing 
institutions  as  possible;  thus,  up  to  the 
close  of  the  last  fiscal  year,  about  1,700 
schools  and  colleges  had  been  utilized  in 
giving  training  to  disabled  men  in  courses 
approved  by  the  Federal  board,  and  more 
than  8,500  industrial,  agricultural  and  com- 
mercial employing  agencies  had  co-operated 
with  the  board  in  providing  training  "  on 
the  job." 

For  carrying  on  this  work,  Congress  has 
appropriated  under  several  acts  a  total  of 
$129,00X),000.  Under  the  original  act  of  June 
27,  1918,  the  appropriation  was  $2,000,000; 
under  the  act  of  July  11,  1919,  the  Sundry 
Civil  bill  and  the  Deficiency  bill  of  July 
and  November,  1919,  and  the  acts  of  March 
6  and  July  5,  1920,  there  was  a  total  of 
$3  7,000,000  provided;  the  total  for  the  whole 
fiscal  year  of  1920-21  was  $90,000,000.  For 
the  year  1921-22  it  is  estimated  that  $78,- 
000,000  will  be  required. 

Total  expenditures  from  June  27,  1918, 
to  June  30,  1920,  amounted  to  $34,719,196. 
An    analysis   of    these    expenditures    shows 


that  money  devoted  to  salaries  and  other 
administrative  expenses,  including  what 
may  be  called  the  "overhead"  expenditures 
of  the  board,  totaled  $7,244,062.  Allow- 
ances paid  to  men  in  training  for  mainte- 
nance of  themselves  and  their  families  to- 
taled $23,653,503.  Payments  on  account  of 
tuition  amounted  to  $2,309,233,  and  other 
direct  payments  to  cover  travel  and  subsist- 
ence, books,  medical  attention,  &c,  amount- 
ed to  $1,412,398,  giving  a  total  of  $27,475,- 
134  to  cover  direct  payments  for  all  ex- 
penses connected  with  training. 

It  was  inevitable  that  "overhead"  charges 
should  be  heavy  during  the  period  of  organi- 
zation. Before  any  large  number  of  men 
could  be  placed  in  training,  it  was  necessary 
to  build  up  the  organization  of  the  board 
on  a  nation-wide  basis  and  on  a  scale  ade- 
quate to  deal  rapidly  with  the  thousands  of 
men  who  had  been  discharged  from  the  ser- 
vice before  the  Rehabilitation  act  was 
passed,  as  well  as  with  the  thousands  still 
convalescing  in  hospitals.  But  the  propor- 
tion of  "  overhead  "  to  direct  costs  of  train- 
ing has  steadily  declined  as  the  number  of 
men  in  training  has  increased. 

GETTING  PRACTICAL  RESULTS 

Every  phase  of  the  work  at  the  present 
time  shows  a  decentralizing  tendency,  al- 
though in  the  beginning  some  degree  of 
centralization  was  unavoidable  in  order  to 
protect  the  interests  of  the  disabled  men 
themselves  and  to  make  sure  that  the 
money  appropriated  should  be  spent  as 
Congress  intended.  Responsibility  for  get- 
ting men  into  training  now  rests  with  the 
district  and  local  offices  of  the  board,  op- 
erating within  defined  area.s  in  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  At  the  outset,  four- 
teen districts  were  mapped  out  by  way  of 


66 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Western   Newspaper   Union) 


Maimed  soldiers  studying  electrical  mechanics  by  practical  methods  under  the  instruction 
of  the  Federal  Board  for   Vocational  Education. 


preparing  for  ultimate  decentralization, 
each  district  office  being  responsible  for 
carrying  on  the  work  within  a  prescribed 
area  and  for  directing  the  work  of  local 
offices  within  the  district.  To  date  114 
subordinate  local  offices  have  been  estab- 
lished. Each  local  office  is  directly  respon- 
sible for  placing  men  in  training,  for  get- 
ting subsistence  pay  to  men  in  training  and 
for  continuous  "  follow-up  "  work.  For  the 
local  office  each  disabled  man  represents  a 
responsibility  for  the  training  of  that  man 
until  he  gets  permanent  employment;  the 
local  office  must  report  achievements,  rath- 
er than  make  recommendations  to  the  Cen- 
tral Office  in  Washington. 

At  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  1920  the 
staff  and  clerical  force  of  the  Rehabilitation 
Division  of  the  Federal  board  numbered 
S.536,    of   whom    947    were    in    the    Central 


Office  in  Washington  and  2,589  in  district 
and  local  offices.  On  July  1,  1919,  the 
number  of  employes  in  this  division  was 
2,152,  of  whom  786  were  in  the  Central 
Office  and  1,366  in  the  district  offices.  The 
increase  of  1,384  in  the  working  force  dur- 
ing the  year  has  been  largely  in  the  district 
offices,  the  increase  for  the  districts  being 
1,223  and  for  the  Central  Office  161.  The 
Central  Office  staff  has  increased  from  55 
to  126  and  the  district  and  local  office 
staffs  from  375  to  794.  The  Central  Of- 
fice clerical  force  has  increased  from  731 
to  821  and  the  district  and  local  office 
clerical  forces  from  991  to  1,795. 

It  will  be  clear  from  the  nature  of  the 
work  that  the  personnel  of  the  board  en- 
gaged in  this  work  must  be  of  the  highest 
grade.  The  success  or  failure  of  the  pro- 
gram as  a  whole  depends  necessarily  upon 


RETRAINING    WAR-DISABLED   MEN 


67 


the  success  or  failure  of  the  board's  repre- 
sentatives, who  are  brought  into  direct  per- 
sonal contact  with  the  disabled  men  and 
who  must  solve  each  individual  problem  of 
selecting  a  suitable  vocation,  arranging  a 
course  of  training  and  finally  establishing 
the  trained  man  as  an  efficient  worker. 

The  average  pay  of  employes,  alike  staff 
and  clerical,  engaged  in  this  work  is  ap- 
proximately $2,000.  A  serious  embarrass- 
ment for  the  board  has  arisen  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  retaining  competent  em- 
ployes in  its  service  under  the  limitations 
imposed  regarding  salaries.  Throughout 
the  year  the  changes  in  both  the  staff  and 
clerical  forces  have  been  excessive. 

INCREASE  OF  APPLICANTS 

At  the  beginning  of  the  last  fiscal  year, 
on  July  1,  1919,  the  number  of  men  in  train- 
ing was  3,203.  By  the  end  of  the  year,  on 
June  30,  1920,  the  number  had 
increased  to  over  40,000.  The 
total  number  put  into  training 
since  the  board  was  organized, 
up  to  June  30,  1920,  exceeded 
46,000.  In  the  first  five  months 
of  the  present  fiscal  year — from 
June  30  to  Dec.  1,  1920 — some 
19,000  men  entered  training.  In- 
cluding these  new  applicants, 
the  total  number  of  enrollments 
since  the  time  of  organization  to 
Dec.  1  stands  at  68,837.  The 
number  placed  in  training  each 
month  is  equal  to  the  total  en- 
rollment of  a  large  educational 
institution. 

As  men  discover  the  value  of 
the  training  offered  to  them, 
they  are  electing  to  take  advan- 
tage of  it  much  more  freely.  Ac- 
curate figures  for  foreign  coun- 
tries are  not  available,  but  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  the 
number  taking  training  in  the 
United  States  very  considerably 
exceeds  the  number  in  training 
in  any  other  country. 

To  Dec.  1,  1920,  a  total  of  over 
160,000  disabled  men  had  been 
approved  as  eligible  for  train- 
ing. Of  these,  94,000  had  been 
approved  as  eligible  under  Sec- 
tion 2  of  the  rehabiliation  law, 
which  provides  tuition  and  sup- 


port of  the  men  and  their  dependents  dur- 
ing the  period  of  training,  and  .66,000  had 
been  approved'  as  eligible  under  Section  3 
of  the  law,  which  provides  training  without 
maintenance. 

It  does  not,  of  course,  follow  that  every 
man  approved  as  eligible  for  training  will 
elect  to  take  it.  On  the  part  of  the  disabled 
soldier,  sailor  and  marine  the  whole  propo- 
sition is  entirely  voluntary.  He  may  refuse 
training  altogether  or  he  may  delay  enroll- 
ment for  an  indefinite  period.  In  the  case 
of  men  approved  for  specific  courses,  some" 
may  be  satisfactorily  employed  and  unwill- 
ing to  give  up  present  employment  to  enter 
upon  training.  Others  are  in  hospitals  still 
convalescing.  Where  the  course  of  training 
approved  is  given  at  some  educational  in- 
stitution, it  may  be  necessary  in  individual 
cases  to  wait  for  the  opening  of  the  school 
term.    Many  other  conditions  may  prevent 


Shell-shocTced  soldiers  at  St.  Elizabeth's  Hospital, 
Washington,  D.  C,  learning  the  art  of  toy  making 
as  taught  by  the  Knights  of  Columbus  under  the 
Government    scheme,  for    vocational    training 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


1 


immediate  entrance  upon  an  approved 
course,  the  reasons  for  deferring  or  refus- 
ing training  being  different  in  each  case. 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  ELIGIBILITY 


Misunderstanding  has  developed  among 
those  who  have  not  been  correctly  informed 
regarding  the  board's  authority  to  provide 
training  and  support  for  disabled  men.  Un- 
der the  law  the  board  may  act  when  the 
man  is  eligible  and  when  such  training  is 
feasible,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  means 
of  removing  a  vocational  handicap.'  The 
board,  however,  is  authorized  to  give  train- 
ing and  support  only  to  men  so  disabled 
that  they  cannot  return  to  their  former 
occupation  or  enter  successfully  upon  some 
other  occupation  without  training. 

It  will  be  obvious  that,  under  these  limi- 
tations, many  seriously  disabled  men  are 
not  eligible  for  training.  A  man,  for  exam- 
ple, who  has  been  a  typist  prior  to  enlist- 
ment may  have  had  one  leg  shot  off.  He 
is  seriously  disabled  and  is  entitled  to  com- 
pensation during  life  under  an  award  by 
the  War  Risk  Insurance  Bureau.  It  may 
very  well  be,  however,  that  the  wisest  course 
for  him  to  pursue  will  be  to  return  to  his 
old  employment  as  a  typist,  for  which  he  re- 
quires no  sort  of  vocational  training.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  violinist  who  has  lost  a 
portion  of  a  finger  may  be  totally  disabled 
as  regards  his  former  occupation,  and  may 
therefore  be  declared  eligible  for  vocational 
training. 

Award  of  compensation  for  disability  is 
not  made  by  the  board  in  any  case.  Men 
who  are  eligible,  under  Section  2,  for  train- 
ing with  maintenance,  and  who  elect  to 
take  it,  are  paid  an  allowance  during  the 
period  of  training  by  the  board,  but  this 
payment  is  conditioned  upon  the  man's 
eligibility.  Whether  or  not  he  is  eligible 
for  training,  compensation  for  his  disability 
must  be  determined  by  the  War  Risk  In- 
surance Bureau,  which  continues  these  pay- 
ments during  the  man's  lifetime. 

During  the  past  year  the  board  has  been 
putting  men  into  training  at  the  rate  of 
3,800  each  month,  or  an  average  of  125  a 
day.  Though  the  number  of  men  put  into 
training  indicates  the  real  achievement  of 
the  board,  it  should  be  pointed  out,  never- 
theless, that  putting  a  man  into  training  is 
only  one  of  a  long  series  of  services  per- 


formed by  the  staff  and  clerical  force  of 
the  board. 

Before  a  man  can  be  put  into  training 
his  eligibility  must  be  determined.  Under 
the  law,  it  must  be  established  that  he  was 
honorably  discharged  from  the  service,  that 
his  disability  was  incurred  in  service,  that 
his  disability  constitutes  a  vocational  handi- 
cap, and,  finally,  that  training  is  feasible. 
In  determining  eligibility,  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt,  under  the  broadest  interpretation  of 
the  law,  is  in  every  case  given  to  the  soldier ; 
but  no  interpretation  of  the  law,  however 
liberal,  can  avoid  border-line  cases,  and  it 
is  a  rule  of  the  board  that  no  case  shall 
ever  be  finally  closed  against  a  soldier.  So 
long  as  he  lives,  he  may  appeal  for  recon- 
sideration on  any  reasonable  ground. 

Once  the  soldier  has  been  declared 
eligible,  the  problem  arises  of  finding  out 
both  what  he  wants  to  do  and  what  he  can 
do.  In  electing  a  course  of  training,  careful 
consideration  must  be  given  to  the  man's 
preferences,  to  his  past  experience,  to  his 
educational  qualifications,  to  his  natural 
capacity,  and,  finally,  to  his  disability.  When 
a  course  has  been  determined  upon  in  con- 
ference with  the  man,  provision  must  be 
made  for  giving  him  precisely  what  he  re- 
quires, which  is  not  the  same  in  the  case 
of  any  two  men.  In  thousands  of  instances 
the  fundamental  handicap  is  illiteracy  or 
totally  inadequate  schooling.  This  handicap 
must  be  removed  before  specific  vocational 
training  can  be  undertaken.  In  every  case 
a  course  of  training  must  be  arranged  for, 
either  in  a  school  or  college,  or  in  an  in- 
dustrial or  commercial  establishment.  Con- 
stant "  follow-up  "  work  is  required  during 
the   entire   period   of   training. 

Every  course  has  a  definite  objective,  and 
the  man  is  trained  into  employment.  He 
may  begin  in  a  school  and  finish  in  a  work- 
shop, where  he  is  placed  on  the  permanent 
roll  of  employes;  he  may  begin  training 
"  on  the  job,"  shift  to  a  school,  and  shift 
back  to  the  workshop;  or  he  may  be  in 
training  part  time  in  school  and  part  time 
in  the  shop.  Every  combination  of  train- 
ing is  provided  according  to  the  individual 
needs  of  the  man.  Every  registration  of  a 
disabled  man  constitutes  a  separate  prob- 
lem for  the  board.  The  number  of  such 
individual  problems,  as  shown  by  the  records 
of  the  board,  runs  into  the  hundreds  of 
thousands. 


RETRAINING   WAR-DISABLED  MEN 


69 


Perhaps  the  achievement  of  the  board 
can  best  be  indicated  by  reducing  the  work 
to  individual  terms.  Assuming  that  all 
the  different  activities'  were  performed 
equally  by  all  employes,  the  average 
achievement  per  employe  for  the  fiscal 
year  would  figure  out  approximately  as 
follows : 

DETAIL  OF  STAFF  LABORS 

Each  member  of  the  staff  and  clerical 
force  of  the  Rehabilitation  Division  during 
the  year,  on  an  average  salary  of  about 
$2,000,  registered  or  listed  49  new  cases, 
established  first  contact  with  32  cases,  con- 
ducted 20  vocational  surveys,  completed  30 
medical  examinations,  determined  eligibility 
in  33  cases,  initiated  15  men  into  training, 
investigated  and  dropped  from  the  rolls  6 
cases,  maintained  7  cases  constantly  in 
training  during  the  year,  including  all 
"  follow-up  "  work  on  these  cases,  and  (per- 
formed all  the  administrative  and  clerical 
work    incidental    to    rendering   the   services 


in  question,  including  payment  of  allow- 
ances for  maintenance  and  payment  of  oth- 
er charges  incidental  to  training  and  all 
other  disbursements. 

When  the  first  man  entered  into  training 
there  were  necessarily  many  more  employes 
than  there  were  men  in  training.  At  the 
close  of  the  fiscal  year  each  employe  was 
maintaining  approximately  ten  men  in 
training.  On  Dec.  1,  1920,  the  number 
maintained  constantly  in  training  by  each 
member  of  the  clerical  force  and  staff  had 
increased  to  sixteen. 

It  will  be  clear,  from  the  data  given,  that 
putting  a  man  into  training  is  only  one 
step  in  a  continuous  process  which  begins 
in  the  hospital  and  ends  in  the  workshop — 
a  process  which  trains  each  man  into  em- 
ployment. Over  250  different  employment 
objectives  have  been  defined  for  the  68,000 
men  placed  in  training,  and  more  than 
10,000  training  agencies,  including  educa- 
tional organizations,  are  co-operating  with 
the  board  in  assisting  men  to  obtain  these 
objectives. 


CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  REJECTS  WOMEN 


THE  Senate  of  Cambridge  University, 
England,  on  Dec.  8,  rejected  the  pro- 
posal to  admit  women  to  full  university 
membership.  The  vote  was  904  against 
712.  Many  women  thronged  around  the 
Senate  House  awaiting  the  result,  and  de- 
parted very  much  downcast  when  the  de- 
cision was  announced.  By  this  vote  Cam- 
bridge, which  was  the  first  English  univer- 
sity to  admit  women  to  its  courses,  re- 
mains the  only  one  to  refuse  them  full 
membership.  Oxford,  with  all  its  conser- 
vatism, has  already  let  down  the  bars. 

One  cause  of  the  women's  defeat,  it  was 
said,  was  the  reluctance  of  the  university 
authorities  to  swell  the  already  large  mem- 
bership, which  even  now  represents  a  prob- 
lem. The  alternative  suggested — that  the 
women  should  develop  a  residential  univer- 
sity of  their  own — was  condemned  by  one 
of    the    women    leaders    as    "  unthinkable." 


None  of  the  new  universities,  she  declared, 
had  been  able  to  create  an  atmosphere  like 
that  of  Cambridge.  Meanwhile — this  leader 
pointed  out — women  students  were  unjustly 
treated  in  being  denied  the  right  to  win  de- 
grees, although  they  followed  the  same 
courses  of  study  as  the  men  and  accom- 
plished the  same  results. 

The  Cambridge  authorities,  on  Feb.  12, 
rejected  a  proposal  to  convert  the  women's 
institutions— Girton  and  Newnham  Colleges 
— into  a  separate  university  allied  with 
Cambridge.  The  vote  of  the  university  sen- 
ate stood  146  to  50. 

A  compromise  movement  has  already 
been  started,  under  which  the  university 
would  be  empowered  to  confer  degrees  on 
women,  without  the  right  to  sit  in  the 
senate,  while  the  university  would  retain 
the  power  of  limiting  the  number  of  women 
students. 


THE  NATIONALIZATION 
OF  INDUSTRIES 


By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

English    Author    and    Publicist 

An  illuminating  exhibit  of  the  effects  of  State  ownership  and  management  of  indus- 
tries in  Germany,  France,  Great  Britain,  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  with  an  anal- 
ysis of  facts  that  have  given  pause  to  former  advocates  of  nationalization  in  all  countries 


SOCIALISM,  communism  and  syndical- 
ism are  as  old  as  history.  Since  the 
earliest  times  dreamers  and  schemers 
have  striven  to  introduce  into  the 
world  an  artificial  order,  based  upon  com- 
pulsion, which  was  to  give  equality  to  all. 
That  unpractical  idealist,  Plato,  devised  and 
recommended  a  commonwealth  in  which  an 
all-powerfui  government  was  to  direct  and 
control  all  the  energies  and  activities  of  the 
citizens.  Aristotle,  criticising  Plato's  fan- 
tastic schemes,  acutely  pointed  out  in  his 
book  on  "The  State "  that  a  government 
which  wishes  to  regulate  and  equalize -pros- 
perity among  the  people  must  necessarily 
regulate,  and,  if  necessary,  restrict,  the 
birth  rate  as  well,  while  Aristophanes 
treated  the  projects  of  Plato  and  of  his 
predecessors  with  well-deserved  ridicule  in 
his  play  "  Ecclesiazusae  "  and  showed  that 
communism  in  material  things  would  logi- 
cally and  inevitably  lead  to  the  community 
of  wives.  Throughout  history  we  find 
periods  when  government  regulation  and 
control  were  greatly  exalted.  Nationaliza- 
tion, which  in  the  past  was  advocated  and 
introduced  by  autocratic  rulers  and  states- 
men, is  now  loudly  demanded  by  agitators 
who  hope  to  secure  absolute  power  for  them- 
selves. However,  it  seems  that  their  power 
is  waning.  The  much-lauded  policy  of 
nationalization  has  become  utterly  dis- 
credited during  recent  years  throughout  the 
world. 

The  policy  of  nationalization  is  a  policy 
in  which  the  Government  regulates  and  con- 
trols the  activities  of  the  citizens.  Such 
regulations  and  control  can  be  efficiently 
exercised  only  by  an  absolute  government. 
Hence  it  appeals  particularly  to  men  such 
as  Louis  XIV.  and  Napoleon  I.  of  France 


and  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia.  The 
world-wide  demand  for  nationalization  may 
be  traced  to  the  teachings  of  Karl  Marx. 
It  is  not  an  international  policy,  but  a 
characteristically  Prussian  policy.  Marx, 
actuated  by  philanthropy  or  by  envy,  or 
by  both  motives  combined,  wished  to  destroy 
the  wealth  of  the  wealthy  and  to  divide 
their  property  and  income  among  the  poor. 
He  recognized  that  the  capitalists  are  the 
expert  controllers  of  commerce  and  industry 
and  that  expert  direction  in  economic  af- 
fairs is  indispensable.  Looking  around,  he 
noticed  that  the  highly  trained,  conscien- 
tious, honest  and  painstaking  Prussian  of- 
ficials were  managing  various  economic 
undertakings  with  some  success,  and  he  con- 
cluded that  they  might  be  able  to  control 
and  direct  all  economic  undertakings,  mak- 
ing the  hated  capitalists  superfluous.  Marx 
was  a  prince  of  agitators.  His  shallow, 
pseudo-scientific  teachings,  expressed  in  in- 
volved and  obscure  language,  have  become 
discredited  even  among  his  adherents,  but 
his  doctrine  of  envy  and  hatred  is  still  try- 
ing to  conquer  the  world,  and  his  demand 
to  replace  the  expert  directors  of  trade  and 
industry  by  an  all-powerful  officialdom  has 
been  taken  up  by  countless  agitators  and 
by  millions  of  shortsighted  workingmen. 

SOCIALISM   IN   GERMANY 

The  Russian  revolutionaries,  and  the  Ger- 
man revolutionaries  as  well,  are  disciples  of 
Karl  Marx.  The  new  German  Constitu- 
tion, which  was  published  on  Aug.  11,  1919, 
clearly  foreshadowed  the  gradual  expropria- 
tion of  all  private  property  for  the  benefit 
of  the  community,  while  the  question  of 
compensation  to  the  legitimate  owners  was 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   INDUSTRIES 


71 


to   be   left   for   future   consideration.      We 
read  in  Articles  153-156: 

Property  is  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution. 
Its  extent  and  limits  are  defined  by  the 
laws.  *  *  *  Expropriation  may  be  effected 
only  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  community 
and  upon  the  basis  of  law.  It  is  accompanied 
by  due  compensation,  unless  otherwise  de- 
termined by  Federal  law.    *    *    * 

The  right  of  inheritance  is  guaranteed  In 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  civil  law. 
The  share  of  the  inheritance  due  to  the 
State  is  determined  according  to  the  laws. 

The  distribution  and  use  of  land  is  super- 
intended by  the  State.  •  *  •  Landed  prop- 
erty, the  acquisition  of  which  is  necessary 
to  meet  the  needs  of  housing,  for  the  further- 
ance of  settlement  on  the  land,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  it  into  cultivation,  or 
for  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  may 
be  expropriated.  Entails  shall  be  cut 
off.    •    •    * 

The  Federation  may,  by  means  of  law, 
without  prejudice  to  compensation  and  with 
appropriate  application  of  decisions  in  force 
for  expropriation,  convert  into  public  prop- 
erty, private  economic  concerns  and  organiza- 
tions which  are  suitable  for  association.  It 
may  itself  assign  to  the  States  or  communi- 
ties a  share  in  the  administration  of  economic 
concerns  or  organizations,  or  otherwise  as- 
sure to  Itself  decisive   influence. 

Further,  the  Federation  may,  by  law.  In 
case  of  pressing  necessity  and  for  objects  of 
public  economic  interest,  combine  economic 
concerns  and  organizations  on  the  basis  of 
self-government,  with  the  aim  of  ensuring 
the  co-operation  of  all  sections  of  productive 
workers  and  of  interesting  employers  and 
employes  in  the  administration.  A  further 
aim  would  be  the  regulation,  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  public  economy  of  production,  col- 
lection, distribution,  employment  and  valua- 
tion, together  with  import  and  export  of  all 
economic    articles. 

Industrial  and  co-operative  societies,  and 
tluir  organizations,  shall,  upon  their  request 
and  with  due  regard  to  their  constitution 
and  special  characteristics,  be  incorporated 
into   the   public   economic   system. 

THE   CASE   OF   THE    PRUSSIAN 
RAILWAYS 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Socialist  rulers 
of  Germany  contemplated  nationalizing 
practically  all  the  means  of  production,  ex- 
change and  distribution  in  accordance  with 
the  Marxian  doctrine,  and  abolishing 
capitalizing  and  the  capitalists.  They  be- 
lieved, in  their  shortsightedness,  that  the 
policy  of  nationalization,  which  had  been 
not  unsuccessful  under  the  old  Prussian 
absolutism,  would  be  equally  successful 
under  the  new  democracy. 


The  Prussian  State  railways  were  the 
pride  of  all  Germany  and  the  great  model 
to  the  advocates  of  nationalization  through- 
out the  world.  Their  services  were  cheap 
and  efficient,  and  they  yielded  a  financial 
surplus  to  the  State,  as  the  following 
record  shows: 

Amt.  Available 

Profit  of  Stat©  for  Relief  of 

Railways.  Taxation. 
Marks.  Marks. 

1895 450,200,000  112.200,000 

1900 527,900.000  146,500,000 

1905 626,000,000  211,400,000 

1910 692,600,000  210,300.000 

1913 772,000,000  234,100.000 

The  net  profits  of  the  State  railways,  as 
these  figures  show,  doubled  between  1895 
and  1913;  however,  they  came  on  an  aver- 
age only  to  about  $40,000,000  a  year.  In 
view  of  their  huge  mileage,  their  financial 
result  was  not  worth  trumpeting  abroad. 
Besides,  the  assertion  that  the  success  of 
the  German  railways  and  the  lowness  of 
their  charges  were  due  to  the  greater  ef- 
ficiency of  State  management  was  absolute- 
ly unfounded.  The  success  which  the  Ger- 
man State  railways  obtained  was  due,  not 
to  the  superior  ability  of  bureaucratic  man- 
agement, but  to  certain  factors  which  were 
never  mentioned  by  the  advocates  of  na- 
tionalization. In  the  first  place,  practically 
all  Prussia  is  a  level  plain.  One  can  travel 
from  the  Rhine  to  Poland  without  passing 
through  a  single  tunnel.  Hence  the  Ger- 
mans could  construct  their  railroads  far 
more  cheaply  than  the  English  and  French, 
for  in  England  and  France  the  railway 
lines  run  through  an  unending  series  of 
tunnels  and  deep  cuttings.  Besides,  the  all- 
powerful  Prussian  State  subordinated  all 
other  interests  to  that  of  its  railways. 
While  in  England,  for  instance,  railways 
had  to  be  taken  at  enormous  expense,  either 
high  over  the  existing  roads  or  underneath 
them,  level  crossings  are  general  in  Ger- 
many. 

The  Prussian  State  railways  and  the 
other  industries  controlled  by  the  Govern- 
ment were  successful  because  absolute  dis- 
cipline was  enforced.  The  men  in  the  State 
services  formed  a  highly  disciplined  army. 
They  were  not  allowed  to  combine.  They 
were  forbidden  to  join  the  Socialist  Party. 
Parliament  was  powerless,  and  was  not  al- 
lowed to  interfere  with  the  officials  who 
directed    the   great    nationalized    undertak- 


72 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ings.  The  State  employes  did  not  dare  to 
express  their  dissatisfaction,  and  they  were 
satisfied  with  a  pittance,  because  a  pen- 
sion was  attached  to  it  which  might  be 
forfeited,  and  because  they  were  given 
great  social  privileges.  These  conditions 
could  not  be  reproduced  elsewhere.  Hence 
the  policy  of  nationalization  was  relatively 
unsuccessful  outside  of  Germany,  especially 
in  free  democracies,  which  would  have 
found  bureaucratic  absolutism  quite  intoler- 
able. 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

Events  have  shown  that  the  policy  of 
nationalization  can  be  successful  only  if 
the  directing  officials  enjoy  absolute  power 
and  an  entire  freedom  from  parliamentary 
control,  as  in  Prussia  previous  to  the  revo- 
lution. The  German  revolution  of  Novem- 
ber, 1918,  destroyed  not  only  the  monarchy, 
but  also  the  absolutism  of  German  official- 
dom, which  was  far  more  hateful  to  the 
people  than  the  monarchy.  Immediately 
after  the  revolution  the  character  and  the 
working  results  of  the  German  State  rail- 
ways and  of  all  the  other  nationalized 
undertakings  changed  completely.  The  em- 
ployes combined,  joined  the  Socialist  Party, 
and  demanded  vastly  increased  wages  and 
greatly  reduced  working  hours.  The  demo- 
cratic Parliament  began  to  take  a  lively 
interest  in  the  railway  workers  and  sup- 
ported their  claims.  The  current  expenses 
grew  enormously,  while  the  boasted  effi- 
ciency of  the  railways  diminished  in  the 
most  extraordinary  manner.  According  to 
a  recent  official  estimate  made  by  the 
Minister  in  Charge,  the  German  national- 
ized railways,  during  the  current  financial 
year,  will  not  yield  a  profit  of  a  few  hun- 
dred million  marks,  as  they  formerly  did, 
but  will  produce  a  deficit  of  18,000,000,000 
marks,  a  sum  equal  to  the  entire  capital 
invested  in  the  German  State  railways  and 
much  larger  than  the  sum  total  of  all  the 
profits  made  by  the  railways  since  their 
inception. 

The  advent  of  democracy  has  completely 
altered  the  character  of  the  German  rail- 
ways and  of  their  staff.  The  men  have 
become  unmanageable.  Orders  given  by 
those  in  charge  are  disregarded.  Bad  time- 
keeping, insubordination  and  thefts  have 
become   common.      The   presiding   Minister, 


Herr  Groner.  stated  on  Nov.  4,  1919,  that 
the  number  of  men  employed  on  the  rail- 
ways was  nearly  50  per  cent,  larger  than 
in  1913,  although  the  number  of  passengers 
and  the  quantity  of  freight  carried  by  the 
railways  had  shrunk  by  one-half.  He 
stated  that  numerous  workers  drew  their 
wages,  though  merely  putting  in  an  ap- 
pearance during  the  eight  hours  which  they 
were  supposed  to  spend  working.  The  in- 
subordination has  become  so  great  that  the 
railway  men  have  repeatedly  stopped  the 
conveyance  of  passengers  or  cf  gccds  of 
which  they  did  not  approve.  Their  attitude 
has  led  to  several  awkward  diplomatic  inci- 
dents because  they  have  interfered  not  only 
with  domestic  traffic  but  also  with  traffic 
going  abroad. 

GNAWING  AT  GERMANY'S  VITALS 

The  policy  of  nationalization  threatens  to 
destroy  Germany.  Bureaucracy  has  become 
a  canker  which  preys  upon  Germany's 
strength.  According  to  the  Berliner  Tage- 
blatt  of  Nov.  4,  1920,  Germany  maintains 
an  army  of  2,000,000  officials.  If  we  add 
to  them  their  dependents,  12  per  cent,  of 
Germany's  inhabitants  are  more  or  less  un- 
productively  employed  by  the  State.  Even 
the  Socialists  are  becoming  alarmed,  for 
not  only  the  State  railways  but  all  the 
other  nationalized  and  municipalized  under- 
takings of  Germany  as  well  are  run  at  a 
gigantic  loss,  at  a  loss  which  threatens  the 
country  with  bankruptcy.  The  principal 
Socialist  journal,  the  Vorwarts,  stated  on 
Oct.  28,  1920: 

It  is  said  that  at  the  German  Post  Office 
5Q,000  officials  are  employed  in  excess  to  the 
number  required,  while  the  number  of  super- 
fluous officials  employed  by  the  State  rail- 
ways is  100,000,  according  to  the  Berlir 
Tageblatt.  and  from  300,000  to  4(K),()(ti).  accoi 
ins-   to    the    Frankfurter   Zeitung. 

All  Germany  is  alarmed  at  the  scandalous 
waste  and  inefficiency  which  have  over- 
taken the  nationalized  and  municipalized 
undertakings  since  the  introduction  of  the 
democracy,  and  the  demand  to  place  the 
nationalized  undertakings  under  private 
capitalistic  control,  which  would  ensure 
both  economy  and  efficiency,  has  become 
very  insistent.  Needless  to  say,  the  advo- 
cates of  nationalization  outside  of  Germany 
no  longer  point  to  the  German  State  rail- 
ways as  an  exemplary  undertaking. 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   INDUSTRIES 


73 


NATIONALIZATION  IN  FRANCE 

Democratic  France  followed  the  example 
set  by  Germany,  and,  not  unnaturally,  the 
policy  of  nationalization  was  far  less  suc- 
cessful in  that  country  than  it  had  been 
in  autocratic,  imperial  Germany.  Railway 
nationalization  proved  a  lamentable  failure, 
and  the  attempts  of  France,  and  of  other 
democratically  governed  countries  as  well, 
to  undertake  manufacturing  and  retailing 
of  the  most  elementary  kind  aroused  the 
indignation  and  contempt  of  both  taxpayers 
and  consumers.  France,  Italy  and  various 
other  Governments  secured  for  themselves 
the  monopoly  of  manufacturing  and  selling 
tobacco  and  matches,  which  are  made  large- 
ly by  unskilled  labor.  This  business,  though 
comparatively  simple,  is  carried  on  with 
extraordinary  incompetence  by  Govern- 
ments practically  everywhere.  Government 
tobacco  and  matches  are  universally  de- 
tested. A  French  paper,  The  Atlas,  wrote 
in  April,  1914,  with  regard  to  the  French 
tobacco  monopoly: 

The  smoker  is  obliged  to  accept  with  his 
eyes  shut  and  his  purse  open  everything  the 
.State  sells  him.  If  the  quality  is  always  the 
same— that  is  to  say,  inferior— prices  are 
always    on    the    increase. 

Experience  has  proved  that  efficiency 
and  bureaucratic  control  do  not  go  to- 
gether. Private  undertakings  are  more  ef- 
ficient than  those  under  bureaucratic  direc- 
tion, because  free  competition  mercilessly 
eliminates  the  incapable.  Business  men  be- 
come prominent  by  the  same  means  by  which 
race  horses  or  boxers  come  to  the  front — by 
proved  ability.  Promotion  in  the  civil  ser- 
vice goes  chiefly  by  seniority.  While  pri- 
vate enterprise  automatically  eliminates 
the  unfit,  bureaucratic  management  auto- 
matically promotes  them.  The  essence  of 
all  business  is  progress.  The  essence  of 
bureaucracy  is  conservatism,  the  strict  ob- 
servation of  forms  and  precedents,  hostility 
to  progress. 

HOW  IT  WORKS  IN  ENGLAND 

England  has  a  highly  trained,  highly 
paid  and  most  excellent  civil  service.  Never- 
theless, the  English  bureaucracy  has  shown 
its  utter  incompetence  for  managing  eco- 
nomic affairs,  and  has  made  itself  extreme- 
ly unpopular  with   all  business   men.     For 


instance,  Lord  Gainford  of  Headlam,  an 
eminent  business  man,  who  had  a  great  deal 
of  experience  of  bureaucratic  management 
as  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  and 
as  Postmaster  General,  stated  before  the 
English  Coal  Industry  Commission : 

Under  the  influence  of  State  management 
there  is  certainly  no  more  inclination  on  the 
part  of  their  servants  to  encourage  the  rapid 
adoption  of  new  methods  and  up-to-date 
labor-saving  appliances  than  there  is  in  pri- 
vate enterprise  concerns,  and  in  my  v'ew 
more  hands  are  required  to  do  the  same 
work  under  the  State.  No  privately  managed 
firm  would  find  it  necessary,  for  instance,  to 
place  behind  every  five  telephone  exchange 
operators  a  supervisor  to  stand  over  and 
watch  them.  One  reason  for  the  increased 
cost  of  State  control  is  the  impossibility  of 
a  departmental  head  ever  being  able  to  dis- 
charge an  incompetent  but  honest  civil  ser- 
vant. Once  in  the  service,  always  in  the 
service  until  a  pension  is  secured,  is  the  rule. 
Thus  officials  grow  in  numbers  and  the  cost 
and   personnel   steadily   increase. 

The  English  advocates  of  nationalization, 
while  deploring  the  failure  and  waste  of  so 
many  departments  during  and  after  the 
war,  have  frequently  boasted  of  the  tre- 
mendous success  achieved  by  the  British 
Ministry  of.  Munitions  and  have  described 
its  activities  as  a  triumph  of  nationaliza- 
tion. However,  the  success  of  that  organiza- 
tion was  not  due  to  the  bureaucrats,  but  to 
the  eminent  private  business  men  and  en- 
gineers who  directed  its  activities,  and  the 
majority  of  these  are  utterly  opposed  to 
management  by  officialdom.  Sir  Keith 
Price,  a  very  able  business  man,  stated 
before  the  Coal  Industry  Commission: 

As  member  of  Council  "  X  "  during  the 
war,  I  was  responsible  for  the  control  of 
over  fifty  Government  factories  and  estab- 
lishments and  some  eighty  explosive  stores, 
the  factories  representing  an  expenditure  of 
over  £2.',000,OCO  on  works  and  plant.    *    *    * 

While  maintaining  that  the  Government 
factories  which  came  within  my  purview 
were  satisfactorily  run  during  the  war,  I 
have  the  very  strongest  opinion  that  in  peace 
time  the  reverse  would  be  the  case.  The 
department  had  the  advantage  of  having  been 
able  to  secure  some  of  the  leading  engineers 
and  chemists  of  the  day  to  manage  and  ad- 
minister the  factories.  I  know  that  the  ma- 
jority of  them  would  refuse  to  serve  the  State 
during  peace  time  in  view  of  what  they 
consider  the  irksome  and  inefficient  system 
with  which  they  have  had  to  contend,  quite 
apart  from  all  questions  of  remuneration. 
Under  Government  control  there  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  no  reward  for  efficiency,  and  fnef- 
firients  can  keep  their  positions  under  nearly 


74 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


every  circumstance.  This  cannot  lead  to  the 
economic  administration  of  industrial  con- 
cerns. 

A  LABOR  LEADER'S   VIEWS 

Before    the    same    commission    Havelock 
Wilson,  President  of  the  National  Sailors' 
and  Firemen's  Union  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  gave  evidence.   During  his  long  and 
busy  life  and  in  the  course  of  his  numerous 
journeys  he  had   seen  a  great  deal  of  the 
working  of  State  control,  and  his  experience 
had  caused  him  to  dislike  it.   He  stated : 
I  attend  today  to  give  evidence  against  the 
nationalization  of  the  mines  or  the  nationali- 
zation of  any  industry,  as  I  believe  it  would 
mean  a  great  injury  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  workmen  and   the  interests  of  the  coun- 
try generally. 

I  have  had  many  opportunities  of  judging 
the  effect  of  State  control,  and  I  have  formed 
the  opinion  that  such  State  control  has  not 
been  to  the  benefit  of  the  workers.  State 
control  would  result  in  employment  of  large 
numbers  of  high  officials  on  petty  duties, 
continual  change  of  officials  from  one  de- 
partment to  another,  restriction  on  freedom 
of  action,  protracted  discussion  of  matters 
which  could  be  settled  in  a  few  hours,  con- 
trol on  top  of  control,  no  incentive  to  initia- 
tive, and  political  wire  pulling  to  influence 
appointments  on  the  managament  and  di- 
rectorial staffs. 

The  Labor  Exchanges  have  been  a  costly 
failure,  and  no  real  benefit  to  the  workers. 
I  am  pleased  to  state  that  I  was  the  only 
member  of  Parliament  who  opposed  their  es- 
tablishment. They  are  now  costing  over 
£1,000,000  a  year.  The  same  system  of  Labor 
Exchanges  was  established  for  seamen  over 
sixty  years  ago.  The  inevitable  result  was 
that  the  only  place  where  a  seaman  could  not 
obtain  employment  was  at  the  Labor  Ex- 
changes established  by  the  Government  for 
the  seamen's  benefit. 

State  interference  with  the  liberty  and  ac- 
tion of  the  seaman  has  been  a  failure,  and 
brought  him  within  measurable  distance  of 
slavery.  But  for  his  determination  to  com- 
bine he  would  have  been  a  slave  today. 

In  this  statement  Mr.  Wilson  voiced  the 
opinion  of  the  British  shipping  industry  as 
a  whole,  for  the  shipowners  have  become  as 
disgusted  with  State  management  as  the 
thinking  sailors  and  their  trade-union  rep- 
resentatives. At  the  last  annual  meeting  of 
the  British  Chamber  of  Shipping  W.  J.  No- 
ble, its  President,  stated: 

Control  of  trade  and  industry  has  not  been 
a  success,  it  has,  indeed,  been  a  huge  fail- 
ure. Witness  the  present  chaos  in  the  coal 
trade,  the  muddle  of  the  railways,  the  hope- 
less   tangle    of    the    whole    transport    system, 


the  anomalies  of  shipping  "  direction,"  the 
complications  of  food  control. 

We  have  now  had  nearly  five  years  of  Gov- 
ernment control  and  management  of  business. 
Some  of  us  have  been  behind  the  scenes,  and 
have  been  the  victims  of  the  soul-destroy- 
ing and  paralyzing  system  that  seems  to  be 
inseparable  from  Government  control.  What 
are  its  characteristics?  It  is  extravagant 
and  wasteful.  It  destroys  all  initiative ;  it 
stereotypes  mediocrity.  It  is  self-satisfied. 
It  scorns  advice.  The  idea  of  co-ordination 
is  foreign  to  its  nature.  As  an  instance  of 
Government  methods,  it  was  recently  stated 
in  the  press  that  a  ship  in  St.  Katherine's 
Docks  was  loaded  and  unloaded  nine  times 
as  a  result  of  the  conflicting  orders  of  five 
different    Government    departments. 

The  cost  is  infinitely  more  than  the  own- 
er's margin  of  profit  and  the  cost  of  man- 
agement combined.  What  ought  to  go  to  in- 
crease of  wages  is  spent  on  whole  armies 
of  officials,  whose  main  duties  are  to  work 
the  card-index  system  and  to  prepare  statis- 
tics to  enable  ill-informed  Ministers  to  answer 
silly  questions  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It 
is  a  very  illuminating  fact  that  those  trades 
and  industries  which  have  been  wholly  re- 
leased from  control  are  already  on  a  fair 
way  toward  recovery,  while  those  which  still 
remain  in  the  grip  of  the  State  are  going 
from  bad  to  worse. 

AUSTRALIA  AND  NEW  ZEALAND 

The  advocates  of  the  policy  of  nationali- 
zation frequently  tell  us  of  the  triumph  of 
that  policy  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
Both  these  magnificent  new  countries  pos- 
sess the  most  gigantic  natural  resources; 
it  is,  therefore,  only  natural  that  the  set- 
tlers became  rich  and  prosperous.  Economic 
progress  was  inevitable  under  any  form  of 
management;  to  ascribe  the  progress  of 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  to  the  policy  of 
nationalization  is  not  only  absurd  but  dis- 
honest. 

While  Government  management  in  the 
antipodes  may  appear  a  marvelous  success 
to  those  who  view  it  through  rose-colored 
spectacles  from  the  other  side  of  the  globe, 
many  Australian  and  New  Zealand  author- 
ities are  far  less  convinced  of  the  beauties 
and  advantages  of  nationalization  than  are 
those  who  know  its  achievements  only  from 
hearsay.  For  instance,  the  Hon.  Sir  Charles 
Wade,  the  Agent  General  for  New  South 
Wales  in  England,  who  has  occupied  Minis- 
terial positions  and  has  been  Prime  Min- 
ister, and  who,  therefore,  has  the  greatest 
practical  knowledge  of  the  actual  working 
of  nationalization,  placed  before  the  British 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   INDUSTRIES 


75 


Coal  Industry  Commission  a  long  statement 
in  which  he  said: 

Success  of  State  ownership  and  control  de- 
pends on  the  efficiency  of  labor ;  that,  in 
turn,  depends  on  an  effective  method  of  man- 
agement and  discipline.  The  greater  the 
pressure  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  management,  the  greater  the  danger  of 
laxity  and  inefficiency.  If  the  franchise  is 
enjoyed  by  the  workers,  political  influence 
becomes  possible.  The  nearer  the  franchise 
approaches  manhood  suffrage,  the  greater  the 
pressure  that  can  be  exerted.    *    *    * 

In  New  South  Wales  some  railways  have 
been  condemned  as  being  unjustifiable  on 
business  grounds  which  have  been  the  result 
of  political  pressure.  *  *  *  There  is  the 
temptation  to  vote  for  railways  which  may 
help  the  political  party.  *  *  *  Efficiency 
of  labor  is  in  inverse  proportion  to  political 
influence.  When  a  strike  takes  place  in  a 
Government  department  because  a  workman 
has  been  discharged,  the  Government's  posi- 
tion is  difficult.  If  th^v  resist  the  demands, 
votes  are  in  peril.  If  they  yield,  discipline 
is  threatened.     *     *     * 

State  ownership  does  not  stop  strikes.  In 
Victoria  the  State  coal  mines  have  struck 
work  on  several  occasions.  In  New  South 
Wales  the  Government  railway  and  tram- 
way workers,  who  enjoy  perhaps  the  most 
liberal  conditions  in  the  world,  have  struck, 
although  it  is  fair  to  say  that  a  large  num- 
ber, in  spite  of  temptation,  remained  loyal 
to  the  Government.  The  Commonwealth  ship- 
building yards  in  Sydney  and  Melbourne  have 
been  the  scene  of  strikes  on  many  occasions. 
The  workers  on  the  Trans-Continental  Rail- 
way have  struck,  and  the  State  coal  mines 
in  New  Zealand  cannot  claim  to  be  free  of 
strikes. 

WHY    STATE    CONTROL   CREATES 
INEFFICIENCY 

The  Hon.  Francis  Marion  Bates  Fisher, 
a  former  Cabinet  Minister  of  New  Zealand, 
gave  before  the  commission  mentioned  a 
very  able  survey  of  the  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages of  nationalization. 

The  public  service  [he  said]  could  never  be 
efficient  so  long  as  it  is  under  political  con- 
trol. *  *  *  The  departmental  regulations 
rob  a  man  of  practically  all  power  of  in- 
itiative. The  principle  in  Government  de- 
partments, so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  as- 
certain, is  that  if  you  give  a  man  power  to 
make  a  decision  he  may  make  a  mistake ; 
therefore,  in  order  to  avoid  mistakes  avoid 
decisions.  Thus  we  have  these  interminable 
and  intolerable  delays  which  do  so  much 
harm.  See  how  marked  a  contrast  there  is 
between  these  conditions  and  those  of  the 
ordinary  business  man  who  has  to  be  alert 
and  quick  witted,  who  could  never  prosper  if 
he  were  hampered   by   the   red   tape  that  en- 


tangles the  civil  servant.  *  *  *  The  pri- 
vate business  man  has  to  pay  for  his  own 
blunders.  The  civil  servant's  blunders  are 
paid  by  the  taxpayers.  He  is  thus  shorn  of 
that  responsibility  which  does  so  much  to 
make  the  business  man  efficient. 

I  hold  the  view  that  a  State  monopoly  is 
even  a  worse  evil  than  a  private  monopoly. 
The  latter  must  be  efficient  in  order  to  re- 
sist private  competition  on  the  one  hand,  and 
to  prevent  the  demand  for  State  intervention 
on  the  other.  The  State  has  no  such  grounds 
for  efficiency.  The  State  as  a  monopolist 
has  no  fear  of  either  of  these  checks.  It  has 
unlimited  funds,  unlimited  credit,  no  danger 
of  competition  and  Parliamentary  control.  It 
is  thus  immune. 

An  additional  danger  of  State  monopoly 
must  not  be  disregarded,  for  it  is  all  impor- 
tant. It  is  intensely  difficult  for  the  State  to 
initiate  industrial  or  commercial  develop- 
ments. Let  it  be  supposed  that  the  State 
owns  all  the  railways.  If  the  Minister  for 
Transport  builds  a  new  line  he  depreciates 
the  value  of  the  existing  line.  He  becomes 
his  own  competitor.  A  mere  suggestion  from 
him  that  he  is  going  to  build  a  new  line  leads 
to  a  flood  of  demands  from  all  over  the  king- 
dom for  similar  treatment.  There  is  a  gen- 
eral political  scramble  all  over  the  country 
for  a  share  of  the  expenditure  of  the  public 
purse. 

Private  capital  will  always  be  found  to 
finance  a  scheme  which  it  can  be  shown  will 
pay  interest,  but  development  is  arrested 
enormously  if  the  future  of  development  rests 
with  the  State.  To  begin  with,  the  State 
will  not  pay  for  brains.  It  prefers  mediocrity 
at  half  the  price.  It  gets  mediocre  results 
accordingly. 

UNIONS'  ABUSE  OF  POWER 

The  State  of  New  South  Wales,  which, 
like  all  the  Australian  States,  has  gone  in 
with  great  energy  for  the  nationalization  of 
industrial  and  commercial  undertakings, 
has  experienced  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with 
the  coal  miners.  Unrest  among  them  was 
very  great.  Strikes  occurred  unceasingly. 
The  miners'  leaders  endeavored  to  make 
the  orderly  working  of  the  industry  impos- 
sible, and  proclaimed  at  every  opportunity 
that  widespread  dissatisfaction  among  the 
workers  could  not  be  allayed  by  wage  con- 
cessions, that  the  agitation  was  due  to  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  capitalist  system,  that 
peace  and  order  in  the  coal  mining  industry 
could  be  obtained  only  by  nationalizing 
them. 

The  demand  for  the  nationalization  of  the 
coal  mines  was  so  insistent  and  the  incon- 
venience of  almost  continuous  strikes  was  so 


76 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


great  that  the  New  South  Wales  Govern- 
ment at  last  appointed  a  Royal  Commission 
to  investigate  the  position  in  the  coal  mining 
industry.  That  commission  recently  pub- 
lished a  report  that  throws  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  policy  of  nationalization,  its  prac- 
tical working,  and  the  aims  of  those  who 
demand  its  introduction  in  Australia  and 
elsewhere.    The  report  states: 

There  cannot  logically  be  denied  to  any 
section  of  the  community  the  right  to  organ- 
ize on  the  lines  of  self-interest  and  self-pro- 
tection, but  the  nation  is  vitally  concerned 
to  see  that  such  organizations  do  not  develop 
into  political  machines  or  proclaim  and  seek 
to  enforce  against  the  general  community  an 
objective  policy  which  aims  at  holding  up  the 
many  for  the  benefit  of  the  few. 

In  view  of  recent  experiences  of  the  power 
—either  used  or  threatened  by  industrial 
sections  to  paralyze  the  public  utilities  of 
food,  fuel  and  transport — the  community 
should  be  on  the  way  to  realize  that  it  has  in 
its  concessions  to  industrial  liberty  apparent- 
ly parted  with  an  undue  proportion  of  its 
communal  rights,  and  that,  if  it  is  to  preserve 
its  integrity  and  order,  it  must  resume  some 
of  them,  or  at  least  take  measures  to  ensure 
that  the  arms  that  were  given  for  defense 
are  not  turned  into  weapons  of  selfish  ag- 
gression, controlled  and  directed  by  factors 
that  are  destitute  of  all  social  intelligence 
and  spirit. 

The  public  utilities  of  food,  fuel  and  trans- 
port are  fundamental  and  vital  elements  of 
the  national  existence,  and  no  nation  can 
afford  to  allow  any  one  of  them  to  become 
a  mere  instrumentality  of  a  class  or  section 
of  the  community,  capable  of  being  used 
against  the  whole  in  pursuance  of  a  policy 
of  sectional  greed  or  ambition. 

CONDEMNED  EVEN  BY  MINERS 

Thus,  in  Australia,  the  land  where  na- 
tionalization has  been  carried  furthest,  it  is 
clearly  recognized  that  bureaucratic  man- 
agement is  very  inferior  to  individual,  or 
capitalistic,  management  as  regards  ef- 
ficiency. Besides,  as  the  report  tells  us, 
bureaucratic  control  is  condemned,  not  only 
by  the  owners  but  even  by  the  miners 
themselves.  The  New  South  Wales  report 
states : 

Nationalization  of  the  [coal]  industry  is 
apparently  not  viewed  favorably  as  a  solu- 
tion of  the  industrial  problem  by  the  em- 
ployes or  their  industrial  organization,  their 
main  objection  being  that  it  merely  means  a 
change  in  the  identity  of  the  employer  and 
a  continuance  of  all  the  essential  causes  of 
their  dissatisfaction  with  the  present  system. 

The    owners   as   a  body   are   opposed   to   it, 


even  on  the  basis  of  complete  compensation, 
as  depriving  the  individual  of  a  field  of  re- 
productive enterprise  in  which  the  individual 
can  operate  more  efficiently  and  with  better 
service  to  the  public  than  bureaucratic  ad- 
ministration on  the  evidence  can  possibly 
do.    *    *    * 

Apart  from  the  objections  emanating  from 
the  interests  concerned,  which  cannot  be  of 
themselves  conclusive,  the  consensus  of  in- 
formed opinion  appears  to  be  against  the 
principle  of  nationalization,  as  opposed  to 
true  democracy,  in  which  individual  initia- 
tive and  effort  are  essential  and  beneficent 
factors.    *    *    * 

Whatever  may  be  the  faults  of  the  existing 
system  of  ownership  and  control,  it  is  at 
least  tempered  by  competition,  by  the  in- 
fluences of  the  industrial  element,  and  by 
public  opinion,  all  of  which  have  hitherto 
successfully  worked  to  prevent  the  industry, 
as  a  national  instrumentality,  being  used  to 
exploit  or  oppress  the  community  as  a  whole. 
Would  that  harmless  character  be  preserved 
under  any  system  which  gave  control  to 
those  who  would  benefit  by  its  misuse,  with 
public  opinion  the  only  tempering  influence? 
Before  an  affirmative  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion could  be  reasonably  assured,  the  col- 
liery employes  must  produce  some  better 
records  of  tenderness  for  public  interest  than 
they  have  offered  to  the  public  up  to  the 
present  time. 

Whatever  may  be  suggested  as  to  the  faults 
of  the  proprietors,  individually  or  collective- 
ly, there  remains  to  the  debit  of  the  em- 
ployes a  deplorable  record  of  indifference  to 
the  national  need  of  increased  production, 
defiance  of  the  arbitration  laws,  refusal  to 
accept  constitutional  means  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  disputes,  a  selfish  insistence  on 
trivial  demands,  a  conspicuous  lack  of  in- 
ternal discipline,  and  a  subordination  of 
mind  and  action  on  the  part  of  the  moderate 
and  serious-minded  of  the  employes  to  the 
crude  and  hectic  preachings  of  an  inconsid- 
erable section  of  their  body,  alien,  for  the 
most  part,  in  origin  and  spirit,  whom  they 
have  allowed  to  attain  an  ascendency  in 
council  in  inverse  ratio  to  their  real  au- 
thority and  standing. 

Any  section  of  the  community  asking  to 
be  entrusted  with  a  power  which  could  be 
used  effectively  to  the  profit  of  the  user 
against  the  rest  of  the  community  should  not 
complain  if  it  is  asked,  first,  to  graduate  in 
public  virtue. 

UNWISE  LEADERSHIP 

The  report  calmly  and  unsparingly  points 
out  that  the  unrest  among  the  miners  in 
Australia  is  largely  because  a  considerable 
number  of  irresponsible  boys  and  youths 
have  been  overpaid  and  have  lost  all  sense 
of    proportion;    that    doctrinaires    and    an 


THE   NATIONALIZATION    OF   INDUSTRIES 


77 


anarchistic  minority  have  secured  the  con- 
trol of  the  trade  unions,  partly  by  trickery 
and  partly  by  overawing  the  steady-going 
majority.  It  shows  the  attitude  of  the 
miners  by  enumerating  sixty-one  strikes 
which  had  taken  place  between  Jan.  15, 
1907,  and  Jan.  12,  1920,  at  the  South  Clifton 
and  South  Clifton  Tunnel  collieries.  Among 
the  causes  of  these  numerous  strikes  we 
find  that  the  miners  went  on  strike  be- 
cause "  a  shiftman  was  dismissed  for  ar- 
riving at  the  mine  intoxicated."  Another 
time  they  went  on  strike  "  nominally  be- 
cause of  a  dampness  on  the  traveling  road, 
the  probable  reason  being  that  some  of  the 
wheelers  wanted  to  attend  a  race  meeting." 
Then  there  was  a  strike  because  of  the  "  re- 
fusal of  an  employe,  who  had  been  absent 
without  leave,  to  see  the  manager."  A 
three  days'  strike  occurred  because  "  five 
clippers  were  dismissed  for  deliberately  per- 
sisting in  being  late  after  previous  warn- 
ings." Several  thousand  miners  struck 
from  July  23  to  Aug.  8,  1919,  because  "a 
wheeler  had  been  dismissed  for  ill-treating 
a  horse." 

POLICY  NOW  DISCREDITED 

The  foregoing  evidence  shows  that  na- 
tionalization has  been  a  universal  failure. 
Up  to  the  war  the  tide  of  popular  opinion 
was  flowing  strongly  in  its  favor;  national- 
ization was  favored  not  only  by  countless 
agitators  and  their  followers,  but  by  numer- 
ous employers,  politicians,  authors,  &c. 
Owing  to  popular  clamor,  many  privately 
managed  undertakings  and  services  were 
placed  under  Government  control  during  the 
war.  However,  bureaucratic  management 
proved  a  failure  everywhere.  It  was  not 
only  extraordinarily  wasteful  and  incom- 
petent, but  it  made  the  system  thoroughly 
hateful  to  the  workers  themselves,  who  had 
demanded  its  introduction.  The  wage  earn- 
ers discovered  that  the  bureaucrat  is  a  far 
harder  taskmaster  than  the  private  capital- 
ist, and  that  no  tyranny  is  greater  than 
that  of  cast-iron  Government  regulations. 

Both  agitators  and  workers  have  learned 


to  detest  the  policy  of  nationalization. 
Many,  it  is  true,  still  advocate  it  for  the 
sake  of  consistency;  but  most  of  these  are 
bitterly  opposed  to  bureaucratic  manage- 
ment, which  they  detest  at  least  as  much  as 
private  capitalism.  Though  clamoring  for 
nationalization,  they  are  opposed  to  man- 
agement by  a  soulless  bureaucracy.  Under 
the  cover  of  nationalization  they  wish  to 
introduce  either  syndicalism,  which  means 
the  confiscation  and  management  of  under- 
takings by  the  workers  engaged  in  them,  or 
communism,  anarchism  or  guild  manage- 
ment. However,  these  policies  cannot  be 
discussed  with  advantage  in  the  present 
article. 

The  British  Empire  has  experimented 
on  a  very  large  scale  in  applying  the  policy 
of  nationalization  to  trade  and  industry. 
The  result  has  been  thoroughly  unsatisfac- 
tory. The  British  telephone  and  telegraph 
services  are  far  inferior  to  those  of  the 
United  States.  For  every  single  telephone 
in  the  United  Kingdom  there  are  twelve  in 
the  United  States.  The  British  dominions 
and  colonies  have  experimented  extensively 
with  their  railways.  In  many  parts  of  the 
empire  the  railways  are  State-owned  and 
managed,  and  in  others,  such  as  India,  they 
are  State-controlled.  The  result  has  been 
unfortunate.  National  management  and 
control  have  stifled  railway  expansion  and 
railway  progress.  The  unsatisfactory  posi- 
tion of  the  British  Empire  as  regards  rail- 
way development  may  be  seen  at  a  glance 
by  the  following  comparison,  which  relates 
to  the  year  1913 : 

Sq.  Miles  of  Mileage 

Territory.  Population,    of  Rys. 

British    Empire. ..  .12,808,994    439,734,060      134,131 

United    States 3,026,789      97,028,497      251,984 

Although,  previous  to  the  war,  the  British 
Empire  was  four  times  as  large  as  the 
United  States,  it  had  only  a  little  more  than 
one-half  the  mileage  of  railways.  With  un- 
restricted private  initiative,  the  British  Em- 
pire would  probably  have  possessed  a  far 
larger  mileage  of  railways,  a  far  larger 
number  of  white  citizens,  a  far  greater 
wealth  and  far  greater  power. 


THE  SPARTACAN  UPRISING 
IN  GERMANY 


By  Ralph  H.  Lutz 


Member    of    the    Faculty    of    Leland    Stanford    University, 
California* 


A  complete  story  of  the  crisis  in  which  Germany  narrowly  escaped  the  fate  of  Russia 
— How  Liebknecht  and  other  communist  leaders  sought  by  armed  revolt  to  impose  a 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  upon  the  nation — Murder  of  the  chief  agitators 


THE  defeat  of  the  Imperial  German  Ar- 
mies in  France,  coupled  with  the  sud- 
den collapse  of  the  General  Staff, 
was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  German 
revolution  which  overthrew  the  military 
and  imperial  regime  and  evoked  the  in- 
ternal struggle  between  the  Social  Demo- 
crats and  the  Spartacan  extremists.  At 
the  end  of  September,  1918,  when  this  de- 
feat was  fully  realized,  Prince  Max  of 
Baden,  on  the  demand  of  the  Majority 
leaders  of  the  Reichstag,  was  appointed  Im- 
perial Chancellor.  The  dismissal  of  Luden- 
dorff  early  in  October  ended  the  military 
dictatorship;  within  two  weeks  Germany 
was  a  republic. 

The  first  step  toward  this  republic  was 
the  revolt,  commencing  Oct.  22,  1918,  of  the 
High  Seas  Fleet,  followed  by  the  seizure  of 
the  Hanseatic  cities  by  workmen's  and 
soldiers'  councils.  This  was  followed  by  the 
rising  of  the  Bavarian  Independent  Social- 
ists under  Kurt  Eisner,  who,  denouncing  the 
Southern  Pan-Germans  as  the  accomplices 
of  Prussia,  proclaimed  the  Free  State  of 
Bavaria.  The  final  phase  of  the  revolt  was 
the  overthrow  of  Prince  Max  of  Baden,  the 
assumption  of  power  by  Friedrich  Ebert, 
and  the  proclamation  of  the  German  Repub- 
lic in  Berlin.  With  the  seizure  of  Berlin 
on  Nov.  9,  1918,  by  the  Socialists,  the  vic- 
tory of  the  German  revolution  was  com- 
pleted. 

It  was  the  great  tragedy  of  the  German 
proletariat  that  the  Socialists,  at  the  mo- 
ment of  their  triumph  over  the  autocratic 
and   capitalistic   empire,  were   divided   into 


♦This  article  is  based  on  an  address  delivered 
by  the  author  on  Dec.  30,  1920,  before  the  Amer- 
ican Historical  Association  at  Washington. 


hostile  groups.  They  had  been  so  divided 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  Ger- 
man Nationalists  forced  the  Socialist  Par- 
ty to  vote  for  the  war  credits.  The  goal 
of  the  Social  Democrats  then  became  the 
control  of  the  Imperial  Reichstag.  The 
adoption  of  this  policy  led  to  the  break-up 
of  German  Social  Democracy.  Hugo  Haase 
and  his  supporters  in  the  party  caucus  of 
August,  1914,  had  voted  against  support  of 
the  capitalistic  Imperialists,  but  had  final- 
ly acquiesced.  When,  however,  in  the  his- 
toric Reichstag  session  of  Dec.  9,  1915,  von 
Bethmann  Hollweg  showed  that  the  Imperi- 
al Government  accepted  a  part  of  the  Pan- 
German  plan  of  conquest,  Haase,  as  the 
leader  of  the  minority  faction,  refused  to 
vote  for  further  war  credits.  This  refusal 
proved  momentous.  In  March,  1917,  this 
minority  party  seceded  from  the  Social 
Democrats  and  formed  the  Independent  So- 
cial Democratic  Party.  The  new  party  re- 
affirmed the  fundamental  principles,  of 
Marxian  socialism,  denounced  all  compro- 
mises, and  secretly  adopted  a  revolutionary 
policy. 

ORIGIN  OF  SPARTACISM 

Scarcely  were  the  Independents  organized 
when  there  appeared  upon  their  left  a  revo- 
lutionary and  communistic  group  calling  it- 
self the  Spartacan  Alliance.  The  develop- 
ment of  this  new  school,  with  its  exotic  in- 
terpretation of  Marx,  was  the  direct  result 
of  the  war  and  of  the  rise  of  Bolshevism. 
It  is  the  most  significant  fact  in  the  recent 
history  of  German  socialism.  The  sponsor 
of  this  movement  was  Karl  Liebknecht,  son 
of  a  famous  father  and  himself  a  well- 
known  Social  Democrat. 


THE   SPAKTACAN    UPRISING   IN   GERMANY 


79 


Karl  Liebknecht  was  the  first  German  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  to  recognize  the 
empire's  responsibility  for  the  conflict  and 
to  denounce  the  moral  guilt  of  the  German 
and  Austrian  leaders.  For  his  opposition 
to  the  traditional  solidarity  of  the  Social- 
ists, he  was  expelled  from  the  party.  For 
summoning  the  masses  to  overthrow  the 
criminal  Government  of  Germany,  he  was 
promptly  arrested  and  imprisoned.  His  pro- 
tests, however,  were  supported  by  Rosa 
Luxemburg,  the  ablest  personality  of  the 
woman's  socialist  movement.  As  a  result 
of  the  work  of  these  leaders,  a  group  of 
communists  began  to  preach  the  doctrine 
of  immediate  socialization  of  the  means  of 
production  and  distribution  and  of  the 
world  revolution  to  be  effected  by  the  prole- 
tariat. 

On  the  fifty-seventh  birthday  of  the  for- 
mer Kaiser  the  first  of  a  series  of  open  let- 
ters signed  "  Spartacus  "  appeared  in  Ger- 
m-any. These  letters  were  addressed  to  the 
leaders  of  the  Social  Democracy,  and  advo- 
cated the  reorganization  of  all  socialistic 
groups  upon  an  international  basis.  A  let- 
ter entitled  "  Retrospect  and  Prospect,"  pub- 
lished Aug.  12,  1916,  revealed  Liebknecht 
as  the  autho.  of  the  "Spartacus"  letters. 
Notwithstanding  police  and  censor,  these 
letters  continued,  however,  to  circulate  in 
the  interior  of  Germany,  and  even  at  the 
front.  "  Spartacus  "  openly  declared :  "  Our 
goal  is  communism,  freedom*:;  golden  land 
of  anarchy." 

INFLUENCE  OF  BOLSHEVISM 

The  origins  of  Spartacism  are  traceable 
to  the  communistic  movement  within  the 
German  Social  Democracy.  The  formula- 
tion of  its  program  was,  however,  the  re- 
sult of  the  temporary  success  of  Bolshevism 
in  Russia.  Lenin's  interpretation  of  Marx 
was  readily  accepted  by  the  Spartacans,  and 
the  Soviet  system  was  adopted  as  the  funda- 
mental part  of  their  program.  "  All  power 
to  the  workmen's  and  soldiers'  councils!  " 
became  the  slogan  of  the  Spartacans.  Rosa 
Luxemburg  drew  up  a  consistent  and  clear 
party  program,  modeled  largely  on  Bolshe- 
vism and  differentiating  Spartacism  from 
Social  Democracy.  The  Social  Democrats 
were  denounced  as  practical  politicians  op- 
posed to  immediate  socialization  and  advo- 
cating doctrines  of  bourgeois  democracy 
and   majority    rule,   while   the   Independent 


Socialists  were  scorned  as  opportunists  who 
had  abandoned  the  true  gospel  according  to 
Marx.  Although  small  in  numbers,  the 
Spartacan  Alliance  was,  long  before  the 
November  revolt,  the  revolutionary  party  of 
Germany.  Its  ideology  was  that  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki,  and  its  goal  was  world  revolution. 
When  the  November  revolution  delivered 
Germany  into  the  hands  of  the  Socialists, 
the  Spartacans  were  one  of  three  factions 
capable  of  establishing  a  provisional  gov- 
ernment. 

A  SHORT-LIVED  TRIUMPH 

On  Nov.  9,  1918 — day  of  historic  memory 
— Karl  Liebknecht,  at  the  head  of  a  Spar- 
tacan group,  seized  the  Royal  Palace  and 
the  Police  Presidency  of  Berlin.  His  fol- 
lowers ordered  the  bells  of  the  illuminated 
Berlin  cathedral  to  ring  in  celebration  of 
the  proletarian  victory.  From  the  balcony 
of  the  palace,  where  in  1907  the  Kaiser 
made  his  midnight  speech  announcing  the 
riding  down  of  Social  Democracy,  Lieb- 
knecht proclaimed  to  the  Spartacans  that 
the  German  proletariat  was  master  of  the 
empire.  The  Spartacans  then  promptly 
seized  two  of  the  largest  Berlin  newspapers, 
in  order  to  develop  their  communistic  prop- 
aganda. Although  Liebknecht  printed  the 
proclamations  of  Ebert  as  Chancellor,  he 
boldly  challenged  the  Social  Democrats  by 
writing:  "There  can  be  no  alliance  with 
those  who,  during  four  years  of  war,  have 
betrayed  you."  Meanwhile  the  Spartacans 
formulated  demands  which,  if  fulfilled, 
would  have  meant  the  establishment  of  a 
complete  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  on 
the  Russian  Soviet  model. 

Liebknecht  had  been  in  close  touch  with 
the  left  wing  of  the  Independents  and  a 
party  to  their  revolutionary  conspiracies. 
He  counted  upon  Independent  Socialist  sup- 
port for  the  establishment  of  the  dictator- 
ship; consequently  the  union  of  the  two 
Social  Democratic  Parties  in  a  Coalition 
Government  was  a  blow  to  his  communistic 
policy.  The  formation,  however,  of  this 
Socialist  Government,  which  was  hopeless- 
ly disunited  and  without  a  program,  enabled 
the  Spartacans,  as  the  revolutionary  party 
of  opposition,  to  develop  rapidly  throughout 
Germany.  Spartacus  demanded  that  the 
socialization  of  the  means  of  production 
should  be  carried  out  at  once  and  denounced 
the  Social  Democratic  plan  of  nationalizing 


80 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


only  those  industries  which  were  ready  for 
expropriation  by  the  Commonwealth.  Above 
all,  Spartacus  opposed  the  convocation  of 
a  National  Assembly  to  express  the  will  of 
the  people,  and  demanded  that  the  revolu- 
tion should  develop  exclusively  along  Rus- 
sian lines. 

A  STRUGGLE  FOR  POWER 

The  history  of  the  first  phase  of  the  Ger- 
man revolutionary  movement  is  that  of  the 
struggle  of  the  Spartacans  and  their  allies 
with  the  Majority  Socialists  for  power.  It 
is  a  conflict  of  the  forces  of  communism 
with  those  of  democracy.  The  Social  Dem- 
ocrats planned  to  establish  a  democratic 
federal  republic,  elect  a  National  Assembly 
and  conclude  peace  with  the  Entente.  .  The 
Independent  Socialists  aimed  to  break  with 
the  past,  to  overthrow  the  capitalistic  bour- 
geois State,  and  to  erect  a  socialistic  re- 
public. The  Spartacans  finally  advocated 
the  establishment  of  a  communistic  State 
through  the  dictatorship  of  the  workmen's 
and  soldiers'  councils.   The  Government  and 


the  masses  were  thus  hopelessly  divided  by 
the  gravest  of  revolutionary  questions. 
Upon  one  policy  alone  all  the  Socialist  fac- 
tions agreed,  namely,  that  a  proletarian 
congress  of  the  German  workers  should  be 
summoned  in  order  to  save  the  nation  from 
anarchy. 

The  meeting  in  Berlin  on  Dec.  16,  1918, 
of  the  first  congress  of  the  workmen's  and 
soldiers'  councils  was  the  most  important 
event  in  Germany  since  the  November  rev- 
olution. The  future  of  the  nation  was  in 
the  hands  of  this  convention  of  the  victo- 
rious proletariat,  and  for  the  first  time 
since  Nov.  9  the  nation  had  an  opportunity 
to  express  its  opinion  upon  revolutionary 
questions.  Liebknecht  correctly  stated  that 
the  members  of  the  congress  had  to  decide 
whether  or  not  they  would  develop  the  No- 
vember revolution  into  a  socialistic  revolu- 
tion of  the  German  proletariat.  On  the 
opening  day  of  the  congress  Liebknecht,  ad- 
dressing a  great  crowd  of  striking  work- 
men, denounced  the  idea  of  a  National  As- 
sembly, and  demanded  the  arming  of  the 
revolutionary  working  classes.  To  the 
armed  strikers  he  shouted :  "  Whoever  votes 
for  the  National  Assembly  votes  for  the 
rape  of  the  working  class !  " 


ROBERT   EICHHORN 

Chief  of  Berlin  Police,  who  joined  the  Spartacan 

revohitionists 


GUSTAV   NOSKE 

Former   German    War  Minister,   who   crushed 

the    Spartacan    revolt 


THE  SPARTACAN    UPRISING  IN  GERMANY 


81 


Within  the  congress,  a  parliamentary 
struggle  occurred  between  Social  Demo- 
crats, Independents  and  Spartacans.  The 
Majority  Socialists  urged  the  convocation 
of  a  National  Assembly,  while  the  Sparta- 
cans demanded  a  socialistic  dictatorship, 
the  establishment  of  the  councils  system, 
the  formation  of  a  Red  Army  and  the  im- 
mediate socialization  of  industry.  After 
violent  debates,  which  brought  out  the  im- 
minent danger  of  the  military  occupation  of 
Germany  by  the  Entente,  the  motion  to 
hold  the  elections  for  the  National  Assem- 
bly was  carried  by  a  vote  of  400  to  75. 
Thus  the  German  proletariat  itself,  in  vot- 
ing to  call  a  National  Assembly,  established 
the  principle  of  democracy  above  that  of 
class  rule. 

PRELUDE  TO  CIVIL  WAR 

This  decision  of  the  proletarian  Congress 
of  the  Workmen's  and  Soldiers'  Councils 
was  the  signal  for  the  attack  of  the  Sparta- 
cans and  Independents  on  the  Social  Demo- 
crats and  the  prelude  to  civil  war.  Lieb- 
knecht,  always  a  man  of  action,  determined 
now  to  overthrow  by  force  the  entire  ad- 
ministrative system  of  the  old  police  State, 
which  he  accused  the  Social  Democrats  of 


maintaining  in  power.  The  Spartacans  of 
the  other  German  industrial  centres  were  in 
accord  with  the  Berlin  leaders.  In  Ham- 
burg, Bremen,  Brunswick,  Magdeburg,  Leip- 
sic,  Dresden  and  Munich,  the  communists 
denounced  the  calling  of  the  National  As- 
sembly as  a  betrayal  of  the  revolution  and 
the  restoration  of  the  old  imperial  bureau- 
cracy. To  gain  control  of  the  remnant  of 
the  German  army,  the  Spartacans  com- 
menced publishing  the  Rote  Soldaten  (Red 
Soldiers)  as  the  official  organ  of  their 
Soldiers'  Alliance.  This  military  propagan- 
da was  remarkably  effective  in  winning 
over  thousands  of  war  veterans  and  republi- 
can soldiers  to  the  Spartacan  cause. 

The  sailors  stationed  in  the  royal  palace 
at  Berlin  revolted  on  Dec.  23,  but  were  sup- 
pressed by  loyal  troops  acting  under  orders 
from  the  Socialist  Government.  At  once 
the  Independent  Socialists  seized  upon  this 
act  to  withdraw  from  the  Government,  on 
the  ground  that  it  had  ordered  reactionary 
troops  to  fire  upon  the  people.  The  Spar- 
tacans, who  had  already  issued  a  call  for 
a  party  convention,  believed  that  it  would 


(Times    Wide    World    Photos) 
FRIEDRICH    W.    EBERT 
President   of   the    Gprman    Republic 


KARL  LIEBKNECHT 

Chief  Spartacan  leader,  killed  while  attempting 

to  overthrow  Vhe  German  Republic 


82 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


be  an  easy  matter  to  raise  the  Berlin  mass- 
es against  the  Majority  Socialist  Govern- 
ment and  to  establish  a  genuine  proletarian 
rule.  The  left  wing  of  the  Independents 
supported  the  Spartacans,  while  a  consider- 
able portion  of  German  public  opinion  fa- 
vored the  establishment  of  a  republic  of 
councils. 

THE  SPARTACAN  CONVENTION 
VOTES   FOR   WAR 

On  Dec.  30  the  German  Spartacan  Party 
met  in  convention  in  Berlin.  Its  aim  was 
to  draw  up  a  communist  program  and  take 
such  measures  as  were  necessary  to  over- 
throw the  Provisional  Government.  Karl 
Radek,  the  able  Russian  leader  and  propa- 
gandist, appeared  at  the  convention  and 
pronounced  in  favor  of  civil  war,  if  neces- 
sary, to  establish  the  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat.  Liebknecht,  Luxemburg,  Mehr- 
ing  and  Levy  also  spoke  in  favor  of  im- 
mediately completing  the  work  of  revolu- 
tion. The  delegates  then  proceeded  to  draw 
up  a  party  platform  and  to  formulate 
twenty-four  military,  political,  social  and 
economic  reforms,  which  would  pave  the 
way  for  communism.  The  preamble  of  the 
party  platform  said  in  part: 

The  bloody  hallucination  of  the  world 
empire  of  Prussian  militarism  vanished  on  the 
battlefields  of  France,  and  the  band  of 
criminals  who  started  the  World  War, 
plunged  Germany  into  a  sea  of  blood,  and 
deceived  her  for  four  years  were  decisively 
defeated.  Society  was  thus  placed  before 
the  alternative  either-  of  continuing  the 
capitalistic  system  with  new  wars,  chaos 
and  anarchy,  or  of  establishing  complete 
socialism  as  the  only  salvation  for  humanity. 

The  platform  proposed  active  prepara- 
tions for  the  revolutionary  rising  of  the 
world  proletariat.  It  said  of  Spartacus: 
He  is  the  social  conscience  of  the  revolu- 
tion. "Crucify  him!"  yelled  the  secret 
enemies  of  the  proletariat,  the  capitalists, 
the  small  citizens,  the  officers,  the  anti- 
Semitic  press  lackeys  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
the  followers  of  Scheidemann,  who,  like 
Tudas  Iscariot,  sold  the  workmen  to  the 
bourgeoisie.  Spartacus  will  seize  power  only 
if  it  is  the  undisputed  wish  of  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  proletarian  masses  in  all  Ger- 
many, who  must  first  accept  the  aims  and 
battle  methods  of  the  Spartacans.  The  vic- 
tory of  the  Spartacan  Alliance  stands  not  at 
the  beginning  but  at  the  end  of  the  revolu- 
tion ;  it  is  identical  with  the  victory  of  the 
millions  of  the  socialistic  proletariat.  Thumbs 
in  their  eyes  and  knees  on  their  breasts  ! 

More  important  than  the  formulating  of 


this  revolutionary  platform  was  the  de- 
cision concerning  the  immediate  policy  of 
the  party  toward  the  national  elections. 
Although  Liebknecht  at  the  last  moment 
doubted  the  success  of  civil  war,  the  Com- 
munist Party  voted  to  prevent  the  election 
of  a  National  Assembly.  The  leaders  were 
convinced  that,  if  the  Assembly  once  met, 
their  program  would  be  defeated  and  the 
revolution  would  be  over.  Many  of  the 
communists  sincerely  believed  that  a  civil 
war,  which  established  the  dictatorship, 
would  save  Germany  from  her  enemies  by 
ushering  in  the  world  revolution.  Radek 
boasted  to  the  convention  that  the  Russian 
proletariat  would  join  with  their  class-con- 
scious German  brethern  to  fight  the  menace 
of  Anglo-Saxon  capitalism  on  the  Rhine. 
Liebknecht  himself  stated  that  the  party 
goal  was  international  communism,  and 
could  be  reached  only  by  destroying  the 
capitalistic  classes  in  the  Entente  States, 
which  alone  barred  the  way  toward  the 
world  revolution.  He  believed  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  destroy  all  existing  institu- 
tions in  order  to  establish  communistic  so- 
ciety, and  saw  in  the  coming  revolution  the 
only  salvation  for  Germany.  The  Sparta- 
cans announced  that  they  would  lay  Ger- 
many in  ruins,  convinced  that  from  the 
ashes  of  the  empire  a  new  and  greater  na- 
tion would  arise. 

OUTBREAK  OF  REBELLION 

Under  the  military  leadership  of  Robert 
Eichhorn,  Chief  of  Police  of  Berlin,  the 
Spartacan  rebellion  broke  out  on  Jan.  5, 
1919,  in  the  capital  of  Germany.  That 
day  the  Spartacan  and  Independent  news- 
papers called  for  demonstrations  in  the 
Siegesallee  against  the  Majority  Socialist. 
Government.  Enormous  crowds  of  work- 
men were  addressed  by  Eichhorn,  Lieb- 
knecht and  Ledebour,  who  described  the 
Majority  Socialists  as  "  bloodhounds  "  and 
denounced  them  for  convening  the  National 
Assembly  of  the  reactionaries.  That  night 
the  armed  forces  of  Spartacus  seized  the 
principal  newspaper  offices  of  the  city,  with 
the  object  of  preventing  the  appearance  of 
the  Social  Democratic  and  bourgeois  press.  • 
Everywhere  their  efforts  were  successful, 
and  their  leaders  believed  that  within 
twelve  hours  the  Social  Democratic  Govern- 
ment would  cease  to  exist.  Vorwarts,  the 
official    paper   of   the    Majority    Socialists, 


THE  SPARTACAN    UPRISING   IN   GERMANY 


83 


now  appeared  under  Spartacan  control  and 
printed  a  proclamation  demanding  the  dis- 
arming of  the  counter- revolutionists,  the 
arming  of  the  proletariat,  the  formation  of 
a  Red  Army,  the  union  of  all  revolutionary 
troops  with  the  workers,  the  seizure  of  pow- 
er by  the  councils,  and,  finally,  the  "  over- 
throw of  the  traitors  Ebert  and  Scheide- 
mann." 

With    the    seizure    of    the    Brandenburg 


TJndervnnd  <f-    Undrrirnod) 


ROSA    LUXEMBURG 

Spartacan    leader,   killed   at    the   same   time   as 

Liebknechi 


Gate,  the  Government  printing  offices  and 
several  barracks  and  railway  stations,  the 
terror  began  in  Berlin.  Ledebour,  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Scholze  formed  a  provisional 
Government  and  sent  a  detail  to  seize  the 
Ministry  of  War.  Many  Government  troops 
surrendered  without  fighting,  and  the  marine 
division  declared  its  neutrality.  Had  the 
Spartacans  possessed  able  military  leaders 
and  abandoned  their  speechmaking  for 
fighting,  they  could  easily  have  overthrown 
the  Socialist  Government  in  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse  and  established  the  Soviet  system  in 
Berlin.  They  wasted  two  valuable  days,  un- 
til the  vacillating  Socialist  Government  ap- 
pointed Noske  Commander  in  Chief  in  the 
Marks  and  Governor  of  Berlin.  The  Spar- 
tacans, who  were  supported  by  the  left 
wing  of  the  Independent  Socialists,  failed 
also  to  win  over  the  Independent  party  lead- 
ers. Yet  they  almost  succeeded  in  seizing 
the  former  capital  of  militarism  from  the 
Majority  Socialists.  Having  completely 
paralyzed  transportation  and  industry  in 
Berlin,  Liebknecht,  addressing  his  follow- 
ers on  Jan.  6,  said  that  the  fall  of  the  Gov- 
ernment was  a  matter  of  hours. 

DEFEATED  BY  GOVERNMENT 
FORCES 

Meanwhile,  however,  Noske  gradually 
drew  into  the  city  the  skeleton  regiments  of 
the  old  Imperial  Army,  which  were  sta- 
tioned at  Potsdam  and  neighboring  camps. 
On  Jan.  8  he  announced  in  a  proclamation 
to  Berlin: 

Spartacus  fights  now  to  secure  control  of 
the  State.  The  Government,  which  will  bring- 
about  within  ten  days  the  free  decision  of 
the  people  concerning-  their  own  fate,  is  to 
be  overthrown  by  force.  The  people  shall 
not  be  allowed  to  speak.  Their  voices  shall 
be  suppressed.  You  have  seen  the  results. 
Where  Spartacus  rules,  all  personal  security 
and  freedom  are  abolished.  *  *  *  The  Gov- 
ernment is,  therefore,  taking  the  necessary 
measures  to  end  the  reign  of  terror  and  pre- 
vent its  recurrence  once  for  ail. 

The  Government's  counter-attack  began 
on  Jan.  9,  when  loyal  troops,  supported  by 
machine  guns,  mine-throwers  and  even 
howitzers,  attacked  the  Spartacan  strong- 
holds. Eichhorn  was  finally  defeated  by 
this  remnant  of  the  Prussian  guard,  fight- 
ing under  the  banner  of  the  Socialist  Re- 
public. The  Police  Presidency  on  the  Alex- 
ander Square  and  at  the  Silesian  Railway 
Station,    the    last    Spartacan    strongholds, 


84 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


were  taken  by  storm,  and  the  first  attempt 
to  establish  a  dictatorship  of  the  proletari- 
at collapsed.  Of  this  battle  the  writer  was 
an  eyewitness. 

The  failure  of  the  Spartacans  was  due 
primarily  to  their  lack  of  proper  military 
organization  and  to  their  inability  to  ob- 
tain the  support  of  the  revolutionary  troops 
stationed  in  Berlin.  They  were  vanquished 
by  small  but  disciplined  forces  equipped 
with  artillery  and  commanded  by  able  offi- 
cers of  the  old  army.  Nevertheless,  it 
took  the  weak  Socialist  Government  six- 
teen days  to  put  down  the  rising.  It  is 
therefore  reasonable  to  conclude  that  if 
Liebknecht  had  carefully  prepared  a  mili- 
tary coup  d'etat,  Bolshevism  would  have 
been  established  in  Berlin  in  January,  1919. 

MURDER  OF  LIEBKNECHT  AND 
LUXEMBURG 

After    their   final    defeat   the    Spartacan 
leaders  disappeared.     Eichhorn  and  Radek 
fled  from  the  capital.     A  report  was  circu- 
lated that  Liebknecht  and  Luxemburg  had 
gone-     to     Holland.       Liebknecht,    however, 
wrote  to  the  Rote  Fahne  (Red  Flag): 
We  have  not  fled,  we  are  not  defeated,  we 
will   remain   here,    and   victory   will    be  ours. 
For    Spartacus   is   the   personification    of   so- 
cialism  and  world  revolution.     The  Golgotha 
way    of    the    German    revolution    is    not    yet 
ended,  but  the  day  of  salvation  nears. 

On  the  night  of  Jan.  15,  however,  Lieb- 
knecht and  Rosa  Luxemburg  were  ar- 
rested and  brought  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  Guard  Cavalry  Division.  Rosa 
Luxemburg  was  brutally  murdered  by  Gov- 
ernment troops  and  her  body  thrown  into 
one  of  the  Berlin  canals.  While  being  taken 
to  Moabit  Prison,  Karl  Liebknecht  was  shot 
by  his  guards,  ostensibly  because  he  tried 
to  escape.  Thus  political  murder  ended  the 
revolt  which  a  remnant  of  the  old  Imperial 
Army  had  suppressed.  These  murders 
stamped  out  the  fiery  protests  of  com- 
munism against  democracy,  and  the  follow- 
ers of  Liebknecht  and  Luxemburg,  deprived 
of  leaders,  were  promptly  scattered.  The 
bourgeoisie  and  the  Social  Democrats  openly 
rejoiced  over  the  death  of  the  two  com- 
munist leaders,  who  had  threatened  the 
peace  of  the  defeated  and  exhausted  Father- 
land and  had  not  shrunk  from  plunging 
the  capital  of  Germany  into  civil  war.  The 
failure  of  the  German  communist  rising 
was  the  signal  for  the  triumph  of  German 


democracy  in  the  national  elections,  which 
were  held  on  Jan.  19. 

RED  AGITATION   CONTINUES 

The  defeat  of  the  Spartacans  in  Berlin 
did  not,  however,  end  their  propaganda  in 
Germany.  Munich,  Diisseldorf,  Duisburg, 
the  Ruhr,  Brunswick,  Wilhelmshaven  and 
Bremen  contained  strong  groups.  The 
internal  condition  of  Germany,  moreover, 
rapidly  altered  the  situation  in  their  favor. 
The  danger  of  national  starvation  was 
imminent,  the  industrial  life  had  collapsed, 
wild  strikes  and  widespread  agitation 
created  economic  unrest,  the  National  As- 
sembly failed  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos, 
and  the  reports  from  Paris  indicated  that 
the  final  terms  of  peace  would  be  almost 
unbearable.  Faced  by  these  dangers,  large 
classes  of  Germans  turned  to  the  Spar- 
tacans and  Independents  for  salvation.  In- 
tellectuals, such  as  Hans  Delbriick,  openly 
threatened  the  Entente  with  Bolshevism. 
Lenin,  who  had  planned  to  make  Germany 
the  first  link  in  his  chain  of  world  revolu- 
tion, had  his  agents  in  Berlin  working  with 
the  Spartacans.  Trotzky's  slogan,  "  The 
failure  of  communism  means  that  Europe 


(©  Central  News) 
STREET  SCENE  IN  BERLIN  SHOWING 
EFFECTS    OF    SPARTACAN    SHELL    FIRE 


THE  SP  ART  AC  AN   UPRISING  IN  GERMANY 


85 


Spartacans  in  Berlin  training   their  rifles   on   Government   troops  from    behind   a    barricade 
built  of  bundles  of  the  Socialist  newspaper,  Vorwaerts 


relapses  into  barbarism,"  was  placarded  on 
the  walls  of  the  capital,  while  Lenin's 
dogma,  "  The  Bolshevist  theory  is  a  con- 
sistent carrying-out  of  Marxism  and  strives 
to  re-establish  the  true  teachings  of  Marx 
concerning  the  State,"  won  many  converts 
for  the  Spartacans  among  the  workers. 

By  the  end  of  the  Winter,  the  Coalition 
Government  of  Majority  Socialists,  Cath- 
olics and  Democrats  found  it  increasingly 
difficult  to  maintain  order  in  Germany. 
The  National  Assembly  was  unable  to  agree 
upon  an  economic  policy  that-  would  restore 
the  nation's  industrial  life.  The  Inde- 
pendents, enraged  by  their  recent  political 
defeats  and  by  the  betrayal  of  their  cause 
at  the  hands  of  the  Majority  Socialists,  now 
encouraged  "  direct  action."  The  Spartacans 
determined,  therefore,  to  strike  once  more 
for  the- dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  and 
to  avenge  the  murder  of  their  former 
leaders.  Aided  by  the  Bolshevist  agents 
and  by  Russian  gold,  they  planned  a  revo- 
lution for  the  first  week  of  March,  1919. 
While  their  leaders  secretly  conspired  with 


the  troops  of  the  Berlin  garrison,  the  Inde- 
pendent and  Spartacan  newspapers  openly 
attacked  the  Government.  For  the  first 
time  the  Spartacans  dominated  the  Berlin 
workmen's  councils,  which,  as  a  prelude  to 
rebellion,  proclaimed  a  general  strike  on 
March  4. 

SUPPRESSION  OF  NEW  OUTBREAKS 

On  the  day  set  the  Spartacans  again 
raised  the  red  flag  of  Bolshevism  on  the 
Alexander  Square  in  Berlin.  This  time  they 
were  joined  by  the  Marine  Division,  the  Re- 
publican Guards  and  bands  from  the  crim- 
inal classes.  Heavy  fighting  continued  for  a 
week  between  the  loyal  Government  troops 
and  the  Spartacans.  Machine  guns,  air- 
planes and  artillery  were  freely  used  on 
both  sides.  To  inflame  the  people  against 
the  communists  Noske  falsely  accused  them 
of  a  general  massacre  of  prisoners,  and  on 
this  alleged  ground  ordered  them  to  be  ex- 
terminated. So  low,  however,  had  the  mil- 
itary power  of  Germany  sunk  since  the  ar- 


86 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


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Mounted   guards   in    Munich   charging   upon   a   dense   crowd   of   Spartacan   rioters    who    were 

tearing  tip   the  paving   stones 


mistice  that  the  Government  could  not  mus- 
ter three  full  divisions  to  suppress  the  in- 
surrection. For  the  second  time  the  Berlin 
communists  were  put  down  by  volunteers 
from  the  middle  classes,  who  supported  the 
regular  troops. 

Though  twice  defeated,  the  Spartacans  did 
not  abandon  faith  in  the  method  of  "  direct 
action."  In  Bremen  and  Hamburg  disturb- 
ances occurred,  and  attempts  were  made  to 
establish  the  Soviet  system.  In  Bavaria,  af- 
ter the  murder  of  Kurt  Eisner,  the  left 
wing  of  the  Independents  united  with  the 
communists  to  establish  the  dictatorship  of 
the  proletariat.  On  April  6  the  Central 
Council  of  Bavaria  proclaimed  to  the  peo- 
ple: 

The  decision  has  been  made.  Bavaria  is 
a  republic  of  councils.  The  working  people 
are  masters  of  their  fate.  *  *  *  The  Land- 
tag is  dissolved.  *  *  *  All  co-operation 
with  the  contemptible  Government  of  Scheid- 
emann  is  refused. 

Thus  the  rising  which  had  failed  in 
March  temporarily  succeeded  in  April.  Here 
the  influence  of  the  Russian  Bolsheviki  was 


more  pronounced  than  in  Berlin,  and  the 
plan  of  spreading  the  revolution  throughout 
Germany  was  worked  out  in  detail. 

DEFEAT   IN   BAVARIA   AND 
ELSEWHERE 

Although  the  extremists  triumphed  in 
Munich,  the  rest  of  Bavaria  soon  united 
against  the  Spartacans  under  Levien.  Hoff- 
man, the  head  of  the  Socialist  Government, 
did  not  hesitate  to  summon  the  armed 
forces  of  the  several  States  to  destroy  Bava- 
rian communism.  After  severe  fighting, 
the  brief  Bolshevist  reign  of  terror  was 
ended  by  Noske's  Prussian  troops.  The 
proletarian  dictatorship  of  foreign  in- 
triguers collapsed  and  the  boasted  Soviet 
Army  of  Liberation  never  advanced  to  the 
German   frontiers. 

German  communist  risings  also  occurred 
in  the  Rhineland,  Westphalia,  the  Hanseatic 
Republics,  Thuringia,  Saxony  and  several 
industrial  centres  of  Brandenburg  and  Ba- 
varia. Except  in  Berlin  and  Munich,  they 
failed   to    threaten   seriouslv   the   Coalition 


THE   SPA  RT  AC  AN    UPRISING   IN    GERMANY 


8*3 


Government.  At  the  end  of  Spring,  1919, 
the  national  interest  was  diverted  from  in- 
ternal affairs  to  the  drama  of  Versailles. 
The  communists  advocated  acceptance  of 
the  allied  peace  terms  in  the  spirit  with 
which  the  Bolsheviki  had  received  the  con- 
ditions of  peace  at  Brest-Litovsk.  The 
Social  Democrats,  however,  regarded  the 
treaty,  even  in  its  final  form,  as  unbearable. 
But  military  resistance  to  the  allied  de- 
mands was  impossible,  and  the  Independ- 
ents denounced  any  attempt  at  passive  re- 
sistance.      After     Scheidemann     resigned, 


Bauer  formed  a  Ministry  of  Socialists  and 
Catholics,  which  secured  from  the  National 
Assembly  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles.  With  this  ratification  ended  the 
first  and  violent  phase  of  the  effort  to 
establish  Spartacism  in  Germany,  and  here 
this  account  may  close.  Though  the  embers 
of  the  conflagration  still  smoldered,  and 
even  threatened  at  times  to  burst  again 
into  flames,  the  democratic  principle  tri- 
umphed, and  the  machinations  alike  of  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki  and  the  German  com- 
munists came  to  naught. 


HOW  LIEBKNECHT  AND  ROSA  LUXEMBURG 
WERE   MURDERED 


The  published  confession  of  a  German  soldier  who  says 
he   was   ordered   to    shoot   down   the   communist   leaders 


IN  the  German  Socialist  newspaper  Frei- 
heit,  on  Jan.  9,  1921,  appeared  a  state- 
ment signed  by  "  Hussar  Otto  Runge," 
which,  though  vague  and  elusive  on  points 
involving  self-incrimination,  is  in  effect  a 
confession  revealing  a  deliberate  plot  by  the 
military  authorities  in  control  of  Berlin  to 
shoot  down  the  two  Spartacan  leaders,  Karl 
Liebknecht  and  Rosa  Luxemburg,  at  the 
time  when  the  communist  uprising  ended 
with  their  murder.  Runge's  story  throws 
no  light  on  the  relations,  if  any,  between 
the  murderers  and  the  Government;  it  may 
not  be  wholly  true  in  details,  as  there  are 
obvious  omissions,  due  to  the  author's  fear 
of  compromising  himself;  the  fact,  how- 
ever, that  Runge  was  one  of  the  soldiers 
stationed  at  the  door  of  the  Eden  Hotel, 
where  the  two  communist  leaders  were  last 
seen  alive,  gives  his  statement  some  value 
as  an  eyewitness  account  of  what  happened. 
His  narrative,  when  translated,  reads  as 
follows: 

On  Jan.  15,  1919,  between  7  and  9  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  I  was  stationed  as  sentry  be- 
fore the  chief  entrance  of  the  Eden  Hotel ; 
valryman  Drager  was  with  me.  About  9 
o'clock  there  was  .a  great  to-do  and  excite- 
ment ;  it  was  rumored  that  Liebknecht  and 
Luxemburg  had  been  brought  in.  Several 
orders  were  at  once  given  me  by  officers  and 
ants,  and  the  remark  was  dropped  that 


these  creatures  must  not  be  allowed  to  leave 
the  hotel  alive. 

Concerning  Liebknecht,  I  received  strict  or- 
ders from  officers  to  knock  the  fellow  down 
with  the  butt  of  my  rifle  wherever  he 
emerged.  I  was  new  at  my  job  and  could 
not  know  the  officers ;  but  afterward  I 
recognized  them  as  my  fellow-accused.  As 
for  Frau  Luxemburg,  officers  came  to  me 
and  said:  "  I  order  you  to  see  that  Luxem- 
burg doesn't  leave  the  hotel  alive ;  mind  you 
swallow  that ! ' '  Lieutenant  von  Pf luck-Har- 
tung  made  a  note  of  my  name  and  said  to 
me:  "First  Lieutenant  Vogel  will  send  her 
straight  to  you;  all  you'll  have  to  do  is  to 
strike  hard."  When  Frau  Luxemburg  was 
being  dragged  into  the  motor,  somebody 
jumped  up  behind  just  as  it  was  driving  off 
and  sent  a  bullet  into  her  head :  I  could  see 
that  very  clearly,  as  I  was  only  a  short  dis- 
tance away.  He  then  jumped  down  and  re- 
entered the  Eden  Hotel  from  the  Niirnberger 
Strasse. 

The  next  minute  an  officer  came  up  to  me 
from  the  entrance  and  told  me  to  go  up  to 
the  fourth  floor  and  clear  things  up  there. 
"  The  fellows  up  there  are  no  good,"  he  said, 
"  they're  rotters.  Your  orders  are  to  shoot 
the    editor   of    The    Red    Flag." 

A  Sergeant  met  me  on  the  staircase  and 
said  I  was  to  come  up  at  once  and  clear  up 
things.  I  told  him  I'd  got  my  orders  al- 
ready and  asked  him  where  he  got  his.  He 
then  said:  "Captain  Pabst  gives  orders 
here."  When  I  got  upstairs  there  was  one 
man  standing  against  a  wall  and  another 
sitting   next   to   him.     The   Seregant   ordered 


88 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


me  to  point  my  gun,  and  to  shoot  when  he 
came  back  for  the  third  time ;  that  was  to 
be  the  signal.  1  had  already  lifted  my  rifle, 
but  thought  better  of  it,  and  lowered  it 
again  ;  the  man  of  The  Red  Flag  alt-o  came 
toward  me  and  said  he  had  a  last  commis- 
sion to  give.  He  was  led  into  a  room,  and 
as  he  left  an  officer  said  to  a  Sergeant: 
"Take  the  man  off  and  see  that  nothing  hap- 
pens." I  then  went  back  to  my  sentry  duty 
and  Drager  said  to  me:  "Well,  I  suppose 
you  didn't  shoot  the  fellow  upstairs  after 
all;  you  were  such  ages  about  it." 

Meanwhile  the  others  had  come  up  and 
w-ere  boasting:  "  We've  done  for  Liebknecht 
nicely.  A  trick  was  played  on  him,  and  so 
he  was  induced  to  try  to  escape."  Chief 
Lieutenant  von  Rittgen  later  repeated  that 
to  me  when  we  were  in  prison  ;  he  also  said 
he  had  heard  reports  of  the  pistols.  G*5 
Luxemburg  it  was  said:  "The  old  sow  is 
already  afloat."  [Frau  Luxemburg's  body- 
was   found   three   weeks   late!-   in   the   canal.] 

I  have  this  to  say  about  my  flight :  At 
first  everybody  in  the  Eden  Hotel  congratu- 
lated me,  and  I  was  told  that  nothing  would 
happen  to  me.  "  We'll  see  to  that,"  they 
sakl.  "  We'll  send  you  to  another  nice  little 
town  and  look  after  you."  One  evening 
after  sentry  duty,  when  T  was  walking 
through  the  Zoo,  Lieutenant  Liepmann  came 
up  to  me  with  Chasseur  Friedrich  and  said : 
"  Well,  my  man,  I've  been  a  good  time  look- 
ing for  you;  you've  got  to  get  away;  you've 
got  to  make  yourself  scarce,  or  else  we'll 
all  be  sitting  in  prison."  Various  of  my 
superiors  in  my  cavalry  regiment  also  be- 
gan to  urge  me  to  flee.  Lieutenant  Liep- 
mann then  took  me  from  recruiting  quarters 
to  the  Eighth  Hussar  Regiment.  I  told  my 
superiors  there  about  the  murder  and  was 
instantly  hailed  as  a  hero. 

One  day  in  January,  or  the  beginning  of 
February,  I  was  cleaning  in  the  courtyard 
and  two  children  came  to  me  and  said : 
"  Hussar    Runge    is   to    come    into    the    street 


and  speak  to  a  soldier."  A  non-commissioned 
officer  came  to  me  and  said:  "Runge,  I've 
been   ordered   to  come  by   President  Freiherr 

von    ,    Adjutant    of    the    Eighth    Hussars. 

He's  got  a  warrant  out  against  you;  you're 
to  be  arrested.  It  can't  be  allowed.  Here's 
a  copy  of  the  warrant."  He  gave  me  240 
marks  and  a  military  pass  for  Cologne.  I  at 
once  told  my  Captain,  got  my  pay,  and  was 
told  by  Captain  Weber  to  make  myself 
scarce,  but  to  call  at  the  Eden  Hotel  once 
more.  I  did  so.  At  the  Eden  hotel  I  was 
told  more:  I  was  told  that  the  order  of 
arrest  would  not  be  acted  on  until  I  had 
got  clear ;  4,000  marks  were  brought  to  me 
in  my  lodgings,  with  a  written  message,  tell- 
ing me  to  get  to  Prague  and  to  call  on  Con- 
sul Schwarz  at  the  Consulate  and  ask  for 
work.  I  refused,  because  I  had  no  passport. 
Then  I  was  kept  a  prisoner  for  four  days 
with  Lieutenant  Liepmann  at  his  place  in 
the  Kurfurstenstrasse  until  people  began  to 
smell  a  rat.  J  then  got  a  military  pass  to 
Flensburg,  and  false  identity  papers ;  these 
were  taken  from  me  when  I  was  arrested. 

The  examination  was  a  farce.  I  had  several 
private  conversations  with  Military  Judge 
Jorns  and  he  told  me:  "Confess  to  every- 
thing without  any  misgiving;  it  will  only  be 
four  months,  and  you  can  come  to  us  again 
afterward  if  you  are  in  distress."  The  cell 
doors  were  always  left  open.  All  the  prison- 
ers pretended  to  be  the  court;  I  had  to  pre- 
tend to  be  the  prisoner,  and  I  was  told  that 
if  I  didn't  learn  my  confession  off  nicely, 
one  fine  night  I  should  find  a  hand  grenade 
in  my  bed.  I  was  also  urged  to  say  that  I 
had  got  my  false  papers,  which  the  officers 
had  given  me,  by  buying  them  from  the 
Spartacists  in  the  Weinmeisterstrasse.  The 
officers  often  had  their  girls  to  visit  them 
up  to  midnight ;  there  was  music  and  wine.  1 
several  times  telephoned  to  the  Eden  Hotel 
staff.  I  had  to  tell  them  the  exact  train  I 
was  taking  for  Flensburg,  and  what  time  I 
should    arrive    there. 

HUSSAR     OTTO     RUNGE. 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  RED  PROPAGANDA 


VIRTUALLY  every  Government  of  Eu- 
rope has  had  to  fight  the  menace  of 
Bolshevist  propaganda,  and  the  United 
States  has  had  to  do  the  same.  New  light 
has  been  thrown  upon  the  organization  and 
extent  of  this  widely  ramified  propaganda 
by  a  series  of  documents  published  in  The 
London  Times  in  February.  The  docu- 
ments, vouched  for  as  authentic,  consist  of 
"  reports  actually  presented  at  a  congress 
of  Bolshevist  Directors  of  Propaganda  in 
Foreign  Countries,  which  took  place  in  all 
secrecy  toward  the  end  of  December  in  the 


neighborhood  of  a  North  German  city."  The 
city  was  Bremen;  the  date  of  the  congress 
was  Dec.  26.  The  reports  presented  cov- 
ered the  work  of  Bolshevist  propagandists 
in  England,  France,  the  Iberian  Peninsula, 
Germany,  the  smaller  States  of  Central 
Europe  and  the  newly  formed  countries  of 
the  Middle  East.  In  its  preliminary  expla- 
nation The  Times  says: 

The  Bremen  Congress  was  a  very  carefully 
camouflaged  affair.  With  the  exception  of 
Commissar  Eliawa,  a  representative  of  the 
Department  for  Eastern  Propaganda  in 
Moscow,  all  the  delegates  were  men  engaged 


HOW  LIEBKNECHT   WAS-  MURDERED 


89 


in  the  propagation  of  communist  ideas  in 
Western  Europe.  The  agents  for  England 
and  France  were  Julius  Fachers,  Antonowski 
and  Muller.  The  Iberian  Peninsula  was 
represented  by  Rudan,  Germany  by  La  ge, 
Czechoslovakia  by  Gutmann,  Denmark  and 
Holland  by  Horenberg.  They  all  entered 
Germany  under  assumed  names  and  received, 
it  is  stated.  n«\v  passports  on  crossing  the 
frontier. 

The  conference  began  with  a  report  by 
Fachers  on  the  progress  of  the  Bolshevist 
agitators  in  Great  Britain.  The  results 
were  discouraging — for  the  revolutionists. 
England  and  her  democratic  Constitution 
were  shielded  by  the  armor  of  "  bourgeois  " 
immobility.  The  situation,  from  the  Bol- 
shevist standpoint,  was  better  in  Scotland 
and  Wales.  The  Irish  Sinn  Fein  leaders 
had  been  alienated  from  the  start  by  the 
mistakes  of  Moscow  and  a  great  opportu- 
nity had  thus  been  lost  of  gaining  Ireland 
as  a  powerful  ally.  In  the  whole  of  England 
some  seventy-nine  communist  district  or- 
ganizations had  been  established,  distributed 
over  twenty-six  areas  of  agitation.  The  ex- 
penses during  the  last  half  a  year  had 
amounted  to  £23,750  monthly,  not  including 
the  costs  of  the  Krassin  Trade  Delegation 
in  London.  The  necessity  for  doubling  these 
outlays  was  urged. 

The  same  agent  claimed  greater  effi- 
ciency    and     richer     harvests     in     France. 


"  Where  we  are  gaining  in  experience  and 
numbers,"  said  Fachers,  "  and  our  legations 
and  representatives  do  not  disturb  us,  as 
in  other  States,  we  record  successes.  Paris, 
Lyons,  Chaleroi,  Brest  and  Marseilles  are 
our  firm  bases." 

Dr.  Lange,  for  Germany,  reported  with 
great  disappointment  the  "  apathy  of  the 
German  masses."  The  Spartacists  had  in- 
creased, between  March  and  July  last,  from 
36,000  to  140,000,  but  the  German  "  small- 
bourgeois  "  nature,  narrow  nationalism, 
and  ingrained  fear  of  the  result  of  a  Bol- 
shevist upheaval  had  brought  a  serious 
check  to  the  further  growth  of  the  move- 
ment in  Germany. 

Encouraging  reports  were  submitted  for 
Spain,  Austria  and  Czechoslovakia.  The 
greatest  progress  reported  was  in  the  Near 
and  Middle  East,  in  Transcaucasia,  Persia 
and  British  Indian  dominions.  Commissar 
Eliawa  was  boastful  of  the  Bolshevist 
achievement  in  the  East.  The  winning  of 
Turkestan,  Azerbaijan,  Afghanistan,  was 
triumphantly  recorded.  By  the  Autumn  of 
1920  the  map  of  Transcaucasia  was  red 
with  the  exception  of  Armenia  and  Georgia. 
Since  this  report  was  presented,  Armenia 
has  been  sovietized,  and  dispatches  indicate 
that  Georgia — long  resistant — has  at  last 
succumbed. 


THE  VOICE  OF  THINKING  GERMANY 


SOME  very  remarkable  letters,  published 
during  1919  in  an  important  Swiss  jour- 
nal, have  now  been  made  accessible  to  a 
larger  public  in  book  form.*  Friedrich 
Curtius,  the  author  of  these  "  German 
Letters,"  is  a  son  of  the  famous  German 
historian  of  ancient  Greece.  He  is  a  dis- 
tinguished jurist,  who  spent  thirty-seven 
years  in  the  civil  administration  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  for  the  most  part  as  Provin- 
cial Governor,  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  independent  power.  The  letters  show 
that  there  were  Germans  in  high  official 
positions  who  stood  ethically  .head  and 
shoulders  above  the  brutal  Prussianism  dis- 
played at  Zabern.  Though  he  is  no  pacifist, 
this  German  Governor  shows  himself  to  be 
an  implacable  enemy  of  Prussian  militarism,' 
which,  in  his  opinion,  made  war  inevitable. 

*     Deutsche    Briefe.'"      By    Friedrich    Curtius. 
Frauenf  eld  :     Huber  &  Co. 


He  characterizes  the  invasion  of  Belgium 
as  "  a  lasting  dishonor  to  Germany,"  due 
wholly  to  the  criminal  folly  of  the  military 
party,  and  declares  that  it  bore  the  germ 
of  defeat  from  the  beginning.  Though,  as 
a  German,  he  resents  the  conditions  of  the 
allied  peace,  he  is  glad  that  Germany  lost 
the  war.  His  view  is  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing quotation: 

The  war  plan  was  the  product  of  purely 
military  judgment  of  international  problems 
*  *  *  in  defiance  of  all  political  and  ethical 
considerations.  We  must  own  to  ourselves 
that  if  that  war  plan  had  succeeded  we  could 
not,  as  believers  in  an  ethical  view  of  the 
world,  have  rejoiced  in  the  victory.  Did 
England  suffer  no  moral  hurt  by  its  triumph 
over  the  Boers?  Was  not  the  imperialistic 
policy  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Napoleon  fatal  to 
France?  Our  people  also  was  in  danger  of 
becoming  the  irredeemable  prey  of  the  evil 
spirit  of  a  cynical  national  egotism.  The 
German  overthrow  has  saved  the  German 
soul. 


New  Army  and  Navy  Club  at  Manila,  centre  of  social  Ufe  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors  in 

the  Philippines 


UNCLE  SAM'S  "MANDATE" 
IN  THE  PHILIPPINES 

By  O.  Garfield  Jones,  Ph.D. 

Professor    of    Political     Science 
in    Toledo    University 

The  wonderful  work  accomplished  by  a  heroic  band  of  American  school  teachers  in 
the  Philippines  is  here  described  by  one  who  has  known  many  of  these  educators  per- 
sonally and  who  has  made  a  close  study  of  the  subject  for  the  last  twenty  years.  His 
article  forms  a  chapter  of  American  achievement,  all  too  little  known  in  this  country, 
worthy  to  rank  with  the  proudest  in  the  nation's  annals 


ENGLAND'S  administration  of  India 
and  Egypt  has  been  excellent,  but  the 
Filipinos  have  made  more  political 
and  social  progress  in  the  last  twenty  years 
than  the  people  of  India  or  Egypt  have 
made  in  the  last  half  century.  In  view 
of  the  Oriental  environment,  the  Spanish 
traditions  and  culture,  and  the  section  of 
Mohammedan  population  which  occupies  al- 
most one-third  of  the  Philippine  archipel- 
ago, our  experience  in  developing  a  Filipino 
State  on  democratic  principles  should  be  il- 
luminating. 

As  a  colonial  administrator  the  American 
has  labored  with  his  usual  intensity,  and, 
wonderful  to  tell,  he  has  inspired  the  Fili- 
pino to  work  with  almost  equal  zeal.  Amer- 
ica, despite  Kipling's  warning,  has  "  hustled 
the  East,"  and  we  have  accomplished  what 


we  set  out  to  do.  These  statements  may 
sound  somewhat  sweeping,  but  when  it  is 
understood  how  thousands  of  highly  trained 
Americans,  distributed  over  the  Philippine 
Islands  in  different  kinds  of  work,  strove, 
by  experiment  and  invention,  by  individual 
initiative  and  by  highly  organized  group  ef- 
fort during  twenty  long  years,  to  accom- 
plish these  results,  one  tends  to  become,  like 
the  American  in  the  Philippine  Government 
service,  not  a  skeptic  as  to  the  results, 
which  are  evident,  but  rather  disappointed 
that  so  much  vigorous,  persistent  and  intel- 
ligent effort  has  not  produced  even  greater 
results. 

HOME  RULE  FOR  FILIPINOS 

Just    as    soon    as    civil    government   was 
established  in  1901,  a  large  measure  of  au- 


UNCLE    SAM'S    "MANDATE"    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 


91 


tonomy  was  granted  to  the  City  Govern- 
ments and — in  a  lesser  degree — to  the  Pro- 
vincial Governments.  The  Filipinos  natur- 
ally made  many  blunders  in  exercising  these 
new  functions,  for  which  they  had  had  little 
if  any  training.  The  American  teachers, 
of  whom  some  800  were  scattered  through 
the  archipelago  in  1901,  rendered  great  as- 
sistance to  these  inexperienced  municipal 
officials,  while  the  three  Americans  in  the 
Provincial  Government  aided  and  advised 
the  Filipino  Governor  and  the  Filipino 
Prosecuting  Attorney.  But  the  main  re- 
sponsibility for  keeping  these  local  Govern- 
ments going  fell  upon  the  Governor  Gen- 
eral's Under-Secretary,  called  the  Executive 
Secretary.  This  office  was  first  filled  by 
Arthur  W.  Fergusson,  who  was  a  man  of 
great  executive  ability.  He  advised,  ad- 
monished, reprimanded,  suspended,  and, 
with  the  consent  of  Governor  Taft,  expelled 
local  officials  when  necessary. 

In  these  early  days  it  was  often  found 
that  the  Municipal  President  collected  funds 
for  the  insurrection  army  instead  of  taxes 
for  the  use  of  the  Municipal  Government. 
It  was  found  necessary  to  reduce  the  au- 
tonomy of  the  municipalities  in  many  ways. 
First,  the  fiscal  and  accounting  functions 
were  taken  from  the  Municipal  President 
and  given  to  a  new  officer,  the  Municipal 
Treasurer,  who  was  elected  by  the  Council.* 
In  1903  this  Municipal  Treasurer  was 
taken  entirely  from  the  control  of  the  Mu- 
nicipal Council,  was  put  under  civil  service 
laws  and  regulations,  and  was  appointed 
by  the  Provincial  Board  from  an  eligible 
list.f  Next  the  Municipal  Treasurer  was 
made  a  deputy  of  the  Provincial  Treasurer, 
who  at  that  time  was  an  American  and  was 
required  to  keep  a  close  check  on  his 
deputies. 

EXPERIMENTAL  CHANGES 
In  the  first  municipalities  established 
after  the  American  occupation,  the  mu- 
nicipal executive,  then  called  Alcalde,  had 
judicial  functions.^  This  was  soon  cor- 
rected, however,  by  the  re-establishment  of 
the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace,§  a  post 


♦House  Doc,  Vol.  100,  Doc.  659,  56th  Congress, 
sion.     General    Orders    No.    40,    Military 
nor,   1000. 
tAct  099,  Phil.  Comm.,  Nov.  20,  1903. 
JGeneral    Orders    No.    43,    D.     of    Pac,     1899. 
House    Doc.,    Vol.    5,    Doc.    2,    p.    144,    56th   Con- 
iii't'ss    1  st  Session 

11902,  House  Doc,  Vol.  7,  Doc.  304,  p.  13,  58th 
Congress.  2d  Session. 


which  had  been  established  by  the  Span- 
iards in  1890.  The  Justice  of  the  Peace 
was  given  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the 
Municipal  President.  Though  this  change 
was  an  improvement  over  having  the  Mu- 
nicipal President  exercise  both  executive 
and  judicial  functions  alone,  it  was  still  far 
from  satisfactory.  One  man  was  found 
"  guilty  of  habeas  corpus  proceedings,"  and 
other  absurd  or  arbitrary  acts  were  com- 
mitted by  the  newly-appointed  Justices. 
Governor  Taft  was  so  discouraged  that  he 
recommended  the  combining  of  municipal- 
ities to  form  larger  judicial  districts  in 
order  that  fewer  but  abler  Justices  might 
be  appointed. 

Nothing  was  done,  however,  except  that 
several  of  the  provincial  Judges,  who  were 
capable  jurists,  called  the  Justices  of  the 
Peace  of  the  respective  provinces  to  the 
provincial  capital  and  gave  them  lessons  in 
law  and  court  procedure.  In  1912  the  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace  were  put  on  a  semi-civil 
service  basis,  the  fee  system  of  remunera- 
tion was  abolished,  and  they  were  placed 
on  insular  salary.  Mr.  Taft's  idea  of  larger 
districts  was  utilized  at  this  time  by  put- 
ting two  small  municipalities  under  one 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  several  instances. 
At  present  the  Philippine  Justices  of  the 
Peace  are  doing  very  well,  considering  their 
lack  of  training,  the  total  absence  of  law- 
yers in  most  towns,  and  the  ignorance  of 
the  people  in  regard  to  any  phase  of  the 
legal  side  of  government. 

At  first  the  police  were  put  entirely  un- 
der control  of  the  city  officials,  but  this 
proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  by  1903  the 
provincial  boards  were  required  by  law  to 
prescribe  the  number  of  police  for  each 
municipality,  the  kind  of  uniform  to  be 
worn,  and,  if  need  be,  to  place  all  the  mu- 
nicipal police  in  the  province  under  the  di- 
rect control  of  the  chief  constabulary  of- 
ficer of  the  province.*  In  1912  an  insular 
law  was  passed  putting  all  the  municipal 
police  in  the  archipelago  under  closer  super- 
vision of  the  constabulary,  and  placing  the 
office  of  Chief  of  Police  on  a  semi-civil 
service  basis. 

The  Municipal  Council  was  originally 
quite  independent  of  the  Provincial  Board. 
The   experiment   did    not   prove    a    success, 

♦Act.  P.  Comm.  No.  781. 


92 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


they    thought    would    work    under    existing 
conditions. 

The  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Philip- 
pines is  the  Superintendent  of  the  local  Gov- 
ernments. Figuratively  speaking,  he  walks 
from  one  local  Government  to  the  other  to 
see  that  each  is  working  as  it  should,  and 
if  he  finds  one  out  of  adjustment  he  must 
put  it  in  running  order  at  once.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  local  Governments  during  their 
formative  period  was  due  in  a  large  meas- 
ure to  the  executive  genius  of  Arthur  W. 
Fergusson  and  his  successor,  Frank  W.  Car- 
penter.    Both    were    men    of    remarkable 


FRANCIS   BURTON  HARRISON 

Governor  General  of  the  Philippines  from 

1913   to  1921 


however,  and  when  the  Executive  Secretary 
began  to  be  flooded  with  complaints 
against  the  former  body  he  got  a  law  passed 
giving  the  Provincial  Board,  a  majority  of 
whom  were  Americans,  supervision  over  the 
acts  of  the  Municipal  Council.* 

THE  EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 
In  the  development  of  these  various  mu- 
nicipal offices  there  have  been  increases  in 
autonomy  as  well  as  decreases  in  autonomy, 
and  the  increases  in  efficiency  and  initia- 
tive have  been  very  marked.  It  is  the  pur- 
pose of  this  article  to  show  only  that  the 
Executive  Secretary  and  his  corps  of  as- 
sistants were  the  essence  of  the  executive 
branch  of  the  municipal  and  provincial 
Governments,  and  that  when  by  adminis- 
trative measures  they  could  no  longer  make 
these  local  Governments  work  they  resorted 
to  legislative  action,  causing  the  local  Gov- 
ernments to  be  changed  to  such  a  form  as 

•Act.  P.  Comm.  No.  679. 


FRANK  W.    CARPENTER 

Executive    'Secretary,    later    Governor    of    the 

Department  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu 


ability  for  the  kind  of  work  they  had  to 
perform.  Mr.  Fergusson  died  at  his  post  in 
1909.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  promoted  to  a 
still  more  difficult  position  in  1914 — that  of 
first  Civil  Governor  of  the  Moro  Province — 
and  was  given  the  task  of  preparing  the 
Moros  promptly  for  complete  absorption 
into  the  body  politic  of  the  Philippines. 
The  Executive  Secretaries  since  1913  have 
striven  to  free  the  local  Governments  as 
much  as  possible  from  this  close  super- 
vision. This  is  a  much  simpler  problem 
than  the  one  their  predecessors  had  to 
face.  Time  alone  will  tell  whether  there 
has  been  sufficient  progress  along  all  lines 
to  make  this  abandonment  of  close  super- 


UNCLE    SAM'S    "MANDATE"    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 


vision  of  the  local   Governments  a  success.      even   the    same   native   dialect;     the   neces- 


The  gross  election  frauds  of  Camarines  and 
Capiz  Provinces  in  1916  tend  to  show  that 
the  executive  supervision  has  Become  too 
lax. 

THE    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

The  Philippine  Bureau  of  Education  not 
only  fulfilled  the  ordinary  functions  of  an 
educational  system,  but  also  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  establishment  of  gen- 
eral peace  conditions  within  the  archipelago 
in  the  development  of  good  local  govern- 
ment among  the  adult  population,  and  in 
the  introduction  of  modern  sanitation  and 
hygiene  throughout  the  islands.  • 

The  American  soldiers  had  scarcely  com- 
pleted the  occupation  of  Manila  before  the 
military  authorities  opened  the 
public  schools,  with  soldiers  de- 
detailed  as  teachers.  This  policy 
was  followed  by  the  miltary  com- 
manders in  every  town  they  occu- 
pied. In  1901  some  eight  hundred 
American  teachers  were  brought 
from  the  United  States  and  sent 
all  over  the  archipelago  to  open 
primary  schools  in  English;  in- 
directly they  served  as  hostages 
to  the  Filipino  people,  a  guaran- 
tee of  the  good  intentions  of  the 
United  States. 

In  1901  no  organized  school 
system  existed.  There  were  only 
these  800  unsupervised  American 
school  teachers  in  more  or  less 
isolated  stations.  In  most  cases 
there  were  no  schoolhouses,  and 
chart  classes  were  held  in  a  rent- 
ed  room  with  few,  if  any,  benches; 
the  pupils  ranged  in  age  from  6 
to  36  years.  The  teachers  had  no 
adequate  or  uniform  texts,  in 
some  cases  no  texts  at  all;  no 
uniform  curriculum  had  been 
laid  down  for  them,  and  they  had 
no  experience  in  teaching  Eng- 
lish to  people  of  a  foreign  tongue. 
Some  Spanish  texts  had  been  in- 
herited from  the  Spanish  era  and 
some  had  been  purchased  by  the 
military  Government,  but  it  was 
soon  ascertained  that  not  one 
pupil  in  twenty  knew  any  more 
Spanish  than  English,  and  that  no 
two  sections  of  the  people  spoke 


sity,  therefore,  of  teaching  English,  the 
only  language  that  the  instructors  knew 
how  to  teach,  became  evident.  By  1901  the 
Government  was  definitely  launched  upon 
the  policy  of  teaching  nothing  but  English 
in  the  schools. 

TEACHERS  AS  HEALTH  OFFICERS 

These  800  Americans  were  primarily 
teachers  of  chart-class  English.  Their  other 
functions  were  to  make  friends  with  the 
people,  assist  them  in  their  local  Govern- 
ment and  serve  as  local  health  officers. 

A  terrible  epidemic  of  Asiatic  cholera 
broke  out  in  1902,  and  it  took  the  com- 
bined action  of  almost  every  branch  of  the 
Government  to  stop  it.    Those  stricken  with 


(©    Moffett,    Chicago) 
EX-PRESIDENT   WILLIAM   H.    TAFT 
First  Governor  General  of  the   Philippines 


94 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cholera  had  about  three  hours  of  the  most 
terrible  suffering  imaginable,  and  then  died. 
The  disease  is  an  intestinal  parasitic  con- 
tagion and  can  be  contracted  only  through 
the  mouth;  consequently,  if  the  persons 
dying  from  the  disease  are  buried  in  lime  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  contamination  from 
their  bodies,  and  if  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity cook  or  boil  everything  that  they  eat 
or  drink,  the  disease  cannot  spread. 

It  became  the  principal  duty  of  these 
American  teachers  to  see  that  the  sanitary 
regulations  were  carried  out.  This  meant 
the  suspension  of  teaching.  When  a  school 
teacher  finds  himself  in  an  ignorant,  super- 
stitious community,  whose  language  he 
speaks  poorly,  if  at  all,  and  whose  people 
are  dying  off  like  rats  from  a  frightful 
disease;  when  he  is  responsible  for  the  en- 
forcement of  strict  sanitary  regulations  that 
are  new  to  the  people,  and  has,  perhaps, 
not  even  a  squad  of  Filipino  soldiers  to  back 
him  up  in  his  work,  it  is  obvious  that  he  has 
no  time  for  school  duties.  Nor  were  his  dif- 
ficulties lightened  by  the  spreading  of  re- 
ports that  the  disease  was  caused  by  poison 
put  into  the  wells  by  the  Americans. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  many  of  the 
American  teachers  stationed  at  the  400  or 
500  isolated  posts  in  the  Philippines  in  that 
early  period.  The  people  objected  to  bury- 
ing their  dead  immediately  without  a  church 
ceremony,  and  in  at  least  one  place  the 
priest  refused  to  perform  the  ceremony  at 
the  houses.  The  American  teacher  at  this 
place  saved  the  situation  by  learning  the 
Lord's  Prayer  in  Spanish  and  reciting  it 
after  reading  passages  from  a  ritual  in 
English  as  the  bodies  were  deposited  in  the 
cemetery.  In  this  way  this  one  American 
teacher  succeeded  in  persuading  the  people 
to  bury  their  cholera  victims  immediately, 
although  they  did  not  know  a  word  of  the 
ritual  in  English,  and  probably  did  not  un- 
derstand the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Spanish.  The 
satisfactory  part  of  it  to  them  was  that  he 
read  from  a  book  as  the  priest  did  and  that 
he  chanted  his  Spanish  prayer  in  true 
priestly  style. 

The  strain  put  upon  these  early  American 
teachers  was  so  great  that  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  find  that  quite  a  number  died  at 
their  posts,  and  that  a  large  percentage  of 
the  survivors  left  as  soon  as  possible.  It  was 
a  veritable  "  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  " 


upon  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the 
Filipinos,  and  upon  the  almost  insuperable 
obstacles  of  tropical  climate  and  Oriental 
disease.  But  the  commander  had  not  blun- 
dered. There  was  injustice  to  individuals, 
of  course;  it  is  always  an  apparent  in- 
justice to  send  an  individual  to  face  the 
cannon's  mouth  or  to  labor  among  plague- 
infected  people.  The  only  real  injustice, 
however,  in  the  case  of  Americans  in  the 
Philippines  is  that  the  people  in  the  United 
States  have  allowed  political  issues  to  blind 
them  to  the  fact  that  the  grandest  heroism 
has  been  displayed  by  the  American  civil 
servants  in  our  Oriental  colony,  and  that 
this  heroism  has  been  largely  unnoticed  and 
unrewarded. 

THE   EDUCATIONAL   CAMPAIGN 

What  the  main  lines  of  our  educational 
policy  would  have  to  be  was  seen  almost 
from  the  start,  and  so  keen  were  the  army 
officers  for  the  success  of  this  work  that 
many  of  them  paid  from  their  own  pockets 
the  expense  of  sending  Filipino  teachers  to 


FREDERICK  W.  ATKINSON 

First  General  Superintendent  of  Education 

in  the  Philippines 


UNCLE    SAM'S    "MANDATE"    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 


95 


Sarang   Bridge   and   Batangas-Ibaan   Road   through   one   of   the   many  scenic  regions   that 
can  now   be   enjoyed   by  automobilists  in  the  Philippines 


the  Manila  Normal  School  in  April,  1901.* 
It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  even  today 
for  an  American  official  to  pay  from  his 
own  pocket  the  money  needed  to  make  a 
certain  project  go  when  Government  funds 
are  lacking  or  are  tied  up  by  red  tape.  The 
big  problem  at  the  start,  however,  was  not 
so  much  one  of  general  policy  or  of  pro- 
moting enthusiasm,  as  it  was  one  of  find- 
ing out  how  to  develop  an  effective  organ- 
ization. 

It  was  the  task  of  Dr.  Fred  W.  Atkinson, 
the  first  General  Superintendent  of  the 
Philippine  School  system,  to  outline  the 
work  to  be  done.  The  actual  organizing 
was  accomplished  by  Dr.  David  P.  Barrows, 
who  was  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion from  1903  to  1909.  The  appointment 
of  Dr.  Barrows  was  particularly  fortunate, 
because  he  had  been  Superintendent  of  the 
Manila  Schools  in  1900  and  1901,  had  had 
experience  with  Filipino  teachers  from  all 
over  the  islands  at  the  Manila  Normal 
School  which  he  reorganized  in  1901,  and 
had  just  spent  a  year  traveling  over  the 
archipelago  in  1902  as  chief  of  the  new  Bu- 
reau of  Non- Christian  Tribes,  and  studying 
the  various  tribes  of  Filipinos,  their  cus- 
toms, and  social  and  economic  conditions. 
A  young  man  of  vigorous  emotions,  splen- 
did health   and   strong   body,   and   educated 

*House  Doc,  Vol.  5,  Doc.  2,  part  2,  pp.  349-387. 


both  in  government  and  in  ethnology,  he 
had  just  the  equipment  necessary  in  1903 
to  tackle  the  formidable  task  of  evolving 
a  compact  and  efficient  organization  out  of 
the  800  Americans  and  more  than  2,000 
Filipinos  who  at  that  time  made  up  the 
personnel  of  the  Philippine  school  system. 

HOW  TEACHERS  WERE  ENCOURAGED 

One  of  Dr.  Barrows's  most  important 
tasks  was  to  visit  the  various  teachers  at 
their  isolated  stations,  share  their  hard- 
ships, encourage  them  to  persevere,  and 
convince  them  that  in  their  chief  they  had 
a  personal  friend,  who  saw  and  appreciated 
their  good  work.  By  this  development  of 
personal  loyalty  he  not  only  succeeded  in 
retaining  the  services  of  valuable  teachers 
and  administrators  who  otherwise  would 
have  left,  but  also  succeeded  in  imposing 
necessary  regulations  as  to  standards  of 
work,  curriculum,  reports,  &c,  on  these 
lonesome  and  weary  teachers — regulations 
which  they  never  would  have  agreed  to  had 
it  not  been  for  their  loyalty  to  the  chief. 
By  six  years  of  ceaseless  effort  this  Di- 
rector was  able  to  bequeath  to  his  successor 
one  of  the  most  highly  organized  school 
systems  in  the  world. 

The  defect  in  this  organization  in  1909 
was  that,  having  developed  it  by  capitaliz- 
ing personal  loyalty,  Dr.  Barrows  refused 
to  desert  his  friends  after  they  had  served 


98 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


his  purpose.  A  number  of  American  teach- 
ers had  become  inefficient  because  of  the 
climate  or  for  other  reasons.  There  being 
no  pension  system,  Dr.  Barrows  refused  to 
throw  them  into  the  discard  after  their  five 
or  ten  years  of  faithful  service.  The  next 
Director,  Frank  R.  White,  did  dismiss  these 
teachers.  He  was  a  remarkably  keen  judge 
of  men,  and  when  he  found  a  teacher  or  su- 
pervisor or  superintendent  who  was  no 
longer  able  to  do  his  work  efficiently,  that 
man  was  asked  to  resign.  Mr.  White  had 
started  as  a  teacher  in  the  field  in  1901,  and 
worked  his  way  to  the  top;  consequently,  he 
knew  every  detail  of  the  system.  He  com- 
pelled every  American  teacher  to  live  in  a 
good  house,  wear  good  clothes,  and  be  in 
every  way  an  example  of  intelligent  and 
right  living  in  the  community.  He  perfected 
the  organization  and  worked  so  ceaselessly 
for  the  development  of  the  industrial  work 
of  the  schools  that  he  died  at  his  post  from 
general  debility  and  consumption  in  the 
Summer  of  1913. 

INTRODUCTION   OF  ATHLETICS 

The  next  Director,  Frank  L.  Crone, 
made  a  specialty  of  athletic  work  in  the 
schools,  and  through  the  effective  personal 
support  of  the  Governor  General,  W. 
Cameron  Forbes,  and  the  scientific  assist- 
ance of  E.  S.  Brown  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
the  entire  athletic  activities  of  the  islands 
were  organized  into  the  very  efficient 
Philippine  Amateur  Athletic  Federation. 
The  Far  Eastern  games  were  instituted  be- 
tween China,  Japan  and  the  Philippines  in 
1913  to  provide  the  Oriental  counterpart  of 
the  Occidental  Olympiad.  The  playground 
movement,  which  was  organized  throughout 
the  Philippine  Islands  by  these  three  Amer- 
icans in  1912  and  1913,  might  well  serve  as 
a  model  both  as  to  plan  and  as  to  achieve- 
ment for  similar  nation-wide  movements 
throughout  the  world. 

Dr.  M.  W.  Marquart,  who  came  to  be 
Director  of  Education  in  1916,  had  just  the 
combination  of  thorough  education,  long  ex- 
perience in  the  bureau,  administrative  abil- 
ity and  political  keenness  to  round  out  the 
policies  of  his  predecessors,  secure  the  very 
large  appropriations  necessary  to  provide 
school  facilities  for  every  child  of  school 
age,  and  thus  complete  the  grand  plan  of 
an  adequate  education  for  every  Filipino 
boy  and  girl.  The  culmination  of  this  orig- 
inal  plan   is   probably   coincident  with   the 


passing  of  the  American  Directors.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  a  Filipino  of  long  ex- 
perience in  the  bureau,  who  received  his 
theoretical  training  in  pedagogy  in  the 
United  States,  will  succeed  Dr.  Marquart  as 
the  next  Director  of  Philippine  education. 

TAFT  COMMISSION'S  PLAN 

The  report  of  the  Shurman  Commission 
in  1899  gave  rather  vague  generalities  re- 
garding an  educational  system,  but  by  the 
end  of  1900  the  Taft  Commission,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  several  educators  who  had 
been  brought  from  the  United  States,  for- 
mulated a  pretty  definite  outline  of  what  the 
educational  system  should  be,  and  this  out- 
line has  proved  so  satisfactory  that  with  a 
few  exceptions  it  is  embodied  in  the  school 
system  as  it  is  today.  This  outline  as  given 
in  the  first  report  of  the  Taft  Commission 
on  Nov.  30,  1900,  is  as  follows: 

1.  The  system  of  instruction  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  must  be,  at  least  in  the  begin- 
ning, largely  centralized.  There  will  be  a 
general  Superintendent  of  Education  and  as 
many  Assistant  Superintendents  as  there  are 
departments. 

2.  There  will  be  need  for  a  system  of  local 
advisory  boards. 

3.  Textbooks,  charts,  stationery  and  Eng- 
lish teachers  will  have  to  be  furnished  to 
municipalities  by  the  Insular   Government. 

4.  As  far  as  possible,  school  buildings  will 
have  to  be  constructed  and  native  teachers 
supported  by  local  taxation. 

5.  All  schools  supported  by  public  funds 
must  be  free  and  non-sectarian. 

6.  Emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  elemen- 
tary education  of  the  masses. 

7.  The  education  furnished  must  be  of  a 
practical  utilitarian  character.  What  is  at- 
tempted in  the  way  of  instruction  must  be 
done  thoroughly,  and  the  aim  must  be  in 
particular  to  see  that  the  children  acquire 
in  school  skill  in  using  their  hands  and 
heads  in  a  way  to  earn  a  livelihood. 

8.  Normal,  agricultural,  commercial  and 
trade  schools  will  early  receive  attention. 

9.  Native  teachers  must  be  paid  more  than 
under  Spanish  rule,  and  in  every  way  pos- 
sible teaching  be  made  a  desirable  calling. 
Native  teachers  in  office  will  be  taught  a 
broader  and  more  thorough  conception  of 
education.  To  this  end  courses  of  instruc- 
tion for  teachers  will  be  provided.  Teachers 
will  be  examined,   certified  and  classified. 

10.  The  present  educational  system  will  be 
modernized  and  secularized  and  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  a  people  who  have  hitherto  been 
deprived  of  the  opportunities  of  a  rational 
education.* 


*House   Doc,    Vol.    12,    p.    113,   56th    Congress, 
2d   Session. 


UNCLE    SAM'S    "MANDATE"    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 


97 


The  Filipinos  were  ready  for  such  a 
reform  in  their  school  system,  because,  in 
the  main,  they  were  thirsting  for  education 
for  their  children.  They  were  very  much 
opposed  to  the  domination  of  the  Spanish 
friars,  of  whom  they  had  just  been  rid,  and 
they  looked  upon  book  education  as  one  of 
the  "  open  sesames  "  to  liberty,  prosperity 
and  happiness.  As  early  as  the  school  year 
of  1899-1900  the  Military  Government  re- 
ported as  follows: 

Great  activity  is  observable  in  all  garri- 
soned towns  in  the  establishment  of  schools 
of  primary  instruction.  The  results  attained 
are  measurably  due  to  the  initiative  of  local 
commanding  officers,  but  are  to  be  mainly 
credited  to  the  people  themselves,  among 
whom  the  desire  for  educational  facilities 
is  everywhere  general  and  unmistakable, 
and  who  have  expended  considerable  sums 
of  money  for  such  purposes  collected  through 
the  medium  of  municipal  taxation  and  pri- 
vate subscription. 

There  were  100,000  pupils  attending  the 
schools  opened  by  the  military  commanders 
at  this  early  period.* 

MOST   CENTRALIZED   SYSTEM 

The  outline  of  the  Taft  Commission  was 
put  into  operation  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
The  system  was  centralized  till  today  it  is 
the  most  highly  centralized  school  system 
in  the  world.  It  is  very  probable  that 
from  now  on  the  tendency  will  be  to  de- 
centralize it,  as  the  younger,  public-school- 
educated  generation  of  Filipinos  takes  con- 
trol of  the  Municipal  and  Provincial  Govern- 
ments; the  degree  of  decentralization  that 
characterized  the  school  system  of  the 
United  States  in  times  past,  however,  will 
never  be  established  in  the  Philippines,  be- 
cause the  movement  of  the  entire  educa- 
tional world  is  toward  more,  rather  than 
less,  centralization.  The  Philippine  school 
system  at  present  is  an  extreme  form  that 
is  justifiable  only  when  the  mass  of  the 
people  are  illiterate,  inexperienced  in  school 
affairs,  and  under  the  impelling  necessity 
of  rising  rapidly  to  a  higher  plane  of  civili- 
zation in  order  to  survive  in  that  competi- 
tion of  nations  which  they  can  not  escape. 

The  local  Advisory  Boards  that  were  es- 
tablished from  1900  to  1905  served  a  useful 
purpose  at  first  in  securing  local  support, 
but  the  total  ignorance  of  the  adult  popula- 


*House  Doc,  Vol.  11,  Doc.  2,  p.  26,  56th  Con- 
gress, 2d  Session. 


tion  with  regard  to  modern  education  made 
these  local  boards  more  of  a  nuisance  than 
otherwise,  once  the  school  system  was  or- 
ganized. They  gradually  fell  into  disuse 
and  are  a  rarity  in  the  islands  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  But  when  the  public-school-edu- 
cated generation  comes  into  control  of  local 
affairs  it  is  probable  that  some  form  of 
local  school  board  will  be  established,  and 
will  assume  its  proper  role  in  the  public 
school  system. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  NATIVE 
TEACHERS 

After  a  sufficient  number  of  native 
teachers  had  been  developed,  the  American 
teachers  were  assigned  to  the  higher  grades 
or  were  used  as  supervisors,  while  the  Fili- 
pino teachers  were  given  complete  charge 
of  the  classroom  in  the  lower  grades.  At 
the  present  time  American  teachers  are  to 
be  found  only  in  the  high  schools  or  in 
supervisory  work,  the  Filipino  teachers, 
14,000  in  number,  having  developed  suffi- 
ciently to  do  all  the  teaching  of  English  and 
other  subjects  in  the  primary  and  inter- 
mediate grades.  These  native  instructors 
are  nearly  all  supported  by  municipal  taxa- 
tion. The  Insular  Government  provides 
some  1,800  teachers  from  insular  funds, 
but  four-fifths  of  these  are  Filipinos  and 
ali  are  supervising  teachers  or  teachers  in 
the  high  schools  and  larger  intermediate 
schools. 

There  are  several  provinces  where  every 
school  official,  superintendent,  high  school 
principal,  supervisor,  and  teacher,  is  a  Fili- 
pino. After  the  first  pioneer  work,  from 
1901  to  1905,  when  800  American  teachers 
were  sent  into  the  unknown  wilderness  of 
the  Philippines,  the  general  movement  of 
the  American  teaching  force  has  been  one 
of  retreat  before  the  rising  generation  of 
Filipino  teachers.  Now  there  are  a  number 
of  Filipino  Superintendents,  a  Filipino 
Assistant  Director  of  the  Bureau,  and  a 
Filipino  Under-Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  Public  Instruction,  who  on  several  occa- 
sions has  been  Acting  Secretary  of  Public 
Instruction. 

The  justification  of  an  imperialistic  poli- 
cy, according  to  Professor  Hobson,  the  Eng- 
lish authority  on  anti-imperialism,  is  that 
it  shall  as  rapidly  as  possible  make  itself 
unnecessary.  The  American  educator  is 
rapidly  doing  this  very  thing  in  the  Philip- 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


pine  Islands.  Although  his  retreat  has 
been  too  rapid  at  times,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  in  a  few  more  years  the  Ameri- 
can educator  will  be  found  in  the  Philip- 
pines only  as  a  specialist. 

INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING 

Elementary  education  of  the  masses  has 
been  the  chief  aim  of  the  school  system. 
Nearly  all  the  pupils  are  in  the  four 
primary  grades,  and  nearly  all  the  school 
money  is  spent  on  these  grades.  A  certi- 
ficate is  given  for  the  completion  of  this 
four-year  primary  course,  as  is  done  in  the 
United  States  for  the  completion  of  the 
eighth,  grade.  The  four-year  primary  course 
has  been  designed  with  the  idea  in  mind 
that  relatively  few  of  the  pupils  would 
ever  go  beyond  the  fourth  grade.  The 
Philippine  school  authorities  are  ready  at 
any  time  to  revise  this  course,  if  it  is  found 
that  even  one-third  of  the  pupils  will  attend 
for  a  fifth  or  sixth  year;  but  at  present 
not  even  one-fourth  of  the  pupils  take  the 
fourth  year,  and  scarcely  one-tenth  take  the 
first  year  of  the  intermediate  grades.* 

The  curriculum  is  as  utilitarian  as  twenty 
years  of  steady  effort  and  experience  have 
enabled  the  school  authorities  to  make  it. 
Splendid  normal,  agricultural,  commercial 
and  trade  schools  have  been  established — 
for  advanced  pupils.  In  the  primary  schools 
every  possible  effort  has  been  made  to  work 
out  a  system  of  industrial  training  that 
will  equip  the  mass  of  Filipinos  for  earn- 
ing a  better  living.  Gardening  and  simple 
agriculture  are  taught  from  the  first  grade 
on.  So  also  are  the  simple  handicrafts,  so 
that  in  the  evenings,  and  when  other  duties 
do  not  need  their  time,  they  can,  on  leaving 
school,  make  hats,  baskets,  mats,  slippers 
and  lace,  either  for  their  own  use  or  for 
sale.  The  girls  are  taught  plain  sewing 
and  the  rudiments  of  housekeeping.  The 
boys  are  taught  simple  carpentry  in  wood 
and  bamboo.  Without  having  worked  in 
the  Philippine  school  system  itself  it  is  im- 
possible for  one  to  appreciate  how  con- 
scientiously and  vigorously  the  school  teach- 
.ers  and  higher  authorities  have  labored  to 
devise  by  invention,  experiment  and  past 
experience  a  curriculum  and  methods  of 
instruction  that  will  give  the  Filipino  youth 
in  four  years   of  schooling  the   equipment 

*See  .Ann.   Rep't  Dir.   Edu.,    1010  to   1018. 


he  must  have  to  become'  the  provider  for  a 
decently  supported  and  happy  family,  and 
a  good  citizen  of  a  self-governing  country. 

The  salary  reform  recommended  by  the 
Taft  Commission  was  not  carried  out  to  any 
great  extent  prior  to  1918,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  money  was  not  available. 
Up  to  1912  it  was  not  uncommon  to  find 
a  Filipino  teaching  in  a  village  school 
regularly  day  after  day  without  getting 
one  cent  of  salary.  He  did  it  because  his 
year's  teaching  experience,  thus  gained,  in- 
creased very  greatly  his  chance  of  being 
appointed  as  a  salaried  teacher  the  next 
year.  The  salary  paid  under  the  American 
regime  is  much  greater  than  that  of  the 
Spanish  era,  but  the  cost  of  living  is  also 
much  higher.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  increase 
up  to  1918  was  as  great  as  the  increase  in 
prices  plus  the  increase  in  standard  of  liv- 
ing. Fortunately  the  rapidly  increasing 
supply  of  educated  Filipinos  and  the  present 
financial  prosperity  of  the  Government 
have  combined  to  make  the  problem  of  se- 
curing good  teachers  at  reasonable  salaries 
a  fairly  simple  one. 

HIGH  PITCH  OF  ENDEAVOR 

The  Filipino  teachers  of  the  last  two  dec- 
ades should  go  down  in  history  as  patriots 
who  made  their  country  free,  and  did  not 
spare  themselves  to  accomplish  this  libera- 
tion. When  change  is  in  the  air  and  the 
feeling  is  abroad  that  the  future  holds  great 
things  in  store  for  the  people  of  a  certain 
country  that  people  seems  to  get  keyed  up 
to  self-sacrifice  and  the  achievement  of 
great  things.  This  spirit  characterized  the 
pioneers  ("  conquistadores ")  of  colonial 
Spain  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies; it  made  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  a 
golden  age  for  England;  it  made  the  Thir- 
teen Colonies  rise  to  superhuman  efforts 
and  achievement  at  the  end  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  and  did  the  same  for  the 
States  of  the  Middle  West  in  the  nineteenth. 
There  is  evidence  that  it  is  doing  the  same 
for  the  Filipinos  today.  There  may  be  ra- 
cial limitations  to  what  they  can  achieve, 
but  ten  years  of  study  have  convinced  me 
that  the  younger  generation  of  Filipinos  is 
being  gradually  keyed  up  to  the  pitch  that 
will  make  possible  achievements  that  could 
not  be  expected  of  the  same  people  under 
normal  conditions.  If  this  keyed-up  energy 
of  self-sacrifice  is  properly  directed  it  will 


UNCLE    SAM'S    "MANDATE"    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 


09 


bring  about  a  change  in  Philippine  condi- 
tions that  will  make  unnecessary  the  con- 
tinued expenditure  of  such  extraordinary 
efforts.  In  the  life  of  a  nation,  as  in  that 
of  an  individual,  it  is  only  at  a  crisis  that 
great  deeds  are  required. 

Filipino  teachers  have  taught  primary 
schools  of  a  hundred  or  more  pupils  all  day 
long,  then  gone  home  at  night  and  studied 
with  desperation  to  pass  the  fifth  or  sixth 
grade  examination  at  the  end  of  the  year  in 
order  not  to  be  barred  from  teaching  the 
next  year  by  the  requirements  of  the  Su- 
perintendent's office.  When  the  provincial 
Normal  Institute  convened  in  November 
these  teachers  were  required  to  cover  in  five 
weeks  the  work  which  the  regular  interme- 
diate schools  or  high  schools  took  more 
than  four  months  to  cover.  And  when  vaca- 
tion time  came  many  of  them  were  expected 
to  have  saved  enough  from  their  pittance 
of  a  salary  to  go  to  Manila  or  Iloilo  and 
spend  that  vacation  in  a  normal  school. 
Nothing  was  thought  of  asking  and  expect- 
ing a  teacher  to  walk  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
through  the  mud  or  over  the  mountains  to 
attend  a  teachers'  meeting  every  week,  and, 
what  is  more,  they  did  it. 

AMERICAN     EXAMPLE     CONTAGIOUS 

Fifty  years  hence,  when  the  Filipinos 
have  found  themselves,  when  change  will 
have  ceased  to  be  in  the  air,  and  when  the 
cold  argument  of  hopes  unrealized  will  have 
damped  their  ardor,  it  will  be  useless  to 
try  to  drive  the  Filipino  school  teachers  in 
this  extreme  manner.  But  the  Filipinos  are 
making  their  history  today,  and  they  feel 
it,  even  though  they  do  not  realize  it.  Their 
strenuous  efforts  do  credit  both  to  them  and 
to  those  Americans  who  by  their  own  ex- 
ample and  enterprise  spurred  the  natives 
to  this  pitch  of  endeavor. 

The  example  of  the  Americans,  indeed, 
has  made  teaching  a  desirable  calling.  Like 
Garibaldi,  the  American  teachers  have  said, 
"With  me  you  will  find  hunger,  thirst, 
cold,  heat,  no  pay.  Let  whosoever  loves 
his  country  follow  me!"  Like  Garibaldi, 
these  Americans  have  had  a  contagious  en- 
thusiasm for  their  work.  They  have  shown 
pride  at  having  taught  youngsters  to  read 
and  speak  English;  the  Filipino  youth,  in 
consequence  has  come  to  think  that  teach- 
ing is  a  desirable  calling  for  a  vigorous, 
educated  person.     The  Filipino  teacher  was 


averse  to  soiling  his  hands  in  a  school- 
garden,  but  the  high-salaried,  fine-looking 
American  teacher,  and  also  the  still  higher- 
salaried  American  Superintendent,  seemed 
to  delight  in  tending  the  garden,  breathing 
in  the  fresh  odor  of  new-turned  soil,  and 
watching  the  seeds  sprout  into  plants,  the 
plants  burst  into  bloom,  and  the  blossoms 
give  way  to  ripening  fruit;  thus,  by  the 
irresistible  force  of  the  imitative  instinct 
and  the  contagion  of  bubbling  enthusiasm, 
these  Filipino  teachers  came  to  look  upon 
manual  labor  as  a  thing  to  be  proud  of,  in- 
stead of  a  sign  of  ignorance  and  servitude. 

In  addition  to  school  and  home  gardening, 
handicraft  work  and  carpentry  work,  the 
pupils  of  the  Philippine  public  schools  have 
to  do  all  the  work  of  improving  the  school 
grounds.  It  is  a  part  of  the  classroom 
program.  They  clear  and  level  the  ground, 
plant  the  Bermuda  grass  joints  in  rows, build 
fences,  plant  also  the  flowers  and  shrubbery 
and  keep  them  in  condition  and  build  fences. 
The  Philippine  schools  can  boast  of  better- 
kept  grounds  and  athletic  fields  than  can  any 
State  School  system  in  America,  and  it  is 
all  due  to  the  manual  work  of  teachers  and 
pupils.  There  is  absolutely  no  doubt  that 
the  American  public  school  system  in  the 
Philippines  has  made  manual  labor  respect- 
able for  the  younger  Filipinos.  Such  re- 
spect for  manual  labor  is  absolutely  impera- 
tive in  a  country  like  the  Philippine  Islands, 
where  prosperity  depends  on  agricultural 
development.  The  conversion  of  the  edu- 
cated Filipino  in  his  attitude  toward  manual 
labor  has  been  a  wonderful  achievement. 
The  English  in  India  said  it  could  not  be 
done.  It  has  been  done  in  the  Philippines 
by  means  of  the  public  schools.  Today  the 
labor  supply  is  more  satisfactory  where 
there  are  schools  than  where  there  are  no 
schools.  Furthermore,  the  many  Filipino 
teachers  who  now  do  manual  labor  in  the 
field,  in  the  shop  or  on  road  construction 
during  vacation  to  earn  more  money,  bear 
witness  to  the  extent  to  which  Filipino 
ideas  have  changed  regarding  education  and 
manual  labor. 

In  accordance  with  the  last  item  in  the 
original  outline  of  the  Taft  Commission  for 
Philippine  education  the  schools  have  been 
modernized  and  secularized  and  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  the  people.  It  is  the  boast  of 
the  Philippine  Bureau  of  Education  that 
"  No  other  school  system  has  been  so  spe- 


100 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cifically  adapted   to   the   needs   of   its   peo- 
ple." 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  WAR 

By  cutting  off  the  supply  of  European 
laces  and  embroideries,  the  world  war  en- 
abled the  dexterous  Filipinos  to  show  what 
they  could  do.  With  their  ten  years  of 
public  school  training  in  lace  and  embroi- 
dery work,  the  pupils  and  former  pupils  be- 
gan supplying  the  American  demand  for 
hand-made  waists  and  lingerie.  Philippine 
designs  became  the  style,  and  the  export 
of  hand-made  waists  and  lingerie  from  the 
Philippine  Islands  jumped  from  a  few  thou- 
sand dollars'  worth  in  1912  to  a  value  of 
more  than  $4,500,000  in  1918.  Filipino 
girls  with  only  a  fourth  or  fifth  grade  edu- 
cation are  now  making  twice  the  normal 
daily  wage  for  manual  labor  by  their  skill 
in  lace  and  embroidery  work.  The  eco- 
nomic independence  of  Filipino  women, 
gained  by  skilled  labor  on  a  large  scale,  is 
bound  to  have  a  profound  influence  on  the 
future  social  life  of  the  Islands. 

The  war  also  gave  a  great  impetus  to 
the  gardening  and  food-production  cam- 
paign, which  the  Bureau  of  Education,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Bureau  of  Agricul- 
ture, had  been  pushing  since  1908.  Corn 
production  was  quadrupled,  rice  production 
was  increased,  and  the  growing  of  whole- 
some vegetables  became  general  among  the 
families  having  children  in  the  public 
schools.  The  primary  schools,  which  place 
special  emphasis  on  practical  farming,  have 
been  the  prime  factor  in  civilizing  the  Moros 
and   in   inducing   the   mountain   peoples   to 


give  up  their  roaming  life,  to  form  settled 
villages,  and  to  become  peaceful  farmers. 
The  varied  diet  which  now  has  become  gen- 
eral throughout  the  public-school  towns  of 
the  archipelago  has  practically  eliminated 
beri  beri  from  these  communities.* 

In  order  to  complete  the  development  of 
this  public  school  system,  tried  and  tested 
through  twenty  years  of  strenuous  evolu- 
tion, Dr.  Marquart,  the  Director  of  Educa- 
tion, and  the  Hon.  Sergio  Osmena,  leader 
of  the  Filipino  people  and  Premier  of  the 
present  administration,  in  1918  worked  out 
a  new  educational  program  and  secured  a 
$30,000,000  appropriation  to  put  it  through. 
By  this  plan  it  is  contemplated  that  pri- 
mary education  for  every  Filipino  child  of 
school  age  will  be  a  realized  fact  by  1923. 
This  large  sum  is  a  continuing  appropria- 
tion, in  addition  to  the  regular  public 
schools  appropriation,  which  averages  $10,- 
000,000  annually. 

So  universal  education  has  been  attained, 
and  one  of  the  best  school  systems  of  the 
world  developed  within  twenty-five  year? 
of  the  American  entrance  into  these  Is- 
lands. It  is  a  miracle  of  American  effi- 
ciency, American  ideals,  and  Filipino  co- 
operation. The  Philippine  public  school  sys- 
tem is  the  finest  fruit  of  American  democ- 
racy produced  outside  the  favoring  clime 
of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  marvel 
of  the  International  Educational  Congress 
at  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition  of  1915. 


*Beri  beri  is  a  serious  dropsical  disease  caused 
by  eating-  nothing-  but  polished  rice,  which  lacks 
phosphorus  and  other  elements  essential  to 
proper   nutrition. 


A  GERMAN  VIEW  OF  BRITISH  POWER 


A  DMIRAL  VON  TIRPITZ,  ex-Minister 
■£*-  of  the  German  Navy  under  the  Kaiser, 
in  an  interview  given  in  Baden  on  Feb.  16, 
1921,  voiced  the  old  German  jealousy  of 
England  in  the  form  of  a  warning  to  the 
United  States.  The  burden  of  his  warning 
was:  Look  out  for  Japan  and  England! 
"  It  must  be  considered,"  he  said,  "  that 
England  has  gained  absolute  supremacy  in 
Europe;  that  her  power  covers  all  Africa, 
Mesopotamia  and  India,  and  that  she  now 
holds  the  keys  to  the  Mediterranean,  at 
Constantinople,  the  Suez  Canal  and  Gibral- 


tar. This  control  counterbalances  the  com- 
pactness of  America's  territory."  Further- 
more, declared  the  Admiral,  England,  re- 
gardless of  her  treaty  with  Japan  and  her 
friendship  with  America,  would  turn  where 
her  political  interests  lay  in  case  of  a 
conflict  between  Japan  and  the  United 
States. 

"The  English,"  he  concluded,  "would  do  as 
they  have  successfully  done  for  centuries, 
with  the  result  that  Europe  is  now  ruined 
while  England  herself,  as  always,  stands 
there  lord  of  the  world." 


MANDATES  AND  AMERICA'S  STAND 
REGARDING  THEM 


President  Wilson'' s  warning  to  the  Allies  that  mandates  for  ex-German  colonies  must 
not  be  alotted  or  defined  without  consulting  the  United  States — Important  notes  on 
Mesopotamia  and  Yap — Text  of  the  typical  "C"  mandate  over  German  Southwest  Africa 


THE  question  of  distributing  the  former 
German  and  Turkish  territories  among 
the  allied  and  associated  powers  has 
recently  acquired  new  prominence,  owing  to 
the  attitude  of  the  United  States  regarding 
mandates.  The  Allies  had  assumed,  after 
our  failure  to  ratify  the  Peace  Treaty,  that 
the  Supreme  Council  possessed  the  power 
to  allocate  mandates — while  the  League  of 
Nations  was  to  define  and  control  them — 
without  consulting  the  United  States.  It 
was  considered  that  the  United  States, 
though  it  was  one  of  the  participants  in 
the  victory  over  Germany,  had  lost  the 
right  of  consultation  by  its  rejection  of  the 
treaty  and  its  refusal  to  send  representa- 
tives to  sit  in  the  League  Council. 

That  this  was  neither  the  understanding 
nor  the  intention  of  President  Wilson  was 
first  brought  out  plainly  in  a  note  sent  to 
Earl  Curzon,  the  British  Foreign  Minister, 
by  Secretary  Colby  last  November.  In  this 
note  the  United  States  Government  put  on 
9tffl6rd  its  objections  to  the  British  mandate 
for  Mesopotamia.  Its  contention,  referring 
specifically  to  oil  concessions,  was  that  all 
mandates  should  leave  an  open  door  of  free 
business  opportunity  for  every  nation  in  the 
mandated  territory.  When  the  British  reply 
arrived  in  March  it  rejected  this  contention, 
so  far  as  Mesopotamia  was  concerned,  de- 
claring that  Great  Britain  would  not  "  dis- 
criminate "  against  its  own  nationals  there, 
some  of  whom  had  acquired  monopolistic 
rights  in  Mesopotamia  before  mandates 
were  conceived,  and  even  before  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  Here  the  matter  still 
rests,  awaiting  the  action  of  President 
Harding  and  Secretary  Hughes. 

Meanwhile  President  Wilson  had  shown 
no  intention  of  letting  the  question  drop,  as 
was  shown  by  the  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment's representatives  at  the  International 
Congress  of  Communications,  held  at  Wash- 


ington, in  sessions  several  times  adjourned 
and  resumed  from  November  to  March.  The 
whole  question  of  mandates  became  acute  in 
the  controversy  that  arose  at  this  congress 
between  the  United  States  and  Japan  with 
regard  to  cable  control  on  the  Island  of 
Yap.  Japan,  supported  by  both  Great  Brit- 
ain and  France,  declined  to  give  up  the  ab- 
solute sovereignty  over  this  far-off  island 
in  the  Pacific,  which  the  Supreme  .Council 
and  the  League  of  Nations  had  assigned  her 
as  mandatary. 

The  next  movement  of  the  United  States 
was  to  send  an  official  protest  to  the 
League  Council  regarding  the  allocation  of 
this  mandate  to  Japan,  seizing  at  the  same 
time  the  opportunity  to  reassert  its  right  to 
consultation  on  mandates  before  they  were 
submitted  to  the  Council.  [The  Yap  contro- 
versy is  treated  separately  in  an  article  on 
page  108.]  The  acuteness  of  the  situa- 
tion was  considerably  relieved  at  the  be- 
ginning of  March  by  the  reply  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  League,  which  showed  a  concilia- 
tory spirit  by  promising  to  defer  considera- 
tion of  the  mandates  already  assigned  until 
such  time  as  the  United  States  should  be 
able  to  take  part  in  the  discussions.  Only 
in  respect  to  the  Yap  mandate  did  the  Coun- 
cil fail  to  give  the  American  Government 
satisfaction.  The  allocation  of  mandates,  it 
said,  concerned  solely  the  Supreme  Council, 
and  the  League's  function  was  confined  to 
defining  the  powers  of  the  mandates  as- 
signed. Further  action  by  the  United  States 
Government  then  awaited  President  Hard- 
ing's inauguration. 

The  full  text  of  the  American  note  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  in  Paris 
was  made  public  by  Secretary  Colby  on 
Feb.  24.     It  read  as  follows: 

Feb.     21,     1921. 
To  the  President  and  Members  of  the  Council 
of  the  League  of  Nations. 
Gentlemen:    The  Government  of  the  United 


102 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


States  has  received  information  that  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  at  its 
meeting  which  is  to  be  held  in  Paris  on  this 
date  (Feb.  21)  proposes  to  consider  at  length 
the  subject  of  mandates,  including  their 
terms,  provisions  and  allocation,  and  accord- 
ingly takes  this  opportunity  to  deliver  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  a  copy  of 
its  note  addressed  under  date  of  Nov.  20, 
1920.  to  his  Excellency  Lord  Curzon  of 
Kedleston,  the  British  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  in  which  the  views  of  the 
United  States  are  quite  fully  set  forth 
regarding  the  nature  of  the  responsibilities 
of  mandatory  powers. 

The  attention  of  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  is  particularly  invited  to  the 
request  therein  made  on  behalf  of  this  Gov- 
ernment that  the  draft  mandate  forms 
intended  to  be  submitted  to  the  League  of 
Nations  be  communicated  to  this  Government 
for  its  consideration  before  submission  to 
the  Council  of  the  League,  in  order  that  the 
Council  might  thus  have  before  it  an  expres- 
sion of  the  opinion  of  the  Government  of  txie 
United  States  on  the  form  of  such  mandates 
and  a  clear  indication  of  the  basis  upon 
which  the  approval  of  this  Government, 
which  is  essential  to  the  validity  of  any 
determinations  which  may  be  reached,  might 
be  anticipated  and  received. 

It  was  furthermore  stated  in  said  note 
that  the  establishment  of  the  mandate  prin- 
ciple, a  new  principle  in  international  rela- 
tions and  one  in  which  the  public  opinion 
of  the  world  is  taking  special  interest,  would 
seem  to  require  the  frankest  discussion  from 
all  pertinent  points  of  view,  and  the  opinion 
was  expressed  that  suitable  publicity  shoulu 
be  given  to  the  drafts  of  mandates  which  it 
is  the  intention  to  submit  to  the  Council  In 
order  that  the  fullest  opportunity  might  be 
afforded  to  consider  their  terms  in  relation 
to  the  obligations  assumed  by  the  mandatory 
powers  and  the  respective  interests  of  all 
Governments  who  deem  themselves  concerned 
or  affected. 

A  copy  of  this  note  was  transmitted  to  the 
Governments  of  France  and  Italy,  requesting 
an  interpretation  by  each  Government  of  the 
provisions  of  the  agreement  between  Great 
Britain,  Italy  and  France,  signed  at  Sevres 
on  Aug.  10,  1920,  relating  to  the  creation  of 
spheres  of  special  interest  in  Anatolia,  in 
the  light  of  this  Government's  note  to  the 
British  Government  of  Nov.  20,   1920. 

A  reply  has  thus  far  been  received  only 
from  the  French  Government,  in  which  at- 
tention is  directed  to  Article  X.  of  the  so- 
called  Sevres  Treaty,  which  provides  in  favor 
of  nationals  of  third  powers  for  all  economic 
purposes  free  access  to  the  so-called  zones 
of  special  interest. 

THE  PACIFIC  MANDATE 

This  Government  is  also  in  receipt  of  In- 
formation that  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  at  its  meeting  at  Geneva  on 
Dec.  17  last  approved  among  other  man- 
dates  a   mandate    to   Japan   embracing    "  all 


the  former  German  islands  situated  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  lying  north  of  the 
equator."  The  text  of  this  mandate  to 
Japan,  which  was  received  by  this  Govern- 
ment, and  which,  according  to  available 
information,  was  approved  by  the  Council, 
contains   the    following  statement : 

"  Whereas,  the  principals  of  the  Allied  and 
Associated  Powers  agreed  that  in  accord- 
ance with  Article  XXII.,  Part  1  (Covenant 
of  the  League  of  Nations)  of  the  said 
Treaty,  a  mandate  should  be  conferred  upon 
His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Japan  to  ad- 
minister the  said  islands  and  have  proposed 
that  the  mandate  should  be  formulated  in 
the  '  following    terms,"    &c. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  takes 
this  opportunity,  respectfully  and  in  the  most 
friendly  spirit,  to  submit  to  the  President 
and  members  of  the  Council  of  the  League 
that  the  statement  above  quoted  is  incorrect, 
and  is  not  an  accurate  recital  of  the  facts. 

On  the  contrary,  the  United  States,  which 
is  distinctly  included  in  the  very  definite  and 
constantly  used  descriptive  phrase  "  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers,"  has 
rot  agreed  to  the  terms  or  provisions  of  the 
mandate  which  is  embodied  in  this  text,  nor 
has  it  agreed  that  a  mandate  should  be  con- 
ferred upon  Japan  covering  all  the  former 
German  islands  situated  in  the  Pacific  Ocean 
and  lying  north  of  the  equator. 

The  United  States  has  never  given  its  con- 
sent to  the  inclusion  of  the  Island  of  Yap  in 
any  proposed  mandate  to  Japan,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  at  the  time  of  the  discussion  of 
a  mandate  covering  the  former  German  is- 
lands in  the  Pacific  north  of  the  equator,  and 
in  the  course  of  said  discussion,  President 
Wilson,  acting  on  behalf  of  this  Government, 
was  particular  to  stipulate  that  the  question 
of  the  disposition  of  the  Island  of  Yap  should 
be  reserved  for  future  consideration. 

Subsequently  this  Government  was  in- 
formed that  certain  of  the  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers  were  under  the  im- 
pression that  the  reported  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Council,  sometimes  described  as  the 
Council  of  Four,  taken  at  its  meeting  on  May 
7,  1919,  included  or  inserted  the  Island  of 
Yap  in  the  proposed  mandate  to  Japan. 

This  Government,  in  notes  addressed  to  the 
Governments  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy 
and  Japan,  has  set  forth  at  length  its  conten- 
tion that  Yap  had,  in  fact,  been  excepted 
from  this  proposed  mandate,  and  was  not  to 
be  included  therein.  Furthermore,  by  direc- 
tion of  President  Wilson,  the  respective  Gov- 
ernments above  mentioned  were  informed 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
oould  not  concur  in  the  reported  decision  of 
May  7,   1919,   of  the  Supreme  Council. 

The  information  was  further  conveyed  that 
the  reservations  which  had  previously  been 
made  by  this  Government  regarding  the  Is- 
land of  Yap  were  based  on  the  view  that  the 
Island  of  Yap  necessarily  constitutes  an  in- 
dispensable part  of  any  scheme  or  practi- 
cable arrangement  of  cable  communication 
in  the  Pacific  and  that  its  free  and  unham- 


MANDATES  AND  AMERICA'S  STAND  REGARDING  THEM 


103 


pered  use  should  not  be  limited  or  controlled 
by   any   one   power. 

POSITION   WAS    MADE    CLEAR 

While  this  Government  has  never  assented 
to  the  inclusion  of  the  Island  of  Yap  in  the 
proposed  mandate  to  Japan,  it  may  be  point- 
ed out  that  even  if  one  or  more  of  the  other 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers  were 
under  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  inclusion 
of  this  island  in  the  reported  decision  on 
May  7,  1019,  nevertheless  the  notes,  above 
mentioned,  of  the  Government  otf  the  United 
States  make  clear  the  position  of  this  Gov- 
ernment  in   the   matter. 

At  the  time  when  the  several  notes  were 
addressed  to  the  respective  Governments 
above  mentioned,  a  final  agreement  had  not 
been  reached  as  to  the  terms  and  allocation 
of  mandates  covering-  the  former  German 
islands  in  the  Pacific. 

Therefore  the  position  taken  in  the  matter 
by  the  President  on  behalf  of  this  Govern- 
ment and  clearly  set  forth  in  the  notes  re- 
ferred to  necessarily  had  the  result  of  ef- 
fectively withdrawing  any  suggestion  or 
implication  of  asset,  mistakenly  imputed 
to  this  Government,  long  before  Dec.  17, 
1920,  the  date  of  the  council's  meeting  at 
Geneva. 

As  one  of  the  principal  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  the  United  States  has  an 
equal  concern  and  an  inseparable  interest 
with  the  other  principal  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers  in  the  overseas  possessions  of 
Germany,  and  concededly  an  equal  voice  in 
their  disposition,  which  it  is  respectfully  sub- 
mitted cannot  be  undertaken  or  effectuated 
without  its  assent.  The  Government  :>f  the 
United  States  therefore  respectfully  states 
that  it  cannot  regard  itself  as  bound  by  the 
terms  and  provisions  of  said  mandate  and 
desires  to  record  its  protest  aga-nst  the  re- 
ported decision  of  Dec.  17,  last,  otf  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  League  of  Nations  in  relation  there- 
to, and  at  the  same  time  to  request  that  the 
council,  having  obviously  acted  under  a  mis- 
apprehension of  the  facts,  should  reopen  the 
question  for  the  further  consideration  which 
the  proper   settlement  of  it   clearly   requires. 

Accept,  gentlemen,  the  assurance  of  my 
high  consideration. 

BAINBRIDGE    COLBY, 
Secretary    of    State. 

THE  COUNCIL'S  REPLY 

The  reply  of  the  League  Council  to  Sec- 
retary Colby's  note  was  handed  to  the 
American  Ambassador  at  Paris  on  March  1. 
It  conceded  the  American  Government's 
right  to  be  consulted  in  the  determination 
of  mandates.  It  reported  the  League  Coun- 
cil's decision  to  postpone  consideration 
and  action  on  the  mandates  for  Mesopo- 
tamia, Syria,  Palestine  and  South  Africa 
until  May  or  June  of  the  present  year,  in 
order   to   enable  the   United   States   to   set 


forth  its  views  on  them.     The  text  of  the 
note  was  as  follows: 

To  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States  of  AuKi-Ua: 

1  am  directed  by  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
communication  of  Feb.  21  on  certain  matters 
connected  with  the  mandates  which  under 
the  provisions  of  the  covenant  will  define 
the  responsibilities  and  limit  the  powers  of 
the  Governments  intrusted  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  various  territories  outside  Europe 
formerly  in  the  possession  of  Germany  and 
Turkey. 

The  main  points  brought  out  in  the 
American  note,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
summarize  them,  are  that  the  United  States 
must  be  consulted  before  any  mandates  are 
allotted  or  defined  and  that  the  frankest 
discussion  from  all  pertinent  points  of  view 
should  be  encouraged.  In  the  "A"  man- 
dates exception  is  taken  to  the  possible 
limitation  of  commercial  opportunity  as  re- 
gards oil  in  Mesopotamia,  and  in  the  "C" 
mandates  to  the  allocation  of  the  Island 
of  Yap  to  Japan. 

The  Council  wishes  to  express  its  deep 
satisfaction  at  the  interest  shown  by  your 
Government  in  this  question,  which  the 
Council  has  long  felt  to  be  among  the  most 
important  assigned  to  the  League.  Undoubt- 
edly also  it  is  one  of  the  most  difficult,  and 
the  Council  not  only  welcomes  but  feels 
justified  in  claiming  the  sympathy  and  sup- 
port of  the  Governments  which  devised  the 
scheme  which  the  Council  is  required  to 
administer. 

The  most  fundamental  contention  brought 
forward  by  the  American  note  is  that  the 
"approval  of  the  United  States  of  America 
is  essential  to  the  validity  of  any  determina- 
tion which  may  be  reached"  respecting  the 
mandates  which  have  been  or  may  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  judgment  of  the  Council.  The 
United  States  was  one  of  the  leading  actors 
both  in  the  war  and  in  the  negotiations  for 
peace.  The  rights  which  it  acquired  are  not 
likely  to  be  challenged  in  any  quarter.  But 
the  American  Government  will  itself  recog- 
nize that  the  situation  is  complicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  United  States — for  reasons 
which  the  Council  would  be  the  last  to 
question— has  so  far  abstained  from  ratifying 
the  Peace  Treaty,  and  has  not  taken  her  seat 
on  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

The  Council  might  easily  have  dwelt  on  the 
controversial  aspects  of  the  American  note. 
But  this  procedure  would  ill  represent  their 
true  attitude.  They  prefer  to  examine  the 
subject  from  the  broad  basis  of  international 
co-operation  and  friendship,  in  the  belief  that 
this  course  will  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  justice 
of  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Council  has  taken  Be  vera!  important 
decisions  with  regard  to  mandates,  which  it 
confidently  hopes  will  commend  themselves 
to    the  American   Government. 

The  Council  had  already  determined  on 
Feb.   2J,   before  the   receipt  of  the  American 


104 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


note,  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the 
"A"  mandates  for  former  Turkish  posses- 
sions, including  Mesopotamia.  No  conclu- 
sions will,  therefore,  be  reached  with  regard 
to  "A"  mandates  until  the  United  States 
Government  has  had  an  opportunity  to 
express  its  views. 

The  Council  had  expected  to  approve  finally 
at  the  session  now  being  held  the  "  B  "  man- 
dates for  the  former  Central  African  colonies 
tor  Germany.  In  view  of  the  desire  ex- 
pressed by  the  United  States,  the  Council  is, 
however,  deferring  its  consideration  of  these 
mandates  until  its  next  session,  which  will 
probably  take  place  in  May  or  June.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  delay  will  not  hamper  the  ad- 
ministrative  progress   of  these  territories. 

The  Council  invites  the  United  States  to 
take  part  in  the  discussions  at  its  forthcom- 
ing meting,  when  the  final  decisions  as  to  the 
"  A  "  and  "  B  "  mandates  will,  it  is  hoped, 
be  taken.  A  problem  so  intricate  and  in- 
volved as  that  of  the  mandates  can  hardly  be 
handled  by  the  interchange  of  formal  notes. 
It  can  only  be  satisfactorily  solved  by  per- 
sonal contact  and  by  direct  exchange  of  opin- 
ion. Not  only  do  such  direct  negotiations, 
which  correspond  to  the  true  spirit  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  effect  an  increase  of  free- 
dom, flexibility  and  speed,  but  they  create  a 
spirit  of  mutual  good-will  and  co-operation 
among  people  meeting  around  the  same  table. 

Regarding  the  third  type  of  mandates,  the 
"  C  "  group  of  former  German  possessions 
in  South  Africa  and  the  Pacific,  the  Council 
has  not  the  advantage  of  the  same  liberty  of 
action  as  in  the  "  A  "  and  "  B  "  types.  The 
"  C  "  mandates  were  defined  by  the  Council 
at  its  meeting  in  Geneva  on  Dec.  17,  1920. 
The  main  American  objection  in  this  case,  it 
is  understood  from  your  Excellency's  note, 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  Island  of  Yap  was  in- 
cluded by  the  Council  in  the  mandate  given 
to  Japan,  whereas  your  Excellency  states 
that  the  United  States  has  on  several  occa- 
sions refused  to  agree  to  the  allocation  of 
this  island  to  any   one  State. 

The  League  of  Nations  Council  would  re- 
mind your  Excellency  that  the  allocation  of 
all  the  mandated  territories  is  a  function  of 
the  Supreme  Council,  and  not  of  the  Council 
of  the  League.  The  League  is  concerned  not 
with  the  allocation,  but  with  the  administra- 
tion of  these  territories.  Having  been  noti- 
fied in  the  name  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  that  all  the  islands  north  of  the  equa- 
tor had  been  allocated  to  Japan,  the  Council 
of  the  League  merely  fulfilled  its  responsi- 
bility of  defining  the  terms   of  the   mandate. 

Consequently,  if  a  misunderstanding  exists 
as  to  the  allocation  of  the  Island  of  Yap, 
that  misunderstanding  would  seem  to  be  be- 
tween the  principal  allied  powers  rather  than 
between  the  United  States  and  the  League.' 
However,  in  viewT  of  the  American  conten- 
tion, the  Council  of  the  League  has  hastened 
to  forward  the  American  note  to  the  Govern- 
ments of  France,  Great  Britain,  Italy  and 
Japan. 


The  Council  hopes  that  explanations  will 
prove  satisfactory  to  the  United  Stal 
Government,  and  that  reciprocal  good-wm 
will  find  a  solution  in  harmony  with  the  gen- 
erous  spirit  which  inspired  the  principle  of 
tne  mandates. 

GASTAO  DA  CUNHA, 

President  of  the   Council  of  the  League   of 
nations. 

Paiis.    March    l.    1921. 

THREE    CLASSES   OF   MANDATES 

The  three  classes  of  mandates  referred  to 
in  the  foregoing  notes — designated  as  "  A," 
"  B  "  and  "  C  "—are  those  created  by  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles.  Under  Article  22, 
Clauses  3  to  7,  the  various  types  of  mandate 
are  generally  defined.  The  category  that 
has  since  become  known  as  "  Class  A  "  is 
there  defined  as  follows: 

The  character  of  the  mandate  must  differ 
according  to  the  stage  of  the  development 
of  the  people,  the  geographical  situation  of 
the  territory,  its  economic  conditions  and 
other    similar    circumstances. 

Certain  communities  formerly  belonging  to 
the  Turkish  Empire  have  reached  a  stage  of 
development  where  their  existence  as  inde- 
pedendent  nations  can  be  provisionally  rec- 
ognized subject  to  the  rendering  of  adminis- 
trative advice  and  assistance  by  a  man- 
datary until  such  time  as  they  are  able  to 
stand  alone.  The  wishes  of  these  commu- 
nities must  be  a  principal  consideration  in 
the  selection  of  the  mandatary. 

The  category  that  has  since  become 
known  as  "  Class  B  "  is  defined  in  the 
treaty  thus: 

Other  peoples,  especially  those  of  Central 
Africa,  are  at  such  a  stage  that  the  man- 
datary must  be  responsible  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  territory  under  conditions  that 
will  guarantee  freedom  of  conscience  and 
religion,  subject  only  to  the  maintenance  of 
public  order  and  morals,  the  prohibition  of 
abuses  such  as  the  slave  trade,  the  arms 
traffic  and  the  liquor  traffic,  and  the  pre- 
vention of  the  establishment  of  fortifica- 
tions or  military  and  naval  bases  and  of 
military  training  of  the  natives  for  other 
than  police  purposes  and  the  defense  of  ter- 
ritory, and  will  also  secure  equal  opportuni- 
ties for  the  trade  and  commerce  of  other 
members  of  the  League. 

"  Class  C  "  is  defined  in  these  terms : 

There  are  territories,  such  as  Southwest 
Africa  and  certain  of  the  South  Pacific 
islands,  which,  owing  to  the  sparseness  of 
their  population  or  their  small  size,  or  their 
remoteness  from  the  centres  of  civilization: 
or  their  geographical  contiguity  to  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  mandatary,  and  other  circum- 
stances, can  be  best  administered  under  the 
laws  of  the  mandatary  as  integral  portions 
of    its    territory,    subject    to    the    safeguards 


MANDATES  AND  AMERICA'S  STAND  REGARDING  THEM 


105 


above   mentioned    in    the    interests   of   the    in- 
digenous  population. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  MANDATES 

Types  of  "  Class  A  "  are  the  British  man- 
date for  Mesopotamia  and  Palestine,  and 
the  French  mandate  for  Syria.  "  B  "  is 
represented  by  the  British  mandates  for 
Togoland  and  the  Cameroons,  the  French 
mandates  for  part  of  the  same  territories, 
the  British  mandate  for  the  former  German 
East  Africa.  Under  "  Class  C  "  fall  all 
the  Pacific  group:  New  Zealand's  mandate 
for  Samoa;  Australia's  mandate  for  New 
Guinea,  and  the  other  islands  south  of  the 
equator;  Great  Britain's  mandate  for  the 
island  of  Nauru;  South  Africa's  mandate 
for  Southwest  Africa;  Japan's  mandate  for 
the  Pacific  islands  north  of  the  equator — 
the  Caroline  Islands,  the  Marshall  Islands, 
thG  Island  of  Yap,  the  Ladrones  Islands, 
(except  Guam),  the  Island  of  Ogasawara. 

The  mandate  drafts  for  the  "  Class  A  " 
type  have  not  as  yet  been  published,  with 
the  exception  of  the  one  for  Palestine.  The 
refusal  of  the  League  Council  to  make  the 
terms  of  these  mandates  public  aroused  con- 
siderable hostility  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
League  during  its  recent  sessions  in  Geneva. 
Recommendations  to  the  Council  adopted  by 
the  Assembly  included  one  to  the  effect 
that  "  future  drafts  of  mandates  should  be 
published  before  they  are  decided  on  by  the 
Council."  Six  other  recommendations  were 
made.  The  first  three  deait  with  the  Per- 
manent Mandates  Commission,  the  crea- 
tion of  which  was  approved  by  the  Council 
on  Dec.  1,  1920.     It  was  recommended  that 

(1)  the  members  of  this  commission  should 
not  be  dismissed  without  the  assent  of  the 
majority  of  the  Assembly,  (2)  the  commis- 
sion   should    include    at    least    one    woman, 

(3)  the  mandataries  should  be  asked  to  pre- 
sent to  the  commission  a  report  on  the  re- 
cent administration  of  the  territories  con- 
fided to  their  care,  of  which,  generally 
speaking,  they  have  already  been  in  armed 
occupation.  In  regard  to  mandates  "  A " 
it  was  recommended  that  (1)  the  manda- 
tary should  not  be  allowed  to  make  use  of 
its  position  to  increase  its  military  strength, 

(2)  the  mandatary  should  not  be  allowed  to 
use  its  power  under  the  mandate  to  exploit 
for  itself  or  its  friends  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  mandated  territory,  (3)  an 
organic  law  should  be  passed  in  the  man- 


dated territories  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
before  coming  into  force  should  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  League  for  consideration. 

WATCHFUL  WAITING 

It  was  in  reference  to  stipulation  (2)  in 
regard  to  mandates  "  A "  that  the  Wash- 
ington Government,  in  its  note  sent  to  the 
allied  powers  last  November,  stated  its 
views  regarding  the  nature  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  mandatory  powers.  In  this  same 
communication  the  United  States  asked  that 
"  the  draft  mandate  forms  intended  to  be 
submitted  to  the  League  of  Nations  should 
be  communicated  to  this  Government  for  its 
consideration  before  submission  to  the 
Council  of  the  League."  The  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  United  States  with  the  terms  of 
the  British  mandate  for  Mesopotamia,  ac- 
cording to  which  outside  nations  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  benefits  of  oil  exploitation, 
was  sharpened  by  official  reports  received 
toward  the  end  of  February  that  a  part  of 
Syria  had  been  transferred  by  France  to 
Great  Britain  under  an  agreement  con- 
cluded without  reference  to  the  League  of 
Nations.  This  was  interpreted  at  Wash- 
ington as  an  apparent  violation  of  the 
terms  of  the  Versailles  Treaty.  Further- 
more, this  action  had  been  taken  without 
consulation  with  the  United   States. 

Nor  was  the  apprehension  of  the  Amer- 
ican officials  diminished  by  receipt  of  the 
terms  of  the  mandates  for  the  African  ter- 
ritories taken  over  by  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Belgium.  ("  Class  B.")  These 
texts  revealed  that  the  French  mandate  in 
the  French  part  of  Togoland  and  the  Came- 
roons provides  that  native  troops  may  be 
raised  in  these  districts  at  any  time  for  use 
in  Europe  or  elsewhere.  This  right  is 
denied  to  the  British  and  the  Belgians  in 
the  territories  which  they  will  control.  Fur- 
thermore, the  Britich  and  Belgian  mandate 
drafts  contain  an  article  declaring  for  the 
principle  of  the  "open  door."  This  clause 
reads  as  follows: 

The  mandatary  will  insure  to  all  nationals 
of  States  members  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, on  the  same  footing  as  his  own  na- 
tionals, freedom  of  transit  and  navigation, 
and  complete  economic,  comjrtercial  and  in- 
dustrial equality;  provided  that  the  man- 
datary shall  ho  free  to  organize  essential 
public  works  and  services  ori  such  terms  and 
conditions  as  he  thinks  just. 
Concessions    for    the    development    of    the 


106 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


national  resources  of  the  territory  shall  be 
granted  by  the  mandatary  without  distinction 
on  grounds  of  nationality  between  the  na- 
tionals of  all  States  members  of  the  League 
of  Nations,  but  on  such  conditions  as  will 
maintain  intact  the  authority  of  the  local 
Government. 

It  is  said  that  France  obtained  the  right 
to  levy  native  troops  in. her  mandated  terri- 
tory only  by  the  strongest  representations, 
and  it  is  believed  that  the  situation  thus 
created  will  lead  to  controversy  in  the  next 
League  Assembly.  The  measure  in  ques- 
tion is  in  conflict  with  the  mandate  princi- 
ples laid  down  by  President  Wilson  in  his 
letter  of  Nov.  20,  1920.  The  open-door  re- 
strictions, moreover,  have  a  direct  bearing 
upon  the  rights  of  the  United  States  as  a 
non-member  of  the  League,  and  represent  a 
similar  violation  of  the  idealistic  principles 
laid  down  by  the  American  President. 

TEXT  OF  THE  MANDATE  FOR  SOUTH- 
WEST AFRICA 

The  mandate  for  German  Southwest 
Africa,  the  full  text  of  which  is  given  be- 
low, falls  under  "  Class  C  "  and  is  of  spe- 
cial interest  because  its  provisions  are  prac- 
tically the  same  as  those  of  the  Yap  man- 
date, which  the  United  States  is  contesting. 
All  mandates  of  this  type  confer  complete 
sovereignty  over  the  territory  assigned  un- 
der them.  The  mandate  assigning  German 
Southwest  Africa  to  the  Union  of  South 
Africa  (British)  makes  it  an  integral  part 
of  that  Union.  The  text  was  published  by 
the  League  of  Nations  on  Feb.  8,  1921,  and 
the  official  version  in  full  is  as  follows: 
The  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations: 

Whereas  by  Article  119  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  with  Germany  signed  at  Versailles  on 
June  28,  1919,  Germany  renounced  in  favor 
of  the  Principal  Allied  and  Associated 
Powers  all  her  rights  over  her  oversea  pos- 
sessions, including  therein  German  South- 
west Africa ;  and 

Whereas  the  Principal  Allied  and  Asso- 
ciated Powers  agreed  that,  in  accordance 
with  Article  22,  Part  I  (Covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations)  of  the  said  treaty,  a 
mandate  should  be  conferred  upon  his  Bri- 
tannic Majesty,  to  be  exercised  on  his  behalf 
by  the  Government  of  the  Union  of  South 
Africa,  to  administer  the  territory  afore- 
mentioned, and  have  proposed  that  the  man- 
date should  be  formulated  in  the  following 
terms ;  and 

Whereas  his  Britannic  Majesty,  for  and 
on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  Union 
of  South  Africa,  has  agreed  to  accept  the 
mandate  in  respect  of  the  said  territory  and 


has  undertaken  to  exercise  it  on  behalf  of 
the  League  of  Nations  in  accordance  with 
the  following  provisions ;  and 

Whereas  by  the  aforementioned  Article 
22,  Paragraph  8,  it  is  provided  that  the  de- 
of  authority,  control  or  administration 
to  be  exercised  by  the  mandatary,  not  hav- 
ing been  previously  agreed  upon  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  League,  shall  be  explicity  defined 
by  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations : 

Confirming  the  said  mandate,  defines  its 
terms  as  follows : 

Article  1 — The  territory  over  which  a  man- 
date is  conferred  upon  his  Britannic  Majesty 
for  and  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the 
Union  of  South  Africa  (hereinafter  called  the 
mandatary)  comprises  the  territory  which 
formerly  constituted  the  German  Protec- 
torate of  Southwest  Africa. 

Article  2— The  mandatary  shall  have  full 
power  of  administration  and  legislation  over 
the  territory  subject  to  the  present  mandate 
as  an  integral  portion  of  the  Union  of  South 
Africa,  and  may  apply  the  laws  of  the  Union 
of  South  Africa  to  the  territory,  subject  to 
such  local  modifications  as  circumstances 
may  require. 

The  mandatary  shall  promote  to  the  utmost 
the  material  and  moral  well-being  and  the 
social  progress  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  ter- 
ritory  subject   to    the   present   mandate. 

Article  3— The  mandatary  shall  see  that  the 
slave  trade  is  prohibited,  and  that  no  forced 
labor  is  permitted,  except  for  essential  pub- 
lic works  and  services,  and  then  only  for 
adequate   remuneration. 

The  mandatary  shall  also  see  that  the  traf- 
fic in  arms  and  ammunition  is  controlled  in 
accordance  with  principles  analogous  to  those 
laid  down  in  the  Convention  relating  to  the 
control  of  the  arms  traffic,  signed  on  Sept. 
10,  1919,  or  in  any  convention  amending  the 
same. 

The  furnishing  of  intoxicating  spirits  and 
beverages  to  the  natives  shall  be  prohibited. 

Article  4— The  military  training  of  the  na- 
tives, otherwise  than  for  purposes  of  inter- 
nal police  and  the  local  defense  of  the  terri- 
tory, shall  be  prohibited.  Furthermore,,  no 
military  or  naval  bases  shall  be  established 
or  fortifications  erected  in  the  territory. 

Article  5— Subject  to  the  provisions  of  any 
local  law  for  the  maintenance  of  public  order 
and  public  morals,  the  mandatary  shall  in- 
sure in  the  territory  freedom  of  conscience 
and  the  free  exercise  of  all  forms  of  wor- 
ship, and  shall  allow  all  missionaries  na- 
tionals of  any  State  member  of  the  League 
of  Nations  to  enter  into,  travel  and  reside 
in  the  territory  for  the  purpose  of  prose- 
cuting their  calling. 

Article  6— The  mandatary  shall  make  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  an  annual 
report  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Council,  con- 
taining full  information  with  regard  to  the 
territory  and  indicating  the  measures  taken 
to  carry  out  the  obligations  assumed  under 
Articles  2,  3,  4  and  -r>. 

Article  7— The  consent  of  the  Council  of  the 
League  of  Nations  is  required  for  any  modi- 


MANDATES  AND  AMERICA'S  STAND  REGARDING  THEM 


101 


fication  of  the  terms  of  the  present  mandate. 
The  mandatary  agrees  that,  if  any  dispute 
whatever  should  arise  between  the  man- 
datary and  another  member  of  the  League 
of  Nations  relating  to  the  interpretation  or 
the  application  of  the  provisions  of  the  man- 
date, such  dispute,  if  it  cannot  be  settled  by 
negotiation,  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Perma- 
nent Court  of  International  Justice  provided 
for  by  Article  14  of  the  Covenant  of  the 
League. of  Nations. 

The  present  declaration  shall  be  deposited 
in  the  archives  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
Certified  copies  shall  be  forwarded  by  the 
Secretary  General  of  the  League  of  Nations 
to  all  powers  signatories  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  with  Germany. 

Made  at  Genevd  the  17th  day  of  December, 
1920. 

JAPAN'S    RESERVATION. 

Of  other  mandates  assigned  under  "  Class 
C,"  that  granted  to  Australia  for  the  for- 
mer German  islands  south  of  the  equator — 
New  Guinea,  Bismarck  Archipelago  and 
the  Solomon  Islands — was  published  in  Lon- 
don on  Feb.  9.  On  the  same  date  the  League 
of  Nations  Council  also  published  Japan's 
declaration  regarding  "  Class  C  "  mandates 
(See  below).  Samoa  has  been  assigned  to 
New  Zealand.  A  "  White  Book  "  recently 
issued  by  Great  Britain  shows  that  the  New 
Zealand  Government,  acting  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Imperial  Government,  has 
not  only  extended  the  existing  indentures 
of  the  coolie  laborers,  but  is  preparing  to 
make  renewed  shipments  of  coolies  under 
the  supervision  of  British  officials  in  Hong- 
kong. This  is  in  direct  contravention  of  the 
principles  advocated  by  the  American  Gov- 
ernment in  its  November  note  to  the  allied 
powers. 


In  assenting  to  the  sanction  of  the  South 
Sea  mandates  at  the  meeting  of  the  League 
of  Nations  Assembly  in  Geneva,  Japan  filed 
what  was  tantamount  to  a  protest  and  res- 
ervation affecting  all  the  "  Class  C  "  man- 
dates. This  reservation  was  aimed  at  the 
Assembly's  rejection  of  the  Japanese  pro- 
posal to  insert  in  "  C  "  mandates  a  clause 
guaranteeing  equal  opportunities  for  trade 
and  commerce  to  all  outside  nations.  The 
reservation  was  published  by  the  League  of 
Nations.     It  read  as  follows: 

From  the  fundamental  spirit  of  the  League 
of  Nations  and  as  a  question  of  interpretation 
of  the  covenant,  his  Imperial  Japanese 
Majesty's  Government  have  a  firm  conviction 
in  the  justice  of  the  claim  they  have  hitherto 
made  for  the  inclusion  of  a  clause  concerning 
the  assurance  of  equal  opportunities  for  trade 
and  commerce  in  "  C  "  mandates.  But  from 
the  spirit  of  conciliation  and  co-operation 
and  their  reluctance  to  see  the  question 
unsettled  any  longer,  they  have  decided  to 
agree  to  the  issue  of  the  mandate  in  its 
present  form.  That  decision,  however, 
should  not  be  considered  as  an  acquiescence 
on  the  part  of  his  Imperial  Japanese 
Majesty's  Government  in  the  submission  of 
Japanese  subjects  to  a  discriminatory  and 
disadvantageous  treatment  in  the  mandated 
territories;  nor  have  they  thereby  discarded 
their  claim  that  the  rights  and  interests 
enjoyed  by  Japanese  subjects  in  these  terri- 
tories in  the  past  should  be  fully  respected. 

By  the  League  Council's  reply  to  the 
American  note  the  whole  mandate  issue  has 
been  clarified,  but  the  controversy,  not  only 
over  the  Island  of  Yap  and  its  cable  com- 
munications, but  over  the  entire  question, 
still  remains  one  of  the  most  important  to 
which  President  Harding  and  Secretary 
Hughes  have  fallen  heir. 


MARKING  THE  GREAT  BATTLEFRONT 


AVAST  and  patriotic  enterprise  has 
been  undertaken  by  the  Touring 
Club  of  France.  At  its  own  expense,  it  is 
planning  to  erect  a  great  line  of  white  me- 
morial stones  along  the  famous  line  where 
French,  Belgian,  British  and  American  sol- 
diers outfought  and  defeated  the  proud 
armies  of  Germany.     Marshal  Petain  is  to 


choose  the  site  for  each  memorial  stone. 
The  design  chosen  was  submitted  by  the 
sculptor,  Paul  Moreau  Vaultier.  Pyramidal 
in  form,  its  only  ornament  is  a  soldier's  hel- 
met, surrounded  by  a  laurel  crown,  and 
bearing  the  following  inscription  in  French : 
"  Here  was  stopped  the  onrush  of  the  bar- 
barians." 


THE    CONTROVERSY    OVER 
YAP    ISLAND 

Summary  of  the  dispute  with  Japan,  due  to  the  Allies'   action   in  giving  away  the 
sovereign  rights  over  a  Pacific  island  in  which  the  United  States  has  vital  cable  interests 


THE  dispute  which  has  arisen  between 
the  United  States  and  Japan  over  the 
question  of  cable'  rights  in  the  Island 
of  Yap,  the  former  German  possession  in 
the  South  Pacific  Ocean,  was  originally  but 
a  part  of  the  whole  problem  of  dividing  up 
the  ex-German  cable  lines.  It  has  rapidly 
broadened,  however,  into  the  much  more 
important  matter  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment's efforts  to  establish  its  rights  to 
consultation  on  all  mandates  assigned  by 
the  Supreme  Council  or  defined  by  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

The  history  of  the  case  goes  back  to  the 
Peace  Conference  in  Paris,  when  the  allied 


diplomats  were  drafting  the  plans  for  man- 
dates over  the  former  German  colonies.  It 
was  later  alleged  by  President  Wilson  that 
when  the  question  arose  of  granting  a  man- 
date to  Japan  over  certain  former  German 
islands  north  of  the  equator,  he  was  par- 
ticular to  move  an  exception  in  the  case  of 
the  Island  of  Yap,  on  the  ground  that  it 
represented  the  terminus  of  important  cable 
lines  necessary  to  the  United  States  for  un- 
interrupted communication  with  China  and 
the  Far  East.  It  was  the  President's  un- 
derstanding that  the  validity  of  this  excep- 
tion had  been  admitted,  and  that  Japan 
would   not    be    given    the    sovereignty    over 


THE    CONTROVERSY    OVER    YAP   ISLAND 


109 


Yap  when  she  received  the  mandate  for  the 
other  German  islands  north  of  the  equator. 
This  was  the  situation  when  the  interna- 
tional Congress  of  Communications  was 
called  in  Washington  during  the  last  weeks 
of  1920.  The  main  function  of  this  congress 
was  to  determine  the  disposition  to  be  made 
of  the  cables  taken  from  Germany  during 
the  war.  The  five  main  powers  concerned — 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  Japan  and  the 
United  States — were  represented  by  official 
delegates.  The  sessions  of  this  international 
conference,  it  soon  developed,  were  destined 
to  be  stormy,  subject  to  repeated  interrup- 
tions, and,  so  far  as  actual  achievement  up 
to  the  present  time  is  concerned,  virtually 
sterile  of  results,  except  that  of  accentuat- 
ing the  discord  among  all  parties  concerned. 

CRUX  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY 

The  difficulties  that  arose  were  due  to 
the  insistence  of  the  American  delegates, 
supported  by  the  Washington  Government, 
that  the  two  former  German  cables  connect- 
ing New  York  with  Emden,  Germany,  lines 
which  had  been  cut  and  diverted  by  Great 
Britain  and  France  during  the  war,  should 
be  returned  to  the  possession  of  this  coun- 
try, and  that  the  cable  lines  to  the  Far  East, 
via  the  Island  of  Yap,  should  be  interna- 
tionalized. One  of  the  two  Emden  cables 
had  been  cut  and  diverted  by  France  to 
Brest;  the  other  had  been  cut  and  diverted 
by  Great  Britain  to  Halifax.  As  for  the 
Far  Eastern  cables,  it  had  been  supposed 
that  these  would  be  internationalized  in 
view  of  President  Wilson's  reservations  at 
the  Peace  Conference;  to  the  surprise  of  the 
American  delegates,  however,  it  appeared 
that  Japan  had  no  intention  of  internation- 
alizing these  cables,  and  insisted  on  her 
right  of  absolute  sovereignty  over  Yap. 
This,  combined  with  the  refusal  of  both 
Great  Britain  and  France  to  restore  the  two 
Emden  cables,  led  to  a  situation  which  had 
in  it  the  possibilities  of  a  very  animated 
quarrel. 

The  American  contention  was  that  the 
United  States  could  not  consent  to  lose  con- 
trol over  its  only  undersea  communications 
with  Germany  and  the  Scandinavian  coun- 
tries, on  the  one  hand,  and  with  China  and 
the  Far  East,  on  the  other,  and  that  this 
would  be  the  result  if  the  three  lines  in 
question  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  ac- 
tual   ownership   of  the   three   other  nations 


involved.  In  the  first  case  the  British  and 
Italian  delegates  were  inclined  to  favor  the 
American  contentions,  but  the  French  and 
Japanese  delegates  fought  shoulder  to 
shoulder  against  the  demands  of  the  Amer- 
ican representatives.  After  weeks  of  dis- 
cussion the  congress  reached  its  first  deci- 
sion on  Dec.  14,  a  decision  which  amounted 
to  declaring  that  no  agreement  could  be 
reached  at  that  time;  the  cables  were  to  be 
administered  jointly  until  an  understanding 
was  reached. 

CONFLICT   OF    RIGHTS 

The  Congress  continued,  with  adjourn- 
ments and  resumptions,  until  February  of 
1921,  and  still  the  deadlock  could  not  be  re- 
solved, both  the  French  and  Japanese  dele- 
gates refusing  to  alter  their  position.  The 
dispute  with  Japan  took  on  a  more  serious 
aspect  when  the  Tokio  Government  an- 
nounced its  intention  to  stand  upon  its 
rights  in  Yap  as  defined  in  the  mandates 
under  "  Class  C,"  the  third  mandate  type 
laid  down  by  Article  22  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles.  The  Washington  Government 
refused  in  any  way  to  modify  its  demand 
that  the  Yap  cables  be  internationalized;  in 
this  it  had  the  full  support  of  the  Senate 
and  its  Foreign  Relations  Committee.  The 
Administration  took  its  stand  squarely  upon 
the  ground  that,  as  one  of  the  belligerent 
countries,  it  had  won  the  right  of  consulta- 
tion on  all  mandates  to  be  conferred;  that 
the  mandate  had  been  offered  to  Japan 
without  consulting  the  United  States,  that 
President  Wilson  had  specifically  excepted 
the  Island  of  Yap  at  the  Paris  Peace  Con- 
ference and  that  the  granting  of  complete 
sovereignty  to  Japan  could  not  be  admitted. 

These  contentions  were  all  embodied  in 
the  note  of  protest  sent  by  Secretary  Colby 
to  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  on 
Feb.  21.  After  referring  to  the  note  that 
had  been  sent  to  Lord  Curzon,  Nov.  20,  1920, 
laying  down  the  American  conception  of 
how  mandates  should  be  administered,  and 
demanding  the  "  open  door "  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, the  American  note  took  cognizance  of 
the  fact  that  the  Council  of  the  League  on 
Dec.  17,  1920,  at  Geneva,  had  approved  the 
mandate  to  Japan  over  the  Pacific  group  of 
islands,  and  proceeded  to  give  notice  that 
the  United  States  had  never  given  its  con- 
sent to  the  inclusion  of  the  Island  of  Yap 
in  this  Japanese  mandate;  on  the  contrary, 


no 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


President  Wilson  had  stipulated  that  the 
question  of  the  disposition  of  Yap  should  be 
reserved  for  future  consideration.  Secre- 
tary Colby  also  pointed  out  that  the  United 
States  Government  had  given  notice  of  its 
understanding  of  this  exclusion  in  official 
notes  sent  to  the  Governments  of  the  other 
powers  involved,  in  view  of  which  the 
alleged  agreement  said  to  have  been  reached 
at  the  Peace  Conference  on  May  7,  1919, 
under  which  Yap  was  to  be  included  in  the 
mandate  of  Japan,  could  not  be  sanctioned 
by  the  United  States.  This  nation,  there- 
fore, as  one  of  the  "  allied  and  associated 
powers,"  which  had  not  agreed  that  Japan 
should  receive  the  mandate  under  Class  C 
for  all  the  islands  stated,  requested  the 
Council,  which  had  "  obviously  acted  under 
a  misapprehension  of  the  facts,"  to  reopen 
the  question  in  order  that  it  might  have 
proper  rettlement. 

THE    PRESENT    STATUS 

The  reply  of  the  Council,  received  at 
Washington  on  March  2,  was  conciliatory, 
and  admitted  the  American  contention  re- 
garding the  right  of  consultation  on  all 
mandate  drafts.  With  regard  to  Yap, 
however,  it  declared  that  the  right  of  allo- 
cation pertained  only  to  the  Supreme  Coun- 


cil, and  that  the  function  of  the  Council  of 
the  League  was  limited  to  the  definition  of 
the  mandates  allocated.  This  left  the  whole 
question  pending  either  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Supreme  Council,  or  between 
the  United  States  and  Japan  directly. 
Neither  the  Government  headed  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  nor  the  Imperial  Government 
of  Japan  showed  any  intention  to  modify  its 
position.  Japan  has  pointed  out  that,  in 
the  proces-verbal  of  the  1919  meeting  of 
the  Supreme  Council,  it  has  found  no  evi- 
dence of  any.  exception  made  by  President 
Wilson.  The  former  President  insists  that 
the  exception  was  made  and  clearly  under- 
stood. The  whole  attitude  of  the  United 
States  as  repeatedly  set  forth  by  the  press 
has  been  that  it  would  be  intolerable  for 
Americans  to  Iiave  to  submit  their  cable  dis- 
patches to  the  Philippines  and  to  the  coun- 
tries of  the  Far  East  to  the  official  censor- 
ship of  the  Japanese  Government.  Japan 
is  equally  convinced  that  her  right  to  the 
sovereignty  over  Yap  is  incontestable,  inas- 
much as  it  has  been  conferred  by  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers.  The  whole  problem  is  one  of  the 
many  which  President  Harding  will  have 
to  solve.  [For  the  documents  in  the  case, 
see  article  on  "  Mandates."] 


NINE  MILLION  AUTOMOBILES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


TjJIGURES  compiled  by  the  American  Au- 
•*•  tomobile  Association  show  that  there 
were  9,180,316  passenger  and  commercial 
motor  vehicles  used  in  the  United  States 
during  1920,  of  which  8,234,490  were  pas- 
senger cars.  The  receipts  from  regis- 
tration totaled  almost  $100,000,000.  This 
means  that  there  is  now  one  motor  vehicle 
for  about  every  eleven  persons. 

New  York,  which  for  many  years  has  led 
all  the  other  States  in  the  number  of  auto- 
mobiles owned  within  its  boundaries,  main- 
tains its  motor  supremacy  with  a  total  of 
683,919  vehicles,  of  which  559,521  are  pas- 
senger  cars   and    124,893   commercial  vehi- 


cles. In  motor  truck  use  New  York  is  also 
in  the  lead.  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  are 
strong  competitors  for  second  place,  Ohio 
leading  with  620,600  cars  and  Pennsylvania 
coming  third  with  570,164.  Ohio,  with  82,- 
600  trucks,  is  also  second  in  the  commercial 
list.  Illinois  takes  fourth  place  with  568,914 
cars,  very  close  to  Pennsylvania,  but  in  the 
use  of  commercial  cars  both  Illinois  and 
Massachusetts  exceed  Pennsylvania,  Illinois 
having  64,674,  Massachusetts  51,386,  while 
Pennsylvania's  number  is  48,329.  Califor- 
nia is  the  fifth  State  in  motor  use,  with  a 
total  of  568,892  cars;  Iowa  sixth,  437,030; 
Texas  seventh,  427,693;  Michigan  eighth, 
412.717. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[American   Cartoon] 

FAIR  WEATHER  OR  FOUL 


-Central  Press  Association,  Cleveland 


112 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[English  Cartoons] 

SOME  STEEPLECHASE 


— The  Star;  London 


He  May  Kick,  but— 

The   convict    tethered    to    the 

weight 
May    storm    and   rail    against 

his   fate  : 
Bin  if  he  kicks,  well,  he  may 

find 
That    ball    will    prove    more 

hard   than  kind. 

1870—1921 

The  Hun:  "I  worship  you 
just  as  much  as  ever,  but 
your  precedent  of  1870  is 
making  it  very  awkward  for 
me  just  now." 


INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS 


113 


[English  Cartoon] 

Simplifying  the  Problem 


— The  Star,  London 
'Perhaps,  Briand,  it  would  gee-up  better  if  we  let  it  touch  earth." 


[American  Cartoon] 

The  Howl  of  the  Wild 


[American    Cartoon] 

The  Real  Iron  Cross 


— Newspaper   Enterprise   Association 


■The    Providence    Journal 


THE  indemnity  demanded  of  Germany  by  the  Allied  Governments  amounted 
to  $56,000,000,000,  in  addition  to  12  per  cent,  duty  on  exports,  the  pay- 
ments to  be  spread  over  a  period  of  42  years.  The  Germans  at  the  London 
Conference  that  began  Feb.  28,  1921,  offered  counter-proposals  placing  the 
sum  at  $7,500,000,000,  of  which  they  declared  a  third  had  already  been  paid. 
The  Allies  rejected  this  offer  without  ceremony  and  demanded  compliance  with 
the  Paris  demands,  under  penalty  of  having  the  allied  forces  occupy  Dussel- 
dorf,  Duisberg  and  Ruhrfort,  take  possession  of  customs,  and  tax  German 
exports. 


114 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American    Cartoon] 

BRITANNIA'S  TROUBLES 


'She  Has  So  Many  Children  She  Doesn't  Know  What  to  Do"     —Detroit  News 


IN  almost  every 
part  of  her  far- 
flung  empire  Great 
Britain  is  faced  with 
serious  pro  b  1  e  ms. 
Ireland  is  on  the 
brink  of  civil  war,  a 
strong  secession 
party  exists  i  n 
South  Africa;  Egypt 
and  India  are  rest- 
less; Australia  and 
Canada  are  self-as- 
sertive. 


[American  Cartoon] 

Stringing  'Em 

John     Bull     adding 
new    beads    to    his 
string     of     posses- 
sions 

— San    Francisco 
Chronicle 


INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS 

115 

[German  Cartoon] 

THE  CAUSE  OF  FRANCE'S  NEW  PANIC 


-Kladderadatsch,    Berlin 


Fear  of  the  Bavarian  Mouse 


THE  question  of  disarming  Germany  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  is  a  n -alter  of  great  concern  to  allied  statesmen,  who  hold 
that  Germany  has  not  fulfilled  its  obligations  in  good  faith.  Special  complaint 
is  made  of  the  Bavarian  organization,  the  Orgesch,  a  word  coined  from  "organ- 
ization" and  "Escherich,"  the  latter  being  the  name  of  the  leader  in  the  move- 
ment. It  is  claimed  by  the  Bavarians  that  the  retention  of  arms  by  the  Orgesch 
is  necessary  to  repress  Bolshevist  outbreaks;  but  this  is  not  accepted  by  the 
Allies,  who  see  in  the  organization  a  nucleus  for  a  new  German  army. 


I — 


116 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[Dutch    Cartoon] 

THE  BLOOD-BAPTISM  OF  HUNGARY 


Entente: 


— Notenkraker,   Amsterdam 
'Am  I   my   brother's  keeper?" 


[American  Cartoon] 

Waiting  for  Him  to  Fall 


FT1HE  plight  of  Austria 
■*■  and  Hungary  is 
perhaps  more  desper- 
ate than  that  of  any 
other  of  the  vanquished 
countries.  Both  have 
been  shorn  of  their 
richest  provinces  and 
thus  deprived  of  an  op- 
portunity for  economic 
rehabilitation.  Austria, 
especially,  is  in  the 
depths  of  destitution, 
and  would  have  fallen 
a  prey  to  famine  except 
for  tl^e  food  furnished 
by  other  nations.  In 
Hungary  reaction  has 
assumed  a  n  extreme 
form,  and  General 
Horthy's  Government  is 
charged  with  many 
harsh  measures  against 
radicalism. 


— Rocky    Mountain   News,    Denver 


INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS 


117 


[American    Cartoon] 


Baby  Food 


[American    Cartoon] 


'The    Poor    We    Have    Always 
With    Us" 


^^— +~> 


1|C0NCRtss 


— Detroit  News 


— Brooklyn  Eagle 


[English  Cartoon] 

The  Descent 


The  mountaineers  who  climbed  so  fast, 
At  last  trie  topmost  peak  have  passed  ; 
And  though  to  stay  there  was  in  vain 


— Reynolds's  Newspaper,  London 

They  don't  like  coming-  down  again 

(Except  the  little  chap  behind, 

Who  seems  more  cheerfully  inclined.) 


118 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 

LEFT  BY  THE  RECEDING  TIDE 


I    L 


New  York    Tribune 


"TT7HEN  the  railroads  were  permitted  a  20  per  cent,  increase  in  passenger 
*  *  rates  in  addition  to  higher  tariffs  on  certain  commodities,  it  was  thought 
that  their  rehabilitation  would  be  speedy  and  certain.  The  industrial  depres- 
sion, in  reducing  the  number  of  passengers  and  amount  of  freight  carried,  has, 
however,  produced  a  deficit  instead  of  a  surplus  in  earnings,  and  the  roads  are 
new  endeavoring  to  secure  governmental  sanction  for  a  reduction  in  the  wages 
of  their    employes. 


INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS 


119 


[American  Cartoons] 

What  Will  the  Harvest  Be? 


A  S  March  15  ap- 
■**■  proaches  each  year 
the  spare  time  of  the 
average  citizen  is  en- 
grossed by  the  task  of 
making  out  his  income 
tax  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, and  in  some 
cases  an  additional  tax 
to  the  State.  Usually 
it  is  a  painful  duty,  but 
the  cartoonists,  at  least, 
manage  to  find  humor- 
ous aspects  of  the 
theme.  The  theory  of 
the  tax  is  that  those 
who  have  profited  most 
pay  the  most  for  the 
protection  and  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  the 
Government  This,  of 
course,  presupposes  that 
the  returns  are  honest. 


-San  Francisco  Chronicle 

The  Moral  Effect  of  the  Income  Tax 
on  the  Rising  Generation 


the 


WITH 
tions    in 


best  inten- 
the  world, 
the  work  of  the  citizen 
who  tries  to  find  out  how 
much  he  owes  the  Govern- 
ment is  perplexing,  and 
often  entails  a  severe 
strain  on  his  temper,  to 
say  nothing  of  his  con- 
science. The  forms  are  in- 
tricate, and  many  items 
are  omitted  in  the  printed 
blanks.  The  missing  in- 
formation can,  of  course, 
be  ascertained  at  the  In- 
ternal Revenue  office,  but 
this  takes  time  and  trou- 
ble, adding  to  the  burden. 
Thus  the  average  tax- 
payer is  in  need  of  all  the 
aid  the  cartoonist  can  give 
him  in  the  way  of  a  smile. 


'^i^lM^f 


— ©  New   York  Tribune 


120 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 

IT'S  A  LONG  WORM! 


-Sacramento  Bee 


PROHIBITION  enforcement  has  encountered  many  difficulties  in  the  com- 
paratively short  period  since  the  law  was  enacted.  All  sorts  of  evasions 
haw  been  practiced,  especially  in  the  great  centres  of  population,  where  public 
feeling  has  been  either  apathetic  or  openly  hostile  to  the  amendment.  The 
permissions  to  withdraw  liquor  from  bonded  warehouses  for  medical  and  com- 
mercial purposes  have  furnished  a  fruitful  field  for  violators  of  the  law. 
Forged  permits  have  secured  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  liquor 
for  illegal  uses.  Contraband  shipments  in  great  quantities  have  come  over  the 
Canadian  border.  "Home  brew"  is  being  made  to  an  extent  that  can  only  be 
guessed,  but  is  without  doubt  enormous.  The  work  of  the  law  enforcement 
officials  has  been  made  difficult  also  by  the  faithlessness  of  some  of  their  own 
employes,  who  have  been  shown  to  be  working  hand  in  glove  with  the  violators 
of  the  law. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


w 


[Italian  Cartoon] 

THE  SITUATION  IN  ITALY 


■II  420,    Florence 


Premier  Giolitti  (to  Mme.  Middle-Class):     "Disarm  at  once!" 
Mme  Middle-Class:    "One  moment!     First  disarm  that  ruffian,  Bolshe- 
t   Proletariat;   he  took   to   arms   first." 


ITALY,  ever  since  the  war,  has  been  a  fertile  field  for  Bolshevism  or  its 
close  analogue,  Syndicalism.  Struggles  have  been  frequent  between  the 
proletariat  and  the  other  classes,  resulting  in  such  manifestations  as  the  work- 
men's seizure  of  the  factories  in  Turin  and  the  peasants'  seizure  of  lands  in 
Sicily.  At  times  the  troubles  seemed  to  have  been  composed,  only  to  break 
out  again  with  greater  virulence.  In  some  of  the  industrial  centres  the  streets 
had  to  be  swept  by  machine  gun  bullets  before  order  was  restored.  As  late 
a-,  March  2  the  great  Sar.  Marco  shipyards  at  Trieste  were  burned  by  com- 
munists, with  a  damage  of  $5,000,000. 


122 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoons] 

THE  HUMAN  GUN-CARRIAGE 


-Brooklyn  Eagle 


Well,  Why  Doesn't  the  Gentleman 
Put  Away  His  Guns? 


Where  Shall 
He  Begin? 


— St.   Loads   Times 


DISARMAMENT  is  as  yet  nothing  buit  a  dream.  It  is  one  of  the  things 
that  every  nation  professes  to  want,  and  which  none  dares  to  put  in  prac- 
tice. In  a  world  still  armed  to  the  teeth,  each  nation  distrusts  its  neighbor 
and  fears  to  set  the  example  of  laying  down  its  arms. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


123 


[German    Cartoon] 

Up-to-Date  Sport 


— Kladderadatsch,  Berlin 
In  at  the  Death 

[English   Cartoon] 


"PVESPITE  the  nego- 
*-J  tiations  which  have 
been  in  progress,  the 
Irish  problem  seems  as 
far  as  ever  from  solu- 
tion. Killings  and  re- 
prisals are  of  daily  oc- 
currence, and  instead 
of  abating  are  growing 
in  severity  and  fre- 
quency. What  were  for- 
merly individual  clashes 
have  now  been  replaced 
by  conflicts  rising  al- 
most to  the .  dignity  of 
pitched  battles.  The 
Home  Rule  bill  passed 
by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons has  proved  unsat- 
isfactory to  both  Na- 
tionalists and  Ulster- 
ites,  and  although  the 
British  Premier  has  re- 
cently declared  that  the 
situation  is  improving, 
his  hopeful  view  is  not 
widely  shared. 


Teacher  and  Pupil 


— Westminster   Gazette 

Sir  Edward  Carson:  Don't  salute  me!  You're  a  rebel  in  arms  against  the  Gov- 
ernment ! 

Pat :  Shure,  Sir  Edward,  didn't  yourself  tache  us  the  gun  runnin'  and  the  drillin' 
and   the   rebillin'    in   1914? 


124 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


rmm" 


[American  Cartoons] 

LOVE  ME,  LOVE  MY  DOG 


Another  Bridge  Pier  Listing 
and  Cracking 


— Brooklyn  Eagle 

After  You,  Sir! 


-Dayton  Neics 


-San  Francisco  Chronicle 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


125 


[American  Cartoon] 

THE  RISING  SUN  OF  JAPAN 


— Daily  Mail,  New   York 

YAP  is  only  a  little  island  in  the  Pacific,  about  seventy-nine  square  miles  in 
extent  and  with  a  population  of  8,000,  but  it  has  assumed  an  importance 
altogether  out  of  proportion  to  its  size,  because  of  the  mandate  over  it  given 
to  Japan.  This  was  in  accordance  with  a  treaty  made  between  England  and 
Japan  before  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  which  treaty  this  country 
has  never  recognized.  The  importance  of  Yap  arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is 
the  landing  place  of  three  cables  formerly  owned  by  the  Germans.  The  three 
cables  are  the  only  means  of  communication  with  the  Orient  in  certain  circum- 
stances. If  Japan  were  in  complete  control  of  the  cables  she  could  at  any 
time  cut  off  the  United  States  from  the  benefit  of  their  use.  Strong  protests 
against  the  mandate  have  been  made  by  the  American  Government. 


L~ 


—J 


126 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American    Cartoons] 


— ©  New   York   Tribune 
Folks    Really    Ought    to    Count    Their   Money   Before    Ordering 
Their    Dinners 

The    Place   to    Stop 
Them 

APPREHENSION  has  been 
aroused  by  cases  of 
typhus  that  were  discovered 
to  exist  among  immigrants 
arriving  at  the  port  of  New 
York.  Rigid  regulations  have 
been  established  to  pre- 
vent the  spreading  of  this 
dreaded  disease,  which  has 
been  rife  in  many  of  the 
European  countries  whence 
the  stream  of  immigrants  is 
coming.  The  Dillingham  bill, 
recently  passed  by  Congress, 
but  left  unsigned  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  would  have  lim- 
ited the  possible  immigrants 
for  fifteen  months  to  3  per 
cent,  of  the  number  of  alien 
residents  in  this  country  in 
1910. 


Of  Course 

Uncle  Will 

Understand 

How 

it  Is—  (?) 

THE  question  of 
the  repayment 
of  allied  loans  has 
recently  been 
prominent  in  the 
news.  About  nine 
billion  dollars  was 
lent  to  the  allied 
nations  during  the 
war  by  the  United 
States,  with  no  very 
definite  guarantee 
of  repayment. 
At  the  Paris  Con- 
ference and  on  sev- 
eral occasions  since 
then  the  sugges- 
tion was  broach  ed 
that  these  loans  be 
canceled,  so  that 
the  nations  might 
start  afresh,  but 
the  proposition  has 
not  been  received 
with  favor  by  this 
Government.  Dip- 
lomatic exchanges 
regarding  these 
loans  are  still  in 
progress. 


— Providence   Journal 


ENGLAND'S   ROYAL    PAGEANT 


Picturesque  scenes  attending  the  opening  of  Parliament  by  the  King  and  Queen  in  a 
blaze  of  pre-war  magnificence — Cabinet  changes  and  waning  strength  of  Lloyd  George 

[Period  Ended  March    12,   1921] 


IF  the  sudden  breaking  down  of  the  Lon- 
don Reparations  Conference,  with  the 
occupation  of  additional  German  territory, 
was  the  most  momentous  event  of  the 
month  in  England,  unquestionably  the  most 
picturesque  event  was  the  formal  opening 
of  Parliament  by  the  King  on  Feb.  15. 

For  the  first  time  the  pageant  was  re- 
stored to  its  full  pre-war  splendor,  with  a 
noticeable  disappearance  of  the  familiar 
khaki  from  the  military  part  of  the  spec- 
tacle. The  King  and  Queen  proceeded  in 
state  from  Buckingham  Palace  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  escorted  by  detachments 
of  Household  Cavalry  in  gleaming  cuirasses 
and  plumed  helmets,  while  the  Foot  Guards 
in  tunics  of  British  scarlet  and  huge 
"  bearskins  "  lined  the  route.  Hardly  less 
of  a  delight  to  the  populace  than  the  *golden 
magnificence  of  the  old  state  coach  was 
the  reappearance,  after  years  of  disuse,  of 
the  official  coaches  of  the  Ambassadors  of 
France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Japan,  with 
coachmen,  and  with  footmen  hanging  deftly 
behind,  in  the  liveried  gorgeousness  of  a 
departed  age. 

In  the  House  of  Lords  a  half-medieval 
and  half-modern  scene  awaited  the  King. 
The  eye  swept  from  the  scarlet  and  ermine 
robes  of  the  peers,  Bishops  and  Judges — 
from  the  brilliant  display  of  jewels  among 
the  peeresses — to  the  everyday  attire  of  the 
Members  of  Parliament.  In  the  diplomatic 
group  Herr  Sthamer,  the  German  Ambas- 
sador— so  soon  to  be  recalled — was  notice- 
able for  having  followed  the  American  cus- 
tom in  wearing  plain  evenin'g  dress,  pre- 
sumed to  be  a  concession  to  the  republican 
order  of  things  in  Germany. 

The  King  entered  the  House  leading  the 
Queen  by  the  hand.  He  wore  a  Field  Mar- 
shal's uniform,  over  which  a  crimson  robe 
of  state  was  hung,  and  a  crown  blazing 
with  jewels.  The  Queen's  dress  was  of  old 
brocaded  gold.  Across  her  breast  was  the 
broad  blue  ribbon  of  the  Garter,  and  from 
her    corsage    gleamed    the    Star    of    South 


Africa  and  other  gems.  In  his  speech  King 
George  made  special  references  to  trade 
agreement  with  Russia,  the  passing  of  po- 
litical strife  in  India,  and  the  relief  of  Ire- 
land from  the  misguided  people  who  were 
attempting  by  violence  to  set  up  an  Irish 
republic.  A  new  democratic  note  was  re- 
marked throughout  the  whole  speech,  but 
especially  in  the  use  of  the  term  "  our  fel- 
low-citizens "  instead  of  the  customary 
"  my  subjects  "  or."  my  people."  So  far  as 
the  record  goes,  this  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  a  King  of  England  addressed  his 
subjects   as  fellow-citizens. 

CABINET   CHANGES 

It  was  officially  announced  on  Feb.  14 
that  the  King  had  accepted  the  resigna- 
tions of  Viscount  Milner,  Secretary  of  State 
for  the  Colonies,  and  Walter  H.  Long,  First 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  At  the  same  time 
the  following  appointments  were  approved: 
Winston  Spencer  Churchill  to  be  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies;  Sir  Lamar 
Worthington-Evans,  Secretary  of  State  for 
War;  Lord  Lee  of  Fareham,  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty,  and  Lieut.  Col.  Sir  Arthur 
Griff ith-Boscawen,  Minister  of  Agriculture 
and  Fisheries. 

Indications  that  the  strength  of  the 
Coalition  Party,  both  in  and  outside  of  Par- 
liament, was  less  secure  in  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  hands  than  formerly  was  disclosed 
in  a  vote  on  an  amendment  to  the  Address 
to  the  Throne  on  Feb.  18,  and  in  the  vote  to 
elect  a  Member  of  Parliament  for  Woolwich 
on  March  2.  The  address  amendment,  re- 
gretting the  Government's  failure  to  deal 
adequately  with  unemployment,  was  moved 
by  Mr.  J.  B.  Clynes.  The  Prime  Minister 
defended  the  Government,  and  in  closing 
the  debate  declared  they  would  never  solve 
the  unemployment  problem  till  the  workers 
frankly  considered  what  was  best  for  the 
interests  of  the  industry  in  which  they  were 
concerned.    .Mr.  Lloyd  George  added: 


128 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


To  demand  that  everybody  should  have  the 
right  to  work,  and  then  to  support  the  trade 
union  policy  which  prevents  people  from  get- 
ting work  when  work  is  available,  is  a  sham 
and  a  hypocrisy.  They  are  all  interdepend- 
ent. "  Love  your  neighbor  "  is  not  only  good 
Christianity    but    good    business. 

In  spite  of  this  plea,  the  vote  resulted  in 
a  Government  majority  of  only  178.  As  the 
normal  Unionist  vote  had  been  more  than 
500,  in  a  House  of  707  members,  it  was  in- 
ferred that  a  considerable  number  of  the 
Premier's  supporters  had  followed  Lords 
Robert  and  Hugh  Cecil  over  to  the  opposi- 
tion. At  the  by-election  for  Woolwich,  a 
big  industrial  constituency,  the  Government 
narrowly  escaped  defeat,  electing  its  candi- 
date by  a  majority  of  only  684  out  of  a 
total  vote  of  26,764. 

"The  Tribulations  of  an  M.  P."  might 
have  been  the  apt  title  of  a  White  Paper 
issued  on  Feb.  23  detailing  the  hardships 
involved  in  the  attempt  to  live  on  the  of- 
ficial salary  of  £400  ($2,000  normal  ex- 
change) a  year.  Among  several  M.  P.'s 
without  private  incomes  who  gave  evidence, 
Mr.  Thompson  Donald,  an  Ulster  member, 
complained  that  he  was  compelled  to  travel 


third  class  on  the  subway  to  Parliament, 
holding  on  to  a  strap,  which,  he  thought, 
was  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  Member  of 
Parliament.  He  believed  M.  P.'s  ought  to 
travel  free,  first  class.  Mr.  Adamson,  an- 
other member,  said  that  his  first-class  pass 
on  the  railway  cost  him  £180  yearly,  and 
that  his  hotel  expenses  were  £160  and  his 
postage  £15;  he  thought  the  M.  P.'s  salary 
should  be  increased  to  £800  with  a  free  rail- 
way pass. 

HOUSING  THE  CONFERENCES 

In  order  to  accommodate  an  almost  un- 
precedented number  of  foreign  statesmen 
and  diplomats  attending  the  various  con- 
ferences in  London,  the  King  gave  the  use 
of  St.  James's  Palace  for  their  deliberations. 
No  less  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  countries 
were  to  be  represented  by  important  mis- 
sions. For  the  housing  of  the  300  members 
of  these  delegations — including  the  German 
representatives — as  guests  of  the  Govern- 
ment, accommodation  was  provided  in  va- 
rious hotels. 

In  addition  to  the  two  conferences  on  the 


((Q    Inter  national) 
British   King  and  Queen  in  the  gilded  coach  of  state  on  their   way   to   the  opening   of 
Parliament.     The  ancient  coach,  drawn   by  eight  black  horses,   is   escorted  by  horse  guards 
in  guttering   uniforms,  and  beside  it  walk  the  heralds,  rod  bearers,  and  other  functionao'ies 
in   mt  dtaeval  garb 


ENGLAND'S  ROYAL   PAGEANT 


129 


(Photo    Raphael     Tuck) 

KING  GEORGE  AND  QUEEN  MARY 

In   the   robing   room   on    the    occasion   of   the 

opening    of   Parliament,   Feb.    15,   1921 


Treaty  of  Sevres  and  Reparations  there 
was  also  fixed  for  Feb.  27  a  conference  of 
Ministers  of  Commerce  and  business  ex- 
perts for  seventeen  countries.  Meantime 
a  petition  had  been  received  from  the  Aus- 
trian Chancellor  for  permission  to  visit 
London,  accompanied  by  his  Ministers  of 
Food  and  Finance,  to  discuss  allied  financial 
assistance,  since  the  Paris  plan  for  an  in- 
ternational bankers'  syndicate  had  failed  to 
materialize.  The  Supreme  Council  granted 
this  request  on  March  7  and  invited  the 
Austrian  delegation  to  London  immediately. 


LABOR  AND  OTHER  PROBLEMS 

An  estimate  of  the  working  days  lost  by 
labor  through  trade  disputes  in  December 
totaled  429,000.  This  compared  favorably 
with  November,  when  3,631,000  days  were 
lost  through  the  coal  strikes,  and  1,808,000 
days  in  December,  1920,  when  the  iron 
founders  were  out. 

The  dispute  between  the  farmers  and  the 
Government  regarding  the  price  of  wheat 
was  adjusted  in  a  conference  at  the  Minis- 
try of  Agriculture  on  Feb.  17,  when  the 
Government  pledged  itself  to  give  a  maxi- 
mum price  of  95  shillings  per  quarter  of 
504  pounds,  provided  that  the  c.  i.  f.  cost  of 
imported  wheat  was  the  same  figure  or 
over,  and  so  long  as  wheat  prices  were  con- 
trolled. This  practically  signified  a  year's 
guarantee. 

After  considerable  criticism  from  the 
Laborities,  the  second  reading  of  the  Gov- 
ernment  bill   increasing   unemployment  in- 


Undervcood    d    Underwood) 

WINSTON  SPENCER  CHURCHILL 

Former  British   War  Minister,  now  Minister  for 

tlii    Colonies 


1 30 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


surance  payments  was  carried  by  a  closure 
motion  of  148  to  50  on  Feb.  23.  The  new 
bill  raised  the  benefit  from  15  to  18  shillings 
a  week,  and  allowed  twenty-six  weeks'  pay 
in  each  year  in  place  of  fifteen.  During 
debates  Dr.  MacNamara,  Minister  of 
Labor,  in  repelling  the  charge  that  the  Gov- 
ernment had  not  exercised  adequate  fore- 
thought, gave  details  of  schemes  providing 
useful  and  productive  work  for  70,000  men, 


including    a    main    roads    project    involving 
more  than  ten  millions  sterling. 

That  war  control  of  the  railroads  by  the 
Government  may  cost  the  country  £150,- 
000,000  in  claims  is  the  opinion  of  an  offi- 
cial investigating  committee.  The  claims 
are  divided  as  follows:  £90,000,000  for  ar- 
rears in  maintenance,  £40,000,000  for  ab- 
normal wear  and  tear  and  £20,000,000  for 
the  replacement  of  stores. 


HOSTILITIES  INCREASE  IN  IRELAND 


End  of  the  peace  negotiations  between  the  Sinn  Feiners  and  the  British  Government 
—A  brief  summary  of  the  month's  events  in  the  war  of  assassinations  and  reprisals 

[Pkriod  Ended  March   1 12,   1!>21] 


PREMIER  LLOYD  GEORGE  asserted 
early  in  March  that  conditions  in  Ire- 
land were  definitely  better;  gone,  he 
said,  were  Sinn  Fein  patrols  and  military 
police,  Sinn  Fein  courts,  insults  heaped  on 
the  Government  police,  boycotting,  &c;  the 
authority  of  the  Crown  was  being  recov- 
ered. Nevertheless,  it  was  maintained  by 
critics  of  the  Government  that  a  mere  sta- 
tistical comparison  of  the  serious  outrages 
credited  to  both  sides  during  the  seven 
weeks  of  the  Parliamentary  recess  and  any 
like  period  in  the  history  of  last  year  was 
enough  to  show  how  groundless  would  be 
the  pretense  that  any  improvement  had 
taken  place.  That  dissatisfaction  with  the 
Government's  Irish  policy  of  repression  and 
reprisal  was  growing  among  thoughtful 
Englishmen  was  evidenced  by  the  statement 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  Feb.  22,  that  he  voiced  the 
feeling  of  many  persons  when  he  vigor- 
ously condemned  both  the  Sinn  Fein  cam- 
paign of  "  murder  and  outrage "  and  the 
reprisals  taken  by  the  Crown  forces.  The 
resignations  of  Brig.  Gen.  Crozier,  head  of 
the  Auxiliary  Cadets,  and  his  Adjutant, 
Captain  McFee,  were  regarded  as  indicating 
that  the  ruthless  activities  of  the  Black  and 
Tans  were  creating  an  increasingly  bad 
impression. 

An  inner  history  of  the  recent  peace  ne- 
gotiations was  cabled  from  Dublin  on  Feb. 
14,   as   having   been   published   in   the   Sinn 


Fein  Bulletin  from  a  disclosure  made  by 
Eamonn  de  Valera  at  a  recent  session  of 
the  Dail  Eireann.  According  to  this  ver- 
sion, Archbishop  Clune  of  Perth,  West  Aus- 
tralia, was  commissioned  by  Premier  Lloyd 
George  to  approach  Sinn  Fein  leaders  "  as 
official  intermediary  to  arrange  a  truce." 
After  the  Archbishop  had  made  three  visits 
to  Ireland  and  reported  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
the  British  Cabinet  intimated  its  willingness 
for  a  month's  truce  in  certain  general  terms 
which  had  been  discussed.  These  terms 
were  then  reduced  to  a  formula  and  pre- 
sented by  the  Archbishop  to  Dublin  Castle 
on  Dec.  16,  as  follows: 

The  British  Government  undertakes  that 
during  the  truce  no  raids,  arrests,  pursuits, 
burning's,  shootings,  lootings,  demolitions, 
courts-martial  or  other  acts  of  violence  will 
be  carried  out  by  its  forces,  and  that  there 
will  be  no  enforcement  of  the  terms  of  mar- 
tial  law   proclamations. 

We,  on  our  side,  undertake  to  use  all  pos- 
sible means  to  insure  that  no  acts  whatever 
of  violence   will   occur   on   our   side. 

During  the  period  of  the  truce  the  British 
Government  on  its  part  and  we  on  ours  will 
use  our  best  efforts  to  bring  about  the  condi- 
tions above  mentioned,  with  the  object  of 
creating  an  atmosphere  favorable  to  the 
meeting  of  representatives  of  the  Irish  people 
with  a  view  to  bringing  about  a  permanent 
peace. 

Up  to  this  point  both  sides  appeared  to 
be  approaching  an  agreement  without 
serious  hindrance,  but  in  accepting  the  for- 
mula Dublin  Castle  added  the  condition  that 


HOSTILITIES  INCREASE  IN  IRELAND 


131 


(Press    Illustrating    Service) 
A  wrecked  cottage  in  Mellin,  Ireland,  front  which,  as  usual,  the  furniture  has  been  removed 
by  the  soldiers  before  destroying  the  house  in  reprisal  for  an  assassination 


the  Sinn  Fein  surrender  their  arms.  To 
this  the  Sinn  Fein  leaders  objected.  There- 
upon the  Archbishop  again  intervened  and 
was  able  to  induce  the  Castle  to  waive  the 


(Central    News    Service) 
SIR   JAMES    CRAIG 
Unanimously  chosen  leader  of  the  Ulster  Union- 
ists in  succession  to  Sir  Edward  Carson 


condition.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Pre- 
mier Lloyd  George  had  become  convinced 
that  the  arms  condition  could  not  be  waived, 
and  was  supported  by  Andrew  Bonar  Law. 
Upon  this  obstacle  the  negotiations  broke 
asunder,  although  they  hung  in  abeyance 
until  Dec.  30,  when  they  were  finally  dis- 
posed of  at  a  meeting  of  the  British  Cabinet 
and  the  matter  ended. 

IRISH  PLOTS  IN  ENGLAND 

Rumors  of  Sinn  Fein  activities  in  Eng- 
land seemed  to  acquire  definite  authenticity 
early  in  February.  Series  of  fires  in  Man- 
chester and  other  parts  of  Lancashire  were 
credited  to  Sinn  Fein  origin.  In  the  im- 
portant cotton  manufacturing  centres  of 
Oldham,  Failsworth,  Royton  and  Rochdale 
the  outbreaks  were  of  a  serious  character. 
In  Manchester  it  was  discovered  that  at 
least  three  men  were  engaged  in  each  out- 
rage, and  there  was  every  indication  that 
the  plot  had  been  well  organized.  Broken 
windows  and  the  finding  of  beer  bottles 
filled  with  petrol  indicated  the  method  of 
attacking  the  factories,  which  so  far  had 
resulted  in  comparatively  slight  damage  ow- 
ing to  the  alertness  of  the  police  and  fire 
brigades. 

Corroboration  of  Sinn  Fein  plans  for  fires 
was  furnished  by  Sir  Hamar  Greenwood  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  Feb.  20  from  a 
number  of  documents  seized  at  Irish  Repub- 
lican Headquarters  in  Dublin.  Producing 
one  of  the  documents,  Sir  Hamar  read: 


132 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Further,  the  officer  in  charge  [of  opera- 
tions] should  not  be  tied  down  by  Instruc- 
tions as  to  sparing  lives  of  enemy  sub- 
jects. *  *  *  For  instance,  if  one  train  was 
wrecked  it  should  have  the  effect  of  causing 
considcra  blr  alarm  to  the  traveling  pub- 
Ik-.  *  *  *  Also  if  gas  works  were  blown 
up,  no  doubt  lives  would  be  lost,  but  it  would 
have  the  effect  of  throwing  the  town  into 
darkness   and    would   encourage  looting. 

The  Sinn  Fein  had  long  been  trying  in 
Ireland  to  keep  young  Irishmen  .from  emi- 
grating to  America.  On  the  night  of  Feb. 
18  these  measures  were  extendsd  to  English 
soil  when  armed  bodies  of  Sinn  Feiners 
raided  three  Irish  boarding  houses  in  Liver- 
pool and  at  the  point  of  revolvers  took  from 
a  number  of  young  Irishmen  about  to  sail 
for  America  their  passports,  passage  tickets 
and  money. 

MANIFESTO  BY  DE  VALERA 

The  long-promised  manifesto  by  Eamonn 
de  Valera,  the  Irish  Republican  leader,  was 
issued  on  March  7  through  the  Sinn  Fein, 
publicity  department.  It  was  signed  by  de 
Valera  and  almost  all  the  other  members 
of  the  Dail  Eireann,  including  Arthur  Grif- 
fith and  several  others  in  jail.  It  was  issued 
in  the  form  of  an  address  adopted  at  the 
January  meeting  of  the  Dail  Eireann  to  the 
representatives  of  foreign  nations. 

The  manifesto  reviewed  the  Irish  strug- 
gle for  independence  from  earliest  times  and 
recited  the  circumstances  culminating  in  the 
declaration  of  the  establishment  of  the  Irish 
Republic.  Denunciatory  and  often  violent 
in  tone  against  British  rule,  it  made  use 
of  such  appeals  to  passion  as  that  "  ex- 
convicts  and  degenerates  from  the  trenches 
could  be  depended  upon  to  have  few  qualms 
in  dealing  with  their  victims.  *  *  *  An 
orgy  of  murder  and  robbery  began,  neither 
age,  sex  nor  profession  was  respected. 
*  English  jails  are  filled  with  our 
countrymen,  some  have  been  murdered, 
others  tortured   therein." 

The  manifesto  declared  that  the  Irish  peo- 
ple demanded  self-determination,  and  con- 
cluded: 

We.  their  official  spokesmen  and  their 
elected  Parliament,  call  upon  mankind  to 
witness  that  our  people  have  ever  been 
r<ady  to  welcome  peace  with  England  tiiat 
has  a  just  basis.  No  other  basis  of  peace  is 
possible.  We  have  pledged  ourselves  and 
people  faithful  to  the  cause  until  death.  You 
representatives  of  sister  nations  cannot  be 
insensible   to    the    issue. 


A  BIT  OF  REAL  WARFARE 

The  most  elaborate  military  operation 
that  had  yet  taken  place  in  Ireland  was  the 
investment  of  the  Dingle  Peninsula  in  West 
Kerry  early  in  February.  The  object  was 
to  round  up  a  number  of  rebels  "  on  the 
run  "  and  search  their  possible  hiding  places. 
As  a  Sinn  Fein  stronghold  the  locality  could 
hardly  have  afforded  better  advantage,  since 
the  peninsula  occupies  a  wild  tongue  of 
mountainous  and  rugged  land,  sparsely 
populated,  and  jutting  out  thirty  miles  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  After  the  occupation 
of  Tralee,  at  the  base  of  the  peninsula,  by 
the  British  military,  a  strict  blockade  of  the 
district  was  enforced,  entry  into  which^was 
prohibited.  Since  then  little  news  from 
either  Dingle  or  Tralee  has  been  received. 
A  station  master  on  the  Tralee  &  Dingle 
Railroad,  however,  telegraphed  on  Feb.  14 
that  supplies  were  exhausted  and  the  women 
and  children  on  the  verge  of  starvation. 
This  the  military  denied,  but  on  March  4  a 
Dublin  dispatch  stated  that  the  Crown  forces 
were  carrying  out  their  threat  to  reduce  the 
district  to  submission  by  hunger,  and  that 
on  the  previous  day  two  bridges  were  blown 
up  by  them,  cutting  off  Tralee  from  the  dis- 
trict which  supplied  provisions. 

OUTRAGES  AND   REPRISALS 

Again  a  long  list  of  acts  of  violence,  of 
which  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  fol- 
low: On  Feb.  15  the  9:30  A.  M.  Cork- 
Bantry  train,  carrying  military  reinforce- 
ments, had  just  shut  off  power  at  Upton 
when  practically  every  compartment  was 
swept  by  a  shower  of  bullets.  Two  com- 
mercial travelers  were  killed  with  the  first 
volley.  The  soldiers  promptly  returned  the 
fire  of  the  ambushers,  and  a  short  but  brisk 
engagement  ensued,  during  which  the  pas- 
sengers huddled  together  on  the  floors  of 
the  carriages.  When  the  attacking  party 
had  been  driven  off  it  was  found  that  eight 
civilians  and  two  Sinn  Feiners  were' slain, 
and  five  civilians  and  six  soldiers  wounded. 

Hundreds  of  troops  supported  by  tanks 
and  armored  cars  cordoned  a  section  of  cen- 
tral Dublin  on  Feb.  18  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  house-to-house  search  for 
"  wanted  "  men.  The  method  adopted  was 
to  surround  the  whole  area  with  barbed  wire 
entanglements,  to  pass  through  which  re- 
quired   a    special    permit.      No    newspapers 


HOSTILITIES  INCREASE  IN  IRELAND 


VM 


(Colonial   Press   Service) 
In  the  martial  law  area  of  Ireland  the  head  of  each  household  is  compelled  by  law  to  nail 
on  his  door  a  list  describing  every  member  of  his  family 


were  allowed  inside  the  prohibited  space, 
and  there  were  no  postal  deliveries.  If  resi- 
dents desired  to  make  purchases  outside  the 
cordon  they  were  escorted  to  the  shops  by 
armed  pickets.  Ladders  were  used  to  search 
the  roofs,  while  in  certain  windows  machine 
guns  were  posted  to  command  the  thorough- 
fares. In  each  street  it  was  the  rule  to 
parade  all  male  residents  under  military 
guard  for  inspection  by  special  service 
agents.  In  Ballybunion,  County  Kerry,  more 
than  twenty  private  and  public  houses  were 
burned  on  Feb.  23  in  retaliation  for  the 
shooting  of  two  constables. 

A  two  hours'  battle  in  the  open  occurred 
on  Feb.  20  near  Middleton,  County  Cork,  in 
the  martial  law  area.  A  party  of  the 
Hampshire  Regiment  came  into  conflict  with 
armed  civilians,  with  the  result  that  thirteen 
civilians  were  killed  and  eight  captured, 
three  of  whom  were  wounded.  Another 
fight  which  extended  over  five  miles  of 
country  and  lasted  for  five  hours  took  place 
near  Macroom,  Feb.  25.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  numbers  engaged  it  was  said  to 
have  been  the  largest  engagement  that  had 
yet  taken  place.  It  commenced  with  an  in- 
tensive rifle  fire  and  bombing  attack  upon 
a    convoy    commanded    by    Major    Seafield 


Grant,  and  developed  a  general  engagement 
as  reinforcements  were  hurried  to  the  sup- 
port of  both  sides.  At  one  time  the  Gov- 
ernment troops  were  nearly  surrounded,  but 
they  finally  succeeded  in  compelling  the  Re- 
publicans to  retreat,  apparently  in  good  or- 
der, into  a  wild  territory. 

As  a  result  of  the  shooting  of  six  soldiers 
and  the  wounding  of  six  others  in  Dublin  on 
the  night  of  Feb.  31  the  curfew  was  ad- 
vanced to  6  o'clock.  The  attacks  began 
punctually  at  7  P.  M.,  the  soldiers,  unarmed 
and  on  walking-out  passes,  being  shot  down 
in  such  crowded  thoroughfares  as  Patrick 
Street  and  the  Grand  Parade.  Pedestrians 
fled  in  a  panic  and  the  assassins  escaped. 
On  the  night  of  March  4  police  lorries 
escorting  prisoners  to  Dublin  Castle  were 
fired  on  along  the  north  quays,  and  sub- 
sequently subjected  to  a  fusillade  of  bullets 
on  reaching  Grantham  Bridge.  In  return- 
ing the  fire  the  police  killed  three  persons 
and  wounded  several.  In  an  ambush  of  a 
military  convoy  at  Clonbanin,  West  Cork, 
March  5,  Brig.  Gen.  H.  R.  Cumming,  D.  S. 
0.,  in  control  of  a  Kerry  Brigade,  was  shot 
and  instantly  killed  when  leaving  his  car 
to  direct  the  fight  against  the  ambushers. 

A  tragedy  which  recalled  similar  events 


134 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  Cork  occurred  in  Limerick  early  in  the 
morning  of  March  7.  A  band  of  assassins 
forced  their  way  into  the  house  of  ex- Mayor 
O'Callaghan,  and  in  spite  of  the  heroic  ef- 
forts of  his  wife  to  protect  him,  they  mor- 
tally wounded  the  ex-Mayor.  The  assassins 
then  proceeded  to  Mayor  George  Clancy's 
residence,  and,  gaining  an  entrance,  fired 
several  shots  into  the  Mayor's  body  after 
wounding  his  wife.  Both  the  Mayor  and 
the  ex-Mayor  died  later.  The  third  house 
visited     was     that     of     a     resident     named 


O'Donoghue,  whose  lifeless  body  was  found 
in  a  nearby  field. 

It  was  announced  on  March  11  that  the 
General  Officer  Commanding  in  Chief  had 
confirmed  the  court-martial  death  sentences 
on  Bernard  Ryan,  Patrick  Doyle,  Thomas 
Bryan,  Frank  Flood  and  Dermot  O'Sullivan, 
tried  for  high  treason  and  levying  war  on 
the  British  Crown.  In  the  case  of  O'Sul- 
livan, who  was  17  years  old,  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant commuted  the  sentence  to  penal 
servitude  for  life. 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH 
DOMINIONS 


Britain's  wartime  embargo  on  cattle  a  live  issue  in  the  Canadian  Parliament — Recent 
developments   in   Australia — Freedom  for   Eygpt   urged   by    Lord   Milner's   report 

[Period  Ended   March   12,   1920] 


IN  the  course  of  a  lively  debate  in  the 
Canadian  House  of  Commons  on  March 
9,  Premier  Meighen  stated  that  the  Gov- 
ernment was  maintaining  its  protests 
against  the  British  cattle  embargo.  The 
Government  rested  its  case  upon  the  prom- 
ise made  in  1917  to  Sir  Robert  Borden,  who 
was  then  Premier,  that  the  embargo  would 
be  abolished  after  the  war.  Several  cattle 
breeders,  members  of  the  Commons,  were 
of  the  opinion  that  the  embargo  could  be 
turned  to  advantage  in  connection  with 
fostering  a  big  trade  in  meat.  This  view 
was  not  concurred  in  by  the  majority  of 
the  House.  Possible  restriction  of  the 
United  States  market  was  urged  by  some 
members  as  a  reason  for  persistent  efforts 
to  get  the  British  Government  to  change 
its  attitude.  The  Hon.  Manning  Doherty,  On- 
tario's Minister  of  Agriculture,  is  in  Britain 
at  this  writing  in  the  hope  of  assisting  in 
bringing  about  that  change.  Many  critics 
of  the  embargo  voice  opposition  against 
Mr.  Doherty's  presence  in  England,  arguing 
that  Canada  should  be  content  with  digni- 
fied protests  made  through  the  regular 
channels  by  the  Federal  Government. 

For  expenditures  in  the  fiscal  year  be- 
ginning April  1,  Canada  will  require  $582,- 
062,698,  according  to  the  main  estimates 
presented  by  Sir  Henry  Drayton,  Minister 


of  Finance.  This  is  less  by  $31,000,000 
than  the  total  appropriations  for  the  closing 
fiscal  year.  Of  the  required  amount  $226,- 
757,087  comes  under  war  expenditure  head- 
ings, including  $140,613,163  for  interest  on 
debt,  $31,816,923  on  pensions,  $35,017,000 
on  soldiers'  land  settlement  and  $19,310,000 
on  the  re-establishment  of  soldiers  in  civil 
life.  It  is,  however,  in  regard  to  the  opera- 
tion of  Government-owned  railways  that 
the  estimates  have  aroused  most  discussion. 
The  vote  asked  for  this  is  roughly  $179,- 
000,000,  of  which  $49,250,000  is  to  meet 
deficits  on  operation  and  interest  account. 
This  is  $11,000,000  less  than  the  rumored 
deficit.  Supporters  of  Government  ownership 
urge  that  there  should  be  some  readjust- 
ment as  between  operating,  costs  and  sup- 
port from  the  public  Treasury.  The  To- 
ronto Globe,  arguing  that  on  both  sides  of 
the  Canadian-United  States  border  operat- 
ing costs — especially  for  labor — are  too 
high,  says  that  the  question  of  railway 
finance  is  the  greatest  that  confronts  the 
people  of  the  Dominion  today. 

In  the  first  division  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  taken  on  March  4,  the  Govern- 
ment had  a  majority  of  25,  one  less  than 
in  June,  1920,  the  final  test  of  the  last 
session. 

A  judicial  decision  on  a  test  case  is  to 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH  DOMINIONS 


135 


the  effect  that  the  Province  of  Ontario  has 
no  power  to  enact  legislation  prohibiting 
betting  on  race  tracks  licensed  by  the  Prov- 
ince, the  inference  being  that  this  authority 
rests  with  the  Federal  Government. 

The  Rev.  William  Ivens,  John  Queen  and 
George  Armstrong,  three  of  the  leaders  of 
the  great  Winnipeg  strike,  who  have  served 
their  full  term  of  one  year  in  prison — less 
one  month  off  for  good  conduct — took  their 
seats  in  the  Manitoba  Legislature  on  Feb. 
28.  They  were  elected  to  the  Legislature 
while  in  prison. 

The  Federal  Government  is  taking  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  tragedies  in  connec- 
tion with  the  expected  rush  to  the  newly 
discovered  oil  regions  in  the  Mackenzie  dis- 
trict. Airplanes  and  river  steamers,  speci- 
ally constructed,  will  play  a  considerable 
part  in  the  rush.  Claim  holders  must  do 
their  own  locating.  Claims,  it  is  under- 
stood, are  to  be  restricted  to  640  acres,  one- 
half  of  which  is  to  be  held  by  the  Govern- 
ment as  a  reserve. 

Leases  are  50  cents  per  acre  for  the  first 
year  and  $1  per  acre  thereafter,  according 
to  present  indications.  The  ninety  square 
miles  located  around  Fort  Norman  by  the 
original  discovering  company  and  others 
will  not  come  under  these  proposed  new 
regulations.  The  Government  will,  how- 
ever, collect  from  these  and  from  other 
claims  taken  up  a  royalty  of  5  per  cent, 
of  the  value  of  the  oil  at  the  point  of  pro- 
duction for  the  first  five  years,  and  there- 
after  10  per  cent. 

FREEDOM  FOR  EGYPT  URGED 

Lord  Milner's  report  urging  negotiations 
for  a  treaty  according  self-government  to 
Egypt,  a  summary  of  which  was  published 
in  Current  History  for  January  (p.  92), 
at  last  laid  before  Parliament  on  Feb. 
18.  After  stating  that  the  spirit  of  Na- 
tionalist Egypt  cannot  be  extinguished,  and 
that  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  self-gov- 
ernment cannot  be  postponed,  it  adds: 

There   are   formidable   difficulties,  however, 

in  a  sudden  and  complete  transfer  of  all  pow- 

of  Government  to  Egyptian  hands.     It  is 

•  ntial    to    insure    that    independent    Egypt 

does   not   pursue   a   foreign    poiicy   hostile   or 

judicial    to    the    interests    of    the    British 

Empire.      It   is   also   imperative   to   insure   the 

safety    and     protect    the     rights     of    foreign 

idents.     We  hold  that  in  fact,  as  well  as 

in    theory,     Egypt    should    be    governed    by 

Egyptians.     We  have   sufficient  faith   in   the 


reform  work  of  the  last  forty  years  to  be- 
lieve that  such  a  course  now  can  be  fol- 
lowed with  good  prospects  of  success,  but 
it  must  be  adopted  whole-heartedly,  and  in 
a    spirit    of   hopefulness    and    sympathy. 

We  do  not  attempt  to  conceal  our  convic- 
tion that  Egypt  is  not  yet  in  a  position  to 
dispense  with  British  assistance  in  her  in- 
ternal administration.  We  are  greatly 
fortified  in  the  belief  that  the  Egyptians  will 
acquiesce  in  this  view  by  our  own  experi- 
ence in  dealing  with  representatives  of  the 
Egyptians  with  whom  we  have  come  in  such 
intimate  contact.  We  are  not  discouraged 
by  the  fact  that  they  are  not  all  as  yet  pre- 
pared to  commit  themselves  unreservedly  to 
every  point  in  a  settlement  they  collaborated 
with  us  in  devising. 

Despite  Lord  Milner's  recommendation 
that  negotiations  be  entered  into  without 
delay,  it  was  decided,  according  to  The 
Daily  Mail,  that  representatives  of  the  Brit- 
ish Dominions,  who  will  meet  in  London 
next  Summer,  will  be  asked  to  express 
their  views  on  the  subject,  and  their  deci- 
sion will  have  great  weight.  Their  right 
to  a  voice  in  the  matter  is  argued  from 
the  fact  that  so  many  Dominion  troops  fell 
while  fighting  to  preserve  the  Suez  Canal 
and  the  Egyptian  hinterland.  Lord  Mil- 
ner's ideas  are  not  approved  by  all  his 
former  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet,  espe- 
cially by  Winston  Spencer  Churchill,  the  new 
Colonial  Secretary.  It  was  stated,  how- 
ever, in  the  House  of  Commons  on  Feb. 
28  by  Premier  Lloyd  George  that  Mr. 
Churchill  would  not  have  charge  of  Egyp- 
tian affairs,  Egypt,  the  Sudan  and  the 
Hedjaz  remaining  under  control  of  the  For- 
eign Office. 

Nevertheless,  the  impression  prevailed  in 
Egypt  that  the  new  Secretary  would  have 
charge  of  Egyptian  affairs.  Mr.  Churchill 
arrived  in  Cairo  on  March  10,  accompanied 
by  War  Office  representatives,  in  connec- 
tion with  Arab  and  Palestine  affairs.  He 
avoided  a  hostile  demonstration  of  students 
who  were  awaiting  him  at  the  station  by 
leaving  the  train  a  few  miles  outside  the 
city  and  motoring  to  his  hotel.  Police  in 
Alexandria  attempted  to  break  up  an  anti- 
Churchill  demonstration  on  March  11,  but 
were  stoned  and  compelled  to  flee.  Twenty 
policemen  were  injured  by  stones  and  nine 
rioters  received  bullet  wounds. 

PREMIER  HUGHES  INJURED 

AUSTRALIA— William  Morris  Hughes, 
Premier  of  Australia,  was  seriously  injured 


136 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  the  back  while  playing  in  a  departmental 
cricket  match  at  Sydney  on  Feb.  17. 

Alexander  Poynton,  Australian  Minister 
of  Home  Affairs  and  Territories,  on  March 
11  renewed  a  protest  to  Washington  against 
a  charge  of  $10  which  Australians  are  com- 
pelled to  pay  to  land  at  Honolulu  or  Manila, 
according  to  a  dispatch  from  Melbourne  of 
that  date. 

Australia's  shipping  strike  continues  to 
disorganize  business  and  increase  unem- 
ployment. Steel  and  iron  works  are  dis- 
charging large  numbers  of  men,  and  cur- 
tailment of  gas,  electric  light,  railway  and 
tramway  services  continues.  The  Queens- 
land railway  men  voted  by  a  large  majority 
in  favor  of  a  strike  for  increased  wages. 

A  dispatch  from  Perth,  dated  March  13, 
stated  that  Mrs.  Cowan,  a  candidate  in  the 
West  Australia  elections,  had  defeated  the 
Attorney  General  for  his  seat  in  the  Aus- 
tralian Parliament,  of  which  she  becomes 
the  first  woman  member. 


SOUTH  AFRICA— Prospects  of  improved 
trade  have  given  a  more  optimistic  under- 
current to  business  in  South  Africa,  al- 
though the  general  situation  is  far  from 
normal.  A  drop  in  the  gold  premium  has 
caused  some  concern,  owing  to  its  probajble 
effect  on  low-grade  mines,  and  the  slump 
in  the  price  of  diamonds  has  caused  many 
diggers  to  abandon  their  claims.  A  dis- 
patch from  Johannesburg,  dated  Feb.  14, 
announced  that  there  was  a  three-to-one 
majority  against  a  strike  of  the  amalga- 
mated engineers  and  a  majority  of  fifty  to 
one  in  favor  of  acceptance  of  the  Chamber 
of  Mines  offer  to  continue  wages  at  the 
prevailing  rate  until  the  end  of  the  year. 
The  offer,  however,  excluded  members  of 
the  Mine  Workers'  Union,  owing  to  the 
heavy  losses  wantonly  forced  on  the  in- 
dustry by  the  unconstitutional  action  of 
the  strikers  in  violation  of  agreements 
with  the  Chamber. 


IRELAND  THE  UNKNOWN. 

By  William  Watson 

[In  The  London  Times,   Jan.  29,   1921] 


Thou  whom  ten  thousand  searchlights  leave 

obscure; 
The  white  foam's  sister,  as  the  white  foam 

pure; 
The  dark  storm's  daughter,  guarding  long 

and  late 
That      far-descended      heirloom,       ancient 

hate; — 
I  cannot  say:  "  In  all  things  that  concerned 
Thee   and   thy   hopes    I   never   swerved    or 

turned, 
Or  held  with   stumbling  mind  a  wavering 

creed." 
But  this  at  least  I  can  declare  indeed: 
Through   days    with   tempest   packed,   with 

thunder  piled, 
My  dream  is  of  an  Ireland  Reconciled; 
Not  mocked  and  thwarted,  conquering  some 

vain  goal 


That  only  baulks  the  hunger  of  the  soul; 
Not  still  uncheered,  and  in  fierce  mood  un- 
changed, 
The  spouse  whom  wedlock  hath  the  more 

estranged, 
Whom  bonds  have  the  more  direly  wrenched 

apart; 
But  after  that  long  solitude  of  heart, 
And  all  the  dissonance  of  the  loveless  Past, 
An  Ireland  willing  to  be  loved  at  last; 
An  Ireland  healed  with  a  more  sovereign 

balm 
Than  the  old  deep  hurts  have  known,  and 

in  blest  calm 
Risen   from   a    hundred    shatterings,    great 

and  new. 
Oh,  that  the  dream  might  even  now  come 

true ! 


INDIA'S  NEW  PARLIAMENT 
AT  DELHI 

Opening  of  the  Advisory  Assembly  by  Queen  Victoria's  son  in  the  ancient  capital  of 
the  Moguls  marks  the  first  great  step  toward  giving  India  self-government- — Im- 
pressive addresses  and  solemn  pledges  in  the  presence  of  the  panoplied  Princes 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


GREAT  BRITAIN'S  love  of  historical 
continuity  and  her  genius  for  im- 
pressive stage-setting  never  found 
better  scope  than  in  the  recent  ceremonies 
at  Delhi,  when,  before  a  picturesque  throng 
of  gorgeously  robed  native  princes,  the 
splendid  buildings  constructed  for  the  delib- 
erations of  the  new  Advisory  Assembly 
were  thrown  open  amid  impressive  cere- 
monies. The  importance  which  this  event 
assumed  in  the  minds  of  the  British  rulers 
was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  they  sent 
Queen  Victoria's  only  surviving  son,  the 
Duke  of  Connaught,  to  make  the  opening 
address. 

This  new  Parliament  embodies  tangibly, 
as  well  as  spiritually,  the  latest  stage  in 
Great  Britain's  endeavor  to  adapt  an  orig- 
inally autocratic  rule  to  a  developing  people. 
Sixteen  years  ago,  under  Lord  Curzon,  then 
Viceroy,  the  partition  of  Bengal  set  the 
match  to  Indian  discontent.  Lord  Morley, 
a  great  Liberal,  as  Secretary  of  State  saw 
that  the  times  had  moved,  and,  against  the 
opposition  of  the  superannuated  Indian  of- 
ficials, pushed  through  the  so-called  Mor- 
ley-Minto  reforms.  Then  came  the  war, 
with  its  disturbing  aftermath  of  Bol- 
shevism, and  the  growth  of  Indian  national- 
ism, headed  by  Mr.  Gandhi,  in  alliance  with 
the  Moslems  and  naturally  in  sympathy 
with  the  Turks.  The  moving  finger  wrote, 
and  Lord  Montagu,  the  present  Indian  Sec- 
retary, read  its  message.  Four  years  ago 
the  investigation  on  Indian  soil  was  begun 
which  has  culminated  in  the  Indian  Home 
Rule  bill.  The  opening  of  the  magnificent 
Parliamentary  buildings  at  Delhi  was  the 
first  step  in  the  execution  of  the  measures 
to  be  initiated  under  that  bill. 

While  Lord  Reading,  after  resigning  from 
the  Lord  Chief  Justiceship,  was  preparing 
in  England  for  his  long  journey  to  the  East, 


there  to  assume  new  duties  as  Viceroy  and 
to  bring  his  cool,  detached  judgment  and 
great  administrative  ability  to  bear  on  the 
new  problems,  in  India  the  old  regime  was 
being  ushered  out,  and  the  first  step  toward 
Indian  Swaraj  (Home  Rule)  was  being 
formally  celebrated. 

A  PICTURESQUE  CEREMONY 

The  great  hall  of  audience  of  the  Mogul 
Emperors  on  Feb.  8  witnessed  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  impressive  ceremonies 
it  had  ever  beheld.  Beneath  the  canopy  of 
the  red  stone  arcades  of  the  Diwan-i-Am, 
and  the  great  shamiana  upheld  over  the 
semicircular  amphitheatre  built  out  from 
the  floor  of  the  hall,  the  dais  was  spread 
with  crimson  and  gold.  On  the  dais  stood 
two  golden  thrones,  one  for  the  Viceroy  and 
one  for  the  Duke  of  Connaught. 

For  the  first  time  in  their  history  the 
Princes  and  ruling  chiefs  of  India  met  as 
a  consultative  body.  They  were  robed  and 
adorned  in  all  their  panoply.  There  was 
the  Maharaja  of  Kashmir,  old  and  feeble, 
yet  full  of  dignity;  the  Prince  of  Scindia, 
in  the  uniform  of  a  General,  but  with  the 
robes  of  the  Order  of  the  Star  of  India; 
Alwar  and  Kapurthala,  in  the  splendid  blue 
cf  the  Order  of  the  Indian  Empire;  Bikanir, 
"King  of  the  Desert";  the  Sikh  Prince, 
Patiala,  wrapped  in  paler  silk,  with  jeweled 
headdress.  The  most  conspicuous  was  the 
envoy  from  Nepal,  with  a  huge  bird  of 
paradise  rising  from  the  emeralds  and  dia- 
monds of  his  coronet. 

The  ceremony  began  with  a  flourish  of 
trumpets,  and  the  vast  audience,  which  con- 
tained representatives  of  the  Indian  Gov- 
ernment, as  well  as  five  British  Generals 
headed  by  General  Lord  Rawlinson,  rose  to 
greet  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  who  entered 


138 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


robed  in  the  mantle  of  the  Garter,  in  com- 
pany with  the  Viceroy,  who  wore  the  robes 
of  the  senior  Indian  order. 

Sir  A.  B.  Wood,  Joint  Foreign  Secretary, 
read  the  proclamation  of  the  British  Em- 
peror, which  made  the  Chamber  of  Princes 
an  auxiliary  and  guide  at  the  side  of  the 
Government  of  India,  to  advance  the  inter- 
ests common  to  their  territories  and  to  Brit- 
ish India.  The  Viceroy  then  rose  and,  in  a 
carefully  framed  speech,  explained  the  steps 
by  which  the  Chamber  had  been  brought 
into  being,  tracing  briefly  the  various  stages 
of  progressive  legislation  of  which  the  new 
Parliament  was  the  culmination.  He 
pointed  out  the  regulations  which  had  been 
devised  to  insure  the  smooth  working  of 
the  future  deliberations  and  to  bring  the 
several  States  into  direct  relations  with  the 
Central  Government. 

THE  DUKE'S  HISTORIC  SPEECH 

In  a  felicitous  speech  the  Duke  of  Con- 
naught  conveyed  the  greetings  of  the  Brit- 
ish King  to  the  new  Assembly.  Despite  the 
original  autocratic  principles  on  which 
British  rule  in  India  was  based,  he  said, 
the  desire  of  his  mother,  the  late  Queen 
Victoria,  and  of  England's  successive  rulers, 
had  been  to  work  for  the  contentment  and 
prosperity  of  the  Indian  people.  The  auto- 
cratic principle  was  now  definitely  aban- 
doned as  "  inconsistent  with  the  legitimate 
demands  and  aspirations  of  the  Indian  peo- 
ple and  the  stage  of  political  development 
which  they  have  attained."  Henceforth 
India  would  have  to  bear  her  own  burdens. 
These  were  not  light.  A  contagious  fer- 
ment of  skepticism  and  unrest  was  seething 
everywhere  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  its 
workings  were  plainly  visible  in  India. 

And  India  had  also  her  special  problems. 
She  must  overcome  political  inexperience, 
the  ignorance  of  the  electorates,  the  diffi- 
culties of  handling  questions  of  race,  re- 
ligion and  custom.  The  new  Indian  Par- 
liament must  feel  its  responsibility.  On  the 
way  in  which  this  responsibility  was  faced 
depended  the  progress  of  India  toward  the 
goal  of  complete  self-government.  As  con- 
trasted with  the  upper  chamber,  a  true 
Senate  of  elder  statesmen,  the  Assembly 
would  be  called  upon  to  voice  more  directly 
the  needs  of  the  people.  Soldier  and  trader, 
owners  of  land  and  dwellers  in  cities,  Hindu 
and  Mohammedan,  Sikh  and  Christian,  all 


classes  and  communities  would  have  their 
share  of  representation.  Strong  differ- 
ences of  opinion  would  make  themselves 
felt.  At  this  point  the  Duke  of  Connaught 
made  an  earnest  plea  for  moderation  and 
self-control,  which  he  declared  would  be  the 
best  pledge  of  enduring  success.  After  a 
brief  but  eloquent  tribute  to  the  retiring 
Viceroy,  he  declared  the  Council  of  State 
and  the  Legislative  Assembly  open  under 
the  Government  of  India  act  of  1919. 

A  PERSONAL  PLEA 

The  Duke  added  to  this  formal  speech  a 
few  personal  words  which  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  assembled  Princes.  In  these 
words  he  appealed  to  them  to  forget  old 
grudges : 

Since  I  landed  [he  said]  I  have  felt  around 
me  bitterness  and  estrangement  between 
those  who  have  been  and  should  be  friends. 
The  shadow  of  Amritsar  has  lengthened  over 
the  fair  face  of  India.  I  know  how  deep  is 
the  concern  felt  by  his  Majesty  the  King- 
Emperor  at  the  terrible  chapter  of  events  in 
the  Punjab.  No  one  can  deplore  those  events 
more  intensely  than  I  do  myself.  I  have 
reached  a  time  of  life  when  I  most  desire  to 
heal  wounds,  and  to  reunite  those  who  have 
been  disunited.  In  what  must  be,  I  fear,  my 
last  visit  to  the  India  I  love  so  well,  here 
in  the  new  capital  inaugurating  a  Constitu- 
tion, I  am  moved  to  make  you  a  personal 
appeal,  put  in  simple  words  that  come  from, 
my  heart,  not  to  be  coldly  and  critically  in- 
terpreted. My  experience  tells  me  that  mis- 
understandings usually  mean  mistakes  on 
either  side.  As  an  old  friend  of  India,  I 
appeal  to  you  all,  British  and  Indians,  to 
bury  along  with  the  dead  past  the  mistakes 
and  misunderstandings  of  the  past,  to  forgive 
where  you  have  to  forgive,  and  to  join  hands 
and  to  work  together  to  realize  the  hopes 
that  arise  from  today. 

The  Duke  was  followed  by  the  Prince  of 
Scindia,  who  thanked  the  British  for  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  Parliament,  and 
promised  on  behalf  of  his  fellow- Princes 
that  they  would  prove  their  loyalty  by  their 
use  of  this  great  privilege.  Several  other 
Princes  spoke  in  similar  vein,  and  the  cere- 
monies were  ended.  Other  ceremonies  and 
receptions  were  attended  by  the  Duke  in 
the  next  few  days.  When  he  departed 
many  of  the  shops  which  had  been  closed 
by  the  non-co-operationist  adherents  of  Mr. 
Gandhi  still  remained  barred  and  shuttered, 
mute  symbols  of  the  undercurrent  of  dis- 
trust and  hostility  to  British  rule  felt  among 
the  masses  of  the  Indian  people  today. 


INDIA'S  NEW  PARLIAMENT   AT   DELHI 


139 


The  first  meeting  of  the  new  Council  of 
State  was  held  on  Feb.  14.  The  session 
was  mainly  devoted  to  a  resolution  pro- 
posing a  committee  to  consider  the  repeal- 
ing or  modifying  of  "  repressive  laws." 
The  debate  showed  the  effect  of  Con- 
naught's  appeal  for  moderation.  The  reso- 
lution was  supported  by  all  sections  and 
was  accepted  by  the  Government.  The  pro- 
poser of  the  resolution,  Mr.  Sastri,  argued 
that  the  repressive  laws  engendered  discon- 
tent. An  amendment  to  demand  the  repeal 
of  the  Press  act  and  the  Seditious  Meetings 
act  was  rejected.  The  Indian  members  of 
both  houses  showed  intense  interest  in  the 
Fisher  report  and  in  the  whole  question  of 
military  expenditure.  Replying  to  interpel- 
lations, General  Lord  Rawlinson  stated  that 
the  British  regular  troops  garrisoned  in 
India  totaled  8,353  officers  and  62,393  other 
ranks.  The  Indian  officers  and  other  ranks 
aggregated  253,651.  He  further  said  that 
there  were  no  troops,  British  or  Indian,  in 
Mesopotamia,  Asiatic  Turkey  or  on  the  East 
Coast  of  Africa  which  were  maintained  on 
the  revenues  of  India.  It  was  indicated  that 
the  military  authorities  believed  the  army 
reduction  agreed  to  by  the  Government  rep- 
resented the  maximum  consistent  with 
India's  safety. 

At  the  session  of  Feb.  15  the  Legislative 
Assembly  unanimously  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion, moved  by  Mr.  Jamnadas  Dwarkadas, 
recommending  the  Governor  in  Council  to 
declare  for  the  principle  of  racial  equality, 
to  express  regret  that  the  martial  law  ad- 
ministration in  the  Punjab  had  departed 
from  this  principle,  and  to  see  that  ade- 
quate compensation  should  be  paid  the 
families  of  Indians  killed  at  Amritsar  on 
an  equal  scale  to  that  paid  to  the  families 
of  Europeans  killed  at  the  same  place.  A 
proposal  to  obtain  punishment  for  the  of- 
ficers guilty  of  the  excesses  referred  to  was 
rejected  by  General  Lord  Rawlinson  on  the 
ground  that  this  question  had  already  been 
decided  by  a  higher  military  authority. 

FRUITS  OF  MONTAGU  BILL 

The  consequences  of  the  act  under  which 
this  new  Council  has  begun  to  function, 
like  those  of  the  Home  Rule  act  for  Ire- 
land, represent  a  great  advance  toward 
autonomy.  The  law  creates  electorates 
where  none  existed  before.  It  gives  to  each 
Province  a  qualified  autonomy  like  that  en- 


joyed by  each  American  State.  For  each 
it  sets  up  an  Executive  and  a  Legislature 
into  which  the  native  and  elected  element  is 
introduced.  It  provides  arrangements  for 
increasing  year  by  year  the  responsibilities 
of  these  Legislatures  as  they  gain  in  ex- 
perience. It  still  leaves  the  franchise  nar- 
row. The  separate  vote  to  be  allowed  the 
Sikhs  and  other  special  groups  is  anomalous. 
It  puts  no  check  on  the  power  of  the  native 
rulers  who,  by  support  of  Great  Britain, 
may  hold  back  the  tide  of  progress  in  their 
respective  realms.  Yet  the  Montague  bill 
marks  an  era  in  the  history  of  India,  and 
the  best  earnest  of  the  future  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  will  come  up  every  ten  years 
for  revision  and  extension.  Its  ultimate 
success  will  depend  in  great  part  on  its  ac- 
ceptance by  the  Indian  intellectuals,  and  it 
is  here  that  the  influence  of  Mr.  Gandhi, 
with  his  preachment  of  boycott  and  non-co- 
operation, may  prove  most  dangerous.  It 
will  be  the  task  of  Lord  Reading,  as  Vice- 
roy, to  allay  the  deep  resentment  and  hos- 
tility felt  by  great  masses  of  Indian  people 
over  the  Amritsar  massacres  and  the  re- 
pressive measures  adopted  under  the  Row- 
latt  laws.  The  mind  in  which  Lord  Read- 
ing will  attack  the  problems  facing  him  was 
revealed  by  him  at  a  dinner  organized  by 
the  English-Speaking  Union  in  London  on 
Feb.  12,  when  he  declared  his  belief  that 
"the  people  of  India  will  make  the  same 
warm  response  to  generous  treatment  as 
our  own  people,"  and  that  "  in  India,  as 
here,  justice  must  reign  supreme." 

Important  changes  of  practice  were  an- 
nounced on  Feb.  12  regarding  the  settle- 
ment of  disputes  between  the  Indian  Gov- 
ernment and  the  native  Princes.  Cases  of 
local  misrule  in  future  are  to  be  referred 
to  a  Commission  of  Investigation,  unless 
the  safety  of  the  State  is  involved,  when 
the  State  reserves  its  right  of  immediate 
action.  Disputes  are  to  be  settled  hence- 
forth by  a  Court  of  Arbitration.  A  stand- 
ing committee  of  the  new  Chamber  of 
Princes  is  also  to  be  instituted,  to  include 
representatives  from  Western  India,  Cen- 
tral India,  Rajputana  and  the  Punjab.  Its 
function  will  be  to  consider  all  questions 
referred  to  it  by  the  Viceroy  and  to  advise 
him  concerning  them.  This  standing  com- 
mittee will  also  consult  with  the  Political 
Secretary  in  framing  agenda  for  the  Cham- 
ber. 


JAPAN'S  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES 

Continued  opposition  to  the  Government's  policies  in  Siberia  and  Korea — A  growing 
movement  for  reforms  and  for  the  elimination  of  "Invisible"  Government — Apology 
to  the  United  States  for  the  murder  of  an  American  officer 

[Pfriod  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


THE  Siberian  and  Korean  policies  of  the 
Japanese  Cabinet  are  extremely  un- 
popular among  an  ever-growing  op- 
position element  at  home.  The  onslaughts 
against  them  are  by  no  means  confined  to 
the  floor  of  the  Diet.  Viscount  Kato's  re- 
cent attacks  have  shown  clearly  enough 
that  the  Government's  continued  occupation 
of  Siberia,  as  well  as  its  course  in  Korea, 
is  strongly  disapproved  by  the  powerful 
Kenseikai,  or  Opposition  Party.  The  dis- 
satisfaction extends  to  the  whole  policy 
relating  to  the  war,  from  which  Japan  is 
alleged  to  have  come  out  second  best,  and 
to  the  relations  with  America.  According 
to  Viscount  Kato's  speeches,  there  is  a  gen- 
eral feeling  that  under  Premier  Hara  Japan 
has  lost  prestige. 

The  Government  has  thus  far  held  firm 
against  these  onslaughts,  but  its  position  is 
by  no  means  enviable.  The  expedition  to 
Chentao,  ostensibly  to  put  down  Korean 
Bolshevist  uprisings  on  the  Manchurian 
border,  brought  an  aftermath  of  the  most 
bitter  attacks  both  abroad  and  at  home. 
What  must  be  the  feelings  of  sensitive 
Japanese  when  they  read  such  words  as 
those  spoken,  for  instance,  by  the  Rev.  R. 
P.  Mackay  of  Toronto'  before  the  opening 
session  of  the  American  Section  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Commission  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  the  World,  held  in  Washington, 
Pa.,  on  Feb.  16  ?  Dr.  Mackay,  who  is  Sec- 
retary of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church,  said  in 
part: 

The  brutality  of  Japan's  treatment  of  the 
Koreans  is  unique  in  modern  times.  It  is 
comparable  only  to  Turkish  massacres  in 
Armenia.  One  illustration  of  such  barbarity 
will  suffice.  It  is  from  a  missionary  who 
speaks  from  personal  knowledge. 

The  scene  is  Manchuria,  in  Chinese  terri- 
tory, to  which  many  Koreans  had  migrated 
in  order  to  escape  Japanese  tyranny  in  their 
own  country.  Against  earnest  protests  from 
China,  Japan  sent  15,000  men  with  the  seem- 
ing purpose  of  wiping  out  the  whole  Korean 
community,  especially  young  men.  Village 
after    village   was   methodically    burned   and 


the  young  men  were  shot.  This  method  was 
simple.  At  daybreak  a  complete  cordon  of 
Japanese  infantry  surrounded  a  village,  set 
fire  to  immense  stacks  of  unthrashed  millet, 
barley  and  straw,  and  then  ordered  the  in- 
habitants of  the  houses  outside. 

In  each  case,  as  soon  as  father  and  son 
appeared,  they  were  shot  at  sight,  and  as 
they  fell  on  their  faces,  wounded  and  dead 
alike,  they  were  covered  with  burning  straw. 
The  missionary  saw  with  his  own  eyes  the 
bloodstains  caused  by  bayonet  thrusts  in- 
flicted upon  wounded  men  as  they  strove  to 
rise  from  the  flames. 

The  missionary  quoted  states  that  he  had 
in  his  possession  the  names  and  accurate  re- 
ports of  thirty-two  villages  subjected  to  such 
fiendish  inhumanity.  In  one  village  144  men 
were  killed,  houses  burned,  women  and  chil- 
dren perishing  in  the  flames.  In  one  village 
fourteen  men  were  made  to  stand  in  front 
of  a  large  open  grave,  shot,  and  their  bodies 
consumed  with  wood  and  oil. 

These  are  but  typical  cases.  Such  a  reign 
of  terror  prevailed  and  prevails  still  at  the 
hands  of  a  nation  that  claims  and  resents 
any  lack  of  recognition  among  civilized  na- 
tions. Such  was  her  conduct  at  home,  even 
when  her  representatives  sat  as  members  of 
the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

GOVERNMENT  ATTACKED  ON  KOREA 

Such  a  statement  goes  far  toward  ex- 
plaining the  bitterness  of  the  Opposition 
attacks  in  the  Japanese  Diet.  One  of  the 
latest  of  these  was  delivered  by  Represen- 
tative Ichiro  Kiyose  of  the  Kokumin-to,  or 
Nationalist  Party,  before  the  Diet  on  March 
2.  The  Representative  mentioned  especially 
the  destruction  by  Japanese  troops  of 
Christian  churches  and  schools  at  Chentao. 
Reports  abroad,  he  declared,  had  made  the 
Japanese  appear  "  in  the  role  of  blood- 
thirsty devils." 

Admiral  Saito,  Governor  of  Korea,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  a  statement  to  the  press  is- 
sued on  the  same  date,  denied  that  the  Jap-, 
anese  troops  had  singled  out  Christian  con- 
verts in  Manchuria  for  persecution  and 
death,  and  charged  that  many  Koreans  had 
adopted  the  Christian  religion  merely  as  a 
cloak  to  cover  anti-Japanese  Agitation.     He 


JAPAN'S  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES 


141 


also  charged  that  many  Koreans  had  made 
untruthful  reports,  on  the  basis  of  which  a 
number  of  innocent  people  had  beer,  exe- 
cuted. Orders  had  now  been  issued  to  all 
troop  commanders  not  to  accept  false  Ko- 
rean testimony. 

The  hatred  of  the  Koreans  for  any  com- 
patriot who  sanctioned  the  Japanese  policy 
of  forcible  assimilation  was  dramatically 
emphasized  on  Feb.  18,  when  Bingen  Shoku, 
a  native  Korean,  who  was  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  this  policy,  was  assassinated  in  a 
hotel  at  Tokio.  Mr.  Yamagata,  editor  of  the 
semi-official  Seoul  Press,  then  in  Tokio, 
stated  that  Bingen  Shoku  was  the  most 
hated  man  in  Korea  because  he  supported 
the  Japanese  administration.  Other  Korean 
leaders  of  this  type,  as  well  as  prominent 
Japanese  officials,  had  been  marked  for 
death,  said  Mr.  Yamagata. 

At  various  sessions  of  the  Diet  the  Gov- 
ernment's policy  in  Siberia  was  also  made 
the  object  of  attack,  and  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Japanese   forces   was   demanded.     The 


Government  maintained  its  view  that  the 
withdrawal  could  not  be  effected  until  a 
stable  Siberian  Government  existed.  The 
relations  between  the  military  command  in 
Siberia  and  the  semi-Bolshevist  Chita  Gov- 
ernment continued  to  be  strained,  and  the 
Japanese  protection  accorded  the  former 
anti-Bolshevist  General,  Semenov,  in  Har- 
bin, was  much  resented.  The  Chita  Govern- 
ment charged  in  a  long  note  sent  to  Tokio 
in  January  that  Semenov  was  preparing  to 
launch  a  new  onslaught  on  the  Russians, 
and  declared  that  the  whole  policy  of  the 
Japanese  was  one  of  encouragement  of 
bandit  attacks  upon  the  Russian  inhabi- 
tants. 

REJECTION   OF  DISARMAMENT 

Fear  of  the  proposed  intention  of  the 
United  States  to  expand  its  navy  led  to  re- 
jection of  a  resolution  offered  by  Yukio 
Ozaki,  an  Opposition  leader,  before  the  Jap- 
anese House  of  Representatives  on  Feb.  10, 


('Tint ea    Wide     World    Photos) 
HIROHITO  SHINNO 
Crotvn  Prmce  of  Japan,  who  recently  mar- 
ried the  oldest  daughter  of  Prince  Kuni 


PRINCESS  NAGAKO 
Bride  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Japan 


142 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


calling  for  a  curtailment  of  Japan's  naval 
armament.  General  Tsuda,  on  behalf  of  the 
Government,  declared  that  conditions  in 
China  and  Siberia  were  unsatisfactory,  and 
on  this  account  Japan  co\  id  not  check  her 
proposed  military  and  naval  growth.  Un- 
discouraged  by  this  rejection,  Representa- 
tive Ozaki  continued  his  campaign  for  dis- 
armament, and  formed  several  associations 
to  promote  the  movement.  Leading  men  of 
Osaka,  Japan's  great  industrial  centre, 
agreed  to  form  a  league  for  this  purpose 
and  to  get  the  co-operation  of  business 
communities  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

The  whole  movement  was  regarded  in 
Tokio  as  a  serious  attempt  to  control  the 
policies  of  the  militarists,  and  to  do  away 
with  the  "  invisible  Government "  which 
they  exercised.  It  has  been  asserted  by 
students  of  modern  Japan  that  there  are  in 
reality  three  Governments,  the  Cabinet, 
the  Militarists,  and  the  Capitalists.  The 
Militarists  impose  their  will  more  or  less 
openly,  and  it  is  they  who  are  responsible 
for  the  Korean  and  Siberian  policies;  their 
interests  coincide  with  those  of  the  capital- 
ists, with  whom  several  eminent  Japanese 
statesmen  are  allied.  One  of  the  main  rea- 
sons for  the  opposition  to  the  military- 
capitalistic  policies  is  the  desire  to  save 
some  of  the  enormous  costs  of  armaments 
and  to  use  the  funds  so  saved  for  internal 
economic  and  educational  improvements,  of 
which  the  country  is  sorely  in  need. 

A  crisis  between  the  Oppositionists  and 
the  Cabinet  came  on  Feb.  19,  when  the  for- 
mer offered  a  resolution  of  lack  of  confi- 
dence in  the  Government.  The  session  was 
extremely  turbulent,  the  galleries  crowded, 
and  the  police  reserves  were  stationed  both 
within  and  outside  the  building.  Speakers 
on  both  sides  were  hooted  alike  from  the 
galleries  and  from  the  floor.  Tokitoshi 
Taketomi,  former  Minister  of  Finance, 
spoke  for  the  Kenseikai  or  Opposition 
Party.  He  declared  that  the  Government 
had  failed  in  its  efforts  at  home,  and  that  it 
had  brought  disgrace  to  Japan  abroad.  Mr. 
Moka,  former  Speaker  of  the  Chamber,  de- 
fended the  Government.  The  Opposition 
resolution  was  defeated  in  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  259  to  141.  Following  this  vote, 
violent  demonstrations  began  outside  the 
Diet.  The  police  intervened  and  made 
many  arrests.  At  simultaneous  meetings 
in  various  city  parks  the  resignation  of  the 


Government  was  demanded.  At  a  mass 
meeting  attended  by  at  least  20,000  people 
a  resolution  was  passed  declaring  that  the 
people  had  no  confidence  in  the  Govern- 
ment. 

RELATIONS  WITH  AMERICA 

Regarding  California's  anti  -  Japanese 
legislation,  the  attitude  of  the  Japanese 
Government  is  one  of  watchful  waiting. 
The  treaty  negotiations  at  Washington  have 
not  yet  been  completed.  Japan's  main  de- 
mand has  been  that  the  application  of  the 
new  land-ownership  laws  in  California 
should  not  be  discriminatory  in  her  case 
alone.  The  dispute  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan  over  the  island  of  Yap 
has  grown  into  a  serious  issue,  which  is 
treated  fully  elsewhere.    [Pages  101-110.] 

The  complication  caused  by  the  act  of  a 
Japanese  sentry  at  Vladivostok  in  shootin'g 
and  killing  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Langdon,  an 
American  naval  officer,  early  in  January, 
was  settled  when  Japan,  on  Feb.  22,  sent  to 
the  American  Embassy  at  Tokio  a  full  apol- 
ogy, together  with  a  report  on  the  findings 
of  the  court-martial  instituted.  Major  Gen. 
Nishihara,  commander  of  the  Japanese  gar- 
rison at  Vladivostok,  had  been  found  pri- 
marily responsible  for  the  fact  that  the 
sentry  had  been  improperly  trained  and 
that  his  instructions  had  been  unclear;  the 
General  had  been  removed  from  active  ser- 
vice. Other  officers  had  been  punished  by 
suspension.  The  sentry,  Toshigora  Ogasa- 
wara,  had  been  exonerated  of  ill  intention, 
but  had  been  punished  for  deception  in  giv- 
ing his  version  of  what  had  occurred.  The 
facts  were  that  the  sentry  had  challenged 
the  officer  three  times  on  seeing  him  ap- 
proach in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning 
with -a  pocket  lamp;  receiving  no  answer, 
he  had  run  after  him  and  asked  him  in  Rus- 
sian if  he  was  an  American;  not  under- 
standing the  answer,  he  had  tried  to  seize 
the  light,  had  thought  himself  threatened, 
and  had  fired  when  the  officer  moved  away. 
The  Government's  note  of  apology  ex- 
pressed "  deep  regret  "  and  offered  to  make 
all  possible  reparation.  Secretary  Colby 
praised  Japan's  action  as  prompt  and  sin- 
cere, and  declared  that  it  would  be  appre- 
ciated in  the  United  States. 

All  the  larger  islands  of  the  Caroline 
group,  in  the  Pacific,  of  which  Japan  has 


JAPAN'S  DOMESTIC  TROUBLES 


143 


become  the  mandatary  under  the  League  of 
Nations,  joined  in  a  celebration  Feb.  11  of 
the  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Japanese  dynasty.  Games  and  other  exer- 
cises were  closed  by  the  singing  of  the  Jap- 
anese national  anthem.  The  Japanese  navy 
was  represented.  Similar  celebrations  oc- 
curred in  the  Marshall  Islands. 

Announcement     of     the     resignation     of 
Prince  Yamagata  as  President  of  the  Privy 


Council  coincided  with  the  official  an- 
nouncement of  the  betrothal  of  the  Japanese 
heir-apparent,  Hirohito,  to  Princess  Na- 
*gako.  Prince  Hirohito  was  planning  a  visit 
to  England — a  project  which  had  met  with 
opposition  in  the  press.  Prince  Yamagata, 
who  is  over  83  years  old,  has  long  been  con- 
demned by  a  section  of  the  Japanese  public 
and  press  as  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  mili- 
tary party. 


THE   CURSE   OF   MILITARISM    IN    CHINA 

Hehlessness  of  the  people  under  the  burden  and  lootings  of  the  provincial  Governors9 
armies — Millions  still  facing  death  by  starvation — America's  contributions  for  relief 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


Harris    <&    Eicing) 
DR.   ALFRED  SAO  SZE 
N<w    Chinese   Minister   to    the    United   States, 
succeeding    Wellington   Koo 


rnHE  woes  of  China  suffer  no  abatement. 
■*-  Sun  Yat-sen,  the  first  President  of  the 
Chinese  Republic,  has  remained  with  his  ad- 
herents encamped  in  the  southern  city  of 
Canton,  irreconcilably  hostile  to  the  Peking 
Government,  which  the  Canton  faction  con- 
tinues to  denounce  as  unspeakably  corrupt 
and  in  sympathy  with  the  Japanese  exploit- 
ers. Active  hostilities  between  the  North- 
ern and  Southern  forces  have  momentarily 
died  down,  but  the  ills  of  the  years  of  pro- 
tracted strife  are  rampant  in  the  life  of  the 
nation  everywhere. 

The  combined  military  forces  in  all  the 
provinces  have  been  estimated  at  over  a 
million  and  a  half.  What  is  most  needed  is 
disbandment,  for  which  the  Tuchuns,  or 
Military  Governors,  of  the  respective  prov- 
inces show  no  inclination.  Counting  long 
arrears  of  pay,  the  cost  of  disbanding  the 
armies  would  probably  exceed  the  vast  sum 
of  $100,000,000,  and  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment is  bankrupt.  Meanwhile  the  long- 
suffering  people  are  compelled  to  endure 
the  lootings,  incendiarism  and  murder  per- 
petrated by  the  lawless  and  discontented 
soldiers,  and  the  richest  cities  are  forced  to 
pay  tribute  for  their  support — in  sums 
euphemistically  called  "loans."  In  certain 
districts — notably  in  Kweichow,  Szechuan 
and  Fukien — the  militarists  have  been  forc- 
ing the  farmers  to  cultivate  again  the  pro- 
hibited poppy,  to  provide  opium  for  the  sol- 
diers, inflicting  drastic  punishment  on  all 


144 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


who  refuse.  So  military  anarchy  reigns, 
and  the  Chinese  people  have  no  redress,  as 
the  Peking  Government  has  no  power  over 
the  arrogant  and  powerful  Tuchuns,  who 
rule  only  for  their  own  advantage. 

China,  it  appears,  is  again  to  lose  Mon- 
golia. Outraged  by  the  lawless  actions  of 
the  10,000  Chinese  soldiers  garrisoning 
Urga,  the  Mongols  called  in  some  2,000 
"  White "  Russians,  under  Baron  Ungern, 
one  of  Semenov's  former  Generals,  and  be- 
sieged the  Mongol  capital  for  three  months. 
On  Feb.  14  the  Chinese  soldiers  gave  way 
before  the  incessant  shellfire  and  evacuated 
Urga,  bag  and  baggage.  The  Chinese  were 
said  to  be  in  a  serious  position,  for  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  Gobi  Desert,  open  to 
the  operations  of  the  Mongol  cavalry,  lay 
between  them  and  their  base.  Since  the 
coup  d'etat  in  November,  1919,  the  Mongols 
had  been  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  re- 
cover their  lost  dominion. 

The  Chinese  famine  still  threatens  death 
to  millions,  but  the  inpour  of  relief  has 
been  having  some  effect  since  February. 
The  funds  in  sight  on  Feb.  18  amounted  to 
about  $10,000,000,  which  included  contribu- 
tions from  America  amounting  to  $6,000,- 
000.  Sums  approximating  $4,000,000  had 
been  contributed  by  the  Rockefellers  alone. 
The  American  Red  Cross  had  accomplished 
miracles  in  road  building  and  direct  relief 
measures.  Many  rich  Chinese  had  also  re- 
sponded. It  was  estimated  that  $7,000,000 
additional  would  be  necessary  to  take  care 
of  the  famine-stricken  areas  until  the  com- 
ing harvest.  Official  figures  quoted  by 
Senator  Kenyon  of  Iowa  on  Feb.  25,  in  pre- 
senting his  Senate  bill  for  relief,  indicated 
that  14,000,000  Chinese  were .  then  facing 
starvation,  and  that  the  daily  death  toll  was 
about  7,000.     The  Senate  voted  a  grant  of 


$500,000  to  defray  the  cost  of  moving  across 
the  ocean  grain  given  by  the  American 
farmers.  Statements  made  by  Thomas  W. 
Lamont,  Chairman  of  the  American  commit- 
tee, showed  that  American  churches  had 
contributed  more  than  $3,000,000. 

Alfred  Sao  Sze,  the  new  Minister  of  the 
Chinese  Republic,  arrived  in  New  York  on 
Feb.  24.  Mr.  Sze  spoke  optimistically  of  condi- 
tions in  his  country.  He  admitted  that  un- 
rest and  political  disturbance  existed  in 
China,  but  declared  that  such  conditions 
always  prevailed  for  a  time  in  every  coun- 
try where  a  fundamental  change  in  the  life 
of  the  people  had  taken  place.  New  parlia- 
mentary machinery  was  being  worked  out  in 
China,  he  said,  by  men  trained  under  the  old 
system.  It  was  a  question  of  training,  not 
of  racial  incapacity  or  faults  of  character. 
The  eventual  peaceful  development  of  China 
was  a  certainty,  he  declared,  if  that  de- 
velopment were  not  deflected  by  foreign 
agencies  into  channels  of  militarism.  The 
Chinese  were  adaptable,  and  would  survive, 
not  as  an  ancient,  dying  race,  but  as  "a 
great,  coherent  body  of  400,000,000  people." 

A  note  dispatched  by  the  Washington 
Government  to  Peking  on  Feb.  16  declared 
that  the  United  States  would  regard  as  an 
unfriendly  act  the  cancellation  by  the  Chi- 
nese Government  of  a  contract  made  with 
the  Federal  Telegraph  Company,  an  Ameri- 
can company,  to  erect  a  high-power  wireless 
plant  at  Shanghai.  This  note  followed  re- 
ceipt of  information  that  a  British  Marconi 
company,  supported  by  the  British  Minister 
to  Peking,  was  endeavoring  to  have  the 
American  company's  contract  abrogated. 
The  United  States  also  sent  a  note  on  the 
subject  to  the  British  Government,  insisting 
on  the  maintenance  of  "  the  open  door." 


MEXICAN  RECOGNITION  DELAYED 

Demand  that  Mexico  sign  a  written  agreement  to  protect  American  lives  and  property 
likely  to  hinder  resumption  of  relations  indefinitely — Status  of  the  oil  question 


[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


SENATOR  ALBERT  B.  FALL,  in  a  let- 
ter written  a  few  days  before  he  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  the  Interior  by 
President  Harding,  said :  "  So  long  as  I 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  Mexican  ques- 
tion, no  Government  in  Mexico  will  be  recog- 
nized, with  my  consent,  which  Government 
does  not  first  enter  into  a  written  agree- 
ment promising  to  protect  American  citizens 
and  their  property  rights  in  Mexico." 
Should  Mexico  refuse  to  enter  into  such  an 
agreement,  he  added,  "  then  the  question 
would  arise  as  to  whether  the  United 
States  should  simply  pursue  a  silent  policy 
of  inaction  or  whether  it  should  take  im- 
mediately other  action." 

This  letter  was  written  to  the  National 
Association  for  the  Protection  of  American 
Rights  in  Mexico,  and  that  body  made  it 
public  on  March  1,  announcing  that  it  was 
"  a  concise  and  comprehensive  statement  of 
the  policy  for  which  this  association 
stands."  Although  recognition  would  come 
from  the  State  Department  and  not  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Mr.  Fall's 
position  of  close  intimacy  with  President 
Harding  is  sufficient  to  indicate  the  possi- 
bility that  the  United  States  may  not  recog- 
nize the  Mexican  Government  during  the 
present  Administration.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Mexican  Foreign  Office,  according  to  a 
dispatch  dated  March  5,  announced  that 
Mexico  would  appoint  no  Ambassador  to  the 
United  States  until  recognition  was  ten- 
dered by  the  American  Government.  Thus 
there  is  a  deadlock  on  both  sides. 

Virtually  all  the  American  oil  companies 
are  in  agreement  with  Secretary  Fall's 
policy,  according  to  Guy  Stevens,  a  Director 
of  the  Association  of  Producers  of  Petro- 
leum in  Mexico.  Mr.  Stevens  says  that  the 
property  of  American  petroleum  producers 
is  menaced  by  the  threat  of  confiscation 
contained  in  the  new  Mexican  Constitution 
and  the  Carranza  decrees.  A  new  organ- 
ization, called  the  American  Association  of 
Mexico,  takes  up  practically  the  same  cry, 


demanding  that  Mexico  rewrite  her  Consti- 
tution, eliminating  particularly  clauses 
against  foreigners  holding  land — clauses 
somewhat  similar  to  those  which  California 
is  enforcing  against  the  Japanese. 

PRESIDENT     OBREGON     REASSURED 

President  Obregon,  who  had  sent  a  tele- 
gram of  congratulation  to  President  Har- 
ding, told  a  group  of  newspaper  men  on 
March  5  that  he  believed  the  new  Adminis- 
tration would  be  fair  and  just.  He  thought 
the  naming  of  Mr.  Fletcher  as  Under  Secre- 
tary of  State  was  a  guarantee  to  Latin 
America,  as  Mr.  Fletcher  was  in  sympathy 
with  Latin-American  countries.  President 
Obregon  had  not  made  efforts  for  recogni- 
tion, as  he  thought  the  United  States  would 
recognize  Mexico  when  most  convenient  to 
the  interests  of  the  United  States. 

Mexico  was  not  seeking  a  loan,  the  Presi- 
dent said,  but  expected  to  make  arrange- 
ments with  creditors  to  settle  her  debts.  An 
invitation  had  been  sent  to  creditors  to  dis- 
cuss the  manner  to  regulate  all  debts.  Dur- 
ing the  three  months  of  his  Administration 
the  budget  had  been  equalized,  expenses  re- 
duced and  the  agrarian  problem  had  been 
expanded.  The  country  was  at  peace  with 
herself  for  the  first  time  since  1910,  and  re- 
construction was  proceeding  rapidly.  The 
railroad  situation,  he  predicted,  would  be 
normal  within  six  months. 

Regarding  the  oil  question,  President 
Obregon  declined  to  make  a  statement  pend- 
ing action  by  Congress.  The  American  State 
Department  in  February  inquired  of  the 
Charge  d'Aff aires  in  Mexico  City  concern- 
ing reports  that  the  Obregon  Government 
had  put  into  force  a  provision  that  drilling 
permits  would  be  granted  only  to  such  com- 
panies as  had  registered  their  properties. 
It  was  intimated  that  the  Aguilar,  a  British 
company,  was  the  only  one  complying  with 
the  law,  which,  it  was  alleged,  favored 
British  interests.  The  Charge  d'Affaires 
replied  on  Feb.  22,  quoting  the  Mexican  De- 


146 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


partment  of  Industry  as  declaring  that  ap- 
plicants for  permits  to  drill  oil  wells  "  are 
only  required  to  prove  with  authentic  docu- 
ments that  they  own  or  rent  the  lands  on 
which  they  wish  to  drill." 

A  plot  to  capture  Tampico  by  forces 
headed  by  Humberto  Barros  and  Velasco  Rus 
was  frustrated  on  Feb.  18,  both  leaders  flee- 
ing. Mexican  newspapers  accused  the 
American  oil  companies  in  the  Tampico  and 
Tuxpam  fields  of  being  back  of  the  abortive 
revolt  and  of  furnishing  arms  to  American 
workmen.  As  a  precautionary  measure, 
the  Government  on  Feb.  23  ordered  that  all 
arms  and  ammunition  at  Tampico  be  seized. 

NATURE  MAY  SETTLE  THE  OIL 
QUESTION 

There  is  a  possibility  that  the  oil  con- 
troversy will  be  settled  without  any  serious 
trouble  by  Nature  herself  through  the  fail- 
ing of  the  oil  wells.  Ralph  Arnold,  Chair- 
man of  the  petroleum  and  gas  section  of 
the  American  Institute  of  Mining  and 
Metallurgical  Engineers,  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing stated  that  at  the  present  rate  of  pro- 
duction the  latter  part  of  1922  would  see 
the  end  to  the  proved  big  oil  fields  of  Mexico. 
About  two-thirds  of  Mexico's  production 
was  coming  from  Los  Naranjos,  a  pool  which 
probably  would  be  extinct  by  early  Summer 
on  account  of  the  encroachment  of  salt 
water. 

Reports  from  Tampico  on  Feb.  17  stated 
that  the  oil  districts  of  Amatitlan  were 
showing  signs  of  exhausion,  due  to  the  com- 
panies forcing  production,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  wells  were  coming  into  salt  water. 

The  oil  companies  of  the  Tampico  region 
have  announced  a  cut  of  20  per  cent,  in 
wages  and  are  about  to  reduce  their  forces. 

A  new  record  for  export  of  oil  from  Mexico, 
however,  was  made  in  January,  when  twen- 
ty companies  shipped  18,481,137  barrels. 
Despite  Mexico's  large  production,  amount- 
ing to  87,073,000  in  1919,  it  was  only  16 
per  cent,  of  the  world  output  of  544,885,000 
barrels.  Of  this  total  America  produced 
377,719,000,  standing  first  with  69  per  cent. 


A  general  strike  was  begun  on  the  Na- 
tional Railroad  lines  on  Feb.  22.  A  long 
section  of  the  Colima  road  to  the  west  coast 
was  torn  up,  telegraph  stations  were  en- 
tered and  instruments  destroyed.  President 
Obregon  replied  by  stationing  troops  in  the 
railway  offices  in  Mexico  City  and  dispatch- 
ing others  to  take  possession  of  outlying 
stations.  More  than  10,000  volunteer  strike- 
breakers applied  for  jobs,  and  by  Feb.  25 
trains  were  operated  on  all  railroads,  de- 
spite the  fact  that  more  than  125,000  em- 
ployes had  joined  the  strike.  Two  days 
later  all  trains  were  being  operated  on  only 
slightly  reduced  schedules. 

The  strikers  who  remained  out  then  re- 
sorted to  violence,  causing  a  wreck  on  the 
Tampico  line  and  the  killing  of  twelve  pas- 
sengers, besides  the  injury  of  twenty.  The 
War  Department  ordered  the  Chief  of  Op- 
erations to  proceed  against  the  authors  of 
the  wreck,  treating  them  as  common  high- 
waymen and  subject  to  immediate  execu- 
tion. On  the  road  between  Monterey  and 
San  Luis  Potosi  fifteen  belligerent  strikers 
were  captured  and  executed  summarily. 
Evidence  is  accumulating  that  the  railroad 
strike  was  largely  political  in  its  inception, 
and  was  an  attempt  to  embarrass  the  Ad- 
ministration. 

Four  sailors,  said  to  be  Americans,  part 
of  the  crew  of  the  Norwegian  ship  Sazon, 
were  killed  in  Tampico  on  March  11,  ac- 
cording to  newspaper  dispatches  received  in 
Mexico  City.  They  were  attacked,  as  they 
were  boarding  a  launch,  by  five  masked  men 
in  another  launch. 

American,  German  and  Russian  agitators 
have  been  busy  in  Mexico  City  urging  over- 
throw of  the  Government  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Soviet  regime,  but  have  re- 
ceived no  encouragement  from  Mexican 
labor.  Concerning  all  such  activities  per- 
haps the  best  comment  is  that  of  William 
G.  McAdoo,  who  said  on  his  return  from 
Mexico  City:  "Under  President  Obregon 
the  prospects  of  clean,  efficient  and  stable 
Government  in  Mexico  is  better  than  at 
any  time  since  the  revolution  began  ten 
years  ago." 


DR.  ZAYAS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT  OF  CUBA 

Elections  held   in  four  Provinces   to  settle   the   dispute  regarding  the 
Presidency  result  in  confirming  the  claim  of  the  Conservative  candidate 

[Period  Ended  March  16,  1921] 


GENERAL  CROWDER  succeeded  in 
bringing  together  Jose  Miguel  Gomez, 
who  was  defeated  for  the  Presidency  last 
Autumn,  and  President  Menocal,  who  fa- 
vored the  candidacy  of  Alfredo  Zayas,  who 
was  elected  on  the  face  of  the  returns.  He 
asked  them  to  agree  to  abide  by  the  sec- 
ondary elections  in  places  where  fraud  was 
charged,  which  were  postponed  to  March 
15.  A  pact  of  honor  was  effected  at  a 
meeting  of  all  political  factions  on  Feb.  26. 
President  Menocal  agreed  to  refrain  from 
nominating  military  supervisors,  and  it  was 
decided  to  have  an  Inspector  for  each  vot- 
ing district  to  represent  the  Central  Elec- 
toral Board. 

Nevertheless,  feeling  was  very  bitter,  and 
it  was  said  the  Miguelistas,  or  adherents 
of  Gomez,  were  determined  to  force  Amer- 
ican intervention  if  they  could  not  win,  and 
the  Liguistas,  or  Conservative-Zayas  coali- 
tion, were  no  less  determined  that  Gomez 
should  not  be  President.  Matters  came  to 
a  head  at  Colon,  in  Matanzas  Province,  on 
March  9  as  the  result  of  a  gunfight  in  the 
City  Hall  between  partisans  of  Mayor  Soto- 
longo  and  members  of  the  police  force. 
Three  hundred  shots  were  fired,  the  Chief 
of  Police  was  seriously  wounded,  and  the 
Assistant  Chief  killed.  When  the  new  elec- 
tions were  held  in  four  provinces  on  March 
15  the  Liberal  Party  stayed  away  from  the 
polls.  The  returns  reported  next  day  showed 
that  Dr.  Zayas  had  again  been  elected 
President  of  Cuba  by  a  substantial  major- 
ity. 

President  Menocal  has  signed  a  bill  to 
create  a  selling  commission  to  handle  the 
1920-21  sugar  crop,  and  the  commission 
was  organized  on  Feb.  24.  Manuel  Rienda 
of  the  Cuba  Cane  Sugar  Corporation  and 
R.  B.  Hawley  of  the  Cuban-American  Com- 
pany, representing  the  large  producers;  J. 
M.  Tarafa  and  Manuel  Aspuru,  representing 
the  independents;  Porfirio  Franca  of  the 
National  City  Bank,  Frank  J.  Beatty  of  the 
Royal   Bank  of   Canada,   and   General   Eu- 


genio  Agramonte,  Cuban  Secretary  of  Ag- 
riculture, representing  the  Government, 
form  the  commission.  No  shipments  of 
sugar  are  to  be  made  from  Cuba  except 
upon  its  authorization.  It  will  fix  prices, 
which  will  be  changed  fro  mtime  to  time, 
with  due  regard  to  market  conditions,  and 
will  make  sales  to  be  distributed  pro  rata 
among  the  holders  of  sugar. 

Cuba  is  bidding  for  Chinese  labor  to  work 
in  the  cane  fields.  The  steamship  Penza, 
plying  between  Asiatic  and  Cuban  ports, 
left  Honolulu  with  700  Chinese  immigrants 
aboard,  according  to  a  dispatch  from  Ha- 
vana on  Feb.  19. 

SANTO  DOMINGO 

A  Dominican  commission,  authorized  in 
the  proclamation  of  Dec.  23,  1920,  promul- 
gated as  the  first  step  in  the  direction  of 
eventual  withdrawal  of  the  American  forces 
from  Santo  Domingo,  it  was  announced  by 
Secretary  Colby  on  Feb.  18,  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  Admiral  Snowden  as  Military 
Governor  of  the  Dominican  Republic,  and 
had  organized  for  business,  with  Judge  Os- 
trand  of  the  Dominican  Land  Court  acting 
temporarily  as  technical  adviser  to  the  com- 
mission. It  is  composed  of  seven  members, 
headed  by  Mgr.  Adolfo  A.  Nouel,  former 
President  of  the  Dominican  Republic  and 
Archbishop  of  Santo  Domingo. 

BRITISH  WEST  INDIAN  FEDERATION 

A  movement  to  unite  all  the  British  col- 
onies in  the  West  Indies,  including  the  Ba- 
hamas and  Bermuda,  British  Guiana  and 
British  Honduras,  is  making  rapid  progress. 
A  West  Indian  Court  of  Appeal  has  been 
formed  and  first  steps  have  been  taken  to 
bring  about  uniform  laws.  A  West  Indian 
university,  a  uniform  currency  and  a  reg- 
ular line  of  steamers  are  among  the  proj- 
ects favored.  Aviation  will  play  its  part 
in  welding  together  West  Indian  interests. 
Bermuda  and  the  Bahamas  are  today 
centres  of  flying,  and  a  base  will  soon  be 


148 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


established  at  Trinidad  for  an  extension 
of  a  mail  air  route  from  Canada  to  South 
America  via  Bermuda,  the  Bahamas  and 
Trinidad. 

Quick  response  was  given  by  the  British 
Foreign  Office  to  a  resolution  introduced 
by  Senator  Reed  on  Feb.  18,  requesting  the 
President  to  "  ascertain  whether  Great  Brit- 
ain is  willing  to  consider  the  cession  by  it 
to  the  United  States  of  all  or  any  part  of 
its  possessions  in  the  West  Indies  "  in  re- 
turn for  cancellation  of  war  debts.  On  Feb. 
19  the  British  Foreign  Office  announced 
that  the  Government's  attitude  had  not 
changed  from  that  of  a  year  before,  when 
Lloyd  George  announced  that  Great  Brit- 
ain had  not  the  slightest  intention  of  bar- 
tering or  selling  any  part  of  the  West  In- 
dies. The  London  Daily  Telegraph  on 
March  9  tersely  summed  up  the  question 
by  quoting  the   Prince  of  Wales's   remark 


at  Trinidad  last  year: 
not  for  sale." 


British  subjects  are 


MIAMI-BARBADOS   CABLE 

United  States  Subchaser  154,  on  March  5, 
fired  a  shot  across  the  bow  of  the  Western 
Union  cable  ship  Robert  C.  Clowry  off 
Miami  to  prevent  her  from  connecting  the 
Barbados  cable  with  the  mainland.  This 
was  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  of  the  Wil- 
son Administration  opposing  the  linking  of 
the  cable  with  a  British  line  having  a 
monopoly  on  the  coast  of  Brazil.  The  Clow- 
ry was  ordered  to  Miami,  where  it  berthed 
in  the  municipal  dock  with  the  Subchaser 
154  watching  her,  aided  by  the  Subchaser 
320,  sent  from  Key  West.  Secretary  Hughes 
maintains  the  attitude  of  the  previous  Ad- 
ministration, and  efforts  are  being  made  to 
obtain  a  speedy  decision  from  the  Supreme 
Court. 


COSTA    RICA    INVADES   PANAMA 

An  old  boundary  dispute  develops  suddenly  into  a  small  war,  but  Costa  Rica 
withdraws  her  troops  when  the  United  States  intervenes  and  offers  mediation 

[Period  Ended  March  15,   1921] 


WITHOUT  warning,  on  the  evening  of 
Monday,  Feb.  21,  Colonel  Mora  of 
"  the  Costa  Rican  Army  arrived  at 
Coto,  Panama,  aboard  a  vessel  with  100 
soldiers  and  commanded  Manuel  Pinzon, 
the  Panaman  Police  Inspector,  to  surrender 
the  town  to  him.  Pinzon  refused,  but 
offered  no  resistance,  and  telegraphed  the 
news  of  the  invasion  to  David,  capital  of 
Chiriqui  Province,  whence  it  was  relayed 
to  Panama.  The  district  thus  invaded  is 
at  the  extreme  western  end  of  Panama  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  nearly  250  miles  from 
the  City  of  Panama.  Costa  Rica  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  441,000  and  an  army  of  1,000 
men.  Panama  has  a  population  of  401,000 
and  no  army,  her  only  protection  being  a 
police  system  organized  on  military  lines. 

The  boundary  between  Costa  Rica  and 
Panama,  which  had  been  in  dispute  for 
many  years,  was  fixed  by  the  arbitration 
of  President  Loubet  of  France  in  1900.  It 
begins  at  Monkey  (Mona)  Point  on  the  At- 


lantic, follows  a  ridge  of  hills  overlooking 
the  Valley  of  the  Sixola  River,  westward 
to  Mount  Chirripo  and  Mount  Pando. 
Thence  the  line  strikes  southeast  along  the 
crests  of  the  Talamanca  Mountains  as  far 
as  9  degrees  north  latitude,  where  it  turns 
sharply  south  to  Burica  Point,  cutting  Bu- 
rica  Peninsula  in  half. 

West  of  this  peninsula  is  the  Golfito  Riv- 
er, near  the  mouth  of  which  is  Coto.  The 
territory  had  been  in  possession  of  Panama 
ever  since  the  republic  was  founded  and 
of  Colombia  before  that.  The  Golfito  River 
empties  into  the  Golfo  Dulce  about  thirty 
miles  west  of  Burica  Point  ridge,  and  the 
point  where  its  headwaters  rise  is  fifty 
miles  inland.  The  river,  the  ridge  and  the 
gulf  coast  form  a  triangle  which  is  the 
Coto  territory  in  dispute.  It  was  awarded 
to  Costa  Rica  by  President  Loubet  in  com- 
pensation for  a  considerable  area  of  land 
awarded  to  Panama  on  the  Atlantic  side  be- 
tween the  Sixola  River  and  the  ridge  north 


COSTA  RICA  INVADES  PANAMA 


149 


Map  of  Costa  Rica  and  Panama:  The  black  area  on  the  Pacific  side  indicates 
the  main  issue,  over  which  the  dispute  arose.  The  boundary  on  the  Atlantic  side 
should  show  a  deeper  angle  into  Costa  Rican  territory,  where  another  phase  of  the 
conflicting   claims   is   located 


of  its  valley  extending  west  to  Mount  Chir- 
ripo. 

Nevertheless,  Costa  Rica,  ever  since  1881, 
has  occupied  the  Sixola  River  wedge  de- 
spite President  Loubet's  decision,  and  on 
Feb.  21  invaded  the  Coto  triangle  that  Pan- 
ama had  been  holding.  Panama  asserted 
that  the  Loubet  award  was  not  clear,  and 
Chief  Justice  White  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  was  asked  to  render  a  legal 
interpretation  of  it,  which  he  did  in  1914. 
This  decision  did  not  end  the  dispute,  Pan- 
ama declining  to  accept  it,  on  the  ground 
that  the  Chief  Justice  had  covered  more  ter- 
ritory than  was  included  in  the  portion  in 
dispute.  Costa  Rica  continued  to  hold  the 
Sixola  watershed  and  Panama  retained  the 
Coto  triangle  until  the  recent  invasion. 

PANAMA  PREPARES  TO  RESIST 

There  was  great  excitement  in  Panama 
on  Feb.  24,  when  news  of  the  capture  of 
Coto  reached  that  city.  An  angry  crowd 
tore  the  coat  of  arms  from  the  Costa  Rican 
Consulate,  and  President  Porras  dispatched 
an  armed  mission  to  the  region  by  way  of 
David,  where  civilian  troops  were  being 
mobilized.  At  the  same  time  he  asked  the 
United  States  to  use  its  good  offices  to  pre- 
vent bloodshed.  A  proclamation  was  issued 
calling  on  the  people  to  maintain  the  na- 
tional dignity,  followed  by  a  Presidential 
decree  on  Feb.  26,  reciting  the  necessity  of 


expelling  the  invaders,  declaring  martial 
law,  calling  on  all  Panamans  between  18 
and  40  years  old  to  register  for  military 
service,  and  convoking  the  National  As- 
sembly in  special  session,  beginning  March 
1.  At  the  same  time  President  Porras  pre- 
pared a  declaration  of  war. 

More  than  2,000  men  enrolled  in  Panama 
for  military  service  and  enlisting  elsewhere 
was  brisk.  About  500  men,  consisting  of 
national  police  and  volunteers,  started  for 
the  Costa  Rican  frontier.  They  made  short 
work  of  Colonel  Mora  and  his  hundred  men, 
recapturing  Coto  and  taking  prisoner  the 
entire  Costa  Rican  contingent  on  Feb.  27. 
In  the  afternoon  the  Panamans  captured 
Costa  Rican  reinforcements  arriving  in  the 
gasoline  motor  vessel  Sultana,  taking  the 
boat  after  an  hour's  fighting,  in  which  the 
enemy  lost  four  men  killed  and  nine 
wounded. 

President  Porras,  having  remarked  in  an 
interview  that  war  between  Panama  and 
Costa  Rica  over  valueless  land  was  an  ab- 
surdity, was  waited  on  by  a  committee  on 
Feb.  28,  who  demanded  his  resignation,  bent 
on  forcing  more  aggressive  action.  The 
President  refused  and  a  mob  broke  into  the 
palace.  Guards  fired  upon  and  dispersed 
the  crowd,  killing  one  and  wounding  several 
persons.  As  a  result  200  American  soldiers 
from  the  Canal  Zone  appeared  in  the  city 
in  the  afternoon  to  keep  order. 


150 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


PANAMA    ASSEMBLY    MEETS 

The  special  session  of  the  Panama  As- 
sembly met  on  March  1  and  defensive  meas- 
ures were  proposed,  including  one  that  au- 
thorized President  Porras  to  organize  an 
army  of  whatever  strength  he  might  deem 
necessary.  A  message  from  the  President 
was  read  reciting  recent  events,  but  making 
no  mention  of  a  declaration  of  war. 

Costa  Rica,  meanwhile,  had  sent  2,500 
men  to  the  Panaman  frontier,  the  action 
of  the  Government  having  been  approved 
by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  session  at 
San  Jose.  Fighting  was  renewed  in  the 
Coto  region  on  March  1,  and  another  motor 
vessel  with  100  men  was  captured  by  the 
Pan  am  an s. 

Julio  Acosta,  President  of  Costa  Rica,  set 
forth  the  attitude  of  his  country  in  a  dis- 
patch dated  San  Jose,  March  3,  in  which 
he  said  that  Panama  was  violating  its  own 
Constitution,  which  established  the  same 
limit  that  Costa  Rica  claimed. 

Defeated  on  the  Pacific  side,  Costa  Rica 
next  turned  her  efforts  to  the  Atlantic  end 
of  the  boundary  along  the  Sixola  River, 
first  reinforcing  her  garrisons  there,  and 
then  crossing  the  frontier.  This  threatened 
to  involve  the  United  States,  as  the  United 
Fruit  Company  owns  extensive  banana 
plantations  there  and  has  railroads  extend- 
ing southerly  from  Puerto  Limon,  Costa 
Rica,  into  Panama.  Almirante,  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Bocas  del  Toro,  was  the  objective 
of  this  second  attack.  Guabito  was  first 
taken  without  serious  resistance  on  March 
4.  The  Panamans  retired  toward  Bocas 
del  Toro,  leaving  behind  eighteen  dead  and 
many  wounded.  The  Costa  Ricans  occupied 
the  Almirante  Railroad  and  advanced  on 
Almirante,  taking  it,  and  later  Bocas  del 
Toro. 

UNITED   STATES  MOVES 

Naturally,  the  United  States  had  been 
appealed  to  at  the  start  of  the  trouble,  be- 
ing by  treaty  bound  to  protect  the  integrity 
of  Panama.  The  first  request  was  for  arms 
to  repel  invasion,  as  the  country  had  been 
disarmed  by  General  Clarence  Edwards  of 
the  United  States  Army  in  1915,  when  dis- 
orders were  threatened.  The  request  for 
arms  was  denied. 

Secretary  Colby,  instead,  sent  two  notes 
to  Costa  Rica  and  Panama  on  Feb.  28,  ex- 
pressing  the    United    States    Government's 


strong  disapproval  of  the  effort  to  settle 
the  dispute  by  force.  Replies  were  re- 
ceived in  Washington  on  March  5.  That 
from  Panama  expressed  a  willingness  to 
accept    the    good    offices    of    the    United 


(©   Keystone    View    Go.) 

JULIO    ACOSTA 
President    of    Costa    Rica 


States,  but  the  message  from  Costa  Rica 
was  described  as  unsatisfactory.  A  few 
hours  later,  after  consulting  with  President 
Harding,  Mr.  Hughes,  the  new  Secretary  of 
State,  sent  identical  notes  to  Panama  and 
Costa  Rica,  which,  while  not  suggesting 
mediation,  conveyed  the  impression  that 
the  United  States  stood  ready  to  enforce, 
if  necessary,  a  peaceful  solution. 

Both  countries  were  called  upon  for  an 
immediate  suspension  of  hostilities,  and 
United  States  warships  were  ordered  by 
the  Navy  Department  to  the  disputed 
areas  on  both  sides  of  the  Isthmus.  The 
cruiser  Sacramento  was  sent  to  Almirante 
to  protect  American  property,  and  instruc- 
tions were  given  to  Rear  Admiral  Bryan, 
commanding  a  special  Central  American 
squadron  ,that  if  the  authorities  could  not 
protect  American  lives  and  property  he  was 
to  use  his  discretion  in  disposing  of  his 
vessels  and  armed  forces.  The  Sacramento 
arrived    at    Almirante    on    March    5,    and 


COSTA  RICA  INVADES  PANAMA 


151 


Commander  Bingham  invited  the  com- 
mander of  the  Costa  Rican  troops  to  lunch 
on  board,  and  an  armistice  with  the  Pana- 
mans  was  suggested. 

President  Porras  on  March  6  announced 
that  Panama  was  willing  to  accept  media- 
tion by  the  United  States  on  condition  that 
Costa  Rica  withdraw  her  troops  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  Sixola  River  and  refrain  from 
attacking  the  Panaman  forces,  which  had 
reoccupied  Coto.     He  offered  to  submit  the 


Harris    &    Ewing) 
DR.   BELISARIO  PORRAS 
President    of    Panama 


dispute  to  the  ABC  Commission  of  Ar- 
gentina, Chile  and  Brazil,  to  the  League 
of  Nations  tribunal,  to  a  council  of  inter- 
national law  professors  from  American  uni- 
versities, or  to  three  international  lawyers, 
one  from  an  American  university,  one  from 
Chile  and  the  other  from  an  Argentine, 
Uruguayan,  Peruvian  or  Brazilian  uni- 
versity. 

Meanwhile  the  National  Assembly  had 
passed  bills  appropriating  $100,000  to  buy 
arms,  authorizing  the  President  to  organize 
a  national  army,  and  authorizing  a  loan  of 
$500,000  for  ten  years  at  7  per  cent.  Presi- 
dent Porras  named  a  Defense  Council  of 
five  to  select  men  for  the  Panaman  Army. 


PEACE  AT  LAST 

Prompt  action  by  the  United  States  had 
its  effect  on  both  belligerents.  On  March  7 
it  was  announced  that  Costa  Rica  had 
ordered  the  withdrawal  of  her  forces  beyond 
the  Sixola  River  and  had  halted  the  troops, 
which  had  advanced  into  the  Coto  region 
on  the  Pacific  side.  Panama  recalled  her 
troops  from  the  Bocas  del  Toro  region  and 
also  those  from  Coto,  but  announced  her 
intention  to  keep  the  civil  and  police  au- 
thorities in  the  latter  district.  An  armistice 
was  arranged  and  put  into  effect  along  the 
whole  frontier,  thus  reverting  to  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  before  the  invasion  and  leav- 
ing the  settlement  open  to  further  negotia- 
tion. 

Threatened  complications  between  the 
United  States  Government  and  the  League 
of  Nations  over  the  affair  were  cleverly 
avoided  by  the  League  after  brief  consider- 
ation. Sir  Eric  Drummond,  Secretary  Gen- 
eral of  the  League,  on  Feb.  28  had  in- 
structed the  political  advisers  of  the  League 
Council  to  investigate  the  differences  be- 
tween Panama  and  Costa  Rica,  basing  his 
action  on  the  fact  that  both  countries  were 
members  of  the  League.  The  Council,  which 
was  meeting  in  Paris,  sent  a  cable  dispatch 
to  the  foreign  Ministers  of  both  countries 
on  March  4,  reminding  them  of  their  obli- 
gations as  members.  A  few  hours  later  the 
Secretary  received  a  dispatch  from  the 
Government  of  Panama  giving  a  history  of 
the  Costa  Rican  attack  and  subsequent  de- 
velopments. On  its  receipt  the  Council  was 
called  together  again  and  the  following 
cable  was  sent  to  Panama: 

Your  telegram  of  March  3  has  been  com- 
municated to  the  Council  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  which  regrets  that  the  reports  of 
differences  between  Panama  and  Costa  Rica 
are  well  founded,  but  it  is  happy  to  know 
that  the  United  States  Government  has  of- 
fered its  good  offices,  and  that  these  have 
been  accepted  by  the  Government  of  Pan- 
ama. The  Council  would  be  glad  to  be  kept 
informed  of  the  development  of  the  situa- 
tion. 

In  an  official  communication  on  the  sub- 
ject the  phrase  used  with  regard  to  Amer- 
ican action  was :  "  The  Council  has  de- 
cided to  await  the  result  of  this  happy  in- 
tervention." A  note  sent  to  Panama  by 
Secretary  Hughes  on  March  14  put  an  end 
to  the  possibility  of  League  action  in  the 
case  by  calling  attention  to  a  treaty  signed 


152 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


in  1915,  whereby  Panama  and  Gosta  Rica 
agreed  to  submit  disputes  to  the  United 
States  as  mediator.  The  United  States 
therefore  will  act  as  arbitrator  in  nego- 
tiations looking  to  a  settlement  of  the 
boundary  dispute,  using  the  decisions  of 
Chief  Justice  White  in  1914  and  President 
Loubet  in  1900  as  a  basis. 

PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE— The  United 
States  naval  fleets  returned  from  the  west 
coast  of  South  America  to  Panama  on  Feb. 
14,  and  on  Feb.  24  the  Atlantic  fleet  passed 
through  the  canal  on  the  way  to  Guan- 
tanamo. 

Vessels  flying  the  American  flag  led  all 
others  in  setting  a  new  record  of  canal 
traffic  in  1920.  Of  the  2,814  merchant 
ships  using  the  canal,  1,281  were  Ameri- 
can; Great  Britain  came  next  with  867,  and 
Japan  was  third  with  122. 

NICARAGUA — The  twenty-one  Ameri- 
can marines  who,  on  Feb.  9,  wrecked  the 
offices  of  the  Tribuna  of  Managua,  a  news 
paper  which  they  charged  with  defaming 
some  of  their  number,  were  tried  by  court- 
martial  and  found  guilty,  according  to  a 
report  from  Rear  Admiral  Henry  F.  Bryan. 
They  all  pleaded  guilty  and  were  sentenced 
to  dishonorable  discharge  and  confinement 
for  five  years,  but  upon  recommendation  of 
clemency  by  the  court  the  prison  term  was 
reduced  in  each  case  to  two  years. 

Nicaragua's   refusal   to  join  the   Central 


American  Union  was  approved  at  a  joint 
session  of  the  House  and  Senate  in  Ma- 
nagua on  Feb.  22.  President  Chamorro  was 
authorized  to  continue  negotiations,,  but 
was  intrusted  not  to  sacrifice  any  Nicara- 
guan  rights  or  infringe  upon  any  of  the 
country's  international  obligations.  She 
will  not  join  the  Central  American  Union 
unless  the  other  members  agree  to  respect 
her  existing  treaties  with  the  United  States. 
The  Nicaraguan  Senate,  on  March  12,  re- 
jected a  motion  to  request  the  United  States 
to  withdraw  the  American  troops  stationed 
in  Managua. 

SALVADOR — A  seditious  movement  oc- 
curred in  San  Salvador,  capital  of  Salvador, 
on  Feb.  28,  but  was  put  down  by  the  police 
after  several  casualties  on  both  sides.  The 
National  Congress  met  and  declared  martial 
law,  but  quiet  was  restored  by  March  4. 
The  movement,  which  was  local  in  char- 
acter, is  said  to  have  been  a  form  of  pro- 
test against  the  union  of  Central  American 
republics. 

On  March  9  it  was  announced  that  immi- 
gration of  Chinese  to  Salvador  is  prohib- 
ited under  terms  of  the  alien  law,  which 
does  not,  however,  apply  to  Chinese  who  are 
already  residents  of  the  country. 

The  Salvadorean  Cabinet,  headed  by  Dr. 
Francisco  Juan  Paredes,  together  with  all 
Under  Secretaries,  resigned  on  March  11, 
but  President  Melendez  refused  to  accept 
their  resignations. 


AMERICAN    LOAN    OPENS    A    NEW    ERA    FOR    LIBERIA 


CHARLES  DUNBAR  KING,  President  of 
Liberia,  arrived  in  New  York  on  March 
6,  1921,  on  his  way  to  Washington  to  con- 
clude negotiations  with  the  United  States 
for  a  credit  of  $5,000,000,  which  was  agreed 
upon  in  September,  1918.  With  him,  as 
members  of  a  Plenary  Mission,  were  E.  R. 
Johnson,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  John  L.  Morris,  formerly  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Gabriel  L.  Dennis,  a 
prominent  business  man  of  the  African  re- 
public. 

The    purpose    of    the    loan    is    to    begin 


an  extensive  program  of  harbor  improve- 
ments, road  construction,  installing  tele- 
phone and  telegraph  facilities  and  opening 
industrial  schools.  Mr.  King  was  elected 
President  of  Liberia  in  1919,  taking  office 
on  Jan.  1,  1920,  for  the  term  of  four  years. 
The  loan  will  open  a  new  era  for  Liberia, 
paving  the  way  for  development  by  Amer- 
ican interests,  which  are  cordially  invited. 
Recent  reports  indicate  important  discov- 
eries of  gold  and  tin,  and  there  are  vast 
forests  of  valuable  timber  in  Liberia's  great 
and  wealthy  interior. 


PACT  OF  THE  CENTRAL 
AMERICAN  UNION 


Text  of  the  treaty  creating  the  union  of  Costa  Rica,  Honduras,  Salvador  and  Guatemala, 
to  be  known  as  the  Federation  of  Central  America — Details  of  the  agreement  that 
establishes  a  new  State  of  5,000,000  people— Nicaragua  alone  stays  out  of  the  Federation 


CURRENT  HISTORY  presents  herewith 
the  full  text  of  the  important  compact 
that  now  binds  Guatemala,  Salvador, 
Honduras  and  Costa  Rica  into  one  federated 
republic,  to  be  known  as  the  Federation  of 
Central  America,  and  to  be  administered 
under  a  single  President.  The  treaty,  ac- 
cording to  its  own  statement,  was  signed  by 
the  delegates  of  the  four  countries  at  San 
Jose,  Costa  Rica,  on  Jan.  19,  1921.  (The 
press  dispatches  gave  Jan.  22  as  the  date 
of  actual  completion.)  The  delegates  of  the 
fifth  Central  American  Republic — Nicara- 
gua— acting  on  instructions  from  their  Gov- 
ernment, refused  to  sign,  on  the  ground  that 
Nicaragua  did  not  wish  to  relinquish  treaty- 
making  powers  in  view  of  her  arrangement 
with  the  United  States  regarding  a  possible 
Nicaragua  Canal.  A  provision  was  inserted 
in  the  compact  to  permit  Nicaragua's  admis- 
sion at  any  time  she  may  desire  it.  The 
refusal  of  the  delegates  to  sign  was  ap- 
proved by  the  House  and  Senate  of  Nicara- 
gua on  Feb.  22,  but  all  com- 
ments during  debate  were 
friendly  to  the  new  Federation, 
and  President  Chamorro  was 
authorized  to  negotiate  for  ad- 
mission at  any  time  when  such 
action  could  be  taken  without 
curtailing  Nicaragua's  interna- 
tional rights  and  obligations. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the 
agreement,  the  ratification  of 
three  of  the  signatory  powers 
will  suffice  to  put  it  in  opera- 
tion. Before  the  end  of  Feb- 
ruary, Honduras  and  Salvador 
had  ratified  the  pact,  and  there 
was  every  indication  that  the 
other  two  would  soon  follow  suit. 
The  agreement  that  now  goes 
into  force  provides  for  the  crea- 
tion of  a  Provisional  Council, 
which  will  meet  at  Tegucigalpa, 


Honduras,  thirty  days  after  the  third  rati- 
fication, and  which  is  commissioned  to  call 
a  Constituent  Assembly.  This  assembly  is 
to  meet  not  later  than  Sept.  15,  1921,  and 
is  to  have  full  power  to  draw  up  a  perma- 
nent and  binding  Constitution  for  the  new 
State,  based  on  the  general  principles  laid 
down  in  the  preliminary  pact.  The  Federa- 
tion of  Central  America  is  to  be  governed 
by  an  Executive  Council,  with  the  collabora- 
tion of  a  Senate  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies. 
The  Provisional  Council  that  is  to  call  the 
Constituent  Assembly  is  empowered  to  is- 
sue orders  for  the  election  of  the  permanent 
Councilors,  Senators,  and  Deputies,  after 
which  it  will  hand  over  its  functions  to  the 
Federal  Council  and  terminate  its  existence. 
The  new  federated  republic,  which  has 
more  than  5,000,000  inhabitants,  is  the  cul- 
mination of  a  long-enduring  sense  of  soli- 
darity among  the  States  now  united,  a 
neighborliness  that  has  always  made  their 


Map  of  Central  America,  showing  the  States  which — 
excepting  Nicaragua— have  united  to  form  the  new 
Federation   of   Central    America 


154 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


those  between  the  States  of  the  United 
States.  When  these  Central  American  re- 
publics cut  loose  from  Spain  in  1821,  indeed, 
they  formed  a  federal  republic  at  first,  but 
since  1840  they  have  been  separate;  the 
new  union  practically  reconstructs  the  orig- 
inal federation  on  more  modern  lines. 
Though  its  scheme  of  government  is  mod- 
eled largely  on  that  of  the  United  States, 
a  reading  of  the  pact  will  disclose  many  in- 
teresting variations  from  the  model;  the 
Federal  Council,  for  instance,  which  is  to 
wield  the  executive  power,  will  consist  of 
one  Councilor  elected  by  each  State  for  a 
five-year  term.  The  President  and  Vice 
President,  who  will  hold  office  for  only 
one  year,  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  Federal 
Council.  The  treaty  guarantees  freedom  of 
conscience,  provides  for  compulsory  educa- 
tion, and  refuses  to  recognize  any  federated 
State  whose  head  has  come  into  power 
through  a  revolution. 

TEXT  OF  THE  COMPACT 

The  official  text  of  the  compact  of  union, 
in  the  translation  sent  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  is  as  follows: 

3&t£9tttblf — The  Governments  of  the  Republics 
of  Guatemala,  Salvador,  Honduras 
and  Costa  Rica,  regarding  it  as  a  high  patriotic 
duty  to  bring  about  as  far  as  possible  the  re- 
construction of  the  Federal  Republic  of  Central 
America  upon  bases  of  justice  and  equality  that 
■will  guarantee  peace,  maintain  harmony  among 
the  States,  insure  the  benefits  of  liberty,  and 
promote  the  general  progress  and  welfare,  have 
seen  fit  to  conclude  a  Treaty  of  Union  achiev- 
ing that  end,  and  to  that  effect  have  appointed 
as  plenipotentiary   delegates,   namely : 

The  Government  of  Guatemala— The  Most  Ex- 
cellent Licentiates,  Don  Salvador  Falla  and  Don 
Carlos  Salazar ; 

The  Government  of  Salvador— The  Most  Excel- 
lent Doctors,  Don  Reyes  Arrieta  Rossi  and  Don 
Miguel  T.  Molina ; 

The  Government  of  Honduras— The  Most  Ex- 
cellent Doctors,  Don  Alberto  Ucles  and  Don 
Mariano  Vasquez ; 

And  the  Government  of  Costa  Rica— The  Most 
Excellent  Licentiates,  Don  Alejandro  Alvarado 
Quiros   and    Don   Cleto   Gonzalez  Viquez. 

Who,  after  communicating  to  one  another  their 
respective  full  powers,  which  they  found  to  be 
in  good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  the 
following  stipulations: 

ARTICLE  1— The  Republics  of  Guatemala, 
Salvador,  Honduras  and  Costa  Rica  join  in  a 
perpetual  and  indissoluble  union,  and  will  hence- 
forth constitute  a  sovereign  and  independent  na- 
tion, whose  name  shall  be  Federation  of  Central 
America. 


It  will  be  the  right  and  duty  of  the  Federal 
power  to  maintain  the  union,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  Federal  Constitution,  internal  order  in 
the  States. 

ARTICLE  2— The  four  States  will  convene 
through  Deputies  in  a  Constituent  National  As- 
sembly, and  here  and  now  accept  as  the  supreme 
law  the  Constitution  that  may  be  framed  by  the 
said  Assembly  in  accordance  with  the  stipula- 
tions of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE  3— In  so  far  as  it  may  be  consistent 
with  the  Federal  Constitution,  each  State  will 
preserve  its  autonomy  and  independence  in  the 
handling  and  direction  of  its  domestic  affairs, 
and  likewise  all  the  powers  that  are  not  vested 
in  the  Federation  by  the  Federal  Constitution. 

The  Constitutions  of  the  States  will  remain  in 
force  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  conflict  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  4— So  long  as  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment through  diplomatic  action  shall  not  have 
obtained  the  modification,  denunciation  or  sub- 
stitution of  the  treaties  in  force  between  the 
States  of  the  Federation  and  foreign  nations, 
each  State  shall  respect  and  continue  faithfully 
to  observe  the  treaties  that  bind  it  to  any  one 
foreign  nation  or  more  to  the  full  extent  implied 
in  the  existing  agreements. 

ARTICLE  5— The  Constituent  National  As- 
sembly in  framing  the  Federal  Constitution  will 
respect  the  following  bases : 

a.  There  shall  be  a  Federal  district  under  the 
direct  rule  of  the  Federal  Government.  The 
Assembly  will  designate  and  mark  out  the  terri- 
tory that  is  constituted,  and  within  that  area 
will  designate  the  town  or  place  that  is  to  be 
the  political  capital  of  the  Federation.  The  State 
or  States  from  which  territory  is  taken  to  con- 
stitute the  Federal  district  here  and  now  convey 
it   gratuitously   to   the   Federation. 

b.  The  Government  of  the  Federation  will  be 
republican,  popular,  representative  and  respon- 
sible. Sovereignty  will  reside  in  the  nation.  The 
public  powers  shall  be  limited,  and  must  be  ex- 
ercised in  accordance  with  the  Constitution. 
There  will  be  three  powers— the  executive,  leg- 
islative and  judiciary. 

c.  The  executive  power  shall  be  exercised  by 
a  Federal  Council  composed  of  .delegates  elected 
by  the  people.  Each  State  will  elect  a  principal 
and  an  alternate  of  40  years  of  age  or  more, 
and  native  citizens  of  the  State  which  elects 
them.  The  term  of  the  Council  will  be  five 
years. 

The  delegates  and  their  alternates  shall  reside 
in  the  Federal  capital.  The  alternates  will  at- 
tend the  meetings  of  the  Council  without  vote, 
but  they  shall  cast  their  vote,  however,  when- 
ever the  meeting  is  not  attended  by  their  prin- 
cipals. 

In  order  to  impart  validity  to  the  action  of  the 
Council  it  is  necessary  that  all  the  States  be 
represented  therein.  The  decisions  are  arrived 
at  by  a  plurality  vote,  except  in  cases  where  the 
Constitution  may  call  for  a  greater  majority. 
In  case  of  a  tie  the  President  will  cast  two  votes. 

The  Council  will  elect  from  among  the  dele- 
gates a  President  and  a  Vice  President,  whose 
term  of  office  will  be  one  year.    The  President 


PACT  OF  THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION 


155 


of  the  Council  cannot  be  re-elected  for  the  year 
immediately  following-. 

The  President  of  the  Council  will  be  regarded 
as  President  of  the  Federation,  but  he  will  al- 
ways act  in  the  name  and  by  a  resolution  or  di- 
rection of  the  Federal  Council. 

The  Council  will  apportion  among  its  mem- 
bers in  the  manner  it  may  deem  most  appro- 
priate the  handling  of  public  affairs,  and  may 
put  any  one  of  the  alternates  or  more  in  charge 
of  a  department  or  more  that  it  may  deem  ex- 
pedient. The  Constitution  will  determine  the 
form  in  which  foreign  relations  are  to  be  con- 
ducted and  will  complete  the  organization  of 
the  executive  power. 

d.  The  legislative  power  will  be  vested  in 
two  houses— the  Senate  and  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  The  Senate  will  consist  of  three 
Senators  from  each  State,  elected  by  the  Con- 
gress thereof.  The  Senators  shall  be  40  years 
of  age  or  more  and  citizens  of  any  one  of 
the  States.  Their  term  will  be  six  years,  and 
they  will  be  renewed  every  other  year  in  thirds. 
The  Chamber  of  Deputies  will  consist  of  Repre- 
sentatives elected  by  the  people,  one  Deputy 
for  every  100,000  inhabitants  or  fraction  of 
more  than  50,000.  The  Constituent  Assembly 
will  determine  the  number  of  Deputies  to  be 
elected  by  each  State  until  a  general  census 
of   the   Federation    is   taken. 

Senators  and  Deputies  may  be  re-elected  in- 
definitely. In  each  house  three-fourths  of  the 
whole  number  of  members  will  form  the  quorum. 

No  law  will  be  valid  unless  it  has  been  ap- 
proved in  the  separate  houses  by  a  plurality 
of  votes  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  by 
two-thirds  of  the  votes  of  the  Senators,  and 
unless  it  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  Executive 
as  the  Federal  Constitution  may  provide. 

c.  The  judicial  power  shall  be  exercised  by 
a  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  and  by  the  lower 
courts  that  may  be  established  by  law.  The 
Senate,  from  a  list  of  twenty-one  names  sub- 
mitted by  the  Federal  Executive,  will  elect 
seven  incumbent  Magistrates,  who  will  consti- 
tute the  court,  and  three  alternates  to  fill  the 
temporary  absence  of  the  incumbents.  Vacan- 
cies will  be  filled  by  new  elections  of  incum- 
bents or  alternates.  The  Magistrates  shall  not 
be  removed  from  office  unless  the  removal  be 
authorized    by    a    judicial    sentence. 

The  Supreme  Court  will  have  jurisdiction  in 
disputes  to  which  the  Federation  is  a  party, 
the  legal  controversies  that  may  arise  between 
two  or  more  States,  the  conflicts  that  may  occur 
between  the  power  of  any  one  State  or  of  the 
Federation  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  their 
acts,  and  of  all  other  matters  which  may  be 
referred  to  it  by  the  Federal  Constitution  or  the 
organic   law. 

The  States  having  pending  questions  among 
themselves  as  to  boundaries  or  the  validity  or 
execution  of  judgments  or  awards  made  before 
the  date  of  this  treaty  will  be  at  liberty  to  refer 
them  to  arbitration.  The  Federal  court  may 
take  cognizance  of  such  questions  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  arbitrator,  if  the  States  concerned 
should  refer  to  its  decision. 

f.  The  Federation  guarantees  to  every  in- 
habitant   freedom    of    thought    and    conscience. 


There  shall  be  no  legislation  on  religious  sub- 
jects. In  all  the  States  toleration  of  cults  that 
are  not  against  morals  or  public  policy  shall 
be  an  obligatory  principle. 

g.  The  Federation  recognizes  the  principle 
that  human  life  is  inviolable  as  to  political  and 
like  offenses,  and  guarantees  all  men  equality 
before  the  law  and  the  protection  that  the 
States  must  grant  to  destitute  classes  as  also 
to  the  proletariat. 

h.  The  Federation  guarantees  the  freedom  of 
teaching. 

Primary  instruction  shall  be  compulsory  and 
that  which  is  given  in  public  schools  shall  be 
free,  under  the  direction  and  at  the  expense 
of  the  States. 

Colleges  of  secondary  instruction  may  be 
founded  and  supported  by  the  Federation,  the 
States,  municipal  Governments  and  private  per- 
sons. 

The  Federation  will  create  as  soon  as  possible 
a  national  university  and  will  give  preference, 
with  regard  to  their  early  establishment,  to 
the  sections  of  agriculture,  industry,  commerce 
and  mathematical  sciences. 

i.  The  Federation  likewise  guarantees  in  ev- 
ery State  the  respect  of  individual  rights  as  also 
the  freedom  of  suffrage  and  the  rotation  in 
power. 

j.  The  army  is  an  institution  intended  for 
national  defense  and  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  public  order ;  it  is  essentially  a  passive 
body  and  may  not  engage  in  debates. 

Soldiers  on  active  duty  shall  have  no  right 
to  vote. 

The  army  will  be  exclusively  under  the  orders 
of  the  Federal  Council.  The  States  shall  not 
maintain  any  force  other  than  of  police  for 
the  maintenance  of  public   order. 

The  garrisons  which  may  be  kept  permanently 
or  temporarily  by  the  Federation  in  any  State 
will  be  under  the  command  of  national  chiefs 
that  the  Council  shall  freely  appoint  and  re- 
move ;  but  if  in  any  State  there  should  occur 
a  subversive  movement  or  serious  grounds  may 
exist  to  apprehend  a  grave  disturbance,  those 
forces  shall  place  themselves  at  the  command 
of  the  Government  of  the  State.  If  those  forces 
should  be  insufficient  to  suppress  the  rebellion, 
the  Government  of  the  State  will  ask  for,  and 
the  Council  will  supply,  adequate  reinforce- 
ments 

Military  service,  garrison  duty  and  military 
instructions  will  be  regulated  by  law  so  as  to 
be   governed   by   fixed   rules. 

The  Council  shall  have  the  free  disposal  of 
the  armament  and  war  material  that  may  now 
exist  in  the  States  after  those  States  shall  have 
been  supplied  with  the  amount  needed  for  the 
police   force. 

The  States  acknowledge  it  to  be  necessary 
and  expedient  that  the  Federation  should  re- 
duce armaments  and  armies  to  the  strictly  nec- 
essary so  as  to  return  hands  to  farming  and 
manufacturing  and  restoring  and  promoting  to 
common  advantage  the  excessive  amounts  taken 
by  that  branch. 

1.  The  Federal  Government  will  administer 
the  national  public  finances  which  will  be  dif- 
ferent   from    those    of    the    States. 


156 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


The  law  will  create  Federal  revenues  and 
taxes. 

m,  The  States  will  continue  the  service  of 
their  present  domestic  and  foreign  debts.  It 
will  be  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Governmnet  to 
see  that  the  service  is  faithfully  performed  and 
that  the  revenues  pledged  for  that  purpose  ba 
applied    thereto. 

Henceforward  none  of  the  States  shall  con- 
tract for  or  issue  foreign  loans  without  being 
authorized  by  a  law  of  the  State  ratified  by  a 
Federal  law,  nor  shall  it  enter  into  contracts 
that  may  in  any  way  compromise  its  sovereignty 
or  independence  or  the  integrity  of  its  territory. 

n.  The  Federation  shall  not  contract  for  or 
issue  foreign  loans  without  being  authorized  to 
do  so  by  law  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  votes 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  three-fourths  of 
the  votes  in  the   Senate. 

o.  The  Constitution  may  set  a  term  after 
which  the  ability  to  read  and  write  may  be  set 
up  as  an  essential  requisite  for  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  elections  of  Federal 
authorities. 

p.  The  Constitution  will  lay  down  the  course 
through  which  amendments  of  its  dispositions 
may  be  ordered.  However,  if  the  reform  should 
make  any  change  in  any  one  of  the  bases  set 
forth  in  this  article,  it  will  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary, in  addition  to  the  other  general  require- 
ments of  the  Constitution,  that  the  Legislatures 
of  all  the  States  shall  give  their  consent. 

q.  The  Constitution  will  determine  and  speci- 
fy the  subjects  that  shall  be  exclusive  matter 
for  Feredal  legislation. 

The  Constituent  National  Assembly,  in  fram- 
ing the  Constitution,  will  complete  the  plan  and 
purpose  of  the  said  Constitution,  developing  the 
foregoing  bases,  but  in  no  case  conflicting  with 
them. 

Immediately  after  the  enactment  of  the  Consti- 
tution the  Assembly  will  pass  the  complementary 
laws  concerning  the  freedom  of  the  press,  habeas 
corpus,  and  state  of  siege,  which  shall  be  held  as 
part  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  6— The  Constituent  National  As- 
sembly referred  to  in  Article  2  of  this  treaty 
will  consist  of  fifteen  Deputies  for  each  State, 
who  shall  be  elected  by  their  respective  Con- 
gresses. In  order  to  be  a  Deputy  one  must  be 
25  years  old  or  more  and  a  citizen  of  any  one 
of  the  five  States  of  Central  America. 

The  Deputies  shall  enjoy  immunity  for  their 
persons  and  property  from  the  moment  when 
they  are  declared  elected  by  the  Congress  of  a 
State  until  one  month  after  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly   are   closed. 

ARTICLE  7— Three-fifths  of  the  total  number 
of  Deputies  will  form  a  quorum  of  the  Assembly. 
The  vote  will  be  cast  by  States.  If  one  or  more 
Deputies  of  one  State  should  be  absent,  the 
Deputy  or  Deputies  present  will  assume  the 
complete  representation  of  the  State. 

If  the  Deputies  of  one  State  should  disagree, 
the  vote  of  the  majority  of  the  Deputies  will 
be  regarded  as  the  vote  of  the  State,  and  in 
case  of  a  tie,  it  will  be  regarded  as  concurring 
in  the  majority  vote  of  the  other  States;  or, 
if  there  should  be  a  tie  among  those  States 
themselves,  that  which  agrees  with  the  majority 


of  the  personal  votes  of  the  Deputies.  The  de- 
cisions of  the  Assembly  will  be  taken  on  a  ma- 
jority vote  of  the   State. 

ARTICLE  8— For  the  performance  of  these 
stipulations,  there  is  instituted  here  and  now  a 
Provisional  Federal  Council,  consisting  of  a 
delegate  from  each  State.  The  said  Council  will 
take  charge  of  the  duty  of  ordering  all  the 
measures  preliminary  to  the  organization  of  the 
Federation  of  its  initial  Government,  and  espe- 
cially that  of  calling  the  Constituent  National 
Assembly  ;  of  promulgating  the  Constitution, 
constituent  laws  and  other  resolutions  passed 
by  the  Assembly;  to  issue  appropriate  orders 
to  have  States  elect  in  good  time  their  delegates 
to  the  Council,  Senate  and  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties ;  and,  finally,  to  give  possession  to  the  Federal 
Council,  whereupon  its  functions  will  terminate. 

ARTICLE  9— Delegates  to  the  Provisional 
Council  must  be  40  years  old  or  more  and  citi- 
zens of  the  State  by  which  they  are  elected. 
They  shall  enjoy  immunity  for  their  persons  and 
property  from  the  moment  they  are  elected  un- 
til one  month  after  they  retire  from  their  of- 
fice. They  shall  in  addition  enjoy  in  the  State 
where  they  perform  their  duties  all  the  privi- 
leges and  immunities  which  by  law  cr  usage  are 
granted  to  the  heads  of  diplomatic  missions. 

ARTICLE  10— The  Congress  of  each  State, 
immediately  upon  approving  this  treaty,  shall 
elect  the  delegate  that  belongs  to  it  in  the  Pro- 
visional Council,  and  through  the  proper  channel 
give  notice  of  that  election  to  the  Central  Amer- 
ican International  Office.  That  office  in  turn 
will  communicate  to  the  Governments  and  also 
to  the  elected  delegates  the  fact  of  its  ha.ving 
received  the  ratification  of  three  States,  to  the 
end  that  within  the  time  stated  hereafter  the 
delegates  may  meet  and  begin  their  labors. 

ARTICLE  11— The  Provisional  Federal  Coun- 
cil will  meet  in  the  City  of  Tegucigalpa,  capital 
of  Honduras,  not  later  than  30  days  after  the 
third  ratification  of  this  covenant  shall  have 
been  deposited  in  the  Central  American  Inter- 
national  Office. 

ARTICLE  12— In  order  to  impart  validity  to 
the  acts  of  the  Provisional  Council,  the  presence 
of  not  less  than  three  delegates  will  be  re- 
quired. 

ARTICLE  13— The  Provisional  Council  will 
elect  a  President  and  a  Secretary,  who  will  sign 
all  the  papers  needed.  The  correspondence  shall 
be  conducted  by  the  Secretary. 

ARTICLE  14— When  the  fourth  ratification 
takes  place  the  Central  American  International 
Office  or  the  Provisional  Federal  Council,  if  still 
in  session,  will  call  upon  the  delegates  concerned 
to  join  the  Provisional  Council. 

ARTICLE  15— The  Congress  of  each  State  at 
the  same  time  it  elects  its  delegate  to  the  Pro- 
visional Council,  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
vision in  Article  10  of  this  treaty,  will  elect 
the  Deputies  to  the  Constitutent  Assembly  that 
belong  to  the  State. 

ARTICLE  16— After  the  Deputies  to  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  shall  have  been  elected  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  of  the  State  con- 
cerned will  so  notify  the  Central  American  In- 
ternational Office,  and  issue  the  proper  creden- 
tials to  the  Deputies  that  have  been  elected. 


PACT  OF  THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION 


157 


ARTICLE  17— After  the  Central  American 
International  Office  shall  have  informed  the 
Provisional  Federal  Council  of  the  election  of 
the  Deputies  by  three  States  at  least,  the  Pro- 
visional Federal  Council  shall  call  the  Constit- 
uent National  Assembly,  so  that  it  may  organ- 
ize in  the  City  of  Tegucigalpa  on  the  date  set  by 
the  decree  calling  the  Assembly,  which  shall  be 
made  known  by  telegraph  to  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Relations  of  each  State  and  to  each 
Deputy  individually  not  less  than  thirty  days  in 
advance.  The  Provisional  Council  shall  see  that 
the  Constituent  Assembly  shall  organize  not 
later  than  the  loth  of  September,  1921,  which  is 
the  centennial  of  the  political  emancipation  of 
Central  America. 

ARTICLE  18— It  will  be  sufficient  that  three 
of  the  contracting  States  ratify  this  treaty  to 
have  it  considered  as  final  and  binding  among 
them  and  to  have  it  carried  into  effect.  The 
State  that  should  not  approve  the  covenant  may, 
however,  join  the  Federation  at  any  time  it 
applies  therefor,  and  the  Federation  will  admit 
it  without  any  other  formality  than  the  pre- 
senting of  a  iaw  approving  this  treaty,  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution  and  constituent  laws.  In  that 
event  the  Federal  Council  and  the  two  legisla- 
tive houses  will  be  enlarged  in  the  proper  de- 
gree. 

ARTICLE   19— The  contracting  States  are  sin- 


cerely sorry  that  the  sister  Republic  of  Nica- 
ragua does  not  desire  to  join  the  Federation  of 
Central  America.  If  the  said  republic  should 
later  decide  to  join  the  union,  the  Federation  will 
extend  the  greatest  facilities  for  its  joining  in 
the  treaty  that  may  be  made  for  that  purpose. 

In  any  event,  the  Federation  will  continue  to 
consider  and  treat  her  as  a  part  of  the  Central 
American  family,  just  as  it  will  any  State  that 
for  some  reason  or  other  should  not  ratify  this 
covenant. 

ARTICLE  20— Each  State  shall  deliver  to  the 
Provisional  Council  the  moneys  that  may  be 
named  by  it  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  in 
the  discharge  of  its  mission,  and  will  determine 
and  pay  their  salaries  to  the  several  constituent 
Deputies. 

ARTICLE  21— The  present  treaty  shall  be  sub- 
mitted in  each  State  as  soon  as  possible  to  the 
legislative  approval  that  its  Constitution  may 
require,  and  the  ratification  shall  be  immediate- 
ly notified  to  the  Central  American  International 
Office,  to  which  a  copy  will  be  sent  in  the  cus- 
tomary form.  On  receipt  of  the  copy  of  that 
ratification  the  aforesaid  office  will  so  advise 
the  other  States,  and  the  notice  will  be  held 
and  will  have  the  same  value  as  an  exchange. 

Done  at  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica,  in  quadrupli- 
cate on  the  19th  day  of  January,  1921. 


GERMANY  REGAINING  SOUTH 
AMERICAN  MARKETS 


Apparently  she  will  become  the   chief  competitor  of 
the  United  States,  while  Britain  and  Italy  are  losing 

[Period  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


PEACEFUL  penetration  of  South  Amer- 
-*-  ica  has  been  begun  by  the  Krupps,  the 
great  German  iron  and  steel  manufacturers, 
who  are  making  serious  inroads  upon  Uni- 
ted States  trade  in  machinery,  pipe,  rail- 
road equipment  and  similar  products.  Ger- 
many has  recovered  considerable  South 
American  trade,  and  evidently  is  destined 
to  become  the  chief  competitor  of  the  United 
States.  Two  German  engineers  recently 
purchased  in  Chile  25,000  acres  of  land  as  a 
site  for  a  great  industrial  plant,  and  other 
deals  are  in  progress  for  similar  establish- 
ments in  Argentina  and  Brazil. 

A  contract  for  10,000  car  wheels  in  Ar- 
gentina was  recently  awarded  to  the  Krupps 
at  a  price  far  below  the  lowest  bid  by  Uni- 


ted States  manufacturers.  In  many  lines 
of  goods  Germans  are  underselling  Amer- 
ican firms  by  an  average  of  60  per  cent,  in 
Brazil,  40  to  60  per  cento  in  Argentina  and 
20  per  cent,  in  Chile.  In  Argentina  German 
hardware  is  being  sold  from  15  to  30  per 
cent,  cheaper  than  similar  American  goods, 
but  deliveries  are  slow  and  uncertain.  In 
Chile  German  salesmen  are  increasing  and 
are  offering  silver-plated  and  nickel  goods, 
pottery  and  enamel  ware  below  American 
prices,  but  not  yet  in  large  quantities. 

Professor  Vittorio  Orlando,  formerly  Pre- 
mier of  Italy,  who  recently  returned  to 
Rome  after  an  extended  visit  to  South 
American  countries,  on  Feb.  20  addressed 
an  audience  of  6,000  persons  on  conditions 


158 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


there.  Germany,  he  said,  was  trying  to  re- 
gain her  South  American  markets,  while 
Italian  trade  was  diminishing  in  favor  of 
the  United  States.  Italian  goods  were  not 
pushed  sufficiently  by  exporters,  especially 
automobiles,  which  were  in  good  demand. 
He  urged  the  necessity  of  a  direct  cable 
to  Italy,  and  said  Italians  in  South  Amer- 
ica purposed  raising  funds  to  lay  one.  Brit- 
ish trade  was  falling  off  as  well  as  Italian. 

Bolivia,  Colombia,  Peru,  Nicaragua,  Hon- 
duras, Cuba  and  the  United  States  made  a 
convention  with  Spain  at  the  recent  Postal 
Union  Congress  in  Madrid  by  which  domes- 
tic rates  on  newspapers,  books  and  other 
printed  matter  were  extended  to  all  the 
signatory  countries,  so  that  books  and  com- 
mercial samples  may  flow  back  and  forth 
between  the  United  States  and  South  Amer- 
ica or  Spain  with  the  same  facility  and  at 
the  same  cost  as  between  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  The  enormous  advantage  ac- 
cruing to  American  advertising  and  busi- 
ness is  evident.  A  one-cent  stamp  will  carry 
a  postcard  to  any  of  the  member  countries, 
and  the  maximum  weight  limit  for  printed 
matter  is  raised. 

So  many  American  vessels  are  now  op- 
erating in  South  American  trade  that  own- 
ers are  planning  exclusive  routes  to  pre- 
vent cutthroat  competition  between  the  dif- 
ferent lines.  Negotiations  are  in  progress 
for  the  Munson  Line  to  stay  out  of  Cuban 
and  Porto  Rican  trade,  while  the  Ward  Line 
will  leave  Brazil  and  the  River  Plate  routes 
to  the  Munson  Company.  A  dispatch  from 
Buenos  Aires  of  Feb.  20  said  the  Ward  Line 
offices  there  were  about  to  be  closed  in 
pursuance  of  this  plan. 

Less  commercialized  projects  are  under 
way  for  the  organization  of  an  Institute  for 
Research  in  Tropical  America  to  promote 
investigation  in  fauna,  flora,  geology,  soils 
and  climate  to  aid  in  the  development  of 
South  America.  The  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, the  National  Geographic  Society,  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History  and  a  number 
of  similar  scientific  establishments  have 
united  for  the  work.  An  organization  of  a 
Pan-American  association  along  social  and 
cultural  lines,  to  have  branches  in  twenty- 
one  American  republics,  has  also  been  ten- 
tatively formed  by  John  Barrett,  former 
Director  General  of  the  Pan  American 
Union  and  a  group  of  men  representative 
of  the  United  States  and  South  America. 


ARGENTINA— A  request  of  the  Allies 
that  Argentina  take  measures  to  prevent 
German  exports  of  war  material  in  viola- 
tion of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  was  rather 
coldly  refused,  the  Argentine  Government 
replying  that  it  was  not  concerned  in  the 
stipulations  of  a  treaty  between  other  na- 
tions.    [See  Germany.] 

Five  German  steamers  belonging  to  the 
Hamburg-South  American  Company  were 
transferred  to  the  Argentine  flag  in  Jan- 
uary, and  the  charge  was  made  in  the  Brit- 
ish House  of  Commons  on  March  2  that  the 
Argentine  company  which  took  them  over 
was  formed  to  avoid  their  surrender  to  the 
Reparations  Commission.  This  was  denied 
by  Antonio  Delfino,  agent  of  the  line,  who 
said  he  received  a  power  of  attorney  in 
1911  to  dispose  of  the  ships. 

The  Argentine  steamer  Bahia  Blanca  was 
received  with  great  rejoicing  on  its  arrival 
at  Hamburg  on  Feb.  22.  The  Hamburg 
Senate  and  Chamber  of  Commerce  made 
addresses  of  welcome,  referring  to  Argen- 
tina's sympathy  during  the  war  and  the 
cordial  relations  existing.  The  vessel  took 
7,000  tons  of  foodstuffs,  a  gift  to  Austria 
from  Argentina. 

BOLIVIA— The  Bolivian  Government, 
headed  by  Bautista  Saavedra,  was  recog- 
nized by  the  United  States  on  Feb.  10.  A 
regiment  of  the  Bolivian  Army  mutinied 
on  March  3,  but  was  soon  overpowered. 

BRAZIL^A  loan  of  £6,000,000  was 
floated  in  February  by  the  Brazilian  State 
of  Sao  Paulo,  of  which  £2,000,000  were  of- 
fered in  London,  18,000,000  guilders  in  Am- 
sterdam and  $10,000,000  in  New  York.  The 
loan  consists  of  fifteen-year  8  per  cent, 
sinking  fund  gold  bonds,  due  Jan.  15,  1936, 
issued  at  97%.  The  bonds  are  secured  by  a 
first  charge  on  the  surtax  of  five  francs  a 
bag  on  all  coffee  exported  from  the  State. 

A  decree  raising  the  Brazilian  Legation 
in  Brussels  to  an  embassy  was  signed  by 
President  Pessoa  on  Feb.  24. 

CHILE — Under  the  patronage  of  six 
large  American  banking  houses  a  loan  of 
$24,000,000  8  per- cent,  twenty-year  sinking 
fund  gold  bonds  was  successfully  floated  in 
February.  The  money  will  be  expended  on 
road  building  and  public  works  and  will  do 
much  to  restore  Chilean  exchange. 

Chile  has  increased  import  duties  50  per 


GERMANY  REGAINING  SOUTH  AMERICAN  MARKETS 


159 


cent.,  a  bill  to  that  effect  receiving  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Council  of  State  on  Feb.  24. 
It  is  expected  to  yield  30,000,000  pesos  a 
year.  Exempted  from  its  provisions  are 
rice,  coffee,  sugar,  burlap,  gasoline,  loco- 
motives and  industrial  machinery. 

COLOMBIA  —  General  Rafael  Reyes, 
former  President  of  Colombia,  who  carried 
through  a  measure  for  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  died  in  Bogota  on  Feb. 
19. 

President  Harding,  on  March  9,  sent  to 
the  United  States  Senate  a  message  urging 
ratification  of  the  long-delayed  treaty  with 
Colombia  in  the  interest  of  cordial  rela- 
tions. It  appropriates  $25,000,000  to  be 
paid  to  Colombia  in  consideration  of  the 
loss  of  Panama  when  that  province  was 
pried  loose  from  the  mother  State  and 
erected  into  a  separate  republic.  The  ex- 
pression of  regret  that  anything  should 
have  occurred  to  mar  friendly  relations 
has  been  eliminated  in  deference  to  the 
friends  of  President  Roosevelt.  Thus 
amended,  the  treaty  was  reported  favorably 
on  March  7,  but  twenty-one  Republican 
Senators  were  said  to  be  opposed  to  it  and 
the  matter  was  postponed  until  the  extra 
session  of  Congress  in  April. 

ECUADOR — Export  duties  must  be  paid 
in  gold,  according  to  a  decree  issued  by  the 
Government  of  Ecuador  on  March  8. 


Dr.  Leon  Becerra,  Chief  Health  Officer 
of  Guayaquil  and  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission of  the  Rockefeller  Institute  study- 
ing the  yellow  fever  situation,  died  in 
Guayaquil  on  March  3,  owing  to  injuries  re- 
ceived in  a  street-car  accident. 

PARAGUAY — The  general  moratorium 
in  Paraguay  has  been  extended  to  April 
11,  and  that  of  the  Banco  Mercantil  to 
May  16. 

PERU — Addition  of  a  medical  mission  to 
the  Peruvian  Embassy  in  Washington  was 
announced  on  Feb.  13. 

URUGUAY— Many  merchants  of  Monte- 
video have  refused  to  accept  delivery  of 
American  goods  consigned  to  them  because, 
instead  of  arriving  boxed  as  requested, 
they  came  in  bales  and  many  articles  were 
broken.  Such  occurrences,  one  newspaper 
said,  lead  to  strained  commercial  relations, 
adding:  "The  difference  in  exchange  rates 
and  the  irritation  which  accumulated  during 
the  war,  when  American  manufacturers 
took  advantage  of  having  no  competitors, 
appear  to  be  bearing  fruit,"  alluding  to  the 
steady  recovery  of  European  trade. 

VENEZUELA— The  Government  of  Ven- 
ezuela has  decided  to  send  a  special  mission 
to  the  unveiling  of  the  monument  to  Simon 
Bolivar  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  on 
April  19. 


"  GERMANY  DELIVERS  ALL  HER  CANARIES  " 


mHE  following  specimen  of  German 
-*-  humor,  translated  from  Jugend  and 
published  by  The  London  Morning  Post  at 
the  end  of  January,  is  aimed  at  the  long  de- 
lays and  vacillating  policy  of  the  allied 
Premiers  in  settling  the  boundaries  in  the 
Near  East.  It  also  takes  a  fling  at  the 
alleged  non-pacific  nature  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  which  the  Germans,  like  the  Rus- 
sian Bolsheviki,  interpret  as  an  agency  of 
Entente  "  imperialism."  The  German  be- 
lief that  the  allied  powers  are  bent  on  strip- 
ping Germany  of  everything  is  embodied  in 
the  satirical  coda  with  which  each  para- 
graph concludes: 


EPOCHS   IN  THE  WORLD'S  HISTORY 

1950— Allied  Conference  in  London.  Thrace 
is  taken  away  from  the  Turks  and  handed 
over  to  the  Jugoslavs.  Armenia  is  placed 
under  Belgian  protection ;  Smyrna  becomes 
English.  Germany  delivers  all  her  thorough- 
bred dogs  up  to  France. 

1955— Allied  Conference  in  Paris.  Thrace 
is  returned  to  the  Greeks;  Armenia  is  incor- 
porated in  the  Caucasian  Republic ;  Anatolia 
becomes  French;  Smyrna  is  to  be  trans- 
formed into  a  fortified  port  for  the  League  of 
Nations.  Germany  delivers  all  her  cats  up  to 
the  Allies. 

1960— Allied  Conference  in  Bru  sels.  Thrace 
becomes  Chinese  territory;  Armenia  is  as- 
signed to  the  Kingdom  of  Honolulu;  Smyrna 
is  placed  under  Polish  protectorate.  Ger- 
many delivers  all  her  canaries  up  to  the 
Allies. 


GERMANY'S  "WATCHFUL  WAITING" 


Dr.  Simons  warmly  welcomed  on  his  return  from  the  London  Conference,  which  had 
ended  in  allied  invasion — People  of  the  occupied  Ruhr  district  remain  calm — 
Reactionaries  and  revolutionists  gain  at  the  expense  of  moderate  elements  in  the 
Prussian  Diet  elections 

[Period  Ended  March  12,  1921] 


WHEN  Dr.  Walter  Simons,  the  German 
Foreign  Minister,  arrived  in  Berlin 
the  evening  of  March  9  from  the 
London  Conference  [a  detailed  report  of 
which  is  printed  elsewhere  in  this  issue]  the 
large  crowd  at  the  railroad  station  greeted 
him  as  a  conquering  hero  rather  than  as  an 
unsuccessful  diplomat.  "  Deutschland  iiber 
Alles  "  and  other  patriotic  airs  were  sung, 
and  there  was  an  insistent  demand  for  a 
speech  by  Dr.  Simons,  who  was  congrat- 
ulated by  Chancellor  Fehrenbach  for  his 
"  courageous  attitude "  at  the  conference. 
The  next  day  the  Cabinet  unanimously  ap- 
proved Dr.  Simons's  work  in  London. 

This  was  followed,  on  March  12,  by  the 
passage  by  the  Eeichstag  of  a  reso- 
lution approving  Dr.  Simons's  stand  by  a 
vote  of  268  to  49,  only  the  Communists  and 
some  of  the  Independent  Socialists  opposing 
it.  In  his  Reichstag  speech,  the  Foreign 
Minister,  while  maintaining  that  the  penal- 
ties were  illegal,  expressed  his  opposition  to 
breaking  off  relations  with  the  Allies,  and 
said : 

"  I  must  say  that  when  one  comes  face  to 
face  with  our  opponents  in  London,  when 
one  hears  what  the  situation  is  in  their 
countries  and  under  what  distress  and  cares 
they  themselves  are  laboring,  it  becomes 
clear  that  their  demands  are  not  inspired 
merely  by  the  intoxication  of  victory  or 
lust  for  power,  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
they  are  the  result  of  extraordinarily  heavy 
troubles  and  distress  in  their  own  coun- 
tries." 

Dr.  Simons  declared  that  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  had  not  been  voided  and  that 
Germany  must  try  to  carry  out  its  terms 
as  far  as  possible. 

On  March  14  Berlin  addressed  a  note  to 
the  Secretariat  of  the  League  of  Nations 
protesting  against  the  Allies'  penalties. 

Meanwhile,     Dusseldorf,     Duisburg     and 


Ruhrort,  the  three  cities  in  the  Ruhr  dis- 
trict, the  "heart  of  the  German  coal,  steel 
and  iron  industry,"  had  been  occupied  by 
French,  Belgian  and  British  troops  on 
March  8  as  the  first  step  toward  imposing 
the  penalties  incurred  through  the  German 
refusal  to  meet  the  Allies'  reparation  terms, 
and  the  population  was  calmly  accepting  the 
situation,  with  apparently  little  regret  and 
an  attitude  of  watchful  waiting.  In  fact, 
with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  Junker 
reactionaries  and  the  Communists,  the  Ger- 
man people  seemed  content  to  await  de- 
velopments, evidently  believing  that  condi- 
tions could  not  get  much  worse  and  might 
possibly  be  improved  by  a  change  of  heart 
on  the  part  of  the  Allies  should  the  occupa- 
tion fail  to  produce  the  desired  results. 

The  Berlin  Communists,  in  holding  a  pro- 
test meeting  in  the  Lustgarten,  declared 
that  a  new  world  catastrophe  was  at  hand, 
and  urged  a  military  alliance  with  Soviet 
Russia  as  the  only  means  of  salvation  for 
the  German  proletariat.  The  responsible 
German  labor  leaders  refused  to  heed  the 
Communist  call  for  a  general  strike.  Gen- 
eral Gaucher,  commanding  the  French 
troops  in  Dusseldorf,  was  informed  by  the 
local  union  leaders  that  they  regarded  the 
occupying  forces  not  as  enemies,  but  rather 
as  "  bailiffs  come  to  collect  a  legal  debt." 

German  official  resentment  at  the  result 
of  the  London  Conference  was  shown  by  the 
recall  of  the  German  Ambassadors  from 
London,  Paris  and  Brussels  on  March  8.  On 
the  same  day,  addressing  the  Reichstag, 
Chancellor  Fehrenbach  said:.  "The  Allies 
have  already  begun  to  put  the  penalties  into 
effect.  This,  in  plain  German,  means  an 
act  of  violence,  for  penalties  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  usual  principles  of  right.  The 
conditions  imposed  upon  us  are  to  be  se- 
cured by  force.  This  rupture  can  neither 
be  disguised  nor  justified  by  legal  decep- 


GERMANY'S  "WATCHFUL    WAITING" 


161 


tion."     President  Friedrich  Ebert's  official 
proclamation,  issued  on  March  8,  read: 

Fellow-Citizens:  Our  opponents  in  the 
World  War  imposed  upon  us  unheard-of  de- 
mands, both  in  money  and  kind,  impossible 
of  fulfillment.  Not  only  ourselves,  but  our 
children  and  grandchildren,  would  have  be- 
come the  work-slaves  of  our  adversaries  by 
our  signature.  We  were  called  upon  to  seal 
a  contract  which  even  the  work  of  a  gener- 
ation would  not  have  sufficed  to  carry  out. 

We  must  not,  and  we  can  not,  comply  with 
it.     Our  honor  and  self-respect  forbid  it. 

With  an  open  breach  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
of  Versailles,  our  opponents  are  advancing  to 
the  occupation  of  more   German  territory. 

We,  however,  are  not  in  a  position  to 
oppose  force  with  force.     We  are  defenseh 

Nevertheless,  we  can  cry  out  so  all  who 
still  recognize  the  voice  of  righteousness  may 
hear. 

Right  is  being  downtrodden  by  might.  The 
whole  German  people  is  suffering  with  those 
of  our  citizens  who  are  forced  to  endure 
domination.  With  firm  bonds  must  this  sor- 
row unite  us  in  one  sentiment,  one  will. 

Fellow-citizens,  meet  this  foreign  domina- 
tion with  grave  dignity.  Maintain  an  upright 
demeanor.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  be 
driven  into  committing  ill-considered  acts. 
Be  patient  and  have  faith.  The  National 
Government  will  not  rest  until  the  foreign 
power  yields  before  our  right. 

This  defiant  note  was  re-echoed  in  the 
press  of  all  political  shades.  Some  of  the 
reactionary  papers  even  expressed  satisfac- 
tion at  what  they  called  the  smashing  of 
the  Versailles  Treaty  by  the  Allies  and  the 
saving  of  Germany  from  a  great  calamity. 
While  the  Liberal  and  Socialist  papers  were 
inclined  to  censure  Dr.  Simons  and  his  as- 
sociates for  not  having  shown  better  bar- 
gaining ability  at  London,  none  of  them 
was  offended  at  his  refusal  to  accept  the 
Allies'  terms.  Nevertheless,  neither  the 
Majority  Socialists  nor  the  Independent  So- 
cialists were  disposed  to  enter  the  Fehren- 
bach  Cabinet  and  co-operate  with  Hugo 
Stinnes  and  his  "  big  business  "  party  (the 
People's  Party)  in  handling  the  situation 
created  by  the  Government's  defiance. 

The  occupation  of  the  three  Ruhr  cities 
was  effected  by  10,000  French,  5,000  Bel- 
gian and  two  squadrons  of  British  troops, 
all  under  the  command  of  General  Degoutte, 
in  the  midst  of  a  real  or  affected  apathy  on 
the  part  of  the  inhabitants.  The  official 
proclamation  posted  up  by  the  allied  au- 
thorities read  as  follows: 

TO  THE  POPULATION: 
The  official  representatives  of  the  German 
Government  have  just  presented  to  the  Lon- 


don Conference  propositions  which  show  that 
the  German  Government  does  not  wish  to 
fulfill  the  engagements  it  assumed  in  sign- 
ing the  Treaty  of  Peace. 

Before  this  attitude  the  allied  powers  are 
constrained  to  pass  to  penalties.  Unanimous- 
ly they  have  decided  to  assure  themselves 
new  guarantees  in  order  to  force  the  German 
Government  to  execute  the  clauses  of  the 
treaty. 

In  consequence,  the  allied  troops  have  re- 
ceived orders  to  occupy  as  guarantees  Diis- 
seldorf,   Duisburg  and  Ruhrort. 

This  occupation  constitutes  in  no  fashion 
a  measure  of  hostility  toward  the  population. 
Under  the  reserve  of  strict  observance  of 
orders,  which  the  military  authority  will 
judge  indispensable  to  promulgate,  there  will 
be  no  interference  with  the  economic  life  of 
the  region. 

Not  only  will  the  working  population  have 
all  facilities  for  work,  but  the  allied  authori- 
ties are  willing  to  help  them  to  better  their 
situation  and  in  particular  to  assure  their 
food  supply. 

The  allied  command  intends  to  maintain  in 
the  territories  newly  occupied  a  regime  of 
liberty  and  order  in  which  the  prosperity  of 
the  country   can  develop. 

DEGOUTTE, 

Commander-in-Chief    of   the   Allied   Forces 
of  Occupation. 

Another  proclamation  informed  the  popu- 
lation that  a  state  of  siege  would  be  main- 
tained, with  press  and  mail  and  telegraph 
censorship,  and  that  severe  penalties  would 
be  imposed  for  sabotage  and  carrying  arms. 
Strikes  in  public  utilities  were  forbidden. 
The  day  after  the  occupation  the  French 
began  opening  soup  kitchens  in  the  poor 
quarters  of  Diisseldorf.  General  Gaucher 
received  the  notables  of  the  city  and  told 
them  the  conditions  of  occupation  would  be 
as  lenient  as  was  compatible  with  security. 
On  March  10  a  report  to  a  Brussels  news- 
paper told  of  the  wounding  of  a  Belgian 
guard  in  Duisburg  by  a  shot  fired  by  an 
unknown  person. 

Fearing  trouble  between  the  so-called 
Security  Police  and  the  forces  of  occupa- 
tion, as  well  as  possible  clashes  be- 
tween this  body  of  State  police  and  the 
workers  of  the  Ruhr  district  who  consider 
them  as  nothing  but  "  White  Guards " 
ready  to  suppress  labor  uprisings,  General 
Degoutte  ordered  the  Security  policemen 
in  the  occupied  district  to  disband  and  leave 
on  March  12.  The  local  traffic  police  was 
to  continue  in  service  and  was  counted  upon 
to  co-operate  with  the  occupying  troops  in 
maintaining  order. 

The  taking  over  of  the   Custom  Houses 


162 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


along  the  Rhine  was  effected  on  March  8 
without  difficulty.  The  American  troops 
of  occupation  took  no  part  in  these  new 
activities  of  the  allied  forces. 

On  March  14  the  Reparations  Commission 
called  upon  Germany  to  prepare  to  pay  by 
May  1  the  balance  of  the  20,000,000,000  gold 
marks  then  due  under  the  terms  of  the 
Versailles  Treaty.  This  balance  has  been 
estimated  at  12,000,000,000  marks  and  the 
commission  said  1,000,000,000  of  it  must  be 
paid  by  March  23. 

MOVE  TOWARD  DISARMAMENT 

Against  stubborn  opposition  by  the  seven 
representatives  of  Bavaria,  the  Federal 
Council  voted  on  March  12  to  approve  the 
draft  of  a  law  intended  to  meet  the  demand 
of  the  Allies  for  disarmament  legislation 
carrying  out  the  articles  in  the  Versailles 
Treaty  prohibiting  the  maintaining  of  war- 
like organizations,  and  two  days  later  the 
bill  was  introduced  in  the  Reichstag  and 
referred  to  a  special  committee.  Alarmed 
at  the  possibility  of  seeing  the  wiping  out 
of  its  reactionary  "  Orgesch,"'the  organiza- 
tion embracing  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
armed  farmers  and  bourgeois  counted  upon 
to  hold  down  any  revolutionary  uprising  by 
the  Bavarian  working  people,  the  Bavarian 
Government,  headed  by  Dr.  von  Kahr, 
ordered  its  supporters  in  the  Reichstag  to 
fight  the  bill  to  the  limit  and  even,  accord- 
ing to  a  Munich  report,  asked  them  to  with- 
draw their  support  from  the  Fehrenbach 
coalition  Cabinet. 

To  a  request  by  the  Allies  that  Argen- 
tina stop  the  German  exportation  of  war 
materials  to  that  country,  the  Argentine 
Government  replied  that  it  had  nothing  to 
do  with  treaties  negotiated  between  other 
nations,  so  it  must  deny  the  request;  but 
on  Feb.  22  Dr.  Julio  Morone,  the  Argentine 
Minister  of  War,  stated  that  Argentina  Had 
made  no  purchases  whatever  of  war  ma- 
terials in  Germany  since  the  war,  nor  was 
it  negotiating  for  any  such  purchases.  The 
Allied  Control  Commissions  in  Germany, 
it  was  announced  in  British  official  circles, 
will  see  to  it  that  no  shipments  of  war  ma- 
terials are  made  from  Germany  to  any 
neutral  country. 

The  contrast  between  governmental  pov- 
erty on  the  one  hand  and  the  increase  in 
prosperity  by  the  huge  business  concerns  on 


the  other  continued  to  grow  sharper  during 
the  period.  This  was  accentuated  by  semi- 
official reports  showing  that  about  4,000,000 
Germans  were  out  of  work,  or  working  only 
part  time.  Of  these  432,000  were  drawing 
unemployment  benefits  in  February,  an  in- 
crease of  32,000  over  December.  The  State 
pawnshops  reported  a  great  increase  during 
the  last  few  months  in  the  number  of  mid- 
dle class  persons,  obliged  to  pawn  their  least 
necessary  possessions  in  order  to  keep 
alive.  The  Leipsic  Fair  opened  on  March  6, 
with  15,000  exhibitors  and  100,000  visitors 
from  twenty-five  countries,  and  furnished 
further  evidence  of  German  determination 
to  try  to  regain  foreign  trade,  in  spite  of 
all  handicaps.  A  Treasury  statement  for 
the  eleven  montKs  ended  Feb.  28  showed  a 
deficit  of  70,100,000,000  marks,  receipts 
having  been  only  24,500,000,000.  The  deficit 
included  a  loss  of  15,500,000,000  marks  on 
railroad  operation,  and  brought  the  floating 
debt  up  to  161,670,000,000  marks. 

Reports  from  Berlin  and  Buenos  Aires 
told  of  the  Chilean  Government's  granting 
to  the  Krupp  Company  a  thirty-year  con- 
cession for  350,000  acres  of  land  in  the 
Province  of  Llanquihue,  upon  which  to  erect 
the  biggest  steel  and  munitions  plant  in 
South  America.  The  North  German  Lloyd 
stockholders  on  March  5  voted  annual  divi- 
dends of  8  per  cent,  for  1919  and  1920  and 
increased  capitalization  by  250,000,000 
marks.  The  tonnage  of  the  oceangoing  ves- 
sels entering  Hamburg  in  February  totaled 
672,278,  a  gain  of  16,831  tons  over  January. 
German  exports  to  Great  Britain  in  the  last 
quarter  of  1920  had  amounted  to  £10,494,- 
000,  against  £8,743,000  in  the  preceding 
quarter,  and  had  contributed  somewhat  to 
the  depression  of  the  British  labor  market. 

An  appropriation  of  4,700,000,000  marks 
to  indemnify  German  shipping  companies 
for  war  losses  was  voted  by  the  Reichstag 
on  March  12,  bringing  the  total  voted  for 
that  purpose  up  to  about  12,000,000,000 
marks.  The  companies  pledge  themselves 
to  build  at  least  one-third  of  Germany's 
pre-war  tonnage  within  the  next  ten  years, 
or   about   2,500,000   tons. 

THE   PRUSSIAN   ELECTIONS 

The  elections  to  the  first  regular  Prussian 
Diet  on  Feb.  20  followed  the  same  lines  as 
those  for  the  National  Reichstag  last  June, 
i.  e.,  a  strong  drift  to  the  two  extremes  of 


GERMANY'S  "WATCHFUL   WAITING 


163 


reaction  and  revolution,  with  the  exception 
of  a  gain  in  votes  by  the  Majority  Social- 
ists. This  did  not  offset,  however,  that 
party's  loss  in  Deputies,  compared  with  its 
strength  in  the  Prussian  Constitutional  As- 
sembly chosen  on  Jan.  26,  1919.  The  new 
Diet  is  made  up  of  428  Deputies,  apportioned 
at  the  rate  of  one  for  about  every  40,000 
votes.  The  old  Assembly  had  401  members. 
The  results,  as  announced  by  the  semi- 
official Wolff  Telegraph  Bureau  on  Feb.  23 
and  compared  with  the  former  Assembly, 
were  as  follows: 

New         Old 
Diet.    Assembly. 

Majority  Socialists  114  144 

Centrists    92  94 

Democrats     26  66 

Nationalists    75  50 

People's  Party    58  23 

Independent   Socialists    29  24 

Communists    30 

Middle-Class  Party 4 

The  eleven  Guelphs  (Hanoverian  Separat- 
ists) in  the  new  Diet,  as  well  as  their  six 
brethren  in  the  old  Assembly,  are  counted 
with  the  Centrists,  as  they  generally  work 
together  on  important  questions.  One  of  the 
Democrats  from  Slesvig-Holstein  in  the  old 
Assembly  was  officially  known  as  a  Farmer 
Democrat. 

Although  the  majority  in  the  Diet  con- 
trolled by  the  Government,  composed  of 
Majority  Socialists,  Centrists  and  Demo- 
crats, has  been  heavily  reduced,  it  is  still 
enough  to  work  with,  especially  as  there  is 
little  possibility  that  its  opponents  of  the 
Right  and  Left  can  unite  for  its  overthrow. 
So  it  appears  likely  that  Otto  Braun,  a 
Socialist,  will  remain  at  the  head  of  the 
Cabinet,  although  the  formality  of  resign- 
ing was  gone  through  on  March  10.  The 
People's  Party  (Hugo  Stinnes's  big-business 
political  group),  backed  by  the  reactionary 
Junker  Nationalists,  is  anxious  to  get  places 
in  the  Government,  but  it  is  not  expected 
that  the  Majority  Socialists  will  let  in  its 
representatives,  unless  a  defection  by  the 
Democrats  or  Centrists  absolutely  necessi- 
tates it.  There  were  by-elections  on  Feb. 
20  in  Slesvig  and  East  Prussian  Reichstag 
districts.  Count  Bernstorff  was  elected  as 
a  Democrat  from  Slesvig. 

The  result  of  these  by-elections  was 
again  for  the  Right  and  Left  in  the  Reichs- 
tag and  an  increase  in  the  total  number 
of  Deputies  from  466  to  469.  The  National- 
increased  from  66  to  71,  the  People's 
Party  from  62  to  65,  the  Communists  from 


24  to  26,  the  Independent  Socialists  from 
59  to  61,  and  the  Centre  from  67  to  68, 
while  the  Democrats  fell  from  45  to  40  and 
the  Majority  Socialists  from  113  to  108. 
The  minor  parties  were  not  affected. 

The  Independents  were  the  hardest  hit 
in-  the  popular  Diet  vote,  compared  with  the 
Reichstag  vote  of  last  June,  losing  heavily 
to  the  new  United  Communist  Party  and 
to  the  Majority  Socialists.  In  new  Greater 
Berlin  the  vote  was  as  follows:  Majority 
Socialists,  427,300;  Independents,  332,500; 
Communists,  194,900;  Democrats,  147,800; 
Nationalists,  329,000;  People's  Party,  301,- 
300;  Centrists,  74,500;  Middle  Class  Eco- 
nomic League,  98,300. 

During  the  period  there  were  the  usual 
stories  of  plotting  by  the  Junkers  for  the 
restoration  of  the  monarchy  and  by  the 
Communists  for  the  setting  up  of  a  Soviet 
regime,  but  up  to  March  15  nothing  serious 
along  that  line  had  developed. 

Some  excitement  was  caused  by  the  pub- 
lication in  Holland  and  Germany  of  ex- 
cerpts from  a  book  said  to  have  been  writ- 
ten by  ex-Kaiser  Wilhelm  for  private  dis- 
tribution among  his  friends,  in  which  he 
reviewed  the  causes  of  the  World  War  and 
tried  to  shift  the  blame  for  its  outbreak 
to  Great  Britain.  Some  of  the  Socialist 
and  Liberal  papers  remarked  that  the  ex- 
Kaiser  was  evidently  trying  to  rehabilitate 
himself  in  the  eyes  of  the  monarchist  ele- 
ment with  the  view  of  staging  a  "  come- 
back "  in  the  not  distant  future. 

VOTERS  RUSHED  TO   SILESIA 

The  days  immediately  preceding  the 
plebiscite  in  Upper  Silesia  on  March  20 
were  utilized  to  the  limit  by  the  Germans 
for  rushing  German  voters  to  the  district 
from  every  part  of  the  Fatherland,  under 
the  direction  of  the  German  Defense 
League  and  a  special  railroad  division 
headed  by  General  Groener,  wartime  man- 
ager of  the  military  railroad  lines.  Ar- 
rangements were  made  for  227  special 
trains  to  carry  200,000  German  Silesians, 
resident  in  other  districts,  back  to  their  old 
home,  free  of  charge.  These  voters  were  to 
receive  pay  for  lost  time  and  free  board 
and  lodging  while  away. 

Over  the  votes  of  the  Independents  and 
the  Communists  the  Reichstag  increased 
President  Ebert's  salary  from  100,000  to 
150,000  marks  and  his  allowances  for  off i- 


164 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cial  expenses  from  200,000  to  250,000.  The 
exchange  value  of  a  mark  during  the  last 
few  weeks  has  ranged  from  Wz  to  1% 
cents.  A  Berlin  cablegram  of  Feb.  23  told 
of  a  shot,  fired  from  the  building  opposite 
President  Ebert's  residence,  which  wounded 
a  sentry  on  duty  there. 

There  was  an  outburst  of  anti-Semitism 
in  Berlin  on  Sunday,  Feb.  27,  when  a  mob 
of  students  raided  the  Jewish  quarter  and 
beat  hundreds  of  Jews  badly,  despite  the 
presence  of  many  policemen,  the  latter  con- 
fining their  activities,  according  to  a  cabled 
report,  to  trying  to  pull  the  victims  into 
trucks,  out  of  reach  of  their  assailants. 

The  campaign  against  the  use  of  colored 
French  troops  in  the  occupied  territory,  be- 
gun many  months  ago  by  the  Junker  press 
and  supported  by  some  of  the  German  Lib- 


eral papers,  although  deprecated  by  the  So- 
cialist and  Communist  press,  continued, 
both  in  Germany  and  the  United  States, 
with  renewed  vigor.  An  official  report  by 
Major  Gen.  Henry  T.  Allen,  commanding 
the  American  troops  on  the  Rhine,  submit- 
ted to  the  Senate  on  Feb.  19,  showed  that 
this  campaign  was  largely  based  on  exag- 
gerated reports  of  outrages  committed  by 
the  colored  troops;  these  troops,  he  said, 
were  under  good  discipline,  and  only  sixty- 
six  cases  of  alleged  assault  upon  women 
had  been  officially  reported  to  the  French 
military  authorities  from  the  beginning  of 
the  occupation  in  1918  to  June  1,  1920.  Of 
these  only  twenty-eight  were  proved  and 
the  culprits  punished,  while  the  results  of 
twenty- three  trials  had  not  yet  been  made 
public. 


FRANCE  UNITED  ON  MAKING 
GERMANY  PAY 


Determined  support  of  all  the  people  given  to  the  Br  land  Government  in  its  invasion  of 
the  Rhine  region — French  Communism  and  how  the  authorities  are  dealing  with  it- 
Industrial  depression  makes  the  indemnity  problem  more  acute 

IPkriod  Ended  March   12,   1021] 


THE  Briand  Government,  in  its  determi- 
nation to  make  Germany  pay  for  the 
damage  she  has  wrought — a  determi- 
nation grimly  evidenced  in  the  early  days 
of  March  by  the  invasion  of  Rhenish  Ger- 
many— has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
the  whole  nation  is  solidly  behind  it.  A 
strong  wind  of  impatience  has  long  been 
blowing  from  the  devastated  regions  of  the 
North,  where  the  people  have  become  weary 
of  waiting  for  reparations  that  never  come, 
while  their  homes  remain  in  ruins  for  lack 
of  funds  and  building  material.  "  Even 
where  our  factories  have  been  rebuilt,"  said 
one  of  the  victims  of  the  German  invasion, 
"  they  are  empty.  Why  not  make  Germany 
give  us  back  our  looms  and  lace  frames,  so 
that  we  can  get  to  work  again?"  The  in- 
dustrial depression  visible  in  many  parts 
of  France  has  increased  the  feeling  of  bel- 
ligerency, and  keen  observers  have  reported 


that,  from  the  colliers  of  the  north  to  the 
farmers  of  Alsace,  the  whole  population  is 
prepared  to  support  the  demand,  "  Make 
Germany  pay!"  French  farmers  every- 
where, though  now  far  more  prosperous 
than  the  dwellers  in  the  towns,  as  many  of 
the  peasant  class  have  acquired  new  land- 
holdings  since  the  war,  have  no  desire  to 
give  up  their  accumulated  savings  to  a 
Government  in  financial  straits  while  Ger- 
many evades  the  responsibilities  of  its 
wrongdoing.  To  the  strength  of  this  uni- 
versal feeling  were  due  the  fall  of  the 
Leygues  Ministry,  the  rise  of  Aristide 
Briand  as  Premier  and  the  policy  of  "  blood 
and  iron  "  which  that  experienced  states- 
man has  conducted  in  closest  co-operation 
with  the  taciturn  but  determined  President 
Millerand. 

Opposition  to  the  new  policy  of  drastic 
measures    has    come    almost    entirely    from 


FRANCE   UNITED   ON  MAKING   GERMANY  PAY 


165 


the  Socialist  and  Communist  elements, 
which  have  been  active  in  attack  upon  the 
Government  since  the  seizure  of  the  German 
towns  upon  the  Rhine.  An  important  part 
of  the  propaganda  which  their  organs 
spread  was  based  on  the  old  charges  that 
France  was  maintaining  black  troops  in  the 
German  area,  and  that  many  outrages  had 
been  committed  by  the  blacks,  and  by  the 
French  troops  in  general.  It  was  also  de- 
clared that  the  American  Government  was 
wholly  opposed  to  the  new  invasion,  and 
that  the  failure  of  the  American  troops  in 
Germany  to  join  the  invaders  was  proof 
of  this.  To  counteract  this  pro-German 
propaganda,  Stephane  Lausanne,  editor  of 
the  Matin,  and  one  of  the  most  energetic 
advocates  of  a  strong  policy  in  regard  to 
German  reparations,  went  to  Coblenz  early 
in  March  to  interview  General  Allen,  the 
American  General  in  command  on  the 
Rhine.  Questioned,  General  Allen  replied 
as  follows: 

It  is  shoulder  to  shoulder  we  march  ;  It  is 
heart  to  heart.  In  everything  we  are  in  ac- 
cord. *  *  *  Moreover,  there  is  uniformity 
of  action  in  the  four  sectors  occupied  by  the 
four  allied  nations.  There  is  not  any  French 
regime,  American  regime,  British  regime  or 
'  Belgian  regime.  There  is  only  one  allied 
regime,  which  we  apply  in  perfect  harmony. 
This  is  the  first  time  the  American  troops  do 
not  do  the  same  thing  as  their  brothers  in 
arms.  But  the  American  troops  are  not  far 
away.  They  are  quite  ready  and  our  flag 
still  flies  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  beside 
the  French  flag.  For  myself,  I  hope  that  it 
will  fly  there  as  long  as  the  occupation  lasts. 

Regarding  the  black  soldiers  and  the 
charge  against  them,  General  Allen  said: 
On  my  honor,  it  is  absolutely  false.  I  have 
sent  the  State  Department  a  report  which 
tells  the  whole  story.  Whatever  the  Ger- 
mans or  excited  Irish  in  America  say  in  their 
campaign,  facts  are  facts.  These  facts  are 
that  since  many  months  there  have  been  no 
black  soldiers  in  the  Rhineland,  and  that 
these  soldiers  when  they  were  here  commit- 
ted no  atrocities.  *  *  *  Only  thirteen 
crimes  were  established,  and  these  were  se- 
verely   punished. 

VIVIANFS  NEW  MISSION. 

To  counteract  this  propaganda  more  ef- 
fectively, the  French  Government  decided 
early  in  March  to  send,  on  an  official  mis- 
sion to  the  United  States,  M.  Rene  Viviani, 
former  Premier  of  France,  noted  for  his 
efforts  on  behalf  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
The  appointment  was  officially   announced 


on  March  7,  with  the  explanation  that  M. 
Viviani,  better  than  any  one  else,  "  was 
fitted  to  bear  witness  to  the  pacific  purpose 
of  France,  *  *  *  and  to  prevent  by  disarma- 
ment a  repetition  of  Germany's  crime 
against  civilization  and  liberty." 

The  story  of  the  allied  invasion  of  Ger- 
many is  told  elsewhere  in  these  pages.  Mili- 
tary and  naval  plans  were  making  for  the 
future.  Though  the  Commission  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  reduced  the  proposed 
war  budget  for  the  year  by  a  little  over 
1,000,000  francs,  the  sum  actually  reported 
by  the  commission  totaled  5,144,000,000 
francs.  Furthermore,  the  naval  program 
announced  by  M.  Guisthau,  the  new  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  called  for  a  fleet  able  to 
defeat  any  fleet  Germany  might  send  to 
sea  until  the  terms  of  the  Versailles  Treaty 
were  fulfilled.  Reports  that  Germany  was 
already  building  new  cruisers,  reported  to 
be  of  high  speed  and  long  cruising  radius, 
were  the  explanation  of  this  new  French 
program,  which  called  for  six  fast  cruisers 
adapted  to  carry  out  a  blockade,  should  it 
prove  necessary. 

The  appointment  of  three  new  Marshals 
of  France  was  announced  on  Feb.  20.  The 
men  so  honored  were  General  Lyautey,  re- 
nowned for  his  activities  as  Resident  Gen- 
eral of  Morocco;  General  Franchet  d'Espe- 
rey,  whose  war  record  in  France  and  in  the 
Balkans  was  one  of  great  brilliancy,  and 
General  Fayolle,  who  with  his  reserve  army 
barred  the  way  to  Paris  in  1918,  who  for  a 
year  was  in  command  of  the  French  Armies 
of  Occupation  along  the  Rhine.  The  ap- 
pointment of  these  three  new  Marshals 
aroused  a  storm  from  the  friends  of  other 
Generals  not  so  honored,  and  it  was  said 
at  the  end  of  February  that  a  bill  intro- 
duced by  these  factions  provided  for  the  ele- 
vation of  six  more  Generals  to  the  rank  of 
Marshal. 

REPRESSION    OF    COMMUNISTS 

The  French  Government  continued  to 
show  a  strong  hand  in  checking  the  sedi- 
tious activities  of  the  Communists.  Though 
the  General  Confederation  of  Labor  had 
shown  a  strong  tendency  to  drive  out  all 
those  who  advocated  the  application  of  the 
doctrines  of  Lenin,  the  plotters  against  the 
Government  continued  their  underground 
activities.  The  arrest  of  the  Russian  agi- 
tator Abramovitch  and  his  French  accom- 


166 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


plices  showed  that  the  French  Intelligence 
Department  was  keeping  its  eyes  open.  The 
effect  of  the  Communist  teaching  was 
brought  into  strong  relief  toward  the  end 
of  February,  when  800  workmen  in  an  elec- 
trical factory  at  Argenteuil,  a  Paris  suburb, 
hoisted  red  and  black  flags  over  the  factory 
buildings  and  planned  to  take  possession 
of  the  plant  upon  a  Soviet  basis.  The  police 
forestalled  this  plan,  and  the  insurgents 
were  paid  off  and  new  men  sought  to  fill 
their  places.  Hundreds  of  gendarmes  and 
Republican  Guards  patrolled  the  works  and 
repelled  a  rush  of  the  Red  workmen  across 
the  bridge.  No  one  was  seriously  injured. 
Meanwhile  the  Government  on  Feb.  27 
arraigned  for  trial  ten  Communist  leaders 
implicated  in  the  plots  of  last  May  to  over- 
throw the  Government  by  means  of  a  gen- 
eral strike.  Eighty  witnesses  were  called 
to  testify.  The  prosecution  charged  that 
the  strikes  were  fully  prepared  with  the 
intention  of  seizing  supreme  power  and  es- 
tablishing a  Soviet  rule. 

COMMERCIAL  DEPRESSION 

Unempoyment  remained  one  of  the  great 
domestic  problems  with  which  the  Govern- 
ment had  to  deal.  One  favorable  feature 
was  the  downward  trend  in  the  price  of 
coal.  Daniel  Vincent,  the  new  Minister  of 
Labor,  explained  to  the  Chamber  in  Feb- 
ruary the  efforts  being  made  to  remedy  the 
situation.  Places  were  being  found  for  men 
unemployed.  Former  agriculturists  were  be- 
ing encouraged  to  return  to  the  land;  over 
50,000  had  responded  to  this  appeal  within 
a  year.  An  increase  of  the  Government 
allowance  for  those  without  work  was  ad- 
vocated, and  municipal  and  departmental 
work  was  being  pushed,  especially  in  the 
devastated  area,  to  provide  work  for  those 
unemployed.  M.  Vincent  proposed  some 
form  of  effective  and  intelligent  control  of 


immigration  to  diminish  foreign  competi- 
tion. 

Falling  prices  and  commercial  depres- 
sion, however,  were  undeniable.  Fear  of 
a  bank  crash  toward  the  end  of  February 
aroused  serious  proposals  to  launch  what 
was  called  a  "  tacit  moratorium  "  in  Paris. 
Every  one  was  trying  to  sell  values,  and  no 
one  was  willing  to  buy.  Debts  could  not 
be  paid,  and  the  situation  was  one  that 
aroused  alarm  in  business  and  financial 
circles.  The  Government,  on  its  part,  was 
doing  all  it  could  to  recoup  its  shattered 
finances  by  means  of  taxation,  which,  as 
the  French  Government  has  shown,  weighs 
much  more  heavily  on  the  French  than 
similar  taxation  on  the  Germans.  One 
considerable  source  of  tax  income,  the  im- 
posts levied  on  goods  sent  up  the  Rhine 
from  Antwerp  to  Strasbourg,  had  aroused 
discontent  in  the  latter  city,  and  a  strong 
Alsatian  movement  was  on  foot  to  induce 
the  Central  Government  to  remove  these 
taxes,  which,  it  was  contended,  were  pre- 
venting Strasbourg  from  assuming  its 
rightful  place  as  the  main  seaport  on  the 
Rhine. 

A  new  census  of  France  was  begun  on 
March  5.  The  last  French  census  was 
taken  in  1911.  In  deaths  on  the  battlefield 
France  lost  1,700,000,  but  many  causes 
combined  to  make  the  loss  still  greater.  It 
is  generally  estimated  that  there  are  3,000,- 
000  fewer  French  than  the  38,000,000 
shown  in  the  last  census.  Paris  and  the 
Mediterranean  cities  have  received  an  in- 
flux of  immigrants  from  the  disturbed 
countries  of  Europe.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  are  100,000  Russian  refugees  in  Paris 
alone.  The  French  method  of  taking  the 
new  census  consists  of  determining  who 
spent  the  night  of  March  5-6  in  every  house 
of  France.  The  general  results  are  ex- 
pected to  be  published  early  in  April. 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA  VETOES  THE  HAPSBURGS 


Foreign  Minister  Benes  warns  Hungary  that  the  restoration  of  the 
former  reigning  house  would  mean  war — The  schools  desecularized 


[Period  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


SPEAKING  before  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, Foreign  Minister  Benes  of 
the  Czechoslovak  Republic  announced  that 
the  purpose  of  his  visit  to  Rome  was  to  dis- 
cuss with  the  Italian  Government  the  ques- 
tions of  Austria  and  Hungary  and  of  Haps- 
burg  restoration.  He  declared  he  knew  the 
Italian  attitude  to  be  in  full  accord  with 
that  of  the  Little  Entente  States.  As  to 
Austria,  the  Minister  said,  the  union  with 
Germany  is  impossible  under  the  Treaty  of 
St.  Germain;  moreover,  Germany  could  not 
assume  the  contingent  financial  burden. 
The  Minister  then  added  that  the  republic 
had  no  conflict  whatever  with  Germany,  and 
continued : 

"  I  wish  to  emphasize  that  we  are  willing 
to  negotiate  with  the  Magyars  on  every  im- 
portant question.  But  the  Magyars  must 
change  their  mentality  and  stop  their  insane 
propaganda  in  America,  England  and 
France,  directed,  first  of  all,  against  our 
State." 

The  Minister  then  pointed  out  the  con- 
trast between  the  domestic  policies  of 
Czechoslovakia  and  Hungary.  In  the  former 
country,  he  said,  the  nobility,  the  anti-demo- 
cratic upper  hierarchy  and  the  hereditary 
bureaucracy  are  wiped  out;  the  affairs  of 
the  State  are  directed  by  the  parties  of  the 
people.  In  Hungary,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  social  revolution  which  has  taken  place 
in  Czechoslovakia  was  never  achieved.  That 
accounts  for  the  utter  difference  in  outlook, 
domestic  and  foreign;  that  is  the  obstacle 
to  co-operation  and  rapprochement.  The 
Minister  proceeded: 

Even  more  important  is  the  issue  of  the 
form  of  government  in  Hungary.  The  return 
of  the  ex-King  Charles  to  Hungary  would 
mean  for  the  neighbor  countries  an  actual 
and  justified  casus  belli.  The  elevation  to 
the  throne  of  a  foreign  dynasty  or  a  Magyar 
noble  house  is  neither  timely  nor  possible, 
for  internal  reasons.  As  to  the  selection  of 
another  Hapsburg  King,  especially  that  of 
the  Archduke  Joseph,  it  was  the  Czecho- 
slovak Government  which  after  the  over- 
throw of  Bela  Kun  caused  the  retirement  of 
Archduke  Joseph  from  the  regency;  it  was 
supported    by    the    Jugoslav    and    Rumanian, 


as  well  as  by  the  French,  British  and  Italian 
Governments. 

In  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the 
Council  of  Ambassadors,  the  return  of  the 
Hapsburg  dynasty  to  any  Central  European 
throne,  in  any  form  and  in  the  person  of 
any  Archduke,  is  precluded.  The  Czecho- 
slovak Government  adheres  to  this  stand- 
point consistently  and  unconditionally.  If 
the  Hungarians  attempt  to  challenge  this 
determination  of  ours,  we,  together  with  our 
friends,  would  fight  them  with  all  means  at 
our  disposal,  for  we  are  convinced  that  the 
return  of  the  Hapsburgs  would  endanger 
the  new  mid-European  order.  The  Czecho- 
slovak Government  claims  no  right  to  inter- 
fere with  the  domestic  affairs  of  other  coun- 
tries, and  the  question  of  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  Hungary  belongs  to  these  domes- 
tic affairs.  On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  democratic  principles  of 
Hungary's  neighbors  are  very  valuable  safe- 
guards of  peace,  stability  and  the  final 
restoration  of  friendly  co-operation.  If  the 
Hungarian  people  would  conceive  of  its 
political  and  national  problem  in  this  light 
it  would  find  out  soon  what  would  be  the 
best  solution  of  its  inner  crisis. 

NO    GRUDGE    AGAINST    REPUBLIC 

Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  difficulties  out- 
standing between  Hungary  and  her  neigh- 
bors would  be  eliminated  if  we  could  see  that 
Hungary  is  developing  in  the  direction  of 
republicanism  and  democracy.  Without  wish- 
ing to  interfere  with  Hungary's  domestic 
affairs,  we  declare  that  as  soon  as  Hungary 
decides  for  a  republic  the  question  of  rap- 
prochement, of  friendship  and  co-operation, 
even  of  assistance,  becomes  timely  at  once. 

In  the  Hungarian  question  we  and  our 
allies  are  in  full  accord.  We  are  prepared 
for  any  emergency  and  have  agreed  as  to 
the  necessary  action.  We  cannot  imagine 
to  shut  ourselves  off  from  Hungary,  political- 
ly and  economically,  for  any  length  of  time. 
History  teaches  us  that  we  cannot  live  in 
continued  enmity  with  the  Magyars. 

Mr.  Benes  then  said  that  Czechoslovakia 
did  not  object  to  a  Polish-Hungarian 
entente,  but  expected  loyalty  from  her  ally, 
Poland.  As  to  Russia,  he  said,  after  the 
debacle  of  Wrangel  nobody  could  think  of 
intervention.  Russia  must  stop  her  propa- 
ganda in  and  against  the  Western  countries. 
Bolshevism  in  its  present  form  is  doomed, 
but  the  process  of  healing  will  be  long,  and 


168 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Russia  in  the  meantime  will  not  occupy  the 
place  due  to  her  in  the  European  ensemble. 
Czechoslovakia's  attitude  toward  Jugoslavia 
and  Rumania  was  defined  by  the  policy  of 
the  Little  Entente,  Mr.  Benes  said,  and  con- 
cluded :  "  Our  policy  is  that  of  peace, 
democracy  and  progress." 

The  Prague  press  reports  that  instruction 
in   religion   will   cease   in   all   Czechoslovak 


schools  within  the  immediate  future.  Pa- 
rents who  wish-  that  their  children  be  in- 
structed in  religion  may  make  arrange- 
ments with  the  priest  or  minister  of  their 
denomination,  such  arrangements  to  be  su- 
pervised by  the  State.  In  the  public  schools 
ethics  will  supplant  the  classes  in  religion. 
All  denominational  schools  are  dissolved 
unless  they  give  up  their  religious  character. 


RELIGIOUS  FEUDS  DIVIDE  HUNGARY 


The  Horthy  regime  being  opposed  by  the  Protestants — Intrigues 
for  restoration  of  the  Hapsburgs — Anti-Jewish  discrimination. 

[Period  Ended  March  12,  1921] 


CHAOTIC  conditions  which  have  charac- 
terized Hungarian  political  life  for  the 
last  two  years  continued  throughout 
the  first  quarter  of  the  year.  Attempts  by 
leading  politicians  to  form  new  alignments 
merely  served  to  bring  into  relief  the  lack 
of  a  constructive  program  and  the  dread  of 
definite  issues  that  mark  the  National  As- 
sembly of  the  Horthy  regime.  Notwith- 
standing the  desperate  economic  situation 
of  the  country,  with  its  Government  bank- 
rupt in  all  but  name,  its  production  com- 
pletely paralyzed  and  its  currency  sunk  to 
one-hundredth  of  its  pre-war  value,  a 
sterile  discussion  of  the  problem  of  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  continued  as  the  sole  pre- 
occupation of  political  leaders.  The  en- 
deavor of  Count  Julius  Andrassy,  one  of  the 
main  pillars  of  the  old  regime,  to  form  a 
new  "  Christian  national  "  party  out  of  the 
governmental  bloc,  the  pro-Hapsburg  dis- 
senters of  the  Farmers'  Party,  the  "  Demo- 
cratic "  followers  of  the  exiled  boss  of 
Budapest  municipal  politics,  Vazonyi  and  a 
few  free  lance  politicians  who  under  the 
old  order  belonged  to  the  bodyguard  of  Pre- 
mier Tisza,  ended  in  complete  failure  owing 
to  personal  feuds  and  the  refusal  of  the 
Count  to  profess  his  true  colors,  gleefully 
exploited  by  his  opponents. 

It  was  generally  understood  that  Count 
Andrassy  intended  to  issue  from  his  retire- 
ment as  the  leader  of  the  "  Carlist "  ele- 
ment, to  champion  the  return  of  King 
Charles  IV.    He  and  his  lieutenants  insisted, 


however,  that  they  wished  to  postpone  the 
settlement  of  the  succession  issue  "  until  all 
other  problems  of  domestic  and  foreign 
policy  will  have  been  solved."  This  am- 
biguous statement  did  not  satisfy  the  Carl- 
ists  or  legitimists,  and  alienated  the  anti- 
Hapsburg  partisans. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Rubinek  and  other 
leaders  of  the  Farmers'  Party  made  an 
effort  to  commit  that  group  formally  to  the 
principle  of  electing  a  new  King.  Their 
failure,  like  that  of  Count  Andrassy,  is  ex- 
plained by  the  Vienna  Hungarian  Gazette 
on  the  ground  that  the  whole  issue  con- 
cerning succession  is  an  artificial  one,  as 
the  majority  of  the  people  want  a  republic. 

Much  more  important  and  promising  than 
the  bickerings  of  the  Budapest  politicians 
appears  to  that  newspaper  as  well  as  to 
others  the  organization  of  a  new  Party  of 
Independence  by  the  Calvinist  Bishop  Bal- 
thazar at  Debreczen.  This  event  is  general- 
ly interpreted  as  the  declaration  of  war  of 
Magyar  Protestantism  on  the  Horthy 
regime.  Disagreement  between  the  Catholic 
Clerical  supporters  of  the  Government  and 
the  Calvinist  element,  whose  centre  is 
Debreczen,  nicknamed  the  Calvinistic  Rome, 
had  been  manifest  for  several  months.  Cal- 
vinists  were  discriminated  against,  fre- 
quently crowded  out  from  public  office, 
and  Calvinist  sentiment  was  constantly  and 
deliberately  insulted  by  the  Governor,  Mr. 
Huberth,  and  his  retinue,  the  local  branch  of 
the  Society  of  Awakening  Hungarians,  cor- 


RELIGIOUS  FEUDS  DIVIDE  HUNGARY 


169 


responding  to  the  Black  Hundreds  of  Czar- 
istic  Russia.  Bad  feeling-  was  accentuated 
by  the  arrival  in  Debreczen  of  the  Hejjas 
detachment,  most  dreaded  of  Admiral 
Horthy's  terror  troops,  billeted  on  the  popu- 
lation as  an  express  warning  to  behave  and 
do  the  bidding  of  the  Governor.  The  Mu- 
nicipal Council  repeatedly  requested  the 
Governor's  recall,  but  without  success. 

The  climax  came  when  the  Calvinist 
"Main  Church,"  highest  shrine  of  Magyar 
Protestantism,  was  defiled  in  the  most  dis- 
gusting manner  by  "  unidentified  malefac- 
tors," known  by  everybody  to  be  members 
of  the  Awakening  Hungarians  and  par- 
tisans of  Governor  Huberth.  The  angered 
citizens  demanded  instant  prosecution  of 
the  guilty,  but  no  action  was  taken  by  the 
authorities.  Instead,  a  few  days  later,  when 
another  Calvinist  congregation  was  pre- 
paring to  hold  a  musical  fete  in  its  church, 
the  Governor  sent  a  detachment  of  police  to 
dissolve  the  crowd  as  an  illicit  political 
gathering.  A  riot  was  barely  averted  as 
the  minister,  in  the  last  moment,  announced 
that  a  religious  service  would  be  held  in 
lieu  of  the  musical  exercises,  and  dared  tke 
police  to  interfere.  These  events  stirred  to 
the  utmost  Protestant  sentiment  in  De- 
breczen and  elsewhere,  and  the  develop- 
ments culminated  in  the  organization  of  the 
new  party  by  Bishop  Balthazar,  with  the 
express  purpose  of  rallying  all  the  liberal 
and  progressive  elements  of  the  country  in 
opposition,  not  only  to  the  present  Min- 
istry, but  to  the  Horthy  regime  in  general. 
Old  time  radical  independents  like  Count 
Theodore  Batthyanyi,  Samuel  Bakonyi, 
John  Benedek  and  others  immediately 
joined  the  Bishop  and  the  movement  is  gain- 
ing strength.  It  is  understood  that  the  new 
party  demands  cessation  of  the  persecution 
of  liberals  and  Jews,  disbandment  of  the 
terrorist  army,  renunciation  of  all  mon- 
archist plans  and  a  democratic  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  State. 

PEASANTS  AGAINST  MONARCHY 

A  characteristic  episode,  throwing  light 
on  the  anti-monarchist  sentiment  of  the 
Magyar  peasantry,  occurred  at  the  conven- 
tion at  Gyoma  of  the  National  Agricultural 


Federation.  This  body  is  the  Hungarian 
branch  of  the  notorious  "  Green  Interna- 
tional," founded  by  partisans  of  Wittels- 
bach  and  Hapsburg  restoration.  One  of  the 
speakers  referred  to  the  question  of  suc- 
cession, whereupon  the  audience,  about 
3,000  strong,  broke  out  in  cries  like  "  Down 
with  the  Hapsburgs ! "  "  We  want  no 
King!  "    "  Let's  have  a  republic  again!  " 

According  to  recently  enacted  law  par- 
tially restoring  old-time  disabilities,  enrol- 
ment of  Jews  in  the  universities  is  limited 
to  5  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  enrol- 
ments, that  percentage  representing  the 
proportion  of  Jews  in  the  country's  popu- 
lation. Even  such  rights,  however,  as  are 
enjoyed  by  Jews  under  this  measure  are 
nullified  by  the  action  of  the  Faculty  at 
Budapest  in  organizing  "  Committees  on 
Credentials,"  consisting  of  professors  and 
students.  These  committees  pass  upon  the 
political  reliability  and  general  desirability 
of  applicants,  and  under  their  rulings  prac- 
tically all  Jews,  however  well  qualified, 
were  refused  admission  to  the  university. 
Special  committees  investigate  the  political 
soundness  of  professors.  All  these  commit- 
tees are  controlled  by  the  Society  of  Awak- 
ening Hungarians,  and  professors  of  Jewish 
race  or  advanced  political  views  are  re- 
lentlessly discriminated  against.  Thus  Pro- 
fessor Alexander,  noted  philosopher,  was 
removed  in  spite  of  almost  half  a  century 
of  distinguished  service  record;  he  now  oc- 
cupies a  chair  in  the  University  of  Geneva. 
Professor  Marczali,  greatest  of  Magyar 
historians,  has  been  pensioned;  Professors 
Beke,  mathematician;  Kovesligethy,  physi- 
cist; Schmidt,  Indologist  and  Revesz, 
psychologist,  all  men  of  European  repute, 
are  suspended. 

A  new  fashion  has  been  inaugurated  at 
Budapest  with  governmental  sanction;  the 
greetings  good  morning,  good  evening  and 
the  like  are  to  be  supplemented  by  a  new 
patriotic  exclamation.  Acquaintances  meet- 
ing on  the  street  call  out  to  one  another, 
"  Magyar!  "  the  response  being,  "  For  the 
Magyar."  The  reform  is  compulsory;  those 
disregarding  it  are  threatened  with  social 
ostracism  and  were  in  several  instances 
mishandled  by  "  Awakening  Hungarians." 


AUSTRIA    RESENTS    MAGYAR    CLAIMS 


[Period  Ended  March   12,   3921] 


COMMENTING  on  a  statement  by  the  new 
Magyar  Foreign  Minister,  Dr.  Gratz, 
to  the  fact  that  the  Austrian  Constitution 
guarantees  a  plebiscite  to  the  population  of 
Western  Hungary,  ceded  to  Austria  in  the 
Treaty  of  Trianon,  a  semi-official  declara- 
tion published  in  the  Vienna  press  says  that 
such  interpretation  of  the  Austrian  Consti- 
tution is  wholly  erroneous.  All  Austrian 
parties  agree  that  the  question  of  Western 
Hungary  is  finally  settled,  and  that  no 
plebiscite  is  necessary  or  even  permissible. 
According  to  the  second  clause  of  the  Con- 
stitution— containing  the  only  reference  to 
the  district — the  territory  in  question  be- 
comes one  of  the  Austrian  Federal  States, 
under  its  ancient  German  name  of  Burgen- 
land. 

Vienna  papers  publish  a  price  list  on 
rifles,  machine  guns,  cannon  and  ammuni- 
tion, the  document  having  been  found  on  the 
person  of  an  arrested  Hungarian  agent  en- 
gaged in  the  smuggling  of  arms.     The  list 


contains,  among  other  items,  162  field  guns, 
quoted  at  50,000  kronen  each;  100  howitzers, 
at  120,000  kronen  each,  and  three  of  the 
famous  SOV2  centimeter  mortars,  at  460,000 
kronen  each.  It  is  reported  that  another 
large  scale  expedition  for  the  smuggling  of 
arms  and  ammunition  has  been  organized 
by  the  Hungarian  Government,  and  six  offi- 
cers of  the  Magyar  Army  have  arrived  in 
Vienna  to  negotiate  and  execute  the  matter. 
Vienna  papers  greet  with  satisfaction  the 
demand  of  the  Entente  to  deliver  war  ma- 
terial under  the  peace  treaty,  as  such  ma- 
terial merely  serves  as  a  temptation  to  the 
Horthy  Government  and  usually  finds  its 
way  across  the  Magyar  border.  The  danger 
to  Austria  is  obvious. 

The  meeting  of  the  Austrian  Anti-Semitic 
Association  at  Vienna  on  March  14  was  fol- 
lowed by  anti-Semitic  demonstrations,  which 
were  subdued  by  the  police  without  blood- 
shed; the  demonstrators  charged  that  the 
Jews  were  guilty  of  profiteering. 


RUMANIA   IN   A   NEW   TRIPLE   PACT 

Inspired  by  France,  she  links  up  with  Poland  and  Hungary 
{against     the     Bolsheviki,     with     gratifying     domestic     results 

[Period  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


THE  Rumanian  statesman  Take  Johescu 
may  be  considered  the  Father  of  "  The 
Little  Entente,"  yet  when  Prague  and  Bel- 
grade failed  to  agree  to  the  anti-Bolshevist 
provisions  demanded  by  him  (on  the  advice 
of  France)  he  allowed  Dr.  Edouard  Benes, 
the  Foreign  Minister  of  Czechoslovakia,  to 
complete  the  work  while  he  himself  sought 
approval  for  his  anti-Bolshevist  policy  at 
Warsaw  and  Budapest.  There  is  absolutely 
no  doubt  of  the  Franco-Polish  declaration 
negotiated  by  the  Polish  President,  Marshal 
Pilsudski,  at  Paris,  on  Feb.  3,  which  paved 
the  way  to  a  realization  of  M.  Jonescu's 
policy  elsewhere,  for  we  have  the  text  of 
that  declaration,  issued  Feb.  6,  which  reads: 

The  two  Governments  of  France  and  Po- 
land, equally  anxious  to  safeguard  their 
security  and  the  peace  of  Europe,  have  once 


more  recognized  the  community  of  interests 
which  unite  the  two  friendly  countries. 
They  have  agreed  to  confirm  their  will  to 
co-ordinate  their  efforts  and,  with  this  aim 
in  view,  to  maintain  close  contact  for  the 
defense  of  these  higher  interests. 

Then,  as  we  saw  last  month,  M.  Take 
Jonescu  was  able  to  bring  his  country  into 
closer  communion  with  France,  via  the 
Polish-Rumanian  Treaty  negotiated  at  War- 
saw. In  a  series  of  articles,  interviews  and 
addresses  he  showed  that  the  utmost  good- 
will existed  between  Bucharest  and  Buda- 
pest, which  gave  promise  of  closer  rela- 
tions between  Rumania  and  Hungary.  This 
attitude  was  cordially  reciprocated  by  M. 
Praznowsky,  the  Hungarian  delegate  at 
Paris.  Thus,  the  ground  having  been  pre- 
pared,   the    Polish-Rumanian    Treaty    was 


RUMANIA  IN  A  NEW  TRIPLE  PACT 


171 


supplemented  by  the  signing  on  March  2  at 
Budapest  of  a  formal  alliance  against  Bol- 
shevism by  Poland,  Rumania  and  Hungary. 
Colonel  Starzea  signed  for  Rumania  and 
Count  Dembinsky  for  Poland. 

A  formidable  barrier  was  thereby  pre- 
sented to  Bolshevism  in  Central  Europe, 
the  dominating  figure  of  which,  on  account 
of  the  Franco-Polish  declaration  of  Feb.  3, 
is  undoubtedly  France — actually  a  defen- 
sive triple  alliance  of  Poland,  Rumania 
and  Hungary  against  Soviet  Russia — di- 
rected from  Paris.  The  benefits  to  Hun- 
gary in  her  present  economic  distress  are 
expected  to  be  great,  while  it  will  probably 
demonstrate  the  futility  of  all  attempts  of 
the  reactionaries  at  Budapest  in  their 
propaganda  for  a  return  of  the  Hapsburgs 
and  a  new  union  with  Austria.  This  should 
give  satisfaction  to  France,  Italy  and  to 
"  The  Little  Entente,"  and  allay  the  fears 
of  Dr.  Benes,  communicated  last  month  to 
Italian  statesmen  in  Rome.  Indeed,  in  a 
way,  it  may  be  said  measurably  to 
strengthen  "  The  Little  Entente,"  the  ulti- 
mate conception  of  which  was  to  stop  all 
attempts  at  a  restoration  of  the  Hapsburg 
regime,  either  at  Vienna  or  Budapest. 

The  foregoing  had  an  encouraging  effect 
immediately  in  financial  and  industrial 
circles  at  Bucharest,  where,  although  no 
official  budget  had  been  issued,  the  expenses 
of  the   State  were  400,000,000  lei   monthly 


and  the  receipts  only  half  as  much,  with  a 
deficit  for  1920  of  2,400,000,000  lei,  a  con- 
solidated debt  of  4,486,000,000  lei,  and  a 
floating  debt  of  7,162,400,000.  Added  to  the 
total  national  debt  was  the  5,000,000,000  lei 
paid  for  kronen  of  Transylvania  and  the 
rubles  of  Bessarabia,  the  annexed  regions, 
in  an  attempt  to  unify  the  currency.  The 
effect  of  the  news  from  Budapest  was  to 
bring  the  lei  nearer  the  franc. 

Rumania  recently  purchased  a  number  of 
British  locomotives  and  by  the  end  of  the 
year  order  had  been  restored  to  the  chaotic 
operation  of  the  railways  left  by  the  Ger- 
mans. This  was  a  great  asset  for  agricul- 
ture, as  the  peasants  had  found  it  more 
profitable  to  use  their  cattle  in  hauling 
products  to  towns  than  employing  them  in 
cultivating  the  soil.  The  rise  of  the  lei 
also  caused  them  to  disgorge  their  hoard- 
ings, which  had  seriously  embarrassed  the 
Government,  for  the  purchase  of  new  stock 
and  agricultural  implements.  As  soon  as 
the  agricultural  situation  has  become  suf- 
ficiently stabilized,  it  is  expected  that  the 
agrarian  reforms,  the  expropriations  of  the 
large  estates,  will  gradually  go  into  effect 
as  the  peasants'  ability  and  means  for  en- 
larging their  areas  of  cultivation  become 
manifest.  Two  syndicates,  one  British  and 
one  French,  have  undertaken  to  keep  the 
railways  and  their  rolling  stock  in  repair. 


BULGARIA  COUNTS  ON  NEW  SEVRES  TREATY 


[Period  Ended  Makch   12,  1921] 


BELIEVING  that  the  new  position  of 
Greece,  the  strength  of  the  Kemalists 
in  Turkey,  and  the  changed  attitude  of 
France  and  Italy  would  impress  Great  Brit- 
ain with  the  necessity  of  modifying  the 
Treaty  of  Sevres,  at  the  Near  East  Confer- 
ence begun  in  London  on  Feb.  21,  Bulgaria 
spared  no  pains  to  revive  her  claims  to 
Thrace  and  Macedonia.  A  large  mass  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Military 
Club  in  Sofia,  which  adopted  a  resolution  to 
be  sent  to  the  London  Conference  demand- 
ing that  Eastern  Thrace,  or  that  part  of  it 
which  was  not  to  be  restored  to  Turkey,  be 
given  Bulgaria.  At  the  same  time  the 
Executive    Committee    of    Macedonian    So- 


cieties in  Bulgaria  sent  a  manifesto  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations,  attempt- 
ing to  reopen  that  subject  on  ethnic  and 
historic  grounds.  All  the  old  propaganda 
of  the  armistice  days  was  revived  in  the 
press,  where  the  Napred  and  the  Proporetz 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  Bulgaria, 
although  her  interests  were  as  great  as  those 
of  Turkey  or  Greece,  had  not  been  invited  to 
the  London  Conference. 

This  attitude  produced  almost  no  reper- 
cussions at  Athens,  and  consequently  the 
Bulgar-Greek  Immigration  Commission  sit- 
ting at  Sofia  to  arrange  a  method  under 
the  Neuilly  Treaty,  by  which  minorities  of 
Bulgars    in    Greek    majority    communities 


172 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


might  be  taken  care  of,  continued  in  the 
best  of  humor.  However,  there  were  reper- 
cussions in  Belgrade,  and  the  Serbian  Gov- 
ernment sent  Sofia  an  ultimatum  on  Feb. 
15,  insisting  on  the  execution  of  that  article 
in  the  treaty  in  which  Bulgaria  had  under- 
taken to  return  so  many  head  of  cattle  to 
Serbia.  The  reply  to  the  ultimatum  was. a 
good-natured  document  asking,  in  effect, 
that  Serbia  have  patience,  as  Bulgaria  was 
doing  her  best. 

The  Mir  praised  the  good  taste  of  the 
reply;  the  Zora  declared  that  the  Serbs 
were  growing  day  by  day  more  exacting; 
the  Preporetz  advised  the  Government,  if 
the  exactions  of  the  Serbs  were  to  continue, 
to  appeal  to  the  League  of  Nations.  All 
three  repudiated  the  charge  made  by  the 
press  of  Belgrade  that  Bulgaria  was  getting 
ready  to  denounce  the  Treaty  of  Neuilly  on 
the  field  of  battle  if  she  did  not  obtain 
what  she  desired  from  the  London  Confer- 
ence. 

Only  second  in  interest  to  the  foregoing 
question  was  the  great  meeting  of  15,000 
farmers  and  farm  hands,  which  began  in  the 
hippodrome  of  the  Military  School  at  Sofia, 
Feb.  15.  This  was  called  the  Agricultural 
Congress,  and  the  chief  importance  of  the 
gathering  was  its  attitude  toward  Premier 
Stamboli sky's  program  for  a  "  Green  Inter- 
national." The  doings  of  this  Congress,  the 
particulars  of  which  have  not  yet  reached 
America,  should  be  viewed  in  two  aspects: 
The  political  and  the  agricultural.  The 
present  Sobranje,  or  Parliament,  is  made  up 
of  216  Deputies,  ranged  as  follows:     Peas- 


ants, 110;  Communists,  42;  Democrats,  21; 
Popular  Progressives,  21;  Radical  Dem- 
ocrats, 8 ;  Social  Democrats,  8,  and  National 
Liberals,  6.  The  rural  representation  is  not 
astonishing  when  it  is  considered  that  80 
per  cenf.  of  the  present  Bulgar  population 
of  5,001,000  are  peasants,  but  that  the 
urban  population  of  the  remaining  20  per 
cent,  should  have  returned  so  large  a  repre- 
sentation of  Communists  has  been  of  grave 
concern  to  the  Government. 

The  decorations  of  the  hippodrome  were 
such  as  to  lend  emphasis  to  the  new 
"  Green  International."  Some  of  the  plac- 
ards were  against  the  "  Red  International  " ; 
some  against  the  "  White  International  " — 
against  the  Bolsheviki  on  the  one  hand  and 
against  the  reactionaries  and  militarists  on 
the  other.     The  largest  placards  read : 

Long  live  the  International,  which  shall 
consecrate  the  brotherhood  of  European  peo- 
ples and  suppress  the  dictatorship  of  the 
minorities !  In  union  there  is  strength. 
Farmers :  Reach  out  your  hands ;  the  plow 
and  the  spade  nourish  the  world.  Render  to 
the  hangman  those  guilty  of  catastrophe  and 
the  militarists. 

Between  the  speeches,  the  chief  one  of 
which  was  naturally  made  by  M.  Stam- 
bolisky,  the  delegates  and  their  supporters 
viewed — through  moving  pictures — scenes  of 
rural  life  and  the  way  in  which  the  new 
agricultural  machinery  from  America  was 
operated.  The  press  of  the  capital  grew  very 
enthusiastic  over  the  congress,  said  that  Bul- 
garia's strength  lay  in  her  fields,  and  ad- 
vised it  to  spread  the  gospel  of  the  "  Green 
International "  abroad. 


PERSIA'S    COUP   D'ETAT 


TPeriod  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


WHILE  the  Shah's  Government  was  still 
wavering  between  the  demands  of 
the  Moscow  Government  and  the  appeals 
of  the  Teheran  merchants  to  defy  Lenin 
and  the  Soviets,  on  Sunday  night,  Feb.  20, 
the  Persian  General  Reza  Khan,  with  2,500 
National  Cossacks,  took  possession  of  the 
capital  and  deposed  the  Siphadar  Cabinet, 
replaced  its  officials  by  Cossack  officers, 
and  sent  agents  to  the  British  troops  re- 
questing them  not  to  withdraw  to  the  south. 
The  coup,  however,  was  made  from  Kasvin, 
which  is  the  British  headquarters. 


In  the  following  days  the  Cossacks  made 
several  arrests  among  the  pro-Bolshevist 
agitators,  and  even  certain  Nationalists 
with  anti-British  proclivities  were  not  over- 
looked. Guards  were  given  to  important 
foreigners,  not  propagandists,  and  their 
dwellings  picketed  for  protection.  There 
was  no  counter- rising  whatever. 

The  new  Cossack  administration  declared 
that  it  is  only  temporary,  that  it  is  loyal 
to  the  Shah,  but  will  in  the  future  direct 
how  he  shall  negotiate  with  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment. 


JUGOSLAVIA  COMPLAINS  ABOUT  BULGARIA 

Formal  charges  that  the  treaty  of  Neuilly  is  violated  are  filed  with  the  Supreme  Council 
— Death  of  ex-King  Nicholas  helps  to  end  Montenegrin  propaganda 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


JUGOSLAVIA  on  Feb.  15  formally  com- 
plained to  the  Supreme  Council  that 
Bulgaria  was  not  carrying  out  the  terms  of 
the  Treaty  of  Neuilly,  particularly  those 
clauses  relating  to  restitutions  to  be  made 
to  Serbia.  It  was  also  pointed  out,  in 
a  note  to  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, that  no  sooner  had  Bulgaria's  posi- 
sition  as  a  member  of  the  League  been  as- 
sured than,  by  a  new  application  of  the  Law 
for  Compulsory  Labor,  she  had  repudiated 
Article  65  of  the  treaty,  which  abolished 
compulsory  military  training,  and  by  a  min- 
isterial decree  issued  Dec.  29,  1920,  had 
transgressed  Articles  66  and  67,  which  stipu- 
lated respectively  that  the  Bulgar  Army 
should  be  limited  to  20,000  men  and  that 
the  largest  military  unit  should  be  the  divi- 
sion. Belgrade  alleged  that  the  army  had 
grown  to  45,000  men,  that  the  country  had 
been  divided  into  three  military  regions, 
each  of  which  contained  a  division,  officially 
scheduled  as  a  "  regiment." 

It  was  also  alleged  that  Article  78,  which 
limits  fortified  places,  had  been  violated. 
Bulgaria  never  had  any  fortified  places, 
but  hastened,  it  is  said,  to  create  five,  now 
armed  by  heavy  field  and  mountain  artil- 
lery, which,  according  to  Article  77,  should 
have  been  handed  over  to  the  Allies.  In 
the  same  way  110,000  rifles  were  retained 
when  the  treaty  permits  only  37,950. 

The  Politika  of  Belgrade  in  a  series  of 
articles  has  spread  its  doubts  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  Bulgar  Premier,  Stambolisky, 
and  even  charged  that  he  was  not  the  firm 
friend  of  the  Allies  he  pretended  to  be  dur- 
ing the  war.  Although  there  have  been 
no  revelations  from  Sofia  on  this  point,  the 
Politika  of  Belgrade  affirms  that  at  a  re- 
cent sitting  of  the  Bulgarian  Sobranje  Pro- 
fessor Dansiloff,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Democratic  Party,  produced  and  read  a  se- 
cret letter,  dated  Sept.  20,  1917,  which  had 
been  sent  by  representatives  of  the  Peasant 
(Stambolisky)  Party  to  General  Zhekoff, 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Bulgarian 
Armies,  expressing  the  readiness  of  the 
party  to   support  the  pro-German   Govern- 


ment and  continue  the  war,  and  asking  cer- 
tain political  concessions  in  return.  The  Po- 
litika continued: 

The  reading  of  the  letter  caused  a  sensa- 
tion in  Sofia  and  consternation  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Government.  The  Minister  for  the 
Interior  immediately  had  a  search  made  in 
the  houses  of  the  two  Democratic  leaders, 
Danailoff  and  Vasilieff,  with  a  view  to  seiz- 
ing the  original.    *    *    * 

Thereupon  the  Bulgarian  Minister  at  Bel- 
grade, M.  Todoroff,  undertook  to  explain 
matters.  He  did  not  deny  the  authenticity 
of  the  letter,  but  he  urged  that  M.  Stam- 
bolisky had  wished  to  avail  himself  of  the 
misunderstanding  that  had  arisen  between 
the  Supreme  Command  and  the  Radoslavoff 
Cabinet,  in  order  to  pull  down  the  latter  and 
set  up  a  government  under  Malinoff.  The 
secret  aim  of  this  new  Government  was  to 
be  a  reversal  of  "  Czar  "  Ferdinand's  policy, 
while  they  maintained  at  the  same  time  a 
show  of  friendship  toward  Germany  in  order 
to  deceive  the  "  Czar  "  and  his  entourage. 
In  reply  to  this  explanation  the  Politika 
said: 

The  policy  of  M.  Stambolisky  and  his  party 
is  of  a  duplicity  unexampled  outside  Bul- 
garia. It  is  impossible  to  tell  when  they  are 
speaking  the  truth  and  when,  in  their  hearts, 
they  conceal  something  totally  different  from 
that  which  they  have  on  their  lips. 

Two  events  occurred  which  have  gone  far 
to  remove  the  Montenegrin  question  from 
being  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Belgrade 
Government,  particularly  among  its  enemies 
abroad — the  death  of  the  dethroned  King 
Nicholas  and  the  reports  of  the  British  Com- 
missioners, Roland  Bryce  and  Major  L.  E. 
Otterley,  in  regard  to  the  elections  in  Mon- 
tenegro. 

As  long  as  King  Nicholas  lived  he  could 
not  help  but  have  a  following,  particularly 
among  the  older  Montenegrins,  who  had 
regarded  him  as  the  natural  head  of  the 
Serbo-  Montenegrin  people — an  opinion,  how- 
ever, which  will  not  descend  to  his  sons, 
Danilo  and  Paul  (Mirko,  the  third  son,  is 
believed  to  be  dead).  To  advance  the  in- 
terests of  the  Serbo- Montenegrins  he  mar- 


174 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ried  two  of  his  daughters  to  German  Princes 
and  two  to  Russian  Grand  Dukes,  one  into 
the  then  exiled  Karageorgovitch  house  of 
Serbia,  one  into  its  rival,  the  Obrenovitch 
dynasty,  and  finally  one  to  the  then  heir 
apparent  to  the  Italian  throne,  now  Victor 
Emmanuel  III. 

Although  he  declared  war  on  Austria- 
Hungary  shortly  after  Vienna  had  declared 
war  on  Serbia,  his  negotiations  for  a  sepa- 
rate peace  with  the  enemy  show  that  he  be- 
lieved the  cause  of  the  Allies  to  be  lost. 
There  are  documents  in  existence  even  be- 
traying  his    lack    of    sincerity    toward    the 


Entente.  Since  the  armistice  he  had  been 
a  pensioner  of  the  French  Government  at 
Antibes,  where  he  conducted  a  propaganda 
for  the  recovery  of  his  throne  until  his  death 
there,  on  March  1. 

It  is  now  expected  that  the  Nationalist 
Party  in  Montenegro,  which  has  been  cam- 
paigning for  independence,  but  without  a 
restoration,  will  gradually  cease  hostilities 
toward  the  established  Government,  and  that 
the  Supreme  Council  will  finally  define  the 
actual  status  of  Montenegro  as  a  part  of  the 
monarchy  of  the  Croats,  Serbs  and  Slo- 
venes— Jugoslavia. 


GREECE  AND  THE  CONFERENCE 
ON  THE  TURKISH  TREATY 


[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


DURING  the  Near  Eastern  Conference  at 
London,  from  Feb.  21  to  March  12,  the 
Greek  Bule  (Parliament)  several  times 
adopted  resolutions  directing  the  conduct 
of  the  Greek  delegates,  M.  Kalogeropoulos, 
Premier  and  Foreign  Minister,  and  M.  Gou- 
naris,  Minister  of  War.  Former  Premier 
Venizelos  was  not  present  at  the  convention 
officially.  He  went  to  London  from  Nice  to 
advise  and  lend  his  moral  support  to  the 
Greek  delegates,  if  requested  and  required, 
because,  to  use  his  own  words :  "  I  believe 
Greece  capable  of  carrying  out  the  require- 
ments asked  of  her  in  the  Treaty  of  Sevres, 
and  I  love  Greece  more  than  I  dislike  Con- 
stantine." 

During  the  absence  of  the  delegates  from 
Athens,  M.  Baltazzis  acted  as  Foreign  Min- 
ister. The  entire  Cabinet,  reconstructed  by 
M.  Kalogeropoulos  on  the  eve  of  his  depart- 
ure, was  as  follows,  aside  from  his  own 
portfolio  and  that  of  M.  Gounaris : 

Agriculture   M.  Baltazzis 

Justice   M.  Theotokis 

Finance   M.  ProtopapadakLs 

Marine  M.  John  Rha.il  is 

Education  M.  Theodore  Zaimis 

Interior  and  Communications.. M.  Tsaldaris 

All  were  drawn  from  the  personal  party 
of  M.  Gounaris,  and  all,  with  emphasis  on 
the  leader,  who  was  the  faithful  friend  of 
Professor  Streit,  King  Constantine's  Kaiser- 
lich  adviser,  had  been  noted  for  their  pro- 


German   tendencies.        In   passing   through 
Paris,  on  Feb.   17,  M.  Kalogeropoulos,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  other  visiting  states- 
men, placed  a  wreath  on  the  tomb  of  "  the 
unknown  hero,"  which  act  was  bitterly  re- 
sented by  the  Paris  press.     Then  the  Greek 
Premier  explained  his  mission  as  follows: 
We  shall  wait  the  first  move  from  Turkey. 
I    understand    that    the    Turkish    delegations 
will  come  forward  with  demands  for  the  re- 
vision of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  which  it  would 
be  impossible  for  my  Government  to  accept. 

All  the  treaties,  ana  me  Treaty  of  Sevres  in 
particular,  have  given  freedom  to  peoples 
who  have  heavily  and  brutally  suffered  un- 
der the  foreign  yoke,  and  I  cannot  humanly 
imagine  that  the  great  powers  will  dream 
of  allowing  these  redeemed  peoples  to  go 
back  to  foreign  enemy  domination.  Greece 
stands  entirely  by  the  Treaty  of  Sevres  as  it 
exists  today.  She  has  absolute  confidence  in 
her  ability  to  make  it  respected  by  Turkey 
to  its  full  and  entire  extent. 

As  Greece  is  fighting  a  common  struggle, 
which  also  affects  the  position  of  the  allied 
powers  in  the  East,  we  consider  it  to  be 
just  that  no  hindrance  shall  be  placed  in  our 
way,  but  that  assistance  shall  be  granted  us. 
When  I  say  assistance,  I  mean  that  Greece 
will  be  very  pleased  to  do  everything  hu- 
manly in  her  power  for  the  common  cause 
and  to  offer  all  her  assistance  to  the  great 
allied   powers. 

On  March  2  he  sent  a  dispatch  to  his 
Government  giving  the  Lloyd  George- 
Briand  plan  for  relieving  Greece  of  some 
of    her    responsibility     under    the    Sevres 


GREECE  AND  THE  CONFERENCE  ON  THE  TURKISH  TREATY        175 


Treaty.  The  proposals  principally  con- 
cerned the  Smyrna  district,  now  occupied 
by  the  Greeks.  This  was  to  be  converted 
into  a  semi-independent  province,  admin- 
istered by  Christian  Governors  appointed 
for  terms  of  five  years,  the  Turks  retaining 
the  civil  and  military  control,  but  the  judi- 
ciary and  finances  to  be  under  an  interna- 
tional commission,  and  with  a  police  force 
composed  of  both  Greeks  and  Turks. 

This  plan  was  rejected  by  the  Athens 
Bule  in  a  dispatch  to  M.  Kalogeropoulos 
two  days  later.  About  the  same  time  the 
Greek  delegation  received  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Committee  of  Unredeemed 
Greeks  at  Constantinople  and  from  various 
Greek  bodies  abroad,  many  of  which,  while 
condemning  King  Constantine  and  praising 
Venizelos,  still  implored  M.  Kalogeropoulos 
to  stand  by  the  treaty.  The  Bule  voted 
that  to  accept  the  proposals  would  be 
"  equivalent  to  the  surrender  of  rights  def- 
initely established  by  endless  sacrifices 
made  by  the  Greek  Nation  in  common  with 
her  great  allies." 

The  Bule  presented  a  united  front  on  this 
question  and  is  preparing  to  legalize  cer- 
tain, although  not  all,  acts  of  the  former 
Government,  by  which  means  the  Constan- 
tine Government  hopes  to  obtain  the  balance 
of  the  $50,000,000  American  loan  contracted 
by  Venizelos.  However,  the  duel  has  al- 
ready begun  between  the  only  two  organized 
bodies  in  the  Bule — the  followers  of  Gou- 
naris,  who  number  70,  and  those  of  Ven- 
izelos, who  number  110 — for  the  remaining 
185  Deputies.  Many  of  these  are  believed 
ready  to  go  over  to  the  Venizelos  side 
should  a  crisis  arrive  in  which  the  honor  of 
the  nation  would  be  at  stake — as,  for  ex- 
ample, too  great  a  curtailment  of  Greek 
rights  in  the  Treaty  of  Sevres. 

Although  M.  Gounaris  had  declared  be- 
fore he  left  Athens  that  the  censorship  of 
the  press,  posts  and  telegraphs  would  not  be 
restored,  things  are  happening  in  the  capi- 
tal which  reach  foreign  lands  only  through 
travelers  from  Greece.  The  wide  sweep 
made  of  the  supporters  of  Venizelos  in  the 
civil  service,  particularly  in  the  judiciary 
and  the  schools,  was  mentioned  last  month, 
but  there  are  the  strikes  in  the  city  trans- 
port service  and  on  the  provincial  railways. 
In  many  services  the  places  of  the  strikers 
have  been  taken  by  soldiers  and  marines. 
Delegations  of  strikers  interview  King  Con- 


stantine every  day  with  a  more  and  more 
determined  air.  Hs  listens  quietly,  bids 
them  be  patient  and  usually  sends  them 
away  in  good  humor.  Yet  the  conditions 
of  which  they  complain  are  not  changed;  so 
they  come  again. 

CONSTANTINE'S  DUAL  ATTITUDE 

This  is  one  phase  of  the  Constantine 
attitude — the  approachable,  democratic 
phase.  There  is  another — the  autocratic. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  cable  dispatches 
speak  of  the  Bule,  or  one-chamber  Parlia- 
ment, as  the  "  Assembly."  That  is  because 
the  King  has  proclaimed  it  to  be  the  "  Na- 
tional Assembly."  There  appears  to  be  a 
grave  question  whether  he  could  constitu- 
tionally do  this.  Outside  the  Bule  and  his 
Government  there  is  no  power  adequate  to 
call  him  to  account;  within,  there  is  no  dis- 
position to  do  so,  for  this  reason:  As  a 
National  Assembly,  the  present  Bule  is  the 
supreme  authority  in  the  State;  it  directed 
the  Greek  delegates  at  London;  it  can  re- 
vise the  Constitution,  rescind  laws  and 
annul  all  local  legislation.  It  does  not,  like 
other  Parliaments,  come  to  an  end  after  a 
definite  term,  although,  as  the  Bule,  it  was 
elected  last  November  for  four  years.  It 
pronounces  its  own  dissolution  and  so  can 
sit  as  long  as  it  desires,  unless,  indeed,  the 
King  should  meanwhile  declare  it  to  be 
what  it  probably  legally  is,  the  Bule,  and 
so  be  able  to  dissolve  it  or  allow  it  to  run 
its  legal  term. 

The  matrimonial  alliances  just  formed 
between  the  reigning  houses  of  Rumania 
and  Greece — of  German  and  British  origin 
on  one  side,  and  German,  Russian  and 
Danish  on  the  other — are  viewed  much 
more  seriously  in  Athens  than  they  are  in 
Bucharest.  There  Emperor  Charles's  note 
to  King  Ferdinand  advising  him  to  sur- 
render, and  adding,  "  We  Kings  must  stick 
together,"  is  still  jeered  at.  At  least  some 
of  the  Athenians  believe  that  what  pres- 
tige they  may  lose  with  the  Allies  will 
be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  their  new 
gains  through  the  royal  alliances. 

The  weddings  took  place  as  per  schedule: 
That  of  Prince  George,  Duke  of  Sparta, 
heir  apparent  to  the  Greek  throne,  and 
Princess  Elizabeth  of  Rumania,  at  Bu- 
charest on  Feb.  27;  that  of  Crown  Prince 
Carol  of  Rumania  to  Princess  Helen  of 
Greece  on  March  10  at  Athens. 


REVISING  THE  TURKISH  TREATY 

Delegates  from  Greece  and  from  the  two  rival  Governments  of  Turkey 
meet  with  the  Supreme  Council  in  London — What  each  delegation  seeks 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


THE  eagerly  awaited  New  East  confer- 
ence, to  which  the  Supreme  Council 
had  invited  delegates  from  Greece  and 
from  the  two  Turkish  Governments — the 
Constantinople  and  the  Angora — to  debate 
the  expediency  of  maintaining  the  Treaty 
of  Sevres  in  its  present  form,  was  held  in 
London,  Feb.  21  to  March  12.  By  the  latter 
date  the  Greek  delegates  had  reluctantly 
taken  under  advisement  the  proposal  of  the 
Supreme  Council  to  accept  certain  changes 
in  the  status  of  Thrace  and  Smyrna,  now 
occupied  by  Greece,  while  the  Turkish  dele- 
gation had  agreed  to  accept  these  changes 
and  other  concessions,  provided  they  "  be 
adapted  to  conditions  indispensable  to  the 
existence  of  free  and  independent  Turkey." 

Then  while  the  Constantinople  delegation 
awaited  the  Sultan's  verdict  on  the  rap- 
prochment  it  had  made  with  the  Angora 
delegation  of  Nationalists,  the  latter  went 
to  Paris  to  negotiate  directly  with  the 
French  Government  that  portion  of  the 
agreement  which  pertained  to  the  French 
occupation  of  Syria  and  Cilicia  and  peace 
with   France. 

While  the  conference  met  at  St.  James's 
Palace  as  often  as  the  health  of  the  Turk- 
ish Grand  Vizier  permitted,  the  Supreme 
Council  interviewed  the  delegations  sepa- 
rately at  the  British  Foreign  Office,  10 
Downing  Street.  At  the  palace  the  delega- 
tions also  had  meetings  when  the  Supreme 
Council  was  not  present  in  an  attempt  to 
effect  a  modus  vivendi. 

THE  CHIEF  CONFEREES 

On  the  Supreme  Council  the  British  Prime 
Minister  usually  represented  Great  Britain, 
although  at  times  the  empire's  representa- 
tive was  either  Lord  Curzon,  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  or  Robert  G.  Vansittart  of 
the  Foreign  Office.  France  was  usually 
represented  by  Premier  Briand,  with  Phi- 
lippe Berthelot  as  second  French  delegate, 
and  Count  de  Saint-Aulaire,  the  present 
French   Ambassador    at   London,   as   third. 


Count  Carlo  Sforza,  the  .  Italian  Foreign 
Minister,  represented  Italy.  Baron  Gonsuke 
Hayashi,  completing  the  Supreme  Council, 
represented  Japan. 

The  Greek  delegation  was  headed  by  the 
new  Prime  Minister,  M.  Kalogeropoulos,  and 
with  him  was  M.  Gounaris,  the  Greek  War 
Minister.  Armed  Tewfik  Pasha,  the  Grand 
Vizier,  headed  the  Sultan's  delegation  from 
Constantinople,  while  Bekir  Sami  Bey  head- 
ed the  delegation  sent  by  Mustapha  Kemal 
Pasha  from  the  Turkish  Nationalist  capital 
at  Angora.  At  certain  meetings  were  heard 
Nubar  Pasha,  who  spoke  for  the  Armenians 
of  Anatolia,  and  A.  Haronian,  who  spoke 
for  those  of  the  Transcaucasia. 

The  influences  which  finally  induced  the 
British  Prime  Minister  to  call  the  Near  East 
conference  had  been  at  work  ever  since 
Greece  exchanged  Venizelos  for  King  Con- 
stantine  last  December,  and  since  the  con- 
tinued resistance  of  the  Nationalist  Turks 
made  it  apparent  that  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
could  not  be  executed  except  through  a  pro- 
longed struggle.  Thus  France,  who  was  not 
willing  that  King  Constantine  should  under- 
take to  carry  out  the  pledges  given  by  Veni- 
zelos, began  to  negotiate  a  separate  peace 
with  the  Turkish  Nationalists,  and  expressed 
her  willingness  to  have  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  modified  in  favor  of  Turkey.  Italy, 
who  had  been  forced  to  surrender  much  to 
Venizelos,  saw  a  chance  to  recover  some  of 
her  prestige,  if  not  her  concessions  in  the 
Levant,  also  urged  a  review  of  the  treaty. 

The  British  Prime  Minister,  when  he  con- 
sented to  the  conference,  however,  declared 
to  the  House  of  Commons  that  the  British 
Government  could  not  repudiate  the  Con- 
stantinople Government,  which  it  had 
brought  into  being,  nor  the  Greek  mandates, 
which  it  had  aided  in  bestowing ;  suggestions 
for  changes  must  come  from  others.  Both 
the  Turkish  Governments  were  naturally 
ready  to  suggest  these  changes,  while  the 
Greek  Government  was  just  as  naturally 
adverse  to  any  change  at  all. 


REVISING    THE    TURKISH   PEACE    TREATY 


177 


TIFUS 


KARS 


•  ERIVAN 

I  A 


r-  n   c.  tx.c.    D|ARBEK1R 


iiiaiiiiiliJUiiiiiilhij» 


•URFA 


N1SIBIN 


^°A 


f»„  °A 
•ALEPPO  ^    v    R    ,    A  Mosuu     ^ 

(/o     France)  '^ 


The  above  map  shows  the  area  left  to.  the  Turks  in  Europe  and  in  Asia  Minor  by  the 
Treaty  of  Sevres,  together  with  the  Armenian  frontier  as  laid  down  by  President  Wilson 
in  accordance  with  the  treaty.  It  also  shows  the  territories  within  which  France  and  Italy, 
in  virtue  of  iflie  Tripartite  Agreement  signed  at  Sevres  on  Aug.  10 ,  1920,  enjoy  preferential 
claims  to  supply  the  staff  required  for  the  assistance  of  the  Porte  in  organising  the  local 
adminisrtation  or  police.  The  contracting  powers  in  that  agreement  have  undertaken  not 
to  apply  for,  nor  to  make  or  support,  applications  on  behalf  of  their  nationals  for  industrial 
concessions  in  the  areas  allotted  to  another  power.  In  the  Greek  area — Ionia— the  Greek 
Government  is  to  enjoy  administrative  privileges  for  five  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  a  plebiscite  is  to  decide  whether  or  not  Ionia  is  to  be  annexed  to  Greece.  For  the 
zone   of  the   Straits   a  special  international  regime  is  prescribed. 


The  treaty  of  peace  between  the  allied 
powers  and  Turkey,  which  was  signed  at  the 
porcelain  establishment  at  Sevres,  France, 
Aug.  10,  1920,  has  never  been  ratified. 
When  the  draft  was  handed  to  the  Sultan's 
representatives  in  Paris  on  May  11,  1920, 
it  was  described  as  designed,  first,  to  set 
forth  the  conditions  upon  which  the  allied 
powers  would  make  peace  with  Turkey,  and, 
secondly,  to  establish  those  international  ar- 
rangements which  the  Allies  had  devised  for 
more  stable  and  equitable  conditions  among 
the  conflicting  races  of  the  old  Turkish  Em- 
pire. 

THE    SULTAN    AND    KEMAL 

The  Sultan,  importuned  by  the  French 
and  Italian  members  of  the  Inter-allied 
Commission,  and,  it  is  understood,  so  secret- 
ly advised  by  the  British,  was  about  again 
to  importune  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  that 
the  delegates  from  Constantinople  and  An- 
gora to  the  London  Conference  form  one 
Pan-Islamic  body.  Then  he  heard  that  the 
Turkish  Nationalists  had  offered  his  throne 
with  the  Caliphate  to  his  cousin,  Osman 
Fouard  Effendi.  Osman  Fouard  is  a 
grandson  of  Murad  V.  and  his  wife,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  Abbas  Hilmi,  Khedive 


of  Egypt.  Ordered  to  the  Palace,  where 
the  Sultan  is  said  to  have  expressed  great 
anger,  Osman  Fouard  said  that  he  was 
sorry  at  the  precipitate  action  of  the  Na- 
tionalists in  calling  him;  but  they  could 
hardly  be  blamed,  as  all  they  desired  was 
union,  also  moderation  in  order  to  secure 
peace.  He  added  that  he  had  several  times 
declined  importunities  to  go  to  Angora,  be- 
lieving that  the  interests  of  Turkey  urged 
that  he  remain  in  Constantinople. 

With  the  interview,  however,  had  ended 
all  hopes  of  a  joint  Turkish  delegation  to 
London.  On  Feb.  16,  the  Constantinople 
delegation  departed,  traveling  by  way  of 
Paris.  It  was  composed  of  Ahmed  Tewfik 
Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier;  Sefa  Bey,  a  for- 
mer Foreign  Minister,  and,  on  the  way,  was 
to  pick  up  Osman  Nizami  Pasha,  Minister 
at  Rome.  On  the  same  day  the  Angora 
delegation,  led  by  a  man  of  great  eloquence 
and  learning,  Bekir  Sami  Bey,  was  reported 
at  Brindisi,  on  the  Italian  coast,  having 
come  from  Adalia,  the  Italian  zone  port  in 
Asia  Minor.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
the  Italians,  on  account  of  their  having 
been  obliged  to  surrender  much  to  the 
Greeks  by  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  were  even 
more    anxious    to   have    the    treaty    revised 


178 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


than  were  the  French.  The  latter,  aside 
from  their  hatred  of  the  Constantine 
Greeks  for  their  massacre  of  French  sol- 
diers at  Athens  in  1916,  also  desired  peace 
with  the  Nationalists,  whose  supremacy  at 
Constantinople  would  greatly  weaken  the 
prestige  of  the  British,  by  whom  alone  the 
Sultan's  Government  had  been  created  and 
kept  in  power. 

WHAT   THE   SULTAN  WANTS 

Both  delegations  came  loaded  with  data 
and  accompanied  by  a  corps  of  secretaries. 
It  was  reported  that  the  Sultan's  delegation 
bore  demands  based  on  what  they  under- 
stood were  Kemal  Pasha's  desires.  The  de- 
mands of  the  Sultan's  party  were  these: 

1.  The  economic  independence  of  Turkey, 
without  limiting  its  national  and  natural 
frontiers. 

2.  The  Turks  undertake  to  bestow  upon  the 
I      minority    Christians    all    the    guarantees    of 

protection  capable  of  safeguarding  their  lib- 
erty and  "their  religion. 

3.  The  Turks  ask  a  modification  of  the 
clauses  of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres  on  certain 
economic,  financial,  naval  and  military 
questions. 

4.  The  Turks  ask  for  the  financial  aid  of 
the  Allies  in  rehabilitating  Turkey. 

Kemal's  delegation  was  ordered  to  secure 
peace  without  surrendering  in  principle  any 
of  the  Nationalist  former  demands;  if  pos- 
sible in  conjunction  with  the  Sultan's  dele- 
gation, and  if  not  in  London,  then  in  Paris. 
There  the  Nationalists  were  prepared  to 
concede  to  France  economic,  educational 
and  constructive  demands  in  Syria,  pro- 
vided the  French  evacuated  Cilicia,  sur- 
rendered Aintab  and  Ourfa,  acknowledged 
full  Turkish  sovereignty  over  the  Port  of 
Alexandretta  and  the  mutual  use  of  the 
Hedjaz  railway.  This  road,  however,  would 
be  operated  by  the  French  under  a  mixed 
directorate.  Their  proposals  to  be  presented 
at  London,  and  to  form  the  basis  of  their 
negotiations  at  Paris,  were  as  follows: 

WHAT    KEMAL    WANTS. 

1.  That  all  countries  inhabited  by  the 
Turks,  excluding  those  in  which  Arabs  are 
in  the  majority,  should  remain  part  of  Tur- 
key, and  that  within  those  areas  the  Turkish 
nation  should  exercise  full  sovereign  rights. 

2.  That  the  Turks  are  willing  to  concede  to 
[  minorities  the  same  rights  as  are  provided 
1  for  in  the  minority  clauses  of  other  treaties, 
^         subject  to  themselves  receiving  similar  rights 

c         in  countries  in  which  they  are  in  a  minority. 

3.  That  the  Turks  are  prepared  to  concede 


freedom  of  navigation  to  all  nations  through 
the  straits  provided  that  Turkish  sovereignty 
be  unaffected. 

Just  before  the  departure  of  the  Angora 
delegation  it  was  reported  in  Constanti- 
nople that  Enver  Pasha  had  returned  from 
negotiating  with  the  Bolsheviki  in  Trans- 
caucasia and  had  declared  that  they  were 
not  to  be  trusted.  Kemal  is  reputed  to 
have  replied  that  he,  too,  distrusted  Mos- 
cow, but  that  they  suited  his  own  policy 
well  enough  for  the  time  being.  He  sent 
this  message  by  Bekir  Sami  Bey  to  the 
London  Conference: 

In  participating  in  the  Conference  of  Lon- 
don we  do  not  permit  ourselves  to  prejudice 
the  friendly  relations  existing  between  Tur- 
key and  Russia. 

That  does  not  mean  that  we  adopt  the  prin- 
ciples of  communism,  for  social  conditions  in 
Turkey  do  not  permit  of  their  application. 
The  parties  which  were  recently  organized 
among  us  with  this  end  in  view  have  com- 
prehended this  truth  and  have  ceased  their 
activity. 

A  Pan-Turkish  Congress  was  quietly 
held  in  Rome  on  the  eve  of  the  London 
Conference.  Here  secret  delegates  from 
both  the  Constantinople  and  the  Angora 
Governments  were  present.  A  note  con- 
taining the  six  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
Congress  was  handed  to  the  French  Am- 
bassador at  Rome,  M.  Barrere,  with  the 
request  that  it  be  transmitted  to  M.  Briand. 
This  was  done.  A  copy  of  the  note  was 
given  to  Count  Sforza,  the  Italian  Foreign 
Minister,  on  his  departure  for  London.  At 
Paris  he  and  Briand  are  said  to  have  viewed 
the  joint  demands  favorably,  although  with 
reservations.  The  text  of  the  six  resolu- 
tions has  not  been  revealed,  but  the  pre- 
amble is  known  to  state  that  they  were 
adopted  after  complete  understanding  had 
been  established  between  the  Constanti- 
nople and  Angora  delegates. 

Talaat  Pasha,  former  Grand  Vizier  and 
Minister  of  Finance  of  Turkey,  was  assassi- 
nated in  Charlottenburg,  a  suburb  of  Ber- 
lin, March  15.  He  was  shot  to  death.  The 
murderer,  an  Armenian  student,  who  ac- 
costed Talaat  in  the  street  and  then  fired 
the  fatal  shot,  was  arrested.  He  also 
wounded  Talaat's  wife. 

Talaat  Pasha  was  walking  with  his  wife 
when  he  was  spoken  to  by  the  student,  who 
approached  him  from  behind.  As  Talaat 
turned  to  return  the  greeting  the  stranger 
fired  at  the  former  Grand  Vizer's  head,  kill- 


REVISING  THE  TURKISH  PEACE  TREATY 


179 


ing  him  instantly.  A  second  shot  struck 
Talaat's  wife.  The  assassin  threw  away 
his  weapon  and  attempted  to  escape,  but  a 
crowd  of  pedestrians  captured  him,  beat 
him  severely  and  then  turned  him  over  to 
the  police.  His  name  is  said  to  be  Salomon 
Teilirian. 


Responsibility  for  the  massacres  of  Ar- 
menians was  thrown  on  Talaat  Pasha  and 
soon  after  his  arrival  in  Berlin  it  was  re- 
ported the  Turkish  Government  would  de- 
mand his  extradition,  along  with  that  of 
other  Turkish  Generals. 


STABLE  CONDITIONS  IN  SCANDINAVIA 

A  temporary  Cabinet  crisis  in  Sweden — Swedish  exchange  rates  the  highest  in  Europe, 
in  spite  of  a  decline  in  business  activities — Developments  in  Norway  and  Denmark 

[Period  Ended  March   12,  1921] 


THE  political  deadlock  in  Sweden  pre- 
vented the  formation  of  a  Cabinet  to 
take  the  place  of  the  De  Geer  Min- 
istry, which  resigned  in  February  on  losing 
its  support  in  both  Chambers  of  the  Riks- 
dag. First,  M.  Goeste  Tamm,  Minister  of 
Finance,  resigned  as  a  protest  against  the 
rejection  by  both  Chambers  of  a  bill  to  in- 
crease the  import  duty  on  coffee.  The  other 
Ministers  soon  followed,  owing  to  the  Gov- 
ernment's failure  to  cope  with  the  situ- 
ation left  by  the  Hjalmar  Br  an  ting  Cabinet 
of  Socialists  in  October,  1920.  The  Swedish 
press  assigned  as  reasons  for  this  failure 
the  futility  of  Baron  de  Geer's  efforts  to 
form  a  Government  on  a  parliamentary 
basis,  the  appropriations  of  his  Government 
for  socialistic  purposes,  such  as  socializa- 
tion of  juries  and  establishing  the  eight- 
hour  law  and  the  neglect  of  measures  to  bet- 
ter the  economic  and  trade  situation. 

King  Gustav  applied  to  Hjalmar  Bran- 
ting  to  form  a  new  Ministry,  but  he  de- 
clined, declaring  his  inability  to  do  so  with 
the  Liberal  minority  left  in  the  Riksdag 
by  the  defeat  of  the  Socialists  last  Fall. 
Then  the  King  requested,  in  turn,  Admiral 
Lindman,  leader  of  the  Conservatives,  and 
Professor  Eden,  leader  of  the  Liberals,  to 
undertake  the  task,  but  they  also  declined. 
Henning  Elmquist,  the  outgoing  Minister  of 
Social  Welfare,  also  was  a  candidate,  but 
was  opposed  by  the  powerful  Peasant  Party 
in  the  Riksdag.  Finally,  King  Gustav 
asked  M.  von  Sydow,  the  Governor  of 
Gothenburg,  to  form  a  new  Cabinet,  and  he 
was  expected  to  succeed  in  reconstructing 
the  old  Cabinet.  It  was  understood  that  he 
would  probably  replace  the  former  Minister 


of  Finance  by  M.  Beskow,  a  bank  Director, 
or  by  M.  Knut  Dahlberg,  a  Stockholm  Al- 
derman. 

The  exchange  rate  of  the  Swedish  krone 
on  March  12  was  22.70  cents,  as  against 
20  cents  a  year  ago;  that  of  the  Danish 
krone  was  17.20  cents,  as  against  17  cents  a 
year  ago,  and  that  Of  the  Norwegian  was 
16.  In  all  Scandinavian  countries  the  par 
value  of  the  krone  is  26.8  cents.  In  Norway 
the  krone  is  only  a  little  lower  proportion- 
ally than  the  Swiss  franc;  otherwise  the 
Scandinavian  rates  are  all  proportionally 
higher  than  those  of  any  other  European 
coins.  The  German  mark  is  almost  at  the 
lowest  exchange  rate;  though  its  normal 
value  is  23.8  cents,  it  is  now  quoted  at  1.62 
cents,  as  against  1.32  cents  a  year  ago. 

The  low  rate  for  the  German  mark  is  con- 
sidered the  key  to  the  general  depression  of 
exchange  for  all  European  countries,  and 
not  until  the  indemnity  question  is  settled 
does  much  rise  in  trade  appear  probable 
for  other  lands.  The  fact  that  the  German 
mark  has  greater  purchasing  power  at  home 
than  its  exchange  rate  abroad  and  the 
cheapness  of  German  labor  have  had  a  de- 
pressing effect  on  the  trade  and  industry 
of  Sweden  and  the  other  Scandinavian 
countries. 

The  "  dumping "  of  German  goods  on 
Sweden,  strangely  enough,  has  caused 
Sweden  to  import  more  steel  and  pig  iron 
than  she  has  exported  in  the  past  year.  This 
accounts  for  the  closing  down  of  many  fac- 
tories, slumps  in  business  and  financial 
stringency  in  Sweden  toward  the  end  of 
1920,  in  contrast  with  the  lively  markets 
and  great  commercial  activity  that  marked 


180 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  first  half  of  the  same  year.  Trade  was 
hampered  by  falling  prices  for  most  articles 
of  native  manufacture,  uncompensated  by 
any  fall  in  the  price  of  labor  and  general 
costs.  Increasing  scarcity  and  dearness  of 
money  reduced  purchasing  power.  Backed 
by  cheaper  labor  and  lower  general  costs, 
German  goods  could  compete  with  Swedish 
even  in  the  Swedish  markets. 

The  monthly  returns  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  in  London  showed  for  the  last  half 
of  1920  an  excess  in  the  value  of  Swedish 
imports  over  exports  which  resulted  in  an 
unfavorable  trade  balance  of  increasing  im- 
portance. The  difficulty  of  financing  this 
trade  deficit,  which  was  expected  to  reach 
about  1,000,000,000  kroner  (£55,500,000), 
has  been  the  chief  cause  of  the  financial 
strain  in  Sweden.  The  banks  were  selling 
credit  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  trade  to  foreign  markets. 
Special  cable  reports  recently  received  at 
the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York,  how- 
ever, show  continued  prosperity  for  Scan- 
dinavian banks. 

Meanwhile  many  Swedish  foundries  had 
to  close  down  or  keep  short  hours,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  German  foundries  could 
convert  exported  Swedish  iron  ore  into  pig 
iron  and  steel  more  cheaply  and  undersell 
the  native  product  in  Swedish  markets. 
Scarcity  and  dearness  of  coal  further 
hampered  Swedish  industry,  necessitating 
the  laying  under  contribution  of  the  Swed- 
ish coal  mines  in  Spitzbergen,  and  importa- 
tion of  coal  from  America,  South  Africa 
and  Australia  on  account  of  the  limitation 
of  coal  exports  from  England. 

Negotiations  continue  for  a  trade  agree- 
ment with  Soviet  Russia,  but  the  education 
and  intelligence  of  the  middle  classes  have 
balked  Bolshevism  in  Sweden,  according  to 
Professor  Per  Hugo,  a  delegate  of  the  Swe- 
dish Royal  Board  of  Education,  sent  recent- 
ly to  study  conditions  in  the  United  States. 

DENMARK— King  Christian  and  Queen 
Alexandrina  will  visit  the  Faroe  Islands, 
the  Kingdom  of  Iceland,  and  the  Colony  of 
Greenland  at  the  end  of  June,  according  to 
an  official  announcement.  The  visit  to  Ice- 
land was  arranged  for  last  Summer,  but 
had  to  be  postponed  because  of  the  injury 
the  King  received  when  thrown  from  his 
horse  before  the  solemn  entry  into  Heder- 
slev,  in  Danish  Slesvig.  The  visit  to  Green- 
land i«»  to  celebrate  the  bicentenary  of  the 


resettlement  of  that  Dominion,  in  June, 
1721,  when  the  Norwegian  missionary,  Hans 
Egede,  was  surprised  to  find  only  Eskimos 
there,  not  knowing  that  Eskimos,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  had  destroyed  the  de- 
scendants of  the  colony  of  Eric  the  Red,  who 
settled  there  in  the  ninth  century.  No  Dan- 
ish King  has  yet  visited  Greenland.  Ice- 
land was  visited  by  King  Christian  IX.  in 
1874,  when  the  millenary  of  the  old  Norse 
settlement  of  Iceland  was  celebrated,  and 
the  Icelanders  were  granted  the  Althing, 
their  local  Parliament.  Later  King  Fred- 
erick VIII.,  with  members  of  the  Danish 
Rigsdag,  went  to  Reykjavik  in  1907,  when 
the  revision  of  the  relationship  between 
Denmark  and  Iceland  began  to  be  seriously 
discussed.  Queen  Alexandrina  will  be  the 
first  Danish  Queen  to  visit  those  far  north- 
ern countries  known  as  Danish  America. 

For  the  last  thirty  years  no  criminal  has 
undergone  capital  punishment  in  Denmark, 
though  Danish  courts  may  impose  death 
sentences.  Owing  to  the  recent  increase  of 
murders,  there  is  a  growing  public  demand 
for  more  drastic  penalties.  Minister  of 
Justice  Rytter  announced  in  March  that 
hereafter  justice  will  be  meted  out,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  strictest  reading  of  the 
laws,  to  persons  guilty  of  violence,  robbery 
and  similar  crimes. 

According  to  a  cable  received  at  Wash- 
ington from  Copenhagen,  March  14,  the 
Danes  in  Central  Slesvig  polled  a  very  con- 
siderable number  of  votes  in  the  elections 
March  13  to  the  German  Reichstag  and 
Landtag.  In  the  city  of  Flensborg  the 
Danes  polled  3,670  votes  out  of  28,000,  and 
in  the  city  and  county  of  Flensborg  there 
was  a  total  of  4,300  Danish  votes.  A  Dane 
has  been  elected  to  the  Council  of  the  Flens- 
borg County  District.  The  Danish  news- 
paper Flensborg  Avis  says  that  even  the 
Danish  optimists  were  not  disappointed  by 
the  result  of  the  election. 

In  the  plebiscite  in  Central  Slesvig  last 
year  the  territory  voted  to  remain  under 
German  rule,  but  there  was  a  considerable 
Danish  minority,  especially  in  Flensborg 
and   the   northern    rural   districts. 

NORWAY — In  a  general  way,  Norway's 
export  trade  had  a  satisfactory  year  in 
1920.  Sections  of  the  electro-chemical  in- 
dustry prospered,  owing  to  the  immense  re- 
sources of  hydro-electricity,  but  mining  and 
canning     industries     suffered.     The     rising 


STABLE  CONDITIONS  IN  SCANDINAVIA 


181 


quotations  in  whale  oil  made  the  whaling  in- 
dustry satisfactory,  but  the  other  fisheries 
underwent  depression,  owing  to  the  loss  dur- 
ing the  war  of  the  South  European  markets. 
Norway's  exports  were  sufficient  to  force 
UP  the  exchange  value  of  the  krone.  Lum- 
ber and  wood  pulp  made  considerable   in- 


ping  crisis  was  reported;  Vessels  aggre- 
gating 700,000  tons,  one-fifth  of  the  total 
tonnage,  were  laid  up.  One-tenth  of  the 
national  capital  of  Norway  is  invested  in 
shipping,  and  the  owners  were  appealing  to 
the  State,  the  banks  and  other  organiza- 
tions interested  to  aid  in  removing  the  dif- 


creases.     In  the  middle  of  February  a  ship-      ficulties. 


COUNTER-REVOLUTION   IN 
RED  RUSSIA 


Menace  to  Soviet  Dictatorship  in  serious  Outbreaks  in  Petrograd  and  Disaffection  of 
the  Baltic  Fortress  of  Kronstadt — Desperate  Food  and  Fuel  Situation  a  Factor  in  Grow- 
ing Spirit  of  Revolt — Crisis  faced  by  Bolsheviks  from  the  Inside 


[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


WITH  the  defeat  and  rout  of  the  armies 
of  General  Baron  Peter  Wrangel,  the 
Moscow  dictators  believed  Red  Rus- 
jia's  military  troubles  were  over,  affording  a 
breathing  space  in  which  to  prepare  the  gi- 
gantic work  of  economic  reconstruction.  The 
events  of  the  first  two  weeks  of  March,  how- 
ever, indicated  that  the  Soviet's  way  tq  ab- 
solute power  was  not  yet  clear,  and  that  the 
new  enemy,  coming  from  within,  was  more 
formidable  than  any  before  encountered. 
General  strikes  in  Petrograd  and  Moscow 
led  to  serious  street  fighting,  in  which  many 
were  killed  and  injured.  The  Petrograd 
workers  were  joined  by  sailors  from  Kron- 
stadt, and  the  holders  of  that  important 
fortress  on  the  Neva,  a  city  in  itself,  finally 
arrested  the  Bolshevist  commissaries  with- 
in its  walls,  hoisted  the  flag  of  revolt,  and 
declared  war  on  the  Soviet  regime.  The 
small  fort  across  the  river,  known  as  Kras- 
naya  Gorka  (Red  Mountain)  at  first  threw 
in  its  lot  with  Kronstadt,  but  was  finally 
recapured  by  the  Bolshevist  forces,  and  its 
*guns  turned  on  Kronstadt.  Battle  by  bom- 
bardment was  still  continuing  when  these 
pages  went  to  press.  Though  the  dictators 
at  first  belittled  the  insurrection,  they  fi- 
nally realized  the  seriousness  of  the  situa- 
tion, especially  as  the  counter-revolutionary 
movement  was  spreading  all  over  European 
Russia  and  into  Siberia.  The  Moscow  rulers 
were     taking     extraordinary    measures    to 


crush  the  movement,  without  any  apprecia- 
ble success. 

The  first  intimation  of  revolt  reached 
Riga  (Latvia)  on  Feb.  25.  Some  14,000 
Government  workers  in  Petrograd,  including 
the  printers,  had  gone  on  strike  the  day 
before.  They  demanded  an  increase  bread 
ration,  the  convocation  of  a  Constituent  As- 
sembly, and  the  right  of  free  trade.  Dis- 
orders followed,  which  Government  troops 
were  called  out  to  suppress.  Machine  guns 
were  turned  on  the  demonstrators.  The 
number  of  the  strikers  killed  or  wounded 
was  estimated  at  150.  Deserters  from  the 
Red  Army  joined  the  revolters.  Serious 
fighting  lasted  for  several  days.  Then  the 
strikers  were  joined  by  a  detachment  of 
sailors  who  had  come  up  from  Kronstadt  on 
an  icebreaker.  Food  troubles  had  already 
alienated  the  Kronstadt  ^garrison,  which  on 
Feb.  26  revolted  and  seized  the  local  Bol- 
shevist commissaries  as  hostages.  At  the 
same  time  news  came  of  a  general  strike 
in  Moscow,  which,  as  in  Petrograd,  had  de- 
veloped into  a  pitched  battle,  in  which  many 
persons  had  been  killed  and  hundreds 
wounded. 

The  Soviet  authorities,  threatened  with 
the  overthrow  of  their  power,  took  active 
steps  to  fortify  both  Moscow  and  Petro- 
grad, and  Lenin  promised  in  a  proclamation 
that  the  Government  would  use  every  pos- 
sible  means   to    relieve   the   food-shortage. 


182 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


A  proclamation  issued  by  the  Moscow  Soviet 
and  published  in  the  official  press  blamed 
the  trouble  on  the  Socialists,  the  Russian 
aristocracy,  and  the  capitalists  and  foreign 
bankers,  all  of  whom  it  accused  of  plotting 
to  overthrow  the  Government  by  fomenting 
uprisings  in  Siberia  and  the  Ukraine,  in  or- 
der to  paralyze  the  forwarding  of  food  sup- 
plies to  the  proper  centres. 

THE  KRONSTADT  REVOLT 

Though  M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Bolshevist 
Foreign  Minister,  minimized  the  reports  of 
the  uprisings  in  wireless  notes  from  the 
Kremlin  to  Litvinov,  head  of  the  Soviet 
Embassy  at  Reval  (Esthonia),  the  seri- 
ousness of  the  situation  soon  became  ap- 
parent. The  revolt  of  the  Kronstadt  sail- 
ors was  not  suppressed,  and  the  garrison 
of  Krasnaya  Gorka,  across  the  river,  joined 
the  revolters.  All  classes  of  citizens  in 
Kronstadt  were  united  in  the  uprising 
against  the  Soviet  Government.  A  revo- 
lutionary committee  had  been  organized, 
which  later  became  a  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment, chosen  wholly  from  sailors  and 
workmen  without  political  affiliations.  The 
Kronstadt  leader  was  said  to  be  a  sailor 
named  Petresenko.  The  Kronstadters  and 
the  garrison  of  Krasnaya  Gorka  turned 
their  guns  on  the  Petrograd-Moscow  rail- 
way line  around  March  7.  Eight  ships  of 
the  Baltic  fleet  participated  in  the  firing. 
Subsequently  the  Red  forces  regained  pos- 
session of  Krasnaya  Gorka  and  bombarded 
Kronstadt.  The  bombardment  was  still  con- 
tinuing on  March  15.  The  Revolutionary 
Committee  in  Kronstadt  declared  that  it 
would  fight  until  the  Soviet  rule  was  over- 
thrown. Trotzky  was  preparing  plans  to 
blockade  Kronstadt  in  spite  of  the  presence 
in  the  fortress  of  large  numbers  of  women 
and  children. 

Prominent  Russians  in  Paris,  who  re- 
cently organized  a  new  Constituent  Assem- 
bly made  up  of  delegates  to  the  Assembly 
dispersed  by  the  Bolsheviki,  declared  that 
this  revolt  heralded  a  formidable  explosion 
which  would  sweep  the  Bolshevist  dictators 
away.  The  latter  were  showing  feverish 
energy.  The  famous  Red  cavalry  leader, 
Budenny,  had  been  ordered  to  bring  his 
forces  from  the  South.  Infantry  regiments 
from  the  South  could  not  arrive  without 
considerable  delay,  owing  to  the  stoppage 
oi    the    railway    service.     The    Bolshevist 


commanders  were  forcing  unwilling  soldiers 
to  march  against  Kronstadt  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  Fighting  was  still  going  on 
in  parts  of  Petrograd  on  March  15.  Several 
thousand  Red  soldiers  had  marched  from 
the  fortress  of  Oranienbaum  and  joined  the 
besieged  sailors.  Food  supplies  were  get- 
ting lower  in  Kronstadt,  but  hopes  were 
entertained  of  procuring  supplies  from  the 
American  Red  Cross  at  Viborg,  Finland. 

Interviewed  in  Moscow  on  March  13  by  a 
correspondent  of  The  New  York  Herald, 
Lenin  called  the  Kronstadt  revolt  "  foolish." 
Lenin's  point  of  view  was  brought  out  as 
follows : 

To  seize  an  icebound  island,  containing  very 
little  food  and  absolutely  dependent  for  all 
its  supplies  on  Russia,  was  a  foolish  thing  to 
do,  although,  to  be  sure,  it  was  only  part  of 
a  much  larger  plot  which  missed  fire  every- 
where else.  *  *  *  What  can  they  do  if 
they  take  Petrograd?  Only  one  thing— starve. 
They  will  have  a  big,  foodless  city  on  their 
hands  and  we  shall  have  more  food  for  Mos- 
cow, as  more  supplies  are  coming  in  from 
Kuban  and  Siberia,  and  for  a  short  time  we 
will  no  longer  have  to  feed  Petrograd,  which 
of  late  has  been  a  strain  on  our  resources 
owing  to  its  remoteness  from  the  grain  dis- 
tricts. *  *  *  An  advance  on  Moscow  over 
the  melting  snow  and  swampy  ground,  and 
because  of  the  torn-up  railroads  and  devas- 
tated country,  is  impossible.  The  sailors  at 
the  head  of  this  foolish  mutiny  at  Kronstadt 
will  be  out  of  their  element  as  soon  as  they 
lose  sight  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  *  *  • 
If  they  accept  supplies  from  foreign  powers 
they  will  brand  themselves  at  once  as  traitors 
to  Russia  and  the  whole  country  will  rise 
against  them,  just  as  it  rose  against  Denikin 
and  Kolchak.  *  *  *  This  Kronstadt  affair 
in  itself  is  a  very  petty  incident.  It  no  more 
threatens  to  break  up  the  Soviet  Government 
than  the  Irish  disorders  are  threatening  to 
break  up  the  British  Empire.  It  is  simply 
a  case  of  discontent  among  some  foolish 
sailors,  and  this  discontent  is  bein~  utilized 
by  some  Czarist  officers,  reactionaries,  Men- 
sheviki,  social  revolutionaries  and  foreign 
powers. 

TRADE  PACT  SIGNED  WITH  BRITAIN 

The  long  desired  trade  compact  with 
Great  Britain  was  signed  in  London  on 
March  16.  Certain  clauses  which  had  pre- 
vented agreement  had  been  rewritten. 

The  agreement  is  essentially  the  same  as 
the  draft  taken  to  Moscow  by  Leonid  Kras- 
sin,  Soviet  Minister  of  Trade  and  Com- 
merce, in  January,  the  most  important 
terms  of  which  follow: 

Each  party  agrees  to  refrain  from  hostile 
action    or    propaganda    outside    its     borders 


COUNTER-REVOLUTION  IN  RED  RUSSIA 


183 


against  the  other's  institutions  or  giving  as- 
sistance or  encouragement  to  any  propaganda 
outside  its  own  borders.  The  Soviet  Govern- 
ment particularly  agrees  to  refrain  from  any 
encouragement  of  Asiatic  peoples  to  action 
against  British  interests,  especially  in  Asia 
Minor,   Persia,   Afghanistan  and  India. 

British  subjects  in  Russia  and  Russians  in 
Great  Britain  will  be  permitted  to  return  to 
their  homes  if  they  so  desire. 

Each  agrees  not  to  impose  any  form  of 
blockade  against  the  other  or  any  discrimi- 
nations against  trade  not  imposed  on  other 
foreign   countries. 

Ships  in  each  other's  harbors  shall  receive 
the  treatment  usually  accorded  foreign  mer- 
chant ships  by  commercial  nations. 

The  agreement  provides  for  the  clearance 
of  mines  from  the  Baltic  and  the  approaches 


to  Russia,  and  the  exchange  of  information 
regarding  mines. 

It  provides  for  the  admission  to  both  coun- 
tries of  persons  appointed  to  carry  out  the 
agreement,  with  the  right  to  restrict  them 
to  specified  areas  and  the  exclusion  of*  any 
who  are  persona  non  grata,  and  also  free 
communication  and  exemption  from  taxation. 

A  renewal  of  telegraphic  and  postal  facili- 
ties, including  parcel  post,  will  be  arranged. 

With  regard  to  the  seizure  of  Russian 
gold  exported  from  Russia  as  payment 
for  imports,  the  British  Government  does 
not  concede  the  Soviet  claim  that  such  gold 
should  be  regarded  as  immune  from  seizure 
to  pay  British  claims.  The  agreement  leaves 
this  as  a  matter  to  be  settled  by  ordinary 
court  procedure. 


ITALY  MOVING  SLOWLY  FORWARD 


[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


DEBATES  in  the  Chamber  on  the  bread 
subsidy  and  the  Government  bill  for 
checking  up  the  "  controllo  "  of  the  big  busi- 
nesses by  the  workers  continued  with  gains 
for  Signor  Giolitti,  the  Premier,  in  the  first, 
and  a  growing  opposition  organized  and  led 
by  his  predecessor,  Signor  Nitti,  in  the  sec- 
ond. There  was  a  project  to  reduce  but  not 
to  abolish  the  bread  subsidy,  by  having  two 
grades  of  bread,  one  for  the  rich  and  one 
for  the  poor,  as  even  the  Socialists  realized 
that  to  continue  the  subsidy  at  its  present 
figure  would  mean  national  ruin. 

The  "  controllo  "  bill  pleases  neither  the 
workers  nor  the  owners.  Under  its  delay 
the  workers  in  the  big  metallurgic  plants, 
notably  the  F.  I.  A.  T.,  became  restive  and 
refused  to  work  on  war  material,  although 
it  had  been  ordered  from  abroad.  The 
"  controllo "  allows  the  workers  to  know 
the  destination  of  their  work. 

In  the  politico-labor  field,  the  resolutions 
of  the  Federation  of  Labor,  adopted  at  the 
Leghorn  Congress  condemning  communism 
and  unnecessary  strikes,  went  far  toward 
pacifying  the  smaller  industries  not  to  be 
affected  by  the  "  controllo." 

The  riots  between  the  Communists  and 
the  fascisti  centred  in  the  towns  of  Tus- 
cany. There,  however,  early  in  March, 
the  Communists  were  reported  to  have  been 
frightened  into  obeying  the  laws,  and  so 
the   Fascisti   marched   the   streets   in  vain. 


In  the  southern  Province  of  Bari,  though, 
the  peasants  attempted  to  do  what  the  met- 
allurgic workers  did  last  Autumn.  They 
seized  farms  instead  of  plants.  This  caused 
a  rising  of  the  Fascisti  in  the  rural  districts 
which  was  with  difficulty  put  down  by  the 
carabinieri. 

On  March  13  the  Government  of  Fiume 
solemnly  informed  Wilbur  Keblinger,  the 
American  Consul  accredited  there,  that  it 
could  not  receive  him,  as  the  United  States 
had  not  yet  recognized  the  independence  of 
the  State  of  Fiume,  which  President  Wilson 
labored  so  hard  to  place  on  the  map. 

THE  VATICAN— At  a  secret  consistory 
on  March  7  the  Pope  announced  the  crea- 
tion of  six  new  Cardinals.  One  was  Dennis 
J.  Dougherty,  Archbishop  of  Philadelphia, 
who  succeeded  the  late  Cardinal  John  Far- 
ley of  New  York.  The  others  were  Mon- 
signori  Francisco  Vidal  Barraquer,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tarragona,  Spain;  Juan  Benoloch 
y  Vivo,  Archbishop  of  Burgos,  Spain;  Josef 
Schulte,  Archbishop  of  Cologne;  Michael 
von  Fauhaber,  Archbishop  of  Munich,  and 
Francesco  Ragohesi,  Papal  Nuncio  at 
Madrid. 

The  Pope  delivered  an  allocution  on  uni- 
versal peace.  He  said,  among  other  things, 
that  such  peace  was  impossible  without  re- 
newal of  the  private  life  of  individuals,  as 
witness  the  disastrous  civil  strife  [in  Italy] 


184 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


and  the  new  seeds  of  discord  sown  by  racial 
strifes  [in  Upper  Silesia,  Lithuania,  Ukrai- 
nia,  Poland  and  other  small  countries].  He 
condemned  crimes  against  morality  and  hu- 


ancient  struggles  [alluding  to  Ireland].  He 
concluded  that  treaties  would  be  futile  un- 
less citizens  become  permeated  with  senti- 
ments of  the  justice  and  charity  inculcated 


manity     concomitant     to     the     renewal     of      by  Christian  doctrines. 


SPAIN'S    PREMIER   ASSASSINATED 

Victim  of  the  Sindicato   Unico  in  revenge  for  Gen- 
eral Anido's  success  in  bringing  its  members  to  justice 

[Period  Ended  March   12,   1921] 


WHILE  returning  home  from  the  Cham- 
ber, where  he  had  been  threatened 
with  defeat,  Premier  Dato  was  shot  dead 
by  two  members  of  the  Sindicato  Unico, 
Spain's  terrible  society  of  coercion  by  as- 
sassination, the  character  of  which  has 
several  times  been  described  in  Current 
History.  This  was  on  March  8.  On  the 
13th  one  of  his  assailants,  Pedro  Mateo, 
was  arrested  and  next  day  confessed  the 
crime,  naming  Ramon  Cassanova  as  his  ac- 
complice. The  deed  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  premature  act  in  a  great  conspiracy 
embracing  not  only  the  Sindicato  Unico  of 
Spain  but  Communist  bodies  in  France  and 
Italy  for  the  removal  of  the  heads  of  State 
in  all  three  countries  on  May  1. 

A  Paris  dispatch  dated  Feb.  14  said  that 
documents  revealing  such  a  conspiracy  had 
been  seized  in  Paris,  Barcelona  and  Madrid ; 
also  that  among  the  documents  had  been 
found  "  checks  emanating  from  Berlin,  and 
paid  through  an  American  transportation 
company."  A  more  direct  cause  for  the 
murder,  however,  it  is  believed,  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  last  Autumn  Premier 
Dato  sent  General  Martinez  Anido  as  Mili- 
tary Governor  to  Barcelona.  Anido  was 
successful  in  uncovering  the  secret  head  of 
the  Sindicato  Unico,  in  sending  thirty-six 
prominenti  to  prison,  and  in  scattering  its 
rank  and  file.  Shortly  after  the  shadow  of 
the  dread  society  fell  upon  the  capital,  and 
the  press  united  in  demanding  that  Anido 
be  made  military  dictator  of  the  kingdom 
until  he  had  stamped  out  the  band  of 
assassins. 

The  death  of  Sefior  Dato  left  politics  in 
a  confused  state.  Being  Minister  of  Marine 
and  not  Minister  of  the  Interior,  he  had  lost 
many  Deputies  at  the  last  election.    For  the 


time  he  is  succeeded  as  Premier  by  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  Count  de  Bugallal ; 
although,  on  March  14,  it  was  said  that  the 
King  would  ask  the  veteran  Antonio  Maura 
to  form  a  Ministry. 

The  Spanish  Cortes  is  made  up  of  per- 
sonal factions.  In  it  Sefior  Dato,  with  127 
Deputies,  had  been  principally  opposed  by 
Sefior  Maura  with  22  and  Juan  de  la  Cierva, 
also  with  22.  All  are  nominally  Conserva- 
tives. Then  there  are  the  Liberal  leaders: 
Count  Romanones  with  21,  the  Marquis  de 
Albucemas-Prietistas  with  43,  and  Santiago 
Alba  with  29.  Then  come  a  dozen  personal 
factions,  with  one  or  two  Deputies,  and  the 
Catalonian  Regionalists  with  17.  The 
Cortes  has  been  in  session  since  Feb.  22; 
during  the  previous  session  Sefior  Dato  had 
a  total  of  215  out  of  409  members. 

PORTUGAL— The  Cabinet  formed  by 
Liberato  Pinto  on  Dec.  2  resigned  on  Feb. 
18.  It  had  been  weakened  by  the  withdrawal 
of  Julio  Martins,  Minister  of  Marine,  but 
more  especially  by  that  of  Cunha  Leal,  who 
had  attempted  to  solve  the  distressing  prob- 
lem of  national  finance  in  a  fantastic  way. 
Senhor  Leal's  resignation  was  simply  due  to 
a  point  of  order  raised  between  himself  and 
the  President  of  the  Chamber. 

From  Feb.  13  until  Feb.  23  the  President 
of  the  republic,  Senhor  Almeida,  tried  in 
vain  to  find  Pinto's  successor.  The  diffi- 
culty lay  in  the  group  divisions  of  Parlia- 
ment. He  then  summoned  a  Council  of 
State  to  discuss  a  dissolution.  At  the  con- 
ference on  Feb.  24  several  names  were  put 
forward  as  Prime  Minister,  but  all  were  ob- 
jected to  by  one  party  or  another.  At 
length  Senhor  Bernardino  Machado  was 
proposed  and  accepted  by  all  the  party 
leaders. 


MLllMI^I^ILWJI^I^ 


CURRENT    HISTORY  1 

A      MONTHLY      MAGAZINE      OF 
Stye  Nrm  lurk  ®tm?H 

Published    by    The    New    York    Times    Compant.    Times    Square,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


Vol.  XIV.,  No.  2  MAY,  1921  T^TyI*?™ 


lty9/JUS/ttVg4tVS4tVSqt^t^^ 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


FRONTISPIECE    PORTRAIT    AND   ILLUSTRATION: 

George  Harvey,  Ambassador  to  Great  Britain <  187 

President  Harding  Delivering  His  First  Message 188 

FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 189 

THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 197 

SECRET  PACTS  OF  FRANCE  AND  ITALY  WITH  TURKEY     .      .  203 

FORCING   RELUCTANT    GERMANY  TO   PAY 206 

GERMANY  CRUSHES   A   COMMUNIST   REVOLT 210 

WHAT  BELGIUM  IS  DOING 213 

DEATH   OF   THE   GERMAN   EX-EMPRESS .      .  214 

HUNGARY'S  RESTORATION  FIASCO 215 

THE  "  LITTLE  ENTENTE  "  AND  THE  HAPSBURGS 219 

AMERICA'S   TIES   WITH   HUNGARY    .    By   Dr.   Imre   Josika-Herczeg  222 

GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT     ...     By  J.  Ellis   Barker  225 

GANDHI— BRITAIN'S  FOE  IN  INDIA 235 

JAPANESE   AGGRESSION   IN   SIBERIA     (Map) 

By  Sidney  C.  Graves  239 

BIRTH   OF   A    REPUBLIC   IN    SIBERIA 246 

THE  FATE  OF  PROHIBITION  IN  RUSSIA .  251 

SUCCESSES  OF  SOVIET  RUSSIA 253 

TEXT  OF  THE  RUSSO-BRITISH  TRADE  AGREEMENT     ....  257 

THE  RED  ARMY By  Colonel  A.  M.  Nikolaieff  261 

SPEEDY  END  OF  THE  CAUCASUS  REPUBLICS     ......  264 

MAIN  POINTS  OF  FINLAND'S  CONSTITUTION 266 

LATVIA,  LITHUANIA,   ESTHONIA      (Map) 267 

THE  NEEDS  OF  EGYPT By  Prince  Ibrahim  Hilmy  269 


Contents   Continued  on   Next  Page 

I 

Copyright,    1921,    by   The    New    York    Times    Company.     All    Rights    Reserved.  5p 

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wwwMwww^rcaaiBiBafflBM^^ 


pS^MKJMMyM^I^ 


Table  of  Contents — Continued 

PAGE 

STAMBOLISKY'S  REFORMS  IN  BULGARIA     .     By  Eleanor  Markell     273 

Text   of    Bulgaria's    Compulsory    Labor    Law 274 

A  BULGARIAN'S  PLEA  FOR  BULGARIA      .      .      By  P.  M.  Mattheeff     276 
RUMANIA  IN   THE   NEW   EUROPE     .     By  Prince   Antoine   Bibesco     278 

SPLIT  AMONG  THE   SOCIALISTS  WIDENED 281 

MR.    LANSING    ON    PRESIDENT    WILSON 282 

UNIVERSITY  EXCHANGE  WITH  BELGIUM      .     By  Nellie  E.  Gardner     283 
MODIFIED  PROHIBITION  IN  CANADA     .      .      By  Thomas  A.  Kydd     286 

THE  NEW  CANADIAN  TARIFF By  W.  L.  Edmonds     289 

THE  EVACUATION  OF   SANTO  DOMINGO      .      .     By  Fabio  Fiallo     291 
THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 

By  Beryl  Gray 
HOW  PANAMA  PAID  OFF  ITS  DEBTS  .  By  Crede  Haskins  Calhoun 
"  AMERICAN  POWERS  IN  PANAMA  "  .  .  By  Angel  D.  Rodriguez 
PHILIPPINE  INDEPENDENCE  ....  By  Venancio  Trinidad 
PROSPEROUS  TIMES  IN  NEW  ZEALAND  .  .  By  Tom  L.  Mills 
INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS  .  .  . 
THE   ENGLISH    LABOR   REVOLT 


294 
298 
300 
303 
306 
307 
323 

WAITING  FOR  HOME  RULE  IN  IRELAND 326 

CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 328 

MEXICO'S   PROGRESS  TOWARD   STABILITY 331 

PANAMA  REJECTS  THE  WHITE  AWARD 334 

SOUTH  AMERICAN  PROSPERITY 337 

POLITICAL    TENSION    IN    CUBA 339 

NORWAY'S    INDUSTRIAL    INDEPENDENCE .      .     341 

ITALY'S  CRITICAL  NEW  ELECTION ^43 

THE  NEW  SPANISH  CABINET 346 

GREECE  ATTEMPTS  TO  IMPOSE  THE  SEVRES  TREATY     (Map)     347 

BULGARIA  AND  THE  TURKISH  TREATY 352 

PALESTINE  AND  THE  ZIONISTS 353 

PERSIA'S    NEW    POLICIES 355 

POLAND  FOUR-SQUARE  FOR  THE  FUTURE 356 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE   REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 358 

CHINA  "  MUDDLING  THROUGH  " 367 


PAGE 

ARGENTINA    337 

ARMENIA    265 

AUSTRALIA     329 

AUSTRIA     218 

BELGIUM    213 

BRAZIL    337 

BULGARIA     . . .  .272,  270,  352 

CANADA    286.  289,  328 

CENTRAL   AMERICA..     335 

CHILE 338 

CHINA     367 

COLOMBIA    33S 

COSTA    RICA     295,335 

CUBA     339 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA      .  .     219 

DENMARK    342 

ECUADOR     159 

EGYPT     269,330 

ENGLAND     323 

ESTHONIA    269 


INDEX     TO    NATIONS    TREATED 

PAGE 

FINLAND     266.  268 

FRANCE    206 

GEORGIA     264 

GERMANY     210 

GREECE     347 

GUATEMALA     295,  335 

HONDURAS     295,  336 

HUNGARY     215 

INDIA     225    235 

IRELAND    326 

ITALY     343 

JAPAN    239 

JUGOSLAVIA     219 

LATVIA      267 

LITHUANIA     267 

MESOPOTAMIA    354 

MEXICO     331 

NEW    ZEALAND 306 

NICARAGUA     296,  336 

NORWAY     '341 


PANAMA      298,209,334 

PARAGUAY     338 

PERSIA    355 

PERU    338 

PHILIPPINES      303 

POLAND     356,  358 

PORTUGAL     346 

RUMANIA    219,  278 

RUSSIA 251,  253,  261 

SALVADOR     296 

SANTO     DOMINGO 291 

SIBERIA     239,  246 

SOUTH    AFRICA 330 

SPAIN     346 

SWEDEN     342 

SWITZERLAND      218 

TURKEY    347 

UNITED     STATES..  .189,  197 

URUGUAY     338 

WEST    INDIES 339 


9 


jfoffflgWfilffWWftl^lJTffl^ 


(©    Harris   &   Ewing) 

COLONEL  GEORGE  HARVEY 

United  States  Ambassador  to  Great  Britain,  succeeding  Mr.  John   W.  Davis 


Harris    d-    l-Jirina) 


PRESIDENT  HARDING  DELIVERING  HIS  FIRST  MESSAGE  BEFORE  THE 

JOINT  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS,  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

APRIL  12,  1921.    BEHIND  HIM  ARE  SEATED  VICE  PRESIDENT  COOLIDGE 

(LEFT)   AND   SPEAKER  GILLETT 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


Soviet  Russia  rebuffed — Germany's  responsibility  toward  Mandates — League  of  Nations 
rejected — State  of  war  with  Germany  to  cease — Revised  treaty  to  be  negotiated 


AMONG  the  problems  inherited  by  the 
L  Harding  Administration  few  involved 
a  severer  tax  on  statesmanship  than 
those  bearing  on  foreign  relations.  Grave 
questions  were  at  issue  with  Russia,  Japan 
and  Great  Britain;  the  United  States  was 
still  technically  at  war  with  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary;  its  exact  attitude  re- 
mained to  be  defined  toward  a  host  of 
issues  springing  from  the  World  War. 

The  Russian  Soviet  Government  on  March 
20  sent  to  the  United  States  Government  a 
formal  appeal  for  the  conclusion  of  a  trade 
compact  by  negotiation.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Soviet  authorities  the  message 
was  adroitly  timed.  It  was  an  attempt  to 
break  down  American  hostility  to  the  re- 
opening of  relations  by  an  appeal  to  the 
new  Administration,  which,  it  was  assumed, 
might  be  readily  inclined  to  reverse  the 
policy  of  its  predecessor.  Moreover,  it  was 
thought  that  the  ratification  by  Great 
Britain  of  the  trade  treaty  negotiated  by 
Leonid  Krassin  and  Lloyd  George  would 
favorably  influence  President  Harding. 
The  text  of  the  Russian  note  follows: 

Reval,  March  21.  1921. 
To    the    Congress    of    the    United    States    and 
His   Excellency,    President   Harding,    Wash- 
ington : 

I  have   the   honor  to   transmit,   as   instructed 
by  my  Gov  tnment,  the  following  message. 

LITVINOV,  Plenipotentiary, 
Representative  of  Russian  Republic  to  Esthonia. 

March  20,  1921. 
From  the  first  days  of  her  existence  Soviet 
Russia  had  nourished  the  hope  of  the  possi- 
bility  of   a   speedy   establishment   of  friendly 
relations   with    the    great   Republic    of   North 
America  and  had  firmly   expected  that  inti- 
mate   and    solid    ties    would    be    created    be- 
tween  the   two   republics   to   the   greater   ad- 
vantage   of    both.       At    the     time    when    the 
Entente  Powers  had   begun  their   invasion   of 
Russia      unprovoked      and      without 
laration    of    war    the    Soviet    Government 
repeatedly   addressed   itself   to   the   American 
vernment  with  the  proposal  to  adopt  meas- 
ures   for   the    cessation    of   bloodshed.      Even 
when  the  American  troops,  together  with  the 


others,  participated  in  the  attack  upon  Soviet 
Russia  the  Government  of  the  Russian  Re- 
public still  expressed  the  hope  of  a  speedy 
change  of  America's  policy  toward  her,  and 
demonstrated  this  by  its  particularly  consid- 
erate treatment  of  the  Americans  in  Russia. 
But  President  Wilson,  who,  without  cause 
and  without  any  declaration  of  w.ar,  had 
attacked  the  Russian  Republic,  showed  dur- 
ing his  whole  administration  a  growing  hos- 
tility towards  the  Russian  Republic.  Soviet 
Russia  hopes  that  the  American  Republic 
will  not  persist  in  obdurately  following  this 
path  and  that  the  new  American  Govern- 
ment will  clearly  see  the  great  advantage 
for  the  two  republics  of  the  re-establishment 
of  business  relations  and  will  consider  the 
interests  of  both  peoples  which  imperatively 
demand  that  the  wall  existing  between  them 
should  be  removed.  The  Soviet.  Republic,  en- 
tirely absorbed  in  the  work  of  internal  re- 
construction and  of  building  up  its  economic 
life,  has  not  the  intention  of  intervening  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  America,  and  the  All 
Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  makes 
herewith  a  categorical  declaration  to  this 
effect.  At  the  present  time,  after  Soviet 
Russia  has  concluded  treaties  and  established 
regular  relations  with  numerous  States,  the 
absence  of  such  relations  with  America  seems 
to  Soviet  Russia  particularly  abnormal  and 
harmful  to  both  peoples.  The  All  Russian 
Central  Executive  Committee  addresses  to 
you  the  formal  proposal  of  opening  trade  re- 
lations between  Russia  and  America,  and  for 
that  purpose  the  relations  between  the  two 
republics  have  to  be  on  the  whole  regular- 
ized. 

The  All  Russian  Central  Executive  Com- 
mittee therefore  proposes  to  send  a  special 
delegation  to  America  which  will  negotiate 
upon  this  matter  with  the  American  Govern- 
ment in  order  to  solve  the  question  of  busi- 
ness relations  and  of  resumption  of  trade  be- 
tween Russia  and  America. 

M.    KALENIN, 
President     of     the     All     Russian     Executive 
Committee. 

P.    ZALUTSKT,    Secretary. 

REPLY  FROM  WASHINGTON 

Secretary  of  State  Hughes  on  March  25 
sent  by  cable  to  the  American  Consul  at 
Reval,  for  transmission  by  him  to  Litvinov, 
the  following  reply: 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  views 


190 


THE   XEW    YORK    TIMES   CURREXT   HISTORY 


with  deep  sympathy  and  gTave  concern  the 
plight  of  the  people  of  Russia  and  desires  to 
aid    "t  tppropriate  means  in  promot- 

ing proper  opportunities  through  which  com- 
merce can  be  established  upon  a  sound  basis. 
It    is   manifest    to    this    Government   t: 

:ng  circumstances  there  is  no  assurance 
lopment  of  trade,  as  the  supplies 
which  Russia  might  now  be  able  to  obtain 
uld  be  wholly  inadequate  to  meet  her 
needs,  and  no  lasting  good  can  result  so  long 
as  the  present  causes  of  progressive  im] 
erishment  continue  to  operate.  It  is  only  in 
the  productivity  of  Russia  that  there  is  bj 
hope  for  the  Russian  people,  and  it  is  idle 
to  expect  resumption  of  trade  until  the  eco- 
nomic bases  of  production  are  securely  estab- 
lished. Production  is  conditioned  upon  the 
safety  of  life,  the  recognition  by  firm  guar- 
antees of  private  property,  the  sanctity  of 
contract  and  the  rights  of  free  labor. 

If  fundamental  changes  are  contemplated, 
involving  due  regard  for  the  protection  of 
persons  and  property  and  the  establishment 
of  conditions  essential  to  the  maintenance  of 
commerce,  this  Government  will  be  glad  to 
have  convincing  evidence  of  the  consumma- 
tion of  such  changes,  and  until  this  evidence 
is  supplied  this  Government  is  unable  to  per- 
ceive that  there  is  any  proper  basis  for  con- 
sidering trade  relations. 

This  reply  by  the  new  American  adminis- 
tration was  an  obvious  rebuff,  and  was  ac- 
cepted as  such  by  the  Bolshevist  leaders. 
One  comment  made  by  Jaan  Antonovitch 
Behrein,  Soviet  Minister  to  Finland  since 
the  conclusion  of  Moscow's  treaty  with  Fin- 
land, declared  that,  undiscouraged  by  this 
rejection,  his  Government  would  continue 
its  efforts  for  trade  with  America.  It  was 
planned  to  secure  the  support  of  prominent 
American  business  men  desirous  of  conces- 
sions. New  overtures  would  be  made  offi- 
cially whenever  it  became  apparent  that 
the  attitude  of  the  American  Government 
had  undergone  a  change.  Whatever  came, 
he  declared,  Russia  would  never  give  up 
communism  and  revert  to  the  old  system  of 
private  property. 

Leonid  Krassin,  the  Bolshevist  envoy  at 
London,  expressed  confidence  that  as  soon 
as  America  became  convinced  that  "  the 
very  existence  of  the  Russian  Soviet  Re- 
public is  not  propaganda,  we  will  be  able 
to  establish  relations  to  the  mutual  in- 
tere.- 

So  confident  had  the  Russian  authorities 
been  of  the  success  of  their  overtures  that, 
it  was  reported,  large  quantities  of  Russian 
gold  were  in  transit  to  the  United  States 
to  cover  expected  trade  transactions.  This 
was  said  to  be  in  the  form  of  gold  ingots, 


iped  with  the  official  seal  of  the  Swedish 
Mint. 

Raymond  T.  Baker,  Director  of  the  Mint 
of  the  United  States,  upon  hearing  of  the 
gold  shipment,  stated  that  the  policy  of  the 
United  States  Mint  and  A  :ices  had 

undergone  no  change.  Gold  stamped  with 
the  seal  of  the  Mint  of  any  friendly  coun- 
could  not  be  rejected,  but  Russian  gold 
would  still  be  refused. 

The  reply  of  Secretary  Hughes  to  the 
Soviet  proposal  was  hailed  in  Paris  with 
gratification. 

VIVIAXrS   MISSION 

An  event  of  importance  in  its  bearing  on 
our  foreign  relations  with  the  official  visit 
to  this  country — as  Envoy  Extraordinary  of 
France — of  Rene  Viviani,  ex-Premier,  who 
reached  New  York,  March  28.  The  ostensi- 
ble purpose  of  his  visit  was  to  present  his 
country's  respects  to  President  Harding. 
Developments  indicated  that  M.  Viviani  was 
deeply  concerned  on  behalf  of  his  Govern- 
ment in  securing  the  moral  support  of  this 
country  in  the  matter  of  the  German 
reparations.  It  was  also  apparent  that  he 
viewed  with  apprehension  the  prospect  that 
the  United  States  might  make  a  separate 
peace  with  Germany.  Evidence  was  given 
that  France  would  view  with  gratification 
this  country's  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  with  almost  any  modifications 
and  reservations  that  it  might  think  proper, 
and  that,  in  any  event,  our  co-operation  was 
earnestly  desh-ed  in  the  effort  to  bring 
Europe  out  of  the  chaos  that  the  World 
War  had  produced.  He  met  with  a  warm 
reception  and  his  views  were  given  careful 
consideration,  but  the  policy  of  the  Adminis- 
:on  with  respect  to  foreign  affairs  had 
been  formulated  before  his  arrival  and  his 
visit  effected  no  apparent  change. 

GERMANY 

Immediately  preceding  the  arrival  o: 
Viviani  a  note  was  dispatched  by  Secretary 
Hughes  on  March  29  to  the  American  Com- 
missioner in  Berlin  to  be  communicated  to 
Dr.  Walter  Simons,  the  German  1 
for  Foreign  Affairs.  The  note  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  reply  to  an  informal  memoran- 
dum of  Dr.  Simons,  which  had  been  tele- 
graphed  to   the   State   Department   by   the 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


191 


American  Commissioner,  Loring  Dresel,  un- 
der date  of  March  23. 

Secretary  Hughes's  note  follows: 
The  American  Government  is  pleased  to 
note  in  the  informal  memorandum  of  Dr. 
Simons  the  unequivocal  expression  on  the 
part  of  the  German  Government  of  its  desire 
to  afford  reparation  up  to  the  limit  of  Ger- 
man ability  to  pay.  This  Government  stands 
with  the  Governments  of  the  Allies  in  hold- 
ing Germany  responsible  for  the  war  and 
therefore  morally  bound  to  make  repara- 
tion, so  far  as  may  be  possible.  The  recog- 
nition of  this  obligation,  implied  in  the  mem- 
orandum of  Dr.  Simons,  seems  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  the  only  sound 
basis  on  which  can  be  built  a  firm  and  just 
peace,  under  which  the  various  nations  of 
Europe  can  achieve  once  more  economic  in- 
dependence and  stability.  This  Government 
believes  that  it  recognizes  in  the  memoran- 
dum of  Dr.  Simons  a  sincere  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  German  Government  to  reopen 
negotiations  with  the  Allies  on  a  new  basis, 
and  hopes  that  such  negotiations,  once  re- 
sumed, may  lead  to  a  prompt  settlement 
which  will  at  the  same  time  satisfy  the  just 
claims  of  the  Allies  and  permit  Germany 
hopefully  to   renew   Its  productive    activities. 

The  important  parts  of  the  German 
memorandum  which  elicited  this  reply  are 
herewith  given: 

It  is  the  earnest  desire  of  the  Government 
of  Germany  to  reach  an  accord  with  the 
governments  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers,  and  it  is  sincere  in  its  purpose  to 
meet  their  requirements  as  far  as  possible. 
That  an  agreement  was  not  reached  at  the 
Conference  of  London  on  the  question  of 
reparations  is  a  matter  of  extreme  regret 
to  the  Government  of  Germany.  In  their 
effort  to  reach  an  agreement  the  delegates 
from  Germany  went  far  beyond  the  limits 
considered  possible  for  Germany,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  an  overwhelming  majority  of  her 
economic   experts. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  Germany  is  re- 
luctant to  recognize  her  obligation  to  make 
reparations.  This  is  not  correct.  It  is  en- 
tirely clear,  not  only  to  the  Government  of 
Germany  but  to  the  German  people  also,  that 
Germany  must  make  reparation  to  the  limit 
of  her  ability  to  pay.  This  realization  on  the 
part  of  Germany  will  not  be  altered  in  any 

iy  by  any  changes  which  may  take  place 
in  the  internal  politics  of  the  country.  Every 
nsible  group,  particularly  the  workmen, 
of  Germany  are  imbued  with  the  determi- 
nation to  do  all  that  lies  in  their  power  to 
holp  in  reconstructing  the  regions  which  have 
n  devastated.  Fundamental  to  this  do- 
mination is  the  sober  conviction  on  the 
part  of  responsible  circles  in  Germany  that 
an  early  removal  of  all  traces  of  the  devas- 

i  ion  caused  in  France  is  to  the  best  inter- 

t  of  Germany.  It  is  the  consensus  of  opin- 
ion,   also,    that   the   proposals   made   by    Ger- 


many in  regard  to  reparations  must  consider 
fully  the  financial  necessities  of  the  allied 
and  associated  governments,  and  particularly 
of  France. 

At  this  point  arguments  were  introduced 
relative  to  some  methods  of  reparation  that 
had  been  proposed.  Complaint  was  made 
against  France  for  not  accepting  Ger- 
many's offer  to  reconstruct  the  devastated 
regions  of  Northern  France  with  German 
labor  and  materials.  Attempt  was  made  to 
show  that  the  establishment  of  an  actual 
sum  of  cash  money  in  foreign  exchange  of 
important  proportions  would  only  be  possi- 
ble for  Germany  by  an  increase  in  exports 
that  would  menace  the  economic  life  of 
other  countries.  That  her  former  op- 
ponents should  participate  in  the  returns 
from  German  industry  was  pronounced  not 
feasible,  because  the  proceeds  would  be  in 
paper  marks,  valueless  to  foreign  creditors. 
Therefore,  the  note  concluded: 

An  international  loan,  in  favor  of  which 
the  allied  and  associated  governments  would 
waive  their  general  mortgage,  constitutes  the 
only  solution  of  the  problem.  The  Govern- 
ment of  Germany  is  prepared  to  offer  the 
necessary  securities  for  the  safety  of  such  a 
loan.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  German  Gov- 
ernment that  if  the  loan  were  properly  or- 
ganized and  offered,  and  if  those  who  have 
evaded  taxation  be  granted  a  general  am- 
nesty, the  large  sums  of  German  capital  which 
.  have  been  secretly  withdrawn  from  Ger- 
many could  again  be.  drawn  in  for  the  loan 
and  thereby  become  available  for  the  repa- 
rations. It  has  been  reiterated  by  the  allied 
and  associated  governments  that  the  situa- 
tion of  Germany  is  better  than  that  of  many 
of  the  allied  and  associated  countries, 
due  to  the  fact  that  Germany  has  no  foreign 
debts.  Germany  would  not  be  unwilling  to 
assume  the  obligation  of  the  interest  and  the 
amortization  of  the  foreign  debts  of  the 
allied  and  associated  powers,  within  the 
limit  of  her  capacity,  should  this  measure 
be  entertained  by  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments  and  their  creditors. 

Germany  stands  ready  to  meet  any  pro- 
posal which  appears  feasible  for  the  solution 
of  the  economic  and  financial  problems  of 
Europe,  and  would  invite  the  examination  by 
unbiased  experts  of  its  own  ability  to  make 
payment.  It  is  the  opinion  of  Germany  that 
the  heavy  weight  of  debt  now  borne  by  all 
the  States  which  were  participants  in  the 
World  War,  and  the  damages  which  were 
wrought  in  the  course  of  that  war,  cannot 
be  laid  upon  the  shoulders  of  any  single 
people.  Germany  believes  also  that  a  policy  of 
duress  and  coercion  will  not  bring  about  the 
reconstruction  of  international  economic  life, 
and  that  only  by  way  of  peaceful  discussion 
and  understanding  can  such  reconstruction  be 


192 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


obtained.  The  German  Government  con- 
siders it  important  to  give,  with  solemn  em- 
phasis, the  assurance  that  for  its  part  it  is 
honestly  willing  to  follow  the  path  which  it 
has  suggested.  SIMONS. 

The  note  of  Secretary  Hughes  was  re- 
ceived with  unqualified  satisfaction  by  the 
allied  Governments,  by  whom  it  was  re- 
garded as  greatly  strengthening  the  press- 
ure that  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
Ge  many  to  fulfill  the  reparations  demands. 
Conversely,  it  produced  depression  in  Ger- 
many, which  had  clung  to  the  hope  that  the 
United  States  would  either  assume  a  neu- 
tral attitude  or  aid  materially  in  persuad- 
ing the  Allies  to  modify  their  requirements. 

PROTEST  AGAINST  THE  YAP 
MANDATE 

What  may  prove  to  be  an  epoch-making 
document,  defining  as  it  does  the  attitude 
of  the  United  States  on  the  whole  subject 
of  mandates,  was  the  note  addressed  by 
the  United  States  Secretary  of  State  to 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy  and  Japan  on 
April  2.  The  note  to  Japan  contained  ad- 
ditional paragraphs  referring  to  previous 
correspondence  between  the  two  Govern- 
ments. This  was  not  made  public.  The  note 
to  the  other  powers  follows: 

April  2,  1921. 
With  respect  to  the  mandate  to  Japan,  pur- 
porting to  have  been  confirmed  and  defined 
in  its  terms  by  the  Council  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  of  the  German  possessions  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  lying  north  of  the  equator, 
this  Government  deems  it  appropriate  to 
state  the  fundamental  basis  of  its  represen- 
tations and  the  principles  which,  in  its  view, 
are  determinative. 

It  will  not  be  questioned  that  the  right  to 
dispose  of  the  overseas  possessions  of  Ger- 
many was  acquired  only  through  the  victory 
of  the  allied  and  associated  powers,  and  it 
is  also  believed  that  there  is  no  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  British  Government  to 
deny  the  participation  of  the  United  States 
in  that  victory.  It  would  seem  to  follow 
necessarily  that  the  right  -accruing  to  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  through  the 
common  victory  is  shared  by  the  United 
States  and  that  there  could  be  no  valid  or 
effective  disposition  of  the  overseas  posses- 
sions of  Germany,  now  under  consideration, 
without  the  assent  of  the  United  States.  This 
Government  must  therefore  point  out  that,  as 
the  United  States  has  never  vested  either  the 
Supreme  Council  or  the  League  of  Nations 
with  any  authority  to  bind  the  United  States 
or  to  act  on  its  behalf,  there  has  been  no  op- 
portunity for  any  decision  which  could  be 
deemed  to  affect  the  rights  of  the  United 
States.      It   may    also   be    observed    that   the 


right  accruing  to  the  United  States  through 
the  victory  in  which  it  has  participated  could 
not  be  regarded  as  in  any  way  ceded  or  sur- 
rendered to  Japan,  or  to  other  nations,  except 
by  treaty,  and  that  no  such  treaty  has  been 
made. 

The  fact  that  the  United  States  has  not 
ratified  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  cannot  de- 
tract from  rights  which  the  United  States 
had  already  acquired,  and  it  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  suggest  that  a  treaty  to  which  the 
United  States  is  not  a  party  could  not  affect 
these  rights.  But  it  should  be  noted  that 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles  did  not  purport  to 
secure  to  Japan  or  to  any  other  nations  any 
right  in  the  overseas  possessions  of  Germany, 
save  as  an  equal  right  therein  should  be  se- 
cured to  the  United  States.  On  the  contrary, 
Article  119  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  pro- 
vides: "  Germany  renounces  in  favor  of  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers  all 
her  rights  and  titles  over  her  oversea  pos- 
sessions." It  will  not  be  questioned  that 
one  of  the  "  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  "  in  whose  favor  Germany  renounces 
her  rights  and  titles  is  the  United  States. 
Thus,  not  only  could  the  position  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Japan  derive  no  strength  from  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  or  from  any  discussions 
preliminary  thereto,  but  the  terms  of  that 
treaty  confirm  the  position  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States. 

Further,  the  draft  convention  relating  to 
the  mandate  for  the  German  concessions  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  north  of  the  equator, 
which  was  subsequently  proposed,  proceeded 
in  the  same  view,  purporting  on  behalf  of 
the  United  States  as  one  of  the  grantors  to 
confer  the  mandate  upon  Japan,  thus  recog- 
nizing the  right  and  interest  of  the  United 
States  and  the  fact  that  the  proposed  action 
could  not  be  effective  without  the  agree- 
ment of  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers. 

As  the  United  States  did  not  enter  into 
this  convention,  or  into  any  treaty,  relating 
to  the  subject,  this  Government  is  unable  to 
understand  upon  what  grounds  it  was  there- 
after attempted  to  confer  the  mandate 
without  the  agreement  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  manifest  that  the  League  of  Nations 
was  without  any  authority  to  bind  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  confirmation  of 
the  mandate  in  question,  and  the  definition 
of  its  terms,  by  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  in  December,  1920,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  having  efficacy  with  respect  to 
the   United    States. 

It  should  be  noted  that  this  mandate  not 
only  recites  Article  119  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles,  to  the  effect  that  "  Germany 
renounced  in  favor  of  the  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers  all  her  rights  over 
her  oversea  possessions,  including  therein 
the  groups  of  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
lying  north  of  the  equator,"  but  also  recites 
that  "  the  principal  allied  and  associated 
cowers  agreed  that  in  accordance  with 
Article  22,  Part  I  (Covenant  of  the  League 
of  Nations),   of  the  said  treaty,   a  mandate 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


193 


should  be  conferred  upon  His  Majesty,  the 
Emperor  of  Japan,  to  administer  the  said 
islands  and  have  proposed  that  the  mandate 
should  be  formulated  "  as  set  forth.  While 
this  last  quoted  recital,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out  in  previous  communications  by 
this  Government,  is  inaccurate  in  its  terms, 
inasmuch  as  the  United  States  as  one  of  the 


(Wide   World  Photos) 

RENE    VIVIANI 

Special  Envoy  from   the  French  Republic  to 

the  United  States 


principal  allied  and  associated  powers  had 
not  so  agreed  and  proposed,  the  recital  again 
recognizes  the  necessity  of  the  participation 
of  the  United  States  in  order  to  make  the 
proposed  disposition  effective. 

As,  in  the  absence  of  any  treaty  with  the 
United  States  relating  to  the  matter,  there 
was  no  decision  of  May  7,  1919,  binding  the 
United  States,  it  is  deemed  to  be  unneces- 
sary again  to  examine  the  brief  minute  of 
the  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Council  on  that 
date.  It  may,  however,  be  proper  to  say 
that  the  minute  of  this  meeting,  although 
obviously  without  any  finality,  could  not 
properly  be  construed  without  due  regard  to 
the  other  proceedings  of  the  Supreme  Council 
and  without  taking  account  of  the  reserva- 
tions which  President  Wilson  had  already 
made  in  the  previous  meetings  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  on  April  21,  April  30  and  May 
1,  1919.  The  attitude  of  President  Wilson 
is  sufficiently  shown  by  the  following  state- 
ment which  he  made  to  the  Department  of 
State  on  March  3,  1921: 

"  I  beg  to  return  the  note  received  yester- 
day from  the  Japanese  Government,  which  I 
have  read,  in  relation  to  the  proposed  man- 
date covering  the  Island  of  Yap. 

"  My    first    information     of     a  contention 


that  the  so-called  decision  of  May  7,  1919,  by 
the  Council  of  Four  assigned  to  Japan  a 
mandate  for  the  Island  of  Yap,  was  con- 
veyed to  me  by  Mr.  Norman  Davis  in 
October  last.  I  then  informed  him  that  I 
had  never  consented  to  the  assignment  of 
the  Island  of  Yap  to  Japan. 

"  I  had  not  previously  given  particular 
attention  to  the  wording  of  the  Council's 
minutes  of  May  7,  1919,  which  were  only 
recently  called  to  my  attention.  I  had,  on 
several  occasions  prior  to  the  date  mentioned, 
made  specific  reservations  regarding  the  Island 
of  Yap,  and  had  taken  the  position  that  it 
should  not  be  assigned  under  mandate  to 
any  one  power  but  should  be  international- 
ized for  cable  purposes.  I  assumed  that  this 
position  would  be  duly  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  settlement  of  the  cable 
question  and  that  it  therefore  was  no  longer 
a  matter  for  consideration  in  connection 
with  the  peace  negotiations.  T.  never  aban- 
doned or  modified  this  position  in  respect  to 
the  Island  of  Yap,  and  I  did  not  agree,  on 
May  7,  1919,  or  at  any  other  time,  that  the 
Island  of  Yap  should  be  included  in  the 
assignment  of  mandates  to  Japan. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  agreements  ar- 
rived at  regarding  the  assignment  of  man- 
dates were  conditional  upon  a  subsequent 
agreement  being  reached  as  to  the  specific 
terms  of  the  mandates,  and  further,  upon 
their  acceptance  by  each  of  the  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers.  The  consent 
of  the  United  States  is  essential  both  as  to 
assignments  of  mandates  and  the  terms  and 
provisions  of  the  mandates,  after  agreement 
as  to  their  assignment  or  allocation. 

"  The  consent  of  the  United  States,  as  you 
know,  has  never  been  given  on  either  point, 
as  to  the  Island  of  Yap." 

Apart  from  the  expressed  purpose  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson  in  relation  to  the  Island  of  Yap, 
inasmuch  as  the  proceedings  of  the  Supreme 
Council  on  May  7,  1919,  did  not,  and  in  the 
nature  of  things  could  not,  have  finality, 
this  Government  is  unable  to  perceive  any 
ground  for  the  contention  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  this  Government  to  make  immediate 
protest  with  respect  to  the  so-called  decision 
of  May  7,  1919,  and  certainly  it  cannot  be 
said  that  an  omission  to  do  so  operated  as 
a  cession  of  its  rights.  It  may  be  added, 
however,  that  when  the  matter  was  brought 
to  the  attention  of  this  Government  in  con- 
nection with  the  Conference  on  Communica- 
tions in  October  last,  this  Government  in- 
formed the  Government  of  Great  Britain  and 
other  Governments  (by  notes  of  Nov.  9,  1920) 
that  it  was  the  understanding  of  this  Gov- 
ernment that  the  Island  of  Yap  was  not  in- 
cluded in  the  action  of  May  7,  1919.  Its  po- 
sition was  subsequently  stated  at  length. 

It  is  a  cause  of  regret  to  this  Government, 
that  after  and  despite  this  protest,  there 
should  have  been  any  attempt  to  pass  upon 
drafts  of  mandates  purporting  to  deal  with 
the  Pacific  Islands  including  Yap,  and  that 
a  mandate  should  have  been  approved,  or 
attempted  to  be  put  into  effect,  which,  while 


194 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


purporting  to  be  made  in  the  name  of  the 
United  States,  was  without  the  assent  of  the 
United  States.  This  Government  trusts  that 
this  action,  which  it  must  assume  was  taken 
under  a  misapprehension,  will  be  recon- 
sidered. 

In  particular  as  no  treaty  has  ever  been 
concluded  with  the  United  States  relating-  to 
the  Island  of  Yap,  and  as  no  one  has  ever 
been  authorized  to  cede  or  surrender  the 
right  or  interest  of  the  United  States  in  the 
island,  this  Government  must  insist  that  it 
has  not  lost  its  right  or  interest  as  it  existed 
prior  to  any  action  of  the  Supreme  Council 
or  of  the  League  of  Nations,  and  cannot 
recognize  the  allocation  of  the  island  or  the 
validity  of  the  mandate  to  Japan. 

This  Government,  as  has  been  clearly 
stated  in  previous  communications,  seeks  no 
exclusive  interest  in  the  Island  of  Tap,  and 
has  no  desire  to  secure  any  privileges  with- 
out having  similar  privileges  accorded  to 
other  Powers,  including,  of  course,  Japan, 
and  relying  upon  the  sense  of  justice  of  the 
British  Government  and  of  the  Governments 
of  the  other  allied  and  associated  powers, 
this  Government  looks  with  confidence  to  a 
disposition  of  the  matter  whereby  the  just 
interests  of  all  may  be   properly  conserved. 

JAPAN'S  ATTITUDE  BEFORE  THE 
NOTE 

Prior  to  the  dispatch  of  the  latest  note  of 
the  United  States  State  Department  on  the 
subject  of  the  Yap  mandate,  a  statement 
had  been  issued  by  the  Foreign  Office  at 
Tokio  on  March  25  which,  while  avoiding 
the  real  crux  of  the  American  protest — 
exclusive  control  by  Japan  of  cable  com- 
munications— set  forth  the  views  of  the 
Japanese  Government  on  Yap  and  the  other 
islands  allotted  to  Japan  by  mandate.  It 
was  in  part  as  follows : 

In  accordance  with  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil's resolution  in  1919  and  the  fixing  by 
the  League  of  Nations  Council  of  the  terms 
of  the  mandate  in  December  of  last  year, 
Japan  is  now  preparing  a  suitable  admin- 
istrative organ  for  promoting  the  moral  and 
material  happiness  and  the  social  progress 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  will  shortly  abolish 
the  military  administration.  Recent  rumors 
about  fortifications  and  naval  activity  are 
entirely  unfounded,  and  it  is  very  regret- 
table that  newspapers  publish  such  fabri- 
cations. There  is  apparently  a  tendency 
to  exaggerate  the  economic  and  strategic 
value  of  the  islands  and  to  attach  undue 
importance  to  Japan's  occupation,  but  the 
total  area  is  less  than  that  of  Rhode 
Island. 

Economically  the  islands  are  scarcely 
worth  mentioning,  and  strategically  they  are 
unimportant,  because  Japan,  true  to  the 
spirit  of  mandatory  rule,  has  disavowed  any 


intention  to  establish  military  or  naval  bases 
and  fortifications.  The  Island  of  Yap  is 
one-third  of  Guam's  area,  while  its  harbor 
will  barely  accommodate  three  small  steam- 
ers. Except  for  its  cable  facilities  Yap  is 
worthless   and    barren   soil    in    mid-ocean. 

One  might  as  well  say  America  con- 
trolled the  Atlantic  through  the  purchase  of 
the  Virgin  Islands  as  to  say  that  by  means 
of  the  Mandate  Islands  Japan  staked  out 
a  set  area  of  4,000,000  square  miles  from 
Kamchatka  to  the  South  Pacific.  There 
have  been  certain  changes  in  the  admin- 
istrative posts  owing  to  climatic  and  com- 
munication considerations,  but  rumors  of 
strategic  preparations  are  groundless. 

THE  FRENCH  REPLY 

A  reply  from  France  to  Secretary 
Hughes's  note  on  Yap,  made  public  on  April 
14,  stated  that,  as  the  Washington  commu- 
nication had  gone  to  the  four  allied  Govern- 
ments, France  would  not  formally  reply 
until  after  the  next  meeting  of  the  allied 
Premiers.  While  withholding  a  distinct 
pledge  to  adopt  the  American  viewpoint, 
the  tone  of  the  note  was  friendly.  Signifi- 
cance was  attached  to  the  statement  in  the 
note  that  the  Japanese  Government  had  of- 
ficial knowledge  of  the  American  reserva- 
tion on  Yap.  The  part  of  the  note  bearing 
on  this  point  read  as  follows: 

Already,  as  your  Excellency  is  aware,  the 
Government  of  the  republic  has  done  all  that 
it  could  do  to  give  in  this  matter  aid  to  the 
American  Government.  In  the  note  of  Feb. 
18,  after  having  stated  that  the  decision  of 
May  7,  1919,  did  not  admit  of  any  restriction 
so  far  as  the  mandate  attributed  to  Japan 
in  the  islands  of  the  North  Pacific  was  con- 
cerned, my  department  submitted  to  your 
Embassy  that  President  Wilson  and  Mr.  Lan- 
sing had  nevertheless,  during  a  previous 
meeting,  formulated,  in  the  presence .  of  the 
representative  of  Japan,  categorical  reserva- 
tions on  the  subject  of  the  Island  of  Yap, 
that  Baron  Makino  did  not  refuse  to  allow 
the  question  raised  by  the  United  States  to 
be  brought  under  discussion,  and  that  in  con- 
sequence the  Japanese  Government  had  cog- 
nizance of  the  American  reservations.  The 
note  concluded  that  there  was  therein  a  basis 
for  renewal  of  the  conversations  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Republic  would  be  happy  to  see 
lead    to    a    satisfactory   result. 

It  was  stated  that  a  preliminary  reply 
had  been  received  by  the  State  Department 
from  Great  Britain  on  April  11,  but  up  to 
April  15  had  not  been  made  public. 

On  April  12,  the  day  after  the  convening 
of  the  Sixty-seventh  Congress  in  special 
session,  President  Harding  in  the  House  of 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


195 


Representatives  read  his  message  to  the  as- 
sembled members  of  the  Senate  and  the 
House.  In  it  he  enunciated  his  domestic  and 
foreign  policy.  Regarding  the  latter,  he 
advocated  ending  the  state  of  war  with 
Germany  by  Congressional  resolution;  re- 
jected the  League  of  Nations,  but  committed 
his  Administration  to  a  plan  of  co-operation 
with  foreign  Governments  for  the  rehabil- 
itation of  Europe,  and  to  the  formation  of 
a  non-political  association  of  nations. 

The  President  indicated  that  the  Ver- 
sailles Treaty,  minus  the  League  covenant 
and  modified  by  reservation  or  otherwise,  so 
as  to  preserve  the  United  States  from  com- 
mitments to  action  that  might  be  considered 
embarrassing,  if  this  could  be  done,  would 
be  resubmitted  to  the  Senate.  He  made  it 
clear  that  this  Government  would  stand  with 
the  Allies  in  compelling  Germany  to  live 
up  to  her  treaty  obligations,  and  would  as- 
sist them  also  in  carrying  out  economic 
measures  covered  by  the  Versailles  Treaty, 
even  where  America  was  not  directly  con- 
cerned in  those  measures. 

PRESIDENT  HARDING'S  MESSAGE 

The  essential  parts  of  the  President's  ad- 
dress dealing  with  foreign  relations  follow: 

In  the  existing  League  of  Nations,  world 
governing  with  its  super-powers,  this  Re- 
public will  have  no  part.  There  can  be  no 
misinterpretation,  and  there  will  be  no  be- 
trayal of  the  deliberate  expression  of  the 
American  people  in  the  recent  election ;  and, 
settled  in  our  decision  for  ourselves,  it  is  only 
fair  to  say  to  the  world  in  general,  and  to 
our  associates  in  war  in  particular,  that  the 
League  covenant  can  have  no  sanction  by  us. 

The  aim  to  associate  nations  to  prevent 
war,  preserve  peace  and  promote  civilization 
our  people  most  cordially  applauded.  We 
yearned  for  this  new  instrument  of  justice, 
but  we  can  have  no  part  in  a  committal  to 
an  agency  of  force  in  unknown  contingencies ; 
we  can  recognize  no  super-authority. 

Manifestly  the  highest  purpose  of  the 
League  of  Nations  was  defeated  in  linking  it 
with  the  treaty  of  peace  and  making  it  the 
enforcing  agency  of  the  victors  of  the  war. 
International  association  for  permanent 
peace  must  be  conceived  solely  as  an  in- 
strumentality of  justice,  unassociated  with 
the  passions  of  yesterday,  and  not  so  consti- 
tuted as  to  attempt  the  dual  functions  of  a 
political  instrument  of  the  conquerors  and  of 
an  agency  of  peace.  There  can  be  no  pros- 
perity for  the  fundamental  purposes  sought 
to  be  achieved  by  any  such  association  so 
long  as  it  is  an  organ  of  any  particular 
treaty,  or  committed  to  the  attainment  of 
the  special  aims  of  any  nation  or  group  of 
nations. 


The  American  aspiration,  indeed,  the  world 
aspiration,  was  an  association  of  nations, 
based  upon  the  application  of  justice  and 
right,  binding  us  in  conference  and  co-oper- 
ation for  the  prevention  of  war  and  pointing 
the  way  to  a  higher  civilization  and  inter- 
national fraternity  in  which  all  the  world 
might  share.  In  rejecting  the  league  cove- 
nant and  uttering  that  rejection  to  our  own 
people,  and  to  the  world,  we  make  no  sur- 
render of  our  hope  and  aim  for  an  associa- 
tion to  promote  peace  in  which  we  would 
most  heartily  join.  We  wish  it  to  be  con- 
ceived in  peace  and  dedicated  to  peace,  and 
will  relinquish  no  effort  to  bring  the  nations 
of  the  world  into  such  fellowship,  not  in  the 
surrender  of  national  sovereignty  but  re- 
joicing in  a  nobler  exercise  of  it  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  human  activities,  amid  the 
compensations  of  peaceful  achievement. 

In  the  national  referendum  to  which  I  have 
adverted  we  pledged  our  efforts  toward  such 
association,  and  the  pledge  will  be  faithfully 
kept.  In  the  plight  of  policy  and  perform- 
ance, we  told  the  American  people  we  meant 
to  seek  an  early  establishment  of  peace. 
The  United  States  alone  among  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  continues  in  a  tech- 
nical state  of  war  against  the  Central  Pow- 
ers of  Europe.  This  anomalous  condition 
ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  continue. 

To  establish  the  state  of  technical  peace 
without  further  delay,  I  should  approve  a 
declaratory  resolution  by  Congress  to  that 
effect,  with  the  qualifications  essential  to 
protect  all  our  rights.  Such  action  would 
be  the  simplest  keeping  of  faith  with  our- 
selves, and  could  in  no  sense  be  construed 
as  a  desertion  of  those  with  whom  we  shared 
our  sacrifices  in  war,  for  these  powers  are 
already  at  peace. 

Such  a  resolution  should  undertake  to  do 
no  more  than  thus  to  declare  the  state  of 
peace,  which  all  America  craves.  It  must 
add  no  difficulty  in  effecting,  with  just  re- 
parations, the  restoration  for  which  all  Eu- 
rope yearns,  and  upon  which  the  world's 
recovery  must  be  founded.  Neither  former 
enemy  nor  ally  can  mistake  America's  posi- 
tion, because  our  attitude  as  to  responsibility 
for  the  war  and  the  necessity  for  just  repa- 
rations already  has  had  formal  and  very 
earnest  expression. 

It  would  be  unwise  to  undertake  to  make  a 
statement  of  future  policy  with  respect  to 
European  affairs  in  such  a  declaration  of  a 
state  of  peace.  In  correcting  the  failure  of 
the  Executive,  in  negotiating  the  most  im- 
portant treaty  in  the  history  of  the  nation, 
to  recognize  the  constitutional  powers  of  the 
Senate  we  would  go  to  the  other  extreme, 
equally  objectionable,  if  Congress  or  the 
Senate  should  assume  the  function  of  the 
Executive.  Our  highest  duty  is  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  constituted  powers  of  each,  and 
the  promotion  of  the  spirit  of  co-operation 
so  essential  to  our  common  welfare. 

It  would  be  idle  to  declare  for  separate 
treaties  of  peace  with  the  Central  Powers 
on  the  assumption  that  these  alone  would  be 


196 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


adequate,  because  the  situation  is  so  involved 
that  our  peace  engagements  can  not  ignore 
the  Old  World  relationship  and  the  settle- 
ments already  effected,  nor  is  it  desirable  to 
do  so  in  preserving  our  own  rights  and  con- 
tracting our  future  relationships. 

The  wiser  course  would  seem  to  be  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  confirmation  of  our  rights 
and  interests  as  already  provided  and  to 
engage  under  the  existing  treaty,  assuming, 
of  course,  that  this  can  be  satisfactorily  ac- 
complished by  such  explicit  reservations  and 
modifications  as  will  secure  our  absolute 
freedom  from  inadvisable  commitments  and 
safeguard  all   our  essential  interests. 

With  the  super-governing  League  definitely 
rejected,  and  with  the  world  so  well  informed, 
and  with  the  status  of  peace  proclaimed  at 
home,  we  may  proceed  to  negotiate  the  cov- 
enanted relationships  so  essential  to  the  rec- 
ognition of  all  the  rights  everywhere  of  our 
own  nation  and  play  our  full  part  in  joining 
the  peoples  of  the  world  in  the  pursuits  of 
peace  once  more.  Our  obligations  in  effect- 
ing European  tranquillity,  because  of  war's 
involvements,  are  not  less  impelling  than  our 
part  in  the  war  itself.  This  restoration  must 
be  wrought  before  the  human  procession  can 
go  onward  again.  We  can  be  helpful  because 
we  are  moved  by  no  hatreds  and  harbor  no 
fears.  Helpfulness  does  not  mean  entangle- 
ment, and  participation  in  economic  adjust- 
ments does  not  mean  sponsorship  for  treaty 
commitments  which  do  not  concern  us  and  in 
which  we  will  have  no  part. 

THE  KNOX  PEACE  RESOLUTION 

The  day  following;  the  President's  decla- 
ration of  foreign  policy,  Senator  Knox  of 
Pennsyvania  offered  in  the  Senate  his  reso- 
lution declaring  the  war  between  the  United 
State  and  the  Teutonic  powers  at  an  end. 
It  has  been  revised  to  meet  the  President's 
views,  and  was  merely  a  declaratory  an- 
nouncement of  the  ending  of  the  war,  with 
a  provision  for  preserving  all  the  rights 
obtained  by  the  United  States  under  the 
armistice  of  Nov.  11,  1918,  and  the  Ver- 
sailles Treaty. 

The  revised  resolution  read  as  follows: 

That  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress, 
passed  April  6,  1917,  declaring  a  state  of 
war  to  exist  between  the  Imperial  German 
Government  and  the  Government  and  people 
of  the  United  States,  and  making  provisions 
to  prosecute  the  same,  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby,  repealed,  and  said  state  of  war  is 
hereby  declared  at  an   end : 

Provided,  however,  that  all  property  of  the 
Imperial  German  Government,  or  its  succes- 
sor or  successors,  and  all  of  the  German  na- 
tionals, which  was,  on  April  6,  1917,  or  has 
since  that  date  came  into  possession  or  under 


the  control  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  or  any  of  its  officers,  agents,  or  em- 
ployes, from  any  source  or  by  any  agency 
whatsoever,  shall  be  retained  by  the  United 
States  and  no  disposition  thereof  made,  ex- 
cept as  shall  have  been  heretofore,  or  speci- 
fically hereafter  be  provided  by  Congress, 
until  such  time  as  the  German  Government 
has,  by  a  treaty  with  the  United  States, 
ratification  whereof  is  to  be  made  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
made  suitable  provisions  for  the  satisfaction 
of  all  claims  against  the  German  Govern- 
ment of  all  persons,  wheresoever  domiciled, 
who  owe  permanent  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  and  who  have  suffered,  through  the 
acts  of  the  German  Government  or  its  agents 
since  July  31,  1914,  loss,  damage,  or  injury 
to  their  persons  or  property,  directly  or  in- 
directly, whether  through  the  ownership  of 
shares  of  stock  in  German,  American,  or 
other  corporations,  or  in  consequence  of 
hostilities  or  of  any  operations  of  war,  or 
otherwise,  and  also  provisions  granting  to 
persons  owing  permanent  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  most  favored  nation  treat- 
ment, whether  the  same  be  national  or  other- 
wise, in  all  matters  affecting  residence,  busi- 
ness, profession,  trade,  navigation,  commerce 
and  industrial  property  rights,  and  confirm- 
ing to  the  United  States  all  fines,  forfeitures, 
penalties  and  seizures  imposed  or  made  by 
the  United  States  during  the  war,  whether 
in  respect  to  the  property  of  the  German 
Government  or  German  nationals,  and  waiv- 
ing any  and  all  pecuniary  claims  based  on 
events  which  concurred  at  any  time  before 
the  coming  into  force  of  such  treaty,  any 
existing  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  Germany  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing. 

Section  2.  That  until  by  treaty  or  act  or 
joint  resolution  of  Congress  it  shall  be  deter- 
mined otherwise,  the  United  States,  although 
it  has  not  ratified  the  Treaty  of  Versailles, 
reserves  all  of  the  rights,  powers,  claims, 
privileges,  indemnities,  reparations  or  advan- 
tages to  which  its  nationals  have  become 
entitled,  including  the  right  to  enforce  the 
same  under  the  terms  of  the  armistice  signed 
Nov.  11,  1918,  or  any  extensions  or  modifica- 
tions thereof  or  which  under  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  have  been  stipulated  for  its  benefit 
or  to  which  it  is  entitled  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers. 

Section  3.  That  the  joint  resolution  of  Con- 
gress approved  Dec.  7,  1917,  "  declaring  that 
a  state  of  war  exists  between  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government 
and  the  Government  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  making  provisions  to  pros- 
ecute the  same,'  be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
repealed,  and  said  state  of  war  is  hereby 
declared  at  an  end. 

The  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Relations. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Convening  of  Sixty-seventh  Congress — Aid  for  veterans — Army  promotions — Supreme 
Court  decisions — Railroad  problems — Emergency  Tariff  Bill — Decline  in  prices — 
New  Ambassadors — Prohibition  enforcement — President  Harding's  message 

[Period   Ended  April   15,    1921] 


A  SPECIAL  board  was  appointed  by 
President  Harding  on  March  29  to 
map  out  plans  to  aid  American  veterans 
disabled  in  the  World  War  and  to  provide 

for   the   dependents   of   men 

Aid  for        killed    in    the    conflict.      It 

Veterans      was      announced      at      the 

White  House  that  the  com- 
mittee, composed  of  nine  men  and  two  wo- 
men, would  investigate  the  War  Risk  In- 
surance Bureau  and  the  Board  for  Voca- 
tional Training  and  make  recommendations 
not  only  regarding  the  conduct  of  these  ac- 
tivities but  looking  into  the  general  scheme 
of  caring  for  ex-service  men.  The  plan  was 
to  have  the  committee  make  suggestions 
which  the  President  could  submit  to  Con- 
gress as  the  basis  for  future  legislation. 

The  committee  was  headed  by  General 
Charles  G.  Dawes  of  Chicago  and  included 
among  its  members  the  former  and  present 
Commanders  of  the  American  Legion, 
Franklin  D'Olier  and  Colonel  F.  W.  Gal- 
braith  Jr.  The  women  members  were  Mrs. 
Douglas  Robinson  and  Mrs.  Henry  R.  Rea. 

*     *     * 

THE    appointment   of   twelve   new   Major 
Generals  was  approved  by  the  President, 
April  13,  on  the  recommendation  of  Secre- 
tary Weeks.    The   list  was 
Army         headed  by  Brig.  Gen.  Clar- 
Promotions    ence    R.    Edwards.    Others 
included    were    Big.    Gens. 
James    W.     McAndrews,     John    L.     Hines, 
Henry  T.  Allen,  David  C.  Shanks,  Adelbert 
Cronkhite,  William  M.  Wright,  George  W. 
Read,  Charles  H.  Muir,  Charles  T.  Menoher, 
William  G.  Haan  and  George  Bell  Jr. 

In  order  to  promote  General  Edwards  it 
was  necessary  to  strike  the  name  of  some 
other  officer  from  the  list  of  Major  Gen- 
erals nominated  by  former  President  Wil- 
son, and  whose  appointments  were  held  up 
by  the  Senate  so  as  to  afford  the  new  Ad- 
ministration an  opportunity  to  deal  with 
the  question.  Secretary  Weeks  recom- 
mended that  the  name  of  Brig.  Gen.  Omar 


Bundy,  now  commanding  the  Seventh 
Corps  area  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Crook, 
Neb.,  be  eliminated. 

General  Edwards  commanded  the  Twen- 
ty-sixth (New  England)  Division  in  France, 
and  has  for  several  years  been  the  ranking 
Brigadier  General  in  the  army.  He  has  been 
a  Brigadier  General  since  1912,  a  period  of 
more  than  eight  years,  during  which  one 
officer  after  another  had  been  promoted 
over  his  head  to  be  Major  General. 

Major  Gen.  Hunter  Liggett,  commander 
of  the  First  American  Army  in  the  World 
War,  retired,  on  March  21,  as  an  active 
army  officer  after  forty-two  years  of  ser- 
vice. He  was  popularly  credited  with  hav- 
ing directed  the  master  stroke  of  the  Amer- 
icans in  the  war,  and  had  the  official  dis- 
tinction of  having  commanded  the  largest 
mobile  fighting  unit  in  the  history  of  the 
world. 

As  a  Lieutenant  General  he  was  in  charge 
of  1,200,000  men,  including  five  French  di- 
visions, and  5,000  field  pieces.  With  this 
force,  in  October,  1918,  he  launched  the 
great  drive  on  the  armies  of  the  Crown 
Prince  in  the  Argonne.  He  ended  his  over- 
seas duty  as  commander  of  the  Third  Army, 
which  marched  into  Germany,  following  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  returning  to  America 
in  July,  1919,  to  resume  his  post  as  com- 
mander of  the  Western  Department.  He  is 
64  years  old. 

*     *     * 

SECRETARY     WEEKS     announced     on 
April  1  that  the  War  Department  had 
ordered  200  pursuit  planes  and  thirty-five 
bombing  planes  for  use  by  the   American 
Army.      He    explained    that 
Airplanes     these    were    the    first    pur- 
for  Army     chases  of  aircraft  made  for 
the  army  since  the  war,  and 
that  the  purpose  was  to  provide  army  fliers 
with  machines  for  their  practice  work.   The 
200   pursuit   planes   will   be  of  the  Morse- 
Thomas  type  and  represent  a  contract  price 
of  $1,400,000.     They  will  not  be  equipped 


198 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


with  Liberty  motors  because  they  are  not 
suited  for  that  type  of  engine.  The  bomb- 
ing planes  will  be  of  the  Marlin  type,  and 
will  be  equipped  with  Liberty  motors  to  be 
furnished  by  the  army,  which  has  a  con- 
siderable surplus  stock  on  hand. 


IT  was  announced  in  Washington  on  March 
16  that  the  Harding  Administration  had 
decided    that    the    official    honors    to    the 
American   unknown   soldier  would   be   held 
on  Nov.  11,  1921,  the  third 
Unknown       anniversary    of   Armistice 
Soldier  Day,  at  the  National  Cem- 

Burial  etery    at    Arlington,    Va. 

On  that  occasion  the  un- 
known soldier  will  be  buried  with  the  high- 
est official  honors  in  the  presence  of  Presi- 
dent Harding,  Secretary  Weeks,  Secretary 
Denby,  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
and,  in  all  probability,  representatives  from 
the  principal  foreign  nations.  There  are 
about  1,600  American  soldiers  who  gave 
their  lives  for  their  country  and  whose 
identity  has  not  been  established. 

*     *     * 

STATISTICS  made  available  April  10  by 
the  railway  executives  showed  that  the 
roads  of  the  United  States  suffered  a  def- 
icit of  $7,205,000  in  February,  with  106  of 
the  200  lines  reporting  to  the 
Railway      Interstate     Commerce     Com- 
Deficit        mission  failing  to  earn  their 
Increased     expenses  and  taxes.    In  Jan- 
uary the  deficit  was  $1,167,- 
800,   and    109   of   the   200   roads    failed   to 
make  expenses  and  taxes.     The  200  roads 
reporting  in  February  represented  a  mile- 
age   of    235,362.      Forty-six    were    in    the 
Eastern   district,    sixteen   in   the   Southern 
district  and  forty-four  in  the  Western  dis- 
trict.   It  was  stated  by  the  executives  that, 
as  a  result  of  the  deficit  shown,  the  carriers 
fell    short   by    $63,804,000    of    earning   the 
amount  it  was  estimated  they  would  earn, 
under    the    rates    fixed    by    the    Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  in  accordance  with 
the   provisions   of   the   Transportation    act 
of  1920. 

Abrogation  of  the  national  agreements, 
defining  the  working  conditions  on  all  rail- 
roads of  the  country  formerly  under  Fed- 
eral control,  was  ordered  by  the  Railroad 
Labor  Board,  in  a  decision  issued  on 
April  14. 


The  order  of  abrogation  was  made  effect- 
ive July  1,  1921,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
officers  and  system  organization  of  em- 
ployers were  called  on  by  the  board  to  con- 
fer and  decide  so  much  of  the  dispute  re- 
lating to  rules  and  working  conditions  as 
might  be  possible  for  them  to  decide.  Such 
conferences  were  to  begin  at  the  earliest 
possible  date.  The  board  was  to  be  kept 
informed  of  final  agreements  or  disagree- 
ments, to  the  end  that  it  might  know  prior 
to  July  1  what  portion  of  the  disputes  had 
been  decided.  The  board  reserved  the  right 
to  stay  the  termination  of  its  direction  to 
a  date  beyond  July  1,  if  it  should  have  rea- 
son to  believe  that  any  carrier  was  unduly 
delaying  the  progress  of  the  negotiations. 

The  decision  meant  that  disputes  about 
rules  and  working  conditions  were  auto- 
matically referred  back  to  conferences  be- 
tween each  road  and  its  employes.  This 
plan  had  been  urged  by  the  railroads,  while 
the  labor  leaders  favored  a  national  confer- 
ence between  representatives  of  all  roads 
and  all  unions. 

The  board  approved  the  principle  of  the 
eight-hour  day,  but  believed  it  should  be 
limited  to  work  requiring  practically  con- 
tinuous application  during  eight  hours. 
Eight  hours'  work  for  eight  hours'  pay  was 
enjoined.  The  right  of  seniority  was  up- 
held, as  well  as  the  right  of  employes  to 
negotiate  through  representatives  of  their 
own  choosing.  Espionage  by  both  sides  was 
condemned. 


*     *     * 


SECRETARY  OF   WAR  WEEKS  stated 
on  March  1  that  work  had  just  begun  on 
the  removal  to  this  country  of  the  soldier 
dead   from   the    great    American    cemetery 
at       Romagne,       France, 
Return  of         where   lie   the   bodies   of 
American  22,000  American  soldiers 

Dead  who  fell  in  the  Argonne. 

The  shipment  of  the 
bodies  will  be  expedited  as  far  as  is 
humanly  possible,  and  will  be  delayed  only 
by  adverse  weather  conditions. 

The  latest  official  figures  showed  that 
in  all  there  were  75,882  dead  overseas,  of 
whom  13,616  had  been  returned.  Requests 
had  been  received  to  allow  19,681  bodies  to 
rest  permanently  abroad,  but  this  number 
was  constantly  changing.  Definite  instruc- 
tions had  been  received  regarding  50,040 
bodies,  and  there  were  25,842  dead  whose 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


199 


final  resting  place  had  not  -been  definitely- 
decided. 

*     *     * 

THE    United    States    Supreme    Court    on 
April  11  affirmed  a  decree  of  the  Texas 
District   Court   enjoining   the   City  of   San 
Antonio  from  enforcing  a  5-cent  fare  with 
universal  transfers  over 
Supreme  Court     the    lines    of    the    San 
Decision  Antonio    Public    Service 

on  Fares  Company.     In     its     ap- 

peal the  city  had  as- 
serted that  its  franchise  contract  with  the 
railroad  called  for  service  at  5  cents,  and 
that  the  courts  were  without  jurisdiction  to 
interfere. 

Injunctions  obtained  by  the  City  of  Fair- 
field, Iowa,  in  lower  courts,  restraining  the 
Iowa  Electric  Company  from  increasing  its 
rates  above  those  set  in  its  franchise  also 
were  set  aside  by  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
Court  held  that  a  contract  calling  for  a 
"  confiscatory  rate  "  would  not  stand  in  law. 
*     *     * 

THE   Sixty-seventh  Congress  convened  in 
extraordinary  session  at  noon  on  April 
11,  and,  after  short  sessions,  at  which  no 
business  of  importance  was  transacted  ex- 
cept  the   choice   in   the 
Meeting  of        House  of  Speaker  Fred- 
Sixty-seventh      erick  H.  Gillett  of  Mas- 
Congress  sachusetts     to     succeed 

himself — by  a  vote  of 
298  as  against  122  for  Claude  Kitchin  of 
North  Carolina — adjourned  to  the  following 
day. 

On  April  12  President  Harding  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  delivered  his 
message  to  a  joint  session  of  the  Senate 
and  the  House.  The  portion  of  the  mes- 
sage that  dealt  with  foreign  relations  is 
treated  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  greater  part  of  the  address  was  de- 
voted to  domestic  affairs.  The  President 
called  for  retrenchment  in  expenditures,  a 
prompt  and  thorough  readjustment  of  in- 
ternal taxes,  emergency  tariff  legislation, 
the  repeal  of  the  excess  profits  tax,  pro- 
tection for  agricultural  interests  and  the 
mature  consideration  of  permanent  tariff 
legislation.  He  also  advocated  the  adoption 
of  a  national  budget  system.  Congress  was 
urged  to  take  up  the  problem  of  the  high 
cost  of  living.  Railway  rates  and  cost  of 
operation,  the  President  said,  must  be  re- 
duced.     He    gave    notice    that    the    United 


States  meant  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
<great  merchant  marine.  The  encourage- 
ment of  aviation  was  stressed,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  Bureau  of  Aeronautics  in 
the  Navy  Department  recommended. 
*     *     * 

A     TEMPORARY   settlement  of  the   dif- 
"■    ferences  between  the  big  meat  packing 
concerns  and   their  employes  was   reached 
on  March  23,  after  a  conference  of  repre- 
sentatives of  both  sides 
Truce  in  with  Secretaries  Davis, 

Packing  House  Hoover  and  Wallace. 
Controversy  The  settlement  was  in 
the  nature  of  a  com- 
promise, each  side  making  concessions.  The 
basic  eight-hour  day  and  overtime  rates 
were  restored.  Wage  cuts  of  8  cents  an 
hour  for  hourly  workers  and  12%  per  cent. 
for  all  piece  workers  were  to  remain  in  ef- 
fect as  of  the  dates  announced  by  the  pack- 
ers, and  were  not  to  be  subject  to  any 
further  arbitration.  The  agreement  of  Dec. 
25,  1917,  and  extensions  thereof  and  all  de- 
cisions thereunder,  (except  as  modified  by 
the  March  23  decisions)  were  to  remain  in 
effect  until  Sept.  15,  1921,  at  which  time 
the  agreement  was  to  terminate.  President 
Harding  on  March  24  received  a  visit  from 
the  representatives  of  the  packers  and  their 
employes,  accompanied  by  the  Secretaries 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  conference,  and 
expressed  personally  his  gratification  over 
the  peaceable  settlement  of  the  dispute. 
*         *         * 

WLLIAM  D.  HAYWOOD  and  seventy- 
nine  other  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World  who  were  convicted  before  Federal 
Judge   Landis   at   Chicago   in    1918    of   at- 
tempting   to    obstruct 
I.  W.  W.  Members  the  Government's 
Must  Serve       prosecution      of      the 
Terms  war  were  returned  to 

Federal  prison  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  refusal  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
April  11,  to  review  their  convictions.  Hay- 
wood, a  former  secretary  of  the  I.  W.  W., 
and  fourteen  others  were  sentenced  to 
twenty  years  each  and  fined  sums  ranging 
from  $20,000  to  $35,000.  They  and  others 
had  been  sent  to  the  Federal  Penitentiary  at 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  but  subsequently  were 
released  on  bail  bonds  aggregating  $500,- 
000,  pending  the  outcome  of  their  appeals. 

In  appealing  to  the  Supreme  Court  from 
decisions  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals, 


200 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


sustaining  their  convictions,  the  men  had 
argued  that  the  principal  evidence  used 
against  them  in  their  trials  was  illegally 
obtained  in  that  it  was  seized  by  Federal 
agents  during  a  raid  without  search  war- 
rants or  other  court  orders. 
*         *         * 

THE    Emergency    Tariff    bill,    combining 
the  farmers'  tariff  measure,  vetoed  by 
President  Wilson,  with   the   Anti-Dumping 
bill,  was  passed  by  the  House  on  April  15 
by  a  vote  of  269  to  112. 
Emergency       This  first  legislative  act 
Tariff  Bill      of  the  special  session  was 
Passed  accomplished    by    an    al- 

most united  Republican 
vote.  All  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Demo- 
crats under  Representative  Garner  of 
Texas  to  force  through  amendments  were 
rejected.  Mr.  Garner's  motion  to  recommit 
the  bill  and  strike  out  the  section  dealing 
with  the  difference  of  exchange  rates  was 
defeated  by  a  vote  of  265  to  118. 

*  *     * 

JUDGE   ELBERT   H.   GARY,   Chairman 
of  the  Board  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation,  on  April  12  announced  a  re- 
duction  in   steel   prices   ranging 
Cut  in   from  $1.50  to  as  much  as  $15  a 
Steel    ton  for  tin  plate.    The  reduction 
Prices    was  to  take  place  immediately. 
The    decreases,    however,    were 
confined  to  certain  products.    It  was  stated 
that  a   reduction   on    tubular    and    sheets 
would  be  announced  later,  as   the   adjust- 
ment in  regard  to  these  products  had  not 
yet  been  definitely  decided  upon.    No  state- 
ment was  made  as  to  whether  there  would 
be  a  reduction  in  wages  following  the  de- 
crease in  prices. 

*  *     * 

T>  RADSTREET'S  approximate  index  num- 
■*-*  ber  of  ninety-six  staple  commodities,  as 
of  April  1,  was  reported  on  April  7  as  113,- 
749,  which  marked  a  decline  of 
Price       4.1  per  cent  from  March  1,  of 
Declines   45  per  cent,  from  April    1    a 
year  ago,  and  of  45.4  per  cent, 
from  the  peak  point  of  Feb.  1,  1920.    Com- 
pared with  the  level  of  prices  on  Dec.   1, 
1918,   just   after   the    armistice,    the    price 
index  was  40  per  cent,  lower.    Every  group 
but  one  of  the  thirteen  classes  of  commodi- 
ties   declined   during    March,    the    sole   ex- 
ception being  fruits.    Oils,  building  materials, 
naval  stores  and  coal  and  coke  showed  the 


largest  percentages  of  decline  in  March. 
The  changes  in  prices  from  March  1  to 
April  1  showed  thirteen  products  advanc- 
ing and  forty  unchanged,  while  fifty-three 
declined. 

*     *     * 

TT  was  stated  in  Washington  March  24 
J-  that  all  American  diplomatic  missions 
had  been  notified  by  the  State  Department 
that   they  must   dismiss   all   non-American 

attaches    by    July    1. 

American  The  full  Americaniza- 

E  MB  assies  to        tion  of  embassies  had 

Drop  Foreigners    been   provided   for  in 

the  last  diplomatic  ap- 
propriation measure,  which  stipulated  that 
salary  expenditures  from  the  contingent 
fund  should  be  only  for  American  employes. 
With  the  growth  of  the  domestic  service 
there  had  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the 
number  of  translators  and  clerks  of  foreign 
nationality,  and  during  the  war  the  num- 


(©   Harris  &  Ewing) 
D.   R.   CRISSINGER 
New  ■  Controller  of  the  Currency 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


201 


ber  increased   rapidly,  especially  in   Euro- 
pean capitals. 

*  *     * 

PRESIDENT    HARDING    on    April    14 
sent  to  the  Senate  the  nomination  of 
Colonel   George   Harvey  of  New  Jersey  to 
be   Ambassador   to    Great    Britain    and   of 
Myron  T.  Herrick  of  Ohio 
Nomination      to     be     Ambassador     to 
OF  France.    The  nominations 

Ambassadors     were    confirmed    by    the 
Senate ;    nineteen    Demo- 
cratic Senators  and  one  Republican    (Nor- 
ris)      voted     against     confirming     Colonel 
Harvey. 

*  *     * 

A  MONG   important   nominations   sent  to 
■^"*-   the  Senate  by  the  President  on  April 
14  were  those  of  ex- Representative  Esch  of 
Wisconsin   to   be   an   Interstate    Commerce 
Commissioner;    George  H. 
Other         Carter  of  Iowa  to  be  Pud- 
Nominations    lie  Printer;   Hubert  Work 
of    Colorado    to    be    First 
Assistant  Postmaster  General;  William  D. 
Riter   to   be    Assistant    Attorney    General; 
Edward  F.  Finney  of  Kansas  to  be  Assist- 
ant Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  Thomas 
E.  Robertson  of  Maryland  to  be  Commis- 
sioner of  Patents.     They  were  confirmed. 

On  March  26  James  C.  Davis  of  Iowa, 
general  counsel  of  the  Railroad  Adminis- 
tration, was  named  as  Director  General  of 
Railroads  to  succeed  John  Barton  Payne. 

A   MAZING  revelations  of  the  graft,  cor- 
-*"*■      ruption  and  terrorism  responsible  for 
throttling  the  building  industry  in  Chicago 
were  made  on  March  27  before  the  Joint 
Investigating       Legisla« 
Graft  tive     Committee.       Th<3 

and  Terrorism  exposures  closely  paral- 
IN  Building  leled  those  uncovered  at 
a  similar  inquiry  in 
New  York.  The  Federal  Government  and 
the  county  and  municipal  authorities  had 
representatives  at  the  hearing,  and  it  was 
said  that  all  of  these  forces  would  be  com- 
bined to  crush  the  criminal  rings  whose 
machinations  were  revealed. 

One  man  who  had  built  more  than  a 
thousand  houses  and  bungalows,  building 
them  honestly  and  selling  them  at  what  he 
considered  a  fair  profit,  testified  that  he 
was  finally  bankrupted  and  driven  from 
the  city  because  he  would  not  add  $1,000  to 


the  price.  After  testifying  he  hurried  out 
of  the  city,  fearing  vengeance  at  the  hands 
of  the  hired  tools  of  the  combination. 

Testimony  was  given  that  graft  entered 
into  every  building  transaction,  from  the 
minute  the  first  spadeful  of  dirt  was  re- 
moved until  the  building  was  turned  over 


MYRON  T.    HERRICK 

New   American   Ambassador    to   the   French 

Republic 


to  the  owners.  It  was  said  that  graft 
averaged  35  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  the 
structure  and  ran  into  many  thousands  of 
dollars.  The  Legislative  Committee  was 
told  that  this  plunder  was  collected  by  four 
men,  one  building  contractor  and  three 
union  business  agents,  and  that  disburse- 
ments were  made  by  them  to  the  smaller 
members  of  the  ring. 

*     *     * 

GOV.  MILLER  of  New  York  on  April  4 
signed  measures  providing  for  enforce- 
ment by  municipal  authorities  of  the  pro- 
hibition amendment  and  the  Volstead  act. 
Of  the  three  bills 
signed,  one  provided  for 
the  repeal  of  the  3V2  per 
cent,  beer  and  light  wine 
bill,  enacted  last  year,  as 
well  as  the  Raines  law  with  all  its  amend- 
ments, and  the  city  local  option  law,  and 
defined  as  intoxicating  all  beverages  con- 
taining one-half  of  1  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
or  in  excess  of  that  proportion.  Another 
added  a  new  section  to  the  Criminal  Code, 


New  York 

State 
"Dry"  Bills 


202 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


charging  local  authorities  with  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  prohibition  law.  A  third 
amended  the  civil  rights  law  by  providing 
for  the  recovery  of  damages  suffered  by 
reason  of  selling  or  giving  away  intoxicat- 
ing liquor.  The  enforcement  plan  in  gen- 
eral followed  that  embodied  in  the  Volstead 

act. 

*     *     * 

A  BILL   providing   for   the   use   of   lethal 
gas   in    executing   the   death   penalty 
in  Nevada  was  signed  on  March  28  by  Gov- 
ernor Boyle.   Hitherto,  condemned  men  have 
had    the    choice    between 
Gas  'hanging      and       shooting. 

for  Death        Nevada  is  the  first  State 
Penalty  of  the  Union  to  make  use 

of  gas  as  a  means  of  capital 
punishment.  Under  the  new  law  it  was  pro- 
vided that  the  death  warrant  must  desig- 
nate the  week  within  which  the  execution 
must  take  place.  The  week  must  not  be 
less  than  sixty  nor  more  than  ninety  days 
after  the  date  of  the  judgment.  The  law 
provides  for  a  suitable  cell  for  inflicting 
the  penalty.  The  warden,  a  competent 
physician  and  six  men  must  witness  the 
execution.  The  cell  is  intended  to  be  air- 
tight, fitted  with  windows  of  thick  glass 
and  equipped  with  valves  to  admit  air  when 
wanted.  It  is  planned  that  when  the  con- 
demned man  is  asleep,  the  air  valves  shall 
be  closed  and  others  admitting  lethal  gas 
be  opened,  life  being  taken  without  the 
prisoner  awakening. 

*     *     * 

JAMES,  CARDINAL  GIBBONS,  the 
most  eminent  prelate  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  America,  died  at  Baltimore,  Md., 
March  24,  at  the  age  of  86.  He  was  born 
in  Baltimore  in  1834 
and  received  his  early 
education  in  Ireland, 
where  he  was  taken 
by  his  parents.  He 
entered  the  priesthood 
in  1861  and  rose  steadily  through  various 
ranks  until  in  1872  he  was  made  Bishop  of 
Richmond,  Va.  In  1877  he  became  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore.  On  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  ordination  as  a  priest 
he  was  invested  with  the  insignia  of  a  Car- 
dinal at  the  cathedral  in  Baltimore,  June 


Death  of 
Cardinal  Gibbons 

and 
John  Burroughs 


(©    Harris    &   Etving) 


JOHN  BURROUGHS 

Famous   nature    lover,    essayist  and   thinker, 

who  died  March  20,  1921 


30,  1886.  For  many  years  he  was  a  promi- 
nent figure  in  American  life.  His  ability  as 
an  organizer  and  executive  was  remarkable, 
and  his  personal  qualities  won  him  general 
respect  and  esteem. 

John  Burroughs,  world-renowned  natural- 
ist, died  suddenly  March  29  on  a  railroad 
train  while  returning  to  his  home,  Riverby, 
New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  best-known 
and  best-loved  men  in  America  and  figured 
largely  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  nation. 
He  loved  the  great  outdoors  and  had  a  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  birds 
and  animals  than  probably  any  man  since 
Audubon.  Supreme  as  a  naturalist,  he  also 
held  high  rank  in  the  world  of  letters.  In 
1917  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Letters  awarded  him  its  medal  for  dis- 
tinguished achievements  in  literature.  He 
was  buried  on  April  3,  the  day  <n  which, 
if  he  had  lived,  he  would  have  reached  his 
eighty-fourth  birthday. 


SECRET  PACTS  OF  FRANCE  AND  ITALY 
WITH  TURKEY 

By  George  R.  Montgomery 

Director    of    the   Armenia    America      Society 


AT  a  time  when  France  is  protesting 
against  a  separate  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Germany  she  has  not 
hesitated  to  abandon  her  allies,  her  fellow- 
signatories  in  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  and  to 
make  a  separate  treaty  with  the  Nationalist 
Turks.  The  astonishing  thing  about  this 
secret  treaty  is  that  it  was  agreed  upon  at 
the  very  time  that  France  was  uniting  with 
the  other  Premiers  in  making  certain  joint 
proposals  to  the  Turks  with  respect  to  mod- 
ifications of  the  Sevres  Treaty  already 
signed.  The  Turks  replied  to  this  joint 
proposal  that  they  would  have  to  consult 
their  Government  at  Angora.  Instead, 
then,  of  standing  by  her  fellow-signatories 
to  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  France  has  agreed 
to  other  changes  in  that  treaty,  and  has 
proceeded  to  carry  out  certain  parts  of  it 
without  waiting  for  the  Turks  to  carry  out 
their  part,  or  even  to  reply  to  the  joint 
proposals. 

This  independent  action  on  the  part  of 
France,  aside  from  the  aspect  of  treachery 
toward  her  allies,  is  important  from  an  in- 
ternational standpoint,  because  it  means  a 
restoration  to  the  Turkish  domination  of 
the  Christians  who,  after  the  armistice, 
were  encouraged  to  settle  in  Cilicia  with 
the  expectation  of  its  becoming  an  Arme- 
nian home.  George  Picot,  for  instance,  was 
appointed  High  Commissioner  of  Syria  and 
Armenia.  It  was  General  Gouraud  who 
changed  the  title  to  High  Commissioner  of 
Syria  and  Cilicia.  Also,  when  Colonel  Bre- 
mond  was  sent  out  to  be  Military  Governor 
of  Cilicia,  he  went  as  head  of  the  "  Com- 
mission for  Armenia." 

The  separate  treaties  made  by  both 
France  and  Italy  have  international  impor- 
tance, also,  because  they  restore  Turkey  to 
her  old  place  as  a  factor  of  division  among 
the  powers,  quite  in  the  spirit  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  diplomacy,  and  thus  open  up 
the  way  to  another  world  war. 

The  separate  treaty  with  France,  printed 
below,  surrenders  to  Turkey  portions  of 
Northern  Syria  which  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
set  apart  as  Arab  territory,  and  establishes 


a  boundary  entirely  different  from  that  pre- 
viously determined.  The  boundaries  out- 
lined by  President  Wilson  are  not  involved 
In  these  changes,  although  his  award  was 
involved  in  the  joint  proposals  made  by  the 
conference  of  Premiers  last  month.  The 
agreement  entered  into  by  France  makes 
practically  futile  the  joint  proposals  of  the 
conference  of  Premiers  presented  at  about 
the  same  time.  [See  Page  347.]  The 
agreement  is  signed  by  Briand,  the  French 
Premier,  and  by  Bekir  Samy,  delegate  of 
the  Grand  National  Assembly  at  Angora, 
acting  in  the  name  of  the  National  Turkish 
Government. 

There  are  twelve  points  in  the  agreement, 
lettered  from  A  to  L,  as  follows: 

A.— Cessation  of  hostilities  and  exchange  of 
prisoners,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  attached 
annex. 

B.— Disarmament  of  the  populations  and  of  the 
armed  bands  in  accordance  with  regulation* 
to  be  made  by  the  French  and  Turkish  militar.v 
authorities. 

C—  Establishment  of  a  constabulary  (making 
use  of  the  gendarmerie  already  formed)  under 
Turkish  command,  assisted  by  French  officers, 
who  will  be  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the 
Turkish  Government. 

D.— In  accordance  with  measures  to  be  agreed 
upon  by  the  French  and  Turkish  military  au- 
thorities, there  will  be  evacuation  at  the  expira- 
tion of  one  month  (after  the  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities) of  the  territories  occupied  by  the  armel 
troops  north  of  the  frontiers  established  by  the 
Treaty  of  Sevres.  The  Turkish  troops  are  first 
to  retire  and  then  eight  days  after  the  evacua- 
tion will  occupy  the  localities  evacuated  by  the 
French  troops.  Provisional  measures  will  be 
taken  with  respect  to  the  evacuation  of  terri- 
tories assigned  to  Syria  by  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
and  reincorporated  in  the  Turkish  State  by  the 
present  agreement,  on  account  of  ethnic  consid- 
erations. 

Because  of  the  condition  of  protracted  war, 
and  of  the  deep-rooted  confusion  which  has  re- 
sulted from  it,  the  French  troops  will  with- 
draw gradually,  according  to  stipulations  to  be 
determined  by  the  French  and  Turkish  authori- 
ties, in  a  joint  commission,  on  the  following 
general  basis:  Effective  pacification,  guaran- 
tee of  safe  communication  by  railway  between 
the  Euphrates  River  and  the  Gulf  of  Alex- 
andretta,  the  restoration  of  construction  in  the 
Amanus  Mountains  and  at  the  Bridge  of 
Djerablous,  the  right  of  military  pursuit  in  cans 


204 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


of   attack    by   bands,    the    punishment    of    those 
guilty  of  the  ambush  at  Urfa. 

E.— Complete  political  amnesty  and  main- 
tenance in  their  activities  of  the  administrative 
personnel  in  Cilicia. 

F.— Pledge  to  protect  the  ethnic  minorities,  to 
guarantee  to  them  absolute  equality  of  rights 
in  every  respect  and  to  have  regard  in  an 
equitable  way  to  the  proportions  of  the  popula- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  equi- 
librium in  the  districts  where  the  populations  are 
mixed,  when  the  establishment  of  the  constabu- 
lary is  undertaken  and  when  the  municipal  ad- 
ministrations are  formed. 

G.— Economic  collaboration  between  the  French 
and  Turks,  with  the  right  of  priority  in 
respect  to  concessions  to  be  granted  for  ths 
(xploitation  and  for  the  economic  development 
of  Cilicia  in  the  districts  evacuated  by  the 
French  troops,  as  well  as  in  the  vilayets  of 
Mamurt-el-Aziz,  Diarbekr  and  Sivas,  in  so  far 
as  such  exploitation  shall  not  be  carried  out  di- 
rectly by  the  Ottoman  Government  or  by  Otto- 
man subjects  with  the  assistance  of  national 
funds. 

Concession  to  a  French  group  in  the  Argana 
copper  mines. 

Concessions  which  involve  monopolies  or  priv- 
ileges shall  be  exploited  by  companies  that  are 
established  under  the  Ottoman  law. 

The  widest  possible  association  of  Ottoman 
and  French  capital  (extending  to  50  per  cent, 
of  Ottoman  capital). 

H.—  Establishment    of    proper    customs    regula- 
tions between  the  Turkish  and  Syrian  territories. 
I.— Maintenance  of  French  educational   institu- 
tions and  hospitals  and  of  philanthropic  organi- 
zations. 

J.— The  French  Government  will  establish  a 
special  administration  for  the  District  of  Alex- 
andretta  where  the  populations  are  mixed,  and 
agrees  to  give  to  the  inhabitants  who  are  of  the 
Turkish  race  every  facility  for  the  development 
of  their  culture  and  for  the  employment  of  the 
Turkish  language,  which  will  have  an  official 
character  on  a  parity  with  the  Arabic  and 
French  languages. 

K.— Transfer  to  a  French  group  of  the  section 
of  the  Bagdad  Railroad  which  extends  from  the 
Cilician   Gates   to  the   Syrian   frontier. 

Every  effort  will  be  made  to  facilitate  in  every 
respect  the  use  of  the  railroad  by  both  Turks 
and  French  for  economic  and  military  purposes. 
L.— The  frontier  between  Turkey  and  Syria 
will  start  from  a  point  to  be  chosen  on  the  Gulf 
of  Alexandretta,  immediately  south  of  Payas, 
and  will  extend  in  a  straight  line  toward  Meidan 
Ekbes,  the  railroad  station  and  the  town  being 
assigned   to   Syria. 

Thence  the  boundary  will  turn  southeast  in 
such  a  way  as  to  leave  to  Syria  the  town  of 
Marsova,  and  to  Turkey  the  town  of  Karnaba, 
as  well  as  the  City  of  Killis. 

Thence  the  frontier  meets  the  railroad  at  the 
station  of  Chotenbeg.  From  there  the  frontier 
will  folow  the  Bagdad  Railroad,  whose  roadbed 
will  remain  in  Ottoman  territory  as  far  as 
Nissibin. 
Thence  the  frontier  will  go  to  the  bend  of  the 


Euphrates   north   of   Azekh    and   will   follow    the 
Euphrates  as  far  as  Djeziret-Ibin-Omar. 

The  Turkish  line  of  custom  houses  will  be  es- 
tablished north  of  the  railway  and  the  French 
line   of   custom   houses   to   the   south. 

ANNEXES 

Article  /.—While  awaiting  the  prompt  conclu- 
sion of  a  more  general  agreement  between  the 
high  contracting  parties,  all  active  military 
operations  will  be  entirely  stopped  on  the  Cilician 
front  and  on  the  confines  between  Turkey  and 
Syria,  as  soon  as  orders  to  this  effect  shall  have 
been  received  by  the  respective  troops,  the 
orders  to  be  given  by  the  French  authorities  as 
well  as  by  the  authorities  at  Angora  at  latest 
within  a  period  of  one  week. 

In  order  to  hasten  this  suspension  of  hostili- 
ties the  commanders  of  the  French  and  Turkish 
military  units  will,  as  soon  as  they  shall  have 
been  informed,  impart  to  the  hostile  forces  that 
may  be  opposed  to  them  the  fact  of  the  signa- 
ture of  the  present  agreement  and  of  the  sus- 
pension   of    operations. 

Article  II.— As  soon  as  the  urgent  instructions 
to  be  given  by  the  two  high  contracting  parties 
shall  have  been  received,  the  prisoners  on  both 
sides,  as  well  as  any  French  or  Turkish  indivi- 
duals imprisoned  because  of  the  hostilities,  shall 
be  set  at  liberty  and  conducted  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  party  who  had  taken  the  captives 
to  the  advance  posts  or  else  to  the  nearest  city 
which  may  be  designated.  Exception  will  be 
made  only  for  those  infractors  of  the  common 
Law  whose  cases  shall  be  reserved  for  a  joint 
examination. 

Article  III.— The  present  agreement  is  made 
without  limitation  as  to  duration,  and  the  re- 
sumption of  hostilities  may  not  take  place  on 
either  side  excepting  after  a  formal  declaration 
one  month  in  advance.  During  the  suspension 
of  hostilities  the  parties  pledge  themselves  to 
refrain  from  reinforcing  their  troops  and  from 
any  dispositions  that  would  tend  to  better  their 
respective  positions.  The  only  transportations 
of  a  military  sort  that  are  authorized  shall  be 
the  normal  replacements  as  well  as  those  neces- 
sary for  the  provisioning  and  the  maintenance 
of  troops. 

Done  at  London  in  duplicate,  March  9,  1921. 

ITALY'S   PACT   WITH   THE    KEMALIST 
TURKS 

Not  only  France,  but  also  Italy,  it  was 
revealed  early  in  April,  had  concluded  a 
secret  pact  with  the  Turkish  Nationalists 
while  Greece  was  fighting  in  Anatolia  to 
enforce  the  terms  of  the  Sevres  Treaty 
signed  by  all  the  Allies  in  common.  This 
agreement  between  Rome  and  Angora,  it 
now  appears,  was  arranged  between  Count 
Sforza  and  Bekir  Samy  Bey,  representing 
Kemal,  during  the  London  conference  in 
March.  The  pact  itself  was  signed  on 
March  12.  Count  Sforza  on  April  2  of- 
ficially informed  the  Italian  Chamber  of  the 


SECRET  PACTS  OF  FRANCE  AND  ITALY  WITH  TURKEY 


205 


signing  of  this  treaty,  and  explained  the  ob- 
jects sought  to  be  attained.  The  following 
week  the  British  Government  instructed  its 
Minister  at  Rome  to  ascertain  what  the 
provisions  of  this  secretly  concluded  com- 
pact were.  The  salient  points  of  the  treaty, 
finally  published  in  Rome  on  April  7,  and 
summarized  in  Paris  on  April  12,  were  as 
follows : 

1.  The  two  Governments  at  Angora  and  Rome 
have  in  view  Italian-Turkish  economic  collab- 
oration with  the  right  of  priority  for  concessions 
of  an  economic  character  to  be  accorded  in  the 
Sandjaks  of  Adalia,  Meugia,  Bourdour  and 
Sparta  and  in  part  of  the  Sandjaks  of  Afiun, 
Karahissar  and  Kutahia,  which  will  be  deter- 
mined when  the  accord  becomes  definite,  as  well 
as  in  the  coal  basin  of  Heraclea,  so  far  as  the 
above-mentioned  should  not  be  directly  given  by 
the  Ottoman  Government  to  Ottoman  subjects 
with  Ottoman  capital. 

2.  "When  the  concessions  contain  privileges  or 
monopoly  they  shall  be  exploited  by  societies 
formed  according  to  Ottoman  law. 

3.  Ottoman  capital  shall  be  assisted  as  largely 
as  possible  with  Italian  capital.  Ottoman  par- 
ticipation may  reach  50  per  cent,  of  the  total. 

4.  The  Royal  Government  of  Italy  pledges 
itself  to  support  effectively  in  relations  to  its 
allies  all  demands  of  the  Turkish  delegation  rel- 
ative to  the  Peace  Treaty,  and  especially  restitu- 
tion to  Turkey  of  Smyrna  and  Thrace. 

5.  This  part  of  the  agreement  involves  the 
withdrawal  of  Italian  troops  which  still  remain 
in  Ottoman  territory. 

6.  The  foregoing  disposition  will  come  into 
effect  as  a  result  of  a  convention  to  be  con- 
cluded between  the  two  contracting  parties  im- 


mediately after  the  conclusion  of  peace  assuring 
Turkey  a  free  and  independent  existence. 

On  April  2,  Count  Sforza,  the  Italian 
Foreign  Minister,  gave  in  the  Rome  Cham- 
ber a  comprehensive  account  of  the  Near 
East  Conference  and  of  the  German  Con- 
ference which  followed.  In  regard  to  the 
former  he  said — and  this  is  most  important, 
as  it  has  not  been  imparted  by  any  other 
statesman  of  the  Entente: 

The  first  proposal  for  a  Commission  of  Inquiry 
in  Thrace  and  Smyrna,  conditionally  accepted 
by  the  Turks  and  rejected  emphatically  by  the 
Greeks,  could  not  be  imposed  with  force,  and 
therefore  another  solution  was  required.  It 
consists  of  fresh  proposals  made  on  March  12 
concerning  which  the  Turks  showed  themselves 
well  disposed,  and  the  Angora  delegates  prom- 
ised to  refer  the  matter  to  their  National  As- 
sembly. The  Greeks  will  refer  the  matter  to 
Athens.  The  proposal  is  for  a  partial  revision 
of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres.  [Here  the  Count  para- 
phrased the  proposals  of  the  Allies.] 

I  desired  to  reach  an  agreement  with  the 
Turkish  delegates  on  our  own  economic  action 
in  Anatolia  and  the  Heraclea  mining  basin,  and 
it  was  understood  that  the  policy  of  the  Italian 
Government  was  to  proceed  in  perfect  harmony 
and  co-operation  with  the  Turkish  authorities. 

I  was  able,  happily,  to  conclude  an  agreement, 
signed  on  the  evening  of  March  12,  by  which  a 
vast  zone  in  Asia  Minor  is  open  specially  to 
Italian  economic  penetration  without  any  politi- 
cal aims,  and  I  have  secured  the  sincere  and 
cordial  co-operation  of  Turkey,  which  is  con- 
vinced of  the  honest  and  loyal  intentions  of 
Italy. 


SCOTLAND'S  HOUSING  CRISIS 


AT  the  close  of  1920  Scotland,  with  a 
-£*-  population  far  less  than  that  of  New 
York  City,  found  that  it  had  to  provide  131,- 
000  houses  for  its  residents.  State  aid  for 
housing  resulted.  By  the  end  of  February 
contracts  had  been  let  to  construct  19,137 
houses,  to  cost  $70,265,000  at  the  present 
exchange  rate;  15,787  brick,  1,438  stone,  700 
brick  and  stone,  552  concrete  and  600  tim- 
ber houses.  J.  L.  Jack,  Director  of  Hous- 
ing under  the  Scottish  Board  of  Health, 
speaking  before  the  Government  Committee 
of  Inquiry  at  Edinburgh,  reported  these 
facts : 

That    although    land    was    cheaper    than    it 


was  five  years  ago,  the  Government's  State- 
aid  project  had  inflated   land  values. 

That  contractors  in  many  instances  profi- 
teered at  the  Government's— and  thus  at  the 
house  builder's— expense. 

That  materials  had  increased  in  cost  25 
per  cent,  since  1919. 

That  under  the  Government's  three-year 
housing-aid  project,  labor  was  loafing  on  the 
job,  thus  greatly  increasing  the  costs  of  con- 
struction. 

A  census  of  the  shortage  was  taken 
through  local  authorities.  The  Valuation 
Department  of  the  Inland  Revenue  got 
$738,150  subtracted  from  inflated  land 
prices.  Contractors  were  induced  to  lower 
their  charges  by  amounts  ranging  from  $200 
to  $585  a  house. 


FORCING  RELUCTANT   GERMANY 

TO  PAY 


England,  France  and  Belgium  levy  a  50  per  cent,  duty  on  all  German  goods  coming  into 
those  countries — France  to  seize  the  Ruhr  Basin  if  Germany  does  not  pay  indemnity — 
Total  amount  of  the  indemnity  payments 


REPARATION  by  Germany  to  the  Al- 
lies was  an  acute  question  in  England, 
France  and  Germany  during  the 
month.  Though  the  Allies  failed,  at  the 
London  Reparations  Conference,  to  come  to 
any  agreement  with  the  German  delegates 
regarding  indemnity  payments,  they  agreed 
among  themselves  in  adopting  a  novel  sub- 
stitute measure.  It  was  a  scheme  devised 
by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Austen  Cham- 
berlain to  levy  an  import  tax  of  50  per  cent, 
ad  valorem  on  all  German  goods  when  they 
entered  any  of  the  chief  allied  countries,  un- 
der an  arrangement  by  which  Germany  was 
to  be  forced  to  pay  this  tax.  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  Japan  and  Belgium  all  agreed 
to  the  plan,  and  it  was  understood  that  the 
sums  collected  should  be  pooled  and  divided 
as  German  indemnity  money.  Each  country 
was  to  formulate  and  pass  the  necessary 
tariff  law.  Lloyd  George's  idea  was  that  if 
Germany  consented  to  play  the  game,  re- 
imbursing her  exporters,  it  would  produce 
some  of  the  cash  which  the  conference  had 
failed  to  produce,  whereas,  if  she  refused, 
the  measure  would  have  a  punitive  effect. 

The  British  Premier  and  his  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer  led  the  way  by  introducing 
in  Parliament,  on  March  11,  a  full-fledged 
measure  for  this  purpose,  entitled  "  The 
German  Reparation  (Recovery)  bill."  It 
was  officially  described  as  a  measure  "  for 
the  application  of  part  of  the  purchase  price 
of  imported  German  goods  toward  the  dis- 
charge of  the  obligations  of  Germany  under 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles."  It  provided  all 
the  necessary  machinery  for  fixing  values, 
varying  contracts,  settling  disputes,  and  em- 
powering Parliament  to  suspend  the  opera- 
tion of  the  act  when  it  should  see  fit  to 
do  so. 

The  bill  required  all  importers  of  German 
goods  to  pay  over  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Customs  a  certain  percentage  (not  to  ex- 
ceed 50  per  cent.)  of  the  total  value  of  the 
goods  consigned ;  they  were  to  receive  in  ex- 


change an  official  receipt  exempting  them 
from  the  payment  of  this  amount  to  the  Ger- 
man consignors,  and  the  latter  were  expect- 
ed to  look  to  their  Government  for  reim- 
bursement. M.  Briand's  understanding,  as  he 
told  the  Chamber  when  introducing  a  simi- 
lar bill  in  France,  was  that  all  the  receipts 
were  to  be  pooled  and  divided  by  the  allied 
nations  concerned;  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  idea, 
however,  as  he  explained  to  Parliament  un- 
der fire  from  many  hostile  critics,  was  that 
Great  Britain  should  keep  all  its  own  re- 
ceipts under  the  law  until  the  British  share 
of  the  indemnity,  which  was  22  per  cent., 
had  been  liquidated. 

The  bill  advanced  by  stormy  stages  until 
it  became  a  law  at  the  third  reading  on 
March  18  by  a  vote  of  215  to  132.  It  went 
into  effect  on  March  31.  The  law  was  op- 
posed bitterly  by  the  business  interests, 
whose  representatives  likened  it  to  a  stick 
thrust  into  the  works  of  a  clock.  Members 
of  Parliament  had  pointed  out  that  its 
practical  result  would  be  to  saddle  a  new 
and  heavy  tariff  tax  upon  the  British  pub- 
lic. Dr.  Simons,  the  German  chief  delegate, 
had  declared  to  the  allied  Ministers  that 
such  a  tax  meant  one  of  two  things — either 
that  the  German  exporters  would  add  this 
amount  to  their  price,  which  would  mean 
that  the  consumer  would  eventually  pay  it, 
or  that  German  trade  would  go  to  the  wall. 

After  the  British  bill  was  on  its  way 
through  Parliament  he  told  the  Reichstag 
at  Berlin :  "  This  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Allies  we  regard  as  the  greatest  and  most 
fateful  mistake  which  could  have  been  made 
in  the  efforts  to  further  the  restoration  of 
the  economic  position  of  Europe."  Lord 
Robert  Cecil,  speaking  in  the  British  Par- 
liament on  March  16,  said  that  he  hoped 
the  bill  was  really  a  penalty  bill  and  not 
a  bill  for  collecting  the  indemnity;  he  could 
conceive  no  more  disastrous  way  of  levying 
the  indemnity  than  that  they  should  keep 


FORCING  RELUCTANT  GERMANY  TO  PAY 


207 


alive  for  thirty  or  forty-two  years  a  special 
tax  on  German  imports. 

Nobody  showed  any  enthusiasm  for  the 
idea  except  Lloyd  George,  who  defended  it 
at  every  turn  and  forced  it  through  to  a 
final  vote.  The  general  impression  was  that 
the  British  Premier's  purpose  was  to  use 
the  new  law  as  a  cudgel  to  persuade  Ger- 
many to  come  to  some  reasonable  terms  in 
regard  to  indemnity  payments.  The  follow- 
ing rhymes  in  The  Manchester  Guardian 
expressed  the  view  of  one  element  of  the 
population : 

In  matters  of  commerce  the  fault  of  the  British 
Is  being  a  little  too  headlong  and  skittish- 
Free  Trade  was  their  settled  and  wedded  affec- 
tion, 
But   now   they   elope   with   the   maddest   Protec- 
tion. 
Protectionist  Allies  like  Belgium  and  France 
Hold  back  and  regard  the  proposal  askance, 
Preferring  indemnities  paid  by  the   raiders 
And  not  by  their  own  and  unfortunate  traders. 
So  Britain,  poor  Britain,  alone  sets  the  pace 
In  cutting  her  nose  off  to  spite  her  own  face. 
And  a  measure  that  no  one  imagines  will  last 
By  Lords  and  by  Commons  is  solemnly  passed, 
Whereby  to  a  kind  Coalition's  content 
We  clap  on  boche  exports  just  50  per  cent.— 

Fifty  per  cent,  50  per  cent, 
Fifty  per  cent,  from  the  Alleyman's  shelves — 
And  if  any  one  pays  it  We  pay  it  ourselves. 

The  other  Allies  showed  various  degrees 
of  reluctance  in  adopting  the  scheme.  When 
Premier  Briand  introduced  a  bill  for  that 
purpose  in  the  Chamber,  on  March  21,  it 
was  viewed  askance  by  many  Deputies.  The 
Temps  expressed  the  fear  that  it  would  only 
weaken  Germany's  means  of  paying.  On 
April  1,  however,  Premier  Millerand  deliv- 
ered a  yet  more  staggering  blow  of  this 
kind  by  signing  a  decree  raising  the  tariff 
on  goods  imported  from  Germany  in  various 
degrees  up  to  100  and  even  300  per  cent. 
On  April  14  the  Chamber  adopted  the  50 
per  cent,  tariff  bill  on  German  imports  by 
a  vote  of  383  to  79.  The  Belgian  Parlia- 
ment passed  the  50  per  cent,  tax  on  March 
23  by  a  vote  of  128  to  19.  The  Finance 
Minister  obtained  its  passage  solely  on  the 
ground  of  its  necessity  to  punish  Germany 
for  bad  faith  regarding  indemnities.  In 
Italy  the  subject  was  a  sore  one,  for  Italian 
importers  were  doing  a  rushing  business  in 
imports  from  Germany — in  fact,  in  a  single 
day  of  March  25,000  registered  parcels  from 
Germany  accumulated  at  the  Custom  House 
at  Chiasso,  and  forty  inspectors  were  un- 
able to  handle  the  business.     Count  Sforza, 


who  had  consented  to  the  idea  at  London, 
found  it  a  delicate  matter  to  handle  when 
he  reached  home;  at  last  accounts  Italy  and 
Japan  had  taken  no  action. 

The  new  allied  customs  collections  in  the 
Rhineland  became  effective  April  20.  A  25 
per  cent.  German  tariff  in  gold  is  collecti- 
ble at  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  Rhineland 
on  westbound  merchandise,  while  on  east- 
bound  merchandise  from  the  occupied  into 
the  unoccupied  area  the  duty  is  25  per  cent., 
payable  in  paper  money.  The  Interallied 
Rhineland  Commission  has  the  power  to 
change  the  regulations  as  it  sees  fit.  Evad- 
ers of  the  customs  regulations  will  be  prose- 
cuted in  courts  set  up  by  the  commission, 
and  will  be  subject  to  a  fine  of  500,000 
marks  or  imprisonment  for  five  years. 

The  keynote  of  all  debates  in  France 
during  the  month,  also  of  the  utterances  of 
political  leaders  and  influential  newspapers, 
was,  "  Germany  must  pay."  Toward  the 
end  of  April  the  fact  was  semi-officially  an- 
nounced that  unless  Germany  showed  a 
practical  and  actual  disposition  to  make 
the  payment  of  12,000,000,000  marks  on 
May  1,  1921,  which  sum  the  Allies  contend 
is  their  due,  the  French  Government  would 
seize  the  whole  Ruhr  industrial  and  mining 
region  and  levy  a  heavy  tax  on  its  exports. 
Marshal  Foch  announced,  on  April  15,  that 
he  would  require  200,000  troops  for  the 
task;  this  will  necessitate  calling  to  the 
colors  the  classes  of  1918  and  1919,  thus 
increasing  the  French  Army  by  450,000 
men. 

The  sentiment  in  France  for  drastic  ac- 
tion has  been  at  fever  heat  since  early  in 
March,  when  the  feeling  became  general 
that  Germany  was  seeking  to  evade  pay- 
ment. The  Chamber  of  Deputies  was 
roused  to  the  utmost  fervor  on  March  16 
by  the  brilliant  and  effective  speech  of  M. 
Briand,  the  Premier,  explaining  the  results 
of  the  London  conference.  That  conference 
had  ended  in  a  deadlock,  the  Germans  re- 
fusing to  comply  with  the  allied  demands 
for  reparation,  as .  a  consequence  of  which 
refusal  a  new  interallied  occupation  of  the 
Rhine  district  had  ensued.  Some  parts  of 
the  Premier's  speech  brought  the  entire 
house  to  its  feet,  amid  wild  storms  of  ap- 
plause and  approval.  M.  Briand  reviewed 
the  reasons  for  the  failure  of  the  London 
discussion  and  for  the  occupation.  The  Al- 
lies,  he   said,   now  controlled    the    greater 


208 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


part  of  the  transport  of  coal.  He  explained 
that  the  application  of  the  customs  sanction 
would  produce  a  common  fund,  which  would 
be  divided  according  to  the  percentages  of 
the  Spa  agreement. 

Taking  up  then  the  question  of  repara- 
tions, he  drew  an  effective  picture  of  the 
wealthy  German  profiteers  who  were  stor- 
ing up  vast  profits,  while  by  the  purchase 
of  newspapers  and  all  the  arts  of  propa- 
ganda they  were  pleading  Germany's  pov- 
erty to  the  world.  If  this  continued,  de- 
clared M.  Briand,  the  day  would  come  when 
Germany  would  attempt  in  the  economic 
sphere  those  imperialistic  conquests  which 
she  had  failed  to  make  in  the  military  do- 
main. Her  assertions  that  she  could  not 
pay  what  was  being  demanded  could  not  be 
trusted.  She  had  no  foreign  debt,  her  taxes 
were  less  heavy  than  those  of  France,  and 
her  economic  situation  superior.  At  Spa 
she  declared  she  could  deliver  only  800,000 
tons  of  coal.  Threatened  by  penalties,  she 
delivered  nearly  2,000,000  tons.  Dr.  Simons 
in  London,  before  the  final  break,  had  simi- 
larly named  a  low  figure  for  the  payment 
for  the  first  five  years,  but  on  receiving  an 
ultimatum  had  discovered  new  resources, 
and  had  actually  come  to  the  very  figures 
of  the  Allies.  Since  the  final  German  an- 
swer to  the  Allies'  whole  plan  was  a  re- 
fusal, both  parties  now  faced  the  execution 
of  the  Versailles  Treaty  by  means  which  it 
was  for  the  Allies  to  decide*  The  Chamber 
would  have  to  make  its  own  decisions  on 
the  steps  to  be  taken,  and  would  be  in- 
formed by  the  Premier  of  events  as  they 
occurred. 

By  this  speech  M.  Briand  scored  another 
of  his  many  spectacular  successes  since  he 
assumed  the  Premiership.  The  full  extent 
of  this  success  was  seen  on  the  following 
day  (March  17),  when  the  three  days'  de- 
bate ended.  By  a  vote  of  491  against  68 
the  Chamber  gave  M.  Briand  its  confidence. 
A  notable  feature  of  the  last  day's  debate 
was  the  participation  of  former  War  Minis- 
ter Lefevre,  who  proposed  that  the  Allies 
should  reserve  the  right  of  perpetual  in- 
spection and  control  of  the  manufacture  of 
munitions  by  Germany.  To  this  M.  Briand 
replied  that  no  provision  was  made  for  per- 
manent control  in  the  Versailles  Treaty,  and 
by  that  treaty  the  Allies  must  abide. 

The  comments  of  the  press  showed  that 
all  in  all  M.  Briand  was  solidly  backed  by 


the  Government  and  the  people  in  his  de- 
termination to  force  Germany  to  pay,  even 
at  the  cost  of  an  extended  occupation  of 
German  territory.  One  paper  pointed  out 
that  the  German  banks  and  the  large  indus- 
trial owners  were  colossally  rich,  and  that 
the  Prussian  landlords  had  immense  re- 
serves of  real  property,  from  all  three  of 
which  sources  Germany  could  find  funds  to 
pay  for  the  consequences  of  the  war.  The 
Temps  declared  that  M.  Briand  had  showed 
the  Germans  that  their  real  enemies  were 
in  Germany  herself,  and  constituted  "  those 
persons,  many  of  whom  wished  to  bring 
about  the  war,  and  many  of  whom  have 
profited  by  it." 

Through  the  rest  of  March  and  during  the 
first  half  of  April  the  Allies  were  perfect- 
ing their  plans  to  force  matters  with  Ger- 
many to  an  issue.  In  the  course  of  the  de- 
bate in  the  French  Chamber,  on  April  12, 
M.  Briand  declared:  "The  time  for  words 
has  passed.  We  must  now  revert  to  acts." 
The  first  application  of  the  penalties,  he 
said,  had  not  produced  the  desired  result, 
and  Germany  still  showed  a  disposition  to 
evade  payment. 

On  May  1  [the  Premier  continued]  Ger- 
many will  be  face  to  face  with  a  whole  series 
of  violations  of  the  treaty  which  she  signed. 
I  repeat  here,  with  all  the  strength  at  my 
command,  that  we  creditors  hold  a  perfect- 
ly legal  deed.  A  process  server  has  been  dis- 
patched to  Germany,  and  if  our  debtor  per- 
sists in  refusal  to  pay,  the  next  next  time  a 
policeman   will    accompany   him. 

This  process  is  a  legal  proceeding  as  be- 
tween individuals  in  everyday  life,  and  it  is 
the  same  in  relations  between  nations.  It  is 
no  use  to  begin  over  again  discussions  al- 
ready closed.  We  have  in  hand  a  promissory 
note  duly  signed,  and  if  the  debtor  refuses 
to  pay  we  must  coerce  him  by  all  means  of 
coercion   we  have   in   our  power. 

In  full  agreement  with  our  Allies  we  have 
a  rendezvous  with  Germany  on  May  1. 
France  shall  not  fail  that  rendezvous. 

Germany  must  pay,  declared  the  French 
financial  experts.  M.  de  Lasteyrie,  official 
reporter  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the 
Chamber,  pointed  out  that  Germany  had 
paid  only  3,000,000,000  francs  reparations, 
although  she  claimed  to  have  paid  21,000,- 
000,000 — a  figure  which  she  reached  by  in- 
cluding the  value  of  the  war  material  left 
behind  by  the  German  Army  when  it  re- 
treated— and  concluded :  "  France  must  be 
paid.  If  Germany  refuses  France  must  go 
in  herself  and  exact  payment.    It  is  a  ques- 


FORCING  RELUCTANT  GERMANY  TO  PAY 


209 


tion  of  life  or  death."   This  declaration  was 
applauded  by  the  entire  House. 

It  was  taken  as  a  confirmation  and  sup- 
plement to  a  similar  statement  embodied 
in  the  report  of  M.  Cheron,  Chairman  of 
the  Senate  Finance  Committee,  distributed 
among  the  Senators  shortly  before.  In  this 
report  M.  Cheron  had  declared,  on  the  basis 
of  official  facts  and  figures,  that  unless 
Germany  paid  the  fiscal  problem  of  the 
French  Government  was  insoluble.  France, 
said  the  report,  must  find  58,000,000,000 
francs  this  year,  and  her  revenue  was  esti 
mated  at  22,000,000,000.  She  was  carrying 
a  deficit  of  38,000,000,000  already  spent  on 
the  prospects  of  German  payment,  and  16,- 
000,000,000  additional  was  carried  in  this 
year's  budget  to  the  same  account.  No  al- 
ternatives or  palliatives  could  be  effective. 
Germany  must  pay  or  French  finances 
faced  a  disastrous  impasse.  M.  Cheron 
pointed  out  that  in  the  figures  above  quoted 
had  not  been  included  the  co$ts  of  pensions 
for  1,500,000  mutilated  soldiers  and  700,000 
widows,  who  still  remained  to  be  provided 
for. 

Although  the  report  of  the  Bank  of 
France  showed  that  during  the  year  1920 
the  general  economic  situation  gave  some 
hope  for  the  future,  in  view  of  an  improve- 
ment during  that  year  in  respect  to  trade 
balance,  agricultural  production  and  trans- 
portation, the  figures  given  by  M.  Lastey- 
rie  and  M.  Cheron  were  inexorable,  show- 
ing as  they  did  that  financially  France  was 
facing  a  crisis. 

The  Commission  on  Reparations,  mean- 
while, completed  its  hearings  in  Paris  of 
the  German  experts  on  German  resources, 
and  announced  on  April  12  that  the  final 
bill  would  be  presented  to  Berlin  on  April 
30,  one  day  before  the  expiration  of  the  time 
limit  fixed  by  the  Versailles  Treaty. 


It  was  announced  April  15  that  the  Rep- 
arations Commission  had  set  the  German 
indebtedness  on  the  reparation  account  at 
a  figure  between  130,000,000,000  and  150,- 
000,000,000  gold  marks,  which  if  carried  in 
instalments  over  a  period  of  thirty  years 
would  mean,  with  interest,  between  340,- 
000,000,000  and  400,000,000,000  marks  gold. 
As  to  Germany's  ability  to  pay,  the  Repara- 
tions Commission  on  April  12  gave  out  the 
following  figures: 

The  German  internal  debt  is  1,178  marks 
paper  a  head ;  that  of  France  5,353  francs 
paper  a  head.  The  external  debt  of  Ger- 
many is  40  marks  paper  a  head,  and  France 
2,102  francs  paper  a  head.  This  means  that 
Germany's  external  debt  is  practically  noth- 
ing. 

France  is  paying  taxes  at  the  rate  of  548 
francs  a  head  ;  Germany  478  marks  a  head. 
On  a  gold  basis,  the  Frenchman  is  paying 
five  times  the  taxes  the  German  does. 

The  Reparations  Commission's  information 
shows  that  the  German  railroads,  with  40 
per  cent,  less  traffic  than  before  the  war, 
have  300,000  more  employes,  and  the  commis- 
sion estimates  that  the  German  Government 
could  save  2,000,000,000  marks  annually  in 
cue  operation  of  the  railroads  if  it  wished  to. 

The  prosperity  of  Germany  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  bank  deposits  in  1920  increased 
50  per  cent,  over  those  of  the  preceding  year. 
The  commission  estimates  that  in  1922  Ger- 
many will  have  available  3,800,000  tons  of 
shipping,  not  counting  ships  flying  neutral 
flags  but  owned  by  German  firms.  In  the 
last  year  German  companies  have  increased 
their  capital  400,000,000  marks.  Dividends  of 
20  to  100  per  cent,  are  common,  although 
often   camouflaged  in  accounting. 

The  disarray  of  the  German  Government's 
affairs— a  disarray  which  the  French  charge 
is  largely  intentional— causes  budget  expendi- 
tures of  110,000,000,000  marks,  with  revenues 
of  only  40,000,000,000.  The  Reparations  Com- 
mission estimates  that  the  German  wealth 
of  350,000,000,000  marks  before  the  war  has 
not  materially  decreased. 


GERMANY  CRUSHES  COMMUNIST 

REVOLT 

Labor  denounces  the  uprising— Allies  again  refuse  to  discuss  German  disarmament  or 
to  grant  extension  of  time  for  indemnity  payments— United  States  refuses  to  grant  an 
easement — Upper  Silesian  plebiscite  goes  against  Poland 

[Period   Ended  April  15,    1021] 


TAKING  a  cue  from  reactionary  Bava- 
ria's defiant  rejection  of  the  disarma- 
ment law  enacted  by  the  Reichstag  on 
March  19,  in  compliance  with  the  Allies'  in- 
sistence upon  fulfillment  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles,  the  leaders  of  the  extreme  Com- 
munists, acting,  as  alleged,  under  instruc- 
tions from  Moscow,  launched  a  revolution- 
ary movement  in  the  industrial  districts 
of  Middle  Germany.  From  March  20,  when 
the  general  strike  began  in  the  Halle  sec- 
tion, until  the  final  skirmish  there,  on  April 
2,  between  communists  and  security  police, 
according  to  semi-official  estimates,  about 
50  policemen  and  some  500  rioters  were 
killed,  50  policemen  and  several  hundred  of 
their  opponents  seriously  wounded,  and 
about  3,700  individuals  arrested,  charged 
with  complicity  in  the  plot  to  overthrow  the 
German  Republic. 

The  outcome  of  the  uprising  was  a  dis- 
appointment both  to  the  communist  leaders 
and  to  the  junker  reactionaries.  The 
former  hoped  to  rally  the  German  prole- 
tariat to  their  red  banner  with  the  slogan 
of  "Let's  join  Soviet  Russia!  "  The  junker 
reactionaries  were  waiting  for  a  chance  to 
"  come  to  the  rescue  "  of  the  Government 
with  their  more  or  less  secret  military  or- 
ganizations, to  slaughter  the  rebellious 
workers  by  the  wholesale,  and  then  seize  the 
reins  of  government  in  the  interest  of  the 
monarchists  and  big  business.  Both  ex- 
tremes were  disconcerted  by  the  action  of 
the  Central  Government,  which  refused  to 
use  the  regular  army  or  to  ask  for  the  help 
of  the  "  Orgesch,"  and  allowed  Herr  Sever- 
ing, the  Prussian  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
and  Herr  Horsing,  President  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Saxony,  both  Majority  Socialists,  to 
restore  order  with  the  military  police.  This 
moderation   deprived   the    extreme   commu- 


nists of  the  sympathy  and  possible  aid  of 
the  masses  of  their  own  party  and  of  the 
Independent  and  Majority  Socialists.  The 
revolt,  consequently,  was  suppressed  with- 
out wholesale  blood-letting.  About  all  the 
reactionary  press  could  do  was  to  clamor 
for  vengeance  upon  the  rebels  and  point 
with  pride  to  the  calm  that  had  obtained  in 
Bavaria, .  due,  according  to  the  junkers,  to 
the  strength  there  of  the  "  Orgesch." 

Taking  note  of  the  spread  of  "  wild 
strikes  "  and  an  epidemic  of  lawlessness  in 
the  Halle  district,  Herr  Horsing  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  workers  there  on 
March  16,  pointing  out  that  industry  was 
being  so  hampered  by  the  irresponsible  acts 
of  the  "  Committees  of  Action,"  elected  in 
place  of  the  regular  Shop  Councils,  that  he 
was  about  to  send  strong  detachments  of 
police  to  preserve  order.  Thereupon  the 
communist  press  of  all  Germany,  led  by  Die 
Rote  Fahne  of  Berlin,  covered  him  and  his 
supporters  with  insults,  and  declared  he 
was  merely  a  tool  of  the  reactionaries  seek- 
ing to  pave  the  way  for  the  arrival  of  the 
"Orgesch."  It  called  upon  the  workers  to 
imitate  Dr.  von  Kahr,  the  Bavarian  Pre- 
mier, i.e.,  to  laugh  the  law  to  scorn,  to  arm 
themselves  and  to  effect  a  union  with  Soviet 
Russia,  even  over  the  body  of  the  German 
bourgeoisie.  Belated  confiscation  of  the  is- 
sues of  Die  Rote  Fahne  containing  es- 
pecially violent  appeals  only  caused  that 
paper  to  increase  the  bitterness  of  its  lan- 
guage. In  this  it  was  outdone  only  by  the 
organ  of  the  Communist  Labor  Party, 
speaking  for  the  small  group  of  intransig- 
eants  that  regards  the  United  Communist 
Party  as  a  half-hearted  organization  little 
better  than  the  Majority  Socialists. 

Preceded  by  an  attempt  to  blow  up  the 
Column  of  Victory  in  Berlin  on  March  13, 


GERMANY  CRUSHES  A   COMMUNIST  REVOLT 


the  anniversary  of  the  reactionary  Kapp 
revolt  of  1920,  and  by  the  arrest  of  several 
communists  charged  with  complicity  in 
widespread  plots  to  destroy  public  build- 
ings in  leading  German  cities,  a  general 
strike  was  called  on  March  20  in  the  in- 
dustrial district  surrounding  Halle.  This 
turned  into  armed  rebellion  the  next  day, 
following  a  fatal  clash  between  security 
police  and  strikers.  At  first  the  strikers 
were  able  to  seize  the  big  Leuna  chemical 
plants  and  to  dominate  the  situation  in 
Eisleben,  Merseburg  and  Mansfeld.  Mean- 
while, by  sympathetic  outbreaks  in  Ham- 
burg, the  strikers  tried  to  keep  possession 
of  the  big  shipbuilding  plants  of  the  Vul- 
kan  Company,  Krupps  and  Blohm  and  Voss, 
as  well  as  of  the  municipal  buildings,  over 
which  they  hoisted  the  red  flag.  But  the 
police  dislodged  them  after  losing  about  a 
score  killed  and  many  more  wounded.  Else- 
where the  response  to  the  communist  call 
for  action  consisted  merely  of  scattering 
attacks  with  bombs  upon  public  buildings 
in  Leipzig,  Freiburg,  Plauen,  Rodewisch, 
Dresden,  Auerbach  and  some  other  towns. 
In  Berlin  attempts  to  call  out  the  workers 
were  foiled  by  the  hostile  attitude  of  the 
men  themselves  and  the  vigilance  of  the 
security  police. 

Prompt  action  by  the  Prussian  authori- 
ties, aided  by  the  proclamation  of  a  modi- 
fied state  of  siege  by  President  Ebert  and 
a  declaration  by  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  General  German  Trade  Union  League 
denouncing  the  uprising  soon  enabled  the 
security  police  to  gain  the  upper  hand  in 
all  centres  of  rebellion  and  to  oust  the 
communists  from  their  control  of  strategic 
places  in  the  Halle  district.  In  the  last 
days  of  March,  when  order  had  been  re- 
stored in  Middle  Germany,  there  was  a 
flicker  of  revolution  in  the  West.  This  re- 
sulted in  strikes  and  scattering  attacks 
upon  the  police  in  Dortmund,  Mettman  and 
Essen.  All  these  uprisings  were  put  down 
with  more  or  less  bloodshed.  Finally  there 
was  a  futile  flare-up  in  Gotha  and  Erfurt. 
In  the  occupied  zone  the  trouble  was  con- 
fined to  Meers  and  Crefeld  in  the  Belgian 
section,  and  to  a  slight  disturbance  in  the 
American  section,  quickly  quelled  by  twenty 
American  military  policemen.  The  Belgians 
crushed  the  strike  in  the  Crefeld  district 
by  arresting  281  of  the  communist  leaders. 
On  April  4  the  Berlin  police  found  many 


mysterious  packages  containing  high  ex- 
plosives scattered  in  public  and  private 
buildings  and  along  the  tracks  of  the  ele- 
vated railroad.  This  was  regarded  by  the 
authorities  as  the  last  effort  of  the  expiring 
revolt. 

After  the  actual  fighting  was  over  the 
non-communist  papers  and  parties,  which 
had  been  practically  a  unit  in  supporting 
the  Government's  suppression  of  the  upris- 
ing, immediately  divided  along  their  usual 
lines.  The  organs  of  the  junkers  and  the 
big  business  interests  demanded  that  the 
extraordinary  courts  set  up  under  an  order 
by  President  Ebert  mete  out  exemplary 
punishment  to  the  strike  leaders.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Socialist  and  Democratic 
press  warned  against  setting  up  a  reign  of 
terror,  and  exhorted  the  Government  to  pur- 
sue a  moderate  course  which  would  show 
the  nation  and  the  world  that  it  was  strong 
enough  to  maintain  the  republic  without  re- 
sorting to  excesses.  While  several  inflic- 
tions of  the  death  penalty  by  the  special 
courts  had  been  reported  up  to  April  15, 
there  was  little  indication  that  a  policy  of 
"  blood  and  iron  "  would  follow  the  liquida- 
tion of  the  "putsch"  (revolt).  Neverthe- 
less Die  Rote  Fahne  attacked  the  courts  so 
fiercely  for  what  it  called  murder  that  it 
was  suppressed  and  its  editor  charged  with 
high  treason. 

In  attempting  to  explain  the  origin  of 
the  outbreak,  Conservatives,  Majority 
Socialists  and  even  Independent  Socialists 
tended  to  accuse  the  communist  extremists 
of  having  obeyed  orders  from  Moscow, 
transmitted  by  George  Zinoviev,  President 
of  the  Third  International,  to  bring  about 
a  Soviet  revolution  in  Germany  in  order 
to  bring  cheer  to  the  Russian  Communist 
Government,  then  threatened  by  the  Kron- 
stadt  rebellion.  Minister  Severing  said 
that  he  had  unimpeachable  circumstantial 
evidence  to  back  up  this  belief,  but  the  Na- 
tional Government  did  not  allow  this  state- 
ment to  interfere  with  its  negotiations  for 
a  commercial  treaty  with  Russia,  nor  was 
any  special  effort  made  to  arrest  the  nu- 
merous Soviet  agents  said  to  be  operating 
in  Germany.  The  communists,  while  not 
denying  their  intention  of  setting  up  a 
Soviet  republic  and  effecting  an  alliance 
with  Russia,  declared  that  the  revolt  had 
been  precipitated  by  the  "  provocative  "  ac- 
tion   of    the    Prussian    authorities.     These 


212 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


they  accused  of  being  in  league  with  the 
reactionaries  to  stamp  out  the  workers' 
organizations  and  re-establish  the  mon- 
archy. Both  extremes  counted  upon  the 
support  of  the  German  masses  in  any  kind 
of  attempt  to  smash  the  Peace  Treaty  and 
escape  from  the  penalties  imposed  by  the 
Allies,  but  the  common  sense  of  the  8,000,- 
000  trade  unionists  and  the  populace  in  gen- 
eral outweighed  their  feelings  of  resent- 
ment. It  was  estimated  that  not  more  than 
100,000  persons  joined  in  the  uprisings. 

No  definite  steps  toward  enforcing  the 
disarmament  law  were  taken  by  the  Ger- 
man Government.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
a  note  dated  March  26,  Germany  asked  the 
Council  of  Allied  Ambassadors  to  arbitrate 
certain  questions  of  disarmament.  As 
President  of  the  Council  of  Ambassadors, 
Premier  Briand  of  France  answered  the 
German  note  by  saying  that  all  these  ques- 
tions had  been  settled  on  Jan.  29  and  order- 
ing Germany  to  carry  out  the  Allies'  de- 
mands or  take  the  consequences  of  a  re- 
fusal. 

About  the  only  progress  made  during  the 
period  toward  breaking  the  deadlock  be- 
tween the  Allies  and  Germany  over  the 
question  of  reparation,  which  had  resulted 
in  an  extension  of  the  zone  of  occupation  in 
the  Ruhr  district  early  in  March,  was  the 
exchange  of  notes  between  Paris  and  Ber- 
lin. Dr.  Walter  Simons,  the  German 
Foreign  Minister,  stated  in  this  connection 
that  Germany  would  make  a  new  offer  be- 
fore May  1,  the  last  day  upon  which  the 
Reparation  Commission  may  present  its 
final  bill  to  the  German  Government,  ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty. 

In  all  the  discussion  on  reparation  the 
German  Government  laid  stress  upon  its 
eagerness  to  help  reconstruct  the  devas- 
tated regions  of  France.  On  March  21  the 
French  Confederation  of  Labor  announced 
that  it  favored  the  importation  of  German 
labor  and  materials  for  this  work,  as  other- 
wise the  task  would  not  be  finished  for 
many  years.  Berlin  declared  on  April  7 
that  an  offer  of  such  labor  and  material 
would  be  made  before  May  1.  A  bid  for 
American  intervention  was  made  by  Dr. 
Simons  in  a  note  sent  to  Secretary  of  State 
Hughes  on  March  23  through  Loring  Dresel, 
American  Commissioner  in  Berlin.  This 
note  declared  that  Germany  was  fully 
aware  of  its  obligation   to  "make  repara- 


tion to  the  limit  of  its  ability  to  pay,"  com- 
plained of  the  alleged  harshness  of  the 
Allies'  methods  and  suggested  an  interna- 
tional loan  as  the  only  means  of  placing 
Germany  in  a  position  to  get  to  work  and 
fulfill  its  obligations.  In  his  reply  [printed 
elsewhere  in  this  issue  of  Current  His- 
tory] Secretary  Hughes  said  that  the 
United  States  stood  with  the  Allies  in  hold- 
ing Germany  responsible  for  the  World 
War  and  therefore  morally  bound  to  make 
reparation  so  far  as  possible. 

In  the  meantime  the  Allies  went  ahead 
with  preparations  to  impose  the  penalties 
prescribed  for  the  German  failure  to  ac- 
cept the  terms  of  the  London  Conference 
in  March.  The  limits  of  the  new  zone  of 
occupation  [sketched  in  the  April  number 
of  Current  History]  were  extended  from 
Duisburg  along  the  railroad  to  within  two 
and  a  half  miles  of  Essen,  and  on  April  10 
the  Interallied  High  Commission  for  the 
Rhineland  announced  from  Mayence  that 
the  new  allied  customs  collections  would 
become  effective  April  20.  The  tariff  line 
is  about  500  kilometers  long  and  just  in- 
side the  military  occupation  line.  The  pres- 
ent German  tariff,  payable  in  gold,  was  to 
be  collected  on  eastbound  and  westbound 
goods  crossing  the  regular  Western  German 
frontier.  A  25  per  cent.  German  tariff, 
in  gold,  was  to  be  levied  at  the  Eastern 
frontier  of  the  occupied  Rhineland  on  west- 
bound merchandise,  while  on  eastbound 
goods  from  the  occupied  into  the  unoccu- 
pied territory  the  same  duty  was  to  be  paid 
in  paper  money.  This  arrangement,  calcu- 
lated to  promote  business  in  the  occupied 
zone  at  the  expense  of  the  rest  of  Germany, 
may  be  adjusted  by  the  Interallied  Rhine- 
land  Commission  at  will. 

Germany  protested  to  the  League  of  Na- 
tions against  the  extension  of  the  zone  of 
occupation,  but,  as  explained  by  Dr.  Da 
Cunha,  President  of  the  League  Council  at 
Geneva,  the  League  can  take  no  action  un- 
less the  initiative  is  taken  by  a  member 
nation. 

Despite  predictions  of  wholesale  blood- 
shed, the  plebiscite  held  in  Upper  Silesia 
on  March  20  to  show  the  preference  of  the 
inhabitants  for  Germany  or  Poland,  under 
the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  passed 
off  without  any  violence  of  importance.  It 
resulted  in  a  vote  of  716,408  for  Germany 
and  471,406  for  Poland,  as  announced  by 


GERMANY  CRUSHES  A   COMMUNIST  REVOLT 


213 


the  Interallied  Commission  on  March  22. 
The  presence  of  some  30,000  British, 
French  and  Belgian  troops  in  the  district 
apparently  had  a  quieting  effect  upon  the 
fiery  spirits  of  the  German  and  Polish  agi- 
tators. 

Although  the  voting  showed  a  majority 
of  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  for  Ger- 
many, the  Upper  Silesian  problem  was  not 
finally  settled  by  the  plebiscite,  as,  under 
the  Peace  Treaty,  the  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Allies  is  not  obligated  to  award  the  dis- 
trict as  a  whole  to  either  of  the  claimants, 
but  may  divide  it  according  to  the  expressed 
wishes  of  the  residents  of  the  various  com- 
munes. Consequently  there  is  a  possibility 
that  the  allied  representatives  may  consider 
important  sections  of  the  rich  coal  district 
as  entitled  to  become  part  of  Poland  be- 
cause the  majority  of  their  inhabitants 
voted  Polish.  In  a  note  covering  500  pages 
the  German  Government,  on  April  7,  asked 


the  allied  Governments  and  the  Interallied 
Commission  to  award  Upper  Silesia  to  Ger- 
many as  a  whole,  promising  to  protect  the 
Polish  minority  and  to  give  Poland  part  of 
the  coal  from  the  district.  The  next  day 
General  Le  Rond,  head  of  the  Interallied 
Commission,  arrived  in  Paris. 

Carl  Neuf  and  Fred  Zimmer,  the  Amer- 
ican military  detectives  who  tried  to  ar- 
rest Grover  Cleveland  Bergdoll,  an  Amer- 
ican draft  evader,  in  Eberbach,  Baden,  on 
Jan.  22,  were  tried  in  Mosbach,  found  guilty 
of  "  an  illegal  assumption  of  power  "  and 
sentenced  on  March  22  to  serve  fifteen 
months  and  six  months,  respectively. 

On  April  13  the  German  Government  sent 
a  message  to  William  Hohenzollern,  the 
former  Emperor,  condoling  with  him  on  the 
death  of  his  wife.  [An  account  of  the 
death  of  the  former  Empress  is  printed 
elsewhere  in  this  issue.] 


WHAT  BELGIUM  IS  DOING 


[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


PLANS  for  the  reconstruction  of  Louvain 
University  Library  have  been  ac- 
cepted by  a  committee  headed  by  Cardinal 
Mercier.  Whitney  Warren,  the  architect, 
announced  in  Paris  on  April  7  that  work 
would  probably  begin  in  July.  Across  the 
facade  of  the  new  building,  in  giant  letters, 
is  to  be  a  Latin  inscription  which,  trans- 
lated, reads  "  Destroyed  by  German  hate 
and  restored  by  Americans."  The  library 
will  not  be  on  the  old  site,  but  will  be 
erected  in  the  centre  of  the  city. 

The  Rockefeller  Foundation  has  an- 
nounced a  contribution  of  43,000,000  francs 
toward  a  budget  of  100,000,000  for  new 
buildings  and  endowments  for  the  medical 
school  of  the  University  of  Brussels. 

King  Albert  has  informally  conveyed  to 
President  Harding  the  information  that  re- 
tention of  Brand  Whitlock  as  Ambassador 
at  Brussels  would  be  most  pleasing  to  him 
and  to  the  people  of  Belgium.  Burgomaster 
Max  of  Brussels,  it  was  reported  on  March 
21,  would  be  sent  to  the  United  States  to 
congratulate  Mr.  Harding  on  his  accession 
to  the  presidency. 


The  Belgian  Government  has  accepted 
the  proposal  of  the  League  of  Nations  that 
the  International  Bureau  for  the  control  of 
traffic  in  arms  and  munitions,  established 
in  1890,  shall  perform  a  similar  function 
now.  Belgium  led  the  way  to  disarmament 
by  agreeing  on  April  11  that  her  future 
budgets  for  armaments  shall  not  exceed 
the  present  one.  Holland  has  also  notified 
the  League  that  it  intends  to  adhere  to  the 
arms  traffic  convention. 

BELGIAN  CONGO— Natives  of  the 
equatorial  district  of  the  Congo  Free  State, 
in  a  rising  in  March,  burned  fifty  trading 
posts.  A  dispatch  from  Brussels  on  April 
12  reported  that  the  revolt  was  fomented 
by  a  native  pretending  to  have  discovered 
a  charm  making  its  possessors  invisible  and 
invulnerable.  He  sold  the  charms  to  cred- 
ulous natives,  whose  faith  in  them  was  con- 
firmed when  troops  sent  to  quiet  their  ex- 
citement fired  into  the  air.  The  natives  be- 
came uncontrollable  and  a  widespread  use 
of  troops  was  necessary  to  restore  order. 
[See  also  article  on  Page  283.] 


DEATH  OF  THE  GERMAN  EX-EMPRESS 


IN  the  little  Dutch  railway  station  of 
Maarn,  shrouded  in  the  gloom  of  an 
April  evening,  the  ex-Kaiser,  surrounded 
by  his  sons  and  their  wives  and  several 
other  members  of  the  Hohenzollern  family, 
bade  an  eternal  farewell  to  the  last  remains 
of  her  who  had  been  his  faithful  companion, 
sharer  of  his  former  grandeur  and  of 
the  sorrows  of  his  downfall,  the  former 
Kaiserin  Auguste  Victoria.  The  light  from 
a  few  lamps  on  the  railway  embankment, 
as  it  fell  on  the  sombre  figure  of  the  former 
monarch,  struck  out  bright  gleams  from 
the  helmets  and  swords  and  gold  buttons  of 
the  full  military  uniforms  in  which  the 
Kaiser  and  the  other  Hohenzollerns  had 
garbed  themselves  for  this  tragic  scene. 

This  dramatic  leave-taking  of  the  ex- 
Kaiserin's  remains  was  necessitated  by  po- 
litical considerations  which  Holland  could 
not  see  her  way  to  ignore.  After  the  death 
of  the  ex-Kaiserin,  which  occurred  on  April 
11,  1921,  a  painful  controversy  arose  over 
the  funeral,  of  which  the  German  mon- 
archists wished  to  make  capital.  The  Kaiser, 
however,  and  all  the  Hohenzollern  family 
soon  made  it  clear  that  they  wished  no 
imperial  ceremonial.  The  Dutch  authorities, 
on  the  other  hand,  sent  word  that  they  could 
not  allow  either  the  former  Kaiser  or  the 
former  Crown  Prince  to  accompany  the 
body  to  the  frontier,  as  this  would  have 
necessitated  a  special  consultation  with  the 
allied  Governments. 

The  body  of  the  former  Empress  lay  in 
state  in  Doom  Castle  until  April  16.  The 
Kaiser's  chaplain,  Dr.  Dryander,  officiated 
at  a  church  service  in  the  morning,  and 
funeral  services  were  held  at  8  o'clock  in  a 
large  room  decorated  with  evergreens  and 
palms.  The  Kaiser,  as  well  as  his  sons  and 
their  wives,  showed  great  emotion  during 
these  last  solemnities.  The  funeral  pro- 
cession proceeded  from  Doom  to  Maarn 
Station  in  automobiles,  one  of  which,  draped 
with  crape,  adorned  with  a  large  silver 
cross,  carried  the  body.  The  cortege  arrived 
at  the  little  station  at  night,  in  a  darkness 
relieved  only  by  the  feeble  rays  of  a  few 
railway  lanterns.  First  came  a  huge  car 
filled  with  flowers.  Then  the  big  hearse 
rolled  up,  flashing  powerful  searchlights. 
From  the  next  car  descended  Chaplain  Dry- 


ander in  his  sable  robes.  The  ex-Kaiser  and 
his  daughter,  Princess  Victoria  Luise,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Hohenzollern  family  fol- 
lowed in  the  other  cars  making  up  the 
cortege.  Former  German  officials,  stanch 
friends  of  the  exiled  royal  pair  and  repre- 
sentatives of  Queen  Wilhelmina  of  Holland, 
the  Dowager  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort, 
together  with  representatives  of  the  King 
of   Spain   and   the   King  of   Sweden  and  a 


{Photo    Paul    Thompson) 

THE  FORMER  GERMAN  EMPRESS 

as  she  appeared  when   visiting  the  wounded 

during    the    war 


DEATH  OF  THE  GERMAN  EX-EMPRESS 


215 


number  of  Dutch  officials,  closed  the  pro- 
cession. 

In  the  half  light  of  the  station,  the 
familiar  figure  of  the  Kaiser,  dressed  in 
the  full  uniform  and  regalia  of  a  General 
of  the  Brandenburg  Infantry,  with  helmet 
and  sword  and  the  military  cape  of  field 
gray,  could  be  plainly  discerned  as  he  stood 
with  the  other  members  of  his  family, 
similarly  garbed  in  military  uniform.  The 
former  Crown  Prince  was  dressed  as  a  Gen- 
eral in  the  Death's  Head  Hussars.  The 
Duchess  of  Brunswick  and  the  other  Prin- 
cesses, garbed  in  unrelieved  black,  looked 
like  nuns. 

When  all  had  collected  around  the  coffin, 
Dr.  Dryander,  his  voice  vibrating  with 
emotion,  delivered  a  brief  oration.  The  ex- 
Crown  Prince  and  other  Princes  then  lifted 
the  coffin  from  the  big  motor  hearse  and 
placed    it    on    the    train.     The    pale    light 


gleamed  bizarrely  on  the  purple  velvet  of 
the  coffin  and  on  the  helmets  and  swords 
of  the  German  Princes.  The  ex-Kaiser  and 
Princess  Victoria  Luise  then  entered  the 
car  to  bid  farewell  to  the  Hohenzollerns  re- 
turning to  Germany  on  the  funeral  train. 
The  German  Government  had  sent  an 
official  message  to  William  condoling  with 
him  over  his  loss.  All  the  sisters  of  the  ex- 
Kaiser,  together  with  Generals  von  Hinden- 
burg,  Ludendorff  and  Mackensen,  were 
expected  to  attend  the  funeral  at  Potsdam. 
Both  the  former  monarch  and  the  Crown 
Prince  returned  to  Doom.  The  latter  made  a 
strong  plea  with  the  Dutch  Government  to 
allow  him  to  go  to  Potsdam.  He  was  in- 
formed that  he  could  not  return  to  Holland 
if  he  crossed  the  frontier.  To  the  former 
Emperor  the  prohibition  forbidding  him  to 
take  part  in  the  Potsdam  ceremonies  was 
a  crowning  bitterness  in  his  cup  of  exile. 


HUNGARY'S  RESTORATION  FIASCO 

Attempt  of  ex-Emperor  Charles  to  remount  the  Hungarian  throne  fails  for  lack  of  support 
— Helped  by  aristocrats  and  clergy,  but  opposed  by  the  Farmers'  Party  and  treated  with 
indifference  by  the  masses — A  Cabinet  crisis 

[Period    Ended   April  15,    1921]  • 


AFTER  a  vain  attempt  to  remount  the 
L  Hungarian  throne  in  the  last  week  of 
March,  ex-Emperor  Charles  of  Haps- 
burg  returned,  a  somewhat  wiser  man,  to 
his  place  of  exile  in  Switzerland.  His  sud- 
den appearance  in  Hungary  and  his  pro- 
posed  coup    d'etat   were   not   without    dra- 


matic features,  but  he  found  the  Magyar 
nation,  for  the  time  at  least,  unready  and 
unwilling  to  accord  him  all  the  honors  due 
to  the  wearer  of  St.  Stephen's  hallowed 
crown. 

Charles's     appearance     in     Hungary     on 
March  26  was  a  distinct  surprise,  at  least 


SKETCH    MAP    SHOWING    THE    TERRITORY    TRAVERSED    BY    EX-EMPEROR    CHARLES    IN    HIS 

TOUR  FROM   GENEVA   TO   STEINAMANGER,    AT  THE    TIME   OF   HIS   UNSUCCESSFUL   ATTEMPT 

TO    REGAIN    THE    HUNGARIAN    THRONE 


216 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Hungarian 
people.  Reports  have  it  that  Admiral 
Horthy,  the  regent,  was  equally  surprised, 
and  when  he  was  first  notified  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  erstwhile  monarch,  his  former 
commander  as  the  head  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Navy,  he  disbelieved  the  news  and 
considered  it  a  joke.  Only  when  the  former 
ruler  appealed  in  person  and  demanded  that 
he  yield  supreme  power  to  him  was  Horthy 
aware  of  a  grave  situation  demanding  quick 
action.  "  I  will  not  dispute  your  right  to 
the  throne,"  he  told  Charles;  "  but  you  must 
remember  that  I  was  elected  Regent  of 
Hurtgary  and  will  abandon  my  place  only  in 
response  to  a  constitutional  act  by  the  Na- 
tional Assembly."  Charles  pleaded  in  vain, 
and  was  told  that  he  must  leave  the  coun- 
try immediately. 

Speculation  is  rife  as  to  what  prompted 
Charles  to  abandon  his  exile  and  try  his 
hand  at  restoration.  It  has  become  known 
that  before  his  departure  from  Prangins 
he  was  in  Strassbourg  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Prince  Sixtus  of  Bourbon.  There,  it  is 
reported,  he  discussed  his  return  to  the 
throne  with  leading  royalists  and  militarists 
of  France.  He  asserts  that  Premier  Briand 
assured  him  of  non-intervention  and  that 
he  should  go  ahead  with  his  plans  and  the 
powers  would  bow  to  a  fait,  accompli.  Praz- 
novsky,  the  Hungarian  Minister  at  Paris, 
declares  he  knows  that  leading  French  Gen- 
erals knew  about  the  coup  beforehand  and 
encouraged  Charles.  General  Franchet 
d'Esperay,  who  was  supreme  commander  of 
the  Allies'  Balkan  forces  in  the  war,  was 
frequently  referred  to  in  reports  as  being 
in  sympathy  with  Charles's  plans.  Even  the 
name  of  Grant  Smith,  American  High  Com- 
missioner at  Budapest,  was  linked  with  the 
plot.  However,  Premier  Briand  not  only 
denied  all  such  knowledge,  but  sent  to  the 
Hungarian  Government  a  protest  which 
ultimately  caused  Charles  to  leave  the  coun- 
try. The  suspected  French  General  remains 
silent,  while  Grant  Smith  declared  that  his 
presence  in  the  vicinity  of  Szombathely,  the 
town  in  Western  Hungary  where  Charles 
established  his  headquarters,  was  due  to  an 
invitation  by  Count  Sigray,  Governor  of 
Western  Hungary  and  owner  of  a  large 
country  estate  there. 

The  Hungarian  Government  disavowed 
all  knowledge  of  Charles's  plans,  and  in  an 
interview  Regent  Horthy  declared  that  he 


considered  the  very  presence  of  the  King 
dangerous  to  the  best  interests  of  the  coun- 
try. The  coup  stirred  the  National  Assem- 
bly to  action;  in  a  special  meeting  on  April 
2    it    adopted    a    resolution    against    the 


(Keystone    View    Co.) 

COLONEL    LEHAR 

Commander    of    the    West    Hungarian   Army, 
wVio  resigned  when  the  covp  d'etat  failed 


restoration  of  Charles,  called  his  return  a 
national  danger,  threatening  the  very  peace 
of  the  country,  and  advised  the  Government 
in  no  uncertain  terms  to  eliminate  this  dan- 
ger. On  the  other  hand,  it  was  reported 
from  Vienna  that  the  Government  would 
submit  a  bill  to  the  National  Assembly 
designating  Aug.  20  as  the  date  on  which 
the  King  of  Hungary  should  be  selected. 

On  April  13  the  Hungarian  Government, 
through  the  Swiss  Legation  in  Vienna,  in- 
formed the  Swiss  Federal  Council  that 
Hungary  considered  the  former  Emperor 
Charles  as  its  lawful  sovereign,  and  that 
only  "  foreign  influences  "  prevented  the  ex- 
Emperor  from  exercising  his  rights  to  au- 
thority. It  requested  the  Swiss  Government 
to  permit  Charles  to  reside  permanently  in 
Switzerland.  On  this  request,  however, 
Switzerland  reserved  its  decision  pending  a 
full  investigation  of  all  the  circumstances 
and  a  consideration  of  its  own  best  inter- 
ests. 

Charles's  unexpected  return  to  Hungary 
precipitated  a  Cabinet  crisis.  Count  Teleky, 
the  Premier,  tendered  his  resignation  and 
that  of  the  Ministers  at  a  session  of  April 
8.  Two  Ministers  holding  portfolios  were 
especially  charged  by  the  Tanners'  Party 
as  being  of  Carlist  sympathies.  The  same 
party,  wielding  decisive  power  in  the  As- 
sembly, also  demanded  that  the  new  Cabi- 


HUNGARY'S  RESTORATION  FIASCO 


217 


net  be  selected  from  among  such  as  favor 
free  election  of  the  future  King;  i.e.,  those 
who  do  not  call  themselves  legitimists  or 
sympathizers  with  the  principle  that 
Charles  is  the  rightful  King  of  Hungary, 
nor  subscribe  to  the  idea  that  only  a  Haps- 
burg  can  be  selected.  The  Christian  party 
opposed  this  resolution  and  wished  that  the 
whole  affair  be  considered  closed,  but  failed 
to  obtain  sufficient  support. 
Inspired  by  its  success,  the  Farmers'  Par- 


(©   Central  News  Service) 

EX-EMPEROR    CHARLES    OF    AUSTRIA 

as    photographed    recently     with     his     oldest 

daughter   at    Villa   Prangins,    Switzerland 


ty  had  gone  a  step  further  and  demanded 
that  all  who  had  conspired  for  the  restora- 
tion of  Charles  be  prosecuted  on  a  charge  of 
treason;  it  voiced  strong  censure  of  the 
Government,  charging  duplicity  in  the  mat- 
ter. Acceptance  of  the  resignation  of  the 
Government  remained  temporarily  in  abey- 
ance, the  Regent  having  declared  that  he 
must  consult  with  leaders.  The  National 
Assembly  adjourned  until  the  appointment 
of  the  new  Cabinet. 

Undoubtedly,  there  are  many  in  Hungary 
who  have  shown  sympathy  with  the  restora- 
tion idea,  but  even  the  foremost  legitimists, 
such  as  Count  Albert  Apponyi,  are  opposed 
to  immediate  restoration  of  the  Hapsburgs. 


The  aged  statesman,  who  is  also  a  leading 
figure  in  the  group  that  desires  tranquillity 
restored,  has  declared  that  only  ill-wishers 
of  Charles  and  Hungary  could  have  sug- 
gested so  unfortunate  a  step  at  this  time, 
provoking  the  anger  of  the  Entente.  Prem- 
ier Briand  of  France,  in  a  note  sent  to  En- 
tente countries,  including  Czechoslovakia, 
Rumania  and  Jugoslavia,  has  vetoed  the  re- 
turn to  power  of  the  Hapsburgs. 

As  to  what  prompted  Charles  to  such 
action  at  a  time  when  even  his  friends  in 
Hungary  were  averse  to  it,  various  rumors 
circulate.  One  is  to  the  effect  that  Charles 
was  overcome  by  a  fit  of  jealousy  and 
feared  lest  some  other  Hapsburg  should 
forestall  him ;  presumably  Archduke  Joseph, 
once  blocked  by  the  Entente  to  mount  the 
Hungarian  throne,  was  plotting  in  favor  of 
his  son,  Joseph  Francis,  whose  bethrothal  to 
an  Italian  Duchess  was  reported  as  immi- 
nent. Italy's  support  thus  assured,  Charles 
may  have  thought  he  would  have  to  act 
without  delay.  However  that  may  be,  he 
suffered  a  setback,  and  agitation  for  his 
restoration  in  Hungary  will  be  checked  for 
some  time  to  come. 

Charles's  stay  in  Hungary  lasted  ten 
days,  and  in  Budapest  but  a  few  hours. 
His  interview  with  the  regent  occupied 
about  three  hours,  at  the  end  of  which  he 
decided  to  return  to  Bishop  Mikes's  palatial 
home  in  Szombathely,  near  Steinamanger; 
there  he  marked  time  for  more  than  a  week. 
His  final  decision  to  leave  the  country  came 
on  April  5,  when  he  was  confronted  with 
a  flat  refusal  to  permit  him  to  stay  any 
longer.  The  Government  itself  cautioned 
him  not  to  invite  danger  from  the  Entente 
and  especially  from  countries  of  the  Little 
Entente,  i.  e.,  Czechoslovakia,  Rumania  and 
Jugoslavia,  which  threatened  war  and  ac- 
tually mobilized  their  military.  The  Jugo- 
slavs even  crossed  the  boundary  and  occu- 
pied some  coal  mines  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pecs.  The  attitude  of  the  Little  Entente 
caused  considerable  indignation  in  Hun- 
gary, as  voiced  by  Foreign  Minister  Gratz 
when  he  said  in  the  National  Assembly: 

It  is  unprecedented  that  foreign  Govern- 
ments should  force  by  threat  of  war  a  Gov- 
ernment, whose  independence  they  have 
recognized,  to  choose  a  Constitution  and 
a  sovereign  in  accordance  with  their  caprice 
and  their  pretended  interests,  and  compel  it 
to  expel  a  man  who  as  a  Hungarian  has  a 
right  to  remain  in  Hungary. 


218 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Failing  to  obtain  enough  support  for  his 
restoration  even  in  Hungary,  Charles  at 
last  yielded  to  the  demand  that  he  leave 
the  country.  He  did  so  on  April  6,  but 
before  leaving  issued  the  following  proc- 
lamation: 

His  Majesty  leaves  the  country  because  of 
his  conviction  that  the  moment  has  not  yet 
come  for  him  to  take  over  his  right  of  gov- 
erning.     He    cannot    permit    maintenance    of 
his  right  to  entail  disturbances  in  the  pres- 
ent  state   of  peace.     He  leaves   the  land   as 
the   crowned   King  of  Hungary. 
The  resignation  of  Colonel  Lehar,  mili- 
tary   commander    in    West    Hungary,    fol- 
lowed; it  was  interpreted  by  some  as  proof 
that   the    Government   was   not   in    accord 
with  the  plans  of  Charles.    Colonel  Lehar 
was  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  King  and 
accompanied  him  in  his  exile.   It  was  stated 
that   the   Colonel  would   have   been  court- 
martialed  had  he  remained  in  the  country. 

In  summing  up  the  situation,  all  factions 
agree  that  the  attempted  coup  proved  un- 
profitable for  the  interests  of  both  Charles 
and  Hungary.  It  is  predicted  that  hereafter 
his  followers  will  find  it  difficult  to  agitate 
his  restoration,  while  for  the  moment  the 
anti-Hapsburg  group  gained  a  marked  ad- 
vantage, which  it  may  utilize  decisively  in 
spreading  opposition. 

Radical  elements  have  seized  upon  the 
miscarriage  of  Charles's  coup  to  try  to  set 
the  people  against  any  lawful  government. 
They  are  thought  to  be  responsible  for  the 
Jugoslav  occupation  of  the  min^s  around 
Pecs,  in  which  city  Count  Karolyi's  erst- 
while associates  have  established  a  radically 
socialistic,  autonomous  Government  under 
Jugoslav  protection. 

SWITZERLAND— In  the  Swiss  Parlia- 
ment interpolators  asked  the  Government 
to  explain  how  Charles  had  contrived  to 
leave  Switzerland;  they  intimated  that  he 
had  violated  the  privilege  of  asylum  by 
political  plotting,  and  questioned  his  right 
to  be  allowed  to  use  Swiss  territory  again 
as  a  refuge.  The  Canton  de  Vaud,  where 
Prangins  Castle  is  situated,  decided  to  ex- 
ercise its  cantonal  prerogative  of  refusing 
to  receive  Charles.  The  Swiss  Government 
thereupon  obtained  the  assent  of  Lucerne, 
and  Charles  and  his  entourage  moved  to 
that  place.  Prangins  showed  no  grief  over 
the  dispossessed  ruler's  departure.   Lucerne, 


on  the  other  hand,  adopted  a  sympathetic 
attitude,  believing,  it  was  said,  that  the 
presence  of  Charles  would  lend  interest  to 
the  place  for  tourists  and  thus  be  an  aid 
toward  prosperity.  The  new  residence  of 
Charles  was  formerly  the  refuge  of  Con- 
stantine,  who  has  since  been  recalled  to  the 
throne  of  Greece. 

AUSTRIA— The  attempted  restoration  of 
Charles  of  Hapsburg  to  the  Hungarian  throne 
aroused  strong  opposition  in  Austria  from 
the  present  regime,  but  the  Government 
failed  to  present  a  united  front  on  the  ques- 
tion. Minister  of  War  Mueller  and  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior  Glaz,  who  objected  es- 
pecially to  the  placing  of  members  of  the 
National  Guard  upon  the  train  on  which 
Charles  traveled  through  Austria,  resigned 
from   the   Cabinet. 

The  former  Emperor's  journey  through 
Austria  was  somewhat  delayed  at  the  Bruck 
Station,  where  members  of  the  Socialist 
Party  hostile  to  Charles  insisted  upon  hav- 
ing an  interview  with  the  former  ruler;  but 
their  desire  to  tell  the  former  ruler  some 
unpleasant  truths  was  not  granted  by  the 
Entente  representatives. 

Socialists,  who  now  have  the  upper  hand 
in  Austria,  indicated  that  they  plan  strong 
measures  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  such 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  exiled  monarch. 
The  press,  largely  controlled  by  them,  ut- 
tered unrestrained  denunciation.  The  Chris- 
tian Socialists  and  the  Conservatives,  se- 
cretly in  sympathy  with  Charles,  tried  to 
make  things  easier  for  him  when  it  became 
apparent  that  his  coup  had  failed.  The 
Socialists,  however,  carried  a  measure  under 
which  the  estate  of  Count  Erdody,  in  whose 
home  Charles  first  rested  on  his  way  to 
Hungary,  was  to  be  confiscated  and  the 
Count  expelled  from  Austria.  They  also 
demanded  in  Parliament  that  the  counties 
of  Western  Hungary  adjudged  to  Austria 
by  the  Peace  Treaty  should  be  ceded  at 
once,  so  that  Austria  would  at  least  have 
assurance  that  no  new  plots  would  be 
staged  from  this  vicinity.  They  further 
demanded  that  every  Austrian  subject  who 
had  any  part  in  the  plot  be  prosecuted. 
Non-Socialist  parties  counseled  calmness, 
and  urged  that  the  allegiance  of  the  coun- 
ties in  question  should  be  settled  by  friendly 
agreement  between  Austria  and  Hungary. 


THE  LITTLE  ENTENTE  AND  THE  HAPSBURGS 

Effect  of  the  adventure  of  former  Emperor  Charles  in  Hungary  on  the  policy  of  the 
new  Balkan  Confederation — Internal  affairs  of  Rumania,  Jugoslavia  and  Czechoslovakia 


THE  adventure  of  Charles  Hapsburg  at 
Budapest  in  the  last  days  of  March 
brought  into  prominent  relief  what  the 
emancipated  States  of  the  dissolved  dual- 
monarchy  and  those  Balkan  States  which 
profited  by  the  dissolution  have  been  doing 
in  the  last  few  months  to  protect  themselves 
from  a  reactionary  movement  in  Central 
Europe  toward  the  restoration,  of  thrones. 
The  international  engagements  in  this  part 
of  Europe  have  been  usually  connoted 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Little  Entente,"  al- 
though the  original  conception  created  by 
Take  Jonescu,  the  Foreign  Minister  of  Ru- 
mania, and  perfected  by  Dr.  Edouard  Benes, 
the  Foreign  Minister  of  Czechoslovakia,  has 
been  vastly  expanded.  The  original  "  Little 
Entente "  was  signed  on  Aug.  14,  1920. 
Rumania  did  not  join  it  because,  although  it 
sufficiently  protected  her,  as  it  did  the 
signatories,  Jugoslavia  and  Czechoslovakia, 
from  a  reactionary  Hungary,  it  did  not  pro- 
tect her  from  a  Bolshevist  Russia.  The 
compact,  as  revised  and  expanded,  embraced 
the  following  new  engagements: 

(The  annex  to  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo,  signed 
Nov.  12  by  Jugoslavia  and  Italy,  consisting: 
of  a  military  convention  later  subscribed  to 
by  Czechoslovakia  and  Rumania. 

The  Franco-Polish  declaration,  signed  at 
Warsaw,  Feb.  2,  1921,  which  pledged  France 
to  aid  Poland  with  war  material  and  offi- 
cers, in  case  she  should  be  attacked  by 
Russia. 

The  Rumanian-Polish  pact,  signed  March 
2,  which  sixteen  days  later  was  developed 
into  a  defensive  alliance  by  the  adhesion  of 
Czechoslovakia. 

It  had  been  the  original  idea  of  Take  Jo- 
nescu to  include  Greece  in  a  chain  of  States 
which  should  extend  from  the  Baltic  to  the 
Mediterranean,  forming,  on  the  one  hand, 
a  barrier  against  the  move  of  Bolshevism 
westward,  and,  on  the  other,  a  protection 
for  democracy  against  the  re-establishment 
of  royalty.  The  return  of  Greece  to  the  old 
regime  caused  this  plan  to  be  modified,  and 
on  the  very  eve  of  Charles's  adventure  Dr. 
Benes,  in  the  National  Assembly  at  Prague, 
declared  that  Czechoslovakia  was  ready  to 
negotiate  with  Hungary,  the  Magyar  aris- 


tocratic State,  and  recommended  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  peace  treaty  with  Bulgaria, 
so  as  to  pave  the  latter's  path  into  the 
"  Little  Entente."  In  regard  to  the  doubt- 
ful adhesion  of  Hungary,  he  said: 

The  Magyars  must  cease  their  fanatical 
propaganda  against  Czechoslovakia,  and  in 
the  differing  social  structure  of  autocratic 
Hungary  and  democratic  Czechoslovakia  I 
perceive  difficulties  in  arriving  at  an  agree- 
ment. The  restoration  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  cannot  be  considered  for  a  moment, 
and  would  constitute  a  casus  belli.  This 
applies  not  only  to  Charles  himself,  but  to 
all  members  of  the  former  royal  house, 
particularly  Joseph. 

In  regard  to  the  "  Little  Entente  "  itself, 
he  said: 

This  arrangement  Is,  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent, indispensable  to  the  interests  of  in- 
ternational politics.  No  conflicting  ques- 
tions of  prestige  can  arise  between  these 
States,  whose  relations  with  the  Allies,  es- 
pecially England,  France  and  Italy,  are 
equally  cordial. 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  M.  Jonescu  ex- 
ploited the  anti-Bolshevist  feature  of  the 
"  Little  Entente,"  Dr.  Benes  exploited  the 
anti-reactionary  feature.  Both  these  pol- 
icies had  their  separate  patrons  among  the 
great  powers.  The  former  was  patronized 
by  France  through  her  diplomacy  at  War- 
saw and  Bucharest;  the  latter  by  Italy 
through  her  diplomacy  at  Prague  and  Bel- 
grade, based  on  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo. 

It  is  possible  that  the  return  of  Constan- 
tine  to  the  Greek  throne  and  the  subsequent 
marriages  of  two  of  his  children  with  two 
of  the  children  of  the  King  of  Rumania  may 
have  tended  to  qualify  the  anti-reactionary 
policy  of  M.  Jonescu  and  cause  it  to  be 
passed  on  to  Dr.  Benes.  The  restoration, 
however,  also  affected  Jugoslavia,  for  it 
turned  into  a  dead  letter  the  Serbo-Grecian 
treaty  of  mutual  defense,  dating  from 
March,  1913,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  inspired 
a  Serbo-Bulgar  rapprochement,  initiated  in 
Prague  and  Agram  (Zagreb),  the  capital 
of  Croatia. 

It  was  Agram  which  took  the  lead  in 
calling  Hungary  to  account  and  in  urging 
the  "  Little  Entente  "  to  act.     Charles  had 


220 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


scarcely  arrived  in  Budapest  when  the  op- 
position paper,  Rijetch,  declared: 

The  key  to  the  situation  lies  in  the  hands 
of  the  States  bordering  on  Hungary.  We 
must  prove  both  to  Hungary  and  to  the 
powers  that  we  are  quite  capable  our- 
selves of  hindering  the  realization  of  the 
aims  of  Hapsburgian  reaction.  Never  be- 
fore has  such  solidarity  been  shown ;  there 
is  not  a  single  newspaper  which  has  not 
rallied    to    the    support    of    the    Government. 

Jugoslavia,  Czechoslovakia  and  Rumania 
on  April  2  sent  their  ultimatum  to  the 
Hungarian  Government,  demanding  that 
Charles  leave  the  country  within  forty-eight 
hours.  This  ultimatum  was  endorsed  by 
Italy.  On  the  same  day  France  announced 
her  cordial  support  of  it,  thus  bringing  the 
two  patrons  of  the  "  Little  Entente "  into 
common  accord  for  the  first  time,  and  add- 
ing infinite  prestige  to  the  policies  of  M. 
Jonescu  and  Dr.  Benes. 

RUMANIA — The  Dacia  of  Kolozsuvar  in 
the  middle  of  March  started  a  campaign 
against  Rumanian  corruption  by  comparing 
the  conditions  in  Rumania  with  those  in  the 
neighboring  State  of  Hungary.  The  Dacia 
said,  among  other  things: 

The  contrast  between  the  order  of  our 
neighbor  and  our  own  anarchy  is  amazing. 
Such  a  state  of  things  as  is  found  with  us 
can  exist  nowhere  else  except  in  Soviet  Rus- 
sia. All  over  the  Continent  of  Europe  the 
work  of  reconstruction  is  being  feverishly 
pushed  forward ;  with  us,  however,  though 
there  is  much  talk  of  it,  not  even  a  signal 
box,  a  pointsman's  hut  or  a  bridge  has  yet 
been  rebuilt.  But  the  most  humiliating  thing 
of  all  is  that  our  Hungarian  neighbors  speak 
of  us— with  justice,  too— as  a  nation  where 
boundless  corruption  reigns.  Similar  stric- 
tures are  passed  upon  us  by  all  our  neigh- 
bors, both  enemy  and  friendly,  who  give 
publicity  to  our  daily  chronique  scandaleuse. 
A  Czech  Ministerial  Councilor  declared  that 
he  was  constantly  receiving  incontrovertible 
testimony  of  acts  disgraceful  to  Rumanian 
reputation,  which  rendered  difficult  the  pos- 
sibility of  economic  relations  with  us.  As 
instances,  he  stated  that  certain  Czech  rail- 
way trucks  lent  to  us  more  than  a  year  ago 
had  not  yet  been  restored,  despite  repeated 
demands  for  them,  and  also  that  a  loco- 
motive, "  borrowed  for  one  day  only,"  had 
been  actually  sold  to  a  Rumanian  timber 
merchant  in  Transylvania. 

There  is  bitter  feeling  expressed  in 
Transylvania  over  the  means  taken  to  en- 
force the  attendance  of  Magyar  children  at 
Rumanian  schools.  This  is  particularly  re- 
sented in  those  districts  where,  as  in  Csik, 
there    are,    according    to    the    Government 


census,  125,888  Magyars  and  only  18,032 
Rumanians.  In  the  district  of  Szepsiszent- 
gyorgy  all  public  servants  have  been  noti- 
fied that  if  they  send  their  children  to  Hun- 
garian schools  the  act,  "  if  persisted  in,  will 
render  them  liable  to  prosecution  before  the 
Military  Court  for  treason." 

The  appeal  of  the  communists  concerned 
in  the  November  general  strike  and  at- 
tempted revolution  was  dismissed  by  the 
Court  of  Cassation,  and  the  leaders,  includ- 
ing Francis  Katyler,  Trojan  Novak  and 
Kollman  Mailer,  must  now  work  for  ten 
years  in  the  salt  mines,  where  a  five-year 
sentence  is  usually  considered  equivalent  to 
a  sentence  of  death. 

In  the  middle  of  March  Parliament 
adopted  a  resolution  providing  for  compul- 
sory registration  through  local  police 
bureaus  of  all  persons  who  have  been  resi- 
dents of  the  country  since  August,  1914.  It 
was  expected  that  the  measure  would  facili- 
tate the  execution  of  the  naturalization  law 
of  1919,  by  which  the  candidate  for  citizen- 
ship was  required  to  make  personal  appli- 
cation, the  acceptance  of  which  depended 
upon  the  will  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior, 
governed  only  by  an  interpretation  of  gen- 
eral qualifications. 

Under  the  new  rule  persons  who  estab- 
lished their  residence  prior  to  August,  1914, 
and  who  desire  to  become  citizens  will  take 
precedence  over  the  later  arrivals.  The  ef- 
fect will  be  to  keep  the  vast  number  of 
refugees  from  Russia,  who  have  been  arriv- 
ing since  1918,  from  becoming  citizens,  ex- 
cept at  the  pleasure  of  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior. 

JUGOSLAVIA— While  Serbia  proper  con- 
tinued to  find  evidence  that  Bulgaria  was 
not  sincerely  carrying  out  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  of  Neuilly,  particularly  in  regard  to 
disarmament  and  the  return  of  stolen 
property  to  Serbia,  the  Croatian  element, 
whose  headquarters  are  at  Agram,  was  en- 
deavoring to  promote  friendship  between 
Agram  and  Sofia.  Neither  the  Croats  nor 
the  Slovenes  can  be  made  to  feel  the  an- 
tagonism felt  at  Belgrade  for  Bulgaria. 
The  official  press  of  Czechoslovakia  was 
similarly  attempting  to  promote  a  rap- 
prochement between  all  Jugoslavia  and  Bul- 
garia with  a  view  to  securing  a  better 
understanding  between  the  Balkans  and  the 
new  States  of  Central  Europe. 


THE  LITTLE  ENTENTE  AND   THE  HAPSBURGS 


221 


On  March  16  nine  Slovenian  members  of 
the  Peasant  Party  joined  the  bloc  inau- 
gurated by  Premier  Pashitch,  thus  giving 
him  a  control  over  260  votes  in  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  out  of  a  total  of  419.  On 
the  same  day  an  agreement  was  reached 
between  the  Government  and  Bosnian 
Mussulmans,  who  had  a  grievance  against 
the  Serbian  land  owners  on  account  of  the 
forcible  seizure  of  their  farms.  The  direct 
effect  of  this  was  the  appointment  of  two 
Mussulmans  to  Cabinet  portfolios;  the  gen- 
eral effect  was  to  lighten  the  burdens  of 
the  commission  of  the  Assembly  which  is 
drafting  a  Constitution  for  the  entire 
country. 

Owing  to  conflicting  opinions,  both  po- 
litical and  racial,  it  was  at  first  thought 
that  the  Constitution  should  provide  for  a 
federation  of  States,  but  with  the  growing 
support  that  the  Premier  has  received  from 
the  regions  outside  of  Serbia  proper  the 
Constitution  is  now  reflecting  the  organism 
of  a  highly  centralized  Government,  with 
all  the  old  boundaries  wiped  out  and  the 
former  divisions  replaced  by  departments, 
as  in  France,  with  prefects  appointed  by 
the  central  Government.  Each  department 
is  expected  to  include  a  population  of  700,- 
000,  and  will  have  its  own  Legislature, 
while  the  national  Legislature  will  consist 
of  a  single  elected  Chamber,  drawn  from 
the  counties  into  which  each  department 
will  be  divided.  These  local  divisions  will 
take  into  consideration  three  elements — in- 
dustrial, racial  and  political.  Universal 
manhood  suffrage  will  prevail. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA— The  sudden  ap- 
pearance of  Charles  in  Hungary  caused  con- 
siderable uneasiness  in  Czechoslovakia.  The 
policy  of  the  Czechs  has  been  shaped  on  the 
general  policy  of  the  Entente,  whose  view 
would  naturally  be  reflected  in  Prague. 
But  apart  from  this,  the  Czechoslovaks  have 
a  special  motive  for  their  opposition  to  the 
restoration  of  Charles,  or  of  any  other 
member  of  the  Hapsburg  family.  This  mo- 
tive springs  from  the  fact  that  Hungarian 


territories  have  variously  been  allocated 
among  the  neighboring  States,  including 
Czechoslovakia,  and  that  all  such  ceded 
territories  are  still  considered  by  the  Hun- 
garians, at  least  in  principle,  as  their  right- 
ful possessions  forced  from  them  by  coer- 
cion. The  re-establishment  of  the  Hun- 
garian throne,  in  the  Czechoslovak  view, 
would  foreshadow  an  attempt  by  the  new 
holder  of  the  crown  of  St.  Stephen  to  re- 
gain these  territories.  The  danger  of  a 
new  union  of  Hungary  and  Austria,  in  case 
a  Hapsburg  were  allowed  to  ascend  the 
Hungarian  throne,  also  disturbed  the 
Czechs. 

Czech  and  Hungarian  representatives  sit- 
ting in  joint  conference  at  Bruck  to  regu- 
late economic  relations,  contingent  on  the 
reopening  of  the  frontiers  for  commerce, 
were  reported  at  this  time  to  have  entered 
into  a  valid  pact,  the  immediate  consequence 
of  which  was  the  rapid  rise  in  the  value  of 
the  Hungarian  crown,  which  has  doubled  in 
value  over  the  rate  quoted  a  few  weeks  ago. 

The  Czechoslovak  Government  faces  a 
difficult  task  in  satisfying  the  wishes  of 
the  populace  of  Uhro-Rusinia — the  eastern- 
most part  of  the  country — which  is  working 
for  self-government.  Councilor  Franken- 
berger,  delegated  by  President  Masaryk, 
consulted  leaders  in  Rusinia  regarding  a 
suitable  basis  for  the  establishment  of  a 
self-governing  body.  The  plan  so  far  formu- 
lated is  to  introduce  a  bill  in  Parliament 
which  would  provide  for  a  temporary  board 
of  councilors  until  the  time  of  election, 
when  Deputies  would  be  selected  for  the 
Szojm  (Diet),  which,  in  turn,  would  send  a 
number  of  representatives  to  the  Parlia- 
ment at  Prague.  The  Hungarian  legal 
party  in  Rusinia,  however,  demands  com- 
plete autonomy  and  the  holding  of  the 
plebiscite  promised  in  the  Peace  Treaty. 

It  was  understood  that  Czechoslovakia 
had  agreed  to  join  France  in  the  applica- 
tion of  economic  penalties  against  Germany, 
and  even  to  contribute  to  military  pressure 
if  necessary. 


AMERICA'S  TIES  WITH  HUNGARY 

By  Dr.  Imre  Josika-Herczeg 

The  author  of  the  following  article  was  graduated  from  the  universities  of  Budapest  arid  Kolozsvar  with  the 
degrees  of  Doctor  of  Laws  and  Doctor  of  Political  Science.  Under  the  Royal  Hungarian  Government  he 
was  appointed  by  Francis  Kossuth,  son  of  the  great  Kossuth  of  history,  and  then  a  member  of  the  Hun- 
garian Cabinet,  to  an  important  political  and  commercial  mission  to  the  United  States.  To  his  efforts 
was  due  the  memorable  visit  of  Count  Apponyi  to  America  in  1911.  \Aa  a  Captain  of  Squadron  in  the 
First  Royal  Hussars  Dr.  Josika-Herczeg  saw  active  service  on  the  Russian  front  during  the  first  part  of 
the  World  War.  On  hearing  that  the  United  States  had  entered  the  war,  he  sought  and  obtained  a  diplo- 
matic mission  abroad.  One  of  the  most  influential  Hungarians  in  the  United  States  today,  he  is  known  as 
an  earnest  advocate  of  closer  ties  between  the  two  countries 


DR. 


THERE  are  some  things 
which  Americans  should 
never  forget  about  Hun- 
gary. One  of  these  is  the 
fact  that  so  many  Hun- 
garians fought  side  by  side 
with  the  North  during  the 
Civil  War.  In  the  Arlington 
National  Cemetery,  at  the 
end  of  a  long  path,  are  the 
graves  of  those  Hungarian 
heroes  who  offered  their  lives 
so  chivalrously  to  Lincoln  to 
preserve  this  great  Union  of 
American  people.  The  men 
whose  remains  lie  here,  like 
Louis  Kossuth,  came  to  the 
United  States  as  political 
refugees.  They  answered  with  joy  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  first  call  to  the  country's 
colors.  It  was  at  his  request  that  the  Hun- 
garians who  fell  while  fighting  to  preserve 
the  Union  were  buried  with  their  American 
comrades  in  the  National  Cemetery. 

It  is  now  almost  forgotten  that  Louis 
Kossuth,  Governor  of  Hungary  in  1848  and 
1849,  and  leader  of  the  Hungarian  revolu- 
tion, was  liberated  from  his  internment  in 
Asia  Minor  by  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States,  and  was  brought  to  this 
country  as  the  guest  of  the  United  States 
Government  on  board  the  frigate  Missis- 
sippi in  1851.  There  are  historical  records 
which  show  America's  sympathy  for  the 
Hungarian  cause,  and  the  treatment  of 
Kossuth  was  but  another  evidence  of  this 
sympathy;  it  is  a  historical  fact  that  cer- 
tain powers  were  pressing  Turkey  urgently 
to  deliver  Kossuth  up  to  Austria. 

At  about  the  time  of  Kossuth's  arrival 
there   came   to    this   country   many   distin- 


IMRE   JOSIKA- 
HERCZEG 


guished  Hungarian  citizens. 
The  members  of  this  immi- 
gration came  from  the  upper 
and  middle  classes  of  the 
thousand-year-old  Hungarian 
Kingdom,  and,  naturally,  they 
had  received  the  highest  edu- 
cation and  good  training  in 
democratic  government.  Most 
of  them  had  also  been  offi- 
cers in  the  ranks  of  the  Hun- 
garian Army  and  had  seen 
active  service,  which,  natu- 
rally, made  them  desirable 
elements  for  Lincoln's  army. 
These  Hungarian  political 
refugees  were  received  in  this 
country  hospitably  and  were 
aided  financially  and  even  socially  by  the 
American  people.  The  intention  of  these 
Hungarians  was,  of  course,  to  return  to 
their  country,  because  they  expected  a  call 
to  the  colors,  but  this  call  never  came,  and 
so  they  soon  were  scattered  all  over  the 
United  States.  Some  of  them  became  farm- 
ers, engineers,  lawyers,  journalists,  &c.  In 
a  word,  they  became  useful  citizens  of  the 
United  States. 

These  were  the  men  who,  ten  years  later, 
offered  their  blood  and  lives  in  response  to 
Lincoln's  call.  The  records  of  the  gallant 
deeds  of  the  Hungarians  who  fought  for  the 
Union  are  innumerable.  The  Secretary  of 
State  published  a  report  in  which  he  stated 
definitely  that  about  25,000  Hungarians 
were  fighting  in  Lincoln's  army.  The  so- 
called  Garibaldi  Guard,  which  was  with  the 
Thirty-ninth  New  York  Infantry,  was 
mainly  composed  of  Hungarians.  The  of- 
ficial records  state  that  1,800  Hungarian 
soldiers  and  about  100  Hungarian  officers 


AMERICA'S   TIES   WITH  HUNGARY 


223 


— fully  one-half  of  the  total — were  on  the 
roster  of  Lincoln's  riflemen,  who  were  later 
incorporated  with  the  Twenty-fourth  Illinois 
Infantry.  A  number  of  these  Hungarian 
soldiers  subsequently  won  high  rank;  two 
became  Major  Generals,  five  Brigadier  Gen- 
erals, fifteen  Colonels,  two  Lieutenant  Col- 
onels, thirteen  Majors  and  twelve  Captains. 
Many  distinguished  names  might  be  men- 
tioned, especially  that  of  the  gallant  Major 
Charles  Zagonyi,  whose  Hungarian  Hussars 
in  a  whirlwind  attack  upon  the  Confeder- 
ates at  Springfield  won  immortality  by 
their  "  Death  Ride "  against  the  artillery 
of  the  enemy.  Other  well-known  names  are 
General  Asboth,  General  Albin  Schoepf  and 
General  Julius  Stahl,  whose  record  is  one 
of  honor  and  distinction  in  the  annals  of 
the  country. 

Two  of  Kossuth's  great  supporters  in 
New  York  were  William  H.  Seward,  then 
United  States  Senator,  and  Horace  Greeley. 
Senator  Seward  was  champion  of  the  great 
democratic  ideals  of  Kossuth  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  Horace  Greeley  stanchly 
supported  the  great  Hungarian  patriot  in 
the  columns  of  The  Tribune.  When  Seward 
became  Secretary  of  State  he  sent  a  com- 
mission to  Europe  supporting  Kossuth. 
("  The  Diplomatic  History  of  the  War  for 
the  Union,"  by  William  H.  Seward;  Boston, 
1864,  pp.  6  and  7.) 

The  visit  of  Count  Albert  Apponyi  to  the 
United  States  in  1911  is  still  remembered. 


Keystone  View  Co.) 
COUNT   ALBERT    APPONYI 
Veteran  political   leader  of  Hungary 


(Times   Wide    World   Photos) 


GENERAL  HARRY  H.  BANDHOLTZ 

American   Representative   on   International 

Mission  to  Hungary 

Count  Apponyi  was  the  real  political  fol- 
lower of  Kossuth  in  liberalism  and  democ- 
racy. His  visit  to  this  country  was  vir- 
tually a  triumphal  tour;  he  was  given  high 
honors,  including  the  invitation  to  address 
Congress.  He  received  a  great  ovation  from 
the  members  of  the  House  and  Senate.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  up  to  1911  only 
three  foreigners  had  been  invited  to  address 
Congress,  two  of  these  being  Hungarians — 
Kossuth  and  Apponyi — the  third,  Lafayette. 
Apponyi's  lectures  did  much  to  strengthen 
the  ties  of  friendship  between  the  United 
States  and  Hungary.  For  more  than  fifty 
years  Count  Apponyi  was  leader  of  the 
Independent  Kossuth  Party  in  Hungary. 
He  is  recognized  today  not  only  in  Hun- 
gary but  also  in  the  whole  civilized  world 
as  one  of  the  foremost  statesmen  of  his 
time.  His  remarkable  oratorical  power  and 
diplomatic  abilities  were  greatly  admired 
at  the  Peace  Conference  at  Neuilly  and 
Versailles. 

The  American  public  has  very  little 
knowledge  of  present-day  happenings  in 
Hungary.  This  is  mainly  due  to  unreliable 
news,  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Amer- 
ican   press   is   not   directly    represented   in 


224 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Hungary,  and  is  compelled  to  print  news 
regarding  that  country  which  comes  in 
several  cases  from  unreliable  sources.  If 
asked  why  Hungary  today  is  important  I 
would  answer :  because  Hungary  for  a  thou- 
sand years  has  been  and  still  is  the  door 
for  Western  Europe  to  the  East.  It  is  also 
the  nearest  to  the  Balkan  border.  Before 
the  war  the  Balkan  States  found  in 
Hungary  all  the  industrial,  financial  and 
commercial  connections  they  needed.  These 
well-established  industries,  even  in  their 
present  terribly  damaged  condition,  are  still 
furnishing  a  great  number  of  locomotives, 
railway  cars,  and  other  equipment  for 
Rumania,  Jugoslavia  and  Bulgaria.  Hun- 
gary is  exporting  electric  light  material  to 
Italy,  and  such  orders  have  been  placed 
even  from  South  America.  France  lately 
gave  large  orders  for  machinery  parts  to 
several  Budapest  factories. 

After  the  World  War,  Hungary  opened  a 
new  chapter  in  her  history.  On  Aug.  20, 
1921,  she  will  elect  her  new  ruler.  Accord- 
ing to  Parliamentary  decision,  the  Govern- 
ment will  remain  a  Constitutional  monarchy. 
It  now  appears  that  the  political  situation 
will  soon  crystallize.  One  thing  is  certain: 
as  soon  as  the  new  ruler  is  chosen,  the 
political  horizon  will  be  cleared  of  many 
pending  questions,  and  the  country  will  be 
in  a  position  to  continue  the  great  work 
of  consolidation  and  reconstruction. 

Besides  Count  Apponyi,  another  great 
Hungarian  statesman  is  Dr.  Lorant 
Hegedus,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the 
past  four  or  five  months,  and  the  financial 
brain  of  the  country.  During  his  short 
term  of  office  Minister  Hegedus  has  ac- 
complished results  in  the  economic  consoli- 
dation of  Hungary  which  have  astonished 
Europe.  He  has  put  men  to  work  and  de- 
creased unemployment  from  week  to  week. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  number 
of  unemployed  in  February,  1921,  was  be- 
tween 45,000  and  50,000 — an  encouraging 
figure  in  view  of  the  fact  that  during  the 
Red  Terror  of  communism  there  were  over 
130,000  unemployed  in  Hungary.  Mr. 
Hegedus  has  solved  the  labor  question  and 
has  convinced  the  people  that  the  only  thing 
for  Hungary  to  do  is  to  work  steadily.  It 
is  due  to  his  policy  that  the  income  of  the 
country  already  covers  the  expense  budget. 


This  masterwork  of  statesmanship  speaks 
for  itself.  Secretary  Hegedus  is  typical  of 
the  men  who  have  helped  Hungary  to  regain 
the  confidence  of  the  outside  world. 

Hungary's  present  feeling  toward  Amer- 
ica is  one  of  the  greatest  cordiality.  On 
the  occasion  of  the  reopening  of  Parliament 
on  March  4,  Charles  Huszar,  the  late 
Premier,  proposed  an  official  greeting  to 
President  Harding.  The  proposal  met  with 
an  enthusiastic  reception.  New  ties  have 
come  to  link  Hungary  to  America.  The  new 
Hungary  will  long  remember  gratefully  the 
names  of  some  representatives  of  America 
who  have  aided  her  in  her  day  of  trial. 
Among  the  first  on  the  list  stands  the 
name  of  Herbert  Hoover,  who  did  much  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  Hungary's  affection 
and  gratitude.  Another  name  is  that  of 
Professor  Coolidge  of  Harvard  University, 
who  headed  the  American  Commission  in 
Budapest. 

I  would  mention  here  specially  General 
Bandholtz  of  the  United  States  Army,  who 
until  recently  was  head  of  the  Military 
Mission  to  Hungary.  I  am  confident  that 
even  the  children  in  the  Hungarian  schools 
will  be  taught  to  revere  his  name.  Dur- 
ing the  frightful  days  of  the  Rumanian  in- 
vasion the  American  Military  Mission  was 
the  only  place  where  the  terrorized  Hun- 
garians could  go  to  regain  their  civil  rights. 
When  the  Rumanians  tried  to  loot  the  pic- 
ture galleries  of  the  National  Museum  they 
found  the  American,  General  Bandholtz, 
with  his  military  aids  before  the  doors  of 
that  institution,  and  it  was  he  who  placed 
the  official  seal  of  the  United  States  upon 
the  Museum's  doors  and  thus  prevented  the 
Rumanians  from  carrying  out  their  de- 
signs. 

Another  name  which  cannot  be  forgotten 
is  that  of  Captain  Pedlow,  head  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  in  Budapest,  who  rep- 
resents the  heart  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  The  names  of  Hoover, 
Bandholtz  and  Pedlow,  like  those  of  Kos- 
suth and  Apponyi,  will  be  everlasting  in 
Hungary,  just  as  in  America  the  memory 
will  live  of  those  thousands  of  Hungarian 
heroes  who  died  for  the  Union's  cause. 
These  are  links  between  the  people  of 
Hungary  and  the  United  States  which  will 
never  be  broken. 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

Difficulties  of  Great  Britian's  task  in  introducing  modern  parliamentary  methods 
in  the  rule  of  India's  many  races  and  religious  sects — Establishing  the  new  Chamber 
of  Princes — How  all  attempts  at  reform  are  obstructed  by  Gandhi's   "non-co-operators" 


IT  is  widely  alleged  that  England  rules 
India  with  barbarous  severity  and 
that  she  is  largely  responsible  for  the 
poverty  and  backwardness  of  the  country 
and  for  the  terrible  diseases  and  famines 
which  periodically  destroy  large  numbers 
of  the  inhabitants.  Many  believe  that  be- 
fore long  the  English  will  be  expelled  from 
India,  that  fear  has  caused  England  to 
grant  some  measure  of  self-government  to 
the  natives,  but  that  the  concessions  lately 
made  have  come  too  late.  The  reading 
public  likes  sensation,  and  the  news  agen- 
cies obligingly  provide  it  with  accounts  of 
Indian  murders  and  conspiracies,  with  sedi- 
tious speeches  and  with  stories  about  pois- 
onous snakes,  tigers  and  children  brought 
up  by  wolves.  The  true  facts  are  little 
known,  largely  because  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment has  neglected  to  enlighten  the  world 
as  to  its  achievements. 

India  is  a  gigantic  country.  It  contains 
about  one-fifth  of  the  world's  population. 
However,  the  Indians  are  by  no  means  a 
single  nation,  as  some  may  believe.  India 
is  a  loose  conglomerate  of  races  and  na- 
tions held  together  by  the  British  Adminis- 
tration. Withdrawal  of  that  administra- 
tion would  cause  India  to  be  dissolved  into 
its  component  parts  and  would  destroy  the 
internal  peace  which  the  natives  have  en- 
joyed for  so  long.  About  150  different 
languages  are  spoken  in  India.  Hindi  is 
spoken  by  82,000,000  people,  Bengali  by 
48,000,000,  Telugu  by  24,000,000,  Marathi 
by  20,000,000,  Tamil  by  18,000,000,  Pun- 
jabi by  16,Q00,000,  &c.  Religion  is  one  of 
the  most  powerful  bonds  in  the  East.  Of 
the  315,000,000  Indians,  218,000,000  are 
Hindus,  67,000,000  are  Mohammedans,  11,- 
000,000  are  Buddhists,  4,000,000  are  Chris- 
tians, 3,000,000  are  Sikhs,  &c,  and  strife 
among  the  various  religions  and  among  the 
numerous  sects  belonging  to  each  religion 


is  extraordinarily  bitter  and  passionate. 
Recently,  for  instance,  hundreds  of  Sikhs 
have  been  killed  in  collisions  between  ortho- 
dox and  reforming  sects.  Yet  it  has  been 
asserted  that  the  English  were  responsible 
for  these  occurrences. 

The  Indians  are  poor,  ignorant  and  back- 
ward, and  they  suffer  severely  from  famine, 
plague,  cholera  and  other  devastating  dis- 
eases, owing  to  the  extraordinary  condi- 
tions of  the  country.  India  is  greatly  over- 
populated.  In  the  Provinces  which  stand 
under  direct  British  Government  there  were 
223  people  per  square  mile  in  1911,  while 
there  were  only  191.2  in  France  and  171  in 
Pennsylvania.  -However,  large  portions  of 
India  consist  of  waste  land.  If  we  look 
at  some  of  the  principal  Provinces  we  find 
that  the  density  of  the  population  is  far 
greater  than  in  France  and  in  the  most 
closely  settled  American  States.  In  1910 
Massachusetts  had  419  people  per  square 
mile,  while  the  Province  of  Bihar,  with 
24,000,000  inhabitants,  had  561  people  per 
square  mile.  Bengal,  with  45,000,000  peo- 
ple, had  578  people  per  square  mile;  Oudh, 
with  13,000,000  people,  had  520  inhabitants 
per  square  mile;  Agra,  with  35,000,000  in- 
habitants, had  417  people  per  square  mile; 
while  the  native  State  of  Travancore,  with 
3,500,000  inhabitants,  had  452  people  pel 
square  mile,  and  Cochin,  with  1,000,000  in- 
habitants, had  675  people  per  square  mile. 
The  people  of  France,  England,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  &c,  can 
easily  make  a  living,  owing  to  the  vast 
natural  resources  possessed.  The  densely 
settled  districts  of  India,  however,  are  con- 
demned to  poverty  and  want  by  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  natural  resources  on  the 
one  hand  and  by  an  extraordinarily  high 
birth  rate  on  the  other  hand.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  people  of  India  live  by  agri- 
culture, and  Indian  agriculture  is,  and  will 


226 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


always  remain,  exceedingly  precarious,  be- 
cause the  country  is  exposed  to  terrible 
droughts. 

Besides,  conservativeness  and  prejudice 
make  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  increase 
agricultural  production.  Weeds,  noxious  in- 
sects and  diseases  of  men  and  beasts  are 
considered  inevitable  visitations  of  the 
Deity.  The  cultivators  of  the  soil  prefer 
methods  used  from  time  immemorial  to 
science.  Hence  produce  per  acre  is  low,  and 
the  live  stock  has  utterly  degenerated.  The 
Indian  agricultural  and  veterinary  depart- 
ments have  done  a  great  deal  of  good;  how- 
ever, it  is  difficult  to  increase  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  as  the  natives  insist  upon  using 
manure  as  fuel  instead  of  returning  it  to 
the  ground. 

In  1913  the  birth  rate  among  the  people 
of  India  was  39.4  per  thousand,  while  it 
was  27.5  per  thousand  in  Germany,  23.9  per 
thousand  in  England,  and  18.8  per  thou- 
sand in  France.  The  Indian  villages  have 
been  described  as  a  collection  of  hovels 
erected  upon  dung  heaps.  The  intense  con- 
servatism of  the  people  and  the  conditions 
of  the  country  combined  keep  them  in  ig- 
norance and  poverty,  and  largely  defeat  all 
attempts  to  introduce   among  them   educa- 


tion, sanitation  and  better  methods  of  pro- 
duction. 

Although  India  is  poor,  if  measured  by 
European  standards,  the  people  in  general 
are  far  more  prosperous  than  they  have 
been  for  decades,  and  the  wealth  of  India 
is  rapidly  increasing,  largely  owing  to  the 
excellence  of  the  English  administration 
and  to  vast  improvements  which  it  has 
brought  about,  notwithstanding  the  inertia 
of  the  inhabitants.  India,  far  from  being 
bled  by  England,  is  enriched  by  it.  That 
may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  India  is  by 
far  the  largest  importer  of  silver  and  gold 
in  the  world.  Since  1873  India's  imports  of 
gold  have  exceeded  India's  exports  by  £251,- 
210,000,  according  to  the  official  figures, 
which  would  probably  be  greatly  increased 
if  we  had  any  means  to  ascertain  the  unre- 
corded importations. 

A  MAZE  OF  RACES 

India,  far  from  being  a  single  country  in- 
habited by  a  single  race,  which,  with  the 
awakening  of  nationalism,  may  be  expected 
to  throw  off  the  English  yoke,  is  a  world 
in  itself.  Thirty  years  ago  Lord  Dufferin, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  Viceroys  of  Inf4a, 


(Photo    In  tcrvalionul ) 
DUKE  OP  CONNAUGHT,  ONLY  SURVIVING  SON  OF  QUEEN  VICTORIA.   HOMING  ^  RECEPTION 
TO   NATIVE   PRINCES   IN   INDIA    ON   THE    OCCASION   OF    THE    OPENING    OF   THE    NEW   INDIAN 

PARLIAMENT    AT    DELHI 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


227 


drew  the  following  picture  of  the  country, 

which  is  still  true: 

This  population  is  composed  of  a  large 
number  of  distinct  nationalities,  professing 
various  religions,  practicising  diverse  rites, 
speaking  different  languages,  while  many  of 
them  are  still  further  separated  from  one 
another  by  discordant  prejudices,  by  con- 
flicting usages,  and  even  antagonistic  ma- 
terial interests.  But  perhaps  the  most  pat- 
ent characteristic  of  our  Indian  cosmos  is 
its  division  into  two  mighty  political  com- 
munities as  distant  from  each  other  as  the 
poles,  asunder  in  their  religious  faith,  ther 
historical  antecedents,  their  social  organi- 
zation and  their  natural  aptitudes ;  on  the 
one  hand  the  Hindus,  numbering  190,000,000, 
with  their  polytheistic  beliefs,  their  tem- 
ples adorned  with  images  and  idols,  their 
veneration  for  the  sacred  cow,  their  elab- 
orate caste  distinctions  and  their  habits  of 
submission  to  successive  conquerors ;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Mohammedans,  a  nation  of 
50,000,000,  with  their  monotheism,  their  icon- 
oclastic fanaticism,  their  animal  sacrifices, 
their  social  equality  and  their  remembrance 
of  the  days  when,  enthroned  at  Delhi,  they 
reigned  supreme  from  the  Himalayas  to 
Cape  Comorin.  To  these  must  be  added  a 
host  of  minor  nationalities— most  of  them 
numbering  millions— almost  as  widely  dif- 
ferentiated from  one  another  by  ethnologi- 
cal distinctions  as  are  the  Hindus  from  the 
Mohammendans,  such  as  the  Sikhs,  with 
their  warlike  habits  and  traditions  and  their 
enthusiastic  religious  beliefs ;  the  Rohillas, 
the  Pathans,  the  Assamese,  the  Baluchees 
and  other  wild  and  martial  tribes  on  our 
frontiers. 

At  one  end  of  the  scale  we  have  the  naked 
savage  bill  man,  with  his  stone  weapons,  his 
head  hunting,  his  polyandrous  habits  and  his 
childish  superstitions ;  and  at  the  other,  the 
Europeanized  native  gentleman,  with  his 
English  costume,  his  advanced  democratic 
ideas,  his  Western  philosophy  and  his  lit- 
erary culture,  while  between  the  two  lie,  layer 
upon  layer,  or  in  close  juxtaposition,  wan- 
dering communities  with  their  flocks  of 
goats  and  moving  tents ;  collections  of  un- 
disciplined warriors,  with  their  blood  feuds, 
their  clan  organization  and  loose  tribal  Gov- 
ernment ;  feudal  chiefs  and  barons,  with 
their  retainers,  their  seignorial  jurisdiction 
and  their  medieval  notions,  and  modernized 
country  gentlemen  and  enterprising  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers,  with  their  well- 
managed  estates  and  prosperous  enterprises. 

England's  difficulty  in  administering  In- 
dia is  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  uniformity 
of  Indian  conditions,  to  the  fact  that  it  has 
to  grapple,  not  with  a  few  large  problems, 
but  with  in  infinite  number  of  large  and 
small  ones,  and  that  the  differences  exist- 
ing among  the  Indians  themselves  are  al- 
most irreconcilable. 

The  English  have  been  accused  of  ruling 


India  by  terror,  by  the  display  and  use  of 
overwhelming  force.  Nothing  can  be  more 
false  than  this  statement.  India  is  governed 
by  a  few  thousand  civil  ^rvants  of  Eng- 
lish nationality,  who  direct  and  are  sup- 
ported by  vast  numbers  of  native  officials. 


LORD  READING 

New    Viceroy    of    India,    who    faces    a    difficult 

task 


The  English  army  of  occupation  consists 
only  of  75,000  soldiers,  who,  as  a  rule,  are 
concentrated  in  garrisons  whence  the  bor- 
der may  be  watched.  How  small  the  pro- 
portion of  English  people  in  India  is  may 
be  gauged  by  the  fact  that  per  thousand 
population  there  are  more  Chinese  in  the 
United  States  than  English  people  in  In- 
dia. It  is  as  impossible  to  keep  300,000,000 
dissatisfied  Indians  in  subjugation  by  means 
of  75,000  white  soldiers  as  it  would  be  to 
keep  100,000,000  dissatisfied  and  unarmed 
Americans  in  subjection  by  means  of  25,000 
foreign  soldiers  stationed  near  the  Cana- 
dian frontier. 

England  owes  the  strong  position  which 
she  occupies  in  India,  not  to  the  cruelty  of 
her  rule,  but  to  her  fairness,  her  justice 


228 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


and  her  respect  of  India's  feelings,  wishes 
and  prejudices.  Her  position  is  one  of  the 
greatest  difficulty  because  of  the  extra- 
ordinary sensitiveness  of  the  natives  with 
regard  to  their  religions,  which  differ  so 
vastly  from  those  of  Europe.  In  a  little 
official  handbook  entitled  "  The  Indian 
Empire:  A  Short  Review  and  Some  Hints 
for  Soldiers  Proceeding  to  India,"  which 
was  published  long  before  the  war,  we 
read,  for  instance,  with  regard  to  the 
Hindus : 

The  principal  points  to  be  observed  in  order 
to  avoid  wounding  the  religious  feelings  of 
Hindus  are : 

Do  not  go  inside  temples  or  burning  ghats 
without  permission,  or  meddle  with  shrines, 
sacred  trees  or  rocks. 

When  cattle  are  killed  or  beef  is  being 
handled,  arrange  to  perform  the  necessary 
operations  out  of  the  sight  of  Hindus. 

Do  not  expect  a  Hindu  to  assist  in  killing 
a  snake  or  to  handle  one  when  dead.  Leave 
these  reptiles  alone  when  they  live  near  tem- 
ples or  shrines  or  if  you  have  reason  to 
think. they   are  regarded   as   sacred. 

Never  shoot  monkeys,  any  game  mentioned 
in  a  shooting  pass,  or  any  of  the  half- tame 
birds  and  beasts  which  hang  around  temples 
and  villages. 

Do  not  try  to  catch  fish  or  to  shoot  croco- 
diles in  water  near  temples  or  burning  ghats 
or  where  the  country  folk  ask  you  not  to 
do  so. 

Never  damage  tulsi  plants,  pipal,  banyan 
or   bail   trees. 

Do  not  go  near  places  w'.ere  food  is  being 
cooked. 

It  is  best  not  to  offer  food  or  drink  at  all, 
but  if  you  do,  do  not  be  offended  by  a  re- 
fusal. Under  no  circumstances  offer  beef 
in  any  form  to  any  Hindu  or  flesh  of  any 
kind  to  a  Brahman. 

If  water  is  offered  you,  do  not  drink  out 
of  the  vessel  it  is  brought  in ;  use  your  own 
mug  or  tumbler,  or  make  a  cup  of  your 
hands  in  Eastern  style. 

If  taking  water  from  wells,  do  not  draw 
with  the  village  buckets ;  if  you  have  none 
of  your  own  handy,  natives  will  almost  al- 
ways draw  water  for  you,  if  asked  civilly. 

Brahmans  and  sadhus  are  best  left  alone 
altogether ;  if  you  do  speak  to  them,  be 
ordinarily    polite. 

WHAT   THE   GOVERNMENT   DOES 

In  the  early  days  England  went  to  India 
for  the  same  reason  for  which  France  and 
Holland  had  gone  there.  Adventurers  tried 
to  enrich  themselves  in  the  country,  and 
cared  little  about  the  welfare  of  the  "in- 
habitants. However,  the  spirit  of  coloniza- 
tion in  the  best  sense  of  the  term  soon  as- 


serted itself.  The  English  in  India  en- 
deavored to  improve  the  fate  of  the  people 
by  giving  them  peace  and  good  government. 
The  vastness,  the  multifariousness  and  the 
paternal  solicitude  of  the  English  adminis- 
tration may  be  seen  from  a  sketch  descrip- 
tive of  the  functions  of  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment which  is  contained  in  the  report  of  the 
Decentralization  Commission.     It  states: 

The  Government  [in  India]  claims  a  share 
in  the  produce  of  the  land ;  and  save  where, 
as  in  Bengal,  it  has  commuted  this  into  a 
fixed  land  tax,  it  exercises  the  right  of 
periodical  re-assessment  of  the  cash  value  of 
its  share.  In  connection  with  its  revenue 
assessments,  it  has  instituted  a  detailed 
cadastral  survey,  and  a  record-of -rights  in  the 
land.  Where  its  assessments  are  made  upon 
large  landholders,  it  intervenes  to  prevent 
their  levying  excessive  rents  from  their  ten- 
ants ;  and  in  the  Central  Provinces  it  even 
takes  an  active  share  in  the  original  assess- 
ment of  landlords'  rents.  In  the  Punjab,  and 
some  other  tracts,  it  has  restricted  the 
alienation  of  land  by  agriculturists  to  non- 
agriculturists.  It  undertakes  the  manage- 
ment of  landed  estates  when  the  proprietor 
is  disqualified  from  attending  to  them  by 
age,  sex,  or  infirmity,  or,  occasionally,  by 
pecuniary  embarrassment.  In  times  of  famine 
it  undertakes  relief  works  and  other  remedial 
measures  upon  an  extensive  scale.  It  man- 
ages a  vast  forest  property  and  is  a  large 
manufacturer  of  salt  and  opium.  It  owns 
the  bulk  of  the  railways  of  the  count:  y  and 
directly  manages  a  considerable  portion  o-.' 
them,  and  it  has  constructed  and  maintains 
most  of  the  important  irrigation  works.  It 
owns  and  manages  the  postal  and  telegraph 
systems.  It  has  the  monopoly  of  note  issue, 
and  it  alone  can  set  the  mints  in  motion. 
It  acts,  for  the  most  part,  as  its  own  banker, 
and  it  occasionally  makes  temporary  loans 
to  Presidency  banks  in  times  of  financial 
stringency. 

With  the  co-operation  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  it  regulates  the  discharge  of  the  bal- 
ance of  trade,  as  between  India  and  the 
outside  world,  through  the  action  of  the 
India  Council's  drawings.  It  lends  money 
to  municipalities,  rural  boards  and  agri- 
culturists, and  occasionally  to  the  owners  of 
historic  estates.  It  exercises  a  strict  con- 
trol over  the  sale  of  liquor  and  intoxicating 
drugs,  not  merely  by  the  prevention  of  un- 
licensed sale,  but  by  granting  licenses  for 
short  periods  only  and  subject  to  special 
fees  which  are  usually  determined  by  auction. 
In  India,  moreover,  the  direct  responsibili- 
ties of  Government  in  respect  of  police,  edu- 
cation, medical  and  sanitary  operations,  and 
ordinary  public  works,  are  of  a  much  wider 
scope  than  in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Gov- 
ernment has,  further,  very  intimate  relations 
with  the  numerous  native  States,  which  col- 
lectively cover  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  area  of  India,  and  comprise  more  thai. 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


229 


one-fifth  of  its  population.  Apart  from  the 
special  functions  narrated  above,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  a  subcontinent  containing  nearly 
1,800,000  square  miles  and  300,000,000  people  is 
in  itself  an  extremely  heavy  burden,  and  one 
which  is  constantly  increasing  with  the  eco- 
nomic development  of  the  country  and  the 
growing  needs  of  populations  of  diverse  na- 
tionality,  language  and  creed. 

A  few  thousand  English  officials  act 
more  or  less  the  part  of  Providence  to  more 
than  300,000,000  people  and  try  to  improve 
their  lot  and  to  reconcile  their  differences. 

In  1746-49  the  English  made  war  on  the 
French  in  India  and  conquered  the  country 
under  Clive  and  Hastings  in  the  course  of 
decades.  While  many  Englishmen,  ani- 
mated by  fear,  wished  to  keep  the  Indians 
in  strict  subjection,  some  of  the  most  en- 
lightened administrators  desired  to  raise 
them  and  to  teach  them  the  arts  of  govern- 
ment, introducing  among  them  Western 
standards  and  accomplishments.  One  of  the 
most  eminent  Anglo-Indian  soldiers  and 
administrators,  Sir  Thomas  Munro,  wrote, 
for  instance,  120  years  ago: 

We   should  look   on   India  not  as  a  tempo- 


rary possession,  but  as  one  which  is  to  be 
maintained  permanently,  until  the  natives 
shall  in  some  future  age  have  abandoned 
most  of  their  superstititions  and  prejudices, 
and  become  sufficiently  enlightened  to  frame 
a  regular  Government  for  themselves,  and  to 
conduct  and  preserve   it. 

Other  prominent  Anglo-Indian  statesmen 
have  expressed  similar  views.  From  decade 
to  decade  the  English  in  India  have  tried 
to  associate  the  people  to  an  ever-increasing 
degree  in  the  government  of  the  country. 

PRACTICAL  IMPROVEMENTS 

With  infinite  patience  and  effort  England 
has  tried  to  improve  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Indian  people  live.  Good  law  and 
a  good  medical  service  have  been  provided, 
education  has  been  energetically  developed 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  masses  has  been 
increased  by  the  organization  of  agriculture 
and  by  opening  up  the  country.  India's 
interests  have  always  stood  first  with  the 
administrators.  By  developing  education 
on  too  literary  lines  they  have  created  a 
dissatisfied  proletariat  of  students  and  pro- 


,<f* 


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SCALE   OF  M/L£<, 


US 

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\      O  KHELAT/'f1 


zoo 


/#PESHAWAR      / 
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C       M     I    fN     A 


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MANIPUR 


M/&DALAr/*NNAM 


SKETCH  MAP  OP  INDIA,   SHOWING  THE   LOCATION  OP  THE  CHIEF  CITIES  AND   CENTRES 

OF   DISAFFECTION 


230 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


fessional  men.  In  order  to  keep  the  Indians 
from  being  exploited  by  European  capital- 
ists, the  Indian  Government  has  either  built 
its  own  railways  or  has  strictly  limited  the 
profits  of  privately  built  railroads  and  other 
undertakings. 

Vast  stretches  of  India  which  used  to  be 
a  desert  have  been  converted  into  densely 
settled  territories  yielding  prolific  crops  by 
the  creation  of  huge  irrigation  works.  The 
English  Government  has  constructed  66,120 
miles  of  irrigation  canals,  which  in  their 
combined  length  would  circle  the  globe  three 
times.  With  their  help  25,000,000  acres, 
more  than  one-eighth  of  India's  agricultural 
area,  have  been  made  to  yield  very  large 
crops.  Some  of  the  works  in  connection 
with  the  irrigation  service  are  very  vast. 
For  instance,  the  reservoirs  of  the  Western 
Ghauts  possess  masonry  dams  270  feet  high. 
In  all  its  public  works  and  in  the  administra- 
tion in  general  the  Anglo-Indian  Govern- 
ment  has    practiced    the   utmost    economy. 

The  vast  majority  of  Indians  of  all  classes 
recognize  the  benefit  of  England's  rule. 
Hence  all  India  supported  England  with 
the  utmost  enthusiasm  in  the  war.  A  dis- 
tinguished Indian  Judge,  Nawab  Nizamut 
Jung  of  the  High  Court  of  Hyderabad, 
published  in  The  London  Times  of  Oct.  2, 
1914,  a  poem  expressive  of  the  feelings  of 
his  countrymen  at  the  occasion  of  the  land- 
ing of  the  Indian  contingent  at  Marseilles. 
It  ran  as  follows: 

Though    weak     our    hands,     which    fain    would 
clasp 
The  warrior's  sword  with  warrior's   grasp 
On   Victory's   field ; 
Yet  turn,  O  mighty  Mother!  turn 
Unto  the  million  hearts  that  burn 
To  be  thy   shield! 

Thine    equal   justice,    mercy,    grace, 
Have    made   a    distant    alien    race 

A  part   of   thee ! 
'Twas  thine  to  bid  their  souls  rejoice. 
When  first  they  heard  the  living  voice 

Of   liberty! 

Unmindful    of   their   ancient   name, 
And   lost   to   Honor,    Glory,    Fame, 

And  sunk   in  strife 
Thou  found' st  them,  whom  thy  touch  hath  made 
Men,   and  to  whom  thy  breath   conveyed 

A   nobler   life  ! 

They  whom  thy  love  hath  guarded  long, 
They,  whom  thy  care  hath  rendered  strong 

In    love    and    faith, 
Their  heart-strings   round   thy   heart  entwine ; 
They  are,  they  ever  will  be  thine, 

In  life— in  death  ! 


Pessimists  and  men  little  acquainted 
with  India  foretell  that  the  Mutiny  which 
began  in  1857  will  be  followed  by  a  more 
terrible  rising  which  will  destroy  England's 
rule.  They  forget  that  the  great  Mutiny 
was  limited  to  the  old  Bengal  army,  that 
the  vast  majority  of  the  people  either  re- 
mained passive  or  supported  the  British, 
that  conditions  have  completely  changed 
since  then.  If  a  great  rising  should  occur, 
it  would  once  more  be  found  that  millions 
of  Indians  would  defend  the  English.  It 
is  not  without  cause  that  most  Indians 
prefer  trial  by  an  English  Judge  to  trial  by 
one  of  their  own  countrymen. 

UNREST   AND   ITS    CAUSES 

Although  England  has  conscientiously 
done  her  best  by  India,  placing  Indian  inter- 
ests above  English  interests,  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  dissatisfaction  with  English 
rule.  Mistakes  have  been  made,  for  even 
the  ablest  and  the  most  painstaking  officials 
are  apt  to  err.  Natives  have  had  reason  to 
complain  of  the  tactlessness  of  individual 
Englishmen  here  and  there.  Education  has 
created  a  great  deal  of  disappointment 
among  men  who  have  learned  the  rudiments 
of  European  science  and  art,  but  who  have 
failed  to  succeed  because  they  lacked  other 
indispensable  qualifications  or  because  the 
number  of  candidates  for  employment  was 
greater  than  the  number  of  vacancies. 

An  extraordinarilyy  high  percentage  of 
political  crimes  is  due  to  the  fanaticism  and 
enthusiasm  found  among  the  young  and 
immature.  According  to  the  report  of  the 
Sedition  Committee  of  1918,  186  persons 
were  convicted  between  1907  and  1917  of 
revolutionary  crimes  in  Bengal  or  were 
killed  in  the  commission  of  such  crimes. 
Of  these  186  individuals  two  were  less  than 
16  years  old,  48  were  from  16  to  20  years 
old,  and  76  were  aged  from  21  to  25.  Two- 
thirds  of  these  criminals  were  youths.  As 
regards  the  occupation  of  these  186  crimi- 
nals, 68  were  students,  24  were  persons  of 
no  occupation,  largely  office  seekers;  20 
were  clerks  who  occupied  humble  positions 
in  Government  employment,  16  were  youth- 
ful teachers  and  5  were  journalists.  Foiled 
ambition  and  failure  drove  these  youthfu* 
students  to  political  agitation  and  event- 
ually to  political  crime. 

Unrest  in  India  is  due  to  a  large  number 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


231 


of  causes.  There  is  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  struggling  intelligentsia,  which  with 
youthful  exuberance  recklessly  plunges  into 
revolution  everywhere.  Besides,  the  Indian 
students,  both  in  England  and  in  India,  have 
been  taught  to  admire  democracy  and  self- 
government.  Japan's  victory  over  Russia 
has  given  a  mighty  encouragement  to  all 
the  nations  of  the  East.  The  idea  of  de- 
mocracy and  of  self-determination  has  come 
to  the  fore  during  the  war,  and  the  Russian 
revolution  turned  the  heads  of  many  Indians 
who  were  imperfectly  informed  about  events 
in  Russia.  Besides,  the  English  adminis- 
tration in  India  became  very  unpopular 
with  certain  classes,  which  had  to  be  re- 
strained in  the  interest  of  the  community. 
Among  the  most  determined  opponents  of 
English  rule  are  the  village  usurers,  the 
small-town  bankers  and  grasping  money- 
lenders, who  are  prevented  by  English  law 
from  seizing  the  land  of  the  poor.  Lastly, 
every  trouble  afflicting  the  people  is  readily 
attributed  to  the  all-embracing  Government, 
which  is  held  responsible  for  the  failure  of 
the  harvest  and  for  religious  and  racial 
strife.  Not  unnaturally,  all  the  enemies 
of  England  have  tried  to  exploit  the  short- 
sightedness and  credulity  of  the  Indian 
masses.  German,  Irish  and  Russian  agita- 
tors have  done  everything  in  their  power 
to  throw  discredit  upon  England's  govern- 
ment of   India. 

TOWARD  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

Consecutive  administrations  had  striven 
to  give  to  the  native  Indians  an  ever-grow- 
ing share  in  the  management  of  the  country. 
During  the  war  the  desire  among  cultured 
Indians  for  more  liberal  institutions  in- 
creased, and  the  English  Government  re- 
solved to  open  a  large  avenue  to  India's 
abilities  and  ambitions.  The  Montagu- 
Chelmsford  report  of  April  22,  1918— Mr. 
Montagu  was  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
India  and  Lord  Chelmsford  the  Indian 
Viceroy — laid  down  the  following  principles 
for  the  future  government  of  India: 

There  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  com- 
plete popular  control  in  local  bodies  and  the 
largest  possible  independence  for  them  of 
outside   control. 

The  provinces  are  the  domain  in  which 
the  earlier  steps  toward  the  progressive 
realization  of  responsible  government  should 
be  taken.  Some  measure  of  responsibility 
should  be  given  at  once,   and   our  aim  is  to 


give  complete  responsibility  as  soon  as  con- 
ditions permit.  This  involves  at  once  giving 
the  provinces  the  largest  measure  of  inde- 
pendence, legislative,  administrative  and  fi- 
nancial, of  the  Government  of  India  which  is 
compatible  with  the  due  discharge  by  the 
latter   of  its   own   responsibilities. 

The  Government  of  India  must  remain 
wholly  responsible  to  Parliament,  and,  saving 
such  responsibility,  its  authority  in  essential 
matters  must  remain  indisputable,  pending 
experience  of  the  effect  of  the  changes  now 
to  be  introduced  in  the  provinces.  In  the 
meantime  the  Indian  Legislative  Council 
should  be  enlarged  and  made  more  repre- 
sentative and  its  opportunities  of  influencing 
Government    increased. 

In  proportion  as  the  foregoing  changes  take 
effect,  the  control  of  Parliament  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  over  the  Government  of 
India  and  provincial  Governments  must  be 
relaxed. 

The  lengthy  recommendations  made  by 
the  committee  were  officially  summarized 
as  follows: 

The  Executive— To  increase  the  Indian  ele- 
ment in  the  Governor  General's  Executive 
Council. 

The  Provinces— The  Provincial  Government 
to  be  given  the  widest  independence  from 
superior  control  in  legislative,  administra- 
tive, and  financial  matters  which  is  com- 
patible with  the  due  discharge  of  their  own 
responsibilities  by  the  Government  of  India. 

Local  Self-government— Complete  popular 
control  in  local  bodies  to  be  established  as 
far  as  possible. 

The  Public  Services— Any  racial  bars  that 
still  exist  in  regulations  for  appointment  to 
the  public  services   to  be  abolished. 

In  addition  to  recruitment  in  England, 
where  such  exists,  a  system  of  appointment 
to  all  the  public  services  to  be  established 
in    India. 

Percentages  of  recruitment  in  India,  with 
definite  rate  of  increase,  to  be  fixed  for  all 
these  services. 

In  the  Indian  Civil  Service  the  percentage 
to  be  33  per  cent,  of  the  superior  posts,  in- 
creasing annually  by  1%  per  cent,  until  the 
position  is   reviewed   by  the  commission. 

Steps  were  promptly  taken  to  carry  out 
these  recommendations  as  soon  as  possible, 
but  in  the  meantime  the  principal  agitators 
continued  inflaming  the  people  by  every 
means  in  their  power.  They  incited  the 
Mohammedans  against  England  because  of 
the  peace  conditions  which  were  to  be  im- 
posed upon  Turkey  and  the  Sultan.  They 
exploited  with  the  utmost  recklessness  every 
actual  or  fancied  grievance,  holding  the 
Government  responsible.  The  proposed  con- 
cessions to  the  Indian  people  were  in  ad- 
vance declared  to  be  utterly  insufficient  and 
unacceptable,  an  insult  to  India.    Egged  on 


232 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


by  reckless  and  suborned  mischief  mongers, 
crimes  of  violence  became  more  and  more 
frequent,  in  Bombay  and  the  Punjab.  Tele- 
graph lines  were  cut,  railways  wrecked, 
banks  plundered,  individual  Englishmen 
murdered.  In  the  Indian  temperament 
there  is  a  strong  strain  of  violence.  Men 
of  many  races  are  apt  to  run  amok  and  to 
murder  all  and  sundry  in  a  fit  of  ungovern- 
able passion. 

When  the  agitation  was  at  its  height  the 
Amritsar  massacre  occurred  on  April  13, 
1919.  In  consequence  of  murderous  attacks, 
destruction  of  property,  looting,  &c,  politi- 
cal assemblies  had  been  forbidden.  Martial 
law  had  been  declared.  Misled  by  agita- 
tors, thousands  of  people  flocked  to  a  for- 
bidden meeting.  The  General-in-Command 
had  only  a  few  armed  soldiers  at  his  dis- 
posal. He  feared  a  collision  and  the  be- 
ginning of  a  widespread  massacre  of  Euro- 
peans, similar  to  that  which  occurred  at 
the  time  of  the  great  mutiny  of  1857.  He 
marched  his  few  soldiers  to  the  meeting 
place  and  opened  fire  on  the  demonstrators 
without  further  warning.  Several  hundreds 
were  killed. 

This  unfortunate  occurrence,  which  led 
to  the  punishment  and  dismissal  of  the 
General-in-Command,  naturally  created  a 
deep  impression  throughout  India.  Eng- 
land was  held  responsible  for  the  act  of 
General  Dyer,  to  the  deep  regret  of  all  those 
Englishmen  who  wished  to  pursue  a  policy 
of  conciliation  and  of  friendship  toward 
the  native  Indians.  Feeling  toward  Eng- 
land had  become  greatly  embittered,  owing 
to  this  unfortunate  collision. 

GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA  ACT 

The  Government  of  India  act,  which  was 
based  upon  the  recommendations  of  the 
Montagu-Chelmsford  report,  was  passed  in 
December,  1919.  India  received  representa- 
tive government  and  a  greatly  increased 
share  in  the  administration  of  the  country. 
The  King-Emperor  signified  assent  to  the 
great  Reform  bill  in  a  long  proclamation 
which  was  published  on  Dec.  23,  1919,  in 
which  King  George  pointed  out  that  the  re- 
forms granted  were  in  accordance  with  the 
liberal  policy  which  England  had  pursued 
for  decades,  and  in  which  he  called  upon  the 
people  of  India  to  forget  old  grievances 
and  to  co-operate  with   England   in  order 


to  lead  India  toward  a  bright  and  brilliant 
future.     That  proclamation  stated: 

Another  epoch  has  been  reached  today  In 
the  annals  of  India.  I  have  given  my  royal 
assent  to  an  act  which  will  take  its  place 
among  the  great  historic  measures  passed  by 
the  Parliament  of  this  realm  for  the  better 
government  of  India  and  for  the  greater 
contentment  of  her  people.  The  acts  of  1773 
and  1784  were  designed  to  establish  a  regular 
system  of  administration  and  justice  under 
the  Honourable  East  India  Company.  The 
act  of  1833  opened  the  door  for  Indians  to 
public  office  and  employment.  The  act  of 
1858  transferred  the  administration  from  the 
company  to  the  Crown  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  public  life  which  exist  in  India  today. 
The  act  of  1861  sowed  the  seed  of  representa- 
tive institutions,  and  the  seed  was  quickened 
into  life  by  the  act  of  1909.  The  act  which 
has  now  become  law  intrusts  the  elected 
representatives  of  the  people  with  a  definite 
share  in  the  Government  and  points  the  way 
to  full  responsible  government  hereafter.  If, 
as  I  confidently  hope,  the  policy  which  this 
act  inaugurates  should  achieve  its  purpose, 
the  results  will  be  momentous  in  the  story 
of  human  progress.    *    *    * 

The  path  will  not  be  easy,  and  in  the 
march  toward  the  goal  there  will  be  need 
of  perseverance  and  of  mutual  forbearance 
between  all  sections  and  races  of  my  people 
in  India.  I  am  confident  that  those  high 
qualities  will  be  forthcoming.  I  rely  on  the 
new  popular  assemblies  to  interpret  wisely 
the  wishes  of  those  whom  they  represent  and 
not  to  forget  the  interests  of  the  masses  who 
cannot  yet  be  admitted  to  franchise.  I 
rely  on  the  leaders  of  the  people,  the 
Ministers  of  the  future,  to  face  respon- 
sibility and  endure  misrepresentation,  to 
sacrifice  much  for  the  common  interest  of 
the  State,  remembering  that  true  patriotism 
transcends  party  and  communal  boundaries, 
and,  while  retaining  the  confidence  of  the 
legislatures,  to  co-operate  with  my  officers 
for  the  common  good  in  sinking  unessential 
differences  and  in  maintaining  the  essential 
standards  of  a  just  and  generous  Govern- 
ment. Equally  do  I  rely  upon  my  officers 
to  respect  their  new  colleagues  and  to  work 
with  them  in  harmony  and  kindliness ;  to 
assist  the  people  and  their  representatives 
in  an  orderly  advance  toward  free  institu- 
tions ;  and  to  find  in  these  new  tasks  a  fresh 
opportunity  to  fulfill,  as  in  the  past,  their 
highest  purpose  of  faithful  service  to  my 
people.    *    *    * 

While  parliamentary  institutions  on 
democratic  lines  were  granted  to  the  prov- 
inces governed  directly  by  England,  the 
rulers  of  the  independent  States  were  en- 
couraged to  form  a  Chamber  of  Princes. 
The  inauguration  of  the  new  era  was  in- 
trusted to  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  the  uncle 
of  the  King,  who  is  well  known  throughout 
India,  and  who  had  made  himself  extremely 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


233 


popular  during  his  long  stay  in  the  country. 
The  inauguration  took  place  at  Delhi  in  the 
most  impressive  manner.  The  Duke  de- 
livered the  King's  message  to  the  Indian 
Princes  and  people,  and,  when  his  official 
address  was  ended,  he  addressed  the  as- 
sembly in  somewhat  faltering  tones,  asking 
permission  to  add  a  personal  appeal  to  his 
official  statement.  [This  eloquent  appeal 
was  given  in  full  in  last  month's  Current 
History,  Page  138.]  His  plea  for  the  burial 
of  the  dead  past,  and  for  a  joining  of  hands 
for  realization  of  India's  new  hopes,  made 
a  deep  impression. 

GANDHI'S  BOYCOTT  CRUSADE 

England's  difficulties,  however,  are  by  no 
means  ended.  Numerous  agitators  continue 
making  mischief  and  deluding  the  masses. 
Among  these  Mr.  Gandhi  is  by  far  the  most 
prominent.  This  interesting  personage  is 
a  pupil  of  Tolstoy.  He  met  the  great  Rus- 
sian philosopher,  poet  and  moralist,  and 
learned  from  him  the  gospel  which  combines 
lofty  idealism  with  anarchism,  the  very 
gospel  which  has  destroyed  Russia.  Mr. 
Gandhi,  like  Tolstoy,  has  preached  for  years 
the  gospel  of  non-resistance,  and,  like  his 
Russian  prototype,  tries  to  live  a  saintly 
life  as  an  ascetic.  However,  he  not  only 
preaches  the  ideal  policy  of  non-resistance, 
which  appeals  equally  to  devout  Christians 
and  to  devout  Hindus,  but  he  teaches  at  the 
same  time  the  duty  of  non-co-operation  with 
the  English  in  India,  hoping  to  drive  them 
out  by  isolating  them  completely.  At  a  spe- 
cial congress  held  in  Calcutta  in  September, 
1920,  he  laid  down  his  program  of  non-co- 
operation, which  comprises  the  following 
items : 

(1)  Gradual  withdrawal  of  children  from 
schools  and  colleges  owned,  aided  or  con- 
trolled by  Government,  and  in  the  place  of 
such  schools  and  colleges  the  establishment 
of  national  schools  and  colleges  in  the  various 
provinces.  (2)  The  gradual  boycott  of  the 
British  courts  by  lawyers  and  litigants  and 
the  establishment  of  private  arbitration 
courts  by  them  for  the  settlement  of  disputes. 
(3)  Refusal  on  the  part  of  the  military,  cler- 
ical and  laboring  classes  to  offer  themselves 
as  recruits  for  service  in  Mesopotamia.  (4) 
Withdrawal  by  the  candidates  of  their  candi- 
dature for  elections  to  the  Reformed  Coun- 
cils, and  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  voters 
to  vote  for  any  candidate  who  may,  despite 
the  advice  of  the  Congress,  offer  himself  for 
election.     (5)  The  boycott  of  foreign  goods. 


The  carrying  out  of  the  Gandhi  program 
would  lead  to  complete  chaos  in  India,  as 
the  British-established  law  courts,  schools, 
&c,  cannot  be  replaced  by  native  institu- 
tions. In  his  extravagance  Mr.  Gandhi  has 
demanded  in  addition  the  resignation  of  all 
titles  and  honorary  offices  by  Indians  and 
the  boycott  of  all  undertakings  managed  by 
Englishmen.  As  the  railways,  the  tele- 
graphs, the  Post  Office,  the  irrigation 
service,  &c,  are  directed  by  Englishmen, 
the  carrying  out  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  program 
would  involve  India's  reversion  to  barbar- 
ism. 

The  members  of  the  Indian  National  Con- 
gress, impressed  by  England's  obvious  de- 
sire to  lead  India  on  the  way  to  self-gov- 
ernment by  easy  stages,  had   drafted  the 
following  resolution  at  the  end  of  1919: 
The  objects  of  the  Indian  National  Congress 
are  the  attainment  by  the  people  of  India  of 
a  system  of  government  similar  to  that  en- 
joyed by  the   self-governing  members  of  the 
British  Empire,  and  a  participation  by  them 
in    the     rights    and     responsibilities     of     the 
empire  on  equal  terms  with  those  members. 
These  objects  are  to  be  achieved  by  constitu- 
tional   means,    by    bringing    about    a    steady 
reform  of  the  existing  system  of  administra- 
tion, and  by  promoting  national  unity,  foster- 
ing public  spirit,   and  developing  and  organ- 
izing   the    intellectual,    moral,    economic    and 
industrial  resources  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Gandhi  possesses  to  an  eminent  de- 
gree the  fatal  gift  of  eloquence.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  the  Congress  with  him 
and  caused  it  to  replace  this  moderate  and 
sensible  resolution  by  the  following  one, 
which  was  passed  in  1920: 

The  object  of  the  Indian  National  Congress 
is  the  attainment  of  Swaraj  by  the  people  of 
India  by  all  legitimate  and  peaceful  means. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  "  Swaraj  "  is 
made  clear  by  the  policy  which  Mr.  Gandhi 
preaches  unceasingly.  For  instance,  he 
stated  in  his  organ,  Young  India: 

The  movement  is  essentially  religious.  The 
business  of  every  God-fearing  man  is  to 
dissociate  himself  from  evil  in  total  disre- 
gard of  consequences.  *  *  *  Therefore, 
whoever  is  convinced  that  this  Government 
represents  the  activity  of  Satan  has  no  choice 
left  to  him  but  to  dissociate  himself  from  it. 

Swaraj — self-government  as  Mr.  Gandhi 
understands  it — is  to  be  carried  out  by  the 
complete  boycott  of  England  and  of  every- 
thing English.  That  policy  would  inevitably 
lead  to  civil  war  in  India,  and  it  would, 
before  long,  create  in  that  country  condi- 


234 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tions  worse  than  those  prevailing  in   Rus- 
sia. 

Happily  for  India,  Mr.  Gandhi's  agitation 
is  proving  a  failure.  Only  a  few  prominent 
Indians  have  resigned  their  titles  and  of- 
fices. Some  lawyers  have  stopped  practic- 
ing the  law,  but  these  are  mostly  men  who 
had  failed  in  their  attempt  to  obtain  any 
business  and  who  hoped  to  benefit  them- 
selves by  a  dramatic  formal  withdrawal 
from  the  courts.  Although  many  Indians, 
obedient  to  Mr.  Gandhi's  orders,  boycotted 
the  Duke  of  Connaught  by  closing  their 
shops  and  staying  indoors,  reducing  his  re- 
ception in  some  localities  to  a  more  or  less 
official  function,  they  have  come  freely  for- 
ward as  candidates  for  election  and  as 
voters.  In  only  six  of  the  637  constituencies 
the  elections  failed  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  any  candidate.  The  extreme  non-co- 
operators  have  stood  aside  from  the  coun- 
cils, but  they  are  only  a  small  minority. 
Thus  the  attempt  to  introduce  parliament- 
ary government  into  India  has  succeeded, 
notwithstanding  the  hostility  of  the  extrem- 
ists. Owing  to  the  limitation  of  the  fran- 
chise, the  Indian  electorate  consists  at  pres- 
ent of  only  5,000,000,  but  the  number  will 
grow,  and  in  course  of  time  India  will  pos- 
sess democratic  and  representative  institu- 
tions and  self-government  on  democratic 
lines. 

NEW  METHODS  OF   EXTREMISTS 

The  non-co-operators  have  not  failed  to 
observe  the  collapse  of  their  original  pro- 
gram. So  their  most  recent  activities  have 
been  directed  toward  other  ends.  They  are 
striving  by  a  passionate  campaign  to  bring 
into  the  remote  villages  a  belief  in  the 
"  Satanic  "  nature  of  the  Anglo-Indian  Gov- 
ernment, and  they  are  resolved  to  avail 
themselves  of  every  genuine  or  fancied 
grievance  which  may  serve  their  purpose. 
They  are  endeavoring  to  exploit  agrarian, 
industrial  and  religious  troubles  with  a 
view  to  attacking  the  established  Govern- 
ment. With  this  end  in  view,  they  have 
taken  up  the  grievances  of  the  tenant  farm- 
ers of  Oudh  and  of  Bihar,  and  they  are 
endeavoring  to  create  trouble  in  every  mill, 
factory,  mine,  and  wherever  labor  is  em- 
ployed. 

This  change  of  policy  means  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  the  policy  of   Swaraj. 


Instead  of  directing  a  nation-wide  agitation 
against  the  Anglo-Indian  Government,  they 
endeavor,  like  the  I.  W.  W.,  to  make  trouble 
by  "  boring  from  within,"  wishing  to  create 
trouble  for  trouble's  sake.  They  will  no 
doubt  cause  a  great  deal  of  further  mis- 
chief. However,  the  new  councils  have  ob- 
tained the  support  of  educated  Indian  opin- 
ion, which  is  ignoring  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his 
supporters.  The  Indian  councils  and  the 
new  Ministers  are  finding  their  feet.  That 
huge  country  has  been  fairly  started  on  the 
road  toward  self-government. 

England  strives  to  raise  India  not  only 
by  political  and  economic  measures,  but  also 
by  social  recognition.  Formerly  Indians 
were  never  admitted  to  English  clubs  and 
families.  Now  there  are  many  inter-racial 
clubs,  and  Indians  are  even  elected  to  Eng- 
lish clubs,  if  they  are  personally  acceptable. 
Until  the  outburst  of  racial  ill-feeling  which 
followed  the  trouble  of  April,  1919,  it  was 
also  indubitable  that  social  intercourse  in 
sports  and  entertainments  was  widely  grow- 
ing. In  the  past  native  Indians  were  dis- 
criminated against  in  the  English  Army. 
That  discrimination  tends  to  disappear.  The 
report  of  the  Montagu-Chelmsford  Commis- 
sion stated: 

British  commissions  have  for  the  first  time 
been  granted  to  Indian  officers.  The  prob- 
lem of  commissions  is  one  that  bristles 
with  difficulties.  The  announcement  of  his 
Majesty's  Government  that  "  the  bar  which 
has  hitherto  prevented  the  admission  of 
Indians  to  commissioned  rank  in  his 
Majesty's  army  should  be  removed  "  has 
established  the  principle  that  the  Indian 
soldier  can  earn  the  King's  commission  by 
his  military  conduct.  It  is  not  enough 
merely  to  assert  a  principle.  We  must  act 
on  it.  The  services  of  the  Indian  Army  in 
the  war  and  the  great  increase  in  its  num- 
bers make  it  necessary  that  a  considerable 
number  of  commissions  should  now  be  given. 
The  appointments  made  have  so  far  been 
few.  Other  methods  of  appointment  have 
not  yet  been  decided  on,  but  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  necessity  of  grappling  with 
the  problem.  We  also  wish  to  establish  the 
principle  that  if  an  Indian  is  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  a  British  unit  of  his  Majesty's 
Army  its  commissioned  ranks  also  should  be 
open  to  him.  The  Indian  soldier  who  fights 
for  us  and  earns  promotion  in  the  field  can 
reasonably  ask  that  his  conduct  should  offer 
him  the  same  chances  a.s  the  European  beside 
whom   he   fights. 

There  is  every  prospect  that  India  will 
settle  down  within  reasonable  time,  not- 
withstanding the  mischievous  pertinacity  of 


GIVING  INDIA  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


235 


agitators  and  the  desire  of  England's  ene- 
mies to  create  trouble.  In  order  to  open 
the  new  era  worthily  and  to  make  the  ex- 
periment of  democratized  institutions  a 
success,  the  British  Government  has  sent 
there   Lord    Reading,   who    has    shown   his 


eminent  ability,  energy,  industry  and  tact 
in  all  the  important  functions  which  he  has 
undertaken.  He  is  probably  the  best  man 
available  for  the  most  important  post  of 
Viceroy  under  the  new  conditions  created 
by  the  Reform  bill. 


GANDHI- 
BRITAIN'S  FOE  IN  INDIA 


A  Hindu  Mahatma,  preacher  of  "non-co-operation,"  a  militant  Tolstoy  who  advocates 
the  ejection  of  the  British  from  India  by  passive  resistance  and  admits  that  this  move- 
ment may  lead  to  the  shedding  of  much  blood — Gandhi's  personality  described 


TWO  recent  events  have  focused  world 
interest  on  Great  Britain's  problem  in 
India.  One  was  the  appointment  of 
Lord  Reading,  who  had  long  held  the  high 
office  of  Lord  Chief  Justice,  as  the  new 
Viceroy  of  India;  the  other  was  the  opening 
by  the  Duke  of  Connaught — the  only  sur- 
viving son  of  Queen  Victoria — of  the  ad- 
visory Indian  Parliament  established  by 
the  new  Reform  act  at  Delhi.  Both  events 
were  considered  in  Great  Britain  and  India 
alike  as  of  the  greatest  historical  impor- 
tance. The  opening  of  the  Delhi  Parlia- 
ment, amid  impressive  ceremonies,  was  an 
expression  of  Great  Britain's  willingness  to 
start  India  on  the  road  to  democracy.  The 
appointment  of  Lord  Reading,  one  of  the 
keenest  and  wisest  minds  of  England,  signi- 
fied that  the  situation  in  India  was  dan- 
gerous in  the  extreme,  and  needed  an  ad- 
ministrator of  the  highest  ability  to  cope 
with  it. 

The  anti-British  ferment  in  India  began 
before  the  war,  and  continued  while  the  al- 
lied nations  were  at  grips  with  Germany. 
With  the  aid  of  the  native  princes,  num- 
bering some  112  Indian  potentates,  all  riot- 
ing and  disturbances  were  repressed.  The 
existing  discontent,  however,  was  aug- 
mented by  the  use  of  Indian  troops  in 
France,  and  troubles  began  anew.  The 
slogan  of  the  war,  "  self-determination  of 
the  peoples,"  bit  into  the  Hindu  mind,  and 
the  anti-British  movement  became  clearly 
crystallized.  In  an  effort  to  overcome 
Indian  hostility,  measures  providing  a  lim- 


ited degree  of  self-government  were  em- 
bodied in  an  Indian  Home  Rule  bill,  based 
on  the  findings  of  the  Montagu-Chelmsford 
report  to  Parliament.  This  bill  was  finally 
passed  in  1919,  nineteen  months  after  the 
submission  of  the  report. 

INCREASING  HOSTILITY 

During  this  interim  the  disorders  in  India 
had  broken  out  afresh,  and  had  led  to  the 
passing  of  the  Rowlatt  bill,  a  stern  repres- 
sive act  known  in  India  as  the  "  Black 
Cobra  "  bill.  This  repressive  measure,  vig- 
orously enforced,  culminated  in  the  so-called 
massacre  at  Amritsar  (in  the  Punjab 
Province),  where  General  Dyer,  the  British 
officer  in  command,  opened  fire  on  a  multi- 
tude of  assembled  natives;  a  number  were 
killed  and  many  wounded.  Though  the 
British  Government  censured  General  Dyer 
severely,  the  British  press  showed  a  dis- 
position to  commend  him  for  his  firmness 
in  putting  down  what  was  described  as 
revolution;  commendatory  speeches  were 
made  in  Parliament,  after  General  Dyer's 
removal  from  active  service  in  India,  and  a 
large  purse  was  raised  for  the  censured 
General  from  public  contributions.  The 
stern  repressions  of  the  Rowlatt  bill,  and 
the  whole  British  attitude  toward  the  Dyer 
case,  have  contributed  in  large  measure  to 
intensify  Indian  hostility  to  the  British 
regime. 

Undeterred,  and  perhaps  even  stimulated 
by  this  growing  hostility,  the  Biitish  Gov- 
ernment  proceeded  with   its   plans   to  lead 


236 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


India  slowly,  safely  and  sanely  toward  the 
ideal  of  democracy.  The  reform  bill  spon- 
sored by  Lord  Montagu — the  Secretary  of 
State  for  India — has  been  described  as  a 
beginning  of  self-government;  under  it  the 
Indian  will  participate  in  the  government 
of  his  home  land  on  an  advisory  basis,  the 
British,  however,  retaining  control  of  all 
political  and  legislative  initiative.  The  im- 
pressive opening  of  the  new  Council  at  Delhi 
on  Feb.  8,  1921,  inaugurated  the  applica- 
tion of  Indian  swaraj  (home-rule)  as  the 
British  interpret  it. 

GANDHI— ENGLAND'S  FOE 

In  this  new  legislation,  however,  the  Brit- 
ish reckoned  without  the  most  dangerous 
opponent  that,  they  have  ever  been  com- 
pelled to  face  in  India.  This  persistent  and 
effective  anti-British  agitator,  Mohandas 
Karamchand  Gandhi,  is  the  most-talked-of 
man  in  India  today.  Curiously  enough,  he 
was  educated  in  England.  Professor  Gil- 
bert Murray,  the  Greek  scholar,  in  an  ar- 
ticle published  not  long  ago  in  the  Hibbert 
Journal,  gave  this  lucid  sketch  of  Gandhi's 
early  career  and  personality: 

About  the  year  1889  a  young  Indian  stu- 
dent, called  Mohandas  Karamchand  Gandhi, 
came  to  England  to  study  law.  He  was  rich 
and  clever,  of  cultivated  family,  gentle  and 
modest  in  his  manner.  He  dressed  and  be- 
haved like  other  people.  *  *  *  He  took  his 
degrees  and  became  a  successful  lawyer  in 
Bombay,  but  he  cared  more  for  religion  than 
for  law.  Gradually  his  asceticism  increased. 
He  gave  away  all  his  money  to  good  causes 
except  the  meagrest  allowance.  He  took 
vows  of  poverty.  He  ceased  to  practice  at 
the  law  because  his  religion — a  mysticism 
which  seems  to  be  as  closely  related  to 
Christianity  as  it  is  to  any  traditional  Indian 
religion — forbade  him  to  take  part  in  a  sys- 
tem which  tried  to  do  right  by  violence. 
When  I  met  him  in  England  in  1914,  he  ate, 
I  believe,  only  rice,  and  drank  only  water, 
and  slept  on  the  floor;  and  his  wife,  who 
seemed  to  be  his  companion  in  everything, 
lived  in  the  same  way.  His  conversation 
was  that  of  a  cultivated  and  well-read  man, 
with  a  certain  indefinable  suggestion ,  of 
saintliness. 

Mr.  Gandhi  acquired  political  significance 
in  the  eyes  of  the  British  Government  in 
1893,  when  he  accepted  the  appeal  of  the 
150,000  Indians  in  South  Africa  to  come  to 
Natal  and  to  plead  against  the  decree  of 
expulsion  by  the  South  African  Government 
on  the  ground  of  color,  as  well  as  against 


discriminations  in  taxation  and  registration 
practiced  against  them  by  the  Government, 
and  against  the  violent  actions  of  South 
African  mobs.  He  went  as  a  barrister, 
and  was  forbidden  to  plead.  He  went  again 
in  1895,  and  was  mobbed  and  nearly  killed 
at  Durban. 

For  many  years  following  this  experi- 
ence he  was  engaged  in  passive  resistance 
to  the  British  Government.  And  yet  in 
1899,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Boer  war,  he 
organized  an  Indian  Red  Cross  unit;  in 
1904,  when  plague  broke  out  in  Johannes- 
burg, he  opened  a  private  hospital;  in  1906, 
when  a  native  rebellion  began  in  Natal,  he 
organized  and  personally  led  a  corps  of 
stretcher-bearers  in  work  which  proved  to 
be  extremely  dangerous  and  painful.  For 
this  he  was  thanked  by  the  Governor  of 
Natal.  Shortly  afterward  he  was  thrown 
into  jail  at  Johannesburg  for  his  political 
activities.  Work  for  humanity  was  one 
thing  with  Gandhi,  hostility  to  the  British 
another. 

HIS   RISE    TO    LEADERSHIP 

The  upward  line  of  his  meteoric  career  in 
India  began  with  his  organization  of  the 
All-India  Swaraj  Sabha  ( Self-Government 
Society),  the  existence  of  which,  under 
Gandhi's  Presidency,  made  him  a  force  to 
be  reckoned  with.  The  power  of  his  per- 
sonality became  evident  in  December,  1920, 
at  the  Nagpur  Indian  National  Congress, 
when  he  succeeded  in  changing  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Congress,  and  in  making  it 
adopt  his  so-called  "  non-co-operative " 
movement,  said  to  be  inspired  by  the  teach- 
ings of  Leo  Tolstoy;  the  method  of  warfare 
adopted  by  this  movement  is  that  of  passive 
resistance,  chiefly  by  boycotting  all  British 
titles,  British  employments,  British  schools 
and  colleges,  and  British  merchandise. 

With  the  launching  of  this  movement  the 
issue  became  clearly  defined.  Great  Brit- 
ain had  drafted  a  scheme  of  gradual  evolu- 
tion toward  the  ideal  of  Home  Rule.  That 
plan  was  now  imperiled  by  popular  demands 
for  complete  separation  from  the  empire — 
under  the  leadership  of  this  Hindu  ascetic, 
whose  monk-like,  Messianic  personality, 
combined  with  a  dangerously  eloquent 
power  of  oratory,  soon  gained  a  strong  hold 
on  the  imagination  of  the  Indian  populace, 


GANDHI— BRITAIN'S  FOE  IN  INDIA 


237 


to    whom    his    appeal    was    especially    ad- 
dressed. 

For  months  Gandhi's  activities  have  been 
reported  in  the  British  press,  and  his  name 
has  become  almost  as  familiar  to  the  Brit- 
ish public  as  that  of  Lloyd  George.  In 
India  the  Nationalist  leader's  life  has  been 


MOHANDAS  KARAMCHAND  GANDHI 

Leader  of  the  movement  against  British  rule 

in   India 


a  continual  pilgrimage  from  place  to  place, 
from  village  to  village,  and  the  fiery  breath 
of  his  eloquence  has  left  behind  it  an  arid 
waste  of  non-co-operation.  The  name  of 
Gandhi  today  is  an  open  threat  against 
British  rule.  This  threat  has  been  rein- 
forced by  his  alliance  with  the  Indian  Mos- 
lems, represented  by  such  leaders  as  Shau- 
kat  Ali,  whose  belief  lies  wholly  in  the 
sword.  Politics  make  strange  bedfellows. 
This  alliance  has  overcome  the  former 
Moslem  opposition  to  nationalism.  The 
power  of  Gandhi's  personality  has  also  suc- 
ceeded in  overcoming  the  resistance  of  the 
low-caste  Hindus,  who  at  first  showed  no 
desire  to  return  to  the  harsh  and  arbitrary 
rule  of  the  high-caste  Hindus  from  which 
the  British  domination  liberated  them. 

This  extreme  religionist  with  a  beguiling 
tongue,  this   ascetic   who  walks   about  like 


a  mendicant  with  bare  feet  and  the  humblest 
clothing,  this  man  of  mystery  in  dreaming 
India,  whose  whole  impulse  is  religious, 
stands  essentially  for  two  things:  the  driv- 
ing out  of  the  British  from  India  by  passive 
resistance,  and  the  complete  independence 
of  India,  under  a  reversion  to  her  ancient 
ways.  A  Hindu  Jean  Jacques  Eousseau, 
he  preaches  the  overthrow  of  all  the  bene- 
fits of  civilization;  an  Indian  Tolstoy,  he 
urges  the  overthrow  of  all  force.  Right 
must  triumph.     If  it  fail,  it  is  not  Right. 

Sir  Valentine  Chirol  in  an  article  pub- 
lished by  The  London  Telegraph  of  Feb.  7, 
1921,  after  describing  the  mesmeric  influ- 
ence of  Mr.  Gandhi's  speeches  on  the  Indian 
multitudes,  and  its  effect  in  the  spread  of 
non-co-operation,  describes  an  interview 
which  he  had  with  the  Nationalist  leader 
in  the  presence  of  Shaukat  Ali,  Gandhi's 
Mohammedan  ally.  The  writer  brings  out 
vividly  the  contrast  between  Shaukat  Ali 's 
"  great  burly  figure  and  heavy  jowl,  his 
loud  voice  and  truculent  manner,  and  even 
his  more  opulent  robes,  embroidered  with 
the  Turkish  crescent,"  and  "  the  slight, 
ascetic  frame  and  mobile  features  of  the 
Hindu  dreamer,  draped  in  the  simple  folds 
of  his  white  homespun."  Mr.  Gandhi's 
views  were  described  as  follows: 

With  a  perfect  command  of  accurate  and 
lucid  English,  and  in  a  voice  as  persuasive 
as  his  whole  manner  is  gentleness  itself,  he 
explains,  more  in  pity  than  in  anger,  that 
India  has  at  last  recovered  her  own  soul. 
*  *  *  Not,  however,  by  violence,  but  by  her 
unique  "  soul-force  "  would  she  attain  to 
Swaraj  (home  rule),  and,  purged  of  the  de- 
grading influences  of  British  rule  and  West- 
ern civilization,  return  to  the  ancient  ways 
of  Vedic  wisdom,  and  to  the  peace  which 
was  hers  before  alien  domination  divided 
and  exploited  her  people. 

Sir  Valentine  asked  him  whether  his  doc- 
trine of  non-co-operation  would  not  prove 
a  destructive  rather  than  a  constructive 
force. 

"  No,"  he  rejoined,  and  I  think  I  can  con- 
vey only  his  words  accurately,  but  not  his 
curious  smile,  as  of  one  who  feels  com- 
passion for  the  incurable  skepticism  of  one 
in  the  outer  darkness.  "  No,  I  destroy  noth- 
ing that  I  do  not  at  once  replace.  Let  your 
law  courts,  with  their  cumbersome  and  ruin- 
ous machinery  and  their  ancient  jurispru- 
dence, disappear,  and  India  will  set  up  her 
old  panchayats,  in  which  justice  will  be  dis- 
pensed in  accordance  with  her  inner  con- 
science. For  your  schools  and  colleges,  upon 
which  lakhs  of  rupees  have  been  wasted  in 


238 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


bricks  and  mortar,  and  ponderous  buildings 
which  weigh  as  heavily  upon  our  boys  as 
the  educational  processes  by  which  you  re- 
duce their  souls  to  slavery,  we  will  give  them, 
as  of  old,  the  shaded  groves  open  to  God's 
air  and  light,  where  they  will  gather  round 
their  gurus  to  listen  to  the  learning  of  our 
forefathers,  that  will  make  free  men  of  them 
once  more." 

Asked  ii  the  fundamental  antagonism  be- 
tween Hindu  and  Mohammedan  would  not 
store  up  trouble  for  the  future,  Mr.  Gandhi 
pointed  to  Shaukat  Ali,  and  said: 

Has  any  cloud  ever  arisen  between  my 
brother  Shaukat  Ali  and  myself  during  the 
months  we  have  now  lived  and  worked  to- 
gether? Yet  he  is  a  stanch  Mohammedan 
and  I  a  devout  Hindu.  He  is  a  meat-eater 
and  I  a  vegetarian.  He  believes  in  the 
sword;  I  condemn  all  violence.  What  do 
such  differences  matter  between  two  men  in 
both  of  whom  the  heart  of  India  beats  in 
unison? 

EXTREME   TOLSTOYISM 

A  more  intimate  portrait  was  drawn  by 
Perceval  Landon  in  The  London  Daily  Tele- 
graph of  Feb.  5: 

Seated  on  the  floor  in  a  small,  barely  fur- 
nished room,  I  found  the  mahatma,  clad  in 
rough  white  homespun.  He  turned  up  to 
me,  with  a  smile  of  welcome,  the  typical 
head  of  the  idealist— the  skull  well-formed 
and  finely  modeled ;  the  face  narrowed  to 
the  pointed  chin.  His  eyes  are  deep,  kindly 
and  entirely  sane;  his  hair  is  graying  a 
little  over  the  forehead.  [He  is  51  years 
old.]  He  speaks  gently  and  well,  and  in  his 
voice  is  a  note  of  detachment  which  lends 
uncanny  force  to  the  strange  doctrines  that 
he  has  given  up  his  life  to  teach.  *  *  * 
Courteous,  implacable  and  refined,  Mr. 
Gandhi  explained  to  me  the  faith  that  was  in 
him,  and  as  he  did  so,  my  hopes  of  an 
understanding  between  him  and  the  English 
grew  less  and  less.  The  hated  civilization 
and  rule  of  England  must  go.  I  suggested 
the  unprotected  state  of  India  should  our 
work  come  to  an  end ;  to  this  he  answered : 
"  If  India  has  sufficient  unity  to  expel  the 
British,  she  can  also  protect  herself  against 
foreign  aggression;  universal  love  and  soul 
force  will  keep  our  shores  inviolable.  It  is 
by  making  armaments  that  war  is  made. 
*  *  *  If  even  all  India  were  submerged  in 
the  struggle,  it  would  only  be  a  proof  that 
India  was  evil,  and  it  would  be  for  the  best." 

D.     N.     Bannersja,     a     Hindu     author, 


writing  in  The  Adventurer  (London),  lays 
emphasis  on  Mr.  Gandhi's  "  austere,  puri- 
tanic life,  his  abstention  from  the  merest 
suggestion  of  violent  methods,  his  ingrained 
fighting  spirit,  which  in  South  Africa 
brought  Generals  Botha  and  Smuts  to  their 
knees;  his  identification,  in  interest  and  out- 
look, with  the  toiling  millions  in  factories 
and  cotton  mills,  and  his  iron  will  and  ca- 
pacity for  suffering." 

Though  personally  opposed  to  the  use  of 
violence,  Mr.  Gandhi  at  the  Bagpur  Con- 
gress admitted  that  the  success  of  his  move- 
ment might  involve  "  wading  through  oceans 
of  blood."  Of  his  fighting  spirit  there  can 
be  no  doubt.  An  Indian  member  of  the 
newly  constituted  Legislature  at  Delhi, 
writing  to  an  English  newspaper  shortly 
after  the  departure  of  the  Duke  of  Con- 
naught,  stated  that  wherever  the  Duke  went 
he  was  followed  by  Mr.  Gandhi — to  Cal- 
cutta, to  Delhi,  to  Bombay — and  wherever 
the  Duke's  ringing  words  of  cheer  and  op- 
timism were  heard,  Mr.  Gandhi's  impas- 
sioned speeches  against  the  hated  English 
rule  followed  like  a  blighting  and  maleficent 
echo.  In  lieu  of  independence,  said  Gandhi, 
the  Duke  brought  childish  baubles  for  the 
Indian  people  to  play  with.  Beautiful 
promises,  flimsy  insubstantiality,  that  was 
all  India  would  ever  get  from  Britain.  Self- 
government,  the  goal  of  Indian  desire,  was 
already  in  sight  if  the  people  held  firm  to 
the  formidable  weapon  of  non-co-operation. 
Such  was  the  import  of  the  speeches  made 
by  Gandhi  and  his  fellow-agitators  to  coun- 
teract the  possible  effect  of  the  Duke  of 
Connaught's  mission. 

Your  visit  [he  wrote  to  the  Duke]  upholds 
Dyerism.  Three  hundred  million  innocent 
people  are  living  in  fear  of  their  lives  from 
100,000  Englishmen.  I  oppose  British  rule  to 
the  bitter  end. 

Such  is  the  enemy  and  such  the  situation 
that  Lord  Reading  faces  as  the  new  Viceroy. 
The  enormous  difficulties  of  his  task  are 
evident.  That  the  British  Government  does 
not  underrate  them  is  seen  in  the  calibre 
of  the  man  it  has  chosen  to  cope  with  the 
problem. 


GENERAL   VIEW    OF   VLADIVOSTOK    FROM    THE    BAY    WHERE    THE   JAPANESE    TROOPS    FIRST 
LANDED    IN    1918.      THE    CITY    IS    NOW    COMPLETELY    UNDER    JAPANESE    DOMINATION 

(©    Underwood    &    Underwood) 


JAPANESE  AGGRESSION 
IN  SIBERIA 


By  Sidney  C.  Graves5 


Former    Staff    Major    and    Assistant    to    Chief    of    Staff    of    the 
American     Expeditionary    Force     in    Siberia 


Mr.  Graves,  whose  father  commanded  the  American  forces  in  Siberia,  has  written 
this  article  out  of  his  own  experiences  as  a  member  of  that  expedition,  supplemented 
by  official  records.  He  presents  a  rather  startling  view  of  the  whole  Japanese  scheme 
of  Asiatic  control,  of  which  the  Siberian  episode  is  an  important  part,  with  his  per- 
sonal convictions  regarding  the  danger  of  war  with  the  United  States 


International  relations  are  quite  unlike  rela- 
tions subsisting  between  individuals.  Morality 
and  sincerity  do  not  govern  a  country's  diplo- 
macy, which  is  guided  by  selfishness  pure  and 
simple.  It  is  considered  the  secret  of  diplomacy 
to  forestall  rivals  by  every  crafty  means  avail- 
able.— Marquis  Okuma  in  the  Kokumin,  a  Tokio 
newspaper. 

IS  JAPAN  preparing  for  a  war  with 
America,  and  was  her  Siberian  expedi- 
tion the  first  important  step  toward 
the  realization  of  a  pan-Oriental  plan  cal- 
culated to  make  such  a  struggle  possible  and 
profitable?  I  am  not  a  jingoist,  but  twenty- 
months'  intimate  contact  with  the  problem, 
as  a  staff  officer  of  the  American  expedi- 
tion, convinces  me  that  such  is  the  case. 
Japanese  diplomatic  chicanery  and  false- 
hood were  successful  during  the  period  of 
joint  occupation.  The  question  is,  Will  they 
continue  to  succeed  until  the  United  States 
is  forced  to  abandon  the  Orient  or  to  fight 
at  the  time  of  Japan's  choosing? 


In  the  joint  expedition  to  Siberia  in  1918 
Japanese  statesmen  saw  an  opportunity  to 
gain  control  of  Manchuria  and  the  Chinese 
Eastern  Railway,  and  also,  if  not  prevented 
by  America,  to  shut  off  Russia  territorially 
as  a  potential  enemy.  The  Lansing-Ishii 
agreement  convinced  Tokio  that  the  United 
States  would  go  to  no  great  lengths  to  pre- 
vent Japan's  annexation  of  Manchuria,  and 
perhaps  of  Eastern  Siberia,  and  the  Japa- 

*The  author  of  this  article  Is  a  West  Point 
graduate  who  served  on  the  Mexican  border 
and  in  Mexico,  and  who  fought  in  France  for 
a  year  as  Captain  of  an  infantry  regiment, 
where  he  won  various  honors  and  the  temporary 
rank  of  Major.  Later  he  joined  the  American 
Expeditionary  Force  in  Siberia,  which  was  com- 
manded by  his  father,  General  W.  S.  Graves, 
and  became  assistant  to  the  Chief  of  Staff  and 
liaison  officer  to  the  various  allied  headquarters 
at  Vladivostok.  In  July,  1020,  he  resigned  with 
the  rank  of  Captain,  thus  regaining  the  private 
citizen's  privilege  of  publishing  such  facts  as 
were  in  his  possession.— Editor. 


240 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


nese  Government's  plans,  drawn  up  in  com- 
mon with  independent  Cossack  leaders  al- 
ready in  Japanese  pay,  were  well  laid. 

THE  OPENING  WEDGE 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  a  history  of 
the  Siberian  expedition  except  in  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  the  anti-American  activities  of 
the  Japanese  forces,  and  the  manner  in 
which  American  diplomats  were  outwitted 
or  forced  to  play  into  Japan's  hands.  It  is 
well  to  understand,  however,  the  purposes 
of  the  joint  expedition  as  stated  officially 
by  the  American  Department  of  State,  in 
July,  1918,  and  as  reaffirmed  by  Jokio  at 
that  time,  namely :  "  To  assist  the  evacua- 
tion of  the  Czechoslovaks,  and  to  render 
moral  and  material  aid  toward  the  rehabili- 
tation of  the  Russian  people  without  inter- 
ference in  their  internal  affairs."  Both 
Governments  pledged  themselves  to  take  no 
part  in  the  factional  strife,  guaranteed  the 
territorial  integrity  of  Russia,  and  agreed 
to  withdraw  when,  in  the  opinion  of  either 
country,  the  aforesaid  objects  had  been 
achieved.  The  maximum  force  of  each  was 
fixed  at  13,000  men;  within  six  months 
Japan  had  72,500  soldiers  in  Manchuria  and 
Siberia,  and  was  steadily  increasing  her 
complement. 

Severe  Winters  and  lack  of  development 
make  communication  difficult  or  impossible 
in  Siberia  except  on  two  branches  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway:  one  running  north 
from  Vladivostok  to  the  Amur  River,  and 
then  west  to  Lake  Baikal;  and  the  other, 
or  Chinese  Eastern  line,  branching  west 
through  Manchuria  to  join  wTith  the  first 
near  Chita.  The  latter,  although  it  passes 
through  Chinese  territory,  is  properly  a 
Russian  road,  which,  under  treaty  agree- 
ment, was  to  be  guarded  by  Russian 
troops;  in  1917,  however,  owing  to  Bol- 
shevist disturbances,  a  large  part  of  the 
guard  was  replaced  by  Chinese. 

Seeing  clearly  that  control  of  the  rail- 
ways assured  military  and  economic  domi- 
nation of  Eastern  Siberia,  Japan  directed 
her  efforts  toward  turning  the  inter-allied 
railway  agreement  of  February,  1919,  to 
her  own  advantage.  This  pact  provided 
that  a  division  of  sectors  was  to  be  guarded 
by  American,  Japanese  and  Chinese  troops 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people;  but  any  an- 
nounced purpose  mattered  little  to  the  Japa- 


nese, who  made  evident  their  purpose  to 
occupy  permanently  a  strategic  barrier,  the 
nature  of  which  will  be  described  later  in 
this  article. 

Even  before  the  joint  expedition  landed, 
the  Czechs  had  achieved  their  own  security, 
and  by  1919  the  Kolchak  Government  was 
well  launched  in  its  futile  effort  against 
the  Soviet,  leaving  the  problem  of  Eastern 
Siberia  to  the  Americans  and  Japanese. 

OCCUPATION  OF   MANCHURIA 

By  virtue  of  the  Military  Agreement  be- 
tween Japan  and  China,  Japan  demanded 
that  Chinese  troops  guarding  the  Chinese 
Eastern  Railway  be  commanded  by  Japa- 
nese officers,  but  this  was  refused  by  the 
Peking  Government.  The  Japanese  then 
moved  troops  into  Manchuria,  to  occupy  im- 
portant points  along  the  line;  this  led  to 
several  armed  clashes,  but  the  Chinese  were 
too  weak  to  offer  any  effective  resistance. 
As  a  result,  Manchuria  is  today  a  Japanese 
province,  which  Japan  will  go  to  war  to 
retain. 

The  former  anti-Bolshevist  leaders — Gen- 
eral Semenov,  at  Chita,  and  General  Kalmi- 
kov,  400  miles  north  of  Vladivostok  on  the 
Amur  branch  of  the  railway — were  armed, 
paid  and  directed  by  the  Japanese.  History 
presents  few  worse  examples  than  these 
Cossack  "  Generals,"  who  murdered,  burned 
and  robbed  at  will,  and  whose  atrocities 
kept  all  Eastern  Siberia  in  a  state  of  fear 
and  revolt.  The  Japanese  encouraged  these 
marauding  expeditions,  and  even  sent  col- 
umns of  their  own,  under  the  guise  of 
fighting  Bolshevism,  to  shell  defenseless 
villages  and  to  execute  many  of  the  in- 
habitants. 

ANTI-AMERICAN  PROPAGANDA 

Japanese  Headquarters  soon  realized  that 
the  American  Commander-in-Chief,  Gen- 
eral Graves,  would  not  deviate  from  his 
instructions  of  neutrality,  and  consequently 
they  initiated  an  anti-American  campaign 
in  an  endeavor  to  force  the  United  States 
to  recall  its  troops.  Representatives  of  the 
State  Department  seemed  only  too  willing 
to  credit  Japanese  assurances  of  non-in- 
terference, but  General  Graves,  by  prevent- 
ing Japanese  activities  in  his  sectors  and 
by  reason  of  his  knowledge  of  the  anti- 
American    campaign,    was    an    obstacle    to 


JAPANESE  AGGRESSION  IN  SIBERIA 


241 


MAP  OP  JAPAN  AND  OF  THE  PORTIONS  OF  THE  ASIATIC   CONTINENT   NOW   UNDER 

VARIOUS    DEGREES    OF   JAPANESE    CONTROL.      THE    MINE    FIELDS    AT   THE    NORTH 

AND   SOUTH   ENDS   OF  THE   JAPAN   SEA   SHOW  HOW   EASILY   JAPAN  COULD   GUARD 

HER     LINES     OF     COMMUNICATION     IN     CASE     OF     WAR 


Japan's  designs  which  she  could  not  tol- 
erate. Newspapers  were  subsidized  to  create 
feeling  against  the  United  States  among 
the  Russian  people,  and  Semenov  and 
Ralmikov  were  paid  to  provoke  hostilities 
with  our  troops.  A  typical  example  fol- 
lows : 

On  Sept.  1,  1919,  Kalmikov  was  paid  30,- 
000  yen  by  the  Japanese.  On  Sept.  5  he 
arrested  an  American  officer  and  an  en- 
listed man  on  the  pretext  that  they  were 
not  in  possession  of  Russian  passports.  As 
this  had  never  been  required,  the  arrest 
was  illegal.  The  soldier  was  beaten  almost 
to  death  with  Cossack  whips,  and  a  bat- 
talion sent  to  effect  his  rescue  was  stopped 
by  a  Japanese  force,  which  threatened  to 
open  fire  if  the  Americans  continued  to 
advance.     An     apology     tendered     by     the 


Japanese,  and  later  the  release  of  the  sol- 
dier by  the  Russians,  ended  the  incident ;  but 
at  this  time  General  Horvat,  President  dur- 
ing the  Czar's  regime  of  the  Chinese  East- 
ern Railway,  and  Mr.  Medviedev,  President 
of  the  local  assemblies  or  Zemstvos,  both 
warned  General  Graves  that  Kalmikov  had 
been  instructed  by  the  Japanese  to  attack 
our  small  detachments  as  an  indication  of 
ill-feeling  of  the  Russians  toward  Ameri- 
cans, and  as  a  measure  calculated  to  pro- 
voke a  sentiment  for  recall  in  the  United 
States.  In  consequence  of  this  warning, 
American  troops  were  concentrated,  and 
both  the  Russians  and  the  Japanese  were 
warned  that  the  molestation  of  any  Ameri- 
can soldier  would  lead  to  an  attack  on 
Kalmikov.  This  effectively  deterred  that 
Cossack  leader  from  any  further  overt  acts. 


242 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


JAPANESE    INFANTRY    MARCHING    UP    ONE    OF    THE    WIDE    AVENUES    OF 
VLADIVOSTOK,    MAY    1,    1919 


Under  cover  of  the  discord  created  in  the 
maritime  provinces  of  Siberia,  Japan  seized 
the  Russian  half  of  the  island  of  Saghalien, 
including  the  fishery  rights  along  the  coast, 
and  forced  the  Chinese  gunboats  to  leave 
the  Amur  River,  which,  jointly  with  the 
Russians,  they  had  patrolled  for  years.  All 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  local  popula- 
tion was  ruthlessly  suppressed,  and  only 
the  presence  o  fthe  Americans  prevented  a 
virtual  annexation  of  Southeastern  Siberia. 
General  Rozanov,  the  nominal  Kolchak  com- 
mander at  Vladivostok,  sold  allied  cotton  to 
the  Japanese  for  half  its  value  and  appro- 
priated the  proceeds.  The  revolution  in 
November,  1920,  which  was  led  by  General 
Gaida  as  a  protest  against  the  reactionary 
character  of  the  Kolchak  Government  and 
its  representatives  in  the  Far  East,  was 
suppressed  by  Rozanov  with  Japanese  sup- 
port, notwithstanding  proclamations  of 
neutrality  made  by  all  the  Allies. 

Semenov's  men,  armed  with  rifles  supplied 
by  Japan,  on  some  of  which  appeared  in 
Spanish  "  Republic  of  Mexico,"  operated  at 
will  near  Chita  and  the  Manchurian  border; 
robbed  the  Chinese  customs,  seized  furs  be- 
longing to  an  American  concern,  and  at- 
tempted, but  without  success,  to  appropriate 
a  carload  of  rifles  under  American  guard. 
These  anti-American  activities  continued 
throughout  the  entire  sojourn  of  our  ex- 
pedition, and  culminated  shortly  before 
evacuation  in  an  armed  clash.  An  armored 
train  with  a  field  piece,  machine  guns  and 
about   fifty  men   was   captured   by  thirty- 


eight  American  soldiers  after  the  Russians 
had  attacked  them  without  cause  or  warn- 
ing. Japan  has  repeatedly  denied  her  con- 
nection with  these  independent  Cossacks, 
but  the  records  of  the  American  expedition 
are  conclusive  proof  to  the  contrary.  Re- 
cently, when  the  Liberal  Government  at 
Irkutsk  forced  the  elimination  of  Semenov, 
he  was  taken  to  Japan  in  triumph,  the 
lodged   in   a   palace   in   Tokio. 

CONTROL  OF  SUPPLIES 

The  interallied  railway  agreement  was 
conceived  by  Roland  S.  Morris,  American 
Ambassador  to  Japan,  as  a  sincere  effort 
to  relieve  the  suffering  of  the  population  of 
Siberia,  and  with  a  belief  in  the  bona  fide 
intentions  of  the  Japanese.  The  latter,  how- 
ever, acquiesced  simply  because  they  saw 
in  such  a  plan  an  opportunity  to  further 
their  general  scheme.  Only  such  supplies 
were  shipped  as  they  desired,  owing  to  the 
control  of  the  terminals  by  their  Cossack 
hirelings  and  their  own  control  of  Man- 
churia by  the  replacement  of  Chinese  by 
Japanese  guards  along  £he  Chinese  Eastern 
Railway.  Protests  on  the  part  of  the  Amer- 
ican command  werj  unavailing,  and  even  the 
most  flagrant  Japanese  actions  were  ex- 
cused with  the  oft-repeated  and  absurd 
claim  that  individual  acts  of  military  repre- 
sentatives did  not  reflect  the  sentiment 
of  Japan,  where  the  military  party  was  on 
the  wane,  or  with  the  declaration  that  their 


JAPANESE  AGGRESSION  IN  SIBERIA 


243 


operations    were   necessary   to   prevent   the 
spread  of  Bolshevism. 

Our  diplomatic  representatives,  in  spite  of 
repeated  evidence  of  a  well-thought-out 
plan  of  annexation,  continued  to  credit  such 
protestations  and  to  hope  that  the  Japanese 
command  would  change  its  tactics.  Perhaps 
the  irrelevant  California  land  question, 
which  is  Japan's  greatest  card  to  meet  any 
objections  to  her  Oriental  policy,  may  have 
again  deceived  Washington,  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  the  Siberian  expedition  has 
given  Japan  all  and  more  than  she  fought 
for  in  1904;  her  grip  on  the  throat  of  China 
is  assured,  and  her  imperialistic  methods 
will  make  peaceful  association  or  competi- 
tion with  her  in  the  Far  East  by  America 
impossible. 

DEPARTURE  OF  AMERICANS 

The  inevitable  collapse  of  the  Kolchak 
Government  inaugurated  a  wave  of  revolu- 
tionary sentiment  which,  for  a  time,  threat- 
ened to  overthrow  the  supremacy  both  of 
the  Japanese  and  of  the  Russians  under 
their  control.     Kalmikov  was  eliminated  in 


TYPICAL  JAPANESE  OFFICER  IN  UNIFORM  AT 
A    RAILWAY    STATION    IN    SIBERIA 


the  revolt  of  January,  1920,  and  Rozanov,  at 
Vladivostok,  escaped  to  Japanese  Headquar- 
ters in  Japanese  uniform  when  the  troops 
of  the  new  Provisional  Government  entered 
the  city  on  the  31st  of  the  same  month. 
Officers  of  the  American  command  forced 
allied  neutrality  at  Vladivostok,  and  the 
Japanese  were  powerless  to  attack  else- 
where, owing  to  the  fact  that  Czech  and 
American  troops  were  not  yet  evacuated 
from  the  interior,  and  that  hostilities  invited 
destruction  of  the  railway  which  had  been 
seized  by  the  revolutionists  at  important 
points.  Both  the  Czechoslovak  and  Amer- 
ican Governments  had  ordered  their  forces 
recalled,  and  any  attempt  to  destroy  the 
Transsiberian  Railway  would  have  met 
with  energetic  action  and  led  to  an  inquiry 
on  the  part  of  these  Governments,  which 
Japan  wished  to  avoid.  Outwardly  she  ac- 
quiesced in  the  changed  conditions,  but 
hastily  increased  her  forces  in  Manchuria 
and  Siberia  to  about  200,000.  Five  days 
after  the  departure  of  the  Americans  the 
Japanese  attacked  and  decisively  defeated 
the  forces  of  the  new  Government  at  all 
points. 

ABSOLUTE  CONTROL  TODAY 

Japan  has  at  the  present  time  ceased  to 
disguise  her  actions  and  intentions  in  Si- 
beria, and  her  control  of  occupied  territory 
is  absolute.  Vladivostok  has  become  a  Jap- 
anese city;  the  "  Rising  Sun "  flies  from 
all  public  buildings,  and  municipal  adminis- 
tration is  enforced  by  Japanese  officials 
with  the  aid  of  martial  law.  Japan's  zone 
of  occupation  embraces  only  the  old  line  of 
Russian  fortifications ;  that  is  to  say,  it  runs 
along  the  littoral  west  to  about  250  miles 
north  of  Vladivostok;  in  Manchuria,  how- 
ever, she  has  seized  the  whole  of  the  rail- 
way and,  in  spite  of  Chinese  objections,  has 
garrisoned  strategic  points,  such  as  Urga 
in  Northern  Mongolia.  If  Russia  were  to- 
day a  united  and  powerful  empire  it  is 
doubtful  whether  she  could  dislodge  the 
Japanese  from  her  territory,  as  a  rela- 
tively small  force,  holding  the  strategic  key 
as  does  Japan,  would  be  almost  invincible. 

Colonization  as  a  field  for  her  surplus 
population  is  not  an  object  of  Japan's 
policy.  Her  own  northern  islands,  owing  to 
rigorous  Winters,  are  quite  sparsely  settled, 
and  Siberia  and  Manchuria,  with  their 
much  more  severe  climate,  are  not  attrac- 


244 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


JAPANESE    SOLDIERS    AT    BAYONET    DRILL,    IN     BORZA,     SIBERIA 


tive  to  the  Japanese  settler.  The  Japanese, 
furthermore,  cannot  compete  with  Korean 
and  Chinese  labor,  and,  as  pointed  out  by 
Mr.  Bland  in  the  February  issue  of  Asia, 
no  efforts  of  Japan  in  Manchuria  and  Mon- 
golia can  keep  the  Chinese  from  inheriting 
the  land.  Korea,  the  Japanese  population 
of  which  in  the  ten  years  since  annexation 
has  increased  less  than  200,000,  is  an  ex- 
ample of  this  fact. 

OBJECTS  OF  JAPAN'S  POLICE 

What,  then,  are  the  objects  of  Japan's 
policy,  which  has  been  a  heavy  burden  on 
her  taxpayers  and  is  likely  to  remain  so? 
It  is  ridiculous  to  assume  that  her  only 
purpose  is  to  aid  the  Russian  people,  and 
equally  absurd  to  accept  her  pretext  of 
checking  Bolshevism  in  Siberia,  where  this 
movement  has  never  existed,  as  in  European 
Russia.  The  following  interpretation,  which 
is  the  opinion  of  many  Russian  military 
critics,  and  which  has,  in  part  at  least, 
been  substantiated  by  Japanese  occupation, 
offers  a  plausible  and  disconcerting  ex- 
planation. 

Japan  has  long  realized  that  the  United 
States  and  Russia  were  the  two  great  ob- 


stacles to  her  abrogation  of  the  "  open 
door "  policy,  to  the  establishment  of  an 
Asiatic  "  Monroe  Doctrine,"  and  to  the  con- 
tinuance of  her  Prussian  methods  of  occu- 
pation, which  make  commercial  competition 
with  her  impossible.  England  could  be  con- 
trolled by  fear  of  Oriental  intrigue  and 
propaganda  in  India,  while  civil  war  in 
China,  with  the  subsidizing  of  officials, 
could  be  continued  to  render  the  latter  coun- 
try impotent.  The  European  war  eliminated 
Germany  and  gave  Japan,  by  virtue  of  the 
"  Twenty-one  Demands  "  and  other  treaties, 
an  opportunity  to  assume  control  of  Chinese 
affairs.  Racial  equality  and  emigration 
questions  were  used  to  cloud  the  real  issues 
at  the  Peace  Conference  and  to  enable 
Japan  to  retain  the  territory  which  she  had 
seized  when  the  Allies  were  powerless  to 
interfere.  Realizing  that  she  could  never 
wage  war  on  the  United  States  with  Man- 
churia and  Korea  open  to  Russian  attack, 
Japan  took  strategic  advantage  of  the 
Siberian  expedition  to  eliminate  Russia  as 
a  possible  ally  of  the  United  States.  A 
glance  at  the  accompanying  map  of  the 
Japanese  Islands  and  the  adjacent  Asiatic 
Coast  will  show  the  powerful  position  Japan 


JAPANESE  AGGRESSION  IN  SIBERIA 


245 


will  occupy  in  the  event  of  war  with  Amer- 
ica. Mine  fields  between  Saghalien  and 
the  Siberian  Coast,  between  the  Japanese 
Islands  themselves,  and  between  Korea  and 
Nagasaki — all  narrow  straits — close  the 
Japan  Sea  and  the  railway  terminals  in 
the  Gulf  of  Pechili  to  naval  attack,  and 
leave  the  Japanese  fleet  free  for  offensive 
operations. 

MANCHURIA  AS  A  JAPANESE 
RESERVOIR 

Manchuria  has  been  likened  to  the 
stomach  of  Japan,  but  it  is  more  than  that; 
it  is  the  source  from  which  she  intends  to 
draw  her  economic  strength.  Perhaps 
Vladivostok  will  enable  her  to  control  a 
large  part  of  Siberian  produce  and  mineral 
wealth  in  the  event  of  changed  conditions  in 
Russia,  but  in  Manchuria,  at  any  rate, 
Japan  has  effectively  obviated  the  lack  of 
natural  resources  which  she  has  long  felt 
so  keenly. 

If  we  are  to  retain  our  interests  in  the 
Orient,    many    observers    believe,    war    is 


inevitable.  Japanese  statesmen,  apparently 
facing  that  fact,  have  already  begun  to  pre- 
pare. At  the  present  time  Japan  is  power- 
less to  pit  her  strength  against  that  of  the 
United  States,  but  if  she  is  allowed  to  con- 
tinue her  oppressive  methods,  and  to  turn 
the  wealth  of  other  nations  to  her  advan- 
tage, America,  in  a  relatively  short  period, 
will  face  an  empire  almost  as  great  as  that 
of  Germany  in  1914,  which  will  insist  to 
the  point  of  war  that  we  abandon  the  Far 
East  and  the  Western  Pacific  Ocean.  Are 
we  to  meet  this  threat  with  continued  be- 
lief in  the  assertions  of  Oriental  diplomats 
and  with  complaisant  acceptance  of  pro- 
posals for  American  disarmament? 

AUTHOR'S  NOTE— Since  writing  the  above, 
information  has  been  received  that  the  Jananese 
have  effected  the  destruction  of  the  railway 
tunnels  on  the  Trans-Siberian  line  near  Lake 
Baikal,  in  order  to  prevent  attack  by  the  Chita 
Government,  or  directly  by-  the  Soviet.  The 
American  Government  spent  over  four  and  a 
half  million  dollars  and  maintained  a  corps  of 
experts  in  addition  to  the  A.  E.  F.  for  the 
purpose  of  assuring  the  efficient  functioning 
of   the    Trans-Siberian    Railway. 


LENIN'S     LABOR     SLAVES 


HPHE  discontent  of  the  Russian  trade 
unions  and  the  factory  workmen  under 
the  Soviet  regime  has  become  a  serious 
problem  for  the  Moscow  dictators,  and  re- 
ports received  in  March  indicated  that 
Trotzky  and  Lenin  had  agreed  to  disagree 
on  the  methods  to  be  followed  in  solving  it. 
The  Soviet  Government's  treatment  of  Rus- 
sian labor  unions  has  done  much  to  alienate 
the  sympathy  of  labor  all  over  the  world. 
A  report  drawn  up  by  a  foreign  engineer 
who  returned  from  Russia  to  Central 
Europe  in  December,  1920,  brings  out  into 
strong  relief  the  foundation  of  the  Russian 
workers'  dissatisfaction.  The  following 
passages  speak  for  themselves: 

Factory  hands  are  exploited  to  an  extent 
undreamed  of  in  Czarist  times.  This  is  clone 
on  the  principles  of  "  labor  discipline,"  under 
pretext  of  suppressing  the  prevalent  lazi- 
ness and  carelessness.  The  workmen  are  at- 
tached to  the  factories,  and  can  be  sent 
from  one  to  another  only  by  orders  from  the 
Executive.  They  are  very  badly  fed,  sometimes 
receiving  no  more  than  twenty-four  pounds  of 


bread  a  month,  with  nothing  besides,  so  that 
they  are  always  hungry.  A  great  deal  is  de- 
manded from  them,  and  they  get  nothing  in 
return.  They  are  continually  terrorized,  as, 
owing  to  the  militarization  of  labor,  every 
man  is  punished  very  severely  for  desertion. 
The  lightest  punishment  is  confinement  in  a 
concentration  barracks;  the  heaviest,  death. 
In  every  factory  there  is  a  Communist 
committee  of  five  or  six,  who  are  nominated, 
and  who  carry  on  a  system  of  espionage, 
control  and  terrorization  of  the  other  work- 
men. From  these  committees  are  elected  the 
workmen's  representatives  at  all  meetings, 
so  that  the  majority  at  meetings  is  always 
Communist.  *  *  *  Even  this  hard  rule  does 
not  keep  the  ill-fed,  ill-clad  workmen  in  the 
factories;  they  make  every  endeavor  to  run 
away  to  the  country  and  work  for  the 
peasants. 

Such  revelations  go  far  toward  explain- 
ing the  disillusionment  of  European  and 
American  labor  leaders  who  were  at  first 
inclined  to  favor  Bolshevism.  The  British 
Independent  Labor  Party  on  March  28  de- 
cided, by  521  votes  to  97,  against  Laving 
anything  to  do  with  Lenin's  Third  Interna- 
tional. 


BIRTH    OF    A    REPUBLIC    IN    SIBERIA 

Rise  of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  at  Chita  confirmed  by  Siberian  elections — Formal 
organization  by  the  Constituent  Assemby  followed  by  overtures  to  the  United  States — 
Bitter  Profit  against  the  Japanese  Occupation 


ANEW  State,  the  Far  Eastern  Repub- 
lic, duly  organized  at  Chita  by  consti- 
tutional methods,  and  undertaking  to 
maintain  a  representative  Government  over 
the  vast  region  of  Siberia  east  of  Lake 
Baikal,  all  the  way  to  Vladivostok  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  formally  announced  its  ex- 
istence on  March  29,'  1921,  through  a  note 
to  the  American  Legation  at  Peking.  The 
note  asked  for  friendly  relations  with  the 
United  States,  and  for  an  exchange  of  trade 
commissioners  between  Chita  and  Washing- 
ton; it  affirmed  the  inviolability  of  private 
property,  declared  for  free  trade  and  the 
"  open  door,"  and  stated  that  the  Far  East- 
ern Republic  was  specially  desirous  to  grant 
mining,  railway  and  other  concessions  to 
Americans. 

Whether  this  new  Siberian  State  is  to  be 
any  more  lasting  than  others  that  have 
sprung  up  in  the  last  two  years  remains 
to  be  seen;  but  certain  essential  differences 
from  the  others  compel  attention.  It  has 
been  established  by  a  freely  elected  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  not  by  a  factional  group 
of  Soviet  leaders;  it  has  Moscow's  promise 
of  noninterference,  and  it  has  one  point 
of  absolute  unanimity  among  its  own  peo- 
ple, namely,  hostility  to  the  Japanese  mili- 
tary occupation.  In  other  words,  it  is  a 
buffer  State  between  Japan  and  Soviet  Rus- 
sia, which  may  prove  to  be  a  very  important 
factor  in  the  whole  Asiatic  situation. 

In  the  beginning  the  Chita  Government 
was  only  a  small  local  affair  set  up  by  anti- 
Japanese  Russian  Nationalists,  headed  by 
M.  Krasnochekov — a  former  Chicago  law- 
yer, whose  real  name  is  Tobelson,  and  who 
is  now  Premier  of  the  new  republic — and 
its  lease  of  larger  life  depended  upon  its 
power  to  unify  the  people  and  obtain  a 
majority  of  votes  in  a  general  election. 

It  succeeded  in  both  of  these  objects. 
Vladivostok  and  the  Maritime  Province 
voluntarily  subjected  themselves  to  Chita. 
The  general  election,  held  on  Jan.  9,  1921, 
created   a   National   Constituent   Assembly, 


which  met  at  Chita  on  Feb.  12,  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  create  a  Government  by 
democratic  methods.  The  delegates  to  the 
Assembly  were  divided  on  party  lines  ap- 
proximately as  follows:  Peasants,  160; 
Communists,  98;  Peasants'  Union,  42; 
Social  Revolutionaries,  6;  Social  Democrats, 
16;  Buriats,  10;  Siberian  Social  Revolution- 
aries, 6;  People's  Social  Revolutionaries,  4; 
Koreans,  6.  Effort  was  bent  on  completing 
a  Constitution.  Meanwhile  serious  prob- 
lems confronted  the  Assembly,  such  as  the 
critical  economic  and  financial  situation. 
Action  to  dismiss  the  Vladivostok  Parlia- 
ment was  deferred,  owing  to  the  serious 
political  situation  in  the  Maritime  Province. 

The  whole  political  complexion  of  the 
new  State  will  depend  largely  on  the  exact 
amount  of  influence  which  the  Bolshevist 
elements  will  "be  able  to  exercise.  How  that 
influence  bulks  at  present  is  the  subject 
ot  dispute.  Captain  Robert  Rosenbluth, 
who  returned  from  Siberia  on  March  23, 
cited  the  view  of  Antonov,  editor  of  The 
Red  Flag,  leader  of  the  Communist  Party, 
and  formerly  head  of  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment, to  show  that  the  new  republic 
never  would  become  communist;  first,  be- 
cause there  is  no  industrial  population;  sec- 
ond, because  the  great  natural  resources 
of  Siberia  offer  unlimited  possibilities  for 
the  acquisition  of  wealth,  and,  third,  be- 
cause in  view  of  these  vast  resources  the 
whole  world  would  be  justified  in  stepping 
in  and  supporting  the  aggression  of  the 
Japanese  if  any  move  were  made  toward 
nationalization    or   confiscation. 

The  Japanese  press,  which  is  following 
events  at  Chita  with  the  closest  attention, 
gives  plain  evidence  that  it  is  uncertain 
as  to  just  how  deeply  the  Bolshevist  influ- 
ence goes.  •  The  Yomiuri,  in  commenting  on 
the  Constituent  Assembly,  admitted  a  sin- 
cere desire  among  Siberian  Russians  to 
establish  a  truly  democratic  Government, 
and  blamed  the  strong  trend  toward  the 
left  upon  the  activities  of  Semenov  and  the 


BIRTH  OF  A  REPUBLIC  IN  SIBERIA 


247 


intervention  of  foreign  powers.  The  Asahi, 
a  moderate  independent  organ,  declared,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  the  communists  were 
in  an  "  irresistible  majority."  There  were 
some  120  acknowledged  communists,  it  de- 
clared, and  over  100  more  masking  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Peasant  Party.  Owing  to  this 
predominance,  the  Speaker  and  the  ruling 
body  of  the  Assembly  had  been  elected  from 
among  the  communists,  and  demands  had 
already  been  made  to  found  the  new  re- 
public, not  on  the  principle  of  democracy, 
but  of  internationalism. 

Dispatches  from  Chita  showed  that  both 
the  communists  and  the  peasants  were  in- 
clined to  look  to  Moscow  for  protection,  so 
far  as  the  intervention  of  the  Japanese, 
or  any  other  foreign  power,  was  concerned. 
The  leader  of  the  Peasants'  Party  even 
went  so  far  as  to  declare :  "  We  will  de- 
fend our  Soviet  motherland  at  all  costs, 
as  we  are  here  as  an  outpost  of  the  Soviet 
Government,  and  we  demand  the  with- 
drawal of  all  foreign  troops  on  Russian 
soil."  The  editor  of  The  Japan  Chronicle, 
a  close  observer  of  events  in  Siberia,  con- 
firms the  view  that  the  communists  and 
the  peasants  are  at  present  united  in  one 
policy.  "  The  truth  is,"  he  says,  "  that  they 
have  one  common  aim  which  unites  them 
as  they  would  otherwise  never  have  been 
united.  They  hate  the  Japanese,  and  want 
to  get  them  out  of  the  country.  Mr.  Krasno- 
chekov,  the  Premier  and  Foreign  Minister, 
says :  '  Our  mission  lies  in  eliminating  all 
possible  causes  of  foreign  intervention.' 
That  is  the  one  desire  that  unites  all 
classes." 

It  became  clear  at  the  end  of  March  that 
the  Chita  Government,  whatever  its  final 
decision  might  be,  was  working  in  harmony 
with  the  Soviet  Government,  by  whom  its  in- 
dependence had  been  recognized.  At  this 
time  it  was  announced  that  the  authorities 
of  the  new  republic  had  ceded  Kamchatka 
to  the  Bolshevist  rulers,  and  that  Japan 
had  formally  protested.  The  concessions 
granted  by  Moscow  to  the  American  finan- 
cier, W.  B.  Vanderlip,  were  said  to  under- 
lie the  cession,  the  main  obstacle  to  which 
had  been  the  rights  of  possession  of  the 
Far  Eastern  Government.  The  Chita  Gov- 
ernment, on  its  own  part,  was  preparing 
to  grant  concessions  on  a  large  scale  to 
foreign  enterprise,  and  Mr.  Krasnochekov 
at  the   fourth   meeting   of   the   Constituent 


Assembly  on  Feb.  25  declared  that  this 
policy  was  indispensable  for  restoring  in- 
dustry. Steps  were  also  being  considered 
to  repair  the  Far  Eastern  Railway,  which, 
owing  to  the  destruction  wrought  by  the 
troops  of  Semenov,  was  in  a  deplorable 
condition.  Soviet  Russia  was  sending  her 
best  engineers  to  direct  the  tremendous 
labors  involved.  Mr.  Shatov,  the  Minister 
of  Transport,  complained  bitterly  of  the 
arbitary  actions  of  the  Japanese  Military 
Command  in  forbidding  the  sending  of  the 
railroad  materials  stored  in  Vladivostok  for 
repairing  the  Siberian  system,  which  had 
virtually  come  to  a  standstill. 

The  situation  in  Siberia  was  further 
complicated  by  a  new  attempt  of  General 
Semenov — the  anti-Bolshevist  General  form- 
erly attached  to  Kolchak — to  begin  another 
offensive  toward  the  west,  with  the  object 
of  uniting  with  anti-Bolshevist  elements  in 
Siberia.  This  new  movement  was  launched 
by  his  lieutenant,  General  Ungern- Stern- 
berg, and  was  said  to  be  formidable.  In 
its  note  to  Japan  on  Jan.  19  the  Chita  Gov- 
ernment had  bitterly  assailed  Semenov,  call- 
ing him  the  enemy  of  the  Russian  people 
in  Siberia,  and  had  charged  Japan  with 
giving  him  support.  New  charges  were 
made  on  the  advance  of  Ungern-Sternberg, 
and  the  Chinese  Government  confirmed 
these  by  declaring  that  it  had  concrete  evi- 
dence that  the  Semenov-Ungern  combina- 
tion was  receiving  both  financial  and  ma- 
terial support  from  the  Japanese.  This  the 
Japanese  Government  officially  denied. 

CHITA'S    INDICTMENT   OF   THE 
JAPANESE 

One  fact  stood  out  clearly:  that  the  Far 
Eastern  Republic  was  solidly  united  in  op- 
position to  the  Japanese  occupation.  This 
hostility,  indeed,  had  inspired  its  creation. 
It  was  dramatically  expressed  on  Dec.  5, 
1920,  after  the  Japanese  by  an  autocratic 
proclamation,  dated  Dec.  3,  had  forbidden 
the  Maritime  Province  and  Vladivostok  to 
unite  with  the  Government  at  Chita.  At 
the  ratification  meeting,  held  two  days  later, 
despite  the  Japanese  prohibition,  the  leader 
of  the  Cadet  Party  took  occasion  to  defy 
Japan  categorically,  and  to  shake  his  fist 
in  the  Japanese   representative's   face. 

The  full  story  of  Japan's  occupation  of 
Eastern    Siberia    still    remains    to   be    told. 


248 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Certain  aspects  of  the  subject,  however, 
are  brought  into  sharp  relief  in  a  long  tele- 
gram sent  on  Jan.  19,  1921,  by  Mr.  Krasno- 
chekov  to  the  Japanese  Foreign  Minister 
at  Tokio.  Relations  had  long  been  strained, 
and  fighting  between  the  Chita  Russians 
and  the  Japanese  soldiers  had  been  con- 
tinued, over  a  considerable  period.  The 
Japanese  declared  that  they  had  no  inten- 
tion to  interfere  with  Russia's  internal  af- 
fairs, but  Mr.  Krasnochekov,  in  his  tele- 
gram, declared  that  this  pledge  had  not 
been  kept,  and  recited,  item  by  item,  the 
various  aggressions  of  which  Japan  had 
been  guilty.  The  full  text  of  this  enlight- 
ening document,  as  published  in  The  Japan 
Chronicle  at  the  beginning  of  February,  is 
as  follows: 

While  ordering  its  army  to  occupy  Russian 
Far  Eastern  territory,  the  Imperial  Japa- 
nese Government,  by  its  proclamation  of 
Aug.  21,  1918,  clearly  stated  to  the  Russian 
people  and  to  the  world  that  this  extraor- 
dinary measure  was  taking  place  "  solely 
for  the  sake  of  rendering  assistance  to  the 
Czechoslovak  army,"  and  that,  "  maintain- 
ing its  established  policy  of  unqualified 
friendship  toward  Russia  and  the  Russian 
people  and  the  territorial  integrity  of  Rus- 
sia, and  forbearing  any  interference  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  Government,  upon 
the  completion  of  the  evacuation  of  the 
Czechoslovak  army,  the  Japanese  army  will 
unconditionally  leave  Russian  territory." 
The  evacuation  of  the  Czechoslovak  army 
was  successfully  completed  in  August,  1920. 
Moreover,  long  before  the  completion  of  this 
evacuation,  by  its  declaration  of  March  31, 
1920,  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  de- 
clared that  "as  no  other  country  is  geo- 
graphically so  closely  connected  with  Siberia 
as  our  empire,  and  whereas  the  political 
condition  of  the  Far  East  is  such  as  to 
threaten  not  only  the  life  and  property  of 
our  citizens  living  in  Siberia,  but  also  to 
make  a  breach  of  the  peace  of  Korea  and 
Manchuria,  we  regret  to  state  that  it  will 
be  impossible  to  evacuate  our  troops  from 
the  Far  Eastern  territory."  Yet  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Japan  reiterates  that  the  pres- 
ence of  its  army  upon  the  territory  of  the 
Far  East  does  not  mean  any  political  ag- 
gression against  Russia.  And  again  in  this 
act  the  Government  of  Japan  "  sincerely 
stated  that  as  soon  as  peace  is  established 
within  the  territory  the  Japanese  army  will 
immediately  leave." 

The  same  statement  has  been  reiterated  by 
the  commander  of  the  expeditionary  army, 
General  Oi,  in  his  notes  to  the  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Far  Eastern"  Repub- 
lic of  May  11  and  Sept.  18,  always  express- 
ing his  sincerest  desire  for  the  speediest  re- 
union of  the  separate  territories  of  the  Far 
East,  not  only  as  beneficial  for  the  Russian 


population,  but  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
the  establishment  of  economic  relations  be- 
tween the  two  nations.  In  his  declaration 
of  May  11  General  Oi  states  literally  as  fol- 
lows:  "The  Japanese  command  will  with 
pleasure  lead  its  troops  out  of  Russian 
territory  as  soon  as  stable  conditions  are 
established  in  the  Russian  domains  in  the 
Far  East."  And  again:  "The  Japanese 
command,  considering  the  will  of  the  Rus- 
sian population,  does  not  wish  to  complicate 
the  political  situation  of  the  region  by  ren- 
dering assistance  to  individual  Russians 
which  might  tend  to  disregard  the  will  of 
the  whole  Russian  population.  The  Japa- 
nese Command,  together  with  the  Russian 
population,  is  heartily  welcoming  establish- 
ment within  the  territories  of  the  Far  East- 
ern region  of  such  a  form  of  government 
as  will  conform  to  the  people's  desires." 
It  was  also  plainly  declared  "  that  the  above 
is  not  only  the  wish  of  the  Japanese  Mili- 
tary Command,  but  also  that  of  our  Gov- 
ernment and   people." 

The  Russian  people,  having  lost  faith  in 
different  self-styled  saviors,  decided  upon 
their  own  volition  and  not  at  all  due  to 
demands  of  foreigners,  to  establish  such 
order  as  shall  make  it  possible  once  and  for 
all  for  the  will  of  the  people  to  express 
itself  freely  in  the  whole  area  of  the  Rus- 
sian Far  East.  The  authorized  representa- 
tives of  the  whole  people  gathered  in  Chita 
on  Oct.  29,  1920,  and  most  solemnly  pro- 
claimed the  union  of  all  the  territories  of 
the  Far  East  into  one  independent  self- 
governing  Far  Eastern  Republic,  beginning 
with  the  day  of  declaration  of  independence, 
namely,  April  6,  1920.  The  same  declaration 
laid  down  the  first  basic  principle  upon 
which  the  Government  must  be  built  in  order 
to  bring  about  law  and  order  and  peaceful 
development  of  all  social  forces.  At  the 
same  conference  a  law  was  passed  for  the 
convening  of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  and 
a  Government  was  formed  to  bring  into  life 
the  [will  of]  the  people.  All  these  solemn 
declarations  were  published  in  due  time  and 
made  known  to   the  whole  world. 

Two  months  have  passed  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic.  The 
Government  of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  is 
steadfastly  following  the  road  that  is  pointed 
out  by  the  declaration  of  Oct.  29,  1920.  The 
elections  to  the  Constituent  Assembly  have 
already  taken  place.  Within  ten  days  the 
representatives  of  the  people  will  be  gather- 
ing in  the  capital  of  the  Far  Eastern  Re- 
public in  order  to  work  out  a  Constitution 
for  the  country  and  decide  upon  the  impor- 
tant life   problems    of  the   Government. 

The  internal  war  which  has  been  flicker- 
ing in  some  parts  of  the  country  prior  to 
the  unification  has  died  by  itself.  All 
classes  of  the  population  are  earnestly 
striving  for  a  peaceful  life,  and  labor  with 
a  view  to  rebuilding  all  that  was  destroyed. 
The  Vladivostok  People's  Assembly,  laboring 
under     extraordinarily     hard     circumstances, 


BIRTH  OF  A  REPUBLIC  IN  SIBERIA 


249 


due  to  intervention,  and  in  spite  of  various 
memoranda  and  veiled  threats  by  the  Japa- 
nese High  Command  and  Chief  .of  Staff  and 
tne'  head  of  the  Diplomatic  Mission,  has  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  recognized  the 
Government  of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic. 
These  are  the  heroic  results  of  the  aspira- 
tion of  our  people  for  unity,  their  burning 
desire  to  outlive  intervention.  On  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  that  is 
free  from  intervention  law  and  order  reign 
supreme.  The  life,  freedom,  labor,  and 
property  of  all  citizens  are  absolutely  safe. 
Numerous  foreigners  residing  in  the  Republic 
enjoy  the  same  rights  as  the  native  citizens, 
and  their  lives  and  property  are  as  safe  as 
in   any   other   civilized   country. 

Concluding  on  the  basis  of  the  above- 
mentioned  facts  that  the  further  coming 
and  staying  of  Japanese  troops  on  Russian 
territory  is  not  only  unjustifiable  but  abso- 
lutely harmful,  the  Vice  Minister  for  For- 
eign Affairs,  Mr.  Kojevnikov,  by  order  of 
the  Government  of  the  Far  Eastern  Repub- 
lic, most  explicitly  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  Imperial  Japanese  Government, 
through  the  chief  of  the  Japanese  Diplomatic 
Mission  in  Vladivostok,  the  urgent  neces- 
sity of  most  speedily  evacuating  the  Japa- 
nese forces  from  the  Far  East ;  and  he  fur- 
ther informed  it  of  the  readiness  of  the  Far 
Eastern  Republic  to  commence  negotiations 
with  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan 
with  a  view  to  concluding  a  treaty  of  ever- 
lasting friendship  and  of  the  establishment 
of  economic  relations  for  mutual  benefit, 
firmly  believing  that  there  is  no  such  prob- 
lem between  the  Government  of  the  Far 
Eastern  Republic  and  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment of  Japan  which  cannot  be  solved  by 
way   of   negotiation. 

However,  the  Japanese  army  continues  by 
force  to  occupy  part  of  the  territory  of  our 
Republic,  thereby  making  life  unbearable 
for  the*  population  of  that  part  of  the 
territory  of  the  Republic  on  which  these 
forces  are   situated. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  presence  of  Japa- 
nese troops  and  their  actual  suppression  of 
any  and  all  attempts  to  establish  order  on 
the  part  of  the  population  and  their  gov- 
ernmental organs,  which  suppression  is  con- 
trary to  all  declarations,  the  criminal  ele- 
ments are  doing  their  contemptible  deeds. 
Russian  cities  and  villages  within  the 
zone  of  intervention  are  enveloped  in  a 
poisonous  gas,  as  it  were,  of  robbery,  mur- 
der, and  all  kinds  of  unspeakable  crimes. 
Criminal  persons  at  Grodekovo,  on  the  Us- 
suri  Railway,  are  stopping  trains,  searching 
and  robbing  passengers,  and  taking  many 
of  them  off,  beating  them,  and  very  often 
leading  them  away  nobody  knows  where. 
These  same  criminals  are  riding  in  the 
trains  without  paying  their  fares,  are  forc- 
ing railway  agents  to  give  them  special 
locomotives,  and,  not  receiving  them,  are 
detaching  engines  from  trains.  There  was 
one  such  case  at  Grodekovo  Station  on  Nov. 


28.  They  are  also  taking  away  from  Russian 
as  well  as  from  foreign  passengers  silver 
and  other  belongings,  which  is  much  like 
open  highway  robbery. 

The  local  authorities  find  it  impossible  to 
establish  order,  thanks  to  the  opposition  of 
the  Japanese  military  command  to  the  law- 
ful authorities,  and  to  its  sympathy  with 
the  enemies  of  law  and  order.  The  Japa- 
nese Command  by  force  of  arms  is  holding 
back  the  authorities  of  the  law  from  fight- 
ing with  the  criminals  and  establishing  or- 
der, which  means  an  absolute  violation  of 
the  right  of  self-determination  of  the  people. 
Thel  sympathies  of  the  Japanese  Military 
Command  toward  the  enemies  of  the  people 
were  most  vividly  expressed  when  it  carried 
under  its  protection  Semenov— this  criminal 
and  enemy  of  the  people— through  Russian 
territory,  defying  the  whole  Russian  and 
foreign  population,  and,  officially  informing 
the  former  Maritime  Government,  as  if 
challenging  its  impotence,  took  him  to  Port 
Arthur  with  a  guard  of  honor  of  the  army 
of  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan, 
thereby  openly  scorning  the  feelings  of  the 
free  people. 

This  criminal  is  now  issuing  orders  in 
which  he  is  promising  to  start  a  new  ad- 
venture in  the  Spring,  and  while  he  is 
openly  proclaiming  that  Japan  will  be  ren- 
dering him  assistance,  he  is  thereby  arous- 
ing the  population  against  Japan,  and,  by 
awakening  an  old  hatred,  is  hindering  the 
establishment  of  good  neighborly  relations. 

The  Japanese  Command  does  not  allow 
paymasters  on  their  way  to  pay  the  sala- 
ries of  railway  servants  to  travel  on  the 
trains;  it  obstructs  the  movement  of  nearly 
all  freight,  by  these  means  grossly  and 
without  warrant  interfering  with  the  inner 
life  of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic. 

The  Japanese  Command  has  also  held  up 
the  car  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Military 
Diplomatic  Mission  of  the  former  Verkhne- 
udinsk  Government,  which  has  since  become 
part  of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic,  attempt- 
ing to  search  him  and  his  car,  thus  violating 
the  most  elementary  laws  with  regard  to 
diplomatic  representatives,  as  established  by 
practice  and  international  right.  The  Japa- 
nese Command  also  demonstrated  thereby 
before  the  population,  that  all  official  Japa- 
nese declarations  are  mere  words.  Needless 
to  say  all  these  actions  on  the  part  of  the 
Japanese  are  awakening  within  the  minds 
of  the  Russian  people  doubts  as  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  solemn  declarations  of 
the  Japanese  Government,  and  force  them  to 
be   on  the  alert. 

True  to  the  mandates  of  our  people  and 
being  directed  by  the  same  desire,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  thinks 
it  necessary,  with  a  view  to  establish  peace- 
ful mutual  relations  between  both  countries 
and  peoples :  first,  that  the  High  Command 
of  the  Japanese  expeditionary  force  in 
Vladivostok,  with  regard  to  the  actions  of 
its     subordinates,      should     adhere     to     the 


250 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


principle  of  absolute  non-interference  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  Far  Eastern  Repub- 
lic, and  desist  from  rendering  assistance  to 
separate  groups  of  the  population  in  their 
internecine  struggles— in  this  case  with  re- 
gard to  the  assistance  given  to  the  Grode- 
kovo  band ;  secondly,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  region  is  quiet  and  that  a  strong 
Government  has  been  established,  it  is  an 
appropriate  time  for  the  fixing  by  the  Japa- 
nese Imperial  Government  of  a  definite  date 
for  the  evacuation  of  the  Japanese  troops 
from  the  Far  Eastern  Republic. 

Considering  the  fact  that  upon  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  there  is  at 
present  a  Japanese  Diplomatic  Mission,  the 
Government  is  kindly  asking  to  be  informed 
whether  the  Japanese  Imperial  Government 
will  agree  to  receive  our  mission  in  Tokio 
upon  the  just  principle  of  reciprocity,  with 
the  aim  of  speedily  establishing  political 
and  economic  relations  based  on  such  treat- 
ies as  will  be  for  the  mutual  benefit  and 
friendship  of  both  the  Japanese  and  Russian 
peoples.  We  trust  that  this  will  speed  the 
long-hoped-for  day  of  mutual  understanding 
and  peaceful  relations  between  the  two 
peoples.  KRASNOCHEKOV, 

Minister    of   Foreign    Affairs    of    the 
Far  Eastern  Republic. 
Chita,   Jan.   19,  1920. 

To  this  communication,  so  far  as  can  be 
learned,  the  Japanese  Government  has  made 
no  reply.  A  bitter  and  outspoken  article  in 
the  Tribuna  (described  as  an  organ  of  the 
Chita  Government),  called  attention,  at  the 
end  of  February,  to  Japan's  ignoring  of  the 
communication  from  Chita,  and  declared 
that  in  consequence  the  Siberian  authorities 
were  prevented  from  taking  such  measures 
as  they  deemed  fit  for  the  restoration  of 
peace  and  order  in  the  Maritime  Province. 
The  situation  in  the  Japanese  zone  of  occu- 
pation was  described  as  deplorable.  Rus- 
sians were  being  slain  daily  by  the  Jap- 
anese troops;  many  of  the  inhabitants  had 
abandoned  their  homes,  schools  had  been 
closed,  public  offices  abolished,  criminals 
could  not  be  arrested  owing  to  Japanese  in- 
terference, and  the  general  result  was  an- 
archy. 

In  addition  to  its  other  troubles,  the  Mari- 
time Province  was  threatened  with  the  com- 
plete breakdown  of  all  civil  administration, 
as  the  Vladivostok  authorities  had  reached 
the  end  of  their  gold  reserve,  and  had  no 


means  of  paying  the  2,000  or  more  officials, 
who  were  facing  starvation  with  their  fam- 
ilies. The  tense  situation  between  Japan 
and  the  Chita  Government  was  becoming 
more  strained  because  of  Japan's  demand 
on  the  Chita  Government  through  Vladi- 
vostok on  behalf  of  the  rights  of  Japanese 
fishermen  along  the  coast.  The  Chita  au- 
thorities were  playing  for  time,  while  pro- 
testing against  the  severity  of  Japan's  de- 
mands. Meanwhile  the  Japanese  were  at 
loggerheads  with  the  Interallied  Railway 
Committee  over  the  question  of  whether 
Russian  rolling  stock  should  be  removed, 
Japan's  attitude  being  that  she  had  the  right 
to  prohibit  this  in  order  to  secure  the  safety 
of  her  military;  the  commission,  however, 
overruled  this  by  a  decision  taken  shortly 
before  Feb.  24. 

An  attempt  of  the  anti-Bolshevist  ele- 
ments to  gain  control  of  Vladivostok  on 
March  31  proved  abortive.  The  fighting 
of  the  insurgents,  united  with  the  remnants 
of  the  forces  of  General  Kappel,  another 
Kolchak  commander,  had  not  proceeded  very 
long  before  officials  of  the  Japanese  gar- 
rison ordered  the  belligerents  to  cease  firing 
and  disarm.  This  intervention  proved  ef- 
fective, and  the  beginning  of  April  saw 
quiet   restored. 

Study  of  the  whole  Siberian  situation 
shows  that  the  Japanese  are  hated  by  all 
Russians,  whether  of  the  Bolshevist  or  non- 
Bolshevist  factions;  that  the  Russians  are 
determined  to  drive  them  out  of  the  coun- 
try, and  that  the  Japanese  are  making 
every  effort  to  maintain  their  domination. 
The  Chita  army  in  the  Maritime  Province 
is'  said  to  number  150,000  bayonets.  The 
Chita  Government  and  the  Japanese  alike 
disclaim  aggressive  intentions,  but  the  play 
of  hostile  forces  is  such  that  the  danger  of 
a  sudden  explosion  cannot  be  denied.  The 
recent  seizure  by  the  Japanese  of  new  Rus- 
sian territory,  and  their  action  in  taking 
possession  of  the  Kamchatka  fishing 
waters,  have  increased  this  danger.  Only 
time  can  tell  what  the  outcome  of  this  com- 
plex situation  will  be. 


THE  FATE  OF  PROHIBITION 
IN  RUSSIA 


An  interesting  account,  by  a  Vladivostok  correspondent,  of  what  has  happened  to  the 
"dry"  laws  in  Russia  and  Siberia  since  the  Bolshevist  revolution  of  1917 — Drastic 
supervision   that  proved  unavailing* 


THE  Czar's  order  of  prohibition,  coincid- 
ing with  the  feverish  preparations  for 
the  World  War,  was  greeted  through- 
out Russia  with  sincere  enthusiasm.  Never 
had  any  similar  measure  had  better  chances 
of  success.  Even  those  to  whom  it  meant 
in  some  cases  a  mortal  economic  blow  ac- 
cepted it  with  quiet  resignation.  But  hardly 
was  the  first  flush  of  excitement  over  when 
this  unanimity  disappeared.  People  began 
to  discover  in  every  possible  difference  of 
class,  position,  profession,  &c,  a  valid  rea- 
son to  change  their  attitude.  This  tendency, 
for  example,  ran  through  the  whole  army, 
from  the  higher  military  authorities  down 
through  the  officers  to  the  men,  every  class 
inventing  its  own  reasons  why  it  should  en- 
joy exemption  from  the  law.  Everybody 
found  a  sufficient  and  just  ground  for  re- 
garding himself  as  an  exception. 

The  war  between  the  popular  will  and  the 
law  began.  Secret  trade  in  all  kinds  of 
liquor  soon  flourished  all  over  the  country. 
In  fact,  it  was  so  easy  to  obtain  alcoholic 
drinks  that  one  wondered  whether  the  dis- 
regard of  the  law  was  not  officially  en- 
couraged. 

Nevertheless  one  distinctly  salutary  re- 
markable effect  of  prohibition  remained. 
Nobody  dared  to  appear  intoxicated  in  pub- 
lic. Persons  already  under  the  influence  of 
alcohol  could  obtain  no  more  of  it  in  any 
public  place.  Even  private  smugglers  re- 
frained from  selling  drink  to  such.  For  in 
case  of  offenders  being  detained  by  the 
police,  they  could  buy  immunity  by  indicat- 
ing those  who  supplied  them  with  alcohol, 
and  the  otherwise  voluntarily  blind  authori- 
ties would  act  sternly  in  such  a  case.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  public,  with  the  tacit  con- 
sent of  the  authorities,  changed  the  imposed 
absolute  prohibition  to  a  voluntary  obliga- 
tion not  to  abuse  the  right  to  drink,  not  in 
public  at  least. 

After    the    Revolution,    however,    it    was 


more  the  habit  of  four  years  than  the 
vigilance  of  the  police  that  maintained — as 
far  as  it  maintained — prohibition.  Scenes 
of  the  old  times  recurred,  and  drunken  men 
and  women  in  the  streets  became  more  and 
more  numerous.  The  militia,  as  the  police 
were  now  called,  made  hardly  any  effort  to 
stop  it.  They  had  neither  the  will  nor  the 
means. 

But  at  this  point  a  new  force  came  to  the 
rescue  of  the  success  of  prohibition.  What- 
ever smuggling  and  secret  trade  there  was 
in  alcoholic  drinks  during  the  first  four 
years  of  prohibition,  it  was,  speaking  the 
language  of  economics,  only  a  liquidation 
of  the  large  stocks  that  remained  on  hand. 
The  uncertainty  of  the  future  of  the  trade, 
its  risks,  the  impossibility  to  continue  it  on 
a  large  scale,  forced  capital  of  any  con- 
siderable proportion  to  withdraw  from  it. 
The  consequence  was  that  after  the  old 
stocks  had  been  exhausted  new  material 
could  be  obtained  only  at  very  high  prices, 
and  generally  of  very  low  quality.  At  the 
same  time  the  buying  capacity  of  the  mar- 
ket sank  rapidly.  Soon  it  became  impossible 
for  the  large  majority  to  acquire  any  decent 
alcoholic  drinks  regularly.  From  time  to 
time,  at  special  festive  occasions,  alcohol 
figured  on  the  table  as  a  luxury,  but  later  it 
disappeared  even  as  such.  The  cheapest 
and  most  dangerous  kinds  were  so  bad  that 
only  very  desperate  alcoholics  could  find 
any  taste  for  them.  And  so  prohibition  was 
now  enforced  not  by  the  law,  which  was  im- 
potent, but  by  the  iron  severity  of  eco- 
nomic necessity. 

The  Bolshevist  regime  was  officially  de- 
cidedly prohibitionist.  But  as,  in  the  be- 
ginning especially,  money  was  abundantly 
supplied  to  the  army,  and  the  army  was 
in    most    part    stationed    somewhere    near 


♦Condensed  from  a  somewhat  longer  article 
in  the  Japan  Weekly  Chronicle  of  Feb.  24,  1921, 
written  by  its  Vladivostok  correspondent. 


252 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  frontiers,  smuggling  was  greatly  en- 
couraged. Later  drastic  measures  were 
adopted,  and  the  money  became  almost 
valueless.     Prohibition  again  triumphed. 

SMUGGLING  IN   SIBERIA 

In  Siberia  the  Kolchak  Government  re- 
stored the  old  order.  Officially  prohibition 
was  upheld,  but  all  kinds  of  drinks  could  be 
obtained  anywhere  and  for  reasonabe 
prices.  This  was  mainly  dwe  to  the  fact 
that  the  Siberian  Railway  runs  near  the 
Chinese  and  Manchurian  border,  through 
which  it  was  very  easy  to  import  any 
quantity  of  liquor. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  Russians 
are  perfectly  satisfied  in  their  desire  for 
alcohol  if  they  get  vodka,  i.  e.,  a  40  per  cent, 
alcoholic  dilution.  Smuggling  is  thereby 
greatly  simplified,  as  the  vodka  is  easily 
"  condensed  "  to  pure  alcohol,  which  in  turn 
is  readily  changed  back  into  vodka  by  mix- 
ing it  with  a  corresponding  quantity  of 
water. 

There  were,  of  course,  numerous  ways 
and  means  by  which  alcohol  was  carried 
across  the  frontier,  but  the  bulk  of  the 
secretly  imported  liquor  came  in  on  the 
Siberian  border  through  two  principal 
channels  and  chiefly  in  two  ways.  One 
of  these  channels  was  the  Manchurian 
Railway,  on  which  hardly  one  male  pas- 
senger traveled  without  being  consciously 
or  unconsciousy  guilty  of  smuggling.  A 
most  simple  and  sure  method  was  adopted. 
The  spirit  was  packed  in  very  flat  large 
or  small  tins,  rounded  so  as  to  fit  a  man's 
breast  or  legs.  The  larger  tins  gave  eight 
to  ten  bottles  of  vodka,  the  smaller  ones  two 
to  four.  Just  before  the  train  reached 
the  border-stations  Manchuria  or  Pogranich- 
naya,  the  bottles,  provided  with  convenient 
leather  belts,  were  attached  to  the  waist, 
breast,  back  or  legs,  under  the  waistcoat  or 
trousers,  or  were  placed  under  the  seat- 
cushion,  often  of  a  fellow  passenger.  For 
those  third-class  passengers  who  went  in 
the  Winter  with  the  typically  Siberian  felt- 
boots,  special  tins  were  prepared  filling  al- 
most completely  the  interior  of  the  boots. 

It  must  have  been  an  unusually  malev- 
olent customs  official  who  discovered 
any  of  the  tins.  There  would  have  been 
no  end  to  the  inspection  if  they  did.  And 
so  round-tin  fabrication  became  a  flourish- 
ing industry  which  brought  handsome  prof- 


its to  the  Chinese  merchants  of  Fudyadyan 
(the  Chinese  town  of  Harbin). 

The  other  chief  gate  of  entrance  for 
clandestine  alcohol  was  Vladivostok  and 
the  near  Korean  frontier.  The  small 
Chinese  boats,  a  large  number  of  which 
were  engaged  in  carrying  fire-wood  to 
Vladivostok,  had  but  a  few  hours'  sail 
from  the  point  where  they  took  the  wood 
to  and  from  Korea,  where  they  could  load 
their  more  precious  cargo  of  spirit.  To 
evade  the  vigilance  of  the  Vladivostok 
police  was  an  easy  matter.  Big  wooden 
barrels,  made  to  look  exactly  like  logs  of 
wood,  could  quite  openly  pass  at  any  time 
from  the  vessel  to  the  carts  waiting  for 
them.  Sometimes  goat-skin  bags  were 
used,  which,  flat  and  spread  over  the  seat 
as  if  to  serve  as  a  cover,  proved  more 
handy  and  less  expensive,  but  they  could 
not  carry  any  considerable  quantity. 

END   OF   PROHIBITION 

The  force  of  prohibition  in  Siberia  was 
further  weakened  by  the  following  fact: 
The  different  allied  military  missions  and 
army  units  did  not  regard  prohibition  as 
binding  for  themselves,  and  were  regularly 
supplied  with  their  wonted  drinks.  As  a  re- 
sult the  sale  of  these  to  the  entire  popula- 
tion who  could  pay  for  them  became  un- 
controllable by  the  Russian  authorities,  the 
missions  and  armies  being  naturally  outside 
their  jurisdiction. 

After  the  fall  of  Kolchak  a  similar  eco- 
nomic situation  brought  about  the  same  ef- 
fects on  prohibition  in  Siberia  as  it  did  in 
Russia.  Very  few  were  able  to  afford  real 
alcoholic  drinks.  The  alcohol  that  was 
smuggled  in  from  China  and  Manchuria 
was  often  a  most  dangerous  mixture  of 
ethyl  with  alcohol — methyl-alcohol,  called 
handsha — and  was  palatable  to  the  worst 
drunkards  only. 

In  September  last,  however,  desirous  to 
obtain  the  revenues  it  was  expected  to 
yield,  the  Vladivostok  National  Assembly 
voted  unanimously  the  abolition  of  pro- 
hibition. The  shops  were  the  next  day  filled 
with  all  kinds  of  drinks.  Many  feared  a 
wild  outbreak  of  drunkenness,  but  nothing 
of  the  sort  happened.  The  depression, 
amounting  to  a  crisis,  which  drove  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  step,  has  thus  far  made  it 
impossible  for  the  public  to  abuse  the  re- 
stored liberty. 


SUCCESSES  OF  SOVIET  RUSSIA 


Soviet  prestige  increased  by  signing  of  trade  treaty  with  Great  Britain — Moscow* s 
attempt  to  obtain  a  similar  pact  with  the  United  States  is  rebuffed — Supression  of  the 
Kronstadt  rebellion — Other  events  favorable  to  the  Soviet  leaders 

[Period    Ended   April   12,    1921] 


THE  outstanding  event  of  the  month, 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  Soviet  dic- 
tators, was  the  signing  of  the  long- 
deferred  trade  treaty  with  Great  Britain. 
Many  times  had  the  negotiations  been 
broken  off,  many  times  had  the  hopes  of 
the  Moscow  rulers  been  dashed  to  the 
ground.  This  was  a  victory  for  Red  Russia. 
Nor  was  it  an  isolated  triumph;  the  peace 
negotiations  with  the  Poles  at  Riga,  which 
had  dragged  on  for  months  and  often 
threatened  disruption,  were  finally  brought 
to  a  successful  end.  This  new  peace,  im- 
portant for  Poland's  future,  was  equally 
important  for  the  Soviet  Republic.  The  Red 
rulers,  lastly,  succeeded  in  entering  the  re- 
bellious Neva  fortress  of  Kronstadt,  drove 
out  the  counter-revolutionary  sailors  who 
had  sworn  to  overthrow  the  Bolshevist 
regime,  and  re-established  completely  their 
menaced  power.  Revolts  in  other  parts  of 
Russia  still  remained  to  be  liquidated,  but 
the  general  trend  of  events  was  favorable 
to  the  Soviet  rulers. 

The  Kronstadt  rebellion,  which  alarmed 
the  Bolshevist  rulers  in  its  early  stages,  was 
an  outgrowth  of  workmen's  revolts  in  Petro- 
grad.  The  whole  movement  started  in  a 
strike  at  the  cartridge  works  in  the  former 
capital  on  Feb.  lil,  which  spread  on  Feb.  23 
to  the  Baltic  works  and  then  to  the  Laferme 
cigarette  factory  on  the  Vassili  Ostrov 
(Island).  Other  strikers  joined  the  men, 
who  were  besieged  on  the  island  and  who 
were  further  reinforced  by  sailers  who 
came  up  from  Kronstadt  on  an  icebreaker. 
Serious  fighting  continued  until  the  end  of 
February.  On  March  2  the  sailors  of  Kron- 
stadt, headed  by  Petresenko,  a  sailor  of  one 
of  the  Bolshevist  warships,  informed  Petro- 
grad  of  their  refusal  to  acknowledge  the 
Soviet  rule  further,  and  simultaneously  ar- 
rested the  Kronstadt  commissar  and  chief 
of  the  fleet.  Bombardments  from  both  sides 
began  and  continued  for  a  number  of  days. 
The  Soviet  forces  regained  possession  of  the 


fortress  of  Krasnaya  Gorka,  across  the 
strait,  and  made  attacks  which  the  besieged 
sailors  found  it  ever  more  difficult  to  repel 

The  size  of  the  garrison,  it  appeared,  had 
been  exaggerated,  as  it  did  not  exceed  16,000 
men.  Worn  out  by  the  strain  of  days  of 
bombardment,  sleepless  nights,  and  hard 
fighting,  the  Kronstadters  at  last  faced 
actual  invasion  by  a  Red  Army  of  60,000 
men  under  Trotzky,  which  entered  the  city 
in  a  fog,  and  though  driven  out  by  ma- 
chine gun  fire,  returned  to  the  assault,  and 
was  finally  victorious.  Severe  fighting  oc- 
curred in  the  streets;  the  Kronstadters  de- 
clared that  Communist  sympathizers  lodged 
in  houses  harassed  them  with  a  cross-fire. 
Eventually  the  sailors  were  completely 
routed.  Fully  12,000  fled  across  the  ice  to 
Terioki,  Finland,  where  they  became  a  prob- 
lem for  the  Finnish  Government.  Pe- 
tresenko— the  sailor  who  headed  the  revolt — 
was  the  last  to  leave  Kronstadt  for  Terioki. 
The  whole  uprising  was  subsequently  ex- 
plained by  the  Moscow  officials  as  having 
been  due  to  the  attempts  of  Trotzky  to  in- 
troduce discipline  among  the  Kronstadt 
sailors,  who  had  been  demoralized  by  the 
free  and  easy  life  which  they  had  long  led 
in  their  semi-isolation  in  Kronstadt,  and 
whose  anger  was  intensified  by  Trotzky's 
action  in  reducing  their  food  supplies  in  or- 
der to  compel  them  to  accept  his  dictates. 
The  Bolshevist  authorities  were  said  to  have 
executed  more  than  2,000  of  the  insurgents 
who  fell  into  their  hands. 

Kronstadt  was  announced  officially  to 
have  been  taken  on  March  17.  The  next  day 
the  peace  treaty  with  Poland  and  Ukrainia 
was  signed  at  Riga.  [See  Poland].  After 
the  signing,  M.  Dombsky,  head  of  the  Polish 
delegation,  declared  that  it  was  Poland's  de- 
sire to  be  the  bridge  between  Russia  and 
Europe.  He  added,  however,  that  future  re- 
lations between  the  two  countries  would  de- 
pend on  the  way  the  treaty  was  executed. 
The  comment  of  Adolph  Joffe,  head  of  the 


254 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Russian  delegation,  was  mainly  as  follows: 
"  Soviet  Russia's  enemies  have  endeavored 
to  represent  her  as  an  aggressive  State,  but 
the  signing  of  this  treaty  shows  her  peace- 
fulness." 

The  Russo-Ukrainian-Polish  frontier  was 
defined  by  the  treaty  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  Poland  new  territory;  propaganda  and 
political  interference  were  abjured,  political 
amnesty  was  granted  on  both  sides,  prop- 
erty taken  from  Poland  and  the  Ukraine 
was  to  be  returned  by  Russia,  the  Soviet 
power  and  Ukraine  were  to  pay  to  Poland 
30,000,000  gold  rubles  during  the  year  fol- 
lowing ratification  of  the  treaty;  Poland 
was  released  from  the  payment  of  debts  of 
the  former  Russian  Empire;  matters  re- 
garding railway  material  and  machinery, 
accounts,  deposits  and  funds  were  settled, 
negotiations  for  commercial  treaties  and 
postal  and  telegraph  conventions  were  to 
start  within  six  weeks. 

Lenin  heard  simultaneously  of  the  Kron- 
stadt  liquidation  and  of  the  signing  of  the 
Riga  and  London  Treaties  on  March  18. 
It  was  just  after  he  had  come  from  the 
Tenth  Communist  Congress  in  Moscow, 
where  he  had  made  a  speech  subsequently 
interpreted  as  an  abjuration  of  Bolshevism. 
News  of  the  occurrences  above  mentioned 
was  greeted  by  a  screwing  up  of  one  eye, 
and  by  the  dryly  humorous  remark :  "  I  fear 
I  have  become  respectable."  According  to 
Captain  Francis  M'Cullagh,  the  Russian 
correspondent  of  The  New  York  Herald,  he 
then  sent  to  the  British  Government  the  fol- 
lowing telegram: 

Agreement  useless  unless  the  British  Gov- 
ernment ceases  the  mistrust  shown  us  for 
three  years.  Our  best  and  only  propaganda 
will  be  the  example  given  the  world  by  our 
economic  reconstruction  of  Russia. 

Stafford  Ransome,  the  English  author, 
who  was  Lenin's  guest  at  Moscow,  paid 
tribute  at  this  time  to  Lenin's  attitude  dur- 
ing the  trying  days  of  the  Kronstadt  rebel- 
lion. His  cool  and  humorous  demeanor 
had  prevented  the  panic-stricken  Zinoviev, 
President  of  the  Central  Executive  Com- 
mittee, from  causing  a  massacre  in  Petro- 
grad.  More  important,  he  had  spoken 
daily  before  the  Communist  Congress, 
where  his  position  was  most  difficult.  His 
numerous  speeches  had  been  remarkable  in 
that  he  frankly  admitted  his  mistakes.  At 
the  opening  of  the  Congress  on  March  8, 
he  had  said: 


Our  internal  difficulties  are  bound  up  with 
questions  of  demobilization,  food  and  fuel. 
We  made  a  mistake  in  the  distribution  of 
stocks  of  foodstuffs,  although  these  stocks 
were  considerably  larger  than  in  former 
years.  The  fuel  crisis  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  attempted  to  restore  our  industrial 
life  on  too  large  a  scale.  We  overestimated 
thereby  the  transition  from  war  to  peace 
economics. 

The  most  important  question  of  the  present 
moment  is  the  relation  between  the  working 
classes  and  the  predominating  section  of  the 
Russian  population— the  peasants.  Moreover, 
the  international  situation  is  defined  by  the 
exceedingly  slow  development  of  the  world 
revolutionary  movement,  and  we  in  no  case 
can  consider  its  speedy  victory  a  premise  of 
our  policy. 

In  speaking  of  the  internal  situation  in  So- 
viet Russia,  it  is  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the 
events  at  Kronstadt.  The  rising  organized 
by  France  in  conjunction  with  the  Social- 
Revolutionaries  will  be  crushed  in  the  next 
few  days.  Nevertheless,  it  forces  us  to  con- 
sider most  seriously  the  internal  situation  of 
Soviet   Russia. 

The  peasants  consider  that  they  have  noth- 
ing more  to  fear  from  the  Czarist  Generals, 
and  that  they  receive  too  small  an  amount  of 
industrial  products.  The  peasants,  therefore, 
consider  that  the  sacrifices  demanded  from 
them  by  the  State  are  too  great.  We  must 
meet  the  desires  of  the  peasants.  We  are 
introducing  a  food  tax  in  kind,  which  will  be 
imposed  according  to  the  means  of  the  peas- 
ant, and  will  afford  him  a  free  field  of 
action  in  his  interests  as  a  landowner.  This 
tax  will  consume  only  part  of  the  peasant's 
harvest.  The  surplus  that  remains  in  his 
hands  he  will  have  the  possibility  of  selling 
locally.  *  *  *  The  question  of  the  "  kind  " 
tax  is  now  the  most  important  of  Soviet 
policy. 

During  the  Congress  and  just  before  it 
opened  Lenin  made  five  different  speeches, 
in  which  he  announced  allegedly  important 
changes  in  the  policy  of  the  Moscow  Gov- 
ernment. He  recognized  or  feigned  to 
recognize  the  impossibility  of  bringing 
about  the  world  revolution  by  organized 
propaganda,  and  declared  that  Russia  must 
grant  concessions  to  foreign  capitalists  for 
the  sake  of  fostering  economic  development. 
His  proposals  for  internal  changes  were  as 
follows : 

1.  More  freedom  must  be  effected  in  the 
exchange  of  goods  among  the  people. 

2.  The  peasants  must  be  permitted  to  sell 
their  farm  products,  and  only  a  portion  of 
them  shall  be  delivered  to  the  Soviet  regime 
as  a  tax. 

3.  The  operation  and  organization  of 
smaller  industries  must  be  left  to  some  ex- 
tent to  private  initiative. 

4.  Greater  freedom  must  be  allowed  to  the 
co-operative  societies. 


SUCCESSES  OF  SOVIET  RUSSIA 


255 


These  proposals  were  all  adopted,  though 
not  without  a  conflict.  The  second  of  the 
measures  means  in  effect  that  the  Moscow 
Government  is  to  abandon  compulsory  re- 
quisitioning- of  food,  grain,  fodder  and  other 
agricultural  products;  inasmuch,  however, 
as  the  State  still  retains  the  grain  monop- 
oly, the  peasants  can  dispose  of  their  grain 
on  a  price  basis  only  to  the  Government. 
Even  so,  the  passing  of  this  decision  will 
tend  to  diminish  the  hostility  of  the  peas- 
ants to  the  regime,  which  before  they  re- 
garded purely  as  a  predatory  power. 

The  first  item  mentioned  concerns  one 
of  the  most  fertile  sources  of  discontent 
among  the  Russian  people,  namely  the 
abolition  of  the  free  market.  The  whole 
anti-Bolshevist  movement  among  the  peas- 
ants has  been  in  large  part  based  on  the 
demand  for  the  freedom  of  trade.  This  de- 
mand the  Bolsheviki  have  fiercely  de- 
nounced as  in  substance  a  demand  for  free- 
dom of  speculation  in  food.  To  prevent 
this,  the  dictators  established  a  chain  of 
military  cordons  to  watch  all  roads,  and 
their  agents  searched  all  railway  cars,  carts 
and  other  vehicles,  and  confiscated  all  food 
which  they  believed  intended  for  free  sale. 
This  control  which  failed  to  prevent  much 
of  the  traffic,  has  now  been  officially  re- 
moved— whether  only  temporarily  or  per- 
manently remains  to  be  seen.  By  some 
it  is  considered  as  a  desperate  but  pro- 
visional expedient  to  save  the  main  cities 
from  absolute  famine. 

The  trade  agreement  with  Great  Britain 
was  signed  in  London  on  March  16  by  Sir 
Robert  Home,  President  of  the  London 
Board  of  Trade,  on  behalf  of  the  British 
Government,  and  by  Leonid  Krassin,  head 
of  the  Bolshevist  trade  delegation,  on  behalf 
of  the  Moscow  regime.  (The  full  text  of  the 
pact  follows  this  article.)  Its  terms  forbade 
propaganda  on  either  side,  provided  for  re- 
patriation of  all  war  prisoners  still  remain- 
ing in  either  country,  raised  the  blockade 
of  Russia,  sanctioned  freedom  of  shipping, 
stipulated  that  all  mines  in  the  Baltic  be 
cleared  away,  called  for  the  admission  of 
trade  representatives  and  official  agents, 
pledged  the  British  Government  not  to  seize 
Russian  gold  sent  to  cover  future  trade, 
and  empowered  the  Soviet  Government  to 
terminate  the  contract  if  any  British  court 
decided  in  favor  of  attachment  of  gold  or 
other  property  for  debts  of  any  preceding 


Russian  Government.  This  provision  was 
devised  to  cover  certain  litigation  to  be 
brought  as  a  test  case  in  the  British  courts. 
Unless  the  British  courts  confirm  the  Soviet 
ownership  of  Russian  gold,  M.  Krassin  him- 
self declared  after  the  signing,  the  treaty 
will  be  useless  and  practically  void. 

At  the  time  this  trade  agreement  was 
signed  a  special  letter  was  handed  by  Sir 
Robert  Home  to  M.  Krassin,  in  which  Great 
Britain  categorically  charged,  with  full 
details,  that  the  Moscow  Government  was 
still  continuing  its  subversive  propaganda 
against  Great  Britain,  notably  in  Afghan- 
istan and  other  territory  continguous  to 
India.  It  told  who  the  Russian  agents  were 
and  what  instruments  they  had  made  use 
of — Hindus  and  Afghans,  some  of  whom  had 
been  convicted  of  crime,  while  others  had 
been  in  the  pay  of  Germany  during  the  war. 
All  these  activities,  said  the  note,  must 
cease  immediately.  The  whole  letter  virtual- 
ly amounted  to  an  ultimatum. 

Apart  from  backing  the  Kemalite  Turks 
in  their  protest  against  the  Sevres  Treaty, 
the  Bolsheviki,  according  to  Moscow  advices 
received  in  London  toward  the  end  of 
March,  hurried  through  negotiations  with 
one  Eastern  people  after  another  before  the 
Trade  Treaty  with  Great  Britain  was 
signed,  in  order  to  obtain  a  strong  position 
in  the  East  before  all  further  activity  was 
prohibited.  Treaties  were  concluded  with  the 
Afghans,  Bokharans,  Persians  and  Turks. 
The  treaty  with  Afghanistan,  though  osten- 
sibly recognizing  Afghan  independence, 
practically  turned  the  Afghan  Government 
into  an  institution  subsidized  by  Russia  to 
the  extent  of  1,000,000  rubles  yearly.  The 
treaty  with  Turkey,  signed  March  16,  con- 
firmed the  territorial  frontiers  claimed  by 
Turkey  under  the  act  passed  by  the  Turkish 
Parliament  on  Jan.  28,  1920,  ruled  regard- 
ing disputed  territory,  acknowledged  Tur- 
key's sovereignty,  and  released  her  from 
payment  of  the  old  debt  to  Imperial  Russia. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that 
France  looked  upon  the  Russo-British  trade 
treaty  with  a  cold  and  fishy  eye.  France's 
insistence  that  no  trade  with  Russia  was 
possible  until  Moscow  recognized  Imperial 
Russia's  debts  has  never  been  modified;  she 
has  not  believed  that  such  a  trade  agree- 
ment would  be  workable.  French  feeling,  as 
reflected  in  the  press,  was  that  the  present 
compact  would  not  prove  practicable.     Brit- 


256 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


ish  reaction  was  one  of  considerable 
hostility.  Several  of  the  leading  London 
papers  assailed  the  treaty,  declaring  that 
recognition  of  the  Soviet  regime  was  im- 
plied by  it.  Vigorous  onslaughts  were  also 
delivered  orally  in  Parliament.  At  the  ses- 
sion of  March  22  Lloyd  George  defended  his 
policy.  The  agreement,  he  said,  was  a 
purely  trading  agreement,  not»a  peace  com- 
pact, and  recognized  the  Soviet  merely  as 
the  Government  de  facto,  which  undoubted- 
ly it  was.  It  was  an  attempt  to  settle  up 
some  of  the  most  important  problems  of  the 
East  by  a  mutual  arrangement,  in  which 
the  rights  and  claims  of  all  British  na- 
tionals were  protected. 

The  letter  sent  by  Tchitcherin  to  the 
Washington  Government  proposing  a  simi- 
lar pact  with  the  United  States,  and  the 
uncompromising  refusal  dispatched  by  Sec- 
retary Hughes  in  reply,  will  be  found  else- 
where in  this  issue,  under  head  of  the 
Harding  Administration's  foreign  policy. 

The  Russian  trade  delegation  to  Italy 
was  less  fortunate  than  the  mission  to  Eng- 
land. The  Italian  authorities  insisted  in 
Rome  on  having  the  delegation's  luggage 
examined,  and  the  Soviet  emissaries  pro- 
tested in  the  strongest  terms  against  what 
they  called  an  outrage.  The  baggage  was 
found  to  contain  many  jewels  and  orna- 
ments of  gold  and  silver  worth  a  small  for- 
tune. Italian  feeling  ran  high  against  the 
Red  envoys,  as  no  doubt  was  entertained 
that  these  jewels  were  to  be  disposed  of, 
as  in  England,  for  the  purposes  of  sub- 
versive propaganda.  A  Rome  dispatch  of 
March  21  stated  that  the  Russian  delega- 
tion had  broken  off  relations  with  the 
Italian  Government — which  had  prepared 
expulsion  decrees — and  was  intending  to  re- 
turn to  Moscow. 

The  draft  of  a  German-Russian  trade 
agreement  was  ready  for  signature  on 
March  23. 

Sporadic  revolts  in  Kazan,  West  Russia, 
White  Russia  and  the  South  continued;  the 
Soviet  Government  was  repressing  them 
with  a  strong  hand  as  they  occurred.  The 
Soviet's  greatest  difficulty,  as  before,  was 


the  food  question.  Petrograd  was  in  a  piti- 
able plight.  The  whole  situation  was  re- 
viewed by  the  Central  Committee  elected  by 
the  Tenth  Congress  in  a  letter  sent  to  all 
members  of  the  party,  appealing  for  party 
unity,  and  urging  them  to  aid  in  the  task 
of  establishing  closer  connection  with  the 
peasants,  making  them  understand  the  seri- 
ousness of  the  economic  crisis,  and  the  spirit 
of  conciliation  in  which  the  measures  passed 
by  the  Congress  had  been  conceived.  From 
the  Bolshevist  point  of  view,  the  most  seri- 
ous development  in  Siberia  was  the  re- 
ported launching  of  new  offensives  by  Gen- 
eral Semenov  and  his  anti-Bolshevist  Gen- 
erals.   [See  Siberia.] 

An  echo  of  the  liquidation  of  General 
Wrangel's  venture  was  heard  on  April  5, 
when  it  was  reported  that  the  situation  of 
some  35,000  soldiers  of  the  former  Wrangel 
army,  interned  on  the  island  of  Lemnos, 
was  becoming  desperate.  The  soldiers  com- 
plained bitterly  of  insufficient  food  and 
shelter.  The  French  authorities  had  of- 
fered to  remove  most  of  the  men  to  the 
mainland,  but  this  offer  had  been  accepted 
only  by  some  3,000.  Other  offers  were  like- 
wise refused.  General  Wrangel,  supported 
by  all  his  followers,  had  asked  the  French 
Government  to  transport  them  to  Siberia, 
which  seemed  an  unlikely  solution.  The 
situation,  according  to  the  anti-Bolshevist 
publicist,  Vladimir  Bourtsev,  was  critical, 
and  only  lack  of  arms  and  transportation 
was  preventing  this  pent-up  and  resentful 
fragment  of  the  former  army  from  at- 
tempting an  attack  on  Constantinople,  or 
engaging  in  some  other  venture  equally 
perilous. 

According  to  the  Bolsheviki's  own  state- 
ment, 114  revolts  had  occurred,  249  anti- 
Bolshevist  plots  had  been  discovered,  4,300 
people  had  been  executed,  and  20,000  people 
had  been  imprisoned  during  the  last  six 
months  in  the  twelve  districts  of  Central 
Russia.  Authorities  on  Russia  believe  that 
these  figures  are  far  below  the  actual  facts. 
As  they  stand,  they  do  not  encourage  the 
belief  that  the  Bolshevist  regime  is  solidly 
established  or  accepted  in  Russia. 


TEXT  OF  THE  RUSSO-BRITISH 
TRADE  AGREEMENT 


Official  version  of  the  document  under  which  England  is  attempting  to  reopen  trade 
with  Bolshevist  Russia — Nature  of  the  concessions  which  Lloyd  George's  Government 
has  madey  and  which  the  United  States  has  refused  to  imitate 


AFTER  ten  months'  negotiations  the 
agreement  for  the  opening  of  trade 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  Soviet 
Russia  was  finally  signed  in  London  on 
March  16,  1921,  by  Sir  Robert  Home  and 
Leonid  Krassin  for  their  respective  Gov- 
ernments. At  almost  the  same  time  the 
Moscow  dictators  succeeded  in  suppressing 
the  anti-Soviet  rebellion  at  Kronstadt  and 
concluded  several  desired  treaties  with 
Asiatic  Governments.  Events,  for  the 
time  at  least,  were  favoring  the  Lenin- 
Trotzky  regime.  The  trade  agreement  with 
Great  Britain  was  especially  pleasing  to  the 
Bolshevist  leaders  because  it  amounted 
practically  to  a  recognition  of  them  as  the 
de  facto  Government  of  Russia.  In  Eng- 
land there  was  general  distrust  of  the 
policy  thus  embarked  upon,  and  Sir  Robert 
Home  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George  succeeded  in 
pushing  the  compact  through  only  against 
considerable  opposition  both  in  and  outside 
of  Parliament.  Their  real  aim  was  appar- 
ent in  a  long  communication  to  Krassin, 
which  accompanied  the  agreement,  and 
which  served  notice  upon  the  Soviet  au- 
thorities that,  if  they  did  not  stop  their 
clandestine  work  for  the  overthrow  of 
British  rule  in  India,  the  new  arrangement 
could  not  last.  The  text  of  the  agreement 
is  as  follows: 

AVhereas,  it  is  desirable  in  the  interests  both 
of  Russia  and  of  the  United  Kingdom  that 
peaceful  trade  and  commerce  should  be  resumed 
forthwith  between  those  countries,  and  whereas 
for  this  purpose  it  is  necessary,  pending  the 
conclusion  of  a  formal  general  peace  treaty 
between  the  Governments  of  those  countries  by 
which  their  economic  and  political  relations 
shall  be  regulated  in  the  future,  that  a  prelimi- 
nary agreement  should  be  arrived  at  between 
the  Government  of  the  United  Kingdom  and 
the  Government  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Fed- 
eral Soviet  Republic,  hereinafter  referred  to  as 
the   Russian   Soviet  Government; 

The  aforesaid  parties  have  accordingly  entered 
into  the  present  agreement  for  the  resumption 
ci  trade   and   commerce   between   the  countries. 


PROPAGANDA    FORBIDDEN. 

The  present  agreement  is  subject  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  following  conditions,  namely: 

(a)  That  each  party  refrain  from  hostile  ac- 
tions or  undertakings  against  the  other  and  from 
conducting  outside  of  its  own  borders  any  of- 
ficial propaganda,  direct  or  indirect,  against 
the  institutions  of  the  British  Empire  or  the 
Russian  Soviet  Republic  respectively,  and  more 
particularly  that  the  Russian  Soviet  Govern- 
ment refrain  from  any  attempt,  by  military  or 
diplomatic  or  any  other  form  of  action  or 
propaganda,  to  encourage  any  of  the  peoples  of 
Asia  in  any  form  of  hostile  action  against 
British  interests  or  the  British  Empire,  espe- 
cially in  India  and  in  the  independent  State 
of  Afghanistan.  The  British  Government  give 
a  similar  particular  undertaking  to  the  Russian 
Soviet  Government  in  respect  of  the  countries 
which  formed  part  of  the  former  Russian  Em- 
pire  and   which   have   now  become   independent. 

(&)  That  all  British  subjects  in  Russia  are 
immediately  permitted  to  return  home,  and  that 
all  Russian  citizens  in  Great  Britain  or  other 
parts  of  the  British  Empire  who  desire  to  re- 
turn to   Russia   are  similarly   released. 

It  is  understood  that  the  term  "  conducting 
any  official  propaganda  "  includes  the  giving 
by  either  party  of  assistance  or  encouragement 
to  any  propaganda  conducted  outside  its  own 
borders. 

The  parties  undertake  to  give  forthwith  all 
necessary  instructions  to  their  agents  and  to 
all  persons  under  their  authority  to  conform 
to  the  stipulations  undertaken  above. 

BLOCKADE  RAISED. 
I.— Both  parties  agree  not  to  impose  or  main- 
tain any  form  of  blockade  against  each  other 
and  to  remove  forthwith  all  obstacles  hitherto 
placed  in  the  way  of  the  resumption  of  trade 
between  the  United  Kingdom  and  Russia  in 
any  commodities  which  may  be  legally  ex- 
ported from  or  imported  into  their  respective 
territories  to  or  from  any  other  foreign 
country,  and  not  to  exercise  any  discrimina- 
tion against  such  trade  as  compared  with  that 
carried  on  with  any  other  foreign  country,  or 
to  place  any  impediments  in  the  way  of  bank- 
ing, credit  and  financial  operations  for  the 
purpose  of  such  trade,  but  subject  always  to 
legislation  generally  applicable  in  the  respective 
countries.  It  is  understood  that  nothing  in  this 
article  shall  prevent  either  party  from  regu- 
lating the  trade  in  arms  and  ammunition  under, 
general   provisions   of  law   which  are  applicable 


258 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


to   the   import    of   arms    and    ammunition   from, 
or  their  export   to,   foreign   countries. 

Nothing  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  as 
overriding  the  provisions  of  any  general  inter- 
national convention  which  is  binding  on  either 
party  by  which  the  trade  in  any  particular 
article  is  or  may  be  regulated  (as,  for  example, 
the  opium  convention). 

FREEDOM    OF    SHIPPING. 

II.— British  and  Russian  ships,  their  masters, 
crews  and  cargoes,  shall,  in  ports  of  Russia 
and  the  United  Kingdom  respectively,  receive 
in  all  respects  the  treatment,  privileges,  facili- 
ties, immunities  and  protections  which  are 
usually  accorded  by  the  established  practice 
of  commercial  nations  to  foreign  merchant 
ships,  their  masters,  crews  and  cargoes,  visit- 
ing their  ports,  including  the  facilities  usually 
accorded  in  respect  of  coal  and  water,  pilotage, 
berthing,  dry  docks,  cranes,  repairs,  ware- 
houses, and,  generally,  all  services,  appliances 
and  premises  connected  with  merchant 
shipping. 

Moreover,  the  British  Government  undertakes 
not  to  take  part  in  or  to  support  any  meas- 
ures restricting  or  hindering,  or  tending  to 
restrict  or  hinder,  Russian  ships  from  exercis- 
ing the  rights  of  free  navigation  of  the  high 
seas,  straits  and  navigable  waterways  which 
are  enjoyed  by  ships  of  other  nationalities. 

Provided  that  nothing  in  this  article  shall  im- 
pair the  right  of  either  party  to  take  such 
precautions  as  •  are  authorized  by  theii  re- 
spective laws  with  regard  to  the  admission  of 
aliens   into   their   territories. 

MINE  CLEARING. 

III.— The  British  and  other  Governments  hav- 
ing already  undertaken  the  clearance  of  the 
seas  adjacent  to  their  own  coasts  and  also  cer- 
tain parts  of  the  Baltic  from  mines  for  the 
benefit  of  all  nations,  the  Russian  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment on  their  part  undertake  to  clear  the 
sea  passages  to  their  own  ports. 

The  British  Government  will  give  the  Russian 
Soviet  Government  any  information  in  their 
power  as  to  the  position  of  mines  which  will 
assist  them  in  clearing  passages  to  the  ports 
and    shores   of    Russia. 

The  Russian  Government,  like  other  nations, 
will  give  all  information  to  the  International 
Mine  Clearance  Committee  about  the  areas  they 
have  swept  and  also  what  areas  still  remain 
dangerous.  They  will  also  give  all  information 
in  their  possession  about  the  mine  fields  laid 
down  by  the  late  Russian  Governments  since 
the  outbreak  of  war  in  1914  outside  Russian 
territorial  waters,  in  order  to  assist  in  their 
clearance. 

Provided  that  nothing  in  this  section  shall  be 
understood  to  prevent  the  Russian  Government 
from  taking  or  require  them  to  disclose  any 
measures  they  may  consider  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  their  ports. 

TRADE    REPRESENTATIVES. 
IV.— Each   party   may    nominate   such   number 
of   its   nationals   as   may  be    agreed    from    time 
to   time    as    being   reasonably    necessary    to   en- 


able proper  effect  to  be  given  to  this  Agree- 
ment, having  regard  to  the  conditions  under 
which  trade  is  carried  on  in  its  territories,  and 
the  other  party  shall  permit  such  persons  to 
enter  its  territories,  and  to  sojourn  and  carry 
on  trade  there,  provided  that  either  party  may 
restrict  the  admittance  of  any  such  persons 
into  any  specified  areas,  and  may  refuse  ad- 
mittance to  or  sojourn  in  its  territories  to  any 
individual  who  is  persona  non  grata  to  itself, 
or  who  does  not  comply  with  this  Agreement 
or  with   the  conditions   precedent   thereto. 

Persons  admitted  in  pursuance  of  this  article 
into  the  territories  of  either  party  shall,  while 
sojourning  therein  for  purposes  of  trade,  be  ex- 
empted from  all  compulsory  services  whatso- 
ever, whether  civil,  naval,  military,  or  other, 
and  from  any  contributions,  whether  pecuniary 
or  in  kind,  imposed  as  an  equivalent  for  per- 
sonal service,  and  shall  have  right  of  egress. 

They  shall  be  at  liberty  to  communicate 
freely  by  post,  telegraph  and  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, and  to  use  telegraph  codes  under  the 
conditions  and  subject  to  the  regulations  laid 
down  in  the  International  Telegraph  Conven- 
tion of  St.  Petersburg,  1875  (Lisbon  Revision 
of   1908). 

Each  party  undertakes  to  account  for  and 
to  pay  all  balances  due  to  the  other  in  respect 
of  terminal  and  transit  telegrams,  and  in  re- 
spect of  transit  letter  mails  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  International  Telegraph 
Convention  and  Regulations,  and  of  the  Con- 
vention and  Regulations  of  the  Universal  Pos- 
tal Union,  respectively.  The  above  balances 
when  due  shall  be  paid  in  the  currency  of 
either  party  at  the  option  of  the  receiving 
party. 

Persons  admitted  into  Russia  under  this 
Agreement  shall  be  permitted  freely  to  import 
commodities  (except  commodities,  such  as  alco- 
holic liquors,  of  which  both  the  importation 
and  the  manufacture  are  or  may  be  prohibited 
in  Russia)  destined  solely  for  their  household 
use  or  consumption  to  an  amount  reasonably 
required  for  such  purposes. 

OFFICIAL  AGENT 

V.— Either  party  may  appoint  one  or  more 
official  agents  to  a  number  to  be  mutually 
agreed  upon,  to  reside  and  exercise  their  func- 
tions in  the  territories  of  the  other,  who  shall 
personally  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  immunities 
set  forth  in  the  preceding  article  and  also 
immunity  from  arrest  and  search,  provided  that 
either  party  may  refuse  to  admit  any  indi- 
vidual as  an  official  agent  who  is  persona  non 
grata  to  itself  or  may  require  the  other  party 
to  withdraw  him  should  it  find  it  necessary  to 
do  so  on  grounds  of  public  interest  or  security. 
Such  agents  shall  have  access  to  the  authori- 
ties of  the  country  in  which  they  reside  for  the 
purpose  of  facilitating  the  carrying  out  of  this 
Agreement  and  of  protecting  the  interests  of 
their  nationals. 

Official  agents  shall  be  at  liberty  to  com- 
municate freely  with  their  own  Government 
and  with  other  official  representatives  of  their 
Government    in    other    countries    by    post,     by 


TEXT  OF  THE  RUSSC  BRITISH  TRADE  AGREEMENT 


259 


telegraph,  and  wireless  telegraphy  in  cipher, 
and  to  receive  and  dispatch  couriers  with 
sealed  bags  subject  to  a  limitation  of  three  kilo- 
grams per  week  which  can  be  exempt  from 
examination. 

Telegrams  and  radiotelegrams  of  official 
agents  shall  enjoy  any  right  of  priority  over 
private  messages  that  may  be  generally  ac- 
corded to  messages  of  the  official  representa- 
tives of  foreign  Governments  in  the  United 
Kingdom  and  Russia,  respectively. 

Russian  official  agents  in  the  United!  King- 
dom shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges  in  respect 
of  exemption  from  taxation,  central  or  local, 
as  are  accorded  to  the  official  representatives 
of  other  foreign  Governments.  British  official 
agents  in  Russia  shall  enjoy  equivalent  privi- 
leges, which,  moreover,  shall  in  no  case  be 
less  than  those  accorded  to  the  official  agents 
of  any  other  country. 

The  official  agents  shall  be  the  competent 
authorities  to  vise  the  passports  of  persons 
seeking  admission  in  pursuance  of  the  preced- 
ing  article    into    the    territories    of    the    parties. 

VI.— Each  party  undertakes  generally  to  en- 
sure that  persons  admitted  into  its  territories 
under  the  two  preceding  articles  shall  enjoy 
all  protection,  rights,  and  facilities  which  are 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  carry  on  trade,  but 
subject  always  to  any  legislation  generally  ap- 
plicable  in   the"  respective    countries. 

VII.— Both  contracting  parties  agree  simul- 
taneously with  the  conclusion  of  the  present 
Trade  Agreement  to  renew  exchange  of  private 
postal  and  telegraphic  correspondence  between 
both  countries,  as  well  as  the  dispatch  and  ac- 
ceptance of  wireless  messages  and  parcels  by 
post  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions which  were  in   existence  up  to  1914. 

VIII.— Passports,  documents  of  identity, 
powers  of  attorney,  and  similar  documents 
issued  or  certified  by  the  competent  authori- 
ties in  either  country  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
abling trade  to  be  carried  on  in  pursuance  of 
this  Agreement,  shall  be  treated  in  the  other 
country  as  if  they  were  issued  or  certified  by 
the  authorities  of  a  recognized  foreign 
Government. 

NO    GOLD    LEGISLATION. 

IX.— The  British  Government  declares  that  it 
will  not  initiate  any  steps  with  a  view  to  attach 
or  to  take  possession  of  any  gold,  funds,  se- 
curities, or  commodities,  not  being  articles 
identifiable  as  the  property  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, which  may  be  exported  from  Russia 
in  payment  for  imports  or  as  securities  for 
such  payment,  or  of  any  movable  or  immov- 
able property  which  may  be  acquired  by  the 
Russian  Soviet  Government  within  the  United 
Kingdom. 

It  will  not  take  steps  to  obtain  any  special 
legislation  not  applicable  to  other  countries 
against  the  importation  into  the  United  King- 
dom of  precious  metals  from  Russia,  whether 
specie  (other  than  British  or  Allied),  or  bul- 
tion,  or  manufactures,  or  the  storing,  analyzing, 
refining,  melting,  mortgaging,  or  disposing 
thereof  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  will  not 
requisition  such  metals. 


X.— The  Russian  Soviet  Government  under- 
takes to  make  no  claim  to  dispose  in  any  way 
of  the  funds  or  other  property  of  the  late  Im- 
perial and  Provisional  Russian  Government  in 
the  United  Kingdom.  The  British  Government 
gives  a  corresponding  undertaking  as  regards 
British  Government  funds  and  property  in 
Russia.  This  article  is  not  to  prejudice  the 
inclusion  in  the  general  Treaty,  referred  to  in 
the  preamble,  of  any  provision  dealing  with 
the  subject-matter  of  this  article. 

Both  parties  agree  to  protect  and  not  to 
transfer  to  any  claimants  pending  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  aforesaid  Treaty  any  of  the  above 
funds  or  property  which  may  be  subject  to 
their   control. 

XL— Merchandise,  the  produce  or  manufacture 
of  one  country  imported  into  the  other  in  pur- 
suance of  this  Agreement,  shall  not  be  sub- 
jected therein  to  compulsory  requisition  on  the 
part  of  the  Government  or  of  any  local 
authority. 

XII.— It  is  agreed  that  all  questions  relating 
to  the  rights  and  claims  of  nationals  of  either 
party  in  respect  of  patents,  trade  marks,  de- 
signs, and  copyrights,  in  the  territory  of  the 
other  party,  shall  be  equitably  dealt  with  in 
She  Treaty  referred  to  in  the  preamble. 

"  ARREST    OF    GOLD." 

XIIL— The  present  Agreement  shall  come  into 
force  immediately,  and  both  parties  shall  at 
once  take  all  necessary  measures  to  give  effect 
to  it.  It  shall  continue  in  force  unless  and 
until  replaced  by  the  Treaty  contemplated  in 
the  preamble  so  long  as  the  conditions  laid 
down  in  the  articles  of  the  Agreement  and  in 
the  preamble  are  observed  by  both  sides.  Pro- 
vided that  at  any  time  after  the  expiration  of 
twelve  months  from  the  date  on  which  the 
Agreement  comes  into  force  either  party  may 
give  notice  to  terminate  the  provisions  of  the 
preceding  articles,  and  on  the  expiration  of 
six  months  from  the  date  of  such  notice  those 
articles   shall  terminate  accordingly. 

Provided  also  that  if  as  the  result  of  any  ac- 
tion in  the  Courts  of  the  United  Kingdom 
dealing  with  the  attachment  or  arrest  of  any 
gold,  funds,  securities,  property,  or  commodi- 
ties not  being  identifiable  as  the  exclusive 
property  of  a  British  subject,  consigned  to  the 
United  Kingdom  by  the  Russian  Soviet  Govern- 
ment or  its  representatives,  judgment  is  de- 
livered by  the  Court  under  which  such  gold, 
funds,  securities,  property,  or  commodities  is 
held  to  be  validly  attached  on  account  of  obli- 
gations incurred  by  the  Russian  Soviet  Govern- 
ment or  by  any  previous  Russian  Government 
before  the  date  of  the  signature  of  this  Agree- 
ment, the  Russian  Soviet  Government  shall 
have  the  right  to  terminate  the  Agreement 
forthwith. 

Provided  also  that  in  the  event  of  the  in- 
fringement by  either  party  at  any  time  of  any 
of  the  provisions  of  this  Agreement  or  of  the 
conditions  referred  to  in  the  preamble,  the 
other  party  shall  immediately  be  free  from  the 
obligations  of  the  Agreement.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  agreed   that   before  taking  any  action   in- 


260 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


consistent  with  the  Agreement  the  aggrieved 
party  shall  give  the  other  party  a  reasonable 
opportunity  of  furnishing  an  explanation  or 
remedying  the  default. 

It  is  mutually  agreed  that  in  any  of  the 
events  contemplated  in  the  above  provisos,  the 
parties  will  afford  all  necessary  facilities  for 
the  winding  up  in  accordance  with  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Agreement  of  any  transactions  al- 
ready entered  into  thereunder,  and  for  the 
withdrawal  and  egress  from  their  territories 
of  the  nationals  of  the  other  party  and  for 
the   withdrawal    of  their   movable    property. 

As  from  the  date  when  six  months'  notice 
of  termination  shall  have  been  given  under 
this  article  the  only  new  transactions  which 
shall  be  entered  into  under  the  Agreement 
shall  be  those  which  can  be  completed  within 
the  six  months.  In  all  other  respects  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Agreement  will  remain  fully  in 
force  up  to  the   date  of  termination. 

XIV.— This  Agreement  is  drawn  up  and 
signed  in  the  English  language.  But  it  is 
agreed  that  as  soon  as  may  be  a  translation 
shall  be  made  into  the  Russian  language  and 
agreed  between  the  parties.  Both  texts  shall 
then   be   considered    authentic   for   all    purposes. 

Signed  at  London,  this  sixteenth  day  of 
March,   nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-one. 

R.   S.  HORNE. 
L.  KRASSIN. 


RECOGNITION  OF  CLAIMS. 
At  the  moment  of  signature  of  the  preceding 
Trade  Agreement  both  parties  declare  that  all 
claims  of  either  party  or  of  its  nationals 
against  the  other  party  in  respect  of  property 
or  rights  or  in  respect  of  obligations  incurred 
by  the  existing  or  former  Governments  of 
either  country  shall  be  equitably  dealt  with 
in  the  formal  general  Peace  Treaty  referred 
to   in   the   preamble. 

In  the  meantime,  and  without  prejudice  to 
the  generality  of  the  above  stipulation,  the 
Russian  Soviet  Government  declares  that  it 
recognizes  in  principle  that  it  is  liable  to  pay 
compensation  to  private  persons  who  have  sup- 
plied goods  or  services  to  Russia  for  which 
they  have  not  been  paid.  The  detailed  mode 
of  discharging  this  liability  shall  be  regulated 
by  the  Treaty  referred  to  in  the  preamble. 

The  British  Government  hereby  makes  a 
corresponding  declaration. 

It  is  clearly  understood  that  the  above  decla- 
rations in  no  way  imply  that  the  claims  re- 
ferred to  therein  will  have  preferential  treat- 
ment in  the  aforesaid  Treaty  as  compared 
with  any  other  classes  of  claims  which  are  to 
be  dealt  with   in   that   Treaty. 

Signed  at  London,  this  sixteenth  day  of 
March,    nineteen   hundred   and    twenty-one. 

R.  S.  HORNE. 
L.  KRASSIN. 


ORGANIZED   LABOR  AND   THE   "YELLOW  PERIL" 


DEAN  INGE,  "  the  gloomy,"  in  a  paper 
read  at  Epsom,  England,  recently 
drew  a  dark  picture  of  the  results  to  be 
anticipated  from  the  coming  industrializa- 
tion of  Asia.  Incidentally  he  seized  the 
occasion  to  denounce  both  the  spirit  and 
the  efficiency  of  the  workmen  of  Great 
Britain  and  other  white  countries,  declaring 
that  the  labor  union  policy  of  reducing  out- 
put while  trying  to  force  up  wages  was 
creating  a  new  "  yellow  peril  "  which  would 
bring  about  the  economic  downfall  of  the 
West  in  competition  with  the  East. 

The  Japanese,  in  their  haste  to  make 
money,  had  tolerated  a  system  of  labor  in 
their  factories  no  better  than  that  of  Eng- 
land 100  years  ago,  said  Dean  Inge,  but 
ihe  ratio  of  wages  to  output  all  over  the 
East  gave  native  manufacturers  an  enor- 
mous advantage  over  the  European  and 
American  producers — an  advantage  which 
showed  no  signs  of  growing  less.  It  had 
been  proved,  he  said,  that  under  a  regime 
of  peace,  free  trade  and  unrestricted  emi- 
gration,  the   yellow   races   would   outwork, 


underlive  and  eventually  exterminate  the 
whites.  The  result  of  the  European,  Aus- 
tralian and  American  labor  movement,  he 
declared,  had  been  to  produce  a  type  of 
workingman  who  had  no  survival  value, 
and  who,  but  for  the  prohibition  of  immi- 
gration, would  soon  be  swept  out  of  exist- 
ence. That  kind  of  protection,  however, 
rested  entirely  on  armed  force — whose  last 
resort  is  war.  The  deterioration  of  labor 
efficiency  due  to  present  conditions  would 
inevitably  lead  to  the  transfer  of  capital 
and  business  ability  to  countries  where  this 
efficiency  was  unimpaired  —  notably  to 
China,  Japan  and  India — and  those  coun- 
tries would  be  industrialized  on  the  most 
modern  basis.  This  would  mean  eventually 
that  Asia  would  capture  Western  markets. 
The  remedy  suggested  by  Dean  Inge  was 
a  great  increase  of  production,  a  cessation 
cf  strikes,  with  a  Government  pledged  to 
peace,  free  trade  and  drastic  retrenchment; 
these  measures,  he  believed,  would  restore 
confidence  and  make  labor  stand  on  its  own 
merits. 


THE  RED  ARMY 


By  Colonel  A.  M.  Nikolaieff 

Former    Russian    Military    Attache    at    Washington 


FROM  the  rapid  and  decisive  success 
gained  by  the  Red  Army  over  the  army 
of  General  Wrangel,  who  led  the  last 
ill-fated  venture  to  free  Russia  by  armed 
force  from  the  Bolshevist  yoke,  an  impres- 
sion might  be  created  on  those  who  watched 
the  struggle  from  afar  that  the  morale  of 
the  Bolshevist  fighting  machine  and  its  ag- 
gressive qualities  were  of  a  high  quality. 
Such  an  impression  might  further  be 
strengthened  by  the  recent  crushing  of  the 
Kronstadt  rebellion  by  the  Red  forces  under 
Trotzky.  Involuntarily  the  foreign  observer 
will  find  himself  wondering  whether  it  is 
possible  that  the  Bolshevist  tyranny,  which 
has  turned  Russia  into  a  land  of  chaos, 
anarchy  and  terror,  has  really  been  able  to 
manifest  a  creative  power  by  organizing 
a  formidable  fighting  unit — the  Red  Army. 
On  the  surface  it  looks  as  if  this  were  the 
case,  but  the  appearances  will  not  stand  the 
test  of  facts. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  WrangePs  de- 
feat in  the  Crimea  was  due  to  his  having 
to  face  an  army  nearly  six  times  as  large 
as  his  own.  In  the  case  of  the  Kronstadt 
rebellion  the  garrison  which  revolted  at  this 
naval  base,  and  which  held  the  fortress  for 
more  than  two  weeks,  consisted  at  the  be- 
ginning of  only  a  few  hundred  sailors  and 
soldiers;  later  the  number  was  increased 
to  approximately  15,000  by  voluntary  en- 
listment. Against  this  garrison  the  Bolshe- 
vist leaders  led  an  armed  force  of  about 
50,000  strong.  Part  of  the  Red  force,  sent 
out  across  the  ice  to  make  the  first  assault, 
was  composed  of  cadets  belonging  to  the 
various  Bolshevist  cadet  schools,  the  pol- 
icy of  which  is  to  train  youthful  apprentices 
to  become  stanch  supporters  of  the  Bolshe- 
vist regime. 

That  the  Bolsheviki  have  been  unable  to 
accomplish  any  large  constructive  work  in 
the  military  sphere  (or  in  any  other)  is 
fully  confirmed  by  the  available  data  re- 
garding the  Red  Army.  These  data  show 
that  the  Soviet  Army  owes  its  successes  not 
to  the  military  talents  of  the  Bolshevist 
leaders,  nor  to   the  loyalty  of  the  army's 


personnel,  but  to  the  fact  that  the  officers 
who  once  formed  the  backbone  of  the  former 
imperial  army  are  being  kept  by  coercion, 
and,  furthermore,  that  the  Bolsheviki  have 
adopted  the  methods  and  regulations  on 
which  depended  the  fighting  capacity  of 
the  former  imperial  army.  The  victories 
won  by  the  Red  forces  when  they  are  nu- 
merically superior  are  undoubtedly  due  to 
the  restoration  of  the  old  discipline,  which 
the  Bolsheviki  at  first  set  themselves  with 
such  zeal  to  destroy,  and  to  the  compelling 
of  the  old  monarchist  officers  to  apply  their 
military  training  and  abilities  to  the  com- 
munist service. 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the 
High  Command  of  the  Red  Army  consists 
chiefly  of  officers  of  the  old  regime.  There 
are  about  400  officers  of  the  Imperial 
General  Staff  in  Soviet  Russia,  many  of 
whom  hold  high  positions.  Disciplinary 
power  has  been  given  to  them,  with  the 
same  right  to  impose  punishment  for  in- 
fractions of  regulations  which  they  pos- 
sessed in  the  imperial  army.  These  offi- 
cers, however,  are  unwilling  leaders.  They 
are  serving  the  Soviet  regime  against  their 
convictions — to  avoid  starvation  and  politi- 
cal persecution  and  to  protect  their  families, 
every  member  of  which  is  registered  by  the 
Bolsheviki  and  virtually  held  as  a  hostage. 

There  exists  a  distinct  division  between 
these  old  Czarist  officers  and  the  Bolshe- 
vist-trained officers.  The  former  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  have  separate  messrooms. 
The  Bolsheviki  have  been  forced  to  yield 
this  point,  as  they  cannot  afford  to  alienate 
the  imperialist  commanders,  knowing  full 
well  that  the  Red  officers  are  incapable,  as 
a  general  rule,  of  holding  positions  above 
the  rank  of  company  commander.  The 
attitude  of  the  Red  officers  toward  the 
former  Czarists  is  somewhat  similar  to  that 
of  the  former  non-commissioned  officers  of 
the  imperial  army  toward  their  superiors. 
As  for  the  rank  and  file,  their  attitude  to- 
,  ward  their  Red  officers,  especially  toward 
those  promoted  from  the  ranks,  is  not 
friendly,  owing  to  these  officers'  cruel  and 


262 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


oppressive  treatment;  their  attitude  toward 
the  officers  of  the  old  regime,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  uniformly  excellent. 

For  war  purposes  the  Bolsheviki  use  con- 
scription to  reinforce  their  army  cadres. 
In  the  Wrangel  campaign  a  large  number 
of  those  conscripted  were  hostile  and  un- 
willing, and  many  of  those  who  enlisted 
voluntarily  became  deserters.  Voluntary  re- 
cruits were  negligible  in  number.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  every  one  in  Soviet  Russia  is 
against  war,  and  no  one  really  wants  to 
fight;  many,  however,  prefer  to  serve  in 
the  Red  Army  because  the  living  conditions 
of  the  soldiers  are  so  much  better  than 
those  of  the  population.  A  private  in  the 
Red  Army  receives  1,200  rubles  a  month 
plus  his  ration,  his  clothes,  and  an  addi- 
tional half  of  his  salary  for  his  family. 
The  Red  soldiers'  reluctance  to  fight  is  evi- 
dent from  their  avoidance  of  the  mobiliza- 
tion decrees  and  from  the  number  of  de- 
sertions. An  order  issued  last  Fall  by  the 
officer  commanding  the  Baltic  fleet  may  be 
cited  as  an  instance:  One  hundred  sailors 
were  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  disobeying 
the  mobilization  order. 

As  for  the  soldiers'  attitude  toward  the 
Bolshevist  Commissaries,  it  is  one  of  down- 
right hostility.  This  was  proved  by  the  as- 
sassination of  the  commissary  of  the  30th 
Division  in  Irkutsk,  by  the  assassination  of 
the  commissaries  of  the  Revolutionary  Coun- 
cil in  Tsaritsin,  and  of  members  of  the 
Extraordinary  Commission  in  Slatousk  and 
Kazan.  It  is  noteworthy  that  although  the 
murders  took  place  in  the  presence  of  a 
great  number  of  soldiers,  the  murderers 
could  not  be  found. 

The  police  system  of  political  spying, 
search  and  persecution  introduced  by  the 
Bolsheviki  into  the  Red  Army  and  highly 
developed  by  them,  serves  as  the  main 
means  of  subjecting  the  army  personnel  to 
the  interests  of  the  Bolshevist  leaders. 
This  system  of  "  political  safety,"  which 
serves  also  for  direct  propaganda,  has  been 
introduced  by  four  parallel  organs:  (1)  The 
commissaries,  (2)  the  Extraordinary  Com- 
mission, (3)  the  Revolutionary  Tribunals, 
(4)  the  registration  institutions.  Of  these 
four  organs  only  the  Extraordinary  Com- 
mission is  considered  secret.  The  functions 
of  each  are  as  follows: 

All   the  commissaries   are   under  the  Revo- 
lutionary Military  Council  in  Moscow.     They 


are  appointed  to  every  headquarters,  mili- 
tary bureau  and  unit.  Every  regimental  com- 
missary forms  a  commission  around  him,  and 
from  it  sends  out  political  instructors  among 
the  battalions  and  companies.  The  person- 
nel of  the  commissaries  usually  consists  of 
former  soldiers,  tradesmen  and  working- 
men  ;  there  are  among  them  former  chauf- 
feurs, variety  actors  and  college  students 
(not  graduated  before  the  revolution)  ;  many 
are  non-Russians. 

The  sections  and  sub  sections  of  the  Extra- 
ordinary Commission,  which  has  its  central 
bureau  in  Moscow,  are  established  at  the 
main  headquarters  of  the  staff,  and  at  every 
army  and  division  headquarters.  A  net  of 
secret  agents,  spread  all  through  the  army, 
issues  from  these  sections  and  subsections. 

There  are  Revolutionary  Tribunals  in  every 
headquarters,  down  to  the  headquarters  of  a 
division ;  they  are  composed  of  a  President, 
a  Secretary,  and  of  the  members,  who  are 
appointed  from  the  same  class  of  popula- 
tion as  the  commissaries.  To  every  tribunal 
is  attached  a  platoon,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
execute  the  sentences.  Those  who  receive 
an  order  to  appear  before  a  Revolutionary 
Tribunal  seldom   escape  death. 

The  central  registration  organization  is  in 
Moscow,  and  has  its  offices  at  Army  Group 
Headquarters,  its  sections  at  Army  Head- 
quarters ,and  its  subsections  at  Divisional 
Headquarters.  These  institutions  work  with 
the  intelligence  branches,  and  their  chiefs  are 
at  the  same  time  the  commissaries  of  those 
branches. 

The  same  apparatus,  as  stated  above,  is 
used  for  propaganda  purposes.  For  this 
object  the  communist  agitators  receive  very 
definite  instructions.  Simultaneously  an 
enormous  quantity  of  literature,  proclama- 
tions and  appeals  is  issued.  A  pamphlet 
entitled  "  Memorandum  for  the  Red  soldier 
on  the  southern  front,"  which  was  signed 
by  Trotzky  and  distributed  before  the  Bol- 
shevist offensive  in  the  Crimea,  is  a  good 
example  of  such  propaganda  literature, 
with  its  fierce  denunciations  of  Wrangel 
himself  and  of  all  other  "  monarchists,"  and 
its  alluring  picture  of  the  prophesied  bene- 
fits of  reconstruction  following  the  liquida- 
tion of  the  Wrangel  war. 

How  important  a  part  the  propaganda 
weapon  plays  in  Bolshevist  warfare  is  il- 
lustrated by  the  instructions  given  to  the 
Red  agitators  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
armistice  with  Poland  last  year.  Some  of 
these  instructions  were  as  follows: 

The  tactics  of  the  comrade-agitators  shall 
consist  in  compromising  the  Russian  (anti- 
Bolshevist)  and  Polish  troops,  but  this  ob- 
ject must  be  kept  secret.  The  task  of  the 
agitators  will  be  as  follows: 
To  provoke  pogroms  of  the  Jews,  which  are 


THE  RED  ARMY 


263 


to  be  followed  by  pogroms  of  the  intelli- 
gentsia and  of  the  peasants  (in  enemy  terri- 
tory). 

To  keep  up  the  Polish  teror  by  every  means 
in  the  area  occupied  by  the  Poles. 

To  create  the  belief  that  the  army  of  Gen- 
eral Wrangel  is  composed  of  bandits. 

To  spread  the  opinion  in  the  intellectual 
classes  that  not  a  Bolshevist,  but  a  Brussiloff 
army  is  advancing— that  it  is  not  a  commu- 
nist but  a  republican  and  national  army. 

To  make  the  peasants  believe  that  all 
Governments  except  the  Soviet  Government 
collect  taxes   and   arrears. 

To  enlist  in  the  anti-Bolshevist  armies  and 
Incite  the  solilltws  there  to  start  pogroms, 
to  pillage  and  to  spread  terror. 

To  spread  the  assurance  tUat  the  .Bolshevist 
Government  has  changed,  and  that  the  Ttsil 
terror   no   longer   exists. 

To  sum  up  briefly,  the  Red  Army  re- 
sembles a  regular  armed  force  only  on 
account  of  the  presence  in  it  of  elements 
of  the  former  imperial  army — which  ele- 
ments are  held  by  compulsion  and  made  to 
serve  the  regime  which  they  hate — and 
of  the  restoration  of  the  disciplinary  meth- 
ods which  prevailed  under  the  Czar,  and 
which,   at   first,    the    Bolsheviki    sought   to 


destroy.  Furthermore,  the  Red  Army  is 
kept  in  subjection  by  the  Bolshevist  lead- 
ers, not  because  it  has  any  high  degree  of 
morale,  but  because  of  the  employment  of 
such  means  as  secret  policing,  political  per- 
secution, terror,  fear  of  death  through  star- 
vation, the  creation  of  an  atmosphere  of 
distrust  and  all-pervading  propaganda. 
Such  means  can  be  effective  and  bear  de- 
sirable fruits  only  for  a  certain  time. 
Eventually  the  Russian  people,  finding  it 
intolerable  to  continue  living  in  such  condi- 
tions of  oppression,  misrule  and  terror,  will 
rise  in  a  common  upheaval  and  overthrow 
the  Bolshevist  tyranny. 

When  that  time  comes,  the  Red  Army 
will  be  replaced  by  another  army,  one 
worthy  of  the  great  people  from  whom  it 
will  draw  its  vital  strength,  one  that  will  be 
subjected  to  no  intimidation,  that  will  be 
a  prey  to  no  propaganda,  that  will  be  of- 
ficered by  no  coerced  and  unwilling  com- 
manders, but  by  military  experts  loyal  to 
a  democratic  and  representative  Govern- 
ment— the  Russian  National  Army. 


"BIG    BERTHAS"    ONLY    NAVAL    GUNS 


THE  mystery  of  the  "Big  Berthas,"  as 
the  supposed  super-guns  were  called 
that  shelled  Paris  from  a  distance  of  fifty 
or  sixty  miles,  has  at  last  been  solved.  The 
answer  is  simple :  there  were  no  "  Big 
Berthas."  Paris  was  shelled  by  ordinary 
naval  guns,  the  range  of  which  had  been 
doubled  or  trebled  by  certain  scientific  de- 
vices. Scores  of  these  guns  have  been 
handed  over  to  the  Allies,  and  scores  of 
others  have  been  broken  up  by  Germany 
herself.  Meantime  the  Allies  have  spent 
much  time  and  money  trying  to  discover 
where  Germany  was  hiding  her  monster 
guns,  and  the  French  press  has  been  filled 
with  f ulminations  demanding  that  she  be 
forced  to  give  them  up. 

At  the  end  of  March  the  allied  investi- 
gators were  in  possession  of  designs  show- 
ing exactly  how  the  apparent  miracle  had 
been  accomplished.  The  long  barrel  of  the 
naval  gun  of  12-inch  or  14-inch  calibre  had 
been  made  doubly  strong  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  sheath  which  reduced  the  calibre 
to  about  nine  inches.  The  breech  was  also 
leinforced  by  a  massive  steel  jacket.     This 


made  it  possible  to  use  a  double  charge, 
which,  combined  with  modifications  in  the 
shape  of  the  shell — made  longer  and  more 
pointed,  with  grooves  to  increase  the  effect 
of  the  rifling — produced  a  phenomenal  in- 
crease of  range.  Accuracy  was  sacrificed, 
and  it  is  now  stated  that  these  guns  often 
missed  even  such  an  obvious  mark  as  Paris. 
There  were,  it  appears,  never  more  than 
four  guns  in  action  at  one  time,  and  more 
were  not  constructed  because  the  Parisians 
refused  to  be  terrorized  by  this  bombard- 
ment. Despite  this  fortitude,  however,  the 
fact  remains  that  306  "  Big  Bertha  "  shells 
killed  250  and  wounded  670  inhabitants  of 
the  French  capital. 

Many  scars  of  the  "  Bertha  "  visitations 
are  still  visible  on  the  homes  and  public 
buildings  of  Paris,  as  are  also  those  caused 
by  aircraft  bombs.  The  Municipal  Council 
of  Paris  does  not  mean  to  let  all  these  scars 
disappear;  it  is  planning  to  erect  a  me- 
morial stone  at  each  spot  where  a  bomb  or 
shell  exploded.  Such  a  stone  has  already 
been  placed  at  the  corner  of  the  Rue  Quatre 
Septembre  and  the  Rue  Choiseul, 


SPEEDY   END   OF   THE   ARMENIAN   AND 
GEORGIAN    REPUBLICS 


Invasion  of  Georgia  by  Russians  and  Turks,  with  a  conflict  between 
the    invaders    over    Batum — The    painful    situation    of    Armenia 

[Period   Ended   April   10,    1921] 


EVENTS  move  swiftly  in  the  Caucasus. 
At  the  reparations  conference  in  Paris 
on  Jan.  29  the  four  principal  powers — Eng- 
land, France,  Italy  and  Japan — granted 
what  the  little  Caucasus  Republic  of 
Georgia,  struggling  to  stem  the  Bolshevist 
tide,  most  ardently  longed  for,  viz.:  de  jure 
recognition  as  an  independent  and  sovereign 
State.  The  efforts  of  M.  Guegetchkori, 
Georgian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to 
induce  the  powers  to  take  this  long-deferred 
step  thus  were  crowned  with  success.  M. 
Guegetchkori,  on  his  way  home  after  his 
long  sojourn  abroad,  was  extremely  op- 
timistic about  Georgia's  future.  His  lack  of 
suspicion  of  what  was  to  occur  came  out 
strongly  in  the  following  statement: 

We    have    hopes    that    our    neighbors    will 
succeed    in    putting    their    houses    in    order, 
and  will   establish  proper  relations  with  the 
whole   world.      I  would   especially   point   out 
that  a  correct  understanding  of  their  inter- 
ests should  dictate  both  to  the  Russian  and 
Turkish  Governments  a  policy  of  peace. 
At  this  very  time,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  Russians  and  Turks  were  preparing  to 
put  into  execution  a  policy  of  "  peace,"  but 
one  interpreted  as  a  fruit  of  violence.    The 
Bolshevist  invasion  planned  at  the  end  of 
January  did  not  occur,  and  for  several  rea- 
sons: the  Georgian  Government  discovered 
the  plot  in  time  and  nipped  it  in  the  bud  by 
wholesale  arrests  of  the  communist  agita- 
tors who  were  working  to  make  the  Russian 
armed   invasion   a   triumphal   march.     The 
Bolshevist  soldiers,  averse  to  heavy  fighting 
and  hearing  that  their  comrades  at  Baku, 
in  neighboring  Azerbaijan,  had  been  given 
the  right  of  pillage,  refused  to  carry  out 
the  invasion  of  Georgia,  and  many  of  them 
swung  aboard  trains  at  Baku  and  departed 
to  get  their  share  of  the  booty.  The  Moscow 
plotters,  however,  continued  their  plans  to 
add  Georgia  to  their  list  of  subjugated  Cau- 
casian territories. 

These  plans  were  worked  out  with  almost 


automatic  accuracy.  Georgia,  in  spite  of  the 
treaty  of  May  3,  1920,  was  invaded  by  the 
military  forces  of  the  Soviet  republic,  and 
Tiflis  fell  on  Feb.  25.  First  news  that  the 
jaws  of  the  wolf  were  closing  came  on  Feb. 
18.  Three  divisions  of  the  Bolshevist 
Eleventh  Army,  including  the  whole  of  the 
available  Russo-Armenian  Army  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Azerbaijan  Tartars, 
had  fallen  upon  Georgia  simultaneously 
from  the  north  and  the  southeast,  one  army 
advancing  from  Sochi  and  Gagri,  on  the 
Black  Sea;  the  other,  advancing  in  Azerbai- 
jan, had  captured  Salakhlu,  south  of  Tiflis, 
on  Feb.  16.  The  Georgian  troops  soon  gave 
evidence  of  being  outnumbered.  Tiflis  was 
occupied  by  the  Red  cavalry  of  General 
Budenny,  after  severe  street  fighting,  on 
Feb.  25.  Thousands  of  refugees  fled  to 
Kutais,  where  the  Georgian  Government  set 
up  provisionally  its  shattered  rule. 

The  "  explanation  "  officially  given  by  the 
Bolsheviki  was  based  mainly  on  the  fact 
that  Georgia  had  refused  to  evacuate  the 
Bortchalu  district  north  of  Erivan,  which, 
according  to  an  agreement  concluded  in  No- 
vember, 1920,  with  the  then  Government  of 
Erivan  in  Armenia,  was  to  be  occupied  only 
for  three  months.  Great  stress  was  also  laid 
on  the  fact  that  the  Georgian  Government 
had  arrested  communist  agitators  on  its 
territory  and  confiscated  property  belong- 
ing to  the  Russian  Government. 

The  Georgian  Government  vainly  tried  to 
rally  its  demoralized  forces,  to  mobilize  new 
troops  and  to  requisition  supplies.  The  Bol- 
sheviki were  temporarily  driven  out  of  Tif- 
lis, but  re-entered  the  city  and  there  estab- 
lished themselves  firmly.  Soviet  troops  were 
pouring  in  on  all  railroads  and  highways 
leading  to  Tiflis.  Meanwhile,  the  French 
destroyers  cruising  along  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Black  Sea  opened  fire  on  the  Bol- 
sheviki  at   Gagri,    inflicting   severe   losses. 


END   OF  THE   CAUCASUS  REPUBLICS 


2G5 


The  Russo-Armenians  remained  in  posses- 
sion of  Bortchalu. 

The  next  effort  of  the  Bolsheviki  was  to 
gain  possession  of  the  important  Black  -Sea 
port  of  Batum.  Despite  the  fire  of  the 
French  fleet,  they  captured  Sukhum  Kale, 
on  the  coast,  and  marched  swiftly  down 
toward  Batum.  At  this  juncture,  however, 
the  Nationalist  Turks,  fearful  that  the  cap- 
ture of  this  port  by  the  Reds  would  make 
the  Turkish  occupation  of  Armenia  impos- 
sible, ordered  the  Turkish  Army  under 
Kazio  Kaarbekir,  commander  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Army,  already  on  the  outskirts  of 
Batum,  to  take  the  city,  the  capture  of 
which  was  reported  on  March  10.  Caught 
between  eastern  and  western  millstones,  the 
Georgian  Government  had  no  alternative 
but  to  withdraw,  and  took  temporary  ref- 
uge on  board  a  Black  Sea  vessel. 

A  curious  situation  then  arose  between 
the  Turk  and  the  Bolsheviki  over  the  pos- 
session of  Batum.  Relations  already  strained 
by  various  causes  were  in  no  respect  im- 
proved by  the  Turks'  haste  to  capture 
Batum  before  the  Red  forces  could  reach 
the  port.  The  Nationalist  Turks  had  long 
turned  a  covetous  eye  on  Batum;  they 
already  possessed  commercial  transit  rights 
through  the  city  under  an  act  passed  by  the 
Turkish  Parliament  in  Constantinople  on 
Jan.  28,  1920.  For  reasons  of  diplomacy, 
however,  they  had  deferred  formulating  a 
definite  policy  toward  Georgia  and  had  sent 
a  note  to  Moscow  stating  that  a  conflict 
between  the  Georgians  and  the  Reds  was 
imminent  and  asking  point-blank  to  be  in- 
formed of  Moscow's  intentions.  The  re- 
quest for  information  was  ignored  and  the 
double  invasion  followed.  The  Turks  de- 
clared martial  law  in  Batum  and  began  a 
general  disarmament  of  the  Georgian  troops 
and  of  the  population.  The  news  of  the 
Russian  and  Turkish  occupations  caused 
great  despondency  throughout  Georgia. 

Bolshevist  anger,  however,  grew  and 
reached  the  point  of  explosion,  and  despite 
the  fact  that  a  Turko-Russian  treaty  had 
been  concluded  on  March  16,  under  which 
Turkey  engaged  to  cede  Batum  back  to 
Georgia,  the  Russians  on  March  19  sent  a 
virtual  ultimatum  to  the  Turks  in  Batum 
ordering  them  to  evacuate  within  forty- 
eight  hours.  In  the  fighting  which  promptly 
followed  the  Georgian  troops  made  common 
cause  with  the  Red  soldiers,  and  after  an 


artillery  battle  and  street  fighting  the 
Turks  were  ousted,  except  from  a  small 
part  of  the  town.  A  Soviet  Government 
was  promptly  established  in  Batum,  which, 
it  was  said,  would  probably  coalesce  with 
that  already  set  up  at  Tif  lis.  It  was  described 
as  "  Georgian  communist,  without  Russian 
Bolshevist  interference."  It  was  composed 
of  Makharadze,  President;  Mdivani,  the  or- 
ganizer of  the  Armenian  "  revolution  "; 
Eliava,  formerly  Chief  Commissary  of 
Turkestan  and  later  nominated  Ambassador 
to  Angora,  which  post  he  had  not  taken; 
Orzhanikidze,  former  commander  of  the 
Reds  in  Azerbaijan,  and  Gubashivilli,  said 
to  be  identical  with  the  Commissary  Stalin. 
The  Kemalists  continued  to  occupy  part  of 
Batum  as  late  as  March  23,  despite"  the 
Georgians'  efforts  to  dislodge  them;  the 
town  was  suffering  from  disorder  and  lack 
of  food.  Finally,  on  March  25,  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  Kemalist  troops  had  with- 
drawn altogether,  in  accordance  with  an 
agreement  arranged  between  them  and  the 
Georgians  by  the  Russian  Bolshevist  com- 
mand. 

ARMENIA — One  strongly  impelling  mo- 
tive o  fthe  Bolsheviki  in  seizing  Georgia 
was,  on  their  own  admission,  the  alleged 
fact  that  the  Tiflis  Republic  on  various  pre- 
texts was  blocking  food  supplies  for  Erivan, 
capital  of  Bolshevized  Armenia.  Karl 
Radek,  one  of  the  Bolshevist  leaders,  said 
on  Feb.  20: 

There  are  7,000,000  poods  of  corn  in  the 
Kuban  district  which  it  is  very  difficult  to 
bring  into  Russia ;  but,  except  for  the  ob- 
stacles raised  by  the  Georgians,  it  would 
be  very*  easy  to  pour  corn  into  Armenia, 
which  needs  less  than  800,000  poods  monthly. 

The  Turks  of  Mustapha  Kemal,  though 
they  had  accepted  the  Armenian  revolution- 
ary government,  maintained  an  attitude  of 
hostility;  their  viewpoint  being  that  Ar- 
menians, Sovietized  or  not,  remained  Ar- 
menians, and  hence  their  traditional  enemies. 
They  looked  by  no  means  with  a  favorable 
eye  on  the  victory  of  the  Russo-Armenian 
Army  in  the  Bortchalu  region,  and,  as  nar- 
rated above,  moved  swiftly  to  forestall  the 
seizure  of  Batum  by  the  Reds  in  order  not 
to  be  hindered  in  their  occupation  of  Turkish 
Armenia.  In  the  Armenian  towns  of  Alex- 
andropol  and  Kars,  which  the  Turks  had 
occupied  simultaneously  with  the  Erivan 
Red  "  revolution,"  increasing  demands  were 
being  made  by  the  Kemalists  upon  the  sup- 


266 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


plies  of  foodstuffs  and  clothing  sent  by  the 
American  Near  East  Relief  Organization 
for  the  Armenian  population. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  withdrawal  of 
Russian  troops  from  Armenia  for  the  at- 
tack upon  Georgia,  and  acting  on  the  im- 
pression, it  was  said,  that  this  withdrawal 
would  be  permanent,  the  Dashnaks  (Ar- 
menian Nationalist  Party)  overthrew  the 
Soviet  Government  at  Erivan  on  Feb.  19. 
The  movement,  however,  ill-timed  and  based 
on  a  misapprehension,  was  speedily  coun- 
teracted, and  after  a  short  interval  the 
Red  regime  was  restored. 

In  London,  meanwhile,  Nubar  Pasha,  the 
representative  of  non-Sovietized  Armenia, 
pleaded  with  the  allied  Premiers  for  the 
execution  of  allied  promises  made  to  Ar- 
menia before  the  Red  invasion.  After  a 
special  hearing  Feb.  28,  devoted  to  Armenia 


and  Kurdistan,  the  Armenian  delegates 
were  very  much  depressed.  They  had  been 
closely  questioned  regarding  the  Armenian 
claims  to  part  of  Cilicia  and  to  Turkish  Ar- 
menia, and  the  allied  representatives  had 
shown  a  disposition  to  leave  the  question 
open  for  several  months  to  come,  until  the 
situation  in  the  Caucasus  had  cleared. 
Nubar  Pasha's  contention  had  been  that  the 
establishment  of  a  Soviet  Government  at 
Erivan  should  not  count  against  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  Armenian  Republic  on  Turk- 
ish territory,  inasmuch  as  it  was  more  than 
probable  that  the  Russian  Armenians  would 
naturally  tend  to  form  an  entente  with  a 
State  inhabited  by  their  own  race.  The 
allied  representatives,  however,  showed  an 
attitude  of  considerable  doubt,  and  the  Ar- 
menian delegates  left,  declaring  that  now 
only  America  could  help  Armenia. 


MAIN  POINTS  OF   FINLAND'S   CONSTITUTION 


THE  Finnish  Constitution,  formulated  and 
adopted  in  accordance  with  resolutions 
of  Parliament,  was  ratified  at  Helsingfors 
on  June  21,  1919.  This  important  docu- 
ment is  shaped  on  the  progressive  lines  of 
the  present  democratic  era.  Its  announced 
object  is  to  give  stability  to  the  new  Fin- 
nish Republic,  to  expand  the  power  of  Par- 
liament, and  to  safeguard  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  all  citizens.  "  The  govern- 
mental power,"  says  the  Constitution,  "  be- 
longs to  the  people,  represented  by  the  as- 
sembled Parliament." 

The  legislative  power  is  exercised  by 
Parliament,  together  with  the  President  of 
the  republic,  who  is  elected  for  a  term  of 
six  years.  The  President  has  the  right  of 
initiative  in  formulating  new  legislation. 
He  has  also  the  right  of  veto,  unless  Parlia- 
ment, after  a  new  election,  reconfirm  by  a 
majority  vote  the  vetoed  legislation. 

The  general  government  of  the  nation  is 
intrusted  to  a  Council  of  State,  composed 
of  the  Prime  Minister  and  a  fixed  number 
of  other  Ministers.  The  judicial  power  is 
exercised  by  independent  courts  of  justice, 
chief  of  which  are  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  Highest  Administrative  Court;  both  of 
these  tribunals  are  charged  with  the  for- 
mulation of  necessary  changes  in  existing 
laws  for  submission  to  the  President. 


The  right  of  suffrage  is  to  be  governed 
by  the  provisions  of  a  law  concerning 
presidential  elections.  The  election  of  the 
President  is  to  be  "  conducted  by  electors 
who  shall  be  300  in  number."  The  electors 
are  to  be  chosen  by  popular  vote  on  Jan. 
15  and  16,  and  are  to  assemble  on  Feb.  15 
for  the  election  of  the  new  President  by 
secret  ballot.  Election  is  conditioned  on  the 
obtaining  of  more  than  one-half  of  all  votes 
cast.  The  President-elect  assumes  office 
on  the  1st  day  of  March  and  remains  in 
power  for  six  years. 

The  power  of  the  President  is  limited  by 
that  of  the  Council  of  State.  He  must 
announce  all  contemplated  resolutions  in 
that  Council,  which  has  power  to  act  over 
his  head  in  case  any  Minister  refuses  to 
countersign  a  project  as  being  contrary  to 
the  Constitution.  A  number  of  other  checks 
to  insure  a  truly  democratic  government 
are  embodied  in  the  Organic  law,  affecting 
also  the  Council  of  State.  In  all  matters 
vital  to  the  nation,  including  charges  of 
treason  against  the  President,  Parliament 
has  the  final  voice. 

The  official  languages  of  the  republic 
are  Finnish  and  Swedish,  corresponding  to 
the  two  main  elements  of  Finland's  popula- 
tion. Citizens  of  either  origin,  whatever 
the   ethnical    complexion   of   a   given   com- 


MAIN  POINTS  OF  THE  FINNISH  CONSTITUTION 


267 


munity,  are  granted  the  right  to  use  their 
original  language  in  any  of  the  national 
courts.  The  linguistic,  religious,  and  mi- 
nority rights  of  all  citizens  are  assured; 
free  speech  and  free  assembly  are  granted 


injured  in  these  or  any  other  rights  is  given 
full  power  to  make  formal  complaint 
against  the  Government  officials  by  whom 
the  injury  is  inflicted.  The  Constitution 
contains   measures   for   the   encouragement 


under  all  normal  conditions.     Every  citizen      and  advancement  of  national  education. 


LATVIA,   LITHUANIA,    ESTHONIA 

Why  the    Vilna  plebiscite  was  abandoned  by  the  League  of  Nations  in  favor  of  a 
settlement  by  direct  negotiation — Latvia's  elaborate  plan  for  giving  land  to  all  citizens 


THE  long  awaited  plebiscite  to  be  held  in 
the  district  of  Vilna,  Lithuania,  which 
for  months  has  been  illegally  occupied  by 
the  Polish  irregular  forces  of  General 
Zeligowski,  has  been  abandoned  by  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  as  im- 
practicable. This  decision,  made  early  in 
March,  was  based  on  the  hostility  to  the 
scheme  shown  by  both  disputants.  Both  the 
Poles  and  the  Lithuanians  accepted  the 
Council's  alternative  proposal  to  settle  the 
dispute  by  direct  negotiation.  The  meetings 
for  these  discussions  are  to  be  held  at  Brus- 
sels under  the  Presidency  of  Paul  Hymans, 
the  Belgian  representative  on  the  League 
Council.  The  new  decision  was  welcomed  in 
the  Vilna  district,  which  had  suffered  great 
economic  distress  under  the  Zeligowski  oc- 
cupation, and  which  had  been  greatly 
demoralized  and  excited  by  the  impending 
referendum. 

The  Court  of  Arbitration  sitting  at  Riga 
under  the  Presidency  of  Professor  J.  Y. 
Simpson,  announced  its  decision  March  25, 
on  the  boundary  dispute  between  Lithuania 
and  Latvia.  In  accordance  with  the  Court's 
ruling,  the  frontier,  commencing  at  the  sea, 
will  run  approximately  four  versts  north  of 
the  Sventa  along  the  river  of  that  name  and 
the  administrative  boundary  between  the 
Courland  and  Kovno  Governments,  with 
minor  deflections  in  either  direction.  The 
readjustment  of  territory  between  the  two 
States  was  to  take  place  on  March  31. 

LATVIA — Regardless  of  outside  opinion, 
Latvia  has  been  making  progress  in  its  na- 
tionalization and  land  programs.  Its  whole 
policy  has  been  one  of  centralization.  The 
telephones,  telegraphs,  and  railroads  are 
now  owned  outright  by  the  Government,  and 


even  the  shipping  business  has  been  na- 
tionalized. In  many  lines  of  trade  and  in- 
dustry, the  Government  has  either  secured 
a  monopoly  or  a  substantial  interest.  A 
March  dispatch  from  Riga  to  the  Latvian 
Consulate  in  New  York  gave  official  in- 
formation that  the  Latvian  Ministry  for 
Trade  and  Industry  had  submitted  to  the 
Constituent  Assembly  a  bill,  the  passing  of 
which  was  regarded  as  certain,  permitting 
the  Government  to  acquire  shares  in  enter- 
prises which  exploit  State  property,  provide 
for  the  defense  of  the  State,  facilitate  com- 
munication, or  produce  goods  indispensable 
to  the  population. 

Latvia's  land  program,  the  main  principle 
of  which  is  that  everybody  must  be  enabled 
to  own  land,  and  nobody  be  allowed  to  own 
too  much,  has  called  forth  formal  notes  of 
protest  from  most  of  Latvia's  neighbors — 
from  Sweden,  Denmark,  Norway,  Belgium, 
the  Netherlands,  Finland  and  Poland.  Not 
only  has  the  Latvian  Government  adopted  it, 
however,  but  it  has  already  worked  out 
many  of  its  practical  details.  The  funda- 
mental object  of  the  plan  is  to  buy  back 
from  the  German  owners  and  redistribute 
among  the  Lettish  people  the  land  which, 
from  the  Latvian  viewpoint,  was  stolen  in 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  by  the 
invading  German  Barons. 

The  whole  course  of  Latvian  history  was 
determined  by  this  German  conquest,  for 
the  Federal  republic  established  by  the 
Teutonic  Order  lasted  until  the  latter  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  though  Latvia's 
three  provinces  of  Courland,  Livonia  and 
Letgalia  after  belonging  to  several  Govern- 
ments, finally  passed  to  Russia  (in  the  six- 
teenth century),  the  nobility  and  land-own- 


268 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ing  class  has  been  exclusively  German,  with 
the  Lettish  peasantry  in  complete  subjec- 
tion. Only  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  were  the  peasantry  freed 
from  serfdom,  and  not  until  fifty  years 
later  were  they  accorded  the  right  to  buy 
land  from  the  nobility,  who  owned  it  all. 
Naturally,  their  landless  condition  inspired 
many  revolts,  which  were  always  rigor- 
ously suppressed  by  the  Germans  and  Rus- 
sians. 

The  Russian  revolution  gave  the  Letts  the 
opportunity  they  had  been  awaiting  for  cen- 
turies. On  Nov.  18,  1918,  they  established 
a  sovereign  republic.  The  last  attempt  of 
the  German  landowners  to  regain  possession 
through  the  notorious  Avalov-Bermondt  and 
his  German-Russian  army  was  balked  by 
the  hard-hitting  Letts.  Soon  afterward,  the 
Latvian  Government  took  the  bold  step  of 
expropriating  all  the  big  estates  of  the 
Baltic  Barons.  Faced  by  the  alternative  of 
nathionalizing  this  property  in  Bolshevist 
wise,  or  of  apportioning  it  among  the  people 
— at  least  among  all  who  desired  to  own 
and  to  cultivate  it — the  Government  decided 
for  private  ownership,  and  worked  out  the 
system  now  being  put  into  execution. 

The  land  law,  passed  recently  by  the 
Latvian  Constituent  Assembly,  lays  the 
foundation  for  a  State  land  fund,  to  cover 
extended  credit  to  prospective  new  owners 
without  any  initial  payment.  The  law  pro- 
vides for  the  allotment  of  a  little  more  than 
sixty  acres  to  each  landless  family,  decrees 
the  sequestration  of  all  private  estates,  and 
grants  to  each  of  the  former  owners  land 
amounting  to  a  medium-sized  peasant  farm. 
Compensation  for  the  forfeited  land  is  to  be 
provided  later  by  special  legislation.  This 
step  was  decided  on  only  to  save  Latvia's 
banks  from  embarrassment,  not  because  the 
Letts  recognized  any  validity  in  the  German 
owners'  title.  Most  of  these  estates  were 
heavily  mortgaged,  and  the  Latvian  banks 
had  in  many  instances  used  the  mortgages 
to  obtain  loans  from  foreign  banks.  The 
Letts  now  hope  and  believe  that  at  no  distant 
date  their  rugged  Baltic  land  will  be  peopled 
by  families  of  farm  owners,  content  in  the 
knowledge  that  the  fruits  of  their  labors  are 
their  own,  and  that  they  are  doing  even 
more  than  their  full  share  toward  feeding 
and  clothing  the  rest  of  the  world. 

In  respect  to  her  relations  with  Soviet  Rus- 
sia, Latvia  is  following  the  general  trend 
now   prevalent   among   the   Baltic    States: 


First,  peace,  then  trade.  It  was  reported 
on  March  24  from  Riga  that  a  Bolshevist 
Trade  Commission  had  arrived  at  that  city, 
and  that  its  President,  M.  Lomov,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Economic  Council  in 
Russia,  had  full  instructions  to  negotiate  an 
economic  agreement.    M.  Osols,  an  engineer, 


Approximate  new 
Front 


SKETCH  MAP  OF  NEW  BALTIC  STATES 

Chairman  of  the  Latvian  Evacuation  Com- 
mittee in  Soviet  Russia,  had  just  returned 
to  Latvia.  He  reported  that  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment was  endeavoring  to  fulfil  the  peace 
treaty  signed  with  Latvia,  and  to  return  all 
Latvian  possessions,  including  factories  in 
Russia  formerly  owned  by  Letts.  Russian 
opinion  was  extremely  favorable  to  the  re- 
turn of  these  factories,  which,  it  was  be- 
lieved, would  be  beneficial  to  Russia,  inas- 
much as  Latvia  possesses  many  skilled 
workmen,  and  also  has  all  facilities  for  ob- 
taining raw  material  from  abroad. 

FINLAND — Finland,  under  her  treaty 
with  Moscow,  has  entered  upon  possession  of 
Petchenga  in  the  north,  and  has  evacuated 
the  districts  of  Repola  and  Porajarvi.  Diffi- 
culties with  the  Soviet  Government,  owing  to 
the  Finnish  efforts  to  subject  the  Bolshevist 
commercial  delegates  to  quarantine  and 
other  control,  were  slowly  being  adjusted, 
but  the  Finns  gave  every  evidence  that  they 
did  not  intend  the  new  treaty  to  be  made  a 
bridge  for  the  dissemination  of  Bolshevist 
propaganda  on  Finnish  soil.    The  Govern- 


LATVIA,  LITHUANIA,   ESTHONIA 


269 


ment,  following  its  plans  for  general  recon- 
ciliation, continued  the  task  of  freeing  the 
majority  of  political  prisoners  concerned  in 
the  insurrection  of  1918  by  special  amnesty 
— a  policy  which  brought  about  a  Cabinet 
crisis  in  the  latter  half  of  February. 

ESTHONIA— Esthonia,  elated  by  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Council  to  recognize 
her  independence  de  jure,  has  now  begun  the 
work  of  opening  trade  relations  with  the 
outside  world.  M.  Piip,  ex-Premier  and  now 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  declared  early 
in  February  that  this  recognition  w   s  a  por- 


tent of  the  greatest  hope,  which  would  do 
much  to  help  the  country's  economic  condi- 
tion, inasmuch  as  outside  nations,  now  that 
Esthonia  was  recognized  as  a  legal  member 
of  the  comity  of  nations,  would  be  much 
more  ready  to  enter  into  commercial  rela- 
tions. The  unsatisfactory  state  of  Esthon- 
ian  exchange  had  been  largely  due  to  this 
lack  of  confidence  abroad.  The  decision 
was  also  important  in  its  effect  on  Bolshe- 
vist propaganda  based  on  the  refusal  of  the 
League  of  Nations  to  admit  Esthonia  to 
membership. 


THE  NEEDS  OF  EGYPT 


Statement  by  Prince  Ibrahim  Hilmy 

Brother    of    the    Sullan    of    Egypt,    and    son    of   Ismail    Pasha, 
a    former   Khedive 


In  a  remarkable  study  that  appeared  in  the  London  Times  of  March  14,  1921,  Prince 
Hilmy  sketched  the  whole  history  of  the  Egyptian  movement  for  independence,  weighing 
the  Nationalist  scheme  of  Zaglul  Pasha  and  the  reforms  urged  by  Lord  Milner,  and 
concluding  with  this  lucid  statement  of  what  Egypt  really  needs 


1ET  us  consider  what  every  Egyptian, 
j  with  whom  his  country's  interests  stand 
above  his  own  and  who  is  at  the  same 
time  conscious  of  the  realities  of  life,  could 
claim  for  the  benefit  and  further  develop- 
ment of  Egypt.  First  of  all,  outward  se- 
curity, then  honest  administration,  good 
finances,  speedy  administration  of  justice, 
widespread  public  instruction  in  order  to 
raise  the  intellectual  standard  of  the  people 
and  create  specialists,  and,  finally,  the  right 
of  every  Egyptian  to  the  benefits  of  all  the 
country's  opportunities  in  preference  to  for- 
eigners. 

Does  Lord  Milner's  report  suggest  any 
reliable  guarantees  of  the  fulfillment  of 
these  desiderata?  It  starts  by  giving  the 
country  complete  independence,  a  formula 
monopolized  by  the  Nationalists  as  a  means 
of  getting  into  power,  without  asking  them- 
selves whether  or  not  the  country  is  apt  to 
bear  its  consequences.  It  is  indeed  under- 
stood that  England  is  to  guarantee  Egypt 
her  immunity  against  foreign  aggression, 
which  is  a  point  of  the  highest  importance; 
but  this  seems  to  be  one  of  the  very  few 
advantages   offered    us   by   the   report.     It 


extols  the  formation  of  a  Constitutional 
Government  by  Ministers  responsible  to  a 
Chamber  elected  by  the  people,  which  means 
giving  Egypt  such  prerogatives  as  are  en- 
joyed only  by  the  most  advanced  countries 
of  the  world,  and  leaves  entirely  out  of  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  among  the  14,000,- 
000  of  its  population  92  per  cent,  are  illiter- 
ate. (I  quote  the  actual  terms  of  the 
report.) 

I  would  ask  the  British  public  to  reflect 
for  a  moment  on  the  kind  of  Parliament  this 
immense  number  of  illiterates  would  be 
prone  to  elect  and  on  the  probable  results 
of  the  uncontrolled  rule  of  such  a  Parlia- 
ment over  a  country  of  Egypt's  geograph- 
ical and  commercial  importance.  Whether 
or  not  complete  independence  should  be 
given  to  Egypt,  which  is  the  key  to  the 
communication  with  the  remotest  posses- 
sions of  the  British  Empire,  is  a  question 
which  I,  as  an  Egyptian,  am  not  qualified 
to  inquire  into. 

It  rests  with  the  British  public  to  weigh 
the  consequences  of  so  decisive  a  step, 
where  the  vital  interests  of  the  empire  are 
concerned.      It    is    indeed    stated    by    Lord 


270 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Milner  that  all  necessary  guarantees  will 
be  provided  for  in  the  treaty  to  be  con- 
cluded with  an  independent  Egyptian  Gov- 
ernment. But  in  Egypt's  present  condition, 
could  these  vital  interests  be  adequately 
guaranteed  by  a  treaty?  And  would  it  not 
be  wiser  to  wait  until  Egypt  were  in  a 
position  effectively  to  guarantee  the  ful- 
fillment of  a  treaty  signed  by  her?  Once 
more  I  leave  these  questions  to  the  sound 
appreciation  of  the  British  public. 

Lord  Milner  would  show  that,  properly 
speaking,  Egypt  never  belonged  to  Eng- 
land; that  she  was  a  privileged  autonomous 
province  under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sub- 
lime Porte  occupied  by  British  troops,  and 
that  it  was  solely  through  Turkey's  declar- 
ing war  on  England  that  the  latter  was 
compelled  by  circumstances  to  proclaim  her 
protectorate  over  the  country.  In  my  opin- 
ion by  this  act  the  position  of  Egypt  was 
only  changed  in  that  England  took  over 
Turkey's  rights  over  this  country.  This  sub- 
stitution, recognized  at  the  outset  by  France 
and  America,  was  eventually  confirmed  by 
all  the  powers  who  signed  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles. 

How  else  could  Britain  have  deposed  a 
monarch  nominated  by  Turkey  and  recog- 
nized by  international  treaties  and  nominate 
one  of  her  own  choice  in  his  place?  On  the 
other  hand,  how  could  she  have  prevented 
Egypt  from  taking  part  in  the  Conference 
of  Paris  on  a  par  with  newly  formed  coun- 
tries such  as  the  Hedjaz  unless  she  felt 
that,  Egypt  belonging  to  England,  it  was 
for  England  to  represent  Egypt  at  the  con- 
ference? But  it  must  be  recognized  that 
England  was  generous  to  Egypt;  in  lieu 
of  considering  her  merely  in  the  light  of 
a  province  under  her  suzerainty,  she  raised 
her  to  a  Sultanate  under  her  protectorate. 

She  can,  of  course,  abandon  her  rights 
over  Egypt  and  give  her  complete  independ- 
ence. Nobody  would  contest  that  point.  But 
is  this  the  time  for  doing  so?  I  do  not  be- 
lieve my  country  has  as  yet  attained  the 
point  when  she  could  stand  alone  by  her- 
self. What  as  sensible  people  we  could  rea- 
sonably ask  of  England  is  a  wide  internal 
autonomy,  such  as,  from  all  we  are  taught 
by  her  colonies'  history,  she  never  will  re- 
fuse to  give.  An  autonomy  similar  to  that 
of  the  Dominions,  with  certain  restrictions 
gradually  to  be  eliminated  along  with  the 
progress  of  the  country  would,  in  my  opin- 


ion, be  best  suited  to  the  mutual  advantage 
of  both  England  and  Egypt. 

I  hold  that  in  dealing  with  a  great  and 
mighty  power,  such  as  England,  we  should 
not  ask  too  much.  What  would  we  do  if  she 
refused?  As  Egyptians,  is  it,  indeed,  the 
country's  weal  we  are  seeking,  or  are  we 
content  to  delude  ourselves  with  idle  fan- 
cies? If  we  think  of  nothing  but  her  wel- 
fare, let  us  ask  England  to  be  our  guide, 
as  she  has  been  for  forty  years,  assuring 
thereby  our  progress  and  our  present  pros- 
perity. Let  it  be  so  until  the  time  comes 
when,  no  longer  in  need  of  a  guide,  we  shall 
be  in  a  position  to  ask  her  to  leave  us  to 
stand  alone,  and  offer  her  of  our  own  accord 
and  as  a  token  of  our  gratitude  the  alliance 
which  Lord  Milner  advocates  today. 

As  to  the  protection  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
this  is  a  question  of  so  overwhelming  and 
so  vital  an  importance  that  I  could  not 
think  of  discussing  it.  It  is  for  English  ex- 
perts to  study  it,  to  weigh  it  carefully  and 
to  find  out  from  what  points  and  how  it 
could  be  defended.  All  I  could  say  is  that, 
in  my  opinion,  this  could  not  be  done  either 
by  way  of  El-Kantara  or  by  way  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

What  we  should  request  from  England 
is,  first  of  all,  the  abrogation  of  the  Capitu- 
lations, unjust,  unfair — a  veritable  obstacle 
to  liberty  and  progress.  I  cannot  but  agree 
with  Lord  Milner,  who  advocates  the  sup- 
pression of  all  Consular  Tribunals  and  the 
constitution  of  a  Mixed  Tribunal,  England 
alone  being  entrusted  with  the  safeguard 
of  the  interests  of  foreigners.  When  for- 
eigners are  made  subject  to  the  same  taxes 
and  duties  as  the  natives,  commerce  and 
industry,  now  centralized  in  the  former's 
hands  as  a  consequence  of  their  exclusive 
position,  will  cease  to  be  their  privilege, 
and  will  be  exercised  by  the  Egyptians 
with  equal  success. 

The  old  mistake  of  increasing  the  num- 
ber of  British  officials  should  be  discon- 
tinued; the  Egyptian  should  be  treated  on 
the  same  footing  as  the  foreigner,  and 
when  a  post  is  open  which  he  is  capable 
for,  he  should  by  right  have  the  preference 
for  obtaining  it.  Public  instruction  should 
be  completely  reorganized,  and  the  depart- 
ment's budget  raised  so  as  to  enable  it 
to  create:  (1)  Primary  schools  in  order  to 
reduce  the  number  of  illiterates;  (2)  high 
schools  in   order  to   raise  the  standard  of 


THE  NEEDS   OF  EGYPT 


27: 


education  and  create  specialists  qualified 
for  gradually  taking  the  posts  now  occupied 
by  foreigners. 

Measures  should  be  adopted  without  de- 
lay to  avoid  the  necessity  of  keeping,  pend- 
ing the  time  of  Egypt's  complete  emancipa- 
tion, foreign  officials  other  than  inspectors 
and  controllers.  The  military  school  should 
be  reorganized  so  as  to  allow  the  officers 
educated  therein  to  attain  all  ranks  in  the 
army  instead  of  limiting  them  to  inferior 
grades  as  is  now  the  case.  Finally,  de- 
mocracy being  the  order  of  the  day,  let 
Egypt  have  her  Constitutional  Govern- 
ment, but  let  good  care  be  taken  to  consti- 
tute an  Upper  Chamber  of  men  of  ability 
and  experience,  such  as  would  constitute  a 
wise  counterpoise  to  the  Lower  Chamber. 

To  recapitulate,  I  hold,  as  an  Egyptian, 
that  Lord  Milner's  scheme,  if  applied  in 
its  integrity,  would  be  disastrous  to  Egypt. 
Left  to  herself  in  her  present  position, 
not  only  would  she  make  no  progress,  but 
would,  I  fear,  run  the  risk  of  retrogression. 
For  some  short  time  yet  she  requires  the 
direction  of  Great  Britain  in  her  progress 
to  the  future.  The  adoption  of  this  scheme 
would  also  be  detrimental  to  England  her- 
self: (1)  On  account  of  Egypt's  important 
geographical     position;     (2)     in    view    of 


Britain's  imperialistic  policy  with  regard 
to  her  other  possessions. 

I  will  not  say  whether  it  will  be  worthy 
of  a  great  nation  such  as  Britain  to  aban- 
don to  its  destiny  a  people  on  which  she 
for  forty  years  has  been  spending  her 
noblest  efforts,  and  which,  if  left  to  itself 
in  its  independent  progress  in  the  world, 
may  stumble  on  the  way. 

I  would  not  finish  without  addressing  a 
few  words  to  my  countrymen,  now  seething 
with  the  excitement  created  by  the  propa- 
ganda of  the  Nationalist  leaders.  What 
are  we  aspiring  to  with  regard  to  Egypt 
if  we  are  true  patriots?  Is  it  her  welfare, 
her  salvation,  or  is  it  nothing  but  a  fond 
delusion?  Let  us  be  reasonable,  and  let  us 
not  be  lured  by  treacherous  shadows.  That 
which  we  all  desire  must  come,  and  will 
come;  but,  for  the  present  moment,  are 
we  strong  enough  to  carry  the  burden? 
Would  it  not  crush  us  ?  Think  it  over  with 
care  before  launching  on  an  adventure 
which  might  bring  us  great  harm,  not  to 
say  more.  I  have  meditated  a  good  deal 
on  this  matter,  weighing  both  sides,  and 
I  feel  convinced  that  at  so  momentous,  so 
decisive  a  turning,  it  was  my  duty  to  my 
country  to  place  these  considerations  before 
vou. 


BRITISH  AID  IN  FRENCH  REBUILDING 


THE  people  of  Great  Britain,  though  bur- 
dened with  war  debts  and  heavy  taxes, 
are  yet  finding  means  to  help  their  French 
neighbors.  Under  the  stimulus  of  a  cam- 
paign led  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
British  League  of  Help  they  are  contribut- 
ing large  sums  to  rebuild  houses,  villages 
and  towns  in  the  devastated  areas.  More 
than  fifty  ruined  communities  have  been 
"  adopted  "  by  various  English  cities.  Lon- 
don has  adopted  the  immortal  Verdun, 
whose  slogan  was,  "  They  shall  not  pass !  " 
Kensington  has  adopted  Souches;  Wads- 
worth  the  town  of  Villers-Plouich ;  Man- 
chester is  raising  £50,000  to  resurrect 
Mezieres;  Newcastle  has  paid  its  second  in- 
stalment on  £20,000  subscribed  for  Arras; 
Oxford,  Sheffield,  Exeter,  Evesham,  East- 
bourne, Cirencester  and  Birmingham  are 
giving  to  the  limit  of  their  capacity 
to      restore      other      French      fostertowns. 


Sheffield  has  adopted  Bapaume,  Puis- 
ieux  and  Serre,  all  made  famous  in 
the  battle  of  the  Somme,  and  in  the 
great  German  drive  of  1918.  The  sum 
of  £5,000  has  been  already  collected.  Exeter 
has  forwarded  £2,000  to  the  Mayor  of  Mont- 
didier  to  restore  the  water  supply.  Fruit 
trees,  food  supplies  and  goods  are  con- 
stantly being  sent. 

Apart  from  the  organized  assistance  of 
the  league  mentioned,  the  British  are  also 
raising  a  special  fund  to  restore  the  Rheims 
Cathedral.  Another  special  fund  is  being 
raised  by  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society 
to  supply  cattle  for  raided  farms;  £7,000 
has  already  been  subscribed.  That  the 
French  people  appreciate  the  generous  ef- 
forts of  their  British  neighbors  is  seen  in 
the  many  grateful  expressions  in  the 
French  press. 


STAMBOLISKY'S   REFORMS   IN   BULGARIA 
By  Eleanor  Markell 


THREE  small  States  of  Europe  now 
lead  the  larger  States  about  them  in 
reconstruction  after  the  upheaval  of 
the  war — Belgium  on  the  northwest,  Czecho- 
slovakia on  the  crest  of  the  continent,  and 
Bulgaria  in  the  Balkans.  Of  these  three, 
only  one  suffers  the  handicap  of  being  a  de- 
feated State.  Belgium  fought  with  the  vic- 
torious Allies  and  has  received  preferential 
treatment  in  the  treaty.  Czechoslovakia 
came  into  being  through  the  action  of  the 
Entente,  and  has  its  sympathy  and  active 
help.  Bulgaria,  however,  was  forced  into 
the  war  on  the  side  of  the  Teutonic  allies  by 
King  Ferdinand.  Though  suffering  from 
defeat,  from  loss  of  her  young  manhood, 
loss  of  material  resources  in  the  territories 
taken  from  her,  loss  of  direct  communica- 
tion on  the  Aegean  with  the  outside  world, 
loss  of  what  she  feels  perhaps  most  keenly 
of  all — sympathetic  understanding  in  the 
West — she  has  accepted  the  situation,  reor- 
ganized her  Government  under  her  new 
King,  and  gone  to  work,  with  results  which 
are  a  surprise  to  every  Westerner  visiting 
the  country. 

Bulgaria  lost  by  the  war  much  of  her 
richest  territory.  To  Greece  she  was  forced 
to  yield  Thrace,  where  her  finest  tobacco 
was  grown,  and  where  her  two  Aegean 
ports,  Kavala  and  Dede-Agatch,  were  lo- 
cated; to  Serbia  she  gave  up  the  Strumnitza 
region;  to  Rumania,  by  the  confirmation  of 
the  powers  of  the  Bucharest  Treaty  of  1913, 
she  surrendered  the  fertile  lands  of  the 
Dobrudja,  whence  formerly  one-fourth  of 
her  revenue  from  agriculture  was  derived; 
to  Serbia  and  Greece — and  this  perhaps 
touches  the  Bulgars  most  keenly — Mace- 
donia, where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  her 
people  live.  Small  wonder  if,  contrasting 
the  Bulgaria  of  1912,  after  the  first  Balkan 
war,  with  that  of  today,  these  people  should 
feel  discouraged.  They  have  lost  every- 
thing for  which  they  have  fought  for  six 
years. 

And  yet  they  are  not  discouraged.  Fac- 
ing the  inevitable  with  all  its  tragedy,  they 
have  started  to  rebuild  their  new  State  on 
the  ruins  of  the  old.     They  have  rid  them- 


selves of  Ferdinand,  and  his  oldest  son,  Bo- 
ris, only  twenty-four  years  old  but  keenly 
alive  to  his  responsibilities,  has  taken  his 
place.  He  told  me,  when  I  was  in  Sofia  in 
September  last,  something  of  his  hopes  for 
his  people,  and  others  spoke  of  his  active 
interest  and  participation  in  all  affairs  of 
State,  including  a  protecting  care  for  his 
people.  No  repatriated  war  prisoners  re- 
turn, they  told  me,  who  do  not  find  their 
King  at  the  frontier  to  meet  them.  He  has 
a  charm  of  manner  which  attracts  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact;  this,  coupled 
with  his  earnest  work  for  his  people,,  earns 
for  him  the  unanimous  regard  and  good 
wishes  of  all  Westerners,  as  well  as  of  his 
own  people. 

Bulgaria  has,  even  with  her  old  frontiers, 
to  which  she  is  now  confined,  great  natural 
resources  and  is  perhaps  the  only  State  of 
Europe  today  which  can  be  self-supporting. 
Her  mines  produce  a  sufficiency  of  coal  for 
her  needs,  her  fertile  lands  more  than 
enough  grain,  cereals,  sugar  beets  and  to- 
bacco, which  in  normal  times  she  exports. 
Her  greatest  asset,  however,  lies  in  her 
hard-working  population,  80  per  cent,  of 
whom  are  peasants,  and  nearly  that  number 
peasant-proprietors.  They  are  hard  at  work 
today,  and  have  already  succeeded  so  well 
in  bringing  the  production  back  to  normal 
that  some  $10,000,000  worth  of  tobacco  was 
exported  last  year,  part  of  which  represent- 
ed crops  raised  since  the  war.  This  year 
it  is  confidently  expected  that  after  supply- 
ing the  needs  of  the  country  there  will  still 
be  wheat  and  cereals  for  export. 

The  greatest  menace  to  the  State  lies  in 
the  character  of  the  present  Government. 
It  is  the  agrarian  party,  representing  the 
large  peasant  population,  which  is  in  the 
saddle,  the  old  experienced  leaders  like 
Malinoff,  Majaroff  and  Guechkoff,  who 
with  Venizelos  founded  the  Balkan  League 
in  1912,  being  driven  to  the  opposition.  At 
the  head  of  the  Government  stands  Stam- 
bolisky,  the  peasant  party's  strongest  man, 
fearless,  forceful,  pugnacious,  filled  with 
plans  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  on  the 
most  advanced  lines,  but,  like  the  peasantry 


STAMBOLISKY'S  REFORMS  IN  BULGARIA 


273 


from  which  he  sprang,  unable  to  visual- 
ize the  extreme  difficulty  of  carrying  them 
out. 

An  example  of  this  is  the  conscription  of 
labor  law,  which  has  been  in  effect  since 


(Times    Wide    World   Photos) 

KING  BORIS   OF  BULGARIA 

Europe's   Youngest   Reigning   Monarch 


Sept.  18,  1920.  Stambolisky  explained  its 
workings  to  me  for  half  an  hour,  and  my 
most  vivid  impression  when  he  concluded 
was  of  the  almost  unsurmountable  difficul- 
ties to  be  experienced  in  putting  the  law 
into  execution.  By  the  provisions  of  this 
law  every  man  and  woman  between  the 
ages  of  20  and  50  is  obliged  to  work  a  cer- 
tain length  of  time  for  the  State;  thus  the 
time  formerly  given  to  military  service,  now 
forbidden  by  the  Peace  Treaty,  will  be 
turned  to  useful  work  for  the  country. 

But  Stambolisky's  ideas  go  far  beyond 
that.  Schools  are  to  be  founded  all  over  the 
State  for  boys  and  girls,  who  will  be  en- 
tered at  the  age  of  twenty,  the  boys  for  a 
year  and  the  girls  for  six  months.  They 
will  receive  instruction  to  prepare  them  for 
the  State  service  they  will  render.  This 
instruction  will  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
the  pupil  to  broaden  his  horizon  and  ulti- 


mately to  raise  the  level  of  the  entire  na- 
tion. A  high  ideal,  certainly,  but  the  cost 
of  putting  it  into  force  is  a  staggering  mat- 
ter for  a  nation  already  in  desperate  con- 
dition financially;  a  nation  which  last  year 
found  its  expenditures  twice  the  amount  of 
its  revenue  quite  aside  from  the  indemnity 
it  is  expected  to  pay  according  to  the 
Peace  Treaty. 

Bulgaria  has  passed  the  most  drastic  law 
regarding  individual  holding  of  land  which 
I  found  in  traveling  through  Europe.  For, 
though     Czechoslovakia     has     limited     the 


Underwood 


Uriderivood) 


PREMIER     STAMBOLISKY 

Leader  of  the  Agrarian  Party,  who  has  made 

sweeping  reforms 


amount  which  can  be  held  by  one  person  to 
150  hectares  of  arable  land  and  250  of  gen- 
eral land  (as  contrasted  with  Hungary, 
which  was  on  the  eve  of  passing  a  law  in 
August,  1920,  providing  for  500  hectares  to 
each  person),  Bulgaria  will  allow  to  each 
person  only  what  he  can  work  with  his  own 
hands,  or  about  thirty  hectares.  Bulgaria 
was,  before  the  war,  and  is  at  present,  a 
nation  of  small  proprietors,  and  for  that 
reason  the  majority  will  be  unaffected  by 
the  law;  but,  although  they  are  hard  work- 


274 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ing,  they  are  not  thrifty,  like  the  French, 
and  I  was  told  that  if  a  man  held  five  hec- 
tares and  found  the  product  of  four  would 
support  his  family,  he  would  often  let  the 
fifth  lie  idle.  This  means  that  from  his  la- 
bor little  can  be  expected  for  export,  where- 
as the  large  land-owners  not  only  raise 
crops  for  export,  but  also  continually  im- 
prove the  methods  of  agriculture  and  the 
quality  of  the  product. 

Bulgaria's  railroads  have  been  national- 
ized for  thirty  years  and  very  successfully 
run  under  State  management;  her  coal 
mines  are  ^nationalized  with  less  fortunate 
results,  it  being  universally  conceded  that 
the  operation  is  far  more  costly  than  neces- 
sary; certain  of  her  banks  are  managed  by 
the  State,  and  recently  the  present  Govern- 
ment has  created  a  State-owned  bank  at 
the  head  of  the  great  co-operative  system, 
which  numbers  some  1,200  societies. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  of 
Bulgaria's  essays  in  legislation  lies  in  the 
income  tax,  with  its  drastic  impost  on  large 
incomes  and  practical  exemption  from  the 


operation  of  the  law  for  the  great  agrarian 
element,  which  forms  so  large  a  percentage 
of  the  nation.  The  law  cuts  in  two  direc- 
tions. First,  it  deprives  the  State  of  a 
much-needed  income  from  the  peasants,  and, 
second,  by  its  drastic  tax  on  profitable 
large-scale  business,  it  is  driving  foreign 
capital,  so  badly  needed,  from  the  country. 

The  reason  the  law  is  not  amended  is 
plain.  The  Stambolisky  Government  would 
not  survive  the  placing  of  a  tax  on  the 
agrarians,  the  party  by  whose  mandate  it 
holds  office.  And  yet,  given  the  financial 
condition  which  exists  today,  many  are 
prophesying  that  the  law  must  be  amended 
or  the  State  will  go  bankrupt. 

This  is  Bulgaria's  problem.  A  land  of 
great  national  resources  and  a  nation  of 
hard-working  peasants — the  combination  is 
one  which,  it  seems,  must  succeed.  Bul- 
garia has  already  started  well  toward  suc- 
cess, but  inexperienced  leaders  may  nullify 
her  best  efforts  and  bring  about  a  ruinous 
economic  condition,  similar  to  that  already 
prevailing  in  the  rest  of  Europe. 


TEXT  OF  BULGARIA'S  COMPULSORY  LABOR  LAW 


fTlHE  Bulgarian  Government's  famous 
■*■  law  introducing  compulsory  labor  was 
passed  about  the  middle  of  the  year  1920, 
after  six  months'  propaganda  and  cam- 
paigning. The  most  interesting  thing 
about  the  law  is  that  it  is  in  no  sense  the 
product  of  a  Bolshevist  or  Communist  Gov- 
ernment. The  experiment  is  due  almost 
entirely  to  the  initiative  of  the  Prime  Min- 
ister, M.  Stambolisky,  the  leader  of  the 
Agrarian  Party.  As  will  be  seen  in  the 
portions  of  the  text  given  below,  the  act 
is  modeled  closely  upon  the  military  service 
laws  common  in  most  countries  of  Europe. 
Every  Bulgarian  boy  must  give  the  State 
twelve  months'  labor  at  the  age  of  20,  and 
every  girl  six  months'  service  at  the  age 
of  16.  The  exemption  clauses,  which  are 
not  reproduced  below,  follow  closely  the 
analogy  of  military  service  laws,  exemption 
being  granted  for  illness,  incapacity,  and 
the  need  to  support  close  relatives.  The 
enforcement  of  the  act  is  entrusted  to  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Works.  Penalties  for 
evasion   are  provided  for   in   Chapter   III., 


and  may  extend  to  two  years'  imprisonment. 
That  M.  Stambolisky's  Government  has  al- 
ready encountered  serious  difficulties  in  its 
attempts  to  put  the  act  into  force  is  in- 
dicated by  recent  reports  from  Bulgaria. 
The  more  important  articles  of  Chapter  I. 
are  as  follows: 

Act  respecting  compulsory  labor  service, 
dated  June  5,  1920. 

CHAPTER  I.— General  Provisions. 
ARTICLE  l— All  Bulgarian  citizens  of  both 
sexes,  viz.,  men  who  have  attained  the  age  of 
20  years  and  girls  who  have  attained  the  age 
of  36  years,  shall  be  liable  to  compulsory  labor 
service,  that  is,  to  compulsory  community  labor. 
Note  1— Compulsory  labor  service  shall  not  be 
required  from  Mohammedan  girls. 

Note  2— Even  those  who  have  not  attained  the 
prescribed  age  may  be  admitted  to  service  as 
volunteers,  viz.,  boys  who  have  attained  the  age 
of  17  years  and  girls  who  have  attained  the  age 
of  12  years. 

ARTICLE    2— Compulsory    labor    service    shall 

have  the  object  of: 

(a)  organizing   and    utilizing   the   labor    power 

of   the   country    for    the   public   welfare    in 

the  interests  of  production  and  the  welfare 

of  the  country ; 


TEXT  OF  BULGARIA'S  COMPULSORY  LABOR  LAW 


275 


(b)  awakening"  in  all  citizens,  irrespective  of 
their  social  status  or  means,  a  love  of 
community   and   manual   labor ; 

(c)  improving  the  moral  and  economic  con- 
dition cf  the  people,  fostering  in  the  citi- 
zens a  consciousness  of  their  duties  to 
themselves  and  to  society  and  instructing 
them  in  rational  methods  of  work  in  all 
branches   of  economic   activity. 

ARTICLE  3— Compulsory  labor  service  shall  be 
utilized  in  all  branches  of  economic  activity  and 
public  welfare  work :  the  construction  of  roads, 
railways,  canals,  waterworks,  dams  and  em- 
bankments, the  erection  of  buildings,  the  laying 
out  of  villages  and  towns,  the  strengthening  of 
the  banks  of  watercourses,  the  rectification  of 
rivers,  the  draining  of  marshes,  the  laying  of 
telegraph  and  telephone  cables,  the  preparation 
of  various  materials  for  building,  afforestation 
and  the  care  and  management  of  forests,  the 
cultivation  of  lands  belonging  to  the  State,  a 
district,  a  commune  or  any  other  public  body, 
fruit  and  vegetable  growing,  the  raising  of  silk- 
worms, bees  and  cattle,  fishing,  work  in  mines 
and  factories,  the  oreserving  of  foodstuffs,  the 
manufacture  of  cloth,  linen  and  clothing  in 
hospitals,    &c. 

These  tasks  shall-  be  carried  out  by  the  com- 
petent authorities,  under  their  direction  and  on 
their  responsibility. 

ARTICLE  4— Compulsory  labor  service  shall  be 
an  individual  duty.  Substitution  shall  not  be 
permitted.  Only  those  persons  shall  be  ex- 
empted from  compulsory  labor  service  who  are 
unfit  for  any  physical  or  mental  work  on  ac- 
count of  the  diseases,  &c,  specified  in  a  schedule 
approved  by  the  Council  of  Ministers.  In  ad- 
dition, married  women  and  men  called  up  for 
military  service  shall  be  exempt.  If  any  per- 
son is  granted  exemption  from  compulsory  labor 
service  under  the  schedule  of  diseases,  &c,  he 
shall  pay  a  tax  proportionate  to  his  income  and 
property,    imposed   under  a   special   act. 

ARTICLE  5— A     Bulgarian     citizen     shall    not 


change  his  nationality  or  settle  in  a  foreign 
country  until  he  has  completed  his  compulsory 
labor  service. 

ARTICLE  6— Compulsory  labor  service  shall 
last  for  twelve  months  in  the  case  of  men  and 
six  months  in  the  case  of  girls. 


ARTICLE  10— In  the  event  of  extensive  dam- 
age caused  by  the  elements,  national  calamity, 
or  immediate  necessity,  all  male  Bulgarian  citi- 
zens between  the  ages  of  20  and  50  years  may, 
by  a  resolution  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  be 
called  up  for  temporary  compulsory  labor  ser- 
vice, that  is,  to  perform  compulsory  community 
labor   for  not  more   than   four  weeks. 

This  calling  up  shall  take  place  in  accordance 
with  the  needs  of  the  case,  by  ages  and  by 
groups  from  communes,  districts,  or  provinces. 

Note— In  this  case  the  Council  of  Ministers 
may  also  call  up  young  persons  under  the  age 
of  20  years. 

ARTICLE  i2— At  the  beginning  of  each  year 
the  following  persons  subject  to  compulsory 
labor  service  shall  receive  a  calling-up  notice 
for  purposes  of  classification : 

(a)  boys  who  on  Jan.  1  of  the  year  in  which 
they  are  called  up  have  attained  the  age 
of  19  years,  and  girls  who  at  the  same 
date  have  attained  the  age  of  15  years ; 

(b)  persons  who  have  been  granted  postpone- 
ment on  any  grounds  whatever,  and  those 
who  have  not  reported  themselves. 

ARTICLE  U— Compulsory  labor  service  shall 
be  rendered  by  men  and  women  separately— by 
men,  in  or  as  near  as  possible  to  the  district  in 
which  their  homes  are  situated,  unless  the  re- 
quirements of  work  necessitate  their  removal  to 
a  more  distant  place,  and  by  women  in  the 
places   where  their  homes  are  situated. 

These  provisions  shall  not  apply  to  women 
teachers  under  the  compulsory  labor  scheme. 

[From  "  Studies  and  Reports  "  of  the  Inter* 
national  Labor  Office.} 


INCREASING  THE  BIRTH  RATE  IN  FRANCE 


Tj^VEN  before  the  war  France  had  under- 
-^  taken  to  do  something  to  remedy  the 
alarming  decrease  in  the  ratio  of  births  as 
compared  with  deaths.  The  act  of  July  14, 
1913,  made  the  relief  of  large  families 
obligatory  on  each  department  (correspond- 
ing to  our  county),  and  provided  for  a 
bonus  of  60  francs  minimum,  or  90  francs 
maximum,  for  each  child.  This  was  soon 
seen  to  be  insufficient,  however.  Then  came 
the  war,  with  its  enormous  human  losses, 
and  the  problem  took  on  a  more  formidable 
aspect.  The  act  of  June  28,  1918,  added 
10  francs  to  the  allowance  granted  to 
parents    for    each    child,    but    the    Depart- 


mental Council  of  the  Seine  has  long  been 
striving  to  have  the  bonus  increased  to  a 
maximum  of  300  francs.  The  Budget  bill 
for  1921  increases  the  allowance  to  180 
francs.  In  Paris  the  combined  bonuses  of 
the  original  act,  of  the  State  and  of  the 
municipal  grants,  bring  the  sum  up  to  240 
francs  ($48,  normal  exchange).  The  Ad- 
ministration estimates  that  in  1921  in  Paris 
and  its  suburbs  there  will  be  18,000  bene- 
ficiaries in  receipt  of  24,000  allowances. 
The  Departmental  Council  also  is  endeavor- 
ing to"  increase  the  special  allowance  to 
mothers.  Special  bounties  are  now  being 
offered  for  each  child  in  excess  of  two. 


A  BULGARIAN'S  PLEA  FOR  BULGARIA 

Mr.  Mattheeff,  the  writer  of  this  passionate  protest,  was  formerly  Bulgarian  Minister  to  Greece, 
and  teas  the  Bulgarian  Commissioner  to  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  at  St.  Louis  in  1905 


To   the  Editor  of  Current  History:. 

Bulgaria,  conquered,  reduced,  impoverished, 
at  the  feet  of  her  neighbors,  her  former  allies, 
whom  she  led  in  the  first  Balkan  war  against 
the  common  enemy,  is  surel-y  not  deprived  of 
the  right  to  lay  before  the  public  the  grievous 
wrongs  she  is  suffering,  even  beyond  those  sanc- 
tioned by  the  treaty;  wrongs  which  even  the 
inhumane  Paris  treaty  should  forbid. 

This  treaty,  even  before  its  full  ratification, 
Is  about  to  undergo  a  change,  and  in  favor  of 
a  country  whose  past  has  been  most  condemned. 
Why?  Because  it  has  successfully  met  force 
by  force!  For  Bulgaria,  however,  for  soften- 
ing the  ruinous  clauses  of  the  treaty  concern- 
ing her,  not  a  word  !  The  Bulgarian  nation  is 
the  only  one  of  the  conquered  nations  denied 
the  right  of  self-determination.  This  privilege 
is  granted  to  Germany  in  Schleswig,  Pos<nania 
and  upper  Silesia;  to  Austria  in  Carinthia,  and 
to  Turkey  in  the  Smyrna  Province. 

Bulgarian  territory  has  been  arbitrarily  cut  up 
into  many  parts,  and  not  a  few  of  them  have 
been  tossed  right  and  left,  as  bones  to  dogs,  but 
to  no  part  of  it  has  the  right  of  self-determina- 
tion been  granted  ! 

Between  Serbia  and  Bulgaria  there  should  be 
peace,  but  peace  there  is  none.  Serbia  cannot 
leave  Bulgaria  in  peace.  The  Serbians  cannot 
live  a  day  without  discovering  or  inventing 
something  to  the  detriment  of  the  Bulgarians. 
There  are  treaty  clauses  for  strict  execution  by 
Bulgaria,  but  none  for  Serbia. 

The  conditions  of  the  armistice  with  Bulgaria, 
one  and  all,  have  been  violated  to  the  injury  of 
Bulgaria;  Bulgarian  territory,  ceded  by  treaty 
to  Serbia,  was  occupied  and  taken  possession 
of  before  the  term  fixed  by  the  treaty;  Serbia 
demanded  and  obtained  from  Bulgaria  railroad 
and  machinery  material  long  before  the  legal 
commission  had  met;  Serbia  recently  stopped 
for  more  than  a  fortnight  all  traffic  between 
the  two  countries  because  Bulgaria  asked  that 
the  continuation  of  the  delivery  of  such  ma- 
terials be  postponed,  In  accordance  with  the 
treaty  clause,  until  the  proper  commission  had 
sanctioned  it;  the  treaty  condemned  Bulgaria 
to  deliver  to  Serbia  50,000  tons  of  coal  a  year 
during  five  years.  The  commission  to  sanction 
this  delivery  has  not  yet  met;  the  Bulgarian 
Government,  however,  has  been  obliged  to  de- 
liver this  coal,  and  has  been  delivering  it  for 
the  past  six  months,  and  now  Serbia  demands 
the  immediate  delivery  of  30,000-odd  cattle, 
which  the  treaty  has  laid  upon  Bulgaria  to  de- 
liver over  to  Serbia.  This  right  of  Serbia's  is 
the  right  of  conquest;  This  number  of  cattle 
was  adjudged  to  Serbia  simply  on  her  arbitrary 
demand,  without  the  least  consideration  as  to 
its  honesty.  This  demand  is  made  before  the 
Commission  of  Reparations,  the  authority  on  the 
subject,  has  met. 


A  law  was  passed  which  substituted  for  the 
road  tax  the  obligatory  personal  labor  of  all 
from  18  to  40  years  of  age,  upon  roads  and  pub- 
lic works.  The  application  of  this  law  required 
a  certain  degree  of  organization.  The  Serbians 
have  seen,  in  the  operation  of  this  law,  a  phase 
ol  military  strength,  and  have  made  representa- 
tions to  their  powerful  allies  on  the  subject,  and 
these  have  demanded,  by  note,  its  repeal ! 

Serbia  has  violated  all  the  international  laws 
in  her  treatment  of  our  prisoners  of  war.  She 
will  give  no  account  of  the  thousands  missing, 
and  is  knowingly  detaining  some  under  criminal 
treatment.  This  last  question  regarding  the 
prisoners  of  war  is,  happily,  in  the  hands  of  two 
delegates,  specially  sent  out  on  Bulgaria's  de- 
mand, of  the  Geneva  Red  Cross.  The  Bulgarians 
do  not  fear,  have  never  feared,  inquiries  into 
their  conduct.  They  have  demanded  such  in- 
quiries, and  still  demand  them  with  open  mind 
and  honest  heart. 

In  none  of  these  cases  has  Serbia  been  called 
to  order.  The  weak  representations  made  to 
her  regarding  these  flagrant  and  willful  viola- 
tions of  treaty  clauses  have  been  of  no  avail. 

Serbia  is  the  spoiled  child  of  her  powerful 
allies.  Consider,  for  instance,  Serbia's  conduct 
in  Montenegro,  the  model  country  of  Serbia's 
freedom,  where  life,  property  and  honor  are  not 
safe  unless  one  has  taken  the  oath  of  loyalty  to 
the  Serbian  King,  son-in-law  of  King  Nicholas 
of  Montenegro  ! 

The  Bulgarian  Government  has  made  every 
possible  advance  to  Serbia  for  better  relations 
with  Jugoslavia;  all  such  steps  have  only  pro- 
voked further  animosities  on  her  part.  If  I 
speak  of  Serbia  rather  than  of  Jugoslavia,  I  do 
so  advisedly,  because  it  is  Serbia,  and  Serbia 
alone,  who  is  responsible  for  this  state  of  things 
between  the  two  countries.  Recently  the  Czecho- 
slovak press  attempted  a  friendly  intervention 
for  an  understanding  between  Bulgaria  and 
Serbia;  the  Serbian  press  turned  round  savagely 
upon  the  would-be  interveners  and  told  them  to 
mind  their  own  business,  and  even  threatened 
them. 

The  attitude  of  the  Serbian  press  is  that  of  a 
superior  people  toward  a  fallen,  degraded,  im- 
moral inferior.  "Yes,"  the  Serbians  say  and 
write,  "  now  that  Bulgaria  is  humbled,  now 
that  the  Bulgarians  are  sorry  for  their  past 
treacherous  conduct,  now  that  they  beg  to  be 
forgiven,  we  might  take  into  consideration  their 
misery  and  pity  them  ;  but  it  is  too  soon  ;  they 
must  wait."  Yet  all  fair-minded  men  know  that 
the  situation  is  quite  the  opposite  of  the  pre- 
tension in  the  above-cited  quotation.  Bulgaria's 
joining  the  Central  Powers  was  an  unavoidable 
consequence  of  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest,  and  it 
came  about  because  the  allied  powers  failed  to 
give  to  Bulgaria  what  the  Bucharest  treaty  took 


A  BULGARIAN'S  PLEA  FOR  BULGARIA 


277 


away  from  her— a  feature  of  that  treaty  which 
they  have  undoubtedly   condemned. 

The  Serbian  mind  is  outrageously  poisoned 
against  everything  Bulgarian.  Serbia  is  suffer- 
ing from  a  swollen  head.  Bulgaria,  reduced,  im- 
poverished, disarmed,  appears  to  have  become 
an  uninterrupted  nightmare  of  revanche  for  the 
Serbians.  Such  should  not  be  the  case;  Bul- 
garia has  been  rendered  harmless,  even  ,  to 
those  she  led  to  victory  against  the  Turk, 
and  is  at  Serbia's  mercy;  and  this  Serbia  misses 
nc  opportunity  to  demonstrate. 

Serbia's  new  ideal  is  undoubtedly  the  complete 
effacement  of  Bulgaria,  the  absorption  of  the 
nation  into  its  neighbors,  Serbia  to  take  the 
lion's  share.  This  chauvinistic  ideal  is  develop- 
ing inordinately,  thanks  to  the  support  and  pro- 
tection Serbia  receives  from  her  powerful  allies. 

Bulgaria  joined  in  the  last  war  to  right  a 
wrong  done  her  in  Bucharest,  to  reunite  the 
Bulgarian  lands  and  race,  unjustifiably  rent 
asunder.  Bulgaria  failed  because  she  blundered 
in  choosing  sides.  The  conquerors,  however, 
have  declared  that  in  so  doing  Bulgaria  trans- 
gressed. So  be  it !  But  is  there  no  limit  to'the 
punishment  for  such  transgression?  Certainly 
the  Treaty  of  Neuilly  refuses  to  allow  any  limit 
to  the  punishment  of  Bulgaria  ! 

The   greatness    crammed    into    puny   Greece   is 


bearing  its  fruit.  The  Turks,  condemned  all 
around  for  generations  as  utterly  unfit  to  rule, 
are  to  be  benefited,  the  crushing  terms  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  Sevres  treaty  are  to  be  made 
bearable ;  but  not  a  word  as  to  the  lightening 
of  similar  clauses  for  Bulgaria !  The  Greeks 
have  proved  themselves  equally  unfit  wherever 
alien  populations  have  been  entrusted  to  their 
rule.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  Serbians  and 
Rumanians.  An  impartial  inquiry  into  the  con- 
ditions of  rule  in  the  alien  countries  allotted  to 
them— Thrace,  Macedonia,  Dobrudja,  Montene- 
gro—will amply  confirm  this  statement.  Greece's 
unfitness  to  rule  is  as  complete  in  Thrace  as 
in  Asia,  and  yet  not  a  word  of  her  disgorging ! 
It  is  about  time  to  deny  Galileo's  assertion  that 
the  world  moves — or  to  despair  of  human  justice. 

Bulgaria  asks  for  an  unbiased  inquiry,  and 
prays  that  her  voice  be  heard.  She  asks  for 
an  inquiry  into  her  condition,  which  is  doubly 
wretched,  (1)  because  of  the  arbitrary  and 
passion-imposed  Treaty  of  Neuilly,  and  (2)  be- 
cause of  the  unjustifiable  manner  in  which  the 
terms  of  this  treaty  are  being  put  into  force  for 
the  sole  benefit  of  those  already  excessively 
favored,  all  to  the  injury  of  Bulgaria.  The 
claims  of  the  Turks  are  being  heard.  Will  there 
be  no  hearing  for  Bulgaria? 

P.  M.  MATTHEEFF. 

Sofia,  Bulgaria,  Feb.  16,  1921. 


REVIVING  THE  RABBINICAL  COURT  AT  JERUSALEM 


THE  opening  of  the  Rabbinical  Congress 
at  Jerusalem  for  the  re-establishment 
of  the  old  Sanhedrim,  or  Rabbinical  High 
Court,  known  as  the  Beth  Din,  was  a  great 
event  for  all  Jews  connected  with  the  Zion- 
ist movement.  A  correspondent  of  a  Lon- 
don paper,  writing  early  in  March,  de- 
scribed it  as  "  the  greatest  event  since  the 
destruction  of  the  Sanhedrim,"  and  the 
speech  made  by  Sir  Herbert  Samuel,  the 
High  Commissioner,  at  the  opening  session, 
was  held  to  "  equal  in  importance  the  first 
appeal  of  Nehemiah  after  the  return  from 
the  Babylonian  captivity."  Other  speeches 
were  made  in  English  and  Hebrew.  The 
Congress  decided  to  elect  the  members  of 
the  new  court,  which  is  to  be  composed  of 
eight  members,  four  chosen  from  among  the 
Sephardim  (the  Ladino-speaking  Jews  of 
Spain,  Tunis  and  Saloniki)   and  four  from 


among  the  Ashkenazim  (the  Yiddish-speak- 
ing Jews  of  Poland  and  Germany).  There 
will  be  two  Presidents  as  of  old,  and  the 
High  Court  will  deal  with  all  Jewish  re- 
ligious matters. 

The  Sanhedrim  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
institutions  of  the  Jewish  race.  It  began 
at  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  after 
the  return  from  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
It  was  later  removed  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jamnia  and  finally  to  Tiberias.  It  enjoyed 
great  authority  under  the  so-called  "  Patri- 
archs of  the  West,"  until  it  finally  came  to 
an  end  under  the  persecution  by  the 
Romans  in  the  fourth  century.  Its  duties 
were  to  decide  questions  of  religious  law. 
Napoleon  I.  summoned  a  Sanhedrim  com- 
posed of  54  rabbis  and  27  laymen,  under 
the  Presidency  of  the  Rabbi  of  Strasbourg; 
but  this  council  was  short  lived. 


RUMANIA  IN  THE  NEW  EUROPE 


By  Prince  Antoine  Bibesco 

Rumanian    Minister    to    the    United    States 


FEW  European  countries  —  probably 
none  of  the  late  Allies — have  been 
victimized  by  such  protracted  and 
malicious,  if  not  always  deliberate,  misrep- 
resentations before  the  American  public  as 
Rumania.  Her  very  martyrdom  in  the 
World  War,  suffered  for  the  allied  cause 
and  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  Rus- 
sian aid,  has  been  counted  up  against  her. 
But  especially  in  the  two  years  that  have 
passed  since  ultimate  victory  turned  the 
darkest  period  of  Rumanian  history  into 
a  prelude  to  national  dreams  triumphantly 
realized  there  have  appeared,  every  now 
and  then,  allegations  in  the  American  press 
concerning  things  Rumanian  that  were  as 
remote  from  truth  as  they  were  indefensi- 
bly unfair  to  a  people  which  has  proved 
so  conclusively  its  loyalty  to  the  cause 
championed  by  the  American  nation.  It 
would  lead  too  far  afield  to  analyze  the 
question  why  hostile  propaganda  should 
have  had  a  line  of  less  resistance  to  follow 
than  in  the  case  of  other  associated  powers. 
Yet  that  seems  to  be  the  fact.  It  is  all  the 
more  essential  that  the  great  American  pub- 
lic should  be  awakened  to  the  truth  about 
Rumania. 

To  sum  up:  Rumania  stands  Out  today 
as  the  strongest  State  in  Eastern  Europe, 
uniting  within  her  borders  practically  the 
whole  ethnic  mass  of  the  Rumanian  nation; 
with  democracy  and  economic  progress  for 
her  slogans,  she  has  a  reconstruction  pro- 
gram comparing  favorably  with  that  of  any 
other  power;  her  possibilities  of  future  de- 
velopment, cultural,  moral  and  commercial, 
are  unexcelled  by  any  other  country  of  the 
same  size  and  population. 

This  seems  a  large  assertion,  but  it  can 
be  substantiated.  First,  however,  one  must 
tackle  the  indispensable  task  of  demolishing 
certain  untruths  and  misconceptions  assidu- 
ously spread  by  the  enemies  of  Rumania  in 
this  country  and  in  the  west  of  Europe. 
After  all,  one  way  of  stating  the  truth  is 
to  refute  a  lie.  The  main  points  raised  by 
anti-Rumanian    propagandists    are    as    fol- 


lows: That  Rumania  is  politically  and 
culturally  a  backward  country  ruled  by  a 
corrupt  oligarchy;  that  Rumania  oppresses 
racial  minorities,  such  as  the  Jews  and 
Magyars,  and  that  she  persecutes  religious 
dissenters.  It  is  perfectly  characteristic 
and  rather  amusing  that  most  of  this  slan- 
der is  being  circulated  by  Hungarian  propa- 
gandists, who,  themselves  inmates  of  a  most 
fragile  glass  house,  are  in  their  chauvinistic 
zeal  utterly  oblivious  of  the  dangers  of 
stone-throwing. 

Take  the  first  charge — that  Rumania  is 
an  oligarchic  country,  ruled  by  a  small 
group  of  boyars  who  own  the  land  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  peasantry.  It  is  true  that 
before  the  war  Rumania  was  a  country  of 
large  landed  estates;  about  four  million 
hectares,  or  half  the  arable  area,  was  owned 
by  a  thousand  proprietors,  while  the  other 
half  belonged  to  six  and  one-half  million 
peasants.  Today  that  situation  has  under- 
gone a  radical  change.  The  land  reform 
law,  one  of  the  most  thoroughgoing  pieces 
of  legislation  in  this  particular  field,  as- 
signs over  2,000,000  hectares,  carved  out 
of  estates  exceeding  500  hectares,  to  be  dis- 
tributed among  the  peasantry.  In  Bukovina 
and  Transylvania  the  maximum  size  of 
estates  is  reduced  even  to  100  hectares. 
The  land  is,  naturally,  compensated  for, 
the  peasant  beneficiary  paying,  in  instal- 
ments stretched  over  forty-five  years,  65 
per  cent,  of  the  expropriation  price,  and  the 
State  assuming  the  balance  of  35  per  cent. 
The  budget  of  1920-21  carries  an  appro- 
priation of  90,000,000  lei  for  the  purposes 
of  land  distribution,  and  the  work  is  in  full 
swing.  The  peasants  benefit  from  the  re- 
form, regardless  of  their  race,  language  or 
religion. 

The  expropriation  clauses  apply,  first  of 
all,  to  land  held  in  mortmain,  under  which 
heading  ecclesiastic  property  is  included. 
The  Orthodox  Church,  being  the  greatest 
and  wealthiest,  suffers  most  heavily  under 
the  reform,  but  she  endures  the  hardship, 
in  view  of  the  benefit  to  the  commonwealth. 


RUMANIA   IN  THE  NEW  EUROPE 


279 


On  the  other  hand,  the  Unitarian  Chinch  of 
Transylvania,  whose  membership  is  purely 
Magyar,  has  raised  a  complaint  against 
what  her  spokesmen  describe  as  a  discrim- 


PRINCE    ANTOINE    BIBESCO 

Rumanian  Minister  to  the  United  States 


inatory  measure.  Echoes  of  this  have 
reached  the  American  press.  The  truth  is, 
of  course,  that  the  expropriation  hits  all 
churches,  and  that  the  rich  Orthodox 
Church  suffers  more  than  the  comparatively 
poor  Unitarian  congregation.  Moreover, 
the  Magyar  and  Szekler  peasant  of  Trans- 
sylvania  is  better  off  today  under  Ruma- 
nian rule  than  he  was  under  the  old  Hun- 
garian regime,  and  certainly  much  better 
off  than  his  brother  in  Hungary  under  the 
Horthy  Government. 

Under  the  old  order  the  peasant  had  to 
take  his  choice  between  emigrating  to  Amer- 
ica or  drudging  for  an  absentee  landlord 
on  terms  that  meant  slow  starvation.  To- 
day he  gets  land  from  the  Rumanian  State, 
which  also  redeems,  at  a  liberal  rate,  his 


almost  worthless  old  Austro-Hungarian 
currency.  He  enjoys,  under  the  Rumanian 
suffrage  laws,  more  political  liberty  than 
he  did  in  the  Hungary  of  Tisza.  No  won- 
der the  "  irredentist  "  movement,  of  which 
Magyar  sympathizers  make  so  much,  is 
limited  to  the  small  bureaucratic  class 
which,  incited  by  the  ideology  of  a  bygone 
age  and  lured  by  the  fantastic  promises  of 
the  Nationalist  die-hard  organizations  of 
Budapest,  emigrates  to  the  Magyar  capital 
and  lives  half-starving  in  box  cars  on  the 
hope  of  the  millennium. 

Rumanian  law  insures  equal  rights  and 
equal  legal  treatment  to  all  citizens,  re- 
gardless of  race  or  religion.  The  Magyars 
of  Transylvania  may  use  their  own  lan- 
guage without  hindrance.  Whereas  under 
the  old  Hungarian  rule  the  State-controlled 
school  was  the  most  potent  instrument  for 
denationalizing  the  Rumanian  population, 
the  present  Rumanian  Government  actually 
encourages  the  maintenance  of  Magyar  cul- 
ture in  Transylvania  by  paying  higher 
wages  to  the  Magyar  teacher  than  he  re- 
ceived in  Hungary.  The  schools  conducted 
by  the  Magyar  churches,  Catholic,  Calvinist 
and  Unitarian,  have  been  taken  over  by 
the  Rumanian  Government  on  a  similar 
basis.  There  are  over  twice  as  many  Mag- 
yar gymnasiums  (secondary  schools  with 
Latin  as  principal  subject)  in  Rumanian- 
ruled  Transylvania  as  there  were  Ru- 
manian gymnasiums  in  Transylvania  under 
the  Magyars.  The  University  of  Bucharest 
has  a  chair  in  Magyar  language  and  litera- 
ture. A  Magyar  theatrical  company  gave 
performances  at  the  Rumanian  capital  in 
the  last  season;  a  Rumanian  theatre  at 
Budapest  under  the  old  order  would  have 
been  unthinkable.  Magyar  newspapers  im- 
ported from  across  the  border  circulate 
freely  in  Rumania,  whereas  Bucharest 
newspapers  were  barred  from  Hungary. 

I  am  dwelling  on  this  refutation  of  Mag- 
yar charges  of  intolerance  because  lately 
a  tremendous  wave  of  Magyar  propaganda 
has  flooded  the  United  States.  A  similar 
wave  occurred  in  the  Fall  of  1919,  after 
the  overthrow  of  Bela  Kun,  when  the  Ru- 
manian troops  occupying  Hungary  were 
accused  of  all  kinds  of  atrocities,  although 
in  reality  the  Rumanians  prevented  and  in 
some  cases  punished  excesses  of  the  Magyar 
White  Guards.    At  this  moment  the  propa- 


280 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ganda  aims  at  fostering  "  irredentist  "  sen- 
timent among  Americans  of  Hungarian  ex- 
traction, and  at  arousing  distrust  of  Ruma- 
nia among  the  American  public  at  large. 
The  propaganda  among  Hungarian-Amer- 
icans should  be  a  matter  of  grave  concern, 
for  by  keeping  alive  old  world  hatreds  the 
agitators  render  Hungarian-American  colo- 
nies unsafe  for  true  Americanism.  Magyar 
propaganda  in  the  form  of  pamphlets, 
books,  maps,  news  letters  and  bulletins  is 
flooding  the  editorial  offices  of  American 
newspapers.  Even  the  cables  are  being 
utilized — as  when  the  pious  wish  of  certain 
political  dreamers  at  Budapest  resulted  in 
a  dispatch  from  that  city  announcing  the 
conclusion  of  a  Rumanian-Polish-Hungarian 
alliance  against  Russian  Bolshevism.  The 
truth  was  revealed  in  a  cable  report  follow- 
ing close  upon  the  first,  to  the  effect  that 
the  agreement  was  concluded  by  the  Ruma- 
nian, Polish  and  Czechoslovak  Governments 
as  a  defensive  measure  against  Bolshevism 
and  also  by  way  of  insuring  the  Treaty  of 
Trianon.  In  passing  I  may  remark  here 
that  this  agreement  represented  a  signal 
victory  of  the  endeavors  of  Mr.  Take 
Jonesco,  the  Rumanian  Foreign  Minister, 
to  bring  together  Czechoslovakia  and 
Poland. 

To  return  to  domestic  policy:  Another 
proof  of  the  democratic  spirit  actuating  the 
rulers  of  Rumania  is  the  solution  of  the 
Jewish  question.  Mistakes  may  have  been 
committed  in  the  past  in  handling  the  Jew- 
ish problem,  but  the  all-important  fact  is 
that  today  the  emancipation,  political  and 
social,  of  the  Rumanian  Jews  is  complete; 
they  enjoy  full  citizenship  and  are  destined 
to  play  an  important  part  in  economic  re- 
construction. 

In  judging  present-day  Rumania  the 
dominant  fact  to  be  considered  is  that 
Rumania — a  country  which  never  since  its 
foundation  has  cherished  plans  of  aggres- 
sion, and  whose  only  diplomatic  conflicts 
up  to  1913  were  with  Austria-Hungary  be- 
cause of  ill  treatment  of  Rumanians  for 
political    reasons — has    today   achieved   her 


great  dream :  national  unity  within  frontiers 
2,000  years  old.  She  can  afford  to  be  mag- 
nanimous and  to  forget  past  injuries.  The 
Rumanian  people  are  willing  to  live  in 
friendly  co-operation  with  their  neighbors, 
if  these  furnish  proof  of  good-will  and  sin- 
cerity. 

Speaking  of  economic  conditions,  Ruma- 
nia is  destined,  by  her  natural  resources, 
to  become  one  of  the  wealthiest  countries  of 
Europe.  The  paramount  needs  of  the  Old 
World  today  are  breadstuff s  and  fuel,  and 
of  both  Rumania  possesses  a  superfluity. 
Rumania  today  is  actually  the  one  wheat- 
exporting  country  in  Europe,  and  even  in 
normal  times  she  would  rank  as  the  second, 
next  to  Russia.  Her  oil  fields  are  the 
richest  in  Europe;  her  salt  deposits  suffi- 
cient to  supply  half  the  European  demand. 
Recently  mica  mines — the  only  ones  in 
Europe — have  been  discovered.  There  are 
coal  and  iron  ore  and  gold  in  Transylvania. 
More  important  than  the  minerals — except 
oil — is  lumber;  Rumania  can  produce  over 
100,000  carloads  a  year.  Production  is  rap- 
idly being  restored  to  normal  footing,  in 
spite  of  the  German  spoliation  of  machinery 
and  rolling  stock.  Much  of  the  oil  ma- 
chinery was  destroyed  by  the  Rumanians 
themselves  to  prevent  German  exploitation 
of  the  wells,  and  must  be  replaced.  Ru- 
mania is  the  guardian  of  the  most  impor- 
tant inland  waterway  of  the  old  world,  the 
Danube;  she  is  the  gatekeeper  of  Europe 
at  the  door  of  the  Near  East,  her  port,  Con- 
stanza,  being  the  logical  terminus  of  the 
Bordeaux  -  Marseilles  -  Milan  -  Venice-Bel- 
grade-Bucharest line,  succeeding  to  the  pre- 
war route,  Paris-Berlin-Vienna-Budapest- 
Sofia-Constantinople,  as  the  channel  of 
land  traffic  to  the  Orient. 

Metternich  said  Asia  begins  at  the  gates 
of  Vienna.  That  may  be  true;  but,  then, 
Rumania  stands  out  as  a  European  outpost 
of  Westernism,  amid  surroundings  sunk 
back  to  a  barbarian  level.  The  Rumanian 
Government  and  people  are  prepared  to  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  their  victorious 
destiny. 


SPLIT  AMONG  SOCIALISTS 
WIDENED 


WTH  three  international  political  or- 
ganizations striving  for  the  support 
of  the  Socialist  and  Communist  Parties,  the 
prospects  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
world-wide  Socialist  International  which 
broke  down  under  the  stress  of  the  World 
War  do  not  become  any  brighter. 

The  principal  development  since  the  split 
in  the  Italian  Socialist  Party  over  the  un- 
conditional acceptance  of  the  Twenty-one 
Articles  of  Faith  of  the  Third  International 
in  January  was  the  rejection  of  the  Moscow 
program  by  the  Independent  Labor  Party 
of  Great  Britain  by  a  vote  of  521  to  97  at 
its  Southport  convention  the  last  week  in 
March.  The  defeated  Communist  delegates 
bolted  and  announced  their  intention  of 
joining  the  British  Communist  Party,  a 
group  of  extremists  numbering  only  a  few 
thousands.  The  Independent  Labor  Party 
is  regarded  as  the  advance  guard  of  the 
British  Labor  Party,  which  is  still  affili- 
ated with  the  Second  International. 

Delegates  from  Socialist  organizations 
from  about  a  dozen  European  countries 
met  in  Vienna  the  last  week  of  February 
and  laid  the  foundations  for  a  new  interna- 
tional Socialist  organization,  intended  to 
embrace  the  best  points  of  the  old  Second 
International  and  of  the  Third  (Communist) 
International.  The  new  body  did  not  call 
itself  the  Fourth  International,  but  "  The 
International  Working  Group  of  Socialist 
Parties,"  with  membership  open  to  all  So- 
cialist and  labor  parties  not  belonging  to 
the  existing  Internationals.  Its  aim  was 
announced  as  the  conquest  of  political  and 
economic  power  by  means  of  the  revolution- 
ary class  struggle,  but  the  form  of  such 
struggle  was  to  be  dependent  upon  the 
special  conditions  in  each  country,  and  not 
upon  any  cut-and-dried  program  laid  down 
from  Moscow  or  any  other  capital. 

Both  the  dictatorial  tactics  of  the  Third 
International  and  the  overcautious  attitude 
of  the  old  Second  International  were  de- 
nounced by  the  delegates,  who  included 
Richard  Wallhead  of  the  Independent  Labor 
Party  of  Great  Britain,  Jean  Longuet  of 
the  French  Socialist  Party,  Friedrich  Adler 


of  the  Austrian  Social  Democracy  and 
Robert  Grimm  of  the  Swiss  Socialist 
Party. 

Among  the  resolutions  adopted  was  one 
calling  for  the  immediate  adoption  by  the 
various  nations  of  plans  for  general  dis- 
armament. Despite  the  convention's  oppo- 
sition to  Bolshevist  tactics  in  the  Interna- 
tional labor  movement,  it  went  on  record 
as  calling  upon  all  Socialist  Parties  to  do 
all  in  their  power  to  prevent  intervention 
in  Russia  and  to  force  the  conclusion  of 
peace  with  the  Soviet  Government.  Just 
before  the  convention  opened  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Third  International  sent 
out  a  message  from  Moscow  deriding  the 
proposed  new  organization,  labeling  it  the 
"  Two-and-a-half  International,"  and  call- 
ing its  organizers  leaders  out  of  jobs. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  new  International,  held  Feb.  27,  a 
bureau  of  five  members,  with  Friedrich 
Adler  as  secretary,  was  elected.  The  other 
members  are  Grimm,  Longuet,  Wallhead 
and  George  Ledebour  of  the  Independent 
Socialist  Party  of  Germany.  The  commit- 
tee resolved  to  call  upon  the  international 
proletariat  to  demonstrate  on  May  Day  for 
universal  disarmament,  for  revision  of  the 
peace  treaties  and  for  self-determination  in 
general. 

The  organizations  represented  at  the 
Vienna  convention  were  the  Independent 
Socialist  Party  of  Germany,  the  Indepen- 
dent Labor  Party  of  Great  Britain,  the  So- 
cialist Party  of  France,  the  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party  of  Slovenia,  the  Socialist  Labor 
Party  of  Croatia  and  Slovenia,  the  Socialist 
Party  of  Serbia,  the  Social  Democratic 
Party  of  Latvia,  the  Social  Democratic 
Party  of  Austria,  Poale  Zion  (the  Jewish 
political  labor  group),  the  Social  Demo- 
cratic Labor  Party  of  Russia  (Mensheviki), 
the  Left  Social  Revolutionary  Party  of  Rus- 
sia, the  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Switzer- 
land, the  German  Social  Democratic  Labor 
Party  of  Czechoslovakia,  the  Socialist  Party 
of  old  Rumania,  the  Federation  of  Socialist 
Parties  of  Bukovina,  Transylvania  and  the 
Banat,  the  Social  Revolutionaries  of  Lithu- 


282 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY   ' 


ania  and  the  Kunfi  faction  of  the  Socialist 
Party  of  Hungary.  The  delegates  from 
Poland  and  Bulgaria  were  not  admitted. 

The  first  party  to  hold  a  convention  and 
formally  affiliate  with  the  Vienna  Interna- 
tional was  the  Socialist  organization  of 
Lithuania. 

The  third  convention  of  the  Communist 
International  is  to  open  in  Moscow  on  June  3. 

Division  on  the  economic  field  was  in- 
creased by  the  formal  withdrawal  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  on  March  8 
from  the  International  Federation  of  Trade 
Unions  because  the  A.  F.  of  L.  officials, 
headed  by  Samuel  Gompers,  thought  the 
Amsterdam  body  was  too  radical,  and  a  de- 


cision at  about  the  same  time  by  the  Leg- 
horn convention  of  the  Italian  Federation 
of  Labor  to  do  the  same  thing  for  just  the 
opposite  reason.  The  Italians  voted,  1,355,- 
000  to  418,000,  to  join  the  Communist  In- 
ternational Council  of  Trade  Unions,  with 
certain  reservations.  The  Finnish  Federa- 
tion of  Trade  Unions  also  voted  to  leave  the 
Amsterdam  organization.  The  Executive 
Committee  of  the  International  Metal 
Workers'  Union,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Berne 
on  March  18,  declared  itself  in  opposition 
to  the  Communist  International.  The  first 
regular  congress  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national Council  of  Trade  Unions  was 
scheduled  to  open  in  Moscow  on  May  Day. 


MR.  LANSING  ON  MR.  WILSON 


rpHE  volume  by  Robert  Lansing,  former 
•*-  Secretary  of  State  and  delegate  to  the 
Paris  Peace  Conference,  entitled  "  The 
Peace  Negotiations:  A  Personal  Narrative," 
was  published  in  the  last  week  of  March, 
1921,  and  at  once  became  a  storm  centre  of 
favorable  and  unfavorable  criticism.  It  was 
devoted  almost  wholly  to  a  detailed  recital 
of  what  the  author  regarded  as  President 
Wilson's  mistakes  at  Paris,  with  the  story 
of  the  strained  relations  which  ultimately 
led  to  Mr.  Lansing's  forced  resignation 
from  the  Cabinet. 

Mr.  Lansing's  chief  charge  against  the 
President  is  that  he  would  not  take  advice 
from  the  Secretary  of  State  or  anybody 
else.  When  informed  by  Colonel  House 
that  the  President  was  preparing  to  attend 
the  Peace  Conference  in  person,  Mr.  Lan- 
sing advised  Mr.  Wilson  against  that  course, 
but  his  counsel  was  ignored.  None  of  the 
members  of  the  American  delegation,  says 
the  author,  were  consulted  during  the  voy- 
age or  even  at  Paris.  They  knew  prac- 
tically nothing  of  what  was  going  on,  as 
Mr.  Wilson  resorted  to  private  meetings 
and  secret  diplomacy.  According  to  Mr. 
Lansing,  the  President  was  outwitted  and 
made  the  "  catspaw  "  of  shrewd  European 
diplomats;  obsessed  by  his  lofty  project  of 
the  League  of  Nations,  he  traded  some  of 
America's     greatest     principles      for     the 


League.  Mr.  Lansing  says  he  warned  him 
that  the  American  Senate  would  never 
ratify  the  treaty  if  it  contained  the  League 
covenant,  with  Article  X.,  guaranteeing  the 
territorial  integrity  of  nations  attacked;  but 
this  advice,  like  that  on  every  other  point, 
was  ignored,  and  the  adviser  considered 
himself  humiliated.  Mr.  Lansing  is  es- 
pecially bitter  over  the  President's  public 
statement  that  "  he  would  not  have  a 
covenant  drawn  up  by  lawyers." 

Carried  away  by  his  League  project,  Mr. 
Wilson,  the  ex-Secretary  says,  accepted  the 
unjust  mandate  system  entire,  including 
the  Shantun«g  award  to  Japan;  the  latter 
country,  he  says,  succeeding  in  "  bluffing  " 
the  President  with  a  threat  to  withdraw, 
though  it  had  absolutely  no  intention  of  so 
doing.  In  accepting  the  plan  of  an  alliance 
with  France,  adds  the  author,  Mr.  Wilson's 
only  thought  was  to  buy  another  vote  for 
the  League.  The  whole  book  was  an  in- 
dictment of  the  President,  revealing  a  de- 
gree of  incompatibility  between  the  two 
men  which  not  only  explained  why  they  had 
ultimately  parted  company,  but  caused 
many  to  wonder  why  they  had  not  done  so 
sooner.  Newspapers  throughout  the  coun- 
try immediately  devoted  whole  pages  to  the 
book,  and  it  has  become  a  centre  of  debate 
mildly  reminiscent  of  that  over  the  Ler.gue 
of  Nations  itself. 


UNIVERSITY  EXCHANGE 
WITH   BELGIUM 

By  Nellie  E.  Gardner 

How  the  permanent  fund  was  raised  which  now  enables  the  young  men  and  women 
of  Belgium  and  the  United  States  to  build  an  educational  bridge  between  two  Nations 


A  PERMANENT  fund  has  been  estab- 
lished for  the  exchange  of  graduate 
scholarships  and  professorships  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Belgium,  and 
for  the  making  of  loans  to  young  men  and 
women  in  Belgium  who  could  not  otherwise 
get  a  university  education.  This  fund  rep- 
resents the  profits  from  the  sale  of  food- 
stuffs both  outside  and  inside  of  Belgium — 
largely  accrued  during  the  period  of  the 
armistice — under  the  Commission  for  Re- 
lief in  Belgium,  which  continued  in  service 
until  April,  1919,  and  of  the  Comite  Na- 
tional, which  was  the  associate  organiza- 
tion of  the  American  Commission,  and  was 
made  up  of  a  great  number  of  Belgian 
people  under  the  direction  of  distinguished 
Belgian  business  men. 

After  the  armistice  it  was  desirable  that 
the  system  of  providing  mass  food  supplies 
be  continued  until  Belgium  got  back  on  a 
pre-war  basis.  In  November,  1918,  approxi- 
mately 900,000  people  were  receiving  free 
food;  the  remaining  7,000,000  people  in  Bel- 
gium were  still  able  to  find  local  money 
with  which  to  pay  for  their  rations. 

Under  the  arrangements  of  the  Comite 
National  the  Belgians  who  had  money  had 
always  charged  themselves  a  small  profit, 
which  was  expended  in  support  of  the  to- 
tally destitute.  When  the  armistice  came 
the  amazing  industry,  vitality  and  ingenu- 
ity of  the  Belgian  population  soon  resulted 
in  a  rapid  reduction  of  the  totally  desti- 
tute, so  that  not  only  was  there  an  accu- 
mulation of  profit  formerly  expended  for 
the  needy,  but  also  a  new  profit  from  those 
whose  pride  prompted  them  to  begin  pay- 
ing as  fast  as  they  secured  employment  or 
who  were  able  to  come  again  into  possession 
of  property  over  which  they  had  lost  con- 
trol during  the  occupation.  There  was  fur- 
ther profit  made  in  liquidation  of  surplus 
foodstuffs  and  equipment. 

There  was  never  any  doubt  that  these 
profits  were  the  property  of  the  people  of 


Belgium.  The  only  question  to  be  deter- 
mined was  how  they  were  to  be  returned 
to  the  public.  The  Belgian  Government  ex- 
pressed the  desire  that  they  be  applied  in 
some  manner  that  would  be  beneficial  to 
the  people  and  commemorate  the  relief  or- 
ganizations of  the  war.  A  meeting  was  ar- 
ranged by  the  Belgian  authorities  at  Brus- 
sels at  which  the  Premier,  speaking  on  be- 
half of  the  Ministers,  requested  Mr.  Hoo- 
ver to  determine  the  character  of  this  op- 
eration. After  study  and  reflection  Mr. 
Hoover  suggested  that  the  money  be  used 
for  education  in  Belgium.  His  idea  was 
accepted  and  representatives  of  the  Belgian 
universities  were  called  into  conference. 

The  sum  of  95,000,000  francs  was  made 
available  to  enable  the  Belgian  universities 
and  technical  schools  to  resume  activities 
immediately.  Further  amounts  as  they  be- 
came available  after  final  liquidation  were 
allocated  to  the  permanent  foundation,  from 
which  the  income  only  would  be  expended. 
The  declared  object  was  to  build  a  perma- 
nent bridge  of  fine  and  high  relationship 
between  the  two  countries.  The  total  fund 
now  amounts  to  about  100,000,000  francs, 
whose  eventual  value  cannot  be  determined 
in  the  present  condition  of  exchange. 

Each  year  forty-eight  exchange  graduate 
fellowships  will  be  granted  between  Bel- 
gian and  American  universities — twenty- 
four  from  America  and  twenty-four  from 
Belgium;  exchange  professorships  will  be 
arranged,  and  approximately  2,000  young 
men  and  women  of  Belgium  will  receive 
aid  to  permit  them  to  continue  their  studies. 

To  promote  this  international  undertak- 
ing, the  C.  R.  B.  (Commission  for  the  Relief 
of  Belgium)  Educational  Foundation  was 
incorporated  in  America,  and  the  Fonda- 
tion  Universitaire  was  incorporated  in 
Belgium.  The  American  organization  was 
incorporated  in  Delaware,  Jan.  9,  1920,  and 
the  Belgian  organization  received  its 
charter  under  the  Belgian  Government  on 


284 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


July  6,  1920.  Both  organizations  are  now 
functioning  actively,  and  the  student  loans 
and  exchange  graduate  fellowships  are  in 
process  of  allotment.  The  membership  of 
the  Fondation  Universitaire  is  as  follows : 

Honorary  President,  Herbert  Hoover  ;  Pres- 
ident, Emile  Francqui ;  Vice  Presidents,  Paul 
Heger  and  Millard  K.  Shaler ;  Treasurer, 
Felicien  Cartier ;  Secretary  General,  Ren6 
Sand.  Other  members  of  the  Council  of  Ad- 
ministration are :  University  of  Ghent,  Henri 
Pirenne,  O.  Vander  Stricht,  A.  Dumoulin ; 
University  of  Liege,  G.  Galopin,  E.  Malvoz, 
C.  de  Paige ;  University  of  Brussels,  L.  Le- 
clere,  Jules  Bordet,  Hippolyte  Vanderryt ; 
University  of  Louvain,  A.  Merincx,  M.  the 
Canon  L.  Genechten ;  V.  Gregoire,  P.  Bruy- 
lants ;  School  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy  at 
Mons,  A.  Halleux ;  Higher  Colonial  School  at 
Antwerp,  Denyn  and  Paul  Pasteur,  Pere 
Rutten   and  William  Hallam  Tuck. 

In  its  work  for  the  advancement  of  high- 
er education  in  Belgium,  the  Fondation 
Universitaire  touches  nearly  every  field. 
Its  principal  benefits  include  student  loans 
— to  be  repaid  in  ten  years — to  worthy 
young  men  and  women  who  could  not  other- 
wise complete  their  undergraduate  work 
at  institutions  of  higher  education;  gradu- 
ate fellowships  abroad  (not  to  be  repaid)  to 
students  whose  university  work  was  com- 
pleted with  distinction  and  who  wish  to 
devote  themselves  to  teaching  or  the  ad- 
vancement of  science  in  Belgium;  aid  to 
research  students  who  wish  full  time  to 
carry  on  experiments  deemed  of  value  to 
the  nation's  life;  aid  to  student  clubs  in  the 
university  cities  of  Belgium;  aid  to  insti- 
tutions of  higher  learning  in  Belgium,  so 
that  they  may  be  in  better  condition  to 
carry  on  their  educational  work. 

Conditions  requisite  to  obtaining  a 
student  loan  are:  Belgium  nationality,  good 
character,  good  health,  the  satisfactory 
passing  of  examinations,  recognized  intel- 
lectual ability  and  lack  of  funds  by  the 
student  or  his  family  to  provide  this  op- 
portunity for  higher  education.  The  Coun- 
cil and  the  Bureau  of  the  Fondation  Uni- 
versitaire supervise  the  granting  of  these 
loans  and  subsidies  very  carefully,  and 
every  precaution  is  taken  to  make  the  grant 
fit  the  case. 

The  minutes  of  the  meetings  of  the 
Fondation  Universitaire  read  like  excerpts 
from  human  life.  As  you  read  the  grant 
of  2,000  francs  to  Jean  or  Jules  or  Marie, 
you  catch  something  of  what  it  means  to 
this  young  son  or  daughter  of  Belgium  to 


be  able  to  get  the  education  of  which  he 
or  she  had  dreamed.  And  as  you  note  the 
careful  instructions  that  are  printed  in  the 
circular  concerning  the  exchange  fellow- 
ships that  are  to  be  granted  in  American 
universities  in  the  academic  year  1921-22, 
you  can  visualize  the  zeal  with  which  these 
pages  are  read  as  they  are  posted  on  the 
bulletin  boards  of  the  Belgian  universities 
To  be  eligible  for  one  of  these  exchange 
fellowships  in  an  American  university,  the 
Belgian  candidate  must  be  able  to  converse 
fluently  and  write  correctly  in  English.  A 
Belgian  circular  recently  received  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  C.  R.  B.  Educational 
Foundation  in  New  York  lays  down  these 
further  limitations: 

In  general,  only  young  men  and  women 
who  are  preparing  for  research  work  or 
teaching  are  eligible. 

Each  exchange  student  will  indicate  his 
preference  as  to  the  American  university 
which  he  wishes  to  attend ;  the  final  choice 
will  be  made  by  the  C.  R.  B.  Educational 
Foundation  in  New  York,  by  agreement  with  " 
the  Secretary's  office  of  the  Belgian  Founda- 
tion ;  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  the  uni- 
versity which  he  will  attend  will  be  assigned 
to  him  as  his  adviser ;  arrangements  will  be 
made  as  far  as  possible  in  advance  for  the 
student's  room  at  the  university. 

Students  going  to  California  will  leave  Bel- 
gium on  July  15,  1923,  and  others  will  leave 
about  Sept.   1. 

Exchange  students  will  plan  to  remain  in 
the  United  States  during  the  entire  school 
year,  to  continue  friendships  made  in  Amer- 
ica after  they  return  to  Belgium,  and  to  use 
every  means  to  aid  their  country  and  to 
foster  friendly  relations  between  Belgium  and 
the   United   States. 

The  C.  R.  B.  at  Brussels  has  authorized 
the  following  allotments  to  the  exchange 
students : 

(a)  200  francs  for  equipment  and  for  the 
journey  to  Antwerp. 

(b)  .$50  for  initial   expenses. 

First-class  passage  is  provided  on  a  steam- 
ship of  the  Red  Star  Line;  if  the  students 
prefer  to  travel  second  class,  they  may  deduct 
the  difference  in  price  between  first-class 
passage,  and  profit  by  this  balance. 

In  addition,  the  C.  R.  B.  Educational 
Foundation  will  remit  to  the  exchange  stu- 
dents at  New  York,   the  following: 

(a)  $50  for  general  expenses. 

(b)  $50  for  the  purchase  of  books  and  equip- 
ment. 

(c)  $1,000  in  four  quarterly  advance  in- 
stalments. 

(d)  Adjustment  for  the  high  cost  of  living. 
Exchange  students  shall  render  account  of 

all   money   spent. 

The  C.  R.  B.  Educational  Foundation  will 
meet   the   exchange   students   upon   their   ar- 


UNIVERSITY  EXCHANGE   WITH  BELGIUM 


285 


rival  at  New  York,  will  entertain  them  three 
days  in  the  city,  and  will  provide  them  with 
a  ticket  to  their  destination.  It  will  pay  all 
expenses  of  registration  and  examination, 
will  take  care  of  their  traveling  expenses 
back  to  New  York,  and  will  provide  them 
with  first-class  passage  from  New  York  to 
Antwerp.  In  returning,  as  in  going  over, 
the  students  may  travel  second  class  if  they 
prefer,    and    may   deduct    the    difference. 

Belgian  students  are  urged  to  take  with 
them  whatever  equipment  they  possess  for 
working  in  the  classroom  or  laboratory,  and 
the  original  or  a  duplicate  of  their  univer- 
sity  diploma. 

At  the  end  of  his  foreign  residence,  each 
exchange   student   shall   make-  a  report : 

(a)  On  his  studies  and  work  in  America. 

(b)  On  the  state  of  science  and  its  prac- 
tice in  America,  in  the  field  that  he  has 
chosen  to  investigate ;  on  the  reforms  that 
he  would  suggest  for  this  field  of  science 
in  Belgium,  and  suggestions  for  teaching  and 
the  formation   of   scientific   ideas. 

Each  American  university  will  furnish  a 
report  upon  the  work  of  the  Belgian  stu- 
dents. 

The  exchange  scholarship  fund  is  renewable 
for  a  second  year  jn  case  that  his  research 
investigations  and  prolonged  studies  justify 
a  student  in   making  this   request. 

Would  not  this  report  of  the  returned 
Belgian  students  furnish  interesting  read- 
ing to  many  self-satisfied  Americans?  It 
might  give  us  many  fertile  ideas  for  the 
improvement  of  our  own  educational  prac- 
tices. For,  make  no  mistake  about  it,  these 
young  men  and  women  from  over  the  sea 


will  take  this  scientific  investigation  very 
seriously,  and  they  will  enter  their  school 
year  if  chis  country  in  the  spirit  of  an  in- 
tellectual exploration  or  spiritual  crusade. 

American  graduates  already  have  entered 
the  Belgian  Universities  of  Brussels,  Ghent, 
Liege  and  Louvain,  and  Belgian  graduates 
have  matriculated  for  advance  courses  in 
Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Pennsylvania, 
Columbia,  Cornell,  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology,  California,  Johns  Hopkins, 
Chicago  and  Stanford. 

The  first  group  of  twenty-four  American 
graduate  students  are  now  enjoying  ex- 
change fellowships  in  Belgian  universities. 
An  examination  of  this  list  of  American 
students  and  of  the  fields  of  study  they 
have  chosen  reveals  the  surprising  fact 
that,  whereas  the  young  men  have  chosen 
Romance  languages  and  literature,  three 
of  the  young  women  have  selected  interna- 
tional law,  political  economy  and  chemistry, 
while  the  remaining  two  women  "  fellows  " 
have  specialized  in  the  literature  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

Information  regarding  the  work  of  the 
Foundation  and  its  possibilities  offered  to 
American  university  students  may  be  ob- 
tained by  writing  to  Perrin  C.  Galpin,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Fellowship  Committee  of  the 
C.  R.  B.  Educational  Foundation,  Room 
1700,  42  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


VENIZELOS  AT  A  PARIS  TRIAL 


THE  attempt  by  two  Greek  officers  named 
Tserepis  and  Kyriakis  to  assassinate 
ex-Premier  Venizelos  at  the  Gare  de  Lyons, 
Paris,  Aug.  12,  1920,  was  punished,  after  a 
fair  trial  ending  on  Feb.  26,  1921,  by  a 
sentence  of  five  years'  hard  labor.  The  out- 
standing feature  of  the  trial  was  the  testi- 
mony of  M.  Venizelos,  who  appeared  in  per- 
son. It  was  shown  that  Tserepis  was  one 
of  several  Greek  officers  who  had  planned 
a  filibustering  raid  on  Albania  and  Epirus 
before  the  war,  and  whose  animosity  was 
aroused  by  the  Premier's  threat  to  sink 
their  vessel  if  they  attempted  the  raid.  M. 
Venizelos  added,  however,  that  this  per- 
sonal motive  had  been  complicated  by  new 
factors. 

Two  days  before  [he  said]  I  had  signed 
the  Treaty  of  Sevres.  My  enemies,  no  doubt, 
considered    that    after    such    a    victory    the 


elections  that  were  to  follow  would  be  a 
triumph  for  me.  *  *  *  They  wished  to  get 
rid  of  a  political  leader  who  had  enabled  his 
country  to  avoid  the  danger  it  had  run  owing 
to  the  policy  of  a  felonious  King,  and  they 
hoped  to  prevent  me  from  conducting  the 
elections  which,  I  had  promised,  should  take 
place  as  soon  as  the  treaty  was  signed. 

A  violent  attack  launched  on  M.  Venizelos 
by  a  retired  Greek  Lieutenant  drew  fire 
from  the  former  Premier.  In  a  vehement 
speech  he  denounced  Constantine,  whose 
dynasty    the    Greek    people   have   restored. 

"You  have  been  told,"  he  said,  "that 
there  were  no  pro-Germans  in  Greece,  and 
this  was  true  so  far  as  the  people  as  a 
whole  and  the  majority  of  politicians  were 
concerned,  but  it  was  not  true  either  of  the 
King  or  of  his  entourage,  who  were  not 
merely  pro-Germans,  but  boche  from  head 
to  foot." 


MODIFIED   PROHIBITION   IN    CANADA 

By  Thomas  A.  Kydd 

What  Canada  has  done  in  the  way  of  prohibiting  the  sale  of  alcoholic  beverages,  and 
what  Quebec  Province  is  doing  in  the  way  of  reaction  toward  "wetness"  while  still 
trying  to  avoid  restoring  the  old-time  saloon 


THE  great  war,  among  other  things, 
brought  prohibition  to  the  whole  of 
Canada.  The  saloon  and  hotel  bars  were 
abolished,  and  in  every  province  a  system 
of  dispensing  ardent  beverages  by  physi- 
cian's prescription  was  established.  Even 
ordinary  beer  was  on  the  prohibited  list  of 
beverages,  and  only  a  mild  drink  containing 
a  minimum  of  alcohol  for  preserving  pur- 
poses was  permitted  to  be  sold. 

In  Quebec  alone  of  the  nine  provinces 
was  there  a  partial  wetness.  The  Liberal 
Government,  under  the  Premiership  of  Sir 
Lomer  Gouin,  a  steady  and  conservative 
statesman,  had  for  some  ten  years  or  so 
been  reducing  the  saloon  licenses  in  the 
cities  and  towns  of  the  province,  with  the 
intention  of  bringing  their  number  down  to 
the  minimum.  Rural  communities  also  had 
been  gradually  "  going  teetotal "  until, 
when  the  war  began,  about  75  per  cent,  of 
them  by  popular  vote  had  gone  absolutely 
dry  alcoholically.  When  the  wartime  move- 
ment  of  retrenchment  and  denial  spread  to 
Canada,  therefore,  Quebec  was  already 
among  the  most  temperate  provinces,  and, 
for  that  matter,  was  one  of  the  most  tem- 
perate places  in  the  world.  The  per  capita 
quantity  of  strong  drink  consumed  in 
Canada,  be  it  said,  was  always  much  lighter 
than  in  European  lands. 

Though  the  Quebec  Government  decided 
to  abolish  the  bar,  it  was  not  convinced 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  were 
ready  for  absolute  prohibition.  Therefore, 
with  the  approval  of  the  Legislature,  a 
question  was  submitted  to  the  electors  in 
February,  1919,  asking  them  if  they  were 
in  favor  of  the  sale  of  beer  and  wine  of 
limited  alcoholic  strength.  The  vote  in 
town  and  countryside  was  overwhelmingly 
in  the  affirmative.  Accordingly,  on  May  1, 
1919,   the  bars   were  all   closed,   and   mild 


beers  and  wines,  of  about  2  per  cent,  alco- 
holic content,  in  place  of  the  former  5  and 
6  per  cent.,  were  the  only  beverages  of  a 
spirituous  or  malt  nature-  freely  on  sale. 
All  spirituous  liquors,  such  as  whisky,  gin, 
brandy  and  rum,  were  legally  purchasable 
only  by  doctor's  prescription,  and  then  only 
in  wine  and  imperial  quart  bottles,  one  for 
each  prescription.  Special  Government 
licensed  liquor  stores  were  established  for 
the  purpose.  The  beer  and  wine  of  moder- 
ate strength  were  on  sale  by  bottle  in 
grocery  stores  and  by  the  glass  in  restau- 
rants. 

While  Quebec  has  been  slaking  its  thirst 
in  beer  generally,  the  rest  of  the  Dominion 
of  Canada  has  by  statute  been  under  abso- 
lute prohibition.  Actually,  however,  in  ev- 
ery one  of  the  provinces  there  has  been 
more  or  less  violation  of  the  provincial  pro- 
hibition laws.  Some  physicians,  compara- 
tively few  in  number,  have  furnished  pre- 
scriptions to  all  and  sundry  by  hundreds, 
and  even  thousands,  monthly.  There  have 
been  court  prosecutions  of  medical  practi- 
tioners for  gross  violation  of  the  system, 
and  the  accused  have  been  convicted  in 
some  instances  of  issuing  hundreds  of  pre- 
scriptions for  beverage  purposes.  In  Mani- 
toba, for  instance,  on  Feb.  24,  1921,  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the 
province  announced  the  suspension  from 
practice  of  sixteen  physicians,  for  periods 
ranging  from  a  week  to  six  months,  for  the 
wholesale  issuing  of  whisky  prescriptions. 
One  of  the  medical  men  had  to  his  credit, 
or  discredit,  the  issuance  of  10,000  whisky 
prescriptions  in  the  course  of  a  single 
month ! 

There  has  been  a  vast  amount  of  forgery 
of  physicians'  names,  and  bogus  forms  have 
been  printed  and  sold  in  pads  by  the  thou- 
sand.   There  has  also  been  much  illicit  sale 


MODIFIED  PROHIBITION  IN  CANADA 


287 


of  whisky  by  licensed  and  unlicensed  ven- 
dors in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  the 
smuggling  of  hard  drink  across  the  inter- 
national boundary  has  been  enormous.  It 
goes  on  day  after  day,  despite  the  efforts 
of  the  authorities  to  uphold  the  law.  Au- 
tomobiles loaded  with  whisky  have  been 
seized  and  confiscated  with  their  contents, 
and  the  drivers  fined  heavily  or  imprisoned; 
yet  the  game  continues.  In  Ontario  the 
punishments  have  been  particularly  severe; 
fines  of  $1,000  or  $2,000  are  of  daily  occur- 
rence. There  have  been  skirmishes  be- 
tween bootleggers  and  the  preventive 
officers,  with  shooting,  in  which  men  have 
been  wounded  and  sometimes  killed. 

The  most  sensational  case  of  the  kind 
was  in  Sandwich,  Ontario,  near  the  border 
city  of  Windsor,  opposite  Detroit,  Mich.,  in 
the  early  hours  of  the  morning  of  Nov.  2, 
1920,  when  Beverly  Trumble,  proprietor  of 
a  roadhouse  patronized  by  both  Canadians 
and  Americans,  was  shot  dead  by  the  Rev. 
J.  0.  L.  Spracklin,  "  the  fighting  parson." 
Mr.  Spracklin  was  conducting  a  whisky  raid 
in  his  capacity  as  special  preventive  officer. 
He  was  arrested,  charged  with  "  slaying 
and  killing "  Trumble,  and  was  duly  tried 
and  found  "  not  guilty  "  of  the  charge  of 
manslaughter  laid  against  him  by  the 
Grand  Jury  at  the  Windsor  Assizes,  over 
which  Chief  Justice  Sir  William  Meredith 
presided.  The  defense  was  that  the  hotel- 
keeper  was  armed,  and  had  threatened  to 
shoot  Spracklin  for  breaking  into  his  prem- 
ises with  his  armed  assistants.  The  jury 
accepted  the  evidence  as  the  true  statement 
of  the  facts.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Spracklin  was 
deprived  of  his  inspectorship,  hut  retains 
his  congregation. 

Liquor  in  Canada  requires  defending  as 
never  before,  and  there  have  been  instances 
where  thieves  have  broken  into  houses, 
stolen  whisky,  and  ignored  money  and 
other  valuables.  At  the  Port  of  St.  John, 
New  Brunswick,  the  thefts  of  whisky  from 
the  ocean  steamships  and  the  warehouses 
on  the  wharves  became  so  extensive  that 
the  Canadian  Pacific  officials,  one  day  in 
January  last,  met  Mayor  Schofield  as  a 
deputation,  requesting  police  protection  for 
the  "  wet  "  goods,  brought  principally  from 
Scotland.  It  was  complained  that  the  sit- 
uation was  becoming  intolerable,  and  that 
there  must  be  a  chaiige.  For  example,  the 
complainants  charged  that  on  one  occasion 
seventeen  men  had  descended  upon  a  pile 


of  freight  and  carried  off  dozens  of  cases 
of  Scotch.  The  Mayor  agreed  that  such 
things  must  cease,  but  he  did  not  see  why 
the  city  police  should  spend  their  time 
guarding  whisky  shipments.  He  promised 
relief,  however,  and  by  «  system  of  watch- 
ing every  case  of  liquor  from  the  time  of  its 
hoisting  out  of  the  steamship's  hold  until 
it  reached  its  local  destination,  the  thieving 
was  practically  stopped. 

In  Nova  Scotia  and  Prince  Edward 
Island  also  there  is  violation  of  prohibition; 
in  Quebec,  in  Ontario,  in  Manitoba,  Sas- 
katchewan, Alberta,  British  Columbia— in 
other  words,  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

The  Province  of  Quebec,  as  already 
stated,  differed  from  the  others  in  that  the 
sale  of  mild  beer  and  wine  was  permitted 
by  bottle  and  glass,  but  otherwise  it  re- 
sembled the  rest  of  Canada  in  that  whisky 
could  be  secured  only  on  doctor's  prescrip- 
tion. The  banishment  of  the  bar  undoubt- 
edly did  away  with  much  drunkenness,  and 
improvement  was  noted,  for  instance,  in 
the  streets  of  Montreal.  This  city  is  by 
far  the  largest  and  most  mixed  in  all 
Canada;  the  population  of  the  island  is 
about  800,000.  It  is  also  an  ocean  port, 
which  adds  to  the  difficulties  of  the  police 
authorities. 

The  workingmen  generally  were  content 
with  the  beer  sold  in  the  legitimate  restau- 
rants and  shops.  In  Montreal,  neverthe- 
less, as  elsewhere,  there  was  considerable 
illicit  sale  of  strong  drink  by  the  bottle, 
and  by  the  glass  in  the  all-night  clubs, 
v/hich  sprang  up  with  prohibition,  and 
which  were  licensed  to  retail  beer  and  wine 
of  the  Government  standard  of  mildness. 
These  clubs  secretly  sold  whisky  by  the 
glass/ generally  at  a  price  of  40  or  50  cents 
a  drink.  They  were  responsible  for  most 
of  the  drunkenness  that  prevailed,  and  so 
notorious,  indeed,  did  they  become  that  the 
License  Commission  of  Montreal  denounced 
them.  They  are  expected  to  vanish  when  the 
act  of  1921  comes  into  force. 

The  Quebec  prohibition  law  could  not  be 
strictly  enforced  in  the  cities,  and  the  vio- 
lations were  daily  becoming  more  common, 
despite  the  best  efforts  of  the  authorities. 
The  sale  by  bottle  from  the  licensed  vend- 
ors' establishments,  without  the  legal  pre- 
scription, became  also  more  and  more  open. 
The  Quebec  Government  at  last  realized 
that  the  law  as  regards  its  administration 
was  a  failure,  although  an  improvement  on 


288 


THE   NEW   YORK   TTMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  old  order  of  licensed  hotel  and  saloon 
bars.  After  months  of  study  and  consulta- 
tion with  municipal  leaders  and  tfre  best 
legal  talent,  the  Government  drafted  a  new 
liquor  bill,  much  less  drastic.  This  was  duly 
presented  as  a  Government  measure  to  the 
legislative  Assembly  at  Quebec  in  the  ses- 
sion that  opened  in  January,  1921,  by  the 
Hon.  Walter  Mitchell,  Provincial  Treasurer. 
Mr.  Mitchell  declared  that  the  prohibition 
law  had  failed  in  Quebec  as  elsewhere,  and 
he  quoted  American,  British  and  Canadian 
opinion  on  the  working  of  prohibition  laws 
in  general.  The  Hon.  L.  A.  Taschereau,  the 
new  Premier  of  the  province,  addressed  the 
House  along  similar  lines,  and  after  a  few 
days  of  consideration  the  bill  Was  accepted 
and  passed  by  both  the  Assembly  and  the 
Legislative  Council,  or  upper  house.  The 
new  law  becomes  effective  May  1,  1921. 

By  this  act  the  whole  traffic  in  ardent 
beverages,  as  well  as  in  wines,  is  placed  in 
the  hands  of  a  commission  of  five,  com- 
prising the  Hon.  G.  A.  Simard,  who  resigns 
from  the  upper  house  to  become  Chairman; 
the  Hon.  Justice  Carroll,  who  leaves  the 
Court  of  Appeal  to  be  Vice  Chairman;  Na- 
poleon Drouin,  ex-Mayor  of  Quebec  City,  a 
prominent  manufacturer;  A.  L.  Caron, 
Montreal,  manufacturer,  and  Sir  William 
E.  Stavert,  a  Montreal  financier  with  Do- 
minion-wide reputation.  These  men  are  all 
reputable,  hard-working  and  successful  citi- 
zens, and  will  have  absolute  control  of  the 
liquor  business  in  their  hands. 

The  Quebec  Liquor  Commission  is  to  es- 
tablish depots  in  cities  and  towns  as  it  sees 
fit,  choosing  the  locations  and  employing 
and  controlling  all  agents  and  clerks. 
From  these  depots  are  to  be  retailed  al- 
coholic beverages,  other  than  beer,  and  in- 
cluding wines,  by  bottle  not  containing 
more  than  forty-three  fluid  ounces.  This 
is  the  "  imperial  quart,"  but  most  of  the 
bottles  will  be  the  familiar  wine  quart  size. 
A  customer  may  purchase  only  one  bottle 
of  whisky,  brandy,  gin  or  other  ardent 
drink  at  a  time,  and  he  needs  for  this  no 
permit.  There  is  to  be  no  limit  to  the  sale 
of  wines,  as  the  Government's  intention  is 
to  encourage  wine  drinking,  in  the  convic- 
tion that  this  may  tend  to  minimize  the 
consumption  of  whisky.  Premier  Tasch- 
ereau announced  this  policy  in  the  Legisla- 
ture and  declared  that  the  commission 
would  retail  wine  at  cost. 


Hard  drink  and  wines  are  to  be  obtain- 
able only  in  the  depots  of  the  Liquor  Com- 
mission, and  whisky,  gin,  brandy  and  other 
strong  beverages  are  to  be  consumed  only 
in  the  residence  of  the  purchaser.  There 
are  severe  penalties  for  infractions  of  the 
law.  Liquor  depots  are  not  to  be  estab- 
lished in  rural  communities,  nor  in  any 
urban  centre  which  does  not  wish  to  have 
one.  A  man  may  be  placed  on  a  blacklist 
for  drunkenness,  at  the  instance  of  his 
wife,  daughter,  sister,  father  or  other  rela- 
tive, or  employer  or  clergyman,  and  to  that 
individual  no  liquor  may  be  sold  at  any 
depot   throughout   the   province. 

Beer  of  5  ner  cent,  strength  is  to  be 
brewed  and  freely  sold  in  licensed  beer 
taverns.  Beer  may  also  be  sold  with  meals 
in  legitimate  hotels  and  restaurants.  These 
institutions  may  also  serve  wine  with  meals. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that 
the  commission  is  to  decide  what  consti- 
tutes a  meal  in  the  event  of  a  dispute.  The 
commission  may  also  at  will  close  any  depot 
in  any  section  of  the  province,  and  may  can- 
cel licenses  for  lawbreaking  at  its  pleasure. 
Its  control  is  complete.  The  breweries  are 
to  sell  to  dealers  and  may  locate  depots 
anywhere  but  in  dry  territory.  The  whis- 
kies, wines,  &c,  are  to  be  purchased  by  the 
Liquor  Commission  direct  from  the  dis- 
tillers and  wine  growers,  and  every  bottle 
is  to  be  stamped  with  the  Government  stamp 
and  the  price  to  the  purchaser. 

British  Columbia  also  is  about  to  insti- 
tute a  system  of  retailing  alcoholic  bever- 
ages by  the  bottle  from  licensed  shops,  in 
accordance  with  a  referendum  taken  last 
Autumn.  The  question  on  the  ballot  was: 
"  Are  you  in  favor  of  the  sale  of  alcoholic 
beverages  in  sealed  packets?  "  The  vote 
was  ovei-whelmingly  in  the  affirmative. 

The  other  seven  provinces  of  the  Con- 
federation remain  dry,  but  it  is  predicted 
by  many  observers,  including  Hon.  Walter 
Mitchell,  Provincial  Secretary  of  Quebec, 
that  prohibition  in  Canada  is  doomed 
eventually  to  disappear,  and  that  the 
French-Canadian  province's  example  will 
soon  be  followed.  In  any  event,  Quebec  is 
venturing  upon  an  interesting  experiment 
in  dealing  with  an  ancient  problem. 

[For  recent  election  returns  regarding  the  pro- 
hibition issue,  see  news  article  on  Canada,  which 
can  be  located  by  looking  up  "  Canada  "  in 
index  at  end  of  Table  of  Contents.] 


THE    NEW    CANADIAN    TARIFF 


By  W.  L.  Edmonds 


ALTHOUGH  the  Canadian  Parliament 
L  has  been  in  session  since  Feb.  14, 
1921,  no  definite  announcement  has 
yet  been  made  as  to  when  the  new  cus- 
toms tariff  will  be  submitted  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  House.  A  Cabinet  com- 
mittee in  1920  conducted  an  extensive  in- 
quiry in  each  of  the  nine  provinces  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  viewpoint  of  the 
various  interests  concerned.  This  com- 
mittee completed  its  labors  some  time  ago, 
and  it  is  the  general  opinion  throughout 
the  Dominion  that  the  Government  is  de- 
ferring submission  of  the  bill  until  some- 
thing definite  is  known  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  proposed  tariff  legislation  of  the 
United   States. 

The  statement  made  by  a  member  of  the 
Laurier  Cabinet  twenty  years  ago  that  the 
tariff  was  no  longer  an  issue  in  Dominion 
politics  does  not  hold  good  at  present.  The 
tariff  is  again  a  live  issue.  And  that  which 
has  thrown  it  into  the  arena  is  the  propa- 
ganda which  the  Farmers'  Party,  and  par- 
ticularly that  section  of  it  within  the  boun- 
daries of  the  three  Prairie  Provinces,  has 
been  conducting  for  some  time. 

Although  in  the  early  stage  of  their  agi- 
tation the  farmers'  organizations  appeared 
to  be  demanding  absolute  free  trade,  they 
now  deny  that  this  is  their  object.  Accord- 
ing to  official  statements  submitted  U)  the 
investigating  committee  of  the  Cabinet  last 
year,  the  platform  of  the  Farmers'  Party 
is,  in  brief,  as  follows: 

An  immediate  all-round  reduction  of  the 
customs  tariff ;  the  establishment  of  a  50 
per  cent,  preference,  in  place  of  the  33  1-3 
per  cent,  now  obtaining,  on  imports  from 
Great  Britain,  and  within  five  years,  free 
trade ;  unrestricted  reciprocity  with  the 
United  States  along  the  lines  of  the  agree- 
ment of  1911 ;  the  placing  on  the  free  list  of 
all    foodstuffs    and    agricultural    implements. 

That  this  platform  has  stronger  ad- 
herents in  the  Prairie  Provinces  than  in 
other  parts  of  the  Dominion  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Leaders  of  the  Farmers'  Party 
in  Ontario  subscribe  to  it,  but  there  is  by 
no  means  unanimity  on  the  part  of  the 
farmers     of     that     province     as     a    class. 


Among  the  farmers  in  the  Province  of 
Quebec  the  propaganda  has  made  less  im- 
pression than  on  those  in  any  other  part  of 
Canada.  Farmers  in  the  Maritime  Prov- 
inces, while  stating  a  desire  for  tariff  modi- 
fications, have  expressed  themselves  in 
favor  of  allowing  manufacturing  industries 
some  measure  of  protection.  Fruit  growers 
in  British  Columbia  have  unreservedly  ex- 
pressed themselves  in  favor  of  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  protective  tariff. 

The  agitation  initiated  by  the  Farmers' 
Party,  which  at  present  has  about  a  dozen 
members  in  the  House  of  Commons,  has  not 
been  without  its  influence  on  the  Liberal 
Party,  which  up  to  about  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  was  advocating  "  free  trade 
as  they  have  it  in  England."  The  Liberal 
platform  in  respect  to  the  tariff,  as  drafted 
at  a  convention  in  August  last,  has  re- 
cently been  described  by  The  Toronto  Globe, 
the  chief  organ  of  the  Liberal  Party,  as 
being  "  based  on  the  principle  of  obtaining 
the  maximum  revenue  possible  from  those 
who  live  luxuriously,  and  taxing  as  lightly 
as  revenue  requirements  will  permit  the 
necessities  of  life."  There  is,  however, 
quite  a  division  of  opinion  among  Liberals 
in  respect  to  the  tariff. 

The  Independent  Labor  Party,  which  has 
developed  some  strength  in  the  provincial 
Legislatures  of  the  Dominion,  favors  the 
"  gradual  elimination  of  import  duties  on 
all  necessaries  of  life,  such  as  food,  cloth- 
ing, boots  and  ^hoes,  and  the  tools  and 
machinery  used  in  production."  Certain 
individual  labor  unions  have,  on  the  other 
hand,  protested  against  any  general  lower- 
ing of  the  duties. 

Though  any  material  increase  in  the  cus- 
toms tariff  of  the  United  States  would  un- 
doubtedly strengthen  the  position  of  the 
protectionists  in  Canada,  it  is  scarcely 
likely,  in  view  of  the  combined  strength 
of  the  advocates  of  low  tariff  and  of  free 
trade,  that  the  new  tariff  will  create  a 
higher  average  scale  of  duties  than  those 
at  present  obtaining.  That  it  is  the  inten- 
tion of  the  Dominion  Government,  how- 
ever,   to    maintain   in   the    new   tariff   the 


290 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


principle  of  protection  is  evident  from  the 
tone  of  the  speech  pronounced  from  the 
throne  at  the  opening  of  Parliament  on 
Feb.   14. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  my  advisers  [said  the 
Governor  General  in  that  part  of  his  speech 
referring  to  the  proposed  new  tariff],  that 
in  such  revision  regard  must  be  had  to  the 
necessities  of  revenue,  and  as  well  that  the 
principle  of  protection  to  Canadian  labor  and 
legitimate  Canadian  industries,  including 
agriculture,  which  has  prevailed  for  over 
forty  years  in  this  country,  must  be  con- 
stently  maintained;  but  that  the  customs 
duties  imposed  to  that  end  should  be  no 
higher  than  is  essential  to  insure  good 
standards  of  living  among  our  working  popu- 
lation and  to  retain  and  make  possible  the 
normal  expansion  of  the  Industries  in  which 
they    find    employment. 

Although  in  the  meantime  several  amend- 
ments have  been  made,  there  has  been  no 
complete  revision  of  the  Canadian  customs 
tariff  since  1907.  The  latter  was  the  sev- 
enth since  Confederation  in  1867.  The  first 
revision  was  in  1868,  and  the  second  came 
in  the  following  year,  both  creating  an  av- 
erage rate  of  duty  on  total  imports  of  13.1 
per  cent.  Under  the  Mackenzie  free  trade 
Government  the  third  revision  took  place, 
the  object  being  to  provide  a  tariff  for 
revenue  only.  The  idea  of  protection  was 
scouted  entirely.  Under  this  instrument 
the  average  rate  of  duty  on  total  imports 
fell  to  11.7  per  cent.  The  first  avowed 
protectionist  tariff  of  the  Dominion  came 
into  operation  in  1879  under  the  Govern- 
ment of  Sir  John  Macdonald,  as  a  result 
of  which  the  average  rate  of  duty  on  total 
imports  rose  in  the  following  year  to  20.2 
per  cent.,  and  on  dutiable  imports  alone  to 
26.1  per  cent.  By  amendments  which  were 
made  in  1887  and  1888,  with  a  view  to 
affording  greater  protection  to  the  iron  and 
steel  industry  in  particular,  the  average 
rate  on  dutiable  goods  rose  to  31.9  per 
cent,  and  on  total  imports  to  21.8  per  cent. 
In  response  to  a  general  cry  throughout  the 
country  for  removing  what  were  termed 
"  the  moldering  branches  of  protection," 
there  was  in  1894  a  fifth  revision  of  the 
tariff.  By  this,  although  a  protectionist 
Government  was  still  in  power,  the  average 
rate  of  duty  on  dutiable  goods  fell  to  30.5, 
and  on  total  imports  to  17.8  per  cent. 

The  sixth  revision,  that  of  1897,  was  even 
more  remarkable  for  its  outstanding  fea- 
tures than  that  of  1879,  when  the  principle 
of  protection  was  adopted.     That  which  in 


particular  gave  it  its  outstanding  features 
was  the  inauguration  of  the  principle  of 
preferential  treatment  to  imports  from 
countries  within  the  British  Empire,  begin- 
ning at  12%  per  cent.,  rising  to  25  per 
cent,  the  following  year,  and  later  to  33  1-3 
per  cent.,  at  which  it  still  remains.  This 
revision  of  1897  took  place  in  the  year 
following  the  advent  of  the  Laurier  Ad- 
ministration to  power,  and  resulted  in  a 
slight  lowering  of  the  average  duties,  due 
rather  to  the  influence  of  the  preferential 
provisions  than  to  any  departure  from  the 
principle  of  protection. 

The  seventh  and  last  revision  of  the 
tariff  was  made  in  1907.  The  outstanding 
features  of  that  tariff  were  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  threefold  classifications  of 
preferential,  intermediate  and  general  du- 
ties, and  the  establishment  of  the  draw- 
back principle  in  respect  to  raw  materials 
imported  and  subsequently  exported  in  the 
form  of  finished  products.  With  rates  of 
duty  there  was  very  little  interference,  the 
average  rate  remaining  about  as  before. 

Owing  to  temporary  expedients  intro- 
duced into  the  tariff,  there  was  a  percepti- 
ble increase  in  the  average  duties  during 
the  war  period,  those  on  total  imports 
reaching  20.5,  and  those  on  dutiable  im- 
ports 35.9  per  cent.  They  are  now  back 
again  to  the  pre-war  normal.  The  average 
rate  for  1920  on  total  imports  was  17.61, 
and  on  dutiable  imports  27.03  per  cent. 

The  latest  available  figures  showing  the 
amount  of  duty  collected  on  the  imports 
from  different  countries  are  those  for  1919, 
and  they  show  that  the  average  on  the 
total  imports  from  the  United  States  was 
11.6  per  cent.,  and  on  dutiable  goods  20.9 
per  cent.  Under  the  first  tariff  created 
after  Confederation  they  were  7.3  per 
cent,  and  20.1  per  cent,  respectively.  The 
average  in  1919  on  total  imports  from 
Great  Britain  was  15.3  per  cent,  and  on 
dutiable  imports  22.3  per  cent.,  compared 
with  13.5  per  cent,  in  1869. 

One  regard  in  which  the  new  Canadian 
tariffs  differ  from  those  of  the  United 
States  is  that  they  become  effective  the 
moment  they  are  submitted  to  the  House 
of  Commons.  They  have,  of  course,  to  run 
the  gamut  of  both  the  House  and  the  Sen- 
ate, but,  as  the  failure  of  endorsement 
would  mean  the  resignation  of  the  Govern- 
ment, they  never  fail  to  become  statutes. 


THE  EVACUATION  OF 
SANTO  DOMINGO 


By  Fabio  Fiallo 

Formerly    Provincial    Governor    and    Assistant     Secretary    of     the    Interior    la     Santo    Domingo 

The  Editor  of  CURRENT  HISTORY  furnished  proofs  of  the  appended  article  to  the 
State  Department  and  Navy  Department  of  the  United  States,  and  invited  an  official 
reply  to  the  serious  statements  of  Mr.  Fiallo,  or  an  unofficial  reply  with  the  sanction 
of  the  Government.  After  considering  the  matter,  the  authorities  decided  that  for  the 
present  they  would  prefer  not  to  make  any  declarations  in  reply  to  Mr.  Fiallo,  for  the 
reason  that  the  Government's  future  policy  in  Santo  Domingo  had  not  been,  up  to  this 
time,  fully  determined. 


THE  Admiral  of  the  North  American 
Fleet  who  has  assumed  the  title  of 
"  Military  Governor  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo "  published  a  proclamation  on  Dec. 
23,  1920,  addressed  to  the  Dominican  peo- 
ple, in  which  he  announced  the  decision 
taken  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  "  withdraw  from  the  responsibili- 
ties undertaken  in  connection  with  Domin- 
ican affairs."  This  withdrawal  was  to  take 
place  in  accordance  with  a  previously  pub- 
lished plan. 

The  plan  referred  to  provides  for  the 
creation  of  a  "  Consultative  Commission  of 
Representative  Dominicans,"  to  which  is  as- 
signed, by  the  "will  of  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor," an  American  technical  adviser.  The 
commission  is  charged  to  draw  up  reforms 
in  the  laws  of  the  republic,  in  accordance 
with  the  "  minutes  "  presented  to  it  by  the 
technical  adviser.  In  case  any  one  of  these 
reform  projects  for  the  change  of  the  na- 
tional laws  should  itself  necessitate  the 
adoption  of  a  constitutional  amendment,  by 
reason  of  any  divergency  from  the  Con- 
stitution already  in  force,  it  will  be  the  ad- 
viser's duty  to  draw  up  the  constitutional 
amendment  in  question. 

The  plan  does  not  clearly  determine 
whether  the  Consultative  Commission  is  to 
have  any  voice  in  these  projects  of  consti- 
tutional amendment  or  even  to  examine 
them.  Reforms  in  the  laws  now  in  force,  or 
any  new  legislation  drawn  up  by  the  Con- 
sultative Commission,  together  with  the 
constitutional  amendments  proposed  or 
drawn       up     by     the     technical     adviser, 


are  to  be  submitted  to  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor. The  latter  is  empowered  to  ap- 
prove them  as  they  stand  or  to  modify 
them,  as  seems  to  him  best,  and  to 
"  promulgate  "  immediately  such  part  of  this 
legislation  sui  generis  as,  in  his  judgment 
and  discretion,  he  considers  to  be  in  con- 
formity with  the  Constitution  now  in  force. 

The  Military  Governor's  next  duty  will  be 
to  issue  a  call  for  the  election  of  a  Con- 
gress and  of  a  Constituent  Assembly.  These 
bodies,  to  be  convened  by  the  Governor 
for  this  specific  object,  are  to  be  informed 
of  the  constitutional  amendments  above 
described.  When  these  amendments  have 
been  approved,  the  Governor  is  to  call  a 
popular  election  to  choose  a  President  of 
the  republic,  and  when  the  latter  has  been 
elected  the  Military  Governor  "  will  re- 
nounce the  powers  with  which  he  is  in- 
vested "  in  favor  of  "  the  elected  Executive 
of  the  Dominican  Republic." 

The  plan,  as  wilf  immediately  be  obvious 
to  all,  is  only  a  specious  and  illegal  strata- 
gem, the  only  object  of  which  is  to  give 
an  appearance  of  legitimacy  to  the  forcible 
seizure  of  the  Dominican  Republic  effected 
by  the  past  Administration. 

It  should  first  be  noted  that  the  func- 
tions and  duties  of  the  "  Military  Governor 
of  Santo  Domingo  "  are  sanctioned  by  no 
statute  either  of  Dominican  or  American 
source.  They  are  in  effect  a  fiction  devised 
to  serve  the  ends  of  an  illegal  occupation 
of  territory  belonging  to  a  friendly  nation 
and  to  enforce  the  overthrow  of  its  legiti- 
mate rulers  by  the  Wilson  Administration. 


292 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


They  could  be  summed  up  briefly  as  a 
mendacious  application  of  American  military 
law,  inasmuch  as  the  said  "  Government " 
is  exercised  neither  on  American  territory 
nor  on  the  territory  of  a  public  enemy  of 
the  United  States.  This  interpretation  is 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  naval  com- 
mander who  exercises  this  usurped  author- 
ity has  been  allowed  to  retain  a  more  or  less 
fictitious  rank  in  the  American  Navy,  viz., 
Commander  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet,  the  rea- 
son for  this  being  undoubtedly  that  the 
perpetrators  of  the  intervention  realized 
the  inability  of  the  North  American  Ex- 
ecutive to  create  such  an  office  without 
a  violation  of  American  constitutional  law 
and  jurisprudence.  The  ruse  of  allowing 
naval  officers  detached  for  such  illegal 
functions  to  retain  active  ranking  in  the 
navy  undoubtedly  seemed  the  most  effective 
means  of  obviating  the  obstacle  described. 

On  what  authority,  then,  does  the  ill- 
named  "  Military  Governor  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo"  intervene  in  reforms  in  the  laws 
and  Constitution  of  the  Dominican  Republic, 
call  elections  there,  and  convene  a  Congress 
and  a  Constitutional  Assembly  ? .  At  this 
point  it  should  be  noted  that  even  should 
the  military  occupation  of  the  Dominican 
Republic  be  considered  a  legitimate  act  of 
war,  the  statutes  that  govern  such  acts 
from  the  various  viewpoints  of  international 
law,  constituticnal  law  and  military  law  as 
they  prevail  among  civilized  nations,  in  no 
way  authorize  the  Governor  of  an  occupied 
territory  to  call  elections  or  to  carry  out  by 
illegal  means  a  permanent  reform  in  the 
existing  national  laws,  unless  a  specific 
transfer  of  sovereignty  in  favor  of  the  oc- 
cupying nation  shall  have  previously  oc- 
curred, and  this  for  the  simple  reason  that 
all  such  acts  are  an  expression  of  sover- 
eignty. In  other  words,  only  in  case  of  a 
formal  annexation  of  the  Dominican  Re- 
public by  the  United  States,  bringing  with 
it  the  virtual  dissolution  of  Dominican  sov- 
ereignty, would  a  military  official  of  the 
United  States  be  empowered  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  existing  American  laws  to 
assume  the  powers  granted  to  the  .Military 
Governor  of  Santo  Domingo  by  the  pro- 
posed plan. 

To  this  plan  the  Dominican  people  are 
opposed,  not  only  because  of  its  illegality, 
but  also  because  they  fear  the  practical  re- 
sults of  this  legal  outrage.    To  take  part  in 


its  execution  would  be  equivalent  to  giving 
direct  sanction  to  the  intervention  and  to 
the  illegitimate  powers  assumed  by  the 
Military  Governor — by  an  act  of  public  sov- 
ereignty, viz.,  the  elections — and  this  sanc- 
tion would  create  a  dangerous  precedent  for 
the  liberty  of  the  republic.  If  the  existing 
intervention  were  thus  sanctioned  and  ac- 
cepted by  the  Dominican  people,  and  if  the 
authority  of  the  naval  officer  who  now  ex- 
ercises dictatorial  powers  in  Santo  Do- 
mingo, with  the  right  of  effecting  reforms 
in  the  Constitution,  were  thus  recognized, 
this  would  obviously  provide  a  sufficient 
basis  for  whatever  future  aggression  the 
President  of  the  United  States  might  per- 
petrate in  Santo  Domingo.  Whenever  he 
might  see  fit  to  modify  either  the  Constitu- 
tion or  the  laws  of  the  country,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  under  cover  of 
this  precedent,  would  merely  have  to  send 
an  Admiral  to  take  over  the  Government 
of  tne  republic. 

And  even  though  the  Dominican  people 
today  have  implicit  confidence  in  the  sense 
of  justice  of  the  American  people,  and  in 
the  judgment  which  they  pronounced  on 
such  questions  in  the  recent  Presidential 
elections,  the  bitter  experience  of  the  wrong 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  last  Admin- 
istration and  President  Wilson's  attempt  to 
justify  this  act  of  imperialism  by  an  arbi- 
trary and  captious  interpretation  of  the 
Treaty  of  1907  and  of  the  rights  which  it 
conferred,  have  led  the  Dominicans  to  view 
with  the  greatest  alarm  any  possibility  of 
the  setting  up  of  a  legal  equivocation  that 
would  be  a  continual  menace  to  their  sov- 
ereignty and  independence. 

This  American  plan,  then,  has  every  ap- 
pearance of  a  political  stratagem  of  the 
kind  exemplified  by  the  famous  Constitu- 
tion— "  made  in  Washington  " — of  Franklin 
D.  Roosevelt,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  under  the  Wilson  Administration,  a 
Constitution  conceived  with  the  intention  of 
imposing  the  rule  of  the  United  States 
marines  under  the  guise  of  a  puppet  Gov- 
ernment for  the  Dominican  people  and  with 
a  certain  appearance  of  consent  upon  their 
part. 

To  understand  this,  one  need  only  con- 
sider that  the  determining  power  under  the 
plan  remains,  as  before,  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor, and  that  the  Consultative  Commis- 
sion is  destined  to  play  merely  a  figurative 


THE  EVACUATION  OF  SANTO  DOMINGO 


293 


role.  It  has  no  power  to  veto  or  to  obstruct 
the  will  of  the  Governor,  or  to  oppose  the 
promulgation  of  the  new  legislation  created 
by  itself,  but  "  amended  "  subsequently  by 
the  Governor  according  to  his  own  whim 
without  consultation  with  the  commission. 


FABIO    FIALLO 

Poet  and  former  Provincial  Governor  in  Santo 

Domingo 


As  for  Constitutional  reform,  it  is  obvious 
that  any  Congress  and  Constituent  As- 
sembly would  have  to  vote  on  the  changes 
or  additions  of  the  Admiral  exercising  gov- 
ernmental functions;  but  no  rational  being 
who  knows  the  irresponsible  and  despotic 
power  wielded  by  the  military  authorities 
in  Santo  Domingo — with  the  support  of 
American  forces  and  of  the  National  Guard 
which  they  control — can  imagine  that  the 
elections  which  will  be  called  to  create  these 
legislative  bodies,  or  those  which  will  take 
place  later  to  elect  a  President  of  the  re- 
public, will  represent  a  free  expression  of 
the  popular  will. 

The  true  object  of  the  whole  plan  seems 
to  be  to  awaken  political  ambition  and 
rivalries,  in  the  expectation  that  the  various' 
political  factions,  impelled  by  degrading  en- 
ticement, will  abandon  every  consideration 


of  respect,  of  decency,  and  of  the  safety  of 
the  republic's  sovereignty,  in  order  to  vie 
with  one  another  for  the  favor  of  the  om- 
nipotent authorities  of  the  occupation,  even 
though  the  price  of  such  favor  will  be  in 
very  fact  an  injury  to  that  sovereignty. 
The  final  stage  of  the  process,  already 
reached  in  Haiti,  and  denounced  in  the 
electoral  speeches  of  the  new  American 
President,  would  be  represented  by  the 
formation  of  a  Government  classifiable  as 
opera  bouffe,  the  institutions  of  which 
would  be  manipulated  by  a  few  irresponsible 
American  officials  of  the  "  carpet-bagger  " 
type  of  the  Reconstruction  period. 

The  plan  does  not  even  give  assurance 
that  the  military  occupation  will  cease,  for 
the  vague  promise  to  "  withdraw  from  the 
responsibilities  assumed  in  connection  with 
Dominican  affairs "  certainly  contains  no 
specific  promise  in  this  regard,  and  leaves 
this  vital  question  enshrouded  in  ominous 
obscurity. 

The  great  majority  of  the  Dominican 
people,  resolutely  repudiate  the  plan,  realiz- 
ing that  its  acceptance  and  execution  would 
mean  a  virtual  abandonment  of  sovereignty, 
and  would  be  in  effect  a  sad  and  most  un- 
worthy sequel  to  the  sufferings  which  they 
have  bravely  and  patriotically  endured  since 
1916,  precisely  because  they  did  not  then 
consent  to  the  proposal  which  it  is  now 
sought  surreptitiously  to  foist  upon  them — 
by  the  plan  that  has  been  confronting  them 
since  December,  1920.  The  Dominicans  see 
clearly  the  deception,  and  firmly  refuse  to 
allow  dust  to  be  thrown  into  their  eyes. 
The  only  honorable  and  legitimate  solution 
of  the  Dominican  situation,  that  which  the 
Dominican  people  accept  as  the  only  solu- 
tion which  would,  .protect  their  sovereignty 
from  a  grave  impairment,  consists  in  the 
re-establishment  of  the  constitutional  au- 
thorities deposed  by  the  military  coup 
d'etat  of  President  Wilson  in  1916. 

This  desire  of  the  Dominican  people 
springs  from  no  personal  sympathies  or 
political  tendencies  centring  about  the 
members  of  the  national  Government  that 
was  overthrown;  nor  does  it  spring  from 
any  hostility  to  constitutional  reforms, 
which  all  Dominicans  consider  indispensable 
for  the  social  and  political  reorganization 
of  the  country  and  for  the  maintenance 
of  public  order.  Its  source  lies  in  a  clear 
comprehension  of  the  crisis  through  which 


2J)4 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  republic  is  passing,  in  a  sense  of  our 
own  dignity  and  in  a  realization  of  the 
dangers  now  threatening  our  freedom  and 
sovereignty.  The  Dominican  people,  and 
their  blood  brothers  by  language  and  re- 
ligion in  twenty  South  American  republics, 
hope  for  this  act  of  justice,  which  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  true  spirit  of  American  tradi- 
tions, from  President  Harding.  His  deci- 
sion will  have  a  decisive  influence  upon  the 
immediate  future  of  Pan-American  rela- 
tions, alike  political  and  commercial. 


EDITORIAL    NOTE. 
Senor  Fabio  Fiallo,  who  is  regarded  as  Santo 
Domingo's  most  representative  poet,  has  figured 
prominently  in  both  the  literary  and  the  political 


life  of  his  native  land.  Born  in  1867,  he  devoted 
his  youth  to  letters  and  journalism.  Later 
he  filled  the  posts  of  Dominican  Consul 
General  in  New  York  and  in  Hamburg; 
•became  charge^  d' Affaires  in  Havana,  and 
later  filled  the  offices  of  Provincial  Gov- 
ernor and  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
in  Santo  Domingo.  On  July  15,  1920,  Senor 
Fiallo  was  arrested  by  the  American  military 
authorities  in  Santo  Domingo,  on  the  charge  that 
he  had  violated  censorship  regulations,  and  was 
brought  to  trial  before  a  Military  Commission 
empowered  by  the  Military  Governor  to  inflict 
the  death  sentence.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  his 
predicament  reached  South  America  by  way  of 
Cuba,  however,  leading  newspapers  and  public 
corporations  of  practically  all  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can countries  cabled  appeals  to  President  Wilson 
to  spare  the  poet's  life.  Senor  Fiallo  was  then 
sentenced  to  confinement  with  hard  labor,  but 
this  sentence  was  changed  to  one  year's  im- 
prisonment, and  finally  commuted  on  Oct.  15, 
1920,  when  he  received  his  liberty.  He  is  now 
living  in  the  United  States,  where  he  is  engaged 
in  journalistic  work  on  behalf  of  Dominican  in- 
dependence. 


the  central  American  union 
and  the  united  states 


By  Beryl  Gray 


Editorial    Staif,    Bulletin    of   the   Pan   American    Union 


THE  latest  political  movement  in  Latin 
America  to  promise  constructive  devel- 
opment is  the  confederation  of  four  of 
the  republics  of  Central  America — Costa 
Rica,  Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Salvador — 
in  the  Central  American  Union.  This  is 
the  resurgence  of  the  old  political  division 
known  in  Spanish  Colonial  days  as  the 
Realm  of  Guatemala,  a  Captain  Generalcy 
under  the  Spanish  Empire.  Central  Amer- 
ica declared  its  freedom  from  Spain  as  one 
country.  It  again  becomes  a  political  whole 
in  response  to  its  natural  geographical  en- 
tity and  the  kindred  strain  of  its  peoples. 
For,  though  Nicaragua  has  not  joined  the 
Union,  it  is  likely  that  it  will  eventually 
do  so. 

In  Central  America  there  are  rich  natu- 
ral resources  which  have  been  barely 
touched,  because  the  ways  of  communica- 
tion have  never  been  properly  opened,  and 
political  dissensions  and  revolutionary 
movements  have  tempted  no  country — and 
not  many  rich  private  corporations — to  in- 
vest heavily  in  the  building  of  roads,  rail- 
roads, power  plants  and  other  such  necessi- 
ties for  the  opening  of  extensive  mines, 
plantations  or  industries  in  an  undeveloped 


country.  So  mines  which  hide  much  gold, 
ferrochromium  and  lead;  forests  teeming 
with  hard  wood  and  material  for  paper 
pulp;  land  for  planting  hectares  of  coffee, 
sugar,  cotton  and  fiber  plants,  and  for  de- 
veloping new  oil  fields,  lie  awaiting  the 
coming  of  men  and  money,  which  the  rise 
of  a  strong  government  in  these  states  will 
bring.  Central  America  contains  a  goodly 
share  of  the  raw  materials  which  we  need 
to  keep  our  factories  running  for  home 
consumption  and  for  export,  and  her  needs 
are  exactly  those  things  which  are  turned 
out  by  our  steel  industries,  mines  and  tex- 
tile plants.  Her  chief  imports  are  machin- 
ery, railroad  materials,  coal  and  cotton  tex- 
tiles. Few  industries  outside  of  the  raising 
of  bananas,  coffee,  sugar  and  cacao  have 
been  developed  to  an  appreciable  extent  be- 
yond the  needs  of  local  consumption  in  Cen- 
tral America.  And  the  chief  hindrance  has 
been  the  lack  of  shipping  lines  and  of  ade- 
quate assurance  of  stability  of  government; 
the  would-be  investor  hesitated  to  sink  his 
capital,  even  though  he  knew  of  the  wealth 
that  awaited  development. 

The  Central  American  Union  has  been  of 
slow  growth  from  the  earliest  days  of  in- 


CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 


295 


dependence.  When  Central  America  drew 
the  first  breath  of  liberty  she  spoke  for 
herself  as  a  union,  then  called  the  State  of 
Guatemala,  under  the  plan  of  Lguala.  But 
immediately  thereafter  personal  enmity 
among  the  rulers  of  the  provinces  caused 
Honduras  and  Nicaragua  to  choose  rather 
to  join  the  empire  of  Iturbide  in  Mexico, 
and  Costa  Rica  remained  neutral,  prefer- 
ring her  own  sovereignty.  So,  in  1821,  upon 
the  arrival  of  Iturbide's  Mexican  troops,  all 
these  five  provinces  became  attached  to 
the  Mexican  Empire  and  so  remained  until 
1823,  when,  at  the  failing  of  the  empire, 
the  regent  of  these  States  permitted  them 
to  call  a  supreme  council  to  decide  their  na- 
tional matters.  Thus  they  were  again 
given  their  sovereignty,  holding  a  federal 
and  representative  congress  in  1824.  Once 
more  dissensions  broke  out,  and  the  coun- 
tries divided.  Up  to  1838  various  attempts 
by  Zamorra  and  others  broke  up  the  union 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Morazan  and  va- 
rious patriots  who  worked  for  it.  But  in 
1855  all  the  countries  united  against  the  at- 
tempt of  William  Walker  to  take  Nicaragua. 
Yet  the  countries  remained  separate.  Still 
the  patriots  and  the  people  of  these  repub- 
lics dreamed  of  a  union  and  hoped  one  day 
for  the  restitution  of  their  ancient  jointure, 
and  provision  was  made  for  it  in  the  consti- 
tution of  every  one  of  the  five  States. 

Now  what  many  Central  Americans  be- 
lieved to  be  but  a  dream  is  comin*g  to  pass. 
Whether  it  will  be  permanent,  or  have  the 
ephemeral  qualities  of  a  dream,  remains  to 
be  seen,  and  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the 
souls  of  those  who  have  brought  it  about 
and  the  steadfastness  of  the  people  as  a 
whole.  There  has  naturally  been  much 
propaganda  for  and  against  the  union. 
Those  against  it  have  said  that  the  United 
States  did  not  want  it — that  it  would  be 
too  strong  a  State — which  is  ridiculous,  as 
the  total  population  of  the  five  countries  is 
some  5,614,000,  or  less  than  that  of  New 
York  City.  Others  against  the  union  have 
said  that  the  United  States  was  secretly 
backing  it  solely  for  the  purpose  of  exploit- 
ing the  natural  resources,  to  come  and  rob 
the  country  of  its  God-given  wealth,  con- 
verting it  into  American  dollars  to  send 
back  to  the  United  States.  This  is  equally 
ridiculous.  No  country  that  continues  to 
hide  its  mineral  and  agricultural  wealth  un- 
der  untouched   mountains    and    plains    can 


hope  to  prosper,  any  more  than  did  the  un- 
faithful servant  of  the  parable,  who  hid  his 
talent  in  a  napkin. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  briefly  what  each 
of  the  four  republics  of  the  Central  Amer- 
ican Union  produces  at  present,  and  what 
its  undeveloped  possibilities  are: 

COSTA  RICA  — The  chief  exports  of 
Costa  Rica  are  coffee,  bananas,  gold  and  sil- 
ver. Her  export  trade  to  the  leading  com- 
mercial countries  for  1919  amounted  to 
$17,748,835.  Her  imports  for  the  same  year 
were  $7,517,989,  chiefly  in  tools,  sugar  mill 
machinery  and  machinery  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  coffee  and  cacao;  flour,  cotton  fab- 
rics, electrical  material,  railway  material, 
lard,  coal.  In  addition  to  bananas,  of  which 
the  annual  export  is  some  11,000,000 
bunches,  Costa  Rica  produces  hides,  skins 
and  rubber,  as  well  as  such  hard  woods  as 
mahogany,  ironwood,  cedar,  logwood  and 
other  wood  suitable  for  dyeing  and  tanning 
purposes.  These  latter  products  have  never 
been  developed  to  any  great  extent,  due  to 
lack  of  roads  and  other  means  of  transpor- 
tation. The  Government  lately  granted  a 
concession  for  turtle  fishing  off  the  coast, 
and  so  added  another  item  to  Costa  Rica's 
list  of  natural  resources. 

GUATEMALA  —  Guatemala's  chief  ex- 
ports are  coffee,  bananas,  sugar,  chicle, 
hides,  rubber,  skins,  &c,  which  in  1919 
amounted  to  $22,419,134,  bought  by  the 
chief  commercial  countries.  Her  imports 
for  the  same  year  amounted  to  $11,230,819 
worth  of  cotton  textiles,  iron  and  steel  man- 
ufactures, food  products,  wood,  textiles, 
railway  material,  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial machinery,  &c.  None  of  the  exports 
have  been  developed  to  anything  like  their 
possible  production,  for  lack  of  large  invest- 
ments and  transportation.  The  message  of 
the  President  of  Guatemala  read  on  March 
1,  1920,  states  that  the  ferrochromium 
mines  of  Jalapa  and  the  mines  of  Estrada 
Cabrera  produced  2,241,341  kilos  and  11,352 
kilos,  respectively,  of  which  1,801  long  tons 
were  shipped  to  New  Orleans  and  New 
York.  The  mines  of  Santa  Rosa  produced 
680,770  kilos  of  first  grade  ore  and  533,400 
kilos  second  grade.  The  lead  mines  of  the 
Department  of  Huehuetenango  produced 
1,249  quintals  of  pure  metal. 

HONDURAS.— This  state  exports  chiefly 
bananas,  gold  and  silver  cyanides,  coconuts, 
cattle,  hides,  coffee,  rubber  and  mahogany. 


296 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


In  1919  the  export  trade  of  Honduras 
amounted  to  $5,733,622,  while  her  imports 
for  the  same  year  were  $6,931,376  worth  of 
cotton  textiles,  foodstuffs,  pharmaceutical 
products,  boots  and  shoes,  machinery,  iron 
and  steel  manufactures.  Some  of  her  al- 
most untouched  resources  are  now  coming 
to  light  in  a  concession  recently  granted  to 
exploit  vegetable  pulp  for  paper  and  a 
twenty-five-year  concession  for  petroleum. 
New  oil  fields  and  new  fields  for  paper 
pulp  are  certainly  going  to  be  interesting, 
in  view  of  our  lessening  supplies  of  these 
necessities.  Then,  too,  there  is  a  concession 
given  not  long  ago  for  the  exploitation  of 
oleaginous  fruits.  The  castor-bean  plant 
grows  wild  in  these  countries,  and  the  cas- 
tor oil  which  it  produces  is  not  only  a 
medicine  but  extensively  used  as  a'  lubri- 
cant in  aircraft  engines.  Many  comestible 
oils  are.  produced  from  plants  native  to 
Central  America. 

SALVADOR. — Salvador's  exports  are 
coffee,  gold,  silver,  sugar,  indigo,  balsam, 
hides,  rubber,  tobacco,  rice,  etc.,  amounting, 
in  1919,  to  $16,745,290.  In  the  same  year 
she  imported  $14,958,196  worth  of  cotton 
cloth  and  manufactures,  hardware,  pharma- 
ceutical supplies,  flour,  boots  and  shoes,  cot- 
ton yarn,  machinery.  Not  long  ago  petro- 
leum was  discovered  in  Salvador  at  a  depth 
of  800  feet,  and  amber  was  reported  to  have 
been  discovered  in  San  Alejo,  Department 
of  Union. 

NICARAGUA. — In  Nicaragua,  which  has 
not  joined  the  Union,  but  will  probably  do 
so,  the  exports  are  coffee,  rubber,  gold,  sil- 
ver, hides,  bananas,  woods,  cacao  and  sugar, 
amounting  in  1919  to  $12,409,472;  her  im- 
ports for  the  same  year  were  $7,912,653 
worth  of  textiles,  flour,  machinery,  kero- 
sene, leather,  boots  and  shoes,  mining  ma- 
terials, rice,  etc.  Within  the  last  year  a 
contract  was  granted  for  the  introduction 
of  Spanish  immigrants  for  the  cultivation 
of  abaca  (Manila  hemp),  cotton. and  grapes, 
and  another  concession  for  an  $800,000 
plant  for  the  concession  of  textile  fibres 
from  several  varieties  of  fibrous  plants.  An 
oil  concession  of  500,000  hectares  was  also 
granted. 

Costa  Rica  and  Salvador  have  passed 
laws  granting  free  postage  to  periodicals 
of  Central  American  countries,  provided 
these  countries  extend  reciprocal  privileges. 


Costa  Rica,  with  the  exception  of  tobacco 
and  other  State  monopolies,  has  declared  \ 
all  raw  materials  from  the  Central  Amer- 
ican republics  free  of  import  tax.  In  case 
of  reciprocal  action  by  the  aforementioned 
countries  the  exemption  from  taxation  will 
be  extended  to  articles  manufactured  from 
raw  materials,  with  the  exception  of  the 
State  monopolies. 

Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua  signed  a 
treaty  on  June  20,  1920,  permitting  the 
reciprocal  use,  in  the  timber  commerce  of 
the  two  countries,  of  the  waters  and 
streams  near  the  frontier.  Under  this  con- 
vention Costa  Rica  permits  vessels  loaded 
with  timber  from  the  forests  of  Nicaragua 
to  use  the  Colorado  River  and  its  exit  to 
the  sea  without  payment  of  fees,  taxes  or 
contributions  for  fiscal  services  rendered. 
And  Nicaragua  grants  to  Costa  Rica  the 
same  rights  in  the  use  of  the  rivers  and 
lakes  of  its  territory  for  vessels  loaded 
with  timber  from  the  Costa  Rican  forests. 
Then  Nicaragua,  which  is  not  a  member  of 
the  union,  has  declared  exempt  from  port, 
anchorage  and  lighthouse  taxes  vessels  fly- 
ing the  flag  of  any  of  the  Central  Amer- 
ican countries  engaged  in  coastwise  trade 
between  the  ports  of  Nicaragua,  other  Cen- 
tral American  countries  and  Panama.  This 
seems  a  good  augury  for  the  union. 

It  was  planned  to  create  the  union,  if  pos- 
sible, on  the  centenary  of  the  independence 
of  Central  America,  and  to  this  end  a  cen- 
tral office  was  formed.  Salvador  invited 
the  other  four  countries  to  each  send  five 
delegates  to  consider  the  matter,  and  the 
result  was  that  a  covenant  was  signed  in 
San  Jose,  Costa  Rica,  on  Jan.  19,  1921, 
whereby  Guatemala,  Salvador,  Honduras 
and  Costa  Rica  constituted  themselves  a 
sovereign  and  independent  nation,  to  be 
known  as  the  Federation  of  Central  Amer- 
ica. This  union  will  allow  the  component 
States  autonomy  in  handling  their  domestic 
affairs,  and  permits  them  to  observe  their 
diplomatic  treaties  severally  made,  if  the 
union  has  not,  through  diplomatic  means, 
effected  changes  in  them. 

The  bases  of  the  Constitution  are  that 
the  Government  of  the  union  be  republican, 
popular,  representative  and  responsible. 
Sovereignty  will  reside  in  the  nation,  and 
federal  power  will  be  exercised  by  a  Fed- 
eral Council  composed  of  delegates  elected 


CENTRAL   AMERICAN    UNION   AND   THE    UNITED    STATES 


297 


by  the  people,  each  State  to  elect  a  delegate 
and  an  alternate,  who  shall  live  in  the  fed- 
eral capital  during  their  five-year  term  of 
office.  There  shall  be  a  President  of  the 
Council  elected  from  among  the  delegates. 
The  Federal  Council  shall  have  control  of 
the  military  forces  of  the  several  States. 
As  soon  as  the  congress  of  each  State  has 
ratified  the  covenant  of  San  Jose  a  congress 
will  meet  which  will  be  in  session  one  month 
to  draw  up  the  Constitution.  This  congress 
must  be  organized  by  not  less  than  three 
States,  and  not  later  than  Sept.  15,  1921. 
The  covenant  expresses  regret  that  Nicara 
gua  has  not  entered  the  union,  but  provides 
that  she  shall  be  treated  as  a  member  of  the 
Central  American  family,  and  may  enter 
when  she  so  desires.  This  provision  is  also 
extended  to  any  other  State  which  does  not 
at  once  join  the  union.  At  the  time  of  prep- 
aration of  this  article  the  congresses  of 
three  States  had  ratified  the  Union  cove- 
nant, thus  putting  it  into  force. 

After  the  war  with  Spain  the  United 
States  began  to  realize  that  it  could  not 
live  to  itself  alone,  and  Central  America  is 
now  realizing  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  inter- 
course with  the  world.  Once,  in  prehistoric 
days,  man  'gave  chase  to  his  food,  fell  upon 
it  and  devoured  it.  He  covered  his  naked- 
ness with  the  skins  of  animals  thus  cap- 
tured, and  used  their  splintered  bones  for 
rude  tools.  Next  he  learned  that  by  barter 
and  trade  he  could  obtain  things  from  be- 
yond the  limits  of  a  day's  journey.  As 
civilization  progressed  man's  needs  in- 
creased. His  field  of  activity  is  no  longer 
bounded  by  the  circle  to  which  the?  endur- 
ance, of  his  heart  and  the  swiftness  of  his 
feet  once  confined  him.  Nations  have  come 
to  realize  that  the  laws  of  supply  and  de- 
mand reach  out  beyond  the  national  con- 
fines in  a  network  all  over  the  world,  and 


that  the  members  of  the  human  family  must 
help  each  other  if  they  would  live.  Long 
continued  personal  or  national  selfishness 
is  a  destructive  policy  which  operate 
against  the  one  who  lives  by  it,  for  it  is  con- 
trary to  the  great  scheme  of  things.  Sooner 
or  later  individuals  and  nations  realize  that 
the  earth  was  not  created  with  their  birth 
and  will  not  cease  its  perennial  miracle  of 
Spring  when  they  perish.  They  realize 
sooner  or  later  that  they  are  but  part  in  a 
great,  incomprehensible  whole.  The  Rocke- 
feller Foundation  has  done  much  to  clear 
Central  America  of  yellow  fever,  and  is 
waging  a  campaign  against  hookworm, 
which  is  a  <great  service  not  only  to  the 
countries  themselves,  but  to  the  rest  of  the 
world. 

Transportation  in  the  countries  of  the 
Central  American  Union  is  in  many  parts 
by  pack  horse,  or  natives  carrying  loads 
by  means  of  a  headstrap;  in  more  thickly 
settled  regions  it  is  by  slow,  deliberate  bull 
carts  over  rutted  tracks  or  roads.  Per- 
haps before  long  this  will  alt  be  changed ; 
it  will  be,  if  it  is  possible  to  establish  a 
strong  Government,  which  can  give  assur- 
ances of  the  peace  that  must  reign  if  cap- 
ital is  to  be  invested.  If  the  Union  of  Cen- 
tral America  becomes  a  strong  Government, 
and  political  factions  can  be  overcome  by 
patriotism,  it  will  mean  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  this  natural  geographical 
entity,  whose  various  peoples  are  of  the 
same  racial  strains.  For,  if  the  greatest 
good  of  the  greatest  number  is  earnestly 
striven  for,  Central  America,  previously 
known  to  the  world  chiefly  as  the  place 
where  five  small  republics  carried  on  revo- 
lutions, may  become  a  centralized  State 
with  unmeasured  possibilities  in  the  way 
of  raw  materiajs  for  the  rest  of  the  world, 
for  which  it  will  receive  in  return  the 
products  of  an  older  national  growth. 


HOW  PANAMA  PAID  OFF  ITS  DEBTS 

By  Crede  Haskins  Calhoun 


THE  Republic  of  Panama  is  now  in  the 
best  financial  condition  of  any  country 
in  the  world;  and  yet  only  a  little  over 
two  years  ago  it  was  deeply  in  debt  and 
five  months  behind  in  payment  of  current 
running  expenses.  To  be  ranked  so  high 
financially  is  no  small  matter,  and  it  is 
particularly  unusual  for  this  distinction  to 
be  held  by  a  Latin-American  country.  To- 
day Panama,  if  it  wished,  could  pay  every 
cent  of  its  national  debt  in  cash,  but  such 
action,  of  course,  is  neither  necessary  nor 
advisable. 

In  November,  1918,  the  Government  had 
on  deposit  in  a  local  bank  $18,170.95,  and 
in  the  National  Bank  $9,573.75 ;  it  also  held 
various  notes,  papers  and  credits  for  pay- 
ments made  and  money  advanced,  amount- 
ing to  $142,381.40.  A  great  part  of  the 
paper  just  mentioned  was  of  very  doubtful 
value.  The  local  bank  deposits  were  al- 
ready pledged  for  the  amortization  of  the 
contracted  debt,  and  the  National  Bank 
credit  was  set  aside  for  payment  of  interest 
on  bonds  covering  indebtedness.  Funds 
were  not  available  for  the  payment  of  the 
Government  employes,  all  of  whom  had  their 
salaries  discounted  15  per  cent,  by  the 
Government  because  of  lack  of  funds,  and 
many  of  whom  were  forced  to  assign  their 
salaries  to  usurers,  sometimes  at  a  discount 
of  as  much  as  60  per  cent.  All  bills  against 
the  Government  were  at  a  discount  because 
they  could  not  be  collected  in  less  than 
eight  or  nine  months  after  maturity,  and 
then  only  with  great  difficulty. 

In  his  report  to  the  Assembly  the  Secre- 
tary of  Finance  said,  referring  to  condi- 
tions in  1918: 

The  credit  of  the  Treasury  was  so  impaired 
that  the  principal  commercial  houses  of  the 
Republic  had  notified  the  Government  pur- 
chasing agents  that  they  did  not  want  any 
connection  with  the  Government,  against 
which  they  already  had  bills  which  had  not 
been  paid,  The  banks,  the  electric  light  com- 
pany, and  the  Panama  Canal  had  greatly 
harassed  the  Treasury  in  their  repeated  at- 
tempts to  make  collections. 

The  floating  debt  at  this  time,  to  mer- 
chants and  individuals,  amounted  to  $1,000,- 


000,  and  a  similar  amount  was  owed  to 
the  Panama  Canal. 

The  real  reformation  began  when  Mr. 
Addison  T.  Ryan,  an  American  with  previ- 
ous experience  in  Haiti,  was  appointed 
Fiscal  Agent.  It  was  considered  necessary 
at  first  to  float  a  loan  in  order  to  eliminate 
the  floating  debts  and  to  make  a  fresh 
start,  but  the  condition  of  the  money  mar- 
ket, as  a  result  of  the  war,  made  the  pros- 
pects of  success  discouraging.  There  oc- 
curred, furthermore,  such  a  surprising 
increase  in  revenues  and  a  corresponding 
reduction  of  expenses  that  the  loan  was 
not  floated,  and  the  Government  has  re- 
covered financially  without  borrowing  one 
cent. 

One  of  the  first  steps  taken  was  to  re- 
duce the  force  of  Government  employes  by 
15  per  cent,  and  to  pay  the  remainder  the 
full  amount  of  their  salaries,  instead  of 
discounting  all  salaries  15  per  cent.,  as 
had  been  the  previous  practice.  The  intro- 
duction of  more  efficient  methods  resulted 
in  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  revenues 
collected;  and  the  employes,  who  now  re- 
ceived full  pay,  gave  better  and  more  loyal 
services. 

Panama,  like  many  other  Latin-American 
countries,  had  granted  to  individuals  for 
specified  sums  the  right  to  collect  certain 
taxes,  such  as  the  internal  revenue  on  in- 
toxicating liquors.  The  system  applied  in 
collecting  a  great  part  of  the  revenues  was 
faulty  and  expensive.  In  some  cases  col- 
lecting agents  had  for  long  periods  neg- 
lected to  turn  in  to  the  Government  the 
amounts  collected.  The  accounting  system 
was  poor  and  accounts  were  not  kept  up 
to  date.  The  Government  had  a  number 
of  purchasing  agents  and  as  many  store- 
houses; this  led  to  great  confusion  and 
entailed  a  great  loss  of  materials  and  sup- 
plies. These  and  many  other  irregularities 
were  discovered  and  have  since  been  largely 
corrected. 

The  Government  took  over  the  collection 
of  the  internal  revenue  from  liquors  and 
in  one  month  collected  more  than  had  been 
produced  in  an  entire  year  by  the  old  sys- 


HOW  PANAMA  PAID  OFF  ITS  DEBTS 


299 


tern  of  selling  the  concession.  A  new  sys- 
tem of  accounting  was  installed  which  made 
it  possible  to  tell  day  by  day  the  exact 
financial  condition  of  the  country  by  a 
daily  balance  of  all  accounts.  All  purchas- 
ing for  the  Government  was  placed  under 
a  single  head,  and  all  materials  were  stored 
in  one  place  and  properly  accounted  for, 
with  great  resulting  economy. 

Instead  of  the  faulty,  unreliable  and  ex- 
pensive system  of  handling  revenues  col- 
lected, a  contract  was  made  with  a  local 
bank  to  act  as  collecting  agent  and  de- 
positary for  the  Government,  and  also  to 
disburse  moneys  upon  proper  authority 
from  the  Department  of  Finance.  The 
bank  receives  a  small  commission  on  the 
funds  collected  and  disbursed,  but  pays 
interest  on  deposits.  Formerly  the  Govern- 
ment paid  $45,000  a  year  for  the  collection 
of  revenues.  Under  the  new  arrangement 
the  interest  on  deposits  exceeds  the  com- 
missions paid  the  bank,  making  a  saving 
of  over  $47,000  a  year  and  at  the  same 
time  increasing  the  amounts  of  collections 
received;  the  Government,  furthermore,  is 
now  provided  with  an  efficient  and  reliable 
collecting  and  disbursing  agency. 

In  the  meantime  debts  to  the  amount  of 
$1,248,247.74  have  been  paid,  leaving  in 
the  treasury  on  Dec.  31,  1920,  a  balance  of 
$2,918,466.31.  During  the  ensuing  period 
public  improvements  were  made  and  over 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  spent  in  the 
work  of  constructing  a  new  hospital  and 
in  measures  to  improve  the  public  health; 
interest  was  paid  on  loans  and  amortiza- 
tion of  loans  to  the  extent  of  $280,452,.  while 
current  running  expenses  were  kept  paid 
up  to  date.  Government  employes,  instead 
of   accepting   paper   which   they   could   not 


collect  for  months  and  which  they  were 
forced  to  discount  at  heavy  loss  for  cash, 
received  checks  for  their  salaries  in  full  on 
the  last  day  of  each  month,  and  these 
checks  were  cashed  at  sight  for  face  value. 
A  statement  for  the  eighteen-months  period 
ended  Dec.  31,  1920,  showed  that  the  col- 
lections, averaged  over  the  period,  exceeded 
the  running  expenses  by  $208,908  monthly. 

The  national  debt  of  Panama  consists 
principally  of  loans,  the  largest  of  which 
pays  interest  at  5  per  cent,  and  is  due  in 
1944;  the  second  largest  loan,  bearing  in- 
terest at  the  same  rate,  is  due  in  1925. 
Panama  can  pay  the  interest  on  her  loans 
and  provide  for  their  amortization  without 
using  one  cent  of  current  revenue  collected. 
This  is  made  possible  by  the  annuity  of 
$250,000  paid  on  account  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  and  by  the  interest  on  $6,000,000 
deposited  in  the  United  States  to  guar- 
antee the  parity  of  the  national  currency, 
which  is  no  longer  in  use.  [The  money  of 
Panama  has  practically  all  been  exported 
as  a  result  of  the  rise  in  the  value  of  silver 
during  the  war,  and  at  present,  though  not 
legal  tender,  United  States  money — silver, 
gold  and  paper — is  employed  as  a  medium 
of  exchange.] 

If  the  present  methods  are  continued, 
and  the  budget  system  that  has  been  estab- 
lished is  maintained,  the  financial  future 
of  Panama  is  assured.  As .  regards  stability, 
the  Government  is  guaranteed  revolution- 
proof  by  the  United  States. 

The  surplus  in  the  treasury  is  to  be 
devoted  to  the  construction  of  good  roads 
to  develop  the  rich  resources  of  the  interior 
of  the  Republic,  and  to  make  of  Panama  a 
producing  country,  which  it  is  not  at 
present. 


A  SERVICE  RENDERED 


To   the  Editor  of   Current  History: 

I  acknowledge  receipt  of  a  copy  of  the  Cur- 
rent History  Magazine  for  April,  and  have 
read  with  special  interest  the  article  written  by 
Dr.  John  S.  Cummings  [on  "  Retraining  War- 
Disabled  Men."]  I  believe  you  have  rendered  a 
distinct  service  by  the  clear  statements  which 
you  have  thus  presented.     The  task  of  rehabili- 


tation is  a  responsibility  of  the  American  people. 
The  Federal  board  is  striving  to  act  as  the 
agency  of  the  American  people,  and  needs  the 
intelligent  and  sane  support  of  all  persons  who 
think  and  work.  R.   T.   FISHER, 

Assistant  Director  for  "Vocational  Rehabilitation. 
Washington,    D.    C,   April  2,    3921. 


[  CO  M  MUNICATION] 


a 


AMERICAN  POWERS  IN  PANAMA" 


A    reply    to    Elbridge    Colby's    recent    article    on    the  foregoing    subject,    with    some 
pungent  comments  on  the  North  American  air  of  superiority  regarding  Latin  Americans 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 
,  If  the  American  people  were  to  judge  of 
the  importance  of  the  Republic  of  Panama 
as  an  independent  nation  by  the  article  con- 
tributed to  Current  History  by  Elbridge 
Colby,  published  in  the  March  number  of 
this  magazine,  under  the  title  of  "  American 
Powers  in  Panama,"  they  would  be  apt  to 
consider  this  strip  of  land  as  nothing  short 
of  an  American  colony,  in  which  the  natives 
are  but  a  group  of  school  children  who  de- 
pend entirely  on  the  United  States  to  learn 
the  rudimentary  lessons  on  how  to  conduct 
their  own  affairs. 

And  nothing  would  be  more  unjustified  or 
untruthful  than  this  opinion,  as  it  is  a  well- 
known  fact — at  least  to  those  who  have  im- 
partially followed  the  march  of  events  in 
Panama  since  its  separation  from  Colombia 
in  1903 — that  this  small  republic  has  been 
solving  the  problem  of  its  existence  as  an  in- 
,  dependent  and  free  nation  without  the  aid 
of  outside  influence  and  with  the  determina- 
tion and  energy  which  arise  precisely  from 
the  consciousness  every  Panamanian  has 
that  all  the  progress,  both  moral  and  socio- 
logical, which  the  nation  may  achieve  is 
wrongfully  traced  back  to  the  effect  which 
her  supposed  constant  tutelage  has  on  her 
national  life. 

It  would  be  unjust  not  to  admit  that 
American  influence  has  done  a  great  deal 
to  hasten  our  material  progress;  but  if  the 
people  of  the  United  States  were  acquainted 
with  the  indiosyncrasy  of  our  race,  if  they 
would  only  realize  how  we  resent  that  su- 
periority which  a  great  majority  of  their 
countrymen  boast  of — perhaps  not  ma- 
liciously, but  unconsciously — when  in  the 
presence  of  Latin  Americans;  if  they  were 
aware  of  the  fact  that  our  pride  is  beyond 
all  human  conception  when  racial  differ- 
ences are  concerned,  they  would  be  the  last 
to  give  themselves  credit  for  any  direct 
progress  evidenced  in  the  regions  of  Latin 
America  where  they  exercise  a  certain  in- 
fluence. 

Thus,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  Americans 


have  done  little  or  nothing  to  achieve  the 
least  progress  in  the  governmental  system  of 
Panama.  Their  presence  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  republic  has  not  left  and  will  not 
leave  any  traces  in  the  sociological  evolution 
of  our  national  life,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  what  they  consider  good  and  what  is 
good  for  their  country  is  absolutely  use- 
less to  us  down  here.  If  the  American 
press  and  officials  who  are  sent  down  here 
to  serve  in  the  Canal  Zone  do  not  end  that 
systematic  propaganda  which  they  carry  on, 
with  the  childishly  egotistical  intention  of 
giving  the  American  powers  in  Latin 
America  generally,  and  in  Panama  spe- 
cifically, an  importance  and  scope  of  action 
absolutely  chimerical,  they  will  only  help 
to  breed  a  resentment  which  will  spread  like 
a  forest  fire  throughout  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can continent  and  ruin  the  hope  for  closer 
relations  between  the  two  continents  enter- 
tained by  the  few  Americans  who  have 
taken  pains  to  study  our  idiosyncrasies. 

Now,  we  will  endeavor  to  show  just  where 
Mr.  Colby  has  misrepresented  the  truth  in 
his  appreciation  of  the  work  being  done 
down  here  by  the  Americans.  But  before 
we  proceed,  we  would  like  to  impress  upon 
the  mind  of  every  American  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Colby's  act  was  inspired  in  that  excess 
of  patriotism  which  is  apparent  in  the  ma- 
jority of  the  less  informed  Americans :  their 
love  for  their  country  is  such  that  they  do 
not  realize  how  any  nation  or  people  can 
prosper  without  the  moral  aid  or  material 
help  of  Uncle  Sam.  And  this  is  doing  more 
wrong  to  the  American  nation  than  is  gen- 
erally imagined! 

We  have  just  witnessed  a  fortunately 
bloodless  war  between  Panama  and  Costa 
Rica.  During  the  first  few  days  of  the 
threatened  conflict  Panama  turned  her  eyes 
toward  the  Americans  for  arms  and  am- 
munition with  which  to  carry  on  the  defense 
of  her  invaded  territory.  According  to  an 
existing  treaty,  Uncle  Sam  must  protect 
Panama  in  case  of  war.  The  arms  and  am- 
munition so  urgently  needed  by  Panama  at 


"AMERICAN   POWERS   IN   PANAMA 


301 


the  time  were,  however,  long  in  forthcom- 
ing, and  the  protection  which  Panama  had 
a  right  to  expect  from  the  United  States 
had  to  be  looked  for  elsewhere. 

There  was  some  fighting  done  in  the  Coto 
region,  invaded  by  the  Costa  Ricans.  The 
Panamans  compelled  the  enemy  hordes  to 
abandon  the  invaded  territory;  many  prison- 
ers were  taken,  and  all  this  was  achieved 
by  precisely  the  same  police  force  which 
Mr.  Colby  seerrft  to  have  such  a  poor  opin- 
ion of,  to  judge  by  the  depreciatory  way  in 
which  he  alludes  to  it  in  his  article  under 
refutation. 

All  the  protection  given  Panama  by  the 
Americans  was  the  suggestion  made  by 
William  Jennings  Price,  United  States  Min- 
ister to  Panama,  to  Narciso  Garay,  Secre- 
tary of  Foreign  Relations  of  the  republic, 
that  Panama  withdraw  her  troops  from  the 
invaded  territory  and  that  the  United  States 
would  see  that  Costa  Rica  did  the  same. 
This  suggestion  was  rejected  by  the  Panama 
Government,  as  it  was  tantamount  to  pro- 
posing that  the  owners  of  a  house  infested 
with  robbers  abandon  their  premises  while 
the  police  diplomatically  convince  the  in- 
truders to  go  on  their  way  unmolested. 

Americans  have  never  assumed  police 
duties  in  Panama.  It  is  true,  however,  that 
detachments  of  marines  have  been  landed 
in  the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon  and  that 
some  troops  have  been  sent  to  the  interior 
towns  during  election  days,  but  the  juris- 
diction of  these  troops  began  and  ended  at 
the  voting  polls.  They  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  maintenance  of  order  outside  of 
these  places  and  their  duties  were  supposed 
to  be  confined  to  supervising  the  elections. 
This  was  done  at  the  express  request  of  the 
Panaman  authorities  as  a  means  of  guaran- 
teeing fairness  in  the  elections  and  never 
with  the  intention  of  preventing  violence, 
as  Mr.  Colby  wrongfully  asserts  in  his 
article.  The  Panaman  police  force  is  quite 
capable  of  doing  this  without  American  in- 
terference. 

The  presence  of  American  troops  in  Chiri- 
qui  was  generally  considered  as  an  injustice 
to  Panama.  The  reasons  alleged  for  their 
continued  stay  in  that  region  were  as  futile 
as  can  be  possibly  imagined.  Mr.  Colby 
speaks  in  his  article  of  "  American  ranch 
owners "  who  requested  that  the  troops 
stay  there  to  protect  their  interests,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  there  is  only  one   ranch 


owner  of  American  nationality  established 
in  the  Chiriqui  Province.  His  property  was 
generally  respected,  and  the  activities  of  the 
cattle  thieves  were  confined  to  the  ranchers 
of  Latin  extraction.  Those  ranchers  were  the 
first  to  impress  upon  the  National  Govern- 
ment the  necessity  of  having  the  American 
troops  withdrawn  from  the  province. 

The  arrival  of  the  American  troops  in 
Chiriqui  concurred  with  the  adoption  of 
stringent  measures  on  the  part  of  the 
Panama  Government  to  put  an  end  to  the 
cattle  robberies  in  that  region.  The  action 
was  spontaneous  and  came  as  the  natural 
consequence  of  the  redoubled  activities  of 
the  thieves.  It  was  not  an  imposition  of  the 
Americans,  but  the  local  authorities'  earnest 
intention  of  re-establishing  order  in  that 
important  section  of  the  country. 

Convictions  were  secured  in  court  with- 
out the  least  trouble,  once  the  guilt  of  the 
accused  was  definitely  established.  As  a 
newspaper  man  in  this  country  for  the  last 
ten  years,  the  writer  can  assure  that  in  the 
columns  of  the  local  papers  there  has  never 
appeared  an  item  attacking  any  native 
Judge  for  laxity  in  judicial  affairs  in  this 
connection,  as  Mr.  Colby  asserts.  It  is  true 
that  the  press  attacked  the  police  authori- 
ties or,  to  be  more  exact,  one  police  au- 
thority for  his  apparent  ineptitude  to  cope 
with  the  situation  in  Chiriqui.  That  au- 
thority is  no  other  than  A.  R.  Lamb,  an 
American,  whose  services  were  hired  by 
Panama  to  act  as  Inspector  General  of  the 
police  force. 

Lamb  had  promised  to  work  wonders  in 
our  police  system;  he  had  agreed  to  intro- 
duce wide-reaching  reforms;  he  was  bound 
under  contract  to  make  of  our  police  an 
institution  comparable  in  efficiency  to  any 
of  the  best  American  and  European  forces. 
The  Chiriqui  question  was  the  first  problem 
that  he  was  called  upon  to  solve.  His  ap- 
pearance in  Panama  had  been  given  such 
wide  publicity,  his  aptitude  had  been  so 
greatly  exaggerated  that  it  was  only  too 
natural  that  the  people  should  be  disap- 
pointed when  they  saw  that  the  Chiriqui 
thieves  continued  to  commit  their  robberies 
right  under  Inspector  Lamb's  very  nose. 
The  press  protested,  unjustly  so,  perhaps, 
but  not  against  our  Judges.  Inspector  Lamb 
was  the  bullseye  of  all  the  attacks.  Time, 
however,  has  shown  us  that  Lamb's  pres- 
ence in  our  police  force  has  produced  some 


302 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


benefits  and  that  he  deserves  much  credit 
for  the  present  efficiency  of  the  force. 

The  American  soldiers  who  were  detailed 
for  service  in  Chiriqui  acted  in  a  way 
which  tended  to  increase  rather  than  to 
decrease  the  ill-feelings  entertained  by  the 
population  against  their  presence  there. 
They  acted  as  conquerors  and  not  as  friends 
who  were  supposed  to  be  on  the  best  of 
terms  with  the  native  population.  The 
most  insignificant  private  had  about  him 
the  airs  and  actions  of  a  powerful  tyrant 
when  in  the  presence  of  the  natives.  They 
would  boast  of  their  power  and  speak  with 
contempt  of  all  our  institutions,  and  would 
not  pass  by  an  opportunity  of  showing  that, 
in  all  respects,  they  were  the  better  and 
only   men. 

And  this  was  not  all.  They  carried  their 
idea  of  power  and  conquest  so  far  as  to 
violate  the  sanctity  of  our  mails,  and  it  was 
with  the  greatest  alarm  and  indignation 
that  the  people  of  Panama  read  about  the 
raid  that  a  group  of  American  soldiers — 
at  the  command  of  precisely  the  same  Ser- 
geant to  whom  Colby  refers  in  his  article, 
saying  that  he  had  been  recommended  for 
the  distinguished  service  medal — entered 
the  Post  Office  at  David,  the  capital  of  the 
Chiriqui  Province,  and  by  sheer  force  and 
regardless  of  the  protests  of  the  Postal 
Agent  and  his  subordinates,  opened  every 
bag  of  mail  and  kept  the  letters  addressed 
to  the  men  of  the  post.  The  reason  they 
gave  for  this  action  was  that  the  employes 
of  the  David  Post  Office  were  very  slow  in 
sorting  out  and  distributing  the  mail! 

Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  an  Amer- 
ican who  so  acts  should  be  recommended 
for  such  a  high  honor  as  the  distinguished 
service  medal?  Is  it  nothing  to  wonder  at 
that  every  native  should  ask  that  the  Amer- 
ican troops  be  removed  from  the  Province? 
Does  it  seem  possible  that  any  Panaman 
would  favor  the  continued  stay  of  a  group 
of  soldiers  who  acted  so  tactlessly — to  say 


the  least — with  such  a  sacred  thing  as  the 
postal  institution  of  a  foreign  nation?  The 
answers  to  these  questions  will  suffice  to 
convince  every  sound-minded  American  of 
the  falsity  of  Mr.  Colby's  assertions  in 
his  contribution  to  Current  History. 

But  there  is  still  another  point  that  we 
should  like  to  clear  before  ending  this 
article,  with  which  we  hope  to  expose  be- 
yond a  doubt  the  spirit  in  which  Mr.  Colby 
wrote  his   misstatements   a^out   Panama. 

Fred  Grant  was  a  private  in  one  of  the 
American  Army  posts  stationed  in  the 
Canal  Zone.  He  carried  on  a  love  affair 
with  a  Nicaraguan  girl,  with  whom,  it  is 
said,  he  lived  a  marital  life.  Grant  felt 
a  wild  passion  for  the  girl,  and  one  day 
he  conceived  the  crazy  idea  of  taking  her 
out  for  a  ride  in  an  automobile  of  his  own. 
To  that  end  he  hired  an  auto  and  ordered 
the  chauffeur  to  drive  out  with  him  toward 
the  Sabanas  Road,  in  the  suburbs  of  Pan- 
ama. There  a  bullet  perforated  Chauf- 
feur Moreira's  skull,  ending  his  life,  and 
Grant  thus  realized  his  dream  of  being  the 
proud  owner  of  an  automobile.  He  took 
the  machine  to  the  Corozal  post,  repainted 
it,  and  returned  to  Panama  later  to  take 
the  girl  out  for  a  ride.  The  car  was  in 
Grant's  possession  for  two  or  three  days, 
until  Inspector  Lamb,  his  own  countryman, 
arrested  him  as  the  murderer  of  Moreira, 
placing  enough  evidence  before  the  jury  to 
secure  his  conviction.  He  was  sentenced 
to  twenty  years  in  jail. 

Grant  is  the  American  soldier  to  whom 
Mr.  Colby  refers  as  having  been  sentenced 
to  life  imprisonment  for  a  quarrel  with  a 
few  natives.  As  to  the  woman  who  was 
sentenced  to  forty-nine  days  in  jail,  and 
who  was  released  five  days  later,  that  case 
is  a  sheer  invention;  the  annals  of  the 
Panama  police  show  nothing  of  the  kind. 
ANGEL   D.    RODRIGUEZ, 

Former  editor  of  the   Panama   Morning  Journal 
and  assistant  editor  of  the  Diario  de  Panama. 
Panama,   March  24,   1921. 


[Communication] 

PHILIPPINE    INDEPENDENCE 

A    Filipino   student's    reply    to    the    contention    that    the    Moros    and    the    Christian 
Filipinos  could  not  unite  in  the  creation  of  an  independent  Government  for  the  islands 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  the  March  number  of  Current  His- 
tory there  appears  an  article  entitled 
"  Filipino  Independence  and  Moro  Domina- 
tion," written  by  Mr.  Donald  S.  Root. 
Among  those  unfamiliar  with  actual  con- 
ditions in  the  islands,  that  article  is  bound 
to  create  the  same  impression  that  earlier 
writings  on  the  backward  people  of  the 
country  had  created.  Like  all  other  articles 
written  by  opponents  of  Philippine  indepen- 
dence, the  one  by  Mr.  Root  draws  a  grue- 
some picture  of  the  chaos  that  is  supposed 
to  be  forthcoming  should  the  Filipino  peo- 
ple be  turned  loose  to  carve  their  own 
destiny. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  the  present  writer 
to  blur  the  facts  set  forth  by  Mr.  Root  as 
a  basis  for  his  stand  on  the  Philippine  in- 
dependence issue.   The  episodes  he  describes 
are  not  questioned.    It  is  his  sweeping  gen- 
eralization  that   leads  one  to   suspect  that 
Mr.  Root  had  already  a  preconceived  opinion 
en  the  subject,  which  he  wanted  to  crystal- 
lize by  appropriate  illustrations.   Assuming, 
however,  that  he  is  one  of  those  who  have 
the  best  interests  of  the  Filipino  people  at 
heart — a     safe     assumption,     otherwise    he 
would  not  have  served  the  Philippine  Gov- 
ernment for  six  long  years— his  views  may 
be  considered  as  not  distorted  by  prejudice. 
But,  granting  that  in  some  localities  such 
conditions  as  were  found  by  Mr.  Root  ex- 
isted  up   to    1918,    it   does   not   necessarily 
follow  that  similar  conditions  exist  every- 
where else.    To  judge  America  by  the  im- 
pressions gained  in  its  big  cities,  where  a 
vast  number  of  unassimilated  foreign  immi- 
grants are  found,  is  to  misjudge  America; 
likewise,    to   judge   the    Filipino    people   by 
impressions    obtained    from    the    backward 
peoples  and  from  the  backward  places  is  to 
misjudge    and    to    misrepresent    the    whole 
Filipino  race. 

Mr.  Foster  of  Reed  College  sets  forth 
four  fundamental  principles  for  testing  the 
validity  of  any  generalization:  (1)  Is  the 
relative  size  of  the  unobserved  part  of  the 
class  so  small  as  to  warrant  the  generaliza- 


tion? (2)  Are  the  observed  members  fair 
samples  of  the  class?  (3)  Are  we  reason- 
ably sure  that  there  are  no  exceptions? 
(4)  Is  it  highly  probable  that  such  a  gen- 
eral rule  or  statement  is  true? 

Mr.  Root,  in  the  first  place,  as  he  him- 
self intimates,  was  stationed  in  Mindanao 
and  Sulu  all  the  time  that  he  was  in  the 
Philippines.  But  Mindanao  and  Sulu  are 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  Philippines  from 
the  standpoint  of  population.  If  a  part  can 
be  considered  equal  to  the  whole,  then  Mr. 
Root's  contention  is  irrefutable.  But  statis- 
tics show  that  less  than  one-tenth  of  the 
entire  population  live  in  Mindanao  and 
Sulu.  To  say  that  the  Filipino  people  are 
not  yet  ready  for  self-government  simply 
because  a  small  fraction  of  them  are  igno- 
rant of  law  and  order — assuming  that  all 
the  Moros  are  still  so — is  evidently  falla- 
cious and  cannot  stand  our  first  test. 
Taking  this  with  the  fact  that  the  Moros 
had  no  chance  to  develop  themselves  during 
the  Spanish  regime,  it  at  once  follows  that 
they  cannot  be  taken  as  fair  samples  of 
the  class.  If  the  Moros  constitute  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  population  of  the  coun- 
try, and  if  they  are  not  fair  samples  of  the 
class,  no  general  statement  such  as  Mr. 
Root  has  made  can  reasonably  be  probable. 

It  is  not  fair  to  judge  a  people  wholly  by 
their  past.  It  is  true  that  the  Moros  were 
at  one  time  feared  by  not  a  few  people  in 
the  northern  islands.  But  the  piracy  and 
outlawry  so  vividly  brought  out  in  Mr. 
Root's  article  are  a  thing  of  the  past.  This 
fact  is  borne  out  by  the  following  memo- 
randum of  Colonel  Ole  Waloe,  commanding 
officer  of  the  constabulary  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Sulu  and  Mindanao,  issued  on  Nov. 
23,  1918: 

1.  As  late  as  1S85  the  Spanish  Government 
pardoned  Datu  Pedro  Cuevas  and  his  gang 
of©  escaped  convicts  on  condition  that  they 
protect  the  town  of  Isavela,  Basilan,  from 
further  attacks  of  the  Joloano  and  Yakan 
Moros,  notwithstanding  the  place  was  at 
that  time  protected  by  an  excellent  fort. 

2.  In  1904  this  same  Datu  Cuevas  wrote 
the    Governor    that    he    had    captured    three 


304 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


pirates,    and,    after    investigating    them,    had 
had  them  shot. 

3.  During  1908  no  less  than  six  different 
outlaw  bands  operated  at  various  times  dur- 
ing the  year  on  Basilan  in  such  alarming 
force  that  it  was  necessary  to  send  four 
companies  of  United  States  infantry  and  two 
companies  of  constabulary  to  that  island. 

4.  For  the  years  1908-1909  37  outlaws  were 
reported  killed,  captured  and  wounded ;  for 
1910-1911,  28;  for  1912-1913,  40;  for  1914,  23; 
for  19ir,,  1,  and  for  1016-1917,  none.  This 
great  change  from  the  spirit  of  outlawry 
and  piracy,  coming  down  from  the  Spanish 
regime,  to  peace  and  industry,  was  brought 
about  almost  entirely  by  the  sympathetic  at- 
titude and  friendly  interest  of  the  depart- 
ment Government  toward  the  Moros  and 
pagan  tribes  of  the  province.  Force  without 
limit  had  been  used  for  300  years,  but  ap- 
parently with  little,  if  any,  permanent  result. 

5.  For  the  last  four  years  the  number  of 
grave  crimes  in  the  Province  of  Zamboanga 
has  been  less  than  that  in  the  department's 
most  advanced  Christian  province  for  the 
same  period. 

Contrary  to  the  prediction  of  the  calamity 
howlers,  the  Christian  Filipino  officers  of  the 
constabtulary  have  succeeded  completely  in 
winnin    gthe    confidence    of    the    Moros 

The  foregoing  testimony,  furnished  by  an 
American  officer,  is  the  best  indication  of 
the  ability  of  the  Philippine  Government  to 
deal  with  the  lawless  elements  among  the 
Moros.  Unfortunately,  Mr.  Root,  in  his 
connection  with  the  Philippine  constabulary, 
an  insular  police  organization,  had  to  deal 
more  with  the  lawless  than  with  the  peace- 
ful people,  and  is  therefore  prone,  like  any 
cne  else  under  similar  conditions,  to  be 
rather  uncompromising  '  in  his  interpreta- 
tion of  facts  and  too  drastic  in  his  con- 
clusions. 

The  Philippine  Government,  like  all 
others,  has  its  problems.  The  Moro  prob- 
lem, acknowledged  to  be  the  most  difficult, 
is  not  nearly  as  intricate  as  the  race  and 
immigration  problems  in  America.  As  the 
following  facts  disclose,  the  Government  is 
succeeding  wonderfully  in  solving  the  Moro 
problem  in  the  way  it  ought  to  be  solved: 

1.  During  the  school  year  1918-19  the  av- 
erage daily  attendance  of  the  schools  was 
23,953.  The  number  of  teachers  employed  was 
1,061,  a  majority  of  whom  hail  from  the 
Christian   provinces. 

2.  There  are  seventeen  dispensaries,  which 
for  the  most  part  are  located  in  remote  com- 
munities. Approximately  30,000  children  are 
treated  each  year  in  these  dispensaries. 

3.  The  Philippine  Legislature  has  appropri- 
ated $500,000  to  aid  such  Christian  Filipinos 
from  Luzon  and  the  Visayan  Islands  as  may 
desire  to  migrate  to  Mindanao  and  Sulu,  and 


establish  agricultural  colonies.  The  object 
of  these  colonies  is  not  only  the  development 
of  the  vast  fields  that  have  not  yet  been 
touched  by  the  hands  of  man,  but  "  also  the 
amalgamation  of  Christian  and  Mohammedan 
Filipinos."  The  plan  has  proved  a  success, 
as    admitted    even    by    its    opponents. 

The  restlessness  among  the  Moros  in  the 
past  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  not 
given  fair  play  and  a  square  deal.  They 
were  hunted  like  criminals,  instead  of  be- 
ing given  a  chance  to  develop.  The  migra- 
tion to  Mindanao  and  Sulu  of  the  Christian 
Filipinos,  the  opening  of  agricultural 
schools  and  the  improvement  of  sanitary 
conditions  are  some  of  the  forces  that  have 
been  operating  to  bring  about  the  existing 
friendly  relations  between  the  Christian 
Filipinos  and  the  Mohammedans.  That  such 
a  friendly  relation  now  exists  is  confirmed 
by  the  annual  report,  Dec.  31,  1919,  of  Mr. 
Luther  B.  Bewley,  Director  of  Education  in 
the  Philippines,  in  which  he  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

Today  the  Philippine  Government  has  the 
united  support  of  the  more  intelligent  of  the 
Mohammedan  Filipinos.  Six  of  the  highest 
ranking  Mohammedan  princesses  of  the  Sul- 
tanate of  Sulu  are  now  teaching/  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  There  are  today  in 'the  provinces 
of  Sulu,  Lanao  and  Cotabato  forty-two  young 
men  and  young  women  of  the  Mohammedan 
faith  teaching  in  the  public  schools. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Rasul,  son  of  former  Senator 
Hadji  Butu  of  Jolo  and  adopted  son  of  the 
Sultan    of    Sulu,    who    is    in    Washington 
taking  courses  in  diplomacy  and  law,  says: 
Christian    and    Mohammedan    Filipinos    are 
one    in   spirit   and    one   in   blood.      Education 
and  personal  contact  are  solving  everything. 
I   can    speak   for    ourselves    and    am    for   the 
Filipino   independence. 

The  statement  of  a  Moslem  Third  Mem- 
ber of  the  subprovince  of  Zamboanga  also 
is  significant: 

He  who  thinks  that  it  is  impossible  for  the 
Moslem  and  the  Filipino  to  live  together  in 
peace  and  participate  together  in  govern- 
ment is  foolish  and  lacks  wisdom. 

Even  Hadji  Butu,  who  was  cited  by  Mr. 
Root  as  not  in  accord  with  the  Philippine 
independence  movement,  expressed  himself 
on  the  relations  between  the  Christian  and 
Mohammedan  Filipinos:  "We  are  one  in 
spirit  and  one  in  blood." 

The  transformation  of  the  Mindanao  and 
Sulu  region  is  best  described  in  the  follow- 
ing words  by  ex-Director  of  Education  Dr. 


PHILIPPINE  INDEPENDENCE 


305 


W.    W.    Marquardt,    who   has    been    in    the 

Philippines  for  eighteen  years: 

The  Spanish  outpost  at  Jolo  is  a  clubhouse 
for  the  Jolo  Golf  Association,  and  where  the 
Spaniards  once  shot  at  Sulu  chiefs  the  Ameri- 
can golf  ball  now  endangers  the  life  of  the 
Sulu  caddy.  Datu  Piang  rejoices  in  the 
prowess  of  his  sons  in  the  manly  art.  Base- 
ball has  become  a  distinct  moral  force,  and 
the  younger  is  no  longer  found  at  the  cock- 
pits. 

The  above  facts  are  an  eloquent  testi- 
monial that  the  Moros  of  generations  ago 
are  no  longer  the  Moros  of  today. 

Multiplicity  of  languages  is  an  old  con- 
tention against  Philippine  independence. 
Switzerland  has  been  able  to  survive,  de- 
spite the  presence  of  a  number  of  lan- 
guages. It  is  true  that  many  dialects  are 
spoken  in  the  Philippines,  but  there  are 
three  main  languages,  any  one  of  which  can 
be  spoken  by  the  great  majority.  In  view, 
besides,  of  a  fairly  general  knowledge  of 
Spanish  and  English,  particularly  the  lat- 
ter, with  its  unifying  influence,  only  a  pes- 
simist can  question  the  strong  solidarity  of 
the  country. 

Does  the  fact  that  three  teachers  in  the 
back  country  cannot  speak  intelligible  Eng- 
lish prove  Mr.  Root's  assertion  that  the 
progress  in  English  is  slow?  To  know  what 
a  people  really  is  capable  of  doing,  it  is  not 
fair  to  base  judgment  on  impressions  in 
the  back  country,  where  conditions  are  most 
unfavorable.  Dr.  W.  W.  Marquardt,  one  of 
the  greatest  living  authorities  on  this  sub- 


ject, in  view  of  his  eighteen  years  of  expe- 
rience in  the  islands,  says :  "  If  you  go  from 
Zamboanga  to  Aparri,  you  always  find  the 
native  able  to  converse  with  you  in  Eng- 
lish." Statistics  show  that  in  1919  474  took 
civil  service  examinations  in  Spanish  and 
11,600  took  them  in  English,  whereas  fif- 
teen years  ago  3,555  took  them  in  Spanish 
and  only  2,917  in  English. 

Professor  Monroe  substantiates  the  above 
facts  in  the  following  significant  statement, 
made  after  personally  investigating  the 
educational  conditions  in  the  country: 

It  seems  probable  to  an  observer  that 
greater  educational  progress  has  been  made 
in  the  Philippine  Islands  in  ten  or  twelve 
years  than  in  any  similar  period  or  in  any 
place  in  the  history  of  education. 

The  fact  is  that  today  25  per  cent,  of  the 
people  write  and  speak  English  fluently, 
with  866,000  pupils  studying  the  language. 

No  one  can  judge  the  ability  of  the  Fili- 
pino people  to  manage  their  own  affairs 
and  solve  their  own  problems  unless  they 
are  given  the  chance  to  do  it  themselves. 
The  question  of  Philippine  independence 
will  forever  remain  an  academic  question 
enshrowded  with  speculative  opinions  unless 
it  be  actually  put  to  a  practical  test.  Such 
a  policy  is  consonant  with  the  spirit  of 
"  square  deal  "  and  "  fair  play,"  the  dom- 
inant note  of  American  idealism. 

VENANCIO  TRINIDAD, 

Filipino     Student      at     Iowa     State      Teachers' 
College. 
Cedar  Falls,  Iowa,  April  2,   1921. 


MESOPOTAMIA   AND   THE   BRITISH   MANDATE 


ON  Feb.  16,  Bonar  Law,  Government 
leader  in  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons, in  reply  to  a  demand  made  by  W. 
Joynson-Hicks  on  the  Prime  Minister  that 
a  copy  of  the  Mesopotamia  mandate  be 
laid  on  the  table,  set  forth  the  unusual 
proposition  that  not  only  must  it  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  League  of  Nations  first,  but 
that  there  was  no  power  afterward  to  re- 
voke it,  even  in  regard  to  its  financial  re- 
sponsibility. He  added  that  otherwise  "  it 
would  really  mean  that  the  League  of  Na- 
tions could  not  carry  on  its  functions." 

The  foregoing  statement  throws  a  flood 
of  light  on  the  British  note,  conciliatory 
but  firm  in  rejection,  sent  the  Washington 


Government  on  March  5,  in  answer  to  Sec- 
retary Colby's  demand  for  equal  opportu- 
nity for  United  States  nationals  in  the 
economic  employment  of  Mesopotamia. 

Meanwhile,  the  news  to  the  Arabs  that 
the  Allies  were  contemplating  a  change  of 
heart,  not  only  toward  the  Constantinople 
Government,  but  also  toward  that  of  An- 
gora, caused  them  to  co-operate  with  the 
British  in  the  restoration  of  peace  with 
more  enthusiasm.  The  vernacular  press  of 
Bagdad  regards  the  return  of  King  Con- 
stantine  to  the  throne  as  very  bad  for 
Greece,  but  a  real  benefactor  to  Irak — pro- 
vided the  Allies  "punish  him  by  takin'g  from 
him  what  rightfully  belongs  to  Turkey." 


PROSPEROUS    TIMES    IN    NEW    ZEALAND 


By   Tom    L.    Mills 

Editor    of   The    Star,    Peilding,    New    Zealand 


TT  has  been  reported  by  observant  New 
■*■  Zealanders  who  have  recently  returned 
from  tours  abroad,  including  sojourns  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  that  New 
Zealand  still  remains  the  land  of  the  happi- 
est conditions  and  of  the  most  reasonable 
rates  of  living.  At  the  time  of  writing  (the 
opening  of  the  new  year)  there  is  not  a 
single  strike  or  lock-out  in  any  part  of  the 
dominion.  New  Zealand,  industrially,  works 
under  a  system  of  conciliation  and  arbitra- 
tion in  the  compulsory  settlement  of  dis- 
putes. Nor  have  we  any  problem  of  un- 
employment as  yet  to  solve. 

Wages  have  shown  a  general  increase  in 
all  branches  of  activity.  The  industrial 
awards  of  the  Arbitration  Board  at  the  be- 
ginning of  January  recognized  the  minimum 
wage  for  the  lowest  class  of  male  adult  un- 
skilled workers  as  $23  for  a  week  of  48 
hours,  which  is  $1.50  higher  than  the  basic 
wage  recently  recognized  by  the  Board  of 
Trade  of  New  South  Wales,  the  mother 
State  of  Australia. 

As  to  the  skilled  trades,  wages  have  in- 
creased very  much  over  the  pre-war  rates. 
The  pay  of  linotype  operators  and  others 
in  the  printing  and  kindred  trades  has  gone 
up  80  per  cent.,  taking  into  the  calcu- 
lation the  increased-cost-of-living  bonuses 
awarded .  periodically,  on  the  call  of  the  la- 
bor unions,  by  the  Arbitration  Court.  Lino- 
type operators  in  our  cities  are  earning  $40 
a  week.  Compositors  who  were  paid  $17  a 
week  in  1914  are  today  paid  $28.50.  Drivers 
of  horse  vehicles  and  stable  hands  who  be- 
fore the.  war  received  $10.50  a  week  now  get 
$20.50.  The  carpenter  and  builder  who  six 
years  age  was  in  receipt  of  $3  for  an  eight- 
hour  day  now  gets  $5  or  $6  a  day  for  a 
45-hour  week — and  there  is  just  as  great  a 
demand  for  homes  and  as  great  a  housing 
problem  in  New  Zealand  today  as  in  Amer- 
ica or  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

As  regards  prices,  official  records  com- 
piled by  Government  departments  show  that 
for  the  general  group  of  grocery  supplies 
the  increase  in  1920,  compared  with  1914, 
is  47.50  per  cent.;  for  dairy  produce,  58 
per  cent.,  and  for  meat,  40  per  cent.  Here 
are   some   individual   quotations   concerning 


the  essentials  of  our  everyday  life:  Sugar 
in  1914  was  7  cents  over  the  counter,  and 
today  it  is  15  cents.  A  100-pound  bag  of 
flour  was  $3.50,  and  is  now  $'6.  Coffee  was 
50  cents  a  pound,  and  is  now  66  cents. 
Candles  were  20  cents  a  pound,  and  are  now 
36  cents.  Bacon  was  30  cents  a  pound, 
and  is  now  46  cents.  Kerosene  was  $5.50 
a  case,  and  today  $7.50  is  charged.  A  suit 
of  clothes,  made  of  either  New  Zealand  or 
imported  English  tweed  or  worsted,  in  1914 
sold  for  $32,  but  today  the  charge  is  $64. 
A  ready-to-wear  suit  six  years  ago  sold  for 
$21,  but  the  same  kind  of  suit  today  costs 
$37.50. 

The  greatest  post-war  problem  that  our 
dominion  had  to  face  was  that  of  the  settle- 
ment of  returned  soldiers  on  the  land.  A 
tremendous  proportion  of  these  men  desired 
to  become  settlers,  so  that  the  Land  and 
Survey  Department  could  not  get  new  lands 
opened  up  fast  enough  to  meet  the  demand. 
Consequently,  numerous  large  private  es- 
tates were  acquired  by  the  Government  and 
cut  up  into  suitable  farm  lots  for  the  boys 
who  came  back  from  the  war.  The  result 
has  been  a  boom  in  settlement,  and  already 
the  increase  in  production  is  making  itself 
felt.  Very  many  of  the  soldier  settlers 
have  taken  up  dairying,  and  there  are  sol- 
dier settlements  dotted  all  over  the  land,  es- 
pecially in  the  North  Island.  Up  to  this 
writing,  the  Government  has  expended 
over  $100,000,000  under  the  Settlement  of 
Discharged  Soldiers  act,  and  another  loan 
of  $'25,000,000  has  just  been  subscribed 
within  the  dominion  for  the  same  purpose. 
Approximately  14,000  returned  soldiers 
have  been  provided  with  land  within  the 
five  years  of  the  scheme's  operation,  and 
the  total  area  of  rural  land  now  under  set- 
tlement is  2,156,555  acres. 

The  equable  climate  of  the  dominion,  as 
it  becomes  better  known  overseas,  is  induc- 
ing farmers  to  come  from  Canada  and  the 
frozen  places  of  America  to  farm  in  a  coun- 
try where — for  the  most  part— milch  cows 
are  out  in  the  open  all  the  year  round,  and 
where  there  is  no  interruption  from  Janu- 
ary to  December  in  outdoor  operations  on 
the  land. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[English   Cartoon] 

THE    SAME    OLD    STORY 


308 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Tlio  TVU™    n  -j        «,r  — London    Opinion. 

Mother  shnl,nl:  Q  J°v   mu^  remember,  dear,  it  was  always  understood  that 
Mother  should  come  and  live  with  us  when  we  were  married." 

the  si7uaSinh\hf  Unnite"dngs;SesCr°0n'  "*  ^^  P°lnt  anplteB  alm°St  ^ally  Wel1  t0 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


309 


[American  Cartoon] 

"BETTER    BE    CAREFUL    THAN    SORRY!" 


— Dayton  News. 


310 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


Persuading 

Germany 

to  Pay 

THE  penalties 
imposed  b  y 
the  Allies  upon 
the  Germans  for 
having  failed  to 
meet  the  repara- 
tions demands  of 
the  Paris  Confer- 
ence or  offer  a 
substitute  that 
could  be  seriously- 
considered  includ- 
ed the  military 
occupation  of  the 
towns  of  Dtissel- 
d  o  r  f ,  Duisburg 
and  Ruhrort  in 
Germany's  great- 
est industrial  dis- 
trict and  the  es- 
tablishment  of 
Rhine  customs 
lines.  The  duties 
collected  are  to  be 
applied  to  the 
reparations  a  c- 
count. 


— Central   Press   Association. 

THE    MESMERIST 


Simple  von  Simons  :    "  Gott  in  Himmel ! 


—News  of  the  Worlds  London 
Works  it  does  not — yes — no !  " 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


311 


[American  Cartoon] 

THE  SITUATION  AT  YAP 


[« 


— Central    Press    Association,    Cleveland. 

THE  little  Island  of  Yap  in  the  Caroline  group  has  assumed  an  importance  alto- 
gether out  of  proportion  to  its  size  by  reason  of  its  having  been  included  in 
the  mandate  accorded  to  Japan  by  the  League  of  Nations  Council.  Yap  is  one  of 
the  landing  places  of  the  cable  over  which  the  United  States  transmits  its  dis- 
patches to  the  Philippines  and  the  Far  East,  and  it  can  be  readily  understood  how 
intolerable  it  would  be  to  have  such  dispatches  subjected  to  Japanese  censorship. 
When  the  matter  of  the  disposition  of  the  islands  was  before  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence President  Wilson  objected,  he  declares,  to  the  inclusion  of  Yap.  The  Japanese 
assert,  however,  that  there  is  no  record  of  this  objection  in  the  minutes  of  the 
conference.  The  United  States  has  addressed  a  note  to  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  on  the  subject,  but  has  been  referred  back  to  the  Supreme  Council, 


312 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


THOUGH  Mexico  un- 
der Obregon  seems 
to  have  entered  on  an 
era  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity, the  question  of 
the  oil  fields  still  re- 
mains a  troublesome 
one  between  that  coun- 
try and  the  United 
States.  It  is  asserted 
that  American  owners 
and  operators  in  the  oil- 
district  are  oppressed 
by  Government  edicts 
amounting  almost  to 
confiscation  of  their 
property.  The  United 
States  has  not  yet  rec- 
ognized the  Obregon 
Government,  and  one  of 
the  conditions  of  recog- 
nition will  probably  be 
a  satisfactory  adjust- 
ment of  the  oil  problem. 


-Los  Angeles  Times. 


— Dayton  News. 
[American  Cartoon] 

"Nipped  in  the  Bud" 

A  SMALL  war  was  threat- 
ened when  Costa  Rican 
forces  invaded  Panama  Feb. 
21,  1921,  to  take  possession 
of  a  section  of  land  that  had 
been  awarded  to  Costa  Rica 
in  a  boundary  dispute.  Ex- 
citement ensued,  and  clashes 
took  place  between  the  forces 
of  Panama  and  the  invaders. 
The  United  States  Govern- 
ment promptly  intervened. 
Secretary  Hughes  on  March  5 
sent  identical  notes  to  Pana- 
ma and  Costa  Rica,  prac- 
tically declaring  that  they 
must  settle  the  matter  peace- 
fully or  this  country  would 
take  the  matter  in  hand.  An 
a  r  m  i  s  t  i  c  e  was  speedily 
arranged. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


313 


Hock  the  Jewelry 


— London    Opinion. 

Sounds  Funny  in  German,  Doesn't  It  ? 


— Sioux    City    Tribune. 


Indianapolis  News. 


314 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


315 


[American  Cartoon] 

One  Artist's 
View  of  the 
New  Cabinet 

— Brooklyn  Eagle. 


IN  the  new  Hard- 
ing Cabinet  two 
figures  are  of  in- 
ternational impor- 
tance. Secretary  of 
State  Hughes  has 
twice  been  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York 
State,  has  served 
six  years  as  Asso- 
ciate Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and 
in  1916  was  the 
candidate  of  the 
Republican  Party 
for  President.  Sec- 
retary of  Com- 
merce Hoover  is 
known  the  world 
over  for  his  won- 
derful work  as 
head  of  the  United 
States  Relief  Ad- 
ministration. 


iife 


■/■■ 


b1"/. 


0M  * 

'//>. 


-=# 


«   u 


[American  Cartoon] 

Ebb   Tide 

— Brooklyn  Eagle. 


HUMAN  nature 
is  at  its  best 
in  a  great  emer- 
gency, as  was  evi- 
denced when  Amer- 
icas arose  at  the 
call  of  patriotism, 
forgetting  the 
more  sordid  things 
that  had  previously 
occupied  the  fore- 
most place.  But 
such  a  high  level 
cannot  be  long 
maintained,  and 
later  comes  the  in- 
evitable reaction, 
when  idealism  re- 
cedes and  material- 
ism again  asserts 
its  power. 


316 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS  317 

[English   Cartoon] 

A    SUSPICIOUS    EGG 


— The  Passing  Show,  London. 
German  Eagle:    "How  on  earth  did  that  one  get  there?    I  don't  see  how  I'm 
going  to  hatch  it." 


.si  8 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


319 


[American  Cartoon] 

EASTER    OFFERINGS 


Now  to  Deliver  the  Goods! 


■ — Neio    York    Times, 

"But  Look  at  My  Halo!" 


■Los  Atigeles   Times. 


—Neva  York  World. 


320 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 

Well,  Don't  Sit  There 
and  Let  Him  Starve 
to  death! 

— New   York    Tribune. 


THE  railroad  situation 
in  the  United  States  is 
one  of  the  most  disquiet- 
ing with  which  the  busi- 
ness men  and  govern- 
mental authorities  have  to 
deal.  When  the  railroads 
were  turned  back  by.  the 
Government  t  o  private 
ownership  and  operation, 
it  was  thought  that  the 
guarantee  of  earnings  for 
a  limited  period  and  the 
higher  freight  and  passen- 
ger rates  permitted  would 
put  the  roads  on  a  solid 
footing.  But  the  higher 
rates  proved  a  boomerang, 
for  passenger  traffic  fell 
off  to  a  greater  degree 
than  was  compensated  for 
by  the  higher  rates,  and 
the  loss  in  shipments  has 
resulted  in  a  great  shrink- 
age of  income. 


WAAL!  WHY 

DON  T  Y0  UNCHEK 
I  HIM?-!?' 


\ 


ONCHECfC    HIM. 

YOURSELF'  IT. 

■WAS  YOUR  POOL 
.NOTION  IN  THE 
T/RSTlPL^CS-f 


:<£> 


^ 


\S 


V*m  h°<*  // 

V%  \pT  SO   //    / 


*c*&& 


~ wm^m 


,%% 


//a 


/* 


[American  Cartoon] 

The  Tug  of 
War 

— Newspaper  Enter- 
prise   Association. 


J^TteRfiEL! 


THE  shrinkage  in 
freight  and  pas- 
senger  tr  affic 
prompted  the  rail- 
roads to  seek  a  rev- 
ocation of  the  wage 
rate  granted  by  the 
Government  to  rail- 
road employes. 
Practically  all  the 
roads  announced  a 
forthcoming  wage 
cut,  ranging  from  20 
to  30  per  cent.  The 
employes  resisted 
this  and  appealed  to 
the  Railway  Labor 
Board,  which  sus- 
pended the  cuts  until 
it  had  found  time  to 
grant  a  full  hearing 
to  both  sides. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


321 


THE  attempt  of  ex- 
Emperor  Charles  to 
gain  possession  of  the 
throne  of  Hungary 
ended  in  ignominious 
failure.  There  were  two 
or  three  days  when  it 
seemed  possible  that 
the  strong  monarchical 
sentiment  in  Hungary 
might  justify  the  Haps- 
burg  hope.  But  the 
prompt  action  of  the 
Allies  in  warning  Hun- 
gary that  the  restora- 
tion of  the  former  Em- 
peror would  have  disas- 
trous consequences  for 
the  country,  coupled 
with  the  threat  of  war 
by  the  "Little  En- 
tente," doomed  the  at- 
tempt, and  Charles  re- 
turned disheartened  to 
Switzerland. 


—New   York  Evening  Mail 

Not  Clear  Over  There 

THE  situation  of  the 
United  States  is  to  a 
certain  extent  ambiguous, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  while 
hostilities  have  ended  be- 
tween this  country  and  Ger- 
many, the  two  nations  are 
still  technically  at  war.  One 
of  the  first  tasks  that  await 
the  new  Administration  is 
the  signing  of  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Germany. 
Whether  this  will  be  a  dis- 
tinct document,  similar  to 
the  Knox  resolution,  or  a 
modified  adherence  to  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  ,is  a 
matter  on  which  the  car- 
toonist has  ventured  a 
"  pointed  "  but  non-commit- 
tal comment. 


322 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


THE  ENGLISH  LABOR  REVOLT 


Strike  of  the  coal  miners,  and  the  series  of  dramatic  events  that  averted  a  sympathetic 
strike  of  the  railway  and  transport  workers — Resignation  of  Mr.  Bonar  Law  and 
election  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  as   Unionist  leader  in  the  House  of  Commons 

[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


THE  signing  of  a  trade  agreement  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  Soviet  Rus- 
sia, the  continued  warfare  in  Ireland, 
the  increase  of  unemployment — these  and 
all  other  current  political  problems  in  Eng- 
land dwindled  into  comparative  insignifi- 
cance before  the  very  real  danger  brought 
to  the  home  threshold  by  the  labor  crisis. 

The  crisis  was  precipitated  by  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Government,  as  approved  by  a 
vote  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  March  9, 
to  discontinue  Government  control  of  the 
coal  industry  at  the  end  of  March  instead 
of  at  the  end  of  August,  as  proposed  in  the 
Coal  Mines  (Emergency)  act  of  last  year. 
By  so  doing  the  Government  contended  that, 
instead  of  being  guilty  of  the  breach  of 
faith  charged,  it  had  satisfied  the  desires 
of  both  owners  and  miners,  besides  saving 
the  taxpayers  £5,000,000  a  month  in  sub- 
sidies to  the  miners. 

Premier  Lloyd  George,  at  a  luncheon  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  March  23,  said 
of  British  labor :  "  Although  the  peril  of 
war  has  passed  away,  a  new  danger  threat- 
ens our  country.  That  danger  is  the  phe- 
nomenal rise  to  power  of  a  new  party  with 
new  purposes  of  the  most  subversive  char- 
acter. It  calls  itself  Labor;  it  is  really 
Socialist,  and  even  now  the  real  danger  is 
not  fully  realized."  Lloyd  George  went 
on  to  declare  that  socialism  was  fighting 
to  destroy  everything  that  the  great 
prophets  and  leaders  of  both  parties  had 
labored  for  generations  to  build  up;  par- 
liamentary institutions,  he  said,  were  just 
as  much  menaced  as  private  enterprise,  and 
he  warned  those  who  belittled  the  danger 
to  remember  that  a  change  of  4  per  cent,  in 
the  voting  would  put  the  Socialists  in  the 
majority.  The  Premier  pointed  out  that  in 
the  new  army  of  labor  the  real  leaders  were 
not  Messrs.  Clynes,  Thomas  or  Henderson, 
but  the  corporals  with  whom  you  never 
came  into  contact.  They  had  no  responsi- 
bility.   Once  they  were  in  Parliament  it  was 


these  juntas  behind  who  would  say:  "  This 
is  what  you  have  to  do,  and  if  you  do  not 
do  it  some  one  will  be  put  in  your  place." 

Meanwhile  negotiations  between  the  mine 
owners  and  miners  proceeded,  but  came  to 
a  deadlock  on  March  24.  The  miners  stood 
out  for  the  principle  of  a  standard  rate  of 
wages  throughout  the  country,  while  the 
owners  wanted  each  district  to  adopt  a  rate 
suited  to  its  own  circumstances.  The  miners, 
however,  made  it  plain  that  their  quarrel 
was  not  with  the  owners,  who,  they  ad- 
mitted, were  unable  to  meet  their  demands, 
but  with  the  Government.  They  insisted 
that  the  State  should  come  to  the  help  of 
industry  and  provide  the  money  for  higher 
wages  and  help  unprofitable  collieries  to 
keep  at  work,  a  condition  absolutely  re- 
jected by  the  Government.  This  situation 
continued  until  March  30,  when  the  Miners' 
Federation  executives  sent  instructions  to 
every  district  to  withdraw  all  colliery  work- 
ers at  the  expiration  of  the  time  limit  given 
to  employers,  viz.:  midnight  of  the  31st.  It 
was  also  decided  to  withdraw  the  pump 
men  and  engine  winders,  so  that  for  the 
first  time  "  safety  workers  "  were  ordered 
to  come  out  in  support  of  a  national  strike. 
These  instructions  meant  the  flooding  of  the 
mines,  a  threatened  industrial  disaster  of 
the  first  magnitude,  since  it  might  have 
become  impossible  to  work  many  of  the  pits 
again.  In  view  of  this  most  serious  situa- 
tion a  royal  proclamation  was  simultan- 
eously issued  declaring  Great  Britain  in  "  a 
state  of  emergency."  This  was  the  first 
time  that  an  industrial  crisis  had  been  so 
designated.  It  empowered  the  Government 
to  apply  certain  special  measures  provided 
for  under  an  act  passed  by  Parliament  last 
October,  at  the  period  of  another  mining 
difficulty,  but  not  put  into  force  owing  to 
the  reaching  of  a  settlement. 

Promptly  at  midnight  on  the  31st  work 
came  to  a  standstill  in  practically  all  the 
coal  mines.    At  the  outset  there  was  no 


324 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


disorder,  but  an  immediate  effect  was  the 
closing  down  of  steel  works  in  South  Wales 
and  the  throwing  out  of  work  of  11,000 
dockers.  On  April  3  the  Board  of  Trade 
issued  orders  rationing  coal  for  the  British 
Isles,  and  reports  from  the  coal  fields  indi- 
cated that  disastrous  consequences  had 
already  followed  withdrawing  labor  from 
the  pumps.  Water  in  great  volume  was 
pouring  into  the  mines. 

By  April  3,  interest  became  centred  on 
the  action  of  the  railway  men  and  transport 
workers,  who  were  debating  in  mass  meet- 
ings the  question  of  supporting  the  coal 
miners'  strike.  In  order  to  cope  with  this 
double  emergency  the  Government  took 
upon  itself  far-reaching  powers,  by  which 
the  various  Ministries  and  departments 
were  authorized  not  only  to  take  over  the 
coal  mines  and  coal  stocks,  but  to  assume 
practically  complete  control  of  everything 
connected  with  food  supply  and  road  trans- 
port, water,  gas  and  electricity,  tramways 
and  light  railways,  harbors,  shipping  and 
export  trades.  Military  movements  began 
on  a  considerable  scale  on  the  night  of 
April  4. 

While  the  general  public  maintained  an 
appearance  of  outward  calm,  realization  of 
the  seriousness  of  the  situation  was  mani- 
fested in  steadily  increasing  gloom.  April 
8  proved  to  be  a  day  of  sensational  inci- 
dents. Early  in  the  morning  the  railway 
men  and  transport  workers  threw  in  their 
lot  with  the  miners,  and  a  sympathetic 
strike  of  2,500,000  seemed  certain.  The 
time  set  for  it  was  April  12. 

By  April  10  signs  multiplied  everywhere 
that  public  opinion,  as  a  whole,  was  back 
of  the  Government  in  a  determination  to 
prevent  a  wholesale  and  irreparable  dis- 
aster to  British  industry.  The  Government 
was  credited  with  having  saved  the  mines 
by  insisting  upon  the  resumption  of  pump- 
ing while  the  truce  lasted.  In  Scotland, 
however,  twenty  pits,  employing  21,000 
men,  had  been  flooded,  and  in  England  and 
Wales  eighteen  pits,  employing  6,000  men. 
There  were  five  mines  which,  it  was  feared, 
could  never  be  restored.  The  strike  was 
estimated  as  costing  Great  Britain  £15,- 
300,000  weekly. 

The  conference  of  April  11  was  in  session 
for  a  total  period  of  six  hours  without 
tangible  results.  When  the  Premier  and 
the  union  delegates  met  again  the  next  day, 


the  conference  ended  in  failure.  The  Triple 
alliance  agreed  to  postpone  the  sympathetic 
strike  for  at  least  twenty-four  hours,  but 
on  the  13th  it  announced  that  all  its  mem- 
bers would  be  ordered  to  walk  out  at  10 
P.  M.,  Friday,  April  15.  It  was  a  declara- 
tion of  war,  threatening  ultimately  to 
throw  millions  out  of  employment. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  the  14th  the  mi- 
ners' Secretary,  Frank  Hodges,  gave  hope  of 
a  further  truce  by  offering  to  discuss  wages 
with  the  owners  and  the  Government  if  the 
larger  issues — a  national  wages  board  and 
a  national  profits  pool — were  separated 
from  wages  and  considered  later. 

This  offer  revolutionized  the  whole  situa- 
tion. Mr.  Hodges  had  made  the  proposition 
at  a  meeting  with  a  number  of  Members 
of  Parliament,  and  it  was  these  M.  P.'s, 
not  the  Premier,  who  carried  on  the  nego- 
tiations on  the  15th  which  finally  averted 
the  Triple  Alliance  strike.  When  the  rail- 
way men  and  transport  workers  heard  of 
Mr.  Hodge's  offer,  they  jumped  at  the  idea, 
supporting  it  in  the  conference.  To  their 
astonishment,  however,  the  striking  miners 
repudiated  their  own  secretary,  refusing  to 


AUSTEN  CHAMBERLAIN 

Former    Chancellor   of    the    Exchequer,    who 

has    been    chosen    to    succeed   Bonar    Law 

as    leader   in    the    House    of    Commons 


THE  ENGLISH  LABOR  REVOLT 


325 


go  into  further  conferences  with  the  mine 
owners  and  insisting  that  the  general  strike 
be  called. 

At  this  point  the  disagreements  that  had 
been  latent  throughout  the  crisis  came  to 
a  head,  and  a  stormy  meeting  of  the  three 
branches  of  the  Triple  Alliance  ensued.  The 
upshot  of  it  was  that  the  railway  men  and 


(Underwood  &  Underwood) 

LEONID    KRASSIN 

Head  of  the  Russian  mission  that  negotiated 

the  trade  treaty  with  Britain 


transport  workers  refused  to  go  on  with 
their  sympathetic  strike,  and  the  larger 
catastrophe  that  had  been  threatening  the 
United  Kingdom  was  averted.  The  miners' 
strike  continued,  but  it  had  lost  a  further 
share  of  public  opinion.  A  definite  split 
had  taken  place  in  the  ranks  of  labor,  divid- 
ing the  older  school — which  was  fighting  for 
the  wage  issue  alone — from  the  newer  and 
radical  wing,  which  was  fighting  for  polit- 
ical control  of  the  Government  itself.  There 
was  general  rejoicing,  after  the  momentous 
developments  of  that  15th  day  of  April, 
over  the  partial  clearing  of  the  skies,  though 


(Photo    International) 

SIR   ROBERT   HORNE 

Former  President  of  British  Board  of  Trade, 

who   negotiated    the    Anglo-Russian    trade 

agreement ,  and  who  is  now  Chancellor 

of   the   Exchequer 


the  coal  miners'  strike  continued  to  cripple 
industries. 

The  basic  wage  of  the  British  miner  in 
1920  was  $4.38  for  a  seven-hour  day.  The 
last  two  months  of  Government  control  of 
the  mining  industry  had  cost  Great  Britain 
approximately  $35,000,000.  The  "  Triple 
Alliance "  that  had  threatened  a  general 
strike  included  1,200,000  miners,  400,000 
railway  men,  and  300,000  transport  work- 
ers, but  a  general  strike  would  have  thrown 
nearly  8,000,000  persons  into  idleness. 

A  sensation  ran  through  political  circles 
on  March  17,  when  Andrew  Bonar  Law  un- 
expectedly resigned  from  his  leadership  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  from  his  office 
of  Lord  Privy  Seal  in  the  Cabinet.  His 
health,  he  explained,  had  been  gradually 
failing  under  the  stress  of  the  last  few 
years.  In  speaking  of  the  event  at  the  first 
dinner  of  the  1920  Club,  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  capability  of  his 
late  colleague,  adding: 

When  I  see  one  chieftain  after  another 
with  whom  I  have  been  in  action  during 
great  events  falling  under  the  weight  of  his 
armor,  I  do  not  mind  telling  you  I  am  be- 
coming very  lonely.    Public  life  in  these  days 


826 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


is  an  almost  intolerable  strain,  and  there  is 
nothing  I  would  like  better  than  to  retire 
from  that  strain  and  be  a  spectator  and 
-witness   of  events. 

Mr.  Bonar  Law  had  been  the  Unionist 
Party  leader  in  the  Commons,  while  Lord 
Curzon  occupied  a  similar  -position  in  the 
upper  house.  Thus  the  Coalition  Govern- 
ment was  threatened  with  a  crisis  by  Bonar 
Law's  retirement,  since  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
theoretically  a  Liberal,  could  not  lead  the 
Unionists.  This  danger,  however,  was  re- 
moved by  the  unanimous  election  of  J. 
Austen  Chamberlain  to  the  Unionist  leader- 
ship at  a  meeting  of  the  party  on  March 
21.  In  accepting  the  position,  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain made  use  of  an  expression  which 
was   said   to   be   entirely   indicative   of   his 


character.  "  If  I  have  not  seemed  specially 
to  court  your  good-will,"  he  said,  "  believe 
me,  I  have  profoundly  desired  to  deserve  it." 
So  far  from  his  ever  having  courted  favor, 
it  was  remarked  that  he  had  hidden  from  all 
but  a  few  intimates  his  many  claims  to 
favor  and  popularity.  On  subsequently  en- 
tering the  House  of  Commons  the  new 
leader  was  greeted  with  a  great  cheer  by 
the  Coalitionists  of  both  camps,  and  on 
March  23  the  announcement  was  made  of 
Mr.  Chamberlain's  appointment  as  Lord 
Privy  Seal  in  succession  to  Mr.  Bonar  Law. 
Sir  Robert  Home,  former  President  of  the 
London  Board  of  Trade,  who  had  negotiated 
the  famous  Anglo-Russian  trade  agreement 
with  Leonid  Krassin,  succeeded  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 


WAITING  FOR  HOME  RULE  IN  IRELAND 

Appoinment  of  Lord  Edmund  Talbot  as  Lord  Lieutenant  not  accepted  as  an  olive  branch 
by  the  Sinn  Feiners — New  developments  in  the  warfare  of  assassinations  and  reprisals 

[Period  Ended  April   15,   1921] 


FOR  the  first  time  since  Tyrconnell  in 
1687  a  Roman  Catholic  was  appointed 
Lord  Lieutenant  and  Governor  General  of 
Ireland  when  Lord  Edmund  Talbot  was 
named  on  April  2  to  succeed  Field  Marshal 
Viscount  French.  A  special  clause  in  the 
new  Home  Rule  act  made  this  possible. 
Also  Lord  Edmund  Talbot  became  the  first 
Viceroy  in  Ireland  under  the  new  Home 
Rule  act,  his  great  function  being  to  sum- 
mon the  two  Parliaments  of  Southern  and 
Northern  Ireland,  respectively.  Much  was 
hoped  from  this  appointment,  since,  as  a 
member  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  English 
Catholic  families,  it  was  supposed  Lord 
Edmund  would  be  well  received  by  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  man  of  his  gentleness  of  nature 
could  hardly  be  objectionable  to  the  Protes- 
tants of  the  North.  But  though  the  Irish 
press  conceded  that  it  was  a  notable  event — 
another  of  the  religious  barriers  against 
the  Irish  people  removed — Lord  Edmund 
was  attacked  personally  as  a  "  rabid  Tory 
partisan,"  who  fought  the  shadow  of  co- 
ercion in  the  Protestant  North,  just  as  he 
fought  bitterly  to  impose  coercion  on  the 
Catholic  South. 


Otherwise  Irish  political  circles  were 
occupied  chiefly  with  plans  for  the  forth- 
coming elections.  The  necessary  prelim- 
inaries to  bring  the  Home  Rule  act  into 
operation  were  fixed  to  take  place  on  April 
19,  and  the  date  for  the  proclamation  of 
the  elections  was  set  for  May  3.  While  the 
Sinn  Fein  decided  to  contest  every  seat 
in  Southern  Ireland,  it  was  announced  on 
April  7  that  Joseph  Devlin,  Nationalist 
M.  P.  for  Belfast,  and  Eamon  de  Valera, 
Irish  Republican  leader,  had  ratified  an 
agreement  by  which  the  Sinn  Fein  Consti- 
tutional and  Nationalist  Parties  would  pre- 
sent a  united  front  to  the  Unionist  forces 
in  the  North  of  Ireland.  Further,  all  can- 
didates had  agreed  to  accept  the  principle 
of  self-determination  for  Ireland,  and  had 
pledged  themselves  to  abstain  from  sitting 
in  the  Irish  Parliament  if  elected. 

Meanwhile  the  list  of  battles,  ambushes 
and  reprisals  continued  to  lengthen.  Mov- 
ing scenes  were  witnessed  in  Dublin  on  the 
morning  of  March  14,  during  the  execution 
of  six  young  men  convicted  of  murder  in 
connection  with  the  shooting  of  British  offi- 
cers on  Nov.  2.  While  the  executions  were 
being  carried  out  huge  crowds  assembled 


WAITING  FOR  HOME  RULE  IN  IRELAND 


327 


outside  Mountjoy  Prison  and  the  rosary 
was  recited  at  each  hour.  No  sound  issued 
from  the  prison  precincts,  no  bell  was  tolled, 
not  even  a  black  flag  was  flown.  Thou- 
sands upon  thousands,  men,  women,  chil- 
dren, youths  and  maidens,  knelt  on  the  wet 
ground  around  the  prison  walls  and  on  the 
neighboring  streets  and  roadways,  praying 
earnestly  and  singing  hymns  which  formed 
a  customary  part  of  Catholic  devotions. 
These  were  the  only  sounds  that  broke  the 
stillness.  For  three  hours  after  the  execu- 
*  tions  had  taken  place  there  was  an  entire 
stoppage  of  labor  in  the  city,  consequent 
upon  a  declaration  of  the  Labor  Party  that 
the  hours  until  11  o'clock  were  to  be  spent 
in  mourning  as  a  solemn  protest  against 
the  executions. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Dublin  Corporation  a 
resolution'  of  sympathy  with  the  relatives 
of  the  deceased  was  passed  in  silence.  A 
curious  penalty  was  subsequently  visited 
upon  a  man  charged  with  working  during 
the  hours  of  mourning.  He  was  found 
chained  to  the  railing  of  the  Pro-Cathedral 
in  Marlborough  Street,  and  though  crowds 
passed  him  by  no  one  attempted  to  liberate 
him  until  the  police  came. 

Among  the  Irish  reprisals  which  promptly 
followed  the  executions  Constable  O'Kane 
was  shot  dead  in  Clifden,  County  Galway, 
on  March  16,  and  another  constable  was 
wounded.  Later,  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 
in  a  letter  condemning  these  reprisals  and 
the  failure  to  obey  his  call  for  a  cessation 
of  executions  by  the  Republican  forces,  said: 
"  I  must  give  my  people  moral  guidance, 
even  if  corrupt  politicians  turn  gospel  teach- 
ings to  bad  ends."  The  Archbishop  again 
urged  the  Government,  as  the  stronger  side, 
to  call  a  truce  and  initiate  peace  negotia- 
tions. 

In  the  five  days  preceding  and  including 
March  23  the  casualties  reported  in  Ire- 
land, comprising  Crown  forces,  Sinn  Fein- 
ers  and  civilians,  totaled  sixty-three  killed 
and  sixty-seven  wounded.  The  Crown  forces 
had  lost  five  killed  and  five  wounded  in 
the  ambush  of  a  party  of  the  Ninth  Lancers 
at  Scramoge,  County  Roscommon,  while  the 
Sinn  Feiners  lost  but  one  killed.  The  First 
Royal  Fusiliers  also  lost  heavily  when  their 
train  was  attacked  near  Headford  Junction, 
County  Kerry,  March  21.  As  the  train 
neared  a  cutting  it  was  fired  upon  from 
both  sides.    The  soldiers  promptly  detrained 


and  engaged  the  enemy.  The  fight  lasted 
until  another  train  with  troop  reinforce- 
ments arrived.  The  casualties  numbered 
for  the  Crown  forces  one  officer  and  eight 
men  killed  and  ten  wounded,  one  civilian 
killed  and  two  wounded  and  four  Sinn  Fein- 
ers killed. 

Pandemonium  was  reported  as  prevailing 
in  Westport,  County  Mayo,  on  March  20 
when  Crown  forces,  in  turn,  engaged  in  re- 
prisals for  an  ambush  near  that  place. 
While  continuous  gunfire  went  on  in  various 
parts  of  the  town,  houses  and  shops  were 
wrecked  with  bombs,  and  furniture  and 
other  effects  burned. 

In  a  big  raid  carried  out  on  March  26  in 
Molesworth  Street,  Dublin,  the  Government 
authorities  found  what  they  believed  to  be 
the  headquarters  of  the  Sinn  Fein  propa- 
ganda department,  and  made  the  largest 
capture  of  literature  yet  found  in  Ireland. 
The  office  equipment  was  elaborate,  but  as 
the  raid  was  conducted  after  curfew  no  one 
was  found  on  the  premises. 

Heavy  weekly  casualties  were  again  re- 
ported among  the  Crown  forces  on  April  1. 
The  military  had  thirteen  killed  and  four- 
teen wounded.  There  were  twenty-six  at- 
tacks on  the  Crown  forces,  of  which  twenty- 
two  were  ambushes.  Sinn  Fein  assassina- 
tions of  civilians,  the  motive  for  which  was 
presumed  to  be  friendly  relations  of  the  vic- 
tims with  the  police  and  military,  num- 
bered six. 

What  was  described  by  residents  of  Har- 
court  Street,  Dublin,  as  "  the  fiercest  out- 
break since  the  Easter  rebellion  "  occurred 
on  April  6,  when  a  lorry  containing  members 
of  the  Worcestershire  Regiment  was 
bombed  and  fired  upon  from  behind  the 
protection  of  stone  pillars  at  the  entrance 
to  Harcourt  Street  Station.  A  heavy  fire 
was  also  opened  from  the  station  roof,  and 
at  least  one  bomb  was  thrown  from  that 
point.  When  the  attackers  were  driven  off 
three  civilians  were  found  dead  and  one 
wounded.     One  officer  was  wounded. 

Sinn  Fein  plotting  in  England  was 
credited  with  a  series  of  incendiary  fires 
on  the  night  of  March  18  in  the  Surrey  out- 
skirts of  London;  also  on  farms  near  New- 
castle on  March  26.  A  raid  on  a  Sinn  Fein 
club  in  Manchester  led  to  some  casualties. 

In  response  to  an  appeal  for  the  women 
and  children  made  homeless  by  the  fighting 
in  Ireland,  President  Harding  on  March  26 


328 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


sent  a  letter  to  Morgan  J.  O'Brien,  Chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
American  Committee  for  Relief  of  Ireland, 
saying : 

I  wish  you  the  fullest  measure  of  suc- 
cess. The  people  of  America  will  never 
be  deaf  to  the  call  for  relief  in  behalf  of 
suffering  humanity,  and  the  knowledge  of 
distress  in  Ireland  makes  quick  and  deep  ap- 
peal to  the  more  fortunate  of  our  own  land, 
where  so  many  of  our  citizens  trace  kinship 
to  the  Emerald  Isle. 

On    March    30    the    British    Embassy   in 
Washington   issued   a   communication   rela- 
tive to  the  raising  of  funds  in  America  for 
Irish  relief.     The  communication  read: 
Widespread     misapprehension     appears     to 
exist   in   regard    to   the   necessity    of   raising 
funds  from  American  sources  for  relief  work 
in  Ireland. 

Banking  and  trade  statistics  and  tax  re- 
turns show  that  Ireland  as  a  whole  has 
never  been  more  prosperous  than  at  the 
present  time.  Cases  of  unemployment  exist 
as  a  result  of  the  world-wide  depression 
in   trade,    but   this   depression   has  been   less 


severely  felt  in  Ireland  than  in  England 
owing  to  the  fact  that  Ireland  is  largely 
an  agricultural   country. 

Apart  from  these  cases  of  genuine  unem- 
ployment, common  to  all  countries  at  the 
present  moment,  and  apart  from  the  unhappy 
but  normal  poverty  of  the  slums  of  towns, 
every  case  of  distress  and  destitution  is  di- 
rectly due  to  the  effects  of  the  Sinn  Fein 
rebellion.  Steps  have  been  taken  to  meet 
even  these  cases.  Millions  of  pounds  have 
been  made  available  from  money  raised  by 
taxation  in  the  United  Kingdom  to  build 
houses,  to  encourage  land  settlements  and 
to  promote  employment  schemes  and  tne  . 
general  work  of  reconstruction,  but  the  coun- 
ties and  cities  of  Ireland  which  are  Sinn 
Fein  in  sympathy  refuse  to  accept  this  money 
and  prefer  to  appeal  to  America  for  charity. 
Were  it  not  for  this  attitude,  there  is  no  case 
of  distress  affecting  any  individual  or  his 
property  which  could  not  be  adequately  met 
from  British  sources. 

Public  criticism  of  this  communication 
was  made  by  Frank  P.  Walsh,  counsel  for 
the  Irish  Republicans,  who  held  that  the 
increase  in  Irish  bank  deposits  was  due  to 
withdrawal  of  funds  from  British  banks. 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 

Canadian  Government  to  take  over  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  whose  failure  to  meet 
bonded  obligations  creates  anxiety — Tea  and  olives  cultivated  with  success  on  Vancouver 
Island — Difficulties  of  the  Hughes  Government  in  Australia — African    adjustments 

[Period   Ended  April   18,    3921] 


INTEREST  in  the  last  few  weeks  has  cen- 
tred upon  the  prohibition  referendum  in 
Ontario;  where  provincial  prohibition  was 
upheld  by  very  large  majorities  in  1919.  At 
that  time  a  provincial  political  general  elec- 
tion was  also  decided,  and  the  vote  was 
heavy.  In  the  present  instance  the  vote  was 
to  decide  whether  provincial  prohibition 
should  be  extended  by  Federal  enactment  to 
prevent  the  importation  of  intoxicating  liq- 
uors for  beverage  purposes.  The  ballot 
paper  carried  the  questions: 

Shall    the   importation    and    the   bringing 
of   intoxicating   liquors   into   the   prov- 
ince be  forbidden?  NO. 
Shall    the   importation   and  the   bringing 
of  intoxicating   liquors  into  the  prov 
ince   be   forbidden?                                       YES. 

The  campaign,  which  ended  on  April  18, 
assumed    great    bitterness    in    its    closing 


phases.  "  Pussyfoot  "  Johnson,  who  made 
a  tour  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dominion 
Alliance,  a  strong  prohibition  organization, 
was  denied  a  hearing  in  Kingston,  where 
the  crowds  howled  him  down.  In  Toronto 
he  had  many  interruptions,  but  made  his 
speech.  Outside  the  hall  the  police  had 
finally  to  engage  in  a  pitched  battle  with 
boisterous  antis,  and  several  arrests  were 
made.  The  "  Wets "  brought  Hon.  C.  A. 
Windle  from  Chicago  to  address  a  number 
of  gatherings.  He  was  accorded  a  »good 
hearing  everywhere. 

The  Province  voted  for  "  bone  dry  prohi- 
bition "  April  18  by  a  majority  exceeding 
125,000,  in  a  total  vote  exceeding  1,000,000. 

An  acute  stage  has  been  reached  in  the 
railway  situation,  precipitated  by  the  fail- 
ure of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  to  meet 
interest  due  April  1  on  part  of  its  bonded 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 


329 


indebtedness.  As  the  Government  is  to  take 
over  the  Grand  Trunk,  there  is  now  a  keen 
desire  to  bring  the  negotiations  to  a  head 
by  closing  up  the  arbitration  proceedings, 
and  reaching  a  definite  settlement  on  terms. 
There  is  growing  anxiety  as  to  the  situa- 
tion. There  have  been  several  discussions 
in  the  Commons  on  the  matter,  and  on  April 
5  Premier  Meighen  announced  that  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  would  be  appointed 
with  somewhat  wide  powers  of  investiga- 
tion and  inquiry  into  the  national  railways 
and  shipping. 

On  April  7  it  was  announced  that  Sir 
Thomas  White,  member  of  Parliament  for 
Leeds  County  and  former  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, had  resigned  his  seat.  He  has  de- 
sired to  do  so  for  some  time.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Arbitration  Board  on  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railway  acquisition,  and  there  has 
been  some  criticism  of  his  so  acting  with 
remuneration  while  remaining  a  member'  of 
the  House.  It  was  decided  that  he  had  the 
legal  right  to  do  so  if  he  wished. 

Official  reports  show  that  Canada's  Gov- 
ernment-owned mercantile  fleet  had  a  sur- 
plus of  $781,460  on  operations  last  year 
after  due  allowance  for  depreciation.  The 
amount  of  net  earnings  is  equivalent  to  2.35 
per  cent,  interest  on  the  investment,  accord- 
ing to  Hon.  C.  C.  Ballantyne,  Minister  of 
Marine  and  Fisheries. 

Canada's  revenue  for  the  fiscal  year  end- 
ing March  31  was  $451,366,029,  and  the 
ordinary  expenditures  totaled  $357,515,278. 
The  net  debt  now  stands  at  $2,311,294,443. 

Dr.  Tolmie,  Canadian  Minister  of  Agricul- 
ture, speaking  on  April  7  in  Ottawa,  stated 
that  for  the  first  time  tea  and  olives  were 
being  grown  in  Canada.  Vancouver  Island 
is  the  scene  of  the  experiments,  which  have 
now  been  crowned  with  success,  and  the 
prospects  are  for  great  development.  On 
the  same  island  there  will  be  a  good  fig 
crop  this  year;  the  bamboo  crop  is  large 
enough  to  harvest  for  baskets  and  fishing 
poles,  and  filbert  and  almond  trees  are 
thriving. 

AUSTRALIA— The  Australian  Common- 
wealth Parliament,  in  which  Premier 
Hughes  had  a  majority  of  only  three  votes 
when  it  met  early  last  year,  now  threatens 
his  downfall.  The  Nationalist  Party,  under 
Mr.  Hughes,  had  39  seats  in  the  House, 
while  the  opposition  had  36,  consisting  of 
26  Labor  votes  and  10  of  the  Country  Party, 


which  was  anti-Labor.  Now  Mr.  Fleming, 
a  Nationalist,  has  left  them  and  joined  the 
Country  Party,  and  there  is  one  vacancy, 
leaving  the  vote  35  to  35;  so  that  the 
Hughes  government  is  dependent  on  the 
Speaker's  vote  for  its  majority.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  Premier  has  the  support 
of  some  of  the  Country  Party  members  who 
are  in  sympathy  with  the  Nationalists,  but 
not  enough  in  sympathy  to  join  them  to 
save  the  Government  in  a  critical  division. 
Premier  Hughes  gave  his  views  of  the 
League  of  Nations  at  Sydney  on  March  23, 
saying : 

It  consists  of  forty-two  nations  recruited 
from  all  countries  and  of  all  colors,  and  there 
is  not  one  of  them  outside  the  British  Em- 
pire with  any  conception  of  the  ideals  of 
Australia.  I  have  not  found  one  of  them  our 
friend. 

On  April  7,  at  Melbourne,  he  declared, 
with  respect  to  the  Anglo- Japanese  Treaty 
that  Australia  could  not  make  an  enemy 
of  America  to  obtain  the  friendship  of 
Japan,  and  that  the  treaty  must  be  re- 
newed in  a  modified  form  satisfactory  to 
America.  He  declared  the  real  hope  for  the 
peace  of  the  world  lay  in  some  understand- 
ing between  America,  Great  Britain  and 
France. 

The  New  South  Wales  Political  and  La- 
bor Conference,  held  in  March,  adopted  a 
resolution  in  sympathy  with  Ireland,  and 
cabled  to  Premier  Storey,  then  in  London, 
to  urge  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from 
Ireland.  The  Victoria  Conference  also 
adopted  a  resolution  of  sympathy. 

The  shipping  policy  of  the  Government  is 
seriously  criticised  in  Australia.  The  hull 
of  the  cruiser  Adelaide  on  March  15  was 
towed  from  Cockatoo  to  Garden  Island, 
drawing  all  Sydney's  attention  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  still  unfinished,  although  it  has 
already  cost  over  a  million  pounds.  There 
is  a  real  crisis  in  the  merchant  shipping  in- 
dustry. During  the  first  three  years'  op- 
erations the  commonwealth  made  a  net 
profit  of  £900,000.  The  1918-19  profit  was 
over  a  million;  that  of  1919-20  fell  off  very 
considerably  and  this  year  a  heavy  loss  is 
expected.  Despite  the  fact  that  the  world 
is  oversupplied  with  shipping,  the  Govern- 
ment yards  are  still  building. 

It  was  announced  on  March  21  that  the 
board  controlling  wheat  export  prices  had 
reduced  the  rate  from  9  shillings  to  7  shill- 
ings 11  pence  to  meet  North  American  com- 


330 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


petition.  Tasmania  has  decided  to  forbid 
for  a  year  the  killing  of  kangaroos,  wall- 
abies and  opossums,  owing  to  excessive 
slaughter  last  season  for  fur. 

Lieutenant  Mcintosh,  who  last  year  flew 
from  England  to  Australia,  was  killed  in 
an  air  accident  at  Pilbara  on  March  28. 

EGYPT — In  preparation  for  negotiations 
to  carry  out  a  scheme  of  independence  for 
Egypt,  a  new  coalition  Cabinet  was  formed 
at  Cairo  on  March  15,  with  Adly  Yeghen 
Pasha  as  Premier,  to  conclude  an  agree- 
ment with  Great  Britain.  He  will  seek  the 
collaboration  of  the  Nationalist  Egyptian 
delegation  headed  by  Zaglul  Pasha.  Born 
in  1865,  Adly  Yeghen,  who  is  a  relative  of 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  entered  the  Foreign 
Office  at  the  age  of  20,  and  in  1902  became 
Governor  of  Cairo.  In  1913  he  was  ap- 
pointed Vice  President  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  and  the  next  year  took  office  as 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  under  Rushdy 
Pasha.  After  the  resignation  of  his  chief 
in  1919  he  did  much  to  direct  the  National- 
ist movement  toward  a  friendly  settlement 
with  Great  Britain.  On  taking  the  office  of 
Premier  he  at  once  received  the  support  of 
the  lawyers,  the  ulema  and  the  students  of 
El  Azhar  University.  The  armed  police 
cyclists,  who  have  attended  the  Ministers 
since  September,  1919,  were  dispensed  with, 
and  there  was  every  sign  of  popular  ap- 
proval. 

Zaglul  Pasha  arrived  from  France  on 
April  4,  and  had  an  enthusiastic  reception 
at  Alexandria.  He  made  a  triumphal  entry 
into  Cairo  the  next  day.  All  the  streets 
were  draped  in  red,  the  Egyptian  color. 
Then  conferences  were  begun,  at  which  dif- 
ferences were  apparent  between  Zaglul 
and  Adby.  The  former  intimated  that  the 
Presidency  of  the  official  delegation,  which 
is  to  go  to  London  to  conduct  the  negotia- 
tions, should  be  reserved  for  him,  and  that 
acceptance  of  all  his  reservations  by  Great 
Britain  should  precede  negotiations.  It  be- 
came apparent  that  the  Zaglulists  were  pre- 
paring to  compel  Adly  to  allow  Zaglul  to 
formulate  the  delegation's  policy. 

The  question  of  abolishing  the  consular 
courts  was  another  matter  of  difference, 
Zaglul  wishing  them  retained.  Italy  in- 
quired what  were  the  Cabinet's  views  on 
the  abolition  of  the  capitulations,  and  was 
informed  that  no  decision  would  be  made 
until  negotiations  for  the  abolition  of  the 


protectorate  proceeded.  The  Americans  re- 
ferred the  suggested  amendments  to  Wash- 
ington. The  mixed  courts  will  stop  func- 
tioning in  May,  but  are  likely  to  be  pro- 
longed. [See  "  The  Needs  of  Egypt,"  Page 
269.] 

SOUTH  AFRICA— General  Smuts's  new 
Cabinet  was  announced  at  'Cape  Town  on 
March  9  as  follows:  General  Smuts,  Prime 
Minister  in  charge  of  native  affairs;  Sir 
Thomas  Smartt,  Agriculture;  Mr.  Jagger, 
Railways;  Patrick  Duncan,  Interior,  Public 
Health  and  Education;  Colonel  Denys  Reitz, 
Minister  of  Lands;  Sir  Thomas  Watt,  Pub- 
lic Works,  Telegraphs  and  Post;  F.  S. 
Malan,  Mines  and  Industries;  Colonel  H. 
Mentz,  Defense;  Henry  Burton,  Finance, 
and  N.  J.  De  Wet,  Justice.  Thus  the  Dutch 
and  English-speaking  elements  each  have 
five  representatives.  It  was  reported  that 
Sir  Thomas  Smartt  would  accompany  Gen- 
eral Smuts  to  the  Dominion  conference  in 
London. 

Parliament  was  opened  on  March  11  by 
Prince  Arthur  of  Connaught,  who  referred 
first  of  all  to  the  League  of  Nations  at 
Geneva,  the  usefulness  of  which  was  grow- 
ing, he  said,  owing  to  the  disordered  con- 
ditions throughout  the  world.  The  Govern- 
ment, he  declared,  would  concentrate  its  at- 
tention on  the  financial  and  economic  situa- 
tion and  proposals  dealing  with  unemploy- 
ment. 

Uneasiness  regarding  the  labor  situation 
in  South  Africa  was  not  diminished  when 
the  Cape  Federation  of  Labor  Unions  at 
Cape  Town  voted  to  affiliate  with  the 
Moscow  Third  International.  Depressed 
state  of  trade  and  the  prospect  of  a  big 
deficit  in  the  Government  revenue  were 
given  as  the  cause  of  labor  discontent. 
Wages,  it  was  felt,  would  have  to  come 
down,  and  it  was  thought  unlikely  that  labor 
would  submit  without  a  struggle. 

MANDATES— The  League  of  Nations  on 
March  22  issued  the  text  of  the  mandates 
for  the  administration  of  German  Samoa  by 
New  Zealand,  of  Nauru  or  Pleasant  Island 
by  Great  Britain,  of  the  other  former  Ger- 
man possessions  in  the  Pacific  south  of  the 
equator  by  Australia,  and  of  German  South- 
west Africa  by  the  Union  of  South  Africa. 
On  the 'same  day  the  British  Government  as- 
sumed administration  of  certain  districts  of 
German  East  Africa,  between  Lake  Tan- 
ganyika and  Victoria  Nyanza,  captured  by 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 


331 


the  Belgians  in  the  war  and  administered  by 
them,  while  the  Belgians  retained  certain 
districts  northeast  of  Tanganyika.  The  Brit- 
ish districts  are  incorporated  in  Tangan- 
yika Territory. 

The  French  have  adopted  a  scheme  of  ad- 
ministration for  the  Cameroons  and  Togo- 
land.  The  former  will  have  full  financial 
and  administrative  automony  distinct  from 
French  Equatorial  Africa,  and  its  resources 


will  be  devoted  to  its  own  development. 
Commercial  equality  is  assured. 

Captain  Aneiras,  a  Frenchman,  is  the 
first  white  man  to  cross  the  2,000  miles  of 
the  western  Sahara  desert,  between  Algiers 
and  Dakar,  according  to  reports  received  on 
April  12  from  the  French  Ministry  of  War. 

An  exposition  of  agricultural,  mineral 
and  industrial  products  was  planned  to  be 
held  in  Algiers  from  April  16  to  May  8. 


MEXICO'S  PROGRESS   TOWARD 
STABILITY 


Recognition  still  withheld  by  Washington — Obregon  nips  revolutions  in  the  bud — 
Annulling  vast  Diaz  concessions  to  release  land  for  the  people — Tour  of  Mexican  "Good- 
will  Commission" 

[Pekiod   Ended   April   15,    1921] 


THE  deadlock  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  continues  so  far  as  recog- 
nition is  concerned.  Major  Gen.  Hugh 
L.  Scott,  retired,  has  been  suggested  to 
President  Harding  for  appointment  as  Am- 
bassador to  Mexico  should  the  Government 
decide  to  recognize  President  Obregon. 
Correspondence  has  been  passing  between 
the  two  Presidents,  Obregon  admitted  on 
March  18,  but  it  is  considered  private. 

General  Obregon  also  wrote  a  letter  to 
President  Millerand  of  France,  which  the 
latter  acknowledged,  causing  a  report  that 
France  had  recognized  the  Mexican  Ad- 
ministration. This  was  denied  in  Paris, 
where  it  was  said  that  no  step  toward 
formal  recognition  was  in  progress. 

Another  statement,  evidently  intended  to 
cause  trouble,  was  published  in  the  Univer- 
sal of  Mexico  City  on  April  6,  to  the  effect 
that  Mexico  had  appointed  Salvador  Escu- 
dero  Minister  to  Soviet  Russia.  This  was 
officially  denied  the  next  day  "  despite 
claims  of  newspapers  sympathetic  to  the 
Russian  cause."- 

President  Obregon  returned  to  Mexico 
City  on  March  28,  after  an  eight-day  trip 
through  the  States  of  Mexico,  Michoacan, 
Morelos  and  Guerrero.  At  the  Balsas  River 
he  inspected  the  site  of  a  proposed  dam  in 


a  gorge  where  it  is  intended  to  establish 
power  stations.  He  stopped  at  Cuernavaca, 
where  he  conferred  with  military  leaders. 
During  a  visit  to  the  Borda  Gardens  the 
leaders  discussed  the  agrarian  problem, 
which  is  principally  one  of  absentee  land- 
lordism. Twenty-seven  men  own  practically 
the  entire  State  of  Morelos,  with  an  area  of 
2,773  square  miles,  against  160,000  natives 
without  a  foot  of  land. 

A  big  revolutionary  plot  was  revealed  in 
Mexico  City  on  April  7,  in  documents  re- 
ceived from  Spain  where  they  came  into 
possession  of  the  Mexican  Legation  in  Ma- 
drid. They  call  for  the  sale  of  Mexican 
properties  by  former  Carranza  generals  in 
order  to  provide  funds  for  the  intended  re- 
bellion. President  Obregon  meanwhile  is 
meting  out  stern  punishment  to  all  persons 
found  guilty  of  conspiracy.  Five  followers 
of  the  Cardenas  brothers'  "  ten-man  revo- 
lution "  were  captured  by  Rurales  on  April 
2  and  executed  the  next  morning.  General 
Rafael  Cardenas  escaped,  but  his  brother, 
Augustino,  had  been  captured  and  executed 
a  week  earlier.  Julio  Fernandez  Perez,  a 
general  of  brigade  in  the  State  of  Chiapas, 
met  the  same  fate  at  Tuxla  Gutierrez  on 
April  6.  Undeterred  by  these  examples, 
General  Pablo  Gonzales,  in  Laredo,  Texas, 


332 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


on  April  9,  told  The  Associated  Press  that 
he  expected  to  head  another  movement 
against  Obregon. 

There  was  a  gathering  of  extreme  Social- 
ists in  Pachuca,  in  March,  which  adopted 
the  principles  of  the  Third  International, 
or  Moscow  Bolshevist  Congress,  and  set 
May  1  as  the  date  for  beginning  a  social 
revolution  in  Mexico,  at  the  same  time  vot- 
ing sympathy  with  the  railway  strikers. 
The  Mexican  Bolsheviki  have  their  head- 
quarters in  Mexico  City  on  the  Calle  Colon, 
back  of  the  Regis  Hotel,  where  radicals 
from  Russia,  Germany,  France,  Italy,  Eng- 
land, Spain  and  the  United  States  meet 
their  Mexican  comrades. 

The  railway  strike  was  settled  on  March 
16,  after  a  conference  between  General 
Calles  and  the  workers  who  still  remained 
out.  The  Government  won  by  its  firmness, 
the  men  returning  to  work  unconditionally 
on  March  19.  The  railroads,  which  had 
been  taken  over  by  the  Government  on  Dec. 
4,  1914,  are  about  to  be  restored  to  the  com- 
pany, according  to  the  report  of  J.  Pedrero 
Cordova,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors of  the  National   Railways  of   Mexico. 

There  has  been  an  increase  of  idle  labor 
in  Mexico  and  at  the  same  time  an  influx 
of  laborers  from  the  United  States,  espe- 
cially to  the  oil  regions,  which  led  Presi- 
dent Obregon  on  March  15  to  issue  a  decree 
barring  all  foreign  laborers  from  the  coun- 
try. Exception  was  provided  in  the  decree 
for  those  who  could  show  that  they  had 
"  sufficient  sustenance  and  implements  "  for 
colonization  or  agriculture. 

President  Obregon  has  released  3,700,000 
acres  of  land  to  the  people  by  annulling  the 
enormous  concession  in  the  State  of  Chi- 
huahua granted  to  Luis  Terrazas  by  the 
Diaz  regime.  The  reason  given  was  Ter- 
razas's  failure  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  the 
contract,  which  stipulated  the  establishment 
within  ten  years  of  numerous  villages  with 
improvements  and  the  division  of  the  land 
into  small  tracts  for  the  benefits  of  the 
peons.  German  immigration  to  Mexico  is 
no  longer  feared,  only  about  600  having 
entered  since  the  war.  The  first  attempt 
at  colonization  was  a  conspicuous  failure. 
A  company  was  formed  of  several  hundred 
members,  who  bought  German  goods  esti- 
mated to  bring  $800,000  in  Mexico  and  sent 
them  there  in  charge  of  two  men,  who  sold 


the  goods,  pocketed  the  money  and  dis- 
appeared. Meanwhile,  very  many  of  the 
colonists  had  embarked  and  are  now  de- 
pendent upon  the  charity  of  the  permanent 
German  residents. 

A  conference  of  oil  company  executives 
was  held  in  Galveston  on  March  16,  at 
which  it  was  stated  that,  so  long  as  Article 
27  of  the  Mexican  Constitution  held  out  a 
threat  of  confiscation,  American  oil  inter- 
ests would  oppose  recognition.  Regarding 
the  opposition  in  the  United  States,  Presi- 
dent Obregon  said  on  March  30: 

I  am  sure  that  the  campaign  is  backed  by- 
certain  interests  who  think  they  have  found 
in  the  present  Government  an  obstacle  to 
their  ambition  for  enrichment  without  outlay. 
They  have  charged  that  members  of  the 
Government  are  immoral  and  willing-  to  ac- 
cept bribes.  If  this  were  true,  the  oil  com- 
panies would  not  spend  so  much  money  at? 
tacking  these  members,  but  would  through 
bribery  both  save  money  and  attain  their 
ends. 

Regarding  the  report  that  Mexican  oil 
wells  were  on  the  point  of  exhaustion  and 
being  invaded  by  salt  water,  E.  L.  Doheny, 
President  of  the  Mexican  Petroleum  Com- 
pany, in  his  annual  report  explains  this, 
declaring  the  so-called  salt  water  invasion 
no  menace  to  the  property  in  general.  He 
says: 

Each  separate  and  individual  pool  of  oil  is 
cut  off  from  all  other  pools  of  similar  char- 
acter by  the  uplifted  walls  of  basaltic  rock. 
Each  has  a  separate  basin.  Therefore  one  of 
these  pools  may  be  exhausted  and  its  neigh- 
bor be  in  no  way  affected.  When  these 
pools  give  up  all  their  oil  content  they  leave 
behind  the  body  of  water  upon  which  the 
oil   was    superimposed. 

Arrangements  are  being  made  by  the 
Mexican  Government  to  establish  a  new  na- 
tional banking  system  with  a  capital  of 
17,500,000  pesos  gold.  Secretary  de  la  Huerta 
says  the  Treasury  has  15,000,000  pesos  on 
hand  toward  this  amount  and  the  rest  will 
be  supplied  soon.  The  National  Bank  of 
Mexico,  which  had  been  suspended  for  sev- 
eral years,  resumed  business  in  March,  to- 
gether with  fourteen  other  banks  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country.  A  commission  is 
about  to  be  sent  abroad  to  cancel  certain 
contracts  for  arms  and  munitions  which 
have  not  been  filled  and  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  return  of  deposits  made  dur- 
ing former  administrations. 

A  "  good-will  commission,"  which  left 
Mexico  City  on  Feb.  28,  has  been  touring 


MEXICO'S  PROGRESS  TOWARD  STABILITY 


333 


the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  inter- 
esting business  men  in  the  development  of 
Mexico,  and  has  been  extending  invitations 
to  attend  the  Trade  Conference.  On  arrival 
of  the  visitors  in  New  York  on  March  28, 
the  Merchants'  Association,  who  had  made 
arrangements  to  entertain  them,  were  sur- 
prised by  the  receipt  of  letters  from  the  Na- 
tional Association  for  the  Protection  of 
American  Rights  in  Mexico  and  the  Ameri- 
can Association  of  Mexico,  describing  the 
good-will  commission  as  an  instrument  for 
political  propaganda  and  warning  against 
acceptance  of  the  invitation  to  the  Trade 
Conference.  The  American  Association,  in 
its  note,  declared  that  nothing  could  be 
further  from  its  wishes  than  to  dissuade 
the  Merchant's  Association  from  cordial 
treatment  of  its  guests,  but  trade  with  any 
foreign  Government  was  best  promoted  by 
Americans  resident  there;  under  the  Car- 
ranza  Constitution  the  rights  of  Americans 
were  restricted;  trade  excursions  served  as 
a  form  of  propaganda;  spreading  favorable 
reports  about  Mexico  served  to  embarrass 
the  Washington  Government  in  its  designs, 
and  the  Mexican  Government  was  interested 
in  the  work  of  the  visitors.  When  this  pe- 
culiar method  of  refraining  from  dissuasion 
was  shown  to  Fernando  Leal  Novelo,  head 
of  the  Mexican  guests,  he  said:  "  We  have 
simply  come  to  the  United  States  as  busi- 
ness men  to  try  to  interest  your  commercial 
leaders  in  the  development  of  commerce 
with  our  country." 

A  committee  of  the  Merchants'  Associ- 
ation met  the  good-will  commission  and 
took  its  members  to  West  Point,  where 
they  inspected  the  Military  Academy.  Gen- 
eral Douglas  McArthur,  the  Commandant, 
received  the  visitors  cordially,  and  through 
them  extended  an  invitation  to  the  Com- 
mandant of  the  Chapultepec  Military 
Academy  and  his  staff  to  visit  West  Point. 
If  such  a  visit  could  be  officially  arranged, 
he  said,  it  would  be  a  great  step  toward 
cementing  the  proper  friendly  relations  be- 
tween the  two  republics.  After  saying  that 
most  South  and  Central  American  countries 
had  students  at  West  Point,  General  Mc- 
Arthur added:  "I  think  from  my  acquaint- 
ance with  General  Obregon,  which  covered 
a  considerable  period  at  the  time  both  of 
us  were  in  El  Paso,  that  he  will  appreciate 
the  opportunity  this  offers  to  the  youth  of 


Mexico,  and  I  trust  he  will  send  some  of,  his 
nationals  here." 

After  being  entertained  at  luncheon  by 
the  Merchants'  Association  the  next  day, 
the  good-will  commission  continued  its  tour 
and  finally  reached  Washington  on  April  9, 
to  pay  its  respects  to  President  Harding, 
who  received  the  members  cordially  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  trade  relations 
might  continue  to  develop. 

The  two  associations  who  issued  the 
warning  notes  also  sent  representatives  to 
Washington  who  presented  to  Secretary 
Hughes  a  memorandum  personally  attack- 
ing several  members  of  President  Obregon's 
Cabinet  and  protesting  against  recognition 
unless  a  written  guarantee  were  given  that 
Article  27  of  the  Constitution  were  not 
made  confiscatory.  The  Petroleum  Com- 
mittee of  the  Mexican  chamber  on  April  11 
agreed  upon  a  bill  regulating  the  applica- 
tion of  Article  27  so  that  it  shall  not  be 
retroactive  and  agreeing  that  all  oil  rights 
acquired  prior  to  Feb.  5,  1917,  will  be  re- 
spected. On  April  12,  Washington  learned 
from  Mr.  Summerlin,  American  Charge 
d' Affaires,  that  Obregon  had  given  assur- 
ances that  no  foreign  property  would  be 
disturbed  in  the  proposed  expropriation  of 
Mexican  land  for  the  benefit  of  peasants. 

Several  notes  were  sent  by  the  State  De- 
partment in  March,  asking  guarantees  for 
the  lives  and  property  of  foreigners  in 
Mexico,  on  account  of  recent  murders  and 
deaths  of  Americans  at  the  hands  of  Mexi- 
cans. An  absconding  clerk  in  the  Texas 
Treasury  Department  was  *  arrested  at 
Nuevo  Laredo  on  March  20  and  returned  to 
the  United  States,  being  the  first  fugitive 
delivered  to  American  officers  in  five  years. 

Linn  Gale,  an  American  draft  evader, 
was  deported  from  Mexico  on  April  5.  He 
had  escaped  from  draft  officials  at  Al- 
bany, N.  Y.,  and  made  his  way  across  the 
border  in  1918.  There  he  established  a  Bol- 
shevist and  pro-German  periodical  called 
Gale's  Magazine,  which  soon  became  the 
organ  of  the  radical  elements  in  Mexico. 
It  was  first  stated  that  he  would  be  deliv- 
ered to  United  States  authorities,  and  he 
was  sent  to  Vera  Cruz;  but  on  begging  the 
Mexicans  not  to  send  him  to  the  United 
States  he  was  sent  by  train  to  Guatemala, 
which  state  was  said  later  to  be  about  to 
deport  him  to  Salvador  or  Honduras. 


PANAMA  REJECTS  THE  WHITE  AWARD 

Refuses  to  accept  Secretary  Hughes's  suggestion  of  a  basis  for  settlement 
of  the   Costa   Rican   dispute  —  The    month's   events   in   Central   America 

[Period  Ended  April   15,    1921] 


PANAMA  and  Costa  Rica  having  agreed 
to  accept  the  mediation  of  the  United 
States  to  settle  their  differences,  as  related 
in  Current  History  for  April,  and  both 
sides  having  withdrawn  their  military 
forces  from  the  disputed  districts,  the  in- 
cident was  thought  to  be  closed.  But  on 
April  7  the  Panama  National  Assembly  re- 
opened the  whole  question  by  unanimously 
approving  a  reply  to  a  note  of  Secretary 
Hughes  in  which  Panama  was  urged  to  ac- 
cept the  award  of  President  Loubet  of 
France,  rendered  on  Sept.  11,  1900.  This 
award  granted  to  Costa  Rica  the  territory 
between  the  Burica  Point  Ridge,  the  Golfits 
River  and  the  Pacific  Coast,  forming  a  tri- 
angle extending  inland  about  fifty  miles, 
with  a  base  of  thirty  miles  on  the  ocean. 
It  had  been  occupied  by  Panama  and  pre- 
viously by  Colombia,  and  occupation  was 
continued  on  the  ground  that  Chief  Justice 
White,  who  further  defined  President  Lou- 
bet's  decision  in  1914,  had  gone  beyond  the 
territory  in  dispute. 

Secretary  Hughes's  note,  sent  to  Panama 
on  March  15,  declared  that  the  United 
States  "  considers  it  an  unavoidable  duty  to 
request  the  Government  of  Panama  at  once 
to  take  steps  to  confirm  the  boundary  line 
from  Punta  Burica  to  a  point  in  the  Central 
Cordillera,  north  of  Cerro  Pando,  by  relin- 
quishing its  jurisdiction  over  the  territory 
on  the  Costa  Rican  side  of  that  line  and 
transferring  it  to  Costa  Rica." 

With  respect  to  the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
boundary  Chief  Justice  White's  award  gave 
to  Costa  Rica  a  portion  of  the  territory 
claimed  by  Panama,  and  to  Panama  a  por- 
tion of  the  territory  claimed  by  Costa  Rica. 
The  line  begins  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sixaola 
River,  goes  west  to  Mount  Chirripo  and 
Mount  Pando,  and  thence  southwest  to  nine 
degrees  north  latitude,  Where  it  turns  south 
to  meet  the  Burica  Point  line.  This  award 
has  never  been  accepted  by  Panama,  al- 
though by  an  agreement  of  March  17,  1910, 
known  as  the  Porras-Anderson  treaty,  both 
republics  pledged  themselves  in  advance  to 


abide  by  the  award  "  whatever  it  be."  Sec- 
retary Hughes  urged  that  Panama  and 
Costa  Rica  name  a  commission  of  engineers 
to  mark  out  the  boundary. 

President  Porras,  on  March  18,  made  a 
personal  appeal  to  President  Hardirig 
against  Secretary  Hughes's  urgent  request; 
President  Harding  replied  the  next  day, 
fully  sustaining  the  Secretary  of  State. 
President  Porras,  on  March  25,  called  a 
special  session  of  Congress,  which  met  on 
March  28,  to  consider  a  reply  to  the  demand 
of  the  United  States.  In  his  message  to 
the  National  Assembly  the  President  gave 
warning  that  a  refusal  to  comply  would  re- 
sult in  the  withdrawal  of  the  friendly  of- 
fices of  the  United  States,  and  that  war- 
fare with  Costa  Rica  would  be  resumed. 
He  declared  that  Costa  Rica  would  receive 
aid  from  other  Central  American  republics, 
while  Panama  would  be  without  means  of 
defense. 

The  reply  unanimously  approved  by  the 
Panama  Assembly  was  an  absolute  defiance 
of  the  United  States  Government's  demand, 
reiterating  the  refusal  to  accept  the  White 
award  as  a  basis  for  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  question,  and  declaring  that  it 
was  prepared  to  accept  whatever  conse- 
quences might  follow  the  national  deter- 
mination to  preserve  territorial  integrity. 
The  President  was  authorized  to  spend 
$50,000  to  retain  the  services  of  three  Pan- 
amans  and  three  foreign  experts  to  sup- 
port the  Government  in  contesting  the 
White  award.  A  new  internal  loan  of 
$1,000,000  was  proposed,  to  be  guaranteed 
by  the  proceeds  of  the  national  lottery,  to 
repel  a  possible  invasion  by  Costa  Rica,  and 
arms  and  ammunition  purchased  abroad  be- 
gan to  arrive. 

Costa  Rica  was  naturally  delighted  with 
Secretary  Hughes's  note,  and  a  resolution 
expressing  gratitude  to  the  United  States 
"  for  its  just,  prompt  and  efficacious  media- 
tion "  was  sent  to  Vice  President  Coolidge 
for  transmission  to  the  State  Department. 
Meanwhile,  Costa  Rican  interests  in  Pan- 


PANAMA  REJECTS  THE  WHITE  AWARD 


33/5 


ama  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Span- 
ish Minister.  All  Latin  America  is  reported 
to  be  pleased  with  the  Hughes  note,  as  it 
removed  the  fear  that  the  United  States 
would  be  partial  to  Panama,  owing  to  her 
close  relations  with  the  Washington  Gov- 
ernment. 

PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE— Colonel  J.  J. 
Morrow,  on  March  26,  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor General  of  the  Panama  Canal  Zone, 
in  which  capacity  he  had  been  acting  for 
some  time.  It  was  announced  on  April  1 
that  a  bill  to  restore  free  toll  privileges 
through  the  Panama  Canal  to  American 
vessels  would  be  introduced  in  the  Senate 
at  the  present  session  of  Congress.  The 
New  York  Board  of  Trade  and  Transporta- 
tion has  been  urging  Congress  to  grant  free 
tolls  for  those  American  vessels  engaged  in 
the  coast-to-coast  trade.  Traffic  through 
the  canal  during  1920  reached  the  high 
record  of  2,814  commercial  ships,  as  com- 
pared with  2,134  in  1919,  an  increase  of  31 
per  cent.  Net  tonnage  aggregated  10,378,- 
265,  compared  with  6,919,149,  a  gain  of 
nearly  50  per  cent.  Tolls  levied  were  $10,- 
295,392,  against  $6,992,218.  Distribution  of 
traffic  was  in  the  following  order:  (1)  From 
the  west  coast  of  South  America  to  the  east 
coast  of  the  United  States;  (2)  from  the 
Atlantic  Coast  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Far  East;  (3)  from  South  America  to  Eu- 
rope; (4)  from  the  east  coast  of  the  United 
States  to  the  west  coast  of  South  America; 
(5)  from  the  west  coast  of  the  United 
States  to  Europe,  and  (6)  from  the  Gulf 
coast  of  Mexico  to  South  America,  the  lat- 
ter principally  fuel  oil. 

COSTA  RICA— Appearance  of  the  Brit- 
ish cruiser  Cambrian  in  Costa  Rican  waters 
in  support  of  the  validity  of  the  Amory  oil 
concession  has  caused  speculation  as  to 
whether  Great  Britain  would  attempt  to 
use  coercion.  A  note  was  presented  to 
Costa  Rica  on  Dec-  30  declaring  that  the 
British  Government  was  interested  in  the 
concession  granted  by  the  Tinoco  Govern- 
ment to  the  Lord  Cowdray  oil  interests, 
which  includes  some  700  square  miles  of 
land.  The  United  States  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  Tinoco  Government,  as  it  had  been 
instituted  by  force.  Washington  has  always 
taken  the  position  that  concessions  granted 
by  an  unrecognized  Government  in  Latin- 
American  countries  are  illegal.  On  March 
17  it  was  announced  that  the  Costa  Rican 


Congress,  by  a  vote  of  24  to  14,  had  sus- 
tained the  action  of  the  Costa  Rican  Presi- 
dent in  refusing  to  recognize  the  validity 
of  the  Amory  concession.  For  many  years 
Great  Britain  has  never  attempted  to  use 
force  to  compel  Latin-American  countries 
to  carry  out  obligations  to  British  subjects 
without  first  informing  the  United  States; 
but  there  was  no  advance  notice  given  of 
the  visit  of  the  British  cruiser  to  Costa 
Rica,  and  as  a  result  reports  have  been  cur- 
rent in  Washington  that  British  interests 
have  considered  the  possibility  of  negotiat- 
ing for  rights  to  construct  an  Isthmian 
canal  to  compete  with  that  at  Panama  on 
account  of  Britain's  large  interests  in  the 
Far  East. 

CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION— Dr. 
Julio  Bianchi,  Guatemalan  Minister  to  the 
United  States,  on  April  8,  announced  the 
birth  of  a  new  American  nation  on  receipt 
of  advices  that  Guatemala  had  ratified  the 
treaty  of  San  Jose,  which  creates  the  "  Fed- 
eration of  Central  America."  Costa  Rica 
had  signed  the  treaty  but  had  not  then  rati- 
fied it.  [For  text  of  treaty  see  Current 
History  for  April,  pages  153-157.]  The 
three  necessary  ratifications  had  been 
voted  by  Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Salva- 
dor. These  three  States  have  a  population 
of  4,100,000,  an  area  of  101,164  square  miles 
and  a  foreign  trade  of  $45,800,000  annually 
with  the  United  States.  [See  article  on 
page  294.] 

An  agreement  relative  to  currency  re- 
form in  Central  America  is  under  discussion 
between  the  United  States,  Costa  Rica  and 
Nicaragua,  and  a  treaty  is  before  the  United 
States  Senate  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  gold  clearance  funds  with  Guate- 
mala, Panama,  Paraguay  and  Haiti. 

GUATEMALA— For  the  purpose  of  en- 
couraging Guatemalan  trade  a  decree  has 
been  promulgated  removing  the  export  duty 
on  sugar,  the  country's  second  most  im- 
portant article  of  exportation,  about  $3,000,- 
000  worth  having  been  shipped  to  the 
United  States  last  year.  The  duty,  for- 
merly 2  cents  a  pound,  was  reduced  to  1 
cent  about  six  months  previously,  and  in- 
ternal taxes  in  the  twenty-two  departments 
have  been  greatly  reduced  and  made  uni- 
form. Guatemala  is  preparing  to  abolish 
or  decrease  duties  to  a  large  extent  on  all 
articles  of  export,  the  loss  in  revenue  to  be 
recovered  by  an  income  tax. 


336 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Guatemala  is  also  inviting  proposals  for 
a  concession  to  establish  a  bank  with  a 
capital  of  10,000,000  gold  pesos  and  the 
privilege  of  issuing  three  times  that  amount 
in  currency,  the  notes  to  be  redeemable  at 
sight  in  national  money  or  American  gold 
dollars.  The  institution  would  be  required 
to  lend  the  Government  3,000,000  pesos. 

HONDURAS— There  were  rumors  in 
March  of  a  revolution  impending  in  Atlan- 
tida  province  and  the  city  of  Ceiba,  Hon- 
duras, as  an  outcome  of  a  strike  of  laborers 
on  the  banana  plantations  for  a  wage  in- 
crease from  $1.25  a  day  to  $2.50.  An  in- 
crease to  $1.75  was  granted,  but  the  work- 
ers in  the  banana  and  sugar  plantations  say 
that  this  is  not  enough.  All  food  supplies 
are  imported  by  the  United  Fruit  Company 
and  other  big  business  concerns,  and  are 
sold  at  a  good  profit;  only  50  cents  a  hun- 
dred pounds  is  paid  at  the  ship  for  ba- 
nanas, which  are  sold  for  $5.50  in  New 
Orleans.  The  Honduran  Government  re^ 
stored  order  after  the  arrival  of  the  United 
States  warship  Sacramento  to  look  after 
American  interests,  but  Colonel  Ramon 
Lagos,  Governor  of  Atlantida,  was  dis- 
missed and  Colonel  Manuel  Matute  appoint- 
ed in  his  place. 

The  foreign  trade  of  Honduras  for  the 
fiscal  year  ended  July  31,  1920,  broke  all 
records,  imports  amounting  to  $12,860,762, 
nearly  double  those  of  any  previous  year, 
and  exports  reaching  $6,944,000  against,  a 
previous  high  mark  of  $5,997,741  in  1919. 
Over  95  per  cent,  of  the  exports  from  Hon- 
duras are  shipped  to  the  United  States. 

Honduras  has  signed  a  contract  with  W. 
G.  Stott,  a  United  States  army  officer,  to 
organize  a  national  police  force. 

NICARAGUA— A  dispatch  from  Mana- 
gua, dated  April  8,  said  that  a  commission 


of  American  engineers  was  expected  from 
the  United  States  to  study  plans  for  an  in- 
teroceanic  canal  through  Nicaragua.  This 
route  formerly  was  considered  more  prac- 
ticable than  that  of  Panama,  as  there  was 
no  elevation  as  high  as  Culebra  to  be  cut, 
and  Lake  Nicaragua  afforded  a  water  tran- 
sit for  about  one-third  of  the  distance. 
Though  the  project  was  dropped  in  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's  time,  it  is  now  being  re- 
vived because  the  traffic  by  way  of  Panama 
is  increasing  so  rapidly  that  the  canal  in  a 
few  years  will  be  unable  to  handle  it.  The 
Bryan-Chamorro  treaty  of  1916  gives  the 
United  States  the  exclusive  right  to  con- 
struct a  canal  through  Nicaragua,  and  to 
establish  a  naval  base  on  the  Gulf  of  Fon- 
seca,  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  For  these  privi- 
leges the  United  States  paid  $3,000,000. 
Salvador  and  Honduras  protested  against 
this  treaty  as  ignoring  their  rights  in  the 
Gulf  of  Fonseca,  and  this  is  the  chief  rea- 
son why  Nicaragua  refuses  to  join  the  Cen- 
tral American  Union,  fearmg  the  merger 
would  invalidate  the  treaty. 

United  States  marines  arrived  at  Mana- 
gua on  April  3,  to  replace  those  who  were 
punished  for  wrecking  the  plant  of  the  Trl- 
buna. 

Nicaragua  has  asked  the  Knights  of  Co- 
lumbus to  establish  councils  within  its  bor- 
ders "for  the  benefit  of  the  youth  of  Nica- 
ragua and  the  general  welfare,"  but  the 
Supreme  Secretary  said  it  was  improbable 
that  the  organization  would  be  extended  be- 
yond the  United  States,  its  possessions, 
Canada  and  Newfoundland. 

Corinto  has  been  made  a  regular  port  of 
call  for  Pacific  mail  steamers,  making  a  di- 
rect service  of  fifteen  days  to  Baltimore  and 
New  York,  avoiding  transshipment  at  Cris- 
tobal, which  formerly  resulted  in  loss  of 
time  often  amounting  to  a  month. 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  PROSPERITY 

Industrial  expansion  under  improving  business  conditions — Growing  navies  of  four 
republics — A  large  Krupp  concession  in  Chile — Brazil's  diamond  mines — A  Pan- 
American  research  laboratory  as  a  memorial  to  General  Gorgas 

[Period   Ended  April   15,    1921] 


BUSINESS  conditions  in  South  America 
have  been  gradually  improving  during 
the  first  quarter  of  the  year;  collections 
are  easier,  and  plans  are  afoot  for  the  im- 
provement of  railroad,  river  and  road  trans- 
portation. Brazil  and  Chile  are  about  to 
issue  new  loans  for  the  extension  of  rail- 
ways, and  an  Argentine  company  with  a 
capital  of  50,000,000  pesos  is  about  to  es- 
tablish a  shipbuilding  yard.  The  arrival  at 
Valparaiso  of  Chile's  first  dreadnought — 
the  28,000-ton  La  Torre,  formerly  the  Can- 
ada of  the  British  Navy — and  three  destroy- 
ers, has  revived  comparisons  of  South 
American  sea  power.  That  of  Argentina  is 
140,000  tons,  of  Brazil  120,000,  of  Chile 
85,000  and  of  Peru  10,000. 

ARGENTINA— The  Socialist  Party  of 
Argentina  split  in  March  over  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  rejecting  adherence  to  the 
Third  International  of  Moscow.  A  large 
number  of  the  extremists  were  expelled.  A 
band  of  university  students  at  Rosario 
captured  the  City  Hall  and  attempted  to 
take  over  the  local  government,  but  was 
suppressed  by  the  police,  and  the  disturbers 
were  imprisoned. 

The  steamer  Martha  Washington  having 
been  tied  up  by  a  boycott  of  the  union  port 
workers  of  Buenos  Aires,  the  American 
Ambassador,  on  April  13,  made  a  demand 
on  the  Argentine  Government  to  lift  the 
boycott  and  provide  means  for  unloading 
the  vessel.  Ambassador  Stimson  took  this 
step,  considering  the  Government  responsi- 
ble, because  port  labor  in  Buenos  Aires  had 
been  fiscalized;  that  is,  taken  over  by  the 
Government  to  prevent  strikes.  The  mat- 
ter was  referred  to  President  Irigoyen.  If 
the  Government  refused  to  interfere,  it  was 
said,  Buenos  Aires  might  be  dropped  as  a 
port  of  call  for  American  vessels. 

Four  hundred  German  immigrants  arrived 
in  Argentina  at  the  end  of  March  on  board 
the  first  passenger  vessel  flying  the  Ger- 
man flag  which  had  reached  Buenos  Aires 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war.     Most  of 


them  were  middle-class  people,  including 
eighty  army  officers,  but  few  had  any  cap- 
ital; they  were  expecting  to  obtain  em- 
ployment at  once. 

American  goods  to  the  value  of  $40,000,- 
000  were  said  to  be  piled  up  in  the  Buenos 
Aires  Custom  House,  having  been  rejected  by 
Argentine  buyers  through  inability  to  accept 
delivery.  Credit,  however,  is  now  improv- 
ing, owing  to  record  crops.  President  Iri- 
goyen on  March  18  issued  a  decree  that  no 
export  duties,  additional  to  those  assessed 
monthly,  should  be  imposed  on  exported 
cereals.  As  stated  in  a  dispatch  from  Brus- 
sels on  April  7,  the  Argentine  National 
Bank  has  been  authorized  to  finance  large 
shipments  of  wool  to  Antwerp,  allowing  two 
years'  credit.  The  cotton  industry  in 
Northern  Argentina  has  quadrupled  in  three 
years.  It  was  announced  on  April  12  that 
the  first  big  gusher  among  oil  wells  in  the 
Government  field  at  Comodoro  Rivadavia 
had  just  been  brought  in,  with  an  estimated 
production  of  25,000  barrels  a  day. 

President  Irigoyen  is  leading  advocate 
of  a  plan  for  the  nations  of  North  and  South 
America  to  erect  a  memorial  in  the  Panama 
Canal  Zone  to  the  late  General  William  C. 
Gorgas  for  his  success  in  conquering  trop- 
ical diseases.  The  memorial  will  be  in  the 
shape  of  a  laboratory  open  to  physicians 
of  the  world  who  wish  to  undertake  research 
work  in  connection  with  tropical  pestilences. 
Dr.  Franklin  H.  Martin  of  Chicago  is  a 
member  of  the  preliminary  committee  ap- 
pointed by  President  Porras  of  Panama  to 
gain  aid  for  the  memorial. 

BRAZIL— The  contract  for  the  use  of 
twenty-seven  former  German  steamships 
borrowed  by  France  from  Brazil  during  the 
war  expired  on  March  31,  and  the  French 
Government  is  preparing  to  return  them. 
Whether  Brazil  will  retain  or  sell  them 
has  not  been  decided.  It  was  stated  in  Rio 
Janeiro  that  interests  in  the  United  States 
had  offered  to  purchase  them. 

Stern  measures  have  been  taken  to  curb 


338 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  activities  of  foreign  anarchists  in  Brazil, 
owing  to  several  bomb  explosions  in  Rio 
Janeiro.  President  Pessoa  has  signed  a  de- 
cree providing  heavy  penalties  for  the 
propagation  of  subversive  doctrines. 

Brazil  is  endeavoring  to  improve  foreign 
exchange  by  raising  the  price  of  coffee, 
having  purchased  more  than  300,000  sacks 
in  the  first  half  of  April. 

C.  A.  Legesen,  a  South  African  diamond 
expert,  who  arrived  in  New  York  recently 
from  Brazil,  declares  that  the  diamond 
mines  of  Minas  Geraes  are  larger  than  all 
those  of  South  Africa  together,  and  believes 
there  are  in  sight  at  least  $120,000,000 
worth  of  the  precious  stones.  The  output  is 
now  about  15,000  karats  a  year.  The  dia- 
monds are  pure  white,  not  yellow,  as  popu- 
larly supposed. 

CHILE — The  Chilean  Cabinet  resigned  on 
April  12  as  a  result  of  rejection  by  the 
Senate  of  the  Government's  proposal  to  ap- 
point Luis  Aldunate,  former  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  as  Chilean  Minister  to 
France.  President  Alessandri  refused  to 
accept  the  resignations.  Antonio  Huneus 
and  Manuel  Rivas  also  resigned  as  dele- 
gates to  the  League  of  Nations,  because 
Augustin  Edwards,  Minister  to  Great 
Britain,  had  been  named  Chairman  of  the 
Chilean  delegation  to  the  Assembly.  The 
Government  cabled  a  refusal  to  accept  their 
resignations.  At  the  same  time  the  Presi- 
dent has  called  by  cable  for  the  resignation 
of  all  diplomats  who  belonged  to  the  oppo- 
sition party,  which  includes  Chilean  repre- 
sentatives to  Austria,  Spain,  the  Vatican, 
Holland,  Portugal,  Brazil,  Mexico  and  Cuba. 

German  farmers  have  been  negotiating 
for  the  purchase  of  50,000  tons  of  Chilean 
nitrate.  The  Krupps,  on  April  8,  obtained 
a  thirty-year  concession  from  Chile  for  the 
construction  of  the  largest  steel  and  muni- 
tions plant  in  South  America,  and  are  to 
receive  nearly  100,000  acres  of  rich  timber 
lands. 

Mile.  Adrienne  Bolland,  who  held  the 
French  woman's  aviation  altitude  record, 
flew  across  the  Andes  on  April  1  from 
Mendoza  to  Santiago,  Chile,  in  six  hours 
and  a  half. 

COLOMBIA— Senator  Lodge,  on  April  12, 
began  the  debate  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate on  the  Colombian  treaty,  which  pro- 
vides for  the  payment  of  $25,000,000  com- 
pensation for  President   Roosevelt's  action 


when  he  "  took  "  Panama.  Senator  Lodge 
declared  that  if  he  thought  anything 
in  the  treaty  reflected  on  Colonel  Roosevelt 
in  regard  to  the  Panama  Canal  nothing 
would  induce  him  to  support  it.  Besides 
that,  very  large  oil  fields  were  on  the  point 
of  development  in  Colombia,  which  it  would 
be  advantageous  to  have  in  American  hands. 
Expression  of  the  American  Government's 
regret  for  having  separated  Panama  from 
Colombia,  in  order  to  build  the  Panama 
Canal,  had  been  eliminated,  so  there  was 
nothing  now  to  prevent  ratification  of  the 
treaty  as  compensation  for  the  loss  of  Pan- 
ama. President  Harding  has  expressed 
himself  in  favor  of  the  treaty,  entirely  put- 
ting aside  old  and  unhappy  controversies. 

PARAGUAY— A  decree  of  Jan.  13  gave 
temporary  permission  to  vessels  under  for- 
eign flags  to  engage  in  trade  on  the  Upper 
Parana  River,  and  the  Argentine  Naviga- 
tion Company,  in  consequence  of  a  strike, 
placed  their  steamers  under  the  Paraguayan 
flag,  the  Asuncion  Government  agreeing  to 
operate  them  with  "  officialized  "  crews.  In 
March  the  company  reached  a  settlement 
with  the  river  boatmen's  union,  promising 
to  restore  union  crews  to  the  vessels.  The 
"  officialized "  crews  protested,  as  this 
meant  loss  of  their  jobs.  The  nonunion  men 
running  the  steamer  Huttaita,  on  April  6, 
stole  off  with  the  vessel  and  headed  north 
toward  the  Brazilian  frontier.  A  Para- 
guayan gunboat  was  sent  in  pursuit  and  the 
Huttaita  was  sunk  near  Concepcion.  This, 
it  is  believed,  forestalled  a  plot  of  the  crews 
to  resist  the  Paraguayan  Government's  in- 
tention to  restore  the  steamboats  to  the 
Argentine  Company. 

PERU — The  Marconi  Wireless  Telegraph 
Company  has  obtained  a  contract  to  operate 
the  postal,  telegraph  and  wireless  systems 
for  twenty -five  years,  beginning  May  1,  re- 
ceiving 5  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts 
and  50  per  cent,  of  the  annual  profits.  The 
Marconi  Company  will  have  exclusive  use 
of  all  international  wireless  stations  in  Peru 
and  practically  all  telephone  services. 

URUGUAY— Laws  enacted  by  the  Uru- 
guayan Congress,  President  Brum  declares, 
have  made  labor  contented.  One  pending 
in  March  provides  a  minimum  wage  of  $20 
a  month,  with  board  and  lodging,  and 
$45  in  the  city.  Another  law  gives 
obligatory  day  of  rest  each  week  and  in 
eludes  domestic  servants. 


;20 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  PROSPERITY 


339 


The  first  fatal  duel  since  the  adoption  of 
the  law  legalizing  dueling  occurred  in  Mon- 
tevideo on  March  21,  when  Captains  Melo 
and  Gomeza  of  the  Uruguayan  Army 
fought  with  pistols  and  the  former  was 
shot  through  the  heart. 

VENEZUELA— Dr.  Esteban  Gil-Borges, 
Venezuelan  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  ar- 
rived in  New  York  with  a  number  of  other 
distinguished  Venezuelans  to  represent  their 
country  at  the  unveiling  of  the  bronze  eques- 


trian statue  of  General  Simon  Bolivar,  the 
Liberator,  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  on 
April  19.  It  was  understood  that  President 
Harding  and  Secretary  Hughes  would  speak 
on  the  occasion.  On  the  same  day  official 
ceremonies  were  to  be  conducted  in  Caracas, 
where  two  parks  were  to  be  christened 
Washington  and  Clay.  The  statue  was  pre- 
sented to  the  City  of  New  York  by  the  Vene- 
zuelan Government  and  was  the  work  of 
S.  J.  Farnham  of  New  York. 


POLITICAL  TENSION  IN  CUBA 

A  Congressional  strike  of  the  Liberals  prevents  the  proclamation  of  Dr.  Zayas  as  Presi- 
dent— New  York  and  Havana  can  now  talk  by  telephone — Affairs  elsewhere  in  the 
West  Indies 

[Period  Ended  April  15,   1921] 


CUBA'S  Presidential  troubles  have  taken 
a  new  and  curious  turn.  Though  the 
supplementary  elections  of  March  15  con- 
firmed Dr.  Zayas  as  the  republic's  choice 
for  President,  the  Liberal  members  of  Con- 
gress undertook  to  render  the  proclamation 
of  his  election  impossible  by  going  on  strike 
and  absenting  themselves  from  Congress. 
At  this  writing  the  Cuban  public  is  puzzled 
over  the  problem  of  whether  Dr.  Zayas  can 
constitutionally  take  office  on  the  legal 
date,  May  20,  in  the  face  of  this  new  com- 
plication. 

The  Liberals  generally  stayed  away 
from  the  polls,  and  Dr.  Zayas  received 
about  33  per  cent,  of  the  vote.  There  were 
no  clashes,  as  General  Crowder  had  taken 
every  possible  step  to  assure  order.  The 
Liberals  and  Democrats,  however,  had  de- 
termined, if  possible,  to  prevent  Zayas  from 
acceding  to  the  Presidency.  The  House  of 
Representatives  passed  out  of  existence  at 
noon  on  April  4,  and  when  the  new  Con- 
gress was  called  to  order  at  3  o'clock  on 
that  day,  no  quorum  was  present.  Every 
member  of  the  National  League,  which  in- 
cludes the  old  Conservative  Party,  was 
there,  but  there  were  present  only  three 
Liberals,  who  evidently  came  as  observers 
for  the  Parliamentary  Council  of  the  Lib- 
eral Party,  then  in  session. 

Jose  Miguel  Gomez,  the  defeated  Liberal 


candidate  for  the  Cuban  Presidency,  ar- 
rived in  Washington  on  March  30,  to  appeal 
to  the  State  Department  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Provisional  Government  in  the 
island,  under  an  American  chief  executive 
if  necessary,  to  supervise  new  elections. 
General  Gomez  has  been  the  stormy  petrel 
of  Cuban  politics.  He  protested  against 
the  second  election  of  Estrada  Palma  and 
supported  a  revolutionary  movement  begun 
by  Pino  Guerra  in  1906.  He  took  the  field 
in  1917,  proclaiming  that  Menocal  had  been 
re-elected  by  fraud.  He  was  captured  in  bat- 
tle, but  was  soon  released.  As  a  result  of 
the  second  American  occupation,  he  was 
elected  President  and  served  four  years, 
from  1909  to  1913.  On  April  5,  Gomez 
called  on  President  Harding  and,  on  the 
same  day,  Dr.  Rafael  Angulo,  Chairman  of 
the  committee  of  Liberals  who  had  been 
sent  to  Washington,  presented  a  formal  ap- 
peal to  the  State  Department  to  set  up  a 
Provisional  Government. 

The  United  States,  through  Minister 
Long,  on  April  17,  formally  recognized  Dr. 
Zayas,  candidate  of  the  Coalition  Party,  as 
the  duly  elected  President  of  the  Cuban  Re- 
public. This  decision  determined  General 
Gomez  to  give  up  the  contest,  and  he  so 
formally  announced  as  soon  as  he  learned  of 
Minister  Long's  statement. 

Fernando     Quinones,     National     League 


340 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


candidate  for  Governor  of  Havana  Prov- 
ince, was  shot  dead  on  the  famous  Prado  in 
the  heart  of  Havana  by  Ernesto  Collado,  a 
Liberal  member  of  Congress  and  party  can- 
didate for  Governor  of  the  same  Province. 
Collado  was  indicted  for  homicide  and  held 
without  bail  pending  action  by  Congress  on 
a  plea  of  immunity  as  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  Assassination  talk  has 
been  rife  in  Cuba  lately.  In  March  Dr. 
Zayas's  private  secretary  was  found  mur- 
dered, and  a  prominent  political  leader  is 
said  to  have  made  a  vow  that  Dr.  Zayas 
will  never  serve  as  President  of  Cuba. 

Direct  telephone  communication  was 
opened  between  this  country  and  Havana 
on  April  11.  President  Harding  and  Presi- 
dent Menocal  exchanged  oral  expressions  of 
good-will,  as  did  also  several  of  the  Cabinet 
Ministers  in  the  two  capitals.  Still  more 
wonderful  was  the  fact  that  Washington 
and  Havana,  as  well  as  other  cities  across 
the  United  States,  listened  to  a  wireless 
telephone  operator  on  Catalina  Island,  off 
the  Pacific  Coast,  the  distance  to  Havana, 
5,700  miles,  being  a  new  record  for  trans- 
mission of  the  human  voice  by  a  circuit  of 
radio,  wire  and  cable.  The  Postal  Tele- 
graph Company  on  the  same  day  completed 
the  laying  of  a  new  submarine  cable  be- 
tween Miami  and  Havana,  giving  it  an  al- 
ternative route  to  that  from  New  York. 

Great  Britain  is  now  levying  a  50  per 
cent,  ad  valorem  duty  on  cigars  imported 
from  Cuba,  anc1  cigars  that  cost  8  cents  be- 
fore the  war  now  sell  in  London  for  25 
cents — a  shilling.  As  a  result  only  the 
well-to-do  can  afford  to  smoke  them,  and 
the  British  Government  loses  a  revenue 
amounting  to  $2,400,000  a  year.  Cubans  in 
reprisal  are  demanding  a  duty  of  40  per 
cent,  ad  valorem  on  all  British  goods,  and 
R.  T.  Nugent,  director  of  the  Federation  of 
British  Industries,  is  urging  strongly  a  re- 
ciprocal agreement  with  Cuba.  He  points 
out  that  in  the  first  quarter  of  1920  British 
exports  to  Cuba  were  150  per  cent,  heavier 
than  in  1919,  and  that  British  cotton  goods 
were  getting  a  big  hold  in  the  island;  all 
this  will  be  lost  if  a  tariff  war  ensues. 
Spain  is  following  Britain's  example,  rais- 
ing duties  on  Cuban  cigars  by  the  expedient 
of  valuing  them  in  gold  instead  of  silver 
as  heretofore.  This  amounts  to  an  increase 
of  more  than  6*0  per  cent.     Cuban  manu- 


facturers have  cabled  a  protest  to  Madrid. 
The  Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba  suspended 
business  on  April  9,  owing  partly  to  failure 
to  raise  $12,000,000  in  the  United  States  to 
tide  the  bank  over  April  15,  when,  under 
the  moratorium  law,  it  would  have  been 
compelled  to  pay  another  instalment  of  20 
per  cent,  to  its  depositors.  The  bank  had 
vast  amounts  loaned  to  sugar  planters  who 
could  not  pay  promptly,  but  is  solvent,  hav- 
ing over  $30,000,000  of  mortgages,  bonds 
and  assets  available  as  collateral. 

SANTO  DOMINGO— Ex-President  Hen- 
riquez  y  Carvajal  of  Santo  Domingo  on 
April  12  presented  a  petition  at  the  White 
House,  begging  that  the  United  States  re- 
store to  Dominicans  the  "  rightful  sov- 
ereignty of  which  they  have  been  deprived 
since  1916,  through  the  employment  of  the 
military  forces  of  the  United  States  with- 
out warrant  of  law. 

An  appreciable  diminution  in  the  volume 
of  freight  between  New  York  and  Santo 
Domingo  has  caused  the  three  principal 
lines,  which  were  operating  at  less  than  60 
per  cent,  of  capacity,  to  reduce  freight 
rates  on  a  number  of  important  articles. 
A  reduction  of  postage  to  United  States  do- 
mestic rates  also  went  into  efect  on  April  1. 

JAMAICA— The  Legislative  Council  of 
Jamaica  has  remitted  the  export  tax  on 
cocoanuts  and  cocoa,  fully  $1,000,000  worth 
of  which  are  exported  to  the  United  States 
annually.  Fruit  companies  trading  with 
America  are  engaged  in  fierce  competition. 
The  banana  price  has  risen  and  many  culti- 
vators are  said  to  be  selling  immature  fruit. 
Alastrim,  a  contagious  disease  similar  to  a 
mild  form  of  smallpox,  is  raging.  Marcus 
Garvey,  a  leader  of  American  negroes,  has 
arrived  from  New  York  and  is  addressing 
large  and  enthusiastic  meetings  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  Universal  Negro  Improvement 
Association,  of  which  he  is  President.  Fire, 
on  April  1,  destroyed  the  building  and 
stock  of  the  Jamaica  branch  of  the  Ameri- 
can Tobacco  Company;  loss,  $1,000,000. 

Hundreds  of  Jamaicans,  who  have  been 
unable  to  obtain  work  on  the  sugar  planta- 
tions in  Cuba,  are  returning  home  and  re- 
port that  orders  have  been  given  to  all  in- 
dustrial undertakings  in  Cuba  to  give  pref- 
erence to  Cuban  laborers  in  order  to  reliev 
unemployment. 


NORWAY'S  INDUSTRIAL 
INDEPENDENCE 


Capitalizing  waterpower  in  order  to  dispense  with  coal  and  to  sell  electricity  by  whole- 
sale to  neighboring  States — Shadow  of  German  competition  over  Scandinavian  markets 
— Events  in    Sweden   and   Denmark 

[Period    Ended  April   15,    1921 J 


BY  harnessing  many  waterfalls  Norway- 
is  making  strides  toward  leadership  as 
an  industrial  country.  Though  Norway 
has  abundant  iron  ore,  it  is  handicapped  by 
lack  of  coal,  and  the  nation's  scientific  in- 
genuity is  grappling  with  the  problem.  In- 
ventors in  many  lines  are  at  work  on  it. 
Norsk  Hydro,  the  great  electro-chemical 
company  of  Norway,  has  lately  acquired  a 
patent  on  the  invention  of  Professor  B.  F. 
Halvorsen  and  Mr.  Foss,  engineer,  for  mak- 
ing iron  without  the  use  of  coal  by  a  series 
of  metallurgical  reductions. 

Unstable  exchanges,  political  uncertain- 
ties and  social  unrest  still  tend  to  restrict 
trade  and  cripple  industry  in  Norway;  the 
financial  stringency,  too,  and  the  enormous- 
ly increased  cost  of  production  have  aggra- 
vated the  depression.  Financial  conditions 
have  adversely  affected  the  engineering  and 
allied  industries.  Especially  hampered  were 
workshops  on  the  west  coast  engaged  in 
repair  and  motor  work,  and  foundries  de- 
pendent on  the  fishing  industry,  several  of 
which  have  had  to  close  down. 

The  hydroelectric  power  industry  has 
become  the  most  important  of  Norway,  but 
has  been  retarded  in  new  development 
schemes  by  the  limitation  of  the  capital 
available  for  investment.  Of  the  15,000,000 
horse  power  units  latent  in  the  Norwegian 
water  courses  only  1,375,000  have  been 
utilized,  though  practically  every  farmer 
has  light,  heat  and  power  on  his  land.  The 
Government  has  continued  work  upon  its 
power  projects  of  harnessing  the  water- 
falls of  Nore  and  its  Hakavik  installation. 
Other  operations  are  in  progress. 

Of  the  6,000,000  horse  power  latent  in 
Sweden's  water  courses  nearly  all  is  in  the 
north  of  that  country.  The  Norwegian 
power  is  to  be  carried  by  air  cable  across 
Southern  Sweden  and  by  submarine  cable 


to  Denmark.  Both  Danish  and  Norwegian 
capital  has  been  secured  in  financing  the 
project,  and  with  the  financial  backing  of 
Sweden  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  plans 
will  make  noticeable  headway  in  the  near 
future.  Ultimately,  thinks  a  Norwegian  ex- 
pert, it  will  be  practicable  to  lay  a  sub- 
marine power  cable  from  Arendal,  Norway, 
to  Jutland,  including  all  three  Scandinavian 
countries  in  a  circular  line,  with  their  in- 
ternational co-operation. 

Norwegian  trade  and  industry  feel  the 
menace  of  German  competition.  German  ex- 
porters can  undersell  all  competitors,  even 
those  of  Norway,  on  account  of  the  low 
exchange  value  of  the  German  mark  as 
compared  with  the  currency  of  all  other 
manufacturing  countries.  Yet,  in  spite  of 
all  the  financial  difficulties  that  handicap 
the  country  and  of  the  comparative  stag- 
nation in  Norwegian  trade  and  industry  for 
over  a  year,  there  is  improvement  in  certain 
directions. 

A  special  Norwegian  commission  set  out 
for  Washington  early  in  April  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reaching  a  settlement  of  the  claims 
for  ships  requisitioned  by  the  United  States 
in  the  war.  The  Shipping  Board  had  al- 
lowed $14,157,000  for  the  commandeered 
ships,  but  Norway  was  not  satisfied  with 
that  amount,  contending  that  allowance 
should  be  made  for  the  speculative  value  of 
the  contracts,  due  to  the  increased  price  of 
tonnage  during  the  war. 

SWEDEN— King  Gustaf  V.,  who  occupies 
a  villa  a  part  of  every  year  on  the  Cote 
d'Azur,  France,  arrived  in  Paris  on  the 
morning  of  March  19.  Clusters  of  flags, 
Swedish  and  French,  decorated  the  Gare  de 
l'Est  in  his  honor.  Among  the  personages 
present  were  General  Lasson,  representing 
President  Millerand,  and  the  Swedish  Le- 
gation,   headed   by   the    Swedish    Minister, 


342 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Count  Aehrensvaerd.  King  Gustaf  was  ac- 
companied by  Count  Stedingk,  his  private 
chamberlain;  M.  Sandgren,  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary and  private  secretary;  Dr.  Olin, 
court  physician  and  Captain  Salander,  aide- 
de-camp.  The  King  responded  to  the  address 
of  welcome  by  the  Government  officials 
and  later  took  up  residence  at  the  hotel  of 
the  Swedish  Legation.  President  and  Mme. 
Millerand  gave  a  dinner  in  his  honor,  and 
for  several  days  he  was  the  centre  of  dis- 
tinguished social  functions. 

The  new  Swedish  Ministry  was  finally 
constituted  under  the  presidency  of  M.  de 
Sydow,  Conservative.  The  only  new  mem- 
ber among  the  other  Ministers  was  M. 
Beskow.  The  most  striking  personality  in 
the  Cabinet,  in  view  of  his  connection  with 
the  Aland  question,  is  Count  Wrangel, 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

About  the  only  progress  made  toward 
trade  with  Soviet  Russia  by  Sweden  lies  in 
her  becoming  a  clearing  house  for  Soviet 
gold.  Tons  of  this  metal,  according  to  The 
Associated  Press,  were  coming  from  Russia 
by  way  of  Reval.  In  Stockholm  the  gold 
was  melted,  given  the  stamp  of  the  Swedish 
Mint  and  thrown  upon  the  markets  of  the 
world.  The  Soviets  were  hoping  that  Amer- 
ican Consuls  in  Sweden  would  approve  ship- 
ments of  gold  without  tracing  them  further 
back  than  their  Swedish  origin. 

According  to  reliable  reports,  the  Bol- 
shevist gold  reserve  totals  only  175,000,000 
gold  rubles.  The  first  shipment  of  this  gold 
to  America,  seven  tons,  was  reported  to 
have  gone  forth  on  March  20  on  board  the 
Swedish  steamer  Carlsholm.  About  ninety 
tons  more  were  left  in  Stockholm,  having 
been  restamped.  Swedish  bankers,  who 
bought  most  of  the  gold,  were  making 
large  profits.  This  gold  traffic  and  the 
curtailment  of  credits  caused  a  decline  in 
American  exchange.  The  American  rate  on 
gold  exports  amounted  to  2,942  kroner  per 
kilogram,  the  English  rate  being  2,562.  Gold 
exports  to  England  were  very  small. 

DENMARK — Even  more  than  Norway, 
Denmark  is  under  the  menace  of  German 
commercial  competition.    It  is  feared  that 


the  charge  of  50  per  cent,  exacted  on  all 
German  goods  imported  into  Great  Britain 
will  be  prohibitive  of  the  import  of  German 
goods  into  allied  countries  and  will  increase 
their  unloading  on  Scandinavian  markets. 
The  Danish  trading  organ,  Borsen,  quotes 
statements  concerning  the  efforts  of  Scandi- 
navian and  other  neutral  countries  to  secure 
protests  from  their  respective  Governments 
to  the  League  of  Nations  against  this  policy, 
representing  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  allied  powers  to  allow  neutral 
countries,  important  as  markets  and  pro- 
duction centres,  to  face  ruin  through  the 
unprecedented  unloading  of  German  goods. 

The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  an- 
nounced before  the  Danish  Parliament  on 
April  9  that  agents  of  the  Russian  Soviet 
were  about  to  make  a  proposition  for  trade 
relations  with  Danish  organizations,  to  be 
followed  by  negotiations  with  the  Ministry. 
The  proposal  had  been  approved  by  a  com- 
mittee of  influential  Danish  merchants. 

Twenty  American  students  who  have  been 
appointed  by  the  American-Scandinavian 
Foundation  to  traveling  scholarships  of 
$1,000  each  for  study  in  the  universities  and 
technical  schools  of  Denmark,  Norway  and 
Sweden,  are  about  to  embark  for  these  coun- 
tries. They  begin  their  studies  under  the 
terms  of  the  fellowship  exchange,  which 
provides  also  for  twenty  Scandinavian  stu- 
dents at  American  universities.  They  will 
study  the  Scandinavian  languages  and  litera- 
ture, hydroelectrical  engineering,  chemistry, 
forestry,  economics,  metallurgy,  medicine, 
physics,  fisheries,  agriculture,  philosophy 
and  church  history. 

ICELAND — As  an  evidence  of  increasing 
activity  in  the  Icelandic  air  transport  ser- 
vice, which  kept  up  inland  communications 
last  Winter  and  has  also  aided  the  fishing 
fleets  in  locating  shoals  of  fish,  the  trans- 
port company  is  now  enlarging  its  fleet  by 
the  purchase  of  several  American  Curtiss 
flying  boats.  A  regular  air  service  will  ply 
this  Summer  from  Reykjavik,  Iceland,  to 
Copenhagen,  by  way  of  Leeds,  England,  a 
distance  of  1,600  miles. 


ITALY'S  CRITICAL  NEW  ELECTION 

A  momentous  verdict  in  the  nation's  life  to  be  given  on 
May  15 — Bloody  reprisals  by  the  Communists  and  Fascisti 

[Period  Ended   April   15,    1921] 


ON    April    2    the    Council    of    Ministers 
signed    the    following    remarkable    ad- 
dress to  King  Victor  Emmanuel  III.: 

Sire: 

From  the  fall  of  imperial  Rome  until  to- 
day, when  Italian  unification  is  complete,  in 
accordance  with  sacred  national  aspirations 
all  new  provinces  annexed  have  been  allowed 
to  elect  representatives. 

The  events  which  followed  the  elections  of 
1919  and  the  unrest  manifest  in  certain  prov- 
inces of  the  kingdom  have  served  to  hasten 
new  elections  rather  than  to  retard  them. 

The  will  of  the  nation  is  the  greatest  force 
for  the  re-establishment  of  the  authority  of 
the  law. 

Foreign  policy  will  develop  in  accordance 
with  economic  ideals,  provided  the  scope  of 
commercial  influence  be  assured  with  replen- 
ishment of  raw  materials,  new  paths  for  emi- 
gration, new  markets  for  our  products. 

We  are  confident  that  the  new  Chamber 
will  modify  Article  V.  of  the  Constitution 
concerning  declarations  of  war  and  the  con- 
clusion of  international  treaties. 

Furthermore,  the  deficit  of  4,000,000,000  lire 
imposes  heavy  sacrifices  on  the  people,  par- 
ticularly on  the  rich. 

The  ordinances  and  administration  of  jus- 
tice should  be  reformed  and  made  more  ac- 
tive. 

State  examinations  should  be  imposed  in  all 
departments,  and  a  reform  of  the  army  and 
navy  administrations,  reconciling  the  neces- 
sity of  national  defense  with  the  minimum 
expense. 

Moreover,  co-operative  organizations  should 
be  perfected  by  which  profits  shall  be  so 
distributed  among  the  workers  as  to  anni- 
hilate the  striKe. 

The  representative  agricultural  industries 
should  be  organized  ;  the  great  landed  estates 
broken  up ;  methods  assuring  social  protec- 
tion should  be  perfected. 

The  workers  can  doubtless  aid  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  industries  if  they  shall 
pass  the  period  of  vague  revolutionary  as- 
pirations. Let  us  express  the  hope,  there- 
fore, that  representatives  may  be  sent  to 
Parliament  who  are  capable  of  carrying  out 
practical  programs. 

Thus  will  Italy  be  able  to  pursue  with  se- 
curity the  task,  already  showing  fruits,  of 
reconstruction  of  the  national  heritage,  which 
is  in  her  firm  and  healthy  organism,  and 
victoriously  overcome  the  crisis  as  it  appears. 

The  new  Legislature,  we  have  faith,  will 
be  equal  to  this  task. 


We  have  the  honor,  Sire,  to  submit  to  your 
Majesty  the  decree  dissolving  tne  Chamber 
of  Deputies  and  calling  the  elections  for  the 
15th   of   May   next.     ' 

On  April  7  the  following  royal  decree  was 
issued : 

According  to  Article  9  of  the  Fundamental 
Law  of  the  Realm;  according  to  the  unique 
text  of  the  political  election  law  endorsed  by 
royal  decree,  Sept.  2,  1919,  the  Council  of 
Ministers  is  heard,  and  on  the  proposal  of 
our  Minister  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Interior,  President  of  the  Council  of  Minis- 
ters, we  have  decreed  and  herewith  decree : 

Article  1— The  Chamber  of  Deputies  is  dis- 
solved. 

Article  2— The  electoral  colleges  are  called 
for  the  15th  day  of  May,  1921,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  electing  the  number  of  Deputies  as- 
signed to  each  one. 

Article  3— The  Senate  of  the  Kingdom  and 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  are  convoked  for 
the  8th  day  of  June,   1921. 

We  command  that  the  present  decree,  pro- 
vided with  the  seal  of  State,  be  inserted  in 
the  official  records  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy 
and  sent  to  each  official  concerned,  to  have 
him  observe  it  and  cause  it  to  be  observed. 
Rome,    April   7,    1921. 

(Signed)  VICTOR  EMMANUEL. 

(Countersigned)       GIOLITTI. 

Thus  passed  into  history  the  twenty-fifth 
Legislature,  which,  in  its  feverish  existence 
of  seventeen  months,  performed  less  neces- 
sary work  than  any  of  its  predecessors, 
leaving  unsolved  the  two  great  problems  of 
the  day:  A  retrenchment  in  national  fi- 
nance and  co-operation  between  labor  and 
capital,  for  both  of  which  the  Government 
had  offered  rational  solutions. 

It  was  never  a  representative  Chamber, 
and  it  grew  less  representative  as  com- 
munism grew,  waxed  strong,  and  then 
waned  under  the  hammer  blows  of  the 
Fascisti  and  an  aroused  middle  class  bent 
on  enforcing  the  laws.  When  it  came  into 
power  in  November,  1919,  as  the  successor 
of  the  war  Chamber  grown  stale  in  vague 
attempts  to  readjust  itself  to  peace,  it  dis- 
covered that  the  determining  factor  would 
be  the  increase  of  the  number  of  Socialist 
Deputies  from  77  to  156,  and  the  presence 
of  101  Deputies  representing  the  new  Popu- 


344 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


lar  or  Catholic  Party.  The  Ministerialists 
were  reduced  from  318  to  161.  These  re- 
sults had  been  due  to  the  indifference  of 
the  middle  class.  Humiliated  by  the  defeat 
of  Italy's  foreign  policy  at  the  Paris  Peace 
Conference,  and  by  the  indifference  of  the 
Nitti  Government  to  vital-  domestic  ques- 
tions, the  middle  class  had  remained  away 
from  the  polls.  Such  a  Chamber  as  resulted 
could  not  possibly  be  constructive,  and  Pre- 
mier Nitti,  after  one  attempt  to  make  it 
representative  of  the  heterogeneous  mass  of 
politicians  sitting  at  Montecitorio,  went  out 
of  office  in  June,  1920,  being  defeated  by 
the  combination  of  the  left  wings  of  both 
the  Socialist  and  the  Catholic  Parties. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  veteran  Giolitti, 
who,  supported  by  a  Ministry  representative 
of  the  most  respectable  factions  in  the 
Chamber,  achieved  the  masterpiece  of  the 
Treaty  of  Rapallo,  but  found  himself  unable 
to  cope  with  the  rising  tide  of  Leninism, 
and  so,  for  a  time,  practically  abdicated  as 
an  executive  and  allowed  the  laws  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  to  become 
a  dead  letter. 

The  more  rational  of  the  proletariat  soon 
discovered  their  mistake,  but  the  extremists 
kept  on,  and,  heedless  of  the  rebuke  of  a 
chastened  proletariat  and  a  more  circum- 
spect socialism,  they  attempted  a  revolution 
by  direct  action.  It  was  at  this  point  that 
the  middle  class  shook  off  its  torpor  and 
began  to  act.  Its  weapon  was  the  Fascisti, 
an  organization  brought  into  being  by  Be- 
nito Mussolini,  a  reformed  Socialist,  pledged 
to  patriotism  and  to  the  purging  of  the 
Peninsula  of  communism,  and  supported  by 
popular  subscription.  The  emblem  of  the 
Fascisti  was  the  Fasces  borne  by  the  Lie- 
tors  of  ancient  Rome;  from  this  they  took 
their  name. 

The  Government  working  behind  the  Fas- 
cisti gradually  recovered  some  of  its  au- 
thority. But  as  its  induced  strength  aug- 
mented more  and  more,  the  impossibility 
of  legislating  with  the  Twenty-fifth  Cham- 
ber became  more  and  more  evident.  The 
only  thing  that  enabled  it  to  stay  in  office 
was  the  growing  fear  of  the  Socialist  and 
Catholic  Parties,  particularly  the  former, 
that  a  defeat  of  Giolitti  would  mean  disso- 
lution and  a  new  election. 

But  Giolitti  who,  as  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, would  supervise  a  new  election,  did 


not  wait  to  be  defeated  and  so  lose  that 
valuable  political  asset. 

The  election  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Legis- 
lature on  May  15  next  will  be  the  most  im- 
portant since  the  inauguration  of  the  Third 
Italy.  Aside  from  the  vital  questions  to  be 
decided  connoted  in  the  foregoing  address 
of  the  Ministry  to  the  King,  the  electorate, 
by  the  addition  of  new  provinces,  has  raised 
the  number  of  Deputies  from  508  to  535. 
The  27  new  seats  are  thus  distributed: 

The  two  new  districts  in  the  Trentino, 
consisting  of  Revereto-Trento  and  Bolzano 
and  their  included  communes,  will  have, 
respectively,  7  and  4;  the  City  and  Prov- 
ince of  Trieste,  4;  the  Province  of  Gorizia- 
Gradisca,  with  the  territory  annexed  from 
the  Provinces  of  Carinzia  and  Carniola, 
5;  the  Province  of  Istria,  with  the  constit- 
uency of  Parenzo,  6;  Zara  and  Lagosta, 
with  the  annexed  Dalmatian  territory,  1. 

And  aside  from  these  additions  the  Min- 
istry of  the  Interior,  with  the  aid  of  the 
Prefects  of  the  provinces,  has  made  a  new 
apportionment  of  the  old  constituencies, 
with  the  idea  of  breaking  up  the  strong- 
holds of  communism  and  anarchy. 

While  the  electioneering  so  far  has  shown 
very  little  change  in  the  academic  political 
programs  of  the  Conservative  Parties,  near- 
ly all  have  adopted  anti-communist  reso- 
lutions, and  many  of  them  the  emblem  of 
the  Fascisti,  the  Roman  eagle  surmounting 
the  Fasces  of  the  Lictors.  Even  the  Social- 
ists have  changed  their  emblem  from  the 
hammer  crossed  with  the  sickle  to  the  ham- 
mer crossed  with  the  pen. 

Benito  Mussolini  is  directing  the  Fas- 
cismo,  not  as  a  definite  political  party,  but 
as  a  super-party  pledged  to  patriotism;  in 
those  constituencies  where  the  Ministerial- 
ists are  already  in  the  majority  the  Fas- 
cismo  refrains  from  acting  as  such,  while 
concentrating  its  influence  and  action  in 
those  constituencies  where  the  Ministerial- 
ists are  in  the  minority. 

Although  the  Catholic  or  Popular  Party, 
owing  to  the  extremists  among  it  and  their 
periodic  cohesion  to  communism,  has  lost 
caste  among  those  Liberals  who  voted  the 
Popular  ticket  at  the  last  election,  never- 
theless, its  excellent  organization,  the 
growing  prestige  of  the  Vatican,  and  the 
advice  of  the  Pope  for  all  Catholics  to  ally 
themselves  with  law  and  order,  are  expect- 
ed to  show  little,  if  any,  diminution  in  the 


ITALY'S  CRITICAL  NEW  ELECTION 


345 


number  of  its   representatives   at   Monteci- 
torio. 

No  sooner  had  the  royal  decree  dissolv- 
ing the  Chamber  been  issued  than  seven- 
teen communist  and  anarchist  Deputies, 
thus  deprived  of  their  Parliamentary  immu- 


((c)    Harris    t€    Enoing) 

ROLANDO   RICCI 

The    new    Italian    Ambassador    to    the 

United    States 


nity,  were  arrested,  charged  with  various 
crimes  from  arson  and  murder  to  treason. 

The  struggle  continued  between  the  Fas- 
cisti  and  the  Reds,  particularly  in  the  in- 
dustrial cities  of  the  north,  as  usual  the 
Fascisti  waiting  for  some  overt  act  to  be 
committed — an  attack  on  public  or  private 
property,  an  assault  upon  some  carabiniere 
or  soldier — when  they  would  solemnly  exe- 
cute the  local  head  of  the  obnoxious  organ- 
ization and  destroy  its  meeting  place. 
Then,  in  their  turn,  the  communists  would 
call  a  strike  in  revenge,  which,  in  many 
cases,  proved  abortive  on  account  of  the 
growing  timidity  of  the  strikers  and  public 
resentment. 

On  March  23  a  terrible  thing  happened 
at  the  Diana  Theatre  of  Milan.  In  the 
midst  of  the  evening's  performance  before 
a  crowded  auditorium  a  bomb  was  exploded 


which  killed  31  persons  and  injured  over 
100.  While  the  police  were  busy  making  an 
investigation  the  Fascisti  acted  on  their 
own  evidence  and  in  their  usual  way.  In 
Milan  and  neighboring  towns  not  only  the 
meeting  places  of  communists  and  anar- 
chists were  destroyed,  but  their  newspaper 
offices  met  a  similar  fate.  Some  of  the 
alleged  delinquents,  run  down  by  the 
Fascisti,  were  turned  over  to  the  police; 
some,  concerning  whose  guilt  there  ap- 
peared to  be  no  doubt,  were  dealt  with  in 
another  manner.  The  arrests  made  by  the 
police  numbered  over  100  by  April  1;  there 
is  no  record  of  those  apprehended  by  the 
Fascisti. 

On  April  10  Palo  Boselli  was  made  a 
Senator  for  life,  and  the  next  day  Luigi 
Luzzatti  was  honored  in  a  similar  manner. 
Both  are  former  Premiers,  the  first  born 
at  Savona,  in  Liguria,  in  1838,  and  the 
second  of  Jewish  parents,  at  Venice,  in 
1841.  When  both  entered  Parliament  in 
1870,  Luzzatti  already  had  a  European  rep- 
utation as  a  political  economist,  and  was 
later  to  hold  portfolios  in  several  famous 
Ministries,  besides  being  President  of  the 
Council.  He  last  held  office  under  Nitti 
a  year  ago.  Boselli  has  had  a  similar,  al- 
though less,  distinguished  career.  He  is 
principally  remembered  as  being  the  head 
of  the  second  war  Cabinet,  from  June  19, 
1916,  till  October,  1917,  which  covered  one 
of  the  most  difficult  and  glorious  periods 
of  Italian  national  life  and  prefaced  one  of 
the  most  disastrous — Caporetto. 

On  April  1  General  Count  Cadorna's 
book,  "  The  War  on  the  Italian  Front," 
made  its  appearance.  It  is  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  Italy's  preparations  for  the  war, 
and  the  development  of  the  tactical  and 
strategic  plans  until  after  Caporetto.  Much 
of  the  book  is  taken  up  by  developing  the 
argument  that  had  the  Allies  accepted  the 
premise  that  the  war  could  have  been  won 
on  the  Italian  front,  there  would  have  been 
no  Caporetto,  and  the  sequence  of  the  Ger- 
man and  Austrian  surrenders  would  have 
been  inverted.  Although  differing  from 
those  military  critics  who  believe  that  the 
war  should  have  been  won  where  it  was 
won,  the  book  gives  a  mass  of  confirmatory 
evidence  to  those  other  critics  who  continue 
to  believe  with  Napoleon  and  Cadorna  that 
the  quickest  way  to  reach  Berlin  is  via  Kla- 
genfurt  and  Vienna. 


THE  NEW  SPANISH  CABINET 


[Period   Ended  April  ir>,    1021] 


ON  March  13,  five  days  after  the  assassi- 
nation of  Premier  Dato,  the  veteran 
Conservative  leader  Antonio  Maura  having 
failed  to  form  a  Cabinet,  his  followers  com- 
bined with  those  of  the  late  Sefior  Dato 
and  of  Juan  de  la  Cierva,  and  designated 
Manuel  Allende-Salazar  as  President  of  the 
Council,  without  portfolio.  The  following 
slate  was  accepted  by  the  King: 

Premier    Senor    Allende-Salazar 

Foreign    Affairs Marquis    Lema 

Interior    Sefior  Bugallal 

War   Viscount   Eza 

Marine    Sefior  Prida 

Finance    Senor  Arguelles 

Public    Works Sefior  Lacierva 

Public     Instruction Sefior   Aparicio 

Labor    Count   Elizarrag-a 

Justice    Sefior  Pinies 

This  is  a  Coalition-Conservative  Minis- 
try. Aside  from  the  supporters  of  Maura 
and  de  la  Cierva,  numbering  44,  it  can 
count  on  those  of  the  late  Premier,  num- 
bering 127,  also  on  the  Catalonian  Region- 
alists,  numbering  17,  making  with  the  per- 
sonal factions  a  total  of  232  against  a  Lib- 
eral Opposition  led  by  Count  Romanones 
with   93. 

At  the  Socialist  Congress,  held  on  April 
14  in  Madrid,  the  communists  withdrew 
from  the  Socialist  Party  after  a  resolution 
to  adhere  to  the  Third  International  and  to 
the  twenty-one  Articles  of  Lenin  had  been 
rejected  by  a  vote  of  8,808  to  6,025.  Thus 
the  Spanish  Socialists  break  up  into  two 
parties,  as  was  the  case  in  Italy  and  Ger- 
many, with  the  communists  in  the  minority, 
and  not,  as  in  the  case  of  Switzerland  and 
France,  with  the  communists  technically  in 
the  majority. 

The  convincing  influence  in  Madrid  was 
the  revelations  made  by  Senor  de  las  Rios 
and  Sefior  Anguino,  who  had  studied  Bol- 
shevism in  Russia,  combined  with  the  ad- 
vice of  the  leader  Largo  Caballero,  a  mem- 
ber of  the   Madrid   City   Council,  who   ap- 


pears to  be  a  Spaniard  first  and  a  Socialist 
afterward. 

PORTUGAL— The  new  Portuguese  Min- 
istry under  the  Premiership  of  Bernardo 
Machado  has  not  encountered  any  serious 
opposition  in  Parliament,  as  it  has  the  sup- 
port of  the  Popular  Party,  of  the  Demo- 
crats, the  Dissident  Democrats  and  the  Re- 
constituent  Democrats,  and  so  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  sort  of  Democratic  coalition. 

The  new  Premier  is  not  only  opposed 
to  amnesty  but  is  even  said  to  have  fabri- 
cated a  new  Royalist  plot,  with  the  result 
of  many  arrests.  He  takes  the  view  that 
the  political  prisoners  should  be  kept  in 
the  Penitenciaria  "  for  their  own  good,  to 
cleanse  their  souls  from  guilt."  Even  the 
murderer  of  President  Paes,  Jose  Julio 
Costa,  after  two  and  a  half  years,  has  not 
yet  been  brought  to  trial.  Attempts  have 
been  made  to  place  Costa  in  the  Lisbon 
Bombarda  Insane  Asylum.  Its  director, 
however,  points  out  that,  as  he  was  not 
mad  when  the  crime  was  committed,  and 
has  not  gone  mad  since,  his  admittance 
would  be  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the 
asylum,  incorporated  in  the  decree  of  May 
11,  1911. 

According  to  the  Diario  de  Noticias,  a 
Republican  paper  of  Lisbon,  some  of  the 
newly  arrested  men  were  apprehended 
merely  because  of  their  Royalist  opinions. 
Those  who  were  ready  to  conspire,  it  de- 
clared, had  not  the  consent  of  any  leader 
of  any  Royalist  Party.  This  situation  was 
said  to  apply  also  to  the  followers  of  the 
late  President  Paes. 

The  body  of  an  unknown  Portuguese 
soldier  to  be  buried  in  the  Pantheon  in 
Lisbon  was  sent  to  Cape  Town  from  Lor- 
enco  Marquez  on  March  16.  It  had  been 
brought  from  Nyassaland,  where  the  soldier 
was  killed  in  the  war. 


GREECE  ATTEMPTS  TO   IMPOSE  THE 
SEVRES  TREATY 


Story  of  the  campaign  in  Asia  Minor  and  of  the  Greek  Army's  endeavors  to  force  Mus- 
tapha  Kemal  to  conform  to  the  will  of  the  Allies — Overwhelming  political  and  military 
difficulties  in  the  way 

[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


ON  March  24  the  Greek  Army  in  Asia 
Minor  began  its  campaign  to  execute 
single-handed  the  Treaty  of  Sevres. 
It  did  this  under  the  most  trying  moral  and 
material  handicaps.  The  country's  repudia- 
tion of  Venizelos  and  its  restoration  of  King 
Constantine  last  November  had  seriously 
injured  its  moral  status,  not  only  in  the 
chancelleries  of  the  Allies,  but  also  among 
their  peoples.  Taking  into  account  this 
situation  and  ignoring  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  intentions  of  the  Treaty  had  been  to  re- 
move from  the  power  of  the  Turk  his  ca- 
pacity to  injure  subject  races,  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy  and  Japan  at  the  Near  East 
Conference  held  at  London,  from  Feb.  21 
to  March  12,  had  offered  to  modify  the 
Treaty  at  the  expense  of  Greece  by  restor- 
ing certain  political  and  territorial  powers 
to  Turkey  of  which  the  Treaty  had  deprived 
her. 

Nor  was  this  all.  While  these  proposals, 
with  certain  modifications,  were  accepted 
by  both  the  Constantinople  and  the  Angora 
delegates — the  former  representing  the  arti- 
ficial administration  of  the  Sultan,  created 
and  maintained  by  the  Allies  under  the  di- 
rection of  Great  Britain,  but  which,  never- 
theless, had  declined  to  ratify  the  Treaty, 
and  the  latter  the  Nationalists  under  Mus- 
tapha  Kemal  Pasha — both  France  and  Italy 
entered  into  separate  engagements  with  the 
Kemalists  which  would  prevent  Greece, 
even  if  victorious  over  Kemal,  from  enjoy- 
ing the  fruits  of  that  victory,  even  though 
they  were  limited  to  the  original  terms  of 
the  Treaty.    [See  text  of  pacts,  Page  203.] 

The  military  prospect  was  also  discour- 
aging. The  campaign  was  to  be  fought 
over  the  ground  which  was  included  in  the 
Italian  zone  of  commercial  exploitation,  as 
set  down  in  the  treaty;  on  account  of  the 
new  accord  reached  by  the  Governments  of 


Constantinople  and  Angora  and  with  them- 
selves, the  Entente  powers  made  no  objec- 
tions to  the  troops  of  the  Sultan  joining 
the  colors  of  Kemal  on  the  north,  while  on 
the  south  the  Franco-Kemalist  pact  released 
30,000  Nationalists,  who  hastened  to  join 
KemaPs  left  wing.  In  London  and  in  Paris, 
respectively,  General  Foch  and  General 
Gouraud,  the  French  High  Commissioner  in 
Syria,  had  urged  all  military  arguments 
upon  M.  Gounaris,  then  the  Greek  Minister 
of  War,  to  abandon  the  enterprise,  which 
could  end  only  in  failure,  with  an  unneces- 
sary sacrifice  of  Greek  lives  and  treasure. 
In  Smyrna  itself  General  Papoulas  had  suc- 
ceeded the  veteran  General  Paraskevopoulos 
as  Commander-in-Chief,  and  with  the  latter 
had  been  retired  those  other  Venizelos  offi- 
cers whose  experience  had  made  possible  the 
Greek  victories  over  the  Kemalists  in  June, 
1920.  Finally,  although  the  reports  from 
Papoulas's  General  Staff  praised  the  Greek 
morale  and  disparaged  that  of  the  Turks, 
reason  and  a  grasp  of  the  circumstances 
involved  seemed  to  point  to  the  opposite  as 
the  truth.  In  spite  of  all  these  handicaps, 
however,  Greece  ignored  the  advice  of  the 
Entente,  and,  remembering  only  the  cen- 
turies of  Turkish  atrocities  which  the  Treaty 
of  Sevres  was  intended  to  end,  began  her 
campaign. 

The  proposals  for  a  modification  of  the 
treaty  handed  the  Turkish  and  Greek  dele- 
gations at  London  were  published  in  a  Brit- 
ist  communique  on  March  12.  Though  the 
Greeks  rejected  them  in  toto,  as  we  already 
know,  the  only  objection  that  the  Turks 
found  to  them  was  the  stipulation  of  a 
Greek  garrison  in  the  town  of  Smyrna.  Ac- 
cording to  the  official  statement,  these  pro- 
posals are  to  the  following  effect: 

The  Allies  would  be  prepared  to  facilitate 
the  admission  of  Turkey  to  the  League  of 
Nations   on    condition    that   they   have   proof 


348 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  Turkey's  readiness  to  execute  the  Treaty 
as  now  modified. 

They  would  be  prepared  to  withdraw  from 
the  Treaty  the  menace  at  present  suspended 
over  Turkey  of  expulsion  from  Constanti- 
nople in  certain  contingencier 

They  would  be  prepared  to  concede  to  Tur- 
key the  Chairmanship  of  the  Straits  Com- 
mission, on  which  Turkey  should,  moreover, 
have  two  votes  instead  of  one  as  hitherto 
proposed. 

The  Allies  would  admit  Turkish  member- 
ship of  the  commission  to  prepare  the 
scheme  of  judicial  reform  to  replace  the 
Capitulations. 

THE  TURKISH  FORCES.- The  Allies  are 
prepared  to  admit  the  increase  of  the  Turk- 
ish forces  to  30,000  special  elements  and 
45,000  gendarmerie.  The  latter  would  be 
distributed  in  agreement  between  the  Turk- 
ish Government  and  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission. The  proportion  of  officers  and  non- 
commissioned officers  admitted  in  the  gen- 
darmerie will  be  modified  in  a  sense  more 
favorable  to  Turkish  desires,  and  the  num- 
ber of  foreign  officers  will  likewise  be  re- 
duced and  distributed  in  agreement  between 
the  Turkish  Government  and  the  Interallied 
Commission,  which  might  likewise  be  able  to 
consent  to  some  extension  of  the  number 
and  mature  of  military  schools.  An  exten- 
sion of  the  periods  specified  for  demobiliza- 
tion, reduction  of  armaments,  &c,  would 
also  be  accepted. 

THE  DARDANELLES  AND  BOSPORUS.— 
Further,  in  regard  to  the  Straits,  the  Allies 
have  in  mind  considerably  to  reduce  the 
demilitarized  zone,  which  would  be  limited  :— 

(1)  To  the  Peninsula  of  Gallipoli  and  the 
Marmora  coast  up  to  Rodosto ; 

(2)  On  the  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Dardanelles, 
from  Penedos  to  Karabigha; 

(3)  On  the  two  shores  of  the  Bosporus  to  a 
depth  of  20  or  25  kilometers  [12%  or  16 
miles]  ; 

(4)  To  the  Islands  commanding  the  Darda- 
nelles,  in  the  Aegean   and  the   Marmora. 

CONSTANTINOPLE  -  The  Allies  might 
also  consent  to  the  rapid  evacuation  of  Con- 
stantinople, of  the  Ismid  Peninsula,  and  to 
limit  the  allied  occupation  to  Gallipoli  and 
Chanak. 

They  would  also  in  these  circumstances 
assent  to  the  maintenance  by  Turkey  of 
troops  in  Constantinople  and  to  a  Turkish 
right  of  free  passage  between  Asia  and  Eu- 
rope in  the  demilitarized  zone  of  the  Bos- 
porus. 

TURKISH  NAVAL  FORCES.— The  Allies 
might  also  be  prepared  to  consider  the  pos- 
sibility of  giving  to  Turkey  more  satisfac- 
tion in  the  matter  of  the  strength  of  her 
naval   forces. 

They  would  further  be  prepared  to  with- 
draw certain  stipulations  of  the  armistice 
still  in  force  and  the  provisions  restricting 
Turkey's  freedom  to  send  officers  abroad. 

FINANCIAL  CONCESSIONS.— In  the  Fi- 
nancial   Chapter   the   Allies   are   prepared   to 


make  substantial  concessions  in  the  sense  de- 
sired by  Turkey. 

The  Financial  Commission  would  be  placed 
under  the  Honorary  Presidency  of  the  Turk- 
ish Finance  Minister,  and  Turkey  would  par- 
ticipate in  the  Financial  Commission  by  a 
delegate  with  a  vote  on  all  questions  affect- 
ing the  internal  finances  of  Turkey  and  a 
consultative  voice  in  those  affecting  more 
specially  the  financial  interests  of  the  Allies. 
The  Turkish  Parliament  would  have  the 
right  to  modify  the  budget  prepared  in 
agreement  between  the  Minister  of  Finance 
and  the  Financial  Commission,  but  if  these 
modifications  were  such  as  to  disturb  finan- 
cial equilibrium  the  budget  would  return  for 
approval  to  the  commission. 

The  Ottoman  Government  would  regain  its 
liberty  in  regard  to  the  grant  of  concessions. 
The  Minister  of  Finance  shall,  however,  ex- 
amine and  decide  in  agreement  with  the  Fi- 
nancial Commission  whether  the  contracts 
are  in  conformity  with  the  interests  of  the 
Ottoman  Treasury. 

The  suppression  of  foreign  post  offices 
might  also  be  considered  on  certain  condi- 
tions. 

Certain  modifications  in  the  definition  of 
"  nationals  of  the  Allied  Powers  "  might  also 
be  contemplated. 

KURDISTAN.— In  regard  to  Kurdistan, 
the  Allies  would  be  prepared  to  consider  a 
modification  of  the  Treaty  in  a  sense  in 
conformity  with  the  existing  facts  of  the 
situation,  on  condition  of  facilities  for  local 
autonomies  and  the  adequate  protection  of 
Kurdish  and  Assyro-Chaldean  interests. 

ARMENIA.— In  regard  to  Armenia,  the 
present  stipulations  might  be  adapted  on 
condition  of  Turkey  recognizing  the  rights 
of  Turkish  Armenians  to  a.  national  home 
on  the  eastern  frontiers  of  Turkey  in  Asia 
and  agreeing  to  accept  the  decision  of  a 
commission,  appointed  by  the  Council  of  the 
Leeague  of  Nations,  to  examine  on  the  spot 
the  question  of  the  territory  equitably  to  be 
transferred  for  this  purpose  to  Armenia. 

SMYRNA.— In  regard  to  Smyrna,  the  Al- 
lies would  be  ready  to  propose  an  equitable 
compromise  with  a  view  to  ending  the  pres- 
ent unhappy  state  of  hostilities  and  ensur- 
ing the  return  of  peace.  The  region  called 
the  Vilayet  of  Smyrna  would  remain  under 
Turkish  sovereignty. 

A  Greek  force  would  be  maintained  in 
Smyrna  town,  but  in  the  rest  of  the  Sanjak 
order  would  be  maintained  by  a  gendar- 
merie, with  Allied  officers  and  recruited  in 
proportion  to  the  numbers  and  distribution  of 
the  population  as  reported  by  an  Interal- 
lied Commission.  The  same  proportional  ar- 
rangement, equally  according  to  the  report 
of  the  commission,  would  apply  to  the  ad- 
ministration. 

A  Christian  Governor  would  be  appointed 
by  the  League  of  Nations  and  assisted  by 
an  elective  assembly  and  an  elective  coun- 
cil. The  Governor  would  be  responsible  for 
payments  to  the  Turkish  Government  of  an- 


GREECE   ATTEMPTS   TO   IMPOSE    THE   SEVRES   TREATY 


349 


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SCENE    OF    THE    GREEK-TURKISH   CAMPAIGN 

On  March  24,  when  the  Greek  offensive  began,  the  Greek  lines  ran  north  and  south, 
from  east  of  Brusa  to  Ushak,  and  hence  southwest  to  Alashehr,  or  Alasekin 
(Philadelphia),  with  concentration  of  troops  at  these  places;  the  Turkish  Nationalist  troops 
were  grouped,  north  and  south,  from  Geiveh  to  Denzili,  via  Eskishehr  and  Afium  Karahissar, 
just  west  of,    and  protecting,    the   Bagdad   railway. 


nual  sums  expanding  with  the  prosperity  of 
the  province. 

This  arrangement  would  in  five  years  be 
open  to  review  on  the  demand  of  either 
party  by  the  League  of  Nations. 

The  secret  treaty  made  by  France  with 
the  Kemalists  was  signed  at  London  on 
March  9  by  M.  Briand,  the  French  Premier, 
and  Bekir  Sami  Bey,  the  delegate  of  the 
Angora  Government.  So  far  as  could  be 
ascertained  up  to  April  14,  it  has  not  yet 
been  signed  by  representatives  of  the  Sul- 
tan, as  the  latter  insist  on  an  increase  of 
the  Turkish  army.  This  demand,  if  ac- 
cepted, would  induce  Bulgaria,  with  much 
more  justice,  inasmuch  as  she  has  scrupu- 
lously observed  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of 
Neuilly,  to  do  the  same.  The  document,  it 
will  be  observed,  is  not  in  the  nature  of  a 
simple  armistice  convention,  as  was  at  first 
announced,  but  rather  a  comprehensive, 
though  preliminary,  peace  treaty,  and  is 
actually  stated  in  the  document  itself  to  be 
preliminary  to  a  final  and  more  ^general 
treaty,  to  all  intents  and  purposes  taking 


the  place  of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  'at  least 
as  far  as  the  French  clauses  go. 

The  text  of  this  secret  treaty,  and  a  sum- 
mary of  that  concluded  by  Italy  on  March 
12,  will  be  found  on  Pages  203-5. 

THE  GREEK  OFFENSIVE 

In  a  decree  dated  March  20,  King  Con- 
stantine  called  under  the  colors  three 
classes  of  reserves  and  addressed  the  Greek 
people  as  follows: 

The  efforts  made  to  pacify  the  East 
within  the  limits  established  by  an  agree- 
ment having  international  authority  have 
been  constantly  obstructed  by  the  refusal  of 
the  organizations  of  Anatolia.  These  organ- 
izations, by  perpetuating  a  parlous  situation, 
have  ruptured  the  imperative  decisions  im- 
posed by  a  just  conception  of  right  and  of 
civilization,  and  by  the  ceaseless  sacrifices 
of  Hellenism  and  its  indefeasible  national 
rights. 

Though  we  were  hoping  that  peace  would 
be  re-established  without  further  shedding 
of  blood,  a  new  attempt  was  made  to  reverse 
the  order  of  things  established  by  the  Treaty 
of    Sevres,    as    is    proved    by    military    move- 


350 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


ments  and  by  the  concentration  of  troops 
against  our  front. 

These  manoeuvres  make  it  necessary  to 
reinforce  our  troops  in  order  to  protect  our 
population  exposed  to  the  violence  of  savage 
bands  and  also  to  obtain  definitive  peace  in 
the  East,  an  aim  which  Greece  pursues  in 
common  with  her  great  allies. 

Confident  of  the  patriotism  and  heroism 
of  the  Greeks,  I  would  appeal  to  the  senti- 
ment within  them  to  reinforce  the  troops 
charged   with    imposing   peace. 

On  the  opening  day  of  the  offensive, 
March  23-24,  General  Papolas  had  130,000 
men  in  line  on  a  120-mile  front  extending 
from  east  of  Brusa  south  and  a  little  beyond 
Ushak.  The  enemy  lay  between  this  front 
and  the  Anatolian  part  of  the  Bagdad  Rail- 
way, from  Geiveh  south,  via  Eskishehr  and 
Afium  Karahissar  (the  Black  Castle  of 
Opium)  to  Denizli.  At  first  the  enemy  num- 
bered 60,000;  then  about  April  1  he  was 
reinforced  by  the  Fifteenth  and  the  Third 
Army  Corps,  under  Kiazim  Kara  Bekir, 
coming  from  the  Transcaucasian  front  and 
numbering  from  15,000  to  20,000  men. 

The  enemy  was  divided  into  three  armies. 
The  northern  army  for  the  defense  of  both 
Geiveh  and  Eskishehr  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  Ismet  Pasha  and  Refid  Pasha, 
and  was  made  up  of  the  Twenty-fourth 
Eleventh,  First,  Fourth  and  Sixty-first  Di- 
visions. The  middle  army,  under  Nar-ed- 
Din  Pasha,  for  the  defense  of  Afium  Kara- 
hissar and  Ushak,  comprised  the  Twenty- 
third,  Eighth  and  Fifty-seventh  Divisions 
and  the  Twelfth,  Fourteenth  and  Eighteenth 
Brigades.  On  the  left  of  this  army  south 
to  Denizli  was  the  Cilicia  Army  Corps,  con- 
sisting of  the  Forty-first  Division,  rein- 
forced by  the  Second  and  Fifth  Divisions, 
all  under  Sellah  Eddin  Bey. 

The  plan  of  the  Greeks,  as  revealed  by 
their  manoeuvres,  was  to  defeat  the  enemy's 
right  and  left  wing,  make  a  feint  at  Eski- 
shehr with  a  sufficient  covering  force  to 
hold  the  spur  of  the  Anatolian  Railway, 
which  runs  120  miles  east  of  the  Nation- 
alist capital  of  Angora,  and  then  to  direct 
a  formidable  attack  on  Afium  Karahissar 
with  the  idea  of  driving  a  wedge  between 
the  enemy's  second  and  third  army  and 
occupying  the  Bagdad  Railway. 

By  March  31  the  Greeks  had  done  these 
things,  and  General  Papoulas  dispatched  a 
message  to  Athens  stating  that  the  first 
part  of  the  plan  for  defeating  the  Turkish 
Nationalists    had    been    accomplished    and 


that  it  remained  only  to  advance  on  Angora. 
In  the  five  days  following,  however,  in  spite 
of  the  contradictory  dispatches  received 
from  Athens  and  Constantinople,  it  became 
evident  that  the  situation  had  been  com- 
pletely reversed:  The  Kemalists  had  at 
least  retaken  both  Eskishehr  and  Afium 
Karahissar,  had  re-established  themselves 
on  the  Bagdad  Railway,  and  were  seriously 
threatening  the  Greek  left  wing  between 
Ismid  and  Geiveh  ancT  the  right  wing  be- 
tween Afium  Karahissar  and  Ushak.  By 
April  8  the  Greek  left  wing  had  retired  on 
Mount  Olympus,  where  it  was  threatened 
with  isolation,  while  the  rest  of  the  line  had 
fallen  back  on  an  average  of  twenty-five 
miles  west  of  the  railroad. 

On  April  14  a  dispatch  from  Athens  an- 
nounced that  a  Nationalist  drive  composed 
of  30,000  men,  led  in  person  by  Mustapha 
Kemal,  had  been  repulsed  on  the  Afium 
Karahissar  sectors  with  the  loss  of  6,000 
prisoners. 

Proof  that  the  Greek  Government  intends 
to  continue  the  war  until  a  definite  deci- 
sion is  reached  was  apparently  shown  by 
the  statement  officially  made^in  Athens  on 
April  14  that  the  army  in  the  field  had 
been  reinforced  to  200,000  men,  and  that 
the  officers,  adjutants  and  cavalry  reserves 
of  the  classes  of  1901  to  1913,  inclusive,  had 
been  called  to  the  colors.  The  falseness  of 
one  Constantinople  dispatch  is  shown  from 
the  fact  that  on  the  very  day  that  it  an- 
nounced the  death  of  King  Constantine's 
brother,  Prince  Andrew,  on  the  battlefront, 
his  Royal  Highness  was  in  Athens  prepar- 
ing to  sail  for  Smyrna.  It  was  then  ex- 
pected that  the  Crown  Prince  would  return 
from  his  honeymoon  in  Paris  and  take  com- 
mand of  the  navy,  which  was  engaged  in 
preventing  Kemal  from  being  reinforced 
from  the  European  side  of  the  Straits.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Allies  would  not  permit 
Greek  detachments  to  cross  the  Dardanelles 
from  the  Thracian  shore  to  Mudania,  the 
port  of  Brusa. 

On  April  8  M.  Kalogeropoulos  resigned  as 
Premier,  for  it  was  the  majority  of  Deme- 
trios  Gounaris  in  the  Bule  which  was  re- 
sponsible for  the  renewal  of  hostilities,  and 
a  revolt  of  the  political  factions  enabled 
Gounaris  himself  to  assume  the  active  direc- 
tion of  the  Government,  though,  of  course, 
under  the  orders  of  the  King.  So  Gounaris 
left  the  War  Ministry  and  became  Premier, 


GREECE  ATTEMPTS   TO   IMPOSE   THE  SEVRES  TREATY 


351 


with  the  portfolio  of  Justice,  while  M.  Theo- 
tokis  exchanged  that  portfolio  for  War,  and 
George  P.  Baltazzis  became  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  MM.  Tertiris  and  Car- 
tales  also  joined  the  Ministry  but  without 
designated  portfolios.  The  remaining  port- 
folios were  distributed  as  follows: 

Minister   of  Agriculture— JOHN  RHALLIS. 
Minister    of    Marine— M.    MAVROMICHAE- 
LIS. 

Minister    of    Communications  —  M.     TSAL- 
DAR1S. 

Minuter    of    Finance— M.     PROTORAPAD- 
AKIS. 
Minister  of  Interior— M.  STAIS. 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction— THEODORE 
ZAIMIS. 

On  March  28  Greek  wounded  began  to 
arrive  in  Athens,  and  at  once  the  papers  be- 
gan to  print  stories  of  Turkish  atrocities. 
One  stated  that  the  Greek  Bishop  of  Adalia 
had  been  arrested  and  carried  off  in  chains 
by  the  Kemalists,  under  the  eyes  of  the 
Italians,' who  made  no  effort  to  rescue  him. 
Both  the  Venizelist  and  the  anti-Venizelist 
press  supported  the  Government  in  its  war 
policy  and  were  unanimous  in  considering 


(©    Underwood  &   Underwood) 

MUSTAPHA   KEMAL   PASHA 

Commander-in-Chief   of   the    Turkish 

Nationalist   Army 


that  on  Greece  has  devolved  the  task  of 
settling  the  question  between  Turks  and 
Christians  in  Asia  Minor. 

On  March  25,  Mme.  Aspasia  Manos,  the 
morganatic  widow  of  King  Alexander,  gave 
birth  to  a  posthumous  child.  It  was  a 
daughter.  Had  it  been  a  son,  a  serious 
dynastic  problem  as  to  succession  might 
have  arisen. 

On  March  19  General  Gouraud,  the 
French  High  Commissioner  in  Syria,  ar- 
rived in  Constantinople,  and  the  next  day 
made  a  statement  to  the  press.  He  warned 
the  Turks  that  France's  sympathies  were 
subordinated  to  her  alliance  with  the 
British,  "  sealed  by  blood  on  the  field  of 
battle."  He  also  pointed  out  that  the  treaty 
just  completed  between  Angora  and  Moscow 
might  "  seriously  interfere  with  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  Franco-Turkish  agreement, 
which  would  secure  great  advantages  to 
Turkey." 

On  March  28  the  British  Commander-in- 
Chief  at  Constantinople,  Sir  Charles  Hard- 
ington,  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
British  neutrality  in  regard  to  the  Turko- 
Hellenic  operations.  This  was  made  neces- 
sary by  the  fact  that  the  Greek  Eleventh 
Division  was  guarding  the  left  flank  of  the 
British  army  at  Ismid.  The  British  with- 
drew to  a  base  nearer  the  Bosporus,  while 
their  places  were  taken  by  fresh  troops 
from  Athens.  On  the  same  day,  negotia- 
tions were  opened  for  an  exchange  of  prison- 
ers between  the  British  and  the  Kemalists. 

On  March  27  it  was  announced  that  the 
French  Government  would  no  longer  feed 
the  45,000  survivors  of  General  Wrangel's 
army  who  had  been  interned  in  the  old 
British  camps  on  Gallipoli,  the  reason  being 
that  General  Wrangel's  officers  at  Con- 
stantinople wished  the  formations  to  remain 
intact,  while  the  French  wished  to  transport 
the  men  where  work  could  be  found  for 
them  abroad. 

Bekir  Sami  Bey,  the  head  of  the  Nation- 
alist delegation  at  the  London  Near  East 
Conference,  reached  Ineboli,  the  port  of  An- 
gora, on  April  14.  He  came  on  an  Italian 
cruiser,  and  brought  with  him  for  ratifica- 
tion by  the  "  Grand  Parliament,"  as  the  Na- 
tionalists call  the  Kemalist  "  rump,"  the 
separate  treaties  with  France  and  Italy. 

On  March  16  the  Turkish  Nationalist 
delegates  at  Moscow  signed  a  treaty  "  estab- 
lishing fraternal  relations  between  the  two 


352 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


countries,"  which,  according  to  the  French 
Foreign  Office,  are  to  be  developed  from 
the  following  four  points : 

1.  The  Russians  are  to  recognize  Constan- 
tinople as  the  capital  of  Turkey ; 

2.  Both  Russians  and  Turks  demand  an  in- 
ternational agreement  wherein  all  States 
bordering  the  areas  in  question  shall  be  rep- 
resented at  a  conference  for  organizing  the 
regime  of  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Black 
Sea; 

3.  The  Turks  shall  abandon  Batum,  giving 
the  port  to  Georgia,  and  they  shall  recog- 
nize the  autonomy  of  Georgia; 

4.  Armenia  shall  disappear  both  as  a  terri- 
torial and  a  projected  political  entity,  and 
shall  be  divided  among  Georgia,  Azerbeijan 
and  Turkey. 

In  reply  to  a  telegram  sent  by  the  Papal 
Secretary  of  State  in  the  name  of  Pope 
Benedict  XV.  to  Angora,  praying  that  the 
Nationalists  respect  the  lives  and  property 
of  Christians  in  Asia  Minor,  Mustapha 
Kemal   assured   the   Holy   Father   early   in 


April  that  M  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country,  irrespective  of 
race  and  religion,  is  the  supreme  duty  com- 
manded by  my  humanitarian  sentiments, 
as  well  as  by  the  Moslem  religion." 

After  keeping  him  four  months  in  Angoria, 
Kemal  released  Izzet  Pasha,  ex-Grand 
Vizier  and  Minister  of  the  Interior  in  the 
Constantinople  Government,  and  sent  him 
back  to  Stamboul,  where  he  arrived  on 
March  19.  Izzet  is  an  anti-Bolshevist.  On 
being  interrogated  by  the  Sultan,  he  said 
that  Kemal  had  told  him  (Izzet)  that  he 
was  only  playing  with  Lenin,  as  Lenin  was 
playing  with  other  statesmen,  and  that,  as 
soon  as  the  Entente  powers  had  changed 
their  attitude  toward  Turkey  and  a  formal 
reconciliation  had  taken  place  between  An- 
gora and  Constantinople,  Lenin  would  find 
out  how  much  the  treaty  signed  at  Moscow 
on  March  16  was  worth. 


BULGARIA  AND  THE  TURKISH  TREATY 


[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


THE  disappointment,  and  even  resent- 
ment, felt  by  Bulgaria  over  the  de- 
cision of  the  Allies  to  modify  the  Turkish 
Treaty  was  frankly  expressed  by  the  Sofia 
press,  which  drew  a  comparison  between 
Bulgaria's  correct  attitude  in  observing 
that  treaty  and  the  Treaty  of  Neuilly,  a 
compliance  which  has  met  with  no  reward, 
and  the  generous  concessions  made  Turkey 
because  she  revolted  against  the  severe 
terms  imposed  on  her  at  Sevres.  This  dis- 
content more  or  less  colored  Bulgarian  pub- 
lic opinion  during  the  first  half  of  March, 
and  may  account  for  the  "  speeding  up  "  of 
the  Government's  policies,  due  not  to  any 
intention  of  emulating  Turkey,  but  to  the 
desire  of  creating  a  stronger  and  more  cen- 
tralized State,  ready  for  any  eventuality. 
The  resentment  felt,  however,  was  consid- 
erably modified  by  published  interviews 
with  Prince  Borghese,  the  Italian  member 
of  the  Interallied  Commission,  which  was 
created  to  aid  Bulgaria  in  executing  the 
Neuilly  Treaty.  The  Prince  is  known  to 
be  anti-Jugoslav,  and  his  expressions  of 
Italian  friendship  for  Bulgaria  have  had  a 
tranquilizing  effect. 


The  project  of  a  "  Green  International," 
conceived  and  developed  by  the  peasant 
Premier,  M.  Stambolisky,  has  had  the  effect 
of  diverting  the  compulsory  labor  law  in 
the  direction  of  agriculture,  and  also  of 
inspiring  a  revolution  in  education,  which 
should  ultimately  benefit  the  farmer  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  calling.  The  scheme  has 
taken  the  form  of  a  bill,  introduced  by  M. 
Omartchevsky.  Among  the  Balkan  States, 
the  record  of  Bulgaria  for  literacy  is  good. 
Education  is  nominally  obligatory  for  both 
sexes  between  the  ages  of  8  and  12.  There 
are  5,000  free  elementary  schools,  with 
9,000  teachers  and  half  a  million  pupils. 
The  University  of  Sofia  is  attended  by 
3,000  pupils,  30  per  cent,  of  whom  are 
women,  and  it  has  ninety  professors  and 
lecturers.  Between  these  two  extremes, 
however,  the  secondary  education  is  not 
well  organized,  including  as  it  does  nearly 
five  hundred  non-Bulgarian  schools  with 
50,000  male  and  25,000  female  pupils,  and 
showing  little  co-ordination  in  method  or 
subjects.  It  is  the  plan  of  M.  Omartchev- 
sky to  divert  the  basis  of  education,  now 
principally    classical,    into    practical    chan- 


BULGARIA  AND  THE  TURKISH  TREATY 


353 


nels,  particularly  by  providing  instruction 
in  scientific  agriculture  and  by  co-ordinat- 
ing the  non-Bulgarian  schools  under  a  com- 
mon system,  irrespective  of  language. 
Meanwhile,  peasant  unions  are  being  or- 
ganized all  over  the  country  on  a  sort  of 
rural  socialistic  plan.  This  is  expected  to 
have  a  pronounced  effect  on  manufacturing 
and  transportation,  in  which  at  present  the 
"  Red   International  "   chiefly  prevails. 

On  March  20  the  report  of  the  special 
commission  organized  to  inquire  into  the 
doings  of  the  Radoslavoff  Cabinet,  which 
forced  the  country  into  the  war  on  the 
German  side,  was  made  public.  It  is  a 
volume  of  218  pages,  and  deals  with  the 
charges  under  ten  heads.  The  Cabinet's 
dealings  with  Berlin,  including  the  borrow- 
ing of  money  and  the  engagement  to  de- 
clare war  on  Serbia,  its  special  engage- 
ments with  Vienna,  its  diversion  of  Bul- 
garian  industry   to    German   aid,    and    the 


military  measures  it  took  without  consult- 
ing Parliament  are  all  shown  to  have  been 
unconstitutional,  and  hence  treasonable. 

The  Bulgarian  port  of  Varna  on  the 
Black  Sea  has  a  Mayor  and  Municipal 
Council  who  were,  but  are  no  longer,  com- 
munists. They  conceived  the  brilliant  idea, 
early  in  March,  of  sending  a  delegation  of 
welcome  and  friendship  to  the  Bolsheviki 
at  Odessa,  called  "  Lenin's  Earthly  Para- 
dise." The  delegation  consisted  of  five 
Councilmen  and  M.  Kmet,  the  Mayor.  They 
reached  Odessa.  The  first  day  the  Reds 
deprived  them  of  their  shoes;  on  the  second, 
they  were  made  to  exchange  their  warm 
clothing  for  filthy  rags.  No  food  was  given 
them.  On  the  fifth  day  they  managed  to 
escape  on  a  fishing  vessel  and  returned  to 
Varna.  They  are  said  to  be  much  chas- 
tened and  declare  that  Bolshevism  would 
hardly  do  for  Bulgaria. 


PALESTINE  AND   THE   ZIONISTS 


A  THREE-FACED  campaign  has  been  de- 
veloping against  the  British  mandate 
over  Palestine  and  the  manner  in  which  it 
is  being  executed.  First,  there  is  that  of 
the  Arabs  which  is  principally  confined  to 
the  native  press,  inspired,  it  is  charged,  by 
the  old  Franco-Syrian  colony  at  Beirut;  then 
there  are  the  objections  of  the  orthodox 
Jews,  who  believe  that  the  mandate  is  not 
being  executed  in  a  practical  way,  and  who 
object  to  political  Zionism  on  principle;  fi- 
nally, there  are  the  objections  of  the  "  Little 
Englanders,"  who  believe  that  the  mandate 
saddles  an  incubus  upon  the  empire  without 
any  advantages. 

The  Arab  press  contends  that  although 
they  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  Jewish 
immigrants  who  are  now  arriving,  because 
they  are  occupied  in  manual  labor  either  on 
the  roads  or  in  the  fields,  they  fear  the  com- 
ing of  the  industrial  Jew  with  foreign  capi- 
tal, who,  with  this  advantage,  will  exploit 
the  country  and  iso  drive  out  the  Arab  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers.  A  resolution 
comprising  these  and  other  grievances  was 
recently  adopted  by  the  Arab  Congress  at 
Haifa.  This  criticism  has  been  answered 
in  two  ways:  By  an  address  made  by  Win- 
ston   Churchill,    the    British    Secretary    of 


State  for  the  Colonies,  in  Jerusalem,  on 
March  31,  and  by  a  resolution  adopted  by 
the  influential  Beersheba  Arabs  at  about  the 
same  time.     Mr.  Churchill  said: 

Examine  Mr.  Balfour's  careful  words:  Pal- 
estine to  be  "a  national  home,"  not  "the 
national  home,"  a  great  difference  in  mean- 
ing. The  establishment  of  a  national  home 
does  not  mean  a  Jewish  Government  to  domi- 
nate the  Arabs.  Great  B^+ain  is  the  greatest 
Moslem  State  in  the  world,  and  is  well  dis- 
posed to  the  Arabs,  and  cherishes  their 
friendship.  I  found  since  my  arrival  that  the 
ministrations  of  the  officials  make  no  dis- 
tinction between  Jew  and  Arab.  You  need 
not  be  alarmed  for  the  future.  Great  Britain 
has  promised  a  fair  chance  for  the  Zionist 
movement,  but  the  latter  will  succeed  only 
on  its  merits. 

Above  all,  there  will  be  respect  for  the  dif- 
ferent religions.  Though  the  Arabs  are  in 
a  large  majority  in  Palestine,  though  the 
British  Empire  has  accepted  the  .mandate  in 
the  wider  sense,  Palestine  belongs  to  the 
whole  world,  and  this  City  of  Jerusalem  is 
almost  equally  sacred  to  Moslems,  Christians 
and  Jews,  and  not  only  to  the  dwellers  in 
Palestine,  but  everywhere.  Instead  of  shar- 
ing miseries  through  quarreling,  the  Pales- 
tinians should  share  blessings  through  co- 
operation. 

The   manifesto   of  the   Beersheba  Arabs 
reads : 

We,  the  Beersheba  Arabs,  are  the  most  im- 


554 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


portant  Arabs  in  Palestine,  and  have  been 
such  for  many  years,  and  we  declare  that 
since  the  occupation  of  the  country  by  Great 
Britain  we  have  enjoyed  freedom,  and  are 
thankful  for  its  just  ruling,  a  rule  which  has 
respected  our  customs.  We  beg  that  the 
declaration  of  the  Haifa  Congress  be  not 
listened  to,  and  the  Congress  itself  made  to 
withdraw    its    statement. 

To  the  criticism  of  the  orthodox  Jews,  led 
"by  Professor  Jacob  Dehaan,  Mr.  Churchill 
replied: 

The  success  of  Zionism  will  depend  upon 
the  good  it  will  bestow  upon  the  whole  coun- 
try. I  hope  that  in  a  few  years  there  will  be 
a  greater  feeling  of  well-being  and  unity 
among  the  Palestinians,  and  that  "the  Arab 
fears  will  prove  unfounded.  I  have  read 
your  address  with  interest,  and  will  lay  it 
before  the  Briush  Cabinet,,  who  will  see  the 
case  forcibly  presented  by  both  sides.  I  will 
do  my  best  to  assist  Sir  Herbert  Samuel  [the 
British  High  Commissioner]  in  the  task  the 
British   Government  have   given  him. 


The  third  phase  of  the  criticism  is  based 
on  an  analysis  of  the  mandate,  and  is  prin- 
cipally confined  to  the  British  Liberal  press. 
In  order  to  demonstrate  that  the  mandate 
brings  no  special  advantage  to  the  empire, 
it  is  shown  that  Article  XVIII.  provides 
that  the  mandatary  must  see  that  there  is 
no  discrimination  against  "  the  nationals  " 
of  any  of  the  States  members  of  the  League 
of  Nations,  "  as  compared  with  those  of  the 
mandatary  or  of  any  foreign  State  in  mat- 
ters concerning  taxation,  commerce  or  navi- 
gation, thjB  exercises  of  industries  or  profes- 
sions, or  in  the  treatment  of  ships  or  air- 
craft." What  is  said  "  to  complete  the  hu- 
miliation of  the  British  Empire  "  is  to  be 
found  in  Article  XXIV.,  which  provides  that 
"  the  mandatary  shall  make  to  the  Council 
of  the  League  of  Nations  an  annual  report 
as  to  the  measures  taken  during  the  year  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  mandate." 


THE  MESOPOTAMIAN  OIL  CONTROVERSY 


THE  diplomatic  exchanges  between  Lon- 
don and  Washington  on  account  of  the 
oil  concessions  to  Great  Britain  in  Mesopo- 
tamia and  growing  out  of  Secretary  Colby's 
note  to  the  British  Government  on  Nov.  20, 
1920,  remonstrating  against  special  privi- 
leges being  enjoyed  by  any  nation  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  war,  may  briefly  be  described  as 
follows : 

At  San  Remo,  in  April,  1920,  England 
and  France  reviewed  their  pre-war  conces- 
sions received  from  the  Rumanian,  Austro- 
Hungarian  and  Turkish  Governments  for 
working  oil  wells  in  those  countries,  and  de- 
cided upon  a  readjustment,  particularly  in 
the  Turkish  concessions  in  Mesopotamia,  so 
that  the  NewMesopotamian  Government  and 
not  Turkey  might  reap  some  benefit  there- 
from. Accordingly,  the  interests  in  this 
region  were  pooled — 62  per  cent,  was  to  go 
to  Great  Britain,  18  per  cent,  to  France  and 
the  remainder,  20  per  cent.,  to  the  new  Gov- 
ernment of  Mesopotamia. 

The  contention  of  the  British  Government 
is  that  at  San  Remo  a  readjustment  of  con- 
cessions received  before  the  war  was  made 
by  it  and  France,  and  that  therefore  the 
matter  is  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  and  hence  not  open  to 
the  criticism  made  by  Washington.  In  con- 
tinuing the  correspondence  dropped  by  Sec- 


retary Colby,  Secretary  Hughes  incorporat- 
ed with  the  criticism  of  the  Mesopotamian 
matter  the  matter  of  other  arrangements 
made  between  the  Allies  without  consulta- 
tion with  the  United  States.  This  has  com- 
plicated the  matter  in  the  press  reports,  but 
in  his  unpublished  note  to  the  State  De- 
partment on  April  5  Lord  Curzon,  the  Brit- 
ish Foreign  Minister,  isolated  the  Mesopo- 
tamian question,  presented  its  entire  history 
dating  back  to  1906,  and  proved  that  the 
San  Remo  arrangement  was  not  based  on 
the  result  of  the  war,  except  in  so  far  as  it 
benefited  Mesopotamia  and  not  Turkey — the 
rest  was  merely  a  readjustment  of  pre-war 
concessions  made  to  Great  Britain  and 
France. 

*     *     * 

The  Mesopotamian  nation  will  be  known 
as  Irak;  its  ruler  will  have  the  title  of 
Emir.  A  general  election  for  Emir  will  be 
held,  the  chief  claimants  to  the  throne 
being  the  Naqib  of  Bagdad  and  the  two 
sons  of  King  Hussein  of  Hedjaz,  either  the 
deposed  Feisal  or  his  brqther  Abdullah. 


Oscar  Heizer,  the  American  Consul  at 
Jerusalem,  has  forwarded  to  the  State  De- 
partment a  report  on  his  recent  journey 
through  the  region  between  the  Tigris  and 


THE  MESOPOTAMIAN  OIL  CONTROVERSY 


355 


Euphrates.  He  declares  that  the  manna  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  still  to  be  found  in 
Upper  Mesopotamia  and  along  the  Persian 
frontier.  He  says  that  manna  falls  in  the 
form    of    dew    during    September,    October 


and  November,  and  lodges  upon  the  leaves 
of  oak  trees.  Immediately  after  falling,  it 
hardens  and  assumes  the  form  of  grain, 
which  is  gathered  in  sheets  spread  under 
the  trees. 


PERSIA'S  NEW  POLICIES 


[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


THE  new  Government  of  Persia,  which 
came  into  power  on  Feb.  20  as  the  result 
of  a  coup  d'etat  performed  by  General  Reza 
Kahn,  leader  of  the  Persian  Cossacks,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  country  from  surren- 
dering to  Bolshevism,  issued  a  message  to 
the  Persian  people  on  March  11  which  de- 
clared that  complete  order  and  quiet  pre- 
vailed at  Teheran,  that  cordial  relations 
were  continued  with  all  the  powers,  and  that 
the  following  reforms  in  both  internal  and 
external  policy  would  be  executed  with  en- 
ergy and  without  delay: 

1.  Reorganization   of  the  army. 

2.  Dissolution  of  Government  departments 
which  impose  heavy  charges  on  the  country, 
and  their  reconstruction  on  the  basis  of  mod- 
ern   administration. 

3.  Dissolution  of  the  old  tribunals  and  the 
establishment  of  courts  of  justice  on  a  solid 
basis. 

4.  Distribution  of  Government  land  among 
the  peasantry  and  elaboration  of  agrarian 
laws  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  peas- 
ants. 

5.  Financial   reforms. 

6.  Educational    reforms. 

7.  Development   of   trade. 

8.  Lowering  the  cost  of  living  by  measures 
to  prevent  hoarding  and  application  of  anti- 
luxury  laws. 


9.  Improvement  of  the  means  of  transport. 

10.  Municipal  reforms. 

EXTERNAL  POLICY. 

1.  Maintenance  of  friendly  relations  with 
neighboring  and  other  foreign  powers. 

2.  Suppression  of  the  capitulations  •  [for- 
eign courts  for  the  trial  of  foreign  delin- 
quents] after  the  establishment  of  judicial 
reforms  giving  guarantees  of  equal  justice  to 
foreign  subjects. 

3.  Revision  of  certain  concessions. 

4.  Engagement  of  foreign  advisers  for  the 
organization  of  the  country. 

5.  Abrogation  of  the  last  Anglo-Persian 
Agreement. 

6.  Evacuation  of  Persia  by  foreign  troops. 

The  foregoing  schedule  of  policies  was 
conveyed  to  the  Washington  Government 
on  April  5,  where  it  was  considered  that  the 
last  two  articles  of  External  Policy,  if 
definitely  adhered  to,  would  have  a  far- 
reaching  effect  on  the  Near  Eastern  prob- 
lem and  would  call  for  the  withdrawal  of 
the  British  forces  now  in  Persia.  It  would 
also  mean,  it  was  stated  in  diplomatic  cir- 
cles in  Washington,  the  collapse  of  the  so- 
called  Curzon  policy  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment with  respect  to  Persia.  This  opinion 
is  in  accord  with  that  of  the  Wilson  Admin- 
istration, which,  as  is  well  known,  was  not 
in  favor  of  British  predominance  in  Persia. 


POLAND  FOUR-SQUARE  FOR 
THE  FUTURE 


Foundation  for  the  Republic  laid  on  a  solid  democratic  basis  in  the  new  Constitution 
— Peace  with  Russia  finally  signed  at  Riga — Important  defensive  treaty  with   France 

[Period   Ended  April  15,    1921] 


THE  greatest  event  in  Poland's  history 
since  the  year  1772  was  consummated 
on  March  17,  1921,  when  the  Constitution 
of  the  new  republic  was  ratified  by  the 
Diet.  For  virtually  a  century  and  a  half 
the  bitterness  of  the  Polish  people  over  the 
partition  of  their  national  territory,  and 
their  ultimate  subjection  to  the  iron  rule 
of  the  Czar,  remained  undiminished.  Only 
those  who  have  traveled  in  Russian  Poland 
under  the  Czar  can  realize  the  hatred  felt 
by  the  Poles  for  their  Russian  overlords. 
Their  national  spirit  was  never  conquered. 

On  Nov.  11,  1918,  the  new-born  Poland 
first  arose.  On  Nov.  28  of  the  same  year 
elections  for  the  Constituent  Assembly  were 
ordered.  They  were  held  on  Jan.  26,  1919, 
and  the  Constituent  Assembly  met  on  Feb. 
10.  The  committee  for  the  drafting  of  the 
new  Constitution  was  elected  on  Feb.  25, 
1919.  This  committee  worked  for  nearly  a 
year,  finally  submitting  a  tentative  draft 
for  discussion  on  Jan.  21,  1920.  This  draft 
went  through  the  three  readings  requisite, 
and  was  finally  adopted  on  March  17,  1921. 
For  the  Polish  Nation  these  will  be  the 
great,  epoch-making  dates  in  the  restoration 
of  their  existence  as  a  free  and  sovereign 
people.  [The  full  official  text  of  the  Polish 
Constitution  is  published  elsewhere  in  these 
pages.] 

Peace  between  Poland  and  Soviet  Russia 
was  signed  in  Riga,  the  capital  of  Latvia, 
on  March  18,  after  months  of  negotiation. 
The  whole  treaty  will  be  in  Current 
History  next  month.  After  the  signing,  M. 
Dombski,  the  chief  Polish  representative, 
delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  dwelt  on 
Poland's  long  subjection  to  alien  rule.  After 
intolerable  hardships,  he  said,  Poland  had 
at  last  gained  her  independence,  and  hoped 
to  live  on  friendly  terms  with  Russia.  As 
for  the  people  of  non-Polish  stock  to  be  in- 
corporated with  Poland  under  the  treaty,  he 


declared  that  it  would  be  Poland's  aim  to 
give  all  such  elements  freedom  and  the 
exercise  of  all  civic  rights  granted  to  Polish 
citizens. 

The  official  announcement  of  peace  was 
made  by  M.  Witos,  the  Polish  Premier,  from 
the  stage  of  the  Grand  Opera  House  in 
Warsaw  on  the  evening  of  the  18th.  The 
Premier's  speech  had  been  intended  for  de- 
livery before  the  Diet,  but  that  body  had 
adjourned  before  the  news  came  over  the 
wires  from  Riga.  The  treaty  with  the 
Soviets,  the  Premier  declared,  would  bring 
peace  not  only  to  Poland,  but  to  the  whole 
of  Europe.  Poland's  energy,  he  said,  which 
for  the  last  seven  years  had  been  devoted 
to  war,  would  now  be  directed  toward 
peace,  and  would  secure  for  Poland  her 
proper  position  in  the  comity  of  nations. 
The  Premier's  speech  was  received  with  a 
storm  of  cheers. 

Though  Poland  and  Soviet '  Russia  de- 
clared themselves  satisfied  with  the  result 
of  the  peace  negotiations,  many  Russians 
in  exile,  especially  the  charter  members  of 
the  new  Russian  "  Constituent  Assembly," 
organized  a  few  weeks  ago  in  Paris,  ex- 
pressed their  objections  to  one  feature  of 
the  treaty  in  the  strongest  terms.  Soviet 
Russia,  they  declared,  had  bartered  away 
territory  which  belonged  to  Russia  and 
which  was  inhabited  by  thousands  of  Rus- 
sians, whose  numbers  were  far  in  excess  of 
the  Polish  landlords.  The  viewpoint  of 
these  Russians  was  expressed  by  their 
spokesman,  Alexander  Kerensky,  former 
Russian  Premier,  in  the  following  terms: 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Riga  treaty- 
Poland  obtains,  in  addition  to  and  beyond  the 
Curzon  line  established  by  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, fifteen  counties  of  the  Provinces  of 
Volhynia,  Grodno,  Vilna  and  Minsk  in  their 
entirety,  and  parts  of  eleven  counties  in  the 
Provinces  of  Volhynia,  Minsk,  Vilna  and 
Vitebsk.    The  total  area  of  land  taken  away 


POLAND  FOUR-SQUARE  FOR   THE  FUTURE 


357 


from  Russia  is  about  140,000  square  kilome- 
ters (up  to  87,000  square  miles).  This  is  big 
enough  to  make  a  whole  country  in  Europe  ! 
This  territory  is  inhabited  by  about  7,000,000 
people,  of  whom  not  more  than  400,000,  or 
only  6  per  cent.,  are  Poles.  The  fact  that 
the  Poles  constitute  only  a  small  minority 
on  this  territory  was  acknowledged  by  the 
Polish  delegation   in  Riga. 

If  we  will,  furthermore,  bear  in  mind  the 
fact  that  this  6  per  cent,  of  Poles  are  mainly 
the  local  land  barons,  the  rest  of  the  popula- 
tion belonging  to  the  peasantry,  it  will  be 
easy  to  imagine  the  state  of  the  future  rela- 
tions between  the  victors  and  the  vanquished. 
Here,  just  as  in  Eastern  Galicia,  a  forcible 
Polonization  by  means  of  so-called  "  coloni- 
zation," i.  e.,  through  systematic  expropria- 
tion of  the  land  from  the  local  inhabitants 
in  favor  of  Polish  settlers  from  Poland 
proper,   will  be  inaugurated. 

The  Riga  peace  is  not  a  peace  of  com- 
promise, as  Poland's  official  representatives 
claim,  but  a  peace  of  oppression  and  national 
subjection.  Not  only  is  it  a  source  of  great 
trials  for  Russia,  not  only  is  it  capable  of 
causing  new  calamities  in  Poland,  but  in  this 
peace  there  is  also  concealed  a  most  serious 
menace  to  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  all 
Europe,  if  the  Allies  should  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility for  it,  together  with  the  Poles. 
The  Polish  Government  is  trying  in  every- 
way to  attain  that  end.  Until  now,  how- 
ever, all  attempts  of  official  Poland  to  shift 
the  great  powers  from  the  Curzon  line  have 
failed.  Let  us  hope  that  Europe  will  here- 
after also  refuse  to  cross  this  line  of  wise 
prudence   and   clear   foresight. 

An  official  statement  published  in  the 
Polish  Bulletin  by  the  American  Committee 
for  the  Defense  of  Poland  on  March  31  gave 
the  following  answer: 

Contrary  to  the  belief  of  those  who  are 
under  the  impression  that  Poland  acquired 
part  of  the  territory  rightfully  belonging  to 
the  Russian  Empire,  the  Soviet  Government 
did  not  concede,  nor  did  Poland  demand,  any 
territory  either  historically  or  ethnographic- 
ally  Russian.  When  the  question  of  Poland's 
frontiers  was  up  for  discussion  before  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  in  1915.  Kosciusko, 
known  particularly  for  his  moderation  In  pre- 
senting the  case  for  Poland's  territorial 
claims,  advocated  frontiers  several  hundred 
miles  east  of  the  line  fixed  at  Riga.    *    *    * 

Until  the  partitions  of  Poland,  late  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  Russia  never  enjoyed  nor 
claimed  dominion  over  the  territory  known 
variously  as  White  Russia  and  White 
Ruthenia,  territory  which  is  not  now  nor 
ever  has  been  inhabited  by  Russians.     In  the 


territory  ceded  to  Poland  the  population  per- 
centages are  as  follows:  Poles,  32.2;  White 
Ruthenians,  21.8;  Ukrainians,  22.4;  Russians, 
3.8;  Lithuanians,  2.8;  Jews,  10.4;  others,  0.6. 
The  White  Ruthenians  possess  their  own 
language,  more  akin  to  Polish  than  to  Rus- 
sian. Lehtonen,  the  Finnish  historian,  re- 
cords that  Russian  authorities,  after  the 
partitions,  had  to  use  Polish  to  make  them- 
selves understood  by  the  population.  Eco- 
nomically, White  Russia  differs  fundamen- 
tally from  Russia,  never  having  known  the 
common  ownership  of  land.  The  landed 
properties  belong  to  the  Poles,  as  do  also 
the  industries,  and  most  of  the  business  and 
banking  institutions. 

Consequently,  as  White  Russia  has  neither 
historical,       ethnographical       nor       economic 
claims   to  White   Russia,    it   may   readily   be 
seen    that   Poland    in   the    acquisition    of   but 
a    minor    portion    of    the    territory    thus    de- 
scribed,   is    not    only    obtaining    no    Russian 
territory,   but  is  not  even  gaining  possession 
over  a  great  expanse  of  land  to  which  it  has 
far  more  claims  than  has  Russia. 
A  third  block  in  the  edifice  of  a  strong 
Polish  State  was  the  treaty  concluded  with 
France  on  Feb.  19.     No  official  version  of 
the    terms    reached    by    Marshal    Pilsudski 
with  the   French   Government   leaders   was 
given  out  at  the  time,  and  it  was  generally 
believed  that  France  had  declined  to  enter 
into  a  defensive  alliance  with  Poland.     Of- 
ficial   advices    received    in    Washington    on 
March  27,  however,  proved  that  this  belief 
was    erroneous,    and    that    in    actual    fact 
Poland  and  France  signed  such  an  alliance, 
pledging  themselves  to  concerted  action  for 
defense  in  case  either  of  the  two  countries 
should    be    attacked    without    provocation. 
Mutual  approval  of  policies  affecting  Con- 
tinental  and   Eastern    Europe   and  mutual 
assistance  in  economic  reconstruction  were 
provided  for.     Politically  and  economically, 
this  treaty  was  of  a  peculiarly  close  and  in- 
timate nature,  calculated  to  unite  the  des- 
tinies of  France  and  Poland  for  a  long  time 
to  come.     It  was  another  concrete  expres- 
sion  of   France's   present   policy   aimed    at 
building   up    from   the    smaller   nations   of 
Central  and  Eastern  Europe  a  barrier  be- 
tween Germany  and  Russia. 

The  plebiscite  in  Upper  Silesia  was  held 
on  March  20,  and  resulted,  in  the  main,  in 
a  victory  for  Germany.     [See  Germany.] 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

OF  POLAND 


Full  text  of  the  new  fundamental    law,    adopted    March    17,  1921,  under  which 
Poland  will  henceforth  conduct  its  political  affairs — Official  English  translation 


AFTER  two  years'  deliberations,  the 
Polish  Constituent  Assembly  at  War- 
saw finally  completed  and  adopted  the 
new  Constitution  of  the  republic  on  March 
17,  1921.  It  is  the  result  of  compromises 
of  many  widely  different  parties  and  opin- 
ions. In  its  main  lines  it  follows  the  Uni- 
ted States  Constitution,  but  there  are  also 
many  features  modeled  on  the  French  sys- 
tem. 

The  Parliament  consists  of  an  Assem- 
bly '(Sejm)  and  a  Senate,  elected  by  pop- 
ular vote  of  both  men  and  women  over  21 
years  old.  The  executive  power  is  vested 
in  a  President  and  Cabinet.  The  President* 
will  be  elected  for  a  term  of  seven  years 
by  a  National  Assembly  composed  of  the 
members  of  the  House  and  the  Senate.  The 
President  may  be  a  Catholic  or  a  Protest- 
ant. He  is  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
military  forces  in  time  of  peace,  but  in  the 
event  of  war  the  responsibility  shifts  to  the 
Minister  of  War,  who  is  empowered  to  ap- 
point the  commander  of  the  army. 

Catholicism  continues  to  be  the  leading 
faith  of  the  country,  but  equal  rights  are 
accorded  to  all  religions.  The  relations  be- 
tween Church  and  State  will  be  legally  de- 
fined by  an  agreement  with  the  Vatican, 
which  is  to  be  subject  to  ratification  by  the 
Parliament. 

The  Constitution  provides  for  free,  com- 
pulsory education  in  district  and  municipal 
schools.  Every  citizen  has  the  right  to  the 
use  of  his  own  language,  and  a  special  bill 
ensures  the  free  development  of  the  mi- 
nority nationalities  living  in  Poland.  The 
different  nationalities  are  permitted  to  have 
their  schools  and  teach  their  own  languages 
under  Government  supervision  and  with 
partial  support  by  the  State. 

The  full  text  of  the  Polish  Constitution, 
translated  for  Current  History  by  the  Po- 
lish Bureau  of  Information,  New  York,  is 
as  follows: 


PROLOGUE 

In  the  name  of  Almighty   God! 

We,  the  Polish  Nation,  thankful  to  Providence 
for  freeing  us  from  a  servitude  of  a  century 
and  a  half;  remembering  gratefully  the  courage 
and  steadfastness  of  the  self-sacrificing  strug- 
gle of  generations  which  have  unceasingly  de- 
voted their  best  efforts  to  the  cause  of  inde- 
pendence; taking  up  the  glorious  tradition  of 
the  memorable  Constitution  of  the  Third  of 
May;  having*  in  mind  the  weal  of  our  whole 
united  and  independent  mother-country,  and  de- 
siring to  establish  -  her  independent  existence , 
power,  safety  and  social  order  on  the  eternal 
principles  Of  right  and  liberty;  desirous  ■  also 
of  ensuring-  the  development  of  all  her  moral 
and  material  f&rces  for  the'  good  of  the  whole 
of  renascent  humanity,  and  of  securing  to  all 
citizens  of  the  republic,  equality,  and  to  Labor, 
respect,  due  rights  and  the  special  protection 
of  the  State— do  enact  and  establish  in  the 
Legislative  Bejm\  [Diet  or  Assembly]  " of  the 
Republic  of  Poland,   this   constitutional  law. 

SECTION  I.— THE  REPUBLIC 

ARTICLE    1— The    Polish    State   is   a   republic. 

ARTICLE  2— Sovereignty  in  the  Republic  of 
Poland  belongs  to  .the  nation.  The  legislative 
organs  of  the  nation  are:  in  the  domain  of  leg- 
islation, the  Sejm  and  the  Senate  ;  in  the  domain 
of  executive  power,  the  President '  of  the  re- 
public, jointly  with  the  responsible  Ministers ; 
in  the  domain  of  the  administration  of  justice, 
independent   courts. 

SECTION  II.— LEGISLATIVE  POWER 

ARTICLE  3— The  domain  of  State  legislation 
comprises  the  establishment  of  all  public  and 
private  laws  and  the  manner  of  their  execu- 
tion. 

There  can  be  no  statute  without  the.  consent 
of  the  Sejm,  expressed  in  a  manner  conforming 
to  standing  orders. 

A  statute  voted  by  the  Sejm  comes  into  force 
at  the  time  determined  in  the  statute  itself. 

The  Republic  of  Poland,  basing  its  organiza- 
tion on  the  principle  of  broad  territorial  self- 
government,  will  delegate  to  the  bodies  repre- 
senting this  self-government  the  proper  domain 
of  legislation,  especially  in  administrative,  cul- 
tural and  economic  fields,  to  be  defined  more 
fully   by   statutes   of   the    State. 

Ordinances  by  public  authorities,  from  which 
result  rights  or  duties  of  citizens,  have  binding 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 


359 


force  only  if  issued  by  the  authority  of  a  stat- 
ute and  with  a  specific  reference  to  the  same. 

ARTICLE  4— A  statute  o*  the  State  will  de- 
termine annually  the  budget  of  the  State  for 
the   ensuing  year. 

ARTICLE  5— The  establishment  of  the  numer- 
ical strength  of  the  army,  and  permission  for 
the  annual  draft  of  recruits,  can  be  determined 
only  by  statute. 

ARTICLE  6— The  contracting  of  a  State  loan, 
the  alienation,  exchange  or  pledging  of  improv- 
able property  of  the  State,  the  imposition  of 
taxes  and  public  dues,  the  determination  of  cus- 
toms duties  and  monopolies,  the  establishment 
of  the  monetary  system  and  the  taking  over 
by  the  State  of  a  financial  guarantee  can  take 
place  only  by  the  authority  of  a  statute. 

ARTICLE  7— The  Government  will  present  an- 
nually, for  parliamentary  consideration,  the  ac- 
counts of  the  State  for  the  last  year. 

ARTICLE  8— The  manner  of  exercising  parlia- 
mentary control  over  the  debts  of  the  State 
will  be  defined  by  a  special  statute. 


ARTICLE  9— The  control  of  the  whole  State 
Administration  as  regards  finances :  the  exam- 
ination of  the  accounts  of  the  State ;  the  an- 
nual submission  to  the  Sejm  of  its  motion  for 
the  granting  or  refusing  of  its  absolutorium 
to  the  Government,  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Su- 
preme Board  of  Control,  which  is  organized  on 
the  basis  of  collegiality  and  judicial  inde- 
pendence of  its  members,  the  latter  being  re- 
movable only  by  a  vote  of  the  Sejm  represent- 
ing a  majority  of  three-fifths  of  those  actually 
voting.  The  organization  of  the  Supreme  Board 
of  -Control  and  its  method  of  procedure  will  be 
defined   in  detail  by  a  special   statute. 

The  President  of  the  Supreme  Board  of  Con- 
trol enjoys  a  position  equal  to  that  of  a  Minis- 
ter, but  is  not  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
Ministers  and  is  directly  responsible  to  the 
Sejm  for  the  exercise  of  his  office  and  for  the 
officials  who  are  his  subordinates. 

ARTICLE  10— Measures  can  originate  either 
with  the  Government  or  with  the  Sejm.  Mo- 
tions  and  bills  which  involve  expenditure  from 


(Photo    Underwood   <£    Underwood) 
M.    JOFFE,    HEAD    OF    RUSSIAN    DELEGATION    (LEFT),    AND   M.    DOMBSKI,    HEAD    OF  POLISH 
DELEGATION,    EXCHANGING    FINAL   WORDS    AFTER    SIGNING    THE    PEACE    TREATY 


360 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  State  Treasury  must  state  the  manner  of 
their  raising  and  expenditure. 

ARTICLE  11— The  Sejm  is  composed  of  depu- 
ties elected  for  a  term  of  five  years,  to  be 
counted  from  the  day  of  the  opening-  of  the 
Sejm,  by  secret,  direct,  equal  and  proportional 
voting. 

ARTICLE  12— The  right  to  vote  belongs  to 
every  Polish  citizen  without  distinction  of  sex, 
who,  on  the  day  of  the  proclamation  of  the 
elections,  is  21  years  of  age,  is  in  full  posses- 
sion of  civil  rights,  and  is  a  resident  of  the 
electoral  district  at  least  from  the  day  pre- 
ceding the  proclamation  of  the  elections  in  the 
Journal  of  Laws.  The  right  to  vote  can  be  ex- 
ercised only  in  person.  Members  of  the  army 
In  active  service  do  not  possess  the  right  to 
vote. 

ARTICLE  IS— Every  citizen  having  the  right 
to  vote  is  eligible  for  election  to  the  Sejm,  in- 
dependently of  his  place  of  residence,  if  he  is  at 
least  25  years  of  age,  not  excepting  members 
ef  the  army  in  active  service. 

ARTICLE  14— Citizens  convicted  of  offenses 
which  the  Law  of  Elections  may  define  as  in- 
volving temporary  or  permanent  loss  of  the 
right  to  vote,  eligibility,  or  of  being  a  Deputy, 
may  not   enjoy  the  electoral  right. 

ARTICLE  15— Administrative,  revenue  and 
judicial  officials  of  the  State  may  not  be  elected 
in  the  districts  in  which  they  are  performing 
their  official  duties.  This  rule  does  not  apply 
to  officials  employed  in  the  Central  Depart- 
ments. 

ARTICLE  16— State  and  self-government  em- 
ployes obtain  leaves  of  absence  at  the  moment 
of  being  elected  Deputies.  This  rule  does  not 
apply  to  Ministers,  Under  Secretaries  of  State 
and  Professors  in  academic  schools.  The  years 
spent  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  a  Deputy 
are  considered  as  years   of  service. 

ARTICLE  17— A  Deputy  loses  his  seat  on  being 
appointed  to  a  paid  office  of  the  State.  This 
rule  does  not  apply  to  appointment  as  Minister, 
Under  Secretary  of  State  or  Professor  in  an 
academic    school. 

ARTICLE  18— The  Law  of  Elections  will  define 
the  manner  of  electing  Deputies  to  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  19— The  validity  of  unprotested 
elections  is  verified  by  the  Sejm.  The  validity 
of  protested  elections  is  decided  upon  by  the 
Supreme  Court. 

ARTICLE  20— The  Deputies  are  representatives 
of  the  whole  nation  and  are  not  bound  by  any 
instructions   given   by  the   voters. 

The  Deputies  make  to  the  Marshal  the  follow- 
ing vow  in  the  presence  of  the  Chamber:  "I 
do  solemnly  vow,  as  Deputy  to  the  Sejm  of  the 
Republic  of  Poland,  to  work  honestly,  according 
to1  the  best  of  my  understanding  and  in  con- 
formity with  my  conscience,  for  the  sole  good 
of  the  Polish  State  as  a  whole." 

ARTICLE  21— Deputies  cannot  be  made  re- 
sponsible, either  during  their  term  of  office  or 
after  it  has  expired,  for  their  activities  in  or 
out  of  the  Sejm  appertaining  to  the  exercise  of 
their  office  as  Deputies.  For  their  speeches, 
utterances  and  manifestations  in  the  Sejm,  Dep- 
uties   are    responsible    only    to    the    Sejm.      For 


violation  of  the  rights  of  a  third  person,  they 
may  be  made  to  answer  before  a  court  of  law, 
if  the  judicial  authority  obtains  the  consent  of 
the  Sejm  thereto. 

Criminal,  penal-administrative  or  disciplinary 
proceedings  instituted  against  a  Deputy  before 
his  election  may,  at  the  demand  of  the  Sejm, 
be  suspended  until  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  office. 

Prescription  in  criminal  proceedings  against 
a  Deputy  does  not  run  while  he  retains  his 
office.  While  he  retains  his  office,  a  Deputy 
may  not,  without  the  permission  of  the- Sejm, 
be  made  to  answer  before  a  criminal  court, 
penal -administrative  authority  or  a  disciplin- 
ary court,  or  be  deprived  of  his  freedom.  If  a 
Deputy  is  caught  in  the  act  of  committing  a 
common  felony,  and  if  his  arrest  is  necessary 
to  insure  the  administration  of  justice,  or  to 
avert  the  consequences  of  the  offense,  the  court 
is  bound  to  notify  immediately  the  Marshal  of 
the  Sejm  in  order  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
Sejm  to  his  arrest  and  to  further  criminal  pro- 
ceedings. Upon  demand  of  the  Marshal,  the 
arrested  Deputy  must  be  liberated  at  once. 

ARTICLE  22— A  Deputy  may  not,  either  in 
his  own  name  or  in  the  name  of  another,  buy, 
or  acquire  the  lease  of  any  real  property  of  the 
State,  contract  for  public  supplies  or  Govern- 
ment works,  or  obtain  from  the  Government 
any  concessions  or  other  personal  benefits. 

A  Deputy  is  also  debarred  from  receiving 
from  the  Government  any  decorations  other 
than  military. 

ARTICLE  23— A  deputy  may  not  be  the  re- 
sponsible  editor  of   a  periodical   publication. 

ARTICLE  24— The  Deputies  receive  compensa- 
tion, the  amount  of  which  is  determined  by  the 
standing  orders,  and  are  entitled  to  the  free 
use  of  the  State  means  of  communication  for 
traveling  over  the  whole  territory  of  the  re- 
public. 

ARTICLE  25— The  President  of  the  republic 
convokes,  opens,  adjourns  and  closes  the  Sejm 
and  Senate.  The  Sejm  must  be  convoked  to  as- 
semble on  the  third  Tuesday  after  election  day, 
and  'every  year,  at  the  latest  in  October,  to  an 
ordinary  session  for  the  purpose  of  voting  the 
budget,  the  numerical  strength  and  recruiting 
of  the  army,  and  other  current  affairs. 

The  President  of  the  republic  may,  at  his  own 
discretion,  convoke  the  Sejm  to  an  extraordi- 
nary session  at  any  time,  and  is  bound  to  do 
this  within  two  weeks  upon  request  of  one- 
third   of  the   total  number  of  Deputies. 

Other  cases  in  which  the  Sejm  assembles  in 
extraordinary  session  are  determined  by  this 
Constitution. 

An  adjournment  requires  the  consent  of  the 
Sejm  if  a  previous  adjournment  has  taken  place 
during  the  same  ordinary  session,  or  if  the  in- 
terruption is  to  last  for  more  than  thirty  days. 

The  Sejm,  when  convoked  in  October  for  its 
ordinary  session,  may  not  be  closed  before  the 
budget  has  been  voted. 

ARTICLE  26— The  Sejm  may  be  dissolved  by 
its  own  vote,  passed  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds 
of  those  voting.  The  President  of  the  republic 
may    dissolve    the    Sejm    with    the    consent    of 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 


361 


three-fifths  of  the  statutory  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  in  the  presence  of  at  least 
one-half  of  the  total  membership.  In  both  cases 
the  Senate  is  automatically  dissolved  at  the 
same  time. 

Elections  will  take  place  within  forty  days 
from  the  date  of  dissolution,  the  precise  date 
to  be  determined  either  in  the  resolution  of  the 
Sejm  or  in  the  message  of  the  President,  on 
the  dissolution  of  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  27— The  Deputies  exercise  all  their 
rights  and  duties  in  person. 

ARTICLE  28— The  Sejm  elects  from  among  its 
members,  the  Marshal,  his  Deputies,  -  the  secre- 
taries and  committees. 

The  Marshal  and  his  Deputies  continue  in  of- 
fice after  the  dissolution  of  the  Sejm  until  the 
new  Sejm  shall  have  elected  its  officers. 

ARTICLE  29— The  standing  rules  of  the  Sejm 
define  the  mode  and  order  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Sejm,  the  type  and  number  of  the  com- 
mittees, the  number  of  Marshals  and  secre- 
taries, the  rights  and  duties  of  the  Marshal. 
The  employes  of  the  Sejm  are  appointed  by  the 
Marshal,  who  is  responsible  to  the  Sejm  for 
their   actions. 

ARTICLE  30— The  meetings  of  the  Se^-n  are 
public.  On  the  motion  of  the  Marshal,  of  a 
Government  representative,  or  of  thirty  Depu- 
ties, the  Sejm  may  vote  the  secrecy  of  its  meet- 
ings. 

ARTICLE  31— No  one  may  be  called  to  account 
for  a  truthful  report  of  an  open  meeting  of  the 
Sejm  or  a  committee  of  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  32— A  vote  is  valid  only  when  car- 
ried by  an  ordinary  majority  in  the  presence 
of  at  least  one-third  of  the  total  statutory  num- 
ber of  Deputies,  in  so  far  as  provisions  of  this 
Constitution   do   not  contain  other  rules. 

ARTICLE  33— The  Deputies  have  the  right  of 
addressing  interpellations  to  the  Government  or 
to  individual  Ministers,  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  the  standing  rules.  A  Minister  is 
bound  to  answer,  within  six  weeks,  orally  or 
in  writing,  or  submit  a  statement  wherein  he 
justifies  his  failure  to  give  an  answer  to  the 
point.  At  the  request  of  those  addressing  the 
interpellation,  the  answer  must  be  communi- 
cated to  the  Sejm.  The  Sejm  may  make  the 
answer   the   subject   of  debate   and  vote. 

ARTICLE  34— The  Sejm  may  form  and  ap- 
point, for  the  investigation  of  individual  cases, 
extraordinary  committees  empowered  to  hear 
the  interested  parties,  as  well  as  to  summon 
witnesses  and  experts.  The  competence  and 
powers  of  such  committees  will  be  determined 
by  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  35— Every  bill  passed  by  the  Sejm 
will  be  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  consider- 
ation. If  the  Senate,  within  thirty  days  from 
the  day  on  which  a  passed  bill  has  been  deliv- 
ered to  it,  does  not  raise  any  objections  to  the 
bill,  the  President  of  the  republic  will  direct 
the  publication  of  the  statute.  Upon  the  mo- 
tion of  the  Senate,  the  President  of  the  republic 
may  direct  the  publication  of  the  statute  before 
the  lapse  of  the  thirty   days. 

If  the  Senate  decides  to  alter  or  reject  a  bill 
passed   by    the   Sejm,    it   must   announce   this   to 


the  Sejm  within  the  aforesaid  thirty  days,  and 
must  return  the  bill  to  the  Sejm  with  the  pro- 
posed changes  within  the  following  thirty  days. 

If  the  Sejm  votes  by  an  ordinary  majority,  or 
by  a  majority  of  eleven-twentieths  of  those  vot- 
ing, the  changes  proposed  by  the  Senate,  the 
President  of  the  republic  will  direct  the  pub- 
lication of  the  statute  in  the  wording  determined 
by  the  second  vote  of  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  36— The  Senate  is  composed  of  mem- 
bers elected  by  the  individual  Voyevodships,  by 
universal,  secret,  direct,  equal  and  proportional 
voting.  Every  Voyevodship  forms  one  con- 
stituency, and  the  number  of  Senators  is  equal 
to  one-fourth  of  the  number  of  members  of  the 
Sejm,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants. 
The  right  of  electing  to  the  Senate  is  enjoyed 
by  every  elector  for  the  Sejm  who,  on  the  day 
of  the  proclamation  of  the  elections,  is  thirty 
years  of  age  and  has  on  that  day  been  a  resi- 
dent of  the  electoral  district  for  at  least  one 
year ;  the  right  of  voting  is  not  lost  by  newly 
settled  colonists  who  have  left  their  former 
place  of  residence,  availing  themselves  of  the 
agrarian  reform ;  neither  is  that  right  lost  by 
workmen  who  have  changed  their  place  of 
residence  as  a  result  of  changing  their  place  of 
occupation,  or  by  State  officials  transferred  by 
their  superior  authorities.  Eligibility  is  enjoyed 
by  every  citizen  who  has  the  right  of  voting  for 
the  Senate,  not  excludng  members  of  the  army 
in  active  service,  provided  that  citizen  is  40 
years  of  age  on  the  day  of  the  proclamation  of 
the  elections. 

The  term  of  the  Senate  begins  and  ends  with 
the   term   of  the   Sejm. 

No  one  may  be  at  the  same  time  a  member 
of  the  Sejm  and  of  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  87— The  provisions  contained  in 
Articles  14,  15,  16,  17,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24,  27, 
28,  29,  30,  31,  32  and  33  have  analagous  applica- 
tion to  the  Senate  and  to  its  members,  respec- 
tively. 

ARTICLE  38— No  statute  may  be  in  opposition 
to  this   Constitution  or  violate  its  provisions. 

SECTION  III.— EXECUTIVE  POWER 

ARTICLE  39— The  President  of  the  republic  is 
elected  for  seven  years  by  the  absolute  majority 
of  the  votes  of  the  Sejm  and  the  Senate  united 
in  National  Assembly.  The  National  Assembly 
is  convoked  by  the  President  of  the  republic  in 
the  last  three  months  of  his  seven  years'  term 
of  office.  If  the  convocation  has  not  taken 
place  thirty  days  before  the  end  of  the  seven 
years'  term,  the  Sejm  and  the  Senate,  upon 
the  invitation  of  the  Marshal  of  the  Sejm  and 
under  his  Chairmanship,  unite  automatically  in 
National   Assembly. 

ARTICLE  40— Should  the  President  of  the  re- 
public be  unable  to  perform  the  duties  of  his 
office,  or  should  the  office  of  the  President  of 
the  republic  become  vacant  through  death,  res- 
ignation, or  some  other  reason,  the  Marshal  of 
the  Sejm  will  act  as  his  Deputy. 

ARTICLE  41— In  case  the  office  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic  becomes  vacant,  the  Sejm 
and  the  Senate,  upon  the  invitation  of  the  Mar- 
shal  of  the  Sejm  and   under  his  Chairmanship, 


362 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


at   once   unite    automatically   in   a   National   As- 
sembly for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  President. 

Should  the  Sejm  be  dissolved  at  the  moment 
when  the  office  of  President  of  the  republic 
becomes  vacant,  the  Marshal  of  the  Sejm  will 
direct  without  delay  new  elections  to  the  Sejm 
and   the  Senate. 

VKTICLE  42— If  the  President  of  the  republic 
does  not  perform  the  duties  of  his  office  for 
three  months,  the  Marshal  will  without  delay 
convoke  the  Sejm  and  submit  to  its  decision 
the  question  whether  the  office  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  republic  is  to  be  declared  vacant. 

The  decision  to  declare  the  office  vacant  is 
taken  by  a  majority  of  three-fifths  of  the 
votes  in  the  presence  of  at  least  one-half  of 
the  statutory  number  of  Deputies ;  that  is,  the 
number  prescribed  by  the  Law  of  Elections. 

ARTICLE  43— The  President  of  the  republic 
exercises  the  executive  power  through  Min- 
isters responsible  to  the  Sejm  and  through  offi- 
cials  subordinated   to   the   Ministers. 

Every  official  of  the  republic  must  be  subor- 
dinate to  a  Minister,  who  is  responsible  to  the 
Sejm  for  the  former's  actions. 

The  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers 
countersigns  the  appointment  of  officials  of  the 
civil  Cabinet  of  the  President  of  the  republic, 
and  is  responsible  for  their  actions  to  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  44— The  President  of  the  republic 
signs  the  statutes  jointly  with  the  competent 
Ministers,  and  directs  the  publication  of  the 
statutes  in  the  Journal  of  the  Laws  of  the  re- 
public. 

The  President  of  the  republic  has  the  right  to 
issue,  for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  statutes 
and  with  reference  to  the  statutory  authoriza- 
tion, executive  ordinances,  directions,  orders 
and  prohibitions,  and  to  insure  their  execution 
by  the  use  of  force. 

The  Ministers  and  the  authorities  subordinate 
to  them  have  the  same  right  in  their  respective 
fields  of  jurisdiction. 

Every  governmental  act  of  the  President  of 
the  republic  requires  for  its  validity  the  signa- 
ture of  the  President  of  the  Council  of  Min- 
isters and  of  the  competent  Minister,  who,  by 
countersigning  the  act,  assume  the  responsi- 
bility therefor. 

ARTICLE  45— The  President  of  the  republic 
appoints  and  recalls  the  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Ministers;  on  the  latter's  motion  he  ap- 
points and  recalls  Ministers,  and  on  the  motion 
of  the  Council  of  Ministers  makes  appointments 
to  the  civil  and  military  offices  reserved  by 
statutes. 

ARTICLE  46— The  President  of  the  republic 
is  at  the  same  time  the  supreme  head  of  the 
armed  forces  of  the  State,  but  he  may  not  ex- 
ercise the  chief  command  in  time  of  war. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  armed  forces 
of  the  Btate,  in  case  of  war,  is  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  republic,  on  the  motion  of 
the  Council  of  Ministers,  presented  by  the  Min- 
ister of  Military  Affairs,  who  is  responsible  to 
the  Sejm  for  the  acts  connected  with  the  com- 
mand in  time  of  war,  as  well  as  for  all  affairs 
of   military    direction. 

ARTICLE    47— The    right    to    reprieve    and    to 


mitigate  punishment,  and  to  abolish  the  conse- 
quences of  criminal  conviction  in  individual 
cases,  belongs  to  the  President  of  the  republic. 

The  President  may  not  exercise  this  right  in 
the  case  of  Ministers  convicted  upon  impeach- 
ment by  the  Sejm. 

Amnesty  may  be  granted  only  by  statute. 

ARTICLE  48— The  President  of  the  republic, 
in  foreign  relations,  receives  diplomatic  repre- 
sentatives of  foreign  States  and  sends  diplo- 
matic representatives  of  the  Polish  State  to 
foreign    States. 

ARTICLE  49— The  President  of  the  republic 
makes  treaties  with  other  States  and  brings 
them  to  the  notice  of  the  Sejm. 

Commercial  and  customs  treaties,  as  well  as 
treaties  which  impose  a  permanent  financial 
burden  on  the  State,  or  contain  legal  rules 
binding  on  the  citizens,  or  change  the  frontiers 
of  the  State,  also  alliances,  require  the  consent 
of  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  50— The  President  of  the  republic 
may  declare  war  and  conclude  peace  only  after 
obtaining  the   consent  of  the   Sejm. 

ARTICLE  51— The  President  of  the  republic 
is  not  responsible  either  to  Parliament  or  at 
civil  law. 

For  betraying  the  country,  violating  the  Con- 
stitution, or  for  criminal  offenses,  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  republic  may  be  made  responsible 
only  by  the  Sejm  by  a  vote  of  a  majority  of 
three-fifths  in  the  presence  of  at  least  one-half 
of  the  statutory  number  of  Deputies.  The  cause 
is  heard  and  the  sentence  given  by  the  Court 
of  State,,  according  to  the  rules  of  a  special 
statute.  Immediately  upon  his  impeachment  be- 
fore the  Court  of  State,  the  President  of  the 
republic  is  suspended  from  office. 

ARTICLE  52— The  President  of  the  republic 
receives  a  salary  according  to  the  rules  of  a 
special   statute. 

ARTICLE  53— The  President  of  the  republic 
may  not  hold  any  other  office  or  be  a  member 
of  the   Sejm   or   the   Senate. 

ARTICLE  54— Before  assuming  office  the 
President  of  the  republic  takes  his  oath  in  the 
National  Assembly,   in  the  following  terms: 

"  I  swear  to  Almighty  God,  One  in  the  Holy 
Trinity,  and  I  vow  to  Thee,  Polish  nation,  that 
while  holding  the  office  of  President  of  the 
republic  I  will  keep  and  defend  faithfully  the 
laws  of  the  republic  and  above  all  the  constitu- 
tional law  ;  that  I  will  serve  devotedly,  with  all 
my  power,  the  general  good  of  the  nation;  that 
I  will  avert,  watchfully,  from  the  State  all 
evil  and  danger;  that  I  will  guard  steadfastly 
the  dignity  of  the  name  of  Poland  ;  that  I  will 
hold  justice  toward  all  citizens  without  distinc- 
tion as  the  highest  virtue;  that  I  will  devote 
myself  undividedly  to  the  duties  of  office  and 
service.  So  help  me  God  and  the  Holy  Martyr- 
dom of  His   Son.     Amen" 

ARTICLE  55-The  Ministers  form  the  Council 
of  Ministers  under  the  Chairmanship  of  the 
President  of  the   Council   of   Ministers. 

ARTICLE  56— The  Council  of  Ministers  bears 
the  joint  constitutional  and  parliamentary  re- 
sponsibility for  the  general  direction  of  the 
activities  of  the  Government. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 


Apart  from  that,  each  Minister  is  individually 
responsible,  in  his  domain,  for  his  activities  in 
office ;  that  is,  as  well  for  their  conformity  with 
the  Constitution  and  the  other  statutes  of  the 
State,  and  for  the  activities  of  the  subordinate 
organs,  as  for  the  direction  of  his  policies. 
.  ARTICLE  57— Within  the  same  limits,  the 
Ministers  are  jointly  and  individually  respon- 
sible for  the  governmental  acts  of  the  President 
of  the   republic. 

ARTICLE  58— The  parliamentary  responsibil- 
ity of  the  Ministers  is  enforced  by  the  Sejm  by 
an  ordinary  majority.  The  Council  of  Ministers 
or  any  individual  Minister  will  resign  at  the 
request  of  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  59— The  constitutional  responsibility 
of  the  Ministers  and  the  way  of  its  realization 
will  be  determined  by  a  special  statute. 

The  decision  to  impeach  a  Minister  can  be 
made  only  in  the  presence  of  at  least  one-half 
the  statutory  number  of  Deputies  and  by  a  ma- 
jority of  three-fifths  of  the  votes  cast. 

The  causes  are  heard  and  judgment  is  passed 
by  the  Court  of  State.  A  Minister  cannot  evade 
his  constitutional  responsibility  by  resigning  his 
office.  Immediately  upon  his  impeachment,  the 
Minister   is  suspended  from   office. 

ARTICLE  60— The  Ministers  and  officials  dele- 
gated by  them,  have  the  right  to  take  part  in 
the  meetings  of  the  Sejm,  and  to  speak  out  of 
the  turn  of  those  figuring  on  the  list  of  speakers ; 
they  may  take  part  in  the  vote  if  they  are 
Deputies. 

ARTICLE  61— The  Ministers  may  not  hold 
any  other  office  or  participate  in  the  governing 
or  controlling  bodies  of  societies  and  institutions 
which   work   for   profit. 

ARTICLE  62— Should  the  office  of  a  Minister 
be  held  by  a  provisory  head  of  the  Ministry,  he 
will  be  subject  to  all  the  rules  concerning  the 
office   of   a   Ministry. 

The  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  will, 
in  case  of  need,  appoint  one  of  the  Ministers 
his   deputy. 

ARTICLE  63— A  special  statute  will  determine 
the  number,  competence,  and  mutual  relation  of 
the  Ministers,  as  well  as  the  competence  of 
the   Council   of  Ministers. 

ARTICLE  64— The  Court  of  State  is  composed 
of  the  First  President  of  the  Supreme  Court  as 
Chairman,  and  of  twelve  members,  eight  of 
whom  are  elected  by  the  Sejm  and  four  by  the 
Senate  from  outside  their  own  membership. 

To  membership  in  the  Court  of  State  are 
eligible  persons  who  do  not  hold  any  State 
office  and  are  in  full  possession  of  civil  rights. 

The  election  of  the  members  of  the  Court  of 
State  is  carried  out  by  the  Sejm  and  the  Senate 
immediately  upon  the  election  of  their  officers 
for  the  whole  term  of  the. Sejm. 

ARTICLE  65— For  administrative  purposes,  the 
Polish  State  will  be  divided  by  statute  into 
Voyevodships,  districts,  and  urban  and  rural 
communes,  which  will  at  the  same  time  be  the 
units  of  territorial  self-government 

The  units  of  self-government  may  combine 
into  unions  in  order  to  accomplish  tasks  which 
belong  to  the  domain  of  self-government. 


Such  unions  may  obtain  the  character  of 
bodies  of  public  law  only  by  special  statute. 

ARTICLE  66— The  administration  of  the  State 
will  be  organized  on  the  principle  of  decentrali- 
zation, organs  of  State  administration  in  the  in- 
dividual territorial  units  being,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, joined  in  one  official  body  under  one  su- 
perior, and  on  the  principle  that  within  the 
limits  determined  by  statutes,  citizens  elected 
for  this  purpose  shall  participate  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  such  official  bodies. 

ARTICLE  67— The  right  of  determining  affairs 
belonging  to  the  domain  of  self-government  rests 
with  elected  councils.  The  executive  functions 
of  Voyevodship  and  district  self-government  rest 
with  organs  formed  by  adding  to  boards  elected 
by  representative  bodies,  representatives  of  State 
administrative  authorities,  under  the  Chairman- 
ship of  the  latter. 

ARTICLE  68— A  special  statute  will  create,  in 
addition  to  territorial  self-government,  economic 
self-government,  for  the  individual  fields  of 
economic  life— namely,  Chambers  of  Agriculture, 
Commerce,  Industry,  Arts  and  Crafts,  Hired 
Labor,  and  others,  united  into  a  Supreme  Eco- 
nomic Council  of  the  republic,  the  collabora- 
tion of  which  with  State  authorities,  in  direct- 
ing economic  life  and  in  the  field  of  legislative 
proposals,  will  be  determined  by  statutes. 

ARTICLE  69— The  sources  of  revenue  of  the 
State  and  of  self-government  organizations  re- 
spectively will  be  strictly  deliminated  by  stat- 
utes. 

ARTICLE  70— The  State  will  exercise  super- 
vision over  self-government  activities  through 
superior  self-government  boards ;  such  super- 
vision may,  however,  be  partially  delegated  by 
statute   to  administrative   courts. 

Statutes  will  determine  the  cases  in  which  de- 
cisions of  self-government  organs  may  excep- 
tionally require  confirmation  by  superior  self- 
government  organs  or  by  Ministries. 

ARTICLE  71— An  appeal  from  decisions  of 
State  and  self-government  organs  will  be  al- 
lowed only  to  one  superior  body,  unless  other 
provisions  are  made  by  statutes. 

ARTICLE  72— Statutes  will  put  into  effect  the 
principle  that  from  penal  decisions  of  adminis- 
trative authorities,  made  in  the  first  instance, 
the  parties  concerned  will  have  the  right  to  ap- 
peal to  the  competent  court. 

ARTICLE  73— For  the  purpose  of  passing  upon 
the  legality  of  administrative  acts  in  the  field 
of  State,  as  well  as  of  self-government  admin- 
istration, a  special  statute  will  create  Admin- 
istrative Courts,  basing  their  organization  on  the 
co-operation  of  (lay)  citizens  and  (professional) 
Judges,  and  culminating  in  a  Supreme  Adminis- 
trative Court. 

SECTION  IV.— JUDICIARY 

ARTICLE  74— The  courts  administer  justice 
in  the  name  of  the  Republic  of  Poland. 

ARTICLE  75— The  organization,  jurisdiction 
and  procedure  of  all  courts  will  be  defined  by 
legislation. 

ARTICLE  76— The  President  of  the  republic 
appoints  the  Judges,  unless  a  different  provision 


364 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


is  made  by  statute,  but  Justices  of  the  Peace  are 
as  a  rule  elected  by  the  population. 

Judicial  office  is  accessible  only  to  persons 
who  possess  the  qualifications  required  by  law. 

ARTICLE  77— In  the  exercise  of  their  judicial 
office,  the  Judges  are  independent  and  subject 
only  to  satutes. 

Judicial  decisions  may  not  be  changed  either 
by  the  legislative  power  or  by  the  Executive 
power. 

ARTICLE  78— A  Judge  may  be  removed  from 
office,  suspended  from  office,  transferred  to  a 
different  place  of  office,  or  pensioned,  against 
his  own  will,  by  judicial  decision  only,  and  only 
in   cases   provided    by   statute. 

This  rule  does  not  apply  in  the  case  of  the 
transfer  of  a  Judge  to  a  different  place,  or  his 
pensioning  owing  to  a  change  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  courts  decided  upon  by  statute. 

ARTICLE  79— Judges  may  not  be  criminally 
prosecuted  or  be  deprived  of  their  freedom  with- 
out the  previous  consent  of  the  court  assigned 
by  statute,  unless  they  are  caught  in  the  act, 
but  even  in  this  last  case  the  court  may  demand 
that  the  arrested  Judge  be  freed  without  delay. 

ARTICLE  80— A  special  statute  will  define  the 
peculiar  position  of  the  Judges,  their  rights  and 
duties,   as  well   as  their  compensation. 

ARTICLE  81— The  courts  have  not  the  right 
to  inquire  into  the  validity  of  duly  promulgated 
statutes. 

ARTICLE  82— The  hearings  before  a  determin- 
ing court,  as  well  in  civil  as  in  criminal  cases, 
are  public,  except  when  statutes  provide  other- 
wise. 

ARTICLE  83— Courts  with  juries  will  be  called 
upon  to  determine  cases  of  felonies  entailing 
more  severe  punishment,  and  cases  of  political 
offenses.  Statutes  will  define  in  detail  the  ju- 
risdiction of  courts  with  juries,  the  organization 
of  such  courts,  and  their  procedure. 

ARTICLE  84— A  Supreme  Court  for  judicial 
causes,  civil  and  criminal,  is  hereby  created. 

ARTICLE  85— Special  statutes  will  define  the 
organization  of  military  courts,  their  jurisdic- 
tion, procedure,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
members  of  such  courts. 

ARTICLE  86— A  special  Competence  Court 
[Tribunal  of  Conflicts]  will  be  created  by  a 
statute  to  determine  conflicts  of  jurisdiction  be- 
tween the  administrative  authorities  and  the 
courts. 

SECTION  V.— GENERAL  DUTIES  AND 
RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENS 

ARTICLE  87— A  Polish  citizen  may  not  be  at 
the  same  time  a  citizen  of  another  State. 
ARTICLE    88— Polish    citizenship    is    acquired: 

(a)  by  birth  if  the  parents  are  Polish  citizens; 

(b)  by  naturalization  granted  by  the  competent 
State  authority.  Special  statutes  define  other 
rules  as  to  Polish  citizenship,  its  acquisition  and 
loss. 

ARTICLE  89— Fidelity  to  the  Republic  of  Po- 
land is  the  first  duty  of  a  citizen. 

ARTICLE  90— Every  citizen  has  the  duty  of 
respecting  and  obeying  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  and  other  valid  laws  and  ordinances  of  the 
State  and  self-government  authorities. 


ARTICLE  91— All  citizens  are  subject  to  mil- 
itary service;  the  character  and  manner,  order 
and  term  of  service,  exemption  from  such  duty, 
and  any  duties,  contributions  or  services  for 
military  purposes,  will  be  defined  by  legisla- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  93— It  is  the  duty  of  all  citizens  to 
submit  to  any  public  burdens  services  and  duties 
imposed  by  virtue  of  statute. 

ARTICLE  93— All  citizens  are  bound  to  respect 
legitimate  authority  and  to  facilitate  the  per- 
formance of  its  duties,  as  well  as  to  perform 
conscientiously  public  duties  to  which  they  may 
be  appointed  by  the  nation  or  the  proper  au- 
thority. 

ARTICLE  94— It  is  the  duty  of  citizens  to 
bring  up  their  children  as  righteous  citizens  of 
the  mother  country,  and  to  secure  to  them  at 
least   elementary    education. 

This  duty  will  be  defined  more  in  detail  by  a 
special  statute. 

ARTICLE  95— The  Republic  of  Poland  guar- 
antees on  its  territory,  to  all,  without  distinc- 
tion of  extraction,  nationality,  language,  race 
or  religion,  full  protection  of  life,  liberty  and 
property. 

Foreigners  enjoy,  on  condition  of  reciprocity, 
rights  equal  to  those  of  citizens  of  the  Polish 
State,  and  have  duties  equal  to  those  of  such 
citizens,  unless  statutes  expressly  require  Po- 
lish citizenship. 

ARTICLE  96— All  citizens  are  equal  before  the 
law.  Public  offices  are  accessible  in  equal  meas- 
ure to  all,   on  conditions  prescribed  by  the  law. 

The  Republic  of  Poland  does  not  recognize 
privileges  of  birth  or  of  estate,  or  any  coats  of 
arms,  family  or  other  titles,  with  the  exception 
of  those  of  learning,  office  or  profession.  A 
Polish  citizen  may  not  accept  foreign  titles  or 
orders  without  the  permission  of  the  President 
of  the  republic. 

ARTICLE  97— Limitations  of  personal  liberty, 
especially  search  of  person  and  arrest,  are  ad- 
missible only  in  cases  prescribed  by  law,  and 
in  the  manner  defined  by  statutes,  by  virtue  of 
an  order  from  judicial  authorities. 

In  case  a  judicial  order  cannot  be  issued  im- 
mediately, it  should  be  served,  at  the  latest, 
within  forty-eight  hours,  with  a  statement  of 
the  reasons  of  the  search  or  arrest. 

Arrested  persons  who  have  not  been  served 
within  forty-eight  hours  with  a  written  state- 
ment of  the  cause  of  arrest,  signed  by  a  judi- 
cial authority,  regain  their  freedom  at  once. 

The  means  of  compulsion  serving  by  which  the 
administrative  authorities  may  enforce  their  or- 
ders are  determined  in  statutes. 

ARTICLE  98— No  one  may  be  deprived  of  the 
court  to  which  he  is  subject  by  law.  Exceptional 
courts  are  admissible  only  in  cases  determined 
by  statutes,  which  statutes  must  have  been  is- 
sued before  the  offense  was  committed.  A  cit- 
izen may  be  prosecuted  and  punishment  inflicted 
only  by  virtue  of  a  statute  actually  in  force. 
Punishment  involving  physical  suffering  are  not 
permitted  and  no  one  may  be  subjected  to  such 
punishment. 

No  statute  may  deprive  a  citizen  of  access  to 
the  courts  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  repara- 
tion for  injury  or  damage. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 


365 


ARTICLE  99— The  Republic  of  Poland  recog- 
nizes all  property,  whether  belonging  person- 
ally to  individual  citizens  or  collectively  to  as- 
sociations of  citizens,  institutions,  self-govern- 
ment organizations,  and  the  State  itself,  as  one 
of  the  most  important  bases  of  social  organiza- 
tion and  legal  order,  and  guarantees  to  all  citi- 
zens, institutions  and  associations  protection  of 
their  property,  permitting  only  in  cases  pro- 
vided by  a  statute  the  abolition  or  limitation  of 
property,  whether  personal  or  collective,  for 
reasons  of  higher  utility,  against  compensation. 
Only  a  statute  may  determine  what  property— 
and  to  what  extent,  for  reasons  of  public  util- 
ity—shall form  the  exclusive  property  of  the 
State,  and  in  how  far  rights  of  citizens  and  of 
their  legally  recognized  associations  to  use 
freely  land,  waters,  minerals  and  other  treas- 
ures of  nature,  may  be  subject  to  limitations 
for  public  reasons. 

The  land,  as  one  of  the  most  important  factors 
of  the  existence  of  the  nation  and  the  State, 
may  not  be  the  subject  of  unrestricted  transfer 
(commerce).  Statutes  will  define  the  right  of 
the  State  to  buy  up  land  against  the  will  of  the 
owners,  and  to  regulate  the  transfer  of  land,  ap- 
plying the  principle  that  the  agrarian  organiza- 
tions of  the  Republic  of  Poland  should  be  based 
on  agricultural  units  capable  of  regular  pro- 
duction, and  forming  private  property. 

ARTICLE  100— The  home  and  hearth  of  the  cit- 
izen are  inviolable.  Infringements  of  this  right 
by  entering  the  home,  searching  it  and  taking 
papers  or  movables  may,  apart  from  the  neces- 
sity of  executing  administrative  orders  based  on 
a  specific  statutory  authorization,  take  place 
only  by  order  of  judicial  authorities,  in  the  man- 
ner and  in  the  cases  prescribed  by  the  statute. 

ARTICLE  101— Every  citizen  has  the  liberty  of 
selecting  on  the  territory  of  the  State  his  place 
of  residence  and  abode,  to  move  about  and  to 
emigrate,  as  well  as  to  choose  his  occupation 
and  profession,  and  to  transport  his  property. 

These  rights  may  be  restricted  only  by  statute. 

ARTICLE  103— Labor  is  the  main  basis  of  the 
wealth  of  the  republic,  and  should  remain  under 
the  special  protection  of  the  State. 

Every  citizen  has  the  right  to  State  protec- 
tion for  his  labor,  and  in  case  of  lack  of  work, 
illness,  accident  or  debility,  to  the  benefits  of 
social  insurance  which  will  be  determined  by  a 
special   statute. 

The  State  has  the  duty  of  making  accessible 
also  moral  guidance  and  religious  consolation  to 
citizens  under  its  immediate  care  in  public  in- 
stitutions, such  as  educational  institutions,  bar- 
racks, hospitals,  prisons  and  charitable  homes. 

ARTICLE  103— Children  without  sufficient 
parental  care,  neglected  with  respect  to  educa- 
tion, have  the  right  to  State  aid  within  the 
limits  to  be  determined  by  statute. 

Parents  may  not  be  deprived  of  authority  over 
their  children  except  by  judicial  decision. 

Special  statutes  determine  the  protection  of 
motherhood. 

Children  under  15  years  of  age  may  not  be 
wage  earners ;  neither  may  women  be  employed 
at  night,  or  young  laborers  be  employed  in  in- 
dustries detrimental  to  their  health. 

Permanent  employment  of  children  and  young 


people  of  school  age  for  wage  earning  purposes 
is  forbidden. 

ARTICLE  104— Every  citizen  has  the  right  to 
express  freely  his  ideas  and  convictions  in  so  far 
as  he  does  not  thereby  violate  legal  provisions. 

ARTICLE  105— Freedom  of  the  press  is  guar- 
anteed. Censorship  of  the  system  of  licensing 
printed  matter  may  not  be  introduced.  Daily 
papers  and  other  matter  printed  in  the  country 
may  not  be  debarred  from  the  mails  nor  may 
their  dissemination  on  the  territory  of  the  re- 
public be  restricted. 

A  special  statute  will  define  the  rsponsibility 
for  the  abuse  of  this  freedom. 

ARTICLE  106— The  secrecy  of  letters  and  other 
correspondence  may  be  infringed  upon  only  in 
cases  provided  by  law. 

ARTICLE  107— Citizens  have  the  right  of  pre- 
senting individual  or  collective  petitions  to  all 
State  and  self-government  representative  bodies 
and  public  authorities. 

ARTICLE  108— Citizens  have  the  right  of  com- 
bining, meeting  and  forming  associations  and 
unions.  The  exercise  of  these  rights  is  defined 
by   statutes. 

ARTICLE  109— Every  citizen  has  the  right  of 
preserving  his  nationality  and  developing  his 
mother-tongue   and   national   characteristics. 

Special  statutes  of  the  State  will  guarantee 
to  minorities  in  the  Polish  State  the  full  and 
free  development  of  their  national  characteris- 
tics, with  the  assistance  of  autonomous  minority 
unions,  endowed  with  the  character  of  public 
law  organizations,  within  the  limits  of  unions 
of  general  self-government. 

The  State  will  have  in  regard  to  their  activity 
the  right  of  control  and  of  supplementing  their 
financial  means  in  case  of  need. 

ARTICLE  110— Polish  citizens  belonging  to  na- 
tional, religious  or  linguistic  minorities,  have  the 
same  right  as  other  citizens  of  f oundng,  su- 
pervising and  administering  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, charitable,  religious  and  social  institu- 
tions, schools  and  other  educational  institutions, 
and  of  using  freely  therein  their  language,  and 
observing  the  rules  of  their  religion. 

ARTICLE  111— Freedom  of  conscience  and  of 
religion  is  guaranteed  to  all  citizens.  No  citi- 
zen may  suffer  a  limitation  of  the  rights  enjoyed 
by  other  citizens,  by  reason  of  his  religion  and 
religious  convictions. 

All  inhabitants  of  the  Polish  State  have  the 
right  of  freely  professing  their  religion -in  pub- 
lic as  well  as  in  private,  and  of  performing  the 
commands  of  their  religion  or  rite,  in  so  far  as 
this  is  not  contrary  to  public  order  or  public 
morality. 

ARTICLE  112— Religious  freedom  may  not  be 
used  in  a  way  contrary  to  statutes.  No  one 
may  evade  the  performance  of  public  duties  by 
reason  of  his  religious  beliefs.  No  one  may  be 
compelled  to  take  part  in  religious  activities  or 
rites  unless  he  is  subject  to  parental  or  guar- 
dian's  authority. 

ARTICLE  113— Every  religious  community  rec- 
ognized by  the  State  has  the  right  of  organizing 
collective  and  public  services;  it  may  conduct 
independently  its  internal  affairs;  it  may  pos- 
sess and  acquire  movable  and  immovable  prop- 
erty,  administer  and   dispose  of  it;   it  remains 


366 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


in  possession  and  enjoyment  of  its  endowments 
and  funds,  and  of  religious,  educational  and 
charitable  institutions.  No  religious  community 
may,  however,  be  in  opposition  to  the  statutes 
of  the  State.  • 

ARTICLE  114— The  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
being  the  religion  of  the  preponderent  majority 
of  the  nation,  occupies  in  the  State  the  chief  po- 
sition among  enfranchised  religions.  The  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church  governs  itself  under  its 
own  laws.  The  relation  of  the  State  to  the 
Church  will  be  determined  on  the  basis  of  an 
agreement  with  the  Apostolic  See,  which  is  sub- 
ject to  ratification  by  the  Sejm. 

ARTICLE  115— The  churches  of  the  religious 
minorities  and  other  legally  organized  religious 
communities  govern  themselves  by  their  own 
laws,  which  the  State  may  not  refuse  to  recog- 
nize unless  they  contain  rules  contrary  to  law. 

The  relation  of  the  State  to  such  churches  and 
religions  will  be  determined  from  time  to  time 
by  legislation  after  an  understanding  with  their 
legal  representatives. 

ARTICLE  116— The  recognition  of  a  new  or 
hitherto  not  legally  recognized  religion  may  not 
be  refused  to  religious  communities  whose  insti- 
tutions' teachings  and  organizations  are  not  con- 
trary to   public   order   or  public   morality. 

ARTICLE  117— Learned  investigations  and  the 
publication  of  their  results  are  free.  Every  cit- 
izen has  the  right  to  teach,  to  found  a  school 
or  educational  institution  and  to  direct  it  if  he 
complies  with  the  requirements  laid  down  by 
statute  concerning  the  qualifications  of  teach- 
ers, the  safety  of  the  child  intrusted  to  him, 
and  a  loyal  attitude  toward  the  State.  All 
schools  and  educational  institutions,  public  as 
well  as  private,  are  subject  to  supervision  by 
State  authorities  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  statutes. 

ARTICLE  118— Within  the  limits  of  the  ele- 
mentary school,  instruction  is  compulsory  for 
all  citizens  of  the  State.  A  statute  will  define 
the  period,  limits  and  manner  of  acquiring  such 
education. 

ARTICLE  119— Teaching  in  State  and  self- 
government  schools  is  gratuitous. 

The  State  will  insure  to  pupils  who  are  excep- 
tionally able,  but  not  well-to-do,  scholarships 
for  their  maintenance  in  secondary  and  aca- 
demic schools. 

ARTICLE  120— Instruction  in  religion  is  com- 
pulsory for  all  pupils  in  every  educational  in- 
stitution, the  curriculum  of  which  includes  in- 
struction of  youth  under  18  years  of  age,  if  the 
institution  is  maintained  wholly  or  in  part  by 
the  State,  or  by  self-government  bodies.  The 
direction  and  supervision  of  religious  instruction 
in  schools  belongs  to  the  respective  religious 
community,  reserving  to  the  State  educational 
authorities  the  right  of  supreme  supervision. 

ARTICLE  131— Every  citizen  has  the  right  to 
compensation  for  damage  inflicted  upon  him  by 
civil  or  military  organs  of  State  authorities,  by 
an  official  act  not  in  accordance  with  the  right 
or  duties  of  the  service.  The  State  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  damage,  jointly  with  the  guilty  or- 
gans; action  may  be  brought  against  the  State 
and  against  officials,  independently  of  any  per- 
mission by  public  authority.  Communes  and 
other  self-government  bodies,   as  well   as  their 


organs,  are  responsible  in  the  same  manner. 
Special  statutes  will  define  the  application  of 
this  principle. 

ARTICLE  122— The  rules  as  to  citizens'  rights 
apply  also  to  persons  belonging  to  the  armed 
force.  Special  military  statutes  define  excep- 
tions to  this  principle. 

ARTICLE  128— Armed  force  may  be  used  only 
by  request  of  a  civil  authority  under  strict  obe- 
dience to  statutes,  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
down  disturbances  or  of  enforcing  the  execution 
of  legal  rules.  Exceptions  to  this  principle  are 
admissible  only  by  virtue  of  statutes  on  the 
state  of  siege  and  of  war. 

ARTICLE  124— A  temporary  suspension  of  cit- 
izens' rights;  of  personal  liberty  (Article  5>7). 
of  inviolability  of  home  and  hearth  (Article 
100),  of  freedom  of  the  press  (Article  105),  of 
secrecy  of  correspondence  (Article  106),  of  the 
right  of  combining,  meeting  and  forming  asso- 
ciations (Article  108),  may  take  place  for  the 
whole  territory  of  the  State  or  for  localities  in 
which  it  may  prove  necessary  for  reasons  of 
public  safety. 

Such  suspension  may  be  directed  only  by  the 
Council,  of  Ministers,  by  permission  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  republic,  during  a  war  or  when  an 
outbreak  of  war  threatens,  as  well  as  in  case 
of  internal  disturbances  or  of  widespread  con- 
spiracies which  bear  the  character  of  high  trea- 
son and  threaten  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
or  the  safety  of  the  citizens. 

Such  a  decision  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  if 
made  while  the  Sejm  is  in  session,  must  be  im- 
mediately submitted  to  the  Sejm  for  confirma- 
tion. If  such  a  decision,  to  apply  on  a  territory 
which  comprises  more  than  one  Voyevodship  be 
issued  during  an  interval  between  meetings  of 
the  Sejm,  the  Sejm  meets  automatically  within 
eight  days  from  the  publication  of  the  decision 
in  order  to  take  the  proper  step. 

Should  the  Sejm  refuse  confirmation,  the  state 
of  siege  immediately  loses  its  binding  force.  If 
the  Council  of  Ministers  directs  a  state  of  siege 
after  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  Sejm, 
or  after  dissolution  of  the  Sejm,  the  decision  of 
the  Government  must  be  submitted  to  the  newly 
elected  Sejm  without  delay,  at  its  first  meeting. 

These  principles  will  be  defined  more  in  detail 
by  a  statute  on  the  state  of  siege. 

A  statute  on  the  state  of  war  will  define  the 
principles  of  a  temporary  suspension  of  the 
above  enumerated  rights  of  citizens  in  time  of 
war  on  the  territory  affected  by  war  operations. 

ARTICLE  125— A  change  in  the  Constitution 
may  be  voted  only  in  the  presence  of  at  least 
one-half  the  statutory  number  of  Deputies  or 
Senators  respectively,  by  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds   of   the  votes. 

The  motion  to  change  the  Constitution  must 
be  signed  by  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  total 
statutory  number  of  Deputies  and  notice  of  such 
a  motion  must  be  given  at  least  fifteen  days 
in    advance. 

The  second  Sejm,  which  will  meet  on  the 
basis  of  this  Constitution,  may  revise  this  con- 
stitutional law  by  its  own  vote,  taken  by  a 
majority  of  three-fifths  in  the  presence  of  at 
least  one-half  the  statutory  number  of  Deputies. 

ARTICLE   126— This    Constitution   has   binding 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  POLAND 


367 


force   from   the  day   of  its   publication,   or   in  so 
far  as  the  realization  of  its  individual  provisions 
is  dependent  on  the   issuing   of   special   statutes 
on  the  day  of  their  going  into  force. 
All   legal    rules   and    institutions    now    in   force 


which  do  not  agree  with  the  rules  of  this  Con- 
stitution, will,  within  a  year  from  the  voting 
of  this  Constitution,  be  submitted  to  the  legis- 
lative body  in  order  to  be  brought  into  harmony 
with  the  Constitution  by  legislation. 


CHINA  "MUDDLING  THROUGH" 


Harassed  by  bankruptcy,  famine  and  civil  war,  and  deadlocked  with  Japan,  the  nation 
still  "carries  on"  and  refuses  to  accept  the  foreign  loans  offered  by  the  consortium 

[Period   Ended  April   15,    1921] 


KIPLING,  with  India  in  mind,  sang, 
"  East  is  East,  and  West  is  West." 
His  comparison  might  well  be  applied 
at  the  present  day  to  China,  for  that  vast 
empire,  with  its  millions  of  souls,  still 
manages  to  "  muddle  through,"  despite  con- 
ditions of  demoralization,  under  which  an- 
other race  less  stoical  and  fatalistic  would 
long  ago  have  succumbed. 

Though  still  split  into  two  nations  by  the 
opera  bouffe  civil  war  between  the  North 
and  the  South  and  with  an  almost  empty 
treasury,  China  still  holds  to  her  resolution 
not  to  treat  with  Japan  over  the  return  of 
Shantung,  and  maintains  the  economic  boy- 
cott on  Japanese  goods,  which  is  perhaps 
more  harmful  to  the  Chinese  themselves 
than  to  the  Japanese.  The  foreign  con- 
sortium offers  them  funds,  and  they  prefer 
tojnake  their  loans  from  Chinese  bankers. 
A  state  of  war  exists  between  Peking  and 
Canton;  and  yet  Envoys  and  Ambassadors 
tranquilly  interchange  vists  in  all  security, 
and  continue  endless  discussions  which  seem 
to  lead  nowhere.  A  Chinese  garrison  is 
driven  out  of  the  capital  of  Mongolia  by  a 
mixed  force  of  Mongolian  insurgents  and 
Russian  adventurers,  and  the  Tuchuns 
calmly  disregard  the  Government's  orders  to 
retake  it  or  even  to  organize  a  punitive  ex- 
pedition, and  the  Government  accepts  the 
situation.  The  peasants  and  farmers  are 
robbed  and  their  homes  looted  by  the  em- 
battled soldiers,  who  do  everything  but 
fight,  and  no  redress  can  be  obtained.  Fam- 
ing stalks  through  great  provinces,  and  pes- 
tilence rages,  and  China,  as  a  whole,  looks 
on  unmoved.  East  is  east  and  the  great 
Mongol  race,  so  different  from  the  alert  and 
dangerously  active  yellow  men  from  across 


the  strait,  continues  impassively  to  go  on  its 
ancient  way. 

And  yet,  when  one  studies  it,  there  seems 
to  be  a  certain  logic  in  the  policy  which 
China  has  been  developing.  No  yielding  on 
Shantung  has  become  a  national  slogan,  and 
the  Chinese  Government  knows  only  too 
well,  as  a  March  telegram  to  the  Chinese 
Minister  in  Germany  showed  again,  that  the 
opening  of  any  direct  negotiations  would  be 
dangerous  in  view  of  the  state  of  public 
opinion.  Similarly  the  Government  refused 
to  open  negotiations  with  Japan  over  the 
occupation  of  Hunchun  and  Chientao,  on  the 
Korean-Manchurian  border,  dispatched  sev- 
eral thousand  troops  to  the  district  to  main- 
tain order,  and  repeatedly  declared  that  the 
presence  of  Japanese  soldiers  there  was  un- 
necessary. This  policy  was  well  advised  and 
effective.  It  was  officially  announced  from 
Tokio  toward  the  end  of  March  that  the  last 
remaining  Japanese  forces  would  be  with- 
drawn on  April  1. 

A  s  regards  the  civil  war,  China's  way 
may  be  unconventional,  and  yet  perhaps  be 
best  adapted  to  the  Chinese  character  and 
to  the  situation  that  prevails.  Actual  fight- 
ing has  virtually  ceased.  Envoys  from  Can- 
ton and  Peking  have  been  admitted  to  the 
opposing  capital  of  each  section  "  to  talk 
things  over."  There  is  no  doubt  that  many 
leaders  in  both  Governments  are  sincerely 
anxious  to  bring  about  a  settlement,  despite 
the  unyielding  attitude  of  Sun  Yat-sen,  first 
Provisional  President  of  China,  who  re- 
mains entrenched  in  Canton,  swearing 
undying  hostility  to  the  Peking  Government, 
which  he  declares  to  be  corrupt  and  pro- 
Japanse. 

The  revolt  of  the  Mongolians  and  their 


368 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


capture  of  Urga,  the  capital  of  Mongolia, 
in  February,  was  a  serious  matter  for 
China ;  the  Mongols,  who  owed  their  success 
in  driving  out  the  Chinese  to  the  leadership 
of  General  Ungern,  the  associate  of  General 
Semenov,  crowned  the  Hutukhtu  or  "  Living 
Buddha"  King  of  Mongolia  on  Feb.  25, 
when  the  independence  of  the  country  was 
proclaimed.  General  Ungern  had  about 
500  Russians  in  his  force,  about  forty 
Japanese,  mostly  of  the  officer  class,  many 
Buriats  and  several  thousand  Mongols.  The 
Mongols  were  marching  southward  about 
March  18,  and  had  occupied  Ude,  in  the 
heart  of  the  Gobi  desert,  sending  a  wave  of 
alarm  into  neighboring  regions. 

Albert  Sen,  a  Chinese  telegrapher,  who 
escaped  from  Urga  and  reached  Peking 
around  March  17,  gave  a  clear  and  interest- 
ing report  of  the  capture  of  the  Mongolian 
capital.  The  Chinese  garrison,  he  said,  put 
up  a  most  feeble  resistance,  though  threat- 
ened with  extermination.  The  soldiers 
looted  the  city  before  they  fled.  More  than 
3,000  of  the  garrison  were  slaughtered  by 
the  Mongols,  who  entered  the  town 
triumphantly,  and  were  enthusiastically  re- 
ceived as  liberators.  The  invaders  looted  the 
Chinese  shops  and  banks.  When  General 
Ungern  arrived,  his  first  act  was  to  hang 
fifty  of  the  looters.  It  was  also  reported 
that  he  had  ordered  the  massacre  of  all 
Jews  and  Bolsheviki.  Practically  all  the 
arms,  equipment  and  stores  of  the  garrison 
were  captured.  The  wireless  station  was 
only  slightly  damaged. 

Financially  the  Peking  Government  was 
at  ebb  tide,  though  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
Mr-  Chow  Tze-chi,  announced  in  February 
that  the  Government  had  made  arrange- 
ments to  tide  over  the  new  year.  Large 
deficits  had  been  met  by  borrowing  on 
short-term  Treasury  bonds  at  high  interest. 
Mr.  Chow  faced  the  fact  that  during  the 
next  year  the  Government  must  meet  lia- 
bilities of  $300,000,000,  and  also  vast  sums 
for  military  and  administrative  purposes. 
Assuming  that  no  disbandment  of  military 
forces  will  occur,  these  two  items  alone  are 
estimated  to  total  $450,000,000,  bringing  the 


net    total    of    required    expenditure    up    to 
$750,000,000  for  the  coming  fiscal  year. 

The  Government  was  seeking  to  raise 
money  through  private  Chinese  bankers,  as 
the  foreign  bankers  represented  in  the  con- 
sortium were  asking  terms  which  the 
Chinese  Government  was  unwilling  to  ac- 
cept. The  Chinese  bankers,  seeing  their  op- 
portunity, were  bringing  great  pressure  to 
bear  to  prevent  any  foreign  loan  that  is  not 
too  big  for  them  to  handle  themselves.  They 
have  organized  their  strength,  and  are  pre- 
pared to  shoulder  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Government's  debts.  A  bankers'  con- 
ference held  in  Shanghai  in  December,  1920, 
showed  that  the  Chinese  banks,  at  least 
forty  of  which  are  now  organized  on  West- 
ern lines,  realize  fully  the  present  situation  ; 
they  intend,  however,  to  deal  with  the  Gov- 
ernment only  on  strictly  business  principles, 
and  to  oppose  by  every  means  the  ruinous 
methods  that  are  getting  the  country  more 
and  more  deeply  into  debt.  Resolutions 
passed  by  them  declared  against  resort  to 
foreign  loans,  Treasury  bonds  or  domestic 
bonds,  and  especially  against  the  vast  ex- 
penditure for  an  unnecessarily  large  army, 
which  is  useless,  and  worse  1han  useless, 
"  for  the  tale  of  mutinies,  slaughter  and 
banditry  is  incessant,  and  comes  from  every 
part  of  the  country."  The  bankers  declared 
that  all  these  forces  should  be  cut  down  to 
a  minimum  for  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  order.  A  loan  of  $6,000,000  was  made 
on  good  security  for  the  purchase  of  rail- 
way stock  in  February,  and  was  easily  ob- 
tained, whereas  another  loan  of  $4,000,000 
for  famine  relief  was  obtained  from  foreign 
sources  only  after  great  haggling  with  the 
Legations  over  the  imposition  of  a  surtax 
on  the  revenues  of  the  maritime  customs. 

It  was  reported  on  April  10  that  China's 
famine  was  spreading.  The  average  death 
rate  daily  in  Honan  was  1,000,  while  deaths 
in  the  six  northern  countries  averaged  300 
daily.  Some  9,000,000  people  were  utterly 
destitute,  and  vast  funds  were  urgently 
necessary.  Charles  R.  Crane,  American 
Minister  to  China,  in  a  telegram  sent  to  the 
State  Department,  painted  an  appalling 
situation.  Further  large  funds  were  needed 
to  carry  the  people  through  to  the  harvest. 


CURRENT    HISTORY 

A     MONTHLY     MAGAZINE      OF 
5tyr  $>ro  fork  ©intra 

Published   by    The    New    York    Times    Company,    Times    Square,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


Vol.  XIV.,  No.  3 


JUNE,  1921 


35  Cents  a  Copy 
$4.00  a  Year 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FRONTISPIECE   PORTRAITS: 

General   John  J.   Pershing 369 

Dr.  Julius  Wirth,  New  German  Chancellor 370 

GERMANY'S    SURRENDER    ON    REPARATIONS 371 

CAN  GERMANY  PAY  THE  INDEMNITY?     .      .     By  J.  Ellis  Barker  378 

GERMANY'S    POLITICAL    CHANGES 384 

THE    SILESIAN    CRISIS    AND    KORFANTY     (Map) 389 

THE    MONTH    IN   THE    UNITED    STATES 392 

SANTO   DOMINGO'S  BITTER  PROTEST      .      By  Horace   G.  Knowles  397 

PROTEST  OF  SANTO  DOMINGO'S  DEPOSED  PRESIDENT 

By  Francisco  Henriquez  y  Carvajal  399 

ITALY'S  ELECTION   ONE   OF  WORLD   IMPORTANCE     ....  402 

THE  DUTCH  OIL  CONTROVERSY     .      .      .      * 404 

HUNGARY    UNDER    A   NEW    GOVERNMENT 405 

WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR     .     By  Paxton  Hibben  407 

FRANCE'S  DEBT  TO  MYRON  T.  HERRICK     .     By  Raymond  Poincare  416 

THE    DRAMA    OF    BRITISH   LABOR     ....     By   Frank    Dilnot  419 

CANADA'S  NEW  HALL  OF  FAME     .      .     By  John  Gladstone  Grace  426 

TREATY  DAY  WITH  THE  CANADIAN  INDIANS 428 

THE   ESKIMO   OF   TODAY By  Francis   Dickie  430 

TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 

By   Frederick  A.   Wallis  434 

NEW  LAW  RESTRICTING  IMMIGRATION 446 

Statistics  of  America's  Foreign-Born  Millions 446 

THE  STORY  OF  RADIUM  IN  AMERICA     .     By  Thomas  C.  Jefferies  448 

STOPPING    ROBBERIES    OF    MAIL    CARS 454 


Contents   Continued  on   Next  Page 

Copyright,    1921,    by   The    New    York    Times    Company.     All    Rights    Reserved. 
Entered    at    the    Post    Office    in    New    York    and    in    Canada    as    Second    Class    Matter. 


Table  of  Contents— Continued 


A  STATE'S  SOVEREIGN  POWERS     .     By  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge     455 
MACAULAY'S  WARNING  TO  AMERICA 458 


.      By  Lyne  0.    Battle 
By   Frederick   A.   Ogg 


459 

464 


By  Walter   Irving     471 


476 
479 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  OF   EXPANSION     (Map) 

SIBERIA  AND   THE   JAPANESE     (Map)      . 

BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  IN   SIBERIA     .      .      . 

SIBERIA'S  NEW   REPUBLIC:     ITS   STANDING 

By  Francis  B.  Kirby 

THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA     (Map) 

WHAT   POLAND   GAINED   FROM   RUSSIA 489 

INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS     ...  491 

ENGLAND'S    STRUGGLE   WITH   COAL   MINERS 505 

IRELAND  AND  THE  HOME  RULE  PARLIAMENTS 507 

CANADA  AND  OTHER   DOMINIONS 509 

DEMOCRACY  AND  UNION  IN  THE  BALTIC  STATES     ....  513 

THE   BALKANS   AND   EMANCIPATED   CENTRAL   EUROPE     .      .  516 

GREECE     IN    NEW     DIFFICULTIES 518 

SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  RETURN  TO  CAPITALISM 521 

FEISAL    SEEKS    TO    RULE    MESOPOTAMIA 524 

ARAB    RIOTS   IN    PALESTINE 525 

PERSIA'S    NEW    ALIGNMENT 526 

THE    NEW    SYRIAN    BOUNDARY     (Map) 527 

INDIA'S  WELCOME  TO  HER  NEW  VICEROY     .......  528 

JAPAN'S   CROWN   PRINCE    IN   ENGLAND 530 

MEXICO'S  PROSPECTS  OF  RECOGNITION     . 532 

PANAMA   STILL   HOSTILE   TO   COSTA   RICA 534 

SOUTH  AMERICA   TURNING   AGAIN  TO   EUROPE 536 

EVENTS  IN  THE   WEST   INDIES 539 

THE   COLOMBIAN  TREATY  RATIFIED 541 

SWEDEN    AND    THE    ALAND    AWARD 543 

EUROPE'S  FINANCIAL   SITUATION 545 


INDEX    TO    NATIONS    TREATED 


page 

ARGENTINA    536 

AUSTRALIA     510 

BAHAMAS     540 

BARBADOS     541 

BERMUDA     541 

BOLIVIA     536 

BRAZIL     537 

BULGARIA    516 

CANADA     426,509 

CHILE     537 

COLOMBIA     53<,  :>41 

COSTA     RICA 535 

CUBA     o39 

DENMARK    -)4f 

EGYPT    °11 

ENGLAND     50n 

ESTHONIA      513 

FINLAND     514 


FRANCE     

GERMANY     

PAGE 

545 

384 

GREECE      

GUATEMALA     

HAITI     

..407,  518 
....     535 
540 

HOLLAND     

404 

INDIA      

528 

IRELAND     

ITALY     

....     507 
402 

JAPAN     

JUGOSLAVIA     

..459,  530 
516 

LATVIA    

LITHUANIA     . 

513 

514 

MEXICO     

532 

MESOPOTAMIA     .. 
NEW     ZEALAND.. 

NICARAGUA     

NORWAY     

524 

51 1 

535 

544 

PALESTINE      

PAGE 

PANAMA      534 

PARAGUAY     538 

PERU     538 

PERSIA     526 

POLAND     470,  48!) 

PORTO     RICO 540 

RUMANIA      5  Hi 

RUSSIA     52 1 

SANTO     DOMINGO..  .307,  540 

SIBERIA     404.  471,  470 

SMYRNA      518 

SOUTH     AFRICA 512 

SWEDEN      543 

SYRIA      527 

TURKEY      51S 

UNITED     STATES 392 

URUGUAY     538 

VENEZUELA      538 

WEST      INDIES 540 


Harris  &  Ewing) 


GENERAL  JOHN 


PERSHING 


Latest  photograph  of  the  commander  of  the  American  forces  in  the  World  War, 
who  has  just  been  made  Chief  of  the  General  Staff 


DR.    JULIUS    WIRTH 

The  new  German  Chancellor,  head  of  the  Ministry  that  succeeded  Fehrenbach' 
and  that  accepted   the  allied  indemnity  terms 


GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 
ON  REPARATIONS 

Detailed  story  of  the  allied  ultimatum  that  brought  about  Germany's  final  agreement  to 
pay  a  damage  bill  of  $33,000,000,000  and  saved  the  Ruhr  industrial  district  from  French 
occupation — Germany's  vain  attempt  to  obtain  American  intervention — Why  France 
still  declines  to  demobilize  her  new  army  on  the  Rhine — Full  text  of  the  ultimatum 


THE  interminable  reparation  drama 
reached  its  climax  and  denoue- 
ment on  May  11,  1921,  when  Ger- 
many, in  response  to  an  allied  ultimatum 
and  an  imminent  threat  of  action  by  a 
French  army,  finally  agreed  to  pay  a 
total  sum  of  $33,000,000,000  for  damage 
done  by  the  German  armies  in  the  World 
War.  This  act  of  surrender  was  performed 
by  a  new  German  Government,  headed  by 
Dr.  Julius  Wirth,  which  replaced  the 
Fehrenbach  Government  for  the  purpose. 
The  terms  had  been  drawn  up  by  the  allied 
Premiers  in  London,  and  transmitted  in  the 
form  of  an  ultimatum,  the  essence  of  which 
was  that  if  they  were  not  accepted  uncon- 
ditionally by  May  12  the  whole  Ruhr  dis- 
trict, Germany's  coal  centre  and  industrial 
heart,  would  be  occupied  by  the  French 
Army  supported  by  allied  contingents,  and 
held  and  administered  as  a  guarantee  for 
the  payment  of  Germany's  reparation  debt. 
Such  an  occupation,  already  effected  in 
part  by  the  Allies,  meant  ruin  to  Germany, 
and  she  knew  it.  She  had  come  to  the  end 
of  her  road,  had  her  back  to  the  wall,  and 
could  go  no  further.  She  accepted  the  new 
terms  unconditionally,  and  the  allied  Pre- 
miers, to  say  nothing  of  Germany  herself, 
breathed  a  deep  sigh  of  relief. 

The  history  of  the  allied  dealings  with 
Germany  over  the  question  of  reparation 
covers  fully  two  years.  Conference  after 
conference  was  held  by  the  Premiers — at 
Spa,  San  Remo,  Lympne,  Hythe,  Paris  and 
London — to  determine  what  the  reparation 
payments  should  be,  and  how  the  Allies 
should  move  to  compel  Germany  to  make 
them.  Plan  after  plan  was  adopted,  only 
to  be  subsequently  abandoned  in  view  of 
Germany's  attitude  of  unwillingness,  her 
protests,  her  evasions,  and  her  repeated 
failure   to   keep    her   promises. 

At  the  London  conference,  held  in  Paris 


in  March,  the  allied  leaders  had  laid  down 
what  they  believed  at  that  time  were  their 
final  terms.  Germany  had  countered  with 
offers  which  were  considered  by  all  the  Pre- 
miers as  ridiculous.  Dr.  Walter  Simons,  the 
German  Foreign  Minister,  declared  that  ne 
could  make  no  new  offer,  and  he  was  told 
by  Lloyd  George  in  plain  language  that  this 
meant  the  application  of  the  penalties  pre- 
scribed by  the  Treaty  of  Versailles.  Dr. 
Simons  returned  to  Germany  and  was  re- 
ceived with  cheers.  France  moved  her  army 
forward  in  the  Rhineland,  extending  its 
occupation  to  Diisseldorf,  Duisberg  and 
Ruhrort;  this,  however,  had  no  visible  effect 
upon  the  German  attitude  of  refusal.  The 
French  then  announced  that,  with  or  with- 
out the  support  of  their  allies,  they  would 
occupy  the  whole  Ruhr  district  by  May  1 
unless  they  received  an  unconditional  ac- 
ceptance of  the  London  terms.  Lloyd  George 
was  reluctant  to  proceed  to  this  extremity, 
and  his  reluctance  was  reflected  by  Count 
Sforza,  the  Italian  representative;  France, 
however,  was  resolute.  Grimly  M.  Briand, 
the  French  Premier,  supported  by  almost 
unanimous  French  public  opinion,  awaited 
the  coming  of  May. 

Germany  on  April  21,  in  a  last  desperate 
effort  to  stave  off  intervention,  sent  an 
appeal  to  the  United  States  Government  to 
act  as  mediator.  President  Harding  in  reply 
declined  to  play  the  role  of  arbitrator,  but 
stated  that  if  Germany  would  make  a  new, 
reasonable  offer,  he  would  approach  the 
allied  Governments  in  the  interest  of  world 
peace  and  strive  to  induce  them  to  consider 
it.  Greatly  encouraged,  Dr.  Simons,  the  For- 
eign Minister,  and  Herr  Fehrenbach,  the 
Premier,  whose  Cabinet  was  already  tot- 
tering from  the  violent  attacks  of  the  Ger- 
man reactionaries,  drafted  a  new  offer  and 
cabled  it  to  Washington.    Its  main  features 


372 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


were  an  offer  to  pay  50,000,000,000  gold 
marks  and  a  demand  for  the  removal  of  all 
penalties. 

After  careful  consideration,  reinforced 
with  informal  soundings  of  the  Allies,  the 
American  President,  through  Secretaiy 
Hughes,  cabled  back  to  Germany  that  the 
new  proposals  were  wholly  unacceptable,  and 
advised  Germany  to  enter  at  once  into  direct 
contact  with  the  allied  Governments  and  to 
lay  before  them  an  adequate  and  satisfac- 
tory offer.  The  weakened  Fehrenbach- 
Simons  Cabinet  was  finished  by  this  blow. 
It  fell  May  4.  Meanwhile  the  Premiers  met 
in  London  on  the  eve  of  the  new  occupation, 
and  after  six  days'  deliberations  drafted  a 
new  plan  of  reparation  payments,  which 
was  to  be  the  ultimate  word.  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  and  Count  Sforza  prevailed  upon 
M.  Briand  to  defer  the  invasion  for  another 
twelve  days  and  to  give  Germany  one  last 
opportunity  to  comply  with  the  allied  de- 
mands. He  consented  unwillingly,  fearful 
of  the  effect  upon  French  opinion,  which 
clamored  for  the  invasion.  The  Premiers 
drew  up  their  last  offers  and  dispatched 
them  to  Germany  in  ultimatum  form.  The 
Germans  were  told  that  these  proposals 
must  be  accepted  without  reservation  by 
May  12  or  the  Ruhr  district  would  be  in- 
vaded and  held. 

TEXT   OF   THE   ULTIMATUM 
The  ultimatum  was  handed  on  May  6  to 
Herr  Sthamer,  the  German  Ambassador  in 
London,    by    Lloyd   George   in   person.     Its 
text  was  as  follows: 

The  allied  powers,  taking  note  of  the  fact 
that  despite  the  successive  concessions  made 
by  the  Allies  since  the  signature  of  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles,  and  despite  the  warn- 
ings and  sanctions  (penalties)  agreed  upon  at 
Spa  and  Paris,  as  well  as  of  the  sanctions 
announced  at  London  and  since  applied,  the 
German  Government  is  still  in  default  in  ful- 
fillment of  the  obligations  incumbent  upon  it 
under  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
as  regards: 

First,  disarmament ; 

Second,  the  payment  due  May  1,  1921,  under 
Article  235  of  the  Treaty,  which  the  Repara- 
tion Commission  already  has  called  upon  it 
to   make  at  this   date ; 

Third,  the  trial  of  war  criminals,  as  further 
provided  for  by  the  allied  notes  of  Feb.  13 
and  May  7,  1920,  and, 

Fourth,  certain  other  important  respects, 
notably  those  which  arise  under  Articles  264 
to  267,  269,  273,  321,  322  and  327  of  the  treaty, 
decide : 

(a)  To  proceed  from  today  with  all  neces- 
sary  preliminary    measures   for   the   occupa- 


tion  cf  the   Ruhr  Valley  by  allied   troops   on 
the  Rhine  under  the  conditions  laid  down. 

(b)  In  accordance  with  Article  235  of  the 
Versailles  Treaty,  to  invite  the  Allied  Repara- 
tion Commission  to  notify  the  German  Gov- 
ernment without'  delay  of  the  time  and  meth- 
ods for  the  discharge  by  Germany  of  her 
debt,  and  to  announce  its  decision  on  this 
point  to  the  German  Government  by  May  6, 
at    the    latest. 

(c)  To  summon  the  German  Government  to 
declare  categorically  within  six  days  after 
receiving  the  above  decision  its  determination 
(1)  to  execute  without  reservation  or  condi- 
tion its  obligations  as  defined  by  the  Repara- 
tion Commission,  (2)  to  accept  and  realize 
without  reservation  or  condition  in  regard  to 
its  obligations  the  guarantees  prescribed  by 
the  Reparation  Commission,  (C)  to  execute 
without  reservation  or  delay  measures  con- 
cerning military,  naval  and  aerial  disarma- 
ment, of  which  Germany  was  notified  by  the 
allied  nations  in  their  note  of  Jan.  29 ;  those 
measures  in  the  execution  of  which  they  have 
so  far  failed  to  comply  with  are  to  be  com- 
pleted immediately,  and  the  remainder  on  a 
date  still  to  be  fixed,  (4)  to  proceed  without 
reservation  or  delay  to  the  trial  of  war  crim- 
inals, and  also  with  the  other  parts  of  the 
Versailles  Treaty  which  have  not  as  yet 
been  fulfilled. 

(d)  To  proceed  on  May  12  with  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  Ruhr  Valley,  and  to  undertake  all 
other  military  and  naval  measures,  should 
the  German  Government  fail  to  comply  with 
the  foregoing  conditions.  This  occupation 
will  last  as  long  as  Germany  continues  her 
failure  to  fulfill  the  conditions  laid  down. 

This  ultimatum  note  was  accompanied  by 
the  full  allied  terms,  as  laid  down  by  the 
Reparation  Commission,  prescribing  the 
time  and  manner  for  discharging  the  entire 
obligation.  Briefly  stated,  they  amount  to 
this:  Germany  must  pay  the  132,000,000,- 
000  gold  marks  ($33,000,000,000)  fixed  by 
the  Reparation  Commission  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Versailles  Treaty, 
less  sums  already  paid  on  the  reparations 
account  or  subsequently  credited  on  what- 
soever basis. 

To  cover  the  whole  payment,  three  sets  of 
bonds  are  to  be  issued  by  Germany,  secured 
on  all  the  assets  of  the  German  Empire. 
The  first  issue  is  to  be  delivered  by  July  1, 
1921;  the  second  by  Nov.  1;  the  third  issue 
is  to  be  held  by  the  Reparations  Commission 
until  it  is  satisfied  that  Germany  can  pay 
the  interest  and  sinking  fund  charges  re- 
quired. Interest  payments  are  provided  for 
at  fixed  periods.  Until  redemption  of  the 
bonds,  Germany  is  to  pay  a  yearly  sum  oi 
2,000,000,000  gold  marks  ($500,000,000),  at 
well  as  a  26  per  cent,  levy,  or  an  equivalei 
sum,  on  the  value  of  her  exports  as  froi 


GERMANY'S  SURRENDER  ON  REPARATIONS 


373 


May  1,  1921;  this  amount  is  to  be  reducible 
as  Germany  discharges  her  obligations. 

Within  twenty-five  days  Germany  must 
pay  1,000,000,000  marks  in  gold  or  in  three- 
month  bills  or  drafts;  these  payments  are 
to  be  treated  as  the  first  two  quarterly  in- 
stalments due  on  Germany's  liability  of 
2,000,000,000  marks  yearly,  with  the  26  per 
cent,  of  exports,  as  above  provided. 

The  other  clauses  concern  mainly  the  ap- 
pointment and  duties  of  the  special  sub- 
commission,  called  the  Commission  on  Guar- 
antees, whose  duty  it  will  be  to  supervise 
the  application  of  the  funds  assigned  as  se- 
curity for  the  bond  issues.  These  funds  will 
be  drawn  from  German  maritime  and  land 
customs  duties  and  import  and  export  du- 
ties, as  well  as  from  the  26  per  cent,  pre- 
scribed on  export  duties,  from  indirect 
taxes  or  from  any  other  source  proposed 
by  the  German  Government.  This  26  per 
cent,  is  to  be  paid  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment to  the  exporter.  The  commission  is 
explicitly  charged  not  to  interfere  with  the 
administration  of  the  German  Government. 

THE  ALLIED  TERMS 

The  full  text  of  the  reparations  protocol 
is  given  below: 

The  Reparation  Commission  has,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Article  232  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles,  to  define  the  time  and  manner  for 
securing  and  discharging:  the  entire  obliga- 
tion  of  Germany  for  reparation  under  Ar- 
ticles 231,  232  and  233  of  the  treaty,  as  fol- 
lows : 

This  determination  is  without  prejudice  to 
the  duty  of  Germany  to  make  restitution 
under  Article  238  or  to  other  obligations 
under   the   treaty. 

1.  Germany  will  perform  in  the  manner 
laid  down  in  this  schedule  her  obligation  to 
pay  the  total  fixed  in  accordance  with  Ar- 
ticles 231,  232  and  233  of  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles by  the  commission,  viz.,  132,000,000,- 
000  cold  marks  less  (a)  the  amount  already- 
paid  on  account  of  reparation;  (b)  sums 
which  may  from  time  to  time  be  credited  to 
Germany  in  respect  of  State  properties  in 
ceded  territory,  &c,  and  (c)  any  sums  re- 
ceived from  other  enemy  or  ex-enemy  powers 
in  respect  of  which  the  commission  may  de- 
cide that  credit  should  be  given  to  Germany, 
plus  the  amount  of  the  Belgian  debt  to  the 
Allies,  the  amounts  of  these  deductions  and 
additions  to  be  determined  later  by  the  corn- 
Mission. 

rmany  shall  create  and  deliver  to  the 
commission  in  substitution  for  bonds  already 
delivered  or  delivered  under  Paragraph  12C 
of  Annex  2,  Part  VIII.,  Treaty  of  Versailles, 
bonds   hereafter    described : 

(A)  Bonds  for  the  amount  of  12,000,000,000 


gold  marks.  These  bonds  shall  be  created 
and  delivered  at  the  latest  on  July  1,  1921. 
There  shall  be  an  annual  payment  from 
funds  to  be  provided  by  Germany  as  pre- 
scribed in  this  schedule  in  each  year  from 
May  1,  1921,  equal  in  amount  to  6  per  cent, 
of  the  nominal  value  of  the  issued  bonds,  out 
of  which  there  shall  be  paid  interest  at  5  per 
cent,  per  annum,  payable  half  yearly  on  the 
bonds  outstanding  at  any  time,  and  the  bal- 
ance to  a  sinking  fund  for  redemption  of 
bonds  by  annual  drawings  at  par.  These 
bonds  are  hereinafter  referred  to  as  bonds 
of  Series    A. 

(B)  Bonds  for  a  further  amount  of  38, 
000,000,000  gold  marks.  These  bonds  shall 
be  created  and  delivered  at  the  latest  on 
Nov.  1,  1921.  There  shall  be  an  annual  pay- 
ment from  funds  to  be  provided  by  Germany 
as  prescribed  in  this  schedule  in  each  year 
from  Nov.  1,  1921,  equal  in  amount  to  0  per 
cent,  of  the  nominal  value  of  the  issued 
bonds,  out  of  which  there  shall  be  paid  in- 
terest at  5  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  half 
yearly,  on  the  bonds  outstanding  at  any  time 
and  the  balance  to  a  sinking  fund  for  the 
redemption  of  the  bonds  by  annual  drawings 
at  par.  These  bonds  are  hereinafter  referred 
to  as  bonds  of  Series  B. 

(C)  Bonds  for  82,000,000,000  gold  marks, 
subject  to  such  subsequent  adjustment  by 
creation  or  cancellation  of  bonds  as  may  be 
required  under  the  first  paragraph.  These 
bonds  shall  be  created  arid  delivered  to  the 
Reparations  Commission,  without  coupons  at- 
tached, at  the  latest  on  Nov.  1,  1921.  They 
shall  be  issued  by  the  commission  as  and 
when  it  is  satisfied  that  the  payments  which 
Germany  is  required  to  make  in  pursuance 
of  this  schedule  are  sufficient  to  provide  for 
the  payment  of  interest  and  sinking  fund  on 
such  bonds.  There  shall  be  an  annual  pay- 
ment from  funds  to  be  provided  by  Germany 
as  prescribed  in  this  schedule  in  each  year 
from  the  date  of  issue  by  the  Reparation 
Commission  equal  in  amount  to  6  per  cent. 
of  the  nominal  value  of  the  issued  bonds,  out 
of  which  shall  be  paid  interest  at  5  per  cent. 
per  annum,  payable  half  yearly,  on  the  bonds 
outstanding  at  any  time,  and  the  balance  to 
a  sinking  fund  for  redemption  of  the  bonds 
by  annual  drawings  at  par.  The  German 
Government  shall  supply  to  the  commission 
coupon  sheets  for  such  bonds  as  and  wit  sn 
issued  by  the  commission.  These  bond  a 
hereinafter  referred  to  as  bonds  of  Series  C. 

3.  The  bonds  provided  for  in  Article  2  shall 
be  signed  by  the  German  Government  as 
bearer  bonds,  in  such  form  and  in  such  de- 
nominations as  the  commission  shall  pre- 
scribe for  the  purpose  of  making  them  mar- 
ketable and  shall  be  free  of  all  German  taxes 
and  charges  of  every  description,  present  or 
future. 

Subject  to  the  provisions  of  Articles  248 
and  351,  Treaty  of  Versailles,  these  bonds 
shall  be  secured  on  the  whole  assets  and 
revenues  of  the  German  Empire  and  the 
German  States,  and  in  particular  on  the 
assets  and  revenues  specified  in  Article  7  of 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


this  schedule.  The  service  of  bonds  A,  B 
and  C  shall  be  a  first,  second  and  third 
charge,  respectively,  on  said  assets  and  reve- 
nues, and  shall  be  met  by  payments  to  be 
made  by  Germany  under  this  schedule.. 

4.  Germany  shall  pay  in  each  year  until 
the  redemption  of  bonds  provided  for  in 
Article  2  by  means  of  a  sinking  fund  at- 
tached thereto:  (1)  The  sum  of  2,000,000,000 
gold  marks.  (2)  (a)  A  sum  equivalent  to  25 
per  cent,  of  the  value  of  her  exports  in  each 
period  of  twelve  months,  starting  from  May 
1,  192 1,  as  determined  by  the  commission,  or 
(b)  alternately  an  equivalent  amount  as 
fixed  in  accordance  with  any  other  index 
proposed  by  Germany  and  accepted  by  the 
commission.  (3)  A  further  sum  equivalent  to 
1  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  her  exports,  as 
above  defined,  or,  alternatively,  an  equiva- 
lent amount  fixed  as  provided  in  Paragraph 
B  above.  Provided  always  that  when  Ger- 
many shall  have  discharged  her  obligations 
under  this  schedule,  other  than  her  liability 
in  respect  of  outstanding  bonds,  the  amount 
to  be  paid  in  each  year  under  this  paragraph 
shall  be  reduced  to  the  amount  required  in 
that  year  to  meet  the  interest  and  sinking 
fund  en  the  bonds  then  outstanding. 

Subject  to  the  provisions  of  Article  5,  the 
payments  to  be  made  in  respect  of  Paragraph 

1  above  shall  be  made  quarterly  on  or  before 
Jan.  15,  April  15,  July  15  and  Oct.  15  each 
year,  and  payments  in  respect  of  Paragraphs 

2  and  3  above  shall  be  made  quarterly  on  or 
before  Feb.  15,  May  15,  Aug.  15  and  Nov.  15 
and  calculated  on  the  basis  of  exports  in  the 
last  quarter  but  one  preceding  that  quarter, 
the  fiist  payment  to  be  made  on  or  before 
Nov.  35,  1921,  to  be  calculated  on  the  basis 
of  exports  in  the  three  months  ending  July 
31,  1921. 

5.  Germany  shall  pay  within  twenty-five 
days  from  this  notification  1,000,000,000  gold 
marks,  in  gold  or  approved  foreign  curren- 
cies or  approved  foreign  bills  or  in  drafts  at 
three  months  on  the  German  Treasury,  en- 
dorsed by  approved  German  banks  and  pay- 
able in  pounds  sterling  in  London,  in  francs 
in  Paris,  in  dollars  in  New  York  or  any 
currency  in  any  other  place  designated  by 
the  commission.  These  payments  will  be 
treated  as  the  two  first  quarterly  instal- 
ments of  payments  provided  in  Article  4, 
Paragraph  1. 

6.  The  commission  will  within  twenty-five 
days  from  this  notification,  in  accordance 
with  Paragraph  12A,  Annex  2,  of  the  treaty 
as  amended,  establish  a  special  sub-commis- 
sion to  be  called  the  Committee  on  Guar- 
antees. iThe  Committee  on  Guarantees  will 
consist  of  representatives  of  the  allied  powers 
now  represented  on  the  Reparation  Commis- 
sion, including  a  representative  of  the  United 
States  in  the  event  of  that  Government  de- 
siring to  make  an  appointment.*  The  com- 
mittee shall  comprise  not  more  than  three 
representatives  of  nationals  of  other  powers 
whenever  it  shall  appear  to  the  commission 
that  a  sufficient  portion  of  the  bonds  to  be 
issued    under    this    schedule    is    held    by    na- 


tionals   of   such    powers    to   justify   their   rep- 
resentation on  the  Committee  on  Guarantees. 

7.  The  Committee  on  Guarantees  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  securing  the  application  of 
Articles  241  and  248  of  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles. 

It  shall  -supervise  the  application  to  the 
service  of  the  bonds  provided  for  in  Article 
II.  of  the  funds  assigned  as  security  for  the 
payments  to  be  made  by  Germany  under 
Paragraph  4.  The  funds  to  be  assigned  shall 
be:  (a)  The  proceeds  of  all  German  mari- 
time and  land  customs  and  duties,  and  in 
particular  the  proceeds  of  all  import  and  ex- 
port duties.  (b)  Proceeds  of  a  levy  of  25 
per  cent,  on  the  value  of  all  exports  from 
Germany  except  those  exports  upon  which  a 
levy  of  not  less  than  25  per  cent,  is  applied 
under  legislation  referred  to  in  Article  IX. 
(c)'The  proceeds  of  such  direct  or  indirect 
taxes  or  any  other  funds  as  may  be  proposed 
by  the  German  Government  and  accepted  by 
the  Committee  on  Guarantees  in  addition  to, 
or  in  substitution  for,  the  funds  specified  in 
a  or  b  above. 

The  assigned  funds  shall  be  paid  to  the 
accounts  to  be  opened  in  the  name  of  the 
committee  and  supervised,  by  it  in  gold  or  in 
foreign  currencies  approved  by  the  commit- 
tee. The  equivalent  of  the  25  per  cent,  levy 
referred  to  under  (b)  of  the  preceding  para- 
graph shall  be  paid  in  German  currency  by 
the  German   Government  to  the  exporter. 

The  German  Government  shall  notify  to 
the  Committee  on  Guarantees  any  proposed 
action  which  may  tend  to  diminish  the  pro- 
ceeds of  any  of  the  assigned  funds  and  shall, 
if  the  committee  demands  it,  substitute  some 
other  approved  funds. 

The  Committee  on  '  Guarantees  shall  be 
charged  further  with  the  duty  of  conducting 
on  behalf  of  the  commission  the  examina- 
tion provided  for  in  Paragraph  12  B  of  Annex 
2  to  Part  VIII.  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles, 
and  of  verifying  on  behalf  of  the  commission 
and,  if  necessary,  of  correcting  the  amount 
declared  by  the  German  Government  as  the 
value  of  German  exports  for  the  purpose  of 
calculation  of  the  sum  payable  in  each  year 
or  quarter  under  Article  IV.,  Paragraph  2. 
and  the  amounts  of  the  funds  assigned  under 
this  article  to  the  service  of  the  bonds.  The 
committee  shall  be  entitled  to  take  such 
measures  as  it  may  deem  necessary  for  the 
proper  discharge  of  its  duties. 

The  Committee  on  Guarantees  is  not  au- 
thorized to  interfere  in  the  German  admin- 
istration. 

8.  In  accordance  with  Paragraph  19,  Clause 
2  of  Annex  2,  as  amended,  Germany  shall  on 
demand,  subject  to  prior  approval  of  the 
commission,  provide  such  material  and  labor 
as    any    of    the    allied    powers    may    require 

*  A  formal  invitation  to  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment to  send  representatives  to  all  future 
allied  conferences  was  sent  by  the  Entente 
powers  on  May  5.  President  Harding's  accept- 
ance was  transmitted  on  the  following  day,  and 
Roland  W.  Boyden  was  designated  to  act  as 
official  observer  with  the  Reparation  Commis- 
sion. 


GERMANY'S  SURRENDER  ON  REPARATIONS 


375 


toward  restoration  of  the  devastated  areas 
of  that  power,  or  enable  any  allied  power  to 
proceed  with  the  restoration  or  the  develop- 
ment of  its  industrial  or  economic  life.  The 
value  of  such  material  and  labor  shall  be  de< 
termined  in  each  case  by  a  valuer  appointed 
by  Germany  and  a  valuer  appointed  by  the 
power  concerned  and,  in  default  of  an  agree- 
ment, by  a  referee  nominated  by  the  commis- 
sion. This  provision  as  to  valuation  does  not 
apply  to  deliveries  under  Annexes  3,  4,  5  and 
6   to   Part  VIII.    of   the   treaty. 

9.  Germany  shall  make  every  necessary 
measure  of  legislative  and  administrative  ac- 
tion to  facilitate  the  operation  of  the  Ger- 
man Reparation  (Recovery)  act  of  1021  in 
force  in  the  United  Kingdom  and  of  any 
similar  legislation  enacted  by  any  allied 
power  so  long  as  such  legislation  remains  In 
force.* 

The  payments  effected  by  the  operation  of 
such  legislation  shall  be  credited  to  Germany 
on  account  of  payments  to  be  made  by  her 
under  Article  IV.,  Clause  2.  The  equivalent 
in  German  currency  shall  be  paid  by  the 
German   Government   to   the   exporter. 

10.  Payment  for  all  services  rendered,  all 
deliveries  in  kind  and  all  receipts  under 
Article  IX.  shall  be  made  to  the  Reparation 
Commission  by  the  allied  power  receiving  the 
same  in  cash  or  current  coupons  within  one 
month  of  the  receipt  thereof  and  shall  be 
credited  to  Germany  on  account  of  payments 
to  be  made  by  her  under  Article  IV. 

11.  The  sum  payable  under  Article  IV., 
Clause  3,  and  any  surplus  of  receipts  by  the 
commission  under  Article  IV.,  Clauses  1  and 
2,  in  each  year  not  required  for  payment  of 
interest  and  sinking  fund  on  bonds  outstand- 
ing in  that  year,  shall  be  accumulated  and 
applied  so  far  as  they  will  extend,  at  such 
times  as  the  commission  may  think  fit,  by 
the  commission  in  paying  simple  interest  not 
exceeding  2l/2  per  cent,  per  annum  from  May 
1,  1021,  to  May  1,  1026,  and  thereafter  at  a 
rate  not  exceeding  5  per  cent,  on  the  balance 
of  the  debt  not  covered  by  bonds  then  issued. 
The  interest  on  such  balance  of  the  debt 
shall  not  be  cumulative.  No  interest  there- 
for shall  be  payable  otherwise  than  as  pro- 
vided   in   this   paragraph. 

12.  The  present  schedule  does  not  modify 
the  provisions  for  securing  the  execution  of 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles  which  are  applicable 
to  the  stipulations  of  the  present  schedule. 

LLOYD  GEORGE'S  EXPLANATION 

The  whole  scheme  laid  down  in  the  above 
provisions  was  interpreted  by  Premier  Lloyd 
George  before  the  House  of  Commons  on 
May  5.  After  an  expose  of  the  general  sit- 
uation, covering  all  Germany's  defaults  in 
respect  to  payments  pledged,  as  well  as  dis- 

*  It   was  later  given  out  on  German  authority 
that  the  levy  of  50  per  cent,  on  German  exports 
be   virtually   susi  ended  in  favor  of  the  25 
it.   laid   down   by   the  new  terms.      No   of- 
allied    action    on    this    point   had    been   an- 
nounced when  these  pages  w^  nt  to  press.— Ed. 


armament  and  the  trial  of  war  criminals, 
the  Premier  laid  before  the  House  the  new 
plan  which  Germany  was  called  upon  to  ac- 
cept. The  salient  passages  of  his  explana- 
tion follow: 

I  have  first  of  all  to  mention  the  scheme 
of  payment  which  has  been  agreed  to  by  the 
Supreme  Council  and  adopted  by  the  Repara- 
tion Commission  and  which  will  be  remitted 
by  the  Reparation  Commission  to  the  Ger- 
man  representatives   tonight. 

The  experts  of  the  allied  powers  framed 
very  carefully  a  scheme.  The  Paris  scheme 
was  one  of  forty-two  annuities  beginning  at 
£100,000,000  per  annum  and  increasing  at 
intervals  of  two  or  three  years  until  at  the 
end  of  eleven  years  a  maximum  of  £300,000,- 
000  per  annum  would  be  reached.  Those 
were  fixed  annuities,  but  in  addition  to  that 
there  was  to  be  a  variable  sum  equal  to 
12  per  cent,  on  German  exports. 

The  proposal  of  the  London  conference  is 
that  there  should  be  one  fixed  sum,  and  that 
it  should  be  £100,000,000,  but  that  there 
should  be  a  variable  sum  added  to  that  per 
annum  which  would  be  equal  to  26  per  cent, 
of  German  exports.  "Whether  that  is  higher 
or  lower  than  the  Paris  proposal  depends 
upon  German  prosperity.  If  German  ex- 
ports do  not  improve,  then  it  will  be  con- 
siderably lower  than  the  Paris  total.  If 
German  exports  approximate  to  pre-war 
figures  it  will  be  equal  to  the  Paris  figure, 
•and  only  in  the  event  of  Germany  becoming 
exceedingly  prosperous  will  that  figure  ex- 
ceed the  Paris  figure.  The  whole  point  of 
the  new  scheme  is  that  Germany's  annual 
liabilities  will  vary  according  to  her  capacity 
to  discharge  them. 

In  order  to  enable  Germany  to  meet  her 
liabilities  and  to  adapt  her  liabilities  to  her 
capacity,  and  also  to  enable  the  Allies  to 
have  something  in  hand  to  raise  money  for 
reparations,  it  is  proposed  that  three  cate- 
gories of  bonds  shall  be  issued. 

The  first,  Series  A,  will  be  bonds  for 
£600,000,000  gold,  to  be  delivered  by  July  1. 
They  will  bear  interest  of  5  per  cent,  and  1 
per  cent,  accumulating  for  a  sinking  fund. 
Series  B  bonds  will  be  for  38,000,000,000  gold 
marks,  equal  to  £1,900,000,000  gold,  to  be 
delivered  by  the  first  of  September.  Series 
C  bonds  for  the  balance,  estimated  at  82,000,- 
000,000  gold  marks,  equal  to  £4,100,000,000, 
are  to  be  delivered  by  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber, this  year,  but  with  this  important  reser- 
vation :  That  the  commission  is  only  to  at- 
tach coupons  and  issue  these  bonds  as  and 
when  it  is  satisfied  that  the  payments  to  be 
made  under  the  agreement  are  sufficient  to 
provide  for  interest  and   sinking  fund. 

The  first  three  series  will  be  issued  this 
year.  The  Reparation  Commission  will  de- 
cide from  time  to  time  as  to  the  capacity 
of  Germany  to  pay  and  issue  bonds  accord- 
ingly. 

Now  I  come  to  a  very  important  question, 
which     gave     us     a     great     deal     of     anxiety. 


376 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


It  is  clear  that  at  first  there  will  not  be 
enough  to  pay  interest  upon  the  whole  of  the 
amount  due.  The  debt  is  £6,600,000,000,  and  6 
per  cent,  upon  that  will  be  £400,000,000.  Then 
comes  the  question,  What  is  to  be  done  with 
the  interest  in  respect  of  the  unissued  bonds? 
Under  the  treaty  Germany  was  debited 
with  interest  at  5  per  cent,  upon  the  whole  of 
the  debt  due  from  her,  with  certain  powers 
given  to  the  Reparation  Commission  to  vary 
the  amount.  What  is  proposed  to  be  done  is 
this :  That  25  per  cent,  of  exports  will  be 
devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  bonds  which 
will  be  issued.  If  there  is  a  balance  over 
that  for  any  given  year  it  is  to  be  devoted 
to  payment  of  interest  upon  the  unissued 
bonds.  But,  in  addition  to  that,  1  per  cent, 
will  be  charged  on  exports,  and  the  surplus 
over  and  above  what  is  available  for  pay- 
ment of  bonds  issued,  plus  1  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  her  exports,  will  be  devoted  to  pay 
interest  on  unissued  bonds. 

Beyond  that  interest  will  be  wiped  out.  It 
will  not  be  debited  to  Germany.  It  won't  ac- 
cumulate as  against  her.  That  is  a  very 
important  question. 

Now  I  come  to  the  method  of  payment.  All 
those  who  have  given  real  attention  to  this 
subject  know  that  the  practical  difficulty 
with  which  we  are  confronted  is  for  Germany 
to  pay  outside  her  frontiers.  Payment  of  a 
debt  of  £0,600,000,000  is  a  serious  matter  in- 
side one's  own  country,  but  to  pay  outside 
one's  own  country  even  a  much  smaller 
amount  is  baffling  to  the  ingenuity  of  many 
financiers. 

There  will  be,  first  of  all,  payments  in  kind. 
The  first  payment  will  be  within  twenty-five 
days,  a  payment  of  £.10,000,000.  Germany  on 
the  whole  has  accepted  that  in  her  communi- 
cation to  America.  There  will  be  no  practical 
difficulty  about  that.  It  will  be  paid  in  gold, 
or  three  months'  foreign  bills,  or  Treasury 
grants  endorsed  by  German  banks  on  London. 
Paris  and  New  York. 

The  next  item  of  payment  will  be  in  kind- 
coal.  It  is  coal  to  make  up  for  the  coal 
which  would  be  produced  at  present  if  the 
French  and  Belgian  mines  had  not  been  de- 
stroyed. There  will  also  be  aniline  dyes, 
timber  and  material  for  the  reconstruction 
of  France.  That  I  am  very  glad  has  been 
agreed  to.  I  think  it  is  a  very  sensible 
method. 

To  a  certain  extent  there  may  be  labor. 
That  presents  very  exceptional  difficulties, 
because  there  are  trade  unions  in  France  as 
well  as  labor.  I  do  not  anticipate  that  there 
will  be  any  very  substantial  sum  derived 
from  labor,  but  from  material  I  think  there 
will  be  a  very  substantial  sum.  These  sums 
will  aggregate  very  considerable  and  will  ex- 
tend over  five  or  ten  years.  It  will  take  this 
time  at  least.  The  process  of  reconstruction 
might  take  from  five  to  ten  years. 

The  next  source  of  revenue  is  the  duty  of 
25  per  cent,  on  German  exports.  You  can 
either  collect  in  the  country  where  the  goods 
are  received  or  collect  in  Germany.  If  any 
country  prefers  to  collect  on  goods  to  its  own 


country  in  its  own  currency  it  can  do  so. 
Collection  will  not  be  in  marks,  but  in  the 
equivalent  of  gold— in  bills.  That  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  recovery  of  Germany's  trade. 
That  trade  before  the  war  was  over  £500.- 
000,000.  The  value  of  that  at  present  would 
be  somewhere  about  £1,000,000,000.  Twenty- 
five  per  cent,  upon  their  exports  would  be 
£250,000,000, 

A  sub-commission  of  the  Reparation  Com- 
mission will  be  appointed  to  sit  in  Berlin  for 
the  purpose  of  supervising  this  collection.  It 
will  have  no  authority  to  interfere  in  admin- 
istration, but  simply  to  supervise  and  control 
and  receive  payment.  Receipts  and  materials 
in  kind  and  25  per  cent,  on  exports  will  b»> 
hypothecated  for  the  payment  of  the  bonds 
issued.  Other  German  revenues  will  also  be 
pledged  as  security  for  payment  of  interest 
on  the  bonds,  and  here  the  German  proposal 
coincides  with  the  proposal  we  made.  The 
Germans  have  offered  other  revenues  for 
security  of  their  payments. 

GERMANY'S   SURRENDER 

In  Germany  the  first  effect  of  the  allied 
ultimatum  was  to  cause  the  fall  of  the 
Fehrenbach-Simons  Ministry.  After  a 
stormy  interregnum  following  its  resigna- 
tion, Dr.  Julius  Wirth  succeeded  in  forming 
a  coalition  Cabinet,  composed  of  Centrists, 
Majority  Socialists  and  Democrats,  which, 
confronted  by  the  grave  danger  of  French 
occupation  of  the  Ruhr,  swiftly  decided  that 
the  conditions  of  the  ultimatum  must  be 
accepted.  Dr.  Wirth  announced  this  de- 
cision before  the  Reichstag  on  May  10,  and 
asked  for  an  immediate  vote.  He  said  in 
part: 

Our  task  in  this  grave  hour  is  to  obtain  the 
decision  of  the  Reichstag  with  regard  to  the 
ultimatum  of  the  allied  Governments.  Ac- 
ceptance means  that  we  declare  our  readi- 
ness to  bear  in  voluntary  labor  the  heavy 
financial  burdens  demanded  year  by  year. 
Refusal,  however,  would  mean  surrendering 
the  basis  of  all  our  industrial  activities  and 
the  shackling  of  our  entire  industrial  life ; 
and  the  effects  might  be  even  more  terrible 
for  our  political  existence  and  for  our 
realm.  For  these  reasons  the  Government 
accepts  the  ultimatum.  We  know  that  ac- 
ceptance, by  reason  of  the  place  Germany 
will  occupy  in  the  economy  of  the  world,  will 
entail  the  gravest  consequences.  The  respon- 
sibility for  this  falls  upon  the  Allies.  But 
there  is  one  point  concerning  which  there 
must  be  no  obscurity.  It  would  be  useless  to 
say  "  Yes,"  without  the  resolution  to  do  our 
utmost  to  meet  the  obligations  incumbent 
upon  us.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  new 
Government,  after  reflection,  advises  you  in 
all   confidence,    to   accept   the   ultimatum. 

The  vote  was  then  taken.  The  result 
was  221  in  favor  of  acceptance,  175  against. 


GERMANY'S  SURRENDER  ON  REPARATIONS 


377 


Though  this  meant  a  victory  for  the  new 
Premier  by  a  comfortable  majority,  it  was 
stated  on  all  sides  that  the  Wirth  Cabinet 
was  only  a  temporary  makeshift,  decided 
on  after  days  of  political  chaos,  and  placed 
in  power  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  the 
allied  demands.  The  main  supporters  of 
the  new  regime  were  the  Majority  Socialists 
and  Clericals.  Dr.  Wirth  was  unfavorably 
regarded  by  the  industrialist  and  banking 
interests,  because  he  had  been  closely  asso- 
ciated with  Matthias  Erzberger,  his  prede- 
cessor as  Finance  Minister.  For  the  time 
being,  at  all  events,  the  Wirth  Cabinet 
served  both  Germany's  and  the  Allies'  pur- 
poses: it  accepted,  and  persuaded  the 
Reichstag  to  accept,  the  ultimatum.  The 
acceptance  was  at  once  dispatched  to  Lon- 
don by  the  Wirth  Cabinet,  and  was  deliv- 
ered to  Lloyd  George  by  Dr.  Sthamer  at  11 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  11.  The 
British  Premier  at  once  telegraphed  the 
news  to  all  the  Governments  concerned. 
The  text  of  the  German  acceptance  was  as 
follows : 

In  accordance  with  instructions  just  re- 
ceived, I  am  commanded  by  my  Government, 
in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the 
Reichstag  and  with  reference  to  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  allied  powers  of  May  5,  1921, 
in  the  name  of  the  new  German  Government 
to   declare   the   following: 

The  German  Government  is  fully  resolved, 
first,  to  carry  out  without  reserve  or  condi- 
tion its  obligations  as  defined  by  the  Repara- 
tion Commission. 

Second,  to  accept  and  carry  out  without 
reserve  or  condition  the  guarantees  in  re- 
spect of  those  obligations  prescribed  by  the 
Reparation    Commission. 

Third,  to  carry  out  without  reserve  or 
delay  the  measures  of  military,  naval  and 
aerial  disarmament  notified  to  the  German 
Government  by  the  allied  powers  in  their 
note  of  Jan.  29,  1921,  those  overdue  to  be 
npleted  at  once  and  the  remainder  by  the 
scribed   date. 

Fourth,  to  carry  out  without  reserve  or 
delay  the  trial  of  war  criminals  and  to  exe- 
cute the  other  unfulfilled  portions  of  the 
Tr<  aty  referred  to  in  the  first  paragraph  of 
the  note  of  the  allied  Governments  of  May  •">. 

I  ask  the  allied  powers  to  take  note  im- 
mediately of  this  declaration.       STHAMER. 

But  though  Germany  had  yielded  to  the 
ultimatum,  both  Great  Britain  and  France 
manifested  doubt  as  to  how  she  would  keep 
her  new  promises.  The  British  as  well  as 
the  French  press  inclined  to  the  view  that 


the  best  way  of  aiding  Dr.  Wirth  was  to 
remain  in  readiness  to  enforce  the  terms 
which  Germany  had  pledged  herself  to  ful- 
fill. The  fact  that  both  the  Nationalist  and 
Industrialist  organs  in  Germany  were  al- 
ready assailing  the  acceptance  and  calling 
the  surrender  note  a  "  scrap  of  paper  "  was 
not  lost  sight  of.  France,  above  all,  was 
suspicious,  and  the  French  Government,  af- 
ter receiving  news  of  Germany's  surrender, 
announced  that  it  would  keep  under  the 
colors  the  1919  claSs  of  soldiers  mobilized 
for  the  Ruhr  until  July  1,  by  which  date 
Germany  has  now  engaged  to  complete  dis- 
armament. 

Up  to  the  last  day  pending  the  German 
reply,  the  French  troops  had  been  pouring 
into  the  Rhine  district,  and  closing  in 
around  Ruhrort  in  all  directions.  Divisions 
with  full  equipment  had  been  on  the  move 
for  days,  and  everything  was  in  readiness 
for  the  final  push  when  the  German  accept- 
ance was  received.  Though  the  news  of 
Germany's  surrender  was  in  some  sense  a 
relief,  the  French  Government  gave  every 
evidence  of  its  determination  that  this  new 
agreement  should  not  add  to  the  long  list  of 
broken  promises.  To  Premier  Briand  and 
President  Millerand  the  real  test  of  Ger- 
many's sincerity  would  come  on  July  1. 
Would  Germany  disarm,  and  thus  allow 
France  to  demobilize  her  troops? 

As  early  as  May  12  it  was  stated  that 
painful  differences  were  arising  between 
the  French  and  the  British  regarding  the 
occupation  of  the  Rhine  towns  effected 
some  weeks  previously,  and  still  in  force. 
The  British  advocated  withdrawal  from 
Diisseldorf,  Duisberg  and  Ruhrort,  and  the 
suppression  of  the  Rhine  Customs  barrier; 
the  French  wished  the  penalties  already  put 
in  force  to  stand  until  France  gained  cer- 
tainty that  the  new  German  promises  would 
be  kept.  France's  whole  attitude  has  been, 
and  remains,  that  the  threat  to  occupy  the 
Ruhr  must  be  maintained  until  the  Ger- 
mans disarm.  First,  and  above  all,  France 
wished  protection  from  her  old  enemy:  the 
rest  would  come.  If  the  Germans  abide  by 
the  new  terms,  alike  for  disarmament  and 
reparation  payments,  French  finances  will 
be  made  secure,  devastated  areas  will  be 
restored,  and  the  future  of  France  and  of 
Europe  will  be  assured. 


CAN  GERMANY  PAY  THE 
INDEMNITY? 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

A  summary  of  the  solid  facts  on  which  the  Reparation  Commission  based  its  indemnity 
figures — Birdseye  view  -of  Germany's  agricultural ,  mineral  and  industrial  resources — 
Reckl-ess  financial  management  of  the  nation  s  affairs  the  chief  peril  of  the  situation 


THE  Allies  have  demanded  of  Germany 
a  total  indemnity  of  135,000,000,000 
gold  marks,  and  Germany,  though  she 
has  now  bowed  to  the  terms  of  the  allied 
ultimatum,  has  long  been  calling  heaven  to 
witness  that  the  war  has  ruined  her;  many 
Germans  still  insist  that,  with  the  best  will 
in  the  world,  they  cannot  satisfy  the  de- 
mands made.  The  German  spokesmen  do 
not  tire  of  pointing  out  that  Germany  is  a 
naturally  poor  country,  and  that  the  treaty 
of  peace  has  permanently  impoverished  the 
people  by  depriving  them  of  some  of  their 
most  valuable  resources.  However,  the  ex- 
perts representing  the  Allies  affirm  that, 
whereas  vast  districts  of  France  have  been 
completely  devastated,  the  German  mines 
and  manufacturing  industries  are  intact 
and  the  latent  resources  of  Germany  are  so 
great  that  she  is  easily  able  to  pay.  Which 
of  the  two  parties  is  in  the  right? 

The  wealth  of  a  nation  depends  on  its 
natural  resources  and  on  the  number  and 
the  abilities  of  the  people  who  exploit  them, 
converting  latent  wealth  into  tangible 
wealth.  Germany,  far  from  being  one  of 
the  poorest  nations  in  the  world,  is  natural- 
ly one  of  the  wealthiest,  and  she  should  well 
be  able  to  fulfil  the  terms  to  which  she  has 
now  acceded. 

The  Germans  are  a  highly  intelligent, 
able-bodied  race.  The  mere  fact  that  the 
German  population  within  the  frontiers  of 
the  old  empire  increased  from  40,997,000  in 
1871  to  67,810,000  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  shows  the  extraordinary  vigor  of  the 
race.  Besides,  during  this  period  millions 
of  Germans  emigrated,  the  majority  of 
whom  settled  in  the  United  States.  The 
human  resources  of  Germany  are  very 
great.      They    represent    a    vast    potential 


wealth.  Let  us  glance  at  the  physical  re- 
sources which  the  German  people  will  be 
able  to  exploit,  taking  for  our  guidance 
those  official  German  statistics  upon  which 
the  allied  experts  have  based  their  claims 
and  calculations. 

The  principal  wealth-creating  resources 
of  modern  nations  are  agriculture,  mining, 
the  manufacturing  industries  and  trade.  In 
respect  of  all  these  Germany  has  been 
singularly  favored  by  nature.  Each  of 
these  four  resources  may  be  considered  in 
turn. 

By  far  the  larger  part  of  Germany  con- 
sists of  a  gigantic,  well-watered  plain, 
which  possesses  an  excellent  soil.  Owing 
to  this  natural  advantage  and  the  high  de- 
velopment of  agricultural  science,  the  Ger- 
man soil  yields  extraordinary  crops,  as 
shown  by  the  following  figures  from  the 
German  statistical  abstract: 
PRODUCTION  PER  ACRE  (KILOGRAMS)  IN" 
1913 

Pc~ 
Wheat.    Rye.  Barley.  Oats,     tatoes. 

Germany     1,910      2,360      2,220      2,190      15,860 

France    1,330      1,060      1,370      1,300        8,560 

Austria     1,340      1,380      1,600      1,410        9,060 

Hungary    1,280      1,190       1,440      1,170         7,"»40 

United    States.1,020      1,020      1,280      1,050        6,080 

Germany's  agricultural  soil  is  very  rich. 
Per  acre  it  yields  twice  as  much  as  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  80  per  cent,  more 
than  that  of  France,  Austria  and  Hungary. 
However,  the  Germans  feel  confident  that 
they  can  increase  their  production  per  acre 
by  at  least  50  per  cent,  by  the  lavish  ap- 
plication of  nitrogen,  and  they  have  in- 
stalled gigantic  factories  which  will  pro- 
duce millions  of  tons  of  nitrogen  from  the 
air.  According  to  the  official  German  sta- 
tistics, the  harvest  has  increased  as  fol- 
lows: 


CAN  GERMANY  PAY  THE  INDEMNITY? 


379 


THE    GERMAN  HARVEST 

Rye,  Wheat,             Oats, 

Year.                         Tons.  Tons.             Tons. 

1880 4,952,525  2,345,278  4,228,128 

1890 5,868,078  2,830,921  4,913,544 

1900 8,550,659  3,841,165  7,091,930 

1910 10,511,160  3,861,479  7,900,376 

1913 12,222,394  4,655,956  9,713,965 

Potatoes,  Sugar,            Hay, 

Year.                         Tons.  Tons.             Tons. 

1880 19,466,242  415,000  19,563,388 

1890 23,320,983  1,261,000  18,859,888 

1900 40,585,317  1,795,000  23,116,276 

1910 43468,395  1,947,580  28,250,115 

1913. 54,121,146  2,632,000  29,184,994 

Germany's  live   stock  also  has  increased 
prodigiously  during  the  last  few  decades,  as 
follows : 
Year.       Horses.         Cattle.         Sheep.  Pigs. 

1873 3,352,231    15,770,702    24,999,406      7,124,088 

1883 3,522,525    15,786,764    19,189,715      9,206,195 

1892 3,836,256    13,555,694    13,589,612    12,174,2o8 

1897 4,038,495    18,490,772    10,806,772    14,274,557 

1900 4,184,099    19,001,106      9,672,143    16,758,436 

1907 4,337,263    20,589,856      7,681,072    22,080,008 

1913 4,523,059    20,994,344    11,320,460    25,659,140 

German  agriculture  gives  a  picture  of 
abounding  and  rapidly  increasing  pros- 
perity, which  is  bound  to  continue,  for  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  has  deprived  the 
country  of  relatively  only  a  minor  part  of 
its  agricultural  resources,  while  the  diminu- 
tion of  German  agricultural  soil  has  been 
accompanied  by  a  similar  reduction  in  the 
number  of  the  German  people. 

Previous  to  the  war  Germany  possessed 
approximately  four-fifths  of  all  the  coal  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe.  Her  extraordinary 
wealth  in  coal  and  iron  ore,  and  especially 
the  former,  led  to  the  rapid  expansion  of 
her  manufacturing  industries  and  of  her 
trade.  How  fast  has  been  Germany's  ad- 
vance in  the  production  of  coal  and  iron 
may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  record  of 
that  country  with  that  of  Great  Britain, 
which  yields  the  following  picture: 

Production  of  Production  cf 

Coal  in  Iron  in 

Ger-  United  Ger-          United 

many.  Kingdom.  many.      Kingdom. 

Tear.       Tons.  Tons.  Tons.            Tons. 

.   59,120,000  149,380,000  2,729,000      7,802,000 

.    73,672,000  161,960,000  3,687,000      7,369,000 

.   sit, 290, 000  184,590,000  4,658,000      8,033,000 

.103,960,000  193,350,000  5,465,000       7,827,000 

0..  149, 790,000  228,770,000  8,521,000      9,052,000 

I   .0,000  239,890,000  10,988,000      9,746,000 

1910.  .221,980,000  264,500,000  14,793,000    10,380,000 

!    .273,650,000  287,410,000  19,292,000    10,260,000 

The  Germans  bitterly  complain  that  their 


manufacturing  industries  have  been  ruined 
owing  to  the  Peace  Treaty,  whereby  Ger- 
many has  lost  a  large  quantity  of  her  coal 
and  the  bulk  of  her  native  iron  ore.  How- 
ever, there  has  been  much  exaggeration  on 
their  part.  The  Sarre  coal  field,  which  is 
temporarily  occupied  by  France,  and  which 
ultimately  may  become  French  by  plebiscite, 
is  quite  unimportant.  It  furnished  consider- 
ably less  than  one-tenth  of  Germany's  black 
coal.  The  Ruhr  Valley  alone  contains  con- 
siderably more  coal  than  the  whole  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  A  large  part  of  the  im- 
portant Silesian  coal  fields  will  apparently 
remain  with  Poland.  However,  the  Poles 
will  find  it  in  their  interest  to  sell  coal  at  a 
reasonable  price  to  the  Germans,  quite 
apart  from  the  treaty  provisions  that  re- 
strain Poland  from  hampering  the  exporta- 
tion of  coal  to  Germany  for  some  consider- 
able time. 

As  regards  the  loss  of  the  bulk  of  her  iron 
ore  to  France,  the  position  is  not  as  serious 
as  it  is  depicted  by  tht  Germans  representa- 
tives. France,  it  is  true,  has  in  Lorraine  by 
far  the  largest  iron  ore  deposits  in  Europe, 
but  she  lacks  the  coal  with  which  to  smelt 
them.  France  is  exceedingly  poor  in  coal, 
and  the  Sarre  coal  is  unsuitable,  because  it 
does  not  make  a  satisfactory  coke.  If  coal 
and  iron  ore  are  lying  at  a  distance  from 
one  another  the  iron  ore  always  travels  to 
the  coal,  for  obvious  reasons.  At  present 
iron  ore  is  sent  from  French  Lorraine  to 
the  Ruhr  coal  district  to  be  smelted,  and 
that  process  is  likely  to  continue.  Besides 
Germany  relies,  and  has  always  relied,  very 
largely  on  rich  imported  iron  ore  from  Swe- 
den and  elsewhere.  Hence  her  iron  and  steel 
industries  are  not  likely  to  be  ruined,  as  has 
so  often  been  asserted. 

Previous  to  the  war  Germany  produced 
twice  as  much  iron  and  steel  as  the  United 
Kingdom.  Her  vast  military  strength  was 
due  very  largely  to  her  predominant  posi- 
tion in  the  iron  and  steel  industry  of  Eu- 
rope. Apparently  she  will  retain  her  old 
pre-eminence  in  that  important  industry. 
It  is  true  that  her  iron  and  steel  industry 
is  at  present  less  productive  than  it  was  in 
1913.  Its  shrinkage  is  due  partly  to  the 
impoverishment  of  her  customers,  partly  to 
the  disorder  in  Germany  and  elsewhere, 
partly  to  an  insufficient  supply  of  coal.  The 
shortage  in   Germany's  coal   supply  is  not 


380 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


so  much  due  to  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  as  to 
underproduction  on  the  part  of  the  German 
miners.  This  underproduction  is  due  to 
temporary  causes,  such  as  political  troubles, 
labor  unrest,  railway  congestion,  shortage  of 
trucks,  underfeeding  in  the  last  few  years, 
&c,  which  should  be  overcome  before  long. 

Lately  the  Germans  have  discovered  some 
gigantic  deposits  of  lignite,  or  brown  coal. 
The  production  of  this  valuable  substitute 
for  coal  has  increased  very  greatly.  It  ex- 
ceeded 100,000,000;  tons  in  1920.  Germany's 
difficulties  in  providing  an  adequate  quan- 
tity of  black  coal  have  mightily  stimulated 
the  lignite  industry  and  have  caused  Ger- 
many to  take  a  greater  interest  in  the  pro- 
duction of  hydroelectrical  power  than 
hitherto.  The  German  rivers  may  be  made 
to  furnish  millions  of  units  of  electrical 
horse  power,  while  the  unimportant  streams 
of  the  United  Kingdom  can  provide  only  a 
few  thousands. 

In  addition  to  a  vast  wealth  of  excellent 
coal,  Germany  possesses  gigantic  quantities 
of  potash  and  of  other  mineral  salts.  The 
extent  of  her  salt  deposits  is  not  yet  exactly 
known.  They  are  so  vast  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  measure  them  and  to  calculate 
their  contents.  From  year  to  year  the 
known  area  of  her  subterranean  deposits  of 
salt  and  potash  has  been  increasing.  At 
first  it  was  believed  that  these  salts 
occurred  only  about  Stassfurt  and  Halle,  in 
the  centre  of  Germany.  However,  potash 
has  been  found  in  vast  quantities  also  in 
Thuringia,  in  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Saxony, 
in  Hesse,  in  Hanover,  in  Mecklenburg, 
near  Bremen  and  Hamburg,  and  in  Alsace 
north  of  Mulhouse.  It  is  believed  by  many 
that  almost  the  whole  of  the  North  German 
Plain  and  part  of  South  Germany  rest  on 
salt  deposits  so  gigantic  that  they  almost 
defy  measurement.  Boreholes  have  been 
sunk  through  6,000  feet  of  solid  but  solu- 
ble salts  of  all  kinds  without  coming  to  the 
end,  and  nobody  knows  how  much  deeper 
one  has  to  go  to  find  their  foundation. 
The  potential  value  of  these  inexhaustible 
deposits  is,  of  course,  quite  unknown.  At 
one  time  the  precious  potash  salts  were 
called  rubbish  salts  and  were  thrown  away. 
There  was  a  time  when  waterfalls  were 
worthless.  The  stupendous  salt  deposits  of 
Germany  may  before  long  prove  to  be  a 
wealth-creating  asset  of  the  most  extraor- 


dinary value.  In  addition  to  coal  and  salts 
of  every  kind,  Germany  possesses  a  large 
store  of  other  valuable  minerals,  such  as 
zinc,  copper,  lead,  tin,  &c.  Germany  is  by 
far  the  most  highly  mineralized  country  in 
Europe.  Its  mineral  riches  are  only  partly 
known.  Almost  every  day  new  discoveries 
are  made. 

The  German  manufacturing  industries 
have  mightily  expanded  during  the  last  few 
decades,  owing  to  the  great  mineral  wealth 
of  the  country,  to  the  intelligence,  industry 
and  number  of  its  inhabitants,  and  to  the 
favorable  position  of  the  country  for  trade 
and  commerce.  Not  so  very  long  ago,  Ger- 
many was  mainly  an  agricultural  country 
and  was  poor.  By  1914  Germany  had  drawn 
level  with  England  as  a  manufacturing 
country,  and  had,  perhaps,  drawn  ahead  of 
England,  which  at  one  time  was  the  work- 
shop of  the  world.  In  the  steel,  chemical, 
electrical  and  other  industries  Germany  was 
far  ahead  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Her 
great  natural  advantages  have  been  dimin- 
ished by  the  war,  but  only  slightly;  there- 
fore there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
Germany  will  presently  once  more  astonish 
the  world  by  the  prosperity  and  the  expan- 
sion of  her  manufacturing  industries,  which 
have  been  the  principal  factor  in  the  crea- 
tion of  her  vast  wealth. 

Nature   has   favored    Germany   not   only 
with  2Yi  excellent  soil  and  climate  and  with 
great  mineral  riches,  but  has  given  her  a 
unique   position   for   trade    and    commerce. 
Germany  occupies  the  centre  of  Europe.   It 
is  the  natural  meeting  place,  storehouse  and 
exchange  of  the  nations  around.    The  great 
trade  of  Europe  has  followed  the  German 
rivers   since   the   dawn  of  civilization,   and 
the  German  river  routes  will  become  of  in- 
creasing   importance   in    the    near    future, 
owing  to  the  vast  improvements  made  and 
to  be  made.    Seagoing  ships  can  ascend  the 
Rhine  as  far  as  Cologne,  and  before  long 
they  will  be  able  to  go  as  far  as  Strasbourg 
and  perhaps  as  far  as  Basle.     The  gently 
flowing  river  can  easily  be  deepened  as  fai 
as  Switzerland  at  comparatively  little  ex- 
pense.    Ships    and   barges    carrying   up   tc 
3,000  tons  of  goods  are  already  using  the 
most    important   waterway   in    Europe   anc 
the  world.    A  further  deepening  will  enable 
ships  of  5,000  tons  and  more  to  make  uso 
of  that  wonderful  river,  which  is  flanke< 
on    one    side    by   the    largest    coalfield    oi 


CAN  GERMANY  PAY  THE  INDEMNITY? 


381 


Europe,  on  the  other  by  the  largest  iron  ore 
field  in  Europe,  and  is  surrounded  by  moun- 
tains which  may  be  made  to  yield  20,000,000 
hydroelectrical  horse  power  units  and  more. 
The  Rhine  is  already  connected  by  canals 
with  the  French  system  of  waterways  on 
the  one  hand  and  with  the  Danube  on  the 
other.  Better  connections  are  to  be  made 
in  both  directions,  and  the  Rhine  will  be 
connected  by  means  of  deep  canals  with  the 
Weser,  Elbe  and  other  rivers  further  east. 
The  development  of  Germany's  commerce 
has  been  wonderfully  favored  by  a  unique 
system  of  rivers,  which  follow  a  parallel 
course,  which  open  up  the  countries  around 
Germany,  and  which  make  Germany  the 
natural  market  of  Continental  Europe.  This 
development  will  be  greatly  promoted  by 
the  important  waterways  projected  and  be- 
gun, full  details  of  which  cannot  be  given 
in  these  pages  for  lack  of  space.  The  im- 
portance of  the  inland  waterways  for  the 
development  of  the  commerce,  the  agricul- 
ture and  the  manufacturing  industries  of 
the  country  may  be  gauged  from  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  German  river  fleet,  which 
has  grown  as  follows: 

GERMANY'S  INLAND  SHIPPING 

Carrying 
Number  Capacity, 

Tear.  of  Ships.  Tons. 

1882 18,715  1,658,266 

1887 20,390      2,100, 705 

1892 22,848      2,760,553 

1897 22,564      3,370,447 

1002 24,839      4,877,509 

1907 26,235      5,914,020 

1012 29,533      7,394.657 

Germany's  inland  waterways  constitute  an 
asset  of  incalculable  value.  Between  1880 
and  1913  her  exports  of  domestic  manu- 
factures quadrupled,  because  the  country  is 
wonderfully  favored  by  the  possession  of  a 
level  plain,  great  mineral  wealth,  a  most 
excellent  position  for  commerce  and  a 
unique  system  of  waterways.  As  Germany 
has  retained  most  of  these  precious  assets, 
there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  her  eco- 
nomic progress  will  not  presently  be  re- 
sumed with  the  utmost  energy.  Progress 
is  a  term  of  comparison.  We  can  best 
realize  the  rapid  advance  of  Germany  in 
wealth  and  income  by  comparing  her  sav- 
ingp  with  those  of  other  nations.  A  com- 
parison of  the  German  and  the  British  sav- 
ings bank  deposits  previous  to  the  war 
shows  the  following  result: 


Savings  Banks  Sa\ings  Banks 

Deposits  In  Deposits  In 

Year.                                     Germany.  Great  Britain 

1880 £130,690,000  £77,721,084 

1890 256,865,000  111,285,359 

1900 441,929,000  1S7.005.562 

1910 839,028,000  221,158,021 

1913 984,450,000  241 ,507,028 

Wealth  and  poverty  are  terms  of  com- 
parison. We  can  best  form  an  idea  as  to 
Germany's  natural  wealth  by  comparing 
pre-war  Germany  with  pre-war  France. 
According  to  the  official  Statistical  Ab- 
stract of  Germany  of  1913,  the  conditions 
of  the  two  countries  may  be  summarily  com- 
pared as  follows: 

Germany.  France. 

Area,    sq.    kilometers.  540,858  536,464 

Population    64,925,993  39,602,258 

Average    increase    per 

year  during  decade.  856,901  70,003 
Production    of    wheat 

and    rye,    tons 15,959,000  9,960,000 

Production   of  barley, 

tons    .• 3,482,000  1,086,000 

Production     of     bats, 

tons     8,520,000  5,069,000 

Production  of  potatoes, 

tons     50,209,000  12,774,000 

No.    of  horses   kept..  4,516,297  3,236,110 

No.    of    cattle   kept...  20,158,738  14,435,530 

No.   of  pigs  kept 21,885,073  6,719,570 

No.  of  sheep  kept 5,787,848  16,425,330 

Production    of    sugar, 

tons     1,347,951  465,395 

Consumption  of  cot- 
ton,    tons 1,770,286  987,843 

Coal  production,  tons.  260,000,000  41,000,000 

Iron  production,  tons.  17,853,000  4,872,000 

Railway,  kilometer...  61,936  HO, 232 
Merchant           marine, 

tons,     net 3,023,725  1,462,639 

Foreign    trade,  marks.21,256,300,000    11,669,800,000 

The  comparisons  given  make  it  obvious 
that  Germany  is  naturally  far  richer  than 
France;  that  Germany,  far  from  being  one 
of  the  poorest  countries  in  Europe,  is  one 
of  the  richest,  being  endowed  with  the  most 
valuable  and  the  most  varied  resources,  not- 
withstanding the  absence  of  a  genial  Medi- 
terranean climate. 

Previous  to  the  war  Germany  had  become, 
according  to  leading  German  financiers, 
economists  and  statisticians,  by  far  the 
wealthiest  country  in  Europe,  and  it  was 
believed  that,  owing  to  the  vastness  and  ex- 
pandability of  her  natural  resources,  her 
national  wealth  would  continue  growing  so 
lapidly  as  to  put  England  and  France  ut- 
terly in  the  shade.    Herr  Steinmann-Bucher 


382 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


wrote  in  his  book,  "350  Milliarden  Deutsches 

Volksvermogen  " : 

Formerly  we  were  told  that  the  wealth  of 
Germany  amounted  to  £10,000,000,000,  that 
of  France  to  £10,000,000.000,  and  that  of 
Great  Britain  to  £12,500,000,000.  Today  we 
may  say  that  Germany's  wealth  comes  to 
£17,500,000,000,  France's  wealth  at  most  to 
£12,500,000,000,  and  that  of  Great  Britain  to 
£16,01)0,000,000.  In  twenty  years,  in  1930, 
Germany  will  have  a  national  wealth  of 
£30,000,000,000,  which  should  compare  with  a 
wealth  of  £15,000,000,000  in  the  case  of 
France  and  of  £21,000,000,000  in  the  case  of 
Great  Britain. 

Herr  Helfferich,  a  former  Director  of  the 
Deutsche  Bank  and  an  ex-Minister  of 
Finance,  in  his  book  on  "  Germany's 
Wealth,"  estimated  that  the  wealth  of  the 
country  had  increased  from  200,000,000,000 
marks  in  the  90's  of  last  century  to  300,000,- 
000,000  marks  previous  to  the  war,  and  that 
it  had  of  late  years  been  increasing  by  about 
10,000,000,000  marks  [$2,500,000,000]  per 
annum.    • 

The  facts  and  figures  given  indicate  that, 
although  Germany  has  lost  the  war,  the 
principal  sources  of  her  abounding  wealth 
have  suffered  but  little.  Economic  distress 
over  there  is  due  to  the  war  and  its  after 
effects,  and  it  is  by  no  means  limited  to 
Germany,  but  is  universal.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  at  present  the  country  suffers  propor- 
tionately far  less  from  unemployment  than 
England  and  the  United  States.  Germany's 
official  representatives  protest  that  their 
country  has  been  utterly  ruined  by  the  war; 
that  its  principal  wealth-creating  resources 
have  been  lost  or  destroyed,  and  they  have 
tried  to  prove  Germany's  inability  to  com- 
pensate the  Allies  by  drawing  attention  to 
the  ruinous  state  of  the  nation's  finances  and 
the  poverty  of  those  who  live  on  fixed  in- 
comes, and  who  formerly,  indeed,  were  rich 
or  well-to-do.  It  is  true  that  Germany's 
finances  are  in  disorder,  and  that  those  peo- 
ple who  live  on  fixed  incomes  have  in  many 
cases  been  reduced  to  poverty  by  the  depre- 
ciation of  the  German  currency.  However, 
the  true  wealth  of  a  nation  consists  not  in 
its  paper  securities  and  in  its  paper  money, 
but  in  its  great  economic  resources,  such  as 
agriculture,  mining,  the  manufacturing  in- 
dustries and  trade.  Moreover,  the  existing 
chaos  in  Germany's  finances  was  created 
more  or  less  deliberately,  in  order  to  enable 
Germany's  negotiators  to  plead  poverty.  Un- 
scrupulous business  men  who  do  not  wish  to 


pay  the  money  they  owe  know  how  to  tie 
up  their  resources,  to  obscure  their  accounts 
and  to  assume  the  appearance  of  poverty 
by  wearing  their  oldest  clothes.  That  has 
been  Germany's  policy  to  some  extent. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  revolution  some 
kind  of  order  was  kept  in  Germany's 
finances.  At  the  time  of  the  armistice  the 
bank  notes  of  the  Empire  came  to  about 
26,700,000,000  marks.  At  that  time  the  dis- 
count at  which  the  German  mark  stood  in 
foreign  markets  was  small.  The  new-  demo- 
cratic Government  voted  funds  with  the  ut- 
most lavishness  for  all  and  sundry,  while 
keeping  taxation  low,  and  it  raised  the  gi- 
gantic sums  which  were  to  be  spent  by 
printing  bank  notes  in  unheard-of  quanti- 
ties. By  now  the  sum  of  bank  notes  out- 
standing is  approximately  four  times  as 
large  as  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  revolu- 
tion, and  the  mark  has  fallen  to  consider- 
ably less  than  one-tenth  its  normal  value, 
with  the  result  that  prices  in  Germany  are 
about  ten  times  as  high  as  they  were  pre- 
vious to  the  war.  This  extraordinary  de- 
preciation has  naturally  ruined  countless 
people  who  have  to  depend  on  a  fixed  in- 
come from  investments. 

The  Socialist  Government,  which  at  first 
assumed  power,  was  followed  by  middle- 
class  men  who  stand  under  the  domination 
of  the  great  industrialists,  among  whom 
Hugo  Stinnes  is  the  most  prominent.  The 
middle-class  Government  has  continued  the 
policy  of  financial  recklessness  pursued  by 
the  Socialists.  On  the  one  hand,  money  is 
squandered  in  untold  millions,  and  on  the 
other  hand  no  serious  effort  is  made  to 
balance  the  national  accounts,  which  con- 
tinue causing  the  most  gigantic  deficits. 
The  State  railways,  the  State  post  office 
and  other  national  undertakings  are  run  at 
an  enormous  loss.  For  the  forthcoming 
year  the  budget  estimate  allows  for  a 
deficit  of  12,000,000,000  marks  on  the  rail- 
ways, which  probably  will  be  exceeded  very 
greatly.  Goods  and  persons  are  carried  by 
the  State  far  below  cost.  The  post  office 
and  the  telephones  likewise  are  to  be 
worked  at  a  gigantic  loss.  Coal  and  food 
have  been  sold  to  the  people  below  cost,  anc 
the  State  has  paid  the  difference.  Hun- 
dreds of  thourands  of  unnecessary  officials 
have  been  appointed,  who  are  kept  in  idle- 
ness at  the  cost  of  the  State. 

On  the  other  hand,  taxes  in  Germany  ai 


CAN  GERMANY  PAY  THE  INDEMNITY? 


383 


far  lower  than  in  many  other  countries,  and 
the  worst  is  that  the  German  taxes,  though 
nominally  high,  remain  unpaid  to  a  very 
large  extent,  for  the  State  does  not  press 
for  prompt  payment.  The  International 
Financing  Conference  of  Brussels  recently 
published  figures  according  to  which  taxa- 
tion per  head  was  in  1920  as  follows: 

TAX   PAID   BY   EACH    INDIVIDUAL. 

Per 
Head. 

In  the  United  Kingdom $87.90 

In  the  United  States 50.50 

In   France    34.60 

In    Norway    27.90 

In    Australia     27.80 

In  Denmark    20.40 

In   Holland    18.70 

In  Sweden    18.10 

In    Belgium    15.20 

In    Germany    12.50 

In    Spain    10.60 

In    Finland    10.40 

In   Italy    5.60 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Germany  is  near 
the  bottom  of  the  list,  that  taxation  per 
head  was  seven  times  as  heavy  in  the 
United  Kingdom  as  in  Germany.  Of 
course,  it  may  be  argued  that  this  com- 
parison is  quite  unfair,  because  it  does  not 
take  any  notice  of  the  difference  in  the  in- 
come of  the  nations  enumerated.  The  ex- 
perts, recognizing  the  strength  of  such  an 
objection,  carefully  calculated  the  income  of 
eight  nations  for  which  fairly  reliable 
figures  could  be  obtained,  and  showed  how 
large  a  percentage  of  the  national  income 
was  claimed  by  the  tax  collector.  Their 
calculations  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

PERCENTAGE  OF  TAX  REVENUE  FROM 
NATIONAL  INCOME. 

P.  C. 

In  the   United   Kingdom 27 

In  France     18 

In  Italy 13 

In  .la  pan     13 

In  Germany    12 

In  Canada    11 

In  Australia 9% 

In  the  United  States S 

Once  more  Germany  is  near  the  bottom  of 
the  list.  The  fact  that  Germany  is  under- 
taxed  is  undeniable,  although,  of  course, 
existing  taxation  is  absolutely  ruinous  for 
those  unfortunate  people  whose  income  has 
been  reduced  to  one-tenth  or  less,  owing  to 
the  criminal  levity  with  which  the  national 
finance?  have  been  handled  since  the  revo- 
lution. Their  outcries  are  perfectly  justified 


and  their  poverty  is  very  real.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  business  men  and  the  working 
classes  are  prosperous  and  they  are  by  no 
means  overtaxed. 

The  above  figures  give  a  fair  picture  of 
the  tax  burden  borne  by  the  various  coun- 
tries, as  far  as  statistical  calculations  allow 
us  to  estimate  the  wealth,  income  and  taxa- 
tion of  nations.  Of  course,  no  statistics  are 
absolutely  correct.  Every  statistical  figure 
ever  produced  can  be  challenged.  However, 
independent  investigation  shows  that  the. 
tables  given  have  been  drawn  up  with  the 
utmost  care  and  impartiality.  As  the  cur- 
rencies of  so  many  nations  have  depreciated 
and  are  constantly  fluctuating,  the  experts 
reduced  income  and  taxation  to  American 
dollars  at  the  prevailing  rate  of  exchange, 
because  the  United  States  is  the  only  great 
country  which  possesses  a  currency  based 
on  the  gold  standard.  Hence  the  American 
dollar  was  chosen  as  the  universal  denomi- 
nator. 

The  impression  that  Germany  is  prosper- 
ous and  relatively  lightly  taxed,  which  is 
created  by  the  study  of  the  statistics  given, 
is  confirmed  by  investigation  on  the  spot. 
Luxury  in  Germany  is  widespread,  and  it 
is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  profiteers. 
At  no  time  in  Germany's  history  have  such 
vast  amounts  been  spent  on  horse  racing 
and  gambling,  on  champagne  and  tobacco, 
on  theatres  and  amusements  of  every  kind. 
The  workers  and  the  officials,  who  were 
formerly  not  allowed  to  smoke  during  busi- 
ness hours,  are  now  smoking  continually. 
The  most  sumptuous  books  and  periodicals 
are  being  published.  The  popular  restau- 
rants are  overcrowded.  The  popular  news- 
papers contain  innumerable  advertisements 
of  races,  sports  meetings  and  expensive 
amusements  of  every  kind.  Travelers  in 
Germany  are  amazed  at  the  prosperity  of 
the  people,  excepting,  of  course,  the  new 
poor,  who  have  been  ruined  by  the  spec- 
tacular depreciation  of  the  mark. 

Among  the  nations  outside  Germany  it 
has  long  been  clear  that  Germany  had  the 
means  to  pay  the  Allies,  but  lacked  the  will. 
By  passive  resistance  she  strove  to  nullify 
the  treaty  of  peace.  The  disarmament  of 
Germany  could  be  brought  about  only  by  re- 
peated ultimatums  and  by  the  application 
of  force.  The  wealthiest  part  of  France 
has  been  ruined  by  the  Germans,  while  the 
economic  outfit  of  Germany  is  intact.     Ger- 


384 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


many  is  vastly  superior  to  France  in  re- 
sources and  in  man  power.  The  French 
believe,  and  not  without  reason,  that  it 
will  not  only  be  economically  ruinous  vo 
them  if  Germany  fails  to  compensate  them, 
but  they  believe  in  addition  that  it  will  be 
militarily  dangerous  for  an  industrially 
crippled  France  to  be  faced  by  a  German 
nation  which  can  overwhelm  France  by  rea- 
son of  its  vast  superiority  in  men  and  in 
those  resources  which  can  rapidly  be  con- 
verted into  weapons  of  war.  Unless  France 
is  compensated  by  Germany,  she  may  be- 
come bankrupt  and  may  sink  into  poverty 
and  obscurity,  while  Germany  forges  ahead. 
The  French  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
Germany  could  be  made  to  pay  only  by 
seizing  some  of  the  most  valuable  assets 
of  the  country,  holding  them  as  security 
and,  if  necessary,  exploiting  them.  Hence 
the  threat  to  seize  the  Ruhr  Valley,  a  threat 
that  France  now  withdraws  only  so  long  as 
Germany   meets   her  acknowledged   obliga- 


tions. The  Ruhr  coal  deposits  are  both 
the  power  house  and  the  arsenal  of  Ger- 
many. The  mineral  contained  in  it  is  of  in- 
calculable value.  Germany  is  dependent 
upon  the  Ruhr  coal  for  its  very  life.  To 
Germany  the  Ruhr  Valley  is  as  indispen- 
sable as  the  Port  of  New  York  is  to  New 
York  State  or  as  Liverpool  is  to  Lan- 
cashire. 

Germany  can  pay  at  best  only  a  small 
fraction  of  the  damages  which  she  inflicted 
upon  the  nations  she  attacked.  Of  course, 
it  is  difficult  to  gauge  her  future  ability 
to  pay.  However,  if  we  glance  back  at  hec 
meteoric  development  and  if  we  take  stock 
of  her  wonderful  and  varied  resources,  it 
seems  clear  that  the  demands  of  the  Allies 
were  not  unreasonable,  and  that  Germany, 
if  she  faces  the  task  with  the  proper  will 
and  purpose,  can  meet  the  colossal  bill  of 
damages  which  she  owes  to  the  nations 
which  she  has  wronged. 


GERMANY'S  POLITICAL  CHANGES 


Personnel  of  the  "Cabinet  of  Surrender' — The  Rhineland  custotn  regulations  put   into 
effect — Split  among  the  Communists — Germany's  remarkable  industrial  recovery 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


AFTER  managing  to  maintain  itself 
since  June  25,  1920,  the  People's 
Party-Centrist-Democratic  Cabinet  of 
Germany  headed  by  Konstantin  Fehren- 
bach  (supposedly  representative  of  "  big 
business"),  which  had  conducted  the  nego- 
tiations with  the  allied  powers  leading  up 
to  the  presentation  of  the  ultimatum  on  May 
5,  handed  in  its  resignation  to  President 
Ebert  on  May  4.  It  was  replaced  on  May 
10  by  a  Majority  Socialist-Centrist-Demo- 
cratic combination,  with  Dr.  Julius  Wirth, 
the  Centrist  Minister  of  Finance  in  the 
old  Cabinet,  as  Chancellor  and  Acting  For- 
eign Minister.  [For  details  of  reparation 
settlement  see  first  pages  of  magazine.] 

As  the  three  People's  Party  members  of 
the  Fehrenbach  Cabinet,  under  orders 
from   the   business   political   group   headed 


by  Hugo  Stinnes,  did  not  intend  to  share 
what  they  and  the  Junker  Nationalists 
called  the  odium  of  accepting  the  Allies' 
terms,  especially  as  there  was  a  chance  that 
the  Reichstag  would  vote  against  such  ac- 
ceptance, the  collapse  of  the  Ministry  in 
which  Dr.  Walter  Simons  was  Foreign  Min- 
ister became  inevitable.  On  May  10,  imme- 
diately before  the  Reichstag  voted,  221  to 
175,  to  approve  the  acceptance  of  the  Allies' 
terms,  Dr.  Wirth  announced  the  make-up 
of  his  Cabinet  as  follows: 

Chancellor  ami  Acting  Foreign  Minister— 
Dr.   Julius  Wirth    (Centrist). 

Minister  of  Finance  and  Vice-chancellor- 
Gustav  Bauer   (Majority  Socialist). 

Minister  of  Economics— The  Rev.  Dr.  Hein- 
rich   Brauns   (Centrist). 

Minister  of  Justice — Herr  Schiffer  (Demo- 
crat). 


GERMANY'S  POLITICAL   CHANGES 


385 


Minister  of  Labor— Robert  Schmidt  (Ma- 
jority  Socialist). 

Minister  of  Transportation— General  Groen- 
er   (Democrat). 

Minister  of  Posts  and  Telegraphs— JOhann 
Giesberts    (Centrist). 

Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Foodstuffs- 
Andreas  Hermes  (Centrist). 

Minister  of  the  Interior— George  Gradnau- 
er   (Majority   Socialist). 

Minister  of  Defense— Dr.  Greasier  (Demo- 
crat). 

Minister  of  Reconstruction— Heir  Silber- 
schmidt    (Majority    Socialist). 

Dr.  Gessler,  Herr  Hermes,  Heir  Giesberts 
and  General  Groener  held  the  same  posi- 
tions in  the  Fehrenbach  Cabinet,  and  Dr. 
Brauns  was  Minister  of  Labor  in  that 
body.  Herr  Bauer  was  chosen  National 
Chancellor  in  June,  1919,  to  head  the  Cab- 
inet which  accepted  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
and  served  for  almost  a  year.  Although 
General  Groener  formerly  was  classified  as 
non-political,  it  seems  from  the  cable  dis- 
patches that  he  has  become  allied  with  the 
Democrats.  Dr.  Wirth,  the  new  Chancel- 
lor, was  born  in  Freiburg,  Dec.  15,  1845, 
and  has  a  long  record  of  public  service, 
especially  in  financial  positions. 

Dr.  Otto  Goeppert,  Director  of  the  Peace 
Section  of  the  Foreign  Office,  resigned  on 
May  13. 

The  new  Ministry  was  generally  regard- 
ed a  "  Signing  Cabinet."  It  was  freely 
predicted  that  it  would  not  long  survive  the 
attacks  of  the  Nationalists,  People's  Party 
and  Communists,  unless  it  could  obtain  the 
support,  or  benevolent  neutrality,  of  the  In- 
dependent Socialists,  something  which 
would  involve  making  important  concessions 
in  the  interest  of  the  German  workers,  and 
might  alienate  some  of  the  more  conserva1 
tive  members  of  the  Centre,  Democratic 
Party  and  the  Bavarian  People's  Party. 
Of  the  469  members  of  the  Reichstag,  the 
combination  back  of  Dr.  Wirth's  Cabinet 
controls  only  216,  but  it  can  count  upon  the 
support  of  the  21  members  of  the  Bavarian 
People's  Party  and  the  five  German  Hano- 
verians under  ordinary  circumstances. 
With  the  neutrality,  or  support,  of  the  61 
Independent  Socialists,  its  position  would 
be  secure,  provided  its  original  elements 
could  be  held  in  line. 

In    an    appeal    directed    to    the    working 

people  on  May  14,  the  Executive  Committee 

of  the    Independent    Socialist   Party    asked 

m  to  support  the  new  Government  in  its 


efforts  to  carry  out  the  economic  penalties 
and  the  Allies'  demands  for  disarmament 
and  the  trial  of  Germans  guilty  of  war 
atrocities.  It  also  asked  the  Government 
to  seize  a  big  share  of  the  profits  of  the 
big  capitalists. 

CUSTOMS   PvEGULATIONS 

While  the  main  question  of  fixing  the 
final  amount  and  terms  of  the  reparation 
to  be  made  by  Germany  was  occupying  the 
attention  of  the  world  the  Interallied 
Rhineland  Commission  was  quietly  going 
ahead  with  the  enforcement  of  the  customs 
regulations  and  other  penalties  that  went 
into  effect  on  April  20  throughout  the  old 
and  new  occupied  territory.  Some  diffi- 
culty was  encountered  at  first  through  the 
resignation  of  a  number  of  the  German 
customs  officers  and  there  was  considerable 
congestion  of  railroad  traffic  on  the  bor- 
ders, but  this  was  soon  adjusted.  The  Ger- 
man Minister  of  the  Interior  sent  a  note  to 
the  occupied  zone  saying  he  could  not  force 
the  German  officials  to  work  under  the 
new  regime,  but  that  they  could  do  so  with- 
out any  fear  of  future  punishment.  Busi- 
ness slackened  off  materially  in  the  zone, 
but  unemployment  did  not  reach  as  serious 
proportions  as  had  been  predicted  before 
the  sanctions  went  into  effect. 

No  differences  of  any  importance  were 
reported  between  the  occupying  troops  of 
France,  Great  Britain  and  Belgium,  and 
the  inhabitants,  although  in  Diisseldorf 
there  was  some  dissatisfaction  at  the  so- 
called  excessive  requisitioning  of  quarters 
for  officers  and  "  non-coms."  On  May  1 
the  President  of  the  Provincial  Government 
of  Rhenish  Prussia  told  an  American  news- 
paper man  that  "  Our  relations  with  the 
French  authorities  thus  far  have  been  cor- 
rect on  both  sides." 

A  demand  by  the  Interallied  Commission 
for  the  extradition  from  unoccupied  Ger- 
many of  persons  wanted  under  indictments 
issued  by  the  military  authorities  of  the 
zone  was  acceded  to  on  April  29. 

A  call  by  the  Reparation  Commission  on 
April  16  for  the  transfer  of  the  entire  gold 
stock  of  the  Reichsbank,  some  1,100,000,000 
marks,  to  Coblenz  or  Cologne,  where  it 
would  be  under  the  eyes  of  the  Allies,  was 
answered  by  Germany  with  neither  a  refus- 
al nor  a  denial,  but  by  a  note  to  the  effect 
that,  as  the  demand  was  probably  due  to 


3P6 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  fact  that  the  second  paragraph  of  Ar- 
ticle 248  of  the  Peace  Treaty  prohibiting 
the  exportation  of  gold  from  Germany 
would  become  inoperative  on  May  1,  the 
German  Government  would  see  to  it  that 
legislation  was  enacted  to  prolong  the  ban. 
On  April  28  the  Reichstag  passed  a  bill 
prohibiting  the  export  of  gold  before  Oct. 
1,  1921,  without  the  consent  of  the  Allies. 

Further  steps  toward  the  trying  of  the 
German  officers  and  soldiers  accused  by 
the  Allies  of  having  committed  atrocities 
during  the  World  War  were  taken  when 
the  Supreme  Court  at  Leipsic  sent  repre- 
sentatives to  London  to  hear  the  deposition 
of  fourteen  witnesses  against  the  accused 
Germans,  and  when  the  Reichstag,  on  May 
4,  passed  a  bill  providing  for  the  trial  of 
all  the  men  named  in  the  Entente's  list, 
regardless  of  the  quality  of  the  evidence. 
During  the  hearings  in  the  Bow  Street 
Court  in  London  a  number  of  ex-service 
men  made  a  hostile  demonstration  against 
the  German  representatives. 

Surprise  was  registered  in  Paris  on  April 
17  when  German  representatives  admitted 
to  the  Reparation  Commission  that  the  Ger- 
man Government's  estimate  of  4,600,000 
tons  of  German  shipping  turned  over  to 
the  Allies  on  account  of  reparations  was 
incorrect  and  that  the  Allies'  figures  of 
2,113,545  tons  were  right. 

In  reporting  on  May  14  that  Germany 
was  still  short  140,000  horses  in  its  repara- 
tion deliveries  to  France  and  Belgium,  a 
Berlin  cablegram  said  the  Government  had 
bought  a  trial  shipment  of  horses  in  the 
United  States  and  that  they  had  pleased 
the  allied  experts  greatly. 

Six  members  of  the  Central  Committee  of 
the  Communist  Party,  including  Herr 
Brandler,  who,  with  Walter  Stoecker,  was 
supposed  to  run  the  party  on  orders  from 
Moscow,  were  arrested. 

In  connection  with  a  protest  by  the  Ger- 
man Government  to  the  League  of  Nations 
against  the  presence  of  French  troops  in 
the  Sarre  Valley,  the  President  of  the  Gov- 
erning Commission  of  the  Sarre  explained 
that  these  troops  were  not  being  used  as  a 
garrison  of  occupation,  but  merely  to  sup- 
plement the  Sarre  police  force,  which  was 
too  small  to  maintain  order. 

The  principal  results  of  the  abortive 
Communist    uprising    in    March    [described 


in  detail  in  Current  History  for  May] 
was  the  splitting  of  the  United  Communist 
Party  and  the  strengthening  of  the  hands 
of  the  Junker  reactionaries  in  their  stand 
for  the  retention  of  arms  by  the  agrarians 
and  the  city  bourgeoisie  in  defiance  of  the 
Peace  Treaty.  All  through  the  period,  the 
extraordinary  courts  set  up  by  President 
Ebert  to  handle  the  cases  of  some  3,500 
Communists  and  mob  leaders  arrested  dur- 
ing the  "  putsch  "  were  busy  handing  out 
more  or  less  lengthy  prison  sentences  to 
those  found  guilty  of  either  high  treason  or 
common  crimes.  Although  the  Communist, 
and  also  the  Independent  Socialist,  press 
was  filled  with  bitter  editorials  against 
the  activities  of  the  "  white  terror,"  there 
was  no  report  during  the  month  of  any  of 
the  revolt  leaders'  being  executed,  despite 
the  fact  that  several  bandits  masquerading 
as  Communists  were  condemned  to  death. 
This  was  doubtless  due  to  a  clause  in  the 
order  establishing  the  extraordinary  courts 
providing  that  the  death  sentence  could  only 
be  carried  out  after  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public had  formally  refused  to  exercise  his 
pardoning  power.  In  Munich  Wendelin 
Thomas,  a  Communist  member  of  the 
Reichstag,  was  tried  before  an  ordinary 
court  (Bavaria  was  almost  untouched  by 
the  "  putsch  ")  on  a  charge  of  promoting 
rebellion  and  sentenced  to  two  years  in 
prison.  Of  the  eleven  persons  arrested  in 
connection  with  the  attempt  to  blow  up  the 
Column  of  Victory  in  Berlin  on  March  13, 
six  were  found  guilty  of  violating  the  ex- 
plosives law  with  treasonable  intent  and 
were  sentenced  to  six  years'  imprisonment. 
Two  of  the  others  were  sentenced  to  six 
months  for  illegal  possession  of  weapons, 
and  the  other  three  were  acquitted. 

Due  to  the  fact  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  well-known  leaders  of  the  Commu- 
nists had  been  opposed  to  the  agitation  for 
an  uprising  and  took  no  part  in  it  the  lists 
of  those  being  tried  contained  few  name 
of  importance  in  the  Communist  movement 
Max  Hoelz,  the  so-called  Saxon  bandit  whc 
bobbed  up  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the 
"  putsch  "  and  took  charge  of  the  Red  forces 
in  the  Halle  section,  was  arrested  in  Ber- 
lin, but  the  courts  seemed  in  no  hurry 
try  him.  Considerable  indignation  was 
aroused  in  labor  circles  by  statements  by 
alleged  eyewitnesses  of  the  shooting  of 
Wilhelm  Sylt,  the  leader  of  the  Berlin  elec- 


GERMANY'S  POLITICAL  CHANGES 


387 


trical  workers  who  had  tried  to  induce  his 
followers  to  answer  the  Communist  call  for 
a  general  strike,  that  Sylt  had  been  de- 
liberately murdered  by  the  police  and  not 
shot  while  attempting  to  escape,  as  alleged 
in  the  official  version  of  the  affair. 

Figures  given  out  by  the  Prussian 
Government  put  the  number  of  Security 
Police  killed  during  the  uprising  at  24, 
with  53  wounded.  No  data  were  given  as 
to  the  casualties  among  the  revolters.  The 
property  damage  in  Saxony  was  put  at 
9,000,000  marks  by  the  Saxon  authorities. 

The  split  in  the  United  Communist  Party 
was  precipitated  by  the  publication  by  Dr. 
Paul  Levi,  the  chief  of  the  Communist 
group  in  the  Reichstag,  of  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled "  Against  Putschism."  In  this  he 
lamented  the  fact  that  the  Communist  Par- 
ty, with  its  500,000  members,  and  1,200,000 
voters  in  Prussia  alone,  had  been  so  shat- 
tered by  the  anarchistic  tactics  of  an  Exec- 
utive Committee  taking  its  orders  from 
abroad  that  its  very  existence  was  in  dan- 
ger. The  Central  Committee  of  the  party 
promptly  expelled  Dr.  Levi  from  the  organ- 
ization. This  was  immediately  followed  by 
a  declaration  of  solidarity  with  Dr.  Levi 
signed  by  Clara  Zetkin,  Adolph  Hoffmann, 
Curt  Geyer,  Ernst  Daumig,  Otto  Brass, 
Paul  Eckert,  Heinrich  Malzahn  and  Paul 
Neumann,  all  leading  lights  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  in  which  the  convening  of  a 
special  party  congress  was  called  for.  In 
its  answer,  the  Central  Committee  insisted 
that  its  attitude  regarding  the  outbreak  had 
been  correct  and  pointed  to  a  message  of 
approval  from  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Communist  International  in  Moscow  as 
evidence  to  that  effect.  The  committee, 
however,  agreed  to  call  the  special  congress 
as  soon  as  it  considered  the  time  propitious 
for  such  a  move.  Later  the  Central  Com- 
mittee asked  the  protesting  Deputies  to  sus- 
pend their  functions  as  legislators  until  fur- 
ther notice.  This  drew  sharp  protests 
from  a  large  number  of  prominent  Com- 
munists. It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
convention  would  result  in  a  definite  divi- 
sion in  the  Communist  ranks,  the  more 
moderate  element  going  back  to  the  Independ- 
ent Socialist  Party,  while  the  extremists 
would  unite  with  the  non-political  group 
known  as  the  Communist  Labor  Party  of 
Germany.  In  the  meantime  several  Com- 
munist   Deputies    and    other    high    officials 


have  left  the  party,  and  in  the  shop  coun- 
cil elections  in  Central  Germany  the  dis- 
gust of  the  workers  with  the  Communists 
has  been  shown  by  their  failure  to  choose 
Red  representatives. 

On  May  13  Dr.  Levi  and  his  crusaders 
notified  the  Central  Committee  that  they 
did  not  purpose  to  abide  by  the  committee's 
decision,  but  would  take  their  case  to  the 
third  congress  of  the  Communist  Interna- 
tional, due  to  open  in  Moscow  on  June  3. 

The  approval  by  the  Moscow  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  International 
of  the  "  putsch  "  did  not  prevent  the  Ger- 
man Government  from  completing  and 
signing  a  trade  agreement  with  the  Rus- 
sian Government.  [See  Russia.]  Berlin 
evidently  drew  a  fine  distinction  between 
the  Bolshevist  Government  and  the  Com- 
munist International. 

Die  Rote  Fahne,  the  Berlin  Communist 
newspaper,  was  suppressed  half  a  dozen 
times  during  the  period  for  publishing  wild 
calls  for  fresh  revolts.  Its  editor,  August 
Thalheimer,  was  arrested,  and  released, 
and  it  continued  to  appear  intermittently. 
Its  last  reported  suppression  occurred  on 
May  7,  when  it  printed  an  appeal  to  the 
German  workers  to  rush  to  Upper  Silesia 
to  help  the  workers  there  to  seize  the  mines 
and  other  property  and  proclaim  a  Soviet 
Republic.     [See  article  on  Upper  Silesia.] 

On  May  14  Die  Rote  Fahne  printed  docu- 
ments purporting  to  prove  a  plot  by  the 
German  military  authorities  to  invade  upper 
Silesia.  The  Ministry  of  Defense  denied  the 
charges  and  began  an  action  against  the 
paper  for  high  treason. 

Adam  Stegerwald,  the  Centrist  Deputy 
and  leader  of  the  Christian  Labor  Move- 
ment, resigned  April  20  from  the  Premier- 
ship of  Prussia,  to  which  he  had  been 
elected  by  the  new  Landtag  on  April  9  by  a 
vote  of  332  out  of  a  total  of  388,  because  of 
his  belief  that  he  had  been  chosen  under  a 
misapprehension.  He  was  re-elected  the 
next  day  by  a  vote  of  227  to  100  for  Otto 
Braun,  the  retiring  Social  Democratic  Pre- 
mier, 21  for  Deputy  Ludwig,  an  Indepen- 
dent Socialist,  and  1  for  Deputy  Busch,  a 
Centrist.  Stegerwald  will  hold  his  place  as 
long  as  he  enjoys  the  united  support  of  the 
Democrats,  Centrists,  People's  Party  (the 
Stinnes  group)  and  the  Nationalists,  as 
their  combined  forces  number  251  out  of  a 


388 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


total  membership  of  428.  The  Socialists  of 
all  shades  refused  to  co-operate  with  the 
People's  Party  or  the  Nationalists. 

In  the  midst  of  the  chorus  of  protests 
asserting  Germany's  inability  to  pay  the 
amount  fixed  by  the  Reparation  Commis- 
sion, German  private  concerns  continued  to 
expand  at  home  and  reach  out  for  trade 
abroad.  The  seven  companies  making  up 
the  dye  and  chemical  trust  decided  to  in- 
crease their  common  stock  from  745,640,000 
to  1,620,000,000  marks,  bringing  their  total 
capitalization  in  stock  and  bonds  up  to 
1,915,220,000  marks,  and  to  increase  their 
dividend  rates  to  from  15  to  20  per  cent, 
against  from  12  to  18  per  cent,  for  1919. 
Although  a  mark  is  worth  only  about  1% 
cents  at  present  exchange  rates,  the  com- 
mon stock  of  the  chemical  companies  sells 
at  from  three  to  five  times  its  par  value, 
so  the  capitalization  approximates  $120,- 
000,000.  The  increased  cost  of  raw  materials 
was  given  by  the  companies  as  the  main 
reason  for  raising  their  capitalization,  but 
German  financial  writers  did  not  fail  to 
point  to  past  glories  in  foreign  trade  and 
to  predict  that  in  the  not  too  distant  future 
German  dyes  would  again  rule  the  world 
markets.     The  total  fresh  capital  called  for 


in  the  first  four  months  of  the  year  was 
about  3,500,000,000  marks  for  various  in- 
dustrial concerns. 

Hugo  Stinnes,  the  German  industrialist, 
was  rebuked  when  the  Hamburg-American 
Line  stockholders  refused  to  re-elect  him  to 
the  Board  of  Directors  because  he  had 
started  a  competitive  service  to  South 
America.  A  dividend  of  8  per  cent,  for  1919 
and  1920  was  declared.  German  exports  to 
the  United  States  in  March  totaled  $30,- 
502,988,  against  $20,940,496  in  March, 
1920,  according  to  figures  given  out  in 
Washington  on  May  2.  Germany's  imports 
from  this  country  amounted  to  $7,367,780. 

Deposits  in  private  savings  banks  at  the 
end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  year  totaled 
14,975,000,000  marks  and  there  were  8,730,- 
000,000  in  the  Postal  Savings  Bank. 

An  indication  of  the  condition  of  finan- 
ces of  the  German  State  was  found  in  the 
fact  that  for  the  first  twenty  days  of 
April  the  receipts  of  the  National  Treasury 
from  taxes,  customs,  levies,  &c,  amounted 
to  only  2,534,200,000  marks,  while  the  ex- 
penditures totaled  5,098,100,000  necessitat- 
ing an  issue  of  2,564,000,000  marks  in 
Treasury  notes,  making  the  total  floating 
indebtedness  168,893,200,000  marks. 


- 

;  ;     ^  «    Wp 

U                         HI  1  in     m 

1  * 

**-»»«g«as» 

(©    International) 

MEMBERS    OF    THE    FORMER    ROYAL    FAMILY    FOLLOWING    THE    REMAINS    OF    THE     EX- 
EMPRESS     FROM     THE     POTSDAM     STATION     TO     WILDPARK     CHAPEL.        LEFT     TO     RIGHT- 
CROWN     PRINCESS     CECILE,      PRINCE     EITEL     FRIEDRICH,     PRINCE     AUGUST     WILHELm" 
PRINCE    ADELBERT    AND    PRINCE    OSCAR 


THE  SILESIAN  CRISIS  AND  KORFANTY 


4  grave  international  situation  precipitated  in  Upper  Silesia  by  the  invasion  of  armed 
Polish  bands,  under  Polish  agitator,  pending  the  allied  decision  on  the  plebiscite — Allies, 
outnumbered,  give  ground  after  serious  fighting — Friction  between  England  and  France 


IT  was  expected  by  the  allied  Premiers 
that  the  plebiscite  held  in  Upper  Si- 
lesia under  the  auspices  of  the  League 
of  Nations  in  March  would  bring  a  solu- 
tion to  the  vexed  problem  of  apportioning 
this  rich  mining  territory  between  Germany 
and  Poland.  The  returns  from  the  plebi- 
scite showed  that  although  the  district,  in 
general,  had  voted  to  remain  with  Germany, 
the  richest  coal-mining  areas  of  the  South- 
east had  elected  to  unite  with  Poland 
This  complicated  the  situation,  the  Ger- 
mans at  once  demanding,  on  the  ground  of 
the  general  result,  that  all  Upper  Silesia 
be  allotted  to  them,  the  Poles  insisting  that 
the  districts  which  had  voted  for  Poland  be 
incorporated  in  the  Polish  boundaries.  The 
granting  of  this  demand,  however,  meant  to 
Germany  that  she  had  lost  rather  than  won 
the  plebiscite,  inasmuch  as  she  especially 
desired  to  gain  possession  of  the  coal  fields. 
While  the  Plebiscite  Commission  was  still 
considering  in  Paris  the  most  equitable 
policy  of  reconciling  the  vote  in  full  justice 
to  both  parties,  the  whole  situation  was 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  irruption 
across  the  Polish  frontier  into  Silesia  of  a 
large  Polish  force,  directed  by  Adalbert 
Korfanty,  who  had  but  recently  given  up  his 
post  as  Polish  High  Commissioner  of  the 
Plebiscite.  This  force,  estimated  at  50,000 
men,  was  highly  organized,  and  possessed 
machine  guns,  bombs,  firethrowers  and  even 
airplanes.  The  allied  forces,  outnumbered 
and  outfought,  retreated,  and  the  Polish  ad- 
venturers, acting  on  the  conviction  that  the 
Allies  intended  to  give  the  mining  districts 
to  Germany,  moved  forward  and  occupied 
the  whole  of  the  mining  area,  even  spread- 
ing toward  the  North.  Some  seventy  allied 
soldiers  were  killed  in  the  fighting  that  oc- 
curred, the  Italians,  especially,  fought  stub- 
bornly. The  French  fought  in  some  areas, 
in  others  remained  inactive  or  withdrew. 
The  news  created  great  excitement  in  both 
Poland  and  Germany,  and  cast  consterna- 
tion into   the  hearts   of  the   English.      Mr. 


Lloyd  George  denounced  the  Polish  Govern- 
ment, which  disclaimed  all  responsibility, 
and  indirectly  blamed  France  for  this  inva- 
sion. The  British  Premier  even  declared 
that  he  was  in  favor  of  accepting  Germany's 
offer  to  send  troops  to  suppress  the  move- 
ment. Germany's  official  request  to  be  al- 
lowed to  do  this,  however,  was  flatly  re- 
fused by  the  French  Government,  and  the 
strained  feeling  between  France  and  Great 
Britain,  which  had  arisen  over  the  Rhine 
problems,  was  increased. 

The  plebiscite  for  Upper  Silesia  was  at- 
tended by  difficulties  from  the  start,  owing 
to  strong  racial  animosities  between  the  Ger- 
man and  Polish  elements.  Herr  Horsing, 
the  Social  Democratic  Imperial  Commis- 
sioner for  Silesia  and  West  Posen,  put  down 
a  Polish  uprising  which  occurred  in  August, 
1919,  by  military  force;  he  declared  subse- 
quently that  the  rebellion  was  due  to  the 


Vj    COAL  MINES 

SCALE     OP    MILC5 


THE  SHADED  AREA  SHOWS  THE  REGION; 
SEIZED  BY  KORFANTY'S  POLISH  FORCES 
IN  DEFIANCE  OF  THE  ALLIED  COMMIS- 
SION. THE  CHIEF  COAL  MINES  ARHJ 
INDICATED    BY    CIRCLES 


390 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


intention  of  the  Pan  Poles  to  gain  absolute 
possession  of  Upper  Silesia  before  the  rati- 
fication of  the  Peace  Treaty.  The  elec- 
tions which  took  place  in  November,  1919, 
resulted  in  a  sweeping  victory  for  the 
Poles;  on  the  basis  of  this  result,  the  Polish 
Government  asked  the  Supreme  Council  to 
accept  this  as  decisive,  without  the  holding 
of  a  plebiscite.  This  solution  the  allied 
Ministers  rejected.  It  was  decided  on  Nov. 
4  that  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Interallied 
Plebiscite  Commission  should  be  given  to 
France,  and  General  Lerond  was  ultimately 
appointed  to  this  post. 

The  Commission,  including  the  British 
and  Italian  members,  reached  Upper  Silesia 
on  Feb.  12.  The  military  occupation  of  the 
whole  plebiscite  area  had  been  completed 
by  the  allied  contingents  shortly  before. 
The  Commission  took  over  all  the  German 
and  Prussian  powers,  and  issued  a  procla- 
mation declaring  its  firm  intention  to  main- 
tain peace  and  order  and  to  insure  a  free 
vote  upon  both  sides.  Stern  warnings  were 
sounded  to  all  persons  who  attempted  to 
break  the  peace  or  to  coerce  either  element 
of  the  population. 

4  The  date  of  the  plebiscite,  long  deferred, 
was  at  last  fixed  for  March  20.  Mutual 
complaints  from  both  elements  against  the 
acts  and  attitude  of  others  drew  from  the 
Council  of  Ambassadors  on  March  18  an 
official  note  to  both  Governments,  remind- 
ing them  that  the  task  of  keeping  order  in 
Upper  Silesia  during  the  plebiscite  period 
was  solely  the  affair  of  the  Interallied 
Commission,  and  that  any  intervention  by 
troops  of  either  side  would  be  undertaken 
at  the  responsibility  of  the  offending  party. 
The  plebiscite  occurred  at  the  date  set, 
and  was  attended  with  no  disorders,  though 
the  Poles  bitterly  complained  that  the  Ger- 
mans, availing  themselves  of  the  allied 
sanction,  had  imported  fully  200,000  Ger- 
mans from  Germany  and  from  all  corners 
of  the  earth  on  the  ground  that  they  had 
been  born  in  Silesia  and  had  the  right  to 
participate  in  the  vote.  The  result,  as  Ger- 
many expected,  was  a  victory  for  the  Ger- 
mans. Fully  two-thirds  of  the  district  had 
elected  to  remain  with  Germany.  The  area 
on  the  Polish  border,  however,  including 
most  of  the  coal  mines,  cast  an  estimated 
vote  of  53  per  cent,  for  Poland,  notwith- 
standing the  German  vote  given  by  the 
towns. 


The  final  results  were  established  and 
the  full  official  report  forwarded  to  the 
Interallied  Commission  and  to  the  Supreme 
Council  for  the  ultimate  decision.  This, 
however,  was  slow  in  coming. 

Early  in  May,  while  the  decision  was  still 
pending,  the  Polish  workmen  who  form  the 
population  of  the  mining  districts  of  Rybnik 
and  Pless,  misled  by  a  false  announcement, 
said  to  have  been  published  in  a  German 
paper,  that  the  Allies  had  decided  to  give 
these  as  well  as  other  coal-mining  districts 
to  Germany,  declared  a  general  strike.  This 
was  followed  by  news  that  lawless  Polish 
bands  had  appeared  and  were  terrorizing 
the  country.  These  uprisings  had  resulted 
in  fighting  between  the  French  and  the 
Polish  rebels  at  Beuthen,  Kattowitz  and 
Tarnowitz.  The  conflagration  spread,  and 
on  May  4  came  the  news  that  organized 
Polish  forces  numbering  many  thousands 
had  occupied  all  of  Upper  Silesia  south  of 
a  line  running  from  Kosel  to  Tarnowitz, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  large  towns, 
and  were  moving  further  northward.  Col- 
onel Bond,  the  British  control  officer  at 
Gross  Strehlitz,  opened  fire  on  some  3,000 
Polish  insurgents  who  were  striving  to  take 
the  city.  Italian  troops  at  Rybnik  were 
surrounded,  but  were  putting  up  a  spirited 
fight  against  superior  numbers.  The  fight- 
ing continued  for  four  days,  during  which 
the  allied  forces,  numbering  about  15,000, 
found  themselves  impotent  to  stem  the  tide, 
and  the  Polish  rebels,  directed  by  Korfanty 
in  person,  attained  all  their  objectives. 
Korfanty,  who,  the  Germans  declared,  had 
been  preparing  this  coup  for  months,  at 
once  set  up  a  government  of  his  own,  and 
issued  proclamations  defending  the  move- 
ment, and  stating  that  he  had  taken  over 
full  power  as  Governor. 

The  excitement  was  intense  in  Germany. 
After  a  long  Cabinet  session  it  was  decided 
that  German  troops  should  be  sent  to  aid 
in  putting  down  the  insurrection  only  in 
three  eventualities:  First,  if  the  Entente 
should  express  a  desire  that  this  should  be 
done;  second,  if,  after  the  Entente  finally 
decided  which  part  should  be  given  to 
Poland  and  which  part  to  Germany,  the 
insurgents  should  transgress  these  limits; 
and,  third,  if  the  Poles,  inflamed  by  their 
success,  should  attempt  to  invade  German 
territory,  notably  East  Prussia. 


THE  SILESIAN  CRISIS  AND   KORFANTY 


391 


Though  both  the  Interallied  Commission 
and  the  Council  of  Ambassadors  issued 
statements  assuring  the  Polish  elements 
that  no   decision  of    any    kind    had    been 


ADALBERT  KORFANTY 

Leader  of  Polish  forces  that  have  seised  the 

richest   parts    of    Upper    Silesia 

((£)    Keystone    Vieiv    Co.) 


reached,  the  situation  remained  disquieting 
in  the  extreme,  and  it  was  said  that  the 
German  elements  of  Silesia  were  organiz- 
ing for  defense.  Notice  was  also  sent  to  the 
Polish  Government  to  exercise  all  its  in- 
fluence to  calm  the  excited  Poles.  At  this 
date  it  developed  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment on  May  5  had  sent  an  identical  note 
to  Paris,  London  and  Rome  charging  that 
the  Polish  bands  were  committing  whole- 
sale murder  and  other  atrocities,  that  the 
allied  powers  were  responsible  for  maintain- 
ing order,  and  demanding  that  more  allied 
troops  be  sent  to  control  the  situation.  It 
then  made  a  formal  offer  to  aid  the  Allies 
in  this  task  by  sending  its  own  troops,  com- 
posed of  German  Reichswehr.    To  this  sug- 


gestion the  French  Government  returned  a 
categorical  refusal. 

Premier  Lloyd  George,  speaking  before 
the  House  of  Commons  on  May  13,  declared 
that  the  situation  created  by  the  Korfanty 
coup  was  menacing  in  the  extreme.  He 
declared  for  fair  play  for  Germany,  even  to 
the  point  of  allowing  her  to  offer  armed 
resistance  if  the  Poles  insisted  on  defying 
the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
and  the  plebiscite  held  under  it.  He  censured 
the  Polish  Government  bitterly  for  not  re- 
straining Korfanty  and  his  "  insurgents," 
and  declared  that  the  Polish  population 
under  Korfanty  had  tried  to  rush  the  allied 
decision  and  to  confront  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil with  a  fait  accompli.  Upper  Silesia,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  he  declared,  had  not  been 
Polish  lar  600  years,  and  the  Polish  claim 
was  based  wholly  upon  the  mining  popu- 
lation. 

This  speech  created  a  commotion  in  Paris 
and  greatly  disturbed  the  French  Premier, 
who  in  a  public  interview  outlined  the 
French  position.  France,  he  implied,  was 
taking  no  orders  from  any  other  power 
regarding  her  policy.  He  defended  Poland, 
saying  that  she  had  fulfilled  her  duty  and 
had  closed  her  frontier  to  prevent  further 
Polish  recruits  from  joining  the  insurgents. 
He  also  asserted  that  France  had  likewise 
done  her  full  duty,  and  registered  a  formal 
protest  against  Lloyd  George's  statements. 
As  to  Germany's  intervention  in  Silesia,  he 
declared  that  France  would  never  give  her 
sanction  to  it.  He  laid  the  blame  for  the 
whole  uprising  on  the  publication  of  the 
false  report  above  referred  to  in  German 
newspapers. 

The  immediate  outcome  of  the  trouble,  it 
was  stated,  would  be  the  holding  of  a  new 
allied  conference  at  Boulogne.  Such  a  meet- 
ing had  been  asked  for  by  Lloyd  George 
and  M.  Briand  had  agreed  to  it.  The  Eng- 
lish press  generally  lauded  the  Premier's 
speech  before  Parliament  and  declared  that 
a  firm  hand  must  be  used  in  dealing  with 
both  France  and  Poland.  The  general  French 
sentiment  was  one  of  flaming  indignation 
against  Great  Britain  for  her  alleged  favor- 
ing of  Germany  at  the  expense  of  Poland 
and  France. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

General  Pershing  made  new  Chief  of  Staff— House  fixes  army  at  150,000 — Economy  in 
Panama  Canal  Zone — Draft  deserters  listed — New  Annapolis  head — Naval  Bill- 
Peace  resolution — Supreme  Court  decisions — Budget  system — Emergency  tcriff — 
Railroad  situation — Trade  conditions — Marine  strike 

[Period  Ended  May  18,   1921] 


DOUBT  concerning  the  future  status  of 
General  John  J.  Pershing  in  the  Amer- 
ican military  establishment  was  removed 
on  May  13,  when  Secretary  of  War  Weeks 
announced  his  selection  to  be  Chief  of  Staff 
of  the  Army  in  place  of  Major  General 
Peyton  C.  March,  effective  July  1. 

General  Pershing  was  made  Chief  of 
Staff  to  enable  him  "legally"  to  perform 
the  functions  recently  announced  by  Secre- 
tary Weeks  when  he  stated  that  he  pro- 
posed to  inaugurate  in  time  of  peace  a  skel- 
etonized General  Headquarters  headed  by 
General  Pershing,  the  purpose  of  which  was 
to  be  instantly  prepared  for  active  military 
operations  in  case  of  war. 

Major  General  James  G.  Harbord,  who 
rose  from  the  rank  of  private  through  vari- 
ous grades  in  the  American  Army  to  the 
rank  of  Major  General,  was  appointed  Ex- 
ecutive Assistant  to  the  new  Chief  of  Staff, 
succeeding  Major  General  William  M. 
Wright. 

General  Pershing  will  be  the  tenth  officer 
to  hold  the  title  of  Chief  of  Staff  since  its 
organization  in  1903  by  Elihu  Root,  then 
Secretary  of  War. 


THE    House    of   Representatives   on   May 
10  confirmed  its  decision  of  ten  weeks 
previous  that  the  size  of  the  United  States 
Army  should  be  150,000  men.     An  amend- 
ment to  the  Army  Appropri- 
House         tion  bill  proposed  by  Repre- 
Limits  Army  sentative    Byrnes    of    South 
TO  150,000      Carolina,  limiting  the  size  to 
the    number    indicated,    was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  193  to  159. 

In  the  last  session  of  the  Sixty-sixth  Con- 
gress the  House  placed  the  size  of  the  army 
at  150,000,  but  the  Senate  insisted  that 
175,000  should  be  the  figure.  A  compro- 
mise was  finally  reached  on  a  total  of 
156,666.     President  Wilson,  however,  vetoed 


the  bill,  which  thus  had  to  be  reintroduced 
in  the  present  Congress.  The  Senate  had 
not  acted  on  the  House  measure  up  to 
May  18. 

GENERAL  PERSHING  on  May  8  issued 
a  statement  with  regard  to  the  citizens' 
military  training  camps,  in  which  he  em- 
phasized the  obligation  of  every  citizen  to 
prepare  himself  to  serve 
Pershing  his  country  in  time  of 

Endorsement  of  danger.  He  strongly 
Training  Camps  advocated  the  training 
to  be  furnished  in  the 
camps  to  be  held  this  Summer  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  War  Department.  He  also 
urged  the  perpetuation  of  the  veteran  Na- 
tional Guard  and  National  Army  units  as 
a  foundation  for  the  great  citizens'  army  on 
which  ;the  nation  must  rely.  "  It  is  my  be- 
lief," he  stated,  "  that  if  America  had  been 
adequately  prepared,  our  rights  would  never 
have  been  violated  nor  our  safety  threat- 
ened." 

CONSIDERABLE  criticism  was  evoked 
by  the  publication  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment of  lists  of  alleged  draft  deserters 
that  were  found  on  examination  to 
contain  many  names 
of  men  who  had 
served  honorably  in 
the  army  or  navy. 
Among  those  thus 
falsely  stigmatized  as  draft  evaders  or 
army  deserters  were  many  who  had  won 
rank  and  medals  because  of  distinguished 
war  service.  So  many  of  these  errors  were 
found  that  many  newspapers  refused  to 
publish  the  lists.  In  defense  of  its  action, 
the  War  Department,  through  Major  Gen- 
eral Peter  C.  Harris,  the  Adjutant  General 
of  the  Army,  who  had  charge  of  the  pub- 
lication   of    the    lists,    issued    a    statement 


Erroneous 

Draft  Deserters' 

Lists 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES 


393 


May  9  in  which  he  declared  that  the  de- 
partment had  done  everything  in  its  power 
to  insure  the  correctness  of  the  published 
lists  and  had  succeeded  in  cutting  down  to 
approximately  155,000  names  the  original 
total  of  489,003.  "Everything  that  is 
humanly  possible,"  he  declared,  "  has  been 
done  by  the  War  Department  to  insure  the 
correctness  of  the  lists." 


ADMIRAL     HENRY     BRAID     WILSON, 

•£*■    Commander-in-Chief    of    the    Atlantic 

Fleet,  was  on  May  10  selected  by  President 

Harding  as  the  next  Superintendent  of  the 

Naval      Academy     at 

Admiral   Wilson      Annapolis.      He    suc- 

to   Head  ceeded   Rear   Admiral 

Annapolis  Archibald    H.    Scales, 

who  for  several  years 

had   been  in  charge  of  the  Academy.    The 

change  was  to  be  effective  at  the  end  of  the 

present    academic    year.      Admiral    Wilson 

was  stationed  at  Brest  during  the  war,  and 

since  his  return  had  been  in  command  of  the 

Atlantic  Fleet,  which  had  been  brought  to 

a  high  state  of  efficiency. 


WITHOUT  a  record  vote,  the  Senate  on 
April  26  passed  the  budget  bill.    The 
bill   provides   for   a   bureau   of   the  budget 
in  the  Treasury  Department  to  prepare  the 
estimate      of      appropriations 
Budget      needed  by  the  various  depart- 
System      ments.        The     bureau     would 
Adopted     have  as  its  head  a  director  of 
the  budget,   appointed   by  the 
President   with   the   consent  of  the   Senate 
for  a  term  of  seven  years,  with  an  annual 
salary  of  $10,000. 

The  offices  of  Controller  and  Assistant 
Controller  of  the  Treasury  would  be  abol- 
ished under  the  proposed  bill  and  in  their 
stead  offices  of  Controller  General  and  As- 
sistant Controller  General  would  be  cre- 
ated. Their  removal  would  be  permitted  by 
joint  Congressional  resolution,  which  re- 
quires the  President's  signature. 

The  House  on  May  5  passed  the  budget 
bill  by  a  vote  of  344  to  9.  The  measure 
differed  in  some  minor  particulars  from 
that  passed  by  the  Senate.  Arrangements 
were  made  for  a  prompt  conference  be- 
tween the  two  houses  so  that  the  bill  might 
nave  the  differences  adjusted  and  be  sent 
to   the   President   in   time,   if   approved,   to 


permit  the  inauguration  of  the  new  sys- 
tem at  the  opening  of  the  next  fiscal  year, 
July  1. 

DYa  vote  of  49  to  23  the  Senate  on  April 
-*-*  30  adopted  the  Knox  resolution  de- 
claring the  state  of  war  between  the  United 
States  on  the  one  hand  and  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary  on  the  other  to  be  at  an 
end.  The  importance  of 
Adoption  this     action     was     over- 

of  Knox  shadowed,  however,  by  an 

Resolution  announcement  made  by 
Senator  Lodge,  Repub- 
lican floor  leader,  which  was  construed  to 
imply  that  a  new  peace  treaty  would  prob- 
ably be  negotiated  with  Germany. 

Senator  Lodge  was  not  explicit  in  his 
statement,  but  conveyed  the  impression  that 
the  Versailles  Treaty,  even  if  modified  by 
the  elimination  of  the  League  covenant  and 
addition  of  reservations  to  prevent  the 
United  States  from  becoming  involved  in 
European  politics,  would  not  be  submitted 
to  the  Senate  for  ratification.  This  impres- 
sion was  later  modified  by  the  Senator,  and 
a  statement  from  the  White  House  left  the 
impression  that  the  President  had  not  let  it 
be  known  whether  he  would  again  submit 
the  treaty. 

The  resolution  was  then  sent  to  the  House, 
where  up  to  May  18  no  action  had  been 
taken. 

TAKING  the  broad  ground  that  in  case 
of    public    exigency    the    limitation    of 
the  rights  of  real  property  was  warranted, 
the   United   States    Supreme   Court  handed 
down   opinions   on   April    18   upholding   the 
New     York     housing 
Supreme  Court      laws     and     a     similar 
Decisions  on         rent  restriction  enact- 
Housing  Laws       ment  by  Congress  for 
the  District  of  Colum- 
bia.    The  court  divided  5  to  4,  and  on  the 
same   lines   in   each  case.     Justice   Holmes 
wrote  the  majority  opinion,  which  was  con- 
curred in  by  Justices  Clarke,  Day,  Brandeis 
and     Pitney.     The     minority     opinion     was 
handed    down    by    Justice    McKenna,    with 
Chief  Justice  White  and  Justices  McReyn- 
olds  and  Van  Devanter  joining  in  the  dis- 
sent.    Justice  McKenna  held  that  the  rent 
laws    infringed    on    the    constitutional    pro- 


394 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


vision  that  private  property  cannot  be 
taken  for  public  use  without  just  compensa- 
tion. He  suggested  that  the  principle  of  in- 
terference with  contract  smacked  of  social- 
ism. 

THE  Naval  Appropriation  bill,  which  pro- 
vided for  expenditures  of  approximate- 
ly $396,000,000,  was  adopted  by  the  House 
on  April  28  by  a  vote  of  212  to  15,  without 
important  changes,  despite  the  effort  to  ob- 
tain    amendments     that 
Naval  would  urge  on  the  Presi- 

Appropriation  dent  early  action  in  call- 
Bill  Passed  ing  an  international  con- 
ference on  disarmament. 
One  amendment  added  was  that  money 
should  be  expended  only  for  work  on  vessels 
now  under  construction;  a  second  prevented 
expenditures  for  buildings  or  shore  stations 
unless  specifically  authorized.  A  proposal 
by  Representative  Blanton  to  reduce  the  ap- 
propriation for  construction  from  $90,000,- 
000  to  $10,000,000  was  defeated  by  an  over- 
whelming vote.  The  Senate  had  not  acted 
up  to  May  18. 

F>LLO WING  a  series  of  conferences  look- 
ing to  a  settlement  of  the  wage  dispute 
between     the     American     shipowners,     the 
Shipping  Board  and  the  marine  workers,  an 
order  was  issued  by  Admiral 
Marine     Benson,  head  of  the  Shipping 
Workers'  Board,  to  all  operators  of  Gov- 
Strike      ernment  merchant  craft  to  re- 
duce wages  15  per  cent.,  effec- 
tive at  midnight  of  the  day  the  order  was 
issued,  April  30. 

This  action  led  on  May  1  to  a  general 
strike  among  the  marine  workers.  Six 
thousand  marine  engineers  in  New  York 
harbor  left  their  posts.  These  were  fol- 
lowed by  many  members  of  the  seamen's 
and  firemen's  unions,  and  a  general  paraly- 
sis of  shipping  operations  was  the  result. 
Appeals  were  made  for  a  revision  or  revo- 
cation of  the  order,  but  Admiral  Benson 
insisted  that  the  announced  reduction  would 
stand.  He  served  notice  on  the  members  of 
the  marine  unions  who  were  on  strike  that 
the  full  power  of  the  Government  would  be 
employed  to  move  its  vessels.  He  further 
announced  that  private  interests  operating 
vessels  to  which  the  Shipping  Board  had 
title  must  put  the  15  per  cent,  reduction 
into  effect  if  they  wished  to  retain  their 


ships.  Backing  up  this  position  on  May  12, 
he  issued  a  formal  order  taking  from  the 
United  Transport  Company  of  New  York 
six  ships,  aggregating  about  55,000  dead- 
weight tons,  on  the  ground  that  the  com- 
pany had  failed  to  put  the  reduced  rate 
into  effect. 

The  strikers  on  May  17  gave  Secretary 
of  Labor  Davis  full  power  to  make  a  settle- 
ment with  the  ship  owners  and  the  Ship- 
ping Board  on  their  behalf.  The  owners  on 
the  same  date  voted  to  reject  all  contracts 
with  Marine  unions. 


SECRETARY    OF     WAR     WEEKS     an- 
nounced on  April  20  that  he  purposed 
visiting  the   Canal   Zone   shortly,   with   the 
view  of  gathering  data  on  which  to  base  a 
reorganization     of     the 
To  Cut  entire  method  of  admin- 

Panama  Canal     istration,  which,  he  de- 
Costs  clared,    was    now    con- 

ducted extravagantly. 
Employes  of  the  Canal  Zone,  the  Secre- 
tary said,  received  much  higher  wages  than 
Government  employes  in  the  United  States 
proper,  and  in  addition  were  allowed  sixty 
days'  leave  a  year,  free  quarters,  the 
privilege  of  buying  all  commodities  at  cost 
from  Government  commissaries  and  other 
perquisites.  The  present  cost  of  adminis- 
tration of  the  Canal  Zone,  exclusive  of  the 
military  forces,  is  about  $800,000  a  month. 


TT  was  announced  by  the  Federal  Trade 
■*-  Commission  on  April  29  that  formal 
complaint  alleging  unfair  competition  in 
interstate  commerce,  in  violation  of  Sec- 
tion 5  of  the  Commis- 
Unfair  sion's    Organic    act    and 

Competition  in  Section  2  of  the  Clayton 
Steel  Charged  act,  had  been  issued 
a  g  a  i  n  st  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  and  eleven  sub- 
sidiary companies,  upon  application  made 
by  the  Western  Association  of  Rolled  Steel 
Consumers  and  other  users  of  steel  prod- 
ucts. 


The  complaint  was  based  on  the  system 
known    as    the    Pittsburgh    base    price    and 
Pittsburgh  plus  price,  under  which  all  steel 
except  rails,  wherever  made,  was  sold  at  th 
Pittsburgh   base   price,   plus   an    imaginar 
freight    rate    charge,    equal    to    the    actua 
freight    rate    charged    from    Pittsburgh    t 


d 

i 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES 


395 


the  point  at  which  the  product  was  sold. 
It  was  claimed  that  this  practice  retarded 
the  natural  steel  manufacturing  growth  of 
other  sections  of  the  country  and  placed  a 
premium  on  the  establishment  and  mainte- 
nance of  steel  fabricating  factories  in  Pitts- 
burgh. 

ON  May  2  the  conviction  of  Senator  Tru- 
man H.  Newberry  of  Michigan  of  con- 
spiracy to  violate  the  Federal  Corrupt  Prac- 
tices   act    during    his    Senatorial    campaign 
was  reversed  by  the  Supreme  Court.     The 
Senator    had    been    found 
Newberry        guilty  in  the  lower  court, 
Conviction        sentenced    to    two    years' 
Reversed         imprisonment     and     fined 
$10,000. 
Justice     McReynolds    handed     down    the 
opinion,  in  which  he  held  that  Congress  did 
not   have   authority  to   regulate  primaries. 
Justice    Pitney    submitted    an    opinion,    in 
which  Justices  Brandeis  and  Clarke  agreed, 
concurring  in  the  reversal,  but  on  different 
grounds,  and  asserting  that   Congress   had 
unquestioned    power    to    control    primaries. 
Chief   Justice   White   presented   an   opinion 
dissenting   from    the    view    that    primaries 
could  not  be  controlled  by  the  Federal  laws, 
but    concurring   with   modifications    in   the 
reversal.      Senator   Newberry   resumed   his 
seat  in  the  Senate  after  the  decision. 


WASTES  amounting  to  a  billion  dollars 
annually  were  laid  to  managerial  in- 
efficiency on   American  railroads  in  a  de- 
tailed   exhibit    placed    before    the    Railroad 
Labor  Board  April  20,  as  part 
Railroad      of  union  labor's  fight  against 
Wage        a    reduction    of   wages.      Re- 
Disputes     coverable    wastes    were    esti- 
mated   by    the    employes    at 
$578,500,000  a  year,  and  other  wastes,  im- 
possible   of    estimation,    would    equal    that 
amount,  it  was  declared. 

Recoverable  and  easily  estimated  wastes 
were  divided  by  the  exhibit  under  nine 
heads,  having  to  do  largely  with  construc- 
tion and  care  of  locomotives  and  shop  ma- 
chinery, cost  accounting  and  labor  turn- 
over. 

The  wastes  which  the  unions  said  could 
not  be  estimated  in  terms  of  money  included 
a  variety  of  subjects,  ranging  from  defec- 
tive train  equipment  and  tracks  to  allega- 


tions of  incompetent  and  extravagant 
management.  In  the  latter  class,  emphasis 
was  laid  upon  publicity  and  advertising  and 
on  what  the  unions  thought  were  unneces- 
sary legal  expenses.  Such  expenditures,  it 
was  claimed,  had  served  to  increase  the 
operating  costs,  and  had  been  wrongly 
charged  against  them. 

The  operators'  side  of  the  wage  con- 
troversy was  presented  in  part  by  Mr. 
Julius  Krutschnitt,  Chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  who 
appeared  as  the  first  witness,  May  10,  be- 
fore the  Senate  Committee  on  Interstate 
Commerce,  which  began  an  exhaustive  in- 
quiry into  the  transportation  situation. 

The  witness  declared  that  the  chief  rea- 
son for  the  increase  in  operating  expenses 
of  the  railroads  was  the  added  labor  bill 
of  more  than  $2,225,000,000  since  the  Adam- 
son  law  went  into  effect  in  1916.  Before 
that  law  became  operative,  the  labor  bill  of 
the  carriers  stood  at  $1,468,576,394.  In  1920 
it  was  $3,698,216,351. 

Expenses  over  which  the  railroads  had  no 
control,  because  of  prices  fixed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment or  by  general  market  conditions 
covered  91 V2  cents  out  of  every  dollar  of 
operating  expenses  in  1920,  asserted  Mr. 
Krutschnitt,  adding  that  64  cents  out  of 
every  dollar  of  operating  expenses  in  that 
year  were  paid  out  to  labor,  and  the  wages 
of  labor  were  fixed  by  the  Government. 

The  national  agreements  between  the 
railroads  and  the  workers,  which  were 
framed  under  Government  supervision, 
were  stated  by  the  witness  to  be  wasteful,  in 
that  expenditures  were  forced  on  railroads 
and  the  efficiency  of  the  employes  was  de- 
creased. 

TIE  failure  of  retail  prices  to  come  down 
to   the   level  warranted  by  declines  in 
wholesale     prices     is     retarding     readjust- 
ment, according  to  an  announcement  made 
May    1    by    the    Federal 
Retail  Prices     Reserve  Board  in  its  re- 
Retard  view  of  general  business 

Trade  Revival  and  financial  conditions 
for  the  month  of  April. 
Heavy  transportation  charges,  high  wage 
levels  and  high  prices  for  coal  and  steel 
were  cited  as  contributing  factors,  but 
throughout  the  review  the  retail  price  situa- 
tion was  emphasized  as  the  most  important 
element  in  retarding  business  revival. 


396 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


The  board  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  statistics  prepared  by  the  Department 
of  Labor  showed  a  decrease  of  but  1  per 
cent,  in  retail  food  prices  for  the  month  of 
March.  It  pointed  out  also  that  the  index 
figures  fixed  by  the  Federal  Reserve  Board 
showed  a  reduction  since  January  of  11  per 
cent,  in  raw  materials,  as  compared  with  3 
per  cent,  in  prices  to  the  consumer.  The 
index  figure  on  May  1  stood  at  50  per  cent, 
above  the  1913  average. 

THE  Kellogg  bill,  authorizing  the  Presi- 
dent to  regulate  and  license  landings 
of  submarine   cables   in   this   country,   was 
passed  by  the   Senate  on  April  26.    Cable 
companies    are    prohib- 
Cable  ited  under  the  bill  from 

License  Bill        landing  or  operating  ca- 
Passed  bles  connecting  with  this 

country  without  a  Presi- 
dential permit,  and  the  President  is  author- 
ized to  revoke  licenses  should  such  action 
be  in  the  Government's  interests. 

The  bill  was  written  and  pressed  by 
Senator  Kellogg  of  Minnesota  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  State  Department  after  the 
dispute  between  the  department  and  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  over 
the  latter's  cable  landing  at  Miami,  Fla. 
There  was  no  opposition  to  it  in  the  Sen- 
ate, and  no  record  vote  was  taken. 

A  REDUCTION    was    announced    by    the 
United    States    Steel    Corporation   on 
May  3  of  20  per  cent,  in  the  wages  of  day 
Jaborers  in  all  of  its  manufacturing  plants, 
to   take   effect   May   16.      Other   rates,   in- 
cluding salaries,  were 
U.  S.  Steel  Corpo-    to    be    equitably    ad- 
ration  Wage        justed,     according    to 
Reduction  an   official   statement 

issued  by  Judge  Elbert 
H.  Gary.  The  20  per  cent,  reduction  af- 
fected the  wages  of  about  150,000  men  and 
brought  the  wage  scale  to  the  level  which 
existed  during  the  early  months  of  1918. 

Last  year  the  Steel  Corporation,  according 
to  its  annual  report,  paid  out  approximately 
$581,000,000  in  wages  to  267,345  employes. 
These  figures  were  based  on  full  operation, 
and  the  20  per  cent,  reduction  would  mean 
a  saving  of  about  $116,000,000  annually, 
but  as  the  corporation  is  now  employing 
only  between  125,000  a-nd  150,000  men,  the 


saving,  based  on  current  operations,  would 
amount  to  about  only  half  that  sum,  or  $58,- 
000,000.  The  average  wage,  including  day 
workers  and  salaried  employes,  last  year 
was  $2,173.  The  reduction  announced  brings 
this  to  $1,639. 

A  N    emergency   tariff    bill,    carrying   the 
-^*-     anti-dumping    and     American    valua- 
tion  clauses   and   the   Knox   dyestuffs   pro- 
tection amendment,  was  passed  by  the  Sen- 
ate on  May   11  by  a  vote 
Emergency     of  63   to   28,   seven   Demo- 
Tariff  Bill     crats   voting  with   the   Re- 
Passed  publican  majority  and  one 

Republican  with  the  minor- 
ity. All  efforts  to  amend  the  bill  as  re- 
ported by  the  Finance  Committee  or  to 
strike  out  provisions  that  the  opposition 
objected  to  failed  by  substantial  majori- 
ties. The  only  amendment  on  which  the 
vote  was  comparatively  close  was  that  of- 
fered by  Senator  Reed  of  Missouri  that 
would  have  denied  the  benefits  of  the 
measure  to  American  exporters  who  sell 
their  goods  more  cheaply  in  foreign  mar- 
kets than  at  home.  This  failed  by  a  vote 
of  50  to  40. 

The  bill  then  went  to  conference.  A 
similar  measure,  with  the  exception,  of  cer- 
tain amendments,  had  been  passed  by  the 
House  April  15  by  a  vote  of  269  to  112.  The 
conferees  agreed  and  the  bill  went  to  the 
President  on  May  16. 


T^ESPITE  popular  belief  that  unemploy- 

•Ls     ment  has  lessened,  the  Department  of 

Labor  announced  on  May  5  that  the  actual 

figures  revealed  that  conditions  at  the  close 

of    April    were    four- 

Increase  tenths  of  1  per  cent. 

in  worse  than  at  the  close 

Unemployment       of  March. 

The  reports  received 
showed  that  of  fifty-three  industrial  cen- 
tres east  of  the  Mississippi,  twenty-eight 
showed  decreases  in  employment,  as 
against  twenty-five  showing  improved 
conditions.  The  Pacific  Coast  was  shown 
as  having  lost  ground  through  April, 
inactivity  in  shipbuilding  and  lumbering  ac- 
counting for  much  of  the  reduction.  In  the 
Middle  Atlantic  States,  including  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  little  indus- 
trial improvement  had  been  noted  in  April. 


SANTO  DOMINGO'S  BITTER  PROTEST 


By  Horace  G.  Knowles 

Former    Minister     of    the    United     States    to     Rumania,     Serbia, 
Bulgaria,     §anto     Domingo     and     Bolivia 


A  blistering  denunciation  of  the  continued  American  occupation  of  Santo  Domingo- 
Former  Minister  to  the  Island  Republic  declares  that  the  Military  Government  has 
brought  it  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  and  continues  to  abuse  its  powers 


THE  continued  occupation  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo by  the  United  States  authorities 
is  a  blemish  on  the  American  escutch- 
eon. .  The  facts  supporting  this  declaration 
were  frequently  presented  to  the  Wilson 
Administration  during  its  last  days  by  high 
authorities  who  could  not  be  refuted;  but 
this  injustice  continued,  and  the  suppression 
of  the  sovereign  rights  of  a  friendly  repub- 
lic was  maintained  by  our  powerful  nation. 
This  state  of  affairs  is  continuing  under  the 
present  Administration,  to  the  surprise  and 
regret  of  many  of  its  most  ardent  support- 
ers. The  facts  are  known  in  Washington. 
President  Harding  has  promised  to  act,  and 
more  recently  Secretary  of  State  Hughes 
announced  that  the  United  States  will  with- 
draw its  force  from  Santo  Domingo.  The 
Wilson  Administration,  in  its  expiring  days, 
in  a  kind  of  deathbed  repentance,  declared 
the  United  States  has  no  longer  cause  to  re- 
main in  Santo  Domingo  and  indicated  that 
the  evacuation  would  be  effected  within  six 
months  from  Dec.  23  last.  But  nearly  six 
months  have  elapsed  without  the  departure 
of  a  single  marine  or  bayonet.  On  the  con- 
trary, Washington  has  just  announced  the 
appointment  of  a  new  Military  Governor  for 
the  republic.  It  seems  that  only  the  pres- 
sure of  public  opinion  can  avail  to  correct 
the  grave  injustice  done  the  Dominican  Na- 
tion and  aid  this  administration  to  bring 
about  an  early  end  of  the  regrettable  con- 
ditions  that  we   have  forced   upon  it. 

The  maladministration  and  extravagance 
of  the  American  Military  Government  have 
brought  the  unfortunate  little  country  to  the 
very  verge  of  national  bankruptcy,  and  to- 
day representatives  of  the  United  States 
and  its  military  Government  in  Santo  Do- 
mingo almost  in  desperation  are  operating 
between  Washington  and  Wall  Street  in  an 
effort  to  secure  a  Dominican  foreign  loan 


for  $10,000,000,  so  deep  in  the  hole  of  in- 
solvency have  the  invading  authorities 
plunged  that  little  and  now  almost  com- 
pletely ruined  country.  To  the  last  man, 
woman  and  child,  the  Dominican  people  op- 
pose such  an  unauthorized  loan  and  finan- 
cial yoke,  and  if  against  their  consent  and 
protests  it  is  negotiated  by  the  offenders 
and  wrongers  of  their  country  they  de- 
clare they  never  will  recognize  or  pay  it. 

To  one  business  house  in  New  York  alone 
the  military  Government  has  involved  the 
Dominican  people  in  a  debt  that  exceeds 
$800,000.  More  than  $80,000  was  spent  for 
vaccine  points  for  a  small  country  where 
smallpox  is  unknown. 

The  well-known  Clyde  Steamship  Com- 
pany, which  has  been  in  direct  and  con- 
stant touch  with  the  island  and  country 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  in  that 
period  has  provided  almost  the  total 
transportation  facilities  for  passengers  and 
freight  between  the  Dominican  Republic 
and  the  United  States,  stated  publicly  a 
few  days  ago  that  the  economic  and  finan- 
cial conditions  of  the  country  under  the 
American  Military  Government,  which  has 
continued  uninterruptedly  for  five  years, 
are  the  very  worst  that  it  has  known  or  ex- 
perienced during  the  forty  years  of  its  re- 
lations with  the  island. 

President  Harding  in  his  campaign 
speeches  severely  and  very  justly  criticised 
the  Wilson  Administration  for  its  doings  in 
Santo  Domingo,  and  since  March  4  Secre- 
tary Hughes  has  announced  that  the  United 
States  will  withdraw  its  forces  from  Santo 
Domingo,  but  weeks  and  months  are  pass- 
ing without  anything  definite  being  done, 
so  far  as  the  Dominican  people  can  see. 
In  the  meantime  they  see  the  economic, 
commercial,  financial  and  educational  con- 
ditions of  their  country  going  from  bad  to 


huh 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


worse.  The  unanimous  cry  and  appeal  of 
the  Dominicans  to  the  American  people  and 
the  Administration  at  Washington  is: 
"  Please  give  back  to  us  that  which  you 
wrongfully  took  from  us,  and  go  away  and 
leave  us  alone.  We  were  better  off  and 
happier  before  you  came,  and  we  will  be 
better  off  and  happier  after  you  leave. 
Please,  go  away!  "  Unwelcome  when  we  ar- 
rived, and  after  an  enforced  stay  of  five 
years  unwanted!  Is  it  possible  that  Presi- 
dent Harding  and  the  American  people  can 
be  deaf  to  such  an  appeal  (and  arraign- 
ment) as  that? 

To  these  brief  introductory  remarks  I  ap- 
pend the  following  letter,  written  by  me 
to  United  States  Senator  Moses,  who  is  a 
member  of  the  Foreign  Relations  Commit- 
tee of  the  United  States  Senate.  Every 
statement  therein  is  susceptible  of  proof 
and  can  be  sustained  by  documentary  evi- 
dence. 

I  may  add  that  I  have  Senator  Moses's 
permission  to  print  this  letter  in  The  Cur- 
rent History  Magazine,  and  he  states  that 
he  will  be  pleased  if  it  is  given  the  widest 
publicity. 

Letter  to  Senator  Moses 

New  York  City,  April  30,  1921. 

My  dear  Senator: 

There  cannot  be  the  slightest  question  as 
to  the  contention  that  the  last  Administra- 
tion made  worse  than  a  blunder  when  it 
ordered  the  invasion  and  occupation  of  the 
Dominican  Republic.  In  accordance  with 
such  order  a  very  large  force  of  American 
marines  was  landed  on  Dominican  territory  ; 
an  American  Admiral  set  himself  up  as  Mili- 
tary Governor  of  the  country,  and  imme- 
diately thereafter  and  with  force  of  arms 
deposed  the  duly  elected  President  of  the 
country ;  dismissed  the  Ministers  of  State  ; 
dissolved  the  National  Congress ;  grabbed  the 
National  Treasury ;  prohibited  the  holding  of 
elections  of  any  kind ;  enforced  a  censorship 
on  tongue  and  pen,  mail  and  wire,  in  the 
severest  manner  possible ;  and  completely 
seized  the  country  and  every  governmental 
function  in  it,  in  a  no  less  imperious  and 
subjugating  way  than  the  Germans  did  in 
Belgium  and  Rumania.  Incredible  all  this 
may   seem,   but   it  is  absolutely   true. 

What  our  Government  did  in  that  country 
and  to  that  little  friendly  nation  only  a  dec- 
laration of  a  state  of  war  would  justify 
But  we  did  not  declare  war  against  the 
Dominican  Republic— only  Congress  could  do 
that— and  yet  we  took  possession  of  the  coun- 
try in  the  same  way  we  would  have  done  had 
there  been  such  a  declaration  or  state  of  war. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  actually  waged   war 


on  that  country,  and  have  for  five  years 
maintained  there  a  state  of  war.  Had  the 
Dominican  Republic  not  been  a  small  and 
defenseless  country,  as  against  such  a  power- 
ful aggressor-;  had  it  been  England,  Fi 
Japan,  Argentina,  or  even  Mexico,  our 
action— invasion— would  have  been  considered 
an  act  of  war,  as  in  fact  it  really  was,  and 
would  have  plunged  US  at  once  into  a  terrific 
conflict. 

In  the  proclamation  of  occupation  it  is 
stated  that  the  cause  for  the  occupation  was 
that  the  Dominican  Republic  had  viola 
certain  clause  of  the  Treaty  of  1907,  which 
is  not  true.  But,  even  if  the  charge  had  been 
true,  there  is  absolutely  nothing  in  the  treaty 
that  authorizes  the  United  States  to  take 
such  drastic  action.  There  could  be  nothing 
in  a  treaty  that  would  authorize  or  warrant 
our  country  invade  and  occupy  to  the 
country  of  the  other  party  to  the  treaty. 
Never  would  any  country  make  such  a  treaty 
with  us  or  we  with  them. 

Our  Government  in  one  fell  swoop  made 
the  Dominican  Republic  a  subject  nation,  and 
as  much  so  as  though  we  had  been  at  war 
with  it— the  little  nation  trying  to  fight  back 
with  its  "  big  brother  "  and  we  conquered 
it.  We  invaded  and  occupied  its  territory, 
and  we  trampled  under  foot  its  sovereignty, 
we  took  from  the  people  their  liberty  and 
independence,  and  violated  not  only  our 
treaty  with  with  them,  but  international  law, 
the  very  principles  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
and  our  own  Constitution.  And,  moreover-, 
while  in  such  unlawful  action,  our  forces 
short,  killed  .and  maimed  the  natives,  tor- 
tured   them    and    burned    their   homes. 

Our  Government  was  made  to  act  in  a 
criminally  careless  way.  The  order  to  use 
the  bludgeon  on  a  little,  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, always  friendly  nation,  that  had  com- 
mitted no  wrong  against  us,  and  a  nation 
of  the  same  sovereign  rrghts  as  the  greatest 
nations  of  the  earth  and  our  own,  the  home 
and  last  resting  place  of  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, must  have  been  given  and  the  blow 
struck  without  looking  into  or  showing  the 
least  regard  for  the  rights  of  the  Dominican 
Republic,  or  the  rights  of  our  own  country 
in  attacking  another  nation  and  invading 
its  territory.  The  solemn  treaty  of  friendship 
we  made  with  them,  in  which  we  recognized 
and  promised  always  to  respect  their  sover- 
eignty; our-  own  Constitution  and  interna- 
tional law  were  not  examined  or-  consulted  : 
nor-  were  the  guarantees  we  have  always 
maintained  and  the  promise  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  gives  the  American  republics,  taken 
into  consideration  :  nor-  was  our  own  resolu- 
tion urged  upon  and  passed  by  The  Hague 
Tribunal   in   190",    given    a    thought. 

Indeed,  it  appears,  of  only  one  thing  we 
were  sure,  and  that  was,  we  were  going  to 
commit  an  act  of  war  against  a  small  and 
not  a  large  nation,  against  a  helpless  and 
not  a  strong  people,  and  that  we  had  force 
enough  to  subjugate  them  quickly.  Then,  in 
ignorance  or  willful  criminality  on  one 
hand,     and     with     assurance     of     our     safety 


SANTO  DOMINGO'S  BITTER  PROTEST 


399 


on  the  other,  and  then  without  the  shadow 
of  right  to  support  us,  and  without  giving 
the  least  warning  or  notice,  we  made  the 
attack  and  invasion,  and  when  resistance 
was  made  we  shot  the  patriots,  and  then 
added  to  our  cowardice  and  shame  by  call- 
ing—branding—the unfortunate  victims  as 
they  fell  facing  our  guns  and  bayonets  and 
lay  quivering  on  their  native  land,  "  revo- 
lutionists." They  were  the  same  kind  of 
"  revolutionists  "  that  fell  before  the  British 
at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill.  The  Domini- 
cans were  trying  to  repel  an  invading  foe, 
and  fell  fighting  for  the  sovereign  rights  of 
their  native  land. 

Thus  they  were,  in  fact,  more  in  the  right 
in  resisting  our  forces  than  we  were  in  at- 
tacking the  British.  How  many  of  the  brave 
Dominicans  were  thus  shot  down  remains  to 
be  told.  Besides  those  who  made  the  su- 
preme sacrifice  there  are  innumerable  ones 
that  suffered  untold  indignities,  injuries, 
cruelties  and  even  torture.  Economically, 
the  country  has  been  ruined  by  the  extrava- 
gance, wastefulness  and  maladministration 
of  the  American  military  Government.  Be- 
cause of  a  dissipation  of  the  people's  money 
and  a  worse  than  incompetent  self-imposed 
Government,  the  public  school  system  has 
been  paralyzed— the  university  and  all  schools 
closed. 

This  action  of  ours  in  Santo  Domingo  will 
make  the  blackest  pages  found  in  our  na- 
tional  history. 

Every    statement   I   have    made   I   am   pre- 


pared to  support  by  ample  proof,  and  will 
be  ready  to  appear  any  time  before  you  or 
your   committee. 

The  State  Department  has  admitted— con- 
fessed—to  me  and  to  others  that  our  Gov- 
ernment had  absolutely  no  right  to  invade 
and  occupy  Santo  Domingo.  That  is  the 
truth  and  it  can  never  be  concealed,  and, 
moreover,  to  our  great  discredit  and  detri- 
ment it  is  known  to  every  Latin-American 
country,  many  of  which  have  already  made 
representations  and  formal  protests  and  ap- 
peals to  our  Government.  Then,  if  it  be  the 
truth,  there  is  but  one  thing  for  our  Gov- 
ernment to  do,  and  that  is  at  once  to  quit 
the  country  we  have  wrongfully  and  illegally 
invaded,  and  to  withdraw  from  it  in  the  way 
and  at  the  time  the  injured  party  and  not 
the  offender  shall  indicate,  and  then  make 
due  reparation  for  our  wrongful  action. 
Would  that  not  be  in  accord  with  Secretary 
Hughes's  recently  declared  policy  of  "  jus- 
tice "  in  our  dealings  with  the  Latin-Ameri- 
can—our sister— republics? 

This  shameful  and  disgraceful  procedure 
and  the  resulting  condition  in  Santo  Domingo 
should  not  be  permitted  to  continue  another 
day,  unless  this  Administration  and  our  Gov- 
ernment and  people  want  to  approve  the 
wrong  and  outrage  committed  by  the 
thoughtless  and  heedless  last  Administration, 
and  it  is  intended  to  repudiate  the  pre-elec- 
tion promise  made  on  this  "subject  by  Presi- 
dent  Harding. 

[Signed]       Horace  G.  Knowles. 


PROTEST  OF  SANTO  DOMINGO'S  DEPOSED 

PRESIDENT 

By  Francisco  Henriquez  y  Carvajal 

President  of   the   Dominican    Republic   since    1916;    graduate   of    the    University  of   Paris    in   Medicine    and 
Law.andmeraber    of    The    Hague    Tribunal 


Tj^XACTLY  five  years  ago,  on  May  15, 
-LJ  1916,  the  United  States  marines  en- 
tered the  City  of  Santo  Domingo.  These 
forces  were  commanded  by  Rear  Admiral 
Caperton.  The  Admiral  and  the  American 
Minister,  William  Russell,  announced  to 
the  country  as  a  whole,  and  to  the  Domin- 
ican Congress  in  particular,  that  the  en- 
trance of  these  troops  had  been  undertaken 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  aiding  the  Domin- 
ican people  to  restore  peace  and  adminis- 
trative order,  momentarily  disturbed  by  cer- 
tain discords  which  had  arisen  between 
President  Jimenez  and  his  War  Minister, 
General  Desiderio  Arias.  The  President, 
from  patriotic  reasons,  had  resigned  from 
office  rather  than  accept  the  offer  of  the 
Military   Command    to   bear   him   triumph- 


antly into  the  capital,  which  was  held  by 
the  War  Minister  with  a  force  of  not  more 
than  300  men. 

The  Dominican  Congress  wished  to  elect 
a  new  President  to  complete  the  term  of 
Jimenez,  in  accordance  with  the  prescrip- 
tion and  the  powers  granted  for  such  an 
emergency  by  the  Dominican  Constitution. 
Admiral  Caperton  and  the  American  Min- 
ister asked  the  Congress  to  defer  the  elec- 
tion for  a  few  days.  Meanwhile  the  United 
States  marines,  under  the  command  of 
Brigadier  Pendleton,  completed  their  occu- 
pation of  all  strategic  points  of  the  Domin- 
ican territory.  The  Dominican  Congress, 
after  waiting  for  two  months  and  a  half, 
elected  a  President,  who  assumed  office  on 
July  31  of  the  same  year. 


400 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


After  the  new  Government  was  installed, 
the  American  Minister,  supported  by  the 
occupying  forces,  demanded  of  the  Presi- 
dent that  he  accept  the  following  proposal 
of  the  American  Government:  That  the 
President  of  the  United  States  should  ap- 
point a  Financial  Counselor  and  a  Military 
Governor  for  Santo  Domingo,  the  first  to 
control  the  Treasury,  the  second  to  control 
the  Dominican  Army.  It  was  implied  that 
the  authority  of  these  new  officials  would 
be  greater  than  that  of  the  President  him- 
self, and  that  they  would  possess  all  the 
authority  and  the  legislative  rights  of  the 
Dominican  Congress. 

The  President  refused  to  accept  this  de- 
mand, despite  the  pressure  the  military 
occupation  brought  to  bear  on  the  payment 
of  salaries  and  of  all  administrative  ex- 
penses. As  a  consequence  of  this  refusal, 
Rear  Admiral  Knapp,  who  had  replaced  Ad- 
miral Caperton,  proclaimed  officially  that 
the  Dominican  Republic  would  remain  sub- 
ject to  the  American  Military  Government 
and  that  its  people  would  be  ruled  by 
martial  law.  The  President  then  left  the 
country,  protested  to  Washington  against 
this  violence  and  informed  all  Latin  America 
of  what  had  occurred. 

At  first  the  Military  Government  closed 
closed  its  own  annual  balances  with  a  sur- 
plus of  from  $3,000,000  to  $4,000,000.  This 
result  was  pointed  out  more  than  once  by 
officials  of  the  Administration  as  an  hon- 
orable justification  of  the  military  occu- 
pation. 

Although  the  Occupation  Government  had 
destroyed  the  whole  governmental  system 
of  the  country,  both  national  and  municipal, 
it  zealously  undertook  certain  works  of 
public  utility,  such  as  lengthening  the  high- 
ways, constructing  bridges  and  public  build- 
ings and  organizing  elementary  public  in- 
structions. Many  rural  schools  were  opened. 
It  was  declared  in  public  documents  that 
because  of  this  great  number  of  newly 
created  schools  a  total  of  100,000  children 
were  finding  instruction  in  the  educational 
nurseries.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to 
define  this  success  as  the  culminating  glory 
of  the  military  intervention. 

Of  no  importance  was  the  fact  that  in  the 
fields  were  dying  men,  women  and  children, 
some  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  others  as 
the  victims  of  stupid  reconcentration  orders 
as  bad  as  those  of  Weyler  in  Cuba.    It  was 


of  no  importance  that  the  people  were 
gagged,  robbed  of  all  individual  liberty  and 
terrorized,  that  all  journalists  who  dared  to 
protest  against  the  cruelty  of  the  occupa- 
tion were  cast  into  prison,  threatened  and 
even  shot,  for  the  sole  crime  of  having  de- 
fended the  liberty  and  independence  of  their 
country  and  of  having  advocated  passive  re- 
sistance to  the  invader  and  his  occupation. 
All  these  facts,  it  seemed,  were  dimmed  and 
eclipsed  by  the  radiance  of  those  twin  glo- 
ries— the  schools,  the  public  works. 

But  quite  suddenly,  perhaps  because  an 
expert  and  far-sighted  official  was  no 
longer  in  control  of  the  Treasury,  the  sur- 
pluses disappeared.  The  budget  grew  larger 
every  year;  from  four  millions  it  rose  to 
five,  to  six,  to  eight,  and  finally  to  eleven 
millions.  The  commercial  crisis  which  still 
afflicts  the  world  today  struck  Santo  Do- 
mingo. Prices  went  down,  trade  diminished, 
the  economic  condition  of  the  country  suf- 
fered the  same  shock  which  it  had  suffered 
in  other  countries  of  Latin  America.  The 
Military  Government  was  unable  to  foresee 
this  crisis.  On  the  contrary,  as  the  result  of 
its  inexperience  of  public  affairs,  it  pre- 
pared to  plunge  into  it  by  the  widest  door, 
leading  by  every  sign  to  bankruptcy.  Debts 
were  paid  with  increases.  It  was  decreed 
that  the  total  debt  could  be  wiped  out  in 
thirty-two  years  before  the  time  limit  fixed 
with  the  lenders.  No  more  alluring  pros- 
pect could  be  conceived.  Only  the  Domin- 
icans kept  bad  accounts.  The  Military  Gov- 
ernment now  considered  itself  able  to  exe- 
cute a  budget  plan  calling  for  more  than 
$11,000,000,  while  the  Dominicans,  who  kept 
such  bad  accounts,  had  estimated  their  high- 
est budget  at  not  more  than  $4,500,000. 

Such  was  the  prospect.  A  change  came 
overnight.  The  revenues  decreased.  The 
budget  could  be  covered.  But  they  began  to 
cut  salaries  and  to  reduce  personnel.  The 
employe  who  received  $100  was  paid  only 
$40.  In  an  office  where  there  were  four 
employes,  only  two  were  left.  The  courts 
of  justice  were  suppressed  in  various  places. 
Some  of  the  schools  were  suppressed ;  when 
there  had  been  scarcely  600,  only  300  re- 
mained. But  this  was  not  enough.  Public 
works  were  discontinued.  How  could  thej 
go  on  with  them?  The  only  recourse  left 
was  to  create  a  new  public  debt. 

What  they  are  now  seeking  is  a  new  loai 


PROTEST   OF   SAXTO    DOMINGO'S   DEPOSED    PRESIDENT 


401 


of  $10,000,000  at  8  per  cent,  interest,  where- 
as the  country  is  paying  on  the  previous 
debt  only  5  per  cent*  But  the  people  are 
refusing  to  support  this  new  loan.  They 
are  protesting,  in  the  press,  in  speeches,  at 
meetings,  to  the  Washington  Government. 
They  prefer  misery,  hunger,  to  this  loan. 
To  impress  on  the  people  the  necessity  of 
the  loan,  the  Military  Government  has  re- 
solved to  suppress,  not  a  part  of  the  schools, 
but  the  whole  system  of  public  instruction, 
from  the  university  down  to  the  smallest 
primary  school.  The  people  are  raising 
their  voice  against  this  method  of  persua- 
sion, never  used  before  in  their  country,  not 
even  in  its  saddest  days  of  revolts  and  mis- 
ery. But  though  they  protest  against  this 
measure,  they  also  say:  "No  matter,  we 
will  support  our  schools,  we  will  dispense 
with  salaries,  but  we  will  not  have  this 
loan."  This  is  the  most  formidable  protest 
that  a  people  can  make  against  a  loan 
which  they  do  not  wish.  There  are  today 
no  public  works,  no  paid  schools,  no  public 
offices  for  the  Dominicans — but  there  will 
be  no  new  loan  with  the  consent  of  the 
Dominicans. 

To  justify  the  necessity  of  the  loan,  a  cer- 
tain person  called  in  New  York  a  meeting 


of  business  men  who  are  in  commercial 
touch  with  Santo  Domingo.  The  firm  of 
Clyde  said  at  this  meeting:  "In  the  forty 
years  we  have  been  working  in  that  country, 
we  have  never  seen  such  a  grave  situation 
as  that  which  prevails  there  at  present.  The 
American  Military  Government  has  spent 
there  $800,000  in  improvement  of  the  har- 
bors, and  yet  the  harbors  have  never  been 
in  such  a  bad  condition  as  they  are  today." 

The  Military  Government  intervened  in 
Santo  Domingo  under  the  pretext  that  the 
American  Government  had  made  debts  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  A  later  investigation  showed 
that  the  financial  situation  of  the  Domini- 
can Republic  was  excellent.  After  five 
years  of  a  government  of  intervention,  sal- 
aries are  not  paid,  public  offices  are  sup- 
pressed, courts  of  justice  are  suppressed, 
the  whole  educational  system  is  suppressed, 
considerable  sums  are  owed  to  commerce,  a 
bond  issue  is  made  covering  a  total  of 
$1,200,000,  without  the  consent  either  of  the 
Dominican  people  or  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  Military  Government  now 
wishes  to  save  the  situation  by  raising  a 
loan  of  $10,000,000,  to  which  the  Dominican 
people  refuse  their  consent. 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


rpHE  month  under  review  was  marked  by 
-■-  a  number  of  events  tending  to  clarify 
the  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States  un- 
der the  new  Administration.  The  rejection 
by  President  Harding  of  Germany's  new 
reparation  proposals,  submitted  after  a 
special  appeal  for  American  intervention, 
was  accompanied  by  a  note  showing  plain- 
ly the  President's  belief  that  the  allied  rep- 
arations policy  was  justified.  The  allied 
Governments  were  sufficiently  encouraged 
by  President  Harding's  attitude  to  send  him 
on  May  5  an  invitation  to  participate 
through  duly  accredited  representatives  in 
all  future  allied  conferences.  The  Washington 
Government  replied  at  once,  saying  that  the 
United  States  "  though  maintaining  the  tra- 
ditional policy  of  abstention  in  matters  of 
distinctly  European  concern  "  was  "  deeply 
interested  "  in  the  future  settlements,  and 
ready  to  co-operate  within  the  limits 
described.    George  Harvey,  the  new  Ambas- 


sador to  Great  Britain,  was  appointed  un- 
official observer  on  the  Supreme  Council; 
Myron  T.  Herrick,  Ambassador  to  France, 
was  to  act  in  a  similar  capacity  on  the 
Council  of  Ambassadors  at  Paris,  and  Ro- 
land W.  Boyden  on  the  Reparation  Commis- 
sion. This  change  of  policy,  even  under 
reservations,  was  received  jubilantly  by  the 
allied  press. 

Official  correspondence  showed  that  the 
Harding  Administration  was  holding  firm 
both  on  the  dispute  with  Japan  over  Yap, 
and  on  the  issue  with  Holland  over  the  par- 
ticipation of  American  interests  in  oil  con- 
cessions in  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  The  ad- 
dress of  the  President  at  the  unveiling  of 
the  Bolivar  Statue  on  April  19  showed  a 
similar  firmness  in  regard  to  the  upholding 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  whole  subject 
of  American  foreign  policy  will  be  .  fully 
treated  in  the  July  issue  of  Current  His- 
tory. 


ITALY'S  ELECTION  ONE  OF  WORLD 

IMPORTANCE 

Conservative  -parties  win  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  and  the   Bolshevist  elements 
lose  a  large  part  of  their  former   strength  in  Parliament — What  the  results  signify 

[Period  Ended  May  18,  1921] 


THE  elections  to  the  twenty-sixth  Legis- 
lature of  Italy  took  place  May  15,  in 
accordance  with  the  decree  of  the  King 
dissolving  the  twenty-fifth  Legislature  and 
convoking  the  new  Chamber  with  the  Sen- 
ate for  June  8.  The  importance  of  these 
elections  is  not  confined  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Italy.  In  other  countries  the  same  forces 
which  produced  them  have  reached  various 
stages  of  conflict,  but  in  Italy  the  climax 
had  come:  Should  the  Government  continue 
to  abdicate  to  political  theorists  and  fanat- 
ics, or  should  it  give  heed  to  the  demonstra- 
tions of  the  middle-class  majority  and  ask 
for  a  new  set  of  lawmakers? 

The  returns  to  May  18  show  that  the  va- 
rious parties  of  the  Coalition  Constitution- 
alists, on  which  the  Giolitti  Government 
can  depend,  have  raised  their  representa- 
tion from  189  in  the  old  Chamber  to  266, 
that  the  combined  Socialist  factions  have 
lost  36  seats,  that  the  Popular  or  Catholic 
Party  returned  the  same  number  of  Depu- 
ties which  it  had  at  the  beginning  of  the 
old  Chamber,  that  Nitti's  personal  party 
has  been  reduced  from  23  to  15,  that  the  10 
Outlanders  returned  from  Bolzano  and  Is- 
tria  may  indicate  that  Italy  has  an  Alsace- 
Lorraine  on  her  hands,  and,  finally,  that 
there  must  be  one  or  more  uncertain  seats, 
as  the  total,  536,  is  one  over  the  number  re- 
quired.    The  returns  are: 

Constitutional    Coalition    266 

Socialists    (all    factions) 334 

Popularists    (Catholics)    101 

Republicans     10 

Nitti    Liberals    15 

Slavs    6 

Germans     4 

The  election  of  the  twenty-sixth  Legisla- 
ture was  held  under  the  same  law  which 
produced  the  twenty-fifth — the  Election 
Law  of  Sept.  2,  1919,  when  the  number  of 
election  districts  was  changed  from  the 
number   of    Deputies    to    be    elected    to    an 


arbitrary  number  designated  by  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior,  and  the  manner  of 
voting  was  changed  from  what  is  called  the 
scrutin  d'arrondissement  to  the  scrutin  de 
liste. 

Thus,  there  were  just  508  constituencies 
for  the  Chamber  elected  in  October,  1913 — 
the  one  which  survived  the  war — and  only  54 
constituencies  for  the  late  Chamber  elected 
in  November,  1919.  The  new  Chamber, 
which  will  take  its  seat  on  June  8,  was 
elected  from  forty  constituencies  and  pro- 
duced the  ordinary  508  Deputies,  and,  from 
the  additional  constituencies  carved  from 
the  territory  recovered  from  Austria-Hun- 
gary, numbering  6,  producing  27  Deputies, 
thus  making  the  twenty-sixth  Legislature 
contain  535. 

The  reduction  of  the  54  constituencies  to 
40  was  made  in  order  to  neutralize  the  So- 
cialist vote  in  the  great  manufacturing  cen- 
tres, where  several  towns  had  set  up  Soviet 
municipal  Governments. 

The  line-up  of  the  Chamber  on  the  eve  of 
dissolution  was  not  exactly  the  same  as 
when  elected,  for  meanwhile,  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  July,  1920,  each  Deputy 
had  been  obliged  to  declare  his  party  adhe- 
sion, as  follows: 

Liberal  Democrats ST 

Republicans     10 

Reformists    (War-Socialists) IS 

Official   Socialists    153 

Liberals 23 

Popularists   (Catholics)    98 

Radicals   57 

Progressives   ;>:; 

Mixed  group  . . . ig 

Non-political  President   1 

Vacant  seats s 

Total     508 

The  greatest  deflection  had  been  from 
the  Liberal  Democrats,  Premier  Giolitti's 
party,  on  account  of  the  manoeuvres  of  his 
predecessor,     Signor     Nitti.     The     Official 


ITALY'S  ELECTION  ONE  OF  WORLD  IMPORTANCE 


403 


Socialists  refer  to  the  regular  Socialist 
Party,  which  included  the  Syndicalists  of 
the  preceding  Chamber  and  the  new  Com- 
munists, who  were  to  separate  from  the 
party  at  the  Leghorn  Congress  of  last  De- 
cember, numbering  about  twenty;  the 
Popularists  represent  the  Catholics,  who 
had  been  organized  into  a  party  in  January, 
1919,  although  in  the  Chamber  of  October, 
1913,  there  had  been  twenty-four  individual 
Catholics  without  a  recognized  party;  the 
Mixed  Group  is  made  up  of  Nationalists, 
ex-service  men  and  independents.  With 
the  Constitutionalists,  or  Ministerialists, 
made  up  principally  of  the  Liberal  Demo- 
crats, Liberals,  Progressives,  some  of  the 
Mixed  Group,  and  a  strong  contingent  of 
Radicals,  the  usual  division  in  Parlia- 
mentary business  was  as  follows: 

Constitutionalists     189 

Socialists    170 

Popularists 100 

Radicals 36 

Republicans    13 

Total    508 

The  prominent  features  in  the  life  of  the 
late  Chamber  which  made  themselves  felt 
in  the  electoral  campaign  begun  after  the 
dissolution  were  the  "repudiation  "  of  the 
Communists  by  the  Socialists  and  the  conse- 
quent gains  by  the  Reformists — Socialists 
who  placed  Italy  above  the  fetish  of  the 
International — the  turning  of  several  Popu- 
larists to  communism,  the  encouragement 
by  the  Constitutionalists  of  the  Fascismo 
movement  as  a  means  of  preserving  the 
waning  prestige  of  the  Government,  if  not 
always  its  authority,  and  finally  the  attempt 
of  the  Socialists  to  make  the  cause  of  labor 
their  own  without,  however,  abandoning  the 
academic  communist  program — they  merely 
reverted  to  the  ballot  instead  of  direct 
action  in  order  to  gain  the  millennium. 

Without  questioning  the  sincerity  of  the 
Socialists,  it  is  therefore  apparent  that  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  political  or  social 
affiliations  of  the  parties  which  met  on  May 
15  at  the  polls,  the  voters,  however  classed, 
represented  movements  superior  to  all  par- 
ties; the  one  led  by  the  Fascismo  for  the 
perpetuation  of  democratic  government,  the 
other  led  by  the  Socialists  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  that  government  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  form  in  which  the  proletariat 
should  dominate  at  communist  dictation. 

The  Fascisti  reaffirmed  the  necessity  for 


Italy's  entering  the  war  in  1915;  they  cele- 
brated Vittorio  Veneto,  the  "  immortal 
legion  "  at  Fiume  and  its  leader;  they  de- 
manded an  end  of  State  collectivism  and  a 
return  to  economic  freedom;  they  favored 
the  labor  movement,  so  far  as  it  did  not 
clash  with  the  interests  of  production  and 
national  necessaries;  and,  finally,  they 
wanted  Italy  to  free  herself  both  from 
Leninism  and  from  the  thralldom  of  being 
dependent  on  other  States  for  raw  ma- 
terials. As  a  result  of  their  punitive  con- 
flicts with  the  communists  on  the  eve  of 
the  election,  provincial  Prefects  had  been 
obliged  to  remove  five  Soviet  Mayors; 
three  had  resigned,  and  over  200  buildings 
used  for  treasonable  intercourse  had  been 
destroyed.  With  the  Fascismo  the  Inter- 
national is  synonymous  with  treason. 
Benito  Mussolini,  the  converted  Socialist 
who  helped  to  mola  the  ex-service  men  of 
Italy  into  one  of  the  most  wonderful  or- 
ganizations in  the  world,  said  of  the  Fas- 
cisti :  "  We  are  not  a  party,  we  are  a 
movement  " — Non  siamo  un  partito  siamo 
un  movimento. 

But  this  is  also  what  the  Socialists 
claimed  to  be,  after  they  had  been  so  often 
mistaken  for  communists  by  the  Fascisti 
that  they  complained  to  the  Government 
of  their  treatment  and  threatened  to  stay 
away  from  the  polls,  for  they  said  in  their 
manifesto :  "  The  Socialist  Parliamentary 
group  has  no  purely  parliamentary  aims  of 
its  own;  it  aims  at  Socialist  results,  there- 
fore its  tactics  cannot  but  be  uncompro- 
misingly opposed  to  any  bourgeois  govern- 
ment." 

They  then  selected  from  the  Government 
program,  published  in  the  address  of  the 
Ministerial  Council  to  the  King  asking  for 
dissolution,  such  items  as  they  thought 
might  especially  appeal  to  the  proletariat 
and  made  them  their  own — in  their  own 
way: 

Our  program  in  Parliament  is  to  back  the 
labor  organizations  in  the  class  struggle ;  to 
help  them  win  the  workers'  control  in  the  in- 
dustries  today,  to  help  them  eliminate  the  ex- 
ploitation of  tomorrow.  *  *  *  We  want  to 
promote  co-operative  enterprises  on  a  large 
scale,  and  without  any  dividends,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  individualistic  forms  of  pro- 
duction and  exchange.  We  want  to  promote 
the  socialization  of  the  soil;  we  want  the  col- 
lective management  of  food  supplies;  of  the; 
storage,  packing  houses)  and  the  useful  in- 
dustries.   *    *    *    We     want    to     abolish     the 


404 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


standing  army;  to  protect  labor,  the  old  and 

the  sick,  promote  the  moral  and  physical 
life  of  the  proletarian  by  means  of  cultural 
improvement,  combine  manual  and  scientific 
work ;  free  justice  by  appointing-  judges 
through  the  ballot;  compensate  the  war  vic- 
tims,  reorganize  the  invaded  regions,   &c. 

Moreover,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  repu- 
diation of  the  Reds  by  the  Official  Social- 
ists was  merely  an  expedient  forced  upon 
them  by  public  opinion  and  the  activities 
of  the  Fascisti  and  proclaimed  with  the 
idea  of  winning  the  support  of  the  workers 
at  the  polls,  for  the  manifesto  deliberately 
declares : 

From  Parliament  our  Socialist  Deputies, 
even  in  their  minimalist  parliamentarian  pro- 
gram, looking  to  the  needs  of  the  working 
class,  will  aim  at  our  maximalist  program, 
which   is  communism  in  the  full  sense. 

By  April  25  the  nomination  lists  of  can- 
didates were  complete.  The  Socialists,  with 
195  candidates,  presented  themselves  in  37 
out  of  the  40  constituencies;  independent  of 
these  were  the  communists  ,with  twenty- 
four  lists;  the  Popularists,  or  Catholics, 
were  prepared  to  contest  the  election  in 
thirty-four  constituencies;  the  Fascisti  in 
only  two.  On  the  other  hand,  the  various 
parties  forming  the  Constitutional  bloc 
were,  on  an  avowed  scheme  of  coalition, 
prepared  to  contest  35  constituencies. 

On  May  11  Signor  Giolitti,  in  his  ca- 
pacity of  Minister  of  the  Interior,  sent  the 
following  order  to  the  Prefects  of  the  Prov- 
inces, under  whose  direction  national  elec- 
tions are  held: 


As  election  day  approaches,  the  more  careful 
must  be  your  efforts  to  assure  to  all  parties, 
without  distinction,  freedom  for  propaganda. 
The  electoral  battle  must  be  fought  within 
the  limits  of  legality,  especially  where  the 
conflict  of  ideas  is  most  acute  and  personal 
animosity  is  sharpest.  Violence  must  be  avert- 
ed, whether  by  members  of  the  Fascisti, 
communists    or    other   parties. 

The  local  measures  taken  to  execute  this 
order  were  generally  effective.  On  elec- 
tion day  the  Fascisti  ceased  their  punitive 
expeditions  and  assisted  the  Carabinieri  in 
preserving  order  at  the  polls. 

A  repercussion  of  the  campaign  in  Italy 
was  felt  in  Fiume,  where,  on  April  24,  the 
first  national  election  was  held  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo.  The 
principal  contest  was  between  the  Italian 
annexationists,  led  by  the  former  lieutenants 
of  d'Annunzio,  and  the  autonomists,  led  by 
Riccardo  Zanella.  The  latter  won  by  1,000 
votes.  They,  thereupon,  instigated  by  the 
communists,  usurped  the  power  of  the 
constituted  Government  before  their  time 
and  seized  government  buildings.  Then 
the  Fascisti  arrived  from  Trieste,  and  in 
their  turn  seized  the  power,  reinstated  the 
old  Government,  and  destroyed  the  ballot 
boxes,  declaring  that  the  election  had  been 
fraudulent  and  ordering  a  new  one.  In 
the  end  they  were  removed  by  the  Ital- 
ian Regulars  and  order  was  restored  under 
a  High  Commission,  which,  headed  by  the 
former  Mayor  Bellasich,  is  identical  with 
the  old  provisional  Government. 


THE   DUTCH    OIL    CONTROVERSY 


A  CONTROVERSY  has  arisen  between 
the  United  States  and  Holland  over 
the  right  of  aliens  to  prospect  for  oil  in 
Sumatra.  The  Djambi  oil  fields  in  the 
Province  of  Palembang  have  long  been  the 
object  of  a  struggle  among  the  Standard 
Oil,  the  Dutch  East  Indies  and  the  Shell 
group  of  oil  producers.  Three  Standard  Oil 
officials  in  April  made  a  bid  for  one-half 
of  the  Djambi  concession  on  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernment's own  terms,  the  contract  for  which 
came  before  the  second  chamber  of  The 
Hague  Parliament  on  April  26.  The  bill, 
it  was  pointed  out,  would  give  the  Royal 
Dutch  Company  the  exploitation  not  only  of 
the  Djambi  concessions  but  of  all  the  Dutch 
Indies  oil  fields  in  the  future. 


As  amended  and  passed  on  April  29  by 
a  vote  of  49  to  30,  the  bill  provides  for  the 
exploitation  of  the  Djambi  fields  for  forty 
years  by  a  combination  of  the  Dutch  Indian 
Government  and  the  Batavia  Oil  Company, 
the  latter  belonging  to  the  Shell  group.  The 
capital  of  10,000,000  guilders  will  be  equally 
divided,  but  the  company  will  be  under  con- 
trol of  the  Dutch  Government,  and  the 
Directors  must  all  be  Dutchmen,  while  the 
Minister  of  the  Colonies  will  nominate  the 
President,  Vice  President  and  one  other 
member  of  the  board. 

A  vigorous  note  had  previously  been  ad- 
dressed to  the  Dutch  Government  by  Secre- 
tary Hughes,  insisting  that  American  oil 
companies    must    have    equal    opportunities 


THE  DUTCH  OIL  CONTROVERSY 


405 


with  the  Royal  Dutch  Company  or  any  other 
in  the  development  of  the  Djambi  oil  fields 
in  Sumatra  and  elsewhere  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indies.  The  note  made  it  plain  that 
if  American  capital  did  not  receive  such 
equal  opportunity,  access  to  oil  under  pub- 
lic lands  of  the  United  States  would  be 
denied  to  foreign  capital. 

Holland's  reply  was  received  in  Washing- 
ton on  May  12.  The  Dutch  Foreign  Office 
points  out  that  the  American  note  came  too 
late,  as  the  law  passed  by  the  second  cham- 
ber had  been  already  drafted,  and  the  ques- 
tion, pending  the  approval  of  Parliament, 
had  been  settled.  The  Minister  says  there 
are  rich  oil  fields  in  addition  to  the  Djambi 
concession,  both  in  Sumatra  and  Borneo, 
and  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies  would  be 


glad  to  make  with  other  companies  con- 
tracts similar  to  that  already  made  with  the 
Dutch  company.  No  more  concessions,  he 
declared,  would  be  given  for  the  exploita- 
tion of  oil  fields,  but  the  Netherlands  East 
Indian  Government  would  either  develop  the 
oil  fields  itself  or  do  so  by  contract  with 
persons  or  private  companies  having  pre- 
viously been  authorized  to  do  so.  These 
companies  must  be  incorporated  either  in 
the  Netherlands  or  the  Netherlands  East 
Indies.  The  managing  and  directing  boards 
are  to  be  subjects  of  the  Netherlands  or  the 
Netherlands  East  Indies. 

The  decision  of  the  second  chamber  was 
not  final,  for  it  was  still  to  come  before 
the  first  chamber,  the  debate  there  being 
expected  to  begin  about  May  17. 


HUNGARY  UNDER  A  NEW  GOVERNMENT 


[Period    Ended    May    15,    1021] 


SINCE  the  solution  of  the  Ministerial 
crisis  caused  by  the  unexpected  appear- 
ance in  Hungary  of  former  King  Charles, 
interest  has  centred  in  the  new  Cabinet  and 
the  sensational  trial  of  a  group  of  suspects 
charged  with  instigating  the  murder  of 
Count  Stephen  Tisza,  former  Premier  of 
Hungary,  the  "  iron  man  "  of  Central  Eu- 
rope. 

The  new  Cabinet,  headed  by  Count 
Stephen  Bethlen,  on  April  19  offered  its 
program  to  the  Parliament  in  Budapest. 
The  Premier  significantly  declared  that  a 
new  policy  must  be  inaugurated,  and  that  it 
would  be  a  fatal  mistake  to  let  things  con- 
tinue as  Count  Tisza  had  left  them.  He 
further  declared  that  although  the  Govern- 
ment espoused  the  Christian  idea  and  a 
national  and  agrarian  program,  it  strongly 
condemned  anti-Semitism.  His  Government 
would  not  permit  disturbance  of  social  order 
by  individuals  or  groups  or  organizations, 
but  would  punish,  and  if  necessary  destroy, 
all  who  caused  strife  or  offered  resistance. 
He  expressed  desire  for  close  co-operation 
among  all  classes  of  the  nation,  but  espe- 
cially between  the  farmers  and  intellectuals. 
Unequivocally  he  denounced  demagogy  and 
radical  tendencies  bearing  the  seeds  of  dis- 
organization and  bloody  conflicts.  He  advo- 
cated constructive  measures  free  from 
catchwords  and  wrong  appeals  to  mob  psy- 


chology. In  picturing  a  brighter  future  for 
the  nation,  he  appealed  to  all  to  go  to  work 
and  cease  debating  legal  questions.  He  prom- 
ised democratic  legislation,  without  bowing 
to  extreme  demands.  The  first  step  in  this 
direction  would  be  made,  he  said,  in  the 
restoration  of  the  rights  of  a  free  press  and 
free  assembly. 

Among  bills  to  be  introduced,  he  men- 
tioned especially  one  to  reform  the  elec- 
toral franchise;  another  to  modernize  State 
administration,  and  a  third  regarding 
restoration  of  the  upper  chamber  of  the 
Parliament.  The  second  bill  would  contain 
a  broad  outline  as  to  how  the  Government 
proposes  to  bring  about  a  just  distribution 
and  taxation  of  the  land  in  the  creation  of 
small  landowners. 

Toward  succession  States  the  Premier 
counseled  patience,  but  he  expected  them  to 
show  the  same  attitude,  and,  despite  the 
enormous  benefits  they  reaped  through  the 
assistance  of  the  Entente,  to  be  mindful  of 
their  obligations  as  established  in  the  peace 
treaty.  He  hoped  that  commercial  inter- 
course would  open  in  the  near  future  and 
that  economic  barriers  would  be  lifted. 

As  an  echo  to  the  recent  dynastic  plot 
to  restore  King  Charles  of  the  Hapsburgs, 
he  said  that  exercise  of  the  royal  preroga- 
tives had  ceased  by  virtue  of  a  law  adopted 


400 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  time  of  the  revolution;  any  one  opposing 
the  new  state  of  af.'airs  would  be  punished. 
The  ultimate  decision  regarding-  the  mon- 
archy would  be  left  to  a  time,  he  declared, 
when  conditions  had  become  stable  and 
when  the  will  of  the  nation  could  express 
ilself  freely  in  Parliament  without  undue 
pressure  from  within  or  without. 

Although  support  was  pledged  to  the 
now  Government  by  the  National  Assembly, 
the  Government  will  find  it  hard  to  sur- 
vive. The  Christian  Nationalists  seem  to 
think  it  concedes  too  much  to  the  Liberals, 
while  the  latter  oppose  it  because  of  a 
charge  that  the  Cabinet  is  monarchists  and 
desirous  of  restoring  the  aristocracy  to  its 
former  privileges.  They  argue  that  an  at- 
tempt to  call  into  life  an  upper  house,  in 
which  the  scions  of  privileged  classes  should 
sit  as  lawmakers,  is  a  retrograde  step  and 
shows  that  talk  of  promoting  democracy  is 
but  an  empty  phrase.  On  the  other  hand, 
while  a  large  majority  of  the  Farmers' 
Party  is  solidly  behind  the  new  Cabinet,  the 
so-called  radical  wing  vigorously  opposes 
the  same  and  predicts  a  short  life  and  un- 
pleasant one  for  Count  Bethlen's  Ministry. 

A  large  majority  of  the  Farmers'  Party 
favors  a  dissolution,  because  this  party  is 
anti-Hapsburg  and  sees  a  wonderful  oppor- 
tunity to  go  before  an  electorate  on  a  plat- 
form of  free  election  as  to  who  shall  be 
the  future  head  of  the  nation.  Such  an 
attitude  was  clearly  revealed  at  a  party 
conference  held  on  the  night  following  the 
new  Cabinet's  first  appearance  before  the 
National  Assembly.  There  a  resolution 
was  adopted  demanding  that  the  Govern- 
ment prosecute  all  who  had  a  hand  in  the 
restoration    plot. 

Count  Julius  Andrassy,  known  as  one 
of  the  foremost  legitimists  or  Carlists,  re- 
minded the  National  Assembly  that  the 
question  of  the  right  to  the  Hungarian 
throne  can  be  decided  only  by  the  law  of 
the  land,  which  is  in  favor  of  the  former 
monarch,  since  his  right  to  the  throne  has 
never  been  abrogated  and  he  is  still  the 
lawful  King  of  the  country.  Incidentally 
he  offered  support  to  the  new  Cabinet,  but 
wished  the  extermination  of  groups  addict- 
ed to  violence  and  the  doing  away  with 
anything  that  savors  of  military  rule. 

The  return  of  King  Charles  to  his  Swiss 
exile  has  by  no  means  quieted  the  agitation 
in  Hungary.     There  is  still  a  strong  public 


sentiment  both  for  and  against  Charles. 
Not  only  Hungarian  and  Austrian  aristo- 
crats and  clericals  are  interested  in  his 
restoration,  but  also  a  powerful  French 
military  clique  supported  by  royalists, 
some  publicists,  and  even  diplomats.  Mar- 
shal Lyautey  is  freely  mentioned  in  the 
French  group,  while  in  the  second  group 
almost  all  royalist  and  clerical  newspapers 
can  be  counted,  especially  Philippe  Millet's 
papers.  Opposition  papers  agree  that  the 
coup  was  frustrated  mainly  by  Regent 
Horthy  and  the  Little   Entente. 

The  trial  of  the  suspected  instigators  of 
the  murder  of  Count  Tisza  is  of  absorbing 
interest  to  the  populace  of  the  Hungarian 
capital.  Because  of  the  intrigues  behind 
the  bloody  deed,  the  political  aspirations 
of  some  of  those  connected  with  the  first 
revolution  under  Count  Karolyi,  and  the 
character  of  some  of  the  leading  figures, 
the  trial  is  historically  important.  At  a 
previous  trial  Hiittner,  Stanykovszky  and 
Dobo  were  sentenced  to  death.  Now  the 
instigators  are  being  tried,  Stephen  Fried- 
rich,  Prime  Minister  after  the  overthrow 
of  the  Bolshevist  regime,  being  the  most 
conspicuous  figure  on  the  criminal  docket. 
Dobo  died  in  prison,  while  Hiittner  and 
Stanykovszky  are  the  chief  witnesses 
against  the  former  Premier.  Hiittner 
testifies  strongly  against  Friedrich,  but 
there  is  doubt  regarding  his  trustworthi- 
ness. Fenyes  and  Keri,  both  publicists  of 
radical  tendencies,  and  Vago-Wilheim,  once 
a  commissary  under  Bolshevist  rule,  are  the 
principals  among  the  accused.  Frequent 
reference  is  being  made  to  Count  Karolyi 
as  to  one  who  had  some  knowledge  of  the 
criminal  conspiracy. 

Some  uneasiness  is  caused  by  the  French 
Parliament's  delay  in  ratifying  the  Peace 
Treaty  with  Hungary.  Hungarians  are 
little  elated  over  England's  ratification, 
despite  the  fact  that  some  of  the  foremost 
leaders  in  both  houses  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment unreservedly  denounced  the  pact. 
Its  territorial  and  economic  clauses  were 
strongly  assailed,  and  Hungary's  insur- 
mountable hardships  in  existing  as  a  self- 
supporting  nation  were  pointed  out;  yet. 
the  treaty  was  adopted  without  modifica 
tions. 

The  finances  of  Hungary  are  rapidly  im- 
proving, and  State  expenditures  and  in- 
come balance  each  other. 


WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE 
FIGHTING  FOR 

By  Paxton  Hibben,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

AUTHOR  OF  "  eONSTANTINE  I.  AND  THE  GREEK  PEOPLE  " 

A  plain  narrative  of  what  really  happened  in  Greece  at  the  time  of  Constantine's  abdica- 
tion and  of  his  recall  to  the  throne — Events  as  interpreted  by  an  American  eyewitness, 
who  holds  that  the  Allies,  not  the  Greeks,  were  to  blame  for  unfavorable  developments 


WHOEVER  regards  the  present  strug- 
gle between  Greece  and  the  Turkish 
Nationalists  as  a  new  war  is  in 
error.  It  did  not  even  begin  in  1917,  when, 
under  pressure  of  France,  Great  Britain 
and  Italy,  Greece  was  finally  dragged  re- 
luctant into  the  allied  camp.  In  the  very 
nature  of  things,  there  can  be  no  truce  be- 
tween Greek  and  Turk.  They  represent 
two  wholly  antagonistic  conceptions  of  life: 
the  Greeks,  passionately  democratic,  their 
King  chosen  by  popular  vote,  practical,  dili- 
gent, business-like,  and  Christian;  the 
Turks,  essentially  feudal,  with  the  Sultan 
a  religious  as  well  as  a  political  figure, 
amiable,  indolent,  corrupt,  and  Moham- 
medan. 

In  1912,  Constantine's  victorious  armies 
struck  the  first  Greek  blow  that  seemed 
seriously  to  threaten  the .  Ottoman  power. 
That  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire did  not  crumble  was  due  to  the  inter- 
vention of  the  Western  European  powers, 
especially  Russia,  moved  by  fear  lest  the 
Greeks  regain  control  of  the  ancient  capital 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  Constantinople. 
The  Greeks  have  made  no  concealment  of 
the  fact  that  this  is  their  ultimate  goal. 
When,  therefore,  the  second  Balkan  war, 
with  the  harsh  terms  imposed  by  the 
Treaty  of  Bucharest,  made  a  potential 
enemy  of  Bulgaria,  Greece  merely  parried 
the  danger  by  reaching  an  alliance  with 
Serbia  providing  for  definite  joint  military 
action  against  Bulgaria  in  any  future 
Balkan  conflict  that  might  arise,  and  kept 
her  powder  dry  for  the  great  struggle  with 
Turkey. 

When  the  World  War  broke  out,  Greece 
was  untouched  by  it.  On  Aug.  2,  1914,  M. 
Venizelos's  Government  informed  Serbia 
that  Greece  would  maintain  a  "  benevo- 
lent   neutrality "    toward    her    ally.     Two 


days  later,  King  Constantine  categorically 
rejected  overtures  of  his  brother-in-law, 
the  German  Kaiser,  to  join  Germany  in  the 
war,  and  declared  that  Greece  would  re- 
main neutral,  nor  touch  any  of  Germany's 
friends,  Greece's  neighbors,  "  just  so  long 
as  they  do  not  touch  our  local  Balkan  in- 
terests." The  Entente  powers  were  like- 
wise informed  of  Greece's  "  benevolent  neu- 
trality," and  the  Greeks  as  a  whole  adopted 
much  the  same  attitude  as  the  Americans 
at  the  same  period:  friendly  to  the  Allies, 
but  unwilling  to  be  dragged  into  the  con- 
flict. 

The  first  division  in  Greek  opinion  arose 
on  Aug.  18,  1914.  The  Russian  Minister 
had  made  the  suggestion  that  Greece  join 
the  Allies  and  send  150,000  Hellenic  troops 
to  fight  the  Austrians  on  the  Danube,  "  as 
an  ally  of  Serbia."  The  evident  purpose  of 
this  move,  at  a  time  when  Turkey's  par- 
ticipation in  the  war  on  the  side  of 
Germany  was  already  foreseen,  was  so  to 
employ  the  bulk  of  the  Greek  forces  that 
in  the  event  of  a  campaign  against  Con- 
stantinople in  which  Greece  might  be  in- 
duced to  share,  Greece  would  be  in  no  po- 
sition to  dispute,  militarily,  Russia's  claim 
to  the  Turkish  capital.  M.  Venizelos 
favored  the  idea,  but  as  the  consensus  of 
Greek  opinion  was  strongly  opposed  to 
jeopardizing  in  any  such  way  Greece's 
aspirations  to  possess  the  ancient  byzantine 
capital,  the  project  was  abandoned. 

GREEK  SENTIMENT  DIVIDED 

But  from  '  that  moment  forward  there 
were  two  camps  in  Greece :  those  who,  led 
by  M.  Venizelos,  favored  immediate  inter- 
vention in  the  war  on  any  front  and  under 
any  conditions  suggested  by  the  Entente 
Powers;  and  those  of  whom  King  Con- 
stantine subsequently  came  to  be  regarded 


408 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


as  the  leader,  who  opposed  Greece's  par- 
ticipation in  the  war  except  under  circum- 
stances and  guarantees  consonant  with  the 
aim  of  all  Hellenic  history  for  eight  and  a 
half  centuries,  namely,  not  merely  con- 
cessions for  Greece  in  Asia  Minor,  but  the 
destruction  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

This  latter  point  of  view  King  Cort- 
stantine  authorized  his  Minister,  on  Aug. 
23,  1914,  to  express  to  the  Allies,  advising 
them  that  Greece 

thought  it  her  duty  to  declare  to  the  Entente 
Powers  that,  if  Turkey  went  to  war  against 
them,  Greece  would  place  all  her  military 
and  naval  forces  at  the  disposal  of  the  En- 
tente for  war  against  Turkey,  always  pro- 
vided that  Greece  were  guaranteed  against 
the  Bulgarian  danger. 

It  was  not  until  Nov.  1,  however,  that 
Turkey  openly  espoused  the  cause  of 
Germany.  If  Greece  were  to  be  free  to 
carry  out  King  Constantine's  offer  of  par- 
ticipation in  the  war  against  Turkey,  it  be- 
hooved the  Entente  to  find  some  way  of 
conjuring  the  danger  that  Greece,  once  en- 
gaged in  the  struggle  with  Turkey,  would 
suddenly  be  attacked  in  the  rear  by  Bul- 
garia. 

With  Russia  claiming  Constantinople  and 
a  hinterland  in  Thrace  as  spoils  of  victory, 
there  was  nothing  to  offer  Bulgaria,  save 
at  the  expense  of  Greece,  Serbia  or  Ru- 
mania. That  part  of  Greece  which  the 
Entente  Powers  proposed  to  pay  Bulgaria 
as  the  price  of  her  co-operation,  or  at  least 
her  neutrality,  was  precisely  the  territory 
which  Greece  had  fought  the  second 
Balkan  war,  the  year  previous,  to  gain,  and 
which  once  in  Bulgaria's  hands  would  cut 
Greece  off  forever  from  any  land  con- 
nection with  the  coveted  capital  of  By- 
zantium. To  the  Greeks,  vague  offers  of 
possible  compensations  in  Asia  Minor  made 
through  M.  Venizelos  were  meaningless. 
Asia  Minor  would  always  be  separated 
from  Greece  by  the  sea,  and  Italy,  France 
or  Great  Britain,  not  Greece,  would  always 
control  the  Mediterranean.  Greece  had 
Kavalla  and  Eastern  Macedonia,  while 
Smyrna  was  still  in  Turkish  hands.  A  bird 
in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush  is  also 
a  Greek  proverb. 

But  if  the  campaign  against  Constanti- 
nople were  made  with  a  sufficient  joint 
force  to  handle  Bulgaria,  whatever  her  atti- 
tude, there  was  no  danger  of  a  surprise  at- 
tack.    It  was  a  carefully  worked  out  cam- 


paign on  this  basis  that  King  Constantine 
proposed  to  the  Allies  at  this  juncture. 

On  Nov.  3,  1914,  an  allied  bombardment 
of  Kum  Kalessi,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Dardanelles,  had  put  the  Turks  on  their 
guard.  When,  therefore,  on  Feb.  19,  1915, 
a  second  effort  to  take  the  Dardanelles  by 


PRINCE  GEORGE  OF  GREECE 
Brother  of  King  Constantine  and  Chief  Com- 
mander  of    Greek    Navy   in   present 
war   with    Turks 


sea  failed,  King  Constantine's  proposal  of  a 
joint  land  and  naval  campaign  received 
serious  consideration. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  Russia,  on 
March  4,  secretly  declared  her  "  annexa- 
tion "  of  Constantinople,  Thrace,  the  two 
Greek  islands  of  Imbros  and  Tenedos,  and 
a  considerable  territory  in  Asia  Minor, 
while  at  the  same  time  interposing  a  veto 
upon  the  use  of  any  large  Greek  force  in 
the  campaign  against  Constantinople,  or 
the  entry  of  Greek  troops  into  the  ancient 
Byzantine  capital,  should  it  fall  to  allied 
arms.  This,  of  course,  left  Greece  nothing 
to  hope  for  from  co-operation  with  the 
Entente,  and  King  Constantine  broke  off 
negotiations  the  instant  he  learned  of  Rus- 
sia's attitude.     M.  Venizelos,  who  had  been 


WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR 


409 


the  spokesman  of  the  Entente  in  urging 
Greece's  participation  in  the  war  on  any 
terms,  resigned  his  Premiership  on  March 
6,  while  the  allied  fleet,  as  if  Greece's  co- 
operation were  a  matter  of  no  consequence, 


. 


KING  CONSTANTINE 

Restored  Greek  ruler,  who  has  taken  up  the 

war  against  the  Turkish  Nationalists 


made     a     third     attempt     to     force     the 
Dardanelles  by  sea. 

POLICY  OF  THE  ALLIES 

The  attempt  failed,  with  heavy  losses,  and 
the  Entente  Powers  returned  to  negotia- 
tions with  the  Greeks.  Tranquilized  by 
French  and  British  acquiescence  in  her 
"  annexation "  of  Constantinople,  Russia 
withdrew  her  veto  upon  Greek  participation 
in  the  campaign.  On  March  22,  Premier 
Gounaris  offered  Greece's  co-operation  in 
the  war  against  Turkey  on  conditions  de- 
fined, on  April  14,  as  (1)  a  guarantee  of 
the  integrity  of  Greece  and  (2)  a  definition 
of  what  compensations  Greece  had  to  ex- 
pect. 

Entangled  in  a  web  of  secret  agreements 
with  Russia  and  secret  negotiations  with 
Italy,    the     Entente    Powers     could    grant 


neither  of  these  conditions.  To  have  defined 
what  Greece  might  expect  to  receive  in 
Turkey  would  have  been  to  reveal  what 
Greece  could  not  receive,  because  already 
allotted  to  Russia.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  negotiations  then  in  progress  for  Italy's 
entry  into  the  war,  Italy  was  being  offered 
part  of  the  territory  in  North  Epirus  won 
by  Greece  in  the  first  Balkan  war.  Be- 
tween Italy  and  Greece,  the  Entente  Powers 
did  not  hesitate;  they  chose  the  former,  at 
the  expense  of  Greece.  The  Pact  of  London 
was  signed  on  April  26,  1915. 

M.  Venizelos  was  re-elected  on  June  13, 
1915,  on  much  the  same  basis  as  President 
Wilson  was  re-elected  in  1916 — as  the  man 
who  had  kept  Greece  out  of  the  war.  His 
record  was  good  either  way;  twice  he  had 
categorically  refused  to  leave  neutrality, . 
and  twice  he  had  proposed  to  do  so.  But 
his  support  of  every  shifting  phase  of  the 
Entente  policy  in  Greece  had  convinced  the 
allied  statesmen  that  he  could  be  depended 
upon  to  deliver  Greece  whenever  and  under 
whatever  conditions  they  liked.  No  sooner 
was  he  elected,  therefore,  than  Greece  was 
no  longer  consulted;  she  was  merely  in- 
formed that  Kavalla  would  be  ceded  to  Bul- 
garia as  the  price  of  Bulgaria's  neutrality, 
while  Greece  would  be  expected  to  fight  in 
addition  to  losing  one  of  the  richest  bits  of 
land  in  the  world. 

The  best  efforts  of  M.  Venizelos  were 
unable  to  awake  enthusiasm  in  the  Greeks 
for  war  under  these  conditions.  Moreover, 
every  one  in  Greece  was  aware  of  what  the 
Entente  statesmen  were  blind  to,  namely, 
that  Bulgaria  was  on  the  eve  of  joining,  not 
the  Allies,  but  the  Central  Empires.  To 
strengthen  his  position,  M.  Venizelos  in- 
voked Greece's  obligations  under  the  Greco- 
Serbian  alliance,  which  his  own  Government 
had  repudiated  in  1914.  But  Serbia  was  no 
longer  able  to  fulfill  the  military  require- 
ments of  that  pact,  which  called  for  a  Ser- 
bian contingent  of  150,000  combatants  to 
co-operate  with  the  Greek  Army  against 
the  Bulgarians.  M.  Venizelos,  therefore,  on 
Sept.  21,  went  secretly  to  the  French  and 
British  Ministers  in  Athens  and  asked  them 
to  send  to  Serbia  the  150,000  combatants 
that  Serbia  cojuld  no  longer  furnish. 

On  Sept.  23,  M.  Delcasse  replied  that 
France  was  "  ready  to  furnish  the  troops 
which  had  been  requested."  A  year  later, 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  M.  Delcasse 


410 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


admitted  that  France  had  not  been  ready  to 
carry  out  this  pledge,  and  that  he  knew 
it  when  he  made  the  promise.  Moreover, 
the  landing  of  foreign  troops  on  Hellenic 
soil  without  authorization  of  the  Hellenic 
Parliament  was  in  contravention  of  Article 
99  of  the  Greek  Constitution.  The  step 
which  M.  Venizelos  had  taken  in  secretly 
provoking  a  violation  of  the  fundamental 
Greek  law  was  a  grave  one.  Had  France 
sent  the  150,000  troops  promised,  it  might 
have  passed  unchallenged,*  but  France  sent 
only  13,000  men,  who  arrived  too  late  to 
be  of  any  aid  to  Serbia  or  to  stem  the  Bul- 
garian advance.  The  whole  manoeuvre  re- 
vealed on  the  part  of  the  French  an  at- 
tempt to  "  trick  "  Greece  into  the  war,  as  a 
French  Deputy  put  it,  which  struck  a  body 
blow  at  allied  prestige  in  Greece  and  caused 
King  Constantine  to  dismiss  M.  Venizelos, 
the  Minister  who  had  been  responsible  for 
the  fiasco,  and  who  had  come  so  near  to  in- 
volving his  country  in  an  overwhelming 
disaster. 

THE  ARMY  AT  SALONIKI 

Though  the  Entente  Powers  had  been 
impatient  with  the  Greeks  for  their  reluc- 
tance to  attack  the  Bulgarians  without 
proper  equipment  or  sufficient  force,  the 
Entente  army  in  Saloniki  was  no  more 
eager  to  attack  than  the  Greeks  had  been. 
To  explain  at  home  this  inaction,  resulting 
as  it  did  in  considerable  criticism  of  the 
Saloniki  adventure,  it  was  consistent  with 
war  psychology  that  both  the  high  com- 
mand in  Saloniki  and  the  governments  in 
London  and  Paris  responsible  for  the  expe- 
dition should  blame  the  situation  on  the 
alleged  "  pro-Germanism  "  of  King  Con- 
stantine and  assert  that,  if  only  M.  Veni- 
zelos were  in  power  in  Greece,  a  decisive 
military  campaign  could  at  once  be  under- 
taken from  Saloniki.  In  much  the  same 
way,  for  the  first  year  and  a  half  of  the 
war,  the  French  press  and  public  assailed 
President  Wilson  as  "  pro-German  "  and  in- 
sisted that,  had  only  Theodore  Roosevelt 
been  President,  America  would  have  joined 
the  Allies  and  the  war  have  been  won  long 
since. 

New  elections  in  Greece  were  ordered  for 
Dec.  19,  this  time  with  a  view  to  deciding 
definitely  and  unequivocally  the  will  of  the 
Greek  electorate  as  to  war  or  peace.  Confi- 
dent of  M.  Venizelos's  ability  to  carry  the 


elections,  and  uncertain  as  to  the  moral 
effect  at  home  of  the  abandonment  of  the 
Saloniki  adventure,  the  Entente  Powers  de- 
cided to  leave  the  handful  of  French  and 
British  troops  that  had  begun  to  arrive  in 
Saloniki  on  Oct.  5  in  Greece,  in  the  hope 
that  the  return  of  M.  Venizelos  to  power 
would  add  the  Hellenic  Army  to  the  allied 
force  and  render  military  operations  in 
Macedonia  possible.  In  this  hope,  also,  the 
Island  of  Cyprus  was  offered  to  Greece  as 
an  inducement  to  leave  neutrality.  But  the 
situation  of  the  allied  Saloniki  army  was 
so  perilous,  the  whole  enterprise  had  been 
undertaken  with  such  little  foresight,  that 
not  only  were  the  Greeks  unwilling  to  enter 
the  war,  but  it  soon  became  clear  that  M. 
Venizelos  would  not  be  returned  at  the  ap- 
proaching elections. 

Left  in  this  embarrassing  predicament 
by  the  Entente  Powers,  whose  cause  he  had 
espoused  so  consistently,  M.  Venizelos  was 
forced  as  a  political  manoeuvre  to  take  the 
ground  that  a  dissolution  on  Nov.  4  of  a 
Parliament  elected  in  June  was  an  uncon- 
stitutional act,  and  to  save  his  face  by  ab- 
staining from  voting  in  the  elections.  As 
there  are  numerous  precedents  in  recent 
Greek  history  for  King  Constantine's  act 
in  dismissing  his  Minister  and  calling  for 
new  elections,  the  Greeks  did  not  take  this 
contention  seriously,  nor  was  it  intended 
they  should.  It  was  a  position  taken  en- 
tirely for  foreign  consumption.  The  En- 
tente Powers  were  seeking  some  pretext  to 
intervene  actively  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
Greece  to  compel  Greece's  participation  in 
the  war.  By  Article  4  of  the  Convention 
of  May  7,  1832,  it  had  been  stated  that 
Greece,  under  the  guarantee  of  the  three 
Courts  [Great  Britain,  France  and  Russia] 
shall  form  a  monarchical  and  independent 
State. 

ALLIED   INTERVENTION 

In  the  Treaty  of  July  13,  1863,  the  word 
11  constitutional "  had  been  added  to  this 
guarantee  of  Greece's  independence.  If 
therefore  now  it  could  be  shown  that  the 
constitutionality  of  the  Government  in 
Greece  had  been  endangered,  the  "  guaran- 
teeing powers  "  might  make  a  case  to  sat- 
isfy conscience  for  intervention.  The  fact 
that  they  had,  themselves,  been  the  first  to 
violate  the  Hellenic  Constitution  by  landing 
troops  on  Greek  soil  could  be  ignored,  as 
could   also   the    employment    of   the   Greek 


WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR 


411 


Island  of  Corfu  as  an  Entente  military  and 
naval  base,  in  violation  of  the  pledge  of 
perpetual  neutrality  contained  in  Article  2 
of  the  Treaty  of  March  29,  1864. 

While  the   Entente  Powers  were  seizing 
Greek  islands,  ports,  railways,  public  build- 


CROWN  PRINCE  GEORGE 

Future  ruler  of  Greece,  who  recently  married 

Princess  Elizabeth  of  Rumania 


ings  and  forts  in  connection  with  their  oc- 
cupation of  Saloniki,  the  Bulgarians  were 
not  idle.  On  May  26,  1916,  they  moved 
seven  miles  inside  the  Greek  frontiers  and 
took  possession  of  the  Pass  of  Rupel.  A 
great  hue  and  cry  was  at  once  raised  in 
London  and  Paris  that  the  Hellenic  Govern- 
ment was  permitting  a  violation  of  Greece's 
neutrality  by  Bulgaria.  While  only  the 
peculiar  psychology  of  war  can  account  for 
the  serious  advance  of  such  a  thesis  by 
those  who  were  themselves  daily  violating 
the  neutrality  of  Greece,  the  fact  served  as 
a  pretext  for  that  direct  intervention  in 
Greek  internal  affairs  that  the  Entente 
Governments  had  decided  upon. 

On  June  21,  1916,  after  a  fifteen  days' 
blockade  of  Greek  ports,  an  ultimatum  was 
dispatched  to  Premier  Skouloudis  de- 
manding 

1.  The  demobilization  of  the  Hellenic  Army. 

2.  The  resignation  of  the  Skouloudis  Cabi- 
net, which  had  succeeded  the  Ministry  of 
Alexander  Zaimis  on  Nov.   6,  1915. 


3.  Dissolution  of  the  Greek  Parliament  and 
new  elections;  and 

4.  To  enable  M.  Venizelos  to  carry  the  new 
elections,  the  surrender  of  the  control  of  the 
Greek  police  to  a  partisan  of  M.   Venizelos. 

Greece  was  in  no  position  to  resist  these 
demands,  and  Alexander  Zaimis  returned  to 
power  to  accept  the  terms  of  the  ultimatum. 
The  demobilization  of  the  Greek  Army  be- 
gan at  once,  and  as  the  Greek  troops  were 
withdrawn  from  Eastern  Macedonia  in 
compliance  with  the  allied  demand,  the  Bul- 
garians naturally  followed,  occupying  the 
very  territory  Constantine's  army  had 
wrested  from  Bulgarian  control  in  1913. 
Part  of  a  Greek  army  corps,  caught  in 
Kavalla  and  refused  transport  to  old  Greece 
by  the  allied  warships  on  guard,  was  even 
interned  by  the  Bulgarians. 

The  advance  of  the  Bulgarian  forces  into 
Eastern  Macedonia  on  Aug.  26,  though  an 
obvious  consequence  of  the  Entente's  ulti- 
matum, aroused  the  greatest  indignation  in 
Greece.  Hitherto  the  Greeks  had  had  no 
reason  to  fight  Bulgaria;  but  now  they  had. 
On  Aug.  27  Rumania  joined  the  Allies,  and 
offered  Greece  an  extraordinary  opportu- 
nity, by  co-operating  with  Rumania,  to  take 
Bulgaria  on  both  flanks  and  crush  her 
between  an  army  from  the  north  and  one 
from  the  south.  On  Sept.  1  King  Constan- 
tine  offered  Greece's  participation  in  the 
war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies,  with  this  in 
view,  to  the  British  Minister  in  Athens,  Sir 
Francis   Elliot. 

THE  FRENCH  ULTIMATUM 

The  French,  however,  had  demanded  new 
elections  in  the  ultimatum  of  June  21,  with 
the  idea  of  using  General  Sarrail's  army 
and  their  widely  extended  secret  police 
throughout  Greece  to  carry  the  elections  for 
M.  Venizelos,  and  they  preferred  to  gamble 
on  ^ie  success  of  this  plan.  The  same  day, 
therefore,  that  King  Constantine  offered 
Greece's  departure  from  neutrality,  an 
allied  fleet  under  French  command  arrived 
off  the  Piraeus  and  presented  another  ulti- 
matum requiring  the  surrender  to  allied 
control  of  the  Hellenic  posts,  telegraphs 
and  wireless,  as  well  as  the  right  for  the 
Franco-British  secret  police  to  proceed  to 
arrests  of  individuals  within  Greece,  with- 
out due  process  of  law. 

Of  course  no  sovereign  Government  could 
grant  such  terms;  but  Greece  was  not  in 
a  position  to  choose.     Premier  Zaimis  ac- 


412 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


cepted,  and  resigned  at  once,  to  be  suc- 
ceeded on  Sept.  11  by  Nicholas  Kaloguyero- 
poulos,  whom  King  Constantine  had  selected 
to  put  into  diplomatic  form  the  proposal  he 
had  already  made  to  join  the  Allies.  Under 
French  leadership,  however,  Premier  Kalo- 
guyeropoulos  was  not  recognized  by  the 
Entente,  and  his  formal  offer  of  Greece's 
participation  in  the  war  was  ignored. 

But  the  Entente's  activities  in  behalf  of 
M.  Venizelos  hurt  him.  It  became  increas- 
ingly evident  that  the  French  policy  had 
been  in  error,  and  that  M.  Venizelos  could 
not  be  elected,  despite  allied  control  of 
police,  posts,  telegraphs  and  railways  in 
Greece.  Rather  than  risk  another  defeat 
at  the  polls,  M.  Venizelos,  therefore,  on 
Sept.  25  left  Athens  secretly  on  an  allied 
warship,  and  inaugurated,  with  active 
French  backing,  a  revolution  against  the 
Constitutional  Government  of  Greece  from 
Saloniki.  It  was  hoped  by  the  French  that 
the  great  majority  of  the  Greek  people 
would  follow  M.  Venizelos  and  flock  to 
Saloniki  to  form — under  his  leadership — an 
army  to  fight  Bulgaria,  under  French  com- 
mand. Nothing  of  the  sort  took  place, 
however,  and  the  result  of  the  French 
policy  was  merely  to  embitter  the  Greeks  by 
loosing  civil  war  in  the  country,  with  no 
corresponding  advantage  to  the  allied  force 
in  Saloniki. 

Having  embarked  on  a  wrong  course,  the 
French  felt  that  their  prestige  was  at  stake, 
and  determined  to  proceed  with  the  policy 
they  had  adopted,  instead  of  accepting  King 
Constantine's  offer  of  Greek  military  co- 
operation with  the  Allies,  to  which  no 
answer  had  yet  been  given.  On  Oct.  10, 
the  French  Admiral  demanded  the  sur- 
render of  the  entire  Greek  light  flotilla  of 
24  war  vessels,  and  the  following  day  seized 
the  ships.  On  Nov.  15,  he  followed  thi*  by 
demanding  the  surrender  of  virtually  the 
entire  military  equipment  of  the  Hellenic 
army.  But  matters  had  reached  a  crisis. 
The  patience  of  the  Greeks  was  exhausted. 
Much  of  their  territory,  their  second  city, 
their  merchant  marine  and  their  war  fleet, 
their  railways,  posts,  telegraphs  and  police 
had  passed,  through  ultimatum  after  ulti- 
matum, into  foreign  control.  There  was 
civil  war  in  the  country,  and  a  surrender 
of  their  arms  meant,  and  was  intended  to 
mean,  a  triumph  of  the  revolutionary  army 
over  the   Constitutional   Government.     The 


new  demand  was  therefore  refused  and  the 
French  Admiral  was  informed  that  Greek 
public  opinion  was  so  excited  that  even 
were  King  Constantine,  as  Constitutional 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Hellenic  army, 
to  order  the  Greeks  to  surrender  their  arms, 
he  would  not  be  obeyed. 

BOMBARDMENT  OF   ATHENS 

Nevertheless,  Admiral  Dartige  du 
Fournet  announced  his  intention  of  seizing 
the  armament  he  had  demanded,  by  force, 
on  Dec.  1,  if  it  were  not  delivered  to  him 
before  that  date.  He  was  repeatedly 
warned  that  any  such  invasion  of  Greece 
would  be  resisted;  but  he  had  gone  too  far 
to  draw  back.  A  Venizelist  uprising  in 
Athens  had  been  planned  to  take  place 
simultaneously  with  the  Admiral's  landing, 
and  the  French  staked  everything  on  the 
triumph  of  the  Venizelist  movement,  which 
they  had  fostered  and  financed.  Therefore, 
when  the  arms  were  not  delivered  on  Dec. 
1,  Admiral  Dartige  du  Fournet  led  in  per- 
son a  landing  force  of  3,000  men,  who 
marched  on  Athens. 

The  struggle  was  brief.  The  French 
Admiral's  party  was  surrounded  and 
virtually  made  prisoner.  Surprised  and 
chagrined  at  his  failure,  a  bombardment 
by  the  Allied  fleet  of  the  open  city  of 
A.thens  was  ordered,  without  the  customary 
warning  to  enable  the  women  and  children 
to  depart.  After  about  half  an  hour  of 
shelling  of  the  city,  to  save  further  loss  of 
life  among  the  civilian  population,  King 
Constantine  agreed  to  surrender  part  of 
the  armament  demanded.  The  Venizelist 
revolution  broke  out  on  schedule  time,  but 
was  put  down  by  the  Government  in  48 
hours,  and  order  restored. 

French  pride  had,  of  course,  been  wound- 
ed. It  was  promptly  claimed  in  Paris  that 
Admiral  Dartige  du  Fournet's  landing 
force  had  been  "  ambushed  "  by  the  Greeks 
and  a  number  of  French  sailors  "  mur- 
dered." Just  how  an  armed  body  of  3,000 
sailors  happened  to  be  in  a  position,  in  a 
friendly  country,  to  be  ambushed  by  an 
army  is  not  clear.  I  witnessed  the  entire 
operation  myself,  and  know  of  my  own  ob- 
servation that  the  story  of  an  "  ambush  " 
is  absurd.  At  the  same  time,  nothing  was 
said  in  France  about  the  bombardment  of 
the  city  of  Athens,  and  a  rigid  censorship 


WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR 


413 


kept  knowledge  of  the  facts  from  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

A  drastic  blockade  was  promptly  clapped 
on  Greece,  and  maintained  with  intermittent 
severity  for  six  months.  On  Dec.  14, 
another  ultimatum  was  delivered  demand- 
ing the  internment  of  the  entire  Greek 
peace  army  in  the  Peloponnesus,  where 
they  became  virtually  prisoners  of  the  En- 
tente Powers.  The  revolutionary  move- 
ment led  by  M.  Venizelos  in  Saloniki  was  a 
failure;  it  was  evident  to  the  French  that 
if  they  were  to  get  M.  Venizelos  back  into 
power  in  Greece,  it  must  be  done  not  only 
without  but  against  the  will  of  the  Greek 
people. 

When  the  Briand  Ministry  fell  on  March 
19,  steps  were  therefore  taken  by  Premier 
Ribot  to  gain  at  least  the  acquiescence  cf 
Great  Britain  in  direct  action  in  Greece  to 
place  M.  Venizelos  in  power  and  to  dethrone 
King  Constantine,  by  force  if  need  be.  The 
British  Government  was  reluctant  to  ap- 
prove a  course  in  contempt  of  the  will  of 
the  Greeks,  while  at  the  same  time  posing 
as  one  of  the  guarantors  of  the  independ- 
ence of  Greece;  Italy  was  decidedly  opposed 
to  the  course  France  proposed,  while  Rus- 
sia's approval  was  also  lacking.  The 
United  States,  then  associated  with  the 
Allies  in  the  war,  was  kept  in  ignorance 
of  the  plan  which  the  French  projected  in 
Greece. 

CONSTANTINE'S  ABDICATION 

It  was  therefore  not  in  co-operation  with 
France's  Allies,  but  with  M.  Venizelos,  that 
Senator  Jonnart,  French  High  Commission- 
er to  Greece,  on  June  7,  arranged  for  (1) 
the  invasion  of  Thessaly  from  Saloniki,  by 
General  Sarr ail's  army;  (2)  the  occupation 
of  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  by  a  French  naval 
force,  to  cut  off  the  Greek  army;  and  (3)  a 
landing  of  French  troops  near  Athens  in 
connection  with  a  naval  demonstration 
within  gunshot  of  the  Greek  capital.  These 
measures  were  not  preliminary  to  a  de- 
mand that  Greece  leave  neutrality,  to  which 
the  British  Government  had  consented,  but 
to  a  demand  for  the  abdication  of  King 
Constantine  and  the  return  of  M.  Venizelos 
to  power,  the  French  plan. 

On  June  10,  the  program  was  carried 
out.  At  the  express  order  of  King  Con- 
stantine, as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Hellenic   army,  the   Greeks  offered  no  re- 


sistance. King  Constantine  designated  his 
second  son,  Alexander,  to  exercise  the  con- 
stitutional functions  of  sovereignty  ad  in- 
terim, and  left  Greece  on  June  12.  To 
tranquilize  the  Greeks,  Senator  Jonnart  de- 
clared : 

1.  The  protecting  powers  have  no  intention 
whatever  of  imposing  a  general  mobilization 
on  the  Greek  people. 

2.  The  abdication  of  King  Constantine  is 
temporary.  It  is  within  the  power  of  the 
people  after  the  war  to  call  the  King  again 
to  the  throne. 

3.  M.  Venizelos  under  no  circumstances  is 
to  come  to  Athens,  and  the  powers  have  no 
intentiso     f  establishing  him  in  power. 

Despite  these  assurances,  Senator  Jon- 
nart, or,  June  21,  summoned  M.  Venizelos 
from  Saioniki,  and  on  June  24  informed 
King  Alexander  that  M.  Venizelos  would 
be  the  new  Premier  of  Greece.  There  were 
no  elections,  and,  as  parliament  was  hostile 
to  M.  Venizelos,  Senator  Jonnart  summoned 
the  last  parliament  in  which  M.  Venizelos 
had  had  a  majority,  to  give  the  rule  of  M. 
Venizelos  a  color  of  legality. 

The  first  act  of  M.  Venizelos  was  to  de- 
cree a  general  mobilization  of  the  Hellenic 
army,  which,  thereafter,  participated  in 
the  war  until  the  armistice  with  Bulgaria 
on  Oct.  30-,  1918.  But  Kavalla  was  not  re- 
conquered, nor  were  the  Bulgarians  driven 
out  of  Eastern  Macedonia.  As  the  Greek 
army  was  not  used  against  the  Turks,  no 
decision  was  reached  in  the  age-old  struggle 
between  Greek  and  Turk.  Greece  merely 
served  as  one  of  the  twelve  nations 
actively  engaged  in  hostilities  against  the 
Central  Empires,  suffering  losses  less  than 
any  other  European  country  except  Portu- 
gal. 

AT  THE   PEACE   CONFERENCE 

But  the  close  relationship  in  which  M. 
Venizelos  had  stood  to  France  assured  him 
of  a  large  role  at  the  Peace  Conference, 
where,  owing  his  Premiership  to  France,  he 
was  expected  to  repay  at  the  peace  table 
his  obligation.  It  was  in  close  co-opera- 
tion with  France,  also,  that  on  May  14, 
1919,  before  peace  terms  with  Turkey  had 
even  been  broached,  M.  Venizelos  ordered 
a  Greek  military  occupation  of  Smyrna, 
where  French  business  and  banking  inter- 
ests are  heavy.  Unfortunately,  however, 
excesses  by  the  Greeks  against  the  Turks 
in  Smyrna  prejudiced  public  opinion  against 


414 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  claims  which  M.  Venizelos  was  pushing 
tc  Greek  sovereignty  over  Smyrna  and  its 
hinterland,  in  respect  of  which  certain 
assurances  less  than  promises  had  been 
given  Greece  at  various  times  during  the 
negotiations  for  Greece's  entry  into  the 
war.  At  the  same  time,  also,  tentative  ne- 
gotiations for  the  cession  of  Cyprus  to 
Greece  were  dropped  by  Great  Britain. 

When  the  draft  of  the  peace  treaty  with 
Turkey  came  to  be  presented  to  Tewfik 
Pasha  on  May  11,  1920,  Greece  was  to  re- 
ceive thereby  only  a  two  years'  tenure  of 
Smyrna.  Yet,  though  already  bankrupt, 
Greece  was  forced  to  continue  her  army 
mobilized  to  assist  in  policing  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  Allies.  In  view  of  the  com- 
paratively small  part  played  by  Greece  in 
the  war,  the  concessions  made  to  Greece 
appeared  to  the  rest  of  the  world  enormous. 
But  the  Greeks  found  them  pitifully  inade- 
quate compared  with  the  vast  Hellenic  Em- 
pire of  which  M.  Venizelos  had  talked  as 
an  assured  thing,  when  he  was  trying  to 
persuade  the  Greeks  to  support  him  in  his 
attempts  to  hold  and  regain  power.  Realiz- 
ing that  his  prestige  with  his  own  people 
was  slipping,  at  Hythe  on  June  20,  M. 
Venizelos  offered  the  use  of  the  Hellenic 
army  to  compel  the  Turks  to  accept  the 
treaty  terms,  promising,  as  he  had  declared 
at  Spa  on  Mav  25,  that  "  Greece  would  win 
a  complete  victory  over  the  Turkish  Na- 
tionalists much  quicker  than  the  world 
thought   possible." 

This  boast  was  unfulfilled.  After  eigh- 
teen days  of  desultory  fighting,  the  Turkish 
Nationalist  army  was  still  undefeated,  and 
the  Greek  campaign  in  Asia  Minor  gave 
way  to  the  occupation  of  Thrace,  allotted  to 
Greece  by  the  terms  of  the  Turkish  Treaty. 
The  Treaty  of  Sevres  was  finally  signed  on 
Aug.  10.  But  in  the  secret  partition  of 
Turkey  into  zones  of  influence  and  ex- 
ploitation by  the  British,  French  and  Ital- 
ians,  Greece  had  no   part. 

In  Greek  eyes  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
spelled  disillusionment.  A  sector  80  miles 
deep  and  150  miles  wide  about  Smyrna  was 
a  long  way  from  the  125,000  square  kilo- 
meters M.  Venizelos  had  promised;  nor  was 
even  that  to  be  Greek.  Greece,  it  is  true, 
obtained  Thrace,  but  not  Cyprus.  The 
Dodekanese  Islands  were  secured,  but  in- 
dependent of  the  Sevres  settlement  and  on 
the  same  terms  of  concessions  to  Italy  that 


they  might  have  secured  them  at  any  time. 
The  Sultan  was  still  in  Constantinople; 
Smyrna  still  flew  the  Turkish  flag.  By 
dint  of  secret  agreements  and  commercial 
concessions,  Mustapha  Kemal  was  slowly 
winning  both  Italians  and  French  from  the 
support  of  their  Greek  allies.  While  the 
rest  of  the  world  was  hailing  M.  Venizelos 
as  victor  in  a  great  diplomatic  struggle,  the 
Greeks  were  undeceived.  They  knew  that 
he  had  obtained  much  less  than  he  had 
promised,  and  far  less  than  they  had  hoped. 
The  Treaty  of  Sevres,  also,  left  Greece 
increased  in  size,  but  overwhelmed  with  debt. 
During  M.  Venizelos's  regime  the  Greek 
Government  had  spent  three  times  its  in- 
come. Much  of  this  had  been  paid  for  sec- 
ond-hand war  material,  on  which  there  had 
been  enormous  graft.  The  Greek  debt  had 
been  increased  by  $800,000,000,  without 
counting  that  part  of  the  Turkish  debt 
Greece  was  required  to  assume  in  return 
for  the  territory  she  had  received. 

ERRORS  OF  VENIZELOS 

Moreover,  immediately  upon  becoming 
Premier  again  in  1917,  M.  Venizelos  had 
dismissed  9,057  public  officials  and  replaced 
them  by  his  own  henchmen;  he  had  similar- 
ly replaced  1,218  officers  in  the  Hellenic 
army,  in  time  of  war;  he  had  caused  the 
arrest  and  trial  by  courts-martial  of  his 
leading  political  opponents,  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  of  the  opposition  leaders,  John 
Dragoumis,  even  being  shot  by  his  guards, 
in  the  streets.  In  the  navy,  the  Church  and 
the  university,  the  same  spoils  system  had 
been  followed.  Martial  law  was  main- 
tained; no  elections  were  held,  even  when 
the  Parliament — called  by  Senator  Jonnart 
without  legal  authority  of  any  kind — had 
leng  outlived  its  constitutional  span.  Cen- 
sorship of  press,  mail  and  telegrams,  and 
prohibition  of  travel  and  of  free  speech, 
irritated  the  Greeks,  while  constant  trials 
for  "  treason  "  disposed  of  any  critics  of  M. 
Venizelos's  Government. 

Under  these  circumstances,  when  elec- 
tions were  finally  held  on  Nov.  14,  1920, 
for  the  first  time  since  Dec.  19,  191-5,  M. 
Venizeloe  was  overwhelmingly  defeated,  the 
Premier  even  losing  his  own  district. 

To  the  Greeks,  King  Constantine,  in  exile 
in  Switzerland,  embodied  the  idea  of  con- 
stitutional government  as  opposed  to  the 
military    dictatorship    which    M.    Venizelos, 


WHAT  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  FOR 


415 


with  the  aid  of  foreign  troops,  had  imposed 
on  the  country  since  his  return  to  power  at 
the  behest  of  France  in  1917.  King  Alex- 
ander's death  had  left  the  question  of  the 
succession  open,  and  Demetrios  Rhallys, 
who  had  succeeded  M.  Venizelos,  called  King 
Constantine  to  return  to  Greece. 

But  King  Constantine  was  just  as  eager 
to  have  his  position  in  the  Greek  body  poli- 
tic rest  on  a  popular  vote  as  M.  Venizelos 
had  been  reluctant  to  consult  the  will  of  the 
people.  He  therefore  insisted  on  a  plebis- 
cite. It  was  held  on  Dec.  5.  1920,  and  King 
Constantine  received  the  suffrages  of  98 
per  cent,  of  the  Greek  electorate,  despite 
the  effort  of  the  Entente  Powers  to  affect 
the  voting  unfavorably  by  the  issue  of  a 
joint  note  on  Dec.  2  warning  the  Greeks 
that  the  return  of  King  Constantine  would 
mean  a  financial  boycott  of  Greece. 

SINCE  CONSTANTINE'S  RETURN 

On  Dec.  19  King  Constantine  returned  to 
Greece  and  was  received  in  extravagant 
triumph.  The  European  press  had  explained 
to  its  own  satisfaction  that  the  defeat  of 
M.  Venizelos  had  been  due  to  war  weari- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  Greeks,  and  on  this 
assumption  the  French  Government,  be- 
lieving that  the  Greeks  would  no  longer 
fight  to  retain  the  territory  they  had  re- 
ceived by  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  proposed  a 
revision  of  that  instrument,  at  the  expense 
of  Greece  and  to  the  profit  of  both  French 
and  Turkish  interests.  A  conference  was 
called  in  London  on  Feb.  21,  1921,  for  this 
purpose. 

Under  the  leadership  of  the  French  an 
attempt  was  made  at  this  conference  to  cut 
the  temporary  Greek  control  of  Smyrna  to 
a  mere  shadow,  Smyrna  definitely  remain- 
ing Turkish,  albeit  autonomous.  When  this 
proposal  was  submitted  to  the  Greek  Par- 
liament by  Premier  Kaloguyeropoulos,  it 
was  promptly  rejected.  But  on  March  10 
the  Greek  delegates  were  advised  that  the 
Treaty  of  Sevres  would  be  revised  along  the 
lines  laid  down,  and  on  March  11  both 
France  and  Italy  secured  payment  from  the 


Turkish  Nationalists  for  their  services,  in 
the  form  of  secret  agreements  by  which 
both  countries  were  granted  large  conces- 
sions for  the  exploitation  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  re-established  through  their  efforts. 

This  was  reckoning  without  the  Greeks. 
On  March  20  King  Constantine  called  three 
classes  to  the  colors  and  Greece  prepared 
to  fight,  single-handed  if  need  be,  to  main- 
tain the  provisions  of  the  Sevres  Treaty. 
The  campaign  began  immediately,  and  it 
was  clear  that  the  French  assumption  that 
the  Greeks  would  not  fight  was  based,  as 
usual  with  the  French  policy  toward  Greece, 
upon  an  erroneous  conception  of  the  mo- 
tives that  had  moved  the  Greek  people  in 
recalling  King  Constantine. 

The  early  Greek  successes  were  followed 
by  reverses,  but  without  decisive  result 
either  way.  More  Greek  troops  have  been 
called  to  the  colors,  and,  despite  French  and 
Italian  aid  of  the  Turks,  the  end  is  not  yet 
in  sight. 

So  far  as  the  Greeks  are  concerned,  their 
disgust  with  the  alleged  peace  which  has 
followed  the  war  is  profound.  At  first 
blaming  M.  Venizelos  for  having  failed  to 
obtain  at  the  settlement  what  he  so  freely 
promised  when  he  was  seeking  election,  the 
Greek  people  are  more  and  more  placing 
the  blame  on  the  great  European  powers, 
who  have  shown  a  sordid  readiness  to  sacri- 
fice the  principles,  for  which  they  claimed 
to  have  been  fighting,  for  commercial  and 
financial  gains. 

The  Greeks  recall  the  stubbornness  with 
which  King  Constantine  refused  to  leave 
neutrality  without  specific,  written  guaran- 
tees that  Greece  would  not  be  sold  out  at 
the  final  settlement.  They  realize  that  M. 
Venizelos's  policy  of  tying  Greece  to  the 
chariot  wheels  of  France  has  brought  only 
ruin.  Crushed  under  a  debt  of  over  $200 
for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  Greece, 
and  with  the  financial  boycott  instituted  by 
the  powers  slowly  stifling  all  Greek  eco- 
nomic life,  the  Greeks  today  declare  with 
bitterness  that  "  the  Turks  are  the  only  vic- 
tors of  the  World  War." 


FRANCE'S  DEBT  TO  MYRON  T.  HERRICK: 
REVEALED  BY  AN  EX-PRESIDENT 


By  Raymond  Poincare 

FORMER    PRESIDENT    OF    FRANCE* 


MYRON  T.  HERRICK  has  consented 
to  serve  again  as  United  States 
Ambassador  to  France.  He  will  find 
here  only  old  friends.  When  he  returned 
to  Paris  several  months  ago  he  was  wel- 
comed everywhere — in  the  offices  of  the 
various  Ministries,  in  the  City  Hall  and  at 
social  gatherings — as  one  of  those  Ameri- 
cans who,  in  these  last  few  years,  have  best 
understood  and  best  loved  France. 

At  the  brilliant  reception  given  him  by 
the  Municipal  Council  he  uttered  with  deep 
emotion  certain  words  which  went  to  the 
hearts  of  all  those  present,  and  which  re- 
called to  many  there  some  tragic  memories. 
Among  other  things,  he  recalled,  with  great 
exactness  of  detail,  the  visit  which  he  paid 
me  at  the  Elysee  on  Wednesday,  Sept.  2, 
1914 — a  visit  which  is  the  best  evidence  of 
his  sincere  love  for  France.  Now  that  Mr. 
Herrick  is  again  to  represent  the  United 
States  among  us,  I  find  myself,  naturally, 
recalling  the  many  friendly  conversations 
which  I  had  with  him  in  those  former  days, 
during  his  first  Ambassadry,  and  also  those 
which  I  have  held  with  him  more  recently, 
during  the  trips  which  he  has  made  to  Eu- 
rope since  the  war.  But  the  strongest  im- 
pression which  I  retain  is  that  left  on  me 
by  the  interview  of  Sept.  2,  1914,  concerning 
which  so  many  absurd  reports  were  subse- 
quently circulated,  and  which  Mr.  Herrick 
recently  related  so  faithfully  in  his  eloquent 
address  at  the  City  Hall. 

Several  days  before  this  date,  General 
Joffre  and  General  Gallieni,  not  wishing  to 
be  embarrassed  in  their  military  movements 
by  the  presence  of  the  Government,  had 
asked  M.  Millerand,  then  Minister  of  War, 
to  prepare  for  the  Government's  departure 
from  Paris.  The  Council  of  Ministers  had 
been  confronted  with  this  painful  decision 
since  Aug.  29,  but,  in  agreement  with  the 
military  command,  had  deferred  action. 
There  occurred  on  Sunday,  Aug.  29,  a  new 

♦Translated  from  the  Paris  Temps,   issue  of 
April  11.   1921. 


RAYMOND    POINCARE 
President  of  France  during  the  World   War 

survey  of  the  situation,  at  which  General 
Gallieni  and  the  Presidents  of  the  two 
Chambers  were  present.  General  Gallieni 
explained  that  the  trench  system  for  protec- 
tion of  Paris  was  far  from  complete,  but 
stated  that  even  if  all  the  missing  links 
could  be  rapidly  joined  up,  the  capital 
would  be  unable  to  resist  a  sudden 
attack  supported  by  heavy  artillery. 
He  very  wisely,  therefore,  advised  that 
instead  of  allowing  Paris  to  be  invest- 
ed we  should  create  out  of  three  or 
four  corps  a  new  army  and  place  it  under 
his  command,  to  form  the  left  wing  of  the 
entire  French  Army,  and  that  wing  would 
fight  before  Paris.  This,  as  you  see,  was 
an  anticipated  outline  of  the  battles  of  the 
Marne  and  of  the  Ourcq.  While  he  was 
laying  before  us  his  arguments  a  German 


FRANCE'S  DEBT  TO  MYRON  T.  HERRICK 


417 


airplane  was  flying  over  Paris.  It  dropped 
three  bombs  on  the  Valmy  Quai  and  into 
the  Rue  Vinaigriers,  which  did  not  disturb 
for  an  instant  the  population's  admirable 
calm. 

The  news  from  the  front  was  somewhat 
more  favorable  on  Monday,  the  31st.  Our 
retreat  had  slowed  down;  we  had  counter- 
attacked successfully  at  several  points. 
General  Joffre  did  not  insist  on  the  immedi- 
ate departure  of  the  Government,  but  he 
asked  that  the  decision  should  be  agreed  up- 
on in  principle  and  that  only  the  fixing  of 
the  day  for  departure  should  be  deferred. 
Several  of  the  Ministers  and  I,  myself,  be- 
fore taking  this  decision  wished  to  await  the 
outcome  of  the  battle  which  was  about  to 
take  place  before  Paris;  but  after  repeated 
conferences  with  Generals  Joffre  and  Gal- 
lieni,  the  Minister  of  War  declared  that  he 
could  not  assume  the  responsibility  for  this 
delay. 

During  the  course  of  the  same  day  I  had 
gone  to  the  Saint-Martin  Hospital  to  visit 
the  wounded  men  evacuated  from  Mangien- 
nes,  from  Peronne  and  from  Charleroi,  and 
I  had  found  them  sublimely  calm.  In  the 
streets  the  crowd,  with  magnificent  uncon- 
cern, were  shouting:  "Long  live  France!" 
It  was  frightfully  sad  to  think  of  leaving 
so  many  good  people,  and  to  seem  to  be 
deserting  them.  But  M.  Doumergue,  a 
member  of  the  Government,  described  in  a 
few  very  noble  words  the  cruel  obligation, 
incumbent  on  us :  "  Duty,"  he  said,  "  in 
this  crisis  consists  in  appearing  to  be  cow- 
ards. But  there  is  perhaps  more  courage 
needed  to  face  blind  reproaches  than  to  risk 
being  killed  or  taken  prisoners." 

On  Tuesday,  Sept.  1,  the  army  of  General 
Manoury  fell  back  on  Paris,  and  the  Min- 
ister of  War  did  not  deem  it  possible  to 
delay  the  departure  of  the  Government  be- 
yond Wednesday  evening.  German  aviators 
had  again  flown  over  the  city  and  had 
dropped  menacing  proclamations  for  the 
amused  people  to  read.  On  Wednesday. 
Sept.  2,  one  of  these  Taubes,  which  seemed 
quite  inoffensive,  was  manoeuvering  above 
the  Elysee.  The  Post  Commander  deemed 
it  necessary  to  mount  his  men  on  the  bal- 
conies and  to  order  a  section  fire.  This 
fusillade  had  no  effect  upon  the  German 
aviator,  but  it  did  frighten  the  birds  of  the 
park,  and  one  of  them  flew  into  my  office 
as  a  place  of  refuge. 


The  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  had 
announced  their  intention  to  accompany  the 
Government  to  Bordeaux.  Myron  T.  Her- 
rick  alone  had  announced  that  he  would  stay 
in  Paris.     "  If  the  city  is  occupied  by  the 


MYRON  T.   HERRICK 
Ambassador  to  France,  who  will  also  repre- 
sent  the   United   States  in   the   Council 
of    Ambassadoi^s 


Germans,"  he  said,  "  my  presence  may  not 
be  useless.  My  country  is  neutral,  and  I 
myself  am  covered  by  diplomatic  immun- 
ity. I  shall  undoubtedly  be  able  to  render 
some  service." 

Wishing  to  thank  the  Ambassador  for  his 
kind  offer,  I  had  asked  him  to  come  to  see 
me  on  Wednesday.  When  he  entered  my 
office  his  face,  usually  so  jovial,  was  sad 
and  overcast,  and  the  moment  we  began  to 
speak  his  eyes,  which  gazed  at  one  so 
frankly  and  directly,  filled  with  tears.  These 
were  his  words: 

"  No,  I  will  not  leave  Paris.  Some  one 
must  stay  here  to  defend  the  people's  rights. 
Who  will  protect  your  monuments,  your 
museums,  your  libraries?  I  shall  be  able 
to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  United  States, 
and  be  assured  I  shall  find  means  to  pre- 
vent all  massacre  and  pillage." 

I  told  him  how  deeply  it  pained  me  to 
leave  the  city,  and  I  swore  to  him  that  we 
would  continue  the  struggle  until  we  won 
to  victory.  He  answered:  "I  know  that, 
and  I  congratulate  you.  As  for  me,  I  do 
not  doubt  that  you  will  be  victorious. 
France  cannot  perish." 


418 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


In  every  one  of  these  words  there  was 
such  a  vibration  of  the  soul,  such  a  depth 
of  sentiment,  that  even  if  I  had  not  known 
before  his  love  for  France,  I  should  have 
been  convinced  that  day  that  we  had  few 
friends  as  true  and  devoted  as  he. 

He  loves  us,  because  he  has  seen  French 
life  from  the  inside,  because  he  has  been 
able  to  observe  and  to  appreciate  certain 
fundamental  qualities  which  strangers  often 
do  not  see.  Long  before  the  war  he  un- 
derstood that  we  were  not,  thank  God,  the 
showy,  frivolous  and  corrupted  people 
which  the  German  writers  have  so  often 
depicted.  He  described  us  to  his  compa- 
triots as  we  were  yesterday,  as  we  are  to- 
day, and  he  told  the  truth  about  us  before 
the  Marne  and  Verdun  revealed  to  the 
world  a  France  too  little  known.  In  the  fu- 
ture delicate  negotiations  which  it  still  re- 
mains for  us  to  conduct  with  the  United 
States  he  will  be,  I  doubt  not,  in  time  of 
need  our  witness  and  our  bondsman.  It  is 
not  he  who  will  remain  silent  when  cal- 
umny insinuates  that  France  is  an  am- 
bitious, turbulent,  and  imperialistic  State. 
Like  M.  Viviani  and  M.  Jussarand,  like  his 
own  successor  and  predecessor,  Hugh  Wal- 
lace, he  will  remain  what  he  has  always 
been — a  good  worker  for  the  Franco-Amer- 
ican entente. 

M.  Henry  de  Jouvenel  said  the  other  day, 
from  the  Senate  platform: 

We  behold,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  singu- 
lar and  deplorable  misunderstandings  of  his- 
tory when  we  see  how  the  great  American 
people  came  to  the  aid  of  France,  disem- 
barked here  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men, 
who  died  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  ours,  and 
then  departed  without  having  learned  to 
know  France. 


And  amid  the  loud  applause  of  the  As- 
sembly the  orator  added  keenly: 

The  explanation  is  that  a  million  of  them 
came  tc  make  war,  while  only  one  came  to 
make  peace. 

Yes,  only  one  came  to  make  peace,  and 
with  our  national  mania  for  personification 
we  imagined  that  he  was  all  America.  I 
can  still  see  before  my  eyes  the  wildly  en- 
thusiastic welcome  which  President  Wilson 
received  on  Dec.  14,  1918,  along  the  avenues 
of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  the  Champs 
Elysees.  He  himself  seemed  overcome  by 
it.  It  was  not  a  man  which  had  come  to 
us:  it  was  a  world.  According  to  certain 
people  who  posed  at  that  time  as  the  only 
interpreters  of  our  guest's  mind  and  heart, 
it  was  our  duty  to  treat  him  as  a  kind  of 
sacred  being.  I  was  severely  blamed  by 
these  persons  when,  in  the  toast  which  I 
addressed  to  him  that  day,  I  was  so  bold 
as  to  advise  him  to  go  directly  to  the  dev- 
astated regions,  adding:  "  For  the  suffer- 
ing and  sadness  of  yesterday,  peace  must 
bring  reparation;  for  the  peril's  of  tomor- 
row it  must  be  a  guarantee." 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  since  Mr. 
Wilson  forgot  the  existence  of  an  American 
Senate,  we  believed  ourselves  justified  in 
forgetting  it  also.  Somewhat  late  we  have 
awakened  from  our  long  dream  to  realize 
that  the  mind  of  America  was  not  contained 
solely  in  the  fourteen  points  of  Mr.  Wilson. 
But  this  blunder  can  still  be  redeemed  to- 
day, if  not  completely,  at  least  in  large 
measure.  Happily,  America  has  not  ceased 
to  love  France,  nor  has  France  ceased  to 
love  America.  Men  pass,  nations  remain 
The  inherent  reasonableness  of  the  nations 
will  enable  us  to  fashion  out  of  peace  with 
Germany  a  reparation  and  a  guarantee. 


THE   DRAMA  OF   BRITISH  LABOR 


By  Frank  Dilnot 

An  illuminating  explanation  of  the  English  labor  movement*  the  new  power  of  the  trade 
unions  since  the  war,  their  apparent  threat  of  revolution,  and  what  restrains  them  from 
a  violent  use  of  their  strength — Historical  antecedents  of  the  coal  miners'  strike 


THE  story  of  organized  British  labor 
reaches  back  to  the  times  when  what 
we  know  as  the  English  people  was  in 
the  making.  The  present  challenge  of  the 
miners  and  railwaymen  and  of  other  trades 
is  but  the  culmination  of  a  long  serial,  and 
the  narrative  throughout  manifests  on  the 
part  of  the  contestants  a  special  spirit — a 
spirit  which,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  we 
may  characterize  as  Anglo-Saxon — a  min- 
gling of  conservatism  and  forceful  resolu- 
tion, a  persistence  in  action  rather  than 
loud  words,  above  all  a  tenacity  which  has 
descended  from  one  generation  to  another. 
These  qualities  have  been  shown  on  both 
sides  and  are  being  shown  now.  They 
would  inevitably  lead  to  tragedy  were  it 
not  for  some  other  Anglo-Saxon  qualities, 
and  notably  a  desire  for  achievement  rather 
than  for  triumph,  a  willingness  for  compro- 
mise, if  essential  aims  can  be  secured;  in 
other  words,  a  common-sense  moderation 
when  the  final  issue  has  to  be  faced. 

Back  before  the  Reformation  there  was 
what  was  known  as  the  Guild  system  in 
Britain,  definable  as  a  combination  in  vari- 
ous industries  for  the  common  benefit  of 
those  industries.  In  the  time  of  Henry 
VIII.  this  Guild  system  was  submerged,  but 
with  the  growing  commercial  activities  of 
Britain  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  eighteenth  century,  there  were 
renewed  indications  of  the  coming  together 
of  workmen  in  the  effort  to  protect  and  im- 
prove their  conditions.  Before  the  time  of  the 
American  Revolution  there  were  in  exist- 
ence at  least  some  organizations  which  had 
resemblance  to  the  modern  trade  unions, 
although  they  were  frowned  upon  by  em- 
ployers as  being  opposed  to  the  general  in- 
terest. Indeed,  the  Combinations  Laws,  as 
they  were  called,  made  it  illegal  for  work- 
men to  combine  to  increase  wages.  Never- 
theless,  in   the   first   twenty   years   of  the 


nineteenth  century  many  trade  organiza- 
tions were  formed,  and  there  were  contests 
and  repressions,  and  not  a  little  tyranny  by 
those  in  authority.  The  struggles  led  to  the 
repeal  of  the  Combinations  Laws  in  1825. 
It  is  thus  within  the  span  of  a  hundred 
years  that  we  find  the  trade  unions  in 
Britain  have  advanced  from  being  under 
the  ban  of  the  law  to  being  practically  law- 
makers. There  is  a  possibility  that  before 
the  century  is  completed  the  trade  unions 
will  be  forming  the  law  of  the  land  which, 
four  generations  ago,  considered  their  pur- 
poses as  criminal. 

The  War  of  Independence  in  the  United 
States,  followed  by  the  French  Revolution, 
stimulated  enormously  the  minds  of  the 
common  people  of  Britain.  This  leaven 
worked  more  and  more  powerfully  under 
the  exploitation-pressure  arising  from  the 
development  of  the  factory  system,  which 
herded  men,  women  and  children  together 
at  starvation  wages  for  long  hours  of 
work — a  result  of  the  increase  of  popula- 
tion, of  modern  invention,  and  of  the  in- 
creasing world  trade  and  demand  for  Brit- 
ish goods.  And  thus  we  arrive  at  the  fer- 
ment which  was  the  beginning  of  the  Brit- 
ish labor  movement  as  we  know  it  today. 

For  many  years  trade  unions  were  re- 
garded in  England  with  dislike  and  con- 
tempt, and  they  were  forced  to  wage  a  con- 
tinuous and  bitter  fight,  although  all  the 
time  they  were  growing  in  power  and  sub- 
stance. The  rights  of  man,  as  distinct  from 
the  rights  of  property,  steadily  made  their 
way  in  popular  esteem,  and  about  fifty 
years  ago  an  act  of  Parliament  established 
the  legal  status  of  trade  unions  with  a 
protection  for  their  funds.  During  the  next 
twenty  years,  from  1870  to  1890,  the  British 
trade  unions  forged  ahead,  slowly  at  first, 
but  latterly  with  increasing  momentum.  It 
is  interesting  to  look  back  and  see  how  the 


420 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


opinions  held  by  the  leaders — opinions 
which  we  should  now  regard  as  those  of 
very  moderate  Liberals — were  labeled  at 
that  time  as  the  tenets  of  dangerous  revolu- 
tionists. It  must  be  remembered  that  those 
whom  we  now  class  as  Socialists  were  in 
that  period  but  scattered  individuals  classed 
as  visionaries  outside  the  pale  of  practical 
consideration.  It  was  the  trade  unionists 
who  were  the  real  labor  movement.  And 
in  spite  of  the  loud  vocal  effort  of  the  So- 
cialists of  today,  it  is  the  trade  unionists 
who  remain  the  real  labor  movement  of 
Britain. 

A  few  figures  will  show  how  the  trade 
unionists  have  progressed.  There  is  an  an- 
nual congress  of  the  trade  unions  which 
delegates  from  the  various  societies  attend, 
and  the  number  of  union  members  repre- 
sented has  been  tabulated  for  each  year. 
Here  are  the  figures  at  intervals  of  ten 
years  from  the  start  of  the  congress: 

1868 118,367   1898 1,200,000 

1878 628,957  1908 1,777,000 

1888 816,944   1918 4,552,085 

When  the  figures  for  1921  are  available 
it  will  probably  be  found  that  the  trade 
unions  of  Britain  total  about  6,000,000. 

A  little  over  twenty  years  ago  it  became 
increasingly  evident  to  some  of  the  wiser 
heads  of  the  rapidly  growing  labor  move- 
ment that  what  is  called  industrial  action — 
that  is  to  say  conflicts  and  agreements 
between  employers  and  workmen — was  not 
effective  as  a  means  of  realizing  in  their 
full  scope  the  humanitarian  aims  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  community  represented 
by  the  unions.  There  then  sprang  into  ex- 
istence what  was  known  as  the  Labor  Party 
— distinct  from  the  comprehensive  labor 
movement — whose  methods  were  to  be  po- 
litical rather  than  industrial,  and  which 
organized  to  elect  members  to  Parliament 
and  to  the  local  municipal  bodies.  The  Labor 
Party  consisted  principally  of  trade  union- 
ists, but  it  also  took  in  Socialists  and  other 
sympathizers.  Many  trade  union  leaders 
were  Labor  Party  leaders,  and  there  was 
and  still  is  a  good  deal  of  overlapping  with 
the  leading  personalities  of  one  filling  an 
important  part  in  the  other,  although  the 
trade  unions  and  the  Labor  Party  have 
remained  distinctly  separate  institutions. 
When  we  speak  of  the  labor  movement  we 
mean  the  whole  body  of  labor,  as  repre- 
sented both  by  the  Trade  Union  Congress 


and  the  Labor  Party.  The  labor  movement, 
therefore,  includes  constitutional  trade 
unionists  and  theoretical  Socialists  like 
Kamsay  McDonald  and  Philip  Snowden. 

It  is  thus  explainable  that  there  are  wide 
divergencies   of   opinion   in  the   movement, 


Union) 


ARTHUR    HENDERSON,    M.    P. 
Leader  of  the  British  Labor  Party 


ranging  from  extremist  groups  to  a  multi- 
tude of  members  who  are  of  what  may  be 
called  the  moderate  type.  It  is  important 
to  note  that  this  moderate  type  probably 
outnumbers  the  others  by  ten  to  one.  The 
Socialists  and  extremists,  however,  are  more 
gifted  in  expression  and  more  forceful  in 
temperament,  and  thus  they  often  secure  an 
unwarranted  influence  in  the  councils  of 
the  labor  movement  as  a  whole.  They  draft 
many  of  the  resolutions;  they  form  much 
of  the  policy.  Small  groups  of  them  in  the 
unions  sometimes  bring  to  bear  a  dispro- 
portionate influence  in  industrial  action — 
in  strikes,  for  example.  The  actual  trade 
union  element  in  the  labor  movement  may 
be  gauged  by  the  fact  that  at  the  begin- 
ning of  war  the  outside  Socialists  numbered 
50,000,  as  compared  with  over  3,000,000 
trade  unionists. 
When  hostilities  began  labor  had  a  spe- 


THE  DRAMA    OF  BRITISH  LABOR 


421 


cial  party  in  the  House  of  Commons  num- 
bering about  forty,  which  for  some  years 
had  exercised  considerable  influence,  not 
only  in  debate,  but  also  in  the  modification 
of     Government     policies.     That    group   of 


(©    Western     Newspaper     Union) 

J.    P.    CLYNES 

Labor    leader    in    British    Parliament,    and 

former  Food  Controller 


forty  constituted  the  political  voice  of  the 
trade  unionists  who  make  up  the  mass  of 
workers  in  all  the  great  industries,  and 
who,  after  fifty  years  of  struggle,  .have 
forced  themselves  into  a  position  of  equality 
in  negotiations  with  employers.  There  were 
15,000  trade  union  branches  throughout  the 
country.  Every  union  which  had  organized 
itself  for  individual  and  separate  action 
was,  with  an  occasional  exception,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Trade  Union  Congress,  the  gen- 
eral Parliament  of  Labor,  which  met  for  a 
week  each  year  to  formulate  policies  near 
and  distant,  and  to  decide  on  various  forms 
of  administrative  action  for  the  coming 
months.  This  was  the  situation  when  war 
broke  on  the  country. 

Although  both  the  labor  leaders  and  the 
rank  and  file  rapidly  united  in  patriotic  ef- 


fort, fears  were  openly  expressed  that  the 
labor  movement  would  be  adversely  affect- 
ed as  a  result  of  the  war.  Those  fears 
were  intensified  in  the  next  month  or  two, 
when  in  order  to  speed  up  special  war  pro- 
duction it  became  necessary  to  ask  the 
Trade  Unions  to  abrogate  many  of  their 
cherished  and  hardly  won  privileges.  It 
was  necessary  to  impose  restrictions 
against  workmen  leaving  one  factory  and 
going  to  another  for  higher  wages,  neces- 
sary to  establish  piece  work  where  piecs 
work  had  hitherto  been  forbidden;  it  was 
necessary  to  admit  women  and  boys  to  cer- 
tain departments  of  industry,  and  to  en- 
gage the  unskilled  or  half-skilled  to  do 
work  that  had  hitherto  been  expressly  re- 
served for  the  expert  members  of  the  trade. 
All  these  and  many  other  changes  werrj 
assented  to  only  under  the  pressure  of 
war,  and  with  many  forebodings  for  the 
future.  The  Government,  it  is  true,  prom- 
ised to  re-establish  the  old  state  of  affairs 
when  the  war  was  over,  but  Governments 
were  regarded  as  untrustworthy  in  their 
relations  with  labor,  and  war  might  well 
provide  an  excuse  for  breaking  up  an  or- 
ganization established  by  fifty  years  of 
effort  and  hardship. 

Never  were  fears  so  groundless.  The 
war  had  not  run  half  its  course  before  it 
was  seen  that  Labor  was  to  be  not  weak- 
ened, but  strengthened;  strengthened  be- 
yond measure.  It  was  a  war  of  peoples, 
not  of  Governments,  and  the  war  was  to 
be  won  not  only  by  the  workmen  who  were 
fighting  in  the  trenches,  but  also  by  the 
workmen  on  the  farms  and  in  the  facto- 
ries, and  by  their  wives,  and  sisters,  and 
sweethearts. 

Several  labor  leaders  went  into  the  Min- 
istry. One  of  them,  Mr.  Clynes,  eventually 
became  Food  Controller  of  the  whole  coun- 
try. Meanwhile  Trade  Union  membership 
went  up  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Here  are 
the  official  figures  of  Trade  Union  mem- 
bership for  the  four  years  of  the  war: 

1915 2,677,357         1917 3,052,352 

1916 2,850,547         1918 4.552,08;! 

Consciousness  of  power  in  the  labor  move- 
ment was  one  of  the  new  factors.  Another 
was  the  change  of  mood  induced  by  the  suf- 
ferings and  sacrifices  of  the  war.  Men  and 
women  who  had  struggled  for  a  livelihood 
in  the  old  days  had  acquired  a  new  outlook 
on  life;  they  wanted  new  arrangements 
which  should  give  them   a  better  time  all 


422 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


around.  And  this  mood,  combining  with  the 
realization  of  new  power,  has  been  the  great 
motive  force  in  bringing  about  all  that  is 
happening  now. 

The  keener  brains  in  the  labor  movement 
began  to  organize  for  the  future.  The  first 
sign  of  this  was  in  1918,  when  membership 
in  the  movement,  which  had  been  previously- 
confined  to  manual  workers,  was  thrown 
open  to  brain  workers  as  well.  Even  more 
significant,  however,  was  the  organized 
campaign  set  afoot  to  secure  a  greatly  in- 
creased number  of  candidates  for  Parlia- 
ment. What  general  policy  did  this  en- 
larged and  vitalized  labor  movement  have  in 
mind?  I  quote  from  the  official  "Labor 
Party  "  book,  which  gives  a  summary  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  big  conference  held  in 
June,  1918,  and  which  speaks  of  the  new 
program  thud: 

It  lays  down  the  doctrine  that  what  has 
to  be  constructed  after  the  war  is  not  this 
or  that  Government  department,  or  piece  of 
social  machinery,  but  society  itself.  The 
party  declares  that  whether  in  opposition  or 
in  office  it  will  not  tolerate  the  revival  of 
the  social  and  economic  system  the  war  has 
destroyed,  but  will  seek  to  build  up  a  new 
social  order  built  on  a  plan  of  co-operation 
in  production  and  distribution  for  the  benefit 


of  all  who  labor  by  hand  or  by  brain.  Four 
propositions  are  laid  down  in  the  memoran- 
dum, propositions  upon  which  the  party  pro- 
poses to  establish  a  democratic  control  of 
all  activities  of  society : 

Universal  enforcement  of  the  national  min- 
imum  (of  wages). 

The  democratic  control  of  industries. 

The  revolution   in   national  finance. 

The  surplus  wealth  for  the  common  good. 

The  report  goes  on  to  say  that  what  is 
contemplated  is  not  only  the  wholesale  na- 
tionalization of  railways,  mines,  shipping 
and  canals,  but  also  the  retail  distribution 
by  the  Government  of  commodities  like  coal 
and  milk. 

Even  when  all  allowance  is  made  for  the 
sweeping  rhetorical  assertions  of  political 
parties  in  formulating  their  program,  there 
is  sufficient  definiteness  in  these  words  to 
cause  some  anxiety  about  the  future  among 
those  who  think  that  the  leaders  of  the 
labor  movement  leave  out  essential  factors 
in  human  nature  in  their  decisions,  and  in 
their  enthusiasm  are  inclined  to  take  short- 
sighted views.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
bear  in  mind  that  English  political  progress 
has  always  been  a  step-by-step  affair,  a 
matter  of  common-sense  expediency.  His- 
tory  has   shown  that   the  British  proceed 


(©    Kadel    &    Herbert) 
THE    "  BIG   FOUR  "    OF   BRITISH    LABOR,    REPRESENTING    THE    STRONGEST    UNIONS    IN    THE 
ITN1TED  KINGDOM.     LEFT  TO  RIGHT:     H.  MORRISON,  SECRETARY  OF  LONDON  LABOR  PARTY; 
FRANK   HODGES,    SECRETARY   OF   THE    MINERS'    UNION;    HARVEY    GOSLING    OP    THE    TRANS- 
PORT   WORKERS,    AND    J.    H.    THOMAS,    RAILWAY    UNION    LEADER 


THE  DRAMA  OF  BRITISH  LABOR 


423 


ft 

(■ran             #* 

nr  '*8T 

,jggp 

^R       \lJaH§9| 

HjHH 

H^T          ■ 

Jr 

Hll 

HL^   *K 

, 

■a '.."■*■■ 

■ 

"'j**'*.      * :^ 

(©    Underwood    &    Underwood) 
BRITISH    COAL    MINERS    ON   STRIKE,    STARTING    A    MINE    ON    THEIR    OWN    ACCOUNT.      THEY 
ARE    SINKING    A    SHAFT    TO    REACH    "  SURFACE    COAL,"    AT    A    DEPTH    OF    ABOUT    25    FEET, 
WHICH     THEY    PLAN    TO     GET    OUT    AND     SELL     IN    THE     NEIGHBORHOOD 


through  experiment,  and  not  through  great 
idealistic  conceptions.  It  is  a  racial  ten- 
dency, and  the  tendency  is  as  strongly 
marked  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
trade  unionists  as  it  is  among  other  classes 
of  the  community.  In  surveying  the  cir- 
cumstances it  is  impossible  for  an  impartial 
observer  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  violent 
revolutionary  schemes  will  defeat  them- 
selves owing  to  the  nature  of  the  English 
people,  without  distinction  of  class.  It  is 
just  a  question  of  whether  that  after- the- 
war  mood,  the  new  financial  needs  and  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  added  power  of  labor, 
will  be  sufficient  to  break  down  the  tradi- 
tional conservatism. 

One  department  of  labor  that  has  been 
strengthened  by  the  war  is  what  is  called 
the  Triple  Alliance,  a  special  sectional  com- 
bination for  common  purposes  of  the  three 
great  unions  representing  the  miners,  the 
railway  men  and  the  transport  workers. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  common  action 
by  these  three  unions  would  hold  the  nation 
up  to  ransom.  From  time  to  time,  when 
one  or  another  of  these  three  parties  has 


been  engaged  in  a  dispute,  there  has  been 
talk  of  united  action  by  the  three,  but  it 
has  never  yet  come  to  pass.  In  this  hesi- 
tancy one  gets  a  view  of  the  caution  of  the 
workers  as  a  whole.  What  is  going  on  at 
the  present  moment  is  a  psychological  battle 
between  these  common-sense  tendencies  and 
the  combined  new  moods  and  new  circum- 
stances arising  from  the  war  with  their 
urge  toward  violent  methods.  The  sinister 
possibilities  of  the  general  labor  situation 
in  Britain  have  been  demonstrated  several 
times  in  the  last  year  or  two,  and  they  all 
point  in  the  same  direction.  Impatience 
under  a  sense  of  injustice,  and  a  conscious- 
ness of  overwhelming  power  have  led  a 
great  number  of  workers  to  consider  a  short 
cut  to  a  new  order  of  government. 

"  Direct  action  "  is  the  phrase  which  com- 
prises the  new-visioned  policy,  and  it  means 
that  one  union  or  a  group  of  unions  with 
power  over  a  vital  industry  shall  stop  that 
industry  until  political,  as  well  as  industrial, 
demands  are  granted.  For  a  long  time  past 
it  has  been  tacitly  agreed  that  the  workmen 
as  represented  by  the  unions  have  the  right 


424 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


either  to  give  or  to  withhold  their  labor 
when  the  question  at  issue  is  a  matter  of 
wages  or  of  conditions  of  work.  But  a  new 
interpretation  has  been  put  upon  this  pre- 
rogative coincident  with  labor's  growth  in 
power.  Labor  has  contended  in  effect  that 
it  has  the  right  to  call  a  stoppage  of  work  in 
order  to  impose  a  policy  on  the  nation.  Labor 
leaders  defend  this  view  by  the  assertion 
that  labor  is  banded  in  a  political  party 
whose  right  it  is  to  form  conclusions  as  to 
what  is  best  for  the  whole  community,  and 
imply  that  since  the  workers  are  the  larger 
part  of  the  population  they  have  the  right 
to  say  how  life  shall  be  lived. 

The  opposition  view,  as  represented  for 
the  moment  by  the  Government,  declares 
that  what  this  comes  to  is  a  demand  by 
one  section  of  the  people  that  it  shall  hold 
all  the  people  up  to  blackmail  in  order  to 
push  some  special  political  desire,  which 
may  be  right  or  wrong.  It  is  held  that  this 
is  the  antithesis  of  democratic  government, 
and  that  all  alterations  in  the  laws  should 
be  made  by  the  House  of  Commons  elected 
by  the  votes  of  people  of  all  classes.  In 
other  words,  there  is  a  tendency  in  the 
labor  movement — not  yet  pushed  to  an  ex- 
treme point — to  challenge  the  Constitution. 

Most  of  the  recognized  labor  leaders  are 
men  with  a  good  deal  of  training  and  re- 
sponsibility, men  who  foresee  that  the  over- 
turning of  the  British  Parliamentary  system 
would  lead  nowhere.  A  new  system  would 
have  to  be  devised,  and  there  has  not  yet 
been  suggested  any  kind  of  plan  which 
would  equal  the  popular  advantages  of  the 
present  Parliamentary  arrangement.  Labor 
has  only  to  secure  enough  votes  to  have  an 
instrument  to  its  hand  in  the  existing  Con- 
stitution. 

The  threat  of  direct  action  was  made  in 
the  big  railway  strike  of  1919.  It  has  re- 
appeared during  disturbances  created  by 
the  miners  since  then.  In  August,  1920,  a 
joint  consultation  of  the  labor  movement 
threatened  to  instruct  all  trade  unionists 
to  lay  down  tools  if  there  was  war  between 
the  allied  powers  and  Russia  on  the  issue 
of  Poland.  In  July,  1920,  Robert  Smillie 
said: 

Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  miners  believe  that 
the  public  ownership  and  development  of  the 
mining  industry  will  be  in  the  interests  of 
the  safety  of  the  mining  community.  That 
is   a   point   on   which    I   am    not   prepared   to 


allow    the    general    views    of    the    people    to 
weigh  against  my  own. 

One  of  the  demands  made  last  year  was 
that  troops  should  be  withdrawn  from  Ire- 
land, and  this  demand  was  accompanied  by 
another  threat  to  down  tools.  Nothing  was 
done  because  the  vast  mass  of  the  common 
people  in  Britain  realized  that,  whatever  the 
incidental  evils,  the  Government  could  pur- 
sue no  other  course  than  to  strive  to  restore 
law  and  order  in  Ireland.  Aided  by  the 
general  discontent  arising  from  the  war, 
the  extremists  have  gained  considerable 
power  in  the  labor  movement,  and  it  is 
they  who  are  responsible  for  many  of  these 
resolutions  and  decisions.  The  more  promi- 
nent labor  leaders  are  not  blind  to  the  dan- 
gers of  the  situation.  In  the  course  of  a 
speech  last  year  J.  H.  Thomas,  the  leader 
of  the  railwaymen,  said: 

Half  the  difficulties  we  are  experiencing 
are  due  to  the  fact  that  trade  unionists  al- 
ways allow  the  minority  to  do  their  business. 
If  the  men  consider  their  leaders  obsolete, 
they  know  how  to  deal  with  them ;  but  noth- 
ing but  disaster  will  overtake  the  great 
working  class  movements  unless  a  spirit  of 
loyalty  and  majority  democratic  rule  be  ex- 
hibited by  those  who  call  themselves  trade 
unionists. 

There  was  also  a  pronouncement  from 
John  Hodge,  one  of  the  most  successful 
trade  union  leaders  in  the  country.  His 
words  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter: 

At  the  general  election  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  workers  had  the  opportunity  of  voting 
for  labor  men,  and  had  they  done  so  con- 
sistently there  would  have  been  a  bigger  La- 
bor Party  in  the  House  of  Commons  today. 
Even  in  the  subsequent  by-elections  there 
has  been  no  great  evidence  of  the  workei-s 
rallying  to  the  support  of  labor  candidates. 
What  is  the  reason?  It  is  simply  this,  that 
the  extremists  are  damaging  the  labor  cause 
by  their  advocacy  of  political  methods  that 
destroy  themselves  by  their  violence  and 
scare  away  a  great  body  of  sympathetic 
electors. 

The  revolution  in  money  matters  pro- 
duced by  the  war  has  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  situation.  All  previous  standards 
are  upset.  Prices  have  risen  enormously 
and  wages  have  also  gone  up.  There  are 
disputes  as  to  the  actual  ratio,  but  it  may 
be  taken  as  a  pretty  general  guide  that  the 
cost  of  living  and  wages  have  both  risen 
100  per  cent.,  although  there  are  naturally 
many  anomalies  and  inequalities.  And  in 
this  connection  it  has  to  be  remembered 
that  the  workers  are  claiming  not  merely 


THE  DRAMA  OF  BRITISH  LABOR 


425 


pre-war  standards,  but  a  better  scale  of 
living  arrangements,  in  relation  both  to 
hours  and  to  wages.  The  following  official 
tables  concerning  the  miners,  prepared  by 
the  Government  a  few  months  ago,  show 
the  increase  of  workers,  the  decrease  in 
product  and  the  rise  in  wages: 

MINING  WAGES  AND  OUTPUT 
Number  of  workers : 

1913 1 ,110,000.( 

1920 1,206,000' 


96,000 


Increase 

Output : 

1913    (tons) '. 287,500,000 

1920    (tons) 240,500.000 


Decrease    47,000,000 

AVERAGE  ANNUAL  EARNINGS 
(All     classes    of    mine    workers,     including 
boys:) 
1913 £82       1920 £222 

It  may  be  added  that  miners  are  supplied 
with  free  or  cheap  coal  for  their  own  con- 
sumption to  the  value  of  £8,000,000  a  year. 

Similar  results  are  shown  for  another 
class  of  workers — namely,  the  agricultural 
laborers  in  England  and  Wales.  Here  are 
the  figures: 

AVERAGE  WAGE,  1914 

Shillings  Pence 

Special    classes    20  6 

Laborers     18  2 

AVERAGE    WAGE,    1920 

Shillings    Pence 

Special   classes    51  5 

Laborers    42  7 

(By  special  classes  is  meant  workmen  who 
are  employed  as  stockmen— that  is,  horse- 
men,   cattlemen    and    shepherds). 

If  the  stable  element  in  the  labor  move- 
ment is  able  to  withstand  the  encroachments 
of  the  new  spirit — and  I  think  on  the  whole 
that  this  is  more  probable  than  the  triumph 
of  the  latter — then  there  must  be  hammered 
out  some  line  of  progress  to  enable  labor 
to  move  forward  coincidentally  with  the 
welfare  of  the  nation  as  a  body.  Labor 
is  certain  not  to  lose  a  great  part  of  the 
power  which  has  so  dramatically  come  with- 
in its  grasp.  The  general  election  follow- 
ing the  war  increased  the  Labor  members 
in  Parliament  from  forty  to  sixty,  and  this 
was  under  adverse  circumstances  for  labor. 
It  is  certain  as  anything  can  be  that  there 
will  be  a  large  increase  in  members  at  the 
next    election.      Meanwhile,    in    industrial 


fields,  labor  by  its  organizations  will  be 
stronger  than  ever.  It  will  be  able  to  dic- 
tate terms  up  to  the  point  where  employers 
will  have  to  shut  up  their  business  rather 
than  suffer  a  loss. 

What,  then,  short  of  revolution,  is  the 
probable  course  of  events?  There  are  sev- 
eral indications.  What  are  called  the  Whit- 
ley Councils  provide  the  best  illustrations. 
In  the  early  part  of  1917  an  official  com- 
mittee under  the  chairmanship  of  Mr.  Whit- 
ley, Deputy  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, reported  as  follows: 

In  the  interests  of  the  community  it  is 
vital  that  after  the  war  the  co-operation  of 
all  classes,  established  during  the  war,  should 
continue,  and  more  especially  with  regard 
to  relations  between  employers  and  em- 
ployed. 

The  Government  took  up  this  proposal, 
and  organizations  for  working  people  were 
started  in  many  industries;  these  have  been 
continually  added  to  since  the  beneficial  ef- 
fects of  the  new  procedure  were  made  ap- 
parent. Industrial  councils  in  each  case 
take  into  consideration  not  only  wages  and 
hours,  but  the  general  surroundings  of  the 
business  and  all  connected  circumstances. 
Such  questions  as  the  best  way  of  conduct- 
ing the  business  and  of  fixing  prices  enter 
into  the  discussion.  There  is  in  effect  a 
continual  consultation  as  to  the  welfare  of 
the  business  as  a  whole,  in  the  realization 
that  the  fate  of  the  workers  is  linked  to- 
gether with  that  of  the  employers.  Sixty 
industries,  comprising  3,000,000  workers, 
have  already  set  up  industrial  councils  of 
this  kind.  And  although  the  procedure  is 
yet  in  its  infancy,  and  though  some  mis- 
takes have  been  made  and  there  have  been 
here  and  there  disappointments,  yet  the 
general  results  are  so  encouraging  that 
in  the  development  of  this  Whitley  Council 
idea  may  be  found  a  new  method  of  com- 
mon effort  which  will  satisfy  the  needs 
and  ambitions  of  labor,  and  which,  at  the 
same  time,  will  build  up  the  interests  of 
the  community.  There  are  some  individual 
movements  running  on  parallel  lines  to  the 
Whitley  Councils.  The  general  stream  of 
tendency  is  well  marked.  It  is  this  new 
method  of  co-operation  which  is  bound  to 
be  the  rival  o  frevolution,  and  the  instincts 
of  the  British  people  make  it  reasonably 
sure  that  this  line  will  be  followed. 

The  course  of  events  has  been  sufficiently 


426 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


demonstrated  by  the  present  miners'  dis- 
pute (May,  1921),  which,  for  a  time,  seemed 
likely  to  involve  the  Triple  Alliance  in  a 
challenge  to  the  nation.  All  the  various 
moods  which  I  have  cited  were  in  operation, 
and  it  seemed  almost  to  the  last  moment  as 
though  violence  was  to  triumph.  The  mine 
owners  wished  to  reduce  wages,  and,  in 
view  of  the  freeing  of  the  mines  from  Gov- 
ernment control,  it  was  apparent  that  ad- 
justments would  have  to  be  made  if  the  in- 
dustry was  to  be  saved  from  bankruptcy. 
The  Government  had  said  in  effect  that  it 
was  unfair  that  the  community,  as  a  whole, 
hard  pressed  in  many  directions,  should  sub- 
sidize the  coal-mine  industry  in  order  to 
better  the  lot  of  the  miners  as  a  class;  the 
industry  must  pay  its  way,  like  every  other 
industry. 

The  miners  resented  the  reduction  of 
wages  and  demanded  that  the  coal-mining 
of  the  country  should  pool  its  profits  so 
that  the  profitable  mines  should  provide 
higher  wages  for  the  mines  which  were  un- 
profitable. This,  of  course,  amounted  in 
effect  to  a  demand  for  nationalization  of 
the  industry.  The  British  Government  took 
a  firm  stand  on  the  ground  that  political 
changes  must  be  produced  by  political 
means,  namely,  through  the  elected  House 
of  Commons,  and  not  through  the  influence 
or  threat  of  any  particular  class  of  men. 


The  miners  enlisted  the  sympathy  of  the 
railwaymen  and  the  transport  workers,  but 
at  the  last  moment  these  other  organiza- 
tions broke  away,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
large  numbers  of  them  shared  the  view  of 
the  community  outside  of  labor,  a  view  that 
was  effectively  put  forth  by  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  on  behalf  of  the  Government.  And 
thus  again  British  common  sense  prevented 
catastrophe. 

The  struggle  is  not  over.  Even  when  this 
miners'  dispute  is  settled  there  will  be 
other  labor  uprisings  from  time  to  time. 
There  may  be  more  threats  of  revolution, 
but  there  will  be  no  revolution  in  the  or- 
dinary sense  of  the  word.  There  will  al- 
most certainly  be  a  more  or  less  gradual 
transformation  of  the  system  of  wages  and 
profits,  which  historians,  centuries  hence, 
may  be  justified  in  classing  as  a  revolution 
of  the  kind  which  has  not  been  uncommon 
in  British  history — a  revolution  effected  by 
the  general  will  of  the  people,  as  a  whole, 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  present  and  the 
future.  In  this  sense  the  labor  movement 
of  Britain  will  be  making  history  from  now 
onward,  not  only  for  the  British  people, 
but  possibly,  also,  in  some  directions,  for 
ether  countries  as  well;  for  it  is  inevitable 
in  these  days  that  fundamental  social 
changes  should  have  their  reactions  quite 
irrespective  of  national  frontiers. 


CANADA'S  NEW  HALL  OF  FAME 

By  John  Gladstone  Grace 


FAME  has  been  described  as  the  flicker- 
ing white  light  that  lures  some  am- 
bitious men  to  imperishable  glory,  and 
others  to  destruction.  "  Antony  sought 
for  happiness  in  love;  Brutus  in  glory,  and 
Caesar  in  dominion,  but  each  found  de- 
struction." These,  however,  are  extreme 
cases,  and  each  nation  of  the  world  today 
has  its  roll  of  famous  men  whose  lives  have 
been  given  to  their  country's  service,  at 
home  or  on  the  battlefield.  These  names 
it  is  only  fitting  to  commemorate.  This 
Canada  plans  to  do  by  the  creation  of  a 
Hall  of  Fame  in  the  new  Parliament  build- 
ing constructed  at  Ottawa  to  replace  the 
edifice  so  mysteriously  destroyed  in  1916. 
This  Hall  of  Fame  in  the  palatial  Canadian 


Capitol  will  surpass  anything  of  the  kind 
on  two  continents.  The  work  has  now 
progressed  so  far  that  the  niches  are  almost 
ready  for  the  statues. 

The  idea  of  a  Hall  of  Fame  has  long 
ceased  to  be  a  novelty.  The  State  of  Ohio 
has  its  Hall  of  Fame  in  the  Capitol  at 
Columbus,  where  the  bust  of  President 
Harding  will  ultimately  be  added  to  Ohio's 
honored  trinity — Garfield,  Grant  and  Mc- 
Kinley.  The  truly  representative  Hall  of 
Fame  for  America,  however,  is  at  present 
on  the  grounds  of  the  New  York  University. 
Canadians  were  much  interested  to  learn 
that  among  the  seven  new  names  recently 
added  to  this  gallery  were  those  of  Patrick 
Henry  and   Mark   Twain,  who  will   hence- 


CANADA'S  NEW  HALL   OF  FAME 


4S7 


(Photo   Wide   World  Service) 
THE   NEW  PARLIAMENT  BUILDTNG   AT   OTTAWA,    CANADA,    THE   MOST   BEAUTIFUL   STRUCTURE 

OF    THE    KIND    IN    THE    WORLD 


forth  be  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 
canonized  benefactors  of.  the  great  Re- 
public. 

W.  H.  Northrup,  K.  C,  who  for  twenty- 
five  years  was  a  leading  member  of  the 
House  of  Commons  and  of  the  Ontario  bar, 
will  have  temporary  charge  of  the  Canadian 
Hall  of  Fame,  pending  the  election  of  a 
tribunal  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  select 
the  candidates  for  immortality.  It  is  hoped 
that  this  tribunal  will  be  composed  of  men 
of  broad  mental  calibre  and  unerring  judg- 
ment. The  whole  value  of  the  project  will 
depend  on  the  mode  of  selection. 

Above  all,  this  new  temple  of  national 
patriots  must  be  symbolic  of  Canada's  past 
and  its  rise  to  unity.  To  all  Canadians,  in- 
cluding the  300,000  Canadian  soldiers  who 
fought  on  the  fields  of  Flanders,  the  former 
Parliament  building  at  Ottawa — destroyed, 
it  is  believed  by  many  of  us,  at  the  behest 
of  Germany — was  the  symbol  of  Canadian 
Confederation.  It  was  a  tangible  reminder 
of  the  great  Gladstone,  who  in  1854  saw 
the  shadows  of  disintegration  coming,  and 
who  advocated  a  united  Canada.  It  was 
also  a  monument  to  such  men  as  Darcy 
McGee,  who  was  the  pioneer  leader  in 
bringing  about  confederation.  McGee,  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  Macdonald, 
Tupper,     Brown,     Mowatt,      Cartier     and 


others,  was  international  in  the  sweep  of 
his  vision.  The  actual  existence  of  Canada's 
national  Parliament  dates  back  to  the  year 
1860,  when  the  late  King  Edward,  then 
Prince  of  Wales,  came  from  England  to 
lay  the  cornerstone.  It  is  interesting  now 
to  note  that  there  was  strenuous  opposition 
to  Ottawa  as  the  Dominion  capital;  had 
it  not  been  overcome,  some  other  Candaian 
city  would  have  been  chosen  as  the  seat  of 
government,  just  as  Georgetown,  in  all 
probability,  would  have  been  selected  as 
the  capital  of  the  United  States,  had  not 
Washington,  Jefferson  and  Madison  in- 
sisted on  the   present  location. 

The  Canadian  Hall  of  Fame  will  be  de- 
voted mainly  to  Canadian  patriots,  but  it 
will  also  recognize  some  international 
figures.  The  Canadian  Committee  will 
aim  to  avoid  the  chief  faults  discernible 
in  Westminster  Abbey.  The  deans  who 
guard  posterity,  and  who  decide  who  shall 
or  shall  not  rest  in  England's  famous 
Pantheon,  were  startled  recently,  when  re- 
vising the  names  of  the  celebrities  interred 
there,  to  find  several  whose  family  trees 
it  was  quite  impossible  to  trace  and  whose 
title  to  fame  could  not  be  discovered.  There 
was  no  more  record  of  these  persons  than 
if  they  had  walked  in  from  the  street  and 
registered.      The   Canadian   Committee  will 


128 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


not  waste  space  on  mere  titles  and  patents 
of  nobility.  Only  merit  will  count  in  our 
Hall  of  Fame.  Knighthood  is  no  longer 
in  flower  in  the  Dominion,  for  the  law  of 
1918  prohibits  any  citizen  of  Canada — 
with  the  exception  of  war  veterans — from 
accepting  any  decoration  or  title  from  any 
source. 

There  will,  of  course,  be  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  who  should  be  among  the 
first  to  have  their  statues  niched  in  the 
new  Hall  of  Fame,  but  some  there  are  whom 
the  Canadian  nation,  by  common  consent, 
will  wish  to  honor.  These  will  include  the 
Confederation's  first  Prime  Minister,  Sir 
John  Macdonald;  the  Hon.  Edward  Blake, 
founder  and  leader  of  the  Liberal  Party, 
and  the  empire's  foremost  lawyer;  Darcy 
McGee,  already  mentioned,  statesman,  poet 
and  orator;  Baron  Thomas  Shaughnessy, 
head  and  largely  the  creator  of  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway;  Sir  William  Osier, 
one  of  the  world's  foremost  physicians  and 
scientists;  Sir  Wilfrid  Laurier,  famous 
orator,  for  forty  years  in  Parliament  and 
for  fifteen  years  Prime  Minister  of  the 
Dominion;  Dean  Harris,  scientist,  geologist, 
theologian  and  author;  Sir  Charles  Tupper, 
distinguished  parliamentarian  and  empire- 
builder. 

What   will    the    Hall    of    Fame   be   like? 


This  Dominion  Court  of  Honor  in  the  finest 
parliamentary  building  in  the  world  will 
stretch  from  the  Memorial  Tower,  which 
rises  300  feet  above  the  main  entrance, 
directly  across  the  entire  structure,  to  the 
Library  at  the  rear,  which  overlooks  the 
"  Lovers'  Walk,"  the  Ottawa  River  and  the 
Gatineau  Mountains  beyond.  Flanked  on 
the  east  by  the  Senate  Chamber  and  on 
the  west  by  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Hall 
is  about  300  feet  long  and  30  feet  wide. 
The  whole  is  adorned  with  a  barrel-vaulted 
marble  ceiling.  The  Dominion  is  proud  of 
the  fact  that  the  material  for  the  whole 
building  was  found  within  its  own  boun- 
daries, with  the  exception  of  small  quanti- 
ties of  Tennessee  marble  and  Vermont 
granite  used  for  color-blends,  and  of  teak- 
wood  and  ebony  from  distant  India  and 
Africa,  used  for  finishing.  The  estimated 
cost  of  the  Parliament  Houses,  in  which  the 
Hall  of  Fame  is  lodged,  is  approximately 
$10,000,000. 

In  the  Memorial  Tower  will  be  preserved 
the  fame  of  Canada's  soldiers  in  the  great 
war.  A  special  war  chamber  in  this  tower 
will  contain  the  names  of  the  entire  Cana- 
dian Expeditionary  Forces,  and  here  will 
be  inscribed  with  due  recognition  the  names 
of  the  65,000  Canadian  heroes  who  sleep  in 
Flanders  fields. 


TREATY  DAY  WITH  THE  CANADIAN  INDIANS 


ONCE  yearly  there  takes  place  in  the  far 
northland  of  Canada  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  of  scenes,  an  event  which  is 
historic,  but  of  which  the  outside  world 
has  heard  nothing,  probably  because  few 
travelers  enter  the  region.  This  annual 
event,  known  as  Treaty  Day,  has  been 
repeated  yearly  for  a  little  over  '  half  a 
century,  and  will  probably  continue  for 
countless  years  to  come.  Treaty  Day  is 
the  day  on  which  a  member  of  the  Ca- 
nadian Government  ratifies  an  agreement 
with  the  nomadic  Indians  of  the  far  north- 
land.  In  payment  for  taking  ever  the 
Indians'  lands,  the  Government,  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  promised  as  fol- 
lows: 

Her  Majesty  agrees  that  each  chief  after 
accepting  the  treaty  shall  receive  a  silver 
medal   and   a   suitable   flag,   and   every   third 


year   thereafter   shall   also   receive   a   suit   of 

clothes. 

The  headman  of  each  band  also  receives 
a  suit  of  clothes.  To  every  common  mem- 
ber of  the  tribe  the  sum  of  $5  is  given; 
the  chiefs  receive  $25  and  the  headmen  $15 
each.  There  are  also  given  to  each  person 
ammunition  and  material  for  net-making 
to  the  amount  of  $1  per  person.  The  treaty 
adds  that  this  agreement  shall  be  ratified 
"  forever  and  aye." 

The  meeting  places  agreed  upon — gen- 
erally the  site  of  some  trading  post  on  the 
bank  of  one  or  other  of  the  great  northern 
rivers — are  yearly  visited  by  the  Indians 
upon  a  set  date.  Here,  upon  the  open 
plain,  the  Government  agent  stands,  sur- 
rounded by  the  Indians.  Upon  a  box  or 
table  lie  huge  bundles  of  $1  and  $2  bills; 
bills   larger  than  these  are   not  looked   on 


TREATY  DAY   WITH  THE  CANADIAN  INDIANS 


429 


(Photo   Francis    Dickie) 

INDIANS   OP  NORTHERN  CANADA  WAITING  TO   RECEIVE  TREATY  PAYMENT  FOR 

THEIR  LANDS.      THESE  PAYMENTS   ARE  MADE  BY  THE   CANADIAN   GOVERNMENT 

EVERY    YEAR    AT    VARIOUS    POSTS     IN    JUNE     AND    JULY 


with  favor  by  the  Indians.  Beside  the 
money  lies  a  book  in  which  the  names  of 
all  the  tribesmen  are  inscribed.  According 
to  their  standing  in  the  tribe,  the  men  and 
women  come  forward;  first  the  grave  and 
dignified  chiefs,  next  the  headmen,  and  then 
the  younger  tribesmen  and  squaws  with 
their  papooses. 

The  Indian  agent,  who  is  always  a  man 
familiar  with  the  Indians  from  long  years 
of  dwelling  in  the  north  country,  and  who 
generally  speaks  several  native  languages, 
knows  a  great  many  of  the  people  by  sight. 
For  one  and  all,  as  he  makes  the  allotted 
payment,  he  has  a  kind  word  and  question 
as  to  their  welfare.  Sick  members  are  in- 
quired about,  and  medicine  is  sent  to  those 
whose  cases  the  agent  can  diagnose  from 
hearing  a  description  of  their  ills.  Once 
in  a  while  some  squaw,  unaware  of  the 
system  of  the  white  man,  tries  to  carry 
out  a  mild  fraud.  Gathering  around  her 
several  children  belonging  to  other  mothers, 
she  marches  them  up  to  the  agent  along 
with  her  own  one  or  two  children,  and  un- 
blushingly  pretends  that  they  are  all  her 
own.  If  she  could  succeed  in  this  fraud,  it 
would  be  very  profitable  for  her,  as  $15  is 
paid  her  for  each  child.  But  in  his  book  the 
white  man  has  her  name,  .and  the  fact  is 
noted  that  last  year  she  received  treaty 
money    for    only    two    children.      So    now* 


when  she  presents  herself  with  five,  the 
agent  points  out  that  though  such  a  rapid 
increase  to  the  family  would  no  doubt  have 
gladdened  the  heart  of  the  late  Mr.  Roose- 
velt, the  Canadian  Government  cannot  possi- 
bly accept  the  view  that  any  woman  can 
have  three  new  children  in  one  year,  par- 
ticularly as  several  of  them  are  three  or 
four  years  old.  So  the  ambitious  lady  finds 
that  the  white  man  has  some  knowledge 
that  is  beyond  her  reckoning,  and  goes 
sadly  away. 

Annually  about  $100,000  in  $1  and  $2 
bills  is  paid  out  to  these  nomadic  Indians 
for  the  Government's  use  of  their  land. 
Since  the  land  thus  paid  for  yearly  was 
never  owned  by  the  Indians,  in  the  white 
man's  sense  of  the  term,  and  since  the  In- 
dians roam  as  freely  today  as  they  ever  did, 
with  their  hunting,  fishing  and  trapping 
rights  absolutely  unrestricted,  the  Govern- 
ment's treatment  is  indeed  generous.  As 
this  land  will  probably  always  remain  much 
as  it  is  today,  the  clause  which  says  that 
the  treaty  shall  be  ratified  yearly,  "  for- 
ever and  aye,"  bids  fair  to  be  fulfilled. 
Each  year,  certainly,  when  the  ice  goes  out 
on  the  northern  rivers,  and  for  a  very  long 
time  to  come,  will  see  the  Government  agent 
on  his  way  with  his  wooden  boxes  full  of 
bills  to  pay  the  money  promised  by  the 
"  Great  White  Queen "  more  than  half  a 
century  ago. 


(Photo   Francis    Dickie) 
TYPICAL   SUMMER   HOME,   OR   TUPIK,    OF  THE   ESKIMOS   JN   THE   HUDSON   BAY   DISTRICT   OP 

NORTHERN    CANADA 


THE    ESKIMO    OF    TODAY 

By  Francis  Dickie 


TO  those  who  have  imagined  the  Eskimo 
in  the  Canadian  arctic  regions  as  a 
fairly  numerous  race,  it  may  come  as  some- 
what of  a  surprise  to  know  that,  according 
to  the  latest  Mounted  Police  census,  the 
entire  Eskimo  population  in  the  Hudson  Bay 
district  was  only  1,107,  made  up  of  the  fol- 
lowing tribes:  Kenipitumiut,  Padlingmiut, 
Shaunuktungmiut,  Avilingmiut,  Iglulin.*- 
miut,  Nechillingmiut.  The  first-named  tribe 
is  today  practically  extinct.  Probably  four 
of  the  tribe  might  be  found  after  a  careful 
search  of  the  Hudson  Bay  region  near  to 
the  coast.  The  tribe  of  Iglulingmiut  has 
also  lost  its  identity  as  a  separate  body 
through  absorption  by  the  Avilingmiuts. 
There  are  several  other  tribes  through- 
out the  vast  arctic  stretch  of  the  Cana- 
dian northland  that  do  not  come  within 
the  population  figures  given  above.  Some 
of  these  Eskimos  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the 
continent  are  very  primitive,  living  almost 
like  men  of  the  Stone  Age.  It  is,  therefore, 
impossible  to  make  an  accurate  census,  but 
with  the  available  data,  supplemented  by 
the  estimates  of  Mounted  Police  and  mis- 
sionaries, it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  entire 
Eskimo  population  of  Canada  today  does 
not  exceed  3,000  persons,  if  indeed  the  num- 
ber actually  reaches  this  figure. 

From  years  of  contact  with  whalers,  ex- 
ploring parties  and  visiting  scientific  men, 


the  Eskimos  on  Hudson  Bay  and  along 
Coronation  Gulf  and  Beautfort  Sea  on  the 
western  side  of  the  continent  have  become 
to  some  extent  modernized,  so  that  they 
know  the  use  of  guns  and  many  of  the 
white  man's  tools.  They  have  also  formed 
a  taste  for  tea  and  sugar  and  tobacco;  tea 
and  tobacco  are  specially  prized.  Some  of 
their  Summer  homes,  or  tupiks,  have  stoves ; 
if  not  a  whole  stove,  at  least  a  stovepipe. 
The  stovepipe  is  a  valuable  article  of  trade 
among  them,  and  where  there  is  no  stove 
to  go  with  it,  it  is  still  put  through  the  roof 
to  carry  off  the  smoke  from  the  oil  lamp,  as 
well  as  to  waft  away  the  varied  and  won- 
derful odors  common  to  a  people  living  un- 
der these  conditions. 

In  spite  of  adopting  many  things  from 
the  white  man,  however,  the  Eskimo  still 
remains  much  like  his  forefathers.  Living 
by  hunting  in  a  land  of  almost  eternal  frost, 
drinking  blood  and  eating  meat  almost  en- 
tirely, mostly  very  fat  and  often  rancid,  the 
Eskimo,  as  might  be  expected,  is  not  overly 
clean.  What  little  water  he  does  use  is 
melted  at  great  labor  over  a  stone  bowl 
filled  with  seal  oil,  for  which  a  bit  of  dry 
tundra  moss  serves  as  a  wick.  But  for 
all  his  savage  diet,  and  his  not  unnatural 
uncleanliness,  the  Eskimo  is  one  of  nature's 
noblemen,  and  has  been  spoken  of  favorably 
by  every  explorer,  scientist,  and  whaler  who 


THE  ESKIMO  OF   TODAY 


431 


has  come  in  contact  with  him.  It  may 
safely  be  said  that  the  majority  of  these 
men  have  found  the  Eskimo  superior  to  the 
Indian  in  business  honesty,  in  ability  to  cope 
with  his  environment  and  as  a  companion. 

A  particularly  interesting  and  almost 
unique  thing  in  connection  with  the  modern 
Eskimo  is  that  though  none  of  the  natives 
of  the  northland  had  a  written  language  a 
hundred  years  ago,  they  have  one  today  and 
books  are  published  in  it.  This  written  lan- 
guage is  phonetic,  and  was  invented  by  a 
missionary  named  Evans.  Nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago  Mr.  Evans  came  out  from  Scot- 
land to  the  settlement  of  Selkirk,  a  Red 
River  trading  post  in  what  is  now  Mani- 
toba, Canada.  After  years  of  personal  con- 
tact with  various  tribes  of  Indians,  he  cre- 
ated this  written  language,  which  was  so 
successful  that  slowly  it  spread  westward 
and  northward  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic 


(Photo     Francis     Dickie) 
AN   ESKIMO   BELLE 
Partly   in   the   garb    of   civilization,   partly  in 
that  of  the  northern   wilds 


Ocean  and  the  Pacific,  until  today  the  illiter- 
acy among  natives  of  the  northland  in  pro- 
portion to  the  population  is  less  than  that 
existing  in  some  of  the  cities  of  civilization. 
The  principal  books  published  are  Bible  5 
and  hymn  books;  the  hymns  appeal  to  the 
Eskimo  particularly. 

The  Eskimo  religion,  if  such  it  may  be 
called,  is  a  great  collection  of  myths,  with 
a  vast  and  complicated  system  of  things 
taboo.  To  a  white  man  it  is  difficult  to 
comprehend  how  these  people  can  remember 
all  the  things  they  must  not  do  at  certain 
times,  all  the  rites  to  be  observed  and  all 
the  spirits  that  have  to  be  propitiated. 

A  brief  recital  of  a  few  of  these  is  enough 
to  show  how  hard,  after  all,  is  the  way  of 
the  good  Eskimo  who  lives  up  to  his  beliefs. 
When  the  men  are  away  hunting  sea  ani- 
mals, such  as  the  walrus,  seal  or  polar  bear, 
the  women  must  do  no  work  on  the  hides  of 
land  animals.  Also  when  the  men  are  hunt- 
ing land  animals,  such  as  the  caribou, 
musk-ox  or  white  fox,  the  taboo  works  in 
the  opposite  way.  The  men  must  do  no 
work  on  iron  for  three  days  after  hunting 
the  polar  bear.  This  is  a  modern  taboo, 
arising  since  contact  with  the  white  men. 
The  first  seal  killed  must  not  be  brought 
through  the  door  of  the  dwelling,  but 
through  a  special  hole  cut  for  its  entrance. 
Before  bringing  the  seal  in  a  knife  is  run 
into  its  dead  eyes  to  prevent  its  soul  from 
seeing  the  interior  of  the  home.  It  is  very 
often  difficult  to  understand  the  Eskimo's 
explanation  of  certain  things.  When  the  men 
are  hunting  on  the  ice,  the  women  must 
not  touch  any  of  the  bedding  in  the  dwell- 
ings, for  fear  of  causing  ice  cracks  to  open 
and  thus  cut  the  men  off  from  land  by  open 
water.  But  one  could  go  on  for  dozens  of 
pages  and  still  overlook  some  of  the  minor 
taboos. 

The  Eskimo  idea  of  a  future  life  is  very 
vague,  but  in  many  ways  it  resembles  the 
Indian  conception,  in  that  it  is  believed  that 
the  body  still  lives  on  and  retains  its  cor- 
poreal wants.  These  wants  are  always  sup- 
plied abundantly  by  the  relatives  of  the 
deceased.  When  an  Eskimo  man  dies,  his 
body  is  carefully  wrapped  in  fur.  It  is  then 
buried  under  a  great  cairn  of  stones,  prob- 
ably for  the  reason  that  the  ground  is 
always  frozen  too  hard  to  permit  of  grave 
digging.  Around  the  grave  are  placed  all 
the     possessions     of     the     deceased — guns, 


432 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


(Photo    Francis    Dickie) 
AN   ESKIMO   HUNTING  PARTY   PREPARING   A   MEAL   AFTER   A    SUCCESSFUL   SEAL   HUNT 
ON   THE    ARCTIC    ICE    IN    THE    FAR    NORTHERN    REGION    OF    CANADA 


canoe  or  kyak,  his  lamp,  cooking  utensils 
and  other  objects  destined  for  the  chase  or 
for  domestic  use.  Among  the  stones  is 
erected  a  tall  pole,  at  the  top  of  which  are 
placed  some  rags  or  moss.  This  "  flag  "  by 
blowing  in  the  breeze  fends  off  evil  spir- 
its. For  five  days  after  the  man's  death 
his  nearest  of  kin,  generally  the  oldest  son, 
goes  daily  to  the  grave  and  holds  a  one- 
sided conversation  with  the  corpse.  This  is 
to  keep  the  spirit  from  getting  lonely,  for 
it  is  not  supposed  to  leave  its  earthly  shell 
until  five  days  after  death.  At  the  end 
of  this  time  the  communications  cease.  The 
goods  of  the  dead  man  may  then  be  re- 
moved, as  these  are  needed  only  for  the 
tow  minutes  consumed  by  the  spirit  in  mak- 
ing its  journey  to  the  next  world.  The  kyak, 
rifles,  tools,  cooking  utensils,  &c,  may 
be  disposed  of  by  relatives  of  the  deceased 
to  Indians  or  white  men,  but  on  no  account 
to  any  other  Eskimo.  In  case  no  whites  or 
Indians  happen  to  be  in  the  vicinity,  the 
things  are  destroyed.  If  it  is  a  woman  who 
dies,  or  a  young  person  of  either  sex,  these 
rites  are  not  adhered  to,  as  women  and  chil- 
dren are  too  inferior  to  receive  such  at- 
tention. 

The    principal     deity    of    the    Eskimo    is 
Nuliaok.      Unlike  most  deities,   Nuliaok   is 


conceived  to  be  of  human  origin.  Around 
this  beautiful  Eskimo  maiden  is  woven  the 
Eskimo  myth  of  the  creation  of  the  water 
animals,  and  the  origin  of  the  different 
races  of  people.  The  first  tale  is  a  very 
interesting  one.  The  second  story  is  also 
interesting,  but,  like  many  of  the  Eskimo 
legends,  deals  with  matters  impossible  to  re- 
produce in  print.  Many  of  the  Eskimo 
religious  rites,  known  as  the  Angekok,  are 
of  a  highly  improper  order,  judged  by  Euro- 
pean standards,  though  seemingly  accepted 
with  all  naturalness  by  the  primitive  Es- 
kimo. The  missionary  influence,  of  course, 
has  caused  a  cessation  of  many  of  these 
rites   in  recent  times. 

Nuliaok,  according  to  the  first  story,  was 
a  beautiful  Eskimo  maiden  living  on  the 
shore  of  Hudson  Bay.  Nourak,  the  god  of 
the  gulls,  fell  in  love  with  her.  But  Nu- 
liaok's  father,  Anautclick,  was  opposed  to 
the  match.  One  day  when  the  father  wa.; 
away  the  gull,  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful 
young  man,  came  for  Nuliaok  and  carried 
her  away  in  a  boat.  When  Anautclick  ar- 
rived home,  he  at  once  set  off  in  pursuit  in 
his  kyak.  Being  a  very  swift  paddler,  he 
quickly  caught  up  with  the  eloping  pair, 
who  were  riding  in  an  oomyak,  or  family 
boat,  which  was  much  harder  to  row,  owing 


THE  ESKIMO  OF  TODAY 


433 


(Photo  Francis   Dickie) 
AN   ESKIMO  GRAVE   IN  THE  FAR  NORTH,   WITH   THE   CANOE,   GUN  AND   OTHER  BELONGINGS 
OP    THE    DEPARTED.      THE    POLE    IS    ERECTED    TO    DRIVE    AWAY    EVIL    SPIRIT'S 


to  its  greater  size.  Just  as  Anautclick 
came  abreast,  the  cowardly  gull,  instead  of 
defending  his  loved  one,  changed  back  to 
his  original  shape  and  flew  away.  Nuliaok 
was  then  forced  to  climb  into  her  father's 
boat.  He  started  paddling  home  with  her, 
leaving  the  oomyak  to  drift  away. 

The  god  of  the  gulls,  however,  controlled 
the  storms,  and  in  revenge  immediately 
caused  high  winds  to  blow  and  the  sea  to 
rise.  Anautclick's  little  kyak  was  not  built 
to  carry  two  people,  so  to  save  himself  he 
threw  his  daughter  overboard.  But  Nuliaok 
clung  desperately  to  the  boat's  side,  threat- 
ening the  frail  craft  with  capsizing.  In 
jmger  and  fear,  her  father  drew  his  knife 
and  slashed  off  the  first  joints  of  her  cling- 
ing fingers.  These  dropped  into  the  sea 
and  from  them  sprang  the  race  of  Natchuk, 
the  hair  seal.  Still  the  girl  clung  on.  Next 
the  father  slashed  off  the  fingers  to  the 
second  knuckle,  and  from  them  came  Oog 
Joug,  the  ground  seal.  When  she  still  clung 
on,  her  father  cut  off  the  rest  of  the  fin- 
gers to  the  last  knuckle,  from  whence  sprang' 
Ivik,  the  whale.  Then  Nuliaok  sank  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  where  che  became  the 


goddess  of  the  sea  animals.    To  her  all  the 
souls  of  animals  go  after  death. 

Though  the  Eskimo  population  is  much 
smaller  today  than  fifty  years  ago,  it  can- 
not be  said  that  the  Eskimo  is  a  passing 
race,  but  rather  one  in  which  the  number 
remains  almost  stationary.  Much  inter- 
marriage has  occurred  with  whalers  in  the 
last  half  century,  so  that  today  you  will 
find  Eskimo  children  with  kinky  hair  and  a 
chocolate  complexion,  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  father  was  a  negro  deckhand  on 
one  of  the  visiting  ships.  There  are  also 
children  who  are  half  Norwegian,  half 
American  or  half  Scotch;  in  fact,  these  Es- 
kimo children  are  halved  with  almost  every 
nationality  in  the  world,  for  the  crews  of 
whalers  are  a  mixed  lot.  Perhaps  the  inter- 
fusion with  blood  from  other  parts  of  the 
world  will  help  to  perpetuate  this  simple, 
kindly  race  of  people.  Though  the  main 
Eskimo  branches  have  now  been  known  to 
white  men  for  several  centuries,  there  are 
still  some  small  detached  tribes  in  the  ex- 
treme north  that  have  had  almost  no  con- 
tact with  white  people,  and  who  yet  remain 
to  be  investigated  by  ethnologists. 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS 
AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 

By  Frederick  A.  Wallis 

United    States    Commissioner    of    Immigration    for    the    State    of    New    York 

The  stirring  and  deeply  human  story  of  Ellis  Island  and  of  the  improved  methods  now 
used  there — What  is  being  done  to  bar  out  unfit  immigrants  and  to  make  the  others 
happier — Pathetic  scenes  at  the  gateway  of  the  nation 


NOTHING  more  affects  the  political, 
social,  economic  and  industrial  condi- 
tions of  this  nation  than  the  foreign- 
born,  and  no  problem  is  greater  than  that 
of  the  immigrant.  He  is  the  most  vital,  the 
most  profoundly  serious  subject  that  con- 
fronts Congress  today.  Our  problem  is  the 
immigrant,  not  immigration.  The  wide- 
spread antagonism  to  immigration  unques- 
tionably lies  in  the  lack  of  a  true  under- 
standing of  its  importance  to  our  present 
economic  system.  The  problem  of  the  immi- 
grant himself,  both  socially  and  economi- 
cally, can  best  be  met  by  scientific  selection, 
intelligent  distribution,  and  broad  assimila- 
tion. 

Europe  has  ninety-one  persons  to  the 
square  mile  more  than  the  world's  average, 
while  North  America,  peculiarly  blessed 
with  earthly  resources  of  great  wealth,  has 
thirteen  persons  to  the  square  mile  less  than 
the  earth's  average.  It  requires  no  science 
of  logarithms  and  differential  calculus  to 
estimate  that,  even  should  immigrants  come 
to  this  country  at  the  rate  of  a  million  per 
annum,  it  would  require  centuries  to  bring 
about  an  equality  with  Europe  in  the  mat- 
ter of  population  to  the  square  mile. 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  in  view  of  the 
great  number  who  would  like  to  come,  there 
is  no  reason  why  this  nation  should  not 
have  the  privilege  of  picking  its  1,000,000. 
In  other  words,  we  can  skim  the  cream  off 
European  immigration,  taking  the  finest 
and  the  best,  and  still  have  more  immigra- 
tion than  the  ships  can  possibly  handle, 
should  we  desire  the  maximum.  Alarmist 
statements,  either  by  the  open  door  advo- 
cates or  the  total  exclusionists,  will,  in  my 
opinion  get  us  nowhere  along  the  path  of  a 
correct  solution  of  the  important  problem 
of  immigration.  The  immigrant  is  here, 
has  always  been  here,  will  always  be  here. 
The  nation  itself  is  largely  the  work  of  his* 


hand  and  brain.  He  founded  the  country, 
cleared  the  forests,  developed  its  resources, 
fought  for  it,  died  for  it,  and  the  last  war 
proved  that  the  new  immigrants  were  not 
greatly  different  from  the  old. 

Face  to  face  with  the  immigrant 
on  Ellis  Island,  day  in  and  day  out,  a 
business  man  learns  to  look  upon  immigra- 
tion as  a  very  simple  business  proposition 
after  all.  As  one  looks  upon  the  up- 
turned faces  of  the  great  throng  of  aliens 
in  the  inspection  hall  and  finds  all  eyes 
fixed   upon   the   desk   of   the   inspector    as 


FREDERICK    A.    WALLIS 
Commissioner    of    Immigration 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


435 


though  it  were  some  holy  shrine  of  de- 
liverance, one's  mind  turns  back  countless 
pages  of  history  to  the  chapter  of  Genesis, 
which  tells  how  Cain  crossed  over  into  the 
land  of  Nod;  or  to  the  book  of  Exodus, 
when  the  Israelites  fled  Egypt;  or  to  that 
chapter  in  our  own  national  history  about 
the  Pilgrim  fathers.  It  is  the  same  old 
story;  the  immigrant  of  today  is  coming 
here  to  better  his  condition.  To  let  him  do  so 
without  lowering  our  standards  of  living  is 
the  whole  question,  and  it  is  the  purpose 
of  this  article  to  discuss  the  methods  with 
which  the  nation  has  equipped  its  immi- 
gration service  to  meet  the  task. 

At  the  nation's  main  gateway  on  Ellis 
Island,  the  Government,  at  a  cost  of  many 
millions,  has  established  its  immigration 
station.  There  are  two  main  buildings,  one 
for  inspection  and  detention  of  immigrants, 
the  other  a  hospital  for  treating  or  holding 
under  observation  the  mentally  or  physical- 
ly defective.  The  hospital  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  Public  Health  Service,  a 
bureau  of  the  Treasury  Department.  The 
immigration  building  is  a  part  of  the  im- 
migration service,  which  is  a  bureau  of  the 
Department  of  Labor. 

When  immigrants  arrived  in  New  York 
Bay,  those  of  the  steerage  class  are  taken 
to  Ellis  Island.  The  cabin  passengers  are 
inspected  aboard  ship,  and  if  passed  on  pre- 
liminary inspection  are  permitted  to  land 
directly  from  the  ship  without  having  to  go 
to  Ellis  Island.  But  if  there  is  a  doubt 
about  the  admissibility  of  a  cabin  pas- 
senger he,  too,  must  be  taken  across  the 
bay  to  the  immigration  station  for  closer 
inspection. 

When  the  immigrant  lands  upon  Ellis 
Island  he,  or  she,  is  taken  first  to  the  medi- 
cal inspection  rooms.  Lined  up  in  single 
file,  the  aliens  appear  one  by  one  before  the 
doctors,  who  stand  ready  to  look  them  over. 
These  doctors  wear  the  khaki-colored  uni- 
forms of  the  army  and  are  thoroughly  in- 
formed upon  all  matters  of  medical  science, 
particularly  upon  the  maladies  which  dis- 
qualify, under  our  laws,  an  alien  seeking 
admission  to  the  United  States.  By  turn- 
ing back  the  eyelids  of  the  immigrant  the 
doctors  make  inspection  with  a  view  to 
detecting  trachoma,  a  most  common  stum- 
bling block  of  the  alien  at  our  gates  in 
point  of  physical  fitness.  The  scalps  of  the 
aliens  are  closely  inspected  with  a  view  to 


detecting  favus  and  ringworm.  Never  have 
we  had  so  many  scalp  cases.  Because  of 
the  contagious  nature  of  these  diseases 
many  aliens  are  denied  entrance  to  our 
country.  Cripples  are  carefully  studied  to 
ascertain  whether  they  may  or  may  not 
become  public  charges,  and  mental  defec- 
tives are  promptly  certified  and  barred. 
But  a  real,  thorough  examination  of  the 
alien  will  never  be  made  until  our  Govern- 
ment orders  every  alien  stripped  and  ex- 
amined physically  from  head  to  foot.  Only 
suspicious  cases,  showing  some  outward 
sign  of  inward  disability,  are  stripped,  and 
many  of  the  great  social  loathsome  diseases 
go  by  undiscovered. 

METHOD  OF  INSPECTION 

Having  passed  the  medical  inspection,  the 
line  of  aliens  proceeds  upstairs  to  the  great 
hall  of  inspection.  Some  twenty  or  thirty 
tall  desks  stand  in  a  row  at  one  end  of  this 
large  room;  behind  each  desk  are  an  in- 
spector, an  interpreter  and  a  guard  or 
matron.  This  little  group  composes  a  court 
of  preliminary  inspection.  To  them  is  en- 
trusted the  task  of  measuring  the  law  to 
the  immigrant.  This  duty  is  not  as  easy  as 
it  may  seem.  The  immigrant  must  be  regis- 
tered; his  passport  must  be  carefully  scru- 
tinized to  see  if  it  has  been  properly  issued 
by  his  own  Government  and  whether  it  has 
been  vised  by  the  American  agent  nearest 
his  home  and  again  by  the  American  Con- 
sulate at  the  port  of  embarkation.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are  still  enforcing 
the  wartime  regulation  about  passports  and 
will  probably  continue  to  do  so  for  a  long 
while  to  come,  because  it  is  by  this  means 
only  that  we  can  practice  any  handpicking 
on  the  other  side,  where  it  is  so  essential. 

We  are  presented  with  hundreds  of  pass- 
ports whose  vises  are  "  faked  ";  our  Govern- 
ment revenue  stamps  upon  them  are  also 
often  counterfeit.  Counterfeiters  and  pro- 
ducers of  fake  vises  are  working  overtime  in 
Poland,  Greece  and  Italy,  and  many  immi- 
grants are  heartbroken  at  this  station  to 
find  that  they  are  scheduled  for  immediate 
deportation  because  of  imperfect  passports 
or  vises.  The  long  trip  has  been  made  and 
all  their  money  has  been  spent  with  the  sole 
result  that  they  are  rejected  at  the  gate- 
way. 

Then  the  literacy  test  must  be  applied. 
The  immigrant  must  show  that  he  can  read 


436 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


forty  words  of  some  language.  It  is  not  re- 
quired that  he  read  English,  but  any  lan- 
guage he  may  select,  or  any  dialect.  Psalm 
texts,  or  some  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, are  usually  handed  to  the  immi- 
grant, printed  in  whatever  language  he  may 
select,  and  if  he  fails  to  read  the  requisite 
amount  he  is  held  for  further  examination 
by  what  we  call  a  Board  of  Special  In- 
quiry. The  literacy  test  does  not  apply  to 
children  under  16  years  of  age,  for  it  is  as- 
sumed that  they  will  be  sent  to  school  under 
the  system  of  whatever  State  may  be  the 
future  home  of  their  parents. 

The  immigrant  must  answer  the  prelimi- 
nary inspector's  question  as  to  whether  he 
is  under  contract  to  do  any  kind  of  work 
in  this  country.  This  we  call  the  contract 
labor  law,  and  so  rigidly  is  it  enforced  that 
if  an  alien  should  say  that  a  friend  or  rela- 
tive had  written  him,  saying  he  could  get 
employment  at  any  specified  place  for  any 
specified  pay,  the  alien  is  held  as  a  contract 
laborer  under  the  law,  and  is  detained  for 
the  Boards  of  Special  Inquiry  to  deal  fur- 
ther with  his  case. 

Under  the  classification  "  liable  to  be- 
come a  public  charge,"  a  great  majority  of 
the  women  and  children  now  coming  to  the 
United  States  have  their  greatest  difficulty 
in  passing.  Herein  lies  one  of  the  many 
inconsistencies  of  our  immigration  laws.  If 
a  person  shows  that  he  or  she  has  positive 
assurance  of  a  means  of  making  a  living,  the 
contract  labor  law  is  a  pitfall.  If  that  per- 
son shows  that  he  or  she  has  no  such  means 
of  earning  a  living,  then  comes  the  danger 
of  being  classed  as  liable  to  become  a  pub- 
lic charge.  Both  requirements  are  neces- 
sary, even  though  they  seem  to  be  absurdly 
inconsistent. 

It  is  quite  the  fashion  to  find  fault  with 
our  immigration  laws,  but  my  observation 
has  been  that  this  criticism  is  due  mainly 
to  popular  ignorance  of  the  letter  of  the 
law.  With  a  few  exceptions,  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  the  literary  test,  which  was 
passed  by  Congress  under  wartime  stress 
over  the  veto  of  President  Wilson,  and  which 
had  been  vetoed  by  two  other  Presidents, 
Cleveland  and  Taft,  the  close  student  of  our 
immigration  laws  will  find  little  to  criticise 
and  much  to  approve.  Outside  the  literacy 
test,  which  is  alleged  by  many  to  be  noth- 
ing short  of  a  farce,  the  national  immi- 
gration law  could  hardly  be  improved,  if 


vigorously  enforced  in  letter  and  in  spirit. 
Under  the  law  at  present  we  are  em- 
powered to  exclude  the  following  classes  of 
aliens : 

All  idiots,  imbeciles,  feeble-minded  persons, 
epileptics,  insane  persons  ;  persons  who  have 
had  one  or  more  attacks  of  insanity  at  any- 
time previously ;  paupers,  professional  beg- 
gars, vagrants ;  persons  afficted  with  tuber- 
culosis in  any  form,  or  with  a  loathsome 
or  dangerous  contagious  disease ;  persona 
who  have  ever  been  convicted  of  any  crime 
or  misdemeanor  involving  moral  turpitude ; 
polygamists,  or  persons  who  practice  or  be- 
lieve in  polygamy ;  anarchists  or  persons 
who  believe  in  or  advocate  the  overthrow  by 
force  or  violence  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  Government,  or 
persons  who  affiliate  with  organizations 
founded  upon  such  beliefs ;  prostitutes,  or 
persons  coming  into  the  United  States  to 
practice  immorality ;  persons  likely  to  be- 
come a  public  charge ;  persons  whose  passage 
is  paid  for  by  any  corporation,  association, 
society,  municipality,  or  foreign  Government, 
either  directly  or  indirectly ;  stowaways,  ex- 
cept that  any  such  stowaway,  if  otherwise 
admissible,  may  be  admitted  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  Secretary  of  Labor ;  all  chil- 
dren under  16  years  of  age  unaccompanied 
by,  or  not  coming  to  one  or  both  of  their 
parents,  except  in  the  discretion  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  Labor. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  classes  that 
are  excluded,  we  have  what  we  term  the 
barred  zone  by  which  Asiatics  in  a  certain 
territory  are  excluded.  In  the  case  of  the 
Japanese,  we  have  "  the  gentlemen's  agree- 
ment," by  which  Japan  agrees  to  give  no 
passports  to  the  laboring  class  of  emigrants 
from  that  country  to  the  United  States ;  this 
agreement  serves  as  an  eliminator,  with  the 
exception  of  teachers,  merchants  or  profes- 
sional men. 

EXCLUDING  THE  UNFIT 

Of  exemptions  there  are  many,  and  the 
discretionary  powers  given  to  the  Secretary 
of  Labor  have  a  wide  range.  All  immi- 
grants excluded  by  our  Boards  of  Special  In- 
quiry, unless  mandatorily  excluded,  have  the 
right  under  the  law  to  appeal  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  Labor.  They  may  employ  a  lawyer, 
if  they  desire,  but  the  lawyer  is  allowed  to 
charge  a  fee  of  only  $10,  and  few  of  them 
find  it  profitable  to  practice  in  the  immi- 
gration field.  Inspectors  and  employes  on 
the  island  give  their  services  gladly  in  this 
ministry  of  filing  appeals  in  Washington, 
and  the  records  show  that  95  per  cent,  of 
the  appeals  are  granted,  leaving  only  such 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


437 


Underwood   &    Underwood) 


YOUNG  IMMIGRANTS  OF  A  VIGOROUS   AND   DESIRABLE  TYPE  RECEIVING  A  HOLIDAY  DINNER 
ON   THEIR   ARRIVAL   AT    ELLIS    ISLAND 


deportations  to  be  executed  as  are  man- 
datory under  the  terms  of  the  law. 

That  the  Boards  of  Special  Inquiry  are 
strictly  applying  the  immigration  laws  on 
Ellis  Island  is  witnessed  by  the  large  num- 
ber of  detentions,  crowding  the  buildings 
far  beyond  their  capacity,  with  all  the  con- 
sequent evils  of  congestion.  That  strong 
pressure  is  brought  to  bear  upon  Washing- 
ton, oftentimes  by  political  influence,  on  be- 
half of  the  detained  and  excluded  ones,  is 
witnessed  by  the  large  number  of  "  ex- 
cluded "  let  out  temporarily  upon  bonds  and 
by  the  few  who  are  ultimately  deported. 
The  percentage  of  deportations  in  compari- 
son with  arrivals  during  the  last  year  has 
been  running  less  than  one  per  cent.,  al- 
though the  number  of  "  exclusions  "  by  the 
Ellis  Island  Boards  of  Special  Inquiry  have 
amounted  to  thousands. 

The  public  has  doubtless  noted  that  sev- 
eral of  the  bills  recently  introduced  in  Con- 
gress to  regulate  immigration  provide  for  a 
change  in  the  exercise  of  this  discretionary 
power  by  appointing  a  high  court,  or  com- 
mission of  immigration,  whose  sessions 
would  be  held  at  the  immigration  station, 
and  whose  privilege  it  would  be  to  see  per- 
sonally each  alien  who  appealed  for  exemp- 
tion under  the  selective  tests  or  asked  for 
temporary  admission.  Herein  lies  one  of 
the  problems  of  immigration.  No  two  im- 
migrants are  exactly   alike.     The  personal 


equation  must  be  recognized.  I  believe 
the  most  practicable  and  businesslike 
method  would  be  to  designate  the  Com- 
missioner of  Immigration  at  Ellis  Island  as 
an  Acting  Secretary  in  appeal  cases,  so  that 
he  could  personally  pass  on  doubtful  or 
excluded  cases.  He  would  have  the  immi- 
grant in  person  before  him;  this  would  af- 
ford a  better  opportunity  for  more  thor- 
ough and  effective  examination;  further- 
more, the  heads  of  the  Boards  of  Special 
Inquiry,  or  any  of  the  Ellis  Island  officials, 
could  be  called  in  for  conference,  and  the 
immigrant  given  every  chance  to  prove  his 
case.  This  would  immediately  relieve  the 
congestion  at  Ellis  Island.  Above  all,  it 
would  make  for  efficiency  in  service.  It 
hardly  seems  reasonable  that  appeals  should 
be  forwarded  to  Washington  when  some 
competent  official  at  Ellis  Island  could  be 
entrusted  with  this  function  of  the  law. 
Appealing  to  Washington  has  often  delayed 
the  admission  or  deportation  of  the  immi- 
grant a  month  or  longer. 

THE  ILLITERACY  TEST 

Some  idea  of  the  difficulties  of  applying 
the  law  to  aliens  may  be  gained  by  scanning 
the  exemptions  to  certain  of  the  selective 
tests.  Let  us  consider  the  exemptions  in 
the  literacy  test,  for  instance: 


438 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


SBSf't^^KfiSB 

■;:  \  "     >'"':|R;  \ '       :v           :•      :y'\         ' 

v       JiJsi     ^k  *'•*«•    wj^H 

(©    JnfenwztionaZ) 

A  STUDY  IN  PACES  OP  IMMIGRANTS  PHOTOGRAPHED  AT  ELLIS  ISLAND  WHILE  THEY  WERE 
BEING  ENTERTAINED  BY  FOLK  DANCES  INSTITUTED  BY  COMMISSIONER  WALLIS   TO  CHEER 

THE    HOURS    OP   WAITING 


The  following  classes  of  aliens  over  16 
years  of  age  are  exempted  by  law  from  the 
illiteracy  test,  or  from  the  operation  thereof, 
viz. : 

Persons  who  are  physically  incapable  of 
reading.' 

Persons  of  any  of  the  following  relation- 
ships to  United  States  citizens,  admissible 
aliens,  or  legally  admitted  alien  residents  of 
the  United  States,  when  such  persons  are 
sent  for  or  brought  in  by  such  citizens,  ad- 
missible aliens,  or  admitted  aliens:  Father, 
if  over  53  years  of  age ;  grandfather,  if  over 
55  years  of  age ;  wife,  mother,  grandmother, 
unmarried  daughter,  or  widowed  daughter. 

Persons  seeking  admission  to  the  United 
States  to  avoid  religious  persecution  in  the 
country  of  their  last  permanent  residence. 

Persons  previously  residing  in  the  United 
States  who  were  lawfully  admitted,  have  re- 
sided here  continuously  for  five  years,  and 
return  to  the  United  States  within  six  months 
from  the  date  of  their  departure  therefrom. 

Persons  in  transit  through  the  United 
States. 

Exhibitors  and  employes  of  fairs  and  ex- 
positions  authorized  by  Congress. 

Agricultural  laborers  from  across  the  bor- 
der of  Mexico  or  of  Canada. 

A  most  effective  way  "of  evading  the  rig- 
orous tests  of  our  immigration  laws  is  for 
the  foreigner  to  come  as  a  seaman.  The 
door  is  thus  open  for  all  kinds  of  undesira- 
ble aliens  to  arrive  in  this  guise.  The  de- 
sertion of  seamen  has  been  very  heavy. 
The  steamships  of  one  nation  reported  to  me 
last  week  that  in  less  than  ninety  days 
2,000  seamen  had  deserted  their  ships  at 
this  port.  A  ship's  crew,  made  up  of  Arabs, 
Turks  and  Armenians,  lost  seventy-three  of 


its  number  while  here.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
of  them  would  have  been  admissible  under 
our  immigration  laws. 

Desertion  has  been  so  heavy  of  late  that 
it  has  been  necessary  for  the  immigrant 
inspectors  to  examine  the  seamen  between 
the  Quarantine  Station  and  the  piers  at 
Manhattan.  Before  the  ship  can  make  fast 
to  the  pier  these  seamen  rush  from  the  boat 
like  rats  from  a  burning  building.  They 
run  off  the  ship,  swing  out  to  the  pier  by 
the  use  of  ropes,  and  resort  to  almost  any 
hazard  to  go  ashore,  where  they  are  lost  in 
the  great  crowds  upon  our  streets.  If  we 
continue  to  inspect  seamen  at  the  same  rate 
as  they  have  been  coming  to  us  in  the  last 
six  months,  we  will  actually  inspect  800,000 
seamen  in  this  port  during  1921.  Some  for- 
ty-three Chinamen  were  recently  picked  up 
and  deported  as  seamen  deserters. 

Under  these  exemptions  thousands  T>f 
illiterates  have  been  admitted  to  the  United 
States,  while  just  1,810  were  deported  dur- 
ing the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30  last; 
1,639  of  them  excluded  at  ports  of  entry 
throughout  the  whole  country  and  returned 
to  countries  whence  they  came,  and  171 
deported  under  warrant,  after  having 
gained  entrance  to  the  United  States.  When 
this  illiteracy  test  was  passed  over  the 
President's  veto,  the  main  argument  ad- 
vanced in  its  favor  was  that  it  would  prove 
a  great  factor  in  restricting  immigration. 
But  experience  has  proved  that  as  an  elim- 
inator it  has  been  a  failure,  and  it  has  in- 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


439 


Underwood   &    Underwood) 


TYPICAL   GROUP    FROM   A    SHIPLOAD    OF    GREEK    IMMIGRANTS    THAT   INCLUDED    300    YOUNG 

WOMEN    WHO    HAD    COME    TO    THIS    COUNTRY    TO    MARRY    MEN    WHOM    THEY    HAD    KNOWN 

ONLY    THROUGH    THE    MEDIUM    OF    LETTERS    AND    PHOTOGRAPHS 


flicted  unspeakable  hardships  upon  a  few 
by  separating  parents  and  children,  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  while  thousands  of  illiter- 
ates have  been  admitted  under  the  exemp- 
tions, or  under  bond. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  most  ardent 
and  sincere  champion  of  the  literacy  test 
could  ever  believe  that  it  would  be  effective 
as  a  factor  in  keeping  out  the  mean  and 
malevolent  immigrant  or  dangerous  radi- 
cal. The  latter  class  will  usually  be  found 
among  the  educated  foreigners.  We  re- 
cently deported  one  group  of  communists 
from  Ellis  Island  consisting  of  twenty- 
three  men  and  women.  Each  one  of  them 
could  read  in  from  three  to  five  different 
languages,  and  pretended  to  know  the 
theories  of  Karl  Marx  by  heart  and  back- 
wards. On  the  day  of  their  departure 
from  Ellis  Island,  my  attention  was  called 
to  the  case  of  a  big,  honest,  strong-armed, 
blue-eyed  Czechoslovak  blacksmith,  who  had 
been  excluded  because  he  could  not  read. 
He  could  shoe  a  horse,  and  was  a  wheel- 
wright, besides,  and  he  had  brought  his 
young  wife  and  two  children  to  this  coun- 
try, hoping  to  find  honest  work  and  learn 
the  English  language.  His  wife  could  read, 
but  he  could  not,  so  he  was  sent  back  while 


the  wife  and  children  were  admitted,  in  the 
care  of  a  brother  of  the  unhappy  husband. 
Leaving  Ellis  Island,  this  man  vowed  that 
he  would  learn  to  read  forty  words  and  re- 
turn. 

On  another  occasion  my  attention  was 
called  to  a  young  Jewish  woman,  who  had 
been  parted  from  her  brothers  and  sisters 
and  ordered  deported  because  she  had 
failed  to  pass  the  literacy  test.  She  was 
sobbing  aloud  in  the  hallway  near  my  office. 
I  inquired  of  her  why  she  had  never  learned 
to  read,  as  her  sisters  and  brothers  had 
done.  I  ascertained  that  she  had  to  stay  at 
home  and  work  to  educate  the  sisters  and 
brothers.  I  could  not  help  feeling  that 
she  was  the  worthiest  one  of  the  family, 
even  though  she  had  to  be  parted  from 
them  and  sent  back  to  a  homeless,  friendless 
land. 

The  record  of  arrivals,  debarments  and 
deportations  under  warrant  recorded  at 
Ellis  Island  for  the  last  ten  months  of  1920 
and  the  first  two  months  of  1921  shows 
that  immigration  steadily  increased  from 
about  30,000  in  March,  1920,  to  about  75,000 
in  October  of  the  same  year,  and  de- 
creased from  about  61,000  in  November, 
1920,  to  about  35,000  in  February,  1921. 
The    immigration    in    these    twelve    months 


440 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


totaled  647,414.  The  number  of  de- 
barred and  deported  in  the  same  period 
ranged  from  about  180  to  about  290,  and 
totaled  3,200.  Aliens  deported  under  war- 
rant proceedings  rose  from  59  to  142,  and 
totaled  913.  Statistics  ,however,  it  should 
be  remembered,  have  two  aspects.  If  60,- 
000  to  80,000  aliens  are  admitted  every 
month,  about  half  that  number  are  leav- 
ing the  country  in  the  same  period.  If 
about  100,000  are  annually  becoming  nat- 
uralized citizens,  their  families  are  auto- 
matically becoming  naturalized,  bringing 
the  real  number  up  to  about  four  times  as 
many. 

The  statesman  who  will  eventually  solve 
the  immigration  problem  for  the  American 
people  will  be  the  one  who  shows  the  way 
to  speeding  up  industry  and  increasing 
production,  making  proper  and  effectual 
use  of  the  stranger  within  our  gates;  dis- 
tributing labor  to  the  geographical  loca- 
tion of  our  national  needs  by  making  those 
fields  of  industry  remunerative  to  owner 
and  worker,  and  meeting  the  selected  for- 
eigner half  way  with  cordial  feelings  and 
humane  treatment,  thus  giving  to  the  immi- 
grant the  most  practicable  and  sensible  ex- 
amples of  Americanization. 

Like  a  mighty  river  flowing  to  the  ocean 
is  the  continual  stream  of  eager  and  pic- 
turesque immigrants  passing  daily  through 
Ellis  Island.  No  sooner  have  they  landed 
than  they  scatter  to  all  points  of  the  com- 
pass, most  of  them  going  to  the  cities. 
According  to  an  authority,  the  territory 
where  nearly  80  per  cent,  of  them  go  is 
well  defined.  If  a  line  were  drawn  from 
the  northwestern  corner  of  Minnesota 
down  to  the  lower  corner  of  Illinois,  and 
then  eastward  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  pass- 
ing through  the  cities  of  Washington  and 
Baltimore,  it  would  cut  off  less  than  one- 
fifth  of  the  area  of  the  United  States. 
But  contained  in  the  portion  marked  off 
there  are  located  more  than  80  per  cent, 
of  the  immigrants  coming  to  this  country. 
The  remaining  20  per  cent,  are  divided  be- 
tween the  Southern  States  and  those  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Only  about  3  per 
cent,   percolate   through   to   the   Southland- 

Perhaps  our  greatest  problem  in  immi- 
gration is  the  absence  of  authority  or  sys- 
tem to  send  the  alien  not  only  where  he 
is  most  needed  and  could  make  most  money, 
but   where   he   would   find   more   favorable 


conditions  under  which  to  raise  his  family, 
thus  building  a  happier,  stronger  and  more 
contented  America.  We  must  interpret  to 
the  foreigner  the  better  things  of  life,  and 
we  must  interpret  them  in  terms  of  fairness 
and  good  will.  The  assimilation  of  the  im- 
migrant, his  absorption  into  our  life,  is 
a  slow  process.  Americanization  can  be 
best  achieved  through  the  force  of  environ- 
ment, night  schools,  better  living  conditions, 
sufficient  wages,  hours  which  guarantee  a 
healthful  life;  in  other  words,  American- 
ization is  for  the  most  part  an  economic 
problem.  You  cannot  any  more  force  Amer- 
icanism down  an  alien's  throat  than  your 
minister  can  cram  religion  down  your 
throat.  Americanization  is  a  work  of  pa- 
tience, not  pressure. 

CHEERING  UP  THE  NEWCOMERS 

It  was  Summer  when  I  assumed  charge 
at  Ellis  Island.  There  was  no  place  for 
recreation  or  diversion.  I  immediately  di- 
rected that  the  people  be  put  outdoors,  where 
they  could  see  the  skyline  of  the  city,  watch 
the  passing  of  the  big  ships,  breathe  the 
fresh  atmosphere  and  bask  in  the  sunshine 
of  a  June  sky.  I  was  told  that  the  alien 
did  not  like  either  the  sun  or  the  air.  The 
real  trouble  was  that  certain  employes  did 
not  like  the  extra  work  involved.  Much  to 
the  surprise  of  every  one,  it  was  with  great- 
est difficulty  we  induced  the  aliens  to  come 
in  at  close  of  day.  When  the  weather  grew 
cold,  a  large  storage  room  was  converted 
into  a  bright  recreation  hall,  capable  of 
seating  over  two  thousand  immigrants. 

Out  of  this  grew  our  wonderful  concerts. 
Sunday  afternoons  we  have  the  finest  mu- 
sical and  operatic  talent  that  New  York 
affords.  The  impression  the  concerts  make 
upon  the  alien  is  indescribable.  No  more 
interesting  study  can  be  found  than  to  sit 
before  this  great  audience  of  foreigners, 
hailing  from  every  port  on  earth,  represent- 
ing every  nationality,  every  race  and  creed, 
some  in  laughter,  some  in  tears.  It  is 
exceedingly  fascinating  and  absorbing  to 
watch  these  people  respond  as  if  by  magic 
to  music,  the  common  language  of  the 
world. 

Surely  there  has  been  more  crying  and 
shedding  of  tears  on  Ellis  Island  than  in  any 
place  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  not 
only  the  most  interesting  spot  in  the  world 
but  it  is  also  the  most  human  spot  in  the 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


441 


world,  and  it  is  interesting  because  it  is 
human.  I  found  men,  women  and  children 
crying  everywhere.  Virtually  it  was  a  vale 
of  tears.  My  first  step,  after  eliminating 
officiousness  and  discourtesy,  was  to  pro- 
ceed to  humanize  the  island  and  to  organize 
it  into  more  efficient  and  effective  service 
that  it  might  no  longer  be  a  disgrace  to  the 
world,  but  function  to  the  credit  and  glory 
of  our  Government  and  to  the  relief  of 
mankind. 

It  has  been  said  that  wThen  you  begin 
mixing  sentiment  with  organization,  hu- 
mane motives  with  efficient  management, 
you  are  scheduled  for  trouble,  but  that  the- 
ory has  been  exploded  at  Ellis  Island.  It 
did  not  interfere  with  intelligent  directions 
when  we  converted  a  huge  storeroom  into 
an  examination  section,  which  saved  tired 
men  and  women  and  children  the  exertion 
of  carrying  their  heavy  belongings  up  and 
down  long  flights  of  stairs. 

Humanity  is  the  better  since  the  rooms 
were  cleaned  up  and  made  more  sanitary 
and  comfortable;  mankind  is  grateful  for 
drinking  water  in  the  dining  rooms,  which, 
I  am  told,  had  not  been  there  for  years; 
aliens  have  a  different  impression  of  Amer- 
ica since  they  have  been  supplied  daily  with 
soap  and  towel,  and  they  have  also  a  dif- 
ferent impression  of  the  steamship  com- 
panies since  we  have  insisted  that  breakfast 
be  served  when  they  are  called  at  5  o'clock 
in  the  morning  to  be  inspected ;  mothers,  ba- 
bies and  little  children  are  healthier  and 
freer  from  hunger  because  they  now  have 
warm  milk  and  crackers  served  at  stated 
hours,  day  and  night,  on  the  island;  life 
is  sweeter  because  the  immigrants  now  have 
sugar  on  the  tables.  Many  of  them  had 
not  seen  sugar  for  six  years.  Four  men 
were  knocked  out  and  one  carried  to  the 
hospital  with  three  broken  ribs  in  their 
scramble  for  sugar  when  they  first  saw  it 
in  the  dining  room. 

It  does  not  dehumanize  the  immigrant, 
nor  pamper  him  either,  if  a  large  audito- 
rium is  equipped  with  a  piano,  with  facilities 
for  reading  and  for  amusement  during  what 
to  him  often  seems  an  interminable  deten- 
tion. Fresh  air  is  always  better  than  foul; 
and  music,  lectures,  motion  pictures  three 
nights  in  the  week,  and  courteous  and  hu- 
mane treatment  are  regenerating  influences 
that  change  the  spirits  of  men. 

I  am  daily  asked  from*  what  country  is 


all  this  immigration  coming.  My  reply  is 
from  the  countries  nearest  the  vessel  last 
sailing,  though  I  am  sure  the  two  ►greatest 
nationalities  are  the  Jews  and  Italians; 
these  are  followed  hard  by  the  Greeks, 
Czechoslovaks,  Spaniards  and  Northwestern 
Europeans.  Indeed,  the  immigrants  are 
coming  from  everywhere.  There  is  much 
fine  immigration  in  the  flow;  there  is  also 
much  driftwood.  No  one  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  world  can  doubt  that  there  is 
a  mighty  stir  among  the  peoples  of  the 
globe,  and  that  America  is  the  goal  of  their 
ambition  and  the  fulfillment  of  their 
dreams. 

LETTING  IN  THE  RIGHT  ONES 

The  problem  in  immigration  is  to  see  that 
no  one  gets  into  this  country  who  should 
not  get  in,  and  also  to  see  that  no  one  is 
kept  out  who  should  get  in.  Recently  an 
eminent  immigration  official  of  Canada 
made  the  statement  that  15,000,000  non- 
English-speaking  people  would  like  to  come 
to  Canada.  The  Canadian  Government  is 
restricting  immigration  from  Central  Eu- 
rope, Russia  and  Poland.  It  is  actually 
spending  money  to  keep  people  away,  and 
has  agents  in  such  centres  as  Havre  and 
Antwerp.  All  this  affects  greatly  the 
United  States.  Unquestionably,  much  of  our 
immigration  is  composed  of  people  whose 
ultimate  aim  is  to  cross  the  invisible  line 
that  separates  us  on  the  north. 

Steamship  companies  have  been  bringing 
to  this  port  large  numbers  of  aliens,  who 
have  to  be  detained  under  our  immigration 
laws.  It  has  been  found  necessary  to  hold 
85  per  cent,  of  all  steerage  arrivals  from 
some  steamships.  We  had  1,100  aliens  on 
three  ships  who  had  less  than  $1  each,  and 
1,700  who  had. less  than  $20;  one  woman, 
with  five  children,  with  scarcely  enough 
on  to  be  decently  clothed,  was  going  to 
Chicago  with  no  ticket  and  only  $1.08.  I 
could  name  hundreds  of  cases  as  bad  or 
worse.  Our  detention  rooms  and  dormi- 
tories are  crowded  day  and  night,  and  it  is 
only  by  constant  attention  that  these  rooms 
and  their  equipment  can  be  kept  clean  and 
sanitary.  Every  immigrant  is  now  given 
fresh  blankets  daily,  and  every  precaution 
is  exercised  to  prevent  disease.  The  island 
was  built  to  accommodate  but  one-half  of 
the  number  we  are     receiving. 

I   have   no   war   to   make    on   the    ships. 


442 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Many  of  our  best  ships  come  into  the  port 
clean,  fresh  and  sanitary.  But  there  are 
some  ships  that  come  in  that  are  so  insan- 
itary, dark  and  filthy  that  they  should  not 
be  allowed  to  stick  their  nose  in  the  port  of 
a  civilized  country.  Not  long  ago  I  took 
some  Congressmen  on  a  ship  which  had 
1,923  steerage  passengers.  We  had  been 
on  the  boat  only  a  few  minutes  when 
every  one  had  to  make  for  a  porthole.  The 
stench  was  unbearable,  and  the  conditions 
indescribably  filthy.  Men,  women  and 
children  were  sitting  in  the  dark  on  the 
floor  in  the  passageways,  eating  their  sup- 
per out  of  a  bucket  with  spoons.  Many 
were  eating  from  the  same  bucket.  It  was 
so  dark  on  the  boat  that  we  stepped  upon 
people  sitting  on  the  floor.  Congress  asked 
for  our  findings  on  this  ship,  and  our  re- 
port was  recently  published  in  the  Con- 
gressional Record.  We  detained  983  of 
these  arrivals  at  Ellis  Island. 

Another  big  ship  came  into  port  shortly 
after  a  snowstorm.  The  conditions  on  that 
boat  were  intolerable.  I  have  sent  several 
affidavits  to  Washington  to  the  effect  that 
no  one  could  get  drinking  water  in  the  steer- 
age without  paying  for  it,  and  that  even  af- 
ter the  ship  came  into  this  harbor  and  was 
detained  several  days  at  Quarantine,  it  was 
impossible  for  them  to  get  water  with  which 
to  wash  their  hands  and  faces.  The  only 
way  they  could  wash  their  hands  was  to 
gather  up  the  dirty  snow  in  basins  from  the 
deck  of  the  ship.  There  were  many  other 
inhumane  conditions  on  the  ship,  which  are 
a  matter  of  record.  Under  no  shipping  reg- 
ulations are  conditions  such  as  these  war- 
ranted. Since  the  steerage  rate  has  jumped 
from  $25,  before  the  war,  to  $150  in  the 
last  two  years,  there  is  not  the  slightest  ex- 
cuse for  insanitary  and  inhumane  condi- 
tions. During  the  rate-cutting  war  between 
the  ships,  immigrants  could  go  from  Berlin 
to  Chicago  for  $11.  Now  it  costs  from  $110 
to  $150  to  come  steerage  from  European 
ports  to  New  York. 

I  have  also  no  war  to  make  upon  the 
railroads.  Most  of  the  roads  are  now  giv- 
ing the  aliens  good  accommodations.  But 
we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  aliens  pay 
the  same  amount  for  their  tickets  as  all 
first-class  passengers.  There  is  no  longer 
any  third-class  or  immigrant  railroad  rate. 
The  immigrants  are  certainly  entitled  to 
the    ordinary    conveniences    of    travel.      I 


found  at  one  station  that  aliens  were  regu- 
larly detained  until  1  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
awaiting  the  departure  of  the  immigrant 
train  on  its  westward  journey.  Some  were 
huddled  together  in  a  large  room  upstairs 
over  a  freight  pier;  others  outside  in  a  pen. 
In  neither  place  were  there  seats,  drinking 
water,  toilet  accommodations,  or  any  other 
conveniences.  The  women  with  children  and 
babies  had  to  stand  or  sit  on  the  floor  until 
the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  This  was 
corrected  immediately,  and  the  train  went 
out  at  8  P.  M.  instead  of  1:15  A.  M. 

CLEANING  UP  THE  ISLAND 

I  found  at  Ellis  Island  an  enclosure 
where  immigrants  were  detained  in  num- 
bers from  200  to  600.  There  was  so  much 
filth  and  dirt  on  the  floor  that  one  would 
actually  slip  in  the  slime  while  walking, 
and  yet  little  children  were  playing  on  the 
floor.  I  called  for  the  man  in  charge  of 
that  part  of  the  building,  and  when  I 
pressed  the  question,  he  told  me  that  this 
floor  had  not  been  washed  for  probably  four 
months. 

In  another  room  wjiere  hundreds  of  im- 
migrants were  detained,  the  atmosphere 
was  so  foul  and  stifling  as  to  be  sickening. 
When  I  asked  the  guard  why  he  did  not 
keep  the  door  open,  so  that  the  immigrants 
could  get  fresh  air,  he  replied :  "  If  I  leave 
the  door  open,  the  immigrants  ask  me  too 
many  questions." 

I  found  mothers,  children  and  babies 
crying  on  one  of  the  large  floors.  When 
I  investigated  the  cause  of  so  much  crying, 
I  found  that  the  babies  and  children  were 
hungry.  Somebody  had  been  serving  the 
children  with  sour  milk  and  cold  milk.  Or- 
ders were  at  once  issued  for  warm  sweet 
milk  and  crackers  to  be  served  at  regular 
hours  of  the  day  and  night  the  year 
through.  I  found  another  room  where 
many  detained  aliens  were  behind  locked 
doors.  Men,  women  and  children  were  all 
using  the  same  toilet. 

In  the  dining  room  for  immigrants, 
where  some  days  over  10,000  meals  are 
served,  I  observed  that  there  was  not  a 
drop  of  drinking  water  in  sight.  Yet  there 
were  two  hydrants,  one  on  either  side  of 
the  room.  I  told  the  waiters  that  those 
people  were  entitled  to  water,  certainly  to 
common  hydrant  *water ;  that  many  of  them 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


443 


were  used  to  light  wines  on  the  other  side. 
When  I  asked  why  they  did  not  turn  on  the 
faucets,  their  excuse  was  that  the  tiled 
floor  around  the  hydrants  would  become 
sloppy.  We  turned  on  the  water  immedi- 
ately. The  immigrants  were  so  thirsty,  we 
could  scarcely  get  them  away  from  the  hy- 
drants. 

One  night,  at  about  10  o'clock,  I  started 
with  a  guard  and  a  matron  on  a  round 
through  the  dormitories.  We  first  came  to 
the  women's  dormitory,  where  there  were 
probably  six  or  seven  hundred  women. 
Every  window  in  the  room  was  closed  tight. 
These  alien  women  seemed  to  know  nothing 
about  how  to  retire.  All  of  them  went  to 
bed  with  their  clothes  and  shoes  on.  From 
there  we  went  to  the  men's  dormitory.  All 
had  retired  except  two  or  three  who  were 
in  one  corner  of  the  room  washing  their 
hands.  When  I  inquired  as  to  how  many 
towels  and  how  much  soap  were  used  daily 
on  the  island,  the  guard  said  he  had  been 
on  the  island  eight  years  and  that  he  had 
never  seen  an  alien  with  a  towel  during  the 
entire  time.  The  next  day  we  began  fur- 
nishing every  man,  woman  and  child  with 
towels  and  soap.  They  looked  like  an  army 
of  new  people  the  next  morning.  Their 
faces  were  bright  and  they  seemed  to  have 
an  ambition  to  keep  clean.  Physical  clean- 
liness always  inspires  moral  cleanliness.  A 
new  atmosphere  seemed  to  pervade  the  de- 
tention rooms. 

You  can  make  an  immigrant  an  anarchist 
overnight  at  Ellis  Island,  but  with  the  right 
kind  of  treatment  you  also  can  start  him 
on  the  way  to  glorious  citizenship.  It  is  first 
impressions  that  count  most.  Two  of  the 
New  York  papers  said  recently  that  Ellis 
Island  had  been  transformed  from  a  house 
of  tears  to  an  island  of  sunshine.  I  feel 
that  this  is  true. 

It  ought  not  to  be  difficult  for  a  nation 
of  our  education  and  intelligence  to  frame 
humane  laws  that  will  exclude  those  who 
are  physically  and  mentally  and  morally 
unfit.  On  the  other  hand,  a  welcome  worthy 
of  the  honor  and  dignity  of  this  nation 
should  be  extended  to  those  whose  energies 
may  contribute  to  this  upbuilding  of  our  un- 
developed communities,  provided  always 
they  are  in  sympathy  with  American  ideals. 
Above  all  things,  I  believe  that  this  great 
immigration  question  should  be  protected 
from  the  manoeuvring  of  politics,  because  it 


is  from  the  standpoint  of  policy  too  im- 
portant and  from  the  standpoint  of  human- 
ity too  sacred  to  be  exploited  by  partisan  or 
private  interests. 

Revision  of  the  system  of  handling  these 
people  is  needed  before  this  nation  can  be 
assured  of  getting  the  better  class  of  immi- 
grants. Some  method  of  preferential  selec- 
tion must  be  immediately  put  in  operation 
at  the  ports  of  embarkation.  There  is  noth- 
ing so  inhuman  and  certainly  nothing  so  un- 
businesslike as  to  bring  millions  of  people 
to  America  and  begin  here  the  process  of 
sifting  the  chaff  from  the  wheat  or  separat- 
ing the  dross  from  the  gold.  I  believe  that 
90  per  cent,  of  the  "  culling  "  process  could 
be  done  on  the  other  side  at  the  ports  of 
embarkation. 

WRONGS  DONE  TO  IMMIGRANTS 

Every  day  is  Judgment  Day  for  many 
people  at  Ellis  Island,  and  the  great  final 
day  of  assize  will  not  disclose  sadder 
scenes  than  we  see  daily  enacted  at  this 
station.  Families  are  being  cut  in  twain, 
husband  and  wife  separated,  children  taken 
from  their  parents,  or  one  taken  and  the 
ether  left.     It  is  all  wrong. 

These  people  have  been  saving  for  years, 
denying  their  families  many  little  luxuries 
in  order  that  they  might  get  together  suf- 
ficient funds  to  come  steerage.  After  years 
of  sacrifice  and  saving,  they  come  to  this 
port  only  to  be  sent  back  to  Europe.  And 
sent  back  to  what?  Literally  to  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  Europe  is  worse  off  today 
than  during  the  war.  These  people  go  back 
with  no  home,  no  business,  broken  in  pocket, 
and,  a  thousand  times  worse,  broken  in 
spirit.  No  one  can  ever  picture  the  scenes 
of  anguish  of  spirit  that  we  see  at  this  pork 
We  frequently  find  it  necessary  to  carry 
people  bodily  from  the  building  and  put 
them  on  the  ship,  many  of  them  going  into 
hysterics  and  threatening  to  jump  over- 
board. 

It  is  said  by  many  that  the  other  nations 
would  not  permit  us  to  come  to  their  shores 
and  pick  the  desirables  from  those  seeking 
emigration  to  this  country.  If  this  policy 
were  adopted,  either  through  diplomacy  or 
legislation  or  both,  I  believe  it  would  be 
only  a  short  time  before  public  opinion  in 
those  countries  would  so  assert  itself  that 
the  nations  would  be  asking  us  to  send  our 
doctors  and  our  inspectors  to  their  ports. 


444 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Inspection  over  there  is  infinitely  better 
than  rejection  over  here.  The  day  must 
come  when  there  will  be  a  change  in  this 
inhumane  and  unbusinesslike  system  of 
bringing  the  immigrant  to  our  shore. 

A  most  effective  way  of  evading  the  rig- 
orous tests  of  our  immigration  laws  is  for 
the  foreigner  to  come  as  a  seaman.  The 
door  is  thus  open  for  all  kinds  of  un- 
desirable aliens  to  arrive  in  this  guise.  The 
desertion  of  seamen  has  been  very  heavy. 
The  steamships  of  one  nation  reported  to 
me  last  week  that  in  less  than  ninety  days 
2,000  seamen  had  deserted  their  ships  at  this 
port.  A  ship's  crew,  made  up  of  Arabs, 
Turks  and  Armenians,  lost  seventy-five  of 
its  number  while  here.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
of  them  would  have  been  admissible  under 
our  immigration  laws. 

Desertion  has  been  so  heavy  of  late  that 
it  has  been  necessary  for  the  immigrant 
inspectors  to  examine  the  seamen  between 
the  quarantine  station  and  the  piers  at 
Manhattan.  Before  the  ship  can  make  fast 
to  the  pier,  these  seamen  rush  from  the  boat 
like  rats  from  a  burning  building.  They 
run  off  the  ship,  swing  out  to  the  pier  by  the 
use  of  ropes,  and  resort  to  almost  any 
hazard  to  go  ashore,  where  they  are  lost  in 
the  great  crowds  upon  our  streets.  If  we 
continue  to  inspect  seamen  at  the  same  rate 
as  they  have  been  coming  to  us  in  the  last 
six  months,  we  will  actually  inspect  800,000 
seamen  in  this  port  during  1921.  Some 
forty-three  Chinamen  were  recently  picked 
up  and  deported  as  seamen  deserters. 

HUNDREDS  OF  STOWAWAYS 

Another  menace  that  threatens  the  safety 
of  the  country  is  that  of  the  stowaways. 
A  book  could  be  written  upon  this  subject 
alone.  The  story  is  romantic  and  thrilling, 
Never  in  the  history  of  the  nation  have 
stowaways  been  coming  in  such  great  num- 
bers. Recently  we  have  had  three  ships 
with  eighteen  stowaways  each,  two  with 
sixteen,  one  with  nineteen,  one  with  twenty- 
three,  and  another  with  forty-three.  The 
other  day  one  ship  came  in  with  fifty-four 
stowaways. 

Two  stowaways  recently  jumped  from  a 
big  ship  at  the  Narrows.  One  of  them 
was  drowned.  The  other  was  picked  up 
at  Hoffman  Island.  After  much  persuad- 
ing he  gave  some  interesting  information. 
There  was  a  stowaway  organization  on  the 


other  side,  he  said,  working  from  Greece 
out  to  the  Mediterranean  coast  and  up  to 
Liverpool.  This  organization  sells  passage 
to  the  stowaways  for  from  $25  to  $30  apiece. 
The#  regular  fare  is  $130.  They  stand  in 
with  the  seamen,  who  hide  the  stowaways 
in  the  ship  and  feed  them  all  the  way 
across  the  sea.  This  stowaway  further  said 
that  when  his  ship  left  Trieste  they  put 
ashore  eighteen  stowaways.  The  vessel 
then  proceeded  to  Palermo.  A  thorough 
search  was  made  there  and  sixteen  more 
stowaways  were  put  ashore.  Then  the  ship 
moved  up  to  Naples.  The  marines  at  Na- 
ples assisted  the  officials  in  searching  the 
vessel.  Fourteen  more  stowaways  were  put 
ashore. 

This  stowaway  told  us  that  twelve  more 
stowaways  could  be  found  in  the  hold  of 
the  vessel.  The  officers  of  the  ship,  the 
Captain  included,  all  refused  to  go  down  into 
the  hold  to  make  the  search.  They  said 
that  they  would  do  so  only  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives.  Finally  nine  policemen  and  de- 
tectives with  drawn  guns  searched  the 
ship  and  the  twelve  stowaways  were 
brought  out.  When  these  twelve  stow- 
aways saw  their  comrade,  who  had  dis- 
closed their  hiding,  they  said  to  him. 
"  When  we  get  you  back  in  Naples,  we'll 
cut  your  heart  out."  The  young  man  began 
to  cry.  We  assured  him  he  would  not  be 
sent  back  with  the  other  stowaways. 

The  stowaways,  as  a  class,  are  made  up 
of  the  scum  of  the  country  from  which  they 
come.  They  are,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
ex-convicts,  criminals  and  degenerates.  We 
are  told  that  they  are  frequently  assisted 
in  going  aboard  vessels  by  the  police  of- 
ficials of  those  countries.  However,  some- 
times we  find  among  the  stowaways  a 
worthy  case,  but  to  determine  the  admission 
of  any  of  the  stowaways  is  an  exceedingly 
difficult  undertaking. 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  class  of  cases  is 
that  of  the  immigrant  who  comes  to  this 
port  believing  himself  fully  qualified  for 
admission,  only  to  find,  after  passing  the 
doctors  and  inspectors,  that  his  passport 
has  a  fraudulent  vise.  There  is  a  well-or- 
ganized band  of  counterfeiters  and  forgers 
on  the  other  side,  who  are  systematically 
exploiting  the  immigrants  by  persuading 
them  to  pay  exorbitant  sums  for  the  viseing 
of  their  passports.  This  includes  two  classes 
of  cases:  those  who  have  been  refused  vises 


TREATING  INCOMING  ALIENS  AS  HUMAN  BEINGS 


445 


by  the  American  Consuls  and  those  who 
come  from  interior  points  and  have  been 
waiting  for  weeks  in  line  to  appear  at  the 
American  Consulate.  The  passport  thieves 
pass  along  the  line,  persuade  these  people 
to  leave  it,  and  take  them  to  some  part  of 
the  city,  where  they  use  a  facsimile  of  the 
vise  stamp  and  the  signature  of  the  Consul. 
They  also  use  counterfeit  $10  fee  stamps. 
These  stamps  are  good  imitations  of  the 
American  revenue  stamp,  except  that  they 
are  a  shade  off  in  color.  Immigrants  ar- 
riving with  fraudulent  vises  must  be  de- 
ported, no  exceptions  being  made  in  these 
cases.  Many  women  and  children  are  the 
sad  victims  of  this  new  phase  of  robbery 
and  extortion  on  the  other  side. 

PROBLEMS  OF  QUARANTINE 

One  of  the  worst  menaces  in  immigration 
is  the  danger  of  bringing  loathsome  and 
dangerous  diseases  from  the  plague  spots 
on  the  other  side.  We  are  told  that  at  the 
frontiers  of  the  nations  in  Europe,  quaran- 
tine officials  are  confronted  by  a  singular 
problem.  Most  of  the  refugees'  clothing  is 
so  rotted  that  it  will  not  stand  the  strain 
of  disinfection.  If  new  clothing  be  not  at 
hand,  it  is  not  less  than  criminal  to  disin- 
fect the  old.  Therefore  many  of  the  im- 
migrants cannot  be  made  safe  for  society 
under  existing  conditions.  If  Ellis  Island 
needs  anything  in  the  world  next  to  a  new 
Ellis  Island,  it  needs  a  great  system  of 
baths  so  that  every  man,  woman  and  child 
passing  through  our  gateway  should  receive 
a  disinfectant  bath  before  entering  the 
buildings.  While  they  are  being  cleansed 
their  luggage  could  be  sterilized  and  made 
free  of  disease  germs  and  vermin.  This 
bath  was  required  of  every  soldier  when  he 
returned  home.  Not  a  mother's  son  could 
enter  this  country  until  he  had  been  washed 
and  all  his  luggage  fumigated. 

An  erroneous  impression  seems  to  pre- 
vail in  some  quarters  that  the  immigration 
authorities  at  United  States  ports  are  re- 
sponsible  for   the   enforcement   of   quaran- 


tine laws  and  regulations.  This  is  not  a 
fact.  The  immigration  officials  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  enforcement  of  quaran- 
tine laws.  Our  sole  duty  is  to  enforce  the 
immigration  laws  after  quarantine  has 
granted  "  pratique  "  to  arriving  ships. 

When  the  immigration  officials  have  de- 
termined that  an  alien  is  eligible  for  ad- 
mission, it  is  their  duty  to  land  him  prompt- 
ly, irrespective  of  his  destination.  The 
strict  and  impartial  enforcement  of  the  im- 
migration law  will  continue  to  be  the  dili- 
gent and  untiring  aim  of  the  Ellis  Island 
officials. 

As  we  look  out  over  the  world  we  see 
humanity  stunned,  bruised  and  bleeding, 
but,  thank  God,  still  free.  This  country  has 
been  urged  to  save  Europe.  We  are  willing 
to  do  what  we  can  for  humanity's  sake. 
We  must  revive,  recreate  and  reconstruct 
what  the  war  has  laid  waste ;  and,  more,  we 
must  feed  and  clothe  Europe,  and  also  fur- 
nish the  money  to  defray  the  cost  of  relief. 

Europe's  plight  is  very  grave.  We  had 
no  hand  in  bringing  it  about,  but  we  con- 
tributed very  heavily  in  relieving  it  when 
we  sent  over  our  men  to  help  to  stop  the 
war.  The  great  pity  is  that  we  did  not  keep 
on  till  we  reached  Berlin,  in  order  to  settle 
the  question  decisively  once  for  all.  Con- 
gress has  its  hands  full,  but  I  have  every 
confidence  in  the  intelligence,  courage  and 
patriotism  of  Congress  and  the  new  Ad- 
ministration to  safeguard  America  and 
American  interests. 

So  far  as  my  administration  is  concerned, 
the  gates  at  Ellis  Island  swing  both  ways. 
They  swing  inwardly  in  cordial  reception  to 
the  alien  in  sympathy  with  American  ideals, 
who  is  willing  to  work  and  become  a  cor- 
porate part  of  the  United  States.  But  these 
same  gates  swing  outwardly,  eternally  and 
impassably,  to  the  man  or  woman  who  by 
word  or  deed  would  destroy  the  peace  and 
tranquillity  of  the  nation  or  threaten  the 
overthrow  of  its  free  institutions. 


(Graphic    Diagram   from    the    Literarij    Digest) 

THE   SIZE    OF    THE    HUMAN    FIGURE    IN    EACH    CASE    INDICATES    THE    RELATIVE    NUMBER 
OF    ALIENS    OF    THAT   NATIONALITY    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES 


u* 


W^   '^' 


NEW  LAW  RESTRICTING  IMMIGRATION 


A  LAW  restricting  foreign  immigration 
•£**  into  the  United  States  to  3  per  cent,  of 
the  foreign-born  persons  in  this  country  in 
1910  was  passed  by  Congress  in  the  closing 
days  of  the  Wilson  Administration,  but 
President  Wilson  vetoed  it  by  leaving  it  un- 
signed when  he  went  out  of  office.  The 
Sixty-seventh  Congress  has  now  enacted  the 
same  law,  practically  unchanged,  and  at 
this  writing  it  awaits  only  the  signature  of 
President  Harding.  The  House  passed  it 
on  April  22,  1921,  without  a  rollcall.  The 
Senate  passed  it  on  May  3  by  a  vote  of  78 
to  1,  the  only  adverse  vote  being  cast  by 
Senator  Reed  of  Missouri.  Numerous  amend- 
ments proposed  in  both  houses,  notably  a 
provision  permitting  immigration  of  victims 
of  religious  or  political  persecution,  were 
rejected  by  decisive  majorities. 

The  new  law  will  become  effective  within 
fifteen  days  after  being  signed  by  the  Pres- 
ident, and  will  continue  in  force  until  June 
30,  1922.  By  limiting  the  number  of  immi- 
grants to  3  per  cent,   of  the  foreign-born 


persons  of  each  nationality  in  the  United 
States  as  determined  by  the  census  of  1910, 
the  new  law  will  permit  only  about  350,000 
immigrants  to  land  here  in  the  next  thirteen 
months,  divided  as  follows: 

NORTHWESTERN     EUROPE. 

Belgium    1,482 

Denmark    5,440 

France    3,523 

Germany    75,040 

Netherlands    3,624 

Norway    12,116 


Sweden   19,956 

Switzerland   3,745 

United  Kingdom. 77, 206 

Total   N.   W. 
Europe 202,212 


OUTSIDE    NORTHWESTERN    EUROPE. 


Turkey  in  Europe     967 
Turkey  in  Asia..  1,792 


Total  outside  N. 
W.   Europe....  153,249 
Total  N.  W. 
Europe   202,212 


Austria    50,117 

Bulgaria   345 

Serbia    139 

Greece  3,038 

Montenegro    161 

Italy  40,294 

Portugal    1,781 

Rumania    1,978 

Spain 663 

Russia    51,974  Grand  total . .  .355,461 

There  was  a  frantic  rush,  especially  in 
Southeastern  Europe,  to  get  into  the  United 
States  before  the  new  restrictions  were  im- 
posed, and  American  representatives  abroad 
reported  in  May  that  they  could  handle  only 
a  small  percentage  of  the  applications  for 
vise  of  passports. 


AMERICA'S  FOREIGN-BORN  MILLIONS 


THE  Census  Bureau  at  Washington  on 
April  23  gave  out  statistics,  based  on 
the  1920  census,  regarding  the  persons  of 
foreign  birth  now  living  in  the  United 
States.  Our  foreign-born  population  last 
year  totaled  13,703,987.  This  was  an  in- 
crease of  358,442,  or  2.7  per  cent.,  over  1910. 
In  the  decade  ended  with  1910  the  increase 
had  been   30.7   per   cent.;   the   greatly   les- 


sened increase  in  the  last  decade  is  ascribed 
to  the  almost  complete  absence  of  immigra- 
tion during  the  war,  and  to  the  considerable 
emigration  in  the  same  period. 

A  view  of  the  comparative  standing  of 
foreign  countries  in  the  number  of  immi- 
grants sent  here  shows  that  Germany  still 
leads  with  1,683,298,  though  this  figure 
means   that  there  are   now   818,035   fewer 


AMERICA'S  FOREIGN-BORN  MILLIONS  447 

Germans  in  the  United  States  than  there  than  that  of  the  decade  1900-1910.  Mexico 
were  in  1910.  Italy  takes  second  place  in  increased  its  contribution  of  human  ex- 
the  number  of  her  citizens  now  in  this  coun-  ports  to  the  United  States  by  nearly  100 
try ;  in  the  preceding  census  she  was  fourth.  per  cent,  in  the  last  decade,  raising  the  total 
Russia  has  taken  the  third  rank  from  Ire-  from  254,761  to  476,676.  Austria,  formerly 
land,  while  Poland  falls  into  fourth  place.  sixth  on  the  list,  is  now  ninth,  representing 
Canada  is  fifth,  but  with  a  figure  consider-  the  second  largest  numerical  decrease.  The 
bly  less  than  in  the  preceding  decade.  Ire-  Census  Bureau's  general  table  of  foreign- 
land's  total  of  1,035,680  represents  a  de-  born  residents,  arranged  alphabetically  by 
crease  of  316,571,  a  much  greater  decrease  States,  is  as  follows: 

FOREIGN-BORN  WHITE  POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Increase  Increase 
State                                                          Foreign-Born  White  1910-1920  1900-1910 
1920 1910         *            1900 Number         P.Ct.  Number  P.  Ct. 

United     States 13,703,987         13,345,545  10.213.817         358,442             2.7  3,131.728  30.7 

Alabama    17,662                18,956  14,338          *1,294           *6.8  ~  4,618  32~1> 

Arizona     78,099                46,824  22,395           31,275           66.8  24,429  109.1 

Arkansas     13,975                16,909  14,186          *2,934        *17.4  2,723  19.2 

California 681,654              517,250  316,505         164,404           31.8  200,745  63.4 

Colorado     116,954              126,851  90,475           *9,897           *7.8  36,376  40.2 

Connecticut     376,513              328,759  237,396           47,754           14.5  91,363  38.5 

Delaware    19,810                17.420  13,729            2,390          13.7  3,691  26.9 

District  of  Columbia 28,548                24,351  19,520            4,197          17.2  4,831  v.4.7 

Florida    43,008                33,842  19,257             9,166           27.1  14,585  75.7 

Georgia     16,186                15,072  12,021             1,114,           7.4  3,051  25.4 

Idaho     38,963                40,427  21,890           *1,464          *3.6  18.537  84.7 

Illinois     1,204,403           1,202,560  964,635             1,843             0.2  237,925  24.7 

Indiana    150,868              159,322  141,861           *8,454           *5.3  17,461  12.3 

Iowa    225,647              273,484  305,782         *47,837         *17.5  *32,298  *10.6 

Kansas     110,578              135,190  126,577        *24,612         *18.2  8,613  6.8 

Kentucky     30.780               40,053  50,133           *9,273         *23.2  *10.080  *20.1 

Louisiana    44.871                51,782  51,853           *6,911         *13.3  *71  *0.1 

Maine    107,300               110,133  92,935           *2,833           *2.6  17,198  .  18.5 

Maryland     102,148              104,174  .     93,144          *2,026          *1.9  11,030  11.8 

Massachusetts     1,077,072           1,051,050  840,114           26,022             2.5  210,936  25.1 

Michigan     726,214              595,524  540,196         130,690           21.9  55,328  10.2 

Minnesota     485,261               543,010  504,935         *57,749         *10.6  38,075  7.5 

Mississippi    8,019                  9,389  7,625           *1,390         *14.6  >»     1,764  23.1 

Missouri     185,893              228,896  215,775         *43,003         *18.8  13,121  6.1 

Montana     93,447                91,644  62,373             1,803             2.0  29,271  46.9 

Nebraska     149,652              175,865  177,117         *26,213         *14.9  *1,252  *0.7 

Nevada     14,802                17,999  8,581           *3,197         *17.8  9,418  109.8 

New    Hampshire    91,154                96,558  87,961           *5,404           *5.6  8.597  9.8 

New  Jersey    738.761              658,188.  430,050          80,573           12.2  228,138  53.0 

New  Mexico    29,077                22.654  13,261            6,423          28.4  9,393  70.8 

New   York    2.783,773           2,729,272  1,889,523           54,501             2.0  839,749  44.4 

North  Carolina   7,099                  5,942  4,394             1,157           19.5  1,548  35.2 

North    Dakota    131,486              156,158  112,590         *24,672         *15.8  43,568  38.7 

Ohio     678,647              597,245  457,900           81,402           13.6  139,345  30.4 

f  Oklahoma     39,951                 40,084  20,390              *133           *0.3  19,694  96.6 

Oregon    102,149               103,001  53,861              *852           *0.8  49.140  91.2 

Pennsylvania    1.387,298           1,438.719  982,543         *51.421           *3.6  456,176  46.4 

Rhode    Island    173,366              178,025  133,772           *4,659           *2.6  44,253  33.1 

South   Carolina    6,401                   6,054  5,371                347             5.7  683  12.7 

South   Dakota    82,372               100,628  88,329         *18,256         *18.1  12.299  13.9 

Tennessee    15,479                18,459  17,586          *2,980         *16.1  873  5.0 

Texas     360,071              239,984  177,581         120,087           50.0  62,403  35.1 

Utah     56,429                63,393  52,804           *6,964         *11.0  10,589  20.1 

Vermont     44,499                49,861  44,694           *5,362         *10.8  5,167  11.6 

Virginia     30,784                26,628  19,068             4,156           15.6  7,560  39.6 

Washington     249,818              241,197  102,125             8,621             3.6  139,072  136.2 

West  Virginia    61,899                57,072  22,379             4.827             8.5  34,693  155.0 

Wisconsin     459,904              512.569  515,705         *52,665         *10.2  *3,136  *0.6 

Wyoming     25,243               27,118  16,582           *1,875          *7.0  10,536  63.5 

♦Decrease,     flncludes  population  of  Indian  Territory  for  1900. 


(Courtesy   of  Radium    Co,    of    Colorado) 
CRUDE    CARNOTITE    OR    RADIUM    ORE    AS    SHIPPED    FROM    THE    MINES    IN    SACKS 


THE  STORY  OF  RADIUM  IN  AMERICA 

By  Thomas  C.  Jefferies 

Truth  about  the  mysterious  metal,  worth  180,000  times  as  much  as  gold — Though 
Mme.  Curie  discovered  it  in  Europe,  it  is  now  produced  almost  solely '  in  the  Un  ited 
States — Limitations  of  its  use  for  the  cure  of  cancer — Romance  of  radium  mining 


ALITTLE  over  half  a  century  ago,  or, 
j\  to  be  more  definite,  in  the  year  1867, 
X  JLthere  was  born  in  the  City  of  War- 
saw, Poland,  a  woman  who  was  destined 
to  become  world-renowned  through  scien- 
tific research,  and  especially  as  one  of  the 
co-discoverers  of  the  most  wonderful  min- 
eral in  the  world.  This  woman  was  Mme. 
Curie,  who  is  now  visiting  the  United 
States,  and  the  mineral,  which  for  the  first 
time  was  isolated  by  her  and  her  French 
husband,  Professor  Curie,  was  radium. 
Hence  the  appropriateness  of  the  movement 
to  raise  $120,000  and  present  her  with  a 
gram  of  radium  for  experimental  pur- 
poses. 

Dr.  Robert  Abbe  of  New  York  has  given 
us  much  interesting  information  regarding 
this  remarkable  woman  in  his  book  called 
"  Madame  Curie."  He  tells  us  that  her 
father  was  a  Polish  Jew  named  Ladislaus 
Sklodowski,  who  was  a  professor  of  physics 
at  the  University  of  Warsaw.  Her  mother 
was  a  Swede.  As  a  young  woman  she  went 
to  Paris  to  pursue  advanced  work  in  science. 
While  there  she  led  an  austerely  simple 
life  combined  with  intensive  studies,  which 


greatly  increased  her  store  of  scientific 
knowledge  and  experience.  She  was  wel- 
comed into  the  Latin  Quarter,  and  eventual- 
ly became  associated  with  the  famous  phy- 
sicist and  X-ray  investigator,  Professor 
Henri  Becquerel.  While  engaged  with  this 
scientist  in  important  experiments,  she  met 
Professor  Curie,  then  a  professor  of  chem- 
istry, who  later  became  her  husband.  With 
him  she  became  the  co-discoverer  of  the 
mineral  with  which  their  name  will  always 
be  associated. 

Radium  has  proved  itself  ?o  valuable  in 
the  treatment  of  human  disease  that  every 
effort  should  be  made  to  conserve  it  after 
it  has  been  isolated.  The  life  of  radium  is 
estimated  at  1,760  to  2,000  years.  Experi- 
enced surgeons  say  that  if  radium  were  use- 
ful for  nothing  else,  the  relief  from  pain 
it  gives  in  certain  forms  of  cancer  makes 
it  worth  its  whole  cost.  Radium  cures  some 
tumors  which,  before  this  substance  was  dis- 
covered, were  successfully  treated  only  by 
severe  operations.  That  it  does  not  cure 
all  cancers  or  all  tumors  is  beside  the  mark. 
Its  value  is  sufficiently  proved  without 
claiming  for  it  universal  application. 


THE  STORY  OF  RADIUM  IN  AMERICA 


449 


The  price  of  radium  within  the  recent 
past  ranged  from  $90  to  $120  per  milligram 
for  the  element  contained  in  a  salt.  Since 
the  war  most  of  us  have  learned  to  regard 
the  necessities  of  life  as  representing  rather 
high  standards  of  value  when  measured  in 
terms  of  gold  dollars;  but  imagine  a  sub- 
stance that  in  volume  and  quantity  is  180,- 
000  times  the  value  of  gold,  or,  in  other 
words,  a  substance  of  which  a  quantity  the 
size  of  a  five-dollar  gold  piece  is  worth 
S'J00,000!  Considering,  however,  the  hard- 
ship and  the  privation  that  both  man  and 
beast  are  obliged  to  undergo  in  order  to 
obtain  this  precious  mineral,  and  the  long, 
complicated  and  expensive  process  by  which 
the  ore  must  be  treated  before  its  valuable 
residues  can  be  secured  for  the  use  of  hu- 
manity, the  present  writer,  who  spent  some 
years  in  the  radium  fields,  and  who  later, 


MME.    MARIE    CURIE 

Discoverer    of    Radium,   now   visiting   the 

United  States 


in  the  laboratory  and  the  clinic,  has  seen 
many  cases  of  malignant  growth-  retarded 
or  cured  completely,  has  become  convinced 
that  the  vast  monetary  value  of  this  min- 
eral has  not  been  overrated. 

Some  one  has  told  us  that  heaven  knows 
how  to  place  a  proper  price  upon  its  wares. 
With  this  in  mind,  we  may  regard  the  al- 
most inaccessible  deposits  of  radium  ore, 
their  distance  from  such  necessities  as  fuel, 
food  and  water,  and  the  difficulty  and  enor- 
mous expense  of  reducing  the  ore  to  its  pre- 
cious content,  as  nature's  compensatory 
method  of  price  fixing. 

Radium  is  found  in  quantities  so  exceed- 
ingly small  that  it  is  never  visible  even 
when  the  material  is  examined  with  the  aid 
of  a  microscope.  Radium  ore  ordinarily 
carries  only  a  small  fraction  of  a  grain  of 
radium  to  the  ton,  and  radium  will  never 
be  found  in  large  masses  because  it  is 
formed  by  the  decay  of  uranium,  a  process 
that  is  amazingly  slow,  while  in  its  natural 
state  radium  itself  decays  and  changes  to 
other  elements  so  rapidly  that  it  does  not 
accumulate  in  visible  masses. 

Radio  activity,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
characteristic  manner  in  which  radium 
manifests  its  presence,  was  accidentally  dis- 
covered by  Professor  Becquerel  while  carry- 
ing some  radium  in  a  tube  in  his  waistcoat 
pocket.  The  burning  of  his  body  about  the 
chest  led  to  his  discovery  of  the  therapeutic 
value  of  the  substance.  Even  after  Mme. 
Curie's  discovery  of  radium  it  was  still  re- 
garded as  a  scientific  curiosity  until  Pro- 
fessor Becquerel's  accident.  With  this  evi- 
dence that  radium  would  destroy  tissue  its 
later  employment  in  fighting  malignant  dis- 
ease was  but  a  question  of  time  and  experi- 
mentation. 

Radium  crystals  give  off  minute  explo- 
sions at  the  rate  of  about  360,000  per  sec- 
ond. These  explosions  form  a  gas,  and  it 
is  this  gaseous  emanation  which  is  the 
therapeutic  agent.  There  is  no  remedial  ac- 
tion in  the  powder  itself.  The  presence  of 
radium  is  manifested  by  the  repelling  of 
disks  and  sheets  of  tinfoil  that  form  a  part 
of  a  testing  apparatus. 

Radium  minerals  are  generally  found  in 
granite  formation.  Most  of  the  original 
radium  minerals,  such  as  uranitite,  samars- 
kite  and  brannerite  are  black,  and  are  sel- 
dom found  in  quantities  of  much  commercial 
value.      Pitchblende    is    of    practically    the 


450 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


same  composition  as  uranitite  and  of  the 
same  general  appearance,  excepting  that  it 
shows  no  crystal  form  and  occurs  in  veins. 
It  has  been  found  in  but  few  places,  among 
them  Bohemia,  Southern  Saxony,  Cornwall 
and  in  Gilpin  County,  Colorado. 

When  these  original  radium  minerals 
break  down  through  the  effect  of  the  ele- 
ments upon  them  other  radium  elements  are 
formed  from  them,  such  as  antunite,  tyuya- 
munite  and  carnotite.  The  latter  two  are 
the  most  abundant  and  furnish  the  bulk 
of  the  world's  radium.  To  the  naked  eye 
they  appear  exactly  alike,  both  being  of  a 
bright  canary  yellow.  They  are  powdery, 
of  very  fine  crystals,  although  in  rare  in- 
stances they  are  of  a  claylike  nature. 
Carnotite  is  technically  known  as  potassium 
uranium  vanadate.  Tyuyamunite,  which  is 
similar  in  composition,  contains  lime  in- 
stead of  potash.  Large  deposits  of  this  last 
substance  have  been  found  in  Russian 
Turkestan.  The  greatest  known  deposits 
of  the  two  minerals,  however,  are  found 
in  Southwestern  Colorado  and  Southeastern 
Utah,  where  both  are  associated  with  fossil 
wood  and  other  vegetation  in  friable, 
porous,  finely  grained  sandstone.  It  is  re- 
ported that  small  quantities  of  carnotite 
also  have  been  produced  at  Radium  Hill, 
near  Olary,  South  Australia. 

In  America  radium  has  been  obtained 
chiefly  from  carnotite  ore,  the  principal  de- 
posit of  which  is  in  the  southwestern  sec- 
tion of  Montrose  County,  Colorado,  in  a 
valley  called  "  Paradox,"  because,  unlike 
most  valleys,  it  runs  at  right  angles  to  the 
mountain  ranges  which  enclose  it.  This 
ore  deposit  extends  over  into  Utah,  but  the 
Paradox  Valley  may  be  regarded  as  Amer- 
ica's radium  fields  proper.  This  section  is 
rich  with  legend  and  tradition  of  the  Amer- 
ican red  man,  for  our  radium  fields  are  lo- 
cated on  the  site  of  a  famous  old  Indian 
playground — a  reservation  once  occupied  in 
peace  and  contentment  by  the  Ute  tribe  of 
Indians. 

Radium  ore  seems  always  to  be  found  in 
places  that  possess  potential  hardships. 
Most  camps,  when  new,  are  tented  villages. 
So  it  was  in  the  camp  in  Paradox  Valley 
in  which  I  once  sojourned.  Offices,  bunks 
and  mess  were  under  canvas.  They  have 
since  been  more  permanently  established  in 
frame  buildings,  as  shown  in  the  photograph 
(Page   453)    of  headquarters   camp   in   the 


radium  fields.  The  "  front  yard  "  of  radium 
headquarters  is  an  expanse  of  alkali  desert 
land,  cactus  and  sagebrush;  the  back  yard  is 
a  mountainside  of  jagged  rocks  and  scrubby 
pinon  trees.  One  of  the  few  remaining  open 
cattle  ranges  in  this  country  is  in  this  re- 
gion, and  during  much  of  the  year  large 
numbers  of  range  cattle  graze  and  roam  at 
will.  Cattle  raising,  however,  has  become 
merely  an  incidental  occupation;  most 
thoughts  and  dreams  there  run  to  the 
precious  radium.  That  is  the  chief  subject 
of  conversation  for  prospector,  miner  and 
operator.  When  some  one  tells  of  a  new 
radium  claim  located,  or  a  new  body  of  good 
ore  uncovered,  eyes  widen  and  listening 
ears  eagerly  catch  each  word. 

As  a  rule,  radium  miners  come  from  gold 
and  silver  mining  districts.  Many  come 
into  Paradox  from  Telluride,  the  nearest 
large  quartz  mining  camp,  about  seventy- 
five  miles  to  the  southeast.  At  that  place 
are  situated  such  large  mines  as  the  Tom 
Boy,  Smuggler  Union,  and,  a  short  dis- 
tance further,  the  famous  Bird  Mine  at 
Ouray.  Hard  rock  miners  as  a  rule  are  ig- 
norant concerning  both  the  nature  and  the 
location  of  carnotite  ore.  The  miner  in 
quartz  must  learn  the  mining  game  over 
again  when  he  goes  to  the  radium  fields. 
Deep  shafts  and  long  drifts  are  seldom  re- 
quired, radium  mining  frequently  being  con- 
ducted by  quarrying  operations.  Most 
miners  of  carnotite  develop  a  hacking 
cough,  caused  by  the  fine  dust  raised  by 
the  handling  of  this  ore. 

There  must  be  a  well-equipped  camp,  lo- 
cated conveniently  near  wood  and  water, 
both  of  which  are  scarce  in  the  radium 
fields.  Within  the  camp  there  must  be 
plenty  of  good,  substantial  food  and  cloth- 
ing. The  operator  must  also  have  many 
thousands  of  heavy  canvas  sacks  available, 
and  needles  and  twine  with  which  to  sew 
the  sacks  when  they  are  filled.  Production 
requires  picks,  shovels  and  drill  steel  and  a 
forge,  for  mining  tools  must  be  kept  sharp- 
ened. There  must  be  powder,  caps  and 
fuse  and  a  burro  train  for  packing  the  ore 
from  the  mountainside  to  the  foot  of  the 
hill.  Not  only  is  the  original  cost  of  pro- 
duction of  radium-bearing  ore  high,  but 
long  hauls  and  handling  and  rehandling  en 
route  increase  it.  The  use  of  tractors  in 
freighting  the  ore  in  recent  years  is  proving 
successful. 


THE  STORY  OF  RADIUM  IN  AMERICA 


451 


Mankind  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the 
courageous  and  unselfish  pioneers  who  sup- 
plied the  means  with  which  this  work  was 
carried  on  during  the  days  when  no  com- 
mercial return  came  back  to  them.  Long 
before  a  ray  of  light  broke  through  or  a 
dollar  returned  for  the  bread  they  cast  upon 
the  water,  these  men  had  demonstrated 
their  faith  to  the  extent  of  $500,000,  and 
were  content  to  keep  going  in  the  thought 
that  the  final  result  of  their  efforts  would 
be  of  great  benefit  to  humanity.  Unfor- 
tunately, Joseph  and  James  Flannery,  the 
pioneers  in  this  work,  have  both  died  within 
the  last  two  years,  and  can  in  no  event  share 
in  humanity's  verdict. 

Many  times  I  have  heard  Joseph  M.  Flan- 
nery relate  the  circumstances  that  influ- 
enced him  to  enter  the  course  that  made 
him  the  world's  largest  radium  producer. 
Several  years  ago,  when  the  spectre  of  death 
crossed  the  threshold  of  the  Flannery 
heme  at  Pittsburgh,-  and  cancer  bore  away 
one  of  its  members,  Joseph  Flannery,  with 
all  the  solemn  determination  of  a  head  thus 
bowed  and  a  heart  thus  weighted,  imposed 
upon  himself  an  obligation  to  find  a  cure 
for  the  disease  whose  ravages  he  had  wit- 
nessed, a  scourge  that  has  disregarded  time, 
geography,  race  and  circumstance.     He  dis- 


EXTRACTING  RADIUM  FROM  ORE 

View   of  the  grinding  and  sampling  room  in 

reduction  works 

(Courtesy    Radium    Co.    of    Colorado) 


patched  experts  to  Europe,  who  reported 
back  to  him  that  radium  would  do  the  work, 
and  forthwith  he  set  out  to  obtain  the 
precious  substance  in  quantity.  He  estab- 
lished at  Pittsburgh  the  largest  and  most 
complete  radium  laboratory  in  the  world, 
and  his  mines  in  Colorado  attained  an  out- 
put of  over  100  tons  of  ore  a  month,  from 
which  one  gram  of  radium  was  obtained. 
Flannery,  shortly  before  his  death,  stated 
that  the  production  of  the  world's  annual 
ounce  of  radium  involved  the  use  of  not 
less  than  1,400  carloads  of  raw  material, 
of  which  1,500  tons  is  carnotite  ore,  the 
basic  ore  that  is  found  in  Colorado. 

RADIUM'S  WAR  ON  CANCER 

Radium  is  not  yet  "  ex-mystery."  Al- 
though it  has  been  used  in  the  treatment 
of  cancerous  growths  for  several  years, 
its  curative  properties  are  not  wholly  un- 
derstood. It  is  generally  admitted  that,  in 
the  main,  radium  is  still  in  the  infancy 
period  of  investigation.  Questions  in  the 
form  of  experiments  are  still  being  ad- 
dressed to  nature  on  the  subject.  Its 
value,  however,  has  been  sufficiently  demon- 
strated to  induce  many  European  cities  to 
equip  municipal  hospitals  with  a  working 
supply  of  the  costly  mineral.  One  great 
obstacle  to  investigation  and  experiment; 
both  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  has 
been  the  almost  prohibitive  cost  of  the  sub- 
stance. Mme.  Curie  herself  has  had  to 
forego  further  study  owing  to  the  fact  that 
she  possessed  no  radium,  and  had  not  the 
means  to  purchase  it.  And  yet,  before  the 
war,  the  world's  supply  of  radium  came 
from  Europe.  Since  1914  that  leadership  has 
been  transferred  to  America.  When  hostili- 
ties ceased,  the  United  States  was  produc- 
ing almost  the  entire  world  output,  which 
amounts  to  but  an  ounce,  or  approximately 
a  teaspoonful,  annually,  and  it  sells  readily 
at  $3,500,000.  It  is  estimated  that  the  total 
amount  of  radium  in  the  United  States  at 
the  present  time  does  not  exceed  twenty- 
five  grams,  and  that  not  over  100  grams 
can  be  located  in  the  whole  world. 

Despite  the  cost  and  scarcity  of  the  sub- 
stance, however,  the  use  of  radium  goes  on 
apace.  A  gram  of  it,  worth  about  $120,000, 
has  been  purchased  for  clinical  and  experi- 
mental purposes  by  the  Post-Graduate  Med- 
ical School  and  Hospital  of  New  York.  This 
is  the  largest  amount  of  radium  ever  as- 


452 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


sembled  for  instruction  purposes.  The 
State  of  New  York,  furthermore,  has  pur- 
chased for  the  State  Institution  for  the 
Study  of  Malignant  Diseases  at  Buffalo 
two  and  one-fourth  grams  of  radium,  for 
which  the  sum  of  $225,000  was  paid. 
Though  the  whole  purchase  could  readily  be 
contained  in  an  ordinary  fountain-pen  bar- 
rel, it  is  enough  to  be  a.  great  permanent 
asset  to  the  State  and  to  do  untold  good 
to  .suffering  humanity. 

Though  the  action  of  New  York  State 
marks  a  forward  step  in  the  treatment  of 
cancer,  victims  of  that  disease  have  been 
treated  free  in  New  York  since  1889,  at 
the  Memorial  Hospital  for  the  Treatment  of 
Cancer  and  Allied  Diseases.  Since  1914 
that  hospital  has  treated  these  diseases  ex- 
clusively. Its  medical  staff,  in  affiliation 
with  the  Cornell  Medical  School,  has  been 
studying  the  application  of  radium  to  the 
treatment  and  cure  of  cancer  since  1912. 
Through  the  generosity  of  the  late  Dr. 
James  Douglas,  eminent  mining  engineer 
and  metallurgist,  the  Memorial  Hospital  in 
1917  received  over  three  grams  of  radium, 
valued  at  about  $300,000,  and  later  the  hos- 
pital received  by  deposit  from  the  United 
States  Government,  through  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  over  one-half  a  gram  of  radium  to 
be  used  for  the  treatment  of  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  United  States.  This  is  said 
to  be  the  largest  deposit  of  the  substance 


held  by  any  public  medical  institution  in 
the  world.  It  is  used  exclusively  for  the 
treatment  of  cancer,  and  the  condition  under 
which  the  radium  was  obtained  was  that 
the  poor  should  be  treated  liberally,  and, 
when  possible,  gratuitously.  In  addition 
to  the  radium  on  deposit  with  the  hospital, 
that  institution  recently  erected  a  labora- 
tory, at  a  cost  of  $75,000,  which  is  fully 
equipped  for  the  study  of  cancer  in  its  rela- 
tion to  treatment  by  radium  and  radium 
emanation,  and  also  maintains  a  staff  of 
eminent  physicians  and  physicists. 

Radium  gives  off  three  different  kinds  of 
rays:  alpha  rays,  which  reach  about  one- 
half  inch  from  their  source;  beta  rays,  which 
are  projected  three  times  as  far,  and 
gamma  rays,  which  continue  for  a  much 
greater  distance  from  their  source.  A  film 
of  tin  foil  will  serve  as  an  effective  filter 
to  bar  the  alpha  rays  and  permit  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  other  rays,  or  even  a  sheet 
of  paper  will  do  this.  A  barrier  of  lead  a 
millimeter  thick  is  sufficient  to  arrest  the 
beta  rays,  but  the  gamma  rays  penetrate 
through  seven  and  one-half  inches  of  iron, 
and  lose  thereby  only  about  1  per  cent,  of 
their  intensity.  The  gamma  rays  are  the 
ones  the  surgeon  employs,  on  account  of 
their  effect  in  retarding  abnormal  growths. 
In  fact,  they  sometimes  induce  actual  retro- 
gression. The  rays  must  always  be  con- 
fined to  the  diseased  part  when  they  are 


ENTRANCE    TO    THE    THUNDERBOLT   MINE,    IN    COLORADO,    WHERE    MUCH    VALUABLE 
CARNOTITE   ORE   WAS    TAKEN   OUT 


THE  STORY  OF  RADIUM  IN  AMERICA 


453 


ImmBBMBmBSMKmmBSSBKm 


FIELD    HEADQUARTERS    OP    STANDARD    CHEMICAL    COMPANY,    LARGEST    RADIUM    PRODUC- 
ING CONCERN   IN  THE  WORLD,   FOUNDED  BY  THE   LATE  JOSEPH  M.    FLANNERY 

OF    PITTSBURGH 


applied;  otherwise,  new  growth  is  likewise 
retarded,  and  inflammation  or  ulceration  in 
healthy  tissues  may  be  superinduced. 

Actual  practice  has  shown  that  in  super- 
ficial conditions,  where  radium  is  easily  ap- 
plied, it  has  been  95  per  cent,  successful. 
This  applies  to  cancerous  diseases  of  the 
skin,  lips,  eyelids,  &c.  As  for  malignant 
growths,  the  head  of  the  Department  of 
Pathology  of  one  of  our  large  universities, 
who  has  long  occupied  a  prominent  position 
in  the  world  of  medical  and  scientific  re- 
search, has  stated  that  in  many  cases 
radium  has  replaced  the  knife  in  the  treat- 
ment of  such  cases,  and  that  in  many  others 
it  has  supplanted  the  knife  with  effective 
results.  A  leading  radium  therapist  has 
declared  that  the  best  effect  of  radium  does 
not  consist  in  merely  killing  cancer  cells,  but 
in  the  symptoms  of  change  and  stimulation 
that  mark  the  healing  process.  Some  of  the 
disadvantages  are  overtreatment,  the  ill- 
advised  attempt  to  control  too  large  an  area 
of  tissue,  and  the  attempt  to  use  radium 
on  hopeless  cases.  A  little  radium  improp- 
erly used  can  do  much  harm.  It  is  highly 
important  that  its  limitations  should  be 
recognized,  so  that  its  failures  outside  of  its 
proper  field  should  not  prejudice  its  legiti- 
mate claims. 

The  somewhat  complex  physical  laws  gov- 
erning the  action  of  radium,  the  variations 


in  quantity,  duration  and  distance  in  the 
dosages  of  different  operators,  the  wide 
range  of  filters  employed,  the  varying  ef- 
fect of  alpha,  beta,  gamma  and  secondary 
rays,  the  conflict  of  opinion  and  advice  be- 
tween enthusiasts  and  uninformed  critics, 
have  all  contributed  a  share  to  the  con- 
fused history  of  radium  therapy  to  date. 
What  radium  therapy  most  needs  is  the  ac- 
tive co-operation  of  the  workers  and  clinics, 
the  standardization  of  methods  and  the  con- 
centration of  the  work,  so  far  as  possible,  in 
large  clinics  thoroughly  equipped  with 
radium,  technicians  and  trained  medical 
specialists. 

We  have  heard  of  many  disastrous  burns 
received  by  workers  from  radium  and  X- 
rays.  In  the  leading  radium  clinics,  how- 
ever, the  workers  are  protected  from  the 
dangerous  effects  of  the  rays,  and,  as  a 
further  precaution,  they  work  with  these 
rays  only  on  alternate  days. 

It  is  a  regrettable  fact  that  tumors  often 
follow  X-ray  treatment.  Radium,  however, 
is  considered  a  more  efficient  agent,  al- 
though some  cases  have  been  satisfactorily 
treated  with  radium  in  combination  with  the 
X-ray.  In  such  cases,  of  course,  great  care 
and  attention  must  be  given  to  the  matter 
of  sequence  and  the  intensity  of  the  differ- 
ent applications. 

There  has  been  some  difference  of  opinion 


454 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


between  surgeons  and  advocates  of  X-ray 
or  radium  treatment,  but,  since  each  of  these 
agencies  contributes  its  share  to  the  general 
advancement  of  scientific  treatment  of  dis- 
ease, there  is  little  reason  to  expect  any- 
thing but  co-operation  in  the  future.  The 
necessity  for  this  is  emphasized  by  certain 
cases  that  are  encountered  and  that  demand 
a  combination  of  different  treatments. 
Sometimes,  in  treating  cancer  of  the  breast, 
for  instance,  the  diseased  part  is  exposed 
to  radium  rays,  after  which  X-ray  treat- 
ment is  applied.  In  the  treatment  of  can- 
cer of  the  stomach,  tubes  containing  radium 
have  been  swallowed.  Certain  cancerous 
conditions  must  be  exposed  with  the  knife 
before  the  diseased  area  can  be  treated  with 
radium  rays. 
As  stated  recently  by  a  prominent  scien- 


tist, "  the  practical  limitations  to  the  use  of 
ladium  in  cancer  are  numerous  and  formi- 
dable, and  in  any  but  experienced  hands  it 
is  a  dangerous  agent.  Until  these  difficul- 
ties are  more  widely  recognized  or  over- 
come, a  general  recommendation  of  the  use 
of  radium,  especially  in  place  of  competent 
surgery,  is  inadvisable.  Although  the  avail- 
able supplies  of  the  metal  are  limited,  and 
the  -indispensable  skin  in  application  so  re- 
stricted, it  would  be  specially  unwise  to 
spread  among  the  general  public  the  im- 
pression that  radium  is  ready  to  supplant 
surgical  treatment  of  operable  cancer.  On 
the  other  hand,  these  precautions  should  not 
be  permitted  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
normal  and  legitimate  extension  of  the 
radium  treatment  of  cancer." 


STOPPING  ROBBERIES  OF  MAIL  CARS 


AT  a  conference  of  freight  claim  agents 
and  operating  officials  of  railways  in 
the  Southeastern  United  States,  held  in 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  April  23,  1921,  it  was  au- 
thoritatively stated  that  the  railroad  loss 
in  1920  from  robbery  and  damage  of  freight 
amounted  to  $104,000,000.  The  loss  of  the 
railroads  from  robberies  alone  averaged 
nearly  $2,000,000  a  month  during  the  same 
period. 

Mr.  Will  Hays,  the  new  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, declared  in  Washington  on  April  25 
that  mail  robbers  had  stolen  a  value  of 
nearly  $6,000,000  in  1920.  About  $3,000,000 
of  this  had  been  recovered.  Steps  were  to 
be  taken  at  once,  said  the  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, to  remedy  this  "  absolutely  intoler- 
able "  condition.  In  addition  to  the  distri- 
bution of  arms  to  postal  employes,  he  stated, 
the  standing  offer  of  $5,000  to  any  employe 
of  the  department  who  brought  in  a  mail 
robber  had  been  widened  to  include  any- 
body at  all  who  performed  that  public  ser- 
vice. At  a  luncheon  of  the  American  News- 
paper Publishers  Association,  held  in  New 
York  on  April  29,  the  Postmaster  General, 
in  referring  to  the  robberies,  said : 

We  are  arming  postal  employes.     The  War 
Department    has    given    us    10,000    automatic 


revolvers,  1,000,000  rounds  of  ammunition 
and  several  hundred  riot  guns.  We  simply 
nave  to  go  back  to  the  old  Wells  Fargo  days, 
and  shoot  to  kill,  and  we  are  going  to  do  it. 

Postmaster  William  B.  Carlile  of  Chi- 
cago, at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Hays,  has  ar- 
ranged for  Federal  troops  to  patrol  posts 
at  the  Federal  Building,  the  Federal  Re- 
serve Bank,  the  Custom  House,  at  railroad 
stations  and  at  fifty-two  Post  Offices  and 
substations.  More  than  one  thousand  sol- 
diers are  to  be  used  in  Chicago,  which  has 
lost  a  total  of  over  $1,000,000.  The  Chicago 
Postmaster  charged  that  one  highly  organ- 
ized band  was  responsible  for  this  entire 
loss.  As  a  further  step  the  Government  is 
constructing  armored  mail  cars  of  steel, 
built  in  separate  compartments  in  the  style 
of  safes  that  are  both  burglar  and  fireproof. 
The  first  car  of  this  kind,  built  by  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad,  made  its  initial  trip 
with  mail  from  New  York  to  Chicago  on 
May  7.  It  had  already  had  several  weeks' 
successful  test  as  an  express  carrier.  The 
car  is  built  with  nine  separate  and  remov- 
able containers,  which,  besides  being  robber- 
proof,  are  so  rapidly  handled  that  the  whole 
car  can  be  unloaded  in  twenty  minutes. 


A  STATE'S  SOVEREIGN  POWERS 

By  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge 


A  glance  into  the  forgotten  history  of  the  formation  of  our  States — How  several  States 
came  into  being — A  State  is  "on  an  equal  station  with  the  other  Nations  of  the  Earth*' 


WHAT  with  New  York  and  New  Jersey 
negotiating  and  ratifying  a  treaty 
with  each  other  as  solemnly  as 
though  they  were  at  Versailles,  and  citizens 
gravely  discussing  the  proposal  to  divide 
the  State  of  New  York  without  so  much  as 
saying  "  by  your  leave  "  to  Washington,  the 
man  in  the  street  who  has  had  the  idea  that 
somehow  the  whole  question  of  State 
sovereignty  was  settled  in  the  negative  by 
the  Civil  War  finds  himself  in  doubt  as  to 
how  seriously  he  needs  to  take  either  the 
projects  themselves  or  the  language  used  to 
describe  them. 

Doubtless  the  term  "  treaty,"  as  applied 
to  the  agreement  just  concluded  between 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  (or  New  Yersey, 
as  it  is  spelled  on  the  old  maps)  for  the 
unified  control  and  development  of  the  whole 
port  area  around  New  York  Bay,  seems  to 
many  to  carry  no  implication  of  an  agree- 
ment between  sovereignties  or  independent 
Governments.  And  in  the  light  of  the  only 
method  familiar  to  the  present  generation 
of  adding  new  stars  to  the  flag — creating 
States  out  of  Federal  territories — the  aver- 
age citizen  suspects  that  discussion  of  the 
proposed  State  of  Manhattan  is  mere  con- 
versation unless  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington decides  upon  it. 

What  has  really  happened  in  the  matter 
of  the  New  York-New  Jersey  treaty,  and 
will  happen  if  the  proposed  division  of  New 
York  is  carried  out,  is  merely  a  repetition 
of  history.  We  have  to  go  back  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Republic  to  find  the  same 
things  being  done  on  any  important  scale, 
but  the  underlying  principle — that  in  every 
matter  in  which  it  has  not  surrendered 
its  rights  to  the  Federal  Government, 
each  State  is  an  independent  nation,  with 
all  the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  of  an 
independent  nation,  including  the  right  to 
fix  its  boundaries  by  agreement  with  its 
neighbors  and  to  divide  itself  into  two  or 
more  States  at  will — is  not  only  unchanged 
since    the    Revolution,    but    is    upheld    in 


numberless  court  decisions,  both  before  and 
since  the  Civil  War. 

We  have  become  so  used  to  writing  "  The 
United  States  is  "  instead  of  "  The  United 
States  are  "  that  we  have  lost  sight,  large- 
ly, of  the  distinction  between  the  terms 
"  Federal  "  and  "  National,"  a  distinction 
that  is  much  more  than  merely  technical. 
In  an  earlier  day  that  distinction  was  never 
lost  sight  of,  and  the  records  of  the  dis- 
putes and  treaties  between  the  States,  inci- 
dent to  the  "  shaking-down "  of  the  loose 
relationship  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation into  the  more  compact  alliance 
under  the  Federal  Constitution,  throw  inter- 
esting sidelights  on  the  current  history  of 
interstate  relationships  and  intrastate  divi- 
sions. 

Some  of  these  half-forgotten  curiosities 
of  American  history  occasionally  are  re- 
called because  of  their  bearing  upon  mat- 
ters of  present  moment.  Such,  for  example, 
was  the  treaty  between  New  York  and 
Massachusetts  that  left  the  title  to  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  bed  of  Lake  Ontario 
vested  in  Massachusetts,  although  New 
York  is  the  only  State  bordering  upon  the 
lake.  Not  long  ago  the  City  of  Rochester 
wanted  to  extend  certain  piers  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Genesee  River,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  since  New  York's  dominion 
ran  only  to  the  water's  edge. 

This  curious  state  of  affairs  arose  out 
of  the  claim  of  Colonial  Massachusetts  to 
ownership  of  all  the  land  west  of  a  line 
drawn  southward  from  what  is  now  Oswego 
to  the  northern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  etxending  between  these  north-and- 
south  limits  to  the  South  Sea,  as  the  Pacific 
was  then  known.  The  treaty  between 
France  and  Great  Britain  at  the  end  of 
the  Seven  Years'  War  limited  the  western 
boundary  of  this  and  other  similar  Colonial 
claims  to  the  Mississippi  River,  but  it  was 
not  until  1786,  when  the  young  Republic 
was   well   under   way,   that   Massachusetts 


456 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


yielded  its  claim  to  this  territory  and  by 
treaty  with  New  York  relinquished  all  right 
to  lands  lying  south  of  Lake  Ontario.  But 
the  title  of  Massachusetts  to  this  land,  de- 
rived from  royal  grants,  extended  to  the 
boundary  between  the  States  and  Canada, 
which  lies  in  the  middle  of  Lake  Ontario. 
This  fact  was  overlooked  or  regarded  as 
negligible  in  framing  the  Treaty  of  1786,  so 
the  technical  claim  of  Massachusetts  still 
holds  to  all  the  land  under  water  within  the 
territorial  limits  of  the  United  States  be- 
tween Oswego  and  Youngstown. 

Out  of  the  same  conflict  of  claims  to 
territory  comes  the  curious  little  triangular 
extension  of  Northwestern  Pennsylvania,  in 
which  the  city  of  Erie  is  situated.  Pennsyl- 
vania was  one  of  the  few  colonies  the 
boundaries  of  which  were  completely  de- 
fined prior  to  the  Revolution,  and  as  a 
State  it  laid  no  claim  to  the  western  lands 
that  most  of  the  others  were  anxious  to 
possess.  West  of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 
Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Connecticut 
had  set  up  claims  that  overlapped  at  many 
points.  New  York  was  the  first  to  re- 
linquish its  claims  to  western  lands,  and 
in  1780  had  established  its  own  western 
boundary  on  the  meridian  of  the  westerly 
extremity  of  Lake  Ontario.  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts  both  withdrew  their  claims 
in  1786  and  Virginia's  claim  had  never 
covered  the  territory  lying  between  the 
westerly  extension  of  the  north  boundary 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Lake  Erie. 

This  left  the  triangle  formed  by  the  new 
western  boundary  of  New  York,  Lake  Erie 
and  the  northern  line  of  Pennsylvania  a 
genuine  "  No  Man's  Land,"  owing  sover- 
eignty to  none  of  the  States,  so  the  new 
Government  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation adopted  the  orphan  and  gave  it 
to  Pennsylvania,  thus  giving  that  Common- 
wealth the  right  to  share  with  New  York 
the  distinction  of  stretching  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Great  Lakes. 

West  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  as  the  heirs 
of  Virginia  in  the  premises,  still  have  tech- 
nical ownership  of  the  bed  of  the  Ohio 
River,  from  the  Pennsylvania  line  to  the 
Mississippi,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Illinois  all  border  the  river 
on  the  north.  Here,  again,  is  a  curious 
situation  arising  out  of  the  old  Colonial 
claims  that  were  not  settled  until  after  the 
new  Republic  had  become  established. 


Virginia  extended  west  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  claimed  ownership  of  everything  east 
of  the  Mississippi  and  west  of  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania,  as  far  as  Canada.  Con- 
necticut had  a  colorable  claim  to  a  strip 
extending  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  from  latitude '  41  degrees  to 
42  degrees  2  minutes.  When  Connecticut, 
in  1786,  composed  its  differences  with  New 
York,  it  relinquished  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment all  but  the  easterly  120  miles  of 
this  strip;  this  portion  retained  by  Con- 
necticut formed  the  "  Western  Reserve," 
out  of  which  a  dozen  Ohio  counties  have 
been  carved  and  which  contains  the  City  of 
Cleveland  among  others;  from  the  sale  of 
these  lands  Connecticut  established  a  school 
fund  that  still  aids  in  maintaining  her  edu- 
cational system. 

But  when  Virginia,  in  1784,  ceded  its 
claims  to  the  "  Northwest  Territory "  to 
the  general  Government,  the  deed  of  cession 
read  "all  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  River." 
And  Virginia — or  the  States  since  erected 
out  of  what  was  Virginia — still  claims  the 
bed  of  the  Ohio.  Numerous  efforts  to  ar- 
rive at  an  agreement  that  would  give  Ohio 
a  claim  to  joint  ownership  in  the  river  have 
failed.  The  Virginia-Ohio  Boundary  Com- 
mission of  1848  held  many  sessions,  but 
could  come  to  no  mutually  satisfactory  con- 
clusion, and  the  matter  is  still  subject  to 
future  treaty  agreement  between  the  States 
interested. 

The  process  of  settling  boundary  lines  in 
the  early  days  was  accomplished  by  the 
construction  of  new  States.  Even  before 
the  Revolution  the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys  " 
had  claimed  independence  for  what  is  now 
Vermont,  but  was  then  claimed  by  the 
colonies  of  New  Hampshire  and  New  York. 
New  York's  claim  rested  on  the  royal  grant 
to  the  Duke  of  York  of  all  lands  west  of 
the  Connecticut  River ;  New  Hampshire's  on 
a  patent  conveying  rights  to  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  Hudson  River.  New  Hampshire 
relinquished  its  claim  in  1780,  but  it  was 
not  until  1791  that  New  York  finally  con- 
sented to  the  separation  of  the  Green 
Mountain  country  from  its  domain  and  the 
erection  of  that  country  into  the  State  of 
Vermont,  the  first  new  State  to  be  taken 
into  the  United  States  after  the  Federal 
Constitution  went  into  effect. 

A  year  later,  in  1792,  the  settlers  in  that 
part  of  Virginia  lying  west  of  the  Cumber- 


A  STATE'S  SOVEREIGN  POWERS 


457 


land  Mountains,  and  known  as  Kentucky- 
County,  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  as  a  separate  State. 
They  had  held  nine  conventions  to  demand 
separation  from  Virginia,  and  Virginia  had 
agreed  to  let  them  go  provided  the  Federal 
Congress  would  accept  the  territory  as  a 
new  State. 

Splitting  off  new  States  from  old  did  not 
stop  with  Kentucky.  The  North  Carolina 
settlers  west  of  the  mountains  began  soon 
after  the  Revolution  to  try  to  break  the  tie 
between  themselves  and  the  mother  State. 
North  Carolina  would  not  deal  with  them 
directly,  but  undertook  to  cede  the  territory 
to  the  Congress  under  Articles  of  Con- 
federation. The  Congress  refused  to  accept 
the  cession,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  coun- 
try went  right  ahead  and  formed  the  State 
of  Franklin,  which  existed  for  nearly  four 
years,  1785-88,  before  the  North  Carolina 
authorities  took  steps  to  annul  its  acts. 
After  the  Federal  Constitution  had  been 
ratified  and  the  permanent  Federal  Gov- 
ernment established,  North  Carolina  again 
in  1790  ceded  the  land  beyond  the  mountains 
to  the  Government,  which  accepted  it  under 
a  pledge  to  grant  Statehood  when  there 
should  be  60,000  free  white  inhabitants. 
The  new  State  of  Tennessee  thus  came  into 
the  Union  in  1796,  and  was  the  first  State 
to  be  erected  out  of  the  public  domain,  the 
territory  having  become  the  property  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  ceased  to  be  a 
part  of  North  Carolina  for  a  considerable 
period  before  its  admission  as  a  State. 

With  two  exceptions,  all  the  States  since 
admitted  have  been  created  out  of  the  pub- 
lic domain,  territorial  government  under 
the  direct  control  of  Washington  having 
first  been  set  up.  But  both  Maine  and 
West  Virginia  were  split  off  from  original 
States,  the  former  by  mutual  consent  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  two  parts  and  the  latter 
as  a  war  measure. 

Maine's  case  more  closely  parallels  the 
proposed  splitting  of  New  York  State  than 
that  of  any  of  the  other  States  added  to 
the  original  thirteen.  As  a  province  of 
Massachusetts,  Maine's  interests  developed 
along  different  lines  from  the  rest  of  the 
States.  Isolated  geographically,  many  of 
its  residents  felt  that  they  could  manage 
their  own  affairs  better  than  they  could 
be  run  from  Boston.  Through  the  influence 
of    their    representatives    in    the    General 


Court  they  obtained  the  passage  of  an  act 
providing  for  a  referendum  in  Maine  on  the 
question  of  separate  Statehood.  The  first 
referendum  failed  of  a  sufficient  majority, 
owing  to  the  opposition  of  shipping 
interests,  who  feared  that  the  establishment 
of  another  customs  district  would  necessi- 
tate the  clearance  of  all  vessels  plying  be- 
tween Boston  and  Maine  ports  on  every 
voyage.  This  objection  was  overcome  by  an 
act  of  Congress,  the  passage  of  which  was 
procured  by  the  influence  of  members  who 
were  anxious  to  have  Maine  admitted  in 
order  that  the  votes  of  its  two  Senators 
should  counteract  those  of  the  two  Senators 
to  be  chosen  from  Missouri,  which  was  then 
clamoring  for  admission  as  a  slavery  State. 
The  second  referendum  resulted  in  an  over- 
whelming vote  in  Maine  in  favor  of  State- 
hood, and  the  new  State  was  admitted  in  1820. 

Not  since  then,  except  in  the  case  of  West 
Virginia,  has  a  new  State  been  carved  out 
of  an  old  one.  If,  however,  the  citizens 
of  Greater  New  York  desired  to  do  so,  and 
could  by  any  means  persuade  the  Legisla- 
ture at  Albany  to  permit  it,  it  would  be 
no  concern  of  anybody's  outside  the  present 
State  of  New  York  if  the  plan  proposed 
for  the  division  of  the  Empire  State  into 
two  parts  were  carried  through.  The  ad- 
mission into  the  Union  of  the  new  State 
of  Manhattan,  or  whatever  it  might  be 
called,  would  be  a  foregone  conclusion. 

The  problem  involved  is  practical  rather 
than  legal.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  right 
of  a  county  or  group  of  counties  to  secede 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  without 
the  consent  of  the  Legislature  or  authority 
of  a  referendum  of  the  people  of  all  the 
State  could  be  seriously  maintained.  And 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New 
York  the  City  of  New  York  can  never,  no 
matter  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  State's 
population  inhabits  its  five  boroughs,  have 
a  majority  in  either  house  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. "  Up-State  "  saw  to  that  many  years 
ago.  It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the 
"  agrarian  "  section  of  the  State,  control- 
ling the  Legislature  as  it  does  and  always 
will,  would  ever  give  its  consent  to  the 
separation  from  it  of  the  city  that  pays 
three-quarters  of  the  running  expenses  of 
all  the  State.  And  that  is  the  only  way  the 
proposed  new  State  can  be  set  up.  It  is  not 
a  matter  in  which  the  Federal  Government 
can  interfere. 


458 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  power 
over  which  has  not  been  delegated  by  the 
States  to  the  Federal  Government,  New 
York,  like  its  sister  Commonwealths,  is  a 
sovereign  nation.  The  precise  status  of  the 
States  was  expressed  in  1833  by  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  of  New  Jersey  in  the 
famous  "  Pea  Patch "  case,  in  which  the 
Federal  Government  attempted  to  dispossess 
the  tenant  of  an  island  in  the  Delaware 
River  which  Delaware  had  ceded  to  the 
United  States.  The  tenant  set  up  the  claim 
that  the  island  never  was  part  of  Delaware, 
but  appertained  to  New  Jersey.  The  Com- 
missioners appointed  to  investigate  upheld 
this  contention,  and  the  court  ruled  that  not 
even  the  United  States  Government  could 
compel  the  occupant  to  vacate  without  the 
consent  both  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
and  of  the  tenant. 


"  For  all  purposes  and  objects  not  af- 
fected by  the  Constitution  Of  the  United 
States,"  said  the  court  in  this  case,  "  these 
States  are  foreign  to  each  other.  They 
became  free,  sovereign  and  independent 
States  by  their  own  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, which  placed  them  severally  on 
an  equal  station  with  the  other  nations  of 
the  earth,  before  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
Great  Britain,  which  was  merely  a  recog- 
nition and  not  a  grant  of  their  indepen- 
dence." 

This  doctrine  has  never  been  challenged; 
the  dictum  of  the  court  in  1833  is  still  an 
accurate  statement  of  the  status  of  each 
one  of  the  States.  It  is  as  States  "  foreign 
to  each  other  "  and  "  on  an  equal  station 
with  the  other  nations  of  the  earth  "  that 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  have  just  rati- 
fied their  port  treaty. 


MACAULAY'S  WARNING  TO  AMERICA 


A  N  interesting  letter  written  in  1857  by 
-**■  the  historian  Macaulay  to  Henry  S. 
Randall  of  Cortland,  N.  Y.,  and  repub- 
lished recently  from  an  old  file  of  Harper's 
Magazine,  expresses  Macaulay's  grave  fears 
of  the  results  of  democracy  as  he  saw  it 
developing  in  the  United  States.  "  I  have 
long  been  convinced,"  he  said,  "  that  institu- 
tions purely  democratic  must,  sooner  or 
later,  destroy  liberty  and  civilization  or 
both."  Repeatedly  Lord  Macaulay  stressed 
his  belief  that  democracy  meant,  in  the  es- 
sence, spoliation  of  the  rich  by  the  poor, 
leading  either  directly  to  general  ruin  or 
indirectly,  through  the  establishment  of  a 
strong  military  despotism,  to  the  loss  of 
liberty.  The  salient  passages  of  the  letter 
are  quoted  below : 

You  may  think  that  your  country  enjoys 
an  exemption  from  these  evils.  *  *  *  But 
the  time  will  come  when  New  England  will 
be  as  thickly  peopled  as  old  England.  Wages 
will  be  as  low  and  will  fluctuate  as  much 
with  you  as  with  us.  You  will  have  your 
Manchesters  and  Birminghams,  where  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  artisans  will  assuredly 
be  sometimes  out  of  work.  Then  your  in- 
stitutions will  be  fairly  brought  to  the  test. 
Distress  everywhere  makes  the  laborer  mu- 
tinous and  discontented,  and  inclines  him  to 
listen  with  eagerness  to  agitators  who  tell 
him  that  it  is  a  monstrous  iniquity  that  one 
man  should  have  a  million  while  another 
cannot    get     a     full     meal.    *    *    *    Through 


such  seasons  the  United  States  will  have  to 
pass  in  the  course  of  the  next  century,  if  not 
this.  How  will  you  pass  through  them?  I 
heartily  wish  you  a  good  deliverance.  But 
my  reason  and  my  wishes  are  at  war,  and  I 
cannot  help  foreboding  the  worst.  It  is  quite 
plain  that  your  Government  will  never  be 
able  to  restrain  a  distressed  and  discontented 
majority.  For  with  you  the  majority  is  the 
government,  and  has  the  rich,  who  are  al- 
ways a  minority,  absolutely  at  its  mercy. 
*  *  *  On  one  side  is  a  statesman  preach- 
ing patience,  respect  for  vested  rights,  strict 
observance  of  public  faith.  On  the  other  is 
a  demagogue  ranting  about  the  tyranny  of 
capitalists  and  usurers,  and  asking  why  any- 
body should  be  permitted  to  drink  champagne 
and  to  ride  in  a  carriage  while  thousands  of 
honest  folks  are  in  want  of  necessaries. 
Which  of  the  two  candidates  is  likely  to  be 
preferred  by  a  workingman  who  hears  his 
children  cry  for  more  bread?  There  will  be, 
I  fear,  spoliation.  The  spoliation  will  in- 
crease the  distress.  The  distress  will  pro- 
duce  fresh   spoliations. 

There  is  nothing  to  stop  you.  Your  Con- 
stitution is  all  sail  and  no  anchor.  As  I  said 
before,  when  a  society  has  entered  on  this 
downward  progress,  either  civilization  or 
liberty  must  perish.  Either  some  Caesar  or 
Napoleon  will  seize  the  reins  of  government 
with  a  strong  hand,  or  your  republic  will  be 
as  fearfully  plundered  and  laid  waste  by 
barbarians  in  the  twentieth  century  as  the 
Roman  Empire  was  in  the  fifth,  with  this 
difference,  that  the  Huns  and  vandals  who 
ravaged  the  Roman  Empire  came  from  with- 
out, and  that  your  Huns  and  vandals  will 
have  been  engendered  within  your  own  coun- 
try by  your  own  institutions. 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  OF  EXPANSION 

By  Lyne  O.  Battle 

How  the  Island  Empire  has  carried  out  its  program  oj  expansion  at  the  expense  of  its 
neighbors — Acquisition  of  Formosa,  Korea,  Saghalien,  Shantung,  and  the  former 
German  islands — Japan's  hold  on    Manchuria  and  Siberia — Threat  to   Philippines 


THE  determined  expansion  policy  of 
Japan  is  of  interest  to  Americans  for 
several  reasons.  The  most  important  of 
these  is  that,  at  present,  the  British  Empire, 
Japan  and  America  constitute  the  great  sea 
powers  of  the  world,  and  it  is  only  a  sea 
power  that  offers  any  threat  to  our  national 
welfare.  In  making  the  preceding  general 
statement,  I  have  not  lost  sight  of  the  near- 
ness of  our  next-door  neighbor,  Canada,  for 
the  ratio  of  population  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States  is  so  much  in  favor  of 
the  latter  that  a  threat  from  Canada,  un- 
supported by  the  rest  of  the  British  Empire, 
would  amount  to  nothing;  without  Britain's 
sea  power,  any  support  to  Canada  from 
overseas  would  be  impossible. 

The  expansion  of  Japan,  by  encroach- 
ment on  China,  grates  upon  America  in  two 
respects.  In  the  first  place  it  violates  the 
American  sense  of  fair  play.  In  a  struggle 
between  China  and  Japan,  the  former  is  the 
under-dog;  she  is  helpless  now,  in  a  military 
way,  when  dealing  with  Japan,  and  will 
probably  remain  so  far  beyond  our  time. 
If,  therefore,  China  receives  no  more  than 
moral  support  from  other  nations,  Japan 
will  be  able  to  take  Chinese  territory  at 
such  time  and  in  such  amounts  as  are  best 
suited  to  Japanese  policy;  there  is  no  more 
to  prevent  Japan  from  doing  her  will  on 
China  than  there  was  in  the  case  of  Korea. 
In  the  second  place  there  is  the  natural  de- 
sire of  Americans  to  share  in  the  profit  to 
be  made  in  the  development  of  Chinese  re- 
sources and  in  a  fair  share  of  a  growing 
Chinese  trade. 

BASIS  OF  FRICTION 

To  the  average  American  mind  the  origin 
of  any  lack  of  cordial  relations  between 
America  and  Japan  is  not  in  the  hornet's 
nest  stirred  up  by  the  defeat  of  the  Ameri- 
can laborer  in  his  competition  with  the 
Japanese  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  That  trouble 
is  local,  to  a  great  extent,  and  attracts  but 


little  attention  in  the  central  and  eastern 
sections  of  our  country. 

The  cause  of  friction  with  Japan  goes 
deeper ;  our  growing  distrust,  or,  to  be  more 
explicit,  our  growing  fear  of  future  trouble 
with  our  transpacific  neighbor,  lies  in  our 
dread  that  the  new  Pacific  power  will  be- 
come too  strong — that  Japan  may  become  so 
powerful  that  eventually,  when  interests 
clash,  America  may  be  forced  to  measure 
strength  with  a  giant. 

For  the  reason,  then,  that  America  is,  as 
she  should  be,  deeply  concerned  with  the 
future,  it  is  of  interest  to  look  into  the  ex- 
pansion policy  of  Japan;  to  see  what  has 
been  done  in  the  past  in  the  territorial 
growth  of  our  present  rival  for  power  in 
the  Pacific.  This  may  serve  as  a  guide  to 
show  us  what  to  expect  in  the  future,  and 
will  enable  us  to  consider  the  situation  with 
clearer  heads. 

JAPAN'S  POLICY  OF  AGGRESSION. 

The  aggressive  policy  of  Japan  is  not  of 
new  growth.  As  far  back  as  1582  a  Japa- 
nese army  swept  over  Korea,  but  was 
finally  driven  out  by  the  Chinese.  In  1873 
the  Ministry,  which  included  Okuma  and  Ito 
as  members,  planned  annexation  of  For- 
mosa, Korea,  Manchuria  and  a  part  of 
Siberia.  The  various  stages  by  which 
Japan  reached  her  present  position  of  power 
may  be  traced  as  follows : 

Although  her  expansion  plans  had  been 
under  discussion  for  a  number  of  years,  the 
first  actual  increase  of  Japanese  territory, 
beyond  the  four  main  islands  occupied  at 
the  forcible  reopening  of  Japan  by  Commo- 
dore Perry,  did  not  take  place  until  1875. 
At  this  period  Russia  and  Japan  both 
claimed  the  southern  half  of  Saghalien  and 
the  Kurile  Islands.  By  the  treaty  of  1875 
Japan  accepted  the  Kuriles  and  agreed  to 
the  validity  of  the  Russian  claims  in  South 
Saghalien.     This  is  of  interest  mainly  be- 


460 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


cause  it  marked  the  beginning  of  Japanese 
expansion. 

The  Loochoo  Isands  were  next  on  the  pro- 
gram. Their  sovereignty  was  in  doubt; 
sometimes  they  paid  tribute  to  China,  some- 
times to  Japan.  Fortunately  for  the  Japa- 
nese plans,  in  1872  some  fishermen  from 
one  of  the  Loochoo  Islands  were  stranded  on 
the  east  coast  of  Formosa,  where  they  were 
killed  by  head-hunters.  This  gave  Japan  an 
opening  to  further  her  claims  to  sovereignty 
over  the  islands,  and  she  demanded  that 
China  punish  the  Formosans.  China  de- 
murred, holding  that  the  head-hunters  in 
the  interior  and  on  the  east  coast  were  be- 
yond her  jurisdiction.  Finally,  after  much 
diplomatic  wrangling,  she  consented,  in 
1874,  to  a  Japanese  expedition  against  the 
Formosans.  This  so  strengthened  the  posi- 
tion of  Japan  that  she  seized  the  Loochoos 
in  1876,  and  almost  precipitated  the  war  be- 
tween Japan  and  China,  for  which  the 
former  was  not  yet  ready. 

America  now  intervened  as  peacemaker, 
suggesting  that  China  and  Japan  divide 
the  Loochoos  equally  between  them,  both 
agreed  to  this  solution.  Later  on,  China 
receded  from  the  agreement,  hoping,  no 
doubt,  eventually  to  secure  the  whole.  Japan, 
however,  kept  the  Loochoos,  and  still  has 
them. 

GETTING  HOLD  OF  KOREA 

About  1884  trouble  again  cropped  out  be- 
tween China  and  Japan,  this  time  over 
Korea.  The  Hermit  Kingdom,  which  had 
been  more  or  less  a  vassal  of  China,  had 
finally  opened  its  doors  to  foreign  em- 
bassies, and  one  or  more  of  its  ports  to  for- 
eign trade.  The  Japanese  legation,  occupied 
in  building  up  the  interests  of  its  country  in 
furtherance  of  the  expansion  policy,  was 
attacked  by  a  Korean  mob,  assisted  by 
Chinese  soldiers,  and  the  legation  building 
was  burned.  War  was  narrowly  averted  at 
this  time  through  negotiations  between  Ito 
and  Li  Hung  Chang;  in  a  treaty,  drawn  up 
by  them,  both  China  and  Japan  agreed  to 
withdraw  all  troops  from  Korea,  and  to  send 
no  more  without  previous  notification.  They 
decided  that  Korea  should  indemnify  Japan, 
but  left  China  the  upper  hand  in  matters  of 
Korean  internal  policy. 

The  next  ten  years  were  spent  by  Japan 
in  preparation  for  the  war  her  statesmen 
could  so  plainly  foresee.  China,  ignorant 
of  her  own  military  weakness  and  of  the 


growing  strength  of  Japan,  did  nothing. 
In  the  struggle  with  China  over  Korea,  the 
guiding  motive  in  Japan  was  expansion, 
pure  and  simple.  Later  on,  in  the  struggle 
with  Russia  over  the  same  territory,  the 
motive  became  more  nearly  one  of  fear. 
With  Korea  in  the  hands  of  a  nation  weak 
in  military  forces,  like  China,  there  was 
little  to  fear.  Korea  in  the  hands  of  Russia, 
however,  was  quite  a  different  matter.  It 
was  a  "  dagger  pointed  at  the  heart  of 
Japan." 

The  inevitable  war  between  China  and 
Japan  came  in  1894,  as  soon  as  Japan  was 
ready  for  it.  As  we  are  dealing  simply 
with  the  remarkable  expansion  of  Japan, 
resulting  from  a  well-considered  policy,  the 
details  of  the  war  with  China  will  not  be 
considered.  It  was  a  quick  war,  for  which 
Japan  was  fully  prepared,  and  the  result 
was  never  in  doubt.  By  the  peace  terms, 
Japan  obtained  Formosa,  the  Pescadores 
Islands  (between  Formosa  and  the  China 
coast),  and  the  whole  of  the  Liao-tung 
Peninsula.  As  Liao-tung  lay  west  of  Korea 
and  formed  a  wedge  between  that  kingdom 
and  China,  Korea  now  passed  under  Japa- 
nese influence.  One  of  the  clauses  of  the 
treaty  was  almost  humorous — both  China 
and  Japan  recognized  the  independence  of 
Korea!  The  indemnity  to  be  paid  Japan 
was  £12,000,000,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
Japan  should  hold  Wei-hai-wei,  on  the 
north  coast  of  Shantung,  until  the  in- 
demnity was  fully  paid. 

The  excellent  strategic  position  obtained 
by  Japan  as  a  result  of  the  war  with  China 
gave  her  command  of  the  Yellow  Sea  and  of 
all  the  approaches  to  Peking.  If  the  peace 
terms  were  allowed  to  stand,  it  meant  para- 
mount Japanese  influence  in  Far  Eastern 
affairs,  and  would  have  shut  out  Russia, 
Germany  and  France  from  what  they  con- 
sidered a  fair  share  of  influence  in  China 
and  from  any  partition  of  Chinese  trade 
and  territory. 

FORCED  TO  YIELD  LIAO-TUNG 
These  European  nations  never  had  any 
intention  of  standing  idle  while  Japan 
gained  the  ascendency  in  China,  so  the 
latter  country  now  became  a  European 
"  grab-bag."  This  policy  began  with  a  com- 
bined note  to  Japan  from  France,  Germany 
and  Russia  demanding  that  Japan  recede 
the  Liao-tung  Peninsula  to  China.  Japan, 
always  efficient  in   sizing  up   a   situation, 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  OF  EXPANSION 


461 


THE    BLACK     LINE     INDICATES     THE     EXTENT    OF    JAPANESE     TERRITORIAL     CON- 
TROL,    INCLUDING    PORTIONS    OF    CHINA    AND     SIBERIA    OCCUPIED    BY    JAPANESE 
TROOPS.      DATES    GIVEN    ARE    THOSE    ON    WHICH    JAPAN    GAINED    POSSESSION    IN 
THE    COURSE    OF   HER    RAPID    EXPANSION 


concluded  that  the  combination  was  too 
strong  for  her,  and  bowed  to  superior  force. 
For  one  reason  or  another,  Germany,  Rus- 
sia, Fance,  and  even  England  took  slices 
of  Chinese  territory  in  1897,  or  around  that 
time.  Germany  took  Tsing-tau  and  got  her 
hold  on  Shantung;  Russia  took  Port  Arthur, 
on  the  Liao-tung  Peninsula,  the  very  terri- 
tory that  Japan  had  won  in  the  recent  war; 
France  got  Kwang-chau  Bay  in  the  south, 
while  Great  Britain  was  satisfied  with  addi- 
tional territory  at  Hongkong  and  Wei-hai- 
wei  Bay,  still  in  the  hands  of  Japan. 

It  was  only  natural'  that  Japan  was  furi- 
ous at  being  thus  robbed  of  her  spoils  of 
war,  but  she  could  do  nothing  else  than  re- 
spect such  a  strong  combination  of  powers. 
She  had  gained  some  territory,  however, 
and  had  replaced  the  Chinese  influence  in 
Korea. 

Russia,  seemingly  secure  in  possession  of 


Port  Arthur,  now  took  the  place  of  China 
as  the  opponent  of  Japan  in  Korea ;  and  for 
another  ten  years  Japan  bided  her  time  and 
prepared  her  army  and  navy  for  the  war 
with  Russia.  A  bitter  diplomatic  struggle 
between  Japan  and  Russia  was  carried  on 
at  the  Korean  capital  with  varying  success, 
depending  on  which  party  had  possession  of 
the  Korean  King.  Up  to  this  time  Japanese 
political  ethics  had  been  no  better  and  no 
worse  than  those  of  European  nations. 
They  all,  England  included,  acted  on  the 
principle  tkat  "  might  makes  right,"  and 
seized  whatever  they  coveted.  The  deepest 
blot  on  the  Japanese  escutcheon  came  from 
the  official  murder  of  the  Korean  Queen. 

In  1902,  Japan's  hand  in  Far  Eastern 
affairs  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the 
alliance  with  Great  Britain.  The  main 
benefit  derived  by  Japan  from  this  treaty 
was   that  it  broke   up   the   combination  of 


462 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


France,  Germany  and  Russia,  which  had 
forced  Japan  to  give  up  some  of  the  terri- 
tory gained  in  the  Chinese  war.  The  gist 
of  the  treaty  was  that,  should  one  of  the 
signatory  powers  become  involved  in  a  war 
with  another  power,  the  other  signatory  was 
to  remain  neutral — but  when  attacked  by 
more  than  one  power,  the  other  signatory 
was  to  come  to  its  assistance.  Incidentally 
both  high  contracting  parties  guaranteed 
the  independence  of  China  and  Korea  in  this 
treaty. 

Japan  was  now  protected  from  the  Euro- 
pean coalition  and  free  to  go  to  war  with 
Russia,  which  she  did  in  1904.  At  the  end 
of  the  war  the  Japanese  policy  of  expansion 
was  rewarded  with  the  southern  half  of  the 
island  of  Saghalien  and  with  the  Liao-tung 
Peninsula;  Russia  also  recognized  the  su- 
zerainty of  Japan  over  Korea.  The  fact  that 
the  Liao-tung  Peninsula  belonged  to  China, 
and  that  both  Russia  and  Japan  had  guar- 
anteed the  independence  of  Korea,  was  for- 
gotten by  both  parties  in  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence. 

ANNEXATION  OF  KOREA 

Having  beaten  Russia  and  cleared  her 
path  of  active  armed  opposition  in  the 
Orient,  Japan  now  brought  into  play,  in 
Korean  affairs,  the  political  strategy  which 
resulted  later  in  the  incorporation  of  Korea 
as  an  integral  part  of  the  Japanese  Empire. 
Japan  and  the  British  Empire  were  now  the 
most  influential  powers  in  the  Orient,  so 
the  first  step  of  Japan,  in  the  plan  to  take 
over  Korea,  was  to  bring  about  a  change  in 
the  treaty  of  alliance  with  Great  Britain. 
In  the  1902  treaty  Japan  and  Great  Britain 
recognized  the  independence  of  China  and 
Korea;  in  the  1905  treaty  they  again  rec- 
ognized the  independence  of  China,  but  of 
China  alone.  Great  Britain  admitted  that 
Japan  possessed  paramount  political,  mili- 
tary and  economic  interests  in  Korea,  and 
further  recognized  the  right  of  Japan  to 
take  such  measures  of  guidance,  control  and 
protection  to  safeguard  and  advance  those 
interests  as  Japan  deemed  necessary.  Rus- 
sia had  been  crowded  out ;  Germany,  France 
and  England  naturally  made  no  effort  to 
prevent  the  rape  of  Korea,  for  they  "were 
equally  guilty  in  China. 

The  story  of  Korea  from  1905  until  1910 
is  a  pitiful  one  of  gradual  absorption  of  all 
governmental  power  by  the  Japanese 
Resident  General.     Most  of  the  papers  re- 


linquishing Korean  rights  were  signed 
literally  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  The 
best  Korean  lands  were  taken  by  the  Japa- 
nese; some  were  paid  for  at  as  low  as  one- 
twentieth  of  their  real  value,  some  were  not 
paid  for  at  all.  Korean  objectors  to  such 
harsh  treatment  were  thrown  into  prison 
and  in  many  cases  were  tortured.  In  1907 
the  abdication  of  the  Korean  Emperor  in 
favor  of  his  weak-minded  son  was  brought 
about;  in  1919  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
Korea  made  complete  and  permanent 
cession  to  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
Japan  of  all  rights  of  sovereignty  over  the 
whole  of  Korea! 

AMERICA  DECLINES  TO  INTERVENE 

The  action  of  America  in  the  case  of 
Korea  is  an  interesting  sidelight  and  is  of 
great  significance  with  respect  to  the  ex- 
pansion policy  of  Japan.  It  occurred  in  1905, 
when  the  United  States  had  one  of  the 
strongest  Presidents  we  have  ever  had — 
Theodore  Roosevelt — and  when  Elihu  Root 
was  Secretary  of  State.  Though  the  Ameri- 
can Government,  unlike  most  of  the  Euro- 
pean nations  and  Japan,  had  never  guar- 
anteed the  independence  of  Korea,  it  had, 
nevertheless,  signed  a  treaty  to  use  its  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  the  continued  independ- 
ence of  Korea.  The  Emperor  sent  an 
emissary  to  the  American  President  with  a 
pitiful  letter,  telling  of  Japanese  aggression, 
and  stating  that  he  was  forced  to  sign 
away  Korean  rights  "  at  the  point  of  the 
sword."  The  Korean  agent  was  never  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Root,  but  he  received  word 
from  the  American  Secretary  of  State  that 
"  the  letter  from  the  Emperor  has  been 
placed  in  the  President's  hands  and  read  by 
hjm  *  *  *  jj.  seems  quite  impracticable 
that  any  action  should  be  based  upon  it." 

Roosevelt's  own  explanation,  some  years 
later,  was  as  follows: 

To  be  sure,  by  treaty  it  was  solemnly 
covenanted  that  Korea  should  remain  inde- 
pendent. But  Korea  itself  was  helpless  to 
enforce  the  treaty,  and  it  was  out  of  the 
question  to  suppose  that  any  other  nation, 
with  no  interest  of  its  own  at  stake,  would 
do  for  the  Koreans  what  they  were  utterly 
unable  to  do  for  themselves. 

The  end  of  the  World  War  brings  Japa- 
nese expansion  up  to  date.  The  Treaty  of 
Versailles,  signed  by  all  the  interested  na- 
tions save  China,  and  finally  disapproved 
by  the  United  States   Senate,  gave  Japan 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  OF  EXPANSION 


463 


the  German  rights  in  Shantung  and  made 
her  mandatary  over  all  the  former  German 
islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  north  of  the 
equator. 

JAPAN'S  PRESENT  POSITION 

The  Japanese  Ministry  of  1873  took  a 
long  look  ahead  when  it  planned  annexa- 
tion of  Formosa,  Korea,  Manchuria  and  a 
part  of  Siberia.  In  forty-eight  years  much 
of  the  plan  has  been  carried  out,  for  Japan 
has  incorporated  into  the  Empire  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  Formosa,  the  Loochoos,  the 
Kuriles.  all  of  Saghalien,  the  Pescadores 
and  Korea.  In  addition  Japan  has  posses- 
sion of  the  Liao-tung  Peninsula  and  Shan- 
tung, and  has  a  strong  hold  on  part  of 
Manchuria  and  Eastern  Siberia. 

Shantung  forms  a  Japanese  wedge  for 
entering  China,  just  as  Korea  formed  a 
stepping  stone  to  the  Asiatic  mainland.  But 
Japan  has  promised  to  give  back  Shantung 
to  China.  Yes;  but  Japan,  by  treaty, 
solemnly  guaranteed  the  independence  of 
Korea  at  least  four  separate  times! 

During  the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  great  American 
newspapers,  in  conversation  with  a  Japa- 
nese official,  spoke  of  the  trouble  Japan 
would  inevitably  stir  up  by  a  penetration  of 
China,  and  asked  why  Japan  did  not  aim 
further  north  at  Eastern  Siberia.  The 
reply  was  laconic :     "  Too  cold." 

This  reply  contains  a  warning  for  the 
Filipinos,  in  their  pressure  for  independ- 
ence, and  also  a  warning  for  the  United 
States.  Americans,  as  a  people  who  love 
freedom,  will  no  doubt  grant  independence 


to  the  Philippines  as  soon  as  they  feel  that 
those  islands  have  any  chance  to  succeed  in 
self-government.  As  soon  as  the  Philippine 
Islands  receive  their  independence  there 
will  be  nothing  whatever  to  prevent  Nippon 
from  seeking  a  warmer  climate  there,  in- 
stead of  going  where  it  is  "  too  cold." 

The  action  of  the  Supreme  Council  in 
awarding  to  Japan  the  former  German  isl- 
ands north  of  the  equator  has  placed  an 
impassable  barrier  to  any  attempt  of 
America  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the 
Philippines,  once  they  are  granted  their  in- 
dependence. The  Caroline  and  Marshall 
Islands  extend  2,400  miles  east  of  the  Philip- 
pines; they  are  only  1,800  miles  from  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  Guam,  the  second  step- 
ping stone  of  America  on  her  way  to  the 
Philippines,  is  now  surrounded  by  Japanese 
islands. 

When  the  Philippines  and  Guam  fall  to 
Japan,  which  is  certain  to  occur  in  case  of 
war  between  Japan  and  America,  the  line 
of  communication  to  any  American  force 
sent  to  the  assistance  of  our  former  colonies 
must  pass  close  to  Japanese  ports  for  a 
distance  of  2,400  miles. 

It  is  true  that  Japan  took  the  Carolines 
and  Marshalls  with  the  understanding  that 
they  should  not  be  fortified;  but  it  is  also 
true  that  Japan,  on  four  or  more  separate 
occasions,  guaranteed  the  independence  of 
Korea. 

The  object  of  this  paper,  however,  is  not 
to  predict  the  future,  but  simply  to  tell 
what  Japan  has  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
territorial  expansion.  Those  who  read  are 
able  to  draw  their  own  conclusions. 


PROGRESS  IN  CONTROLLING  AUTOMOBILE  TRAFFIC 


rpHE  curious  lighthouse  towers  that  stand 
-*-  at  intervals  in  the  middle  of  Fifth  Ave- 
nue, New  York,  flashing  red,  green  and 
yellow  lights  to  stop  and  start  the  endless 
automobile  traffic,  have  proved  to  be  a  boon 
both  to  the  pedestrian  and  to  the  motorist. 
Dr.  John  A.  Harriss,  Special  Deputy 
Police  Commissioner  in  charge  of  traffic, 
originated  the  tower  signal  system  and 
built  the  five  present  structures  at  his  own 
expense.  New  and  more  beautiful  towers, 
which  are  about  to  be  substituted  for  the 
original  ones  by  the  Fifth  Avenue  Associa- 


tion, are  to  contain  a  new  device  designed 
by  Dr.  Harriss,  by  which  the  police  can 
stop  any  car  in  the  avenue  suspected  of 
carrying  criminals.  By  signals  and  tele- 
phone all  traffic  can  be  stopped  and  the 
suspected  car  dislodged  for  investigation  or 
arrest.  Dr.  Harriss  has  also  prevailed  up- 
on New  York  City  to  try  a  plan  which  is 
intended  ultimately  to  control  the  traffic  of 
the  whole  city  at  night,  and  which  makes 
each  policeman  a  sort  of  walking  signal 
tower  by  means  of  electric  lanterns  worn 
on  a  belt. 


SIBERIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE 

By  Frederick  A.  Ogg 

Professor  of   Political   Science   in   the   University  of  Wisconsin 

How  Russia  extended  her  dominion  over  Siberia  and  pushed  toward  the  South — The 
sit  nation  at  the  outbreak  of  the  World  War,  which  led  to  the  allied  occupation  and,  to 
Japan  s  present  hold  upon  Eastern  Siberia — Japan  at  the  parting  of  the  ways 


THE  war  remade  the  map  of  Central 
Europe,  of  Africa,  of  the  Pacific,  and 
of  the  Near  East.  The  Bolshevist  revolu- 
tion in  Russia  is  today  doing  the  same  thing 
for  Northern  and  Central  Asia,  and  the 
transformations  east  of  the  Urals  are  on  a 
larger  scale  than  those  that  have  taken  place 
in  any  of  the  other  regions  mentioned.  A 
single  new  State  here  is  six  times  the  size 
of  France,  twenty-seven  times  the  size  of 
Ohio,  and  slightly  larger  than  that  part  of 
the  United  States  lying  between  Kansas 
and  the   Pacific  Ocean. 

Events  in  this  quarter  have  raised  ques- 
tions which  deeply  concern  the  world  at 
large,  and  particularly  the  United  States. 
Is  Bolshevist  Russia,  like  Czarist  Russia,  to 
be  an  Asiatic  as  well  as  a  European  power? 
Are  Bolshevised  "  buffer  States  "  to  plant 
themselves  menacingly  along  the  Mongolian 
and  Manchurian  frontiers  of  China?  Is  the 
new  Far  Eastern  Republic  to  be  a  really 
independent  State,  or  only  a  blind  for 
Japanese  control  in  Siberia?  Is  the  open 
door  for  which  John  Hay  labored  to  exist 
north  of  the  Amur,  or  are  American  and 
other  western  manufacturers  and  traders 
to  be  barred  from  the  growing  markets  of 
that  region?  Is  the  outlet  for  Japanese 
emigration,  which  is  denied  by  the  United 
States,  Canada  and  Australia,  and  for 
Japanese  imperialistic  enterprise,  which  is 
narrowed  by  international  opposition  in 
China,  about  to  be  opened  wide  in  the 
Siberian  maritime  provinces? 

Back  of  these  questions  looms  the  query, 
What  is  Siberia,  and  what  Russian,  Japa- 
nese, Chinese,  American  and  other  national 
and  international  interests  centre  on  its 
soil? 

The  term  "  Siberia  "  has  commonly  been 
used  in  a  loose  way  to  designate  the  whole 
of  the  former  Russian  dominions  in  Asia. 
On  both  geographical  and  political  grounds, 
however,  this  is  inaccurate.     Siberia  proper 


does  not  include  Turkestan  and  the  other 
Transcaspian  lands  formerly  under  the  Rus- 
sian flag.  Its  southern  boundary  runs, 
rather,  from  the  sources  of  the  river  Ural 
to  the  Tarbagatai  range  (following  the 
watershed  between  the  Aral  and  Irtish 
basins),  thence  along  the  Chinese  frontier 
to  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Baikal,  and  there- 
after along  the  Argun,  Amur,  and  Ussuri 
rivers  to  the  Korean  border  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Vladivostok.  Even  so,  the  country 
is  10  per  cent,  larger  than  China,  with  all 
her  dependencies,  and  50  per  cent,  larger 
than  the  Continental  United  States.  The 
State  of  New  York  could  be  set  down  in  it 
one  hundred  times,  with  room  to  spare. 

Few  western  people  have  outgrown  the 
schoolboy  notion  of  Siberia  as  an  intermi- 
nable sheet  of  ice  and  snow,  with  here  and 
there  a  colony  of  shivering,  starving  exiles; 
but  in  the  main  as  a  waste,  the  eternal  still- 
ness of  which  is  broken  only  by  the  yelping 
of  wolf-packs  in  pursuit  of  the  luckless 
traveler  or  explorer.  Of  the  30  per  cent, 
of  the  country  which  lies  within  the  Arctic 
Circle,  this  is  a  sufficiently  true  picture. 
But  of  the  great  stretches  traversed  by  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway,  the  vast  regions 
included  in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  north- 
ward-flowing Ob,  Yenisei  and  Lena  Rivers, 
and  especially  the  broad  provinces  border- 
ing the  Sea  of  Okhotsk  northward  to 
Kamchatka,  the  description  is  no  more  true 
than  it  would  be  if  applied  to  Saskatchewan 
and  Manitoba,  or  even  Maine  and  Montana. 

Large  sections  of  the  country  are  very 
similar  climatically  to  Southern  Canada, 
and  are  no  less  adapted  to  wheat  growing, 
stock  raising  and  other  branches  of  hus- 
bandry. The  Summers  are  short,  but  suf- 
ficient for  the  ripening  of  crops.  Vegetation 
is  luxuriant  while  it  lasts;  the  eighteen  or 
twenty  hours  of  broad  daylight,  with  hot 
sunshine,  more  than  counteract  any  ill- 
effects  of  the  brief  nights,  even  when  they 


SIBERIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE 


465 


are  chilly  and  possibly  frosty.  Although 
the  country  as  a  whole  has  never  been  self- 
supporting,  this  is  because  of  primitive 
modes  of  cultivation  and  inadequate  means 
of  transportation,  and  not  on  account  of 
any  lack  of  capacity  for  production.  South- 
ern Siberia  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  world's 
great  undeveloped  farms.  Particularly  is 
this  true  of  the  Amur  and  Ussuri  Provinces, 
in  the  southeast,  with  a  combined  area  of 
880,000  square  miles,  which  is  more  than 
four  times  the  area  of  France. 

There  are  other  important  forms  of 
natural  wealth.  Vast  regions  are  heavily 
forested,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  Si- 
beria may  some  day  be  our  main  source  of 
lumber  supply.  Coniferous  trees  are  most 
plentiful,  but  oak,  maple,  ash  and  other 
familiar  deciduous  trees  of  North  America 
also  abound.  Birch  is  especially  common, 
and  the  paper-pulp  industry  was  beginning 
to  grow  when  the  war  cut  off  access  to 
markets. 

There  is  also  mineral  wealth.  Gold-dust 
is  found  in  paying  quantities  in  almost  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Under  normal  condi- 
tions, the  output  is  a  million  ounces  a  year, 
and  this  represents  a  mere  scratching  of 
the  surface.  Probably  the  richest  gold 
fields  remaining  in  the  world  today  are  in 
Siberia.  Silver  and  silver-bearing  lead  ores 
are  abundant,  as  are  also  copper,  cinnabar, 
tin  and  graphite.  From  the  Altai  region 
come  all  manner  of  precious  and  ornamental 
stones,  including  jasper,  malachite,  beryl 
and  dark  quartz.  There  is  some  coal  and 
much  petroleum,  although  apparently  not 
much  iron.  Finally  may  be  mentioned, 
among  resources,  the  country's  enormous 
yield  of  furs  and  the  unlimited  opportunity 
for  the  development  of  fisheries  on  the 
eastern  coasts. 

Until  within  the  memory  of  men  still 
living,  the  world  at  large  knew  next  to 
nothing  about  Siberia  and  had  no  interest 
in  it.  The  Russians  were  permitted  to  ex- 
tend their  control  over  it  with  no  competi- 
tion, and  with  never  a  word  of  protest 
until,  near  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  they  began  to  use  the  country  as 
a  base  for  expansion  southward  in  the 
direction  of  Persia,  India  and  Korea.  Even 
then,  no  one  challenged  the  Russian  posi- 
tion in  Siberia  proper. 

The    story    of    Russian    rule    in    Siberia 


stretches  through  three  and  a  half  centu- 
ries. It  begins  with  the  conquest  of  the  cen- 
tral Irtish  valley  by  the  Cossack  chieftain 
Yermak  in  1582,  and  moves  forward  as  a 
great  epic  comparable  with  the  story  of 
the  westward  expansion  of  white  population 
and  dominion  in  our  own  land.  The  loves 
and  hates,  the  daring  deeds  and  homely 
labors  of  land-seekers,  fur-traders,  hunters, 
gold-diggers,  adventurers  of  every  sort, 
make  up  the  warp  and  woof  of  one  story  as 
of  the  other,  save  for  the  sombre  figure  of 
the  Russian  political  exile,  which  has  no 
counterpart  in  the  making  of  the  new 
America. 

Once  started,  Russian  sovereignty  ad- 
vanced through  Asia  at  an  average  yearly 
rate  of  20,000  square  miles — half  the  area 
of  Ohio — for  325  years.  There  were  no 
great  wars  of  conquest.  Rather,  the  method 
of  expansion  was  to  reach  out  successively 
into  new  regions,  plant  trading  posts  pro- 
tected by  garrisons,  and  from  these  centres 
to  bring  under  control  the  restless  and  pred- 
atory native  tribes  of  the  vicinity.  In  this 
way  Tobolsk  was  founded  in  1587,  Tomsk 
in  1604,  Yeniseisk  in  1619,  Yakutsk  in  1632, 
Verkhneudinsk  on  Lake  Baikal  in  1648, 
Albasin  in  1663. 

The  same  instinctive  desire  for  a  free 
outlet  to  open  water  that  led  toward  the 
Baltic  and  the  Black  Sea  turned  inevitably 
toward  the  ice-free  waters  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean;  and  this  desire  was  satisfied  as 
early  as  1686,  when  Cossack  explorers  came 
within  sight  of  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk.  After 
a  fierce  struggle  with  the  aborigines,  a  fort 
was  built  on  the  coast  in  1647. 

Two  hundred  years  were  required  to 
round  out  and  consolidate  Russian  dominion 
in  Siberia  proper.  Then  new  lines  of  ad- 
vance were  started.  The  first  of  these  led 
toward  China  and  its  nominal  dependency, 
Korea.  Count  Nicholas  Muriaviev,  who 
became  Governor  of  Eastern  Siberia  in 
1847,  initiated  this  phase  of  Russian  policy 
and  carried  it  far  toward  realization.  In 
1850  the  Muscovite  flag  was  unfurled  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Amur  River;  in  1858 
China  was  manoeuvred  into  a  position 
where  there  was  nothing  for  her  to  do  but 
cede  to  the  Russians  all  of  her  rich  terri- 
tories on  the  left  bank  of  that  stream;  and 
two  years  later  another  cession  added  the 
maritime     province     between     the     Ussuri 


466 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


-SC  Ai-E    Of  MILES 


TL  SfcAl  AKMOMNSK.    \  ^O     \      \        / 

CENTRA  lS^.^         'I* 

ASIA    "M.M^yV 


C    H    I    M    A 


GENERAL,    VIEW    OF    SIBERIA    AND    ITS    PRINCIPAL    CITIES    AND    RIVERS 


River  and  the  sea,  and  conferred  the  right 
to  occupy  Vladivostok. 

The  second  line  of  southward  advance  lay 
in  Central  Asia,  and  was  directed  toward 
the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  frontiers  of  India. 
Action  began  in  this  field  about  1864,  and 
by  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  II. 
(1881),  Muscovite  domination  had  been 
established  throughout  almost  the  whole  of 
the  vast  expanse  of  territory  lying  between 
Siberia  on  the  north  and  Persia  and 
Afghanistan  on  the  south,  and  stretching 
from  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Caspian  to 
the  Chinese  frontier.  The  greater  part  of 
the  territory  was  formally  incorporated  in 
the  empire,  and  the  petty  potentates,  such 
as  the  Khan  of  Khiva  and  the  Amir  of 
Bokhara,  who  were  allowed  to  retain  a 
semblance  of  their  former  sovereignty,  be- 
came obsequious  vassals  of  the  White 
Czar. 

Hardly  was  Russian  power  recognized  in 
these  newer  possessions  before  the  great 
push  toward  the  south  entered  upon  a  new 
stage,  in  both  west  and  east.  In  the  west 
it  took  the  form  of  penetration  of  Persia 
and  Afghanistan,  and  was  halted  only  in 
1907,  when,  by  recognizing  a  Russian  sphere 
in  Northwestern  Persia,  Great  Britain  se- 
cured from  the  Czar's  Government  an  agree- 
ment to  keep  its  hands  off  both  in  Southern 
Persia  and  in  Afghanistan. 

In  the  east  the  lure  was  the  fertile  lands 
of  Manchuria  and  the  warm-water  harbors 


of  Korea,  and  the  pretext  for  aggression 
was  found  in  the  construction  and  defense 
of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway.  The  bold 
idea  of  linking  up  European  Russia  with 
the  Pacific  by  flinging  a  road  of  steel 
across  5,000  miles  of  Siberian  wilderness 
originated  with  Count  Muriaviev- Amur  ski, 
founder  of  the  Russian  Empire  in  the  Far 
East,  and  a  route  was  marked  off  by  an 
army  engineer  in  1866.  Funds  were  at  last 
obtained,  mainly  from  France,  and  in  1891 
work  was  begun  on  seven  sections  simul- 
taneously. By  the  opening  of  the  present 
century  a  rail  and  steamer  route  was  open 
for  traffic  from  Moscow  to  Vladivostok. 
Its  itinerary  was  as  follows:  Rail  from 
Moscow  to  Lake  Baikal,  steamer  across  the 
southern  end  of  the  lake,  rail  again  to 
Stretensk  on  the  Upper  Amur,  steamer 
down  the  river  to  Khabarovsk,  and  rail 
thence  southward  to  Vladivostok. 

Meanwhile,  however,  interest  in  the  lower 
Amur  route  yielded  to  a  plan  to  carry  the 
rail  line  further  south,  across  Chinese  ter- 
ritory, to  Vladivostok,  and  possibly  to  ports 
still  more  favorably  situated;  and  this  de- 
cision influenced  the  course  of  Far  Eastern 
affairs  as  has  nothing  else  in  the  past  half 
century,  save  the  great  war  itself.  What 
it  led  to  immediately  was  the  formation  of 
the  Eastern  China  Railway  Company  and 
of  the  Russo-Chinese  Bank,  the  building  of 
a  Russian-controlled  railroad  from  the 
Trans-Siberian  line  at  Kaidalovo  southeast- 


SIBERIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE 


467 


ward  across  the  Chinese  province  of  Mari- 
churia  to  Vladivostok,  and  (after  the  Rus- 
sian lease  of  the  Liao-tung  Peninsula  in 
1898)  the  construction,  of  a  yet  more  im- 
portant Russian  road  southward  from  Har- 
bin, in  Central  Manchuria,  to  Mukden,  Port 
Arthur  and  Talien-wan,  renamed  Dalny, 
on  the  Gulf  of  Pechili.  What  the  decision 
led  to  eventually,  of  course,  was  the  clash 
of  Russian  and  Japanese  ambitions  in 
Northern  China,  the  defeat  of  Russia  in  the 
war  of  1904-5,  and  the  conversion  of  Japan 
from  an  Oriental  into  a  world  power. 

In  the  story  of  Siberia  these  great  Rus- 
sian projects  toward  the  south  are  vital,  for 
in  later  decades  Czarist  policy  in  Asia  was 
determined  almost  exclusively  with  refer- 
ence to  them.  In  the  eyes  of  the  political 
and  military  strategists  at  St.  Petersburg, 
Siberia  was  the  great  bulwark,  the  base, 
from  which  Russia's  successive  drives  for 
territory  and  power  in  both  Far  East  and 
Middle  East  were  to  be  launched.  Large  op- 
portunities for  economic  development  in  the 
northern  country  were  habitually  ignored 
because  of  the  feverish  desire  for  exploita- 
tion and  aggrandizement  further  south. 

None  the  less,  Siberia,  in  the  years  before 
the  great  war,  was  becoming  truly  Russian. 
From  the  first  entrance  of  Muscovite  power 
down  to  1900,  the  country  was  a  penal 
colony,  and  a  considerable  share  of  its 
present  Russian-speaking  population  is 
composed  of  freed  hard-labor  convicts  or 
their  descendants.  But  there  has  been  a 
large  amount  of  voluntary  Russian  immi- 
gration. At  certain  stages,  this  movement 
was  stimulated  and  directed  by  the  Govern- 
ment itself.  For  example,  when  the  Amur 
and  Ussuri  provinces  were  acquired,  the 
State  gave  families  free  transportation 
thither,  provided  temporary  accommoda- 
tions on  their  arrival,  gave  each  head  of  a 
household  200  or  300  acres  of  land,  sold 
necessary  agricultural  implements  at  cost, 
and  made  long-term  loans  without  interest. 
At  other  times,  the  authorities  tried  to  curb 
the  movement. 

Regardless,  however,  of  the  official  atti- 
tude, serfdom,  conscription  and  religious 
persecution  could  always  be  counted  on  in 
earlier  days  to  keep  the  stream  flowing; 
and  in  later  times,  ease  of  transportation, 
the  abandonment  of  the  exile  system,  and 
increased  ability  of  the  liberated  peasant  to 
move  about  supplied  fresh  impetus.     For  a 


decade  prior  to  1914,  settlers  were  pouring 
into  Siberia's  vacant  lands  at  the  rate  of 
300,000  a  year ;  and  when  one  considers  that 
in  the  year  mentioned  the  entire  population 
of  the  country,  both  Russian  and  native, 
was  less  than  three  times  that  of  Greater 
New  York,  it  is  obvious  that  the  scale,  in 
the  matter  of  numbers  as  well  as  in  types 
of  civilization,  was  fast  being  inclined  in 
the  Russians'  favor. 

The  major  part  of  this  growing  Musco- 
vite population  was  to  be  found,  however, 
in  Western,  rather  than  Eastern,  Siberia,  and 
many  Russians  considered  that  the  increase 
in  the  latter  quarter  was  not  sufficiently 
rapid  to  insure  permanent  possession.  The 
rival  that  was  feared,  of  course,  was  Japan. 
It  is  true  that  the  war  of  1904-5  was  scarce- 
ly ended  before  the  St.  Petersburg  and 
Tokio  Governments  began  to  draw  together ; 
and  successive  agreements  in  the  ensuing 
decade  brought  them  outwardly  into  com- 
plete accord  on  Far  Eastern  affairs.  But 
Russians  east  of  Lake  Baikal  saw  with  in- 
creasing apprehension  Japan's  absorption  of 
Korea,  her  -veiled  exploitation  of  Southern 
Manchuria,  and  her  economic  penetration  of 
Inner  Mongolia,  and  many  of  them  were 
convinced,  before  1914,  that  Japan  would 
some  day  come  aggressively  to  Siberia. 

Among  those  who  took  this  view  was 
Nikolai  Gondatti,  Governor  General  at 
Vladivostok  at  the  time  when  the  great  war 
broke  out.  Rabidly  anti-Japanese,  he  had 
for  years  left  no  stone  unturned  to  block 
the  ingress  of  Japanese  commerce  and  to 
prevent  Japanese  encroachment  upon  Rus- 
sian fishing  interests;  and  finally  he  had 
made  it  the  chief  policy  of  his  administra- 
tion to  shut  out  all  alien  labor,  Chinese  and 
Korean,  as  well  as  Japanese,  although  in 
this  he  was  not  wholly  successful. 

Hence  it  was  not  simply  China  that 
sensed  disaster  when  the  war  unexpectedly 
spread  to  the  Orient;  despite  the  Russo- 
Japanese  alliance,  the  East  Siberian  Rus- 
sians were  similarly  apprehensive.  Japan's 
professed  motives  in  seizing  Kiao-chow  were 
discounted,  and  her  promises  to  maintain 
Far  Eastern  peace  were  regarded  as  hav- 
ing been  made  only  for  effect. 

Nothing  happened  for  more  than  three 
years — in  other  words,  until  the  Bolshevist 
revolution  turned  European  Russia  upside 
down  and  precipitated  the  Asiatic  dependen- 
cies into  chaos.     But  that  event  created  a 


468 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


situation  in  the  Far  East  which  brought 
Japan  and  her  allies  and  associates  to 
vigorous  action,  and  raised  an  international 
problem  which  promises  to  vex  the  chan- 
celleries of  the  world  for  a  long  time  to 
come. 

The  situation,  in  a  word,  was  this:  Soviet 
Russia  was  making  peace  with  Germany. 
The  latter  was  now  free,  not  only  to  mass 
most  of  her  divisions  on  the  western  front, 
but  to  overrun  Russia  and  to  turn  to  her 
own  use  foodstuffs  and  other  supplies  which 
were  known  to  be  distributed  liberally  along 
the  Trans-Siberian  Railroad.  At  Vladi- 
vostok alone  600,000  tons  of  food  and  indis- 
pensable war  materials  lay  in  the  ware- 
houses and  in  great  heaps  on  the  wharves. 
Two  hundred  thousand  released  German  and 
Austrian  prisoners  of  war  were  capable  of 
being  organized  by  Bolshevist  commanders 
in  Eastern  Siberia  for  use  against  the 
Allies.  Apparently,  Siberia  was  about  to 
be  converted  from  an  allied  resource  into 
a  German  base. 

Another  factor  in  the  situation  calls  to 
mind  one  of  the  most  romantic  episodes  of 
the  war,  namely,  the  expedition  of  Czecho- 
slovak soldiers  across  Siberia  on  the  way 
to  the  western  front  in  France.  Never 
before,  perhaps,  had  an  army  undertaken  to 
turn  a  retreat  into  an  advance  by  circum- 
navigating the  earth  and  coming  at  the 
enemy  from  the  opposite  direction.  Organ- 
ized from  Czech  and  Slovak  prisoners  taken 
by  the  Russians  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
war,  this  indomitable  army  of  50,000  men 
turned  to  fighting  on  behalf  of  the  captors, 
and  during  the  last  few  months  before  the 
Bolshevist  revolution  it  was  the  only,  really 
effective  army  on  the  Russian  front.  Find- 
ing itself  cut  off,  after  the  revolution,  from 
the  Czechoslovak  Army  on  the  western 
front,  it  seized  all  the  engines  and  cars 
within  its  reach  and  set  out — eighty  train 
loads  in  all — eastward  with  the  intention  of 
going  to  the  battlefields  of  France  by  way 
of  America.  By  the  Spring  of  1918  it  had 
reached  Western  Siberia,  but  was  beset  by 
the  Red  forces  and  was  reported  to  be  in 
danger  of  annihilation. 

Predisposed  by  these  circumstances  to 
favor  intervention,  Great  Britain  and 
France  received  with  cordiality  a  sugges- 
tion of  Japan  that  she  be  given  a  mandate 
by  the  Allies  to  throw  a  military  force  into 
Siberia.      "  Germany,"    said    Marshal    Foch 


in  February,  1918,  "  is  walking  through 
Russia.  America  and  Japan,  who  are  in  a 
position  to  do  so,  should  go  to  meet  her  in 
Siberia.  Both  for  the  war  and  after,  Amer- 
ica and  Japan  must  furnish  military  and 
economic  resistance  to  German  penetra- 
tion." 

At  Washington,  the  proposal  was  not  im- 
mediately welcomed.  On  the  contrary,  dis- 
approval was  expressed,  on  the  ground  that 
the  Central  Powers  could  and  would  make 
it  appear  that  the  invaders  of  Siberia  were 
doing  in  that  quarter  exactly  what  Ger- 
many, with  a  view  to  "  restoring  order," 
was  doing  in  Russia.  At  all  events,  the 
United  States,  it  was  given  out,  would  have 
no  part  in  the  campaign. 

The  project  was,  however,  only  momenta- 
rily halted.  The  murder  of  two  Japanese  in 
a  riot  in  Vladivostok  in  early  April  caused 
a  detachment  of  Japanese  marines  to  be 
landed  forthwith  in  that  city;  and  the  in- 
creasing seriousness  of  the  general  military 
situation  overcame  all  inclination  to  hesitate 
longer.  With  the  full  assent  of  the  Allies, 
Japan  began  sending  regular  troops;  Great 
Britain  and  France  decided  to  take  an 
active  part;  and,  by  an  extraordinary  re- 
versal of  policy,  the  United  States  also 
agreed  to  participate.  In  all,  about  100,000 
men  were  despatched  to  the  scene  of  action. 

Historians  will  probably  always  disagree 
on  the  results,  as  well  as  the  justification, 
of  this  venture.  Some  already  hold  it  a 
gigantic  fiasco,  which  accomplished  nothing 
except  to  add  to  the  difficulties  of  maintain- 
ing peace  and  justice  in  the  Orient.  Others 
consider  that,  in  view  of  Germany's  im- 
pending collapse,  it  was  unnecessary,  though 
this  could  not  have  been  perceived  at  the 
time.  Still  others  believe  that,  by  disarm- 
ing and  placing  under  restraint  the  former 
German-Austrian  prisoners  and  by  fighting 
the  Bolsheviki  in  the  vicinity  of  Vladivostok 
and  along  the  Amur,  it  stayed  the  tide  of 
Bolshevist  conquest  and  possibly  saved 
China  and  Korea  from  invasion. 

The  one  aspect  of  the  undertaking  which 
is  indisputable  is  that  it  was  deliberately 
turned  by  the  Japanese  to  their  own  na- 
tional advantage.  It  is  true  that  the  Tokio 
Government  entered  upon  the  campaign  re- 
affirming its  "  avowed  policy  of  respecting 
the  territorial  integrity  of  Russia,  and  of 
abstaining  from  all  interference  in  her  in- 
ternal  politics,"   and   promising   that   upon 


SIBERIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE 


469 


realization  of  the  announced  objects  of  the 
intervention  it  would  "  immediately  with- 
draw all  Japanese  troops  from  Russian  ter- 
ritory." But,  in  the  first  place,  though  it 
had  been*agreed  that  no  power  should  send 
more  than  7,200  soldiers,  Japan  sent  72,000; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  the  campaign,  the 
principal  commander  of  which,  on  the  basis 
of  seniority,  was  the  Japanese  General 
Otani,  was  carried  out  in  Japanese  fashion 
and  with  thinly  disguised  Japanese  ends  in 
view. 

Admiral  Kolchak's  anti-Bolshevist  Gov- 
ernment at  Omsk  was  nominally  supported 
while  it  lasted,  but  emissaries  from  Tokio 
took  advantage  of  its  weakness  to  extort 
a  number  of  commercial  concessions. 
Semi-independent  Cossack  chiefs,  notably 
Semenov  and  Kalmykov,  were  aided,  with 
the  general  effect  of  discouraging  the  rise 
of  a  strong  Government  of  any  kind  in  Si- 
beria. The  country  was  flooded  with  Japa- 
nese manufacturers,  shipped  under  the  guise 
of  military  stores  at  a  time  when  it  was 
impossible  for  the  merchants  of  other  na- 
tions to  secure  shipping  facilities  for  their 
goods.  The  Japanese  constructed  their  own 
military  telegraph,  which  they  reserved  en- 
tirely for  their  own  purposes,  military  and 
commercial,  and  almost  every  strategic  city 
and  railroad  junction  received  its  Japanese 
garrison  or  guard.  In  short,  by  the  close 
of  1918,  Japan  dominated  the  Far  Eastern 
situation  and  had  at  her  mercy  not  only 
the  Russian  sphere  in  Northern  Manchuria, 
but  all  Siberia  east  of  Lake  Baikal. 

These  things  were,  of  course,  not  un- 
known to  the  western  powers,  and  they 
roused  much  indignation.  It  was,  indeed, 
repeatedly  rumored  that  Japan  had  a  secret 
understanding  with  Germany  under  which 
the  former  was  to  acquire  all  Trans-Baikal 
Siberia,  though  this  was  categorically  de- 
nied at  Tokio.  So  long  as  the  war  lasted, 
no  protest  could  be  made.  But  when  the 
armistice  became  assured,  Secretary  Lan- 
sing pointedly  urged  upon  the  Japanese 
Ambassador  at  Washington  that  the  mili- 
tary party  under  whose  dictation  Japan  was 
obviously  acting  in  Siberia  be  checked  in  its 
mad  course.  The  request  caused  an  up- 
heaval in  Japanese  political  circles,  and  the 
militarists  were  for  defying  American  opin- 
ion. Better  counsels,  fortunately,  prevailed; 
and  as  an  evidence  of  good  faith  more  than 


half  of  the  Japanese  troops  in  Siberia  were 
recalled. 

The  question  then  arose  whether  all  of 
the  powers  should  not  withdraw  completely. 
The  objects  for  which  intervention  was 
undertaken  had  been  attained  or  were  no 
longer  desirable.  The  country's  political 
status  was  still  unsettled;  Kolchak's  Gov- 
ernment was  tottering  and  Soviets  were 
being  set  up  in  the  eastern  cities.  But  the 
powers,  including  Japan,  had  said  that  they 
had  no  intention  or  desire  to  control  Si- 
beria's political  future,  and  by  midsummer 
of  1919,  when  Kolchak's  regime  finally  col- 
lapsed, American,  British  and  French  public 
sentiment  unmistakably  demanded  that  the 
entire  enterprise  be  brought  to  an  end.  The 
American  withdrawal  took  place  early  in 
1920,  and  that  of  the  British  and  French 
soon  afterward. 

Japan  stayed  on.  She  reiterated  that  it 
was  no  part  of  her  plan  to  annex  Siberian 
territory,  and  she  publicly  promised  to 
withdraw  all  of  her  soldiers  when  "  the 
political  situation  in  the  regions  contiguous 
to  Japanese  territory  is  settled,  the  danger 
to  Korea  and  Manchuria  removed,  the  lives 
and  property  of  Japanese  residents  pro- 
tected, and  the  freedom  of  communication 
safeguarded." 

It  was,  of  course,  easy  for  people  who 
suspected  Japan  of  ulterior  motives  to  point 
out  the  ambiguity  of  this  pledge;  precisely 
when  the  political  situation  in  Siberia  was 
to  be  regarded  as  "  settled  "  and  Japanese 
interests  were  to  be  considered  duly  "  pro- 
tected "  was  likely  to  be  viewed  very  dif- 
ferently in  Tokio  and  in  London  or  Wash- 
ington. Furthermore,  Japanese  actions  in 
succeeding  months  lent  fresh  color  to  the 
charge  that  there  was  no  real  intention  to 
withdraw  at  all.  The  number  of  troops 
stationed  in  the  country  was  increased  until 
it  totaled  100,000;  Vladivostok  was  practi- 
cally converted  into  a  Japanese  fortress; 
Nikolsk,  near  by,  Khabarovsk,  on  the  Amur, 
and  other  important  railway  towns  were 
brought  under  strict  control;  in  1920  occu- 
pation of  the  Maritime  Province  was  ex- 
tended and,  despite  protest  from  the  United 
States,  possession  was  taken  of  the  north- 
ern, i.  e.,  the  Russian,  half  of  the  island  of 
Saghalien. 

A  section  of  Southeastern  Siberia  three 
times  the  size  of  New  England  still  lies  in 
the  hollow  of  Japan's  hand,  and  Japanese 


470 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


influence  is  a  main  factor  in  the  political 
and  commercial  situation  westward  to 
Irkutsk. 

Rarely  has  a  nation  been  more  sorely- 
tempted.  Japan  is  a  small  country — hardly 
larger  than  Montana — with  very  limited  re- 
sources. Her  people  multiply  at  the  amaz- 
ing rate  of  12  per  cent,  per  decade.  The 
average  density  of  population  is  380  per 
square  mile,  as  compared  with  35  in  the 
United  States.  The  only  solution  of  the 
problem  of  subsistence  which  can  be  imme- 
diately effective  is  emigration ;  and  artisans, 
shopkeepers  and  laborers  leave  the  country 
by  the  tens  of  thousands  every  year.  Yet 
this  emigration  not  only  brings  the  empire 
into  troubled  relations  with  the  peoples 
around  the  further  shores  of  the  Pacific, 
but  robs  it  of  man  power  that  may  some 
day  be  needed.  Consequently  there  is  strong 
desire  for  territory  in  which  the  Japanese 
may  settle  in  unlimited  numbers  without 
being  lost  to  the  home  land.  Southern  Si- 
beria, although  further  north  than  the  em- 
pire's emigrants  would  prefer  to  go,  offers 
an  outlet  of  precisely  this  sort.  And  the 
Japanese  are  already  practically  in  posses- 
sion there. 

Confronted  with  this  temptation,  Japan 
stands  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  If  she 
allows  herself  to  be  led  by  the  militarist 
elements  which  have  been  the  invisible 
powers  behind  the  throne  in  recent  years, 
she  will  repudiate  her  pledges  and  defy 
international  sentiment  by  formally  annex- 
ing some  large  portion  of  Siberia,  or  will 
perhaps  seek  to  attain  the  same  ultimate 
object    by    disguised    control    through    the 


intermediary  of  a  native  state  or  federation 
of  States.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  she  yields 
to  the  guidance  of  men  who,  though  perhaps 
imperialists  at  heart,  are  conservative  and 
cautious — men  of  the  type  of  Viscount  Kato, 
leader  of  the  Kenseikai  party — she  will  call 
her  soldiery  home  from  Siberia  and  try  to 
solve  her  national  problems  on  less  perilous 
lines.  Whatever  her  decision  proves  to  be, 
world  politics  in  the  next  quarter  century 
will  be  profoundly  affected  by  it. 

The  future  of  Siberia,  therefore,  can  be 
laid  out  only  in  terms  of  possibilities.  That 
part  of  the  country  situated  west  of  Lake 
Baikal  is  likely  to  go  whatever  way  Euro- 
pean Russia  goes.  At  present  its  connec- 
tions with  the  Moscow  Government  are 
tenuous.  Siberia  east  of  Lake  Baikal  seems 
likely  to  become  permanently  independent, 
notwithstanding  its  predominantly  Russian 
character.  This  may  add  to  the  family  of 
nations  one  large  State,  either  the  Far 
Eastern  Republic,  the  creation  of  which  at 
Chita  was  announced  early  in  the  present 
year,  or  some  similar  political  establish- 
ment. Or  a  series  of  buffer  States  may 
arise — under  the  more  or  less  open  control 
of  Japan.  Such  an  arrangement  has  been 
seriously  discussed  at  Tokio  as  a  means  of 
erecting  a  barrier  against  the  conquest  of 
the  Far  East  by  Bolshevism.  In  any  case 
the  historic  balance  in  the  Far  East  would 
thus  be  overturned.  Japan  would  become  a 
great  continental  power  quite  as  truly  as  if 
the  territories  had  been  formally  annexed 
to  the  empire — an  alternative  which,  inci- 
dentally, is  not  outside  the  possibilities  of 
the   situation. 


IMPROVING  THE  WORLD'S  TRANSIT  FACILITIES 


rpHE  League  of  Nations  Commission  on 
■*-  Transit  and  Waterways  ended  its  delib- 
erations at  Barcelona  on  April  21,  1921. 
Two  conventions  were  signed.  The  first 
dealt  with  waterways,  and  laid  down  as  a 
principle  the  absolute  freedom  of  naviga- 
tion for  all  nations  without  any  special  cus- 
toms duties,  taxes,  or  other  dues.  The  same 
freedom  was  granted  for  the  use  of  rivers 
harbors.  The  second  convention  dealt  with 
the  question  of  transit  overland,  and  agreed 
that  there  should  be  absolute  equality  for 
all  States  in  transporting  goods  through 
a  country  when  such  goods  are  neither  tem- 


barked  nor  disembarked  in  the  country  in 
question.  It  was  agreed  by  the  delegates 
that  a  technical  consultation  commission 
should  be  set  up  in  Geneva  on  an  interna- 
tional basis,  for  the  settlement  of  all  water- 
ways and  transit  disputes.  It  was  reported 
at  that  time  that  Mr.  Rowell,  one  of  the 
Canadian  delegates  at  Geneva,  had  pro- 
tested against  this  establishment  of  a  new 
commission  by  the  Barcelona  Conference 
as  contrary  to  the  League  Assembly's  rul- 
ings. M.  Hanataux,  who  presided  at  Bar- 
celona, delivered  a  farewell  address  em- 
phasizing the  unanimity  of  the  decisions 
reached. 


BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  IN  SIBERIA 


By  Walter  Irving 


This  article  was  written  in  Vladivostok  and  sent  to  CURRENT  HI  STORY  from  that  port  on  March  22, 1921 . 
Its  author  is  connected  with  a  leading  business  establishment  there,  and  his  description  of  the  economic 
and  trading  situation  is  Siberia  is  based  on  intimate  personal  knowledge.  His  summary  of  political 
happenings  since  the  fall  of  Kolchak,  coupled  with  his  clear-eyed  view  of  present  business  conditions 
throughout  Siberia,  has  special  interest  at  a  time  when  both  the  Soviet  Government  and  the  leaders  of  the 
Far  Eastern  Republic  are  talking  of  giving  vast  concessions  to  foreign  capital. 


WITH  the  retreat  of  the  Kolchak  forces, 
which  began  about  the  beginning  of 
November,  1919,  and  continued  until 
February,  1920,  the  territory  evacuated  by 
them  came  under  the  rule  of  the  Central 
Soviet  Government  in  Moscow.  The  remnant 
of  the  Kolchak  forces,  an  army  of  about 
40,000  officers  and  men  under  the  command 
of  General  Kappel,  was  forced  to  retreat 
on  foot,  the  railway  to  the  east  being 
heavily  overburdened  with  the  evacuation 
of  the  Czechoslovak  and  other  allied  forces. 
This  retreat  was  made  in  the  depth  of 
the  Siberian  Winter.  The  Kappel  force  was 
closely  pursued  by  the  Red  Army,  and  was 
continually  engaged  in  rearguard  actions 
with  the  enemy.  When  this  force  arrived 
outside  the  town  of  Irkutsk  it  found  the 
town  in  the  hands  of  the  Reds,  so  that  the 
army  was  forced  to  make  a  detour  to  the 
northward,  in  order  to  avoid  being  sur- 
rounded. Crossing  the  frozen  Lake  Baikal 
into  the  Transbaikal  Province,  it  eventually 
joined  up  with  the  anti-Bolshevist  force  of 
General  Semenov,  whose  headquarters  were 
in  Chita.  This  retreat  of  General  Kappel's 
force  a  distance  of  some  2,000  miles, 
through  hostile  country,  and  in  the  depth  of 
the  terrible  Siberian  Winter,  took  a  heavy 
toll.  Of  the  40,000  that  retreated  from 
Krasnoyarsk,  only  about  20,000  reached 
Chita.  General  Kappel  himself  died  on  the 
way,  and  his  body  was  brought  to  Chita  for 
interment. 

It  was  only  the  presence  of  the  Japanese 
forces  in  Transbaikalia  that  prevented  the 
Reds  from  pursuing  the  anti-Bolshevist 
forces  further  than  Irkutsk.  The  communist 
Government  which  was  eventually  formed 
in  Western  Transbaikalia,  with  headquar- 
ters in  Verkhneudinsk,  and  which  was  sup- 
ported by  the  Soviet  authorities,  afterward 
attacked  the  anti-Bolshevist  forces,  but  as 
the  latter  were  materially  and  actively  sup- 


ported by  the  Japanese,  they  were  more 
than  able  to  hold  their  own.  Eventually  an 
agreement  was  signed  between  the  Japanese 
and  the  Verkhneudinsk  Government,  where- 
by Verkhneudinsk  undertook  not  to  move 
its  armed  forces  further  east  than  the  Yab- 
lon  Mountains,  which  practically  cut  Trans- 
baikalia into  two  equal  parts.  Two  Govern- 
ments were  formed,  the  Verkhneudinsk 
Government  ruling  Western  Transbaikalia, 
and  the  Government  of  General  Semenov, 
Eastern  Transbaikalia.  These  events,  so 
far  as  the  Russian  Far  East  was  concerned, 
had  the  effect  of  making  the  Siberian  ter- 
ritory west  of  the  Yablon  Mountains  a 
sealed  book,  as  there  was  no  free  inter- 
course between  Eastern  and  Western 
Siberia,  and  no  postal,  telegraphic  or  rail- 
way communication.  This  vast  territory, 
therefore,  both  politically  and  economically, 
came  under  the  direct  influence  of  the  Mos- 
cow Government,  and  the  form  of  govern- 
ment prevalent  in  European  Russia  was  ex- 
tended to  Western  and  Central  Siberia. 

The  Russian  Far  East,  composed  of  five 
provinces — Transbaikalia,  Amur,  Maritime, 
the  Island  of  Saghalien  and  Kamchatka — 
after  the  fall  of  the  Kolchak  Administra- 
tion, was  administered  by  four  separate 
Governments  —  Western  Transbaikalia  by 
the  Verkhneudinsk  Government,  Eastern 
Transbaikalia  by  the  anti-Bolshevist  Gov- 
ernment of  General  Semenov,  the  Amur 
Province  by  the  communistic  Government 
of  Blagoveshchensk,  and  the  Maritime 
Province,  together  with  the  Island  of  Sag- 
halien and  Kamchatka,  by  the  Vladivostok 
Government,  which  was  a  coalition  Govern- 
ment, with  the  communists  in  the  majority. 
Each  Government  had  its  own  special  ad- 
ministration and  its  own  paper  currency, 
each  issuing  paper  with  a  face  value  of 
millions  of  rubles,  but  in  reality  worth 
hardly  more  than  the  paper  it  was  printed 


47^2 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


on.  Each  Government  had  also  a  certain 
amount  of  gold  and  silver  at  its  disposal, 
these  metal  reserves  being  parts  of  the  Rus- 
sian metal  reserve  which  had  been  captured 
by  the  Kolchak  Government,  and  which, 
when  the  Kolchak  forces  had  been  obliged 
to  retreat,  was  evacuated  to  the  east.  The 
Blagoveshchensk  Government,  which  had 
no  metallic  funds,  was  overjoyed  when 
the  Vladivostok  Government  evacuated 
the  Kolchak  gold,  some  2,000  poods,  to 
Blagoveshchensk  for  safe  keeping.  Natu- 
rally the  Vladivostok  Government  never 
saw  this  gold  again,  Blagoveshchensk 
thinking  that  it  had  quite  as  much 
right  to  it  as  Vladivostok.  The  metal 
reserves  of  the  different  Governments  had 
to  be  held  strictly  for  the  supplying  of  the 
population  with  the  necessities  of  life,  for 
the  purchase  of  grain,  flour,  meat,  &c. 

As  the  trading  and  economic  status  of 
the  whole  of  the  Russian  Far  East  had  col- 
lapsed, such  commodities  had  to  be  obtained 
from  Northern  Manchuria,  and  as  the  Chi- 
nese merchants  would  sell  their  commodi- 
ties only  for  good  "  hard  cash,"  it  was  not 
long  before  the  supplies  of  metal  were  ex- 
hausted. Then  came  the  time  of  nationali- 
zation and  requisition  from  the  peasants  in 
the  territories  that  had  been  evacuated  by 
the  Japanese  forces.  What  effect  these 
requisitions  had  on  the  economic  life  of  the 
country  will  be  described  later. 

With  the  withdrawal  of  the  Japanese 
forces  from  Transbaikalia  and  the  subse- 
quent withdrawal  of  the  support  to  Gen- 
eral Semenov's  Government,  it  soon  became 
evident  that  an  agreement  must  be  come  to 
between  Chita  and  Verkhneudinsk,  or  that 
the  Chita  Government  must  capitulate.  Sev- 
eral attempts  were  made  to  come  to  an 
agreement,  but  owing  to  the  various  de- 
mands made  by  Verkhneudinsk,  some  of 
which  were  not  acceptable  to  Chita,  it  was 
evident  that  military  operations  were  inev- 
itable. These  eventually  came  to  a  head. 
The  Semenov  and  Kappel  forces  put  up  a 
hard  fight,  but  they  were  obliged  to  re- 
treat into  Chinese  territory,  where  they 
were  disarmed  by  the  Chinese  military  au- 
thorities. In  accordance  with  their  wishes 
they  were  transported  to  the  Maritime 
Province,  where  they  are  now  trying  as  far 
as  possible  to  eke  out  an  existence  by  peace- 
ful labor. 

With  the  fall  of  the  anti-Bolshevist  Gov- 


ernment of  Chita  a  movement  was  started 
for  uniting  the  whole  of  the  Russian  Far 
East  under  a  central  Government  as  an  au- 
tonomous democratic  State,  and  with  head- 
quarters in  Chita,  to  serve  as  a  buffer 
State  between  Japan  and  Soviet  Russia. 
This  project  was  eventually  brought  into 
being  when  the  Amur  Government  sub- 
jected itself  to  Chita.  Vladivostok,  after 
many  discussions  in  the  local  National  As- 
sembly, subjected  itself  under  certain  con- 
ditions, the  principal  one  being  that  the 
local  National  Assembly  should  still  exist 
as  a  provincial  apparatus  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  province,  in  order  to  ward 
off  the  danger  of  the  military  occupation 
of  the  province  by  the  Japanese  forces, 
should  the  administration  not  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  Japanese  command. 

As  the  Chita  Government  was  entirely 
composed  of  communists  who  were  under 
the  direct  influence  of  the  Moscow  Govern- 
ment, it  was  only  to  be  expected  that  a 
form  of  government  exactly  similar  to  that 
in  force  in  Soviet  Russia  and  Siberia  would 
be  brought  into  being  by  the  Government 
of  the  Far  Eastern  republic.  It  is  true 
that,  in  accordance  with  the  declaration  of 
the  Chita  Government,  freedom  of  the  press, 
free  trade  and  the  inviolability  of  private 
property  were  guaranteed  by  the  buffer 
State,  but  there  are  plenty  of  ways  of 
gaining  the  desired  end,  and  a  communist 
can  generally  find  a  way,  even  if  he  has  to 
repudiate  a  whole  series  of  previous  decla- 
rations. Vladivostok  and  the  surrounding 
districts,  owing  to  the  presence  of  the  Jap- 
anese forces,  has  not  as  yet  felt  the  full 
force  of  the  "  Proletariat's  Paradise,"  and 
the  Vladivostok  authorities,  although  in 
reality  subject  to  Chita,  bow  to  its  authority 
only  when  such  bowing  will  not  upset  the 
Japanese;  whenever  there  is  a  possibility 
of  a  conflict  with  the  Japanese,  should  the 
local  authorities  accede  to  the  demands  of 
Chita,   such  demands  fall  upon   deaf  ears, 

and  Chita  has  no  redress. 
*     *     * 

The  Japanese  forces  in  Siberia  are  said 
to  number  three  army  divisions,  a  total  of 
about  30,000  officers  and  men.  With  the 
forming  of  the  Central  Government  in 
Chita,  and  Vladivostok's  submission,  it 
seemed  as  if  a  conflict  between  the  Japanese 
and  Chita  was  inevitable,  the  Japanese 
command    openly    declaring    that    it    would 


BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  IN  SIBERIA 


473 


not  allow  a  communist  form  of  government 
in  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Japanese 
forces.  In  spite  of  the  Chita  Republic's 
declarations  of  a  democratic  form  of  gov- 
ernment the  Japanese  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it,  and  they  maintain  connections 
only  with  the  local  authorities  in  Vladi- 
vostok, all  disputes  being  brought  before 
the  Russo-Japanese  Conciliatory  Committee, 
which  was  formed  after  the  operations  of 
the  Japanese  forces  in  the  Maritime 
Province  on  April  4  and  5,  1920.  This  com- 
mittee is  still  functioning. 

A  great  deal  of  discussion  is  going  on 
in  the  Russian  and  Japanese  press  regard- 
ing the  evacuation  of  the  Japanese  forces 
from  Siberia,  but  in  my  opinion  this  will  not 
be  soon,  as  the  local  Japanese  residents 
have  signed  a  petition  to  their  home  Gov- 
ernment demanding  adequate  protection  of 
their  lives  and  property,  and  as  the 
Japanese  Parliament  has  voted  all  the 
credits  for  the  upkeep  of  the  Siberian 
expedition. 

A  word  might  also  be  said  here  about  the 
comments  in  the  world's  press  regarding 
the  actions  of  the  Japanese  in  Eastern 
Siberia.  The  foreign  business  man,  be  he 
Japanese,  British,  American  or  French, 
feels  that  his  business  and  capital  are  safe 
from  nationalization  and  requisition  only 
as  long  as  the  Japanese  forces  remain  here, 
and  one  cannot  doubt  for  a  moment  that, 
were  the  Japanese  forces  to  be  evacuated, 
Vladivostok  and  its  surrounding  districts 
would  suffer  the  same  fate  as  the  other 
territories  of  Siberia.  Besides,  as  no  other 
nation  thinks  fit  to  go  to  the  expense  of 
protecting  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
nationals  in  Siberia,  except  perhaps  Amer- 
ica, which  has  a  cruiser  permanently  sta- 
tioned here,  what  nation  can  question  the 
right  of  the  Japanese  to  protect  the  lives 
and  property  of  their  nationals,  who,  next 
to  the  Chinese,  form  the  largest  part  of  the 
foreign  population  of  the  Russian  Far  East? 
Moreover,  the  political,  economic  and  na- 
tional welfare  of  the  Japanese  Empire  is 
threatened  by  the  extending  of  Bolshevist 
influence  to  its  territories,  and  who  can 
deny  Japan  the  right  of  taking  the  measures 
which  she  thinks  fit  to  prevent  such  a  pos- 
sibility? 

*     *     * 

According  to  official  statistics  of  the  Im- 
perial   Russian    Government   for    1911,   the 


Government  income  and  expenditure  for 
Siberia  were  as  follows :  Income,  111,500,000 
rubles;  expenditure,  298,300,000  rubles;  ex- 
cess of  expenditure  over  income,  186,600,000 
rubles. 

The  income  and  expenditure  were  divided 
among  the  Siberian  provinces  as  follows: 

Income  in  Expenditure 

Millions  in  Millions 
Province.                            of  Rubles,     of  Rubles. 

Tobolsk    1.0  7.5 

Tomsk     42.7  65.5 

Akmolinsk,     Semipalatinsk 

and    Semiretschensk 15.8  24.0 

Western    Siberia 59.5  97.0 

Yeniseisk     8.6  12.8 

Irkutsk 15.5  47.3 

Transbaikalia    10.0  44.0 

Yakutsk     1.0  1.5 

Central    Siberia 35.1  105.6 

Far     East 16.9  95.7 

Total  for  Siberia 111.5  298.3 

The  further  to  the  east,  the  greater  the 
expenditure  became.  If,  for  instance,  we 
take  the  income  for  the  various  regions  of 
Siberia  as  100,  the  expenditure  would  be 
as  follows: 

Income.    Expenditure. 

Western    Siberia 100  160 

Central    Siberia 100  300 

Far  East 100  570 

Siberia     100  260 

In  general  the  expenditure  of  the  Im- 
perial Russian  Government  in  1911  for 
Western  Siberia  was  one  and  one-half  times 
the  income,  for  Central  Siberia  almost  three 
times,  for  the  Far  East  almost  six  times, 
and  for  the  whole  of  Siberia  two  and  one- 
half  times  the  income.     . 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
Russian  Far  East,  including  Transbaikalia, 
cost  the  Imperial  Government  Treasury 
some  113,000,000  rubles.  With  the  financial 
budget  of  the  Soviet  Government  in  the 
state  it  is,  owing  to  a  heavy  annual  deficit 
for  the  last  three  years,  it  was  natural  that 
Moscow  should  find  a  way  of  ridding  itself 
of  this  burden,  which  at  the  present  state 
of  the  depreciated  currency  would  not  be, 
say  113,000,000,  but  as  many  milliards. 
What  better  way  could  be  found  by  Moscow 
than  that  of  granting  the  Far  East  its 
autonomy? 

Another  reason  for  the  granting  of 
autonomy  was  the  need  of  Moscow  for  a 
respite  from  military  operations  in  the  east, 


474 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


thereby  giving  her  the  possibility  of  putting 
her  house  in  order  in  the  reconquered  terri- 
tories; the  Moscow  Government  had  hopes, 
which  to  a  great  extent  were  fulfilled,  of  re- 
lieving the  great  shortage  of  first  necessi- 
ties felt  in  European  Russia  from  the  cut- 
ting off  of  stocks  in  Siberia.  A  conflict 
with  the  Japanese  would  have  upset  these 
plans,  as  Moscow  would  have  been  engaged 
in  military  operations  against  a  strong 
foe,  with  the  added  danger  of  having  a  line 
of  communications  which  was  liable  to  be 
cut  at  any  moment.  In  spite  of  the  numer- 
ous demands  and  petitions  from  the  Far 
East  for  a  reunion  with  Soviet  Russia,  the 
edict  went  forth  from  Moscow  that  a  buffer 
State  must  be  formed,  and  that  to  appease 
the  Japanese  this  new  State  must  have  a 
democratic  form  of  government. 

In  reality  there  is  no  difference  between 
the  form  of  government  in  force  in  Euro- 
pean Russia  and  the  Russian  Far  East,  as 
Chita  is  under  the  direct  influence  of  Mos- 
cow, and  in  Chita  Moscow's  orders*  override 
all  others.  Only  in  Vladivostok  and  the 
surrounding  districts  is  there  a  less  radical 
form  of  government,  due  to  the  presence  of 
the  Japanese  forces. 

*     *     * 

Financially,  Siberia  and  the  Russian  Far 
East  are  in  a  deplorable  state.  All  the 
Siberian  territories  are  flooded  with  paper 
currencies  of  every  sort  and  design. 
Among  them  might  be  mentioned  Romanoff 
paper,  Kerensky  paper,  Soviet  paper,  paper 
of  the  Verkhneudinsk  Government,  Amur 
paper  money  and,  last  but  not  least,  paper 
money  of  the  Vladivostok  Government. 
At  present  in  Vladivostok  and  its  sur- 
roundings the  Vladivostok  paper  money  has 
almost  entirely  disappeared  from  circula- 
tion, which  is  not  surprising,  seeing  that 
one  can  buy  some  3,000  Vladivostok  paper 
rubles  for  one  Japanese  yen.  Vladivostok 
district  is  the  only  territory  in  Siberia 
which  has  a  stable  currency.  The  principal 
circulating  medium  is  the  Japanese  yen, 
although  American  and  Chinese  dollars  have 
free  circulation  and  are  accepted  at  the 
current  rates.  There  are  also  small  Rus- 
sian silver  coins  in  circulation. 

Naturally,  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
Russian  Far  East  has  fallen  away  to  noth- 
ing, as  nobody  cares  to  accept  paper  money 


in  exchange  for  his  goods.  The  peasant, 
when  he  brought  his  commodities  to  market, 
would  not  accept  this  worthless  paper  money 
for  them,  but  would  exchange  them  only  for 
some  commodity  of  which  he  was  in  need. 
Later,  the  only  way  in  which  the  Govern- 
ment could  obtain  the  necessary  supplies  for 
the  population  was  by  requisitioning  these 
commodities  from  the  peasants,  for  which 
they  paid  paper  money  at  fixed  rates,  in  ex- 
change for  which  the  peasant  could  not  buy 
anything.  Now  the  peasants  have  become 
wise  and  do  not  produce  any  surplus  com- 
modities, but  only  enough  for  their  own 
needs,  so  that  the  town  population  can  no 
longer  be  supplied  from  this  source.  All 
the  metallic  funds  which  the  various  Gov- 
ernments had  at  their  disposal  have  long 
ago  been  expended  for  necessities,  the  big- 
gest part  having  gone  to  the  merchants  of 
Northern  Manchuria,  so  that  Siberia,  one 
of  the  former  granaries  of  the  world,  that 
used  to  export  grain  and  foodstuffs  for 
millions  of  rubles  yearly,  is  now  on  the 
verge  of  starving,  the  population  just 
eking  out  a  bare  existence.  The  authori- 
ties have  been  obliged  to  take  extraor- 
dinary measures  to  supply  the  population 
with  the  necessities  of  life  and  are  send- 
ing armed  detachments  into  the  villages 
for  the  requisition  of  commodities  from 
the  peasants.  The  latest  news  states  that 
not  only  European  Russia,  but  the  whole 
of  Siberia,  is  in  revolt,  this  being  the  direct 
result  of  these  forcible  requisitions. 

Although  no  definite  news  has  been  re- 
ceived regarding  the  success  of  these  re- 
volts, even  should  they  fail,  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment will  be  forced  to  moderate  its 
policy  in  order  to  satisfy  the  peasants, 
who  form  80  per  cent,  of  the  population.* 

Since  the  fall  of  the  Kolchak  Adminis- 
tration there  has  been  a  steady  decline  in 
the  trade  of  the  country,  till  at  the  present 
time  it  has  about  reached  its  limit.  The 
former  prosperous  import  and  export  trade 
through  Vladivostok  has  fallen  away  to 
nothing.  The  decline  in  the  import  trade 
is  due  to  the  low  purchasing  power  of  the 
population,  also  to  the  fact  that  the  mer- 
chants do  not  care  to  take  the  risk  of  im- 
porting   goods   which    might    eventually   be 

♦Since  this  was  written,  the  anti-Soviet  up- 
risings, due  to  the  cause  stated,  have  generally 
failed,  but  Lenin  has  announced  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  Soviet  policy  regarding  the  peasants 
foreseen  by  .the  writer  of  this  article.— Ed. 


BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  IN  SIBERIA 


475 


requisitioned.  The  decline  in  the  export 
trade  is  due  to  the  low  productive  power 
of  the  population  and  the  deplorable  state 
of  the  transport  facilities,  as  well  as  to  the 
many  restrictions  placed  upon  export  goods 
by  the  local  authorities. 

A  report  of  the  Vladivostok  Agency  of 
the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway  states  that 
on  Feb.  1  the  amount  of  export  goods  lying 
at  Eggersheld  Docks  awaiting  export  was 
about  700,000  poods,  or  about  11,500  tons. 
Compare  this  figure  with  that  quoted  be- 
fore the  war,  or  even  during  the  war,  when 
there  was  always  from  10,000,000  to  15,- 
000,000  poods  awaiting  shipment,  and  you 
will  get  an  idea  of  the  decline  in  the  export 
trade  through  the  port  of  Vladivostok.  In 
former  times  a  great  part  of  the  transit 
export  trade  from  Northern  Manchuria 
passed  through  Vladivostok,  the  remainder 
going  through  the  South  Manchurian  port 
of  Dairen.  In  former  times  Vladivostok 
could  freely  compete  with  Dairen,  but  dur- 
ing the  last  year  Vladivostok  has  been  left 
a  long  way  behind.  The  principal  reason 
for  the,  loss  of  this  once  profitable  trade 
is  found  in  the  very  heavy  demands  made 
by  the  Vladivostok  dock  laborers  for  the 
loading  of  cargoes;  also  in  the  very  fre- 
quent strikes;  the  exporters  had  no  guar- 
antee that  the  cargoes  would  be  loaded  in 
the  contracted  time,  and,  if  the  loading  was 
not  done,  they  became  liable  for  heavy  de- 
murrage payments  for  delays  to  vessels.  A 
report  says  that  during  1920  some  8,000,000 
poods  of  export  cargoes  were  shipped 
through  Dairen,  whereas  last  year  only 
1,500,000  poods  of  transit  cargoes  were 
shipped  through  Vladivostok. 

At  a  discussion  of  the  local  Chamber  of 
Commerce  regarding  measures  to  be  taken 
for  the  reviving  of  the  export  transit  trade 
through  Eggersheld  Docks,  it  was  found 
that  the  principal  obstacle  was  the  absence 
of  sufficient  guarantees  to  the  exporters 
that  their  export  cargoes  would  not  be  re- 
quisitioned and  confiscated,  and  that  in  the 
absence  of  such  guarantees  foreign  insur- 
ance companies  refused  to  insure  such  car- 
goes; that  foreign  banks  refused  to  give 
advances  against  such  cargoes,  and  that  the 
tax  of  the  Vladivostok  dock  laborers  for 
loading  was  too  high,  and  would  have  to 
be  considerably  reduced  in  order  to  compete 
with  the  port  of  Dairen.  It  was  decided  to 
apply  to  the  local  Government,  petitioning 


it  to  make  a  special  law  guaranteeing 
export  cargoes  from  any  kind  of  requisition 
and  confiscation,  and  also  to  indicate  to  the 
authorities  the  necessity,  in  the  interests  of 
the  dock  laborers  themselves,  of  reducing 
the  tax  for  loading  cargoes  by  50  per 
cent. 

With  the  exception  of  Vladivostok  City 
and  district  there  is  no  freedom  of  trade  in 
Siberia,  the  trade  of  the  country  being 
monopolized  by  the  Government  and  cen- 
tred in  the  hands  of  its  agents,  the  co- 
operative societies.  These  concerns  receive 
subsidies  from  the  Government,  otherwise 
they  would  not  be  able  to  exist.  In  former 
times  they  received  the  support  of  the  peas- 
ants, who  handed  to  them  their  commodities 
for  shipment  abroad,  thus  supplying  them 
with  funds  for  the  purchase  of  foreign 
manufactured  goods,  which  they  received 
and  turned  over  to  the  peasants.  But  this 
state  of  affairs  is  ended,  the  peasant 
now  having  no  surplus  commodities,  and 
were  the  Government  to  take  away  its  sup- 
port of  these  concerns  they  would  fall  to 
pieces.  In  such  circumstances  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  trade  steadily  goes  from  bad 
to  worse. 

There  is  much  talk  in  the  press  regard- 
ing the  possibility  of  trade  with  Russia,  but 
how  trade  can  be  carried  on  in  existing  cir- 
cumstances it  is  impossible  to  say.  There 
is  no  money  in  the  country,  excepting  worth- 
less paper  money,  so  that  business  can  be 
done  only  on  a  credit  basis;  but  what 
reasonable  business  man  would  think  of  ex- 
tending credit  to  the  co-operative  societies? 

The  only  way  in  which  the  trade  of  the 
country  could  be  reconstructed  would  be  to 
hand  it  over  to  private  enterprises,  the 
heads  of  which  are  real  business  men,  men 
who  are  experienced  in  the  methods  of  their 
own  particular  districts. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  Siberia 
offers  great  opportunities  for  foreign 
capital.  Its  great  stores  of  mineral  wealth 
being  as  yet  practically  untouched,  they 
constitute  a  great  source  of  supply  of 
numerous  raw  materials.  So  far  only  Japan 
has  taken  an  active  part  in  trying  to  re- 
construct Siberian  trade  and  industry,  but 
there  is  room  for  the  capital  of  all  nations, 
and  the  first  to  come  will  receive  the  best 
pickings.  For  the  exploitation  of  the  riches 
of  Siberia,  capital  is  needed,  and  only  the 
foreigner  can  supply  it. 


SIBERIA'S  NEW  REPUBLIC: 
ITS  STANDING 

By  Francis  B.  Kirby    . 

Member    of    a    British    Engineering    Concern    in    Vladivostok 

A  clarifying  account  of  how  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  at  Chita  was  evolved  by 
absorbing  the  powers  of  three  other  Governments — Its  relations  with  Moscow  and  its 
local  reputation — What  Japan  is  working  for  in  Siberia 


WHEN  Kolchak's  Government  collapsed 
in  Irkutsk  in  December,  1919,  the 
authority  in  that  place  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  non-Bolshevist  Socialists  and 
Democrats.  These  people  formed  what 
was  called  a  political  centre,  composed  of 
various  well-known  social-revolutionary  and 
democratic  political  workers,  who  conceived 
the  idea  of  creating  a  buffer  State,  extend- 
ing for  the  time  being  from  Irkutsk  to 
Vladivostok,  the  Government  of  which  was 
to  be  of  a  genuinely  democratic  nature  and 
to  be  situated  in  Irkutsk.  This  idea  even 
met  with  the  approval  of  the  Moscow  Soviet, 
as  the  latter  hoped  to  use  the  proposed 
buffer  State  as  a  link  with  the  outside  world 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  much-needed 
supplies.  The  reign  of  the  political  centre 
in  Irkutsk,  however,  was  a  very  short  one, 
as  the  undercurrent  of  local  Bolshevism 
soon  became  too  strong  for  it,  and  its 
leaders  were  obliged  to  transfer  their  ac- 
tivities to  Verkhne-Udinsk,  leaving  Irkutsk 
in  Bolshevist  hands. 

On  Jan.  31,  1920,  the  last  of  Kolchak's 
representatives,  General  Rozanov,  was 
overthrown  in  Vladivostok  by  the  Partisans, 
and  the  reins  of  government  in  that  place 
were  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Zemstvo  Board 
of  the  Maritime  Region.  The  Partisans 
then  made  their  way  up  the  railway  as  far 
as  Khabarovsk,  which  thus  came  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Vladivostok  Government. 
Blagoveshchenck,  however,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  its  local  Bolsheviki. 

A  curious  situation  was  thus  created,  in 
that  there  were  four  Governments  in  the 
Far  East — Verkhne-Udinsk,  Chita,  Vladi- 
vostok and  Blagoveshchensk.  The  first  and 
third  of  these  were  democratic  in  charac- 
ter; the  second,  under  Ataman  Semenov, 
reactionary,  and  the  last  semi-Bolshevist. 
Semenov's  Government  in  Chita  naturally 
existed    only    because    of    the    presence    of 


Japanese  troops,  and  it  considerably  ham- 
pered the  efforts  of  the  Verkhne-Udinsk 
and  Vladivostok  Governments. 

As  had  been  the  case  with  the  Irkutsk 
political  centre,  the  local  Bolshevist  element 
soon  became  too  strong  for  the  Verkhne- 
Udinsk  and  Vladivostok  Governments' 
democratic  aspirations,  and  by  the  end  of 
March  the  controlling  influence  in  both 
these  centres  was  Bolshevist,  although  the 
nominal  authority  was  still  with  the 
Zemstvos.  .  It  was  this  undesirable  state  of 
affairs  which  caused  the  Japanese  to  re- 
sort to  strong  measures  on  the  4th  and  5th 
of  April,  1920,  in  Vladivostok,  Nikolsk- 
Ussurissk,  Khabarovsk,  Iman,  &c,  as  a  re- 
sult of  which  the  railways  as  far  as  Khaba- 
rovsk and  Pogrannitchnaia  were  placed 
under  Japanese  control  and  the  towns  on 
this  line  were  policed  by  Russian  militia 
under  strict  Japanese  supervision. 

Having  drawn  the  teeth  of  the  local  Bol- 
sheviki and  Partisans,  the  Japanese  left  the 
Russians  to  work  out  their  own  political 
salvation,  merely  reserving  to  themselves 
the  right  to  maintain  law  and  order  in  the 
zone  occupied  by  Japanese  troops.  Although 
their  methods  were  at  times  clumsy,  and 
misunderstandings  were  frequent  owing  to 
their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  Russian  lan- 
guage and  to  their  regarding  many  things 
from  a  viewpoint  quite  incomprehensible  to 
the  European  nations,  the  Japanese  dis- 
played great  forbearance,  cool-headed  judg- 
ment, and  unselfishness  in  their  handling 
of  the  Russian  problem.  In  judging  the  ac- 
tions of  the  Japanese,  one  must  compare 
them  with  those  of  the  many  other  nations 
who  have  taken  a  hand  in  this  Russian 
business,  and  not  treat  the  Japanese  as  a 
nation  apart  from  the  rest  without  a  right 
to  any  ambitions  or  aims  of  their  own. 
There  are  very  few  among  the  "  interven- 
tionaries  "  in  Russia's  affairs  who  can  con- 


SIBERIA'S  NEW  REPUBLIC:     ITS  STANDING 


477 


scientiously  throw  many  stones  at  the  Jap- 
anese. 

In  April,  1920,  Krasnochekov — alias  To- 
foelson — a  well-known  Bolshevist  leader 
from  Khabarovsk,  turned  up  in  Verkhne- 
Udinsk  and  formed  a  new  Government  of 
distinct  Communist  tendencies.  Krasnoche- 
kov claimed  precedence  for  his  Government 
over  all  other  Governments  in  the  Far  East. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Vladivostok  Gov- 
ernment by  this  time  was  making  genuine 
efforts  to  get  rid  of  its  Bolshevist  element 


■jf 

If 


R&. 


"♦-"••■  :; 


(Plioto     Keystone     Vieio     Co.) 

ALEXANDER    M.    KRASNOCHEKOV 

Provisional    President    of    the    Fan'    Eastern 

Republic 

and  was  preparing  for  the  convocation  of 
the  National  Assembly  or  Pre-Parliament, 
which  was  to  take  place  on  June  17.  Chita 
remained  in  the  hands  of  Semenov  and  the 
Japanese,  while  Blagoveshchensk  was  sit- 
ting on  the  fence  claiming  no  precedence 
for  itself,  but  waiting  to  see  whether  it 
should  throw  in  its  lot  with  Vladivostok  or 
with   Verkhne-Udinsk. 

In  order  to  forestall  the  Vladivostok  Na- 
tional Assembly,  Semenov  opened  a  so-called 
National  Assembly  in  Chita  on  June  5,  but 
as   only   fourteen   genuine   delegates   were 


present  at  the  first  sitting  it  could  hardly 
be  called  a  great  success. 

The  first  sitting  of  the  Vladivostok  Na- 
tional Assembly  took  place  on  June  20, 
1920.  The  number  of  delegates  present 
was  113,  the  majority  representing  the  peas- 
ants. 

Following  on  the  formation  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  efforts  were  made  by  the 
Vladivostok  administration  to  persuade  the 
moderate  and  conservative  elements  to  en- 
ter the  Government,  and  a  coalition  Gov- 
ernment was  formed  which  lasted  until  the 
middle  of  October,  when  it  collapsed  igno- 
miniously,  owing  to  the  moderate  elements 
withdrawing  on  account  of  the  treacherous 
behavior  of  the  Bolsheviki. 

Since  that  time  no  Government  worthy  of 
the  name  has  existed  in  the  Far  East,  and 
judging  from  the  efforts  of  the  present 
Chita  and  Vladivostok  regimes,  it  is  improb- 
able that  they  will  ever  develop  into  any- 
thing of  a  sound  and  lasting  nature. 

The  next  important  event  in  the  existence 
of  the  buffer  State  was  the  election  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly.  This  was  led  up  to 
by  an  exchange  of  delegations  between 
Vladivostok  and  Verkhne-Udinsk,  Vladivos- 
tok and  Chita,  and  Vladivostok  and  Bla- 
goveshchensk. These  delegations  were  ex- 
changed during  the  month  of  October  for 
the  purpose  of  discussing  the  question  of 
joining  the  Far  Eastern  buffer  State,  de- 
termining the  nature  of  its  government,  and 
deciding  where  the  seat  of  government  was 
to  be.  Nothing  very  much  came  of  these 
preliminary  delegations,  as  naturally 
Semenov's  regime  in  Chita  could  not  agree 
with  that  of  Verkhne-Udinsk,  and  neither 
could  agree  with  Vladivostok.  However,  by 
the  end  of  October  the  Japanese  had 
evacuated  Transbaikal  and  Semenov's 
regime  in  Chita  had  come  to  an  end.  The 
Verkhne-Udinsk  administration  moved  to 
Chita,  and  the  work  of  unifying  the  Far 
Eastern  State  began  in  earnest  by  the  ap- 
pointing of  a  temporary  Cabinet  in  Chita, 
consisting  of  five  communists.  This  was 
done  without  even  consulting  Vladivostok, 
and  from  that  time  on  Chita  began  dictat- 
ing terms  to  the  other  centres  of  the  buffer 
State,  Vladivostok  being  relegated  to  the 
position  of  a  mere  district  administration. 
The  elections  to  the  Constituent  Assembly 
took  place  in  January,  1921,  and  on  the 
whole  resulted  in  a  victory  for  the  commu- 
nists, as  the  Peasant  Party,  under  the  in- 


478 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


fluence  of  fear  of  foreign  aggression  and 
reactionary  adventures,  joined  them. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  was  opened  on 
Feb.  12,  1921,  and  at  its  first  sitting  elected 
as  its  President  and  Vice  Presidents,  Shilov, 
Borodavkin,  and  Klark,  all  communists. 
Since  that  date  the  Assembly  has  been  in 
session,  but  has  done  nothing  to  improve 
the  financial  or  economic  condition  of  the 
State.  It  has  been  clear  throughout  that 
Chita's  policy  is  dictated  by  Moscow,  and  in 
fact  many  of  the  so-called  representatives 
of  the  Chita  Government  who  have  come  to 
Vladivostok  have  been  sent  direct  from 
Moscow. 

There  is  little  more  to  say  about  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Far  Eastern  Republic.  That 
it  is  Bolshevist  through  and  through  is  clear 
to  every  unbiased  observer,  but  in  order  to 
get  on  friendly  terms  with  the  outside  world 
and  so  obtain  much-needed  supplies  of  first 
necessities  of  life,  it  can  doubtless  be  forced 
to  adopt  a  democratic  system,  and  this  is 
what  Japan  is  at  the  present  moment  try- 
ing to  bring  about. 

The  economic  condition  of  the  buffer 
State  is  deplorable  and  its  towns  are  ac- 
tually on  the  verge  of  starvation.  Discon- 
tent is  rife  amongst  all  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any 
improvement  can  be  reached  without  out- 
side assistance.  Soviet  Russia  has  quite 
enough  trouble  of  her  own,  and,  in  fact, 
looks  to  the  buffer  State  for  help  in  the  way 
of  supplies,  so  aid  must  come  from  Japan 
or  America  or  both.  Financially  the  coun- 
try is  completely  ruined,  and  the  various 
administrations,  State  and  municipal,  are 
hard  put  to  it  to  find  money  to  pay  their 
employes.  Industry  and  commerce  are  at 
a  complete  standstill.  The  value  of  real 
estate  has  fallen  to  ridiculous  levels,  as  even 
foreigners  are  afraid  to  invest,  not  know- 
ing when  the  Bolsheviki  may  be  all-power- 
ful in  the  buffer  State  and  everything  na- 
tionalized. So  far,  the  Japanese  are  the 
only  people  who  are  taking  serious  advan- 
tage of  this  situation,  and  they  are  grad- 
ually getting  an  economic  grip  on  the  coun- 
try by  buying  houses,  land  and  commercial 
enterprises  at  low  prices. 

As  regards  the  Japanese  remaining  in 
Vladivostok  permanently,  as  many  people 
have  got  into  the  habit  of  predicting,  this 
is  hardly  probable.  There  are  other  reasons 
apart  from  the  climate  which  prevent  the 
Japanese  from  making  a  colony  of  the  Far 


East  of  Siberia,  but  it  is  improbable  that 
they  ever  had  any  such  intention.  From 
all  their  actions  it  is  quite  clear  that  what 
they  intend  to  capture  is  the  Siberian  mar- 
ket  for   their    cheap    manufactured    goods, 


{Keystone   View    Co) 

MATVAEV,   MINISTER  OF  WAR 

The  man  who  is  organising  the  Far  Eastern 

Republic's  army  against  Japanese 

aggression 


and,  by  diligently  buying  property  and  se- 
curing all  kinds  of  concessions,  get  the  eco- 
nomic control  of  Eastern  Siberia.  This  will 
undoubtedly  prove  to  be  a  good  investment, 
provided  the  Japanese  are  able  to  make  use 
of  their  opportunities  and  produce  salable 
goods,  and  combined  with  the  possession  of 
Saghalien  and  the  fisheries  will  satisfy  the 
appetite  of  Japan. 

The  Japanese  will  evacuate  Siberia  just 
as  soon  as  they  are  satisfied  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  buffer  State  intends  to  fol- 
low a  democratic  policy  and  will  not  in- 
dulge in  Bolshevist  habits  of  requisitioning 
other  people's  goods  or  nationalizing  private 
enterprises.  The  most  optimistic  observer 
cannot  truthfully  say  that  the  Far  Eastern 
republican  Government  has  yet  reached  this 
state  of  perfection,  consequently  it  is 
surprising  that  the  Japanese  remain. 

Vladivostok,  April  i23  1921. 


ern 
this 
not 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN 
POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 

Text  of  the  compact  between  Poland  and  Russia,  which  reflects  the  relations  of  the  two 
peoples  from  1772  down  to  the  present — All  expropriated  property  to  be  returned  to 
Poland,  which  also  receives  new  territory  and  80,000,000  gold  rubles — Political 
amnesty  and  abstention  from  propaganda  agreed  upon 


rflHE  treaty  of  peace  finally  concluded 
}  between  Soviet  Russia  and  Poland,  as 
the  principal  high  contracting  powers, 
and  with  the  Soviet  Ukrainian  Government 
as  a  minor  signatory,  was  signed  at  Riga, 
the  capital  of  Latvia,  on  March  18,  1921. 
Agreement  between  the  Polish  and  Russian 
delegates  on  the  terms  eventually  signed 
was  reached  only  after  months  of  negotia- 
tions, which  were  often  threatened  with  dis- 
ruption, and  only  mutual  concessions  made 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  possible.  Both 
Governments  welcomed  the  signing  of  the 
compact.  Moscow  ratified  the  document  on 
March  22.  The  Polish  Diet  formally  rati- 
fied it  on  April  15,  thus  coming  within  the 
thirty  days'  time  limit  set  for  ratification. 
The  ratification  of  the  Ukraine  was  included 
in  that  of  the  Soviet  Government. 

This  long,  detailed  and  historically  im- 
portant document  gives  an  interesting  re- 
flection of  the  interrelations  of  Russia  and 
Poland  since  1772.  Poland's  national  pride 
was  solaced  by  the  Soviet  pledge  to  return 
all  the  old  Polish  flags  and  trophies  of  war 
seized  by  former  Russian  armies  and  car- 
ried off  triumphantly  to  Russia.  All 
property  seized  since  the  European  war, 
and  especially  during  the  recent  war  be- 
tween Russia  and  Poland,  is  to  be  restored 
to  the  former  owners.  A  general  political 
amnesty  is  agreed  to  by  the  contracting 
parties,  who  also  mutually  agree  to  refrain 
from  all  subversive  propaganda  against 
each  other,  and  to  refuse  support  to  all  or- 
ganizations hostile  to  the  other.  In  plain 
words,  this  means  that  Moscow  promises 
to  cease  anti-Polish  propaganda,  and  that 
Poland  will  aid  no  other  military  ventures 
to  overthrow  the  Bolshevist  Government. 
Poland  is  freed  from  all  the  debts  of  the 
former  Empire,  and  will  receive  30,000,000 
gold  rubles  to  recompense  her  for  her 
former  economic  credits. 

The  wavering  and  much-disputed  boun- 
daries   between    Poland,    Russia    and    the 


Ukraine  are  fixed,  and  the  Moscow  Govern- 
ment cedes  to  Poland  some  3,000,000  square 
kilometers  of  territory  near  Minsk,  and 
also  the  Ukrainian  district  of  Polesia.  [For 
Russian  protests  and  other  details,  see 
Pages  489-90]  Current  History  is  indebted 
to  the  Polish  Bureau  of  Information,  New 
York  City,  for  the  following  translation 
of  the  treaty;  also  for  the  summary  of  the 
boundary  terms  which  is  here  substituted 
for  the  long  and  tedious  details  in  Article 
2  of  the  original  document.  Otherwise  the 
following  is  the  complete  text  of  the  treaty: 

INTRODUCTION 

PREAMBLE— Poland  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Russia  and  the  Ukraine  on  the  other  hand,  de- 
sirous of  terminating  as  soon  as  possible  the 
war  between  them,  and  with  the  aim  of  con- 
cluding a  final,  lasting  and  honorable  peace 
founded  on  a  mutual  understanding,  on  the  basis 
of  the  agreement  signed  in  Riga  on  Oct.  12,  1920, 
concerning  the  preliminary  conditions  of  peace, 
decided  to  open  peace  negotiations,  and  to  this 
end  designated  as  their  plenipotentiaries: 

The  Government  of  the  Republic  of  Poland: 
Messrs.  John  Dombski,  Stanislaw  Kauzik,  Ed- 
ward Lechowicz,  Henry  Strasburger  and  Leon 
Wasilcwski; 

The  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Re- 
public in  its  own  name,  and  with  the  authoriza- 
tion of  the  Government  of  the  White-Ruthenian 
Socialist  Soviet  Republic,  and  the  Ukrainian 
Socialist  Soviet  Republic:  Messrs.  Adolf  Joffe, 
Jacob  Hanecki,  Emanuel  Quiring,  Leonid  Ob- 
olenski   and  Alex  Szmulski. 

The  above-named  plenipotentiaries  assembled 
in  Riga,  after  the  exchange  of  their  credentials, 
acknowledged  as  sufficient  and  drawn  up  in 
proper  form,  agreed  to  the  following  decisions: 

ARTICLE  1— Both  contracting  parties  declare 
that  the   state  of  war  between  them  is  ended. 

ARTICLE  2— Both  contracting  parties,  con- 
forming to  the  principle  of  the  right  of  na- 
tions to  self-determination,  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Ukraine  and  White-Ruthenia, 
and  agree  and  decide  that  the  eastern  frontier 
of  Poland,  that  is,  the  frontier  between  Poland 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Ukraine  and  White- 
Ruthenia  on  the  other  hand,  shall  be  consti- 
tuted  by  the  following  line: 

[Then  follows  a  detailed  description  of  the 
frontier,   which  may  be  summarized  by  stating 


480 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


that  beginning  at  the  junction  of  Latvia  and 
Russia  the  international  boundary  follows  the 
river  Dzwina  in  a  southeasterly  direction  past 
the  town  of  Dzwina,  where  the  line  turns  off 
in  a  southern  direction,  leaving  the  town  of 
Orzechowno  on  the  Polish  side,  and  continuing 
south  about  twenty  kilometers  east  of  the 
Polish  city  of  Wilejka,  and  about  an  equal 
distance  to  the  west  of  the  White-Ruthenian 
city  of  Minsk.  Thence  the  frontier  traverses 
the  great  Pinsk  marshes,  crossing  the  Prypek 
River  about  sixty  kilometers  to  the  east  of  the 
Polish  city  of  Pinsk.  Continuing  south  across 
the  lowlands,  the  line  passes  well  to  the  east 
of  the  Polish  cities  of  Rowno  and  Dubno,  and 
then  follows  the  old  Austrian  frontier  of 
Eastern  Galicia  to  the  junction  of  the  Zbrucz 
River  with  the  Dniester  River.  This  line  varies 
but  slightly  from  the  armistice  line  agreed  up- 
on in  October  1920]. 

The  exact  determination  and  demarcation  on 
the  spot  of  the  above  frontier,  and  the  placing 
of  frontier  marks,  are  the  duty  of  the  Mixed 
Commission  of  Demarkation,  appointed  on  the 
basis  of  Article  1  of  the  agreement  concerning 
the  Preliminary  Conditions  of  Peace  of  the 
12th  of  October,  1920,  and  in  conformity  with 
the  supplementary  protocol  on  the  subject  of 
the  execution  of  the  above  article,  signed  at 
Riga    on   Feb.    24,    1921.    *    *    * 

Each  of  the  contracting  parties  binds  itself, 
not  later  than  fourteen  days  after  the  signing 
of  the  present  treaty,  to  withdraw  its  military 
forces  and  its  administration  from  those  lo- 
calities which,  in  the  present  description  of  the 
frontier,  have  been  recognized  as  belonging  to 
the  other  side.  In  localities  lying  on  the 
frontier  line  itself,  in  so  far  as  in  the  present 
treaty  it  has  not  been  -determined  to  which 
side  they  belong,  the  administrative  and 
frontier  authorities  at  present  existing  will  re- 
main until  the  frontier  is  marked  on  the  spot, 
and  the  appurtenance  of  these  localities  has 
been  defined  by  the  Mixed  Commission  of 
Demarkation ;  these  authorities  shall  then  be 
removed  to  their  own  territory,  observing  the 
principles  given  in  paragraph  9  of  the  Ai^mistice 
Agreement  of  Oct.   12,   1920. 

The  question  of  archives  connected  with  the 
territory  of  Poland  is  determined  in  Article  2 
of    the    present    treaty. 

TERRITORIAL  RIGHTS 

ARTICLE  8.— Russia  and  the  Ukraine  re- 
nounce all  rights  and  pretensions  to  territories 
situated  to  the  west  of  the  frontier  determined 
in  Article  2  of  the  present  treaty.  Poland  on 
her  part  renounces,  to  the  benefit  of  the  Uk- 
raine and  White-Ruthenia,  all  rights  and  pre- 
tensions to  territories  situated  to  the  east  of 
this  frontier. 

Both  contracting  parties  agree  that  in  so  far 
as  the  territories  situated  to  the  west  of  the 
present  frontier  determined  in  Article  2  of  the 
present  treaty  include  territories  under  dis- 
pute between  Poland  and  Lithuania,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  appurtenance  of  these  territories  to 
the  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  States  be- 
longs  exclusively   to    Poland    and    Lithuania. 

ARTICLE    4.— From   the   former   appurtenance 


of  parts  of  the  territories  of  the  Polish  Re- 
public to  the  former  Russian  Empire,  no  obli- 
gations or  burdens  shall  result  for  Poland  in 
relation  to  Russia,  except  those  foreseen  by  the 
present  treaty. 

In  an  equal  measure,  from  the  former  com- 
mon appurtenance  to  the  former  Russian  Em- 
pire no  mutual  obligations  and  burdens  shall 
result  between  Poland,  White-Ruthenia  and 
the  Ukraine,  except  those  foreseen  by  the 
present  treaty. 

RESPECT  OF  SOVEREIGNTY 

ARTICLE  5.— Both  contracting  parties  guar- 
antee to  each  other  complete  respect  of  State 
sovereignty  and  abstinence  from  any  interfer- 
ence whatever  in  the  interior  affairs  of  the 
other  party,  especially  from  agitation,  prop- 
aganda and  all  kinds  of  intervention,  or  from 
supporting    the    same. 

Both  contracting  parties  undertake  the  obli- 
gation neither  to  create  nor  to  support  organiza- 
tions having  for  their  aim  armed  combat  with 
the  other  contracting  party,  either  by  attacking 
its  territorial  integrity  or  preparing  the  over- 
throw of  its  State  or  social  structure  by  vio- 
lence, as  well  as  organizations  assuming  the  role 
of  Government  of  the  other  party  or  of  a  part 
of  its  territory.  Wherefore  the  two  contract- 
ing parties  bind  themselves  not  to  allow  the 
presence  on  their  territories  of  such  organiza- 
tions, their  official  represenations  and  other 
organs,  to  forbid  the  recruiting  of  soldiers,  as 
well  as  the  import  to  their  territories  and  the 
transport  through  their  territories  of  armed 
forces,  arms,  ammunition  and  all  kinds  of  war 
materials  destined  for  these  organizations. 

CITIZENSHIP  OPTION 

ARTICLE  6—1.  All  persons  who  have  reached 
the  age  of  18  years  and  who  are  on  Polish  ter- 
ritory at  the  moment  of  the  ratification  of  the 
present  treaty,  who  on  Aug.  1,  1914,  were  citi- 
zens of  the  Russian  Empire  and  are  inscribed, 
or  have  the  right  to  be  inscribed  in  the  registers 
of  the  stable  population  of  the  former  Kingdom 
of  Poland,  or  were  inscribed  in  the  town  or  rural 
communes,  or  in  one  of  the  social  class  organ- 
izations on  territories  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire  forming  part  of  Poland,  have  the  right 
to  make  known  their  desire  on  the  subject  of 
the  option  of  Russian  or  Ukrainian  citizenship. 
From  former  citizens  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire  of  other  categories,  who  at  the  moment 
of  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty  are  on 
Polish  territory,  such  action  is  not  required. 

2.  Former  citizens  of  the  former  Russian  Em- 
pire who  have  reached  the  age  of  18  years, 
who  at  the  moment  of  the  ratification  of  the 
present  treaty  are  on  the  territories  of  Russia 
or  the  Ukraine,  and  are  inscribed  or  have  the 
right  to  be  inscribed  in  the  registers  of  the 
stable  population  of  the  former  Kingdom  of 
Poland,  or  were  inscribed  in  town  or  rural  com- 
munes, or  in  one  of  the  social  class  organiza- 
tions on  territories  of  the  former  Russiah  Em- 
pire forming  part  of  Poland,  will  be  considered 
as  Polish  citizens  if,  in  the  form  of  option  fore- 
seen in  the  present  article,  they  express  such 
desire. 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 


481 


Equally,  persons  who  have  reached  the  age  of 
18  years  and  are  on  the  territory  of  Russia  or 
of  the  Ukraine,  will  be  considered  as  Polish 
citizens  if,  in  the  form  of  option  foreseen  in 
the  present  article,  they  express  such  a  desire, 
and  prove  that  they  descend  from  participants 
in  the  struggle  for  the  independence  of  Poland 
in  the  period  from  1830  to  1865,  or  that  they 
ure  the  descendants  of  persons  who,  no  further 
than  three  generations  back,  were  permanently 
domiciled  on  the  territory  of  the  former  Republic 
of  Poland,  and  prove  that  they  themselves,  by 
their  activities,  their  use  of  the  Polish  language 
as  their  usual  language,  and  in  the  bringing  up 
of  their  offspring,  have  plainly  manifested  at- 
tachment  to  Polish  nationality. 

3.  The  prescriptions  concerning  option  apply 
also  to  persons  corresponding  to  clauses  1  and  2 
of  the  present  article,  in  so  far  as  these  persons 
are  outside  the  Polish  frontiers  in  Russia  or  the 
Ukraine,  and  are  not  citizens  of  the  State  in 
which    they    reside. 

4.  The  choice  of  the  husband  extends  to  the 
wife  and  the  children  up  to  the  age  of  18  years, 
in  so  far  as  a  different  understanding  does  not 
take  place  between  husband  and  wife  on  this 
subject.  If  husband  and  wife  cannot  agree, 
the  wife  has  the  right  of  independent  choice 
of  citizenship ;  in  this  case  the  choice  of  the 
wife  extends  to  the  children  brought  up  by  her. 

In  case  of  the  death  of  both  parents  the  choice 
is  adjourned  until  the  child  attains  the  age  of 
18  years,  and  from  that  date  are  reckoned  all 
time  periods  determined  in  the  present  article. 
For  others  incapable  of  legal  action  the  choice 
is  made  by   a  legal  representative. 

5.  Declaration  of  the  choice  of  citizenship 
should  be  made  before  a  Consul  or  other  official 
representative  of  the  State  for  which  the  per- 
son in  question  declares  himself,  within  the 
term  of  one  year  from  the  moment  of  the 
ratification  of  the  present  treaty ;  for  persons 
residing  in  Caucasus  and  in  Asiatic  Russia,  this 
term  is  prolonged  to  fifteen  months.  These 
declarations  will  be  made  within  these  same 
time  periods  before  the  proper  officers  of  the 
State  in  which  the  person  in  question  finds 
himself. 

Both  contracting  parties  undertake  tke  obliga- 
tion, within  one  month  from  the  date  of  the 
signing  of  the  present  treaty,  to  publish  and 
make  known,  as  well  as  to  make  known  to  each 
other  reciprocally,  a  list  of  the  authorities  desig- 
nated to  receive  declarations  of  the  choice  of 
citizenship.  The  two  contracting  parties  also 
undertake  to  make  known  to  each  other,  within 
the  term  of  three  months,  by  diplomatic  pro- 
cedure, lists  of  persons  who  have  made  declara- 
tions of  choice  of  citizenship,  with  mention  both 
of  the  declarations  recognized  as  valid  and  the 
declarations  recognized  as  non-valid. 

6.  Persons  making  declaration  of  choice  of 
citizenship  do  not  thereby  acquire  the  national- 
ity chosen.  When  a  person  who  has  made  a 
declaration  of  choice  of  citizenship  responds  to 
the  conditions  specified  in  clauses  1  and  2  of 
the  present  article,  the  Consul  or  other  official 
representative  of  the  State  in  favor  of  which 
the  choice  is  made,  shall  give  the  decision 
thereon,  and  shall  send  his  attestation,  together 


with  the  documents  of  the  chooser,  to  the  Min- 
istry (People's  Commissariat)  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs. Within  the  term  of  one  month  from  the 
day  of  sending  the  attestation,  the  Ministry 
(People's  Commissariat)  of  Foreign  Affairs 
shall  either  communicate  to  the  afore-mentioned 
representative  its  opposition  to  the  decision,  in 
which  case  the  matter  shall  be  decided  by  dip- 
lomatic procedure,  or  shall  recognize  the  decision 
of  the  representative,  and  shall  send  him  an  at- 
testation of  the  cessation  of  the  former  citizen- 
ship of  the  chooser,  together  with  all  the  other 
documents  of  the  chooser  except  his  residence 
permit. 

The  non-reception  within  the  term  of  one 
month  of  the  notification  of  the  Ministry 
(People's  Commissariat)  of  Foreign  Affairs 
shall  be  considered  as  consent  to  the  decision 
of    the    representative. 

In  cases  where  'the  person  choosing  responds 
to  all  the  conditions  mentioned  in  clauses  1  and 
2,  the  State  in  favor  of  which  the  option  is 
made  shall  not  have  the  right  to  refuse  citizen- 
ship to  the  person  choosing,  while  the  State 
in  which  the  person  in  question  is  residing  shall 
have  the  right  to  refuse  liberation  from  citizen- 
ship. 

The  decision  of  the  Consul  or  other  official 
representative  of  the  State  in  favor  of  which  the 
choice  is  made,  shall  fall  within  a  term  of  two 
months  at  most  from  the  moment  of  the  recep- 
tion of  the  declaration  of  choice ;  this  term,  for 
persons  residing  in  the  Caucasus  and  in  Asiatic 
Russia,  shall  be  prolonged  to  three  months. 
The  execution  of  option  shall  be  free  from 
stamp,  passport  and  all  other  taxes,  including 
taxes   for   publication. 

7.  Persons  who  have  validly  executed  their 
option  shall  be  allowed  to  depart  without  ob- 
stacle to  the  State  in  favor  of  which  the  choice 
was  made.  Both  contracting  parties,  however, 
may  demand  that  these  persons  shall  make  use 
of  their  right  to  leave ;  in  this  case  the  depart- 
ure shall  take  place  within  six  months  from 
the  day  of  notification. 

The  choosers  have  the  right  to  retain  or  legally 
liquidate  their  movable  and  immovable  posses- 
sions; in  case  of  departure  they  may  take  their 
belongings  with  them  in '  accordance  with  the 
rules  determined  in  Affix  2  to  the  present 
treaty.  Possessions  so  taken  out  of  the  country 
shall  be  free  from  all  customs  duties  and  taxes. 
Possessions  exceeding  the  standard  fixed  for 
possessions  to  be  taken  out  of  the  country  may 
be  taken  away  later,  when  transport  conditions 
have    improved. 

8.  Up  to  the  moment  of  a  validly  executed  op- 
tion, choosers  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  laws 
obligatory  in  the  State  in  which  they  are  resid- 
ing; after  its  execution  they  shall  be  considered 
as  foreigners. 

9.  Should  the  person  who  has  validly  executed 
his  option  be  under  accusation  or  under  trial 
for  a  penal  offense,  or  be  serving  his  sentence, 
he  will  be  sent  under  guard,  together  with  the 
documents  pertaining  to  the  case,  to  the  State 
in  favor  of  which  the  choice  was  made,  if  that 
State  demands  his  extradition. 

10.  Persons  who  have  validly  executed  their 
option   shall    be   recognized   in    every  respect   as 


482 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


citizens  of  that  State  in  favor  of  which  their 
choice  was  made,  and  all  rights  and  privileges 
without  exception  granted  to  the  citizens  of  that 
State,  be  it  by  the  present  treaty  or  by  future 
agreements,  shall  belong  to  the  choosers  in  the 
same  measure  as  if  they  had  been  already 
citizens  of  the  State  in  favor  of  which  they 
have  chosen,  at  the  moment  of  the  ratifica- 
tion  of   the  present  treaty. 

NATIONAL  RIGHTS 
ARTICLE  7.— 1.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine 
guarantee  to  persons  of  Polish  nationality  who 
are  in  Russia,  the  Ukraine  and  White-Ruthenia, 
on  the  principle  of  the  equality  of  national 
rights,  all  rights  securing  the  free  development 
of  culture,  language,  and  the  exercise  of  relig- 
ious rites.  Reciprocally,  Poland  guarantees  to 
persons  of  Russian,  Ukrainian  and  White-Ruth- 
enian  nationality  who  are  in  Poland  all  these 
rights. 

Persons  of  Polish  nationality  who  are  in 
Russia,  the  Ukraine  and  "White-Ruthenia,  have 
the  right,  within  the  limits  of  internal  legisla- 
tion, to  cultivate  their  own  language,  to  organ- 
ize and  support  their  own  schools,  to  develop 
their  own  culture,  and  to  this  end  to  form 
associations  and  unions ;  these  same  rights, 
within  the  limits  of  internal  legislation,  belong 
to  persons  of  Russian,  Ukrainian  and  White- 
Ruthenian  nationality  who  are  in  Poland. 

2.  Both  contracting  parties  undertake  the  obli- 
gation to  refrain  reciprocally  from  interference, 
either  direct  or  indirect,  in  affairs  of  the  organ- 
ization and  the  life  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  of 
the  religious  associations  which  are  on  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  other  party. 

3.  Churches  and  religious  associations  in 
Russia,  the  Ukraine  and  White-Ruthenia  to 
which  belong  persons  of  Polish  nationality  have 
the  right,  within  the  limits  of  internal  legisla- 
tion, to  the  independent  organization  of  the  in- 
ternal life  of  the  Church.  The  above-mentioned 
churches  and  religious  associations-  have  the 
right,  within  the  limits  of  internal  legislation, 
to  the  use  and  acquisition  of  the  movable  and 
immovable  possessions  indispensable  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  religious  rites  and  the  maintenance  of 
the  clergy  and  Church  institutions.  Following 
these  principles,  persons  of  Polish  nationality 
in  Russia,  the  Ukraine  and  White-Ruthenia 
have  the  right  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
churches  and  institutions  indispensable  to  the 
exercise  of  religious  rites.  This  same  right  be- 
longs to  persons  of  Russian,  Ukrainian  and 
White-Ruthenian    nationality    in   Poland. 

COSTS  OF  THE  WAR 
ARTICLE!  8.— Both  contracting  parties  recip- 
rocally renounce  the  restitution  of  the  costs  of 
the  war,  that  is,  State  expenditure  for  the  car- 
rying on  of  war  between  them,  as  well  as  in- 
demnity for  war  losses,  viz.,  losses  that  were 
inflicted  on  them  or  their  citizens  on  the  terri- 
tory of  war  operations  by  military  activities 
and  dispositions  during  the  Poljsh-Russian- 
Ukranian  war. 

ARTICLE  E9.— 1.  The  agreement  on  repatria- 
tion concluded  between  Poland,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Russia  and  the  Ukraine,  on  the  other  hand, 


in  the  execution  of  Article  7  of  the  preliminary 
peace  agreement  of  Oct.  12,  1920,  signed  in 
Riga  on  Feb.  24,  1921,  remains  in  power. 

2.  The  mutual  liquidation  of  accounts  and  the 
payment  of  the  real  costs  of  maintenance  of 
prisoners  of  war  should  be  made  at  periods  of 
three  months.  The  mode  of  calculation  and  the 
extent  of  these  costs  will  be  determined  by  the 
mixed  commission  provided  for  in  the  above-" 
mentioned    agreement    on    repatriation. 

3.  Both  contracting  parties  pledge  themselves 
to  respect  and  suitably  to  maintain  the  graves 
of  prisoners  of  war  who  have  died  in  captivity, 
and  also  the  graves  of  soldiers,  officers  and 
other  members  of  the  opposing  army  who  fell 
on  the  field  of  battle  and  are  buried  on  their 
territory. 

Both  contracting  parties  bind  themselves,  af- 
ter an  understanding  with  the  local  authorities, 
to  allow  the  erection  of  monuments  on  the 
graves,  as  well  as  to  permit  the  exhumation  and 
transport  of  bodies  to  their  native  country, 
according  to  the  reduced  taiuffs,  taking  into 
consideration  the  legislative  prescriptions  of 
the  country  and  the  demands  of  public  health. 

The  above  prescriptions  apply  also  to  all 
graves  and  bodies  of  hostages,  civil  prisoners, 
interned  persons,  exiles,  refugees  and  immi- 
grants. 

4.  Both  contracting  parties  agree  to  supply 
each  other,  reciprocally,  the  documents  concern- 
ing the  decease  of  the  persons  above  mentioned, 
and  to  make  known  the  number  and  the  locality 
of  the  graves  of  persons  who  died  and  were 
buried  without  the  establishment  of  their 
identity. 

AMNESTY 
ARTICLE  10—1.  Each  of  the  contracting 
parties  guarantees  to  the  citizens  of  the  other 
party  complete  amnesty  for  political  crimes  and 
offenses.  By  political  crimes  and  offenses  is 
understood  acts  directed  against  the  organiza- 
tion or  the  safety  of  the  State,  as  well  as  acts 
committed  to  the  advantage  of  the  other 
party. 

2.  The  amnesty  extends  also  to  acts  pursued 
by  administrative  procedure  or  outside  the 
courts,  as  well  as  to  infractions  of  regulations 
obligatory  for  war  prisoners  and  interned  per- 
sons, and  in  general  for  citizens  of  the  other 
party. 

3.  The  application  of  amnesty  according  to 
Clauses  1  and  2  of  the  present  article  involves 
the  obligation  not  to  begin  new  investigations, 
the  annulment  of  pursuits  already  begun,  and 
the  non-execution  of  sentences  already  pro- 
nounced. 

4.  The  withholding  of  the  execution  of  sen- 
tences does  not  necessarily  involve  setting  the 
accused  at  liberty;  in  case  this  is  done,  how- 
ever, the  persons  concerned  should  be  imme- 
diately surrendered  to  the  authorities  of  their 
own  State,  together  with  all  the  requisite  docu- 
ments. If,  however,  a  person  should  declare 
that  he  does  not  wish  to  return  to  his  country, 
or  if  the  authorities  of  his  country  should  not 
agree  to  receive  him,  this  person  may  be  again 
deprived  of  liberty. 

5.  Persons  who   are  under  accusation  or  who 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 


483 


are  being  prosecuted,  against  whom  preliminary 
proceedings  are  being  taken,  or  who  are  on 
trial  for  common  offenses,  and  also  those  un- 
dergoing sentence  for  such  offenses,  shall,  at 
the  demand  of  the  State  of  which  tney  are 
citizens,  be  surrendered  immediately,  together 
with  all  the  documents  in  the  case. 

6.  The  amnesty  foreseen  in  the  present  ar- 
ticle extends  to  all  the  above-mentioned  acts 
committed  up  to  the  moment  of  the  ratification 
of  the  present  treaty.  The  execution  of  death 
sentences  for  the  acts  mentioned  shall  be  with- 
held from  the  moment  of  the  signing  of  the 
present    article. 

MONUMENTS  AND  ARCHIVES 

ARTICLE  11.— 1.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  will 
restore  to  Poland  the  following  objects  removed 
to  Russia  or  to  the  Ukraine  from  the  territory 
of    the    Polish    Republic    since    Jan.    1,    1772 : 

a.  AH  war  trophies  (for  instance,  flags  and 
standards,  all  military  signs,  guns,  arms,  regi- 
mental regalia,  &c),  as  well  as  trophies  taken 
since  1792  from  the  Polish  nation  during  its 
struggle  for  independence  against  Czarist  Rus- 
ria.  The  Polish-Russian-Ukrainian  war  of  1918- 
1921    is    not    subject    to    such    restitution ; 

b.  Libraries,  collections  of  books,  archaeolog- 
ical collections,  archives,  works  of  art,  relics, 
as  well  as  all  kinds  of  collections  and  objects 
of  historic,  national,  artistic,  archaeological, 
scientific  or  general  cultural   value. 

The  collections  and  objects  described  under  let- 
ters a  and  b  in  this  article  are  subject  to  res- 
titution without  regard  to  the  conditions  under 
which  they  were  removed  or  the  prescriptions 
of  the  authorities  of  that  period,  and  without 
regard  to  what  legal  or  personal  holder  they 
belonged    originally,    or    after   removal. 

2.  The  obligation  of  restitution  does  not  ex- 
tend to : 

a.  Objects  removed  from  territory  situated  to 
the  east  of  the  Polish  frontier  determined  by 
the  present  treaty,  in  so  far  as  it  is  proved 
that  these  objects  are  the  product  of  White- 
Ruthenian  or  Ukrainian  culture,  and  that  they 
were  brought  to  Poland  not  by  voluntary  trans- 
action or  by  inheritance ; 

b.  Objects  which  were  brought  to  Russian  or 
Ukrainian  territory  from  their  lawful  owner 
through  voluntary  transactions  or  inheritance, 
or  which  were  brought  to  the  territory  of  Rus- 
sia  or  the    Ukraine    by   their   lawful    owner. 

3.  If  collections  and  objects  of  the  category 
mentioned  under  letters  c  and  b  in  Clause  1  of 
the  present  article,  brought  from  Russia  or  the 
Ukraine  in  this  same  period,  are  found  in  Po- 
land, they  are  subject  to  restitution  to  Russia 
and  the  Ukraine  on  the  principle  mentioned  in 
Clauses  1  and  2  of  the  present  article. 

4.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  will  restore  to  Po- 
land the  following  objects  taken  from  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Republic  of  Poland  since  Jan.  1, 
1772,  and  connected  with  the  territory  of  the 
Republic  of  Poland:  The  archives,  records,  ma- 
terials pertaining  to  the  archives,  acts,  docu- 
ments, registers,  maps,  plans  and  drawings,  as 
well  as  plates  and  dishes,  sealing  stamps  and 
Beals,  &c,  of  all  State  offices  and  institutions, 
self-governing,    social    and   clerical. 


Those  of  the  objects  above  denominated,  how- 
ever, which,  although  not  connected  as  a  whole 
with  the  territory  of  the  present  Republic  of 
Poland,  cannot  be  divided,  will  be  returned  to 
Poland  in  their  entirety. 

5.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  assign  the  following 
objects  dating  from  the  period  between  Jan.  1, 
1772,  to  Nov.  9,  1918,  during  Russian  rule  over 
territories  which  form  part  of  the  Republic  of 
Poland:  Archives,  records,  materials  pertaining 
to  archives,  acts,  documents,  registers,  maps, 
plans  and  drawings  of  legislative  institutions, 
central,  provincial  and  local  organs  of  all  Minis- 
tries, offices  and  administrations,  as  well  as 
self-governing  bodies,  social  and  public  institu- 
tions, in  so  far  as  the  objects  denominated 
above  have  connection  with  the  territory  of  the 
present  Republic  of  Poland  and  are  in  reality 
on   Russian   or   Ukrainian    territory. 

Should  the  objects  denominated  in  this  clause, 
and  which  have  connection  with  territories  re- 
maining with  Russia  or  the  Ukraine,  be  found 
in  Poland,  Poland  undertakes  the  obligation  to 
assign  them  to  Russia  or  to  the  Ukraine  on 
these   same   principles. 

6.  The  decisions  of  Clause  5  of  the  present 
article  do  not  extend  to: 

a.  Archives,  records,  &c,  having  connection 
with  the  struggles  of  the  former  Czarist  au- 
thorities with  the  revolutionary  movements  in 
Poland  after  the  year  1876  up  to  the  time  of  the 
conclusion  of  a  special  agreement  between  both 
parties  on  their  restitution  to   Poland ; 

b.  Objects  representing  military  secrets  and 
having  connection  with  the  period  after  the 
year  1870. 

7.  Both  contracting  parties,  agreeing  that  the 
systematized,  scientifically  elaborated  and  com- 
plete collection  forming  the  basis  of  a  collection 
of  universal  cultural  importance,  should  not  be 
subject  to  destruction,  decide  the  following:  If 
the  removal  of  any  object  whatever,  subject,  on 
the  principle  of  Clause  1  of  the  present  article, 
to  restitution  of  Poland,  may  destroy  the  value 
of  the  collection  as  a  whole,  the  said  object, 
except  in  case  of  its  close  connection  with  the 
history  or  the  culture  of  Poland,  shall  remain 
in  its  place  with  the  agreement  of  both  parties 
of  the  mixed  commission  foreseen  in  Clause  15 
of  the  present  article,  in  exchange  for  another 
object  of  equal  scientific  or  artistic  value. 

8.  Both  contracting  parties  declare  their  readi- 
ness to  conclude  special  agreements  concerning 
the  restitution,  the  redemption  or  the  exchange 
of  articles  of  the  categories  denominated  in 
Clause  1  b  of  the  present  article,  in  cases  when 
these  objects  passed  to  the  territory  of  the 
other  party  through  voluntary  transaction  or 
inheritance,  in  so  far  as  these  objects  represent 
cultural    acquisitions    of   the   interested    party. 

9.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  undertake  to  re- 
store to  Poland  the  following  objects  forcibly 
or  voluntarily  removed  to  Russia  or  the  Ukraine 
from  the  territory  of  the  Polish  Republic  since 
Aug.  1  (new  style),  1914— that  is,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  World  War— to  Oct.  1  (new  style), 
191"),  and  belonging  to  the  State  or  its  institu- 
tions, self-governing  bodies,  social  or  public  in- 
stitutions, and  in  general  to  all  legal  and  phys- 
ical holders : 


484 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


a.  Archives  of  every  kind,  records,  acts,  docu- 
ments, registers,  account  and  commercial  books, 
writings  and  correspondence,  surveying  and 
measuring  instruments,  plates  and  cliches,  seal- 
ing stamps,  maps,  plans  and  drawings,  with 
sketches  and  measurements  of  the  same,  with 
the  exception  of  objects  having  at  present  the 
character  of  military  secrets,  which  belonged  to 
military  institutions ; 

b.  Libraries,  archival  and  artistic  collections, 
with  their  inventories,  catalogues  and  biblio- 
graphical material;  works  of  art,  relics  and  all 
collections  of  articles  of  a  historical,  national, 
scientific,  artistic  or  in  general  of  a  cultural 
character;  bells  and  all  objects  of  religious  cult 
of  all  confessions. 

c.  Scientific  and  school  laboratories,  cabinets 
and  collections,  scientific  and  school  accessories, 
instruments  and  apparatus  and  also  all  aux- 
iliary and  experimental  material  of  the  same 
character. 

d.  Objects  subject  to  restoration  and  mentioned 
in  the  present  clause  under  letter  c  may  be  re- 
turned, not  necessarily  in  natura,  but  in  the 
form  of  a  proper  equivalent,  determined  with 
the  agreement  of  both  parties  in  the  mixed 
commission  provided  for  in  Clause  15  of  the 
present  article.  Objects  dating  from  before  1870 
or  donated  by  Poles  may  be  returned,  not  neces- 
sarily in  natura,  but  in  the  form  of  a  proper 
equivalent,  solely  with  the  agreement  of  both 
parties  of  the  above-mentioned  mixed  commis- 
sion. 

10.  Both  contracting  parties  undertake  the  ob- 
ligation reciprocally  to  restore  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples the  collections  and  objects  mentioned  in 
Clause  9  of  the  present  article  removed  volun- 
tarily or  forcibly  from  the  territory  of  the  other 
party  after  Oct.   1   (new   style),   1915. 

11.  Objects  denominated  in  Clauses  9  and  10 
of  the  present  article  not  forming  the  property 
of  the  State  or  of  State  institutions  shall,  upon 
demand  of  the  Governments  based  on  the  dec- 
larations of  the  owners,  be  returned  for  the  pur- 
pose of  their  restoration  to  the  owners. 

12.  Objects  denominated  in  Clauses  9  and  10 
of  the  present  article  are  subject  to  restitution 
in  so  far  as  they  are  de  facto,  or  prove  to  be 
under  the  administration  of  governmental  or 
social  institutions  of  the  State  making  the  res- 
titution. The  obligation  of  proving  that  an 
object  was  destroyed  or  lost  is  incumbent  on  the 
State  making  the  restitution.  If  the  objects 
denominated  in  Clauses  9  and  10  of  the  present 
article  are  in  the  possession  of  third  persons, 
whether  physical  or  legal  holders,  they  shall 
be  taken  from  them  for  the  purpose  of  restoral. 

Also,  at  the  request  of  the  owner,  objects  de- 
nominated in  Clauses  9  and  10  of  the  present 
article  and  in  his  possession,  shall  be  formally 
restored. 

13.  Costs  in  connection  with  the  return  and 
restitution  will  be  borne  by  the  State  making 
the  restitution  within  the  limits  of  its  own  terri- 
tory to  the  frontiers  of  the  State.  Restitution 
shall  be  executed  without  regard  to  prohibi- 
tions or  restrictions  of  export  and  shall  not  be 
subject   to   any   taxes   or   payments. 

14.  Each  of  the  contracting  parties  undertakes 
to  surrender  to  the  second  party  the  cultural  or 


artistic  possessions  donated  or  bequeathed  up 
to  Oct.  7  (new  style),  1917,  by  the  citizens  or 
institutions  iof  the  other  party  to  its  State  or 
to  its  social,  scientific  or  artistic  institutions  in 
so  far  as  these  donations  or  bequests  were  ac- 
complished according  to  tne  obligatory  statutes 
of  the  State  in  question. 

Both  contracting  parties  reserve  the  right  to 
conclude  special  agreements  in  the  matter  of  the 
above-mentioned  donations  and  bequests  made 
after  Nov.  7   (new  style),  1917. 

15.  For  the  execution  of  the  decisions  of  the 
present  article  there  shall  be  formed  not  later 
than  within  six  weeks  from  the  ratification  of 
the  present  treaty  a  special  mixed  commission 
ion  tne  principle  of  equality,  with  headquarters 
in  Moscow,  composed  of  three  representatives  of 
each  party  and  the  indispensable  experts.  This 
commission  will  direct  its  activities  according 
to  instructions  forming  Affix  3  to  the  present 
treaty. 

STATE  PROPERTY 

ARTICLE  12.  Both  contracting  parties  recog- 
nize that  State  property  of  every  kind  on  the 
territory  of  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  contract- 
ing States,  or  subject  to  restitution  to  that  State 
on  the  basis  of  the  present  treaty,  forms  its 
indisputable  property.  By  State  property  is 
understood  every  kind  of  property  and  property 
rights  of  the  State  itself  as  well  as  of  State 
institutions;  property  and  property  rights  of 
appanage,  cabinets,  palaces,  all  kinds  of  prop- 
erty and  property  rights  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire  and  of  members  of  the  former  Imperial 
family,  and  all  kinds  of  property  and  property 
rights  donated  by  Russian  Emperors. 

Both  contracting  parties  renounce,  recipro- 
cally, all  claims  arising  from  the  division  Of 
State  property,  in  so  far  as  the  present  treaty 
does  not  make  a  different  decision.  To  the 
Polish  Government  pass  all  rights  and  claims 
of  the  Russian  Treasury  against  all  kinds  of 
property  within  the  frontiers  of  Poland,  and  all 
claims  against  physical  and  legal  holders  if 
these  rights  and  claims  are  subject  to  execu- 
tion on  Polish  territory,  and  in  this  connection 
only  to  the  amount  not  offset  by  the  reciprocal 
claims  of  the  debtors  based  on  Clause  2  of  Ar- 
ticle 17,  to  be  settled  in  the  clearing  of  ac- 
counts. The  documents  and  acts  confirming  the 
rights  indicated  in  this  article  are  transferred 
by  the  Russian  Government,  in  so  far  as  they 
are  really  in  its  possession,  to  the  Polish  Gov- 
ernment. In  case  of  the  impossibility  of  exe- 
cuting this  provision  within  the  term  of  one 
year  from  the  day  of  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty,  these  documents  and  acts  will  be  recog- 
nized as  lost. 

GOLD 
ARTIC1.E  13.— In  view  of  the  active  partici- 
pation of  the  territories  of  the  Republic  of  Po- 
land in  the  economic  life  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire,  as  recognized  by  the  preliminary  peace 
agreement  of  Oct.  12,  1920,  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine  pledge  themselves  to  pay  to  Poland 
30,000,000  gold  rubles  in  coin  or  ingots,  not 
later  than  within  one  year  from  the  time  of 
ratification  of  the  present  treaty. 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 


485 


^O 


1-UPPER  SILESIA 
2-FREE  CITY#f  DANZIG 


THE     BLACK     LINE     RUNNING     FROM     LATVIA     SOUTHWARD     TO     RUMANIA     IS     THE     NEW 
1  OUNDARY    BETWEEN    POLAND    AND    RUSSIA    AS    DETERMINED    BY    THE    TREATY    OF    RIGA 


ARTICLE  14.— The  re-evacuation*  of  State 
railway  property  from  Russia  and  the  Ukraine 
to  Poland  will  be  executed  according  to  the 
following  principles: 

a.  Railway  rolling  stock  of  the  general  Euro- 
pean gauge  is  to  be  returned  to  Poland  in 
natura,  in  the  quantity  and  on  the  conditions  in- 
dicated in  Annex  4  to  the  present  treaty. 

♦The  terms  "  evacuation  "  and  "  re-evacua- 
tion "  are  employed  in  the  original  document  in 
the  sense  of  "  removal  "  and  "  restitution,"  ac- 
cording to  the  practice  which  arose  during  the 
war. 


b.  Broad  gauge  railway  rolling  stock,  as  well 
as  railway  rolling  stock  of  the  general  European 
gauge,  altered  to  broad  gauge  in  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine  up  to  the  day  of  the  signing  of  the 
peace  treaty,  remains  in  Russia  and  the  Ukraine, 
in  the  quantity  and  on  the  conditions  indicated 
in  Annex  4  to  the   present  treaty. 

c.  Other  property  besides  railway  rolling  stock 
will  be  in  part  returned  to  Poland  in  natura, 
and  in  part  will  remain  in  Russia  and  in  the 
Ukraine,  in  the  quantity  and  on  the  conditions 
indicated  in  Annex  4  to  the  present  treaty.  The 
value  of  the  railway   property  indicated   under 


486 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  letters  a,  b  and  c  of  the  present  article,  is 
fixed  by  the  contracting  parties  at  the  sum  of 
29,000,000  rubles  in  gold. 

2.  Both  contracting  parties  undertake  recip- 
rocally to  return  to  each  other,  on  the  general 
principles  laid  down  in  Article  15  of  the  present 
treaty,  all  State  river  property  (boats,  mechan- 
isms, technical  apparatus,  landing  facilities  and 
other  ri\  er  transport  property)  ;  also,  the  prop- 
erty of  road  administration,  in  so  far  as  the 
property  falling  under  these  two  classifications 
is  at  present,  or  will  be,  under  the  administra- 
tion of  government  or  socal  institutions  of  the 
State  making  the  restitution. 

The  bringing  into  force  of  the  decisions  of  the 
present  clause  and  the  decision  of  all  matters 
connected  therewith,  is  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Mixed  Commission  of  Re-evacuation  pro- 
vided for  in  Article  15  of  the  present  treaty. 

RE-EVACUATION  OF  PRIVATE  PROP- 
ERTY 

ARTICLE  15.— 1.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  bin'! 
themselves,  at  the  demand  of  tho  Polish  Govern- 
ment, and  on  the  basis  of  the  owners'  declara- 
tion, to  re-evacuate  to  Poland,  for  the  purpose 
of  its  restitution  to  the  said  owners,  the  prop- 
erty of  self-governing  bodies,  institutions,  and 
physical  and  legal  persons,  which  was  volun- 
tarily or  forcibly  removed  from  the  territory  of 
the  Republic  of  Poland  to  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine,  after  Aug.  1,  1914-<that  is,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  World  War— up  to  Oct.  1  1915. 

2.  Both  contracting  parties  undertake  the  obli- 
gation reciprocally  to  re-evacuate,  at  the  desire 
of  the  Government  of  the  other  party,  and  on 
the  basis  of  the  declaration  of  the  owners,  the 
property  of  all  self-governing  bodies,  institu- 
tions, and  physical  and  legal  persons,  on  the 
territory  of  the  other  party,  voluntarily  or  forc- 
ibly evacuated  after  Oct.  1,  1915. 

3.  The  property  specified  in  Clauses  1  and  2  of 
the  present  article  is  subject  to  re-evacuation, 
in  so  far  as  it  is  at  present,  or  will  prove  to  be, 
under  the  administration  of  governmental  or 
social  institutions  of  the  State  making  the  re- 
stitution. The  obligation  of  proving  that  an 
object  has  suffered  damage  or  has  been  lost,  is 
incumbent  on  the  State  making  the  restitution. 

In  so  far  as  the  property  specified  in  Clauses 
1  and  2  of  the  present  article  represents  a 
means  of  production,  and  was  formerly  under 
the  administration  of  Government  or  social  in- 
stitutions of  the  State  making  the  restitution, 
but  was  later  destroyed  or  lose  as  a  result  of 
circumstances  beyond  control  (vis  major),  the 
Government  of  the  State  making  the  restitution 
is  under  the  obligation  to  give  a  proper  equiva- 
lent for  these  objects. 

If  the  property  indicated  in  Clauses  1  and  2 
of  the  present  article  is  in  the  possession  of 
third  persons,  whether  physical  or  legal,  it 
shall  be  taken  from  them  for  the  purpose  of 
re-evacuation. 

Property  indicated  in  Clauses  1  and  2  of  the 
present  article  and  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
owner,  shall  also,  at  his  demand,  be  formally 
re-evacuated. 

4.  Property    subject    to    re-evacuation    on    the 


principle  of  Clauses  1,  2  and  S  of  the  present 
article,  with  the  agreement  of  the  parties 
interested,  may  be  returned  not  necessarily  in 
natura,  but  in  the  form  of  a  proper  equivalent 

5.  A  complete  reciprocal  settlement  of  accounts 
arising  from  legal  titles  connected  with  evacu- 
ated property,  shall  take  place  within  18  months 
from  the  day  of  the  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty,  between  the  owners  of  the  re-evacuated 
property  *and  the  Government  making  the  resti- 
tution. 

This  settlement  shall  comprise,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  subsidies,  loans  and  open  credits 
granted  for  evacuation,  with  the  exception 
of  credits  covered  by  securities,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  expenditures  connected  with 
evacuation,  including  dues  for  raw  materials, 
semi-manufactures,  goods  and  capital  taken  by 
the  State  making  the  restitution ;  in  this  settle- 
ment will  also  be  included  compensation  for  the 
partial  or  complete  wearing  out  by  use,  in  the 
process  of  production,  of  property  subject  to 
re-evacuation. 

The  Governments  of  the  contracting  parties 
guarantee  payments  based  on  the  above-named 
settlement.  This  settlement  must  not  put  a 
stop  to  re-evacuation. 

6.  The  costs  of  re-evacuation  within  the  Limits 
of  its  own  territory,  up  to  the  frontier,  shall  be 
borne  by   the   State  making  the  restitution. 

The  re-evacuation  of  property  shall  be  ex- 
ecuted without  regard  to  the  prohibition  or  the 
restriction  of  export,  and  shall  not  be  subject 
to  any  taxes  or  payments. 

7.  For  the  purpose  of  bringing  into  force  the 
decisions  of  the  present  article,  a  mixed  com- 
mission shall  be  formed,  not  later  than  six 
weeks  from  the  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty ;  this  body  will  be  based  on  the  principle 
of  equality,  and  will  be  composed  of  five  rep- 
resentatives and  the  indispensable  experts  of 
both  parties ;  its  headquarters  will  be  in  Mos- 
cow. The  duty  of  this  commission  will  be  es- 
pecially the  fixing  of  equivalents  in  cases  fore- 
seen in  Clauses  3  and  4  of  the  present  article ; 
the  fixing  of  the  principles  of  the  settlement  of 
accounts  between  owners  and  the  Governments 
of  the  other  party,  and  of  measures  of  super- 
vision to  insure  its  proper  execution ;  the  eluci- 
dation in  cases  of  doubt,  of  the  status  of  legal 
and  physical  persons  as  regards  their  relation 
to  the  State,  as  well  as  of  problems  arising  from 
the  necessity  of  co-operating  with  the  proper 
Government  organs  in  the  search  for  property 
subject  to  re-evacuation. 

As  proof  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  evacua- 
tion, not  only  evacuation  orders  are  admitted, 
but  also  all  other  documents  and  proofs  by 
witnesses. 

Both  contracting  parties  undertake  the  obli- 
gation to  co-operate  fully  and  in  every  way 
with  the  above  mentioned  mixed  commission 
in  the  fulfillment  of  its  duties. 

Property  belonging  to  physical  and  legal  per- 
sons of  the  other  contracting  party  shall  not 
be  subject   to  re-evecuation. 

Those  stock  companies  in  which  the  majority 
of  the  shares  represented  at  the  last  general 
assembly     of     the     shareholders     preceding     the 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 


487 


evacuation  from  Poland  to  Russia  belonged  to 
Russian,  Ukrainian  or  White-Ruthenian  citi- 
zens, shall  be  considered  as  Russian,  Ukrainian 
and   White-Ruthenian. 

Those  companies  (stock  companies  or  other- 
wise), in  which  the  majority  of  the  shares  rep- 
resented  at  the  last  general  assembly  of  share- 
holders preceding  the  evacuation  from  Russia 
and  the  Ukraine  to  Poland  belonged  to  Polish 
citizens,    shall   be   considered   as   Polish. 

The  State  appurtenance  of  shareholders  to  one 
of  the  parties  shall  be  defined  on  the  basis  of 
the  present  treaty. 

Poland  undertakes  the  responsibility  for  all 
claims  of  other  States  on  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine,  which  may  be  made  on  account  of  the 
re-evacuation  to  Poland  of  property  belonging 
to  citizens  or  legal  persons  of  these  States, 
while  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  on  this  basis 
both  reserve  to  themselves,  with  respect  to 
Poland,    the   right    of   recovery. 

8.  All  demands  for  the  re-evacuation  of  prop- 
erty shall  be  made  to  the  Mixed  Commission 
within  the  period  of  one  year  from  the  day  of 
the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty ;  after  the 
lapse  of  this  period,  no  demand  will  be  accepted 
by  the  State  making  the  restitution.  The  de- 
cision of  the  mixed  commission  is  to  be  given 
within  three  months  from  the  day  of  the  re- 
ception of  the  demand.  The  re-evacuation  of 
property  is  to  be  accomplished  within  six  months 
following  the  decision  of  the  mixed  commission. 
The  lapse  of  this  period  does  not  liberate  the 
State  making  the  restitution  from  the  duty  of 
re-evacuating  property  which  has  been  de- 
manded within  the  proper  period. 

CAPITAL  AND  FUNDS 
ARTICLE  16—1.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  un- 
dertake to  effect  with  Poland  a  settlement  of 
those  accounts  which  arose  from  funds  and 
special  capital  bequeathed  or  donated  to  Polish 
citizens  or  legal  associations,  and  which,  by 
virtue  of  binding  regulations,  were  held  in  the 
Russian  State  Treasury,  or  in  credit  institutions 
of  the  former  Russian  Empire,  as  deposits  or 
accounts. 

2.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  further  undertake 
to  effect  a  settlement  of  accounts  with  Poland 
on  the  basis  of  the  capital  of  Polish  public  in- 
stitutions, wThich,  by  virtue  of  binding  regula- 
tions, was  held  in  the  Russian  State  Treasury, 
or  in  credit  institutions  of  the  former  Russian 
Umpire,   as   deposits  or  accounts. 

3.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  further  undertake 
to  effect  witli  Poland  a  settlement  of  accounts 
with  reference  to  property  and  capital  of  Polish 
origin  which  came  under  the  administration  of 
the  Russian  Government,  and  were  either 
liquidated  or  confounded  with  Treasury  funds, 
and  which  belonged  to  social,  cultural,  religious 
and    philanthropic   institutions   and  associations, 

well  as   in  reference  to  property  and  capital 
h    were    destined    for    the    maintenance    of 
churches  and  the  clergy. 

Russia   and   the   Ukraine   further   undertake 
ffect   with   Poland    a   settlement  with   refer- 
to    special    capital    and    funds,    as    well    as 
with  reference  to   general  State  capital   destined 
for  purposes  of  social  work,   which  were   under 


the  control  of  special  administrations  and  were 
connected,  according  to  their  origin  and  destina- 
tion, either  in  whole  or  in  part,  with  territory 
or  citizens  of  the  Polish  Republic. 

5.  The  period  for  the  fixing  of  the  clearing 
balances  foreseen  in  Clauses  1,  2,  3  and  4  of 
the  present  article,  is  agreed  upon  by  both 
contracting  parties  as  Jan.  1,  1916. 

6.  As  a  basis  for  proceeding  with  the  settle- 
ment of  accounts  referring  to  capital  connect- 
ed with  the  accounts  of  the  State  Treasury,  a 
previous  liquidation  of  these  accounts  shall  be 
effected.  The  sums  assigned  from  the  Treasury 
for  the  support  of  capital  will  not  be  consid- 
ered as  a  debt  of  capital  toward  the  Treasury. 

Russia  and  the  Ukraine  undertake,  in  effect- 
ing the  settlement  of  accounts  foreseen  in 
Clauses  1,  2,  3  and  4  of  the  present  article,  to 
assign  to  Poland  the  appropriate  property, 
capital,   and   balance   in  cash. 

7.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  undertake  to  effect 
the  settlement  of  accounts  referring  to  capital 
and  funds  which  were  in  the  Treasury  as  de- 
posits, or  in  State  or  private  credit  institutions 
of  the  former  Russian  Empire,  as  investments, 
taking  under  consideration,  to  the  advantage  of 
Poland,  the  loss  of  part  of  the  purchasing 
power  of  Russian  paper  money  units  in  the 
period  from  Oct.  1,  1915,  to  the  day  when  the 
settlement  of  accounts  is  completed. 

In  effecting,  however,  the  settlement  of  ac- 
counts with  reference  to  special  capital  and 
funds  which  were  under  the  control  of  separata 
administrations  and  confounded  with  the 
Treasury  accounts  of  the  former  Russian  Em- 
pire, changes  in  the  value  of  monetary  units 
shall  not  be  taken  into  consideration. 

8.  In  effecting  the  final  settlement  of  accounts 
referring  to  special  capital,  funds  and  property, 
all  movable  property  will  be  returned  to  Poland 
in  so  far  as  it  is  under  the  administration  of 
the  Governments  of  Russia  and  the  Ukraine.  In 
cases  where  property  has  been  liquidated  by 
them,  it  will  be  returned  in  the  form  of  a 
proper  equivalent.  This  does  not  apply  to  Rus- 
sian   securities. 

9.  The  above  settlement  will  be  effected  by 
the  Mixed  Account-Settlement  Commission  fore- 
seen   in    Article    18. 

LEGAL    CONDITION    OF    INDIVIDUAL 
CITIZENS 

ARTICLE  17—1.  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  un- 
dertake to  effect  with  Poland  the  settlement  of 
accounts  referring  to  Polish  investments,  or  to 
deposits  and  securities  belonging  to  Polish  na- 
tionals or  legal  associations,  in  Russian  and 
Ukrainian  State  credit  institutions,  nationalized 
or  liquidated,  as  well  as  in  State  institutions 
and   treasuries. 

In  paying  sums  due  on  the  basis  of  the  pres- 
ent clause,  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  assign  to 
Polish  nationals  and  legal  associations,  all  the 
rights  that  were  formerly  assigned  to  Russian 
and  Ukrainian  nationals  and  legal  associations. 

In  effecting  the  above-mentioned  settlements, 
Russia  and  the  Ukraine  will  take  under  consid- 
eration, to  the  advantage  of  Polish  nationals, 
the  loss  of  part  of  the  purchasing  power  of  Rus- 
sian   monetary   units   from    Oct.    1,    1915,    to   the 


488 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


day  when  the  settlement  of  the  accounts  is  com- 
pleted. 

2.  The  decision  on  matters  concerning  the 
regulation  of  conditions  of  private  right  between 
nationals  and  legal  associations  of  the  two  con- 
tracting States,  and  also  the  decision  on  matters 
concerning  the  regulation  of  claims  of  such  na- 
tionals and  legal  associations  on  the  Govern- 
ment and  State  institutions  of  the  other  party, 
and,  reciprocally,  which  are  based  on  legal  titles 
—in  so  far  as  these  questions  are  not  decided  by 
the  present  treaty— is  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Mixed  Account-Settlement  Commission  pro- 
vided for  in  Article  18  of  the  present  treaty. 
The  present  clause  concerns  legal  conditions 
which  arose  up  to  the  day  of  the  signing  of  the 
Peace  Treaty. 

ACCOUNT-SETTLEMENT   COMMIS- 
SION 

ARTICLE  18—1.  For  the  purpose  of  effecting 
the  settlement  of  accounts  foreseen  in  Articles 
14,  15,  16  and  17  of  the  present  treaty,  and 
fixing  the  principles  of  these  settlements  in 
cases  unforeseen  by  the  present  treaty,  and 
also  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  amount,  man- 
ner and  time  of  payments  due  in  consequence  of 
neglected  accounts,  within  six  weeks  from  the 
day  of  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty,  a 
Mixed  Account-Settlement  Commission  will  be 
formed,  composed  of  five  representatives  of  each 
party  and  the  indispensable  number  of  experts, 
with  headquarters  in  Warsaw. 

2.  Oct.  1  (New  Style),  1915,  is  accepted  as  the 
date  on  which  all  settlements  are  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  in  so  far  as  the  present  treaty 
does  not  decide   otherwise. 

3.  All  settlements  of  accounts  for  material 
values  shall  be  effected  in  Russian  gold  rubles; 
in  other  cases,  settlement  will  be  made  in  con- 
formity with  the  principles  foreseen  in  Articles 
14,  16  and  17  of  the  present  treaty. 

RUSSIAN  DEBTS 

ARTICLE  19— Russia  and  the  Ukraine  free 
Poland  from  responsibility  for  debts  and  for  all 
other  kinds  of  obligations  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire,  including  obligations  proceeding  from 
the  issue  of  paper  money,  treasury-bills,  obliga- 
tions, promissory  notes,  serial  issues,  Russian 
treasury  bonds,  from  guarantees  accorded  to  all 
institutions  and  enterprises,  as  well  as  from 
the  guarantee  debts   of  the   same,   &c. 

COMPENSATION 

ARTICLE  20— Russia  and  the  Ukraine  under- 
take to  accord  to  Poland,  her  citizens  and  legal 
associations,  automatically  and  without  any 
special  agreement,  on  the  basis  of  the  principle 
of  the  most  favored  nation,  all  the  rights,  priv- 
ileges and  concessions  accorded  or  to  be 
accorded  directly  or  indirectly  by  them  to  any 
other  State,  its  citizens  and  legal  associations, 
in  respect  to  the  restitution  of  property  and 
compensation  for  losses  during  the  period  of 
the  revolution  and  civil  war  in  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine. 

In  the  cases  provided  above,  Russia  and  the 
Ukraine  will  recognize  the  binding  power  not 
only  of  original  documents  confirming  the  prop- 


erty rights  of  Polish  nationals  and  legal  asso- 
ciations, but  also  those  documents  which  will  be 
issued  by  the  mixed  commission  provided  for  in 
Articles  35  and  18  of  the  present  treaty. 

FURTHER  AGREEMENTS 

ARTICLE  21— Both  contracting  parties  under- 
take, not  later  than  within  six  weeks  from  the 
day  of  the  ratification  of  the  present  treaty,  to 
begin  negotiations  on  the  question  of  a  com- 
mercial agreement,  and  an  agreement  concern- 
ing the  exchange  of  goods  on  the  basis  of  com- 
pensation (i.  e.,  barter) ;  also  to  begin,  as  soon 
as  possible,  negotiations  concerning  the  con- 
clusion of  a  consular,  post  and  telegraph,  rail- 
way, sanitary  and  veterinary  convention,  as 
well  as  a  convention  concerning  the  improve- 
ment of  navigation  conditions  on  the  Dnieper- 
Vistula  and  the  Dnieper-Dwina  waterways. 

TRANSIT  OF  GOODS 

ARTICLE  22—1.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  con- 
clusion of  the  commercial  agreement  and  the 
railway  convention,  both  contracting  parties  un- 
dertake the  obligation  to  permit  the  transit  of 
goods  on  the  conditions  provided  for  below.  The 
principles  of  the  present  article  shall  form  the 
basis  of  the  future  commercial  agreement  in 
the  parts  concerning  transit. 

2.  Both  contracting  parties  accord  to  each 
other,  reciprocally,  the  free  transit  of  goods  on 
all  railways  and  waterways  open  to  transit. 
The  transport  of  transit  goods  will  take  place 
in  accordance  with  the  prescriptions  determined 
in  each  of  the  contracting  States  for  traffic 
on  railways  and  waterways,  and  taking  into 
consideration  transport  facilities  and  the  needs 
of  interior  traffic. 

3.  By  free  transit  of  goods,  both  contracting 
parties  understand  that  goods  transported  from 
Russia  or  the  Ukraine,  or  to  Russia  or  the 
Ukraine  through  Poland,  as  well  as  from  Po- 
land or  to  Poland  through  Russia  or  the 
Ukraine,  shall  not  be  subject  to  any  transit 
duties  or  any  other  payments  arising  from 
transit,  whether  these  goods  pass  straight 
through  the  territory  of  one  of  the  contracting 
parties,  or  are  unloaded  on  the  way,  stored  for 
a  time  in  warehouses,  and  reloaded  for  further 
transport,  on  condition  that  these  operations  are 
carried  out  in  warehouses  under  the  supervision 
of  the  customs  authorities  of  the  country 
through  which  the  goods  are  passing. 

4.  Poland  reserves  to  herself  liberty  in  the 
regulation  of  the  conditions  of  transit  for  goods 
of  German  and  Austrian  origin,  imported  from 
Germany  and  Austria  through  Poland  to  Russia 
and  the  Ukraine. 

The  transit  of  arms,  military  equipment  and 
objects,  is  prohibited.  The  restriction  does  not 
extend  to  objects  which,  although  military,  are 
not  intended  for  military  purposes.  For  the 
transit  of  such  objects,  the  declaration  that 
they  will  not  be  used  as  military  material  will 
be  demanded  of  the  respective  Governments. 

Restrictions  are  also  permitted  in  connection 
with  goods  to  which,  for  the  protection  of  the 
public  health,  and  the  prevention  of  the  spread- 
ing of  epizootic  and  plan  epidemics,  may  be  ap- 
plied exceptional  prohibitive  measures. 


THE  PEACE  TREATY  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  RUSSIA 


489 


5.  Goods  imported  from  other  States  in  transit 
through  the  territory  of  one  of  the  contracting 
parties  to  the  territory  of  the  other  party,  shall 
not  be  subject  to  other  or  higher  payments  than 
those  which  might  be  levied  on  such  goods  com- 
ing straight  from  their  country  of  origin. 

6.  Freights,  tariffs  and  other  payments  for  the 
transport  of  goods  by  transit  shall  not  be 
higher  than  those  which  are  levied  for  the 
transport  of  such  goods  in  interior  communica- 
tion on  the  same  line  and  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. 

As  long  as  freights,  tariffs  and  other  pay- 
ments are  not  levied  for  the  interior  transport 
of  goods  in  Russia  and  the  Ukraine,  payments 
for  the  transport  of  goods  from  Poland  and  to 
Poland  through  Russia  and  the  Ukraine  may 
not  be  higher  than  the  payments  determined  for 
the  transport  of  goods  by  transit  through  the 
most-favored  country. 

7.  In  view  of  the  necessity  to  provide  proper 
equipment  for  frontier  stations  at  connecting 
points  of  the  railways  of  both  of  the  contracting 
parties,  there  will  be  assigned  temporarily,  for 
transit  traffic  from  Russia  and  the  Ukraine 
through  Poland,  and  the  reverse,  from  Poland 
through  Russia  and  the  Ukraine,  delivery  sta- 
tions at  the  sections  Baranowicze-Minsk  and 
Rowne-Szepetowka,  namely,  on  the  territory  of 
White  Ruthenia  and  the  Ukraine ;  for  the  recep- 
tion of  goods  coming  from  the  west,  the  Minsk 
station  (until  a  special  station  is  prepared),  and 
the  station  of  Szepetowka  (until  the  station  of 
Krzywin  is  prepared),  and  on  the  territory  of 
Poland  for  receiving  goods  coming  from  the 
east,  the  stations  Stolbec  and  Zdolbunowo. 

The  manner  and  conditions  of  transit  traffic 
will  be  determined  in  the  railway  convention 
which  is  to  be  concluded  by  both  contracting 
parties  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the 
present  treaty. 

The  contracting  parties  will  also  take  the 
proper  steps  for  the  speediest  possible  adapta- 
tion of  other  directions  to  transit  traffic,  pro- 
viding the  connecting  points  of  the  railways  are 
determined  by  a  special  agreement. 

The  delivering  points  from  other  States  on  the 
frontiers  of  both  parties  for  transit  traffic  will 
be  all  frontier  stations  which  are,  or  will  be, 
open   for   international    communication. 

For  the  loading  of   transit  goods  arriving  or 


departing  by  water,  there  will  be  opened  a 
transfer  depot  in  the  town  of  Pinsk  or  on  the 
Prypec  siding,  and  at  this  point  there  will  be 
constructed  a  railway  line  to  the  wharf  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  the  cars  for  loading. 

TERRITORIAL    CLAUSE 

ARTICL.E  23— Russia  and  the  Ukraine  de- 
clare that  all  obligations  undertaken  by  them 
toward  Poland,  as  well  as  the  rights  they 
have  acquired  by  the  present  treaty,  apply  to  all 
the  territories  situated  to  the  east  of  the  State 
frontier  defined  in  Article  2  of  the  present 
treaty,  and  formerly  part  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire; these  territories,  by  the  conclusion  of  the 
present  treaty,  are  represented  by  Russia  and 
the    Ukraine. 

In  particular,  all  the  rights  and  obligations 
above  specified  extend  to  White  Ruthenia  and 
to  its  citizens. 

DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS 

ARTICL.E  24— Diplomatic  relations  "between 
the  contracting  parties  shall  be  inaugurated  im- 
mediately after  the  ratification  of  the  present 
treaty. 

ARTICLE  25— [In  all  copies  of  the  treaty  re- 
ceived in  the  United  States  to  the  time  when 
these  pages  went  to  press  no  Article  25  ap- 
peared.] 

RATIFICATION 

ARTICLE  26 — The  present  treaty  is  subject 
to  ratification,  and  shall  come  into  force  from 
the  moment  of  the  exchange  of  the  documents 
of  ratification,  in  so  far  as  the  treaty  or  its 
annexes  do  not  contain  other  dispositions.  The 
exchange  of  the  documents  of  ratification  shall 
take  place  in  Minsk  within  the  period  of  forty- 
five  days  from  the  day  of  the  signing  of  the 
present  treaty.  In  every  instance,  in  the 
present  treaty  or  its  annexes,  where  the  mo- 
ment of  ratification  on  the  Peace  Treaty  is 
mentioned  as  a  period  of  time,  the  moment  of 
the  exchange  of  the  documents  of  ratification 
is   understood. 

IN  FAITH  WHEREOF  the  plenipotentiaries 
of  both  contracting  parties  have  signed  m.  P. 
the  present  treaty,  and  affixed  thereto  their 
seals. 

Done  and  signed  in  Riga,  March  18,  1921. 


WHAT  POLAND  GAINED  FROM  RUSSIA 


T)Y  the  signing  of  peace  with  Soviet  Rus- 
sia on  March  18,  Poland  obtained  a 
sorely  needed  guarantee  for  her  future 
tranquillity  and  progress.  By  the  terms  of 
that  treaty  she  secured  an  increase  of 
territory  which  delighted  the  Poles  as  much 
as  it  displeased  the  Russian  factions  now 
exiled  from  Russia.  Under  the  boundary 
clauses  of  the  treaty  Poland  obtains,  over 
and  above  the  Curzon  line  established  by 


the  Peace  Conference,  fifteen  counties  of 
the  Provinces  of  Volhynia,  Grodno,  Vilna 
and  Minsk  in  their  entirety,  and  also  por- 
tions of  eleven  counties  in  the  Provinces  of 
Volhynia,  Minsk,  Vilna  and  Vitebsk.  This 
means,  in  short  words,  that  Russia  loses 
about  140,000  square  kilometers,  or  87,000 
square  miles,  of  her  national  territory, 
which,  as  Alexander  Kerensky,  the  former 
Premier  of  Russia,  pointed  out  in  Paris,  is 
enough  territory  to  make  a  whole  country 


490 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


in  Europe.  The  Russian  Nationalist 
leaders,  headed  by  Kerensky,  contend  that 
of  the  7,000,000  people  who  inhabit  these 
regions,  not  more  than  400,000,  or  about  6 
per  cent.,  are  Poles,  mostly  of  the  land 
baron  class,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  popula- 
tion consists  of  White  Russians,  Lithu- 
anians and  Ukrainians.  Kerensky  and  his 
faction,  recently  united  in  a  Constituent 
Assembly  in  Paris,  foresaw  the  forcible 
Polonization  by  these  Polish  landlords  of 
all  the  districts  taken  over  by  the  Warsaw 
Government.  In  contradiction  to  this  M. 
Dombski,  the  chief  Polish  delegate  to  Riga, 
declared  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty  that 
it  would  be  Poland's  aim  to  give  freedom 
and  the  exercise  of  all  civic  rights  to  the 
people  of  non-Polish  stock  to  be  incorpo- 
rated with  Poland  under  the  Riga  Treaty. 

Unmoved  by  the  prediction  that  these 
boundary  terms  would  be  a  menace  to  the 
future  peace  of  Europe,  the  Poles  continued 
to  exult  over  the  increase  of  territory, 
and  there  were  many  evidences  that  the 
treaty  had  wrought  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
toward  the  Soviet  Government,  the  fall  of 
which  in  future  would  not  be  to  Poland's 
advantage.  Early  after  the  signing  at 
Riga,  however,  problems  arose  relating  to 
the  execution  of  certain  provisions.  Among 
other  difficulties  was  that  of  bringing 
Poland's  relations  with  Simon  Petlura,  the 
Ukrainian  nationalistic  leader,  in  line  with 
those  clauses  of  the  treaty  under  which 
Poland,  like  Soviet  Russia,  pledged  herself 
not  to  tolerate  on  her  territory  organiza- 
tions hostile  to  the  other  party. 

The  Riga  peace,  it  will  be  noted,  was 
concluded  not  only  between  Poland  and 
Soviet  Russia,  but  also  with  the  Soviet 
Ukrainian  Government.  Petlura,  however, 
has  established  his  own  Ukrainian  Govern- 
ment at  Tarnov,  and  still  possesses  some 
15,000  available  troops  to  use  against  Soviet 
Russia  whenever  the  time  may  seem  to  him 
propitious.  The  Polish  Government  has 
hitherto  'acknowledged  the  existence  of 
Petlura's  Government  so  far  as  to  recognize 
passports  issued  by  it,  and  has  shown  it  in 
other  ways  a  certain  degree  of  unofficial 
courtesy.  A  diplomatic  mission  represent- 
ing Petlura  has  for  some  time  been  resident 


at  Warsaw.  This  situation,  however,  is  in 
no  way  compatible  with  the  terms  of  the 
new  treaty,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
permanent  Bolshevist  representative  who 
arrived  in  Warsaw  in  May  will  draw  it  to 
the  attention  of  the  Polish  Government. 

A  decision  on  the  final  allocation  of  the 
Vilna  territory  still  remained  pending,  since 
the  new  agreement  was  reached  by  the  Poles 
and  Lithuanians  at  the  behest  of  the 
League  of  Nations  to  abandon  the  idea  of 
a  plebiscite,  to  which  both  parties  were  op- 
posed, and  to  reach  a  settlement  by  means 
of  direct  negotiations.  A  Polish  delegation 
left  Warsaw  for  Brussels  toward  the  end 
of  April,  empowered  to  negotiate  with  the 
representatives  of  Lithuania  under  the 
Presidency  of  Paul  Hymans. 

Poland's  relations  with  Germany  were 
somewhat  improved,  at  least  officially,  by 
the  signing  on  April  21  in  Paris  of  the 
Germano-Polish  Convention  regulating  com- 
munication between  East  Prussia  and  Ger- 
many on  the  one  hand,  and  between  Poland 
and  the  Free  City  of  Danzig  on  the  other. 
By  this  convention,  communication  by  rail- 
way, telephone  and  telegraph  was  granted 
to  Germany  over  intervening  Polish  terri- 
tory, while  Poland  received  similar  facili- 
ties with  Danzig  over  intervening  German 
territory  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Vistula. 
The  nationals  of  both  parties  were  further- 
more empowered  to  move  about  within  these 
areas  without  passport  formalities,  and 
German  goods  in  transit  were  freed  of  all 
customs  duties  while  crossing  Polish  terri- 
tory. 

The  situation  between  Poland  and  Ger- 
many, however,  became  greatly  strained  in 
the  first  two  weeks  of  May,  owing  to  the  in- 
surrection of  Polish  residents  in  Upper 
Silesia  which,  under  the  recent  plebiscite, 
decided  in  the  main  to  adhere  to  Germany. 
This  insurgent  movement,  which  was  caused 
by  a  false  report  that  the  Allies  would  dis- 
regard the  plebiscite  result  where  it  was 
favorable  to  Poland,  was  led  by  Korfanty,  a 
Polish  agitator  not  recognized  by  the  Po- 
lish Government,  and  proved  so  formidable 
that  the  interallied  forces  found  themselves 
unable  to  cope  with  it.  The  whole  situation 
in  Upper  Silesia  will  be  found  treated  of 
elsewhere  in  these  pages. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[American  Cartoon] 
GETTING   THE   LAST   BOY   OUT   OF   THE   TRENCHES 


— New    York    Evening    Mail. 


492 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


OUR  NEW  PET 


— ©  New  York  Tribune. 
Let's  call  him   Bingo — short  for  Bing  goes  our  naval  holiday! 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


493 


[German  Cartoon] 

The  Peace  Governess  in  Geneva 


— Kladdcradatsch,    Berlin. 


'Ah,  how  fine  the  times  are  since  I  began  to  look  after  the  peace  of  the 


world!' 


494 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoons] 

Maybe  Professor  Einstein  Can  Understand  This 


!        '////////■ 


■Brooklyn  Eagle. 


Why  Business  Doesn't  Start 


chow 
wis  Co\n 


— Tacoma  Neivs- Tribune. 
It  will  take  some  good  strong  cutting  to  get  under  way. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


495 


[American  Cartoon] 


THE    CAUSE    OF    THE    DELAY 


— ©  New  York  Tribune. 
There's  not  much   use  whipping  the  horses  till  we  get  that  wheel  on. 


496 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[English   Cartoon] 


tauj 


The  Fright- 
ened Frank- 
ensteins 


— The  Star, 
London. 


[American  Cartoon] 

A  Case  for  the  S.  P.  C.  A 


Labor  in  a  Hurry 


—New  York  Evening  Mail. 


— London    Opinion. 

The  Premier:  "I  dare  say  you'd  like  to 
wear  my  crown.  But — we  are  not  dead 
yet  !'* 

TThe  handling  of  the  British  coal  miners' 
strike  is  considered  to  have  strengthened 
Uoyd    George's    Coalition    Government.] 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


497 


[American  Cartoon] 

A  Tough  Old  Bird 


[American  Cartoon] 

For  How  Long? 


— San    Francisco    Chronicle. 
Not   so  easy  as  it  looked   at  first. 

[Italian  Cartoon] 

Italy's  Reds  and  Fascisti 


— Denver    News-Times. 


[American  Cartoon] 

The  Old  Pre-War  Spirit 


Italian  Bolshevik:  "Help  me,  Giolitti 
to    break    this    egg"     (the    Fascisti). 

Giolitti:  "You  caused  it  to  be  laid; 
now   break    it    if   you   can." 


— St.  Joseph  News-Press. 


498 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoons] 


A  Delayed  Concert 


— New    York    Times. 
'No  use  trying  to  play  until  those  cats  are  quieted." 


Neither  to  Be  Coaxed  Nor  Driven  As  Plain  as  Daylight 


— San    Francisco    Chronicle. 


-New  York   World. 


How    in    the    world    will    they    get  Perplexing  to  any  one  who  believer 

him   in?  in  signs. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


499 


[American  Cartoons] 


To  Have  and  to 


— Central  Press  Asso- 
ciation. 

In  the  controversy 
between  Japan  and 
the  United  States 
the  position  taken 
by  the  former  is 
that  its  possession 
of  Yap  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  fait  ac- 
compli and  not  sub- 
j  e  c  t  to  revision. 
America,  on  the 
ground  that  "noth- 
ing is  settled  until 
it  is  settled  right," 
does  not  accept  this 
contention. 


Japan  has  asserted 
its  claim  to  the  primacy 
of  the  East,  and  the  ease 
with  which  it  has  con- 
trolled China  has  en- 
couraged the  Japanese 
Government  to  pursue 
that  policy  elsewhere 
in  Eastern  Asia.  The 
firm  insistence  of  the 
United  States  on  our 
rights  in  the  Island  of 
Yap  is  the  first  serious 
opposition  encountered 
by  Japan. 


— Los  Angeles   Times. 


500 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[German-Swiss   Cartoon] 

London  and  the  Sanctions 


Y? 

Mr 

V  ~* 

S5^ 

//                        1     S°>'    \\     I ! 

/ '   v-^jttSiSu.^ 

*»&* 

— Nebelspalter,  Zurich. 
Germany:  "I  would  gladly  work,  pay  and  reconstruct — but  I  can't!  " 


[American  Cartoon] 


"Pay  Day!" 


-Central  Press  Association. 


May  1  was  the  date  set  for  Ger- 
many to  carry  out  certain  provi- 
sions of  the  peace  treaty  relative 
to  disarmament  and  reparations. 
These  provisions  had  been  met 
inadequately,  and  the  Allied  Pre-. 
miers  gathered  in  London  to  delib- 
erate on  measures  that  would  guar- 
antee their  fulfillment.  Germany 
was  then  given  till  May  12  to  ac- 
cept without  debate  or  reservation 
the  terms  finally  laid  down,  in 
default  of  which  acceptance  the 
Ruhr  district  would  be  occupied  and 
other  measures  taken  to  compel 
compliance. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


501 


[English   Cartoon] 

A  Hopeless  Task 


[Dutch  Cartoon] 


The 

Charles 

Fiasco 


— Reynolds's  Newspaper,  London. 

Charles   tries — unaided   and   alone — 
To  place  himself  upon  the  throne, 
But  though  he  tries  with  all  his  might, 
He   hasn't  yet  succeeded  quite  ! 


The  fiasco  of  Charles  in  his  attempt 
to  regain  the  Hungarian  throne  was 
complete.  Had  he  succeeded,  as  did 
Constantine  in  Greece,  there  would  have 
been  a  marked  stimulus  to  monarchical 
hopes  in  Germany  and  other  countries. 


— De    Notenkraker,    Amsterdam. 
Regent    Horthy  :      "What    does    Charles 
want    in   Hungary?     Aren't   we   doing   well 
enough  here  ourselves?" 


[Italian  Cartoon] 

The  Hopes  of  the  Dead 


-II  420,  Florence. 

Wilhelm:  "Hope  on,  friends.    If  the  people  have  called  back  that  animal  Con- 
stantine, it  is  possible  that  they  will  call  back  us  idiots." 


502 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIME'S  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoons] 


The  Wurft  Has 
"Came" 

— San    Francisco 

Chronicle, 


The  fortune  of  the 
war  she  provoked  hav- 
ing been  a  disastrous 
one  for  her,  Germany 
is  now  undergoing  the 
usual  penalties  visited 
upon  the  vanquished. 
Her  colonies  are  gone, 
her  coal  mines  in  large 
measure  are  under  al- 
lied control,  her  cur- 
rency is  depreciated, 
and  her  resources  are 
mortgaged  for  a  gen- 
eration. 


And  He  Thought 

He  Was  Making 

Such  a  Hit! 

— Denver  Neivs-Times. 
The  hope  of  Germany 
that  she  might  be  able 
to  secure  the  mediation 
of  the  United  States  in 
the  matter  of  repara- 
tions was  disappointed. 
Secretary  Hughes  in- 
formed the  German 
Government  that  its 
proposals  were  not  suit- 
able for  transmission  to 
the  Allies,  and  suggest- 
ed that  it  make  clear 
and  adequate  proposals 
directly   to    the    latter. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


503 


[American  Cartoon] 


OIL   IS    THICKER    THAN    JUSTICE 


r 


jm 


m? 


<>.< 

/ 


s**^u 1 


Senate  action  - 

1914-  -15-  16- 17-  18-19-20  — 


PEAR  NOT. 
FRIEND  — 
I'LL  FIX  YOU 


Jfr» 


-19£1- 


^r-s"rgc**~ 


i£k 


— Dayton    News. 

Is   it  belated   conscience    or    "practical"    business     that    has   prompted   the 
$25,000,000  award  to  Colombia? 


504 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[German  Cartoon] 

Yes,  It's  Just  That  Way  Here,  Too 


— Kladdcradatsch,   Berlin. 
This  is  a  picture  of  "Price  Reduction"  as  seen  rushing  through  Germany. 


ENGLAND'S  STRUGGLE  WITH 
COAL  MINERS 

The  whole  nation  s  industries  and  activities  crippled  by  lack  of  fuel — Government's 
refusal  to  pool  earnings  of  all  mines  results  in  deadlock  and  new  threat  cf  a  general 
strike — Attempt  of  unions  to  slop  all  coal  importations 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


THE  coal  miners'  strike,  though  for  a 
time  overshadowed  by  the  German 
reparations  problem,  continued  to  be 
a  very  serious  cause  of  worry  for  the  Gov- 
ernment and  of  discomfort  for  the  public. 
As  the  month  progressed,  it  was  increasing- 
ly apparent  that  the  trouble  was  far  from 
settlement,  and  that  the  danger  of  a  general 
strike  was  still  imminent.  Had  it  not  been 
that  Summer  was  approaching,  the  rapid 
diminishing  of  the  coal  supply  might  have 
produced  a  disaster;  as  it  was,  the  Govern- 
ment felt  compelled  to  order  the  further 
curtailment  of  train  service,  the  rationing 
of  fuel,  and  the  mobilization  of  food  sup- 
plies as  precautions  against  the  uncertainty 
of  the  future. 

By  April  21  the  coal  shortage  had  become 
so  acute  that  the  Great  Eastern  Railway 
Company  suspended  its  entire  suburban 
service  on  Sundays,  while  the  train  service 
on  all  railways  on  week  days  was  greatly 
reduced.  In  many  districts  there  was  no 
coal  left  for  domestic  consumption,  and  no 
coal  was  being  delivered  to  any  house 
where  a  gas  range  was  installed.  In  some 
districts  twenty-eight  pounds  of  coal  a  week 
was  the  maximum  distributed  to  each  house- 
hold, and  in  some  of  the  mining  regions 
physical  distress  became  evident.  Importa- 
tions of  coal  from  foreign  countries  grew 
to  such  an  unprecedented  extent  that 
actually  sending  coal  to  Newcastle  became 
no  commercial  absurdity.  On  May  3  The 
London  Gazette  announced  that  the  Secre- 
tary for  Home  Affairs  had  authorized  set- 
ting the  clocks  forward  two  hours,  instead 
of  one,  as  at  present,  as  a  measure  for  coal 
conservation. 

Somewhat  singularly,  gasoline,  which  is 
not  generally  supposed  to  be  a  friend  of  the 
horse,  came  to  that  animal's  assistance  by 
enabling  the  Government  to  permit  certain 
race  meetings,  provided  they  involved  no 
use  of  railroad  facilities.     Thus  the  New- 


market meetings,  thanks  to  the  astonishing 
success  with  which  they  were  served  by 
automobile  transport,  had  an  attendance 
that  broke  all  records. 

On  May  5,  after  six  weeks  of  the  strike. 
it  was  pointed  out  that  in  the  manufactur- 
ing districts  thousands  of  hard-working 
men  were  learning  by  bitter  experience  how 
interdependent  are  modern  industries.  Big 
works  were  idle  because  they  could  not  get 
castings  to  go  on  with.  Ships  were  held  up 
because  there  were  no  exports  to  fill  them. 
Factories  were  cutting  down  to  two  or  three 
days  a  week,  and  then  stopping  altogether, 
because  they  were  short  of  essential  raw 
material.  In  London  the  slump  in  industry 
became  evident  when  customers  in  the  large- 
department  stores  were  informed  that  no 
further  supplies  of  well-known  everyday 
goods  could  be  obtained  because  the  fac- 
tories could  not  get  coal  to  keep  going. 
For  lack  of  coal  the  Royal  Academy  ban- 
quet and  the  first  Court  of  the  season  were 
not  held.  Similarly,  many  social  functions 
had  to  be  dropped  because  of  the  consump- 
tion of  coal  they  would  have  caused  and  the 
increasing  difficulty  of  moving  about  either 
by  rail  or  by  other  transport.  Following 
the  example  of  the  King  at  Windsor,  those 
who  had  a  surplus  of  coal  in  their  cellars 
shared  it  with  their  less  fortunate  neigh- 
bors. The  effect  of  the  strike  on  commerce 
began  to  make  itself  apparent  in  the  large 
daily  falling  off  in  exports. 

On  April  26  the  coal  situation  was  again 
aggravated  by  the  action  of  the  National 
Union  of  Railwaymen  in  instructing  its 
members  not  to  handle  coal  from  sidings  or 
from  overseas.  Subsequently  the  union  ex- 
cluded coal  for  hospitals  and  some  other 
public  utilities  from  the  embargo.  After  a 
conference  on  May  2  between  Edo  Fimmen, 
President  of  the  International  Transport 
Workers,  and  Robert  Williams,  general  sec- 
retary of  the  transport  workers,  the  latter 


506 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


said  that  Mr.  Fimmen  had  given  every 
guarantee  that  the  Dutch,  French,  Belgian, 
German  and  Austrian  workers  were  deter- 
mined to  prevent  the  export  of  coal  to  Brit- 
ain, and  would  cause  an  entire  stoppage  of 
work  in  their  ports  if  attempts  were  made 
to  ship  coal  to  England. 

An  appeal  to  the  whole  labor  movement 
to  support  the  miners  was  issued  on  May 
3  by  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  Parliamen- 
tary Labor  Party,  the  National  Labor  Par- 
ty Executive  and  the  Parliamentary  Com- 
mittee of  the  Trades  Union  Congress. 

For  the  Government,  Premier  Lloyd 
George,  speaking  at  Maidstone  on  May  7, 
went  into  the  economics  of  the  situation  to 
assert  that  miners'  wages  must  depend  on 
the  profits  of  the  industry.  He  attacked 
the  principle  of  a  national  pool  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  put  a  premium  on 
inefficiency  and  imply  the  employment  of 
an  army  of  inspectors.  He  declined  em- 
phatically to  subsidize  the  industry  at  the 
expense  of  the  taxpayers,  and  declared  the 
miners'  leaders  were  trying  to  starve  the 
nation  into  submission.  The  Premier  ended 
as  follows: 

I  appeal  here  and  now  to  the  nation  to 
endure  with  the  stubborn  courag-e  which  has 
piloted  us  through  much  worse  troubles. 
What  Britain  will  be  tomorrow  depends  on 
its  attitude  today.  If  we  surrender  to 
threats  of  starvation,  we  may  irretrievably 
damage  the  industries  of  the  country.  In 
this  great  conflict,  where  great  national 
issues  are  involved,  we  have  either  got  to  end 
or  endure.  Our  duty  is  to  see  that  the 
country  does  not  starve.  The  Government 
will  do  that,  and  in  doing  so  we  may  want 
your  assistance.  The  Government  means  to 
do  its  duty.  I  feel  convinced  that,  when  an 
appeal   is  made,  you  will  do  yours  also. 

With  the  decision  of  the  National  Trans- 
port Workers  on  May  10  to  ban  the  han- 
dling of  all  foreign  coal,  the  situation  again 
became  alarming.  It  was  further  aggra- 
vated on  May  13,  when  a  meeting  of  the 
Executive  of  the  National  Union  of 
Raihvaymen,  called  to  consider  the  oldJ 
Triple  Alliance  project  of  a  general  strike, 
passed  a  resolution  forbidding  its  members. 
to  handle  any  foreign  coal,  whether  for 
public  utilities  or  not,  and  also  forbidding 
them  to  handle  "  coal  of  any  description 
which  has  been  loaded  or  handled  by  black- 
leg labor."  Later  the  Railwaymen's  Exec- 
utive conferred  with  the  Transport  Work- 
ers' Executive;  the  result  of  this  was  an 
appeal   sent   out  to   trade   unions   in   other 


countries  not  to   assist  in  forwarding  coal 
to  England. 

The  Government  promptly  met  the  new 
challenge  by  announcing  that  it  intended  to 
import  coal  for  carrying  on  services  essen- 
tial to  the  life  of  the  country,  and  that  it 
would  take  all  necessary  measures  to  that 
end.  The  degree  of  public  sentiment  sup- 
porting the  Government  in  this  attitude  was 
indicated  by  the  fact  that,  when  these  pages 
went  to  press,  coal  was  being  unloaded  by 
volunteer  labor  from  ships  in  all  the  chief 
ports,  and  some  of  it  was  being  hauled  by 
railway  workers  who  dodged  trouble  by  not 
asking  questions  as  to  the  origin  of  the  car- 
loads. 

In  introducing  the  budget  to  the  House  of 
Commons  on  April  25,  Austen  Chamberlain 
announced  a  reduction  of  the  national  debt 
from  £7,829,000  to  £7,573,714,  and  a  cutting 
of  the  foreign  debt  from  £1,278,714,000  to 
£1,161,560,000.  The  debt  to  the  United 
States  had  been  reduced  by  nearly  £75,000,- 
000,  which  included  half  of  the  Anglo- 
French  loan  liquidation.  Great  Britain  now 
owed  the  United  States  and  Canada  £826,- 
000,000,  but  had  paid  off  her  debt  in  Japan, 
Argentina,  Uruguay  and  Holland.  The  sur- 
plus of  revenue  over  expenditure  during  the 
last  year  totaled  £230,500,000.  While  the 
heavy  income  tax  of  6  shillings  in  the  pound 
remained,  the  excess  profits  duty  was 
dropped  as  hampering  trade,  as  were  also 
(the  duties  on  imported  cigars  and  sparkling 
Lwines  as  prohibitive,  and  therefore  unremu- 
nerative.  Mr.  Chamberlain  further  an- 
nounced a  big  debt  conversion  scheme  by 
which  holders  of  £632,000,000  5  per  cent,  na- 
tional war  bonds  would  be  invited  to  ex- 
change their  holdings  for  participation  in  a 
new  3^  per  cent,  conversion  loan,  not  re- 
'deemable  until  1961. 

An  alarming  increase  in  unemployment 
was  reflected  in  figures  given  out  by  the 
Ministry  of  Labor  on  May  4.  Excluding 
striking  miners,  the  number  of  registered 
unemployed  men  was  1,865,682,  and  the  half- 
time  men  and  women,  1,074,682.  Including 
an  estimated  1,000,000  idle  coal  miners,  the 
total  of  unemployed  or  half-time  workers 
reached  nearly  4,000,000.  Speaking  of  dis- 
aster looming  ahead  from  these  figures, 
Secretary  Cheesman  of  the  National  Union 
of  Manufacturers  said:  "One  of  the  most 
alarming  features  of  the  situation  was  the 
stoical  calm  with  which  the  manufacturers 
faced  the  gradual  paralysis  of  their  work." 


IRELAND  AND  THE  HOME  RULE 
PARLIAMENTS 

Sinn  Fein  Sweeps  Southern  Ireland  in  the  elections,  naming  124  out  of  128  members, 
but  they  will  not  take  their  seats — Ulster  nominates  40  Unionists,  20  Sinn  Feiners, 
12  Nationalists  and  5   Unionist  Laborites — Warfare  of  reprisals  continues 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


SOUTHERN  Ireland  again  registered  its 
determination  to  stand  by  the  Sinn 
Fein  republic  on  May  13,  when  the 
primary  elections  were  held  for  members  of 
the  new  Parliaments  of  Ireland  under  the 
Home  Rule  act.  Except  for  four  imperial- 
ist candidates  who  were  returned  unopposed 
for  Dublin  University,  not  a  single  opponent 
was  nominated  against  the  Sinn  Fein  can- 
didates, who,  therefore,  would  be  returned 
unopposed  in  the  southern  constituencies. 
These  Sinn  Feiners  had  announced  that 
they  would  refuse  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  Crown,  and  that  therefore  the  new  Par- 
liament would  never  function.  Thus  it  will 
devolve  upon  the  Viceroy  to  nominate  an 
executive  on  the  lines  of  Crown  colony  ad- 
ministration, unless  the  Government  should 
decide  to  recognize  all  the  members  elected 
in  the  North  and  South  as  a  constituent 
assembly.  More  than  half  the  members  se- 
lected in  the  South  are  in  jail  and  others 
have  at  some  time  been  in  prison. 

The  elections  were  the  quietest  ever 
known  in  Ireland.  No  polling  was  neces- 
sary, as,  according  to  the  British  custom, 
when  only  one  candidate  is  nominated,  the 
polling  is  dispensed  with.  In  this  way  the 
128  seats  in  the  Southern  Parliament  were 
filled,  as  the  four  imperialistic  nominees, 
who  were  named  for  Dublin  University,  also 
were  unopposed.  Two  of  the  latter,  Thrift 
and  Alton,  are  fellows  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  while  the  other  two  are  Sir  James 
Craig  of  Trinity  College  and  Gerald  Fitz- 
gibbon,  member  of  the  Irish  bar. 

Those  elected  include  Eamon  de  Valera, 
for  Clare;  Michael  Collins,  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Irish  Republican  Army,  for 
County  Cork;  Arthur  Griffith,  founder  of 
the  Sinn  Fein;  Alderman  Cosgrave,  and 
many  other  men  prominently  connected 
with  the  Sinn  Fein  movement. 

Those  elected  in  Cork  city  and  county  in 
elude  Sean  MacSwiney,  brother  of  the  late 


Lord  Mayor  of  Cork,  who  recently  escaped 
from  the  Spike  Island  internment  camp,  and 
Mary  MacSwiney,  his  sister,  who  is  now  in 
America.  In  Monaghan  and  Cavan,  two 
Ulster  counties  which  are  included  in  the 
Southern  Parliament,  the  Sinn  Feiners  won 
overwhelmingly. 

For  the  Northern  Parliament  77  candi- 
dates were  nominated  and  the  Unionists  ex- 
pected a  majority  of  12.  In  County  Down, 
6  Unionists,  including  Sir  James  Craig,  Pre- 
mier Designate  of  Ulster;  3  Sinn  Feiner?, 
including  Eamon  De  Valera;  2  Nationalists, 
including  Joseph  Devlin,  and  one  Labor  can- 
didate were  nominated  for  the  eight  seats. 
De  Valera  had  the  remarkable  number  o": 
900  nomination  papers,  many  of  them 
signed  by  Catholic  priests.  His  chief  Union- 
ist opponent  was  Sir  James  Craig.  Devlin 
was  nominated  also  for  Antrim  and  West 
Belfast.  Altogether  there  were  77  candi- 
dates, the  parties  being  represented  as  fol- 
lows: Unionists,  40;  Sinn  Feiners,  20;  Na- 
tionalists, 12,  and  Unionist  Laborites,  5. 

This  degree  of  co-operation  of  the 
warring  factions  had  been  made  possible 
by  a  truce  which  had  aroused  new  hopes  of 
peace.  An  unexpected  message,  coming 
from  Sinn  Fein  sources  on  May  5, 
stated  that  "  President  de  Valera  and  Sir 
James  Craig,  Ulster  Unionist  leader,  held 
an  informal  conference,  in  which  their  re- 
spective points  of  view  were  interchanged 
and  the  future  of  Ireland  was  discussed." 
This  meeting  was  characterized  as  the  most 
important  political  event  in  Ireland  since 
Easter,  1916.  The  chiefs  of  the  opposed 
parties  had  talked  the  Irish'  question  over 
and  made  each  other's  point  of  view  per- 
fectly clear.  Immediately  after  the  meet- 
ing, both  leaders  remained  uncommunica- 
tive, though  Sir  James  Craig  said  that, 
whether  good  came  of  the  meeting  or  not, 
the  only  safe  course  "  was  for  Ulster  to 
sweep  the  six  counties  at  the  polls,  and  it 


508 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


was  up  to  the  opponents  of  the  Ulsterites 
to  use  the  same  methods." 

After  Sir  James  Craig's  return  to  Belfast 
it  became  clear  that  his  interview  with 
de  Valera  had  mainly  to  do  with  the  situa- 
tion which  would  arise  after  the  elections, 
and  not  with  the  existing  situation.  This 
implied  that  the  elections  for  the  Irish 
Parliaments  were  to  proceed,  and  that  the 
Ulster  Parliament  would  come  into  exist- 
ence. On  May  6,  after  a  meeting  of  the 
Ulster  Party,  Sir  James  Craig  gave  out  the 
following  statement: 

My  conversation  with  de  Valera  having 
taken  place,  and  Ulster  having  already  by- 
acceptance  of  the  provisions  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Ireland  act,  and  by  her  undertaking 
to  work  them,  reached  the  limit  of  conces- 
sion, no  further  discussion  will  be  enteied 
into.  When  the  Parliaments  have  been  es- 
tablished and  the  Council  of  Ireland  has 
been  constituted  there  will  be  the  necessary 
constitutional  link  between  Northern  Ireland 
and    Southern   Ireland. 

At  a  public  meeting  the  same  evening, 
however,  Sir  James  Craig  reiterated  that 
neither  he  nor  any  other  Ulster  Loyalist 
would  consent  to  a  republic  or  any  weaken- 
ing of  the  ties  between  Ulster  and  Great 
Britain.  "  Nothing  had  been  surrendered  or 
would  be  surrendered,"  he  declared  in  ref- 
erence to  his  meeting  with  de  Valera,  "  and 
the  Sinn  Fein  knew  it." 

Mr.  de  Valera's  attitude  was  stated  thus 
in  the  Irish  Independent  of  May  7: 

We  shall  never  cease  to  maintain  that  there 
is  a  community  of  interest  between  our 
countrymen  of  the  northeastern  corner  of 
Ireland  and  our  people  of  the  south  and  west 
for  all  their  misunderstandings  and  preju- 
dices, artificially  created  for  the  most  part. 
We  believe  that  the  men  of  Ulster,  reft  from 
us  by  statute  but  retained  to  us  by  higher 
laws,  look  upon  Ireland  as  their  country  and 
in  their  hearts  cherish  the  Irish  name.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  Ulster  felt  profoundly 
her  unity  with  the  rest  of  Ireland.  She  will 
do  so  again.    May  that  day  be  soon. 

With  considerably  less  of  a  sensation  than 
might  have  been  anticipated,  the  retirement 
of  Sir  Edward  Carson  from  the  leadership 
of  the  Ulster  Unionist  Party  was  announced 
on  April  26.  The  reason  given  was  ill 
health.  Subsequently  he  was  appointed  a 
Lord  of  Appeal  in  succession  to  the  late 
Lord  Moulton. 

In  an  impassioned  address  in  the  House 
of  Commons  on  April  28  Sir  Hamar  Green- 
wood, Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  de- 
nounced   the    Irish     Republican     Army    as 


"  murderers,"  and  declared  that  deeds  were 
being  perpetrated  which  it  was  difficult  to 
believe  could  be  done  by  human  hands.  The 
Chief  Secretary  went  on  to  instance  the 
recent  murder  of  fifteen  Protestants  as  a 
deliberate  plan  "  without  rhyme  or  reason 
and  under  revolting  circumstances,"  though 
it  was  not  a  case  of  Roman  Catholics 
against  Protestants.  Further,  documents 
had  been  captured  showing  that  an  offen- 
sive was  being  opened  in  Ulster  to  interfere 
with  the  coming  elections  by  various  meth- 
ods of  sabotage;  and  that  Sinn  Fein 
threats  against  newspaper  men  had  become 
pronounced  to  the  extent  of  compelling  one 
of  them  to  leave  the  country  under  the 
menace  of  death.  On  April  30  the  Govern- 
ment made  public  the  captured  documents 
referred  to,  detailing  the  formation  of  mili- 
tary bodies,  together  with  suggestions  as  to 
methods  and  objects  of  attacks  on  Ulster. 

A  proclamation  was  issued  on  April  30 
by  Augustin  Stack,  Minister  for  Home  Af- 
fairs in  the  Irish  Republican  Parliament, 
declaring  that  while  the  Home  Rule  act 
was  illegal  as  a  foreign  statute,  it  would  be 
recognized  for  the  elections  in  order  to  en- 
able the  people's  will  to  be  demonstrated 
again. 

The  nomination  of  Eamon  de  Valera  as 
successor  of  the  late  Archbishop  Walsh  in 
the  Chancellorship  of  the  National  Uni- 
versity of  Ireland  was  officially  announoed 
by  the  university  on  May  1.  No  opposition 
to  his  candidacy  was  anticipated.  Mr.  de 
Valera  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  Irish  peo- 
ple on  May  3  appealing  to  them  to  uphold 
the  standard  of  the  Irish  Republic  in  the 
approaching  elections.  In  declaring  the  Irish 
people  were  advancing  steadily  toward  a 
final  settlement  of  the  controversy,  he  made 
use  of  a  picturesque  metaphor  by  way  of  a 
precautionary  warning  when  he  said: 
"  Blossoms  are  not  fruit,  but  the  precursors 
of  fruit.  Do  not  pluck  them."  With  regard 
to  purely  home  affairs,  however,  Mr.  de 
Valera  seemed  to  tender  a  blossom  to  Ulster 
when  he  referred  to  provisions  for  such 
devolution  in  the  administration  of  home 
affairs  as  to  make  for  satisfaction  and  con- 
tentment. 

Notwithstanding  Government  statements 
that  a  more  pacific  state  of  affairs  existed, 
the  number  of  outrages  and  reprisals  con- 
tinued with  little,  if  any,  abatement.  On 
April  14  Dublin  recalled  a  sensational  theft 


IRELAND  AND  THE  HOME  RULE  PARLIAMENTS 


509 


of  the  Irish  Crown  jewels  several  years  ago 
on  the  news  that  Sir  Arthur  Vicars,  former 
Ulster  King  of  Arms,  was  shot  to  death  at 
his  Listowel  residence.  On  a  label  pinned 
to  the  body  was  written:  "  Traitors,  beware. 
We  never  forget.  I.  R.  A.5'  Sir  Arthur 
Vicars  was  custodian  of  the  Crown  jeweb 
at  the  time  of  their  disappearance,  and  the 
fact  that  they  were  never  recovered  and 
(hat  no  one  was  found  guilty  of  the  theft 
created  a  great  stir  in  both  London  and 
Dublin. 

Another  apparently  similar  incident  oc- 
curred in  the  Scotstown  district  of  Monag- 
han  on  the  17th,  when  Sinn  Feiners  killed 
Kitty  MacCarron,  the  first  woman  exe- 
cuted for  treachery.  About  midnight  a 
party  took  her  from  her  home,  in  a  wild, 
mountainous  part  of  the  country,  and  in 
spite  of  her  struggles  and  pleadings  led  her 
forth  to  death.  The  body  was  found  with 
a  bullet  wound  through  her  cheek,  the  cus- 
tomary sign  of  a  Sinn  Fein  execution,  and 
a  card  attached  which  bore  the  inscription: 


"Spies  and  informers,  beware,  Tried,  con- 
victed and  executed  by  the  Irish  Republican 
Army." 

Executions  on  the  other  side  took  place 
at  Dublin  on  April  25  and  at  Cork  on  April 
28.  Thomas  Traynor,  who  was  convicted 
by  courtmartial  for  participation  in  a  Dub- 
lin ambush  on  March  14,  suffered  the  death 
penalty  while  a  great  crowd  offered  up 
prayers  outside  the  Mountjoy  Prison  gates. 
A  similar  scene  was  witnessed  in  the  road- 
way fronting  the  Cork  military  barracks 
when  Patrick  O'Sullivan,  Maurice  Moore, 
Patrick  Bonayne  and  Thomas  Mulcahy  fell 
before  a  firing  squad  for  u  making  war 
against  the  British  Crown."  This  made  a 
total  of  eleven  men  executed  in  Cork  dur- 
ing the  last  few  months. 

As  the  month  of  May  advanced,  the 
activities  of  the  Sinn  Feiners  increased, 
until  the  deaths  on  both  sides  in  the  two 
week-end  days  at  the  middle  of  the  month 
numbered  at  least  thirty-three — an  evil 
record  mark.  • 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 

Retaliatory  duties  against  the  United  States  proposed  by  Canada — Australia  is  deter- 
mined to  keep  American  friendship — Egyptian  Nationalists  seeking  a  compromise 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


rpHERE  will  be  no  general  revision  of  the 
-L  Canadian  tariff  at  this  time.  Sir 
Henry  Drayton,  Minister  of  Finance,  made 
that  clear  in  presenting  the  budget  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  May  9.  Of  total 
imports  during  the  fiscal  year  of  $1,240,- 
125,056,  those  from  the  United  States,  he 
said,  aggregated  $856,592,470,  or  69  per 
cent,  of  the  whole.  Temporary  tariff  legis- 
lation of  the  United  States  would  place  a 
barrier  against  Canadian  exports  to  that 
country  amounting  to  $168,000,000.  Sir 
Henry  said  of  this: 

Such  or  similar  action  made  permanent,  of 
necessity  would  require  a  careful  and  thor- 
ough revision  of  the  Canadian  tariff  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  the  proper  continuance  of 
Canadian  business,  of  insuring  employment 
and  Canadian  stability.  *  *  *  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances, having  special  regard  to  the  fact 
that  there  ought  not  to  be  a  general  revision 
of  the  Canadian  tariff  now,  and  another 
after  the  close  of  the  United  States  Congress, 
no  action  will  now  be  taken. 


Sir  Henry  announced  the  dropping  of  the 
business  profits  tax,  the  receipts  from 
which  in  the  last  year  were  $40,000,000. 
The  few  remaining  luxury  taxes  are 
dropped.  Confectionery — candies  especial  - 
ly — will  benefit  from-  this.  Duties  wili, 
however,  be  levied  on  playing  cards;  cards 
not  exceeding  $24  a  gross  of  8  cents  a  pack, 
exceeding  $24  a  gross  15  cents  a  pack.  The 
excise  duty  of  $3  and  the  luxury  tax  of  $2 
per  gallon  on  imported  spirituous  liquors 
are  abandoned  and  a  straight  customs  duty 
of  $10  per  gallon  is*  to  be  collected.  Spirits 
of  Canadian  manufacture  will  be  subjected 
to  an  excise  of  $9  a  gallon  in  place  of  the 
$4.40  duty  and  luxury  tax  previously  im- 
posed. On  all  except  sparkling  wines  an 
excise  tax  of  30  cents  a  gallon  will  be  col- 
lected. Champagne  and  other  sparkling 
wines  when  taken  from  Canadian  manu- 
facturers but  not  exported  will  be  subjected 
to  an  excise  tax  of  $3  per  gallon  and  dis- 


510 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tilled  spirits  of  $9  per  gallon.  In  the  lat- 
ter case  provision  is  made  for  a  rebate  of 
99  per  cent,  to  hospitals  and  the  like  where 
spirits  are  actually  used  for  medicinal  pur- 
poses. 

The  anti -dumping-  clauses  are  strength- 
ened by  changes  which  in  effect  are  de- 
signed to  still  further  protect  the  home 
market  against  flooding  by  foreign-made 
goods  at  slaughter  prices.  In  this  connec- 
tion new  regulations  are  also  provided  rel- 
ative to  valuation  for  customs  purposes  of 
foreign  currencies.  The  present  practice  is 
to  convert  the  foreign  depreciated  currency 
into  Canadian  on  the  basis  of  existing  ex- 
change rates.  Hereafter  no  reduction  in  ex- 
cess of  50  per  cent,  of,  the  standard  or  pro- 
claimed value  will  be  allowed.  Where  the 
rate  of  exchange  is  adverse  to  Canada  the 
value  for  duty  will  be  computed  at  the  rate 
of  exchange  existing  at  the  date  of  the 
shipment  of  the  goods. 

It  is  also  provided  that  all  goods  import- 
ed into  Canada  capable  of  being  "  marked, 
stamped,  or  branded  or  labelled  without  in- 
jury, shall  have  indicated  on  them  legibly 
in  French  or  English  the  country  of 
origin".  This  provision  comes  into  force 
on  September  1st  next. 

The  tax  on  sales  of  manufacturers, 
wholesalers,  jobbers  and  importers,  is  in- 
creased from  one  and  two  per  cent,  rates 
on  domestic  transactions  to  one  and  a  half 
and  three  per  cent,  respectively,  and  the 
import  rates  from  one  and  a  half  and  three 
per  cent,  to  two  and  a  half  and  four  per 
cent.  The  exemptions  are  foodstuffs  in 
their  natural  state,  initial  sales  of  farm 
produce  by  the  farmer  himself,  and  the 
first  products  of  fisheries,  mines  and 
forests.  A  two-dollar  license  fee  will  also 
be  imposed  on  every  manufacturer  and 
business  man  affected  by  the  sales  and  ex- 
cise tax,  all  of  which  went  into  effect  on 
May  10th. 

The  outlay  for  the  current  fiscal  year  is 
estimated  at  $591,437,697.  Of  this,  railway 
investments  call  for  $165,687,633,  a  large 
part  of  it  accounted  for  by  maturing  capital 
obligations,  which  will  be  refunded.  In 
cash  payments  for  the  year,  it  is  estimated 
that  $435,360,971  will  be  made.  For  this, 
the  estimated  receipts  under  legislation 
prior  to  the  budget  is  $372,600,000,  leaving 
$62,760,971  to  be  met.  The  Finance  Minis- 
ter counts  on  the  new  taxes  to  fill  this  gap. 


The  country's  debt  amounts  to  $2,350,236,- 
700.00. 

Australia 

Premier  Hughes  was  defeated  in  the 
Australian  Parliament  on  April  14  by 
an  adverse  majority  of  two,  which,  how- 
ever, was  purely  accidental.  In  a  plea  to 
the  members,  he  stated  that  the  vote  made 
his  position  impossible,  and  that  he  could 
not  attend  the  coming  British  imperial  con- 
ference unless  there  was  a  clear  indication 
that  the  vote  did  not  mean  censure  or  an  at- 
tempt to  take  the  control  of  business  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Government.  He  received 
an  emphatic  endorsement  on  April  20,  when 
resolutions  reiterating  confidence  in  the 
Government  and  declaring  in  favor  of  Pre- 
mier Hughes  as  Australia's  representative 
at  the  imperial. conference  were  passed  by  a 
vote  of  46  to  23. 

Debate  on  the  Empire's  foreign  policy  has 
occupied  the  attention  of  Parliament. 
Premier  Hughes  emphasized  his  belief  that 
the  British  navy  was  the  most  powerful  in- 
fluence for  the  world's  peace,  and  that  the 
whole  Empire  should  contribute  to  its  main- 
tenance. He  favored  a  renewal  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  alliance  in  terms  accept- 
able to  America,  saying :  "We  cannot  in  our 
efforts  to  secure  the  friendship  of  Japan 
make  an  enemy  of  America." 

Mr.  Tudor,  leader  of  the  Labor  Party,  pre- 
ferred to  spend  money  on  the  League  of  Na- 
tions to  keep  peace,  rather  than  on  a  navy 
to  prepare  for  war.  The  Labor  Party's 
proposal  to  withhold  approval  from  the 
Japanese  treaty  until  it  had  been  sanctioned 
by  a  referendum,  was  decisively  rejected. 
Some  members  insisted  that  it  should  be 
unequivocally  declared  at  the  conference 
that  Australia  would  not  surrender  on  the 
question  of  "  White  Australia."  The  com- 
monwealth has  been  steadily  drifting  away 
from  any  idea  of  a  legislative  union  of  the 
dominions  with  the  United  Kingdom,  in  this 
respect  differing  from  both  New  Zealand 
and  South  Africa.  In  the  Australian  point 
of  view,  if  such  a  proposal  were  made  at 
the  imperial  conference  it  would  disclose 
only  the  weakness  of  dominion  support 
for  it. 

Final  figures  in  the  South  Australia  State 
elections  show  a  sweeping  victory  for  the 
Liberals.  The  result  is  interpreted  as  a 
severe  check  to  the  anti-empire  tendencies 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  DOMINIONS 


511 


of  the  Labor  Party,  which  has  only  sixteen 
members  in  a  House  of  forty-six. 

Premier  Hughes  was  asked  by  a  deputa- 
tion of  Anglican  and  non  -  conformist 
churches  to  try  to  persuade  France  to  hand 
over  to  Great  Britain  the  control  of  the 
New  Hebrides,  where  joint  rule,  they  said, 
was  working  most  unsatisfactorily.  Under 
the  Anglo-French  convention  of  1906  the 
New  Hebrides  are  administered  jointly  by 
British  and  French  officials. 

The  Australian  Government  announced 
on  May  9  that  it  had  instituted  a  civil  gov- 
ernment in  former  German  New  Guinea, 
thus  taking  its  first  official  action  in  con- 
nection with  mandated  territory.  Australia's 
representation  in  the  League  of  Nations  to 
the  end  of  the  present  fiscal  year  will  ap- 
proximately total  $340,000. 

Anzac  Day,  the  sixth  anniversary  of  the 
landing  of  Australian  and  New  Zealand  sol- 
diers in  Gallipoli,  was  celebrated  in  both 
countries  on  April  25  by  parades  and  re- 
ligious services.  Lieut.  Gen.  Aylmer  Hun- 
ter-Weston  telegraphed  from  Chanak,  on 
the  Dardanelles,  that  he  had  caused 
wreaths  of  wild  flowers  to  be  laid  on  the 
graves  of  those  who  fell  on  each  of  the  main 
beaches  in  Gallipoli. 

New   Zealand 

Mr.  W.  F.  Massey,  Premier  of  New  Zea- 
land, who  is  on  his  way  to  the  imperial  con- 
ference, in  his  farewell  speech  at  Welling- 
ton, stated  that  he  did  not  propose  a  legis- 
lative body  for  the  empire,  but  one  follow- 
ing the  model  of  the  War  Cabinet,  which, 
he  maintains,  was  an  imperial  executive. 
He  predicted  that  there  would  be  another 
war ;  possibly  it  would  not  come  for  twenty 
years,  but  the  time  was  coming  when  New 
Zealand  would  have  to  assist  the  imperial 
navy. 

A  decision  rendered  at  Wellington  on 
May  5  by  the  New  Zealand  Court  of  Appeals 
in  a  patent  case  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
United  States,  not  having  assumed  any 
obligations  under  the  Versailles  Treaty, 
could  not  claim  for  itself  or  its  nationals 
any  rights  conferred  by  that  treaty. 

Co-operation  is  becoming  general  on  the 
part  of  agriculturists  in  New  Zealand.  The 
farmers  have  their  own  department  stores, 
from  which  they  are  supplied  with  nearly 
everything  for  their  domestic  needs  as  well 
as  for  their  farms.     There  are  sales  yards 


all  over  the  country,  which  deal  with  the 
farmers'  surplus  live  stock. 

Egypt  and  the  Nationalists 

Both  British  and  Egyptian  statesmen  are 
beginning  to  recognize  that  the  policy  of 
immediate  independence  of  a  country 
of  14,000,000  people,  92  per  cent,  of 
whom  are  illiterate,  is,  to  say  the  least, 
dangerous.  Even  Lord  Milner  himself  said 
a  few  years  ago :  "  The  withdrawal  of 
Great  Britain,  if  it  is  not  to  end  in  disaster, 
can  only  be  a  gradual  process."  Zaglul 
Pasha,  the  Nationalist  leader,  is  becoming 
more  amenable  to  the  necessity  of  unity  in 
the  demands  to  be  presented  at  the  negotia- 
tions in  London.  He  has  had  almost  daily 
conferences  with  the  Premier,  Adly  Pasha, 
with  a  view  to  recognizing  their  differences, 
which  were  to  some  extent  a  matter  of 
precedence. 

At  a  tea  party  given  by  students  in 
Cairo  on  April  18,  Zaglul  Pasha  made  his 
first  public  statement,  affirming  that  he 
was  whole-heartedly  ready  to  co-operate 
with  Adly  Pasha's  Cabinet  provided  it 
would  declare  that  negotiations  were  to 
be  opened  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing 
the  protectorate  and  securing  the  internal 
and  external  independence  of  Egypt,  and 
if  the  Milner  proposal  be  made  to  conform 
to  the  Nationalist  reservations. 

These  reservations  were  made  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  draft  agreement  of  Aug.  18, 
1920,  outlining  the  terms  of  a  treaty 
between  Egypt  and  Great  Britain.  The 
chief  reservation  is  that  Great  Britain 
should  expressly  abolish  the  protectorate. 
Others  concern  the  limitations  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  financial  adviser  and  of  the 
British  officials  in  the  Ministry  of  Justice 
and  the  abandonment  of  the  provision  that 
the  proposed  treaty  should  not  come  into 
force  until  the  regime  of  the  capitulations 
had  been  modified  so  as  to  satisfy  the  in- 
terests of  foreign  powers. 

Adly  Pasha  hopes  to  see  Egypt  free  to 
control  her  own  affairs  while  remaining  the 
friend  of  England,  with  trade  open  to  aU 
nations  on  an  equal  footing;  a  democratic 
regime,  education  of  the  people,  improve- 
ment of  sanitation  and  carrying  out  of  the 
Nile  irrigation  project.  He  hopes  Egyptians 
will  learn  foreign  methods  and  form  or- 
ganizations to  handle  cotton  and  other  ex- 
ports row  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Greeks. 


512 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


A  decree  was  issued  extending  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  mixed  tribunals  until  Nov.  1. 
They  were  established  in  1876,  and  have 
jurisdiction  in  civil  matters  between  natives 
and  foreigners  and  between  foreigners  in 
cases  where  matters  in  dispute  relate  to 
land  in  Egypt.  As  the  United  States  failed 
to  reply  to  the  Government  circular  asking 
for  the  agreement  of  the  capitulatory  pow- 
ers to  the  extension  of  the  tribunals'  ex- 
istence the  Sultan  signed  a  decree  spe- 
cifically excepting  the  United  States  from 
the  extension,  and  thus  Americans  in  Egypt 
now  are  deprived  of  their  legal  rights  oth^r 
than  consular.  The  United  States  Judge- 
ship in  the  mixed  appeal  court  has  been 
vacant  for  several  months,  and  there  has 
been  a  diplomatic  question  between  Wash- 
ington and  Cairo  regarding  the  new  ap- 
pointment. 

There  is  a  general  impression  in  Cairo 
that  the  worst  of  the  business  depression 
owing  to  the  decline  in  cotton  has  passed 
and  gradual  improvement  is  expected.  An- 
other drawback  to  trade  is  lack  of  racial 
unity,  Egypt  being  a  five-language  country. 
Most  extended  and  most  popular,  of  course, 
is  Arabic.  Next  comes  French,  which  is 
the  commercial  tongue.  Italian  is  third, 
owing  to  the  large  Italian  colony,  which 
has  grown  so  that  the  Banca  di  Roma  in 
April  organized  the  Banca  di  Levante,  with 
a  capital  of  £1,000,000  and  head  offices  in 
Alexandria,  forming  an  economic  and  busi- 
ness link  with  Egypt.  Greek  comes  next 
and  lastly  English,  even  the  British  banks 
carrying  on  their  correspondence  and  ac- 
counts in  French. 

South  Africa 

At  the  forthcoming  meeting  of  the  Brit- 
ish Imperial  Dominions  in  London  in  June 
South  Africa  will  be  represented  by  Gen- 
eral Smuts,  the  Premier;  Sir  Thomas 
Smart-t,  head  of  the  Unionist,  or  English- 
ipeaking,  Party;  Colonel  Mentz,  Minister  of 
Defense,  and  Sir  Roland  Bourne,  Secretary 
of  Defense.  They  were  expected  to  sail  from 


Cape  Town  on  the  new  Union  Castle  Line 
steamship  Arundel  Castle  on  May  28.  While 
in  England  General  Smuts  will  conduct  an 
inquiry  into  the  Government  contract  for 
the  conveyance  of  mails  and  produce  from 
South  Africa.  Some  of  the  party  will  re- 
main over  to  attend  the  Assembly  of  the 
League  of  Nations  in  September. 

The  centennial  of  the  landing  of  British 
settlers  in  Algoa  Bay  in  1820  was  cele- 
brated at  Port  Elizabeth  and  Grahamstown 
en  April  9.  In  answer  to  an  appeal  from 
Lord  Charles  Somerset,  Governor  of  the 
colony,  Parliament  voted  £50,000  to  send 
out  emigrants  and  called  for  applications. 
No  fewer  than  90,000  were  received,  but 
only  3,500  were  selected  and  shipped  to 
South  Africa.  These  were  the  settlers  who 
made  the  Eastern  Province  a  garden  and 
replaced  barbarism  with  civilization.  Their 
descendants  today  number  150,000.  Prince 
and  Princess  Arthur  of  Connaught  attended 
the  centennial  celebration  at  Port  Eliza- 
beth, and  General  Smuts  paid  a  tribute  to 
the  settlers  and  their  descendants,  who  had 
been  fused  with  the  Dutch  descendants  in 
the  crucible  of  suffering  of  the  great  war 
and  now  form  the  South  African  nation. 
Sir  Charles  Crewe,  Chairman  of  the  1820 
Memorial  Settlers'  Association,  also  spoke, 
referring  to  the  need  of  more  settlers.  Al- 
ready 275  farmers  had  agreed  to  take  settler 
pupils  and  seventy-one  such  pupils  had 
brought  £186,450  fresh  capital  into  the  coun- 
try. Sir  N.  F.  De  Waal,  Administrator  of 
the  Cape  Province,  addressed  the  gathering 
at  Grahamstown,  appealing  to  South  Afri- 
cans to  unite  in  bringing  about  the  perma- 
nent fusion  of  the  Dutch  and  British  races. 

That  there  is  still  considerable  barbarism 
in  settled  parts  of  South  Africa  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  two  native  witch  doctors 
were  sentenced  in  April  at  Johannesburg 
to  eighteen  months  in  prison  after  plead- 
ing guilty  to  a  charge  of  stealing  the  body 
of  a  European  woman  from  a  grave  on  the 
Swaziland  border  to  make  charms. 


DEMOCRACY  AND  UNION  IN  THE 
BALTIC  STATES 

How  the  young  nations  wedged  between  Soviet  Russia  and  Western  Europe  are  struggling 
to  build  J  or  their  future  prosperity  in  Democracy,  and  how  the  shadow  of  Red  Russia 
is  leading  them  toward  union 

[Period    Ended    May   15,    1921] 


CENTRAL  EUROPE  has  its  Little  En- 
tente, based  on  the  idea  of  mutual 
support  and  protection  in  case  of  ag- 
gression from  without.  One  consequence 
of  this  political  rapprochement  has  been, 
naturally,  the  establishment  of  closer  com- 
mercial and  economic  relations*  Will  a  sim- 
ilar association  of  even  smaller  and  weaker 
States  occur  in  the  Baltic  region,  where 
mutual  economic  support  and  perhaps  mu- 
tual protection  against  aggression  seem 
even  greater?  Already  these  new  States, 
but  recently  recognized  de  facto  by  the  al- 
lied powers,  have  come  together  in  council 
on  several  occasions  to  formulate  a  common 
policy,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  mutual 
understanding  is  developing  which  may  yet 
prove  a  solid  foundation  for  the  creation  of 
a  new  Baltic  Entente.  Such  is  the  belief 
of  Dr.  Voyt,  the  Latvian  envoy  to  Germany, 
who  on  April  30  said  in  Berlin: 

The  Baltic  States  are  seeking  to  form  a 
closer  union  for  mutual  protection.  The  com- 
ing conference  of  Esthonia,  Latvia  and  Lith- 
uania will  deal,  above  all,  with  the  ques- 
tion of  an  economic  union  in  these  States. 
We  hope  the  conference  will  lead  to  an  en- 
tente  cordiale   among  the  Baltic   nations. 

Asked  if  this  coming  union  was  aimed 
against  Soviet  Russia,  the  Latvian  envoy 
replied  that  if  Russia  sought  to  deal  with 
the  Baltic  States  as  she  had  dealt  with 
Georgia  and  the  other  nations  of  the  Trans- 
caucasus,  the  Baltic  States  would  undoubt- 
edly unite  for  resistance,  as  they  would 
undoubtedly  unite  to  aid  the  cause  of  West- 
ern culture  if  it  should  be  again  endan- 
gered by  Bolshevist  aggression. 

Esthonia 

One  of  the  three  Baltic  States,  Esthonia, 
has  in  the  past  months  made  considerable 
progress.  Since  the  signing  of  peace  with 
Soviet  Russia  trade  has  begun  and  the  Es- 
thonian  ports  of  Reval  and  Narva  have  as- 


sumed an  unwonted  activity.  Three  freight 
trains  loaded  with  machinery  and  goods 
daily  cross  the  border  into  Russia.  Other 
trains  coming  daily  from  Russia  are  bring- 
ing back  thousands  of  Esthonians  to  their 
homeland.  The  allurements  of  life  in  Bol- 
shevist Russia  have  not  been  strong  enough 
to  hold  them  there.  In  Esthonia,  at  least, 
there  is  order,  a  semblance  of  democracy,  a 
hope  of  existence,  despite  the  difficulties 
under  which  this  little  country  still  labors. 
One  of  the  greatest  of  these  difficulties  is 
the  interruption  of  traffic  and  intercourse 
with  the  sister  States,  Latvia  and  Lithu- 
ania. So  jealous  of  their  independence  are 
these  new,  small  States  that  they  have 
barred  themselves  off  from  one  another 
with  customs  barriers  which  make  free  cir- 
culation impossible.  Dr.  John  Finley,  the 
American  educator,  now  of  the  New  York 
Times  staff,  during  a  recent  visit  to  the 
Baltic,  was  especially  struck  by  this,  and 
referred  to  it  while  speaking  with  the 
Prime  Minister  of  one  of  these  infant  re- 
publics. The  latter  retaliated  by  recalling 
that  with  a  like  population  (all  the  Baltic 
States  combined  have  a  population  no 
greater  than  that  of  New  York  City),  the 
American  colonies  had  interstate  practices 
quite  as  absurd  and  vexatious.  He  added, 
however,  that  all  three  republics  were 
learning,  and  much  more  swiftly  than  the 
American  colonies,  the  lesson  of  experience; 
had  begun  to  co-operate  in  economic  mat- 
ters, and  were  holding  conferences  of  the 
utmost  value  in  bringing  the  Baltic  group 
together.  The  barriers,  however,  have 
not  yet  been  permanently  lowered,  either  by 
Esthonia  or  by  her  sister  States. 

Latvia 

But  all  these  little  States  are  "playing 
safe."  Red  Russia  is  vast  and  powerful, 
and  friendship  and  open  trade  is  the  best 


514 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


policy.     The  example  of  Esthonia  has  been 
followed  by  both  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  and 
all  three  have  acted  as  Moscow's  entrepot 
and     intermediary     in     forwarding     much 
needed     commodities     from     abroad,     even 
from     far-off     America.       Politically,     the 
Governments  of  Latvia  and  Lithuania  have 
been  greatly  strengthened  by  the  de  facto 
recognition  of  the  allied  powers.     The  Lat- 
vian Government,  under  the  able  direction 
of  Karl  Ulmanis,  the  Premier,  and  of  M. 
Meijerowitz,  the  Foreign  Minister,  is    now 
bending    all    its    efforts    toward    economic 
reconstruction;    one   step    in   this   direction 
was  the  recent  decision  to  give  to  all  Lat- 
vian harbors  the  status  of  free  ports.     An 
interesting    account    of    Latvia's     Premier 
given  by  Dr.  John  Finley  is  quoted  here: 
It  will  be   interesting-   to   Americans,    espe- 
cially   to    those    who    have    not    the    vaguest 
notion  of  what  and  where  Latvia  is,  to  know 
that    this    Prime    Minister   was    a   few    years 
ago  a  student  and  then  a  teacher  of  agricul- 
ture in  the   University   of  Nebraska.    On  the 
walls   of   his    official    room    in    the    castle   at 
Riga,   instead  of  the  ducal  arms,   there  hang 
side  by  side  the  emblem  of  the  Latvian  Re- 
public and  the  pennant  of  the  University  of 
Nebraska.    This  man,   of  massive  frame  and 
with  a  head  such  as  Rodin   would  have  cut 
out  of  stone,   had  acquired  a  habit  from  his 
association  with  an   eminent  Nebraskan,   for 
he    had    just    returned    with    a    husky    voice 
from  a  tour  of  his  country,  which  is  not  so 
difficult    as    "  swinging    around    the    circle  " 
in    America,    for    Latvia   is    not    so    large   as 
Nebraska.     He  had  made  twenty-six  speeches 
in    all,     speaking    to    40,000    people,     not    on 
political,      but     economic     and     agricultural, 
subjects,      in     an     effort     to     bring     greater 
areas    under    cultivation      and      so      produce 
enough  rye  bread  for  all,   instead  of  import- 
ing wheat  flour,   which  he  lamented  when  I 
spoke  of  white  loaves  and  cake  in  the  mar- 
ket.     I    have    seen    other    Prime    Ministers, 
Ministers    of    Foreign    Affairs,    Ministers    of 
Education,      university      professors,      editors 
and    business    men    in    these    republics,    and 
they    have    all    something    of    the    spirit    and 
hopefulness    of   our   pioneers   of   the    Middle 
West,    though     lacking     somewhat     of     their 
aggressive  enterprise. 

Both  the  Latvian  Premier  and  Foreign 
Minister,  according  to  the  Temps  political 
correspondent  in  Riga,  are  in  favor  of  the 
union  of  the  Baltic  States  for  mutual  pro- 
tection against  the  danger  of  Sovietization. 

One  great  satisfaction  to  the  Latvian 
Government  has  been  the  fixing  of  the  re- 
public's hitherto  vague  and  undefined  boun- 
daries. The  frontiers  with  Esthonia  were 
fixed  by  an  agreement  concluded   on  July 


2,  1920,  with  Soviet  Russia,  by  the  peace 
treaty  signed  on  Aug.  11,  1920,  and  with 
Lithuania,  as  the  result  of  negotiation, 
on  March  31,  1921.  Polangen,  a  Lettish 
town  on  the  Baltic,  was  given  to  Lithuania, 
as  well  as  the  contested  territory  of  Mosch- 
eiki,  an  important  branch  of  the  Libau- 
Riga  railway  line.  A  railway  agreement 
for  five  years  was  almost  concluded.  In 
exchange  for  these  cessions,  Latvia  received 
approximately  28,000  hectars  of  forest  land 
along  the  Courland  frontier,  representing  a 
considerable  value. 

Lithuania 

Lithuania  was  no  less  pleased  by  the  fix- 
ing of  her  boundaries  with  Latvia.  The 
cession  of  Polangen  gave  her  an  outlet  on 
the  Baltic  which  she  urgently  needed,  and 
which  it  is  by  no  means  certain  she  will  re- 
ceive in  the  case  of  Memel,  the  fate  of 
which  port  is  still  uncertain.  Memel  is  at 
present  garrisoned  by  French  troops,  pend- 
ing the  decision  of  the  allied  powers.  The 
Lithuanian  boundaries  with  Poland  will  de- 
pend on  the  decision  reached  by  the  respec- 
tive delegations  of  Poland  and  Lithuania 
who  opened  their  first  session  in  Brussels, 
on  April  21,  under  the  Presidency  of  M. 
Paul  Hymans,  the  Belgian  statesman.  A 
settlement  by  negotiation  was  agreed  to 
by  both  parties  at  the  urging  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  League  of  Nations  when  it  be- 
came apparent  that  both  parties  in  dispute 
were  averse  to  the  holding  of  a  plebiscite. 
The  irregular  Polish  forces  of  General  Zel- 
igowski  are  still  in  occupation  of  Vilna  by 
force  majeure.  A  curious  feature  of  life 
in  Vilna  under  present  conditions  is  that 
it  has  absolutely  free  trade  with  outside 
nations.  The  Lithuanian  delegation  at 
Brussels  is  headed  by  M.  Galvandkas,  the 
Polish  delegation  by  Professor  Askenasy. 

Finland 

The  overshadowing  event  of  the  past 
month  for  Finland  was  the  decision  of  the 
Commission  appointed  by  the  League  of  Na- 
tions to  decide  whether  the  Aland  Islands 
should  belong  to  Finland  or  Sweden  in 
favor  of  Finland  (given  more  in  detail  un- 
der the  head  of  Scandinavia). 

Though  Finland's  relations  with  the  So- 
viet Government  remained  strained,  the 
prospects  of  a  renewal  of  negotiations  for 


DEMOCRACY  AND  UNION  JN  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


515 


the  conclusion  of  a  trade  treaty  were  not 
unfavorable.  (See  the  article  on  Russia.) 
That  the  general  Finnish  State  policy  would 
be  maintained  was  assured  by  the  reap- 
pointment of  M.  Holsti  as  Foreign  Minister 
in  the  new  Cabinet.  The  Ministerial  crisis 
brought  about  by  the  efforts  of  the  pro- 
German  Finnish  reactionaries  to  have  M. 
Holsti  overthrown  was  resolved  around 
April  10.  After  the  failure  of  M.  Kallio, 
of  the  Agrarian  Party,  to  form  a  Cabinet, 
Professor  Vennola,  a  Progressive,  was  asked 
to   undertake   the   task,   in   which   he    sue 


(©    Keystone    View    Co.) 

KARL   ULMANIS 
Premier  of  the  Latvian  Government,  and  one 
of  the  republic's  most  forceful  personalities    . 


(©    Keystone    View    Co.) 

M.     MEIJEROWITZ 

Minister    of   Foreign    Affairs    in    the   Latvian 

Republic 


ceeded.  The  new  Government,  which  con- 
tains eight  Progressives  and  four  Agra- 
rians, is  made  up  as  follows: 

Prime   Minister— Professor  Vennola. 
Foreign  Affairs— M.    Holsti. 
Interior— M.    Ritavuori. 
Justice— M.    Helminen. 
Commerce— M.  Makkonen. 
War— Colonel  Hamalainen. 
Communications— M.    Pullinen. 
Public  Education— M.  Liakka. 
Finance— M.   Ryti. 
Social    Affairs— M.    Joukahaincn. 
Agriculture — M.    Kacio. 
Assistant  of  Agriculture— M.  Niukkanen. 


THE    BALKANS    AND    EMANCIPATED 
CENTRAL  EUROPE 

New  steps  toward  a  closer  union  of  Jugoslavia,  Czechoslovakia  and  Rumania  in  their 
policy  toward  Austria  and  Hungary — Predominance  of  Italian  influence  in  the  Balkans 
— Rumamia's  demands  for  representation  on  the  Straus  Commission — Croatia's  attitude 


SINCE  the  ultimatum  sent  by  Jugoslavia, 
Czechoslovakia  and  Rumania  to  the 
Hungarian  Government,  on  April  2,  asking 
it  to  get  rid  of  the  importunate  Charles  of 
the  Hapsburgs,  the  fortunes  of  the  "  Little 
Entente  "  have  moved  on  apace.  Although 
its  chancelleries  later  realized  that  there 
was  no  real  need  for  the  ultimatum  after 
all,  as  the  economic  condition  of  neither 
Austria  nor  Hungary  would  have  permitted 
them  to  try  an  experiment  in  reactionism, 
and  France  and  Italy  would  not  have  per- 
mitted it  to  materialize,  nevertheless,  the 
act  revealed  the  cohesion  of  the  emancipated 
States  of  the  Dual  Monarchy  with  those 
Balkan  States  which  had  profited  terri- 
torially by  the  partition  of  the  Dual  Mon- 
archy; it  also  revealed  their  attitude  to- 
ward the  new  Austria  and  Hungary. 

The  only  two  States  which,  although  ten- 
tatively included  in  the  great  scheme  of 
Take  Jenescu  and  Dr.  Benes,  did  not  share 
in  the  advancing  fortunes  were  Greece  and 
Bulgaria.  These  can  hardly  expect  to  do 
so  until  the  first  has  settled  its  differences 
with  the  Turk  and  the  second  has  assured 
its  neighbors  as  well  as  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil that  its  actions  meet  its  words  in  ex- 
ecuting the  Treaty  of  Neuilly. 

There  was  celebrated  at  Prague,  on  April 
21,  the  third  anniversary  of  the  Italo- 
Czechoslovak  military  convention,  which 
placed  a  Bohemian  and  Slovak  division  on 
the  Piave  by  the  side  of  the  Italian  troops. 
At  Belgrade,  on  the  same  day,  an  Italo- 
Jugoslav  commercial  pact,  in  accordance 
with  the  Rapallo  Treaty,  was  negotiated. 
Then  there  was  the  conference  of  plenipo- 
tentiaries at  Porto  Rosega,  near  Monfalcone, 
northwest  of  Trieste,  April  30-May  8. 
There  finally  was  the  adjourned  conference 
of  the  same  plenipotentiaries  at  Rome. 

In  all  these  places,  save  at  Belgrade, 
possibly,  Italian  influence  was  paramount. 
France,  the  other  patron  of  the  "  Little 
Entente,"   particularly    in    its    anti-Bolshe- 


vist phases,  was  absorbed  with  Germany, 
both  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Silesia,  and  the 
Consulta  made  the  most  of  her  distraction. 

The  Prague  celebration  was  an  imposing 
affair.  The  Italian  delegation,  headed  by 
Prince  Pietro  Lanza  di  Scalea,  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  General  Husak,  Minister  of 
National  Defense,  and  later  by  President 
Masaryk,  whose  health  did  not  permit  him 
to  participate  in  the  opening  ceremony. 
The  speeches  which  were  exchanged,  while 
praising  the  military  unity  which  had  de- 
feated Austria-Hungary,  also  gave  promise 
of  mutual  economic  support  for  the  future. 
Between  the  two  States  lie  Austria,  Hun- 
gary, and  the  Croatian  and  Slavonian  parts 
of  Jugoslavia;  these  must  be  bridged  by 
freight  service,  which  will  not  be  without 
profit  to  them  in  the  transit.  Two  days 
later  the  Italian  delegation  took  part  in  the 
military  burial  of  the  forty-two  martyrs  of 
Hapsburg  tyranny. 

At  Porto  Rosega  the  report  of  the  Finan- 
cial Commission  of  the  League  of  Nations 
on  the  financial  and  economic  condition  of 
Austria,  with  suggestions  for  its  remedy, 
was  debated;  the  subject  was  also  discussed 
in  the  light  of  the  Vienna  Government's  re- 
ply to  the  report.  The  suggestions  prac- 
tically amounted  to  a  receivership  for  Aus- 
tria to  be  held  by  the  finance  section  of 
the  Provisional  Economic  and  Financial 
Committee  of  the  League,  with  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Ter  Meulen  scheme  as  a  method 
for  liquidation  and  rehabilitation.  The  re- 
ply of  Austria  advised  the  unification  of 
certain  Government  monopolies  with  some 
of  the  customs  and  mortgages  as  a  guaran- 
tee for  credits,  but  insisted  that  the  whole 
banking  system  be  overhauled  before  the 
sources  of  revenue  could  be  pledged.  All 
agreed  that  the  malady  from  which  Austria 
was  suffering  required  a  treatment  sui 
generis;  but,  with  the  success  of  this  treat- 
ment in  Austria,  the  same  might  be  applied 
with   similar  results  elsewhere. 


THE  BALKANS  AND  EMANCIPATED  CENTRAL  EUROPE 


517 


The  conference  at  Rome  was  the  com- 
plement to  that  at  Porto  Rosega.  In  the 
Eternal  City  the  application  of  the  Treaty 
of  Rapallo  was  expounded  by  the  Italian 
and  Jugoslav  delegates,  while  suggestions 
for  mutual  economic  benefits  were  made  by 
the  representatives  of  the  emancipated 
States. 

First  of  all,  Austria,  Hungary  and  Czech- 
oslovakia need  prepared  and  raw  food  prod- 
ucts; the  Balkans  need  and  are  already  re- 
ceiving from  America  agricultural  machin- 
ery— Croatia  and  Rumania,  especially,  min- 
ing machinery;  Italy  needs  raw  material  for 
her  great  metallurgic  plants.  When  this 
triangular  road  for  an  exchange  of  these 
products  can  be  opened  the  old  equilibrium 
will  be  restored  with  augmenting  advan- 
tages for  all  concerned. 

But,  although  diplomats  and  economic  ex- 
perts may  propose,  execution  by  the  inter- 
ested Governments  is  more  or  less  at  the 
disposition  of  the  propagandists.  While 
Bulgaria  is  accused  at  Belgrade  and  Bucha- 
rest of  not  making  restitution  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Neuilly, 
propagandists  in  Budapest  continue  to  issue 
literature  against  Czechoslovakia  and  Ru- 
mania, and  in  Jugoslavia  agents  from  Buda- 
pest are  actively  stirring  up  resentment 
among  the  Croats  at  Agram  and  against  the 
Serbs  at  Belgrade.  Even  Rumania  has 
shown  her  concern  over  the  projected  modi- 
fication of  thte  Treaty  of  Sevres,  and  has 
so  informed  the  Entente  powers. 

The  Dnevnik  of  Sofia,  in  answering  the 
demands  of  Rumania,  Jugoslavia  and  Greece 
for  a  settlement  under  the  treaty,  says  sim- 
ply that  Bulgaria  has  not  got  the  goods  to 
deliver,  so  its  creditors  must  be  patient  un- 
til they  can  be  secured.  The  Bulgarian 
budget  of  1921-22  shows  a  deficit  of  531,- 
979,803  leva,  without  counting  the  extraor- 
dinary budget,  which  shows  a  net  deficit  of 
1.062,085,000  leva.  [A  leva  in  normal  times 
would  have  the  value  of  a  franc]  In  1914 
the  expenditures  were  about  the  same,  but 
then  the  revenues  produced  a  balance  of 
225,000  leva,  and  there  was  no  extraordin- 
budget. 

On  May  5,  when  Parliament  reconvened, 
the  text  of  the  new  Jugoslav  Constitution 
debated  article  by  article. 

The  Rumanian  Government,  through  its 
Legations  in  London,  Paris  and  Rome,  has 
informed  the  Supreme  Council  that  in  the 


event  of  acceptance  of  the  Entente  pro- 
posals, submitted  to  Greece  and  Turkey  at; 
the  London  Near  East  Conference,  it  re- 
serves for  itself,  in  the  matter  of  the  Straits 
(Dardanelles,  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Bos- 
porus), the  right  of  submitting  amend- 
ments to  the  modification,  designed  to  guar- 
antee Rumania's  vital  interest  in  and  right 
to  an  absolutely  secure  passage  from  th«* 
Black  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean.  The  mem- 
orandum was  drawn  up  by  Take  Jonescu, 
and  the  amendments  which  will  also  be  his 
work  are  understood  to  embrace  the  follow- 
ing points: 

1.  A  Rumanian  representation  on  the 
Straits  Commission  equal  to  that  of  Turkey. 

2.  That,  with  the  raising  to  75,000  men  of 
Turkey's  armed  forces,  guarantees  be  given 
the  Bucharest  Government  for  their  good 
behav,or. 

3.  Tbat  there  be  no  passage  of  Turkish 
troops  between  Asia  Minor  and  Europe 
without  the  consent  of  the  Straits  Commis- 
sion. 

4.  That  no  mobilization  of  Turkish  war- 
ships take  place  without  the  consent  of  the 
Ententes  powers. 

Croatia's  Attitude  Toward  Serbia 

The  attitude  of  the  Croats  toward  Serbian 
domination  of  the  Jugoslav  group  was 
clearly  defined  by  M.  Raditch,  leader  of 
the  Croatian  Peasant  Party,  in  an  inter- 
view published  in  the  Prague  newspaper, 
Cas,  and  republished  by  the  Journal  des 
Debats  on  April  22.  The  exact  attitude  of 
this  leader  has  long  been  in  doubt,  and 
both  the  Italian  imperialists  and  the  Mag- 
yars had  hoped  to  find  in  Raditch  an  instru- 
ment for  breaking  up  Jugoslav  unity.  The 
Croat  peasant  leader's  views,  frankly  yet 
firmly  expressed,  will  probably  act  with  the 
force  of  a  manifesto  on  Jugoslav  political 
life.     M.  Raditch  said: 

We  recognize  the  union  of  Jugoslavia, 
and  herein  we  differ  from  the  Frank ovatzi 
Party.  This  union  is  our  definite  goal,  and 
we  do  not  wish  to  destroy  it.  Our  dispute 
with  Serbia  is  an  internal  affair  without 
international  significance.  The  Serbs  and 
the  Croats  are  indeed  a  racial  unit,  but 
they  are  not  one  people.  In  the  future  we 
may  become  one  people,  but  we  are  not  one 
at  present.  We  shall  not  act  against  Serbia, 
but  we  do  not  wish  to  be  with  Serbia;  we 
wish  to  stand  beside  Serbia.  The  question 
is  whether  or  no  Serbia  will  subjugate 
Croatia.  We  do  not.  fear  this  struggle,  for 
the  stronger. 
The  Croats  want  a  republic,  and  in  this 
matter  we  wish  to  come  to  an  understanding 


518 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


with  Serbia.  Serbia  could  continue  as  a 
monarchy ;  the  Prince  Regent  Alexander  can 
remain  King-  of  Serbia,  but  he  might  at  the 
same  time  be  head  cf  a  Jugoslav  federation. 
We  have  nothing  against  him,  and  we  shall 
not  settle  our  dispute  with  Serbia  by  moans 
of  a  revolution.  Revolution  is  war  and  we 
are  opposed  to  wars.  For  this  reason  I  am 
equally  opposed  to  a  peasant  revolution.  If 
a  revolution  broke  out  in  Croatia  it  would  be 
against  my  will,  and  the  responsibility  would 
rest  with  the  people  and  not  with  me.  I 
am  also  opposed  to  revolution  because  we 
have  no  arms.  If  foreigners  were  to  supply 
arms  it  would  involve  obligations  on  our 
part,  and  in  that  case  we  should  be  fighting 
for  foreign  interests.  All  reports,  therefore, 
about  revolution  are  incorrect. 

We  shall  probably  not  go  to  the  Constitu- 
ent Assembly.  I  propose  that  the  Constitu- 
tion be  voted  by  a  qualified  majority  com- 
posed of  separate  majorities:  Serb,  Croatian 
and  Slovene.  But  it  seems  that  Belgrade 
does  not  accept  my  proposal.  If  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  passes  M.  Pashitch's  draft 


Constitution,  we  shall  not,  of  course,  recog- 
nize it,  but  we  shall  make  use  of  it  and 
shall  submit  to  it.  We  shall  wait  till  the 
next  elections,  and  then  it  will  be  seen 
whether  we  have  on  our  side  a  majority,  not 
only  of  Croats,  but  also  of  Slovenes  and 
Serbs.  And  then  we  shall  alter  the  Consti- 
tution in- accordance  with  our  wish 

Granted  that  we  are  carrying  on  a  struggle 
against  Serbia,  it  is  by  deliberate  intention 
that  we  do  not  pay  taxes.  I  always  say  to 
my  peasants:  "Pay  up  only  when  the  au- 
thorities compel  you  to  by  selling  your  goods: 
do  not  give  a  farthing  of  your  own  free 
will."  The  result  has  been  that  in  Croatia 
only  one-twentieth  of  the  taxes  has  been 
paid.  I  am  the  instrument  of  the  people's 
will ;  I  do  nothing  to  alienate  the  sympathies 
of  the  people.  We  have  left  it  to  the  people 
to  decide  for  themselves  in  internal  affairs : 
only  the  foreign  policy  of  my  party  has  been 
confided  to  me.  In  this  connection  my  pro- 
gram is  to  advocate  the  alliance  of  all  Slavs 
with  the  Germans  in  place  of  the  Franco- 
British  alliance. 


GREECE  IN  NEW  DIFFICULTIES 

End  of  the  military  offensive  against  the  Turkish  Nationalists  leaves  King  Constantine's 
Government  in  a  serious  predicament — Beginning  of  a  diplomatic  campaign  to  save  some 
remnants  of  Greece's  share  in  the  treaty  of  Sevres — An  important  crisis 

[Period    Ended    Mat    15,    1921] 


THE  Greek  offensive  has  been  ad- 
journed sine  die,  while  the  Greek 
Government  is  believed  to  be  fever- 
ishly importuning  England  to  intercede  for 
it  at  Constantinople  and  Italy  at  Angora, 
that  something  may  be  saved  to  Hellas  from 
the  wreck  of  her  interests  in  the  Treaty  of 
Sevres.  While  both  the  treaties  negotiated 
by  France  and"  Italy  with  the  Turkish  dele- 
gates at  the  recent  Near  East  conference 
have  been  held  up  by  the  "  Grand  Parlia- 
ment "  at  Angora,  both  there  and  at  Con- 
stantinople a  favorable  answer  is  being  pre- 
pared to  the  Entente  proposals  presented  at 
the  conference  modifying  the  Treaty  of 
Sevres.  In  a  word,  Greece  is  seeking  a  for- 
mula by  which  she  may  become  a  party  to 
the  proposals  and  still  save  the  face  of  the 
Constantine  Government  before  the  people 
of  Hellas. 

But  all  this  is  not  on  the  surface.  Super- 
ficially, we  have  both  the  Athens  and  the 
Angora  Governments  actively  preparing  to 
renew  the  war,  yet  even  in  thsse  prepara- 


tions conflicting  events  may  be  noted:  Gen- 
eral Metaxas  has  been  sent  to  the  field  to 
advise  or  supersede  General  Papoulas,  the 
Greek  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Smyrna 
front.  There  the  entire  staff  has  been  re- 
placed. In  Athens  there  is  a  new  General 
Staff  headed  by  General  Dousmanis,  whose 
chief  aid  is  Colonel  Stratigos.  There  is 
great  activity  behind  the  Greek  lines,  with 
heavy  concentration  of  troops  from  Ushak 
toward  Kutai,  as  though  an  attempt  would 
be  made  to  recover  Eskishehr.  Appeals  to 
the  Greeks  in  Asia  Minor  to  volunteer 
have  been  met  with  enthusiasm,  and  over 
15,000  had  been  enrolled  up  to  April  30.  In 
Greece  proper,  however,  mobilization  has 
been  suspended  and  martial  law  declared, 
while  in  Crete  recruiting  has  been  aban- 
doned altogether. 

On  the  Turkish.  Nationalist  side  Rafet 
Pasha  has  been  replaced  by  Kiazim  Kara- 
bekir  Pasha,  formerly  commander  on  the 
Armenian  front,  but  his  army  has  been  re- 
turned to  the  Eastern  frontier. 


GREECE  IN  NEW  DIFFICULTIES 


519 


Both  Greek  and  Kemalist  proclamations 
sound  as  if  the  armies  were  preparing"  to 
leap  at  each  other's  throat.  The  latter  are 
fierce  in  their  denouncement  of  the  Greeks 
as  being  the  only  obstacle  to  peace  with 
the  Entente.  The  temper  of  the  former  is 
shown  by  a  statement  made  by  General 
Dousmanis,  the  new  chief  of  the  Greek 
General  Staff.    He  said: 

Greece  finds  herself  engaged  in  a  serious 
war,  and  it  has  been  necessary  therefore  to 
reconstitute  and  reorganize  her  Supreme 
Command  to  meet  the  grave  situation.  The 
supreme  commander  is  the  King,  and  he  is 
assisted  by  his  General  Staff,  which  now 
directs  the  general  army  organization.  Gen- 
eral Papoulas,  for  whom  we  have  the  highest 
esteem,  remains  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
army  in  the  field.  I  may  add  that  we  are 
fully  determined  to  conduct  the  war  with  the 
greatest  energy.  Both  in  the  northern  sector, 
where  we  occupy  Ismid  and  Brusa,  and  in 
the  southern  sector  our  position  will  be  main- 
tained and  preparations  will  be  pushed  on 
rapidly  for  resuming  the  offensive. 

The  international  aspects  offer  the  same 
conflicting  interpretations.  The  Greek  Navy 
attempted  a  blockade  of  the  Straits  in  order 
to  prevent  the  Turks  in  Europe  from  join- 
ing the  Angora  Army.  A  Japanese  steam- 
ship, the  Heimei  Maru,  bound  for  Constanti- 
nople from  Siberia  with  1,000  ex-Turkish 
prisoners,  including  100  officers,  on  board, 
was  stopped  by  a  Greek  torpedo  boat  and 
ordered  detained  at  Mitylene.  Later,  on 
May  12,  on  representations  from  the  Japa- 
nese Government,  the  Interallied  High  Com- 
missioners proclaimed  the  neutrality  of  Con- 
stantinople, the  Bosporus  and  the  Dar- 
danelles, "  while  the  warfare  between 
Turkey  and  Greece  continues."  Aside  from 
practically  opening  the  path  to  Turks  from 
Europe  to  Asia,  the  proclamation  legally 
closes  to  Greece  Constantinople  as  a  supply 
base  for  her  troops  on  the  Ismid  and  Brusa 
fronts  and  forces  her  to  use  only  Rodosto 
on  the  southern  side. 

The  Turks  established  a  supply  base  at 
Eneboli,  on  the  Black  Sea,  which  is  connect- 
ed with  Angora  by  a  direct  road.  A  con- 
siderable quantity  of  war  material  and  sup- 
plies for  the  Kemalist  army  is  stored  there, 
having  been  unloaded  from  ships  carrying 
on  a  regular  contraband  trade.  In  the 
Aegean,  at  Scalanova,  the  ancient  Ephesus, 
which  is  under  the  Italian  mandate,  there  is 
alleged  to  be  an  official  delegate  of  the 
Kemalists — Manoud  Essad — who  is  receiv- 
ing large  consignments  of  contraband  under 


the  eyes  of  the  Italian  authorities.  The 
papers  of  Athens  insist  that  the  Turks  are 
allowed  full  facilities  for  both  transit  and 
anti-Greek  propaganda  in  Adalia.  One  inci- 
dent is  said  to  be  typical  of  all:  The  Turks 
at  Adalia  had  asked  the  permission  of  the 
Italian  Governor  to  hold  a  public  meeting, 
and  they  assembled  in  great  numbers  on 
the  afternoon  of  April  16  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  mosque.  A  Turkish  hodja  delivered  a 
violent  speech  against  the  Greeks,  inciting 
the  fanaticism  of  his  hearers  against  them. 
After  his  speech  the  crowd  scattered  in  the 
streets,  smashed  the  windows  of  Greek 
shops,  broke  into  them,  stealing  or  destroy- 
ing their  contents.  In  the  rioting,  which 
lasted  three  hours,  fifty  Greeks  were  killed 
and  150  injured,  among  the  victims  being 
the  Greek  parish  priest  Sermos,  his  daugh- 
ter and  son-in-law.  The  Italian  Carabinieri 
finally  established  order  after  the  Turkish 
authorities  had  declared  their  inability  to 
do  so. 

Again,  according  to  the  Athens  press,  the 
Armenians  fare  no  better.  Armenians  who 
have  escaped  from  Kutaya  and  have  reached 
Smyrna  declare  that  at  Kutaya  there  were 
2,500  Greek  families,  1,200  Armenian  fam- 
ilies and  300  Catholic  families.  Out  of  this 
Christian  population  the  Turks  left  only  the 
women  and  children.  The  entire  male  popu- 
lation from  the  age  of  15  to  45  years  was 
transported  to  Sivrihissar,  Beypalar  and 
Angora.  Men  from  the  age  of  45  to  60  were 
taken  to  Eskishehr,  where  they  are  com- 
pelled to  work  in  the  ammunition  factories 
established  by  the  Turks  under  German 
direction  during  the  great  war.  Kutaya, 
seventy-five  miles  southeast  of  Brusa,  has 
railway  connections  with  both  Constanti- 
nople and  Angora. 

The  papers  of  Athens  also  print  stories 
of  th°  most  frightful  atrocities  practiced  by 
the  Turks  on  the  Greek  population.  In  the 
Athenian  Boule,  on  April  18,  there  was  a 
debate  on  the  subject.  The  speakers  showed 
from  letters  and  official  reports  that  the 
traditional  hatred  of  the  Turks  was  never 
really  extinct,  and  as  little  of  their  doings 
was  known  to  the  Western  world  at  the  time 
they  were  allied  to  the  Germans  it  may  be 
proper  to  recall  them. 

Deputy  Boukalas,  speaking,  read  a  num- 
ber of  official  reports,  corroborated  by  wit- 
nesses, concerning  the  massacres  of  Greeks 
and    Armenians    during    the    war.     Among 


520 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


them  were  the  Turkish  reports  of  Halide 
Edib  Hanoum,  the  Turkish  authoress,  who 
is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Angora  Gov- 
ernment, Mustapha  Kemal  having  made  her 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  Damid  Ferid 
Pasha,  the  leader  of  the  Old  Turk  Party,  in 
the  Turkish  Senate  said:  "  The  destruction 
of  the  Christian  population  in  various  parts 
of  the  empire  during  the  war  was  an  un- 
pardonable mistake  and  a  crime."  Accord- 
ing to  statistics  gathered  by  the  Oecumenic 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  the  number  of 
Greeks  alone  killed  during  the  war  and 
after,  up  to  June  of  1920,  amounted  to  725,- 
000.  Damad  Ferid  Pasha  admits  that  the 
number  was  550,000,  but  says  that  the  total 
includes  all  Christians. 

We  now  come  to  the  diplomatic  phases  of 
the  subject  as  they  emerged  from  the  Lon- 
don Near  East  conference,  Feb.  2-March  12 
— the  Entente  proposals  for  a  modification 
of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres  and  the  pacts  ne- 
gotiated by  France  and  Italy  with  the 
Angora  Government — most  of  which  are 
beneath  the  surface.  On  their  return  to 
their  posts  both  the  Grand  Vizier,  Tewfik 
Pasha,  the  head  of  the  Sultan's  delegation, 
and  Bekir  Sami  Bey,  the  head  of  the  Angora 
delegation,  issued  statements  to  the  press. 
The  first  was: 

If  the  London  Conference  could  not  assure 
peace  in  the  Orient,  it  has  at  least  given  us 
certain  palpable  results.  Justifying  our  Na- 
tionalist efforts,  it  has  justified  the  existence 
of  the  Nationalist  movement  in  Anatolia. 
An  unaltered  execution  of  the  Treaty  of 
Sevres  has  been  recognized  as  impossible  in 
its  ensemble.  The  present  war  is  a  struggle 
between  Greece  and  Turkey,  in  which  the 
fate  of  all  the  Greeks  and  all  the  Turks  is 
at  stake.  We  are  determined  to  defend  our 
rights  to  the  extremity,  and  we  can  look  to 
the    future    full   of   confidence. 

The  statement  of  the  Grand  Vizier  reads: 

I  am  personally  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  the  London  Conference,  which  have 
yielded  results  qualified  to  satisfy  Ottoman 
aspirations  on  certain  points.  Thus  the  sov- 
ereign rights  of  Constantinople  are  assured, 
and  our  economic  claims  to  a  large  degree 
have  been  recognized.  The  conference,  how- 
ever, was  rendered  sterile  by  the  attitude  of 
the  Greek  delegation.  We  are  now  preparing 
our  reply,  which  we  shall  present  whenever 
we  are  invited  to  do  so.  I  am  persuaded  that 
the  leaders  of  Angora  will  realize  that  the 
salvation  of  the  empire  requires  union,  which 
I  hope  will  be  achieved  as  soon  as  the  modi- 
fications of  the  Sevres  treaty  have  been 
realized.  We  demand  the  evacuation  of 
Thrace   and    Smyrna   unreservedly. 


The  facts  upon  which  the  declaration  is 
based  that  Greece  has  asked  Italy  to  inter- 
vene at  Angora  are  not  so  well  founded  as 
those  upon  which  British  intervention  at 
Constantinople  are  based;  they  are,  never- 
theless, worthy  of  consideration.  They  do 
not  concern  either  the  King  or  the  Govern- 
ment of  Greece,  or  even  the  people,  but  the 
person  of  the  new  Premier  and  his  con- 
versations with  Count  Sforza,  the  Italian 
Foreign  Secretary,  while  at  the  London 
Conference.  At  the  beginning  there  are 
the  past  relations  between  the  Gounarists 
and  Italy.  The  Gounarists  throughout  the 
parlous  times  of  1915-17  possessed  no  bet- 
ter friend  in  the  allied  camp  than  the 
Italian  Minister  at  Athens,  Count  Bosdari. 
Before  and  during  the  elections  last  Autumn 
which  restored  King  Constantine  and  made 
Venizelos  an  exile  the  Gounarists  remained 
personae  gratae  at  the  Italian  Legation  at 
Athens.  The  Italian  Minister  officially  ob- 
served the  same  attitude  as  did  his  English 
and  French  colleagues,  but  at  Rome  the 
Constantinos  envoy,  M.  Metaxas,  was 
treated  as  a  full-fledged  and  accredited 
plenipotentiary.  Thus  the  open  and  reso- 
lute opponent  of  Greek  territorial  expansion 
was  also  the  most  open  and  resolute  up- 
holder of  King  Constantine's  regime,  simply 
because,  in  the  Consulta's  view,  that  regime 
connoted,  at  an  early  date,  the  reversion  to 
an  anti- Venizelos  policy — the  policy  of  the 
Little  Hellenes,  with  its  renunciation  of  the 
Dodecanese. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  in  re- 
gard to  the  British  intervention,  for  this 
was  announced  in  the  Ikdam  of  Constanti- 
nople on  May  2,  in  which  the  Greek  pro- 
posals that  the  British  Government  had  un- 
dertaken to  transmit  to  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment and  to  Paris  and  Rome  were  given 
as  follows: 

1.  The  evacuation  of  Asia  Minor  by  the 
Greek  troops. 

2.  Smyrna  and  its  hinterland,  recognized 
as  autonomous,  shall  be  placed  under  the 
common  control  of  France,  England  and 
Italy. 

3.  The  rights  of  the  unredeemed  Greeks 
resident  in  Asia  Minor  shall  be  guaranteed 
by  these  three  powers. 

4.  Greece  surrenders  to  the  same  three 
powers  the  regulation  of  the  question  of 
Constantinople  and  the   Straits. 

!>.  The  rights  of  Greece  to  Thrace  and  the 
Aegean  Islands  shall  be   maintained. 

It  is  also  reported  that  the  Gounaris  Gov- 
ernment would  consent  to  the  abdication  of 


GREECE  IN  NEW  DIFFICULTIES 


521 


King  Constantine  if  such  a  measure  should 
become  necessary  in  order  to  secure  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  foregoing  proposals.  It 
will  be  observed  that  the  proposals  even  go 
beyond  those  made  by  the  Entente  at  the 
London  Conference.  They  meet  the  Turkish 
objection  to  the  latter  by  indicating  the 
removal  of  the  Greek  garrison  from  Smyr- 
na, although  they  fall  short  of  the  agree- 
ments made  by  France  and  Italy  with  the 
Angora  delegation. 

On  April  28  Prince  Omer  Faruk  Effendi, 
son  of  the  Heir  Presumptive  to  the  Turk- 


ish throne,  Abdul  Medjid  Effendi,  left  his 
palace  at  Stamboul  and  departed  for  An- 
gora to  join  the  Nationalists.  His  depar- 
ture and  the  letter  he  left  for  his  father, 
saying  that  he  could  no  longer  restrain  him- 
self from  fighting  while  the  homeland  was 
being  invaded,  would  be  very  significant 
were  it  not  for  the  really  unimportant 
status  of  Omer  and  the  fact  that  the  rap- 
prochement between  Stamboul  and  Angora 
is  daily  growing  closer. 

[See  also  "What  the  Greeks  are  Fight- 
ing For,"  Page  407.] 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  RETURN  TO 
CAPITALISM 

How  Lenin  s  speech  before  the  Tenth  Communist  Congress  aroused  a  storm  within  the 
Communist  ranks — His  attempt  to  justify  his  new  policy  of  concessions  to  the  peasants, 
notably  freedom  to  sell  and  buy — Moscow's  efforts  to  reopen  commerce  with  Europe 


THE  speech  made  by  Lenin,  the  Moscow 
dictator,  before  the  Tenth  Congress 
of  the  Communist  Party,  held  in  Mos- 
cow in  March,  which,  as  reported  through- 
out the  world  press,  seemed  to  amount  to 
a  renunciation  of  Bolshevist  principles,  had 
the  effect  of  creating  a  storm  within  the 
ranks  of  the  Russian  communists  them- 
selves which  Lenin  had  some  difficulty  in 
allaying.  It  may  be  said,  in  fact,  that 
Lenin  has  been  explaining  ever  since. 
Petrograd  papers  commented  on  the  con- 
fusion that  was  added  to  the  already  con- 
fused life  of  Soviet  Russia  from  the  first 
month's  application  of  the  concessions 
granted  to  the  peasants  in  respect  to  free 
trade.  It  was  stated  that  new  decrees  were 
constantly  being  issued  by  Lenin  and 
Kalinin — a  member  of  the  Soviet  Central 
Committee — to  modify  conditions  arising 
from  the  changes.  One  decree  sent  out  by 
Kalinin  on  April  20,  for  example,  revealed 
the  fact  that  workmen  in  the  war  munitions 
factories,  misunderstanding  the  concessions, 
turned  from  war  work  to  the  making  of 
plows,  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  per- 
sonal trade.  The  decree  forbids  such  di- 
versions without  the  specific  consent  of  the 
War  Commissary. 

Vorovsky,  Lenin's  emissary  in  Italy,  ad- 


mitted that  pure  communism  had  failed  in 
Russia,  and  that  the  concessions  granted 
by  Lenin  could  not  be  avoided.  Granting 
to  the  peasants  the  right  to  sell  and  buy  on 
their  own  initiative,  he  conceded,  was  a 
step  backward,  but  circumstances  had  com- 
pelled it.  The  State,  which  should  nation- 
alize and  distribute  all  the  means  of  pro- 
duction and  exchange,  had  nothing  but  salt 
and  petrol  to  dispense.  "  We  have  made  an 
experiment  on  too  vast  a  scale,"  said 
Vorovsky,  "  affecting  150,000,000  people. 
We  are  going  to  return  to  the  limits  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  moment.  The  rest  will 
come  by  degrees." 

Lenin,  under  fire  before  the  Moscow  rail- 
waymen's  conference  on  April  16,  answered 
several  bitter  attacks  based  on  charges  that 
he  had  yielded  to  a  compromise  with  the 
bourgeois  elements,  and  combined  his  de- 
fence with  a  vigorous  counter-attack 
against  "  socialist  babblers "  and  ranting 
orators  of  the  opposition.  Lenin's  speech 
was  in  part  as  follows: 

Three  and  a  half  years  of  continuous  and 
unprecedented  fighting-  are  now  behind  us. 
It  is  time  to  balance  our  accounts,  to  con- 
fess frankly  and  openly  that  the  Interna- 
tional proletariat  has  practically  not  sup- 
ported us  at  all,  and  now  we  are  being  ac- 
cused of  wishing  to  return   to  the  old  capi- 


5ZZ 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


talist  state  of  affairs.  But  our  accusers 
forget  one  thing— the  bourgeois  class  does 
hot  exist  any  more  in  Russia.  We  have  com- 
pletely destroyed  the  Russian  bourgeoisie. 
Only  peasantry  is  in  a  position  today  to  con- 
duct and  continue  the  struggle  against  the 
victorious  proletariat,  and  I  ask  you:  Do  you 
want  to  fight  the  peasantry,  a  new  war  to 
the  bitter  end,  or  would  you  not  prefer 
by  mutual  agreement? 
As  far  as  I  personally  am  concerned,  I 
know  only  too  well  how  badly  organized  are 
tne  Russian  peasants,  how  little  class  "con- 
sciousness they  have.  In  such  circumstances 
ihej  do  not  represent  a  serious  menace  to 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  There- 
fore we  must  by  all  means  strive  to  attain 
union  with  the  peasantry  and  meet  them 
half  way  with  regard  to  their  justifiable  de- 
mands. 

The  peasants  have  suffered  during  the  last 
few  years  from  military  requisitions,  famine, 
poor  crops,  epizootic,  and  now  do  not  for- 
get those  new  troubles,  those  new  cares  that 
the  demobilized  soldiers  are  carrying  back 
with  them  to  their  village  homes. 

The  soldiers  do  not  wish  to  go  back  to 
cultivate  their  land  and  become  peaceful 
workers.  The  demobilized  soldiers  are  our 
t  reatest  enemies.  They  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  rob  and  pillage  and  murder.  They 
have  been  accustomed  to  satisfy  only  their 
own  needs  and  desires.  This  anarchical 
characteristic  of  the  demobilized  soldiers  has 
found  a  favorable  echo  in  the  dull  discontent 
id  dissatisfaction  of  the  peasant  masses, 
and  these  two  combined  factors  may  destroy 
our  republic. 

In  these  circumstances  we  cannot  go  too 
far  in  our  game  with  the  bourgeoisie,  which 
is  impatiently  awaiting  our  downfall,  but 
the  hopes  of  world  capitalists  will  not  be 
realized.  The  Soviets  today  are  powerful 
and  strong  enough  both  to  admit  their 
mistakes  of  the  past  and  to  overcome  all 
new  difficulties  to  sane  communism  by  pay- 
ing the  price  of  renunciation  of  certain  the- 
oretical precepts. 

Again,  speaking  at  Moscow  on  April  24, 
Lenin  said: 

The  majority  of  our  population  now  con- 
sists of  peasants,  and  we  must  take  them 
into  account  if  we  wrant  to  do  productive 
work.  Of  course,  free  trade  means  the  in- 
troduction of  capitalism,  but  you  cannot 
escape  that.  Capitalism,  however,  is  no 
danger  to  us  if  most  of  the  factories,  trans- 
portation and  external  trade  are  in  our 
hands.  Concessions  also  will  mean  a  state 
of  capitalism  that  will  help  us  to  improve 
our  economic  condition,  which  we  alone  can- 
not do.  If  the  greater  number  of  factories 
and  the  general  control  remain  in  our  hands, 
concessions,  likewise,  do  not  constitute  a 
danger  for  us. 

Further  explanations  and  justifications 
of  his  new  policy  were  embodied  by  Lenin 
in  a  long  article  published  by  the  Moscow 


Pravda  on  May  3.  In  this  article  Lenin 
sought  to  appease  the  communist  work- 
men, who,  having  nothing  to  barter  in  the 
open  market,  are  rapidly  losing  the  con- 
siderable privileges  which  they  enjoyed 
three  years  ago,  when  the  Bolsheviki  took 
power;  these  workmen  are  greatly  alarmed, 
and  accuse  the  communist  leaders  of  favor- 
ing the  peasants,  to  the  detriment  of  the 
working  class.  The  rest  of  Lenin's  article 
is  devoted^  to  a  defense  of  his  policy  to  re- 
vive capitalism  in  Soviet  Russia.  The  way 
to  true  Socialism,  he  declares,  lies  through 
State  capitalism — German  State  capitalism. 
M.  Lomov,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Concessions  of  the  Russian  Supreme 
Council,  dwelt  upon  the  vast  concessions 
which  Russia  was  willing  to  make  to  induce 
foreign  capital  to  come  in: 

We  have  radically  changed  our  policy  re- 
garding concessions  [said  M.  Lomov].  At 
first  we  were  ready  to  grant  concessions 
only  in  such  domains  as  v/e  could  not  hope 
to  work  economically  with  our  own  resources 
for  some  years.  Now  we  are  negotiating  to 
grant  concessions  in  the  most  vital  of  our 
industrial  centres— like  Baku  and  Merosny 
for  oil,  Donetz  for  coal  and  Krivoyrog  and 
Kertch  for  iron  ore.  We  are  ready  to  grant 
concessions  in  the  Donetz  basin  of  lands 
hardly  touched,  and  possessing  enormous  de- 
posits of  our  best  coal.  *  *  *  Russia  will 
need  foreign  capital  and  technical  help  for 
years.  As  we  shall  be  increasingly  dependent 
upon  the  good  will  of  concessionaires,  they 
may  feel  sure  that  we  will  be  scrupulously 
careful  to  respect  our  obligations  toward 
them.  No  political  guarantees  can  be  more 
potent  than  our  own  self-interest. 

Regarding  the  much-discussed  conces- 
sions in  Kamchatka  to  be  granted  to  the 
American  financier,  Washington  B.  Van- 
derlip,  M.  Lomov  stated  that  all  details  had 
been  completed  by  the  Soviet  Government, 
which  had  assured  itself  that  Vanderlip 
had  solid  American  financial  backing,  and 
that  the  closing  of  the  deal  was  delayed 
only  pending  the  resumption  of  trade  rela- 
tions with  the  United  States.  When  such 
a  resumption  would  occur  was  left  veiled  in 
obscurity  by  the  uncompromising  reply  of 
Secretary  Hughes  to  the  note  from  Moscow- 
offering  to  reopen  trade  relations.  Lenin, 
it  appeared,  was  pleased,  more  than  other- 
wise, by  the  charge  embodied  in  this  note 
that  the  Bolshevist  Government  had  in  no 
way  changed  its  principles,  and  was  still 
striving  for  world  revolution.  This  was 
received  v  ith  a  chuckle  by  the  saturnine 
dictator,    who    saw    in    it    a    good    counter- 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  RETURN  TO   CAPITALISM 


52.'3 


active  for  the  remark  made  by  Lloyd 
George  that  Lenin  had  abjured  the 
Bolshevist  theories  and  aims,  and  that  his 
speech  before  the  Tenth  Communist 
Congress  might  have  been  made  by 
Winston  Churchill,  whose  anti-Bolshevist 
attitude  is  well  known. 

The  actual  text  of  this  speech,  received 
in  New  York  in  May,  is  the  best  contra- 
diction of  Lloyd  George's  assertion,  for  it 
shows  plainly,  out  of  Lenin's  own  mouth, 
that  all  modifications  are  a  mere  temporary 
expedient  to  help  the  Soviet  regime  to  con- 
tinue its  existence  until  the  world  revolu- 
tion has  come  to  pass.  What  the  Bolshevist 
leaders  are  doing  to  hasten  that  revolution 
was  reviewed  in  full  detail  by  Zinoviev,  the 
Bolshevist  dictator  of  Petrograd,  in  a 
speech  before  the  executive  committee  of 
the  Third  International,  summarized  by  The 
London  Daily  Telegraph  on  April  14.  The 
status  of  Bolshevist  propaganda  m 
Germany,  France,  Italy,  Austria,  Czecho- 
slovakia, Rumania,  Bulgaria,  Norway, 
Sweden,  England  and  the  United  States 
was  reported  on  by  Zinoviev,  who  defined 
this  propaganda  as  a  turning  movement 
threatening  the  <bourgeois  countries  sur- 
rounding Soviet  Russia. 

Meanwhile  the  Moscow  dictators  con- 
tinued their  plans  to  reopen  trade  relations 
with  these  bourgeois  countries,  whose  Gov- 
ernments they  are  seeking  to  overthrow. 
Although  Secretary  Hughes,  in  a  letter  to 
Samuel  Gompers,  the  labor  leader,  on  April 
16,  called  Soviet  Russia  an  economic 
vacuum,  and  emphasized  the  futility  of  re- 
opening trade  relations  under  present  con- 
ditions, there  were  evidences  that  at  least 
a  part  of  Europe  was  not  of  this  opinion. 
Great  Britain  in  March  ratified  a  trade 
agreement  with  Moscow,  and  an  important 
decision  of  the  British  Court  of  Appeals 
on  May  12  held  that,  since  this  treaty  was 
an  official  recognition  of  the  Soviet  as  the 
de  facto  Government  of  Russia,  such  Gov- 
ernment had  a  right  to  confiscate  and  own 
the  gold  which  it  was  sending  to  England 
to  cover  its  commercial  transactions.  This 
test-case  decision  apparently  opens  the  way 
for  extensive  British  trade  with  the 
Bolsheviki.  Russian  newspapers  on  April 
27  had  already  reported  the  arrival  of  the 
first  British  trading  vessels  at  Novorossisk, 
South  Russia,  bringing  cargoes  of  grain 
and  agricultural  machinery.    Great  Britain, 


furthermore,  appointed  Robert  McLeon 
Hodgson,  one-time  British  consul  in  Vladi- 
vostok and  subsequently  in  charge  of  the 
British  High  Commission  at  Omsk,  Siberia, 
to  act  as  British  trade  representative  at 
Moscow,  charged  to  watch  the  develop- 
ments of  Anglo-Russian  commerce  and  to 
assist  Britons  to  do  business  with  the 
Soviet  Government. 

The  preliminary  trade  treaty  between 
Moscow  and  Berlin,  which  so  long  hung 
fire,  was  at  last  concluded  by  energetic 
mutual  action  on  May  6.  A  time  limit  of 
three  months  was  set  for  withdrawal  from 
this  provisional  arrangement.  The  com- 
pact authorizes  Germany  and  Russia  to  ex- 
change commercial  delegations,  which  will 
enjoy  full  diplomatic  privileges,  and  will  be 
given  the  full  consular  powers  necessary  to 
legalize  contracts  and  facilitate  business. 
Merchant  ships  of  both  countries  are  to  be 
granted  the  customary  privileges  relative 
to  territorial  waters,  and  radio,  telegraph 
and  postal  communications.  Both  parties 
pledge  themselves  not  to  conduct  propa- 
ganda through  their  respective  delegations 
or  otherwise,  and  assume  responsibility  for 
those  delegations'  acts.  The  agreement 
was  signed  by  Aaron  Scheinemann  for 
Soviet  Russia  and  by  Gustav  Behrendt  and 
Baron  von  Maltzen  for  Germany. 

Official  figures  of  trade  transit  through 
Latvia  for  the  first  twenty  days  of  April, 
combined  with  official  Soviet  announce- 
ments, show  that  Soviet  trade,  or  at  least 
import  trade,  had  sprung  into  considerable 
activity  during  ths  first  month  of  open 
navigation  on  the  Baltic.  It  is  estimated 
that  some  35,000  tons  of  foreign  goods 
came  in  by  way  of  Latvian  and  Esthonian 
ports.  This  is  the  largest  amount  that  has 
entered  Russia  in  any  month  since  the 
blockade  was  lifted.  British  trade,  as 
noted,  has  begun  through  the  Black  Sea 
ports,  and  it  was  announced  on  May  8  that 
Italian  lines  were  organizing  for  com- 
mercial transport  to  the  Black  Sea  region. 
All  business  done  was  on  a  cash  basis,  and 
covered  by  the  Soviet  gold  reserve.  It  was 
reported  from  Stockholm  that  Soviet  gold 
shipped  to  Sweden  for  melting  and  remint- 
ing  totaled  $120,000,000.  A  trade  agree- 
ment was  being  pushed  with  Norway,  al- 
though, as  in  the  case  of  Great  Britain, 
public  opinion  was  not  favorable  to  a  re- 
sumption of  commercial  relations. 


524 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Trade  relations  with  Finland  have  not 
vet  been  resumed,  the  Bolshevist  trade  dele- 
gation having  left  Finland  and  returned  to 
Russia  owing  to  irreconcilable  difference  of 
views.  Since  the  conclusion  of  peace,  rela- 
tions between  the  two  nations  have  been 
strained  by  disputes  over  alleged  violations 
of  the  eommon  frontier.  In  an  aggressive 
note  M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Soviet  Foreign 
Minister,  threw  the  whole  onus  on  the  Finn- 
ish Government,  and  defended  the  Bolshe- 
vist invasion  of  the  district  of  Rapolz  and 
Porajaervi,  which  had  been  granted  au- 
tonomy under  the  treaty.  The  Finnish 
reply,  made  public  on  May  3,  threw  the 
whole  blame  back  upon  the  Bolsheviki,  and 
declared  that  a  real  peace,  including  com- 
mercial relations,  could  not  begin  until  the 
Soviet  accepted  the  responsibility  for  the 
attacks  upon  the  Finnish  frontier  guards, 
and  likewise  took  effective  steps  to  prevent 
further  incursions  of  armed  gangs  into  the 
Finnish  Legation  in  Moscow.  Despite  this 
interchange  of  courtesies,  the  Finnish  Gov- 
ernment decided  to  allow  the  Soviet  trade 
delegation  to  return  to  Helsingfors,  in  view 
of  the  progress  made  in  the  repatriation 
of  Finns  from  Russia,  although  the  Finnish 
Minister  for  Trade  declared  that,  before 
trade  relations  could  actually  begin,  the 
question  of  Finnish  claims  in  Russia  must 


be  satisfactorily  settled.  While  thus  pre- 
paring for  the  opening  of  unrestricted 
commerce  with  the  outside  world  and  for  a 
revival  of  capitalism  in  Russia  itself,  the 
Soviet  Government  was  taking  active 
measures  to  rebuild  its  war  fleet  and  to  in- 
crease its  army.  Apart  from  peasant  re- 
volts in  Siberia,  the  Moscow  leaders  have 
had  to  contend  for  some  time  with  a  some- 
what widespread  anti-Soviet  movement  in 
South  Russia  and  the  Ukraine.  One  move- 
ment in  the  Tambov  Government,  south  and 
southeast  of  Moscow,  reported  to  be  assuming 
formidable  proportions  and  led  by  General 
Antonov,  a  former  Bolshevist  commander, 
was  declared  by  Moscow  on  May  8  to  have 
been  crushed;  many  of  the  "  bandits  "  were 
killed,  though  Antonov  himself  managed  to 
escape.  Antonov's  defeat  added  one  more 
to  the  long  list  of  anti-Bolshevist  liquida- 
tions which  the  Soviet  Government  has  to 
its  credit.  Only  the  ubiquitous  bandit  leader 
Makhno  and  the  tenacious  General  Petlura 
still  remained  to  be  disposed  of.  As  for 
the  peasant  revolts  that  spring  up  in  all 
directions  and  at  all  times,  the  Moscow 
leaders  expected  that  the  new  concessions 
granted  to  the  peasants,  including  the  right 
to  dispose  of  all  but  10  per  cent,  of  their 
crops  in  trade,  would  automatically  elim- 
inate these  uprisings. 


FEISAL  SEEKS  TO  RULE  MESOPOTAMIA 


[Period   Ended    May    15,    1921] 


IN  Mesopotamia  the  people  are  still  won- 
dering who  is  to  reign  over  Irak  as  Emir 
or  King.  In  England  they  are  wondering 
how  much  more  it  will  cost  the  Empire  be- 
fore the  Arab  Government  gets  down  to 
business.  As  to  the  first,  Prince  Feisal 
has  attempted  to  hasten  matters  by  declar- 
ing to  European  correspondents  at  Cairo 
that  unofficial  proposals  had  been  made  to 
his  Royal  Highness  to  accept  the  throne, 
thus  stealing  a  march  on  his  brother, 
Prince  Abdullah,  supposed  to  be  favored  by 
Lord  Allenby,  who  is  believed  to  have  the 
controlling  vote  in  the  matter. 

In  London  the  cause  of  Feisal  has  been 
espoused  by  General  Haddad  Pasha,  the 
representative  of  the  King  of  Hedjaz  in 
Europe.  The  Arabs  all  over  the  East,  he 
said,   believe   that    the    time   has    come   to 


make  a  definite  settlement  of  their  particu- 
lar problems,  and  they  look  to  England  to 
lead  the  way  to  the  solution.  He  then  of" 
fered  the  following  statement  to  the 
London  press: 

It  is  well  enough  known  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Mesopotamia  would  gladly  have  a 
member  of  the  Sherifian  royal  family  as 
King,  and  the  choice  of  the  Emir  Feisal,  I 
think,  could  not  but  be  acceptable  to  the 
British  Government,  who  are  aware,  also, 
how  loyally  his  Royal  Highness  served  the 
Allies  during  the  war.  The  solution  of  the 
Arab  question  that  is  sought  is  one  that  will 
give  satisfaction  to  the  Arabs  themselves 
and  that  will  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
allied  powers.  The  enthronement  of  Emil 
Feisal,  1  believe,  would  give  such  a  solu- 
tion. 

The  General   adds  that  his  Royal  High- 
ness   harbors    no    resentment    toward    the 


F  EI  SAL  SEEKS  TO  RULE  MESOPOTAMIA 


515 


French  for  the  way  they  treated  him  in 
Syria,  by  dethroning  him  after  he  had  been 
elected  by  the  Syrian  Congress : 

I  am  certain  that  the  Emir  cherishes  simi- 
lar feelings  toward  the  English  and  the 
French,  that  he  wishes  that  the  Allies  may 
work  in  cordial  agreement  in  the  East,  be- 
cause he  considers  that  the  alliance  of  the 
great  powers  will  yield  good  results  to  his 
country,  whereas  a  conflict  would  be  most 
harmful  to  the  Arab  nation.  I  earnestly 
hope  that  a  settlement  similar  to  that  re- 
ported to  have  been  arrived  at  in  Mesopo- 
tamia will  be  attained  also  in  other  Arab 
countries. 

Although  since  Winston  Churchill's  re- 
turn to  London  he  has  done  no  more  than 
show  a  considerable  reduction  of  expendi- 
ture in  Mesopotamia  as  well  as  in  Palestine, 


it  is  understood  that  at  the  Cairo  Confer- 
ence, which  he  attended,  it  was  decided  to 
find  prominent  places  for  all  the  available 
sons  of  King  Hussein  in  the  new  Arab 
States  to  be  created  out  of  the  British 
mandates,  the  only  objection  being  that 
France  would  not  consent  to  the  use  of 
Syria  for  that  purpose. 

The  London  Daily  Sketch,  whose  Colo- 
nial Office  news  is  usually  considered  au- 
thoritative, confirmed,  on  May  6,  the  fore- 
going intelligence  in  regard  to  the  creation 
of  a  number  of  Arab  States,  adding: 

"  This  would  secure  a  new  overland  aerial 
route  to  India  under  British  protection. 
Mesopotamia  is  to  become  the  great  depot 
and  training  ground  for  military  aviators 
in  the  service  of  the  British  Empire." 


ARAB  RIOTS  IN  PALESTINE 

[Period   Ended    May   15,    1921] 


THE  report  to  Winston  Churchill,  British 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  de- 
livered to  him  in  Jerusalem,  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Third  Palestinian  Arab  Con- 
gress, mentioned  in  these  columns  last 
month,  turns  out  to  be  a  rather  pitiful  yet 
formidable  document — pitiful,  because  the 
Arabs  say  that  they  are  now  being  punished 
for  their  loyalty  to  Englishmen,  and  for- 
midable, because  they  demand  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  British  mandate  in  its  present 
character. 

The  report  emphasizes  the  resentment  of 
the  Arabs  that  their  country  "  has  been  sold 
to  the  Zionists,"  while  they  deplore  greatly 
the  appointment  by  England,  in  complete 
disregard  of  the  feelings  of  the  inhabitants, 
of  a  Jew  as  High  Commissioner.  It  con- 
demns the  famous  Balfour  Declaration,  and 
on  this  condemnation  bases  the  following 
demands : 

That  the  principle  of  a  Xational  Home  for 
the  Jews  be  abolished. 

That  a  National  Government  be  established 
which  shall  be  responsible  to  a  Parliament 
elected  by  the  Palestinian  people  who  ex- 
isted  in    Palestine   before   the  war. 

That  a  stop  be  put  to  Jewish  immigration 
until  such  time  as  a  National  Government  is 
formed. 

That  laws  and  regulations  in  force  before 
the  Avar  shall  be  still  carried  out  and  all 
others  framed  after  the  British  occupation  be 
annulled,  and  no  new  laws  be  made  until  a 
National  Government  comes  into  being. 


That  Palestine  shall  not  be  separated  from 
her    sister    States. 

As  British  High  Commissioner,  Sir  Her- 
bert Samuel  has  authority  to  grant  and  to 
maintain  different  forms  of  government  in 
the  various  districts  of  Palestine,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  race,  political  aspirations  and 
intelligence  of  the  population.  Thus  east 
of  the  Jordan  he  has  created  the  State  of 
Trans-Jordania,  and  it  was  announced  by 
the  Jewish  Telegraph  Agency  on  April  30 
that  Prince  Zeid,  a  brother  of  Prince  Feisal, 
son  of  the  King  of  Hedjaz,  was  about  to  be 
officially  proclaimed  as  its  ruler,  under  the 
High  Commissioner. 

Early  in  April  intelligence  was  received 
by  Sir  Herbert  that  Bolshevist  agents  were 
on  their  way  from  Angora  to  stir  up  strife 
in  Palestine,  either  on  orders  from  Moscow 
or  at  the  instigation  of  Mustapha  Kemal 
Pasha,  the  Turkish  Nationalist  leader.  They 
first  attempted  to  intimidate  the  farmers  on 
the  Plain  of  Philistia,  which  runs  north  and 
southeast  of  Jaffa  and  Gaza.  But  the  peo- 
ple on  the  Plain  would  have  none  of  them, 
although  they  spoke  their  language,  for  here 
dwell  the  original  Zionists,  Russian  Jews 
who  had  left  Russia  several  years  before  the 
war,  and  had  even  prospered  under  the  old 
Turkish  regime.  Besides,  they  were  too 
busy  with  their  farming  to  give  ear  to  the 
Bolshevist  doctrine.    So  the  agents  of  Lenin 


520 


THE  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


sought  the  cities  and  met  with  better  suc- 
cess among  the  disaffected  Arabs. 

All  this  is  confirmed  by  a  dispatch  dated 
April  21,  sent  The  London  Times  by 
its  Jerusalem  correspondent.  What  then 
happened  is  told  by  dispatches  received  by 
the  Zionist  Organization  of  America,  supple- 
mented by  the  regular  news  agency  dis- 
patches from  Jerusalem  to  Paris  and  Lon- 
don: 

On  May  1  the  Jewish  laborers  of  the  old 
section  of  Jaffa,  with  the  full  permission 
of  the  authorities,  were  marching  in  pro- 
cession. Some  communists  tried  to  break 
up  the  procession.  As  the  rioting  increased 
an  attempt  was  made  to  preserve  order  by 
the  Jewish  Defense  Corps,  which  a  few  days 
later  was  to  be  demobilized  at  Tel-Aviv,  a 
suburb  of  Jaffa.  Thereupon  the  rioters 
freely  used  knives,  pistols  and  rifles,  killing 
27  Jews  and  wounding  150.  There  were  no 
Arab  casualties.  It  has  been  evidenced  be- 
fore the  investigation  conducted  by  Gen- 
eral Deeds  and  Judge  Norman  Bentwich 
that  the  Arab  police  participated  in  the 
rioting  and  actually  led  the  rioters  into  the 
houses  of  the  Jews,  particularly  in  the  at- 


tack upon  the  Immigrant.  House,  where  the 
incoming  Jews  stay  until  work  is  found  for 
them. 

On  May  7  another  disturbance  between 
Jews  and  Moslems  took  place  near  the  new 
agricultural  colony  of  Petah  Tikvah.  There 
were  some  casualties  before  the  military  in- 
tervened. On  the  same  day  at  Jaffa  the 
Moslem  longshoremen  refused  to  allow  Jew- 
ish immigrants  to  disembark  until  marines 
were  landed  from  a  British  man-of-war.  On 
the  same  day,  also,  some  isolated  Jewish 
farming  colonies  recently  settled  beyond  the 
Jordan  were  attacked  by  Bedouins,  who 
were  ultimately  driven  off  by  British 
troops.  Both  in  London  and  Paris  grave 
concern  is  felt  in  Government  circles. 

The  new  budget  contains  an  appropria- 
tion of  100,000  Egyptian  pounds  for  na- 
tional defense.  In  speaking  of  this  item, 
Sir  Herbert  said  that  the  recruiting  for 
Jewish  and  Arab  defense  units  would  be 
begun  at  an  early  date.  The  budget  esti- 
mates revenues  for  the  year  at  E.  £2,214,- 
000  and  expenditures  at  E.  £2,185,133.  To- 
day an  Egyptian  pound  is  worth  about 
$3.85. 


PEKSIA'S  NEW  ALIGNMENT 

[Period    Ended    May   15,    1921] 


TO  abrogate  the  treaty  with  Great  Brit- 
ain was  the  first  act  of  the  new  Gov- 
ernment installed  at  Teheran  by  the  coup 
d'etat  of  General  Reza  Khan,  leader  of  the 
Persian  Cossacks.  On  Feb.  26,  six  days 
after  the  installation,  the  Persian  Envoy  at 
Moscow,  Ali-Guli-Kahn  Moshaverol  Mema- 
lek,  and  two  representatives  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated 
Soviet  Republic,  Georgii  Vasilievich  Chi- 
cherin  and  Lev  Mikhailovich  Karakhan, 
signed  a  treaty  between  their  respective 
States  which  must  be  ratified  by  both  with- 
in three  months. 

The  text  of  this  treaty  was  immediately 
sent  abroad  by  the  head  of  the  Soviet  prop- 
aganda bureau,  not  through  the  usual  dip- 
lomatic channels,  nor  yet  to  foreign  agents 
of  the  bureau,  but  directly  to  persons  and 
publications  supposed  to  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  spread  of  Bolshevism  of  the  aca- 
demic or  parlor  variety. 

The  document  is  based  on  the  declarations 


of  the  Moscow  Government,  made  Jan.  14, 
1918,  and  June  26,  1919,  which  renounced 
any  attempt  to  pursue  the  invading  and  de- 
nationalizing practices  by  the  late  Czarist 
Government. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  coercive 
treaties  made  by  Moscow  with  other 
Transcaucasian  States,  it  pretends  to  be 
constructive  and  helpful  instead  of  destruc- 
tive and  dominating.  This  probably  ac- 
counts for  the  manner  in  which  it  was  dis- 
patched abroad.  The  former  arrangements 
between  the  late  Imperial  Government  and 
Persia  are  thus  abrogated  in  the  first 
clause: 

Accordingly,  wishing  to  see  the  Persian 
people  independent,  flourishing  and  freely 
trolling  the  whole  of  its  own  possessions, 
the  Government  of  the  R.  S.  F.  S.  R.  de- 
clares all  tractates,  treaties,  conventions 
and  agreements  concluded  by  the  late  Czarist. 
Government  -with  Persia  and  tending  to  the 
diminution  of  the  rights  of  the  Persian  peo- 
ple completely  null  and  void. 

Then   there   are   clauses   for  mutual   de- 


PERSIA'S  NEW   ALIGNMENT 


527 


fense„  which  guarantee  to  both  immunity 
from  use  of  their  territory  by  a  third  pow- 
er aiming  to  attack  either;  others  surren- 
dering to  the  Persians  "  the  financial  sums, 
valuables,  and  in  general  the  assets  and  lia- 
bilities of  the  Discount  Credit  Banks,"  in 
order  to  repair  the  losses  sustained  through 
the  Czarist  regime.  Further  clauses  abol- 
ish the  religious  and  political  missions  es- 
tablished for  the  Russification  of  Persia 
and  now  alleged  to  be  used  for  reactionary 
propaganda,  and  turn  the  buildings  of  these 
missions,  lands  and  other  property  "  to  the 
establishment  of  schools  and  other  cultural 
educational  institutions."  Others  condemn 
the  policy  of  imperialism  and  capitalism, 
which  causes  the  exploitation  of  undevel- 
oped countries  by  the  rich,  and,  wishing 
Persia  to  stand  upon  her  own  feet,  the 
high  contracting  power  at  Moscow  hands 
over  to  Persia  all  the  foreign-owned  rail- 
ways, docks,  ships  and  lines  of  transporta- 
tion and  of  communication,  whether  the 
Czarist  share  was  a  controlling  share  or 
not. 

The  persons  who  received  copies  of  the 


document  abroad  are  expected  by  the  Mos- 
cow Government  to  contrast  it  not  with 
other  treaties  made  by  the  same  Govern- 
ment but  with  the  "  capitalistic "  treaty 
made  by  Great  Britain  with  Persia. 

On  April  9,  Zia-ed-Din,  the  new  Premier, 
entertained  foreign  officials  at  a  dinner  in 
Teheran  and  explained  the  foreign  policy 
of  his  Government,  as  some  of  his  guests 
had  taken  offense  at  the  abrupt  language 
employed  in  the  published  programme.  (See 
Current  History  for  May). 

He  declared  that  the  relations  with  Great 
Britain  were  now  completely  cordial,  owing 
to  the  "  disappearance "  of  the  Anglo- 
Persian  agreement,  which  "  had  bred  clouds 
of  misunderstanding."  Persia,  he  continued, 
depended  on  sincerely  good  relations  with 
Russia  and  England.  In  addition  she  turned 
to  America,  who  had  ever  opposed  the 
Anglo-Persian  pact,  for  agricultural  and  to 
France  for  legal  advisers,  and  she  also  con- 
templated employing  Belgians  and  Swedes. 

On  May  1  the  British  troops  left  Teheran* 
just  as  a  Russian  diplomatic  mission  en- 
tered it. 


THE   NEW  SYRIAN   BOUNDARY 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  the  article  entitled  "  Secret  Pacts  of  France 
and  Italy  With  Turkey,"  in  your  May  issue,  it  is 
stated:  "  The  frontier  between  Turkey  and  Syria 
will  start  from  a  point  to  be  chosen  on  the  Gulf 
of  Alexandretta,  immediately  south  of  Payas, 
and  will  extend  on  a  straight  line  toward 
Meidan-Ekbese,  the  railroad  station  and  the 
town  being  assigned  to  Syria." 

Now,  there  is  no  such  town  as  Meidan-Ekbese, 
although  there  is   such  a  town  as   Meidan,   and 


there  is  another,  on  a.  line  almost  due  west, 
called  Ekbese.  These,  two  towns  are  about  four 
hours'  horse  ride  from  each  other,  and  are  sup- 
plied by  the  one  railroad  station,  about  half 
way  between  them.  This  station  is  called  Mei- 
dan-Ekbese, and  I  had  the  misfortune  to  be  sta- 
tioned there  for  three  months. 

The  towns  are  situated  on  the  foothills  of  the 
Amanus  Mountains  and  on  the  old  boundary  be- 
tween Cilicia  and  Syria  that  the  Turks  acknowl- 
edged before  the  war.     In.  conceding  this  terri- 


1N£M1\^  Boundary  [Treaty  of  Sevres,  Aug.  10,1920.] 

New  Boundary  [Franco -Turkish  Agreement.  Man  11,1921] 


Scale  of  Miles. 

0  10  20X40  50  100 

t.  t>    i    i — il i 


t(bn0mar 


♦(BRmsH^AQA 

/  MANDATE)^ 


DATE)\ 

Mosmr 


THE    NEW    NORTHERN    FRONTIER    OF    SYRIA,     ESTABLISHED    BY    THE    FRANCO-TURKISH 
AGREEMENT,    GIVES    TURKEY    A    NEW    SLICE    OF    TERRITORY    EXTENDING    SOUTHWARD 

TO   THE    BAGDAD    RAILWAY 


528 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


tory  to  the  Turks  the  French  must  have  been 
entirely  governed  by  the  strategic  military  ad- 
vantages to  be  gained  therefrom. 

This  treaty  apparently  leaves  them  the  rail- 
road junction  of  Mouslimie,  situated  to  the  north 
of  Aleppo;  without  this  the  Turk  cannot  cause 
any  trouble  to  the  French  project  of  extending 
the  Bagdad  Railway  to  Bagdad,  one  of  the 
pet  dreams  of  Georges  Picot.  It  was  the  cap- 
ture of  this  junction  by  the  British  troops  that 
brought  about  the  capitulation  of  the  Turkish 
armies  in  Mesopotamia.  While  it  would  be  pos- 
sible for  the  Turks  to  build  a  new  line  from 
Islahe  to  Chobenbeg,  the  expense  would  be  enor- 
mous and  the  return  infinitesimal,  although  the 
military  expediencies  of  the  future  might  make 
it  necessary  for  such  an  excursion. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  French  really  control 
the  famous  Berlin  to  Bagdad  Railroad,  a  dream 
that  has   been   theirs   for   many  years.      During 


the  period  that  the  ultimate  mandating  of  these 
territories  was  in  doubt  to  the  general  public 
our  ally  used  every  means  of  secret  diplomacy 
at  her  command  to  persuade  the  other  nations 
that  it  was  she  alone  who  could  control  these 
areas.  Agents  sent  out  seemed  to  suffer  from 
a  severe  attack  of  Anglophobia,  and  would  not 
take  advice  from  men  who  had  been  in  intimate 
touch  with  the  Turks  and  Arabs  for  many  years. 
I  venture  to  say,  had  the  French  been  willing 
to  accept  advice  then,  the  massacres  in  Adana 
and  Aintab  would  never  have  taken  place ;  they 
would  still  retain  Cilicia,  and  Mustapha  Kemal 
would  not  now  be  the  power  he  is. 

I  have  called  your  attention  to  this  little  mat- 
ter as  a  point  of  information,  thinking  it  may 
be  useful  to  you,  perhaps,  at  some  future  date. 

H.    SHAW. 
354  Seventy-fourth  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y..  May 
1,   1921. 


INDIA'S  WELCOME  TO  HER  NEW  VICEROY 

Lord  Reading's  arrival  in  Bombay  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  assumed  the  vast  responsi- 
bilities of  his  new  office — Views  of  the  retiring  Viceroy  on  the  present  situation— 
The  attitude  of  Afghanistan 


INDIA,  early  in  April,  was  the  scene  of 
an  event  of  national  and  international 
importance.  Lord  Reading,  former  Chief 
Justice  of  Great  Britain  and  now  the  new 
Viceroy  of  England's  Indian  dominions,  ar- 
rived in  Bombay  on  April  2.  He  took  over 
formal  possession  of  all  official  functions 
from  Lord  Chelmsford,  the  retiring  Viceroy, 
and  auspiciously  began  his  administration 
with  addresses  in  which  he  expressed  his 
deep  desire  to  get  close  to  the  heart  of 
India  during  his  coming  term  of  office.  Ke 
further  made  an  appeal  to  all  classes  and 
parties  for  co-operation  in  the  gigantic  task 
of  solving  India's  momentous  problems. 

The  new  Viceroy,  on  landing  at  Bombay, 
received  a  cordial  welcome  from  a  brilliant 
throng  of  high  officials,  including  Sir 
George  Lloyd,  the  Governor  of  Bombay; 
General  Lord  Rawlinson,the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Indian  Army;  the  members  of 
the  Viceroy's  executive  council,  high  naval, 
military  and  civil  officials,  and  a  number 
of  Indian  Princes.  The  Municipal  Corpora- 
tion presented  an  address,  to  which  Lord 
Reading  replied.  He  then  inspected  the 
guard  of  honor  and  proceeded  forthwith  to 
the  Government  House  with  an  escort  of 
cavalry.    The  route  was  lined  by  troops  and 


by  crowds  of  spectators,  who  heartily 
cheered  the  new  Viceroy  as  he  passed. 

In  his  reply  to  the  Municipal  Corpora- 
tion's address  of  welcome  Lord  Reading  de- 
clared that  he  fully  recognized  the  serious- 
ness of  his  undertaking  and  the  vast  re- 
sponsibilities which  would  devolve  upon  him. 
He  referred  to  the  allusion  made  by  the 
Corporation  to  the  ancient  race  from  which 
he  was  descended  (Lord  Reading  is  oi: 
Hebrew  origin)  and  expressed  the  hope  that 
this  Eastern  blood  might  quicken  his  ap- 
preciation of  the  aims  and  aspirations  of 
the  Indian  people  and  enable  him  "  to  catch 
the  almost  inaudible  cries,  the  inarticulate 
whispers  of  the  multitudes."  He  concluded 
by  stressing  his  belief  in  justice  admin- 
istered with  rigorous  impartiality.  These 
words  created  a  strong  and  favorable  im- 
pression, which  was  enhanced  by  the  new 
Viceroy's  subsequent  utterances. 

In  an  extemporaneous  speech  made  before 
the  Indian  Merchants'  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Bombay  on  April  3,  in  response  to 
an  address  of  farewell  presented  by  that 
body*  the  Viceroy  referred  to  the  fact  that 
members  of  this  body  had  called  on  him 
and  presented  a  detailed  list  of  what  they 
considered    their    legitimate    political    and 


INDIA'S  WELCOME  TO  HER  NEW  VICEROY 


529 


economic  grievances,  from  which  they  asked 
relief.  Lord  Reading's  comment  on  these 
grievances  was  cautious  in  the  extreme,  and 
in  the  course  of  his  address  he  emphasized 
again  and  again  his  view  that  he  should 
not  yield  to  the  temptation  to  discuss  any 
of  these  01  other  problems  before  he  was 
able  to  give  to  them  the  fullest  and  most 
thorough  study.  He  also  pointed  out  to  the 
association  that  many  of  India's  present 
economic  and  financial  difficulties  were  but 
a  common  heritage  with  the  nations  of 
Europe  of  the  consequences  of  the  Euro- 
pean war.  Speaking  of  the  welcome  which 
the  people  of  Bombay,  as  well  as  the  high 
officials  had  given  him,  he  declared  that 
this  had  been  to  him  an  encouragement,  as 
tending  to  show  that  "  the  people  have  not 
set  their  hearts  against  the  new  Viceroy, 
but  rather  that  they  gladly  welcomed  a 
Viceroy  who  wished  .to  be  in  sympathy  with 
them.'*   He  added: 

It  is  from  this  that  I  take  some  comfort  to 
myself.  It  leads  me  to  study  the  situation 
with  hopefulness,  which  I  trust  I  shall  carry 
to  the  end  of  my  responsibilities.  If  only 
Indians  throughout  India  and  the  British, 
with  myself,  all  work  in  union  for  the  closest 
co-operation  in  the  development  of  India's 
resources,  for  India's  prosperity,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  India  will  become  prosper- 
ous and  happy. 

Tha  general  tone  of  Indian  press  com- 
ment was  reflected  by  the  Pioneer  of  Alla- 
bahad,  which  said: 

Every  thoughtful  person  will  appreciate 
Lord  Reading's  determination  to  study  con- 
ditions before  committing  himself  to  a 
definite  line  of  action.  He  comes  to  India  at 
a  singuariy  difficult  time.  It  will  tax  all  his 
statesmanship  to  set  the  new  Constitution 
firmly  on  its  feet  and  to  guide  India's  des- 
tinies safely  through  the  period  of  transition, 
but  he  may  rest  assured  of  the  cordial  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation  of  every  loyal  sub- 
ject and  well-wisher  of  India  in  the  great 
task  lying  before  him. 

After  a  short  visit  at  Delhi  the  Viceroy 
went  to  Lahore  in  the  Punjab,  still  smart- 
ing with  the  sting  ^f  the  Amritsar  "  mas- 
sacres." Replying  at  a  garden  party  to  an 
address  of  welcome,  Lord  Reading,  after 
speaking  in  terms  of  high  appreciation  of 
the  part  played  by  the  Punjab  in  the  war 
and  voicing  the  great  interest  felt  by  the 
King-Emperor  in  the  welfare  of  the  prov- 
ince, passed  to  a  frank  reference  to  the 
Amritsar  controversy.  Repeating  the  view 
of  the  Duke  of  Connaught  he  urged  that 
bygones   be   bygones,   and   announced   that 


the  Governor  had  appointed  a  committee 
to  recommend  adequate  compensation  for 
the  victims  of  the  Amritsar  troubles,  as  well 
as  for  their  families.  Again  the  Viceroy 
urged  co-operation  in  order  to  give  the 
fullest  effect  to  the  King-Emperor's  promises 
to  India,  of  which  the  reform  laws  and  the 
new  Legislature  were  the  first  earnest.  In 
the  course  of  the  next  day  or  so  the  Vice- 
roy paid  a  flying  visit  to  Amritsar,  where 
he  inspected  the  Jallinwallabagh  (Sunken 
Gardens),  scene  of  the  shooting  of  1919. 

The  situation  that  confronted  Lord  Read- 
ing, difficult  as  it  was,  with  Mr.  Gandhi's 
formidable  movement  for  non-co-operation 
still  very  much  alive,  and  a  large  body  of 
popular  discontent  to  cope  with,  had  some 
compensating  features.  One  ray  of  hope 
was  the  excellent  record  which  the  new 
Legislature  at  Delhi  had  made  in  the  few 
short  weeks  since  its  opening.  Lord  Chelms- 
ford, the  retiring  Viceroy,  referred  to  this 
hopefully  on  his  arrival  in  England.  The 
movement  of  Mr.  Gandhi,  he  said,  whatevei 
its  influence  among  the  lower  classes,  was 
losing  ground  with  the  educated  element, 
who  had  already  given  signs  of  being  much 
impressed  by  the  new  advisory  council  at 
Delhi  and  the  other  reforms  being  insti- 
tuted, according  to  the  Montagu-Chelmsford 
legislation. 

One  source  of  anxiety  was  the  outcome 
of  the  political  mission  of  Sir  Henry  Dobbs 
to  Kabul,  the  capital  of  Afghanistan.  The 
Amir  Amanullah  had  made  the  following 
demands  as  conditions  for  the  making  of  a 
new  treaty:  Payment  of  subsidy  arrears 
due  to  his  late  father,  Amir  Habibullah ;  per- 
mission to  import  arms,  free  of  duty;  the 
cession  of  the  territory  of  Waziristan;  the 
right  to  admit  Soviet  representatives  into 
Kandahar,  Ghazni  and  Jalalabad,  and  the 
grant  of  a  seaport.  Of  these  demands,  that 
regarding  the  admission  of  the  Bolshevist 
consulates  presented  most  difficulties,  in 
view  of  the  intensity  of  Bolshevist  propa- 
ganda in  Afghanistan.  Simultaneously  with 
the  publication  of  the  Anglo-Russian  trade 
agreement  on  March  17  there  was  made 
public  in  The  London  Times  a  sharp  letter 
sent  by  Sir  Robert  Home  for  the  British 
Government  to  the  Soviet  emissaries,  call- 
ing their  attention  to  the  Bolshevist  activi- 
ties in  Afghanistan,  declaring  them  in 
flagrant  contradiction  to  the  terms  of  the 
trade   agreement,   and    insisting    that    the 


530 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


agreement  could  not  become  effective  unless 
such  propaganda  ceased  immediately.  What- 
ever may  be  the  Amir's  desires,  affected  by 
the  ties  which  he  has  made  with  Moscow, 
it  was  considered  scarcely  probable  that 
Great  Britain  would  consent  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  official  nests  of  Bolshevist  in- 
trigue on  the  very  border  of  India.  It  seemed 
likely  toward  the  middle  and  end  of  April 
that  the  negotiations  would  be  considerably 
protracted.  Severe  fighting  with  hostile 
Afghan  guerrilla  leaders  went  on  sporadi- 
cally throughout  this  period. 

Sweeping  demands  were  made  by  Mr. 
Chotani,  the  head  of  the  Indian  Moslem 
delegation  to  London,  and  Sheik  M.  H. 
Kidwai,  in  a  joint  letter  sent  by  them  to 
Mr.  Montagu,  the  British  Secretary  of  State 
for  India,  on  April  16.  They  asked  no  less 
than  that  the  whole  mandate  for  Jerusalem 
should  be  changed  to  conform  to  the  Moslem 
view,  that  the  British  army  should  be  with- 


drawn from  the  Ismid  Peninsula  on  the 
ground  that  it  hindered  the  union  of  the 
Turkish  Nationalists  with  their  kinsmen  at 
Constantinople  and  also  because  "  Indians 
of  all  schools  of  thought  and  creed  strongly 
disapprove  of  Indian  soldiers  being  now  em- 
ployed beyond  the  frontiers  of  their  country 
when  no  colonial  soldiers  are  so  employed 
and  when  no  Indian  interests  are  threat- 
ened." Other  representations  blamed  Eng- 
land for  the  Greek  occupation  of  Smyrna 
and  for  the  bloodshed  which  it  occasioned, 
and  demanded  that  the  Dardanelles  and  the 
Bosporus  should  be  closed  to  all  States  but 
Turkey.  This  letter  was  a  noted  example 
of  the  spirit  of  solidarity  which  now  unites 
the  Indian  Moslems  with  their  Turkish 
brethren  against  Great  Britain,  a  feeling 
which  Mr.  Gandhi  has  turned  to  great  ad- 
vantage in  enlisting  the  co-operation  of  the 
Moslem  brothers  Ali  in  his  anti-English 
campaign. 


JAPAN'S  CROWN  PRINCE  IN  ENGLAND 

How  Prince  Hirohito  was  received  by  King  George  and  all  the  great  dignitaries 
of  the  British  realm — The   troubles   of  the  Japanese   Government   at   home 


TpROM  the  English  port  of  Spithead  on  the 
•*■  morning  of  May  7  watchers  glimpsed 
through  leveled  telescopes  the  glint  of  steel 
far  off  on  the  horizon;  then,  as  they  con- 
tinued watching,  they  distinguished  the  flut- 
ter of  a  flag  showing  a  red  orb  against  a 
white  background.  "That  is  the  Katori!  " 
they  exclaimed.  Soon  afterward  the  Japa- 
nese battleship  Katori,  bearing  Prince  Hirc- 
hito,  the  Japanese  Crown  Prince,  with  an 
official  party  of  eighteen  prominent  Japa- 
nese, entered  the  port  and  the  British 
battleships  drawn  up  to  welcome  the  heir 
to  Japan's  throne  boomed  forth  a  thunder- 
ous welcome  from  their  biggest  guns,  which 
the  Katori  answered. 

So  Prince  Hirohito,  representing  the 
throne  of  one  of  the  five  great  powers  of 
the  world  and  of  the  greatest  military  power 
of  Asia,  began  his  historic  visit  to  Europe. 
This  was  the  first  time  in  history  that  a 
Japanese  Crown  Prince  had  left  the  shores 
of  Japan  to  visit  the  nations  of  the  West. 

Political  wiseacres  declared  that  Prince 
Hirohito's  visit  was  timed  to  predispose  the 


British  favorably  to  the  permanent  renewal 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance.  An  official 
explanation  was  offered  by  Premier  Hara 
in  presenting  to  the  Diet  on  March  18  last 
an  estimate  of  the  expenses  required  for 
the  projected  tour.  "  The  imperial  visit," 
he  sa:d,  "  has  for  its  aim  an  inspection  of 
the  general  condition  of  the  Western  pow- 
ers, and  the  opportunity  will,  of  course,  be 
utilized  of  visiting  different  European  mon- 
archs.  The  trip  will  be  of  great  benefit, 
not  only  to  his  Highness,  but  also  to  the 
Japanese  Nation  in  various  respects." 

Mo^t  of  the  British  press  comments  on 
the  Prince's  visit  were  complimentary  in  the 
extreme.  The  London  Daily  Telegraph,  in 
referring  to  the  danger  of  war  between 
Japan  and  the  United  States  and  the  pos- 
sibility that  the  Anglo-Japanese  treaty 
might  be  invoked'  to  gain  British  support 
for  Japan  in  such  a  war,  expressed  the  con- 
viction that  Great  Britain  would  never  join 
the  Japanese  against  America,  and  declared 
that  the  danger  of  war  between  the  two 
great  rival  powers  of  the  Pacific  could  be 


JAPAN'S  CROWN  PRINCE  IN  ENGLAND 


531 


averted  "  by  a  full  and  complete  under- 
standing between  America  and  Japan," 
adding:  "  Such  an  agreement  could  nowhere 
arouse  deeper  satisfaction  than  in  Great 
Britain,  the  sincere  admirer  and  friend  of 
both." 

London  on  May  9  accorded  to  Prince  Hiro- 
hito  a  tumultuous  welcome.  This  was  tne 
first  visit  of  a  foreign  dignitary  to  the  Eng- 
lish capital  since  1914.  Full  honors  of  State 
were  extended  to  the  Japanese  heir-appar- 
ent. Accompanied  by  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
Prince  Hirohito  arrived  at  Victoria  Station 
on  a  special  train  from  Portsmouth  and  was 
greeted  cordially  by  King  George,  the  Duke 
of  Connaught  and  the  Duke  of  York.  The 
King  wore  the  uniform  of  a  Field  Marshal 
and  the  sash  of  the  Japanese  Order  of  the 
Rising  Sun;  the  two  Dukes  were  in  naval 
uniform.  The  brilliant  suite  of  British  offi- 
cialdom, which  included  Earl  Curzon,  Sec- 
retary for  Foreign  Affairs;  Admiral  Beatty, 
commander  of  the  Grand  Fleet;  Sir  Henry 
Wilson,  Chief  of  the  British  Imperial  Staff, 


HIROHITO   SHINNO 

Crown,  Prince  of  Japan,  wliose  visit  to  Eng- 
land is  unprecedented  in  Japanese  annals 
(Times    Wide    World   Pliotos) 


and  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  and  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  Japanese  Embassy  in  London 
stood  at  salute  while  the  bands  intoned  the 
solemn  strain  of  the  Japanese  national 
anthem.  Through  streets  lined  with  cheer- 
ing multitudes  and  cordoned  with  troops  the 
Prince  was  finally  driven  off  in  a  State  car- 
riage, where  he  sat  side  by  side  with  the 
British  King.  The  military  escort  and  House- 
hold Cavalry  rode  into  position  at  the  rear 
of  the  royal  coach,  while  the  bands  at  the 
station  played  again  the  Japanese  anthem. 
The  dense  throng  of  sightseers  standing 
behind  the  cordon  of  troops  sent  forth 
stormy  greetings,  waving  hundreds  of  hand- 
kerchiefs a^  the  Prince  rolled  by.  To  ail 
this  welcome  the  Prince  responded  with 
salutes. 

All  the  pre-war  brilliance  of  great  state 
functions  was  invoked  at  the  state  banquet 
at  Buckingham  Palace  the  same  afternoon. 
One  hundred  and  thirty  distinguished  guests 
sat  at  the  banquet,  which  was  held  in  the 
state  ballroom.  Besides  many  members  of 
the  royal  family,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  Earl 
Curzon,  Mr.  Balfour  and  Mr.  Asquith  were 
present.  The  German  Ambassador  also  at- 
tended. 

In  toasting  the  royal  guest,  for  whom 
Viscount  Chinda,  the  former  Japanese  Am- 
bassador to  England,  acted  as  interpreter, 
King  George  said  that  the  visit  was  sym- 
bolic of  the  friendship  which  had  so  long 
united  the  two  island  empires.  The  King 
referred  to  England's  economic,  industrial 
and  political  difficulties  quite  frankly,  say- 
ing: "  Because  Prince  Hirohito  is  our  friend 
we  are  not  afraid  for  him  to  see  our  troubles. 
We  know  his  sympathy  with  us  and  he  will 
understand."  Through  Viscount  Chinda, 
Prince  Hirohito  expressed  his  profound 
gratification  at  the  warm  welcome  he  had 
received  and  for  the  harmonious  relations 
that  united  his  country  with  England. 

The  Japanese  Crown  Prince  might  very 
well  have  replied  to  King  George's  frank 
confessions  of  domestic  trouble  by  a  similar 
confession  on  behalf  of  Japan.  The  present 
Ministry,  headed  by  Premier  Hara,  still 
bears  the  brunt  of  the  attacks  of  the  Kensei- 
kai,  or  Opposition  Party,  which  have  rained 
upon  the  Cabinet  for  months.  The  Kenseikai 
on  April  8  passed  a  resolution  declaring 
that  the  Hara  Ministry  had  precipitated  the 
empire  into  a  political  crisis  "  that  has  never 
been  more  dangerous  "  and  had  pursued  a 


532 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


"  retrogressive  and  disgraceful  diplomatic 
policy,  which  has  caused  a  complete  loss  of 
national  prestige  abroad,  and  a  loose  and 
injudicious  internal  policy,  which  has 
brought  about  popular  unrest  at  home." 
Many  cases  of  official  corruption  and  ir- 
regularities were  charged,  and  the  Govern- 
ment was  subjected  to  a  new  attack  for  its 
Siberian  policy. 

With  regard  to  the  difficulties  with 
America,  the  Japanese  Government  has 
adopted  a  waiting  policy.  The  whole  matter 
of  Japanese  immigration  and  civic  rights 
will  come  again  to  the  fore  when  the  new 
immigration  treaty  with  the  United  States 
is  completed  and  published.  As  for  the  dis- 
pute over  the  Island  of  Yap,  the  Diplomatic 
Advisory  Council  on  April  22  approved  the 
attitude  of  the  Cabinet  on  the  whole  man- 
date question.  According  to  the  Nichi-Nichi, 
the  Cabinet  had  decided  to  stand  firm  on  its 
policy   that    as   the   Allies   themselves   had 


allocated  Yap  to  Japan  her  rights  were 
beyond  question.  Discussions  were  still  con- 
tinuing between  the  United  States  and  the 
Allies  on  America's  objections  to  this  man- 
date. Meanwhile  the  Cabinet  decided  on 
April  27  to  place  Yap — as  well  as  the  other 
former  German  islands  given  to  Japan — 
under  a  civil  administration,  subject,  how- 
ever, to  the  control  of  the  Ministry  of 
Marine.  Through  April  and  May  many  offi- 
cial and  semi-official  personages  took  oc- 
casion to  disclaim  the  charge  that  Japan 
entertained  any  warlike  intentions.  The 
navy  increase  was  attributed  merely  to 
Japan's  need  of  adequate  defense,  in  view 
of  Japan's  new  position  as  an  island  power 
in  the  Pacific.  Official  information  was  re- 
ceived in  Washington  toward  the  end  of 
April  that  the  Japanese  conscription  laws 
had  been  made  more  rigid  and  had  been  ex- 
tended to  Japanese  residents  in  the  Philip- 
pines, the  East  Indies  and  the  South  Sea. 


MEXICO'S  PROSPECTS  OF  RECOGNITION 

President  Obregon  s  policy  opposed  by  the  Mexican  Congress  and  Supreme  Court,  the 
hitch  being  over  the  constitutional  article  limiting  subsoil  rights  of  foreigners — Over- 
whelming  predominance  of  trade  with    United  States 

[Period   Ended    Mav    i.i,    1921] 


T  T  was  announced  in  Washington  on  May 
■*■  10  that  the  Administration's  Mexican 
policy  had  been  determined,  but  that  the 
President  and  Secretary  Hughes  were  not 
ready  to  make  it  public.  The  indications 
were  that  there  would  be  an  exchange  of 
notes,  serving  as  a  basis  for  recognition,  in 
which  Mexico  would  acknowledge  its  inten- 
tion to  satisfy  international  obligations  and 
protect  American  rights  and  interests.  There 
will  be  no  demand  for  a  treaty  containing 
guarantees  to  alter  Article  XXVII.  of  the 
Mexican  Constitution,  such  as  Secretary 
Fall   desired. 

George  T.  Summerlin,  American  Charge 
d'Affaires  in  Mexico  City,  was  summoned  to 
Washington  by  the  State  Department,  and 
arrived  there  on  April  18,  to  confer  regard- 
ing the  situation.  President  Obregon  has 
shown  a  disposition  to  reconcile  differences, 
but  the  Mexican  Congress  apparently  is  in 
no  hurry  to  follow  his  lead.  It  is  consider- 
ing the  amendment  or  interpretation  of  Ar- 


ticle XXVII.  of  the  Constitution,  relating  to 
subsoil  rights  of  aliens,  under  which  Amer- 
ican oil  companies  fear  confiscation,  and 
there  is  an  appeal  before  the  Mexican  Su- 
preme Court  by  American  interests  growing 
out  of  Carranza's  virtual  seizure  of  certain 
oil  properties  under  the  authority  of  Article 
XXVII.  But  President  Obregon  cannot 
coerce  either  Congress  or  the  Supreme  Court 
unless  he  sets  up  as  a  dictator. 

Great  Britain's  position  was  explained  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  May  5  by  Cecil 
Harmsworth,  in  reply  to  Major  Christopher 
Lowther,  who  urged  recognition  on  the 
ground  that  Mexico  would  never  become 
stable  until  it  was  granted.  Mr.  Harms- 
worth  admitted  that  recognition  would  be 
an  advantage  both  to  Mexico  and  to  Great 
Britain,  but  regretted  to  say  that  report;? 
reaching  the  Government  of  the  lack  of  se- 
curity and  stability  still  existing  in  Mexico 
rendered  it  impossible.  The  Foreign  Office, 
he   added,   fully   realized    the   disadvantage 


MEXICO'S  PROSPECTS  OF  RECOGNITION 


533 


of  the  present  position,  and  would  gladly 
accord  recognition  to  Mexico  whenever  that 
became  possible.  It  was  officially  announced 
at  Mexico  City  on  May  11  that  Austria  had 
formally  recognized  the  Obregon  Govern- 
ment. 

Senor  Urquidi,  in  charge  of  the  Mexican 
Legation  in  London,  on  April  19  gave  out  a 
statement  on  the  authority  of  President 
Obregon  concerning  Mexico's  foreign  policy. 
Its  principal  points  were:  A  hearty  welcome 
to  all  business  men,  restitution  of  property 
commandeered  by  previous  Governments, 
guarantees  for  the  protection  of  Mexicans 
and  foreigners  against  attacks  on  their  lives 
and  property,  and  a  series  of  extra  sessions 
of  Congress  to  inaugurate  legal  reforms. 
With  reference  to  oil,  it  was  stated  to  be 
the  intention  of  the  Government  that  the 
new  regulations  should  not  embody  anything 
of  a  confiscatory  nature,  and  that  they 
should  not  receive  a  retroactive  interpreta- 
tion. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  delayed  recog- 
nition is  a  revival  of  revolutionary  talk,  and 
of  incipient  uprisings  which  had  been  quick- 
ly suppressed.  General  Murguia  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  border  with  twenty-two  men, 
and  was  completely  routed.  Benjamin 
Garza,  his  second  in  command,  surrendered 
after  being  wounded  in  a  fight.  Esteban 
Cantu,  who  was  removed  a  few  months  ago 
from  his  position  as  Governor  of  Lower  Cal- 
ifornia, invaded  Tia  Juana  with  a  small  band 
of  followers  early  on  the  morning  of  May 
3,  firing  volleys  at  the  jail  and  several  build- 
ings, but  no  one  was  wounded. 

President  Obregon's  orders  to  show  no 
mercy  to  rebels  are  being  carried  out.  San- 
chez de  Castillo  faced  a  firing  squad  on 
April  28  at  Monterey,  after  conviction  by 
court-martial,  and  Jose  Moreno  and  Antonio 
Alderete  were  shot  on  April  29,  following 
their  capture  near  Nuevo  Loredo  by  Federal 
forces  operating  in  the  State  of  Tamaulipas. 
Troops  were  pursuing  a  small  rebel  band 
headed  by  Daniel  Ruiz,  which  raided  the  vil- 
lage of  Villapuato,  in  the  State  of  Michoa- 
can,  on  April  24. 

Fifteen  Mexican  bandits  held  up  officials 
of  the  Atlantic  Gulf  and  West  Indies  Oil 
Company  and  obtained  about  130,000  pesos 
in  Mexican  gold  near  Tampico  on  April  21, 
according  to  advices  from  that  city.  Ten 
persons  were  killed,  including  two  of  the 
bandits.     The  money,  intended  for  payment 


of  employes,  was  being  taken  in  an  automo- 
bile for  transport  to  the  southern  fields  in 
charge  of  the  assistant  paymaster,  Salvador 
Davalos,  and  his  brother,  Trinidad,  guarded 
by  six  Mexican  soldiers.  Two  miles  from 
Tampico  the  party  was  stopped  by  a  wagon 
blocking  the  road,  and  the  bandits  opened 
fire  from  ambush.  Trinidad  Davalos,  five 
soldiers,  two  chauffeurs  and  two  bandits 
were  killed.  The  paymaster,  the  remaining 
soldier  and  two  bandits  were  wounded.  Fed- 
eral troops  were  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  dozen 
robbers,  who  fled. 

Linn  Gale,  the  American  agitator  and 
draft  evader,  who  was  deported  to  Guate- 
mala on  account  of  his  Bolshevist  activities, 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States  author- 
ities. Guatemala  had  refused  to  receive 
him,  so  the  Mexican  officials  sent  him  back 
to  Laredo,  Texas,  where  he  arrived  on  April 
22,  and  was  turned  over  by  immigration  of- 
ficials to  the  military  authorities  at  Fort 
Mcintosh.  Another  agitator,  James  Clop- 
ton,  said  to  be  an  American,  was  expelled 
from  Mexico  on  April  29  as  a  "  pernicious 
foreigner." 

Despite  political  uprisings  and  predatory 
crimes,  President  Obregon  is  making  honest 
efforts  to  rehabilitate  Mexico  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world  by  arranging  to  pay  the  interest 
on  Mexico's  foreign  debt,  preparatory  to  re- 
funding the  principal.  To  that  end  repre- 
sentatives of  foreign  banking  houses  were 
invited,  on  April  16,  to  go  to  Mexico  and 
offer  advice  and  suggestions  how  this  is  to 
be  done.  President  Obregon  is  said  to  have 
assumed  personal  charge  of  this  phase  of 
the  financial  situation,  but  his  efforts,  ac- 
cording to  Wall  Street  reports,  were  coldly 
received  by  New  York  financiers. 

Mexico's  external  debts  aggregate  some 
$125,000,000,  divided  as  follows:  Five  per 
cents,  of  1899,  outstanding,  $46,448,000,  de- 
faulted July  1,  1914,  accumulated  interest, 
Sl1^  per  cent.;  4  per  cents,  of  1904,  outstand- 
ing, $37,037,500,  defaulted  June  1,  1914,  ac- 
cumulated interest  26  per  cent.,  and  the 
consolidated  3  per  cent,  silver  bonds  of  1886, 
outstanding,  $42,915,825,  defaulted  June  30, 
1914,  accumulated  interest  19  V2  per  cent. 
Besides  these  there  are  $96,615,100  outstand- 
ing in  5  per  cent,  internal  redeemable  bonds 
and  the  following  bonds  of  the  National 
Railways  of  Mexico:  Prior  lien,  4V2  per 
cents.,    $84,804,115;    sinking   fund   gold   5s5 


534 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


$50,748,575;  prior  lien  gold  4^  per  cents., 
$23,000,000,  and  consolidated  gold  4  per 
cents,  $27,740,000.  All  the  latter  also  de- 
faulted in  1914. 

The  total  direct  indebtedness  of  the  Mexi- 
can Government  is  thus  about  $500,000,000, 
including  defaulted  interest  of  about  $100,- 
000,000.  In  addition  to  the  report  that  pay- 
ment of  this  interest  would  begin  very  soon, 
it  was  also  stated  that  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment was  about  to  start  purchases  of  rail- 
road equipment  for  the  use  of  its  State  line, 
the  National  Railways  of  Mexico.  An  order 
for  ninety-one  locomotives  for  immediate 
delivery  was  placed  in  the  United  States. 

Another  evidence  of  President  Obregon's 
good-will  is  his  executive  order,  made  pub- 
lic on  April  28,  for  the  return  of  all  prop- 
erties seized  by  former  Governments  in  the 
States  of  Coahuila,  Chihuahua,  Nuevo  Leon 
and  Tamaulipas.  His  only  conditions  were 
that  irrigation  and  land  development  proj- 
ects under  way  when  the  properties  were 
abandoned  be  resumed,  and  that  Mexican 
labor  be  employed.  The  properties  owned 
by  the  Mormons  in  the  State  of  Chihuahua 
were  to  be  returned  at  once.  Other  Ameri- 
cans will  receive  their  land  on  proof  of  own- 
ership. The  Mexican  Investment  Company 
announced  that  it  would  begin  immediately 


the  development  of  its  property.  The  com- 
pany previously  had  derived  its  sole  income 
from  royalties  from  land  which  it  had 
leased.  Simultaneously  with  this  order,  Pres- 
ident Obregon  directed  final  payment  of 
500,000  pesos  to  the  former  owners  of  the 
ranch,  in  the  State  of  Durango,  presented  to 
Francisco  Villa  on  his  retirement  from  a 
career  of  banditry. 

Mexico's  reconstructive  measures  have 
naturally  had  a  great  effect  on  her  foreign 
trade.  With  the  country  quiet,  except  the 
minor  disturbances  in  the  north  already 
mentioned,  Mexicans  have  been  able  to  buy 
more  from  abroad,  and  it  is  estimated  that 
during  the  present  fiscal  year  exports  from 
the  United  States  will  have  more  than 
doubled,  reaching  a  probable  total  of  $280,- 
000,000.  Imports  into  the  United  States 
from  Mexico  have  also  gained,  rising  from 
about  $75,000,000  a  year  before  1918  to 
about  $170,000,000  at  present.  Petroleum  is 
the  biggest  factor  of  Mexico's  exports,  and 
the  advantage  to  the  United  States  is  seen 
in  her  enormous  purchases  of  machinery  and 
materials  for  that  industry.  The  United 
States  now  supplies  85  per  cent,  of  Mexico's 
imports  and  takes  95  per  cent,  of  her  ex- 
ports. Every  effort  is  being  made  to  hold 
and  extend  this  large  trade. 


PANAMA  STILL  HOSTILE  TO  COSTA  RICA 

United  States  insists  on  settlement  of  the  boundary  dispute  on  the  basis  of  the  White 
award — Nicaragua  withdraws  from  the  League  of  Nations 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


WAR  between  Panama  and  Costa  Rica 
would  not  be  tolerated  by  the  United 
States,  it  was  authoritatively  asserted  in 
Washington  on  April  18;  both  Governments 
had  been  informed  that  Panama's  refusal  to 
accept  the  White  award  must  not  be  made 
the  basis  for  a  renewal  of  hostilities.  This 
was  followed  on  May  2  by  the  presentation 
of  a  note  from  Secretary  Hughes  to  the 
Government  of  Panama,  stating  that  unless 
Panama  took  steps  promptly  to  settle  the 
Costa  Rican  boundary  dispute  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  the  White  and  Loubat  awards, 
the  United  States  would  take  such  steps  as 
were  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the  physi- 
cal establishment  of  the  boundary  line.  The 


note  was  a  virtual  ultimatum,  but  set  no 
time  limit. 

The  theory  of  the  State  Department  is 
that,  as  the  United  States  is  bound  by  treaty 
to  protect  the  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  of  Panama,  it  must  not  permit 
Panama  ito  stir  up  trouble  by  arbitrarily  ex- 
tending sovereignty  over  territory  in  the 
possession  of  which  the  United  States  would 
by  no  means  be  bound  to  protect  her.  The 
protecting  Government  cannot  guarantee  the 
integrity  of  a  country  with  a  shifting  boun- 
dary line  depending  upon  the  caprice  of  tbe 
Government  protected. 

President  Porras,  on  May  3,  stated  that 
Secretary  Hughes's  note  had  not  changed 


PANAMA  STILL  HOSTILE  TO  COSTA  RICA 


535 


the  attitude  of  Panama,  which  still  refused 
to  accede  to  the  American  ultimatum  de- 
manding acceptance  of  the  White  award 
within  a  reasonable  time.  A  reply  was  re- 
ceived in  Washington  on  May  7,  but  not  of 
a  nature  to  change  the  situation.  It  was 
indicated  on  May  9  that  the  United  States 
might  be  compelled  to  use  force  to  restore 
to  Costa  Rica  the  territory  occupied  by 
Panama  in  defiance  of  the  White  award. 

It  was  authoritatively  indicated  at  Wash- 
ington on  May  12,  however,  that  Panama 
would  be  given  a  reasonable  time  in  which 
to  act  voluntarily  in  accordance  with  her 
treaty  agreements,  and  that  no  action  would 
be  taken  by  the  United  States  Government 
on  May  16,  the  day  marking  the  expiration 
of  two  weeks  after  Secretary  Hughes's 
formal  warning. 

Tomas  A.  Le  Breton,  Argentine  Ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States,  has  been  au- 
thorized to  accept  appointment  as  arbitra- 
tor of  financial  claims  pending  between 
American  citizens  and  the  Government  of 
Panama,  according  to  a  dispatch  from 
Buenos  Aires,  of  April  27. 


necessarily  an  occasion  for  justifiable  criti- 
cism on  the  part  of  his  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment. 

The  fact  that  British  capital  was  invested 
in  the  concession,  though  it  was  reputed  to 
be  American,  was  not  known  until  just  be- 
fore it  was  annulled. 

The  first  discovery  of  natural  gas  in  Cen- 
tral America  was  reported  on  May  10  from 
territory  near  Puerto  Limon,  on  the  east 
coast.  Natural  gas  was  said  to  be  escaping 
from  the  earth  in  large  quantities  at  Ca- 
huita,  where  drilling  for  oil  was  in  progress. 

Nicaragua 

A  dispatch  from  Managua,  April  23, 
stated  that  Nicaragua  had  given  up  its 
membership  in  the  League  of  Nations,  owing 
to  the  expense  involved.  The  Nicaraguan 
Government  was  indebted  $47,000  for  a 
year's  membership. 

A  new  Atlantic  port  was  opened  on  May 
1  for  the  export  of  cattle  to  Cuba.  There 
has  recently  been  a  large  increase  in  Nica- 
ragua in  the  breeding  of  cattle  for  export. 


Costa  Rica 

The  United  States,  on  April  19,  sent  a 
note  to  Great  Britain  denying  that  it  had 
directed  the  American  Consul  at  San  Jose 
to  have  Costa  Rica  cancel  the  Amory  oil 
concession  several  months  before  it  was 
annulled.  The  State  Department,  it  was 
asserted,  had  never  recognized  any  conces- 
sion granted  by  the  usurping  Tinoco  regime. 
The  note  sent  to  London  is  reported  to  have 
added  this  declaration: 

Nevertheless,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  how 
any  such  action  during  the  period  prior  to 
annulment    of   the   concession   would   furnish 


Guatemala 

Guadalupe  Cabrera,  the  18-year-old 
daughter  of  former  President  Cabrera, 
was  reported  on  May  9  to  have  killed 
herself  by  shooting,  in  order  to  call 
the  world's  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
Guatemalan  Government  had  not  fulfilled 
its  pledge,  signed  at  the  American  Legation, 
guaranteeing  Cabrera's  life,  liberty  and 
property.  The  facts  were  cabled  to  Wash- 
ington, where  it  was  stated  on  May  9  that 
the  Harding  Administration  was  taking 
steps  to  obtain  the  release  of  the  former 
Guatemalan  dictator. 


BELGIUM'S  QUEEN  AS  A  VOTER 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH  stood  in  line  and 
voted  at  the  municipal  election  in  Brus- 
sels on  April  24,  and  women  voted  for  the 
?irst  time  generally  throughout  Belgium.  The 
Clericals  made  considerable  progress  in 
the  big  cities,  such  as  Brussels,  Antwerp 
and  Ghent,  at  the  expense  of  the  Social- 
ists. 

The  latter  held  their  own  in  the  industrial 


districts  ,and  the  Liberals  remained  sta- 
tionary. The  number  of  women  who  regis- 
tered exceeded  the  men  by  700,000,  but 
there  were  only  a  few  women  candidates. 
Burgomaster  Max  was  re-elected  in  Brus- 
sels. He  was  designated  by  the  Council  of 
Ministers  to  head  a  Belgian  delegation  to 
Washington  to  congratulate  the  President 
upon  his  election. 


SOUTH  AMERICA  TURNING  AGAIN 

TO  EUROPE 


Great  Britain  taking  over  the  South  American  passenger  trade  which  the  United  States 
had  held  through  the  war  years — Heavy  German  migration  to  Brazil — Vast  project  of  the 
Krupps  in  Chile — Argentina  compels  port  workers  to  unload  an  American  vessel 


[Period    Ended    May    15,    14)21] 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  passenger  trade, 
which  during  the  war  fell  into  Ameri- 
can hands  through  acquiring  German 
vessels,  has  been  recovered  in  large  part 
by  Great  Britain,  according  to  Sir  Owen 
Philipps,  head  of  the  British  shipping  trust. 
This,  he  says,  is  because  the  German  ships 
taken  over,  though  fast,  were  constructed 
for  North  Atlantic  trade  and  were  unfit 
for  service  in  hot  climates.  Another  rea- 
son was  the  severity  of  the  American  pro- 
hibition laws,  which  cause  Latin  Americans 
to  prefer  British  lines.  As  long  as  such 
conditions  exist,  he  declares,  there  is  no 
prospect  that  the  United  States  will  re- 
cover supremacy  in  the  South  American 
passenger  trade. 

Great  Britain  is  also  reaffirming  her  hold 
on  a  land  where  British  interests  control 
more  than  15,000  miles  of  railroads.  On 
the  eight  systems  concerned  net  profits  dur- 
ing 1920  exceeded  those  of  1919,  despite 
large  increases  in  wages. 

Argentina 

For  forty  days  an  American  vessel,  the 
Shipping  Board  steamer  Martha  Washing- 
ton, chartered  by  the  Munson  Line,  was 
held  up  in  the  port  of  Buenos  Aires  by  a 
boycott  of  union  port  workers,  who  re- 
fused to  allow  the  ship  to  be  unloaded.  The 
union  had  demanded  the  discharge  of  four- 
teen firemen  on  the  ground  of  illness,  but 
the  company  declined,  refusing  to  recog- 
nize the  union's  right  to  interfere.  Then 
the  boycott  began,  which  involved  the  Ar- 
gentine Foreign  Office,  the  American  Con- 
sul and  Ambassador,  and  finally  the  State 
Department  at  Washington.  The  United 
States  held  the  Argentine  Government  re- 
sponsible. The  Ambassador  demanded  that 
Argentina  either  require  the  union  to  un- 
load the  vessel  or  afford  protection  to  free 
labor  to  do  it.  He  said  the  Martha  Wash- 
ington would  remain  ten,  twenty  or  thirty 


years  in  port  before  the  United  States 
would  yield  to  the  demand  of  a  labor  union 
which  had  no  right  to  intervene  in  a  con- 
troversy between  the  Captain  of  an  Ameri- 
can ship  and  its  crew.  Meanwhile  European 
lines  protested  against  the  exactions  of  the 
port  workers,  and  threats  were  made  to 
drop  Buenos  Aires  as  a  port  of  call.  The 
United  States  refused  to  join  in  such  a 
move  or  to  accept  the  offer  of  an  organiza- 
tion of  employers  to  furnish  non-union  la- 
bor which,  under  armed  protection,  would 
unload  the  vessel.  Washington  refused  to 
join  private  interests,  throwing  the  entire 
settlement  on  Argentina. 

On  May  9  the  port  workers  struck  and 
said  they  would  not  return  until  assurances 
had  been  given  that  the  Labor  Protective 
Association  of  Employers  would  not  be  per- 
mited  to  work.  The  police  and  Argentine 
marines  took  charge  of  the  docks  and  main- 
tained a  lockout  of  both  union  and  non- 
union men.  After  three  days  the  unions 
yielded  and  agreed  to  lift  the  boycott  on 
the  Martha  Washington,  thus  ending  the 
international  incident. 

Two  bombs  were  thrown  in  Buenos  Aires 
on  May  Day  in  an  attempt  to  blow  up  a 
railway  bridge.  Anarchists  charged  a 
patriotic  parade  in  the  province  of  Entre 
Rios,  which  caused  a  riot,  five  persons  be- 
ing killed  and  twenty  wounded. 

Argentina  on  May  12  sent  an  official 
communication  to  the  Secretariat  of  the 
League  of  Nations  on  amendments  offered 
last  November  by  Honorio  Pueyrredon,  the 
Argentine  Foreign  Minister,  showing  that 
Argentina  continues  to  consider  herself  a 
member  of  the  League. 

Bolivia 

A  contract  has  been  signed  with  an 
American  firm  for  the  construction  of  a 
railway  from  La  Quiaca,  on  the  Argentine 
border,     to     Otocha,     completing     the     link 


SOUTH  AMERICA   TURNING  AGAIN  TO  EUROPE 


537 


needed  to  give  La  Paz  an  all-rail  route  to 

Buenos  Aires. 
A   new    Bolivian    Cabinet   took   office  on 

May  13,  with  the  following  personnel: 

Foreign    Minister Alberto   Gutierrez 

Minister  of  Interior Abdon  Saavedra 

Minister  of  Finance Jose  Estensoro 

Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  .Jaime  Freyre 

Minister  of  Public  Works Roman  Pan 

Minister  of  War Pastorbal   Divieso 

Dr.  Gutierrez  is  a  diplomat  of  long  ex- 
perience. In  1903  he  was  Secretary  of  the 
Bolivian  Legation  in  Washington  for  a 
short  time.  He  has  been  twice  Minister 
from  his  Government  to  Chile.  He  has 
also  been  Minister  of  Bolivia  to  Brazil, 
Equador,  Colombia  and  Venezuela.  In 
1915-1916  he  was  the  official  delegate  from 
Bolivia  to  the  second  Pan-American  Sci- 
entific Congress  at  Washington,  and  be- 
came Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  of  Bo- 
livia Dec.  17,  1918,  resigning  from  that  post 
on  March  15,  1919.  He  has  traveled  ex- 
tensively in  Europe. 

Brazil 

The  centenary  of  Brazilian  independence 
will  be  celebrated  on  Sept.  7,  1922,  and 
preparations  are  being  made  for  it.  Ameri- 
cans resident  in  Brazil  propose  to  construct 
a  memorial  building  as  the  gift  of  the 
United  States.  The  Brazilian  Automobile 
Association  proposes  to  hold  an  automobile 
exhibition  at  the  same  time. 

A  Brazilian-American  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce has  been  formed  in  New  York  to 
include  business  men  and  diplomatists  in- 
terested in  Brazilian  trades.  Brazil's  Con- 
gress opened  on  May  3  with  a  downward 
revision  of  the  tariff  as  the  chief  subject 
to  be  considered.  A  loan  for  $25,000,000 
floated  in  the  United  States  is  intended  to 
be  used  to  electrify  about  225  kilometers  of 
the  state  railway  in  the  direction  of  Sao 
Paulo.  In  a  tiny  glass  cylinder  inserted  in 
one  of  lead  357  milligrams  of  radium  were 
shipped  to  Brazil  by  the  Radio  Chemical 
Corporation  early  in  May  as  part  of  an 
order  for  557  milligrams,  or  slightly  more 
than  half  a  gram.  The  shipment  was  valued 
at  $65,000. 

Brazil  is  anticipating  a  great  influx  of 
immigrants  this  year,  among  them  30,000 
Italians.  Germans  also  are  arriving  in 
large  numbers.  Recently  the  steamship 
Pocone  arrived  from  Hamburg  with  1,149 
passengers,  practically  all  immigrants. 


Chile 

Profiteering  by  owners  of  nitrate  fields 
in  Chile  was  so  extensive  during  the  war 
and  their  desire  to  maintain  prices  was  so 
tenacious  that  the  natural  result  of  a  fall- 
ing off  in  orders  has  followed.  As  a  conse- 
quence there  has  been  stagnation  in  trade 
in  the  northern  district,  unemployment 
among  the  nitrate  workers,  strikes  among 
the  longshoremen  and  heavy  losses  to 
steamship  companies.  It  is  even  feared 
that  Antofagasta  may  lose  most  of  its 
shipping  business.  President  Alessandri  in 
a  message  to  Congress  urged  the  nationali- 
zation of  sales  of  nitrate,  which  the  State 
intends  to  sell  abroad,  paying  the  cost  of 
freights  and  dividing  the  profits  with  the 
producers,  suppressing  the  export  duty. 
He  also  suggested  a  progressive  tax  on 
rents,  increased  taxes  on  luxuries  and  the 
introduction  of  new  labor  legislation. 

Details  of  the  Krupps  concession  in  Chile 
show  that  it  is  much  more  extensive  than 
supposed,  consisting  of  nearly  500,000  acres 
of  virgin  forest  land  in  the  Province  of 
Llanquihue,  covered  with  gigantic  trees.  In 
addition  the  Krupps  purchased  from  En- 
rique Gonzalez  his  great  Pleito  and  Zapallo 
mines  in  the  Provinces  of  Coquimbo  and 
Atacama  for  the  sum  of  $10,000,000,  ac- 
cording to  Santiago  newspapers.  The 
Krupps  propose  to  establish  at  the  foot  of 
the  Calbuco  Volcano  their  principal  works, 
which  will  dwarf  those  at  Essen.  Here 
they  may  evade  the  provision  in  the  Ver- 
sailles Treaty  against  the  manufacture  of 
arms  in  Germany  by  carrying  it  on  abroad. 
Many  Chileans  have  already  protested 
against  the  alienation  of  much  territory 
and  against  the  purposes  for  which  it  will 
be  used  by  a  concern  so  closely  affiliated 
with  the   German  Government. 

President  Alessandri  of  Chile  has  accept- 
ed the  resignations  of  Senor  Carlos  Silva 
Cruz,  Minister  of  War,  and  Senor  Daniel 
Martner,  Minister  of  Finance,  and  has  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  them  Senor  Enrique  Bal- 
maceda  and  Senor  Enrique  Oyarzun,  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  War  and  Finance 
of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Senor  Silva 
Cruz  resigned  from  the  post  of  Minister  of 
War  because  of  his  poor  health. 

Colombia 

By  a  vote  of  69  to  19  the  United  States 
Senate  on  April  20  ratified  the  Colombian 


.538 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


treaty,  agreeing  to  pay  $25,000,000  for  the 
loss  of  Panama  and  giving  Colombia  free 
passage  through  the  Panama  Canal.  The 
debate,  which  lasted  several  days,  was  very 
bitter.  President  Harding  himself  and 
many  Republicans  who  supported  his  re- 
quest for  ratification  had  opposed  it  when 
President  Wilson  asked  for  it,  and  some  in- 
genuity was  needed  by  the  Administration 
to  give  an  explanation  of  the  altered  policy. 
In  1917  Senators  Lodge,  McCumber,  Bran- 
degee,  Fall  and  Borah  called  the  treaty  a 
'  blackmail  document."  It  was  charged  dur- 
ing the  debate  that  oil  interests,  expecting 
concessions  in  Colombia,  were  back  of  the 
ratification.  It  was  stated  that  the  fight 
would  be  renewed  when  Congress  is  aiked 
tc  appropriate  the  $25,000,000  authorized. 
[The  text  of  the  treaty,  with  further  de- 
tails, will  be  found  on  Pages  541-3.] 

The  Swiss  Federal  Council,  on  May  10, 
agreed  to  arbitrate  the  long-standing  boun- 
dary dispute  between  Colombia  and  Vene- 
zuela. Swiss  engineers  are  to  visit  South 
America  and  make  surveys  in  both  coun- 
tries. 

Paraguay 

Protests  have  been  made  to  La  Paz  by 
the  Government  of  Paraguay  against  the 
recent  erection  of  forts  by  Bolivia  and  the 
carrisoning  of  troops  near  the  territory 
known  as  the  Paraguayan  Grand  Chaco, 
the  boundaries  of  which  have  long  been  a 
subject  of  dispute  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. The  disputed  territory  is  nearly  as 
large  as  California,  and  oil  is  said  to  have 
been  recently  discovered  there.  The  Bolivian 
Charge  d'Affaires  in  Buenos  Aires  denies 
any  threat  is  intended.  He  says  the  forts 
are  150  miles  from  the  disputed  zone  and 
the  garrisons  are  for  police  duty. 

Peru 

President  Leguia  of  Peru  is  reported  to 
have  set  up  a  dictatorship  and  deported 
many  political  opponents  of  his  policy  since 
his  seizure  of  the  Presidency  in  July,  1919. 
He  is  said  to  have  insisted  on  "  revising  " 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  to  have 
imprisoned  Senators,  Deputies,  newspaper 
men,  army  officers  and  others  on  San 
Lorenzo  Island.  The  San  Marcos  University 
was  closed  in  March  and  many  students 
were  wounded  in  a  pitched  battle  with  the 
police  in  the  streets  of  Lima.    The  Prensa, 


which  reported  the  trouble,  was  seized  and 
turned  into  a  Government  organ,  strict 
censorship  on  telegraph  and  mail  prevented 
the  news  from  getting  out.  On  May  11  sev- 
eral prominent  Peruvians,  who  had  been 
detained  for  political  reasons,  were  placed 
aboard  the  Peruvian  line  steamship  Paita  at 
Callao  for  deportation.  Among  them  were 
General  Oscar  Benavides,  former  President 
of  the  republic;  Senator  Miguel  Grau,  two 
former  Cabinet  members  and  several  former 
Deputies. 

The  Marconi  Wireless  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, Ltd.,  of  London,  on  May  1,  took  over 
the  Peruvian  wireless,  postal  and  tele- 
graphic services.  The  concession  was  for 
twenty-five  years.  The  Marconi  Company 
agrees  to  advance  the  funds  for  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  services,  which  had  been 
operated  at  a  loss.  The  State  Department 
made  the  award  the  basis  for  representa- 
tions, according  to  a  Washington  dispatch 
of  May  14,  but  their  nature  was  not  dis- 
closed. 

Uruguay 

A  decree  was  published  on  April  6,  pro- 
hibiting the  landing  of  animals  in  Uruguay 
that  have  been  exported  from  the  United 
States  and  brought  by  steamers  that  have 
called  at  Brazilian  ports,  owing  to  reported 
cases  of  cattle  plague  in  Brazil.  This  was 
extended  to  cattle  coming  from  Europe,  par- 
ticularly France,  Belgium  and  Holland.  The 
quarantine  is  very  strict,  as  one  instance 
shows:  Miss  Muriel  Corneille  of  New  York 
arrived  at  Montevideo  on  April  26  with  a 
pet  dog,  which  the  authorities  ordered 
killed;  she  saved  its  life  by  returning  with- 
out leaving  the  vessel. 

Venezuela 

Esteban  Gil  Borges,  Foreign  Minister  of 
Venezuela,  arrived  in  New  York  on  April 
11  at  the  head  of  a  mission  to  present  a 
statue  of  Simon  Bolivar,  South  American 
liberator,  to  the  City  of  New  York,  which 
was  unveiled  in  Central  Park  on  April  18. 
President  Harding  made  an  address  favor- 
ing closer  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Latin  America,  the  evident  sin- 
cerity of  which  was  commented  upon  favor- 
ably by  the  South  American  newspapers. 
The  delegates  gave  a  reception  to  Secretary 
and  Mrs.  Hughes  in  Washington  on  April 
22.  Georgetown  University  conferred  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  on  Dr.  Gil  Borges. 


SOUTH  AMERICA    TURNING  AGAIN  TO  EUROPE 


539 


Petroleum  possibilities  of  Venezuela  are 
described  in  the  South  American  Journal, 
of  London,  which  says  that  the  Caribbean 
coast  from  the  mouth  of  the  Magdalena  to 
the  great  lagoon  of  Maracaibo  is  an  un- 
doubtedly promising  oil  field,  practically  a 
virgin  territory.  Two  American  companies 
have  acquired  large  concessions  there.  The 
Maracaibo  Oil  Exploration  Corporation  has 


approximately  1,000,000  acres  of  leaseholds 
and  has  entered  into  a  working  agreement 
with  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New 
Jersey  to  finance  and  superintend  the  de- 
velopment of  its  properties  for  one-half 
interest. 

Caracas,  the  Venezuelan  capital,  has  a 
population  of  92,212  according  to  the  census 
of  1920. 


EVENTS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES 

The  Cuban  Presidency  dispute  settled — Personnel  of  the  new  Cabinet — Protest  from 
Haitians — Santo  Domingo's  New  Governor — Spanish  protests  against  American 
occupation — In  the  British  West  Indies 

[Period    Ended    May    15,    1921] 


GENERAL  JOSE  MIGUEL  having  aban- 
doned his  ambition  to  be  President  of 
Cuba  after  a  talk  with  Secretary  Hughes 
in  Washington  on  April  14,  there  remained 
little  doubt  that  Dr.  Alfredo  Zayas  would 
be  inaugurated  on  the  day  set,  May  20. 
The  followers  of  Gomez  in  Congress  ceased 
their  opposition,  and  President  Menocal, 
who  was  supposed  to  favor  Gomez,  made 
arrangements  for  an  extended  tour  in  Eu- 
rope, accompanied  by  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter, immediately  after  his  term  ends. 

Dr.  Zayas  on  May  10  announced  his  se- 
lections for  the  new  Cabinet  as  follows: 
Secretary  of  the  Presidency,  Dr.  Jose  Man- 
uel Cortina;  Secretary  of  State,  Dr.  Rafael 
Montoro;  Government,  Dr.  Francisco  Mar- 
tinez Lufriu;  Treasury,  Sebastien  Gelabert; 
Sanitation,  Dr.  Juan  Guiteras;  Public 
Works,  Orlando  Freyre;  Justice,  Dr.  Eras- 
mo  Regueiferos;  Public  Instruction,  Dr. 
Francisco  Zayas  y  Alfonso,  a  brother  of 
the  President-elect,  and  War  and  Navy,  Dr. 
Demetrio  Castillo  Duany.  The  post  of 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  had  not  at  that 
time  been  filled.  Dr.  Guiteras,  head  of  the 
Health  Department,  is  well  known  in  the 
United  States  for  his  medical  research 
work.  Sehor  Gelabert  is  a  financier  and 
banker  who  has  not  been  active  in  politics. 

It  was  stated  that  Dr.  Zayas  was  intend- 
ing on  taking  office  to  begin  negotiations 
for  the  modification  of  the  commercial 
treaty  with  the  United  States. 

Antonio    C.    Gonzalez,    one    of    the    early 


Cuban  patriots,  died  in  New  York  on  April 
25.  He  was  born  in  1844  and  when  21 
years  old  gave  liberty  to  the  slaves  which 
his  father  had  left  him.  As  a  result,  the 
Spanish  Government  confiscated  his  prop- 
erty and  sentenced  him  to  death.  He  was 
smuggled  into  the  United  States,  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1880. 

Cuban  conditions  have  been  rapidly  im- 
proving and  there  is  a  gradual  restoration 
of  confidence.  A  clearing  house  was  or- 
ganized and  began  business  on  April  25. 
All  the  solvent  Cuban  banks  joined  as  well 
as  various  foreign  branches.  Arrange- 
ments for  assisting  in  financing  the  Cuban 
sugar  crop  have  been  completed  by  two  New 
York  banks  and  one  Canadian,  and  accept- 
ances for  more  than  $500,000  have  been 
drawn,  secured  by  sugar  in  Cuban  ware- 
houses. Exports  to  the  United  States  in 
April  and  May  were  largely  increased  in 
anticipation  of  the  proposed  American  tar- 
iff. Government  mediators  succeeded  in 
settling  a  serious  strike  on  the  Cuban  rail- 
way companies'  lines  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  island  by  a  compromise,  and  traffic 
was  resumed  on  May  8. 

Chess  players  the  world  over  have  been 
watching  with  interest  the  series  of  games 
played  in  Havana  between  Jose  Capablanca, 
the  youthful  Cuban,  and  Emanuel  Lasker, 
the  aged  German  master,  which  ended  on 
April  26  in  four  games  won  by  Capablanca 
and  ten  drawn,  out  of  the  proposed  series 
of  24,  Lasker  declining  to  finish  and  conced- 


540 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


ing  to  his  oppent  the  title  of  chess  cham- 
pion of  the  world.  Lasker  sailed  for  Spain 
on  April  30. 

Haiti 

Three  Haitian  delegates  in  Washington 
on  May  8  made  public  a  memorial  to  be 
presented  to  President  Harding,  the  State 
Department  and  Congress,  demanding  the 
withdrawal  of  the  United  States  military 
forces.  They  charge  a  long  series  of  atroc- 
ities by  American  marines  and  the  native 
gendarmerie,  .including  administration  of 
the  "  water  cure "  and  other  tortures  by 
Americans  and  the  commission  of  number- 
less abominable  crimes,  of  which  25  cases 
with  names  and  dates  are  given  in  the 
memorial.  It  is  charged  that  $500,000  of 
Haitian  Government  funds  were  carried  off 
to  New  York,  to  cripple  the  Treasury;  that 
the  Legislature  was  dispersed  by  a  body  of 
marines;  that  ratification  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1918  was  obtained  by  duress  and 
that  9,475  Haitians  died  in  American  pris- 
on camps  in  three  years.  The  accusations 
are  practically  a  repetition  of  the  charges 
made  by  General  Barnett  and  other  offi- 
cials and  made  public  by  the  National  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Colored 
People.  They  were  investigated  last  year 
by  a  naval  court,  which  found  that  they 
were  "  ill-considered  and  regrettable."  The 
controversy  was  published  in  detail  in 
Current  History  for  November,  December, 
January  and  February.  The  Haitian  dele- 
gates characterize  the  naval  inquiry  as  a 
joke.  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Denby,  who 
visited  Haiti  to  see  for  himself,  character- 
ized the  Haitians'  complaints  as  "  the  same 
old  rot." 

Santo  Domingo 

From  Spain  on  April  15  came  a  protest 
against  continued  occupation  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo by  United  States  troops.  It  was  ad- 
dressed to  President  Harding  and  was 
signed  by  the  former  Premier,  Count  Ro- 
manones;  the  former  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  Francisco  Cambon;  Professor  Mi- 
guel Unanurno  of  Salamanca  University, 
and  others.  Argentina  and  most  of  the 
Latin-American  republics  also  were  under- 
stood to  be  preparing  protests. 

Announcement  was  made  in  Washington 
on  April  15  -that  the  United  States  was 
seeking  an  orderly  and  careful  method  of 


withdrawing  its  marines  from  Santo  Dom- 
ingo which  would  satisfy  the  nationalists 
and  at  the  same  time  protect  the  interests 
of  the  United  States  and  other  foreign 
Governments. 

Read  Admiral  S.  S.  Robison,  command- 
ing the  Boston  Navy  Yard  and  Station,  was 
detailed  May  13  to  be  Military  Governor  of 
Santo  Domingo.  He  will  relieve  Rear  Ad- 
miral Thomas  Snowden,  who  reaches  retire- 
ment age  this  Summer.  Captain  George 
Brown  Jr.,  Supply  Corps,  Navy  Depart- 
ment, was  ordered  on  duty  as  fleet  paymas- 
ter, Atlantic  fleet. 

Porto  Rico 

E.  Mont  Reily,  a  Kansas  City  business 
man,  was  nominated  by  President  Harding 
May  6  and  confirmed  May  11  by  the  Senate 
to  be  Governor  of  Porto  Rico.  Mr.  Reily 
has  been  active  in  Missouri  politics  during 
several  campaigns.  In  1912  he  was  a  sup- 
porter of  the  Roosevelt  Progressive  Party 
and  during  the  pre-convention  campaign 
last  year  was  an  active  worker  for  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Harding. 

British  West  Indies 

A  dispatch  from  Kingston,  dated  May  4, 
said  that  discussion  was  continuing  there 
on  the  suggestion  of  the  annexation  of  the 
British  West  Indies  to  the  United  States  in 
settlement  of  the  war  debt  of  Great  Britain. 
It  is  stated  that  the  British  islands  have 
not  made  as  much  industrial  progress  as 
those  under  care  of  the  United  States. 
West  Indian  federation  was  being 
suggested  as  an  alternative  to  American 
annexation.  The  latter  has  very  little  sup- 
port either  in  the  West  Indies  or  in  Great 
Britain.  One  of  its  most  vigorous  oppo- 
nents is  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  is  ex- 
pected to  express  himself  at  the  annual 
banquet  in  June  of  the  West  India  Commit- 
tee, an  association  of  persons  interested  in 
West  Indian  trade  which  is  200  years  old 
but  was  only  incorporated  in  1904. 

Bahamas 

Development  of  the  harbor  of  Nassau 
has  been  authorized  by  the  Bahamas  Legis- 
lature at  an  estimated  cost  of  $1,250,000, 
half  of  which  will  be  raised  by  a  loan.  The 
project  calls  for  a  depth  of  35  feet  and  a 
channel  300  feet  wide  to  the  inner  harbor. 


EVENTS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES 


541 


Barbados 

The  trade  of  Barbados  with  the  United 
States  more  than  tripled  in  1920,  amount- 
ing to  $2,107,513,  as  compared  with  $681,263 
in  the  previous  year,  owing  to  the  shipment 
of  8,488,000  pounds  of  sugar. 

Bermuda 
Renewed  efforts  have  been  made  in  the 


Bermuda  Assembly  to  permit  the  use  of 
automobiles  in  the  islands.  One  was  im- 
ported in  the  early  days  of  motoring,  but 
the  Legislature  declared  it  to  be  dangerous, 
passed  a  law  forbidding  the  importation 
of  any  more,  bought  the  offending  machine 
from  its  owner  and  deported  it.  As  the 
islands  have  little  more  than  nineteen 
square  miles  of  area,  visitors  do  not  regard 
automobiles  as  necessary. 


THE    COLOMBIAN    TREATY    RATIFIED 


THE  treaty  by  which  the  United  States 
granted  to  Colombia  $25,000,000  dam- 
ages for  the  Panama  Canal  episode  was 
ratified  by  the  Senate  on  April  20,  1921,  by 
a  vote  of  69  to  19.  Only  fifty-seven  votes 
were  required  to  cover  the  prescribed  two- 
thirds  of  all  votes  cast.  The  opposition 
vote  was  recorded  by  fifteen  Republican 
Senators  and  four  Democrats.  The  treaty 
as  ratified  was  practically  the  same  as  the 
draft  submitted  to  the  Senate  by  President 
Wilson  in  1914,  except  for  the  elimination 
of  the  article  expressing  regret  that  any- 
thing should  have  occurred  to  mar  the  cor- 
dial relations  between  the  United  States 
rind  Colombia,  and  a  few  minor  amend- 
ments. The  main  differences  brought  by 
the  latter  are  as  follows: 

When  submitted  by  President  Wilson  the 
treaty  called  for  the  payment  of  the  entire 
$25,000,000  agreed  to  by  the  United  States 
as  compensation  for  the  loss  of  Panama 
within  six  months  following  the  exchange  of 
ratifications.  As  amended,  $5, 000,000  will  be 
paid  in  six  months,  and  the  remaining  $20,- 
000,000  in  four  annual  instalments  of  $5,000,- 
000  each. 

The  same  rights  are  accorded  to  Colombia 
in  respect  to  the  interoceanic  canal  and  the 
Panama  Railway  as  in  the  original  treaty, 
with  the  exception  that  an  amendment  was 
incorporated  in  the  treaty  as  passed  pro- 
claiming that  the  title  of  the  Panama  Rail- 
way and  of  the  Canal  is  now  "  vested  en- 
tirely in  the  United  States  of  America  with- 
out any  encumbrances  or  indemnities  what- 
soever. ' ' 

All  Colombian  products  and  mails  pass- 
ing through  the  canal  are  to  be  exempt 
from  duties  other  than  those  to  which  the 
products  and  mills  of  the  United  States  are 
subject.  Colombian  cattle,  provisions  and 
salt  are  to  be  admitted  to  the  Canal  Zone 
on  an  equality  basis  with  those  of  Amer- 
ican ownership.     Colombian  citizens  are  ex- 


empted from  all  tolls,  taxes  and  duties  on 
an  equality  basis  with  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  Colombia  receives  the  same  right 
to  transport  troops,  war  materials,  products 
of  the  soil  and  mails  over  the  lines  of  the 
Panama  Railway  as  that  now  enjoyed  by 
the  United  States.  The  clause  added  in  the 
original  treaty,  "  even  in  case  of  war  be- 
tween Colombia  and  another  country,"  was 
eliminated  from  the  treaty  as  ratified. 
Colombia  recognizes  formally  for  the  first 
time  the  complete  independence  of  the  Re- 
public of  Panama. 

Some  idea  of  the  efforts  required  to 
achieve  this  treaty's  ultimate  passage  may 
be  derived  from  the  following  record : 

April  (5,  1914— Signed  at  Bogota. 

June  16,  1914— Transmitted  to  the  Senate 
for  ratification  by  President  Wilson.  Referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 

June  18,  1914— Injunction  of  secrecy  re- 
moved. 

July  15,  1914— Resolution  for  public  hear- 
ings introduced  by  Senator  Borah. 

Dec.  10,  1915 — Again  referred  to  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations. 

Feb.  3,  1916— Again  reported  to  the  Senate. 

March  8,  1917— Again  referred  to  Commit- 
tee on  Foreign  Relations. 

March  14,  1917— Reported  by  Senator  Stone 
with  amendments. 

March  15,  1917 — Motion  to  consider  in  open 
session  defeated. 

March  16,  1917 — Further  consideration  post- 
poned. 

April  16,  1917— Called  for  consideration  and 
again  postponed. 

May  29,  1919— Again  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Relations. 

July  2,    1919— Reported  with  amendments. 

Aug.  7,  1919— Motion  of  Senator  Lodge  re- 
ferred back  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relatione. 

ug.    8,    1919— Referred   to   subcommittee. 

June   3,    1920— Reported    to   the   Senate   and 
>d  printed. 
\    !>,     1921— President    Harding,     in    a 
age,   urged  ratification. 


542 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


April  20,  1921— Ratified  by  the  Senate  by 
vote  of  69  to  19. 

The  most  active  opponent  was  Senator 
Borah,  who  declared  that  ratification  of 
the  treaty,  in  its  present  form,  would  be 
notice  to  the  world  that  the  Senate  admitted 
and  confirmed  the  charge  "that  Theodore 
Roosevelt  stole  Panama."  The  payment  of 
this  $25,000,000,  declared  Senator  Borah, 
meant  that  Roosevelt  and  John  Hay,  in 
consummating  this  "  brilliant  achieve- 
ment," had  "  acted  iniquitously."  On  this 
basis  the  Senator  from  Idaho  refused  to 
vote  for  ratification,  and  insisted  on  the  in- 
clusion of  an  amendment  explicitly  stating 
as  follows: 

That  neither  said  payment  nor  anything 
contained  in  this  treaty  shall  be  taken  or  re- 
garded as  an  admission  that  the  secession  of 
Panama  in  November,  1903,  was  in  any  way 
aided  or  abetted  by  the  United  States  of 
America,  its  agents  or  representatives,  or 
that  said  Government  in  any  way  violated 
its  obligations  to  Colombia. 

After  a  bitter  fight,  this  amendment,  like 
several  urged  by  Senator  Ransdell,  was  re- 
jected. 

The  text  of  the  treaty  as  passed  is  given 
herewith : 

The  United  States  of  America  and  the  Repub- 
lic of  Colombia,  being  desirous  to  remove  all 
the  misunderstandings  growing  out  of  the  polit- 
ical events  in  Panama  in  November,  1903;  to 
restore  the  cordial  friendship  that  formerly 
characterized  the  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, and  also  to  define  and  regulate  their 
rights  and  interests  in  respect  of  the  interoceanic 
canal,  which  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  has  constructed  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  have  resolved  for  this  purpose  to  con- 
chide  a  treaty,  and  have  accordingly  appointed 
as   their  plenipotentiaries: 

******* 
Who,  after  communicating   to  each  other  their 
respective  full   powers,    which    were   found  to   be 
in  due   and  proper  form,   have  agreed  upon  the 
following: 

ARTICLE  I.— The  Republic  of  Colombia 
shall  enjoy  the  following  rights  in  respect 
to  the  interoceanic  canal  and  the  Panama 
Railway,  the  title  to  which  is  now  vested 
entirely  and  absolutely  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  without  any  encumbrances  or 
indemnities    whatever : 

1.  The  Republic  of  Colombia  shall  be  at' 
liberty  at  all  times  to  transport  through  the 
interoceanic  canal  its  troops,  materials  of 
war  and  ships  of  war,  without  paying  any 
charges  to   the  United  Stat' 

2.  The  products  of  the  soil  and  industry 
of  Colombia  passing  through  the  canal,  as 
well  as  the  Colombian  mails,  shall  be  ex- 
empt from  any  charge  or  duty  other  than 
those    in    which    the    products    and    mails   of 


the  United  States  may  be  subject.  The 
products  of  the  soil  and  industry  of  Colom- 
bia, such  as  cattle,  salt  and  provisions,  shall 
ha  admitted  to  entry  in  the  Canal  Zone,  and 
likewise  in  the  islands  and  mainland  oc< 
by  the  United  States  as  auxiliary  and  acces- 
sory thereto,  without  paying  other  duties 
or  charges  than  those  payable  by  similar 
products   of   the  United    States. 

3.  Colombian  citizens  crossing  the  Canal 
Zone  shall,  upon  production  of  paper  proof 
of  their  nationality,  be  exempt  from  every 
toll,  tax  or  duty  to  which  citizens  of  the 
United    States  are   not   subject. 

4.  Whenever  traffic  by  the  Canal  is  inter- 
rupted or  whenever  it  shall  be  necessary  for 
any  other  reason  to  use  the  railway,  the 
troops,  materials  of  war,  products  and  mails 
of  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  as  above  men- 
tioned, shall  be  transported  on  the  railway 
between  Ancon  and  Cristobal  or  on  any  other 
railway  substituted  therefor,  paying  only 
the  same  charges  and  duties  as  are  imposed 
upon  the  troops,  materials  of  war,  products 
and  mails  of  the  United  States.  The  officers, 
agents  and  employes  of  the  Government  of 
Colombia  shall,  upon  production  of  proper 
proof  of  their  official  character  or  their  em- 
ployment, also  be  entitled  to  passage  on  the 
said  railway  on  the  same  terms  as  officers, 
agents  and  employes  of  the  Government  of 
the   United   States. 

5.  Coal,  petroleum  and  sea  salt,  being  the 
products  of  Colombia,  for  Colombian  con- 
sumption, passing  from  the  Atlantic  Coast 
of  Colombia  to  any  Colombian  port  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  and  vice  versa,  shall,  whenever 
traffic  by  the  canal  is  interrupted,  be  trans- 
ported over  the  aforesaid  railway  free  of  any 
charge  except  the  actual  cost  of  handling 
and  transportation,  which  shall  not  in  any 
case  exceed  one-half  of  the  ordinary  freight 
charges  levied  upon  similar  products  of  the 
United  States  passing  over  the  railway  and 
in  transit  from  one  port  to  another  of  the 
United   States. 

ARTICLE  II.— The  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  America  agrees  to  pay  at 
the  City  of  Washington  to  the  Republic  of 
Colombia  the  sum  of  twenty-five  million  dol- 
lars, gold,  United  States  money,  as  follows: 
The  sum  of  five  million  dollars  shall  be  paid 
within  six  months  after  the  exchange  of  rati- 
fications of  the  present  treaty,  and  reckoning 
from  the  date  of  that  payment,  the  remaining 
twenty  million  dollars  shall  be  paid  in  four 
annual  instalments  of  five  million  dollars 
each. 

ARTICLE  III.— The  Republic  of  Colombia 
recognizes  Panama  as  an  independent  na- 
tion and  taking  as  a  basis  the  Colombian 
law  of  June  9,  1855,  agrees  that  the  boundary 
shall  be  the  following:  From  Cape  Tiburon 
to  the  headwaters  of  the  Rio  de  la  Miel  and 
following  the  mountain  chain  by  the  ridge 
of  Gandi  to  the  Sierra  de  Chugargun  and  that 
of  Mali  going  down  by  the  ridges  of  Nigue  to 
the  heights  of  Aspave  and  from  thence  to  a 


THE  COLOMBIAN  TREATY  RATIFIED 


543 


point    on    the    Pacific    half   way   between    Co- 
calito  and  La  Arvita. 

In  consideration  of  this  recognition,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  will,  imme- 
diately after  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications 
of  the  present  treaty,  take  the  necessary 
steps  in  order  to  obtain  from  the  Govern- 
ment of  Panama  the  dispatch  of  a  duly  ac- 
credited agent  to  negotiate  and  conclude 
with  the  Government  of  Colombia  a  Treaty 
of  Peace  and  Friendship  with  a  view  to  bring 
about  both  the  establishment  of  regular  dip- 
lomatic relations  between  Colombia  and  Pan- 
ama and   the  adjustment  of  all  questions  of 


l<ecuniary  liability  as  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, in  accordance  with  recognized  princi- 
ples of  law  and  precedents. 

ARTICLE  IV.— The  present  treaty  shall  be 
approved  and  ratified  by  the  high  contract- 
ing parties  in  conformity  with  their  respec- 
tive laws,  and  the  ratifications  thereof  shall 
be  exchanged  in  the  City  of  Bogota  as  soon 
as  may  be  possible. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  said  plenipotentiaries 
have  signed  the  present  treaty  in  duplicate 
and  have  hereunto  affixed  their  respective 
seals. 


SWEDEN  AND  THE  ALAND  AWARD 

The  Aland  Islands  to  have  home  rule  under  Finnish  suzerainty,  with  guarantees  for 
Swedish  interests,  according  to  a  recommendation  of  the  Aland  Commission  of  the 
League  of  Nations — Sweden    refuses    to    consider    the  judgment   as  final 

[Period   Ended    May    15,    1921] 


GREAT  excitement  was  manifested  in  all 
the  Swedish  press  over  the  announce- 
ment from  Geneva,  on  May  10,  that 
the  commission  appointed  by  the  League  of 
Nations  to  examine  the  question  whether 
the  Aland  Islands  in  the  Baltic  should  be- 
long to  Sweden  or  Finland  had  found  for 
the  latter  country.  Keen  disappointment 
and  indignation  greeted  the  report  every- 
where, with  expression  of  the  hope  that  the 
League  would  refuse  to  adopt  the  recom- 
mendation. Should  it  sanction  the  report, 
according  to  Tidningen  (Stockholm),  it 
would  deal  the  deathblow  to  Sweden's  con- 
fidence in  the  will  of  the  League  and  its 
power  to  uphold  justice  in  the  world.  The 
Swedish  Government  was  said  not  to  con- 
sider the  commission's  report  as  of  decisive 
importance  in  the  ultimate  solution  of  the 
Aland  question,  and  would  energetically 
urge  the  League  Council  to  let  the  Aland- 
ers  decide  their  nationality  by  a  plebiscite. 
In  the  course  of  its  36,000-word  report 
the  commission  stated  that  the  Aland  Is- 
lands form  a  part  of  the  self-governing 
State  of  Finland,  and  that,  though  a  plebi- 
scite there  would  undoubtedly  favor  Swe- 
den, it  is  questionable  whether  any  one  had 
the  right  to  take  them  away  from  Finland. 
The  desire  of  the  Alanders  to  join  Sweden 
was  found  to  be  mainly  due  to  their  anxiety 
to    maintain    their    Swedish    language    and 


culture.  As  Finland  is  ready  to  grant  sat- 
isfactory guarantees  to  the  Alanders,  the 
commission  urged  that  it  would  be  unjust 
to  deprive  Finland  of  the  islands.  Further- 
more, the  Aland  population  is  too  small  to 
stand  alone,  and  the  islands  are  in  other 
ways  hardly  capable  of  surviving  as  an  in- 
dependent State. 

Therefore,  the  commission  recommends 
that  the  Alands  remain  under  Finland,  but 
that  Finland  grant  certain  linguistic,  cul- 
tural and  trade  guarantees  to  the  Swedish 
population  of  the  archipelago.  Instruction 
is  to  be  given  only  in  Swedish  in  the  pri- 
mary and  technical  schools.  The  Alanders 
must  have  the  right  of  redemption  in  case 
lands  are  purchased  by  any  foreign  person 
or  company.  Owing  to  the  value  of  the 
shipping  and  harbor  advantages,  Finnish 
companies  will  surely  wish  to  establish 
shipbuilding  yards  in  the  islands.  In  the 
unlikely  case  that  Finland  should  refuse  to 
grant  these  guarantees,  and  to  protect  the 
Alanders  against  the  Fennoman  movement, 
the  commission  thinks  the  only  possible  so- 
lution would  be  a  separation  of  the  islands 
from  Finland  by  means  of  a  plebiscite.  This 
solution,  however,  the  commission  desires 
to       oid. 

The    commission    recommends    that    the 

should  have  the  right  to  present 

to  the  Finnish  Government  a  list  of  three 


544 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


candidates  for  Governor  of  the  islands,  and 
that  the  Governor  be  chosen  from  this  list. 

The  report  ends  the  procedure  begun  in 
July,  1920,  when  Swedo-Finnish  relations 
over  the  Aland  question  became  acute,  and 
Earl  Curzon  referred  the  question  to  the 
League  of  Nations.  On  Sept.  18,  1920,  it 
was  announced  that  both  Sweden  and  Fin- 
land had  accepted  the  intervention  of  the 
League  to  settle  the  dispute.  The  League 
Council  referred  the  question  to  three  inter- 
national judges,  and  the  present  report  of 
the  Aland  Islands  Commission  is  based  on 
investigations  by  Mr.  Elkus,  former  United 
States  Ambassador  to  Constantinople;  M. 
Calonder,  former  President  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation,  and  Baron  Beyens  of  Bel- 
gium. 

The  report  states  that  of  the  25,000  pop- 
ulation of  the  islands,  96  per  cent,  are 
Swedish  speaking,  while  320,000,  or  11  per 
cent.,  of  the  population  of  Finland  are 
Swedes.  Eighty  of  the  islands  are  inhab- 
ited, and  there  are  many  uninhabited  islets 
in  the  group,  which  form  the  "  Skerry 
Garth  "  between  the  larger  islands  and  the 
Finnish  mainland.  Impartial  people  are 
quoted  as  holding  that  it  would  be  an  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  matter  to  draw  a  fron- 
tier line  through  the  Skerries,  even  if  Swe- 
den had  a  stronger  case. 

Guarding  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia,  it  was  the  strategic  importance  of 
these  islands  that  made  the  question  of  their 
possession  a  matter  of  European  concern. 
Until  1808  Finland  formed  a  part  of 
Sweden.  Then  Russia  acquired  the  Alands, 
along  with  the  Finnish  provinces  of  Sweden. 
The  Swedes  base  their  claim  to  the  Alands 
on  the  fact  that  in  1917,  about  four  months 
before  Finland  declared  her  complete  inde- 
pendence of  Russia,  the  Alanders  met  and 
expressed  a  wish  to  be  reunited  with 
Sweden,  with  virtual   unanimity. 

The  League  acts  on  the  question  under 
Articles  III.  and  XI.  of  the  Covenant,  which 
the  three  international  judges  decided  au- 
thorized the  League  to  intervene.  When 
the  general  import  of  the  commission's  re- 
port became  known  on  April  20,  M.  Kers- 
jentseff,  the  head  of  the  Soviet  Trade  Dele- 
gation at  Stockholm,  declared  in  a  news- 
paper article  that  the  Soviet  Government 
would  acknowledge  no  settlement  to  which 
it  was  not  a  party.  He  stated  that,  although 
the  Soviet  Government  claimed  jurisdiction 


over  both  the  Alands  and  the  rest  of  Fin- 
land as  parts  of  Imperial  Russia,  it  was 
disposed  to  surrender  the  islands  to  Sweden 
provided  a  suitable  arrangement  could  be 
made  with   Stockholm. 

Danish  Colony  in  Greenland 
An  event  of  romantic  interest  is  the  com- 
ing visit  of  the  King  Christian  and  Queen 
Alexandrine  to  Godhaab,  Greenland,  for  the 
bicentenary  celebration  of  the  Danish 
Colony  in  Greenland  by  the  missionary, 
Hans  Egede.  Never  has  a  European  sover- 
eign visited  this  part  of  Danish  America. 
Descendants  of  the  Norse  Viking  colonists 
settled  there  in  the  eleventh  century  under 
Eric  the  Red — whose  son,Leif  the  Lucky,  dis- 
covered the  North  American  Continent — and 
were  exterminated  by  Eskimos  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  But  in  1721  Hans  Egede, 
with  his  wife,  children,  and  forty  followers, 
founded  the  Danish  mission  settlement  at 
Godhaab,  which  has  continued  in  being  to 
this  day.  In  1774,  by  statute,  the  Green- 
land trade  became  a  monopoly  of  the  Danish 
crown,  which  took  the  mission  under  its 
protection,  and  the  same  system  remains  in 
force.  The  trade  consists  mostly  of  produce 
gathered  by  the  natives  at  their  hunting  and 
fishing  stations:  blubber,  whalebone,  nar- 
whal horns,  walrus  tusks,  sealskins,  bear- 
skins, feathers,  eiderdown,  and  dried  cod. 
An  Eskimo  grand  opera  has  recently  been 
produced  on  the  Copenhagen  stage.  God- 
haab was  visited  in  October,  1888,  by  Dr. 
Nansen  and  Otto  Sveddrup  when  they  com- 
pleted the  first  crossing  of  Greenland  after 
an  adventurous  journey  by  sledge  and  a 
tiny  willow  canoe. 

Norwegian  Ships 
The  Legation  of  Norway  at  Washington 
has  pointed  out  an  inaccuracy  in  a  state- 
ment in  Current  History  for  May  regard- 
ing the  Norwegian  claim  against  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board.  The  amount  of- 
fered by  the  board  as  compensation  to  the 
owners  of  the  fifteen  Norwegian  vessels, 
which  were  under  construction  in  American 
shipyards  in  1917  and  were  requisitioned  by 
the  United  States  Government,  was  not  $14,- 
000,000,  but  approximately  $2,600,000.  The 
first  named  amount  is  the  sum  claimed  by 
the  Norwegian  owners.  The  Legation  states 
also  that  the  Shipping  Board  has  never 
placed  a  valuation  of  $100  a  ton  on  the 
ships. 


EUROPE'S  FINANCIAL    SITUATION   IN 

VIEW  OF  GERMANY'S  INDEMNITY 

CAPITULATION 


GERMANY'S  complete  compliance  with 
the  reparation  demand  of  the  allied 
Governments  is,  by  long  odds,  the  event  of 
most  vital  importance,  economically  and 
financially,  since  the  signing  of  the  Armis- 
tice. It  detracts  from  its  significance  no 
whit  that  the  world  had  come  to  a  firm 
determination  that  Germany  must  pay, 
sooner  or  later.  Acceptance  by  her  of  the 
Allies'  terms  was  received  by  the  other  na- 
tions with  a  metaphorical  sigh  of  relief  and 
the  world's  judgment  of  the  value  of  her 
submission  was  recorded  by  rising  ex- 
changes, here  and  in  London. 

It  is  significant  that  there  was  no  over- 
whelming enthusiasm  at  the  news,  either 
in  London  or  in  Paris.  Each  received  it 
with  a  quiet  satisfaction  but,  too,  with  a 
degree  of  reservation  which  disclosed  each 
nation  as  wholly  cognizant  of  the  difficul- 
ties still  ahead.  As  yet  the  German  sur- 
render has  had  a  psychological  value,  but 
only  a  psychological  one.  It  was  like  a 
legacy  to  a  spendthrift,  not  unexpected  to 
be  sure,  but  arriving  when  he  was  at  the 
end  of  his  resources  and  nearly  hopeless  of 
the  future. 

It  may  be  conceded  unfair  to  reckon 
either  France  or  England  as  at  the  end  of 
its  resources.  They  were  most  certainly 
not  at  that  point,  but  it  is  a  fact,  never- 
theless, that  France,  practically  since  the 
Armistice,  has  computed  two  budgets  each 
year:  one  her  regular  budget  offset  by 
taxation,  and  the  other  an  extraordinary 
budget  against  which  was  balanced  nothing 
more  tangible  than  the  payments  she  meant 
some  day  to  obtain  from  Germany.  Now 
these  payments  are  actually  in  sight  and 
the  sense  cf  relief  is  accordingly  great,  al- 
though, at  the  moment,  no  plans  have  been 
devised  for  transforming  Germany's  ac- 
knowledgment of  her  debt  and  her  prom- 
ise to  pay  it  into  the  actual  gold  coin  which 
is  all  that  can  really  help  France,  or  Eng- 
land, for  that  matter. 

Assumption  that  Germany  will  enter 
upon  the  series  of  payments  laid  down  for 


her  by  her  conquerors  is,  probably,  justi- 
fied, although  there  is  nothing  like  as- 
surance felt  that  some  alteration  will  not 
be  effected  before  Germany  shall  have  paid 
the  last  of  the  132,000,000,000  gold  marks 
now  set  as  the  total  payment.  The  Lon- 
don newspaper  comments  reflected  this  the 
morning  after  news  was  received  of  Ger- 
many's acceptance  of  the  terms.  Thus  the 
Daily  Telegraph  commented: 

"  We  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Wirth 
and  his  colleagues  are  speaking  and  are 
willing  to  act  in  good  faith,  but  we  cannot 
allow  ourselves  to  forget  that  a  German  sig- 
nature is  not  always  final.  Germany  has 
signed  agreements  before  and  then  has 
tranquilly  proceeded  to  violate  their  vital 
clauses.  There  must  be  no  opening  this 
time  for  exhibition  of  the  same  complaisant 
morality.  We  do  not  wish  to  suggest  that 
Wirth  and  his  colleagues  have  any  desire 
to  deceive  us,  but,  in  their  own  interests 
and  those  of  their  successors,  it  is  as  well 
that  all  possibility  of  deception  should  be 
eliminated." 

The  Daily  Chronicle  declared:  "We 
shall  next  have  to  see  that  the  new  Ger- 
man Government  performs  what  it  has  un- 
dertaken," and  notes  that  the  Reichstac 
carried  the  decision  to  accept  the  ultimatum 
by  a  majority  of  only  40  and  that  the  whole 
of  the  Nationalist,  or  Military  Party,  and 
the  Stinnes,  or  Big  Business  Group,  voted 
against  acceptance.    It  adds: 

"  With  these  uncompromising  opponents 
representing  forces  normally  dominant  in 
Germany,  and  with  many  lukewarm  ele- 
ments among  its  temporary  supporters,  the 
Wirth  Government  will  have  great  diffi- 
culty in  performing  its  promises  to  us,  and 
the  only  way  for  us  to  help  it  is  to  keep  a 
firm  attitude  and  leave  the  recalcitrants  in 
no  doubt  that  attempts  to  break  the  condi- 
tions will  annul  the  effect  of  their  accept- 
ance. The  same  pressure  which  has  tardily 
brought  Germany  back  to  the  path  of  loyal- 
il  be  needed  to  keep  her  from  straying 
out  of  it  back  to  the  Abdul  Hamid  diplo- 
macy of  the  past  eighteen  months." 


546 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


But  with  the  threat  of  French  occupa- 
tion of  the  Ruhr  still  present — it  will  be 
recalled  that  General  Degoutte,  in  transmit- 
ting the  order  to  his  troops,  did  not  say 
the  invasion  had  been  abandoned  but  "  post- 
poned " — Germany  may  be  counted  on  at 
least  to  begin  carrying  out  the  terms  of  the 
ultimatum.  These  include  payment  within 
twenty-five  days  after  acceptance  of  the 
ultimatum  of  1,000,000,000  marks  in  gold,  or 
paper  redeemable  in  gold,  and  the  subse- 
quent issue,  on  July  1  and  Nov.  1,  respec- 
tively, of  bonds  in  the  amount  of  12,- 
000,000,000  and  38,000,000,000  gold  marks, 
which  shall  be  bearer  bonds  secured  by  the 
whole  assets  of  the  German  Empire  and 
the  German  States,  the  interest  on  and  the 
redemption  of  which  are  provided  for  by 
annual  payments  of  2,000,000,000  marks 
gold  by  Germany  and  26  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  her  exports  as  from  last  May  1, 
or,  alternatively,  an  equivalent  amount  as 
fixed  in  accordance  with  any  other  index 
proposed  by  Germany  and  accepted  by  the 
Reparation  Commission.  In  addition,  bonds 
for  82,000,000,000  marks  gold  are  to  be 
handed  to  the  Reparation  Commission  on 
Nov.  1  to  be  issued  by  the  commission  when 
it  is  deemed  the  interest  and  redemption 
can  be  provided  for  by  the  payments  Ger- 
many is  to  make  annually. 

France's  share  of  the  indemnity  is  to  be 
52  per  cent.  So  that,  on  the  proposed 
basis,  the  most  France  can  look  for  this  year 
is  52  per  cent,  of  50,000,000,000  marks  gold ; 
in  bonds,  however,  and  not  in  cash.  These 
26,000,000,000  gold  mark  bonds  would  yield 
her,  at  5  per  cent.,  the  coupon  value  of 
the  bonds,  an  income  of  1,300,000,000  marks 
gold,  roughly  equal,  at  present  exchange 
rates,  to  3,900,000,000  francs  paper.  This 
is  a  tremendous  addition  to  France's  in- 
come, certainly,  but  is  it  enough  to  accom- 
plish the  reconstruction  plans  which  France 
has  in  contemplation  and  which  she  must 
effect  if  the  country  is  to  be  brought  back 
to  the  state  of  economic  efficiency  which 
existed  before  the  German  invasion?  Re- 
cent official  estimates  fix  the  annual  sum 
to  be  expended  on  reconstruction  for  the 
next  ten  years  at  8,000,000,000  francs,  pen- 
sions at  4,000,000,000  and  the  interest  on 
loans  already  incurred  for  reconstruction, 
2,000,000,000,  a  total  of  14,000,000,000 
francs  absolutely  necessary  for  the  next  ten 
years  at  least.       The  pensions  continue,  of 


course,  after  that  period.  Now  3,900,000,000 
francs  is  a  long  way  from  14,000,000,000 
francs,  and  the  supposition  is  justified  that 
France  must  seek  to  capitalize  her  share  of 
the  indemnity  at  once.  And  to  capitalize 
it  she  must  offer  her  bonds  for  sale  in  this 
market. 

Three  methods  are  open  to  her  and  none 
holds  promise  of  more  than  moderate  suc- 
cess. She  may  offer  the  bonds  as  she  re- 
ceives them  for  what  they  will  bring;  she 
may  add  the  guarantee  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment, or  she  may  issue  a  French  Govern- 
ment bond  with  the  German  bonds  as  col- 
lateral security.  In  any  of  these  events  it 
is  hard  to  see  where  she  could  offer  them 
outside  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is  prob- 
lematical in  the  extreme  as  to  how  any  of 
these  issues  would  fare  here. 

France,  Belgium  and  Switzerland  have 
lately  been  borrowing  here  on  an  8  per  cent, 
basis,  so  it  may  be  put  down  as  fact  at 
once  that  no  German  bonds  can  hope  to 
obtain  better  terms.  Their  coupons,  how- 
ever, are  for  5  per  cent.,  so  an  assumption 
that  seems  warranted  is  that  the  bonds 
could  not  sell  here  at  that  rate  in  any  quan- 
tity at  a  better  price  than  60.  Assuming 
that  the  whole  block  could  be  so  disposed  of, 
a  thing  which  bankers  here  scarcely  con- 
ceive imaginable,  France  would  obtain  for 
her  26,000,000,000  gold  mark  bonds  this 
year  only  about  47,000,000,000  francs  paper, 
a  sum  large  enough  in  itself,  to  be  sure, 
but  not  quite  so  large  when  measured  in 
the  light  of  France's  needs  and  expecta- 
tions. Certainly  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
France  is  to  be  relieved  entirely  of  the 
financial  embarrassment  into  which  the  war 
forced  her. 

But  that  is  not  to  say  that  France  will 
not  regain  her  old  place  in  the  world, 
with  her  income  once  more  adequate 
to  meet  her  expenses  and  her  money  ex- 
changeable for  the  moneys  of  other  coun- 
tries at  a  rate  closely  approaching  the  old 
par  of  exchange.  France  has  banked 
heavily  on  the  payments  which  Germany 
must  make  to  her  and  now  it  seems  that 
these  payments  are  to  be  inadequate  to  de- 
fray the  expenses  which  France  has  con- 
templated and  must  make,  yet  France's  re- 
generation must  be  regarded  as  assured. 

The  assertion  is  heard  often,  in  discus- 
sion of  the  financial  relations  between  the 
Allies  and  the  United  States,  that  France 


EUROPE'S  FINANCIAL  SITUATION 


547 


and  England  are  nearly  bankrupt,  that 
there  is  little  hope  of  their  ever  paying  the 
interest  on  their  debts  to  us,  let  alone  the 
principal,  and  that  the  loans  must  ulti- 
mately be  marked  off  the  books  as  worth- 
less. It  is  a  commentary  upon  the  eco- 
nomic knowledge  of  such  critics  that  they 
nearly  always  denounce  as  subterfuge  any 
statement  on  the  part  of  Germany  that  she 
cannot  pay  the  Allies  the  sums  demanded. 

It  is  a  source  of  constant  wonder  how 
assurance  can  be  felt  of  Germany's  ability 
not  only  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  the 
war  but  also  to  make  huge  payments  to  the 
victors  while  doubt  remains  as  to  the  ca- 
pacity of  England  and  France  to  regain 
their  financial  equilibrium.  If  Germany 
can  pay  off  132,000,000,000  marks  gold,  as 
she  has  now  contracted  to  do,  and  at  the 
name  time  regain  a  place  among  the  com- 
mercial nations  of  the  world,  can  it  be 
doubted  that  England  and  France,  who  are 
to  receive  this  reimbursement  for  damage 
done,  are  not  equally  capable  of  recovering 
from  the  ravages  of  the  war? 

Neither  England  nor  France  feels  the 
slightest  doubt  of  its  ability  so  to  do  nor 
yet  of  the  ability  of  Germany  to  fulfill  the 
contract  she  has  now  entered  into.  In  fact, 
to  the  faith  that  Germany  will  recover,  and 
will  recover  quickly,  may  be  attributed  the 
disinclination  of  the  French  to  see  Upper 
Silesia  return  to  German  hands.  The 
Trench  dread  the  recrudescence  of  power  in 
Germany,  and  they  foresee  a  quick  return 
with  both  the  Ruhr  and  Upper  Silesia  in 
German  hands.  The  mineral  resources  of 
these  sections  are  sufficient  to  make  Ger- 
many again  powerful,  and  power  in  Ger- 
many is  always  a  threat  to  France. 


The  figures  on  trade  recently  at  hand 
support  the  French  view.  There  is  given 
below  a  summary  of  the  foreign  trade  of 
France  for  the  first  two  months  of  this 
year,  which  shows  that  Germany  is  sending 
more  and  more  of  her  products  into  French 
territory.      See   accompanying    table. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Germany  is  supplying 
an  increasing  part  of  the  materials  which 
France  buys  abroad.  In  the  last  twelve 
months  imports  'from  Germany  more  than 
doubled  while  imports  from  other  countries 
except  the  French  colonies  were  dropping 
to  half  their  1920  value.  Germany  is  very 
clearly  getting  upon  her  feet  commercially 
and  the  cry  has  already  been  raised  in 
France  that  her  ancient  enemy  is  dumping 
her  products  on  French  soil.  Figures  for 
the  first  three  months  of  the  year,  not  yet 
available  by  places  of  origin  and  destina- 
tion, show  that  French  trade  has  fallen  23 
per  cent,  from  the  same  period  of  last,  year, 
imports  having  amounted  to  5,359  million 
francs,  as  against  more  than  9  million  in 
1920,  and  exports  having  risen  from  4V2 
million  in  1920  to  5,458  million  this  year. 
Imports  have  fallen  below  exports,  giving 
France  the  balance  of  trade  which  it  is 
necessary  for  her  to  attain  if  her  foreign 
debts  are  ever  to  be  paid,  but  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  importation  of  raw  materials 
has  fallen  off  tremendously  due  to  the  in- 
ertia in  manufacturing,  so  that  the  true 
balance  would  probably  be  against  France 
if  her  factories  were  in  fuller  operation. 

The  latest  available  figures  for  British 
trade  show  a  similar  reduction  in  value,  but 
since  imports  have  been  reduced  more  than 
exports,  the  position  of  the  country  is 
slightly  improved.    Here  are  the  figures  for 


IMPORTS 

, — First 

From-  "!'-]-_ 

United    States 771,056 

Gterma  ny    .173, 043 

Britain     484,208 

Belgium    253,032 

Argentina    123,013 

Algeria    93;879 

Italy     75,0(5*5 

Brazil    74,782 

Switzerland    03,341 

Spain    58,204 

Tunis    39,120 

Morocco    : 1 7,508 

Other   foreign   countries....  740,110 

Other  colonies,   &c 228.537 

Total,     francs '.3.500,309 


EXPORTS 

two  months — ^  , — First  two  months — ,, 

1920.  To—  liilil.  1920. 

1,289,640        Belgium    792,617  427,140 

257,731        Germany    442,280  186.0T0 

1 ,218,832        Britain    437.602  477,648 

208,957        United     Stat<     266,544  227,909 

297,150        Switzerland     244,474  233,81) 

194,298        Algeria    205,266  79,494 

174,664        Italy    200,183  105,615 

144,123        Spain     131,637  100,605 

1 15,915        Morocco    82,595  69,274 

161,392        Argentina    03,322  34.370 

35,709        Brazil    39,850  37.436 

25,950        Tunis    36,482  54.576 

1,217,294        Other   foreign   countries 710,853  002.808 

244,714        Other  colonies,    &c 122,357  61.022 

5,646,355                             francs 3,782,062  2,757,777 


.548 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  first  four  months  of  this  year  compared 
with  similar  periods  in  1920  and  1919: 

1921.  1920.  1919. 

Exports  of  Brit- 
ish products.  £287, 646.7S6  £401,795,112  £205,849,035 

Re-exports     of 
foreign  goods    35,367,427      95,507,042      31,974,983 

Total  exp'ts. £323,014,213  £497,302,154  £237,824,018 
Imports     397.621,757    697,167,383    485,662,144 

Excess   of  im- 
ports         £74,607,544  £199,865,129  £247,838,126 

Exports  of  British  products  during  the  last 
twelve    months    compare   as   follows: 

1921.                  1920.  1919. 

April    £59,860,000  £106,251,692  £58,482,412 

March     66,808,961    103,699,381  53,108,521 

Feb 68,221,731      85,964,130  46,914,921 

Jan 92,756,094    105,879,009  47,343,281 

1920.  1!»1!).  1918. 

Dec 96,630,523      90,858,233  38,282,035 

Nov 119,364,994      87,110,531  43,218,879 

Oct 112,295,474      79,061,145  42,820,724 

Sept 117,455,913      66,500,628  40,152,143 

Aug 114,903,335      74,773,597  43,522,237 

July    137,451,904      65,815,691  43,644,398 

June    110,352,350      64,562,465  45,026,281 

May    119,319,422      64,344,632  44,967,221 

Imports  during  the  same  period  compare  as 
follows : 

1921.  1920.  1919. 

April    £89,990,000  £167,154,309  £112,065,823 

March     93,741,654    176,647,515    105,752,979 

Feb   96,973,711    170,434,526    106,689,341 

Jan 117,050,783    183,342,988    134,546.436 

1920.  1919.  1918. 

Dec 142,785,245  169,602,637  116,243,378 

Nov 144,260,183  143,545,201  116,770,580 

Oct 149,889,227  153,500,587  117,629,803 

Sept 152,992,339  148,588,572  97,995,688 

Aug 152,169,259  148,217,624  110,179,501 

July     163,342,351  153,065,760  109,139,238 

June    170,491,230  122,874,390  101,544,719 

May     160,338,816  135,612,488  125,907,284 

For  the  twelve  past  months  the  monthly  excess 
of  imports,  after  allowing  for  imported  mer- 
chandise re-exported,   compares   as   follows : 

1921.  1920.  1919. 

April    £21,610,000    £40,495,198    £40,236,953 

March     18,044,688      56,916,777      43,695,209 

Feb 20,747,677      61,866,607      54,655,263 

Jan 14,339,568      51,998,602      82,643,136 

1920.  1019.  1918. 

Dec 33,455,666      52,584,473      74,848,636 

Nov 11,780,330      38,168,261      70,634,051 

Oct 21,460,193      54,797,840      72,690,437 

Sept 21,885,818      66,339,266      56,114,317 

Aug 23,897,577      58,133,102      64,397,929 

July    8,041,968       75,992,955       63,472,534 

June    34,014,952      46,347,975       54,403,711 

May     26,754,316      59,772,504       77,539,855 

The  British  foreign  trade  in  April  makes  the 
following  comparison  with  April  of  1914: 

April,  1921.  April,  1914. 
Exports  of  British  prod'ts. £59,860,000  £39,946,822 
Re-exports  of  foreign  goods     8,520,000    10,789,244 

Total    exports '. .  £68,380,000  £.-,0,736,066 

1  mports     89,990,000    61 ,626,830 

Excess    of   imports '..£21,610,000  £10,890,764 


The  last  figures  show  that  England  is 
still  far  from  the  position  she  occupied  be- 
fore the  outbreak  of  the  war.  It  is  not  so 
much  that  her  excess  of  imports  is  now 
twice  what  it  was  in  1914  as  that  the  rela- 
tion of  imports  to  exports  has  altered.  In 
1914  imports  were  only  about  22  per  cent, 
in  excess  of  exports.  Now  they  are  nearly 
32  per  cent,  greater. 

Detailed  figures  for  Germany  are  not 
available  now,  but  a  German  view  of  the 
Teutonic  trade  and  economic  situation  is 
contained  in  a  pamphlet  recently  issued  by 
the  Bank  fur  Handel  Und  Industrie  of  Ber- 
lin, which  has  a  curious  interest  in  the  light 
of  Germany's  recent  acquiescence  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  Allies.      In  part  it  says: 

"  The  outstanding  features  of  Germany's 
political  economy  in  1920  were  the  incessant 
grave  shortage  of  food  and  other  necessities 
of  life,  as  well  as  of  important  industrial 
raw  materials,  a  lasting  depreciation  of  cur- 
rency, powerful  rise  in  prices,  continuous 
strikes  and  unrest  among  the  working 
classes  and,  above  all,  the  almost  unbear- 
able pressure  exerted  by  the  Peace  of  Ver- 
sailles, which  renders  economic  con- 
valescence impossible,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  interpreted  by  the  signatory 
powers. 

"  Every  impartial  political  economist 
throughout  the  world  is  aware  that  the 
Peace  Treaty  in  its  present  shape  and  in- 
terpretation is  to  serve  two  wholly  contra- 
dictory ends.  The  indemnities  demanded 
from  Germany  by  far  surpass,  and  this  is 
even  realized  in  various  places  in  France 
today,  the  limit  of  Germany's  economic 
ability.  Even  were  the  reparation  claims 
greatly  reduced,  fulfillment  would  only  be 
possible  if  Germany  were  enabled  to  attain 
her  very  highest  standard  of  economic  pro- 
duction by  careful  husbanding  of  her  eco- 
nomic resources  and  their  widest  rational 
exploitation.  For  alone  by  the  fruits  of 
such  application  can  the  demands  of  the 
allied  powers  be  regularly  satisfied,  whilst 
catering  to  the  most  moderate  demands  of 
the  German  people  and  presupposing  a 
marked  revival  to  set  in  for  agriculture, 
cattle-breeding,  the  speeding-up  of  indus- 
trial productiveness,  trade  and  commerce 
and,  last  but  by  no  means  least,  saner  con- 
ditions for  the  nation's  finances.  The 
throttling  and  crossing  of  the  only  proper 


EUROPE'S  FINANCIAL  SITUATION 


549 


policy  to  be  followed,  viz.,  Germany's  eco- 
nomic reconstruction,  by  our  opponents, 
which  would  seem  to  be  so  opposed  to  their 
own  interests,  must  certainly  lead  to  the 
utter  ruin  of  the  economic  foundations  of 
the  nation  and  the  entire  impoverishment 
of  the  people,  traces  of  which  are  already 
noticeable.  This  would,  however,  not  only 
strip  the  Entente  of  all  chances  of  collect- 
ing the  indemnity,  but  also  would  seriously 
affect  the  whole  world,  as  has  so  often  been 
pointed  out  by  experts  both  here  and 
abroad.  The  indemnities  Germany  has 
been  forced  to  pay  hitherto  according  to  the 
peace  provisos  amid  general  disregard  of 
her  capabilities  only  too  plainly  prove 
where  an  adherence  to  these  methods  will 
lead  to.  Germany's  trade  balance  has  de- 
teriorated, owing  to  these  payments,  which 
were  only  possible  under  huge  financial 
losses,  in  a  truly  alarming  manner,  and  this 
deterioration  has  resulted  in  gigantic  in- 
flation, huge  depreciation  in  currency,  rise 
in  prices,  which  in  turn  have  led  to  a  dis- 
astrous increase  of  the  indebtedness  of  the 
country,  in  other  words  of  the  people.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  indemnifications 
were  brought  into  line  with  the  economic 
possibilities  on  a  basis  of  a  thorough  reor- 
ganization of  German  economics  from  the 
very  foundations  upward,  as  has  been  im- 
possible up  to  the  present,  that  is,  from  the 
viewpoint  of  sufficient  food  and  clothing 
for  the  general  public  down  to  a  straight- 
ening of  the  State  finances,  then  a  steady 
improvement  may  set  in  for  the  rate  of  ex- 
change, accompanied  by  a  sinking  tendency 
of  prices  and  wages,  as  well  as  an  increase 
in  Germany's  buying  powers  of  foreign 
products,  such  as  cotton,  wool,  coffee,  and 
of  all  industrial  and  agricultural  raw  ma- 
terials, products  and  food  supplies. 

"  The  determining  factor  consists  in 
Germany's  inability  to  at  present  and  in 
future  produce  even  a  tithe  of  what  is 
needed  to  render  existence  on  a  modest 
scale  possible  for  her  population  and  at  the 
same  time  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  and  the  supplementary  agreements. 

"  The  increase  in  capital  that  took  place 
so  extensively  in  industrial,  commercial  and 
traffic  concerns  during  the  preceeding  year, 
principally  towards  its  end,  must  not  be  re- 
garded as  a  sign  of  economic  affluence.  It 
is   not   a   question   of    increasing   financial 


means  resultant  on  a  rise  in  production 
and  turn-over,  as  these  are  far  smaller  than 
those  of  the  pre-war  period,  but  only  of  an 
enforced  adaptation  to  the  depreciation  of 
money,  which  strikingly  exemplifies  a  trade 
and  financial  balance  of  unparalleled  un- 
favorableness  for  Germany  and  a  gigantic 
rise  in  prices  and  values.  Naturally,  only 
countries  whose  currency  has  suffered  pow- 
erful devaluation  need  counteract  this  feat- 
ure by  a  proportionate  increase  of  working 
capital,  and  it  suffices  to  point  to  Italy, 
whose  rate  of  exchange  is  incomparably 
better  than  the  German,  and  to  Austria 
to  witness  a  similar  state  of  affairs,  there 
in  a  lesser,  here  in  an  equal  if  not  even 
heightened  degree.  We  repeat,  it  is  not  a 
sign  of  growing  wealth,  but  of  increasing 
impoverishment,  if  Germany,  with  her  de- 
preciated values,  has  to  resort  to  enormous 
new  investments  of  capital.  The  money 
forthcoming  for  this  purpose  is  not  the 
result  of  a  proportionate  growth  of  national 
wealth,  but  is  proof  of  a  steadily  increas- 
ing indebtedness  of  the  people,  which  is 
revealed  by  the  uninterrupted  swelling  of 
the  floating  Federal  debts  and  the  unceas- 
ing activity  of  the  paper-money  printing 
press,  the  creation  of  sham  values." 

Whatever  else  may  be  thought  of  this  ex- 
pression of  the  familier  German  viewpoint, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  in  the  last 
sentences  the  nail  has  been  struck  on  the 
head.  Paper-money  printing  presses  are 
at  the  bottom  of  most  of  Europe's  diffi- 
culties. The  Germans  deliberately  elected 
to  fight  the  war  with  the  support  of  a 
paper-money  printing  press,  planning  to  ex- 
act from  the  defeated  Allies  such  an  in- 
demnity as  would  care  for  all  the  paper 
money  which  their  presses  had  brought  into 
existence.  This  plan,  fortunately,  failed, 
and  now  Germany  must  do  the  best  she  can 
to  digest  a  circulation  which  bears  only  a 
fictitious  relation  to  gold.  France  and  Eng- 
land did  not  go  to  the  lengths  by  far  that 
Germany  did,  but  their  currencies  were  tre- 
mendously inflated,  until  today  they  are 
upon  a  gold  basis  only  by  courtesy  of  the 
fact  that  they  still  recognize  the  value  and 
necessity  of  a  gold  standard  and  compute 
their  money  in  terms  of  it.  Actual  ex- 
change for  gold  of  the  paper  tokens  which 
circulate  in  England  and  France  is  almost 
as  i  able  as  it  is  in  Germany. 


550 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Present-day  bank  statements  of  the  three 
countries  compared  with  similar  statements 
in  1914  before  the  world  had  gone  to  war 
to  illustrate  the  fearful  dilution  of  the  cur- 
rency clearly: 

BANK  OF  ENGLAND 

May  12,   1921.  May  13,  1014. 

Circulation    £128,768,000  £28,702,05.", 

Public  deposits   14,860,000  18,610,699 

Other   deposits    113,560,000  38,774,384 

Govt,    securities    49,186,000  11,046,570 

Other   securities    78,903,000  38,456,772 

Reserve    18,044,000  25,553,697 

Proportion    of    reserve 

to   liabilities    14.05%  44.50% 

Bullion    128,363,000  35,806,352 

BANK  OF  FRANCE 

May  12,  1021.  May  28,  1014. 

Frames.  Francs. 

Gold   5,51t),000,000  3,730,625,000 

Silver     217,700,000  632,650,000 

Loans  and  discounts..   4,944,700,000  2,327,775,000 

Circulation    ..38,741,600,000  5,811,875,000 

Treasury  deposits    46,200,000  183,700,000 

Other  deposits 2,964,500,000  845,950,000 

BANK  OF  GERMANY 

April  7,  1021.  May  30,  1014. 

Marks.  Marks. 

Gold   1,091,519,000  1,313,240,000 

Silver    8,644,000  321,920,000 

Treasury  notes   22,941,114,000  60,780,000 

Bills  discounted    57,159,128,000  943,640,000 

Notes  in  circulation. .  .69,235,239,000  2,013,860,000 

Deposits   17,450,580,000  842,340,000 

Great  Britain's  circulation  is  four  and  a 
half  times  what  it  was  in  pre-war  days, 
France's  is  nearly  seven  times  as  <great  and 
Germany's  is  almost  thirty-five  times  the 
volume  of  pre-war  circulation. 

The  foreign  exchange  rates  accurately 
reflect  this  degeneration  of  the  circulating 
medium  in  the  various  countries.  It  *  is 
customary  to  regard  the  foreign  exchange 
rates  as  a  measure  of  the  balance  of  trade 
between  nations  and  certainly  an  adverse 
trade  balance  will  draw  gold  from  a  coun- 
try and  affect  the  value  of  its  money  in 
the  creditor  nation.  But,  in  the  days  be- 
fore the  war,  fluctuations  in  exchange 
were  within  a  narrow  range  marked  by 
the  so-called  gold  points  which  were  really 
the  points  at  which  it  became  cheaper  ac- 
tually to  transport  gold  from  one  country 
to  another  than  to  pay  the  premium  on  ex- 
change. In  practice  little  gold  had  to  be 
transferred  for  the  rates  automatically  ad- 
justed themselves  as  these  points  were  ap- 
proached. 

The  war  brought  new  influences  to  bear 
on    exchange,    or    rather,    called    attention 


pointedly  to  the  reactions  which  exchange 
had  always  prepared  to  undergo  but  to 
which  it  had  never  been  submitted.  This 
was  the  dilution  of  currency  and  the  influx 
of  paper  money.  As  a  nation's  currency 
lost  its  relation  to  gold,  the  degree  of  its 
removal  from  the  gold  basis  was  accurately 
recorded  in  the  exchange  rates  between 
that  country  and  a  country  whose  currency 
was  still  readily  exchangeable  for  gold  on 
demand.  Thus  the  dollar  has  «gone  to  a 
premium  in  practically  every  country  of 
the  globe  and  the  pound  sterling,  which 
was  arbitrarily  fixed  close  to  par  through- 
out the  war,  dropped  heavily  to  a  little 
above  $3  when  support  was  withdrawn  and 
the  pound  was  enabled  to  seek  its  own 
level. 

As  long  ago  as  March  of  1920  an  exam- 
ination of  the  gold  position  of  the  leading 
former  belligerents  and  the  state  of  their 
exchange  with  the  United  States  disclosed 
the  interesting  facts  that  England,  with  a 
gold  cover  for  its  circulation  of  about  27 
per  cent.,  found  its  money  at  a  discount  of 
25  per  cent,  in  New  York,  or  exactly  the 
proportion  by  which  the  English  gold  cover 
fell  short  of  the  gold  cover  here,  the  United 
States  then  having  in  gold  money  about  36 
per  cent,  of  its  paper  circulation.  France, 
computed  on  the  same  basis,  had  about  60 
per  cent.  Italy,  with  7  A  per  cent,  of  our 
gold,  found  her  exchange  at  a  discount  of 
94  per  cent. 

The  rule  did  not  hold  true  universally, 
notably  in  some  of  the  noncombatant  coun- 
tries, but  its  failure  could  be  laid  to  the 
fact  that  these  nations  did  not  maintain  a 
real  gold  market — in  fact  none  did  except 
the  United  States. 

In  view  of  this  the  recent  rise  in  the  ex- 
change of  London  and  Paris  on  New  York 
must  be  attributed,  partly  to  sentiment  and 
partly  to  the  supposition  that  payment  by 
Germany  will  increase  the  gold  holdings  of 
these  countries  and  thus  strengthen  their 
circulation,  bringing  their  paper  money  in 
closer  relation  to  gold.  Inasmuch  as  this 
is  something  that  cannot  be  brought  about 
in  a  day  it  would  not  be  surprising  to  see 
some  softening  of  the  exchanges  which  have 
now  registered  the  satisfaction  of  the  world 
that  Germany  is  to  make  good,  at  least  a 
part  of  the  damage  she  wrought  in  the  war. 
But  if  they  soften  they  will  harden  again; 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  that. 


fmKB^SBM&W&ltiSffi 


n 

1 

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if     Vol.  XIV.,  No.  4 


CURRENT    HISTORY 

A     MONTHLY     MAGAZINE      OF 
QIlj*  Nror  fork  Exmta 

Published   by    The    New    York   Times    Company,    Times    Square,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


JULY,   1921 


35  Cent*  a  Copy 
$4.00  a  Year 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


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WHY  TALAAT  PASHA'S  ASSASSIN  WAS  ACQUITTED 

By   George   E.    Montgomery  551 

AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  SILESIAN  PERIL     .     By  Burnet  Hershey  556 

THE  POLISH  REBELLION  IN   UPPER  SILESIA 562 

GERMANY  BEGINS  PAYING  THE  PIPER 568 

THE  MISTAKES  OF  FRANCE      .      .      By  Adamantios  Th.  Polyzoides  573 

THE    MONTH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES .578 

FOREIGN    POLICY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 581 

A  HISTORIC  EVENT  IN  PALESTINE      .     By  Elizabeth  L.  McQueen  583 

DRINKING   FROM   PONTIUS   PILATE'S   RESERVOIR 

By  Harold  J.   Shepstone  587 

FIGHTING  THE  TURKS  AT  AINTAB     .      .     By  Dr.  Lorin  Shepard  590 

THE   COLORED  FRENCH   TROOPS  IN   GERMANY 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker  594 

IMPORTANT    FACTS    REGARDING   RECENT    IMMIGRATION 

By  Daniel  C.  Brewer  600 

CANADA'S    ATTITUDE    TOWARD    IMMIGRATION 

By   Charles   W.    Stokes  605 

THE  LIVING  FLAME  OF  AMERICANISM      .     By  Franklin  K.  Lane  608 

HONORS  FOR  THE  DISCOVERER  OF   RADIUM 611 

THE   WORLD'S   HOUSING    SHORTAGE      .      .     By   Gustavus    Myers  612 
THE   TREND  OF  DEMOCRACY  IN  EUROPE 

By  Frank  Bohn,  Ph.  D.  618 
JUGOSLAVIA'S   CONSTITUTIONAL   PROBLEMS 

By   Dr.   Ivan    Schvegel  624 
BULGARIA'S    CRIMES   AGAINST    SERBIA 

By    Captain    Gordon    Gordon-Smith  627 

ALBANIA'S  CONFLICT  WITH  SERBIA     ....     By  A.  B.  Sula  629 

RUMANIA  IN  THE  NEW  EUROPE     .      .     By  Theodore  Vladimiroff  631 

Contents   Continued  on   Next  Page 


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Ta&Ze  o/  Contents— Continued 

PAGE 

KORFANTY  AND  THE   SILESIAN  PLEBISCITE 

By  Ludwik  Ehrlich  633 

LORD  READING'S  ENEMIES  IN  INDIA 634 

IN  DEFENSE  OF  KING  CONSTANTINE      .     By  D.  J.  Theophilatos  635 

WHAT  JAPAN  IS  DOING  TO  CHINA     .     By  Gardner  Kuoping  Liu  636 

GERMANY'S  TRADE  TREATY  WITH  RUSSIA 638 

INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    ON    CURRENT    EVENTS     ...  641 

LETTERS  OF   AN   UKRAINIAN   SOLDIER 657 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF   CHILD  LIFE   UNDjER  BOLSHEVISM 

By  Dr.  Boris  Sokolov  664 

THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  KOLCHAK     ....     By  Sidney  C.  Graves  668 

THE   SOVIET  PRISONS By  Leo   Pasvolsky  672 

LENIN'S  FIGHT  FOR   SOVIET  RUSSIA 677 

FINLAND  AS  LEADER  OF   THE  BALTIC   STATES 680 

NORWAY'S  INDUSTRIAL  CRISIS 683 

HOW  FRANCE  CELEBRATED  THE  NAPOLEON  CENTENARY     .  685 

HOME  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  BRITISH  PREMIER 687 

THE  NEW  NORTH-OF-IRELAND  PARLIAMENT 689 

CANADA'S    NEW    GOVERNOR    GENERAL 692 

THE   VATICAN'S    NEW   RELATIONS   WITH   FRANCE     ....  694 

SPAIN'S    MURDER    SYNDICATE 697 

PORTUGAL'S    NEW    GOVERNMENT 697 

THE   BALKAN    STATES    GROWING   NEIGHBORLY 698 

RACE  SUICIDE  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA 700 

HUNGARY    AND    HER   NEIGHBORS .701 

THE  TURKISH  DRIFT  TOWARD  MOSCOW 704 

CHINA'S  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  JAPAN 707 

PERILS  OF  JAPANESE  IMPERIALISM 709 

MEXICO'S   ATTITUDE   ON   PROPERTY  RIGHTS 711 

THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION 714 

REFORMS    UNDER    CUBA'S    NEW    PRESIDENT 715 

SOUTH    AMERICAN    DEPRESSION 717 

ITALY'S    NEW   PARLIAMENT 719 

WHAT  IS  THE  MATTER   WITH  BUSINESS? 721 


INDEX    TO    NATIONS    TREATED 


PAGE 

ARGENTINA    711 

AUSTRALIA    803 

AUSTRIA    702 

BALKAN    STATES 698 

BALTIC    STATES 680 

BELGIUM    68(i 

BRAZIL    717 

BULGARIA     698 

CANADA    692 

CENTRAL   AFRICA 700 

CENTRAL   AMERICA..  711 

CHILE    718 

CHINA    707 

COLOMBIA    718 

COSTA  RICA 714 

CUBA    715 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 698,  703 

DENMARK    684 

ECUADOR    718 

EGYPT    693 

ENGLAND    687 


PAGE 

ESTHONIA    682 

FINLAND    680 

FRANCE    685,  694 

GERMANY    568 

GREECE     698,  704 

GUATEMALA    714 

HAITI    716 

HOLLAND    0S7 

HUNGARY    701 

INDIA     634 

IRELAND    689 

ITALY    719 

J  AI'AN   709 

.ircoSLAVIA    698 

LATVIA    682 

LIBERIA    694 

LITHUANIA     681 

MEXICO    711 

NEW  ZEALAND 693 

NICARAGUA    714 

NORWAY    683 

PALESTINE... 55". ,    583,  587 


PAGE 

PANAMA    714 

PANAMA    CANAL    ZONE, 

714 

PERU    718 

POLAND 556,   562,   681 

PORTO    RICO 716 

PORTUGAL    697 

RUMANIA     698 

RUSSIA    677 

SALVADOR    715 

SANTO    DOMINGO 716 

SOUTH    AFRICA . ..     693 

SOUTH    AMERICA 717 

SPAIN 697 

SWEDEN     683 

TURKEY    704 

UNITED    STATES 578 

UPPER   SILESIA 556,  562 

VATICAN 694 

VENEZUELA     719 

WEST   INDIES 715 


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FACSIMILE   OF    A    CIPHER    DISPATCH    FROM   TALAAT   PASHA,    GIVING    DIRECT    INSTRUCTIONS 
FOR   THE    MASSACRE    OF   ALL    ARMENIANS,    REGARDLESS    OF   AGE    OR    SEX.      THE    TRANSLA- 
TION   WILL    BE    FOUND    ON    PAGE    553,     UNDER    DATE    OF    SEPT.    10 


WHY  TALAAT'S  ASSASSIN 
WAS  ACQUITTED 

By  George  R.  Montgomery 

Director,     Armenia-America     Society 

Official  Turkish  documents  produced  in  Berlin  at  the  trial  of  the  young  Armenian, 
Teilirian,  proved  beyond  question  that  Talaat  Pa,sha  and  other  officials  had  ordered  the 
wholesale  extermination  of  the  Armenians,  including  even  little  orphan  children — 
Facsimiles  of  the  orders 


AN  Armenian  named  Teilirian  was  tried 
L  at  Berlin  on  June  2-3  for  the 
murder  of  Talaat  Pasha,  who  was 
chief  of  the  Young  Turk  Party,  and  who 
was,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war, 
Grand  Vizier  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The 
murder  of  Talaat  on  March  15,  1921,  drew 
general  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Ger- 
man Government  was  allowing  Talaat  to 
use  Berlin  as  a  centre  of  Turkish  Nation- 
alist intrigue.  It  was  expected  that  the 
known  sympathy  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment for  the  Young  Turks  would  result 
in    the    prompt    conviction    and    execution 


of  the   Armenian.     To  the  surprise  of  the 
world,  he  was  acquitted. 

Teilirian  and  the  Armenian  Nation,  it 
appeared,  had  found  a  champion  in  the 
person  of  Professor  Lepsius,  who  was  not 
only  bold  in  bringing  out  unpleasant 
truths,  but  who  had  the  evidence  to  make 
the  truths  irrefutable.  The  trial  of  the 
Armenian  developed  into  the  trial  of  the 
murdered  Talaat  Pasha  as  the  greatest  of 
the  war  criminals.  It  developed  into  a 
case  against  the  German  military  author- 
ities, who  had  at  least  allowed  the  massa- 
cres   to    continue    without    protest.      Even 


55% 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


General  Liman  von  Sanders,  who  had  had 
charge  of  the  German  military  forces  in 
Turkey,  was  called  as  a  witness.  His  tes- 
timony opened  the  eyes  of  the  German 
people,  as  nothing  else  had  yet  done,  to  the 
fact  of  the  terrible  massacres  and  to  the 
callousness  of  the  German  military  author- 
ities to  the  horrors  that  were  going  on 
under  their  eyes.  Professor  Lepsius  pro- 
duced German  official  reports  to  show  that 
the  total  number  of  Armenians  who  per- 
ished as  a  result  of  the  so-called  deporta- 
tions was  over  a  million. 

Although  the  technical  defense  of  Tei- 
lirian  was  temporary  insanity  brought  on 
by  a  vision  of  his  murdered  mother,  the 
real  defense  was  the  terrible  record  of 
Talaat  Pasha;  so  that  in  the  eyes  of  Ger- 
many the  acquittal  of  the  Armenian  of 
the  charge  of  murder  became  the  condem- 
nation to  death  of  the  Turk.  That  such  a 
trial  and  such  a  result  occurred  in  Ger- 
many with  Germans  as  jurors  is  partic- 
ularly significant. 

With  respect  to  the  present  situation  in 
the  Near  East,  the  most  important  phase  of 
this  dramatic  trial  was  the  ability  of  Pro- 
fessor Lepsius  to  produce  Turkish  official 
documents  which  proved  the  heads  of  the 
Turkish  Government  at  Constantinople — 
and  particularly  Talaat  himself — to  be  di- 
rectly responsible  for  converting  the  de- 
portations into  shambles.  Heretofore  there 
have  been  defenders  of  the  Ottomans  who 
held  that  the  massacres  were  not  a  plan 
of  the  Government,  but  were  due  to  the 
brutality  of  those  who  carried  out  the  de- 
portation instructions.  At  the  trial  of 
Teilirian  there  were  placed  in  evidence  fac- 
similes and  translations  of  signed  orders 
from  Talaat — letters  and  cipher  telegrams 
which  prove  that  the  instructions  to  massa- 
cre originated  in  Constantinople.  As  Alep- 
po was  the  headquarters  of  the  "  Deporta- 
tions Committee,"  the  capture  of  Aleppo  by 
the  British  made  possible  the  securing  of 
these  official  documents  from  the  archives. 
This  evidence  directly  linking  the  murdered 
Talaat  with  the  inhuman  deeds  that  were 
covered  by  the  general  term  "  deportation  " 
was  irrefutable  and  overwhelming.  The 
documents  established  once  and  for  all  the 
fact  that  the  purpose  of  the  Turkish  au- 
thorities was  not  deportation  but  annihila- 
tion. 

The   object   of   the   present   article   is   to 


present  translations — with  facsimiles — of 
some  of  the  Turkish  official  documents  that 
created  such  a  sensation  when  read  into 
the  evidence  during  the  trial  at  Berlin. 
The  first  document,  although  not  signed 
by  Talaat,  is  from  the  committee  of  Young 
Turks  of  which  he  was  the  head,  and,  in- 
asmuch as  its  contents  are  referred  to  in 
dispatches  signed  by  him,  was  valid  as 
evidence.  It  was  written  in  the  Spring  of 
1915,  before  the  massacres  had  begun,  and 
shows  the  extermination  of  the  Armenians 
to  have  been  the  determined  policy  of  the 
Government.  Jemal,  to  whom  the  docu- 
ment is  addressed,  was  the  third  in  the 
triumvirate  of  Young  Turks — Talaat,  En- 
ver  and  Jemal.  At  that  time  he  was  Gov- 
ernor of  Adana  and  soon  afterward  be- 
came Governor  of  Aleppo: 

March   2.").    101.1. 
To   Jemal  Bey,    Delegate   at  Adana : 

It  is  the  duty  of  all  of  us  to  effect  on  the 
broadest  lines  the  realization  of  the  noble 
project  of  wiping  out  of  existence  the  well- 
known  elements  who  have  for  centuries  been 
constituting  a  barrier  to  the  empire's  prog- 
ress in  civilization.  For  this  reason  we  must 
take  upon  ourselves  the  whole  responsibility, 
saying,  "  come  what  may,"  and  appreciating 
how  great  is  the  sacrifice  which  has  enabled 
the  Government  to  enter  the  World  War,  we 
must  work  so  that  the  means  adopted  may 
lead    to    the    desired    end. 

As  announced  in  our  dispatch  dated  Feb. 
18,  the  Jemiet  [Young  Turk  Committee]  has 
decided  to  uproot  and  annihilate  the  various 
forces  which  have  for  centuries  been  an 
obstacle  in  its  way,  and  to  this  end  it  is 
obliged  to  resort  to  very  bloody  methods. 
Be  assured  that  we  ourselves  were  horrified 
at  the  contemplation  of  these  methods,  but 
the  Jemiet  sees  no  other  way  of  insuring  the 
stability    of   its    work. 

Ali  Riza  [the  committee  delegate  at  Alep- 
po] criticised  us  and  called  upon  us  to  be 
merciful ;  such  simplicity  is  nothing  short  of 
stupidity.  For  those  who  will  not  co-operate 
with  us  we  will  find  a  place  that  will  wring 
their    delicate    heartstrings. 

I  again  recall  to  your  memory  the  ques- 
tion of  the  property  left.  It  is  very  impor- 
tant. Do  not  let  its  distribution  escape  your 
vigilance;  always  examine  the  accounts  and 
the  use   made  of  the   proceeds. 

Reference  to  this  document  is  contained 
in  the  following  order,  signed  by  Talaat 
and  sent  to  the  same  Jemal.  This  order 
shows  that  women  and  children  were  to  be 
included  in  the  holocaust: 

Sept.    3,    1015. 
To  the  Prefecture  of  Aleppo: 

We  recommend  that  you  submit  the  women 
and   children   also   to   the   orders  which   have 


WHY  TALAAT'S  ASSASSIN  WAS  ACQUITTED 


553 


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FACSIMILE    OE    TALAAT    PASHA'S    TELEGRAM,    NO.    830, 
ORDERING    THE    MASSACRE    OF    ARMENIAN    ORPHANS. 
Translation    on    Pase    555) 


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FACSIMILE     OF    THE     DOCUMENT    RELATING     TO    THE 

AMERICAN     C<  JNSULATES 

(See   translation   beginning  on  this   page) 


been  previously  prescribed 
as  to  be  applied  to  the 
males  of  the  intended 
persons,  and  to  designate 
for  these  functions  em- 
ployes of  confidence. 
The  Minister  of  the 
Interim,  TALAAT. 

Apparently  the  instruc- 
tions regarding  the  women 
and  children  called  for 
some  reiteration,  for  on 
Sept.  16  the  following- 
cipher  telegram,  which 
showed-  the  instructions  as 
going  back  to  the  decision 
of  the  Jemiet,  or  Young 
Turk  Committee,  was  sent: 
[Translation] 

Sept.   16. 
To   the   Prefecture   of 
Aleppo : 

It    has    been    previously 
communicated       to       you 
r  that   the    Government,    by 

°.\  order   of   the   Jemiet    [the 

Young:  Turk  Committee] 
has  decided  to  destroy 
completely  all  the  indi- 
cated persons  living  in 
Turkey.  Those  who  op- 
pose this  order  and  de- 
cision cannot  remain  on 
the  official  staff  of  the 
empire.  An  end  must  be 
put  to  their  existence, 
however  tragic  the  meas- 
ures taken  may  be,  and 
no  regard  must  be  paid 
to  either  age  or  sex,  or 
to  conscientious  scruples. 
Minister'  of  the  Interior, 
TALAAT. 

Mr.  Morgenthau,  the 
American  Ambassador  at 
Constantinople,  began  to 
exert  himself  in  behalf  of 
the  Armenians,  and  the 
result  was  an  official 
order  suggesting  caution: 

Nov.  18,  1915. 

To    the    Prefecture    of 

Aleppo : 

F  r  o  m  interventions 
which  have  recently  been 
made  by  the  American 
Ambassador  at  Constan- 
tinople on  behalf  of  his 
Government,  it  appears 
that  the  American  Con- 
suls   are   'obtaining    infor- 


554 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


mation  by  secret  means.  In  spite  of  our 
assurance  that  the  [Armenian]  deporta- 
tions will  be  accomplished  in  safety  and 
comfort,  they  remain  unconvinced.  Ee 
careful  that  events  attracting  attention  shall 
not  take  place  in  connection  with  those 
[Armenians]  who  are  near  the  cities  and 
other  centres.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
present  policy,  it  is  most  important  that 
foreigners  who  are  in  those  parts  shall  be 
persuaded    t^at   the   expulsion   of  the   ArraG- 


at  Aleppo.      Have   dangerous   persons   of   this 
kind   arrested   and    suppressed. 

Minister   of   the   Interior, 

TALAAT. 

The  need  for  caution  is  further  indicated 
in  the  following  telegram: 

Dec.  20,  l9lo. 
To  the  Prefecture   of  Aleppo : 

We  learn  that  foreign  officers  are  encoun- 
tering along  the  roads  the  corpses  of  the  in- 


(Photo    Paul    Thompson) 

TALAAT   PASHA 

Turkish  official  who  ordered  the  massacre  of 

Armenians,  and  icho  was  assassinated  by 

an    American    youth    at    Berlin 


nians  is  in  truth  only  deportation.  For  this 
reason  it  is  important  that,  to  save  appear- 
ances, a  show  of  gentle  dealing  shall  be  made 
for  a  time,  and  the  usual  measures  be  taken 
in  suitable  places.  It  is  recommended  as 
very  important  that  the  people  who  have 
given  such  information  shall  be  arrested  and 
handed  over  to  the  military  authorities  for 
trial   by    court-martial. 

The  Minister  of  the  Interior, 

TALAAT. 

Reference  to  the  effort  of  the  American 
Consul  at  Aleppo,  Mr.  Jackson,  to  send  in- 
formation to  Mr.  Morgenthau  is  contained 
in  the  following  cipher  dispatch : 

Dec.  11,  1015. 
To  the  Prefecture   of  Aleppo : 

We  learn  that  some  correspondents  of  Ar- 
menian journals  are  obtaining  photographs 
and  letters  which  represent  tragic  events, 
and  are  giving  them  to  the  American  Consul 


SOLOMON   TEILIRIAN 

Young   Armenian   who   killed    Talaat  Pasha, 
and   teas   acquitted 


tended  persons  and  are  photographing  them. 
I   recommend   you   the   importance   of   having 
these  corpses   buried   at  once   and   of  not   al- 
lowing them  to  be  left  near  the  roads. 
Minister  of  the  Interior, 

TALAAT. 

The  heartlessness  of  the  Turks  in  regard 
to  the  doomed  children  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  Berlin  jury.  The  following 
are  some  of  the  documents  presented  on 
this  point: 

Nov.  5,  3015. 
To  the  Government  of  Aleppo : 

We  are  informed  that  the  little  ones  be- 
longing to  the  indicated  persons  [Armenians] 
from  Sivas,  Mamuret-ui-Aziz,  Diarbekir  and 
Erzeroum  are  adopted  by  certain  Moslem 
families  and  received  as  servants  when  they 
are  left  alone  through  the  death  of  their 
parents.  We  inform  you  that  you  are  to 
collect  all  such  children  in  your  province  and 
send   them   to   the   places   of   deportation,    and 


WHY  TALAAT'S  ASSASSIN  WAS  ACQUITTED 


555 


also   to   give   the   necessary    orders    regarding 
this    to    the    people. 

Minister   of   the   Interior, 

TALAAT. 
Jan.  15,   191G. 
To  the  Government  of  Aleppo : 

We  hear  mat  certain  orphanages  which 
have  been  opened  received  also  the  children 
of  the  Armenians.  Whether  this  is  done 
through  ignorance  of  our  real  purpose,  or 
through  contempt  of  it,  the  Government  will 
regard  the  feeding  of  such  children  or  any 
attempt  to  prolong  their  lives  as  an  act  en- 
tirely opposed  to  its  purpose,  since  it  con- 
siders the  survival  of  these  children  as  detri- 
mental. I  recommend  that  such  children 
shr.il  not  be  received  into  the  orphanages, 
and  no  attempts  are  to  be  made  to  establish 
special   orphanages   for   them. 

Minister   of   the   Interior, 

TALAAT. 

The    production    of   the    following   cipher 
telegram  (No.  830)  was  particularly  telling 
in  its  effect  on  the  jury: 
From    the    Ministry    of    the    Interior    to    the 
Government  of  Aleppo : 
Collect   and   keep    only    those    orphans    who 
cannot   remember   the  terrors   to  which   their 
parents   have  been   subjected.     Send  the  rest 
away   with   the   caravans. 

Minister  of  the  Interior, 

TALAAT. 


That  the  Moslem  population  was  not  to 
be  held  accountable  for  its  share  in  the 
massacres  was  ordered  in  a  telegram  dated 
Oct.  8,  1915: 

The  reason  why  the  sanjak  of  Zor  was 
chosen  as  a  place  of  deportation  is  explained 
in  a  secret  order  dated  Sept.  2,  1915,  No. 
1,843.  As  all  the  crimes  to  be  committed  by 
the  population  along  the  way  against  the 
Armenians  will  serve  to  effect  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  tne  Government,  there  is  no  need 
for  legal  proceedings  with  regard  to  these. 
The  necessary  instructions  have  also  been 
sent  to  the  Governments  of  Zor  and  Ourfa. 
Minister  of  the  Interior, 

TALAAT. 

All  the  evidence  tends  to  show,  with 
cumulative  effect,  that  it  was  the  pity 
awakened  in  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  local 
Turkish  officials  by  the  miseries  of  the 
Armenians  which  produced  a  certain  miti- 
gation of  the  heartless  orders  that  emanated 
from  Constantinople.  A  small  remnant  of 
the  race  survived.  Talaat  and  his  group 
in  the  Government  were  obliged  continually 
to  spur  some  of  their  tools  on  to  greater 
severity. 


CAUSES   OF   THE    PALESTINE    RIOTS 


THE  investigation  conducted  by  Sir  Her- 
bert Samuel,  the  British  High  Commis- 
sioner in  Palestine,  into  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  Jaffa  conflict  between  Jews  and 
Arabs  in  the  first  week  in  May  caused  him 
temporarily  to  curtail  immigration  and  to 
subject  the  immigrants  allowed  to  enter  to 
more  strict  supervision. 

Investigation  of  the  Jaffa  affair  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  although  certain  Bol- 
shevist agents  had  made  their  way  into 
Palestine  via  Angora,  the  principal  insti- 
gators of  the  trouble  were  among  the  newly 
arrived  Russian  immigrants  at  Jaffa.  These 
instigators,  it  is  alleged,  found  ready  hear- 
ers among  their  fellow-immigrants,  who 
were  disappointed  at  the  measures  taken 
by  the  Zionist  organizations  to  provide  for 
them. 

The  Palestine  administration  debated  the 
following  alternative  of  action:  On  the  one 
hand  it  was  pointed  out  that  without  se- 
curity for  life  and  property  there  could  be 
no  development  of  the  country,  and  that 
since  the  misconduct  of  the  Arab  police  in 


the  Jaffa  riots  showed  that  Arabs  were  not 
fit  to  be  trusted  to  maintain  order  and  that 
the  rioting  was  an  organized  attack  upon 
the  policy  of  the  Jewish  national  home,  the 
Government  should  organize  those  who 
could  be  depended  on — namely,  the  Jews — 
to  defend  themselves  and  maintain  order  in 
the  country.  On  the  other  hand,  admitting 
that  faults  had  been  committed  on  both 
sides,  the  part  played  by  both  the  Angora 
agents  and  the  communist  agitators  was 
equally  obscure,  while  the  combined  effect 
was  to  arouse  the  immigrants  against  the 
Zionist  organizations  and  the  Arabs  against 
the  immigrants,  who,  it  was  alleged,  were 
seeking  to  take  the  place  of  the  Arabs.  This 
being  so,  it  was  urged  that  instead  of  the 
authority  and  responsibility  of  the  Jews 
being  increased  both  Jew  and  Arab  should 
be  organized  to  contend  against  the  com- 
mon enemy  of  both,  namely,  Russian  Bol- 
shevism as  introduced  by  agitators  among 
the  Jewish  immigrants  or  its  Turkish  phase 
as  introduced  by  agents  from  Angora 
amonqf  the  Arabs. 


AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE 
SILESIAN  PERIL 


By  Burnet  Hershey 

An    American    newspaper    correspondent    who    has    spent 

many    months    in    Upper    Silesia 


Causes  of  the  strife  and  bloodshed  that  have  torn  asunder  the  peaceful  communities  of 
/•  Silesia  and  created  a  menace  of  another  European  war — Interviews  with  Korfanty 
and  General  LeRond — Conclusions  of  the  author  after  hearing  both  sides 


T  TPPER  Silesia  today  presents  the  pic- 
l^J  ture  of  a  people  blindly  seeking  a 
way  out  of  a  political  wilderness 
planted  there  by  a  peace  treaty.  An  ex- 
citable mixed  population  of  Germans  and 
Poles,  trembling  under  the  threats  of  a 
mob,  terrorized  by  guerrilla  warfare  and 
misled  by  unscrupulous  propaganda,  has 
converted  the  once  peaceful,  industrious 
province  into  such  a  Babel  of  dissension 
and  strife  that  the  world  has  been  aroused 
to  the  grave  menace  of  another  war.  Up- 
per Silesia  is  a  victim  of  the  same  illusory 
doctrine  that  has  thrown  all  Europe  into 
convulsion — "  self-determination."  The  in- 
habitants feel  that  they  would  rather  have 
been  left  alone  to  work  out  their  destiny 
and  carry  on  their  existence  without  the 
trouble-breeding  solicitude  professed  by 
both  Berlin  and  Warsaw. 

It  seems  strange  that  in  the  heart  of 
Europe  there  should  exist  a  region  in  many 
respects  analogous  to  a  colonial  domain 
and  that,  like  a  colonial  prize,  it  should 
form  the  basis  of  contention  between  two 
powers.  Upper  Silesia  can  be  viewed  as 
such  a  colony,  prodigiously  rich  in  natural 
resources  and  highly  developed  as  an  in- 
dustrial machine. 

Poland  possessed  it  once  when  she  was  a 
chivalrous  nation  of  cavaliers  and  crusa- 
ders. That  was  eight  centuries  ago.  After 
centuries  of  strife,  Germany  acquired  it, 
and  established  her  authority  by  exploiting 
its  resources  and  creating  its  present 
wealth.  As  a  pretext  for  recovery,  Poland 
is  now  invoking  ancient  historical  titles, 
while  Germany  demands  the  rights  of  ex- 
isting ownership  and  economic  necessity. 

Germany  points  to  proof — only  two  miles 
away  across  the  Polish  frontier — that  Po- 
land   is    incapable    of    developing    the    re- 


sources of  Upper  Silesia.  The  evidence  is 
there.  From  a  roof  in  Myslowitz,  a  border 
town,  an  observer  is  struck  by  the  contrasts 
in  landscape.  In  Upper  Silesia,  the  eye 
greets  an  orderly  countryside,  in  the  dis- 
tance looming  the  smoking  stacks  and 
rugged  shafts  of  modern  industry;  in  Po- 
land, disheveled  acres  with  clusters  of 
squatting,  rude,  wood-and-mud  thatched 
huts — a  primitive  colony.  Yet  it  is  virtually 
only  a  stone's  throw  over  the  boundary, 
which  is  not  a  natural  geographical  de- 
marcation, but  merely  an  imaginary  po- 
litical line.  The  same  soil,  bwt  no  mines, 
no  factories,  no  mills.  The  wealth  still  is 
untapped. 

The  disputed  province  of  Upper  Silesia, 
designated  by  the  Peace  Convention  to  set- 
tle its  own  destiny,  consists  of  a  territory 
in  area  slightly  smaller  than  Belgium.  On 
March  21,  1921,  the  history-making  pleb- 
iscite, as  stipulated  by  the  Versailles  Treaty, 
was  conducted.  It  failed  utterly  to  register 
the  true  aspirations  of  the  population,  which 
was  its  object.  The  plebiscite  proved 
merely  a  taking  of  the  census,  for  the  bal- 
loting broke  along  the  lines  of  nationality. 
Although  the  Germans  got  716,000  votes 
and  the  Poles  471,000,  giving  the  Teutons 
a  plurality  of  57  per  cent.,  the  results  of  the 
plebiscite,  considering  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  taken,  are  confusing. 
If  anything,  the  returns  left  the  situation 
in  worse  chaos  than  before. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  Poles  lost  out  in 
the  majority  vote,  they  carried  seven  dis- 
tricts, against  fourteen  for  Germany.  This 
result,  too,  is  practically  meaningless,  for 
in  some  districts  where  the  Poles  scored 
victory  in  the  rural  districts  they  lost  neigh- 
boring urban  districts.  The  districts  were 
the  old  German  kreise,  or  voting  districts, 


AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  SILESIAN  PERIL 


557 


and,  because  of  the  use  of  this  system  of 
districting-,  the  areas  won  by  the  opposing* 
factions  in  many  instances  are  disconnected. 
Broken  along  the  lines  indicated  by  the  pleb- 
iscite returns,  the  territory  would  represent 
a  veritable  patch  quilt. 

It  is  important  to  recall  that  the  clause 
in  the  treaty  relating  to  the  Upper  Silesian 


(Times    Wide    World    Ph 


ADALBERT  KORFANTY 
Leader  of  the  Polish  Insurgents  in  the  disputed 
area  of  Upper  Silesia 


plebiscite  specifically  states  that  in  the 
final  adjudication  the  Allies  must  take  into 
consideration  the  conditions  under  which 
the  vote  was  recorded.  Consequently  the 
plebiscite  returns  are  not  final.  The  ulti- 
mate disposition  of  this  heterogeneous  ter- 
ritory depends  upon  the  decision  of  the  Al- 
lied Council  and  will  be  influenced  largely 
by  reports  of  how  balloting  was  effected. 
Impartial  observers  who  visited  the  prov- 
ince are  convinced  that  the  vote,  taken 
under  the  unscrupulous  menace  of  the  Prus- 
sians on  the  one  hand  and  the  ferocious  ter- 
rorism of  the  Poles  on  the  other,  is  not  a 
fair  expression  of  the  desires  of  the  inhabi- 
tants.    Taken  amid  scenes  of  violence  and 


disorder,  of  tense  excitement  and  intimida- 
tion, the  fateful  plebiscite  was  far  from 
being  the  appeal  to  the  people  originally 
intended. 

In  some  places  the  conditions  were  partic- 
ularly turbulent.  The  crack  of  the  rifle  and 
the  bark  of  the  machine  gun  punctuated  the 
balloting.  The  once  peace-loving  popula- 
tion, divided  ^nto  two  bitter  camps,  went  to 
the  polling  booths  as  if  to  battle.  The  sit- 
uation was  fraught  with  the  fierce  animos- 
ity of  a  feud.  Every  one  was  keyed  up  and 
the  whole  business  was  like  an  immense 
powder  magazine  awaiting  a  spark. 

Creating  an  Unnatural  Enmity 

I  have  watched  and  studied  the  simple, 
hardworking  folk  of  Upper  Silesia  and  have 
inquired  into  their  aspirations — not  those 
of  their  political  chiefs  or  military  leaders, 
nor  even  of  their  religious  heads.  It  would 
be  incorrect  to  say  that  the  Germans  in  the 
province  have  no  sympathies  toward  their 
Fatherland.  It  would  be  misleading  to  as- 
sert that  the  Poles  are  unfriendly  to  their 
compatriots  across  the  frontier.  Yet,  when 
one  penetrates  the  surface  he  finds  not  a 
German,  nor  a  Pole,  but  an  Upper  Silesian, 
with  distinct  regional  characteristics  and 
customs,  although  ethnically  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  an  Upper  Silesian. 

There  are  nearly  3,000,000  Upper  Siles- 
ians,  of  whom  more  than  1,500,000  are  of 
Polish  origin.  Both  nationalities  are  so 
hopelessly  intermingled  that  observers  have 
long  despaired  of  a  solution.  Were  it  not 
for  the  propagandist  tactics  of  Berlin  and 
Warsaw,  appealing  to  a  race  hatred  long 
forgotten  and  to  a  class  distinction  recently 
intensified,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  phleg- 
matic German  or  the  apathetic  Pole  would 
ever  have  responded  to  the  national  con- 
sciousness which  has  caused  the  present  tur- 
moil. 

Political,  religious  and  economic  differ- 
ences divide  the  Germans  and  the  Poles. 
Having  lived  in  amity  and  comfort  for 
hundreds  of  years,  the  Polish  and  German 
population  has  only  recently  been  incul- 
cated with  a  sense  of  nationality.  Up  to  a 
short  time  prior  to  the  plebiscite,  the  Ger- 
mans were  regarded  by  the  great  mass  of 
the  un-Teutonic  element  as  the  best  fitted 
and  most  logical  administrators  of  the  dis- 
trict. 

Upper  Silesians  knew  no  other  allegiance 


558 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


than  that  of  the  existing  Government.  Now 
they  are  suddenly  confronted  with  the 
choice  of  a  new  destiny.  Caught  in  the 
whirlwind  of  propaganda,  the  inhabitants 
have  awakened  to  a  sense  of  racial  antip- 
athy. A  territory  satisfied  and  prosperous 
has  been  rudely  transformed  into  a  hotbed 
of  open  hostility. 

The  Upper  Silesians  differ  on  religious 
grounds.  For  the  most  part  the  Poles  are 
Roman  Catholics,  and  cherish  intense  an- 
tagonism for  the  Protestant  Germans.  The 
Catholic  Church  plays  a  big  part  in  uniting 
the  Polish  element,  and  has  contributed 
largely  to  welding  the  Poles  into  a  solid 
force.  Economic  considerations  have  also 
contributed  to  dissension.  Germans  are  the 
mine  owners,  the  coal  operators  and  the  in- 
dustrial chiefs.  The  Poles  are  the  laborers, 
the  workingmen,  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  so 
that  the  old  socialistic  arguments  of  capital 
and  labor  have  been  injected  into  the  con- 
troversy. 

The  German  of  Upper  Silesia  is  interested 
mainly  in  the  exploitation  of  the  mines  and 
industries  constructed  by  German  effort  and 
non-existent  in  that  distant  past  when  the 
province  was  seized  as  a  share  of  territorial 
booty.  When  not  a  capitalist  or  a  public 
functionary  sent  by  Berlin,  the  German  is 
intent  only  upon  carrying  on  his  business 
and  earning  his  daily  bread.  He  is  usually 
the  shopkeeper,  school  teacher  or  profes- 
sional man.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Pole 
is  in  the  mines  and  the  field,  at  the  forges 
or  lathes,  in  the  lumber  mills  or  factories. 
When  not  harnessed  by  a  Korfanty  and 
subjugated  to  the  will  of  Warsaw,  the  Pole 
of  Upper  Silesia  is  the  most  simple  and  un- 
assuming individual  in  the  world.  Few  argu- 
ments of  politics  or  economics  have  any 
weight  with  him.  What  then  does  he  de- 
sire? He  wants  to  be  left  alone.  He  wants 
to  be  free  to  worship  in  his  own  way.  He 
wants  to  eat  his  white  bread  and  have  his 
bowl  of  soup.  He  wants  to  live  in  the  hope 
that  his  sons  will  rise  to  a  higher  level.  He 
wants  a  share  of  the  soil  and  a  better  wage. 
All  the  rest  in  his  eyes  is  rhetoric. 

Since  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  Upper 
Silesia  has  had  an  international  Govern- 
ment, France,  Britain  and  Italy  jointly  tak- 
ing part  in  the  administration  of  the  prov- 
ince. Oppeln  is  the  headquarters  of  this 
Government,  and  General  Le  Rond,  the 
Frenchman,   is   the   real   head.     He   is  the 


man  who  wrote  most  of  the  clauses  relating 
to  Upper  Silesia  into  the  treaty.  A  com- 
plete Government  has  been  established, 
which  has  been  in  operation  for  more  than 
two  years,  and  which  has  ministries  and 
bureaus  having  equal  representation  of  both 
Germans  and  Poles,  but  supervised  by  the 
Allied  Commission. 

Le  Rond  and  Korfanty 

General  Le  Rond,  French  military  dicta- 
tor of  the  district,  has  his  headquarters  at 
the  Stadthaus  in  Oppeln.  He  is  of  small 
stature,  a  frail  body  supporting  a  massive 
head.  He  is  distinguishable  from  afar  by 
a  huge  mustache.  He  is  about  60  years 
old,  and  for  all  his  five  feet  one,  when 
clothed  in  his  horizon  blue  and  wearing 
nearly  every  allied  decoration,  he  presents 
an  imposing  figure.  General  Le  Rond  is 
a  principal  assistant  of  Marshal  Foch,  who 
considers  him  one  of  his  most  able  collabo- 
rators. This  Frenchman,  who  bears  the 
burden  of  the  ungrateful  task  of  managing 
Upper  Silesia,  is  considered  one  of  the 
ablest  diplomats  in  Europe.  The  General 
is  an  enthusiast  concerning  things  Ameri- 
can. He  acted  as  Marshal  Foch's  repre- 
sentative at  A.  E.  F.  Headquarters,  and 
knows  American  methods. 

"  We  have  done  our  utmost  to  preserve 
order  in  Upper  Silesia,"  Le  Rond  told  me, 
speaking  in  perfect  English,  "  but  our 
forces  are  insufficient  for  such  a  stupen- 
dous job.  We  have  been  accused  of  being 
partial  to  the  Poles.  It  is  always  easy  to 
accuse.  This  job  is  not  only  thankless,  but 
difficult,  and  nobody  seems  to  have  wanted 
it.  Therefore  we  French  had  to  do  it. 
There  are  only  3,000  Italian  troops  here, 
practically  no  British  soldiers — only  a 
handful  of  officers — and  so  the  greater  part 
of  the  task  has  fallen  to  us  French.  I 
have  only  10,000  French  troops  to  police 
this  vast  territory.". 

General  Le  Rond  felt  that  some  Ameri- 
can troops  from  the  Rhine  would  have  pre- 
vented much  friction  in  Upper  Silesia.  He 
explained  that  their  presence  would  not 
only  have  lessened  the  burden,  but  would 
have  left  less  room  for  criticism.  "  I  have 
always  kept  a  vacant  chair  in  my  council 
room,"  he  explained,  "  ready  for  its  Ameri- 
can occupant."  Then  the  French  General 
added:    "  I  have  been  accused  of  maintain- 


AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  SILESIAN  PERIL 


559 


ing  an  attitude  of  open  solicitude  for  the 
Polish  cause,  and  of  permitting  the  whole- 
sale smuggling  of  arms  across  the  frontiers 
from  Poland.  My  accusers  know  that  as 
many  German  arms  have  been  imported  as 
Polish  arms.  Heaven  knows,  with  the 
small  force  at  my  disposal,  I  have  been 
unable  to  cover  every  foot  of  territory 
along  the  miles  of  frontiers.  If  smuggling 
has  been  going  on,  it  was  certainly  not  at 
the  points  where  my  troops  were  stationed." 


(Photo     International) 

GENERAL    LE    ROND 
Commander  of  French  forces  m  Upper  Silesia 


General  Le  Rond  furnished  me  with 
passes  and  the  necessary  facilities  for  ex- 
ploring the  frontiers  myself.  I  traversed 
the  greater  length  of  the  Polish-German 
border,  discovering  for  myself  that  the 
frontier  did  not  permit  efficient  patrolling 
any  more  than  the  Canadian-American 
border  does. 

The  Polish  leader  of  the  insurrectionists, 
Wojciech  (Adalbert)  Korfanty,  who  has  led 
his  insurgents  to  an  invasion  of  more  than 
one-half  of  the  Upper  Silesian  territory  and 
caused  the  problem  that  threatens  to  divide 
the  Allies,  is  the  prototype  of  the  Russian 
hetman.     For  twenty-five  years  he  was  the 


representative  of  the  Poles  of  Upper  Silesia 
in  the  Reichstag  and  the  leader  of  the 
Polish  bloc.  Though  not  endowed  with 
real  qualities  of  leadership,  and,  curiously 
enough,  possessed  of  an  unattractive  and 
even  repulsive  personality,  Korfanty  has 
nevertheless  succeeded  in  enthroning  him- 
self as  the  "czar"  of  the  1,500,000  Poles 
from  whom  he  has  drawn  his  rabble  of  an 
army.  Except  for  slight  skirmishes,  Kor- 
fanty's  advance  with  his  mob  of  adherents 
was  undisputed.  The  French  troops  refused 
to  offer  resistance,  and  the  only  troops  that 
did  resist  were  the  Italians.  Korfanty 
timed  his  coup  at  the  psychological  moment, 
when  General  Le  Rond  was  off  to  Paris 
and  when  the  Allies  and  Germans  were 
busy  trying  to  settle  the  important  question 
of  indemnities. 

The  rebel  force  of  Korfanty  has  been 
compared  to  Zeligowsky's  Vilna  insurgents, 
who,  like  Korfanty's  gang,  invaded  terri- 
tory which  they  believed  should  go  to 
Poland.  The  comparison  is  flattering. 
Zeligowsky's  troops  are  really  a  corps 
d 'elite  compared  with  Korfanty's  hooligan 
bands.  Korfanty  knows  little  of  general- 
ship, and  his  gang  of  nondescripts  care 
less  about  fighting  than  did  their  com- 
patriots before  the  siege  of  Warsaw  last 
year. 

In  a  conversation  I  had  with  Korfanty  in 
the  little  hotel  in  Beuthen  which  served  as 
the  Polish  plebiscite  headquarters,  he  ex- 
plained to  me  how  from  a  mass  of  scat- 
tered, disinterested  Poles,  he  has  molded 
an  enthusiastic  bloc,  all  working  in  the  in- 
terests of  Polish  freedom: 

My  campaign  [K-orfanty  said]  called  for 
an  effective  counter-propaganda  against  the 
powerful  publicity  methods  of  Wilhelm- 
strass.  My  fellow-countrymen  needed  much 
education  concerning  the  movement  for  a 
plebiscite.  I  enlisted  the  help  of  the  Church, 
religion  being  the  most  powerful  factor  in 
the  lives  of  the  average  Polish  worker  and 
peasant.  It  has  been  my  most  potent  auxili- 
ary. Next  I  organized  the  labor  forces.  Re- 
member that  the  Poles  here  make  up  the 
toiling  class,  and  that  an  appeal  to  class 
consciousness  could  not  help  but  yield  re- 
sults. 

I  asked  Korfanty  whether  he  expected  to 
remain  the  supreme  leader  of  the  Poles  of 
Upper  Silesia  in  case  the  Warsaw  Govern- 
ment took  possession  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  province.  His  response  at  once  betrayed 
his  insincerity.     It  was  not  difficult  to  see 


560 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


that  the  insurgent  dictator  was  nourishing 
a  secret  ambition  to  retain  for  himself  the 
power  of  ruling  a  possible  autonomous  Up- 
per Silesia  and  using  the  vast  resources  of 
the  territory  for  his  own  enrichment.  This 
Korfanty  is  no  Kosciusko  fighting  for  Po- 
lish freedom.  He  has  fooled  his  ignorant 
followers  into  a  campaign  which  has  for  its 
basis  his  personal  ambition. 

When  I  spoke  to  him,  Korfanty  failed  to 
mention  that  he  had  organized  his  compa- 
triots militarily.  But  he  showed  me  how 
well  his  hotel  was  fortified,  explaining  that 
the  measures  were  purely  defensive.  Ma- 
chine gun  nests  with  steel  turrets  were 
ranged  along  the  cornice  of  the  roof.  Steel 
doors  swung  at  every  floor  landing,  shut- 
ting off  one  floor  from  another  to  repel  a 
raid  of  a  "  Stosstruppe,"  or  civilian  band. 
The  precautions  showed  that  Korfanty  had 
definitely  planned  for  an  armed  struggle. 
He  frankly  admitted  to  me  that  arms  were 
reaching  the  Polish  inhabitants. 

"  Poland  will  fight  to  the  last  man  for 
Upper  Silesia,"  Korfanty  told  me.  "  The 
province  is  and  always  has  been  predomi- 
nantly Polish.  France  is  our  ally  and  will 
always  be  ready  to  back  our  efforts  against 
the  Germans.  We  have  no  fear  of  the  out- 
come." 

View   of  a  British   Officer 
I  also  had  an  interview  with  Major  Ott- 
ley,    who    is    a    nephew    of    Lloyd    George. 
Major  Ottley  said: 

No  matter  how  propaganda,  whether  Po- 
lish or  French,  tries  to  endow  the  Upper 
Silesian  with  a  preponderance  of  pro-Polish 
sentiment,  the  facts  as  we  British  have 
found  them— and  surely  we  cannot  be  ac- 
cused of  partiality— are  decidedly  contrary 
to  what  Korfanty  and  General  Le  Rond  have 
been  continually  disseminating-.  Upper  Si- 
lesia is  an  industrial  community  first  of  all. 
Without  the  stimulus  of  capital  and  tech- 
nical brains,  the  laboring-  community  of  this 
province  might  as  well  decide  to  emigrate 
elsewhere.  Germany  has  supplied  these 
requisites.  Neither  Poland  nor  her  allies 
can  furnish  this  needed  propulsion.  Besides, 
the  Poles  have  proved  themselves  incapable 
of  governing  even  their  own  population,  to 
say  nothing  of  a  mixed  population.  Poland, 
least  of  all,  can  be  considered  qualified  to 
govern  an  alien  population  such  as  are  the 
Poles    and   Germans    of   Upper    Silesia." 

Major  Ottley  is  a  young  officer,  about 
32  years  old.  I  interviewed  him  in  his 
apartment  in  Beuthen.  More  than  once 
he  has  threatened  to  resign,  but  he  has 
been  kept  on  by  his  superiors  in  London, 


who  recognize  in  him  an  invaluable  ob- 
server. The  Major  has  written  a  compre- 
hensive book  on  the  subject  of  Upper  Sile- 
sia. It  is  most  likely  that  he  greatly  influ- 
enced his  uncle,  Lloyd  George,  and  it  is  also 
largely  probable  that  it  was  upon  his  infor- 
mation that  the  British  Premier  made  his 
startling  speech  declaring  England's  stand 
against  the  Poles,  which  has  strained  rela- 
tions between  England  and  France. 

An  observer  traveling  from  one  town  to 
another  in  Upper  Silesia  could  not  but  be 
impressed  with  one  of  the  outstanding  fea- 
tures of  the  whole  situation,  namely,  the 
friction  that  existed  between  members  of 
the  Interallied  Commission.  The  feud  be- 
tween French  and  Poles,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  British  and  Italians  on  the  other,  is 
not  new.  It  has  lasted  for  more  than  a 
year.  British  representatives  in  the  dis- 
trict appeared  to  be  the  most  disliked  by 
the  Poles.  I  remember  on  one  occasion,  at 
Beuthen,  witnessing  an  attack  by  a  mob  of 
Polish  miners  on  the  automobile  in  which 
Major  Ottley  was  riding.  Major  Ottley 
has  been  most  outspoken  against  Polish  vio- 
lence, and  has  gone  so  far  as  to  charge 
French  toleration  of  some  of  the  outbreaks 
against  the  German  inhabitants.  Both  the 
Polish  and  French  press  accused  him  of 
being  the  tool  of  Germany,  while  the  Ger- 
mans never  ceased  to  sing  his  praises. 
Shortly  after  the  attack  on  the  Major's  car, 
which  was  rescued  from  the  Polish  mob  by 
a  detachment  of  German  civilians,  Ottley 
was  carried  through  the  streets  of  Beuthen 
on  the  shoulders  of  a  frenzied  mob  of  Ger- 
mans. That  incident  was  the  prelude  to  a 
series  of  the  most  brutal  murders  ever  re- 
corded in  the  history  of  Upper  Silesia. 

As  the  observer  goes  over  into  the  camp 
of  the  enemy — the  Germans — the  picture 
changes.  I  was  prepared  by  the  opposing 
side  to  meet  a  band  of  pirates,  cutthroats 
and  guerrillas.  Instead,  I  met  a  committee 
of  elderly  professors,  local  physicians  and 
bespectacled  journalists.  They  all  spoke 
English.  One,  formerly  a  pupil  of  Miinster- 
berg  at  Harvard,  was  a  member  of  the 
Psychological  Department  of  Publicity 
for  Upper  Silesia.  Another,  a  noted 
Berlin  Socialist,  was  thrown  in  to  carry 
weight  with  labor.  At  the  head  of  the 
German  organization  was  the  aged  Prince 
Hatzfeld,  who  resides  at  Oppeln.  The  real 
headquarters  of  the  Germans,  however,  was 


AN  INSIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  SILESIAN  PERIL 


561 


at  Kattowitz.  Prince  Hatzfeld's  seventy- 
one  years,  coupled  with  his  indecisive  man- 
ner, prevented  him  from  being  very  active 
in  the  propaganda  campaign,  and  it  was  his 
subordinates  who  did  the  work. 

There  was  quite  a  contrast  between  the 
German  and  Polish  headquarters.  The  Ger- 
mans, in  characteristic  fashion,  occupied  the 
central  hotel  in  Kattowitz,  and  all  the  work 
of  their  bureau  was  systematized.  The 
whole  thing  was  an  up-to-date  press  agent 
affair,  with  even  a  photographic  outfit  in- 
cluded. Numerous  colored  posters  were  is- 
sued and  distributed  widely,  some  finding 
their  way  into  Germany  and  even  into  the 
Ruhr  Valley,  where  many  German  and  Po- 
lish residents  of  Upper  Silesia  were  tempo- 
rarily employed. 

The  Poles  at  Beuthen  occupied  a  rickety 
hotel,  and  one  of  the  principal  arguments 
was  a  soup  kitchen.  Korf  anty  would  receive 
hundreds  of  laborers  and  treat  them.  It 
was  a  simple  method,  the  same  old  political 
device.  The  Korfanty  campaign  made  no 
pretense  of  elaborate  display.  Its  posters 
were  crude.  But  the  Polish  leader  aimed  to 
reach  the  workingman,  and  he  did. 

Three  Possible  Solutions 

There  are  three  courses  open  for  the 
disposition  of  Upper  Silesia.  The  Allies 
must  decide  whether  to  turn  it  over  to  Po- 
land or  Germany,  to  divide  it  between  the 
two  countries,  or  to  make  it  an  autonomous 
State.  General  Le  Rond,  on  a  recent  visit 
to  the  French  Premier,  Briand,  gave  him  to 
understand  that  the  Interallied  Commission 
had  practically  agreed  on  the  principle  of 
dividing  the  region. 

Germany  has  all  along  insisted  that  Up- 
per Silesia  is  necessary  for  her  economic 
existence.  The  Poles  under  Korfanty  have 
invaded  the  rich  coal  and  mining  towns, 
and  have  carried  into  operation  their  scheme 
of  expropriation  of  the  industries  which 
Germany  created.  It  is  futile  effort.  Kor- 
fanty's  undisciplined  mob  has  already  struck 
serious  German  resistance,  and  the  British 


forces,  strengthened  by  contingents  from 
the  Rhine,  are  preparing  to  take  the  fieM 
and  sweep  the  Polish  insurgents  over  the 
border. 

The  Upper  Silesian  problem  appears  un- 
solvable  to  any  one  who  knows  this  terri- 
tory. Rural  districts  and  industrial  centres 
are  haplessly  thrown  together.  At  first 
glance  the  region  seems  a  dense  mass  of 
smokestacks.  Entering  the  mining  district. 
one  is  thrust  into  the  midst  of  a  roaring 
basin,  with  its  smoke,  its  blast  furnaces,  its 
steel  and  molten  iron.  Almost,  it  seems,  in 
the  backyard  of  this  twentieth  century  in- 
dutrial  centre  are  the  farm  lands  with 
their  Poles  and  agriculture.  One  steps,  as 
it  were,  from  a  steel  mill  to  a  pasture; 
from  a  bank  to  a  barnyard.  The  whole 
district  is  a  patchwork  of  modem  industry 
and  medieval  ruralism. 

Rich  in  coal  deposits,  having  an  esti- 
mated value  of  over  300,000,000,000  gold 
marks;  in  mineral  resources,  possessing 
iron,  copper,  lead  and  zinc  mines;  in  indus- 
tries, boasting  of  steel  mills,  metallurgical 
laboratories,  tool  shops,  paper  mills,  cement 
works;  in  railroads,  enjoying  an  elaborate 
network  of  railways,  huge  terminals  and 
abundance  of  rolling  stock;  in  agriculture, 
holding  some  of  the  best  arable  land  in. 
Europe;  in  lumber,  being  stocked  with  im- 
mense forests  and  having  lumber  mills- 
Upper  Silesia  would  make  fine  picking  for 
Poland. 

This  rich  province,  ready  made  by  the  ef- 
ficient and  thorough  Germans,  the  Poles 
think  they  can  seize  by  force  of  arms.  But 
German  enterprise  has  made  Upper  Silesia 
the  wealthy  industrial  State  it  is  today. 
Minus  it,  Germany  would  be  deprived  of  a 
vast  estate  she  practically  created,  and  eco- 
nomically it  might  spell  Germany's  ruin. 
The  Germans  will  not  relinquish  it  without 
a  struggle.  A  clash  of  Germans  and  Poles, 
involving,  at  it  does,  differences  between 
France  and  Britain,  may  bring  on  another 
war. 


THE  POLISH  REBELLION  IN 
UPPER  SILESIA 

The  alarming  situation  created  by  Korfanty,  and  Lloyd  George's  plain  words  regarding 
it — How  the  reinforced  British  began  to  clear  a  neutral  zone,  while  Hoefer's  Germans 
remained  inac:  ir< --Dangerous  possibilities 


THE  outbreak  of  the  Polish  inhabitants  of 
the  rich  mining  districts  of  Upper 
Silesia  shortly  after  the  taking  of  the 
plebiscite  caused  a  dangerous  complication 
in.  May  and  June.  The  insurgent  Poles,  at 
whose  head  Adalbert  Korfanty,  the  Polish 
High  Commissioner,  hastened  to  place  him- 
self, were  fully  armed  and  quickly  took 
possession  of  the  main  towns  of  the  mining 
area,  which  had  cast  a  majority  vote  for 
union  with  Poland.  The  ostensible  cause  of 
the  revolt  was  an  article  published  in  a 
German  newspaper,  declaring  that  the  In- 
terallied Commission  and  the  Supreme 
Council  had  decided  to  give  Germany  all 
the  mining  area,  with  the  exception  of 
Rybnik  and  Pless. 

The  small  interallied  force  was  helpless 
to  drive  back  the  victorious  Poles.  The 
Italian  and  British  contingents  found  them- 
selves in  a  painful  position,  as  their  ally, 
France,  had  supported  the  Polish  claims  in 
Upper  Silesia  and  had  openly  assumed  the 
position  of  protector  of  Poland.  British  and 
Italian  officers  were  especially  wroth  with 
the  French,  who  did  but  little  fighting  and 
who  seemed  inclined  to  let  the  insurgents 
have  their  way.  Meanwhile  the  German 
elements  in  the  affected  districts  were  or- 
ganizing for  defense. 

This  was  the  situation  when  Lloyd  George, 
before  the  House  of  Commons  on  May  13, 
made  a  sensational  speech  attacking  not 
only  Korfanty  and  his  Polish  insurgents, 
but  also  the  Warsaw  Government,  for  what 
had  occurred.  He  spoke  his  mind  in  the 
plainest  way  and  declared  downright  that  if 
the  interallied  forces  proved  insufficient  to 
put  down  the  revolt  it  would  only  be  fair 
to  allow  the  Germans  themselves  to  do  so. 
Though  he  did  not  say  so  explicitly,  his 
view  that  the  French  policy  of  favoring 
Poland  was  responsible  in  large  measure  for 
the  Silesian  situation  was  clearly  apparent. 

First  of  all  he  declared  that  Poland's 
claim  to  Silesia  on  historical  grounds  was 


untenable,  as  Silesia  had  not  been  Polish 
for  600  years;  the  population  argument  he 
also  dismissed  on  the  ground  that  the  Polish 
population  had  come  to  the  territory  only 
in  recent  times  to  work  the  mines  owned 
by  German  capital.  He  reviewed  the  result 
of  the  plebiscite,  which  resulted  in  such  a 
tangle  of  mingled  Polish  and  German  com- 
munes that  it  seemed  almost  impossible  to 
decide  on  a  solution,  stating  that  the  British 
and  French  Commissioners  favored  giving 
the  regions  which  were  overwhelmingly 
Polish  to  the  Polec,  those  which  were  pre- 
dominantly German  to  the  Germans.  "  That 
was  the  finding  of  the  officers  representing 
Britain  and  Italy.  The  French  took  a  dif- 
ferent view."  The  British  authorities  in 
London,  he  continued,  were  on  the  point  of 
considering  this  report  when  "  the  Polish 
population,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Kor- 
fanty, raised  an  insurrection,  tried  to  rush 
the  position  and  to  put  us  in  the  position 
of  having  to  deal  with  a  fait  accompli." 

Lloyd  George's  Hot  Words 

The  British  Premier  then  expressed  his 
view  of  this  action  and  his  fears  of  its  con- 
sequences in  the  following  uncompromising 
fashion: 

That  is  the  state  of  the  case.  It  is  a  com- 
plete defiance  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles.  I 
think  it  right  to  speak  quite  plainly,  because 
if  these  things  are  to  happen  and  no  notice 
is  taken  of  them,  and  we  do  not  deal  with 
them  with  that  stern  justice  which  I  think 
has  generally  characterized  the  attitude  of 
this  country  in  all  its  dealings  abroad,  it  is 
going  to  be  fatal  to  the  peace  of  Europe. 
And  if  the  peace  of  Europe  is  disturbed,  I 
cannot  see  what  is  going  to  happen  to  the 
world,  and  I  am  alarmed — I  use  the  word  de- 
liberately— I  am  frightened.  Therefore  I 
think  it  is  essential,  in  the  interest  of  the 
nations,  that  whatever  our  prejudices,  our 
predilections,  may  be,  whether  we  dislike  this 
man,  or  dislike  this  other— justice  has  nothing 
to  do  with  dislikes— we  must  decide  fairly, 
sternly,  according  to  the  pact  which  we  our- 
selves  have   signed. 


THE  POLISH  REBELLION  IN  UPPER  SILESIA 


563 


Lloyd  George  then  pointed  out  that  it  was 
under  that  treaty  that  Poland  had  regained 
her  freedom,  and  declared  that  Poland  was 
the  last  nation  in  the  world  to  question  or 
to  violate  its  provisions,  especially  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  its  every  phrase  meant  the 
loss  of  a  young  British  life,  and  also  of 
the  fact  that  many  Poles  had  fought  to  the 
end  under  Austria  against  Great  Britain 
and  her  allies.     He  further  made   it  clear 


COAL    MINES 


PLEBISCITE       AREA       OF       UPPER       SILESIA, 

WITH    SHADED    PORTION    SHOWING    REGION 

CLAIMED      AND      SEIZED      BY      KORFANTY'S 

POLISH   INSURRECTIONISTS 

that  he  believed  that  Korfanty's  coup  was 
not  only  tolerated,  but  encouraged  by  the 
Polish  Government. 

The  Polish  Government  [Lloyd  George  said] 
repudiates  responsibility.  One  is  bound  to 
accept  the  statement  as  representing  their 
view,  but  it  has  happened  once  too  often. 
Lithuania,  by  a  settlement  to  which  America 
was  a  party,  as  well  as  France  and  Italy  and 
Britain,  was  given  Vilna.  Vilna  was  occupied 
by  regular  Polish  troops  in  defiance  of  the 
Allies.  They  were  asked  to  retire.  The 
Polish  Government  said:  "We  have  no  re- 
sponsibility. They  went  there  without  our 
wish."  They  are  still  there.  The  same  thing 
is  happening  now,  and  there  is  the  same 
disclaimer  or  responsibility,  but  there  are 
arms  passing  from  Poland,  Polish  officers 
are  crossing  the  frontier.  All  this  makes  it 
very  difficult  to  feel  that  these  repudiations 
of  responsibility  are  anything  but  purely 
verbal.  Signor  d'Annunzio  seized  Fiume  in 
defiance  of  the  Italian  Government.  The 
Italian  nation  felt  that  its  honor  was  in- 
volved.    Signor  d'Annunzio  and  his  men  are 


out  of  Fiume.  The  Government  took  steps 
even  to  the  point  of  forcible  action,  for  they 
felt  :hat  the  honor  of  a  great  nation  was 
involved.  I  commend  that  fine  example  to 
Poland. 

It  was  both  a  matter  of  honor  and  a 
matter  of  safety,  declared  the  Premier,  to 
oust  the  insurgent  Poles.  Justice  must  be 
done,  whether  the  terms  of  the  treaty  were 
in  favor  of  the  Allies,  or  against  them: 
Germany,  in  the  final  reckoning,  must  not 
be  given  the  right  to  say  that  the  Allies 
enforced  those  terms  only  when  the  terms 
were  favorable  to  themselves.  There  were 
only  two  alternatives,  either  to  restore  order 
by  force,  or  to  allow  the  Germans  them- 
selves to  restore  order.  Great  Britain  stood 
pre-eminently  for  fair  play.  To  allow  the 
Poles  to  take  Silesia  when  Germany  was 
disarming,  to  forbid  the  Germans  to  pro- 
tect themselves,  was  unthinkable: 

That  is  discreditable.  It  is  cowardly.  It 
is  not  worthy  of  the  honor  of  any  land,  and 
I  am  perfectly  certain  that  would  not  be 
the  attitude  that  the  Allies  would  take  up. 
*  *  *  Whatever  happens,  we  cannot  ac- 
cept a  fait  accompli.  That  would  be  to  per- 
mit a  defiance  which  might  lead  to  conse- 
quences of  the  most  disastrous  kind,  and  we 
do   not   accept  it. 

Replies  of  Polish  Leaders 

These  energetic  words  of  the  British  Pre- 
mier aroused  a  storm  of  hostile  criticism  in 
the  French  press,  which  charged  that  Lloyd 
George  was  bent  on  favoring  the  Germans 
at  the  expense  of  Poland  and  Great  Brit- 
ain's own  ally,  France.  The  speech  was 
received  in  Warsaw  with  similar  emotions, 
and  M.  Witos,  the  Polish  Premier,  replied 
to  it  formally  before  the  Diet.  It  was  the 
Poles,  he  said,  who  were  the  original 
settlers,  and  for  600  years  they  had 
suffered  under  the  domination  of  the  in- 
vading Germans;  that,  and  the  right  of 
self-determination,  were  the  basis  of  the 
Polish  claim  to  receive  back  what  was 
rightly  theirs.  M.  Witos  protested  in  the 
most  emphatic  way  against  Lloyd  George's 
suggestion  that  the  Germans  be  allowed  to 
intervene  militarily  in  the  Silesian  situa- 
tion, declaring  this  would  be  a  violation  of 
the  Versailles  Treaty,  and  insisting  that  the 
only  proper  solution  was  a  settlement 
strictly  under  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  Hav- 
ing received  assurance  from  the  French 
Government  that  it  would  not  permit  Ger- 
many  to   send   either   men   or   ammunition 


564 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


across  the  border,  the  Polish  Government, 
on  its  part,  once  more  summoned  the  in- 
surgents, as  well  as  the  whole  population 
of  Silesia,  to  discontinue  the  insurrection 
and  to  allow  the  problem  to  be  solved  equit- 
ably by  the  allied  powers. 

The  British  Premier's  speech  also  drew 
the  fire  of  Korfanty  himself,  who  on  May 
16  sent  to  Lloyd  George  from  Sosnowiec, 
Poland,  an  impassioned  defense  of  the  mo- 
tives of  the  insurgents,  combined  with  an 
appeal  to  the  British  sense  of  fair  play. 
To  this  communication  Lloyd  George  made 
no  reply.  The  storm  of  abuse  in  the 
French  press,  however,  aroused  him  anew, 
and  on  May  18  he  exploded  a  new  bomb- 
shell, in  which  he  repeated  the  statements 
which  he  had  previously  made,  declared  that 
they  had  received  the  complete  support  of 
the  British,  Italian  and  American  press, 
and  warned  France  that  "  the  habit  of 
treating  every  expression  of  allied  opinion 
which  does  not  coincide  with  her  own  as  an 
impertinence,  is  fraught  with  mischief," 
adding  that  "  such  an  attitude  of  mind,  if 
persisted  in,  will  be  fatal  to  any  entente." 

Briand' s  Private  Crisis 

Immediately  after  his  speech  in  Parlia- 
ment, Lloyd  George  sent  Premier  Briand 
of  France  an  invitation  to  meet  him  at  a 
week-end  conference  in  London,  in  order  to 
reach  an  agreement  on  what  should  be  done 
to  cope  with  the  situation.  The  conference, 
however,  was  postponed,  as  the  French  Pre- 
mier could  not  take  part  in  such  a  confer- 
ence until  he  had  received  a  vote  of  confi- 
dence from  the  French  Parliament.  At  a 
session  of  the  French  Chamber,  May  24, 
Premier  Briand  pleaded  for  two  hours  for 
moderation,  declaring  that  the  alliance  with 
Great  Britain  must  not  be  endangered,  and 
that  the  German  Government  had  pledged 
itself  to  close  its  Silesian  frontier,  to  pre- 
vent the  passing  of  German  troops  to  re- 
inforce the  excited  Germans  of  the  invaded 
districts,  and  to  disband  the  voluntary 
forces  which  had  been  forming  in  East  Ger- 
many for  the  last  three  weeks. 

The  Premier  won  his  vote  of  confidence  at 
this  session  by  403  votes  to  163;  this  result 
came  after  a  nine-hour  debate  closing  five 
days  of  argument,  marked  by  the  violent 
onslaughts  of  the  Nationalist  and  Militarist 
factions.  In  frank,  uncompromising  fash- 
ion, M.  Briand  placed  the  issue  squarely  be- 


fore the  House,  declaring  that  there  was  no 
middle  course,  and  that  his  policy  of  mod- 
eration toward  Germany  must  be  either  ac- 
cepted or  rejected.  In  the  fiery  debates 
that  preceded  the  final  vote,  the  issues  of 
reparations  and  Upper  Silesia  became  hope- 
lessly entangled.  The  vote  of  confidence 
was  cast  in  the  form  of  two  separate  resolu- 
tions, that  on  Upper  Silesia  approving  the 
Government's  policy  in  this  problem,  and 
declaring  for  the  strict  and  loyal  execution 
of  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  as  affecting  Up- 
per Silesia,  both  in  letter  and  in  spirit. 

Strong  in  this  approval,  the  French  Pre- 
mier proceeded  to  reach  an  understanding 
with  Great  Britain  before  taking  further  ac- 
tion. On  May  28  he  sent  a  note  to  Lloyd 
George  pointing  out  that  the  Germans  were 
continuing  their  operations  in  Upper  Silesia, 
and  urging  that  the  interallied  decision  on 
the  plebiscite  should  await  the  restoration 
of  order  with  the  arrival  of  the  British 
troops  then  on  their  way.  He  further  advo- 
cated, in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  reports 
of  the  allied  High  Commissioners  were  not 
unanimous,  that  the  whole  question  be  sub- 
mitted to  a  special  commission  made  up  of 
civilians,  lawyers  and  diplomats,  who  would 
communicate  their  findings  to  the  Supreme 
Council. 

Under  the  British  and  Italian  plan  to  give 
to  Germany  the  regions  which  had  gone 
German  by  a  large  majority,  and  to  Poland 
the  regions  which  voted  mainly  Polish,  Ger- 
many would  be  given  outright  the  following 
districts:  Nesewitz,  Kreutzburg,  Rosen- 
burg,  Oppeln  City,  Oppeln  country,  Lublin- 
itz,  Oberplogau,  Kosel,  Leibschutz,  Ratibor 
City  and  Ratibor  country.  Poland  would 
receive  under  this  solution  only  the  large 
communes  of  Rybnik  and  Pless.  The  Inter- 
national Commission  would  take  over  the 
remaining  ten  communes:  Beuthen  City, 
Beuthen  country,  Kattowitz  City,  Kattowitz 
country,  Konigshutte,  Gleiwitz,  Hindenburg, 
Gross  Strehlitz,  Tost  and  Tamowitz.  The 
French  Government  was  opposed  to  this 
scheme,  and  also  to  the  desire  of  Lloyd 
George  for  a  majority  decision,  but  the 
main  purpose  of  the  French  Premier  was 
apparently  to  play  for  time.  To  show  its 
good  faith,  the  French  Government  joined 
in  a  severe  note  to  Poland  to  close  its  own 
frontier  pending  a  solution.  Meanwhile  the 
French  leaders  set  to  work,  through  a  spe- 
cially   created    commission    at   the    Foreign 


THE  POLISH  REBELLION  IN  UPPER  SILESIA 


565 


Office,  to  receive  and  tabulate  all  informa- 
tion in  the  case,  as  a  basis  for  drawing  up 
the  complete  case  for  Poland  at  the  coming 
meeting  of  the  Premiers. 

Situation  in  Silesia 

While  these  diplomatic  exchanges  were 
taking  place  the  situation  in  the  Upper 
Silesian  territory  was  becoming  more  and 
more  threatening.  The  Polish  forces  had 
given  no  signs  of  retirement  and  Korfanty 
had  addressed  (May  25)  a  proclamation  to 
Germans  in  towns  in  the  plebiscite  area 
declaring  that  these  towns  were  being  more 
closely  encircled  by  his  troops  every  day 
and  that  only  immediate  surrender  would 
avert  disaster;  he  called  upon  them,  there- 
fore, to  demand  that  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission should  consent  to  this  surrender.  At- 
tacks by  the  Poles  were  occurring  in  several 
places,  accompanied  by  plundering.  Impor- 
tant news  came  at  about  this  time.  Lieut. 
Gen.  Hoefer,  formerly  a  member  of  the 
German  General  Staff,  had  been  made  mili- 
tary dictator  of  the  German  part  of  Upper 
Silesia  and  the  German  population  had  ex- 
tended to  him  their  formal  vote  of  confi- 
dence. All  parties  were  represented  in  this 
vote,  taken  at  Oberglogau,  twenty-five 
miles  northwest  of  Ratibor,  on  May  24, 
which  delegated  to  General  Hoefer  the 
power  "to  prevent  any  further  spread  of 
the  Polish  uprising  and  to  restore  order." 

Rejecting  all  suggestions  that  he  negoti- 
ate with  Korfanty  for  an  armistice,  General 
Hoefer  at  once  developed  his  military  opera- 
tions, taking  Landsberg  and  repulsing  Polisn 
counterattacks  in  the  Rosenberg  region.  One 
town  captured  by  him — Leschnitz — had  been 
bombarded  vainly  by  the  Poles  in  an  at- 
tempt to  regain  possession.  The  small  Ger- 
man army  under  him,  estimated  at  about 
16,000,  had  taken  the  name  of  Selbstschiitz 
(Self-Defense).  Its  offensive  was  develop- 
ing slowly.  It  was  led  in  some  instances  by 
British  officers.  East  of  the  Oder,  at 
Gogolin,  and  at  Kreuzburg  the  Germans 
were  steadily  advancing.  The  Poles  were 
yielding  ground. 

The  danger  of  the  situation  was  increased 
by  the  arrival  of  four  battalions  of  British 
troops  transferred  from  the  Rhine.  Two 
more  battalions  were  on  their  way  from 
England.  The  first  battalion  of  Black  Watch 
(Scotch)  soldiers  reached  Oppeln  on  May 
30.   It  received  an  almost  delirious  welcome. 


Hundreds  of  school  children  met  the  soldiers 
at  the  station,  deluging  them  with  flowers 
and  shouting  gleefully  as  the  bagpipes 
screeched  the  music  of  the  march.  Cavalry 
led  and  cleared  the  way,  and  the  progress  of 
the  marching  columns  was  a  continuous  and 
friendly  ovation. 

The  sentiment  of  the  British  soldiers,  like 
that  of  the  Italians  who  were  preparing  to 
co-operate  with  them,  was  that  the  troops 
of  Korfanty  must  be  driven  out  at  every 
cost.  They  were  even  ready  to  co-operate 
with  the  German  irregulars  should  this 
prove  necessary.  One  correspondent  declared 
that  both  Germany  and  Poland  were  secretly 
violating  the  frontier  promises,  and  that  the 
newly  arrived  British  soldiers  had  a  diffi- 
cult task  before  them.  The  entire  indus- 
trial district  at  this  time  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Poles,  the  French  troops  having 
yielded  control  of  Myslowitz  to  Korfanty 
and  having  restricted  their  policing  of  Kat- 
towitz  to  the  centre  of  the  town. 

Danger  of  Another  War 

The  danger  of  this  complicated  situation 
was  that  some  unexpected  happening  would 
precipitate  a  crisis  in  which  the  French  and 
the  Poles  would  be  driven  to  make  common 
cause  against  the  British  and  German 
forces.  The  British  feeling  was  that  the 
Germans  were  hoping  for  this,  and  that  it 
must  be  avoided  at  any  cost.  British  action 
was  suspended,  pending  the  arrival  of  Sir 
Harold  Stuart,  the  new  head  of  the  British 
Mission,  in  Silesia.  So  tense  and  delicate 
was  the  crisis  that  the  Interallied  Commis- 
sion on  May  30  sent  an  appeal  to  the  allied 
Premiers  to  avoid  all  public  discussions  of 
the  Silesian  problem,  as  the  least  misinter- 
pretation would  suffice  to  bring  on  new  con- 
flicts. 

Both  General  Hoefer  and  his  military 
commander,  Major  von  Moltke,  as  well  as 
Korfanty,  had  given  an  oral  engagement 
not  to  resume  fightii*^  for  the  time  being. 
It  was  expected  that  when  the  time  was 
ripe  the  English  would  take  the  field,  and 
that  the  Italians  and  French  would  garrison 
the  towns.  The  Polish  irregular  forces 
were  busily  preparing  for  defense,  bringing 
up  supplies  of  ammunition  and  machine 
guns,  and  had  sworn,  with  Korfanty,  that 
they  would  never  yield.  Interviewed  in 
Oberglogau  on  May  28,  General  Hoefer  de- 
clared  that   he   was    prepared   to   act    only 


566 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


with  allied  sanction,  that  his  own  forces 
were  inadequate  to  push  the  Poles  across 
the  frontier,  and  that  if  he  went  a  step  too 
far,  his  advance  would  be  met  by  an  im- 
mediate French  occupation  of  the  Ruhr. 

Though  the  "  One-armed  "  General  claimed 
that  he  had  his  forces  under  complete  con- 
trol, the  German  troops  in  the  outskirts  of 
Beuthen  began  an  attack  on  the  Poles  the 
very  same  day,  precipitating  a  fierce  con- 
flict, in  which  hundreds  were  killed  and 
wounded.  It  was  stated  that  the  whole  city 
was  in  revolt  against  the  French  garrison; 
the  German  population,  clamoring  for  food, 
had  attacted  the  railway  station,  and  the 
French  had  opened  fire  upon  them  both  here 
and  elsewhere.  The  Poles  and  the  Germans 
fought  desperately  for  virtually  three  days. 
Fighting  also  was  going  on  at  other  points, 
and  the  Poles  had  been  forced  to  give  way 
at  Gross  Strehlitz,  where  they  left  130  dead 
upon  the  field.  The  German  casualties  were 
twelve  dead  and  thirty-one  wounded. 

British  Take  Control 

This  was  the  ominous  situation  up  to  the 
end  of  May.  The  turn  of  events  from  the 
first  of  June  to  about  the  middle  of  the 
month  showed  a  sudden  change  for  the 
better,  owing  to  the  strong  attitude  of  the 
British,  who  took  hold  of  the  situation  again 
with  a  firm  hand,  the  apparently  moderate 
attitude  of  General  Hoefer,  head  of 
the  German  forces  in  the  region,  and  the 
obvious  fear  shown  by  the  Polish  rebels  of 
the  advancing  British,  the  determination 
of  whose  leaders  to  clear  a  neutral  zone 
between  the  Germans,  on  the  ono  hand,  and 
the  Poles,  on  the  other,  even  at  the  cost  of 
bloodshed,  was  unmistakable. 

The  British  campaign  began  on  June  3, 
with  the  arrival  at  Oppeln  of  General  Hen- 
niker,  who,  as  General  Le  Roncl's  superior 
in  ranking,  was  able  to  take  the  initiative  at 
once.  He  called  a  conference  of  all  the 
high  British  commanders  to  discuss  military 
plans,  which,  it  was  understood,  had  the  ap- 
proval of  the  British  Government.  One 
main  consideration  was  to  dispose  the  inter- 
allied troops  in  such  a  way  that  all  possi- 
bility of  clashes  between  the  Germans  and 
the  Poles,  the  Germans  and  the  French,  and 
even  the  British  and  the  French,  would  be 
avoided.  The  British  push  forward,  how- 
ever, did  not  begin  until  June  7. 


Meantime  (June  4),  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission sent  to  General  Hoefer  an  ultima- 
tum, threatening  to  withdraw  the  allied 
troops  from  the  towns  in  the  industrial 
region  of  Upper  Silesia  unless  Hoefer  with- 
drew his  forces  at  once.  The  dangerous 
possibilities  of  such  a  withdrawal  so  im- 
pressed the  German  Government  that  it 
sent  the  British  Government,  through  Dr. 
Sthamer,  German  Ambassador  to  Great 
Britain,  a  note  complaining  that  this  threat 
was  tantamount  to  placing  the  German 
population  of  Upper  Silesia  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Polish  insurgents,  and  made  the 
unchaining  of  civil  war  inevitable,  as  the 
German  defense  forces  would  resist  to  the 
last,  and  the  German  Government  would  be 
unable  to  restrain  them  under  the  circum- 
stances. The  exposure  of  the  German 
population  to  the  brutal  horror  of  a  new 
Polish  advance,  the  note  declared,  would  be 
intolerable  to  the  whole  German  people. 
A  similar  protest  was  handed  to  the  French 
Foreign  Office  by  Dr.  Mayer,  the  Ambassa- 
dor to  France. 

The  French  Government  replied  that  the 
Interallied  Commission  had  the  situation 
well  in  hand,  and  would  act  according  to 
the  necessities  of  the  situation.  The  French 
officials,  however,  expressed  surprise  that 
the  German  Government  should  come  for- 
ward officially  as  the  supporter  of  General 
Hoefer,  and  should  take  offense  at  an  action 
necessary  to  restore  calm  and  order  in 
Upper  Silesia,  after  assurances  had  been 
given  by  the  German  Chancellor,  Dr.  Wirth, 
that  his  Government  was  straining  every 
effort  to  prevent  action  by  German  irreg- 
ular forces  in  the  disturbed  territory.  Dr. 
Mayer  was  asked  if  he  desired  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  his  Government  approved  the 
activities  of  General  Hoefer.  Great  Britain, 
on  her  part,  sent  word  to  the  German  Gov- 
ernment that  the  British  forces  were  now 
sufficient  to  restore  order,  and  that  it  would 
not  need  any  German  aid  to  attain  this  end. 
At  Earl  Curzon's  request,  the  Berlin  Gov- 
ernment sent  a  note  to  General  Hoefer  ask- 
ing him  to  withdraw.  This  he  declined  to 
do,  but  promised  to  cease  all  attacks  on 
the  Poles  pending  British  operations. 

This  was  the  status  of  affairs  on  June 
7,  when  the  British  Commander,  General 
Henniker,  sent  thirty-two  lorry  loads  of  the 
Black  Watch  Highlanders — more  than  700 
seasoned  fighting  men — by  a  surprise  night 


THE  POLISH  REBELLION  IN  UPPER  SILESIA 


567 


movement,  to  Rosenberg,  twenty  miles 
northeast  of  Oppeln.  The  Poles  withdrew. 
Thus  began  a  wide  flanking  and  frontal 
push,  devised  to  clear  a  neutral  zone,  and 
ultimately  to  restore  the  whole  territory  to 
its  lawful  administrators  under  the  treaty — 
namely,  the  Interallied  Plebiscite  Commis- 
sion. As  late  as  June  8,  however,  foreign 
correspondents  on  the  ground  reported  that 
the  whole  German  male  population  of  all 
ages,  and  even  part  of  the  female  popula- 
tion, were  streaming  toward  the  Polish 
fighting  front,  in  every  kind  of  vehicle, 
garbed  in  every  kind  of  uniform,  armed 
with  all  descriptions  of  weapons.  The  oc- 
cupation of  Gleiwitz  by  Irish  troops  was 
announced  at  the  same  time.  Before  Glei- 
witz, as  in  the  case  of  Rosenberg,  it  sufficed 
the  British  forces  to  advance,  and  to  deliver 
an  ultimatum  ordering  the  Poles  to  evacu- 
ate at  short  notice.  The  insurgents  van- 
ished within  an  hour,  bag  and  baggage, 
with  all  arms,  big  and  small.  Fighting  be- 
tween the  Poles  and  the  Germans  was  still 
continuing  at  various  points;  neither  side 
was  taking  any  prisoners. 

General  Hoefer  issued  statements  throw- 
ing the  onus  of  small  clashes  between  his 
forces  and  French  contingents  upon  the 
French.  Dr.  Mayer,  however,  on  June  9, 
presented  a  formal  apology  to  the  Paris 
Government  for  the  arrest  of  fifteen  French 
soldiers  and  the  wounding  of  three  of  them, 
at  Kalinow,  near  Gross-Strehlitz.  M. 
Briand  used  severe  language  in  replying, 
and  emphasized  the  necessity  of  recalling 
the  German  forces.  On  June  8  Hoefer  gave 
the  British  commander  full  assurance  that 
he  would  refrain  from  any  forward  move- 
ment. The  German  leader  was  placed  in  a 
most  difficult  position  by  the  actions  of 
the  Poles;  this  was  especially  the  case  at 
Ratibor,  where  the  Poles  were  indulging  in 
a  fierce  bombardment.  The  French  Gov- 
ernment, however,  had  only  one  wish — to 
see  Hoefer  withdraw,  and,  after  due  con- 
sideration of  his  refusal  to  do  so,  instructed 
its  Ambassador  at  Berlin  to  notify  the 
German  Government  that  it  must  obtain 
this  withdrawal  immediately.  Germany, 
the  French  protest  declared,  had  accepted 
responsibility  for  Hoefer's  acts  1  y  it  3 
formal  apology  in  the  case  of  the  French 


clash,   and   now   it  must   compel  his  with- 
drawal. 

Korfanty's  Withdrawal 

On  June  10,  Korfanty  agreed  with  the 
Inter-Allied  Commission  to  withdraw  his 
forces  and  to  liquidate  the  insurrection  on 
condition  that  the  Germans  also  withdraw. 
The  Poles  immediately  proceeded  to  with- 
draw, but  complaints  at  once  followed  that 
the  Germans  were  not  withdrawing. 

Korfanty  and  his  Executive  Committee 
stated  in  a  proclamation  to  the  German 
Upper  Silesians  that  the  only  wish  of  the 
insurgents  was  properly  to  mobilize  the 
economic  life  of  the  country,  and  that  but 
for  the  presence  of  German  provocative 
agents  normal  conditions  would  not  have 
been  disturbed.  The  proclamation  added 
that  only  uniformed  and  organized  police, 
composed  exclusively  of  Upper  Silesians, 
including  German  Upper  Silesians,  would 
be  sent  to  the  cities  in  the  insurgent  area, 
but  that  such  Germans  must  promise  not  to 
be  hostile  toward  the  Polish  population. 

General  Henniker  himself  was  working 
under  extreme  difficulties,  but  was  striving 
to  limit  the  operations  of  his  forces  to  the 
belligerent  area,  leaving  the  districts  which 
would  normally  go  under  the  plebiscite  to 
either  party  to  be  policed  by  the  Germans 
and  the  Poles  respectively.  All  his  efforts 
to  prevent  further  fighting  between  the 
German  and  Polish  populations  had  not  suc- 
ceeded up  to  June  12.  Rosenberg  was  being 
turned  over  to  German  plebiscite  police. 

The  British,  according  to  preconceived 
plans,  were  very  slowly  pushing  their  ad- 
vance further,  but  at  various  points  were 
hindered  by  the  diametrically  different 
view  held  by  the  French.  The  hardest  part 
of  their  work  was  before  them  when  these 
pages  went  to  press.  Sir  Harold  Stuart, 
the  new  British  member  of  the  Interallied 
Commission,  had  arrived  by  May  9.  Mean- 
while the  French  Premier  still  declined  to 
meet  the  British  Premier  for  a  conference 
on  Silesia,  and  the  British  view  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation  remained  pessi- 
mistic. It  was  believed  that  if  a  disaster 
to  the  peace  of  Europe  was  to  be  avoided, 
the  Supreme  Council  must  act  quickly  and 
prove  that  it  meant  to  be  supreme. 


GERMANY  BEGINS  PAYING 
THE  PIPER 

Delivery  of  1,000,000,000  gold  marks  to  the  Reparation  Commission  constitutes  the 
first  step  toward  payment  of  the  total  war  indemnity  of  135,000,000,000  marks — Other 

proofs  cf  sincerity  of  Dr.  Wirth's  Government — Sentences  of  criminals  and  communists 

[Period   Ended  June  10,   1921] 


WITH  the  handing  over  by  Dr.  Mayer, 
the  German  Ambassador  in  Paris, 
of  twenty  three-month  German 
Treasury  notes,  endorsed  by  German  banks 
and  equaling  840,000,000  gold  marks,  to  the 
Reparation  Commission  on  May  30,  the 
German  Government  completed  the  first  big 
step  toward  complying  with  the  final  repa- 
ration terms  of  the  Allied  Premiers  ac- 
cepted by  the  Cabinet  and  Reichstag  on 
May  10. 

Article  5  of  the  Reparation  Terms 
[printed  in  full  in  Current  History  for 
June]  provided  that  Germany  must  pay 
1,000,000,000  marks — in  gold,  approved  for- 
eign currency,  foreign  bills  or  approved 
German  Treasury  three-month  notes — 
within  twenty-five  days  from  the  date  of 
the  ultimatum  (May  6),  this  payment  to 
be  treated  as  the  first  two  quarterly  in- 
stalments of  the  sum  provided  for  in 
Article  4.  Germany  had  placed  150,000,000 
gold  marks  at  the  disposition  of  the  Repara- 
tion Commission  on  May  17.  This  sum  was 
transferred  through  the  Federal  Reserve 
Bank  in  New  York,  and  the  final  deposits 
were  credited  to  the  Bank  of  England  and 
the  Bank  of  France  on  May  31.  Dr.  Mayer 
told  the  commission  that  he  had  15,000,000 
gold  marks  additional  ready  for  it,  and  the 
initial  big  payment  was  completed  a  day 
ahead  of  time.  On  June  7  the  Reparation 
Commission  announced  that  Germany's  pay- 
ments so  far  had  totaled  about  1,040,000,000 
gold  marks,  and  that  the  surplus  40,000,000 
would  be  applied  to  the  amortization  of  the 
bonds.  The  previous  day  the  commission 
had  reported  that  Germany  had  taken  up 
the  first  of  the  twenty  $10,000,000  Treasury 
notes  by  turning  over  its  value  in  dollars, 
leaving  nineteen  notes  to  be  paid  by  Aug.  31. 

A  Paris  dispatch  of  June  8,  in  reporting 
the  impending  first  accounting  among  the 
Allies   on   reparations,   estimated   the   Ger- 


man payments  in  money  and  kind,  exclusive 
of  the  1,000,000,000  gold  marks  mentioned 
above,  as  8,000,000,000  gold  marks  since  the 
signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles;  from 
this  was  to  be  deducted  about  7,000,000,000 
gold  marks  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  allied 
occupation  of  Germany,  leaving  1,000,000,- 

000  to  be  credited  to  the  general  reparation 
fund.     The  Reichsbank  announced  on  June 

1  that  it  was  in  the  market  for  gold  coins 
and  bars  and  would  pay  260  paper  marks 
for  each  twenty-mark  gold  piece  and  36,000 
paper  marks  for  a  kilogram  (2.2  pounds) 
of  fine  gold. 

In  further  compliance  with  the  En- 
tente's demands,  the  German  Supreme 
Court  at  Leipsic  began  on  May  23  the 
trial  of  several  of  the  German  officers  and 
soldiers  accused  of  atrocities  during  the 
World  War,  with  a  number  of  former  Brit- 
ish soldiers  as  witnesses  for  the  prosecu- 
tion and  Sir  Ernest  Pollock,  British  Solici- 
tor General,  representing  the  Allies.  Up 
to  June  15,  the  trial  had  resulted  in  the 
conviction  of  Corporal  Karl  Heynen,  the 
first  man  to  be  tried;  Sergeant  Robert  Neu- 
mann and  Captain  Emil  Muller — all  ac- 
cused of  having  brutally  mistreated  Brit- 
ish prisoners  of  war — and  the  acquittal  of 
Lieutenant  Karl  Neumann,  the  commander 
of  the  submarine  that  torpedoed  the  Brit- 
ish hospital  ship  Dover  Castle,  and  Max 
Randohr,  a  Leipsic  student  accused  of  hav- 
ing ill-treated  and  imprisoned  Belgian  chil- 
dren. Corporal  Heynen  was  sentenced  to 
ten  months'  imprisonment,  and  Sergeant 
Neumann  and  Captain  Muller  to  six  months 
each. 

The  acquittal  of  Lieutenant  Neumann 
aroused  unfavorable  comment  in  England 
and  in  German  Socialist  and  Liberal  cir- 
cles, but  Dr.  Ebermayer,  the  German  Pub- 
lic Prosecutor,  insisted  that  no  other  ver- 
dict could  have  been  justly  arrived  at,  be- 


GERMANY  BEGINS  PAYING  THE  PIPER 


569 


cause  the  submarine  commander  had  taken 
no  personal  initiative  in  the  matter  of  sink- 
ing the  hospital  ship,  but  was  bound  to 
obey  the  orders  of  his  superiors.  The  re- 
actionary   press,   headed    by    the    Deutsche 


DR.  FRIEDRTCH  ROSEN 

Xcio  German  Foreign  Minister,  succeeding  Dr. 
Waller  Simons 

Tageszeitung,  hurled  insults  at  Chief 
Justice  Schmidt'  and  his  six  fellow-judges 
for  allowing  themselves  to  be  used  as  "  En- 
tente tools  "  for  the  punishment  of  "  Ger- 
man soldiers  who  had  merely  done  their 
duty,"  but  Vorwarts  and  other  Socialist 
papers  were  inclined  to  regard  the  entire 
proceeding  as  a  farce,  and  demanded  that 
not  "  miserable  subordinates,"  but  the  men 
higher  up,  who  conceived  and  issued  the 
orders  for  wholesale  destruction  and  de- 
portations, be  placed  in  the  defendants' 
box. 

Repeated  declarations  were  made  by  Dr. 
von  Kahr,  Premier  of  Bavaria,  to  the  effect 
that  he  did  not  regard  the  Home  Guards  of 
his  State  as  included  in  the  general  disarm- 
ament that  must  be  completed  by  June  30, 
in  accordance  with  a  note  sent  by  the  Allies 
to  Berlin  on  May  17;  he  said,  furthermore, 


that  he  doubted  his  ability  to  make  the 
300,000  members  of  the  "Orgesch  "  (Organ- 
ization Escherich,  the  colloquial  name  of  the 
Home  Guards)  give  up  their  weapons.  Dr. 
Mayer  called  upon  Premier  Briand  on  June 
2  and  told  him  of  the  difficulties  encoun- 
tered by  the  German  Government  in  trying 
to  live  up  to  the  ultimatum's  terms,  and 
that  they  must  be  met  on  time,  or  "  sanc- 
tions "  (the  technical  term  for  penalties) 
would  be  applied,  which  meant  the  much- 
dreaded  occupation  of  the  Ruhr  industrial 
district.  In  the  meantime  pressure  was 
being  exerted  on  the  Bavarian  authorities 
by  both  the  Entente  Governments  and  the 
German  Socialists,  the  latter  threatening 
to  promote  general  strikes  in  Bavaria  and 
to  cut  off  coal  supplies  through  action  by 
the  miners  of  the  Rhine  Valley  unless  the 
"  Orgesch  "  was  dissolved.  The  leaders  of 
the  Home  Guards  decided  on  June  6  to  dis- 
band by  June  30,  and  the  next  day  Herr 
Nortz,  the  Disarmament  Commissioner  for 
that  district,  stated  that  his  motor  trucks 
were  already  busy  picking  up  the  2,730 
machine  guns  and  78  cannon  held  by  the 
Guards.  He  admitted,  however,  that  he 
hardly  expected  to  collect  the  220,000  rifles 
in  the  hands  of  the  Guards,  as  half  of  the 
latter  were  mountaineers,  and  an  attempt  to 
take  away  their  guns  by  force  would  be 
too  costly. 

Hardly  had  the  work  of  disarmament 
been  begun,  however,  when  the  Bavarian 
reactionaries  started  the  usual  stories  about 
the  imminent  danger  of  a  Red  revolt  and 
the  storing  of  arms  and  munitions  by  the 
communists.  Consequently,  the  activities 
of  Herr  Nortz  were  halted  after  650 
machine  guns  had  been  turned  in.  The 
murder  of  Herr  Garies,  an  Independent 
Socialist  member  of  the  Bavarian  Diet  who 
had  been  leading  the  campaign  for  disarm- 
ament of  the  "  Orgesch,"  by  unknown  per- 
sons caused  a  three-day  protest  strike  in 
the  main  industrial  centres  of  Bavaria  and 
furnished  another  pretext  for  a  refusal  to 
give  up  arms.  The  Independent  Socialists 
in  the  Reichstag  then  put  the  matter  of 
disarmament  in  Bavaria  up  to  the  National 
Government,  threatening  to  precipitate  a 
new  Cabinet  crisis  unless  Berlin  took  active 
steps  to  do  what  Dr.  von  Kahr  had  thus  far 
succeeded  in  dodging. 

Other  sections  of  the  ultimatum  note  of 
May  17  called  for  the  bringing  of  the  regu- 


570 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


(©    Keystone  View   Co.) 


THRONG    OF    30,000    ARMED    BAVARIANS    IN    MUNICH    SWEARING    TO    KEEP    ORDER    AND    TO 
DEFEND    THEIR    COUNTRY    AGAINST    BOLSHEVISM    AND    REVOLUTION 


lar  German  army  of  100,000  men  within 
the  terms  of  the  Versailles  Treaty,  the 
surrender  of  superfluous  munitions  and  un- 
authorized fortress  equipment,  the  limiting 
of  the  manufacture  of  munitions  to  fac- 
tories listed  by  the  Allies  and  the  reduction 
of  all  classes  of  police  to  150,000  by  July 
15.  Progress  in  complying  with  the  terms 
of  this  note  was  reported  by  Allied  officials 
in  Berlin.  An  order  was  issued  by  the 
German  Government  on  May  24  prescrib- 
ing a  maximum  fine  of  100,000  marks  for 
illegal  recruiting  or  organizing  military 
bodies.  Other  orders  closed  the  Upper 
Silesian  frontier.  [See  article  on  rebellion 
in  Upper  Silesia.] 

German  papers  reported  on  May  22  that 
the  first  quota,  amounting  to  48,000  tons 
and  16,000  horse-power  of  towing  capacity, 
of  the  Rhine  barges  and  tugs  awarded  to 
the  Entente  (principally  France)  by 
Walker  D.  Hines,  the  American  arbitrator, 
last  January,  had  been  turned  over,  and 
that  the  French  had  rejected  some  8,000 
tons  because  of  alleged  inferior  quality. 
The   second  quota   will   amount  to   160,000 


tons.  The  delivery  of  3,480  cars  to  Bel- 
gium and  1,605  to  France,  on  account  of 
reparation  for  captured  railroad  materials, 
was  also  reported.  On  June  13  the  big 
dirigible  airship,  Nordstern,  was  delivered 
to  France. 

Although  there  was  no  general  with- 
drawal of  troops  by  the  Allies  from  the 
extended  zone  of  occupation  along  the 
Rhine,  and  the  menace  of  a  seizure  of  the 
Ruhr  basin  still  remained,  a  more  friendly 
feeling  toward  Germany  became  apparent 
in  France.  Premier  Briand  spoke  favor- 
ably of  the  efforts  being  made  by  Dr. 
Wirth,  the  German  Chancellor,  to  live  up 
to  Germany's  pledges,  and  M.  Loucheur, 
Minister  for  the  Devastated  Regions  of 
France,  expressed  the  hope  that  a  way 
would  be  found  to  accept  the  German  offer 
of  25,000  houses  to  be  put  up  for  the  use 
of  the  victims  of  German  ruthlessness. 

Despite  the  lack  of  a  real  majority  in 
the  Reichstag,  Dr.  Wirth,  by  his  firm  tac- 
tics, succeeded  in  holding  his  "  signing " 
Cabinet  together  and  getting  a  vote  o*  con- 
fidence on  June  4,  following  a  lengthy  de- 


GERMANY  BEGINS  PAYING  THE  PIPER 


571 


bate  on  his  proposed  plans  for  raising  the 
money  needed.  The  vote  was  213  to  77. 
Dr.  Wirth's  supporters  were  the  Centrists, 


(©    Keystone    View    Co.) 

DR.   ESCHERICH 

The  Bavarian  leader  voho  created  the  military 

organization  called   the   "  Orgesch,"   whose 

dissolution  the  Allies   are  demanding 


the  Majority  Socialists,  the  Democrats  and 
some  of  the  Independent  Socialists.  The 
Nationalists  and  Communists  voted  against 
the  motion  and  the  People's  Party  ab- 
stained from  voting.  A  second  section  of 
the  resolution  approving  the  Government's 
attitude  toward  the  Upper  Silesian  ques- 
tion  was   also   carried   by  a  big  majority. 

In  outlining  his  program  before  the 
Reichstag  Dr.  Wirth  said  that  "  restora- 
tion and  reconciliation  "  would  be  the  basis 
of  the  German  Government's  policy  abroad, 
and  that  it  would  have  the  "  courage  to  de- 
mand of  the  German  people  the  utmost 
sacrifice,  endeavor  and  efficiency  to  fulfill 
obligations."  There  could  be  no  academic 
discussions  about  living  up  to  the  peace 
terms,  he  declared,  and  he  then  proposed 
increased  coal  taxes,  increased  corporation 
taxes,  increased  stock  transfer  taxes  and 
higher  taxes  on  liquor,  beer  and  tobacco. 
After  warning  that  there  must  be  no  repa- 
ration profiteering,  the  Chancellor  called 
for  increased  production  and  national  econ- 
omy, the  building  up  of  the  foreign  trade 
balance  and  the  introduction  of  the  most 
modern  methods  in  industry  and  agriculture 
to  the  end  desired. 

On  June  10  the  Minister  of  Economics 
told  the  National  Economic  Council,  which 
was  considering  ways  and  means  to  raise 
the  sum  of  50,000,000,000  paper  marks  per 
year  estimated  as  required  to  meet  the  peace 
terms,  including  occupation  costs  and  inci- 
dentals, that  taxation  alone  would  not  solve 
the  problem  and  that  direct  Government 
participation  in  the  profits  of  industry 
would  probably  have  to  be  resorted  to. 

By  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Friedrich  Ro- 
sen, Minister  to  Holland  and  an  old-time 
diplomat,  to  the  post  of  Foreign  Minister 
and  of  Dr.  Walther  Rathenau,  head  of  the 
General  Electric  Company,  as  Minister  of 
Reconstruction  in  place  of  the  temporary 
Minister,  Herr  Silberschmidt,  Dr.  Wirth 
practically  completed  his  Cabinet.  The  only 
place  left  open  was  that  of  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, whose  duties  were  being  looked 
after  by  the  Chancellor  himself  and  by  Otto 
Bauer,  Minister  of  the  Treasury  and  Vice 
Chancellor.  Dr.  Heinrich  Albert,  Secretary 
of  the  Chancery  for  the  last  two  years,  re- 
signed on  May  25. 

Dr.  Rathenau,  who  during  the  war  was 
the  leading  factor  in  organizing  German  in- 
dustry as  an  auxiliary  to  the  aimy,  but  who 


572 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


is  generally  regarded  as  a  liberal-minded 
man  aiming  at  reorganizing  economic  life 
on  a  more  equable  basis,  was  severely  at- 
tacked by  Junkers,  big  business  Deputies 
and  communists  when  he  took  the  floor  in 
the  Reichstag  on  June  2  in  the  debate  on 
Dr.  Wirth's  program.  Answering  the  heck- 
lers, Dr.  Rathenau  said  he  had  entered  the 
Cabinet  only  because  he  wTas  sure  France 
was  doing  her  best  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  Germany,  asserted  that  he 
was  going  to  keep  his  department  free  from 
politics  and  profiteers  and  declared  that 
the  work  of  rebuilding  the  devastated  zone 
in  France  was  not  a  national,  but  a  world 
problem;  until  that  running  sore  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  was  healed,  world 
peace  was  unthinkable. 

Dr.  Rathenau  and  Minister  Loucheur  met 
in  Wiesbaden  on  June  12  and  held  a  con- 
ference on  plans  for  the  utilization  of  Ger- 
man aid  in  reconstruction  work.  Both 
voiced  satisfaction  with  the  result  of  the 
meeting. 

An  agreement  was  signed  in  Peking  on 
May  20  which  ended  the  state  of  war  be- 
tween Germany  and  China  and  re-estab- 
lished commercial  and  diplomatic  relations. 
[See  China.] 

Though  business  conditions  in  general 
showed  no  great  change,  and  many  banking 
and  commercial  firms  were  able  to  declare 
substantial  dividends,  the  country  was  con- 
fronted with  the  anomaly  that  nearly  1,000,- 
000  persons  were  unemployed  at  a  time 
when  there  was  a  clamor  for  increased  pro- 
duction and  when  it  was  estimated  that  the 
nation  was  short  1,200,000  dwelling  houses. 
In  Berlin  alone  some  120,000  heads  of  fam- 
ilies were  registered  with  the  Municipal 
Housing  Board  as  unable  to  obtain  quar- 
ters. To  remedy  these  conditions  the  Ger- 
man labor  officials,  representing  about  10,- 
000,000  organized  workers,  suggested  the 
launching  of  public  works  and  house  con- 
struction on  a  gigantic  scale,  with  profiteer- 
ing eliminated  and  credit  furnished  by  the 
national,  State  and  municipal  Governments. 


The  revenues  of  the  National  Government 
for  the  year  ended  March  31  amounted  to 
46,102,000,000  paper  marks,  with  expendi- 
tures of  about  88,000,000,000  marks.  The 
floating  indebtedness  on  April  30  was  189,- 
608,000,000  marks. 

The  minimum  cost  of  maintaining  a  fam- 
ily of  four  in  Berlin  fell  to  281  marks  per 
week  in  April,  17  marks  less  than  in  March 
and  94  less  than  in  April,  1920.  In  April, 
1914,  the  minimum  was  28.80  marks. 

The  extraordinary  courts  established  to 
handle  the  cases  arising  from  the  arrest  ox 
some  3,500  persons  during  the  communist 
uprising  of  March  continued  functioning  at 
high  pressure,  and  by  June  9  had  sentenced 
about  400  persons  to  a  total  of  3,500  years 
at  hard  labor,  500  to  a  total  of  800  years  in 
jail,  8  to  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for 
life  and  4  to  death.  Heinrich  Brandler, 
Chairman  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
United  Communist  Party,  which  had  pro- 
moted the  abortive  revolt,  was  sentenced  to 
five  years  at  hard  labor. 

Ex-Prince  Eitel  Friedrich,  second  son  of 
Wilhelm  Hohenzollem,  was  found  guilty  by 
a  Berlin  court  on  May  17  of  sending  capital 
out  of  the  country  in  violation  of  the  law 
and  fined  5,000  paper  marks  (about  $67  at 
present  exchange  rates).  He  was  one  of  a 
number  of  formerly  high  placed  defendants 
accused  of  having  smuggled  many  millions 
over  the  border  to  Holland  via  the  Dutch 
banking  firm  af  Grusser,  Philipps  &  Co. 
While  still  Minister  of  Finance  Dr.  Wirth 
informed  the  Reichstag  that  the  banking 
house  had  been  fined  600,000  marks,  and 
capital  to  the  amount  of  2,500,000  marks 
had  been  declared  confiscated  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. On  May  30  Eitel  Friedrich  re- 
viewed the  disbanded  Fourth  Guard  Regi- 
ment of  the  old  German  Army,  which  had 
been  temporarily  resurrected  for  the  oc- 
casion on  the  Moabit  parade  grounds,  and 
was  made  the  object  of  a  great  ovation  by 
the  200  ex-officers  and  2,000  ex-members 
of  the  guard  regiment,  several  hundred  of 
whom  belonged  to  a  regiment  of  the  new 
regular  army. 


THE  MISTAKES  OF  FRANCE 

By    Adamantios   Th.   Polyzoides 

Editor   of    the   Greek    Daily,    Atlantis 

An  indictment  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  French  Government,  especially  in  the  Near 
East,  as  seen  from  the  Greek  viewpoint — Ultra-nationalistic  trend  of  the  older  French 
political  leaders,  contrasted  with  Br  land's  strong  yet  moderate  policy 


THE  news  that  France,  after  drifting  for 
months  so  dangerously  away  from  her 
allies,  is  seriously  considering  the 
strengthening  of  her  relations  with  Great 
Britain,  is  the  most  welcome  news  from 
Europe  in  almost  a  year. 

Such  an  event,  if  it  ever  materializes, 
will  mean  nothing  less  than  the  first  de- 
cisive step  toward  the  restoration  of  peace- 
ful conditions  in  Europe  and  the  world.  It 
will  remove  the  greatest  obstacle  that  has 
blocked  the  way  to  peace. 

For  two  years  following  the  signing  of 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles  Europe  sat  on  the 
anxious  seat  of  a  political  volcano.  This 
volcano  was  neither  Germany's  trickery  nor 
Russian  communism;  it  was  the  European 
policy  of  victorious  France. 

The  ink  was  not  yet  dry  on  the  German 
treaty  when  French  policy,  not  as  a  mat- 
ter of  form,  but  as  a  matter  of  practice, 
broke  loose  from  the  general  policy  of  the 
great  alliance.  A  spirit  of  diplomatic,  po- 
litical and  military  independence  seemed  to 
take  the  place  of  loyalty  to  the  great  pur- 
pose which  stood  behind  that  alliance. 
Heroic  France  desired  to  continue  the  heroic 
tradition  in  a  newly  ushered  era  of  peace, 
and  in  doing  that  she  little  thought  of  re- 
specting the  feelings  of  her  greatest  and 
most  valuable  ally  just  across  the  Channel. 

That  there  is  a  strong  current  of  anti- 
British  feeling  in  France  no  one  will  deny. 
A  large  section  of  the  French  public  has 
been  told  repeatedly  that  Britain  has  aban- 
doned France  after  getting  the  lion's  share 
of  the  German  spoils.  But  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  opinion  is  entertained  by  the 
thinking  people  of  the  Republic  and  by 
those  who  believe  that  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles is  chiefly  and  primarily  an  instru- 
ment for  the  destruction  of  Germany  to  the 
almost  exclusive  benefit  of  France  and  who 
know  that  this  same  treaty  could  never 
have  been  framed  and  imposed  on  the  van- 


quished Germans  without  the  sanction  and 
the  whole-hearted  support  that  Great  Brit- 
ain gave  to  France.  The  whole  history  of 
the  World  War,  the  whole  record  of  the 
Peace  Conference  and  the  whole  experience 
of  the  United  States  is  at  hand  to  prove 
the  truth  of  this  assertion. 

It  may  be  safe,  then,  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  recent  attitude  and  poli- 
cies of  France  were  not  dictated  by  a  spirit 
of  hostility  to  Great  Britain.  This  spirit 
may  be  present  to  a  certain  extent;  but  it 
is  not  spontaneous,  and  is  chiefly  fanned  by 
the  professional  propagandist  without  af- 
fecting the  great  mass  of  the  French  people. 

Militaristic  Diplomacy 

What  really  is  happening  in  France  is 
that  a  proud  nation  which  for  almost  fifty 
years  has  lived  under  the  bitter  memories 
of  1870  and  in  constant  fear  of  German 
militarism  has  again  come  .  into  her  own, 
has  felt  her  power  and  the  significance  of 
her  victory.  No  one  who  has  studied 
France  and  witnessed  her  intense  suffering 
and  her  brave  struggle  in  the  great  war, 
which  came  to  her  entirely  without  provo- 
cation, will  condemn  France  for  her  vic- 
torious enthusiasm. 

The  fact  remains,  however,  that  this 
French  enthusiasm  has  now  reached  the 
point  where  it  constitutes  a  danger  to  Eu- 
ropean peace.  It  has  passed  all  the  safety 
signals  and  is  headed  toward  a  catastrophe. 
And  so  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  friend 
of  France,  and  of  every  friend  of  peace,  to 
warn  the  gallant  Republic  of  the  danger  to- 
ward which  she  has  been  rushing  headlong 
under  the  leadership  of  men  who  have 
shown  themselves  to  be  excellent  war 
makers,  but  who  are  entirely  out  of  place 
at  the  head  of  a  government  engaged  in 
reconstruction  and  the  arts  of  peace. 

The  trouble  with  post-war  France  is  not 


574 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


that  she  is  anti-British,  or,  for  that  matter, 
anti-ally.  She  is  only  intensely  national- 
istic, with  too  apparent  leanings  toward  the 
Napoleonic  prog-ram  of  militaristic  im- 
perialism. It  is,  in  my  opinion,  this  fiery 
nationalism  that  makes  France  oblivious  of 
her  allies  of  yesteryear  and  expresses  it- 
self in  Joan  of  Arc  celebrations  and  Na- 
poleonic revivals.  The  Treaty  of  Versailles 
was  expected  to  bring  back  the  France  of 
1870;  but  it  becomes  daily  more  evident 
that  what  we  see  today  is  the  France  of 
Louis  XIV.  and  Napoleon  I.  That  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  has  brought  France  to 
the  frontier  of  1870,  which  was  the  frontier 
of  1815,  has  been  more  than  once  the  object 
of  bitter  complaints  in  the  columns  of  the 
ultra-nationalist  French  press.  "  The  fron- 
tier of  1815,"  these  papers  said,  "  was  the 
frontier  of  a  defeated,  not  a  victorious, 
France."  Then  these  writers  seek  to  prove 
that  the  least  that  the  allies  and  Clemen- 
ceau  ought  to  have  done  for  France  was 
to  give  her  the  frontiers  of  her  victories, 
which  were  those  under  Louis  XIV.  and 
Napoleon.  Another  mistake,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  these  same  writers,  is  that 
the  Versailles  treaty  did  not  disrupt  Ger- 
man unity.  "  This  treaty,"  they  said,  "  was 
made  between  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  on  the  one  hand  and  Germany  on 
the  other,  thus  leaving  German  unity 
intact."  This  is  the  point  of  view  taken  by 
a  number  of  able  yet  altogether  too 
chauvinistic  French  writers,  who  say  in 
conclusion  that  it  is  for  the  French  arms 
to  vindicate  their  point. 

It  is  in  the  application  of  this  policy  that 
France  missed  no  opportunity  and  left  no 
stone  unturned  in  order  to  disrupt  German 
unity.  Her  activities  in  the  Saar  Valley 
and  more  recently  in  the  Ruhr,  her  efforts 
to  create  a  Rhenish  republic  as  a  nucleus 
of  a  South  German  confederation  in  which 
Bavaria  and  Austria,  and  possibly  Hungary, 
will  be  eventually  united  in  an  economic,  if 
not  in  a  political,  sense,  her  bitter  struggle 
for  an  abnormally  large  and  non-Polish 
Poland  at  the  expense  of  German  Silesia 
and  of  Russia,  are  nothing  but  the  various 
manifestations  of  the  all  absorbing  French 
effort  to  dismember  the  German  Empire. 

This  policy,  however,  cannot  be  of  much 
use  to  France  so  long  as  beyond  the  east- 
ern frontiers  of  Germany  there  lies,  barely 
separated    by    Poland,    the    ever-mysterious 


and  sullen  Soviet  Russia.  A  united  Ger- 
many, even  defeated  as  she  is,  may  be 
forced  to  work  for  generations  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  victors;  but  she  will  always 
prefer  the  certainty  of  this  servitude  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  Soviet  regime.  A  dis- 
membered Germany  is  another  story.  Then 
the  despair  of  the  German  people  will  force 
it  to  any  extremity,  and  in  such  a  case  it 
is  not  Haller  or  Korfanty  who  will  prevent 
the  amalgamation  into  a  single  Red  entity 
of  all  that  territory  stretching  from  the  Pa- 
cific to  the  Rhine  and  calling  itself  the 
Russo-German  Soviet  Republic. 

The  Little  Entente 

French  policy  is  too  keen  to  underesti- 
mate this  danger,  much  as  her  militarists 
appear  to  despise  it.  Therefore  France 
does  all  in  her  power  to  create  and  to 
strengthen  a  large  Poland.  But  even  so, 
French  policy  does  not  feel  safe.  This 
brings  me  to  a  consideration  of  other  French 
combinations  in  Central  and  Eastern 
Europe. 

As  long  as  there  was  an  imperial  Russia 
France  felt  secure  from  Germany,  and  if 
one  remembers  the  first  anxious  days  of 
the  great  war  and  takes  into  account  the 
almost  forgotten  sacrifices  of  Russia  on  the 
altar  of  allied  victory,  one  will  see  that 
French  confidence  was  not  misplaced.  With 
imperial  Russia  irretrievably  gone,  France 
found  herself  victorious,  thanks  to  Amer- 
ica's taking  Russia's  place,  but  facing  a  de- 
feated enemy  twice  her  size  and  population. 
The  military  strength  of  France  is  more 
than  sufficient  to  keep  weakened  and  dis- 
armed Germany  within  bounds.  The  French 
problem  is  now  to  prevent  any  possible  rap- 
prochement between  Germany  and  Russia 
while  carrying  on  the  process  of  dismem- 
bering the  former.  In  order  to  do  this, 
French  policy  is  creating  and  strengthen- 
ing a  new  Central  European  Slav  Empire, 
equally  hostile  to  both  the  Germans  and 
the  Bolsheviki.  The  Central  European 
Slav  Empire  is  made  up  of  Poland,  Ru- 
mania, Czechoslovakia  and  Jugoslavia,  with 
the  possible  additions  of  the  non-Slavic 
countries  of  Hungary  and  Bulgaria.  This 
is  the  Little  Entente,  which  in  close  alli- 
ance with  France  is  expected  to  be  able  to 
keep  Bolshevist  Russia  at  bay,  pending  the 
dismemberment  of   Germany  into  its   com- 


THE  MISTAKES  OF  FRANCE 


575 


ponent  parts.  Forty  million  Frenchmen, 
with  another  40,000,000  Slavs  fully  armed 
and  occupying  the  strategic  position  in  Eu- 
rope, are  considered  by  France  sufficiently 
strong  to  bring  about  the  realization  of  a 
French-made  South  German  confederation 
of  the  Rhineland,  Bavaria  and  Austria, 
which,  along  with  the  Saar  and  the  Ruhr 
(the  latter  is  already  under  French  control) 
will  make  France  the  dominant  power  in 
Europe. 

This  bold  plan  is  no  secret.  It  is  ex- 
pounded daily  in  the  French  newspapers 
and  magazines;  it  becomes  the  favorite 
thesis  for  professional  honors;  it  inspires 
the  leaders  of  French  thought  and  litera- 
ture; it  is  the  theme  of  the  most  carefully 
written  articles  in  the  best  periodicals  of 
France. 

These  are  the  main,  or  continental,  lines 
of  the  present  French  policy.  They  are 
supplemented,  however,  by  a  much  vaster 
program  of  European  domination.  France 
today  has  the  second  largest  colonial  em- 
pire, but  she  thinks  that  her  colonies  are 
less  valuable  than  those  of  Great  Britain. 
Therefore  France  is  still  in  the  field  for 
more  colonies,  of  a  financial  if  not  a  po- 
litical importance.  She  wants  those  colonies 
as  close  to  the  Mediterranean  as  possible; 
and,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  England  has 
secured  a  predominant  position  in  Western 
Asia,  the  statesmen  of  France  are  straining 
every  effort  to  secure  a  firm  footing  in  the 
same  territory.  France,  since  the  days  of 
Francis  I.,  was  considered  the  friend  and 
protector  of  the  Turks,  in  exchange  for 
numerous  privileges  bestowed  on  French 
trade  and  propagandists  by  different  Sul- 
tans. It  was  partly  in  continuation  of  this 
policy  that  Napoleon  went  to  Syria  and 
Egypt,  and  it  was  along  the  same  lines  that 
French  policy  has  worked  for  years  in  Leb- 
anon and  Syria,  and  generally  speaking  in 
the  Levantine  countries,  where  her  influ- 
ence was  supreme  up  to  the  time  of  the 
great  war. 

France's  Levantine  Failure 

This  influence  was  due  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  activities  of  the  Catholic  schools  and 
colleges,  operated  by  various  religious  or- 
ders, and  richly  subsidized  by  the  French 
Government,  which  was  their  political  pro- 
tector.    It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  men  in 


charge  of  this  vast  propaganda  that  these 
educational  institutions  have  always  been 
excellently  manned,  in  most  instances  even 
surpassing  the  lay  schools  of  the  French 
Republic  in  efficiency  and  results.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  indisputable  that  these 
organizations  have  rendered  a  signal  ser- 
vice to  France,  by  familiarizing  the  people 
of  the  Levant  not  only  with  the  language 
but  also  with  the  French  way  of  thinking. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  long  after  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  in  France, 
these  schools  of  the  Marist,  or  Ascensionist, 
or  Saint  Josephist  Brethren  were  still 
working  under  the  protection  of  the  Tri- 
color, while  churches  and  monasteries  in 
France  were  forcibly  closed  by  the  civil 
authorities  and  their  occupants  deported  to 
more  hospitable  countries. 

While  thus  attending  to  the  educational 
needs  of  the  Christian  populations  of  the 
Levant,  most  of  which,  and  chiefly  the 
Greeks,  have  always  had  first-class  schoools 
of  their  own,  France,  on  the  other  hand, 
offered  every  assistance  to  the  Ottoman 
Government  in  the  way  of  financial  and 
political  support.  All  was  well  until  Ger- 
man competition  made  itself  felt  with  the 
Kaiser's  visit  to  Constantinople  and  Pales- 
tine and  his  Bagdad  Railway  deals  with 
Abdul  Hamid.  Turkey  was  slowly  but  sure- 
ly succumbing  to  German  influence  under 
the  expert  handling  of  the  famous  German 
Ambassador,  Marshal  von  Bieberstein, 
when  the  Young  Turk  revolt  took  place. 

As  the  Young  Turkish  movement  was 
chiefly  organized  in  Paris,  France  thought 
the  time  propitious  to  re-establish  her  erst- 
while prestige  by  advancing  new  credits  to 
the  revolutionary  regime.  The  Balkan  wars 
practically  put  an  end  to  Turkish  domina- 
tion in  Europe,  and  when  France  shortly 
afterward  advanced  700,000,000  francs  to 
Turkey,  German  diplomacy  was  again  su- 
preme in  Constantinople,  and  French  money 
was  used  to  supply  Enver's  army  with  Ger- 
man guns  and  ammunition  for  the  eventual 
war  against  the  Entente  which  came  in 
1914. 

With  the  Germans  in  Constantinople  and 
Sofia,  with  the  British  in  Mesopotamia  and 
Palestine  and  the  Dardanelles,  and  with  the 
French-equipped  and  officered  armies  of 
Serbia  and  Rumania  defeated,  while  the 
French  Army  of  Sarrail  was  idly  watching 


576 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  course  of  events  from  Saloniki,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  French  prestige  did  not  fare 
well  in  the  Near  East  during  the  great  war. 
Thus  when  victory  finally  came  it  was 
not  Franchet  d'Esperey's  Macedonian  army 
that  brought  about  the  result,  but  the  troops 
of  Petain,  Haig,  Pershing  and  Diaz  under 
the  supreme  command  of  Marshal  Foch, 
while  all  one  saw  in  Constantinople  and 
throughout  the  Levant  was  the  powerful 
British  fleet,  all  one  heard  was  the  victories 
of  Allenby  resounding  from  Bagdad  to 
Jerusalem. 

French  Support  for  Turkey 

Following  the  allied  victory  a  new  situa- 
tion was  created  in  the  Near  East,  where 
Great  Britain  became  the  predominant  fac- 
tor, and  this  quite  naturally.  Great  Britain 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  Near  Eastern  cam- 
paigns, from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  borders 
of  Armenia  and  in  the  Caucasus,  and  from 
the  Red  to  the  Black  Sea.  The  Kingdom 
of  Hedjaz  was  her  creation,  as  was  the 
autonomous  Mesopotamian  State  and  the 
protectorate  of  Palestine.  It  was  the  Brit- 
ish fleet  that  took  possession  of  Constanti- 
nople pending  the  final  settlement  of  tha 
Eastern  question.  All  that  remained  for 
France  was  Syria,  and  there  the  natives 
have  clamored  for  independence  ever  since 
France  took  possession  of  Beirut. 

One  must  take  all  these  events  into  ac- 
count in  order  to  explain  the  bitter  disap- 
pointment of  French  policy  in  a  territory 
which  she  considered  as  being  f irmly  held 
in  her  grasp.  It  will  then  be  understood 
how  France,  seeing  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Turkish  Empire,  under  the  supervision 
of  Great  Britain,  decided  to  support  the 
Turk  in  his  preposterous  claims  to  continue 
his  domination  over  the  Arab  and  Armenian 
and  Syrian  and  Greek  populations,  which 
have  all  suffered  grievously  under  his  rule 
and  which  have  always  been  superior  to 
their  master  in  intelligence,  in  culture,  in 
morality  and  in  human  values. 

This  French  policy  was  obviously  so  mis- 
taken and  so  ill-advised  that  it  resulted  in 
alienating  the  sympathies  of  all  the  victims 
of  Turkish  oppression,  who  could  not  rec- 
oncile the  liberal  traditions  of  France  with 
her  open  and  undisguised  support  of  the 
Turk.  But  once  launched  on  this  mistaken 
course,  French  policy  did  not  stop  at  any- 


thing. Thus  France  fostered  the  Kemalist 
revolt  against  the  Constantinople  regime 
set  there  by  the  Allies  following  the  armis- 
tice, to  do  the  bidding  of  the  victors,  and 
she  went  the  length  of  supporting  the  Turk- 
ish Nationalists  with  arms  and  ammunition 
and  diplomatic  assistance  against  the 
Greeks,  while  fighting  these  same  Nation- 
alists in  Cilicia,  in  the  so-called  zone  of 
French  influence. 

It  was  this  mistaken  policy  of  France 
that  strengthened  the  Nationalist  forces  of 
Mustapha  Kemal,  while  the  latter  was  se- 
cretly negotiating  his  alliance  with  Moscow, 
and  this  policy  had  the  effect  of  making 
France  the  indirect  ally  of  the  Bolsheviki 
themselves.  It  was  France  who  organized 
and  equipped  the  Wrangel  Army  against 
the  Bolsheviki,  and  it  is  this  same 
army,  or  rather  its  remnants,  that  France 
is  said  to  have  allowed  to  pass  into  the 
camp  of  Kemal,  there  to  co-operate  with  the 
Bolshevist  forces  sent  from  Russia,  by  way 
of  the  Caucasus,  to  help  the  Kemalists 
against  the  Greeks. 

Had  it  not  been  for  this  mistaken  policy 
of  France  the  Near  East  would  be  at  peace 
today.  The  encouragement  given  to  the 
Nationalist  Turks,  the  invitation  extended 
to  them  last  March  to  attend  the  London 
conference  of  that  month,  the  stubborn  in- 
sistence of  France  on  the  revision  of  the 
Sevres  Treaty  in  favor  of  Turkey  and  at  the 
expense  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Armenians, 
the  secret  treaty-making  between  Briand 
and  the  Kemalist  emissary  Bekir  Samy,  and 
the  failure  of  it  all,  through  KemaPs  sud- 
den conversion  to  Bolshevism,  these  are  the 
chief  points  of  an  unfortunate  policy  which 
in  two  years  cost  French  taxpayers  much 
more  than  the  total  indemnity  paid  to  Ger- 
many in  1870. 

Whatever  encouragement  French  policy 
gave  to  the  Kemalists,  was  deftly  used  to 
strengthen  the  Bolshevist  hold  on  Nation- 
alist Turkey,  until  all  of  a  sudden  we  wit- 
nessed the  development  of  the  entire  Turko- 
Bolshevist  plan,  whose  aim  it  was  to  take 
Constantinople  by  storm,  and  there  estab- 
lish the  capital  of  Russo-Turkish  Bol- 
shevism. Greek  vigilance  and  British  fore- 
sight succeeded  in  nipping  this  immense 
plot  in  the  bud,  and  France  once  more  is 
face  to  face  with  one  of  her  greatest 
mistakes. 


THE  MISTAKES  OF  FRANCE 


577 


It  was  this  same  policy  that  brought  war 
so  near  in  the  Ruhr  and  in  Upper  Silesia; 
and  had  it  not  been  for  Aristide  Briand 
France  would  be  fighting  that  war  alone. 
Fortunately,  such  a  world  calamity  seems 
now  to  be  averted,  and  the  recently  mobil- 
ized French  class  of  1919  is  being  demobil- 
ized, while  the  danger  of  France's  isolation 
has  considerably  lessened  in  the  last  few 
weeks.  The  sad  truth  remains,  however, 
that  in  the  course  of  these  political  manoeu- 
vres France  lost  many  friends,  not  because 
the  world  has  lost  faith  in  the  French 
people,  but  because  it  distrusts  her  militar- 
ist and  imperialist  leaders,  who  until  now 
seem  to  have  had  the  upper  hand  in  deal- 
ing with  the  European  policies  of  the  re- 
public. 

It  is  against  these  leaders  that  Aristide 
Briand's  common  sense  and  manly  courage 
seem  to  have  won  a  victory.  Clemenceau 
and  Tardieu,  Poincare  and  Foch  are  men 
who  have  rendered  signal  services  to  their 
country  during  the  darkest  days  of  the 
great  war.  No  one  denies  their  ability  and 
their  patriotism;  but  one  has  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  days  of  their  usefulness  are 
numbered,  not  to  say  gone.  They  are  all 
men  who  live  in  the  past  and  who  have 
learned  nothing  from  the  fall  of  Napoleon 
and  the  debacle  of  Kaiserism.  They  seem 
to  be  under  the  impression  that  what  the 
First  Empire  failed  to  accomplish  a  hun- 
dred  years    ago   they   will   be    able   to    ac- 


complish in  1921,  less  than  three  years 
after  the  greatest  of  all  wars,  after  the 
flower  of  the  world's  manhood  was  sacri- 
ficed in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  system 
that  French  militarism  and  French  nation- 
alism is  trying  to  revive. 

It  is  fortunate  for  France  and  fortunate 
for  the  world  that  against  these  tendencies 
of  a  restless  and  bellicose  group  there 
stands  a  man  of  power  and  ability  of  the 
calibre  of  Aristide  Briand.  He  appears  to- 
day before  his  country  and  before  the 
world  with  the  clear  vision  of  a  statesman, 
who  sees  very  plainly  that  it  is  not  by  fol- 
lowing in  the  footsteps  of  Imperial  Ger- 
many that  France  will  thrive  and  prosper. 
He  understands  that  the  greatest  danger 
threatening  France  today  is  her  isolation, 
and  her  detachment  from  the  Great  Alli- 
ance which  was  cemented  with  the  best 
blood  of  the  nations  who  fought  against 
militarism  and  imperialism,  not  only  in  its 
German,  but  in  all  its  forms. 

Briand,  better  than  any  other  man  in 
France  today,  knows  that  it  is  not  by  dis- 
membering Germany  and  by  creating  a  new 
and  more  aggressive  Slav  empire  in  the 
heart  of  Europe  that  the  interests  of  his 
country  will  be  saved  and  peace  made  se- 
cure. It  is  in  the  full  consciousness  of  the 
best  interests  of  France  that  he  is  turning 
toward  England  for  the  renewal  and  the 
strengthening  of  an  alliance  in  which 
America  will  heartily  join  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  world  democracy  and  world  peace. 


ITALY'S  COLONIAL  RULE  IN  AFRICA 


THE  opening  of  the  Cyrenaica  Parliament 
at  Bengazi,  Italian  Africa,  in  the  first 
week  of  May,  deserves  some  mention.  It  is 
an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment to  show  other  Governments  how 
to  treat  their  Moslem  subjects.  Here  the 
cousin  of  the  King,  the  Prince  of  Udine, 
read  the  speech  from  the  throne,  which  was 
quickly  translated  into  Arabic,  before  a 
Chamber  almost  entirely  composed  of 
Senussi.  All  but  one  of  the  sixty-nine  Dep- 
uties were  present.  Of  the  total,  fifty-four 
had  been  elected  by  a  suffrage  of  their  own 


devising,  seven  had  been  appointed  by  the 
Italian  Government  and  eight  by  the  Grand 
Senussi.  Of  the  Italian  official  Deputies 
one  is  the  President  of  the  Jewish  com- 
munity, the  others  are  Italians;  of  the 
'  Senussite  Deputies  the  most  important  is 
the  Grand  Senussi's  cousin,  Sidi  Safi-Ed- 
din,  brother  of  the  former  Grand  Senussi, 
who  was  defeated  by  the  British  troops  in 
1915  and  abdicated.  Of  the  fifty-four  elected 
memebrs  only  two  are  Italians.  Rules  of 
procedure  and  party  discipline  were  absorb- 
ing the  new  Parliament  at  last  accounts. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Congress  reduces  the  army  to  150,000,  but  maintains  the  present  naval  force — Dis- 
armament problems — Commotion  created  by  a  speech  of  Admiral  Sims — Railway  wage 
cuts  and  high  prices  problem^-Tulsa  race  riots  and  Pueblo  flood — New  appointments 

[Period   Ended   June   10,    1921] 


THE  Senate,  which  on  June  7  by  a  vote 
of  35  to  30  refused  to  reduce  the  army 
to  an  enlisted  strength  of  150,000  men, 
reversed  itself  on  June  8,  when  by  a  vote  of 
36  to  32  it  decided  on  an  army  that  would 
not  exceed  that  number.  The  enlisted 
strength  of  the  army  at  the  time  the  vote 
was  taken  was  about  215,000  men,  and  the 
Senate  vote  meant  that  in  the  next  six 
months  the  War  Department  would  have  to 
find  a  way  to  return  65,000  soldiers  of  the 
regular  establishment  to  civilian  life. 

Senator  Wadsworth,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  declared 
that  the  bill,  while  fixing  the  number  at 
150,000,  would  as  a  matter  of  fact  mean  a 
reduction  to  120,000.  This  he  predicted 
would  demoralize  the  regular  army  and 
mean  the  wreckage  of  the  skeleton  structure 
on  which  the  country  must  depend  in  the 
event  of  war.  On  the  other  hand,  Senators 
Borah,  La  Follette,  Reed  and  Williams 
favored  a  still  more  radical  reduction,  the 
latter  even  asserting  that  a  regular  army  of 
50,000  men  would  be  sufficient  for  the 
peace-time  needs  of  the  nation. 

As  finally  passed,  the  bill  provided  an 
appropriation  of  $113,000,000  less  than  was 
allotted  last  year. 

Military   Efficiency 

Secretary  of  War  Weeks  on  June  5  is- 
sued orders  to  the  heads  of  all  branches  of 
the  army,  calling  for  the  elimination  of 
officers  who  did  not  measure  up  to  military 
standards  of  efficiency.  Under  the  instruc- 
tions, officers  who  did  not  give  satisfaction 
in  one  branch  of  the  service  were  to  be 
tried  out  in  some  other,  and  those  who 
failed  to  measure  up  to  standard  in  any  of 
the  positions  to  which  they  might  be  as- 
signed were  to  become  subject  to  discharge 
or  retirement  on  small  pay  under  the  pro- 
visions of  a  recent  law. 

Memorial  services  were  held  May  23  at 
the  army  piers,  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  in  honor  of 


5,212  American  war  dead,  brought  back  on 
the  transport  Wheaton  from  the  military 
cemeteries  of  France.  President  Harding 
made  an  address  which  was  marked  by  deep 
emotion.  Standing  among  the  flag-draped 
wooden  coffins,  the  President's  voice  broke 
as  he  told  of  "  one  hundred  thousand  sor- 
rows touching  my  heart." 

"  It  must  not  be  again,"  he  declared  firm- 
ly. Then  he  stopped.  His  eyes  filled.  His 
voice  thickened.  "  It  must  not  be  again," 
he  repeated  reverently,  as  he  placed  a 
wreath  upon  the  coffin  of  the  first  Ameri- 
can soldier  to  die  in  action  on  German  soil, 
Private  Joseph  W.  Guyton  of  Michigan, 
killed  May  24,  1918,  on  the  Alsace  front. 

Shell-Shocked  Men  Cured 

Forty  per  cent,  of  the  200  shell-shocked 
soldiers,  treated  at  the  Mendota  State  Hos- 
pital for  the  Insane  in  Wisconsin,  were  sent 
home  cured,  largely  because  of  the  work  in 
occupational  therapy  started  in  October, 
1919,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  W.  F.  Lo- 
renz,  Professor  of  Neuro-Psychiatry  at  the 
University  of  Wisconsin.  The  work  was 
begun  with  eight  students,  who  were  taught 
weaving,  basketry  and  carpentry  to  draw 
their  minds  away  from  morbid  memories. 
The  number  of  patients  was  gradually  in- 
creased, and  the  scope  of  their  work  was 
broadened  when  the  Government  suggested 
that  automobile  repairing  and  landscape 
gardening  be  added  to  their  avocations.  Of 
all  the  disability  caused  by  the  war,  27  per 
cent,  was  mental. 

The  Senate  on  May  24  by  a  vote  of  45  to 
23  refused  to  reduce  the  enlisted  personnel 
of  the  navy  from  120,000  to  100,000  men, 
and  in  subsequent  votes  sustained  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  on 
other  important  questions  which  are  the 
subject  of  controversy  between  those  who 
favor  a  radical  reduction  in  naval  expendi- 
tures and  those  who  contend  for  a  continu- 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


579 


ance  of  the  1916  building  program  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  enlisted  force  at  not 
fewer  than  120,000  men.  Party  lines  were 
forgotten,  31  Republicans  and  14  Demo- 
crats voting  for  a  navy  of  120,000  men, 
while  13  Republicans  and  10  Democrats 
voted  for  the  100,000  maximum  fixed  in  the 
bill  as  it  was  passed  by  the  House.  Both 
Senators  Lodge  and  Underwood,  the  party 
leaders  of  the  Senate,  supported  the  larger 
personnel. 

Naval  Appropriation  Bill 

The  Naval  Appropriation  bill,  carrying 
$494,000,000  for  the  maintenance  of  the  sea 
force  in  the  coming  fiscal  year  and  for  con- 
tinuing the  1916  building  program,  was 
passed  by  the  Senate,  June  1,  by  a  vote  of 
54  to  17,  party  lines  breaking,  with  38  Re- 
publicans and  16  Democrats  voting  for  and 
12  Democrats  and  5  Republicans  voting 
against  the  bill  as  amended  by  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs.  The  bill  then 
went  to  the  House  with  every  prospect  of 
a  spirited  fight  between  the  conferees  of 
the  House  and  the  Senate.  The  former 
body  fixed  upon  a  figure  $98,000,000  smaller 
than  that  provided  for  in  the  Senate 
measure. 

Speech  of  Admiral  Sims 

A  sensation  was  created  by  a  speech  de- 
livered in  London,  June  7,  by  Rear  Admiral 
William  S.  Sims,  in  which  he  made  caustic 
comment  on  Sinn  Fein  activities  in  this 
country.  The  Senate  on  June  9  passed 
without  division  a  resolution  introduced  by 
Senator  Harrison  of  Mississippi  calling  for 
an  investigation  of  the  incident,  and  Secre- 
tary Denby  sent  a  cablegram  to  the  Ad- 
miral on  June  8  calling  upon  him  to  report 
immediately  whether  he  was  correctly 
quoted. 

The    part    of   the    speech    which    evoked 
comment  was  quoted  in  the  London  news- 
papers as  follows,  after  his   references  to 
movements  to  promote  friendship  and  co- 
operation  between   England   and   America: 
That   involved   some  unpopularity  with  cer- 
tain of  our  hyphenated  citizens  on  the  other 
side.     In  this  connection  I  may  remark  that 
it  has  been  said  that  I  was  opposed  to  any- 
thing- Irish.     The   cause   of  that  was  certain 
articles    which    I    published    in    which    I    told 
the   simple,    plain   truth  as   to   actions   of  the 
Sinn  Fein  faction  in  reference  to  our  troops 
during  the  war. 


They,  the  Sinn  Feiners,  had  not  the  ma- 
terial equipment  to  attack  us  directly,  but 
they  attacked  us  indirectly  and  very  danger- 
ously. Forces  had  to  be  diverted  from  their 
legitimate  duties  to  escort  troops  and  mer- 
chant ships.  That  diminution  of  escort 
caused  a  great  many  ships  to  be  sunk  and  a 
great  many  lives  to  be  lost. 

That  is  the  simple  statement  I  made  in 
my  book.  I  have  made  it  on  various  oc- 
casions on  the  other  side  at  meetings  called 
to  counteract  the  propaganda,  and  I  intend 
to  keep  on  making  it. 

We  find  a  certain  class  of  people  on  the 
other  side  who  are  technically  American  citi- 
zens. Some  of  them  are  naturalized  and  some 
of  them  were  born  there,  but  they  are  not 
Americans  at  all,  because  they  are  carrying 
on  war  against  America  today.  They  are 
carrying  on  war  against  you,  because  they 
are  trying  to  hold  up  relations  between  the 
two  countries. 

I  have  not  hesitated  to  say  of  these  "  Amer- 
icans "  and  Sinn  Fein  sympathizers  that  the 
whole  truth  of  the  business  is  that  there  is 
the  blood  of  English  and  American  boys  on 
their  hands.  They  don't  like  that,  of  course. 
These  men  are  two-faced.  They  are  Ameri- 
cans when  they  want  money  and  they  are 
Sinn  Feiners  on  the  platform.  They  are  like 
a  zebra— they  are  either  a  black  horse  with 
white  stripes  or  a  white  horse  with  black 
stripes— but  we  Americans  know  perfectly 
well  that  they  are  not  horses  at  all,  and 
strongly  suspect  that  they  are  asses. 

But  note  this  point,  please.  Each  one  of 
these  asses  has  a  vote  and  there  are  a  lot 
of  them.  The  consequence  was  that  Ameri- 
can-born citizens  found  it  necessary  to  cater 
for  those  votes— that  was  one  of  the  incon- 
veniences of  a  republic— which  created  a 
wrong  impression  on  this  side.  Those  who 
understand  the  situation,  however,  know  how 
much  importance  to  attach  to  the  resolutions 
in  favor  of  the  Irish  which  were  forced  by 
those  jackass   votes. 

The  Irish  question  is  partly  an  American 
question.  Eleven  years  ago  I  made  a  prophecy 
that  came  true.  I  will  venture  on  another 
now.  The  English-speaking  peoples  are  com- 
ing together  in  the  bonds  of  comradeship,  and 
they  are  going  to  run  this  round  globe.  I 
should  like  to  see  an  inter-English-speaking 
policy  and  when  we  have  that  we  shall  have 
peace  and  prosperity. 

In  his  reply  to  Secretary  Denby's  cable- 
gram the  Admiral  said  that  some  parts  of 
the  speech  to  which  objection  had  been 
taken  were  garbled.  He  stated  that  he  had 
said  nothing  in  his  speech  which  he  had  not 
said  before  in  his  book  and  in  addresses 
which  he  had  made  in  the  United  States. 
He  added  that  he  was  returning  at  once 
to  the  United  States  in  response  to  the  Sec- 
retary's summons.  The  Admiral  made  his 
farewells  to  numerous  friends  and  sailed 
for  New  York  on  June  15. 


579a 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


New  Shipping  Board 

After  a  long  effort  to  find  the  man  best 
fitted  to  be  the  Chairman  of  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board,  the  President  on 
June  8  sent  to  the  Senate  the  nomination 
of  Albert  D.  Lasker  of  Chicago,  III.,  as 
Chairman  for  a  term  of  six  years.  At  the 
same  time  the  following  six  other  members 
of  the  board  were  nominated: 
O'CONNOR,  T.  V.,  of  New  York,  for  a  terra 

of  five  years. 
CHAMBERLAIN,    GEORGE    E.,    of    Oregon, 

for  a  term  of  four  years. 
PLUMMBR,   EDWARD  C,   of  Maine.,   for  a 

term   of  three  years. 
THOMPSON,    FREDERICK   I.,    of   Alabama, 

for  a  term  of  two  years. 
LISSNER,     MEYER,     of    California,     for     a 

term  of  one  year. 
BENSON,  Admiral  WILLIAM  S.,  of  Georgia, 
for  a  term  of  one  year. 

Messrs.  Lasker,  O'Connor,  Plummer  and 
Lissner  are  Republicans  and  the  other  three 
appointees  are  Democrats.  Mr.  Lasker  is 
the  head  of  the  Lord  &  Thomas  Advertising 
Agency  of  Chicago  and  has  large  interests 
in  other  important  business  enterprises.  He 
is  noted  for  unflagging  energy  and  marked 
executive  and  administrative  ability. 


Harris  &  Ewing) 


ALBERT   D.    LASKER 

Chicago    advertising    man    who    has    been    ap- 
pointed head  of  the  Shipping  Board 


CHIEF  JUSTICE  WHITE 
Venerable  jurist  wlw  died  suddenly  at  Wash- 
ington  on   May   19,    t921 


Disarmament  Problems 

By  a  vote  of  74  to  0  the  Senate  on  May 
25  adopted  the  Borah  amendment  to  the 
Naval  Appropriation  bill,  which  authorized 
and  requested  the  President  to  ask  Great 
Britain  and  Japan  to  hold  a  conference 
with  the  United  States  on  the  subject  of 
reducing  naval  armaments.  The  amend- 
ment read: 

The  President  is  authorized  and  requested 
to  invite  the  Governments  of  Great  Britain 
and  Japan  to  send  representatives  to  a  con- 
ference, which  shall  be  charged  with  the 
duty  of  promptly  entering-  into  an  under- 
standing- or  agreement  by  which  the  naval 
expenditures  and  building  programs  of  each 
of  said  Governments,  to  wit,  the  United 
States,  Great  Britain  and  Japan,  shall  be  sub- 
stantially reduced  annually  during  the  next 
five  years  to  such  an  extent  and  upon  such 
terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon,  which  und 
standing  or  agreement  is  to  be  reported  to 
the  respective   Governments  for  approval, 

On  June  7  the  House  of  Representatives 
by  a  vote  of  232  to  110  sent  the  Naval  bill 
to    conference    without    instructions    to   its 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


579b 


JAMES    M.     BECK 

Nav  Solicitor  General  of  the   United  States, 

succeeding    Mr.     Frierson 


Senator  Lodge,  it  was  disapproved,  and 
was  sent  to  conference.  A  hard  fight  be- 
tween the  two  legislative  branches  was  in 
prospect  when  these  pages  went  to  press. 

Rail  Wage  Reduction. 

The  United  States  Railroad  Labor  Board 
handed  down  an  order  on  June  1,  to  become 
effective  July  1,  cutting  wages  of  railway 
employes  an  average  of  12  per  cent.  The 
order  affected  members  of  thirty-one  labor 
organizations  employed  on  104  railroads 
and  was  estimated  to  mean  a  lessening  of 
$400,000,000  in  the  annual  payrolls  of  the 
roads. 

The  decision  grants  reductions  varying 
from  5  to  13  cents  an  hour,  or  from  5  to  10 
per  cent.,  and  in  the  case  of  section  laborers 
completely  wipes  out  the  increase  granted 
that  class  of  employes  in  the  $600,000,000 
wage  award  of  July  20,  1920.  For  section 
men  the  reduction  is  approximately  18  per 
cent.  Switchmen  and  shop  crafts  get  a  9 
per  cent,  reduction,  while  the  train  service 
men  are  cut  approximately  7  per  cent.  Car 
repairers  are  cut  about  10  per  cent. 

Common  labor  pay,  over  which  the  rail- 
roads made  their  hardest  fight,  is  to  be 
reduced  6  to   8%    cents   an  hour,  cutting 


conferees.  Through  this  course  the  House 
left  its  conferees  free  to  substitute  the 
Porter  disarmament  resolution  for  the 
Borah  amendment.  It  was  known  that 
President  Harding  objected  to  the  limiting 
provisions  of  the  Borah  amendment  which 
left  him  no  choice  to  invite  other  nations 
than  Great  Britain  and  Japan  to  a  dis- 
armament conference  or  to  include  the 
limitation  of  armies  as  well  as  navies.  The 
Porter  resolution  gave  this  wider  latitude. 

Rival  Peace  Resolutions 

The  House  of  Representatives  on  June 
13,  by  a  vote  of  305  to  61,  passed  the  Porter 
resolution  declaring  a  state  of  peace  with 
Germany  and  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
Empire.  This  resolution  had  been  substi- 
tuted by  the  House  for  the  Knox  resolu- 
tion, which  came  from  the  Senate,  and 
which,  unlike  the  Porter  resolution,  con- 
tained a  repeal  of  the  original  declaration 
of  war.  The  Porter  resolution  was  reported 
to  the  Senate  on  June   14.     On  motion  of 


J.  G.   SCHURMAN 

Former  President  of  Cornell  University,  now 
United    States    Minister    to    China 


579c 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


freight  truckers'  average  monthly  wages 
to  $97.10  and  track  laborers'  to  $77.11.  The 
new  schedule  gives  section  men  an  average 
daily  wage  of  $3.02  for  an  eight-hour  day, 
although  considerable  testimony  offered  by 
the  roads,  particularly  in  the  South, 
showed  common  labor  wages  as  low  as 
$1.50  for  a  ten-hour  day. 

Shop  crafts  employes  and  train  and  en- 
gine service  men,  except  those  in  passen- 
ger service,  are  reduced  8  cents  an  hour. 
Construction  and  section  foremen  are  re- 
duced 10  cents  an  hour. 

Passengers  and  freight  engineers  who 
received  increases  of  10  to  13  cents  an 
hour  by  the  1920  award  are  to  be  cut  6 
and  8  cents  an  hour,  respectively.  Passen- 
ger and  freight  conductors,  who  received 
increases  of  12^  and  13  cents  in  1920,  are 
cut  IVz  and  8  cents,  respectively,  by  the 
new  schedule. 

Train  dispatchers  and  yardmasters, 
whose  monthly  earnings  at  present  average 
$260  to  $270,  are  cut  8  cents  an  hour. 

The  attitude  of  the  railway  unions  toward 
the  decreases  remained  to  be  determined. 
The  big  brotherhoods  were  expected  to  meet 
on  July  1  to  consider  the  board's  decision 
and  determine  on  their  course  of  action. 

Mingo   County   Under   Martial   Law 

Mingo  County,  W.  Va.,  was  declared  in 
a  state  of  insurrection  and  placed  under 
martial  law  in  a  proclamation  issued  May 
20  by  Governor  Morgan  of  that  State.  On 
the  same  day  Adjt.  Gen.  Thomas  B.  Davis 
arrived  at  Williamson  and  bearing  the  Gov- 
ernor's mandate  under  executive  designa- 
tion took  supreme  command  of  the  campaign 
to  restore  a  reign  of  law  in  the  riot-stricken 
region.  The  proclamation  did  not  contem- 
plate any  steps  of  undue  harshness  in  en- 
forcement of  martial  law,  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  not  suspended,  and  it 
was  especially  ordered  that  the  civil  courts 
should  continue  to  function. 

The  presence  of  the  troops  had  a  sober- 
ing effect,  and,  with  the  exception  of  some 
slight  outbreaks,  law  and  order  were  re- 
established and  maintained. 

Unemployment  and  Living  Costs 

A  review  of  conditions  made  public  by 
the  Department  of  Labor  on  June  5  showed 
that  the  net  increase  in  unemployment  for 


May  over  April  was  one-half  of  1  per  cent. 
A  gratifying  feature  of  the  report  was  the 
statement  that  in  spite  of  adverse  condi- 
tions there  was  a  prevalence  of  business 
optimism,  with  a  marked  tendency  to  con- 


RICAARD   WASHBURN  CHILD 
New  American  Ambassador  to  Italy,  succeed- 
ing  Thomas  Nelson  Page 


strue  the  occasional  bright  spots  as  har- 
bingers of  early  and  permanent  improve- 
ment. 

Reports  to  the  Labor  Department  up  to 
May  19  indicated  that  the  dollar  earned 
and  spent  by  the  average  family  now  would 
buy  approximately  25  per  cent,  more  than 
it  would  a  year  ago.  The  dollar  now  is 
worth  approximately  65  cents,  as  com- 
pared with  the  pre-war  dollar.  In  May  a 
year  ago,  when  prices  were  highest,  the  dol- 
lar was  worth  relatively  only  37  cents.  The 
increase  is  approximately  27  per  cent,  in 
value  on  the  basis  of  a  year  ago.  On  this 
basis  the  nation's  factory  operatives  now 
receive  nearly  $100,000,000  more  purchas- 
ing power  for  their  work,  despite  wage  re- 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


579d 


ductions  which  most  of  them  agreed  to 
stand.  About  12,000,000  men  and  women 
normally  are  employed  in  shops,  factories 
and  industrial  plants  of  the  United  States. 
A   review    by    the    Federal    Wage    Board 


(©   Harris   &   Ewing) 
DAVID  H.  BLAIR 
Of  Winston-Salem,  N.  C,  who  has  been  Con- 
finned  as  Internal  Revenue  Commissioner 


showed  that  these  were  now  averaging 
$28.08  per  week.  A  year  ago  the  average 
was  $30.10,  showing  that  the  wage-cutting 
movement  forced  on  employers  by  rising 
costs  had  reduced  the  average  wage  $2.02. 

Increased  Capital  Assets  Taxed 

Through  a  decision  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  on  May  16,  the  contention 
of  the  Government  that  the  increased  value 
of  any  capital  assets  must  be  included  in 
the  profits  of  corporations  when  taxes  are 
being  computed  was  upheld.  Justice  Pitney 
handed    down    the    decision,    in    which    the 


Court    joined.      Justice    McReynolds     con- 
curred only  in  the  result. 

The  Court  ruled  that  the  appreciated 
value  of  the  capital  assets  could  not  be  con- 
strued as  and  added  to  "  invested  capital," 
and  held  that  as  such  it  must  be  considered 
and  computed  as  profits  of  the  concern,  and 
therefore  subject  to  taxation  under  the  Ex- 
cess Profits  act.  The  decision  disposed  of 
the  plea  also  made  that  the  act  was  un- 
constitutional. The  decision  established  a 
precedent  which  will  involve  the  disposition 
of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
invested  capital. 

Prohibition  Enforcement 

Enforcement  of  prohibition  received  a 
hard  blow  on  June  1,  when  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  held  in  a  unanimous  de- 
cision that  former  internal  revenue  laws 
were  supplanted  by  the  Volstead  law  and 
that  the  old  penalties  of  internal  revenue 
taxation  could  not  be  applied  in  addition  to 
the  penalties  under  the  Volstead  act.  It 
was  admitted  by  the  "  dry "  leaders  that 
hereafter  prosecutions  would  have  to  be 
brought  entirely  under  the  Volstead  act,  the 
penalties  of  which  are  not  so  severe  as 
those  in  the  old  revenue  laws.  Under  the 
Volstead  act,  liquor  manufactured  illegally 
can  be  taxed,  but  the  old  penalties  for  de- 
frauding the  Government  of  taxes  on  liquor 
must  not  be  applied. 

Bergdoll  Property  Seized 

All  of  the  property  of  Grover  C.  Berg- 
doll, draft  dodger  and  now  a  fugitive  in 
Germany,  was  seized  May  27  by  Colonel 
Thomas  W.  Miller,  Alien  Property  Custo- 
dian, under  the  Trading  With  the  Enemy 
act,  at  the  personal  direction  of  President 
Harding.  Bergdoll  now  stands  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Government  an  "  enemy  without 
rights  of  American  citizenship."  To  re- 
gain his  property  he  must  return  to  the 
United  States  and  prove  his  ownership. 
Even  then  Congress  must  act  before  he  can 
return.  But  the  moment  he  sets  foot  on 
American  soil  and  applies  for  his  prop- 
erty he  will  be  subject  to  arrest  and  must 
serve  out  his  five  years'  sentence  as  a  de- 
serter, with  possibly  an  added  penalty  be- 
cause of  his  escape  while  ostensibly  hunt- 
ing for  his  buried  "  pot  of  gold."  The  value 
of  the  property  seized  was  over  $800,000. 


580 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


On  June  10  Mrs.  Emma  C.  Bergdoll, 
mother  of  the  Bergdoll  brothers,  convicted 
slackers  and  army  deserters,  saved  herself 
and  four  co-defendants  charged  with  con- 
spiracy to  aid  Grover  C.  and  Erwin  R. 
Bergdoll  to  evade  army  service  from  going 
to  jail  by  paying  $23,000  in  fines  imposed 
by  the  United  States  District  Court. 

Tulsa  Race  Riots 

A  disastrous  race  war  broke  out  in  Tulsa, 
Okla.,  May  31,  and  resulted  in  33 
deaths,  of  which  nine  were  those  of  white 
men.  A  negro  named  Rowland  had  been 
arrested,  accused  of  attacking  a  white 
orphan  girl.  Rumors  flew  through  the 
black  belt  that  he  was  about  to  be  lynched 
and  several  hundred  negroes  heavily  armed 
assembled  before  the  County  Court  House 
in  which  Rowland  was  held,  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  preventing  a  lynching  by 
force  of  arms.  The  police  attempted  to 
disperse  them  and  were  met  with  a  volley 
of  shots.  The  whites  began  to  assemble, 
hardware  and  sporting  goods  houses  were 
looted  of  arms,  and  as  soon  as  the  dawn 
came  the  whites  began  an  invasion  of  the 
negro  quarter.  Negro  snipers  maintained 
a  harassing  fire  from  windows  and  house- 
tops, but  the  whites  drove  them  away  and 
set  fire  to  the  houses  in  the  section.  Some 
thirty  blocks  of  the  district  were  in  flames 
and  few  houses  escaped.  By  night  forces 
of  the  State  militia,  who  had  been  sum- 
moned, gained  control  of  the  situation  and 
the  rioting  came  to  an  end.  Martial  law 
was  proclaimed  and  a  vigorous  investiga- 
tion of  the  matter  was  begun. 

Floods  Overwhelm  Pueblo 

Flood  waters  of  the  Arkansas  River,  sud- 
denly swollen  by  a  great  cloudburst  fifteen 
miles  west  of  Pueblo,  Col.,  swept1  into  and 
through  the  city  on  June  3,  causing  a  loss 
of  at  least  seventy  lives  and  property  dam- 
age variously  estimated  at  from  $10,000,- 
000  to  $20,000,000.  The  entire  business 
section  was  inundated  to  a  depth  of  from 
three  to  eighteen  feet,  bridges  were  swept 
away  and  all  connection  with  the  outside 
world  was  broken.  There  were  heart-rend- 
ing scenes  as  mothers  rushed  frantically 
about  looking  for  their  children.  Fire 
added  to  the  horrors  of  the  situation.  Van- 
dals sought  to  take  advantage  of  conditions 


and  there  was  much  looting,  which  was 
finally  checked  by  Rangers,  National 
Guardsmen  and  civilians  who  were  recruited 
for  rescue  work  and  to  maintain  law  and 
order.  After  twenty-four  hours,  the  waters 
which  had  been  augmented  by  the  tribute 
from  broken  dams,  began  to  recede  and  the 
stricken  people  commenced  the  work  of  re- 
construction, aided  by  contributions  of 
money  and  supplies  that  poured  in  upon 
them  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Death  of  Chief  Justice  White 

The  death,  at  the  age  of  75,  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Edward  Dou'glass  White  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  on  May 
19,  was  a  distinct  loss  to  American  juris- 
prudence. He  had  had  a  varied  career  as 
soldier,  lawyer,  legislator  and  jurist,  and 
in  each  sphere  had  displayed  eminent  abil- 
ity and  won  the  honor  and  affection  of  his 
countrymen.  He  was  born  in  Lafourche 
Parish,  La.,  Nov.  3,  1845;  received  his  edu- 
cation at  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  Mary- 
land, and  at  the  Jesuit  College  in  New  Or- 
leans, and  during  the  war  served  in  the 
Confederate  Army.  Following  the  war,  he 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  Louisi- 
ana bar.  He  was  State  Senator  in  1874, 
Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Louisiana  in  1878  and  United  States  Senator 
from  1889  to  1894.  In  the  latter  year  Pres- 
ident Cleveland  made  him  an  Associate  Jus- 
tice of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 
In  1910  President  Taft  appointed  him  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  despite  the 
fact  that  Justice  White  was  a  Democrat. 
He  took  part  in  many  memorable  decisions, 
and  it  was  he  who  laid  down  the  "  rule  of 
reason  "  in  trust  cases. 

Important  Nominations 

On  May  17,  President  Harding  sent  to  the 
Senate  the  nominations  of  Richard  Wash- 
bum  Child  of  Massachusetts  to  be  Ambas- 
sador to  Italy  and  Jacob  Gould  Schurman  of 
New  York  to  be  Minister  to  China. 

Mr.  Child  was  born  in  Worcester,  Mass., 
in  1881.  He  graduated  from  Harvard  in 
1903.  In  politics  he  has  been  an  active 
Progressive.  He  was  at  one  time  editor  of 
Collier's  Weekly.  During  the  war  he  was 
engaged  in  war  finance  work  at  Washing- 
ton. He  is  widely  known  as  a  writer  of 
books  and  a  contributor  to  magazines  of 
both  stories  and  critical  articles. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


581 


Dr.  Schurman  has  been  well  known  as 
President  of  Cornell  University,  from 
which  he  resigned  in  1920.  He  served  as 
President  of  the  first  Philippine  Commis- 
sion in  1899,  and  in  1912-13  he  was  Minister 
to  Montenegro  and  Greece.  He  is  promi- 
nent as  an  author  and  lecturer.  He  is  67 
years  old. 

Attorney  General  Daugherty  announced 
on  May  19  that  he  had  recommended  the 
appointment  of  James  M.  Beck  of  New  York 
as  Solicitor  General  of  the  Department  of 
Justice,  to  succeed  William  M.  Frierson,  the 
present  incumbent.  It  was  expected  that 
he  would  assume  his  new  duties  July  1. 

Mr.  Beck  has  held  public  office  before. 
He  was  appointed  Assistant  Attorney  Gen- 
eral  by   President   McKinley   and  held   the 


same  office  under  President  Roosevelt. 
During  the  war  hf  wrote  an  article  entitled 
"  In  the  Supreme  Court  of  Civilization,"  in 
which  he  presented  the  case  against  Ger- 
many from  a  lawyer's  standpoint.  This  was 
published  in  the  January,  1915,  issue  of 
Current  History.  Later  on  the  article  was 
published  in  book  form  under  the  title 
"  The  Evidence  in  the  Case."  It  was  trans- 
lated into  several  languages  and  had  a  wide 
circulation  abroad. 

Following  a  debate  in  secret  executive 
session  that  lasted  more  than  four  hours, 
the  Senate  on  May  26  confirmed  the  nomi- 
nation of  David  Blair  of  Winston-Salem, 
N.  C,  to  be  Commissioner  of  Internal  Reve- 
nue. The  vote  was  59  to  15  in  favor  of  con- 
firmation. 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


The  Washington  Government's  acceptance  of  the  invitation  to  participate  in  interallied 
councils — Ambassador  Harvey's  address  in  London,  explaining  the  American  policy, 
gains  world-wide  attention — The  Yap  controversy 


MANY  recent  developments  have  tended 
to  clarify  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
United  States  Government.  Fore- 
most among  these  are  the  diplomatic  ex- 
changes with  Japan  concerning  the  Island 
of  Yap,  the  acceptance  of  the  allied  invita- 
tion to  send  representatives  to  the  Supreme 
Council,  the  Conference  of  Ambassadors 
and  the  Reparation  Commission,  and  the 
address  made  by  George  Harvey,  the  Am- 
bassador of  the  United  States  to  Great 
Britain,  at  the  Pilgrims'  dinner  in  Lon- 
don. 

The  refusal  of  the  United  States  to  act 
as  mediator  in  the  matter  of  the  German 
reparations  had  important  repercussions  on 
our  foreign  policy.  The  fact  that  the  Wash- 
ington Government  had  even  considered 
taking  any  part  in  the  matter  was  inter- 
preted by  the  Allies  as  a  departure  from 
the  former  American  attitude  of  aloofness, 
to  which  they  had  more  or  less  resigned 
themselves  after  the  Senate's  failure  to 
ratify  the  Treaty  of  Versailles.    Hope  was 


reawakened  of  America's  closer  co-opera- 
tion with  the  Allies  in  the  readjustment  of 
the  world's  affairs. 

A  formal  invitation  to  this  effect  was  ex- 
tended to  the  United  States  Government  on 
May  5  by  Premier  Lloyd  George,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Allied  Conference.  The  follow- 
ing statement,  embodying  the  invitation 
and  the  response  of  this  Government,  was 
made  public  by  Secretary  Hughes  on  May  6 : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  May  6,  1921. 

The  following  message,  addressed  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  by  the 
Right  Hon.  David  Lloyd  George,  Prime 
Minister  of  Great  Britain,  as  President  of 
the  Allied  Conference  now  sitting  in  London, 
was  delivered  by  the  British  Ambassador  to 
the  Secretary  of  State  on  May  5,   1921 : 

"  As  President  of  the  Allied  Conference, 
which  is  just  completing  its  sittings  in  Lon- 
don, I  am  authorized,  with  the  unanimous 
concurrence  of  all  the  powers  here  repre- 
sented, to  express  to  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment our  feeling  that  the  settlement  of 
the    international    difficulties    in    which    the 


581a 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


world  is  still  involved  would  be  materially 
assisted  by  the  co-operation  of  the  United 
States;  and  I  am,  therefore,  to  inquire 
whether  that  Government  is  disposed  to  be 
represented  in  the  future,  as  it  was  at  an 
earlier  date,  at  allied  conferences,  wherever 
they  may  meet,  at  the  Ambassadors'  Confer 
ence,  which  sits  at  Paris,  and  on  the  Repara- 
tions Commission. 

"  We  are  united  in  feeling  that  American 
cognizance  of  our  proceedings  and,  where 
possible,  American  participation  in  them 
will  be  best  facilitated  by  this." 

The  following  reply  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  to  the  above  message  was 
communicated  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
the  British  Ambassador  on  May  6,  1921 : 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
received  through  the  British  Ambassador 
the  courteous  communication  in  which  you 
state  that,  with  the  unanimous  concurrence 
of  the  powers  represented  at  the  Allied  Con- 
ference in  London,  you  are  to  inquire 
whether  this  Government  is  disposed  to  be 
represented  in  the  future,  as  it  was  in  the 
past,  at  allied  conferences,  at  the  Conference 
of  Ambassadors  in  Paris  and  on  the  Repara- 
tions Commission. 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States, 
while  maintaining  the  traditional  policy  of 
abstention  from  participation  in  matters  of 
distinctly  European  concern,  is  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  proper  encouragements  and 
in  the  just  settlement  of  matters  of  world- 
wide importance  which  are  under  discussion 
in  these  conferences,  and  desires  helpfully  to 
co-operate  in  the  deliberations  upon  these 
questions. 

"  George  Harvey,  appointed  Ambassador 
to  Great  Britain,  will  be  instructed  on 
his  arrival  in  England  to  take  part  as  the 
representative  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Supreme 
Council.  The  American  Ambassador  to 
France  will  be  instructed  to  resume  his  place 
as  unofficial  observer  on  the  Conference  of 
Ambassadors,  and  Mr.  Roland  W.  Boyden 
will  be  instructed  to  sit  again  in  an  un- 
official capacity  on  the  Reparation  Com- 
mission. 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States 
notes  with  pleasure  your  expression  of  the 
belief  of  the  representatives  of  the  allied 
Governments  assembled  in  London  that 
American  co-operation  in  the  settlement  of 
the  great  international  questions  growing 
out  of  the  World  War  will  be  of  material 
assistance." 

Gratification  was  expressed  by  the  allied 
press  and  in  allied  official  circles  over  this 
decision,  and  when,  later  on,  Ambassador 
Wallace  and  Mr.  Boyden  took  their  places 
as  unofficial  observers  in  the  sessions  re- 
spectively of  Ambassadors  and  cf  the 
Reparation  Commission,  they  received  a  cor- 
dial welcome. 


Correspondence  on  Yap 

The  importance  of  the  situation  growing 
cut  of  the  controversy  over  the  status  of 
the  former  German  Island  of  Yap  in  the 
North  Pacific  was  emphasized  by  corre- 
spondence made  public  April  18  by  Secre- 
tary of  State  Hughes.  The  documents  given 
out  included  three  American  and  two  Japa- 
nese notes  exchanged  in  the  past  six  months. 
Their  publication  revealed  that  the  de- 
termination with  which  each  Government 
maintained  its  position  was  developing  a 
situation  of  considerable  tension  between 
them. 

The  tone  of  some  of  the  Japanese  notes 
was  curt  and  betrayed  considerable  feeling. 
They  maintained  that  Japan  regarded  any 
exclusion  of  Yap  from  the  Japanese  man- 
date over  North  Pacific  islands  as  a  "  ques- 
tion of  grave  concern  to  Japan,"  and  one  on 
which  the  Japanese  delegation  to  the  Peace 
Conference  had  "  invariably  maintained  a 
firm  attitude."  They  contended  that  as 
long  ago  as  May  7,  1919,  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  the  Allies  at  Paris  made  a  "  final  " 
decision  to  place  the  "  whole  "  of  the  Ger- 
man islands  north  of  the  Equator  under 
Japanese  control,  with  "  no  reservations 
whatever  "   regarding   Yap. 

The  United  States  Government  was  in- 
formed that  "  the  Japanese  Government 
would  be  unable  to  consent  "  to  any  proposi- 
tion which,  reversing  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Council,  would  exclude  Yap  from 
the  territory  "  committed  to  their  charge." 
In  very  pointed  fashion  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment called  on  the  United  States  "  to 
prove  not  merely  the  fact  "  that  President 
Wilson  and  Secretary  Lansing  had  made 
leservations  concerning  Yap,  but  also  to 
prove  that  the  Supreme  Council  had  "  de- 
cided in  favor  of  such  reservations." 

Throughout  the  correspondence  Japan 
endeavored  to  make  the  question  of  "  fact  " 
as  to  whether  reservations  had  been  made 
by  President  Wilson  and  Secretary  Lansing 
a  determinative  one.  The  American  stand, 
as  revealed  by  the  correspondence,  was  that 
the  question  of  fact  was  a  subordinate  issue. 
This  Government  held  that  that  question 
was  settled,  not  only  by  the  reservations 
claimed  to  have  been  made,  but  again 
specifically  and  unequivocally  by  President 
Wilson  himself  in  his  memorandum  of 
March    3,    1921,   to    the    State    Department. 


FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


581b 


The  United  States  therefore  believed  that 
the  question  of  fact  had  been  determined 
definitely  and  had  no  intention  of  enter- 
taining any  imputation  of  bad  faith  from 
any  foreign  Government.  This  matter, 
however,  was  brushed  aside  as  of  minor 
importance.  The  essential  features  of  this 
letter  appeared  in  May  Current  History. 

In  his  reply  to  the  Japanese  note  of  Feb. 
26,  Secretary  Hughes  laid  down  the  funda- 
mental principle  that  the  right  to  dispose 
of  Germany's  former  overseas  possessions 
was  acquired  only  through  the  victory  of 
this  country  and  the  Allies,  and  that  there 
could  be  no  valid  or  effective  disposition 
cf  the  overseas  possessions  of  Germany  now 
under  consideration  "  without  the  assent  of 
the  United  States,"  which  assent  had  never 
been  given.  This  Government  therefore 
t:  cannot  recognize  the  allocation  of  the 
Island  of  Yap  or  the  validity  of  the  man- 
date to  Japan." 

It  was  announced  at  Washington  on  May 
23  that  the  State  Department  had  received 
a  communication  from  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment bearing  on  the  Yap  controversy. 
The  text  was  not  made  public,  but  it  was 
authoritatively  stated  that  the  officials  of 
this  Government  were  satisfied  with  the 
progress  made  toward  a  solution  of  the 
problem.  The  tone  of  the  Japanese  note 
was  courteous,  in  marked  contrast  to  some 
of  its  predecessors. 

Statements  have  been  issued  by  France 
and  Italy  indicating  that  they  upheld  the 
contention  of  the  United  States.  The  es- 
sential part  of  the  French  note  was  pub- 
lished in  the  May  issue  of  Current  History. 

Ambassador  Harvey's  Address 

George  Harvey,  the  United  States  Am- 
bassador to  Great  Britain,  made  a  notable 
address  on  May  19  at  a  dinner  given  by 
the  Pilgrims  in  London  to  welcome  him  to 
his  new  post.  The  part  of  his  speech  which 
attracted  world-wide  attention  was  this: 

There  still  seems  to  linger  in  the  minds  of 
many  here,  as,  indeed,  of  a  few  at  home, 
the  impression  that  in  some  way  or  other, 
by  hook  -or  by  crook,  unwittingly  and  surely 
unwillingly,  the  United  States  may  be- be- 
guiled into  the  League  of  Nations.  Now  let 
me  show  you  how  utterly  absurd  any  such 
notion  is.  I  need  not  recall  the  long  contest 
waged  between  the  two  branches  of  our  Gov- 
ernment over  this  proposal.  I  need  hardly 
mention    that    the    conflict    became    so    sharp 


that  even  the  treaty  went  by  the  board,  to 
the  end  that  today,  paradoxically  enough, 
America  continues  to  be  technically  at  war, 
but  actually  at  peace,  while  Europe  is  nomi- 
nally at  peace,  but,  according  to  all  reports, 
not  wholly  free  from  the  clash  -of  arms. 

Finally,  as  you  know,  the  question  of 
America's  participation  in  the  League  came 
before  the  people  and  the  people  decided 
against  it  by  a  majority  of  7,000,000  out  of 
a  total  vote  of  25,000,000.  Prior  to  that 
election  there  had  been  much  discussion  of 
the  real  meaning  of  the  word  mandate. 
There  has  been  little  since  a  single  example 
provided  the  definition.  A  majority  of 
7,000,000  clearly  conveyed  a  mandate  that 
could  neither  be  misunderstood  nor  disre- 
garded. 

Anybody  could  see  that  it  follows  then 
inevitably  and  irresistibly  that  our  present 
Government  could  not  without  betrayal  of  its 
creators  and  masters,  and  will  not,  I  can 
assure  you,  have  anything  whatsoever  to  do 
with  the  League  or  with  any  commission  or 
committee  appointed  by  it  or  responsible  to 
it,  directly  or  indirectly,   openly  or  furtively. 

No  disclaimer  from  President  Harding 
or  Secretary  Hughes  indicated  that  the 
Ambassador's  views  were  other  than  those 
of  the  Administration. 

No  Intervention  in  Silesia 

Through  the  Polish  Minister  in  Wash- 
ington, Prince  Casimir  Lubomirski,  the 
Government  of  Poland  on  May  11  addressed 
a  long  communication  to  Secretary  Hughes, 
reciting  its  arguments  for  the  assigning  of 
certain  districts  of  Upper  Silesia  to  Poland. 
Prince  Lubomirski  asked  Secretary  Hughes 
to  instruct  Ambassador  Harvey,  Ambas- 
sador Wallace  and  Mr.  Boyden,  the  Amer- 
ican representatives  respectively  in  the 
allied  Supreme  Council,  the  Council  of  Am- 
bassadors and  the  Reparation  Commission, 
to  "  throw  their  influence  in  favor  of  the 
principles  of  justice,  humanity  and  the 
rights  of  these  masses  of  Polish  workmen 
by  settling  the  Upper  Silesian  problem 
strictly  according  to  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles and  the  result  of  the  plebiscite." 

Secretary  Hughes  replied  May  14  that 
the  dispute  was  a  matter  "  in  which,  in 
accord  with  the  traditional  policy  of  the 
United  States,"  this  Government  should 
not  become  involved.  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  in  Europe  have  been  in- 
structed that,  "  as  far  as  at  present  may 
be  seen,"  they  are  to  take  no  part  in  the 
discussions  concerning  Upper  Silesia  and 
"  express  no  opinion  "  as  to  the  settlement. 


582 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Dutch   Oil  Field  Negotiations 

The  State  Department  on  May  12  made 
public  a  summary  of  the  reply  of  the  Neth- 
erlands Government  to  the  latest  note  of 
Secretary  Hughes  insisting  on  equal  rights 
for  Americans  in  the  development  of  oil 
concessions  in  the  Dutch  East  Indies  as  a 
condition  on  which  Dutch  concerns  would 
be  allowed  to  participate  in  similar  devel- 
cpment  of  public  lands  in  the  United  States. 

The  Dutch  Government  stated  that  when 
American  Minister  Phillips  requested  last 
January  that  United  States  companies  be 
permitted  to  participate  in  the  Djambi  con- 
cessions, the  law  limiting  this  development 
to  Dutch  concerns,  which  since  had  been 
passed  by  the  Second  Chamber  of  the  Dutch 
Parliament,  already  had  been  drafted  and 
the  question  of  its  approval  by  Parliament 
settled.  The  American  Minister,  however, 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  prior  to 
the  introduction  of  the  bill  he  had  made  rep- 
resentations on  the  subject  of  American 
participation. 

A  statement  was  authorized  by  the  State 
Department  that  equal  opportunities  for 
Americans  in  Dutch  oil  territory  would  be 
insisted  upon  and  that,  failing  such  equal- 
ity accorded,  exclusion  of  Dutch  interests 
from  the  American  oil  fields  would  follow. 

It  was  stated  on  May  31  that  a  new  note 
was  addressed  by  Secretary  Hughes  to  the 


Dutch  Government  embodying  the  fore- 
going views.  The  text  was  not  made 
public. 

Monroe   Doctrine   Reaffirmed 

With  fitting  ceremonies  the  United  States 
and  the  City  of  New  York,  on  April  19, 
accepted  Venezuela's  gift  of  the  statue  of 
the  South  American  liberator,  General 
Simon  Bolivar.  The  salient  feature  of  the 
occasion  was  the  declaration  by  President 
Harding,  who  made  the  unveiling  address, 
that  this  country  was  willing  to  fight,  if 
necessary,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine. 

Speaking  slowly,  so  that  his  words  would 
gather  empasis,  the  President  declared 
that  much  of  the  new  world's  accomplish- 
ments had  been  due  to  democracies.  Then, 
after  referring  to  the  wilful  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  by  older  na- 
tions, he  added: 

"  The  history  of  the  generations  since 
that  doctrine  was  proclaimed  has  proved 
that  we  never  intended  it  selfishly;  that  we 
had  no  dreams  of  exploitation.  On  the  other 
side,  the  history  of  the  last  decade  certainly 
must  have  convinced  all  the  world  that  we 
stand  willing  to  fight,  if  necessary,  to  pro- 
tect this  continent  and  these  sturdy  young 
democracies  from  oppression  and  tyranny." 


THE   PRESIDENT'S   POWER   OVER   CABLES 


CABLE  landing  permits  are  formally 
vested  in  the  authority  of  the  Presi- 
dent, who  has  full  power  to  grant  or  refuse 
access  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
or  its  possessions  by  a  bill  finally  passed  by 
Congress  on  May  23.  The  bill  was  pre- 
sented owing  to  a  suit  in  the  Supreme  Court 
begun  by  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company  to  compel  the  authorities  to  per- 
mit landing  of  a  cable  from  the  Barbados 
at  Miami,  Fla.     President  Wilson  had  re- 


fused to  allow  it  because  the  company  in- 
tended to  connect  with  a  British  line  having 
a  monopoly  of  cable  communication  in  Bra- 
zil; he  objected  to  having  an  American  con- 
cern linked  with  a  monopoly,  and  President 
Harding  followed  his  example.  The  West- 
ern Union  brought  suit  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  the  new  law  was  enacted  to  re- 
move any  doubt  of  the  President's  power, 
its  passage  being  in  the  nature  of  a  race 
between  legislation  and  a  court  decision. 


(Photo    Elizabeth    L.    McQueen) 

VIEW    OF    JAFFA,     PALESTINE,     WITH    THE     BATTERY    THAT    FIRED    THE     SALUTE 
LTON    THE    ARRIVAL    OF    THE    HIGH    COMMISSIONER,    SIR    HERBERT    SAMUEL 


A  HISTORIC  EVENT  IN  PALESTINE 

By  Elizabeth  L.  McQueen 

An  eyewitness  description  of  the  landing  of  Sir  Herbert  Samuel  at  Jaffa,  and  of  the 
ceremonies  that  marked  the  moment  when  the  Holy  Land,  so  long  under  Moslem  ride, 
passed  under  the  civil  sway  of  Great  Britain  through  an  allied  mandate 


A  SMALL  gathering  of  people,  furnished 
-*■*'  with  special  passes,  witnessed  the 
landing  of  Sir  Herbert  Samuel  at  Jaffa, 
Palestine,  on  June  30,  1920,  to  act  as  High 
Commissioner  under  the  mandate  exercised 
by  Great  Britain.  The  day  was  fine,  typi- 
cal of  Palestine,  hot  and  clear.  The  water- 
front was  beflagged,  a  carpet  was  laid  from 
the  landing  along  the  beach,  and  a  marquee 
had  been  spread  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
Custom  House  for  the  reception  of  the  titled 
and  distinguished  Jew  whom  the  British  had 
sent  to  govern  Palestine.  The  huddled  old 
houses  of  Jaffa  looked  down  from  the  hill 
upon  the  event,  which  bade  fair  to  have  a 
lasting  effect  on  history. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  one  of  the  few 
witnesses  of  the  High  Commissioner's  ar- 
rival. The  situation  at  the  time  in  Palestine 
was  such  that  every  military  and  police 
precaution  had  been  taken  to  protect  the 
official,  and  the  atmosphere  was  tense 
v.ith  expectancy,  as  there  were  many 
rumors  afloat  as  to  what  the  Arabs  were 
;oing  to  do.  The  majority  of  them  seemed 
to  be  unwilling  to  make  any  demonstration 


of  welcome,  and  were  noticeably  absent. 
Wild  rumors  that  a  plot  was  brewing  to 
kill  the  new  administrator  were  secretly 
whispered,  but  the  military  authorities 
knew  the  situation  and  how  to  handle  it. 
For  several  days  previous  to  the  landing 
of  Sir  Herbert  Samuel,  airplanes  ma- 
noeuvred over  Jerusalem  and  Jaffa,  keep- 
ing a  watchful  eye  on  the  district;  British 
military  officers  had  been  particularly 
busy,  and  several  arrests  had  been  made, 
which  put  a  stop  to  secret  plots. 

On  going  down  into  the  town  of  Jaffa 
on  the  morning  of  this  important  day,  I 
found  Indian  cavalry  stationed  in  the 
square  in  front  of  the  Governor's  House, 
and  groups  of  notables  awaiting  their  turn 
to  proceed  to  the  landing  place  to  welcome 
Sir  Herbert  Samuel.  I  noticed  particularly 
the  patriarchal  figure  of  a  Jewish  rabbi, 
made  distinctive  by  a  long  white  beard.  The 
population  of  the  little  seaport  was  in  holi- 
day attire,  and  the  streets  were  decorated 
here  and  there,  but  it  would  be  an  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  any  special  enthusiasm  was 
being    manifested,    or    that    joy    over    this 


584 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


event  was  at  all  general.  In  fact,  there 
seemed  to  be  a  wet  blanket  dampening  the 
spirits  of  the  people.  Everybody  was  more 
or  less  apprehensive;  the  Jews  feared  that 
something  would  happen  to  their  new 
spokesman,  and  the  Arabs  feared  that  their 
liberties  might  be  curtailed  and  their  coun- 
try taken  from  them.  The  prevailing  state 
of  mind  was  cleverly  expressed  by  a  per- 
son well  versed  in  the  political  situation, 
who  said  that  for  the  first  month  the  new 
High  Commissioner  would  need  a  body- 
guard to  protect  him  against  the  Arabs, 
but  that  thereafter  he  would  need  a  body- 
guard to  protect  him  against  the  Jews. 
Those  who  knew  him  declared  that  he  was 
100  per  cent.  English,  so  that  there  could  be 
no  danger  that  equal  rights  would  be  sacri- 
ficed under  his  administration.  Still,  the 
outlook  was  not  reassuring,  and  this  was 
evidently  the  opinion  of  the  crowd.  Many 
Arabs,  indeed,  remained  indoors  to  signify 
their  disapproval  of  the  whole 
proceeding. 

Out  upon  the  road  leading  to 
the  beach  I  found  other  detach- 
ments of  Indian  cavalry  guard- 
ing and  clearing  the  streets.  A 
battery  of  British  guns  clat- 
tered down  to  the  beach  and 
took  up  its  position  to  fire  the 
official  welcome.  The  sea  was 
like  a  mirror  and  of  that  ex- 
quisite blue  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  Mediterranean. 
By  contrast  the  yellow  sands 
gleamed  invitingly,  and  a  gentle 
surf  murmured  up  to  the  feet 
of  the  waiting  soldiers.  Peter, 
staying  at  the  house  of  one 
Simon,  the  tanner,  in  this  very 
place,  somewhere  among  the 
houses  overlooking  the  beach, 
could  never  have  seen  a  fairer 
day  than  the  one  which  greeted 
Sir  Herbert  Samuel.  In  fact, 
a  few  rods  away,  tanners  were 
still  busy  at  their  trade,  soaking 
the  hides  in  the  salt  water  as 
they  must  have  done   of  old. 

With  swinging  step  the  guard 
of  honor  marched  to  its  position 
at  the  landing  place,  and  all 
was  attention  for  the  expected 
arrival.  The  small  harbor  of 
Jaffa    is   closed   to   large   ships 


by  a  line  of  jagged  rocks,  so  that 
passengers  must  reach  their  ships  or 
the  shore  in  rowboats.  About  11  A.  M. 
a  British  destroyer,  gray  and  trim,  came  to 
anchor  in  the  offing,  and  Colonel  Rowland 
Storrs,  Military  Governor  of  Jerusalem, 
acting  for  General  Bols,  the  retiring  Chief 
Administrator  of  Palestine,  was  rowed  out 
*o  the  warship  to  greet  the  High  Commis- 
sioner. Not  long  after,  the  barge  bearing 
the  New  Administration  was  seen  approach- 
ing the  landing  place  through  the  narrow 
passage  between  the  rocks.  It  was  ob- 
served that  Sir  Herbert  Samuel  was  dressed 
in  white,  and  that  he  wore  a  purple  scarf 
with  a  new  decoration  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  English  King.  A  salute  of  guns  was 
now  fired  by  the  man-of-war  and  the  bat- 
tery on  the  beach  alternately,  officially  an- 
nouncing the  arrival.  The  guard  of  honor 
saluted,  the  band  played  "  God  Save  the 
King,"  and  airplanes  flew  overhead. 


(Photo     Eli2 


■til     I,.     McQueen) 


GERMAN  HOSPICE  ON  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES, 
NEAR  JERUSALEM,  WITH  THE  BRITISH  FLAG 
FLYING  OVER  IT  FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME.  THE 
KAISER'S  STATUE  IS  STILL  IX  THE  NICHE 
ON    THE    RIGHT 


A  HISTCRIC  EVENT  IN  PALESTINE 


58.5 


A   VENERABLE    JEWISH    RABBI,    WITH    INDIAN    TROOPS,    AWAITING    THE    ARRIVAL 
OF    THE    HIGH    COMMISSIONER    IN    THE    PUBLIC    SQUARE    AT    JAFFA 


(Times    Wide    World    Photos) 
SIR    HERBERT    SAMUEL 
High    Commissioner    for    Palestine 


In  the  marquee  the  Mayor  of  Jaffa,  As- 
sem-el-Sai"d,  made  the  following  address  to 
his  Excellency: 

As  President  of  the  Jaffa  Municipal  Coun- 
cil, I  beg  to  welcome  you,  and  to  express  to 
you  our  congratulations  on  your  safe  arrival 
in  the  Holy  Land.  This  country  is  in  great 
need  of  a  British  High  Commissioner,  who 
will  justly,  firmly,  thoroughly  and  ably  in- 
vestigate the  conditions  and  the  needs  of  the 
country  in  all  respects.  From  the  depths  of 
our  hearts,  we  desire  that  this  town  and 
country,  with  all  its  inhabitants,  shall  find 
happiness  under  the  shield  and  protection  of 
the  British  nation,  the  foundation  of  whose 
Governments  throughout  the  world  is  based 
on  justice,  freedom  and  equality  for  all 
sects  and  denominations.  May  Almighty  God 
help  us  all  in  our  efforts  to  do  what  is  right 
and  peaceful.  I  beg  to  place  this  short  ad- 
dress of  welcome  in  a  casket  made  in  our 
beloved  country,  and  I  hope  you  will  kindly 
accept  it  with  our  most  profound  respect. 

The  High  Commissioner  replied  in  appro- 
priate terms.  He  then  reviewed  the  guard 
of  honor,  and  the  notables  of  Palestine,  who 
were  present  by  invitation,  were  introduced 
to  him  by  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem.  The 
Commissioner  then  walked  toward  the  of- 
ficial motor  car  for  the  trip  to  Ludd  en 
route  to  Jerusalem.  At  this  moment 
Colonel  Grey  Donald,  head  of  the  Public 
Works  of  Palestine,  took  a  small  Union 
Jack  from  his  pocket  and  fastened  it  to  the 
front    of   the    car.      This    seemingly    insig- 


586 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


nificant  act  was  really  momentous,  for  it 
was  the  first  official  display  of  the  British 
flag  in  Palestine,  although  that  country 
had  been  under  a  British  military  adminis- 
tration for  more  than  two  years.  This  as- 
denoted  that  Great  Britain  had  now  as- 
sumed the  mandate  over  Palestine — subject 
to  formal  confirmation  by  the  League  of 
Nations. 

Escorted  by  Indian  cavalry,  the  car  now 
sped  on  its  way  toward  Jerusalem,  which 
was  reached  that  afternoon,  over  a  route 
which  was  changed  several  times  from  the 
original  program  to  insure  safety.  At 
Ludd,  Sir  Herbert  took  a  special  train  to 
Jerusalem,  escorted  by  two  airplanes.  The 
arrival  at  Jerusalem  was  under  the  im- 
mediate supervision  of  the  popular  Assis- 
tant Administrator  of  Palestine,  Colonel  E. 
L.  Popham,  who  was  very  active  in  all  the 
reforms  introduced  by  the  military  admin- 
istration. 

The  new  High  Commissioner  was  met  at 
the  Jerusalem  station  at  3  P.  M.  by  Colonel 
Popham  and  other  officers  and  Was  intro- 
duced to  members  of  the  Jerusalem  munici- 
pality. The  Mayor,  Nashashiby,  delivered 
the  following  address: 

This  Holy  City  welcomes  your  Excellency, 
the  High  Commissioner,  deputed  by  his 
Majesty  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  the 
greatest  sovereign  in  the  world,  to  represent 
his  Majesty  in  the  administration  of  this 
country  and  to  bring  happiness  to  its  inhabi- 
tants, to  mark  the  path  of  their  progress 
and  their  prosperity,  and  to  preserve  the  bal- 
ance of  equal  justice  among  them,  without 
distinction  or  difference.  These  are  the  aims 
of  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  in  all  the 
territories  which  she  administers.  We  confi- 
dently look  to  the  help  of  the  British  Nation, 
the  Mother  of  Liberty  and  Peace,  for  the  de- 
velopment and  progress  of  the  country.  We 
pray  the  Almighty  that  your  arrival  may 
signify  the  commencement  of  a  period  of  wel- 
fare and  happiness.  We  note  with  pleasure 
the  especial  privileges  with  which  the  Al- 
mighty  lias  endowed   you;  the  capacity,   cul- 


ture and  experience  which  have  rendered  you 
famous,  and  which  are  the  marks  of  thai 
high  ability  which  your  exalted  office  de- 
mands. 

After  the  departure  of  Sir  Herbert  Sam- 
uel from  Jaffa,  the  city  again  took  up  its 
daily  habits  as  though  nothing  vital  had 
occurred.  The  Arabs  strolled  down  to  the 
beach  and  sat  on  little  stools  drinking  their 
coffee.  The  usual  collection  of  little  boys 
plunged  into  the  bay  and  strings  of  orphans 
led  by  teachers  marched  to  the  water  side 
for  their  daily  bath.  With  the  waning  aft- 
ernoon the  camels  brought  their  wares  to 
the  Custom  House;  a  British  officer  rode  his 
horse  into  the  sea  and  then  gave  him  a 
roll  on  the  sand.  A  few  fishermen  were 
diving  for  sea  food  near  the  line  of  cuter 
rocks,  and  some  fishing  boats  returned  to 
the  beach  with  their  day's  catch.  Distant 
sails  were  seen  on  the  horizon  and  a  glori- 
ous sunset  with  the  serenity  of  the  evening 
settled  upon  the  Joppa  of  Bible  times, 
which  on  this  day,  when  the  British  man- 
date took  effect  in  Palestine  and  the  Union 
Jack  flew  for  the  first  time  in  the  Holy 
Land,  had  added  a  new  page  to  its  fame. 

In  looking  back  upon  this  experience  in 
Jaffa,  I  recall  the  fact  that  I  found  only 
three  Americans  at  this  noted  event,  one 
of  whom  upon  request  sent  out  the  official 
cable  news  of  the  addresses. 

In  the  meantime,  in  Jerusalem,  General 
Bols  received  the  new  High  Commissioner 
at  military  headquarters  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives  and  then  took  his  departure  for  Eng- 
land, followed  by  numerous  other  officials. 
The  British  military  administration,  with 
its  notable  victories,  had  ceased  and  was 
now  replaced  by  a  civil  administration  de- 
signed to  carry  out  the  Balfour  resolution 
and  to  work  out,  if  possible,  through  peace- 
ful progress,  the  many  problems  confront- 
ing the  Holy  Land. 


THE    NEW    FIELD    MUSEUM    IN    CHICAGO 


rpHE  new  Field  Museum  on  the  Lake 
-*-  Front  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  handsom- 
est of  its  kind  in  the  world,  was  thrown 
open  to  the  public  on  May  3,  1921.  All  the 
contents  of  the  old  Field  Museum  in  Jack- 
son Park,  a  relic  of  the  World's  Fair,  were 
transported  to  their  new  habitat  at  the  cost 


of  two  years'  hard  labor,  and  an  expense  of 
between  six  and  eight  million  dollars.  The 
museum  and  its  palatial  quarters  are  a  gift 
to  Chicago  made  by  the  late  Marshall  Field. 
The  old  building  in  the  former  World's  Fair 
grounds  now  becomes  a  recreation  centre 
for  the  State  of  Illinois. 


Jerusalem) 


JERUSALEM'S    NEW   WATERWORKS,    THIRTEEN   MILES    SOUTH   OF   THE   CITY,    WITH 

THE   OLD   RESERVOIR   OF   PONTIUS    PILATE,    BUILT   IN   THE    TIME    OF   CHRIST.      THE 

RESERVOIR  HAS   BEEN  ENLARGED,    AND  VARIOUS    SPRINGS   IN  THE   DISTRICT   NOW 

FILL    IT    CONSTANTLY    WITH    PURE    WATER 


DRINKING    FROM    PONTIUS    PILATE'S 
RESERVOIR 

By  Harold  J.  Shepstone 

How  Jerusalem  has  been  supplied  ivith  an  abundance  of  pure  water  by  British  engineers 
who  have  applied  modern  science  to  cisterns  and  reservoirs  of  the  time  of  Christ 


NOT  the  least  of  the  blessings  which  the 
British  occupation  has  conferred  upon 
Palestine  is  the  giving  of  an  ample  water- 
supply  to  Jerusalem.  Prior  to  this,  the  Holy 
City  was  dependent  upon  the  local  rainfall 
for  its  water.  The  rain  was  collected  and 
stored  in  cisterns,  many  of  which  were  sit- 
uated under  the  houses  or  at  the  back  of 
the  premises.  Water  gathered  during  the 
rains  on  the  flat  roofs  was  conducted  to  the 

rns  by  pipes,  and  there  stored  until 
wanted. 

Jeremiah   speaks  of  these  cisterns,  when 
he  represents  the  Lord  as  saying:  "  My  peo- 

have  committed  two  evils:  they  have 
forsaken  Me,  the  fountain  of  living  waters, 
and  hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cis- 
terns, that  can  hold  no  water."  Many  of 
these  ancient  cisterns  were  found  by  the 
British  to  be  in  a  sad  state  of  repair,  and 
were  breeding  places  of  disease.  The  mili- 
tary authorities  had  them  thoroughly  reno- 
vated; some  had  not  been  cleaned  for  a 
hundred  years  and  more. 

But    the    cisterns   were   not    sufficient  to 


supply  the  city's  needs.  So  long  as  Jeru- 
salem was  under  Turkish  rule,  the  city  suf- 
fered from  the  lack  of  a  good  water  supply. 
Except  for  one  small  spring,  the  Virgin's 
Fount,  so  named  because  it  is  believed  that 
it  was  here  the  Virgin  washed  her  son's 
swaddling  clothes,  Jerusalem  cannot  boast 
of  a  single  fountain.  And  even  this  spring 
is  situated  outside  the  city,  in  the  Kedron 
Valley. 

A  year  or  two  before  the  war,  it  is  true, 
the  Turks  built  a  four-inch  pipe  which  ran 
from  the  Pools  of  Solomon,  south  of  Beth- 
lehem, to  the  Temple  area;  but  the  water 
supply  from  this  source  was  limited  and  for 
the  most  part  reserved  for  the  mosque. 
Even  in  King  Solomon's  days  the  want  of 
water  was  felt,  and  he  obtained  his  supplies 
from  three  reservoirs  built  in  a  valley  below 
Bethlehem.  From  these  pools  water  was 
brought  to  the  city  by  an  aqueduct. 

Over  and  over  again,  engineers  and  others 
offered  to  repair  these  reservoirs  and  to 
build  a  modern  pipe  line,  but  the  Turks  re- 
jected all  proposals.   Their  excuse  was  either 


588 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  general  unrest  of  the  country,  or  the 
assertion  that  the  conditions  imposed  made 
the  scheme  impracticable.  The  result  was 
that  Jerusalem,  the  largest  and  most  im- 
portant city  in  Palestine,  was  forced  to  de- 
pend upon  the  scanty  rainfall. 

Early  in  February,  1918,  less  than  three 
months  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  the 
Royal  Engineers  began  to  grapple  with  this 
problem.  They  went  first  to  the  Virgin's 
Fount  and  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  this 
historic  and  interesting  spring.  It  was 
found  to  be  no  ordinary  intermittent  spring, 
but  rather  a  fountain  of  the  character  of  a 
geyser,  for  the  flow  occurs  from  three  to 
eight  times  a  day,  the  output  varying  from 
2,000  to  11,000  gallons  at  each  spurt. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  it  was  from  this 
spring  that  Hezekiah,  over  2,600  years  ago, 
conveyed  water  by  means  of  a  tunnel  to 
the  Pool  of  Siloam,  famed  in  connection 
with  the  ..story  of  the  healing  of  the  man 
blind  from  birth.  The  British  laid  pipes 
from  the  spring,  and  water  was  pumped  to 
tanks  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  near 
the  northeastern  corner  of  the  city  walls. 

Although  this  was  a  great  improvement, 
the  supply  was  still  found  to  be  insufficient 
for  the  needs  of  the  ever-growing  city.  An 
examination  was  then  made  of  the  Pools  of 
Solomon,  to  the  south  of  Bethlehem.  In  the 
end,  however,  it  was  decided  to  repair  and 
use  the  old  reservoir,  now  known  as  Birkett 
Arroub,  lying  a  few  miles  south  of  Pools  of 
Solomon.  This  reservoir  was  built  by  Pontius 
Pilate,  and  it  was  from  here  that  he  brought 
water  to  the  city.  History  records  how 
Pilate  took  money  from  the  Temple  treas- 
ury with  which  to  construct  a  water  supply. 

Pilate's  old  reservoir  has  now  been  re- 
paired and  enlarged  so  that  it  has  a  capac- 
ity of  5,000,000  gallons.  Galleries  have 
been  built  in  various  directions  to  tap  the 
numerous  surrounding  springs,  including 
those  of  Ain  der  Dirweh,  in  which,  it  is 
alleged,  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch.  A 
powerful  pumping  plant  was  installed,  by 
which  the  water  is  now  pumped  to  large 
reservoirs  built  on  higher  ground  on  the 
Hebron  road,  the  water  flowing  from  here 
by  its  own  gravity  in  a  one-foot  iron  pipe 
to  twin  pools  on  the  hill  west  of  the  city, 
whence  it  is  conducted  to  various  standpipes 
in  and  around  Jerusalem. 

Pilate's  aqueduct,  ruins  of  which  still  dot 
the  landscape,   stretched   for  a  distance  of 


forty  miles,  though  as  the  crow  flies  the 
Holy  City  lies  but  thirteen  miles  away. 
This  great  extension  was  necessary  in  order 
to  circumvent  the  intervening  hills.  The 
British  pipe  line,  however,  is  but  fifteen 
miles  in  total  length.  As  one  of  the  natives 
remarked  to  the  engineer,  it  is  driving  a 
stream  uphill.  The  home  of  the  guardians 
of  the  water  tanks  stands  on  the  very  spot 
where  the  Turks  surrendered  the  Holy  City 
to  the  British  on  Dec.  9,  1917. 

For  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Solo- 
mon and  of  Pontius  Pilate,  Jerusalem  now 
has  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  water. 
What  is  more,  the  water  is  free.  The  only 
people  who  have  complained  are  the  water 
peddlers.  Moreover,  the  death  rate  of  the 
city  has  dropped   by  one-half. 

In  a  like  manner  the  water  supply  of  the 
country  towns  and  villages  has  been  over- 
hauled. Ancient  Jericho  now  has  pure  water 
in  abundance,  brought  by  pipes  from 
Elisha's  Fountain,  which  lies  to  the  west. 
Travelers  journeying  from  Jerusalem  to 
the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea  are  now  as- 
sured of  good  drinking  water  in  place  of 
the  fouled  water  that  formerly  came 
through  the  ditches  by  the  roadside  from- 
the  distant  fountain.  Elisha's  Fountain  is 
undoubtedly  the  source  whose  waters  healed 
that  prophet  on  his  return  from  the  memor- 
able walk  across  the  plain  to  and  beyond 
the  Jordan,  which  ended  in  his  translation. 

Beersheba,  Palestine's  most  southern  city, 
has  also  its  own  water  supply,  raised  from 
one  of  its  old  wells,  which  was  undoubtedly 
in  existence  in  Abraham's  time.  Beersheba, 
in  fact,  means  "  seven  wells,"  and  they  have 
all  been  identified,  cleaned,  repaired,  and 
once  more  made  to  do  service  for  man  and 
beast. 

No  account  of  the  organization  of  the 
water  supply  of  this  sacred  land  would  be 
complete  without  a  reference  to  the  work 
of  enclosing  the  pits  or  wells.  Near  every 
village  may  be  found  a  pit,  where  water 
was  caught  and  stored  for  use  in  the  dry 
season.  These  were  a  real  danger,  as  men 
and  beasts  often  fell  into  them,  sometimes 
with  fatal  results. 

We  read  in  Chronicles  how  Benaiah 
"  slew  a  lion  in  the  midst  of  a  pit  on  a 
snowy  day,"  and  in  the  New  Testament  how 
Christ  asked :  "  Which  of  you  shall  have  an 
ass,  or  an  ox,  fallen  into  a  pit,  and  will  not 
straightway  pull  him   out  on  the   Sabbath 


DRINKING  FROM  PONTIUS  PILATE'S  RESERVOIR 


589 


(Photo    American    Colony,    Jerusalem) 


MODERN    BRITISH    MACHINERY    PUMPING   WATER    FOR    THE    CITY    OF    JERUSALEM 
FROM  THE   RESERVOTR   BTTTT/T   NEARLY   2,000  YEARS   AGO   BY    PONTIUS   PILATE 


(Photo   American    Colony,    Jerusalem) 


WHERE    THE    TURKS    SURRENDERED   JERUSALEM   TO   THE   BRITISH,    THE    NATIVES 
NOW    GO   FOR   UNLIMITED    SUPPLIES    OF    PURE    DRINKING   WATER 


590 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


day?  "  A  few  years  ago  an  English  med- 
ical man  fell  into  an  ancient  cistern  near 
Dothan,  the  mouth  of  which  was  concealed 
by  snow.  He  was  not  hurt  by  the  fall  but 
the  inside  of  the  pit  was  as  smooth  as  glass 
and  it  was  impossible  to  climb  out.  Not- 
withstanding his  cries  for  help,  he  was  not 
discovered  and  rescued  until  he  had  spent 
two  days  and  a  night  in  the  pit. 

These  water  holes,  unless  on  private  prop- 
erty, are  now  protected  and  enclosed.  At 
first    the   natives    objected,    declaring    that 


the  pits  had  always  been  left  open.  With 
great  diplomacy  Colonel  Storrs,  the  Mili- 
tary Governor,  explained  that  it  was  no  new 
command,  and  quoted  Exodus  xxi.,  33-34, 
as  proof:  "  And  if  a  man  shall  open  a  pit, 
or  if  a  man  dig  a  pit  and  not  cover  it,  and 
an  ox  or  an  ass  fall  therein,  the  owner  of 
the  pit  shall  make  it  good."  The  reason- 
ableness of  the  order  was  admitted.  All 
pits  are  now  protected,  and  what  was 
always  a  danger  to  both  man  and  beast  has 
been  removed. 


FIGHTING  THE  TURKS  AT  AINTAB 

By  Dr.  Lorin  Shepard 

Siorij  of-  the  seventi/  days*  siege  of  Aintab,  w&  told  by  an  American  eyewitness — How 
the  Armenians  organized  a  strong  defense  that  helped  the  French  at  last  to  defeat  the 
'Turkish  Xationolisls  and  preren'  another  wholesale  massacre 


THE  Turkish  Nationalist  movement,  in 
its  spirit,  aims  and  personnel,  is  a 
direct  heir  of  the  Union  and  Progress 
Party,  and  has  as  its  motto :  "  Turkey  for 
the  Turks  alone."  After  the  campaigns  in 
Palestine  by  the  British  and  Arabs,  Tur- 
key's military  power  was  practically  de- 
stroyed, and  the  Turks  were  ready  to  ac- 
cept whatever  terms  the  Allies  might  im- 
pose. The  Peace  Conference,  however,  oc- 
cupied with  weightier  matters,  kept  put- 
ting off  the  Turkish  settlement,  and  the 
old  Union  and  Progress  ring  saw  its  op- 
portunity to  profit  by  the  differences 
among  the  great  powers.  The  Nationalist 
movement  was  organized  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  proving  to  Europe  that  Turkey 
was  very  much  alive,  and  would  not  allow 
herself  to  be  dismembered  as  a  punishment 
for  joining  the  Germans  and  for  attempting 
annihilation  of  the  Armenian  race. 

Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  and  his  satellites 
took  it  upon  themselves  to  organize  the 
necessary  forces  to  bring  about  this  result. 
The  method  of  the  organization  was  simple. 
Turkey  is  essentially  a  land  of  small  vil- 
lages, most  of  them  owned  by  rich  Beys. 
The  plan  was  to  arm  all  the  men  in  all  the 
villages,  and  instruct  them  to  be  ready  at 
any  time  to  respond  to  the  call  of  some 
local  leader,  generally  the  son  of  one  of  the 


Beys,  or  some  famous  outlaw  or  cutthroat 
of  the  region.  In  all  places  under  foreign 
military  occupation,  such  as  Aintab,  these 
preparations  were  carried  out  with  the  ut- 
most secrecy.  The  arguments  used  to  per- 
suade the  ignorant  villagers  to  join  such 
an  organization  were  the  old  ones — the  for- 
eigner must  be  driven  out,  the  Christian 
and  Armenian  exterminated — there  would 
be  abundant  loot.  The  appeal  to  religious 
fanaticism  was  strengthened  by  wild  tales 
of  the  evil  intent  of  the  occupying  powers. 

In  personal  conversations  with  Turk- 
ish villagers  I  learned  that  they  had  been 
told  by  Nationalist  agents  and  firmly  be- 
lieved that  the  French  had  come  with  the 
sole  purpose  of  ruining  the  country,  killing 
the  men,  dishonoring  the  women,  and  that 
the  cause  of  their  coming  was  the  Arme- 
nian, who  always  aimed  to  destroy  the  Turk. 
Thus,  although  the  Nationalist  program,  as 
loudly  proclaimed  by  Kemal  at  Angora,  of- 
fered full  protection  and  rights  of  citizen- 
ship to  all  races,  the  Nationalist  movement, 
as  organized  in  actual  fact,  menaced  the 
very  existence  of  the  few  Christians  who 
had  managed  to  escape  the  machinations 
of  the  Union  and  Progress  gang  during  the 
war. 

Early  in  the  year  1920  the  Nationalists 
apparently   thought   the   time   was   ripe   to 


FIGHTING  THE  TURKS  AT  AINTAB 


591 


strike  and  show  their  power.  The  isolated 
position  of  some  of  the  French  garrisons 
in  Cilicia  and  North  Syria,  combined  with 
the  inclemency  of  the  Winter  weather,  was 
a  factor  in  their  favor.  In  January  small 
groups  of  French  troops  going  from  Aintab 
to  Mar  ash — the  next  post  to  the  north — 
were  ambushed  and  killed.  Fighting  be- 
tween Turks  and  French  began  in  Marash 
on  Jan.  19,  and  during  the  three  weeks 
that  elapsed  before  the  French  withdrawal 
two-fifths  of  the  city  was  destroyed  and 
10,000  Armenians  were  butchered  by  the 
Turks.  In  Aintab  the  Turks  tried  to  make 
the  Armenians  believe  that  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  intended,  but  indications  to  the 
contrary  were  not  lacking,  and  a  general 
movement  of  segregation  began,  the  Ar- 
menians leaving  the  Turkish  quarter  and 
the  Turks  withdrawing  to  their  part  of 
town. 

The  actual  state  of  affairs  was  clearly 
revealed  to  the  Americans  in  Aintab  by  the 
murder  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries, 
Messrs.  Perry  and  Johnson.  These  devoted 
workers  were  killed  by  Nationalists  as  they 
were  coming  by  automobile  from  Killis  to 
Aintab  on  Feb.  1.  Strong  representations 
were  made  to  the  Turkish  authorities  at 
Aintab,  and  the  bodies  were  brought  by 
them  to  Aintab,  where  we  identified  them. 
In  order  to  explain  away  the  murder,  the 
Aintab  officials  sent  out  an  investigating 
committee,  which  turned  in  a  report,  prob- 
ably false,  stating  that  the  killing  had  been 
done  by  ordinary  robbers,  who  in  turn  had 
been  killed  by  Nationalists.  I  myself  heard 
the  statements  in  this  report  contradicted 
by  two  Nationalist  chiefs,  both  of  whom 
said  the  killing  of  the  Americans  was  a 
"  mistake."  From  the  testimony  of  Amer- 
ican wagon  drivers,  who  overheard  Turks 
talking  in  an  inn  on  the  road  near  the 
scene  of  the  murders,  we  know  that  orders 
were  sent  out  from  Aintab,  the  day  before, 
to  kill  all  Christians  traveling  on  that  road 
and  deliver  their  goods  at  the  police  sta- 
tion on  the  road. 

How    the   Armenians   Fought 

These  and  many  similar  events  were  suf- 
ficient incentive  to  the  Armenians  to  pre- 
pare their  defense,  which  proved  to  be  one 
of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  the  fight- 
ing at  Aintab.     A  number  of  the  Armenian 


young  men  had  had  valuable  experience. 
One  had  been  a  Lieutenant  in  the  American 
Engineers,  another  in  the  English  army  in 
Palestine,  and  still  another  in  Mesopotamia. 
Several  others  had  been  under-officers  in 
the  Turkish  army.  These  men  banded  to 
gether  and  gathered  around  them  all  who 
had  arms  and  were  willing  to  fight.  Plans 
were  drawn  for  barricading  the  streets,  and 
loopholes  were  secretly  prepared  in  houses 
commanding  the  principal  streets  entering 
the  Armenian  quarter.  Meanwhile  the 
Turks,  as  we  learned  later  from  the  testi- 
mony of  one  of  them,  were  planning  to 
catch  the  Christians  unawares,  to  slaughter 
them  wholesale,  as  had  been  done  at  Ma- 
rash, to  attack  the  French  garrison,  and 
to  attempt  to  drive  them  out.  Men  had 
been  designated  to  watch  at  the  principal 
street  corners,  and  when  the  signal  was 
given,  to  kill  all  Christians  returning  from 
the  Turkish  quarter,  where  the  markets  are 
located.  The  Government  also  did  all  it 
could  to  prevent  the  segregation  of  the 
Christians  and  to  promote  a  false  sense  of 
confidence  among  them. 

The  storm  that  had  been  brewing  so  long 
burst  on  the  first  day  of  April,  1920.  A 
strong  French  column  had  fought  its  way 
to  Aintab  during  the  last  week  in  March, 
and  for  a  day  or  two  the  Turks  thought; 
their  time  had  come;  but,  owing  to  the  ne- 
cessity for  troops  in  other  places,  the  col- 
umn departed  on  April  1,  leaving  only  a 
small  garrison.  Hardly  had  the  column 
disappeared  around  the  first  turn  in  the 
road  when  shots  were  heard  in  the  lower 
market,  and  in  a  few  minutes  our  hospital 
and  orphanage  were  filled  with  frightened 
people,  fleeing  to  the  Americans  for  pro- 
tection. Before  long  wounded  began  com- 
ing in,  and  all  that  day  we  were  in  the 
operating  room,  trying  to  patch  up  as  best 
we  could  the  wicked  work  of  knives  and 
bullets.  As  the  day  wore  on,  it  became 
evident  that  the  Turks  would  not  be  able 
to  enter  the  Armenian  quarter,  in  the  west- 
ern end  of  which  our  American  buildings 
were  situated,  by  the  main  streets:  But 
south  of  us  they  were  strongly  placed  in 
a  high  minaret,  about  a  hundred  yards 
away,  and  from  there  the  orphanage,  just 
south  of  the  hospital,  and  the  hospital  it- 
self, sustained  a  very  heavy  rifle  fire,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that   the   American  flag 


51)2 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


was  clearly  displayed  on  both  buildings. 
One  orphan  was  killed,  another  wounded, 
and  two  of  the  matrons  were  seriously 
wounded.  Several  of  the  Near  East  Relief 
workers  had  narrow  escapes  going  from 
building  to  building,  as  every  one  who 
showed  his  head  drew  fire. 

That  night,  however,  we  began  to  see  the 
effects  of  the  Armenian  defense  organiza- 
tion. During  the  darkness  protecting  walls 
of  stone  were  built  up  wherever  streets  or 
windows  were  exposed  to  fire  from  the 
Turks,  and  so  well  was  the  work  done  that 
the  next  day,  in  spite  of  the  continued  rifle 
fire,  not  a  single  person  was  wounded. 
Within  a  short  time  the  organization  had 
grown  into  a  regular  city  government. 
Most  important  among  its  departments,  of 
course,  was  the  military  charged  with  the 
actual  business  of  defense.  There  were 
very  few  rifles  available,  and  little  ammu- 
nition, but  these  difficulties  were  partly 
overcome  in  the  arsenal,  a  place  of  intense 
activity,  where  the  cleverest  workmen  of 
the  city  manufactured  effective  hand  gre- 
nades, loaded  cartridges,  for  which  the  pow- 
der and  even  the  primers  were  made  on  the 
spot,  repaired  rifles,  and,  crowning  achieve- 
ment of  all,  put  together  a  cannon  named 
"  The  Revenge."  This  piece,  when  loaded 
up  with  plenty  of  powder,  nails,  doorknobs 
and  iron  balls  from  the  looms,  made  a  ter- 
rific racket,  intimidating  to  the  Turks,  even 
if  not  very  damaging.  There  was  also  a 
food  commission,  which  took  stock  of  all 
the  food  resources  and  superintended  the 
distribution  of  rations.  It  was  here  that 
ihe  Near  East  Relief  came  to  the  rescue 
most  effectively.  The  heads  of  the  three 
large  orphanages  and  of  the  Rescue  Home, 
v.ho  had  in  their  care  nearly  1,500  women 
and  children,  had  provided  supplies  of  food 
for  six  or  eight  months  ahead.  This  large 
stock  was  made  available  for  the  use  of 
ihe  population  and  counted  in  with  the  to- 
tal available  supply  of  food.  Later,  when 
the  orphans  and  rescued  women  were  re- 
moved to  Beirut  through  the  assistance  of 
the  French  army,  the  bulk  of  the  food  sup- 
ply was  turned  over  to  the  Armenians  of 
the  town. 

In  addition  to  the  military  and  food  com- 
mons, there  were  created  a  police  de- 
partment, a  health  department,  a  housing 
commission,  which  had  a  very  heavy  prob- 


lem on  its  hands,  and  even  a  court  with  the 
necessary  complement  of  Judges.  The 
whole  organization  was  under  the  central 
committee,  which  acted  as  a  sort  of  legis- 
lative assembly. 

Thus  organized,  the  Armenian  defense 
carried  on  through  70  days  of  fighting-. 
After  the  first  few  days  the  Turks  became 
discouraged  at  their  failure  to  penetrate 
the  Armenian  quarter,  and  tried  to  inveigle 
them  into  a  truce  in  the  hope  of  taking 
them  unawares.  When  this  failed  they 
tried  to  burn  the  houses  of  the  defenders, 
and  their  fire  was  skillfully  turned  against 
themselves.  Finally  they  tried  mining  and 
blowing  up  the  defenders'  positions,  and 
for  days  we  were  listening  to  excited  tales 
of  mines  and  counter  mines.  But  through 
it  all,  the  Armenians  sustained  few  cas- 
ualties, and  did  not  lose  a  single  position. 
Even  when  the  Turks  brought  up  artillery 
and  pounded  the  Armenian  houses,  as  well 
as  the  positions  of  the  French,  hope  was 
not  lost  and  the  general  morale  was  not 
broken.  During  this  first  period  of  fight- 
ing three  large  French  convoys  came  ro 
Aintab,  bringing  with  them  food  to  the 
garrison  and  a  certain  amount  to  the  civil- 
ians, and  taking  away  with  them  a  large 
number  of  non-combatants.  These  included 
several  thousand  Armenian  refugees,  all 
the  orphans  cared  for  by  the  Americans 
and  by  Miss  Frearson,  an  English  lady  who 
has  had  an  orphanage  in  Aintab  for  many 
years,  and  many  Aintab  people  who  desired 
to  seek  a  place  of  safety  for  their  families. 
No  one,  however,  was  allowed  to  leave  who 
was  considered  necessary  for  the  defense. 

A   Trying  Armistice  Period 

At  the  end  of  May  an  armistice  was  ar- 
ranged between  the  French  and  Mustapha 
KemaPs  force,  and  hostilities  at  Aintab 
ceased  for  a  time.  By  the  terms  of  this 
agreement  the  French  troops  were  with- 
drawn from  the  town  proper,  where  a  few 
small  posts  were  placed,  and  were  confined 
to  the  college  buildings,  half  a  mile  to  the 
west  of  the  city.  The  Armenians  were  told 
that  they  were  Turkish  subjects,  and  that 
they  must  get  along  as  best  they  could  with 
the  Turks  whom  they  had  been  fighting 
for  nearly  two  months.  The  French,  how- 
ever, promised  to  remain  near  the  city,  ami 
to   prevent   a  massacre   of   the   Christians. 


FIGHTING  THE  TURKS  AT  AINTAB 


593 


The  Turks  also  had  seen  that  the  Arme- 
nians were  determined  to  defend  themselves, 
and  had  gained  a  wholesome  respect  for 
their  ability  to  do  it.  Thus,  for  some  time, 
the  Turks,  although  taking  pains  to  assert 
that  they — not  the  Armenians — were  in 
authority,  were  careful  not  to  antagonize 
or  frighten  the  Armenian  element.  It  was 
a  difficult  period  for  the  Christians  of  Ain- 
tab.  They  could  not  trust  their  recent 
enemies,  the  Turks,  and  they  could  not  be 
sure  the  French  would  remain. 

It  would  have  been  well  for  the  Turks 
had  they  been  content  to  wait  quietly  for 
the  final  adjustment  of  the  peace  terms, 
instead  of  beginning  again  to  fight  the 
French.  But  the  individual  interests  of  the 
so-called  Nationalists  demanded  that  dis- 
turbance continue.  On  July  28,  therefore, 
they  renewed  hostilities.  This  time,  how- 
ever, they  did  nof  make  the  mistake  of  at- 
tacking the  Armenians,  but  confined  their 
attentions  to  the  French.  After  a  severe 
bombardment,  they  tried  an  infantry  at- 
tack, which  was  repulsed  with  heavy  losses. 
The  French  in  turn  bombarded  the  Turkish 
positions,  one  of  the  most  important  of  which 
was  in  the  Municipal  Hospital,  just  west  of 
our  American  buildings.  The  Armenians 
maintained  an  armed  neutrality  and  waited. 
In  spite  of  many  opportunities  to  shoot 
Turkish  soldiers,  who  were  continually  pass- 
ing back  and  forth  in  front  of  their  posi- 
tions, the  embattled  Armenians  never  yield- 
ed to  the  desire  for  revenge. 

Last  Weeks  of  Siege 
This  phase  of  the  fighting  was  brought 
to  an  end  by  the  arrival  of  a  strong  French 
column  from  the  south  on  Aug.  11,  and 
from  this  time  till  the  Turks'  surrender  of 
the  city  in  February,  the  French  were  mas- 
ters of  the  military  situation.  The  task  of 
reducing  the  city,  however,  was  not  to  be 
an  easy  one.  Immediately  on  the  arrival 
of  the  column,  the  town  was  completely 
surrounded,  and  an  immediate  surrender  de- 
manded. This  was  refused,  and  later  we 
learned  that  although  the  people  of  the  city 
were  eager  to  give  in  and  put  a  stop  to  the 
fighting,  the  Nationalist  officers  compelled 
them  by  force  to  pursue  a  policy  of  resist- 
ance. Unfortunately,  it  was  impossible  for 
the  French  at  this  time  to  assign  enough 
men  both  to  maintain  the  blockade  of  the 
town  and'  to  convoy  the  necessary  supplies 


of  food  and  munitions,  so  that  after  a  few 
days  it  became  necessary  to  withdraw  the 
northern  part  of  the  besieging  ring.  This 
enabled  the  Turks  to  bring  in  at  night  large 
supplies  of  food  and  ammunition. 

The  final  phase  of  the  investment  of  Ain- 
tab  began  on  Nov.  20,  when  the  arrival  of 
large  reinforcements  made  it  possible  to 
surround  the  city  again.  The  siege  contin- 
ued nearly  three  months  longer.  During 
this  period,  the  Turks  made  every  effort 
to  drive  away  the  besiegers.  They  frequent- 
ly outnumbered  the  French  and  brought 
up  a  considerable  number  of  cannon,  in- 
cluding fifteen  centimeter  pieces  capable 
of  great  execution.  Their  bombardment?, 
nevertheless,  though  very  annoying  at 
times,  were  never  of  great  military  impor- 
tance. Their  infantry  attacks,  moreover, 
were  never  formidable,  and  invariably 
broke  down  before  accomplishing  the  de- 
sired result.  The  sole  exception  to  this  was 
in  the  month  of  May,  when  an  isolated  posi- 
tion held  by  Algerian  troops  was  taken  by 
storm  after  the  French  lieutenants  in 
charge  had  been  fatally  wounded.  Finally 
on  Feb.  8,  1921,  lack  of  food  compelled  the 
Turks  to  surrender  the  city. 

The  Turkish  Nationalists  undoubtedly 
brought  to  the  defense  of  Aintab  all  the 
energy  and  organization  they  were  capable 
of,  and  although  their  efforts  failed,  they 
attained  the  real  object  of  the  movement, 
namely,  to  create  in  Europe  the  impression 
that  the  Turks  possessed  great  military  re- 
sources and  tremendous  determination. 
This  impression  they  are  now  using  to  good 
advantage  in  the  attempt  to  secure  more 
favorable  terms  of  peace. 

The  Near  East  Relief  played  a  most  cred- 
itable role  in  Aintab  throughout  these 
troubled  times.  One  of  the  greatest  factors 
in  its  service  was  the  moral  support  fur- 
nished the  Armenians  in  their  valiant  seli- 
defense.  Besides  this,  food  in  large  quan- 
tities was  furnished  the  destitute;  over 
$30,000  of  Near  East  Relief  funds  were 
used  for  this  purpose  alone.  At  the  hos- 
pital, wounded  of  all  classes  received 
treatment.  The  sincerest  expressions  of 
appreciation  for  these  Near  East  Relief 
activities  have  been  received  by  the  organi- 
zation both  from  the  civilian  Armenian 
population  and  from  the  occupying  French 
forces." 


THE  COLORED  FRENCH  TROOPS 
IN  GERMANY 


By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

A  British  publicist's  frank  discussion  of  the  alleged  attacks  of  African  soldiers  on 
German  teamen  in  the  occupied  Rhineland  areas — Testimony  of  Maximilian  Harden 
and  of  General  Allen — Source  of  the  widespread  propaganda  on  the  subject 


LAST  year,  at  a  time  when  Germany  was 
j  being  pressed  for  the  payment  of 
reparations,  and  when  the  surrender  of 
arms  was  demanded  from  her,  a  great  sen- 
sation was  caused  by  her  passionate  denun- 
ciations of  the  black  troops  of  France, 
which,  we  were  told,  had  been  guilty  of  the 
most  horrible  outrages,  especially  upon 
helpless  white  women.  More  recently  the 
same  charge  was  loudly  repeated  when  Ger- 
many was  trying  to  evade  the  present  in- 
demnity arrangement.  Both  in  1920  and 
in  1921  complaints  about  the  bestiality  of 
the  French  negro  soldiers  were  made  at  a 
time  when  Germany  hoped  and  asked  for 
America's  support  against  the  claims  of  the 
Allies.  The  coincidence  is  very  remarkable, 
and  it  is  equally  remarkable  that  during 
the  first  year  and  a  half  following  the 
armistice  no  complaints  were  made  about 
the  misdeeds  of  the  black  soldiery. 

It  is  often  stated  still  that  France,  filled 
with  implacable  hatred,  has  deliberately 
quartered  black  troops  on  Germany  in  order 
to  humiliate  and  wound  the  people.  Are 
these  accusations  justified  or  not? 

I  happened  to  be  in  Germany  in  the  early 
Summer  of  1920,  at  the  time  when  the  out- 
cry was  at  its  loudest,  and  I  spent  nearly 
three  weeks  in  the  zone  occupied  by  France. 
I  did  not  see  any  evidence  that  France 
wished  to  humiliate  the  people.  Such  a 
policy  would  have  been  not  only  ungen- 
erous but  extremely  unwise.  France,  as  is 
well  known,  would  like  to  obtain  the  Ger- 
man territories  west  of  the  Rhine,  which 
are  now  occupied  by  French  troops.  As  she 
did  not  receive  these  territories  at  the 
Peace  Conference,  as  she  had  hoped,  the 
French  must  give  up  their  old  ideal  of  mak- 
ing the  Rhine  their  eastern  frontier,  an 
ideal  which  has  inspired  them  for  centuries, 


unless  they  succeed  in  gaining  the  good- 
will and  the  affection  of  the  people  on  the 
Rhine.  Far  from  wishing  to  outrage  the 
inhabitants,  the  French  are  trying  to  recon- 
cile them,  to  win  them  over  and  to  bind 
the  Rhenish  Province  to  France  with  bonds 
of  esteem  and  affection.  The  French  are 
doing  everything  in  their  power  toward  that 
end.  Both  the  civil  and  the  military  au- 
thorities are  most  careful  and  circumspect. 
Far  from  quartering  their  worst  troops 
upon  the  Germans,  they  have  sent  to  the 
Rhine  their  elite.  Everywhere  one  meets 
only  picked  men  and  picked  officers.  I  did 
not  see  in  Germany  any  of  those  small, 
slouching  and  somewhat  untidy  soldiers 
whom  one  sees  so  often  in  France,  and  es- 
pecially in  Paris.  The  officers  also  seem 
to  be  high  above  the  average. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  both  the  French  of- 
ficers and  the  French  soldiers  made  a  far 
better  impression,  not  only  upon  me,  but 
also  upon  many  of  the  inhabitants  with 
whom  I  discussed  the  matter,  than  the  Ger- 
man officers  and  soldiers  whom  they  have 
replaced.  The  daily  parades  were  witnessed 
by  crowds  of  admiring  Germans.  In  the 
hotels  and  restaurants,  in  the  shops  and  in 
private  families  the  French  have  become 
extremely  popular,  to  the  chagrin  of  '  the 
irreconcilable  Germans  of  the  Prussian 
type,  and  engagements  and  marriages  be- 
tween French  soldiers  and  German  girls 
have  become  very  frequent.  The  Rhenish 
towns  are  beginning  to  look  like  a  part  of 
France.  Everywhere  one  sees  the  bright 
French  uniforms,  and  everywhere  one  hears 
French  spoken.  Many  Germans,  especially 
the  girls,  speak  French  in  public,  wear 
French  clothes  and  pretend  to  be  French. 
French  banks,  hotels  and  shops  are  spring- 
ing up  everywhere,  and  French  books  and 


THE  COLORED  FRENCH  TROOPS  IN  GERMANY 


595 


newspapers  are  bought  in  large  quantities 
by  the  Germans. 

As  I  had  read  some  of  the  accusations 
made  against  the  French  soldiers  in  general 
and  against  the  colored  soldiers  in  particu- 
lar, I  kept  my  eyes  open  in  order  to  dis- 
cover evidences  of  French  immorality. 
However,  I  found  the  attitude  of  the  French 
troops  irreproachable,  and,  notwithstanding 
all  my  inquiries,  I  did  not  receive  a  single 
complaint,  but  was  told  everywhere  that 
the  most  rigorous  discipline  was  enforced 
and  that,  as  regards  their  attitude  toward 
women,  the  French  troops,  including  the 
colored  contingent,  compared  favorably 
with  the  German  troops.  On  the  other  hand, 
I  received  numerous  complaints  from  Ger- 
mans, and  especially  from  elderly  ladies, 
about  the  attitude  of  the  German  women 
and  girls.  I  was  told  that  not  only  girls 
of  the  lower  classes,  but  even  ladies  belong- 
ing to  the  upper  and  middle  class,  both 
married  and  single,  were  shamelessly  run- 
ning after  the  French  soldiers,  and  that 
the  colored  men  seemed  to  have  a  par- 
ticular attraction  for  them.  All  the  res- 
taurants and  the  benches  in  the  parks  were 
crowded  with  French  soldiers  and  German 
women,  to  the  intense  indignation  of  the 
patriotic  Germans,  many  of  whom  refused 
in  disgust  to  enter  a  public  park  or  a  res- 
taurant. In  many  cases  I  saw  German 
girls,  whose  dress  and  fluent  French  indi- 
cated that  they  belonged  to  the  better 
classes,  make  love  to  colored  soldiers,  and 
their  advances  bordered  only  too  frequently 
upon  the  indecent. 

Although  Germans  habitually  denounce 
the  immorality  of  the  French,  they  have 
not  much  reason  to  boast  of  their  own 
morality.  Previous  to  the  war  Berlin  was 
universally  considered  to  be  far  more  given 
over  to  vice  than  Paris.  The  morality  of 
nations  can  be  measured  to  some  extent 
by  the  statistics  relating  to  illegitimate 
births.  In  1913,  183,976  illegitimate  chil- 
dren were  born  in  Germany.  Of  all  the  chil- 
dren 9.7  per  cent,  were  born  out  of  wed- 
lock. Of  late  years  the  percentage  of 
illegitimate  births  in  Germany  has  been  in- 
creasing steadily  and  rapidly,  as  follows: 


Y"ear 

1003 

Per  Cent. 
.     8  S 

Year 

1911 

1913 

Per  Cent. 
0.2 

100.") 

8  r. 

...  9.7 

1007 

8.7 

9.0 

1015 

11.2 

1909 

The  figures  given  show  that  of  late  years 
immorality  has  been  rapidly  increasing  in 
Germany.  The  expansion  of  the  illegiti- 
mate birth  rate  has  taken  place  during  a 
period  of  unexampled  prosperity  and  dur- 
ing a  time  when  the  prevention  of  unde- 
sired  births  had  become  so  widespread  in 
Germany  as  to  be  generally  discussed;  pro- 
posals were  made  to  stop  the  growing  prac- 
tice in  the  interests  of  the  army,  for  it 
threatened  to  dry  up  the  supply  of  recruits. 
Immorality  and  illegitimacy  are  particu- 
larly widespread  in  the  great  German  towns 
and  in  the  industrial  districts.  In  1913  23.6 
per  cent,  of  all  the  births  in  Berlin  were 
illegitimate.  During  the  same  year  the  ille- 
gitimate birth  rate  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Saxony  stood  at  16.3  per  cent,  in  Bavaria 
the  rate  was  13.5  per  cent.,  in  Mecklenburg 
it  stood  at  14.9  per  cent.,  in  Hamburg  at 
14.6  per  cent.  One-fourth  of  all  the  chil- 
dren born  in  Berlin  were  illegitimate,  and 
one-sixth  of  all  the  children  born  in  Saxony. 
Looseness  of  morals  prevailed  in  Germany 
previous  to  the  war.  During  the  struggle 
and  during  the  years  following  it,  immo- 
rality has  fearfully  increased  in  Germany 
and  in  other  countries  as  well,  for  war  de- 
stroys the  bonds  of  discipline  and  conti- 
nence. All  over  Germany  I  heard  harrow- 
ing tales  of  immorality.  However,  while 
some  Germans  bewailed  the  looseness  of 
present-day  morals,  others  frankly  ap- 
proved of  it,  taking  the  view  that  Ger- 
many's loss  in  man  power  should  be  re- 
placed as  quickly  as  possible,  and  that  it 
was  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the 
coming  generation  was  legitimately  or  ille- 
gitimately born. 

Maximilian  Harden's  View 

My  impression  that  the  French  troops, 
both  white  and  colored,  were  kept  in  strict 
order,  and  that  the  German  women  were 
chiefly  to  blame  for  their  intimate  rela- 
tions with  French  colored  soldiers,  has  been 
confirmed  by  reliable  German  and  French 
evidence.  The  foremost  German  journalist 
is  probably  Maximilian  Harden,  He  wrote 
in  June,  1920,  at  the  time  when  the  outcry 
about  outrages  of  the  blacks  on  German 
women  was  particularly  loud,  in  his  journal, 
Die  Zukunft,  endeavoring  to  be  strictly  fair 
to  France: 

Clemenceau.  Foch  and  Millerand  have  sent 
colored  soldiers  to  Germany,  not  in  order  to 
humiliate    Germany,    but    for    other    reaso.is. 


596 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


France  requires  the  arms  of  her  sons  for 
her  agriculture  and  industry.  If  the  French 
had  sent  ,10,000  soldiers  of  their  own  to  the 
Rhine  the  French  Government  would  have 
been  reproached  for  weakening-  the  Industry 
of  the  country  by  withdrawing-  from  it 
50,000  men  and  strengthening  accordingly 
the  industrial  power  of  her  enemy.  Besides, 
it  has  been  stated  that  certain  regiments 
•  I  threatened  to  revolt,  should  they  be  sent 
to    Germany.     For   these   reasons  France  has 

nt  us  negroes  and  soldiers  from  Morocco 
who  during  the  war  have  preserved  disci- 
pline in  a  remarkable  manner.  Besides,  one 
must  not  mistake  Moors  and  other  north 
African  tribes  for  negroes.  The  African 
negro  typo  which  one  finds  constantly  dis- 
played in  the  bitter  cartoons  of  the  German 
Miic  papers  does  not  resemble  in  the  slight- 
est the  type  of  the  French  Colonial  sol- 
diers.   *    *    * 

Unfortunately  we  have  seen  the  aberra- 
tions of  the  female  sex  every  time  when 
Hagenbeck  [the  German  Barnum]  has  shown 
us  tribes  of  natives.  Everywhere  the  Ger- 
man women  followed  the  black  and  yellow 
men  and  pestered  them  with  love  letters, 
flowers  and  presents.  They  were  not  re- 
pelled by  their  smell.  On  the  contrary,  they 
found  in  it  a  special  stimulus,  a  special  at- 
traction. However,  these  natives  were  birds 
of  passage.  They  were  only  too  often  ill- 
nourished  and  sickly.  They  were  rarely  men 
of  fine  physique.  They  compare  unfavor- 
ably with  the  warriors  whose  jet  black  skin 
covers  splendid  muscles  and  who  are  clad 
in   striking  uniforms.    *    *    * 

The  French  press  has  told  us  that  society 
ladies  have  often  shown  a  remarkable  in- 
terest in  the  African  soldiers.  Every  time 
when  relations  between  German  women  and 
colored  soldiers  have  had  natural  conse- 
quences which  could  not  be  explained  away, 
the  guilty  woman  has  asserted  that  she  was 
violated,  that  her  misfortune  was  unde- 
served. However,  it  is  well  known  that  such 
violation  is  not  as  easy  as  some  would 
believe. 

Mr.  Harden  rightly  draws  attention  to 
the  fact  that  France  sent  to  Germany  col- 
ored soldiers  rather  from  necessity  than 
from  choice.  He  is  also  correct  in  asking 
his  readers  to  discriminate  between  African 
negroes  and  the  brown  soldiers  belonging  to 
the  French  Colonial  Army.  At  the  time 
when  I  was  in  Germany  I  saw  a  consider- 
able number  of  brown  soldiers  but  only  a 
few  blacks. 

At  present  there  are  no  negro  troops  on 
the  Rhine.  The  last  black  regiments  of 
France  left  the  Rhenish  province  in  the 
Spring  of  last  year.  These  troops  came 
from  the  Senegal  and  from  the  Soudan. 
The  few  negroes  whom  I  saw  were  servants 
and  invalids  who  took  the  waters,  &c.     The 


colored  troops  of  France  quartered  in  Ger- 
many are  mostly  so  lightly  colored  that  one 
can  easily  mistake  them  for  Southern 
Frenchmen.  The  great  majority  are  Arabs 
--Semites.  They  do  not  possess  the  char- 
acteristic thick  lips  and  skull  of  the  negro, 
but  have  a  refined  oval  face,  an  aquiline 
nose,  thin  lips,  and  lack  the  woolly  hair  of 
the  negro.  Although  these  troops  are  well 
behaved,  the  French  have  greatly  reduced 
their  number  in  order  not  to  wound  German 
feelings.  From  May  1,  1919,  to  March  1, 
1920,  France  had  35,000  colored  troops  in 
Germany.  Their  number  was  reduced  in 
March,  1920,  to  25,000,  and  on  Jan.  30,  1921, 
to  20,000. 

German  Women  at  Fault 

Mr.  Harden  has  stated  that  German 
women  were  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
mingling  of  colored  and  white  blood  which 
has  taken  place  on  the  Rhine.  His  accusa- 
tion is  justified.  I  was  told  that  both  the 
German  police  and  the  French  authorities 
in  the  occupied  districts  found  it  very  dif- 
ficult to  prevent  the  German  women  from 
pestering  and  pursuing  the  colored  troops. 
In  many  cases  the  colored  soldiers  them- 
selves complained  to  their  officers  about  the 
shameless  advances  made  to  them  by  Ger- 
man women  and  frequently  a  military  guard 
had  to  be  called  out  to  keep  women  from 
entering  the  barracks  by  the  windows.  Gen- 
eral Henry  T.  Allen,  commander  of  the 
American  forces  on  the  Rhine,  stated  in  a 
report  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  State : 

The  attitude  of  certain  classes  of  German 
women  has  been  such  as  to  incite  trouble. 
On  account  of  the  very  unsettled  economic 
conditions,  and  for  other  causes  growing  out 
of  the  World  War,  prostitution  is  abnormally 
engaged  in,  and  many  German  women  of 
loose  character  have  openly  made  advances 
to  the  colored  soldiers,  as  evidenced  by 
numerous  love  letters  and  photographs  which 
are  now  on  file  in  the  official  records  and 
which  have  been  sent  by  German  women  to 
colored  French  soldiers.  Several  cases  have 
occurred  of  marriages  of  German  women 
with  French  negro  soldiers.  One  German 
girl  of  a  first-class  burgher  family,  her 
father  a  very  high  city  functionary  of  a 
prominent  city  in  the  Rhinelands,  recently 
procured  a  passport  to  join  her  fiance  in 
Marseilles.  He  was  a  negro  sergeant.  Other 
negro  soldiers  have  had  French  wives  her-', 
and  the  color  line  is  not  regarded  either  by 
the  French  or  the  Germans,  as  we  regard  it 
in  America,  to  keep  the  white  race  pure. 

At  Ludwingshafen,  when  the  seventh 
Tirailleurs    left    for    Frankfurt,    patrols    had 


THE  COLORED  FRENCH  TROOPS  IN  GERMANY 


597 


to  be  sent  out  to  drive  away  the  German 
women  from  the  barracks,  where  they  were 
kissing  the  colored  troops  through  the 
window    gratings. 

Ever  since  the  time  when  I  went  to  Ger- 
many I  have  received  reports  from  the  occu- 
pied zone,  and  I  have  heard  nothing  but 
praise  for  the  French  troops,  both  white 
and  colored,  from  German  inhabitants  who 
can  be  relied  upon.  On  the  other  hand, 
complaints  about  the  immorality  of  the  Ger- 
man women  have  been  at  least  as  great  as 
they  were  a  year  ago,  when  I  visited  the 
country.  Of  course  there  have  been  indi- 
vidual crimes  among  the  soldiers,  and 
among  these  there  have  been  crimes  against 
morality,  such  as  the  violation  of  women. 
While  nothing  can  excuse  them,  it  must  be 
stated  that  these  crimes  have  only  been  few 
in  numbers,  and  they  were  probably  less 
numerous  than  they  would  have  been  if  the 
country  had  been  occupied  by  German 
troops.  Crimes  of  immorality  are  unhap- 
pily exceedingly  frequent  in  Germany.  That 
may  be  seen  from  the  criminal  statistics  of 
the  country,  and  the  German  army  has  al- 
ways been  notorious  for  its  assaults  upon 
women.  Previous  to  the  war  the  country 
people  dreaded  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Ger- 
man army  because  cases  of  rape  were  ex- 
ceedingly frequent,  although  the  authorities 
tried  their  best  to  hush  up  the  scandal. 
Many  people  sent  their  girls  away  when 
they  heard  that  the  soldiers  were  coming 
into  their  district. 

Notwithstanding  the  enforcement  of  strict 
discipline  the  French  and  other  troops  quar- 
tered in  Germany  have  committed  a  num- 
ber of  crimes.  Desiring  to  make  them- 
selves popular  by  enforcing  justice,  the 
French  have  inflicted  severe  punishment 
upon  all  soldiers  guilty  of  transgressing 
against  the  civil  population.  I  have  re- 
ceived the  following  official  statement  re- 
garding the  criminality  of  the  French  col- 
ored troops,  which  shows  that  crimes  among 
colored  soldiers  were  comparatively  few: 

Accusations  brought  for  violation  of 
women,  crimes  of  violence,  participation 
in   broils,    theft,   etc 227 

Number  of  cases  in  which  accusations 
were  found  justified    72 

Number  of  accusations,  the  justification 
of  which   was   doubtful 90 

Number  of  unjustified  accusations 59 

Total     227 


It  is  noteworthy  that  among  the  seventy- 
two  accusations  which  were  found  justified 
there  were  only  nine  for  the  violation  of 
women.  The  number  of  French  colored 
tioops  stationed  in  Germany  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

Dec.    1,    1918,    to    May   1,    1919 10,000 

May  1,   1919,    to  March  1,   1920 35,000 

March   1,    1920,    to    June    1,    1920 25,000 

June  1,   1920,   to  Jan.  30,   1921 20,000 

If  we  multiply  the  number  of  French 
troops  with  the  number  of  days  they  were 
in  Germany  we  arrive  at  the  figure  19,050,- 
000.  As  shown  in  the  official  figures,  only 
seventy-two  accusations  of  colored  troops 
were  found  to  be  justified,  and  of  these  only 
nine  were  in  respect  of  violation  of  women. 
In  accordance  with  the  policy  pursued  by 
France,  those  found  guilty  were  severely 
punished.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  among  the  accusations  of 
transgressions  against  the  civil  population, 
which  numbered  seventy- two,  a  considerable 
number  were  trivial  and  led  only  to  the  in- 
fliction of  trivial  punishments.  According 
to  the  official  statistics  which  I  have  re- 
ceived from  the  highest  quarters,  the  fol- 
lowing punishments  were  inflicted: 

Colored 
Punishments   Imposed.  Soldiers. 

Penal  servitude  for  life 1 

More   than   5  years'    imprisonment 5 

Less   than    5   years'  .  imprisonment 23 

Disciplinary   punishments    23 

Trials    pending    or    adjourned 20 

Total     _ 72 

Of  the  nine  men  who  were  found  guilty 
of  violating  women,  five  were  condemned  to 
more  than  five  years'  imprisonment  and 
four  to  less  than  five  years'  imprisonment. 

Many  False  Charges 

Numerous  idle  and  reckless  accusations 
were  brought  against  the  French  troops, 
partly  by  women  who,  owing  to  their  own 
fault,  had  colored  babies;  partly  by  hyster- 
ical women  or  by  women  who  wished  to  re- 
venge themselves  or  to  make  mischief. 
Among  the  cases  of  alleged  rape  which  had 
to  be  investigated  by  the  French  military 
authorities  was  that  of  an  inmate  of  a 
brothel.  In  many  cases  the  Germans  have 
paraded  cases,  and  even  addressed  com- 
plaints to  the  French  authorities,  without 
giving  the  names  of  the  women  who  were 


o<)8 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


supposed  to  have  been  assaulted  by  French 
colored  soldiers,  without  stating  where  the 
alleged  assaults  took  place,  without  nam- 
ing any  witnesses,  and  without  giving  a 
description  of  the  soldiers  or  of  their  uni- 
forms, and  inquiries  for  details  on  the  part 
of  the  French  authorities  have  remained 
unanswered. 

An  entire  Senegalese  brigade  of  French 
negroes  was  stationed  for  some  consider- 
able time  at  Worms  and  Mayence.  They 
left  Germany  in  June,  1920,  and  since  that 
time  no  negro  troops  have  been  in  Ger- 
many. During  the  whole  time  of  their  stay 
nly  a  single  complaint  on  account  of  crimes 
of  violence  was  received,  which,  however, 
ied  to  an  acquittal.  General  Henry  T. 
Allen,  in  his  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  on  July  2,  1920,  said: 

A  very  violent  newspaper  campaign  at- 
tacking the  French  Colonial  troops,  especial- 
ly the  negro  troops,  broke  out  simultaneous- 
ly throughout  Germany  coincident  with  the 
time  of  the  French  evacuation  of  Frankfurt 
and  Darmstadt,  and  has  continued  up  to  the 
present  time.  It  is  unquestionably  a  fact 
that  many  gross  exaggerations  were  circu- 
lated in  the  German  press  concerning  the 
conduct  of  the  French  Colonial  troops.  The 
allegations  in  the  German  press  have  been 
for  the  most  part  so  indefinite  as  to  time 
and  place  and  circumstance  as  to  leave  it 
impracticable  to  verify  the  alleged  facts  or 
to  disprove  them. 

After  all  proper  allowance  is  made  for  the 
natural  difficulties,  which  always  are  to  be 
expected  in  tracing  crimes  of  this  nature, 
due  to  the  shame  and  distress  of  the  victims, 
the  great  mass  of  the  articles  in  the  German 
press,  by  the  simultaneous  appearance  all 
over  Germany,  and  by  the  failure  to  cite 
time,  place  and  circumstance  sufficiently  in 
detail  to  enable  the  truth  to  be  ascertained, 
give  to  an  impartial  observer  the  impression 
of  an  adroit  political  move  which  would  tend 
to  sow  antipathy  to  France  in  the  other 
lands  of  the  allied  and  associated  powers, 
especially  in  America,  where  the  negro 
question  is  always  capable  of  arousing  feel- 
ing.   *    *    * 

The  wholesale  atrocities  by  French  negro 
Colonial  troops  alleged  in  the  German  press, 
such  as  the  alleged  abductions,  followed  by 
rape,  mutilations,  murder  and  concealment 
of  the  bodies  of  the  victims,  are  false  and 
intended  for  political  propaganda. 

A  number  of  cases  of  the  sort  charged 
have  occurred  on  the  part  of  French  negro 
Colonial  troops  in  the  Rhinelands.  These 
cases  have  been  occasional  and  in  restricted 
numbers,  hot  general  or  widespread.  The 
French  military  authorities  have  repressed 
them  severely  in  most  cases  and  have  made 
a  very  serious  effort  to  stamp  the  evil  out. 


The  crimes,  and  especially  the  sexual 
crimes,  of  which  the  French  colored  troops 
were  accused,  were  largely  manufactured 
by  the  Germans  in  Berlin.  The  French  dis- 
covered documents  which  make  that  point 
absolutely  clear.  The  Berlin  authorities  no 
doubt  hoped  to  cause  trouble  among  the 
Allies  and  to  divide  them  against  one  an- 
other, and  their  particular  aim  was  to 
arouse  the  United  States  against  the  Euro- 
pean powers  by  making  use  of  the  negro 
question.  However,  it  must  be  doubted 
whether  the  idea  came  from  the  Germans 
themse1  es.  Very  possibly  such  a  campaign 
was  suggested  to  them  by  a  non-German. 

Source  of  the  Propaganda 

At  the  time  when  the  outcry  against  the 
atrocities  committed  by  the  colored  troops 
oi  France  began,  the  world  was  startled  by 
a  pamphlet,  "  The  Horror  on  the  Rhine,"  by 
E.  D.  Morel,  and  a  number  of  articles  writ- 
ten by  the  same  man,  which  appeared  in 
the  English  and  American  press.  Mr. 
Morel,  who  is  habitually  described  by  the 
German  newspapers  as  a  "patriotic  and 
large-hearted  Englishman,"  was  born  in 
France  and  is  the  son  of  a  French  father. 
He  is  a  man  of  mystery,  who,  while  claim- 
ing to  be  an  idealist,  has  for  many  years 
pursued  a  policy  which  has  been  exceedingly 
harmful  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  powers  and  to 
France,  and  exceedingly  useful  to  Germany. 
He  is  an  effective  writer  and  has  special- 
ized for  many  years  on  the  negro  question. 
Between  1902  and  1914  he  has  written  an 
enormous  number  of  books,  pamphlets  and 
newspaper  articles  on  the  atrocities  com- 
mitted in  the  Belgian  Congo  State,  which 
separated  German  East  Africa  from  the 
great  Portuguese  colony  of  Angola,  in 
West  Africa,  adjoining  German  Southwest 
Africa. 

For  many  years  it  had  been  Germany's 
aim  to  join  her  East  and  West  African  colo- 
nies, either  by  acquiring  Rhodesia  and  An- 
gola, or  by  obtaining  the  southern  part  of 
the  Congo  State,  creating  thus  a  connected 
African  Empire  stretching  from  one  ocean 
to  the  other.  Mr.  Morel  started  a  violent 
and  continued  agitation  against  the  atroci- 
ties perpetrated  by  the  Belgians  on  the 
Congo  natives,  an  agitation  which,  how- 
ever, was  limited  to  England  and  to  Amer- 
ica. Not  unnaturally  the  Belgians  became 
alarmed,  and,  in  view  of  the  threats  made 


THE  COLORED  FRENCH  TROOPS  IN  GERMANY 


599 


in  England,  they  turned  toward  Germany 
for  protection.  Germany  not  only  coveted 
the  Congo  State,  but  was  anxious  to  secure 
Belgium's  benevolent  neutrality  in  case  of 
a  great  European  war.  Mr.  Morel's  agita- 
tion caused  Belgium  to  draw  away  from 
England  and  to  incline  toward  Germany  to 
the  great  benefit  of  the  latter,  and  Mr. 
Morel's  propaganda  is  largely  responsible 
for  the  admiration  of  Germany  and  the  dis- 
trust of  England  which  were  expressed  by 
many  leading  Belgian  diplomats  in  reports 
which  the  German  Government  published 
during  the  war. 

During  the  difficulties  which  arose  be- 
tween France  and  Germany  about  Morocco, 
Mr.  Morel  wrote  books,  pamphlets  and  ar- 
ticles to  prove  that  France  was  in  the 
wrong  and  Germany  in  the  right.  Imme- 
diately after  the  outbreak  of  the  World  War 
he  preached  the  necessity  of  concluding  a 
peace  by  agreement  without  humiliating  or 
weakening  Germany.  He  stated  unceas- 
ingly, making  use  of  the  British  Socialist 
press,  that  the  Allies  were  at  least  as  guilty 
as  Germany,  that  secret  diplomacy  had 
brought  the  war  about,  &c.  Having  in  the 
past  created  various  organizations  which 
were  likely  to  damage  England  and  France, 
he  created,  or  took  part  in  creating,  the 
Union  of  Democratic  Control,  which  did  the 
utmost  mischief  to  the  Allies  during  the 
war.  However,  he  was  careful  to  keep  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  background  with  a 
view  to  escaping  legal  punishment.  During 
the  war  the  British  Government  was 
exceedingly  tolerant  to  cranks  and  others 
engaged  in  anti-national  and  treasonable 
agitation.  Still,  it  had  occasion  to  proceed 
against  Mr.  Morel  for  violating  the  war 
regulations,  and  he  was  condemned  by  the 
courts  to  six  months'  imprisonment. 

Since  the  end  of  the  war  Mr.  Morel  has 
been  busy  proving  that  the  Allies  were  at 
least  as  guilty  as  Germany,  that  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  war  falls  principally 
upon  the  Allies;  he  has  thus  tried  to  under- 
mine the  Peace  of  Versailles,  which  is  based 
upon    Germany's   war    guilt.      Besides,    im- 


pelled by  pure  idealism  of  a  peculiar  type, 
he  has  started  a  campaign  in  favor  of  giv- 
ing to  the  negroes  throughout  the  world 
complete  freedom  and  the  right  of  self-gov- 
ernment and  self-determination,  and  has  em 
ceavored  to  raise  the  negioes  throughout 
the  world  against  the  white  race.  His  aims 
may  be  gauged  from  his  book,  "  The  Black' 
Man's  Burden,"  and  from  numerous  articles 
of  his  recently  published.  It  seems  by  no 
means  impossible  that  the  German  cam' 
paign  against  the  colored  troops  of  France 
emanated  not  so  much  from  the  Germans 
themselves  as  from  Mr.  Morel.  He  has  cer- 
tainly proved  very  useful  to  those  Germans 
— and  they  form  the  large  majority — who 
wish  to  free  themselves  from  allied  control, 
to  disregard  the  stipulations  of  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles,  and  to  escape  the  payment  of 
leparations.  The  name  of  Morel  is  on  every 
man's  lips  in  Germany.  In  every  bookshop 
there  are  stacks  of  his  books  and  pamphlets 
fa  proving  "  the  innocence  of  Germany  and 
the  wickedness  of  the  Allies,  and  giving 
the  most  horrible  details  regarding  the 
bestial  crimes  of  the  colored  soldiers  of 
France. 

At  first  Germany's  protests  and  com- 
plaints concerned  only  the  negro  soldiers. 
When  the  negro  troops  had  been  withdrawn, 
the  same  protests  and  complaints  were  made 
against  non-negro  troops — principally  the 
light-colored  Arabs  from  North  Africa,  who 
look  like  Southern  Frenchmen.  In  addition 
there  are  in  Germany  a  few  thousand  na- 
tives from  Madagascar,  whom  the  French 
call  Malgaches,  who  are  not  negroes  but 
Malays,  and  who  have  some  resemblance  to 
the  Japanese.  The  propaganda  against 
u  The  Horror  on  the  Rhine  "  is  purely  arti- 
ficial. Germany  does  everything  in  her 
power  to  nullify  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  to 
hamper  and  exasperate  France,  to  make 
Germany's  occupation  impossible,  and  if  to- 
morrow all  non-European  troops  were  with- 
drawn the  Germans  would  complain  as 
loudly  about  atrocities  perpetrated  by  white 
French  troops  in  order  to  sow  dissension 
between  France  and  her  Allies. 


Jf?lTI5H    ISCES 
B(205,fe7^ 


iCANDli 


^55,000 

RUS&lA 


FRANCE  ** 
8O6 


jot  r  •  ***£>  ^-^t-^ 


TOTAL    IMMI6RATION    FOR 
PAST    * OO  YEARS     34,000,000 


MEXICO  -  2I7-O00 

CHINA      -  ^89-000 
vj  A  PA  N   -  /?  SO.  OOO 


GRAPHIC    CHART    SHOWING    EBB    AND    FLOW    OF    THE    TIDE    OF    IMMIGRATION    AT 
DIFFERENT    PERIODS     IN    THE    LAST     FIFTEEN     YEARS 


IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING 
RECENT  IMMIGRATION 

By  Daniel  Chauncey  Brewer 

Under  the  new  immigration  law,  which  went  into  effect  on  June  3,  1921,  only  77,206  immi- 
grants will  be  allowed  to  enter  the  United  States  m.  the  next  year.  The  law  limits  the  number 
to  3  per  cent,  of  the  total  of  each  foreign  nationality  in  the  United  States  in  1910.  From  the 
day  M  went  into  force,  the  immigration  authorities  at  American  ports  have  been  confronted 
with  the  problem  of  uthat  to  do  with  the  thousands  who  arrive  in  excess  of  the  quota  allowed 
to  each  country.  The  necessity  of  deporting  these  disappointed  pilgrims  has  raised  anew  the 
whole  question  of  what  is  the  wisest  course  to  follow  regarding  immigration.  Mr.  Brewer's 
article   is    a   constructive    contribution    to    that    subject. 


ALTHOUGH  the  new  Administration 
J^\^  has  defined  its  immigration  policy  for 
the  coming  year,  the  major  problems 
in  this  connection  remain  for  the  people  to 
solve.  To  do  this  intelligently,  they  must 
have  the  facts.  What  have  been  the  constitu- 
ent elements  of  the  nation  in  the  past? 
What  are  they  today,  and  how  rapidly  do 
they  change?  These  are  vital  questions,  the 
correct  understanding  and  answering  of 
which  will  lead  to  wise  conclusions,  give  a 
basis  for  action  and  visualize  for  the  in- 
quirer the  American  people  of  1931. 

Up  to  the  year  1820  or  thereabouts,  when 
the  Government  at  Washington  began  to 
keep  data  regarding  newcomers,  the  Repub- 
lic was  homogeneous.  Certain  of  the  orig- 
inal Thirteen  Colonies  had  been  settled  by 
individuals  from  the  Continent  of  Europe. 
Various  races  sprinkled  along  the  Atlantic 


seaboard  had  a  part  in  the  winning  of  in- 
dependence, but  the  young  nation  as  a 
whole,  although  it  had  broken  loose  from 
English  suzerainty,  spoke  English  and  was 
more  familiar  with  English  customs  and 
political  standards  than  with  those  of  other 
countries. 

In  the  year  1850,  or  less  than  three-quar- 
ters of  a  century  ago,  in  spite  of  a  large 
Irish  and  German  immigration,  the  condi- 
tions remained  unchanged,  The  foreign- 
born  were  far  outnumbered  by  the  negroes 
of  the  South,  and,  if  they  did  not  speak 
English,  were  more  or  less  familiar  with 
American  institutions.  They  were  there- 
fore readily  assimilated. 

The  resurgence  of  business  activity  and 
enterprise  that  came  with  the  years  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  Civil  War  wrought 
no  great   alteration,   although    immigration 


IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING  RECENT  IMMIGRATION 


601 


commenced  to  make  its  mark  in  industrial 
sections,  and  New  York  City  took  on  a  cos- 
mopolitan complexion.  The  great  West  was 
offering  homes,  and  people  came  to  the 
United  States  to  settle  and  throw  in  their 
lot  with  the  young  democracy.  Statistics  of 
these  years  show  as  many  native  persons  of 
foreign  parentage  as  foreign-born,  but  the 
larger  part  of  this  population  was  markedly 
American  because  of  a  fortunate  environ- 
ment. 

In  1880,  therefore,  we  were  still  homo- 
geneous. That  was  only  forty-odd  years 
ago.  Outside  of  the  German  stock,  which 
had  borne  its  part  in  the  Civil  War,  only  a 
few  immigrants  had  reached  the  United 
States  from  the  Continent  of  Europe.  Nat- 
uralization went  on  rapidly  and  safely,  be- 
cause of  an  expressed  love  for  democratic 
institutions. 

The  year  1880  marked  an  era  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  United  States,  and  sharply  de- 
fined the  line  between  an  immigration  made 
up  almost  wholly  of  persons  who  came  to 
stay  and  an  influx  of  hosts  of  men  respond- 
ing to  the  calls  of  the  great  industries. 
Some  of  the  latter  class  also  expected  to  re- 
main, but  a  large  portion  of  them  were  and 
still  are  "  job-seekers." 

For  more  than  thirty  years,  viz.,  from 
1880  to  1914,  this  tide  continued  to  sweep 
through  our  ports,  appearing  sometimes  to 
be  at  its  turn,  because  of  the  thousands 
going  back  to  the  land  of  their  birth,  and 
then  swelling  as  these  uncertain  ones  were 
drawn  again  by  the  magnet-call  of  the 
West.  This  ever-surging  tide  long  since 
made  us  a  heterogeneous  people;  and  there 
are  those  who  think  that  it  may  be  causing 
other  reactions,  which  are  not  to  be  dis- 
cussed here. 

The  beginnings  of  the  great  change  in  the 
nation  were,  as  has  been  stated,  in  or 
about  the  year  1880.  At  that  time  British 
and  German  immigration  commenced  to  fall 
off;  Scandinavian  immigration,  which  fol- 
lowed the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  reached  its 
height,  and  peoples  in  Eastern  and  South- 
em  Europe,  followed  by  recruits  from  Asia 
and  Northern  Africa,  set  their  faces  to- 
ward the  New  World. 

The  new  currents  seemed  to  be  feeling 
their    way    at    first.      Italy,    which    up    to 


1877  had  not  contributed  more  than  three 
or  four  thousand  in  any  previous  year,  sent 
over  12,000  in  1880,  and  30,000  in  18S2. 
This  was  the  vanguard  of  a  racial  group 
which  in  1900  was  shipping  100,000  a  year. 

Thirteen  individuals  entered  the  country 
in  1861  from  Austria-Hungary.  They  were 
the  first  recorded  visitors  from  the  popu- 
lous provinces  of  the  Dual  Empire.  Each 
year  thereafter  brought  consignments  rang- 
ing from  a  few  hundreds  to  a  few  thou- 
sands, until  1881,  when  nearly  28,000 
Austro-Hungarians  pioneered  the  real 
movement  from  that  country  to  the  United 
States.  The  year  1900  brought  114,000,  and 
in  1904  over  200,000  Austro-Hungarians  en- 
tered the  United  States. 

Russian  immigration  moved  along  similar 
lines  to  that  from  Austria-Hungary.  In 
1880,  some  7,191  subjects  of  the  Czar  are 
reported  as  entering  our  ports.  That  was 
the  largest  number  coming  in  any  one  sea- 
son up  to  that  date.  The  year  1900  brought 
90,787  Russians;  in  1906,  the  Slavic  influx 
leaped  to  258,943.  Anaylsis  of  the  returns 
from  Russia,  as  well  as  from  Austria-Hun- 
gary, explains  the  presence  in  our  industrial 
sections  of  great  numbers  of  Jews,  Poles, 
Bohemians  and  other  racial  groups. 

High  Mark  in  1914 

The  above  figures  fairly  illustrate  the 
rapid  increase  in  the  numbers  of  newcomers 
from  the  three  great  countries  referred  to. 
Immigration  from  each  was  at  its  height 
when  the  war  opened  in  1914.  In  that  year, 
283,738  Italians,  278,152  Austro-Hunga- 
rians and  256,660  Russians  entered  this 
country. 

Born  under  autocracies,  knowing  nothing 
of  self-government,  differing  essentially  in 
manners  and  customs,  using  tongues  essen- 
tially different  from  the  English,  these 
people  have  strongly  modified  our  Ameri- 
can life  by  introducing  problems  for  which 
the  nation  was  totally  unprepared. 

No  sooner  had  this  exodus  from  Euro- 
pean centres  gotten  well  under  way  than 
its  very  momentum  commenced  to  affect 
other  nations  and  continents,  so  that,  com- 
mencing with  1890,  it  became  necessary  for 
our  immigration  authorities  to  list  outside 
of  general  and  unassigned  immigration  the 
citizens  of  eight  major  countries,  using  lan- 
guages totally  different  from  each  other — 
namely:  China,  Japan,  Turkey,  Greece,  Bel- 


602 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


gium,  Portugal,  Rumania  and  Mexico.  Some 
of  these  nations  are  now  represented  in  ihis 
Republic  by  more  than  300,000  persons  each. 
The  foregoing  figures  have  been  collated 
to  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  the  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States  shifted  from  a 
status  of  homogeneity  to  one  of  heteroge- 
neity. They  should  be  informing,  as  they 
indicate  the  special  strains  of  blood  that  are 
now  found  in  our  country. 

The  Effect  on  Population 

-  The  result  of  this  recent  immigration, 
taken  together  with  the  natural  increase  of 
the  resident  foreign  white  stock,  becomes 
apparent  from  a  glance  at  the  following 
data: 

In  1900  the  whole  population  of  the 
United  States,  excluding  outlying  posses- 
sions, was  75,994,575.  Of  this  number  25,- 
859,834  are  recorded  by  the  twelfth  census 
as  foreign  stock,  that  is,  foreign-born  or  of 
foreign  parentage.  In  1910  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States,  excluding  out- 
lying possessions,  was  91,972,266.  Of  this 
number  32,243,382  are  recorded  by  the 
thirteenth  census  as  foreign  stock.  This 
shows  an  increase  of  24  7-10  per  cent,  in  the 
so-called  foreign  population. 

Returns  for  the  fourteenth  census  are  as 
yet  unavailable  to  show  the  existing  rela- 
tion of  the  foreign  stock  to  the  whole  popu- 
lation, but  we  know  that  immigration  up  to 
1914  continued  to  be  heavy,  and  we  also 
know  that  though  the  war  and  subsequent 
conditions  have  sharply  checked  the  present 
flow  of  humanity  from  east  to  west,  it  is 
a  lack  of  shipping,  not  a  lack  of  desire  to 
emigrate,  which  has  kept  down  the  number 
of  arrivals  since  the  Fall  of  1918. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  although 
few  persons  are  now  reaching  our  ports 
from  territories  recently  under  Russian, 
German  and  Austrian  control,  immigration 
from  Spanish-speaking  countries,  formerly 
nil,  is  becoming  a  decided  factor  in  recent 
reports,  and  Mexicans  have  been  pouring 
over  the  Rio  Grande.  This  latter  fact,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  incoming  of  Orien- 
tals and  persons  arriving  via  Canada,  must 
lead  us  shortly  to  think  of  immigration  as 
something  more  than  a  tidal  wave  from 
Europe.  In  reality  it  resembles  the  inflow 
that  comes  over  the  edge  of  a  bowl  which 
is  pressed  below  the  surface  of  the  water. 


The  fact  should  not  be  overlooked  that  a 
certain  portion  of  our  immigration  is  tran- 
sient. Statisticians  and  publicists  who  deal 
with  data  affecting  our  population  have 
been  too  often  satisfied  to  refer  to  the  last 
official  Federal  census.  This  has  led  these 
chroniclers,  as  well  as  those  who  rely  upon 
their  figures,  to  draw  erroneous  conclusions. 
It  probably  explains  a  failure  to  provide 
such  regulatory  laws  as  would  save  the  na- 
tion from  a  thousand  embarrassments.  If 
such  inquirers  want  all  the  facts,  they 
cannot  overlook  the  returns  of  the  immigra- 
tion authorities,  and  especially  those  which 
have  to  do  with  emigration,  or  the  outgoing 
of  aliens. 

The  census  expert  learns  something  of 
the  number  of  foreign-born  in  the  country 
at  recurring  ten-year  periods,  but  he  takes 
no  account  of  the  unregulated  armies  of 
aliens  who  have  swarmed  into  our  ports, 
taken  up  temporary  residence  among  us 
(perhaps  participating  in  industrial  wars) 
and  drifted  out  again  when  it  suited  their 
convenience. 

Those  who  care  to  investigate  this  matter 
further  will  find  that  the  reports  of  the 
Commissioner  General  of  Immigration 
classify  aliens  under  the  following  terms: 
(1)  immigrant  and  emigrant;  (2)  non- 
immigrant and  non-emigrant.  "  Immi- 
grant "  and  "  emigrant  "  relate  to  perma- 
nent arrivals  and  departures.  "  Non-immi- 
grant "  and  "  non-emigrant  "  relate  to  tem- 
porary arrivals  and  departures.  Non-emi- 
grant aliens  were  in  excess  of  non-immi- 
grant aliens  from  1908  to  1917,  but  since 
1918  there  have  been  more  temporary  ar- 
rivals than  temporary  departures  of  aliens. 
The  largest  number  of  non-emigrant  aliens 
in  the  years  last  referred  to  was  recorded 
in  1914,  when  330,467  left  the  country.  The 
largest  number  of  non-immigrant  aliens  for 
the  same  years  was  in  1913,  when  229,335 
r>uch  persons  entered  our  ports. 

In  the  thirteen  years  referred  to,  1,967,- 
012  aliens  were  at  different  times  tempo- 
rarily in  the  country,  and  2,513,490  aliens, 
domiciled  here,  were  traveling  abroad. 
These  facts  disclose  currents  of  influence 
moving  through  the  alien  population  of  the 
United  States  and  the  racial  groups  over- 
seas.    They  are  worthy  of  attention. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  groups  which 
have   been   characterized    as   "  immigrant " 


IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING  RECENT  IMMIGRATION 


603 


and  "  emigrant."  Between  the  years  1908 
and  1920  we  received  8,312,037  aliens  whose 
allegations  indicated  that  they  were  coming 
here  to  stay,  and  bade  farewell  to  2,970,305 
aliens  who  said  they  would  not  return. 
These  figures  indicate  that  one-third  of  all 
immigrants,  who  assert  that  they  have  come 
to  stay,  are  never  in  the  way  of  becoming 
absorbed,  but  are  permitted  to  drift  about 
among  the  partially  assimilated  racial 
groups  without  regulation  or  supervision. 

Distribution  of  Immigration 

Regarding  immigrant  distribution :  Where 
have  all  the  peoples  gone  who  have  entered 
our  ports  in  the  last  fifty  years,  and  how 
are  they  absorbed?  For  convenience,  immi- 
grants of  the  past  may  be  divided  into  four 
classes : 

1.  The  north  and  west  of  Europe  group. 

2.  Farmers,  traders  and  mechanics  belong- 
ing to  other  white  groups  from  Central, 
Eastern  and   Southern  Europe. 

3.  Unskilled   white   labor. 

4.  Orientals. 

The  north  and  west  of  Europe  group  in- 
cludes the  English,  Scotch  and  Irish,  the 
Germans,  the  French-Canadians  and  the 
Scandinavians  and  neighboring  peoples. 
Of  these  the  English-speaking  stock  is 
widely  distributed,  has  been  readily  amal- 
gamated, and  both  in  city  and  country  is  an 
important  factor  in  American  life.  It  is 
difficult  to  localize  it.  The  Germans  are 
in  New  York,  Ohio,  Wisconsin  and  Mis- 
souri. The  French-Canadians  are  in  the 
industrial  centres  of  New  England,  and 
here  and  there  along  the  border.  The  Scan- 
dinavians are  in  Minnesota  and  similar 
States  of  the  Central  Northwest,  which  are 
interested  in  farming  and  flour  milling. 
While  certain  of  these  peoples  cling  to  their 
own  tongues,  the  whole  group,  which  belongs 
to  the  earlier  immigration,  forms  an  im- 
portant element  of  the  fixed  population, 
and  gives  no  occasion  for  concern. 

The  second  class  designated,  viz.,  farm- 
ers, traders  and  mechanics,  will  be  found  to 
come  mostly  from  Central,  Eastern  and 
Southern  Europe.  It  is  made  up  of  the 
Jews  from  Germany,  Russia  and  pre-war 
Austria-Hungary;  Greek  and  Italian  fruit 
dealers,  and  small  ware  merchants  of  dif- 
ferent nations;  skilled  laborers,  whose 
talents  are  quickly  utilized  in  the  industries, 


and  who  not  infrequently  make  rapid  prog- 
ress; gardeners  and  farmers,  like  the  Poles, 
who  raise  tobacco  in  the  Connecticut  Valley, 
the  Portuguese  of  Cape  Cod,  and  small 
agriculturists  of  other  nations,  who  are 
found  along  the  coast  and  near  the  great 
towns. 

Varying  in  tastes,  talents  and  accomplish- 
ments, these  people  are  at  one  in  seeking 
the  cities  or  metropolitan  neighborhoods. 
This  limits  them  naturally  to  the  New  Eng- 
land, the  Middle  Atlantic  and  the  East 
North- Central  States.  Many  bring  a  little 
money  with  them  into  the  country;  others 
accumulate  money  by  the  thrift  and  indus- 
try required  to  make  any  headway  in  their 
callings.  Such  funds  as  they  have  or  acquire 
are  invested  for  profit,  and,  with  the  habit 
of  independent  planning,  become  an  agency 
in  hastening  their  assimilation.  This  group, 
therefore,  like  the  one  already  treated,  is 
readily  absorbed. 

Unskilled  White  Labor 

The  third  division,  made  up  of  unskilled 
white  labor,  exceeds  in  number  the  classes 
already  treated.  It  is  apt  to  be  illiterate 
and  deficient  in  qualities  which  fit  it  to 
compete  with  the  forces  of  American  life. 
Although  the  incoming  masses  which  make 
up  this  element  appear  to  drift  hither  and 
thither,  there  is  a  trend  of  individuals  to- 
ward centres  which  have  been  colonized  by 
similar  stock,  and  into  industries  which 
employ  persons  speaking  the  same  tongue. 
As  a  result  of  such  influences  we  find: 
Italians,  j  in  New  England,  which 

Poles,  I  is  a  centre  for  textiles, 

French-Canadians,  j>  boots  and  shoes,  ma- 
j  chinery  and  metal  work- 
J  ing; 

1  in   New  York   and   New 
Jersey,    which    have    di- 
versified   industries,    in- 
cluding    silk     manufac- 
ture,     clothing-,      copper 
products,        foundry 
work,  canning; 
in      Pennsylvania      and 
Illinois,     which     States, 
outside    of    their    manu- 
Austro-Hungarians,  fracturing        interests, 
j  operate  coal   mines  and 
J  make  pig  iron  and  steel; 
in    Ohio,    Illinois,    Mich- 
i  g  a  n       and       adjacent 
States,     which     are    en- 
gaged    in     manufactur- 
i  n  g,      copper      mining, 
automobile  building; 


Lithuanians, 
Greeks, 


Italians, 

Austrians, 

Russians, 


Russians, 


Bohemians, 

Hungarians, 

Slavs, 


604 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Mexicans, 
Italians, 
Russians, 
Austrians, 


in  Texas  and  California. 


Although  a  reasonable  percentage  of  the 
individuals  belonging  to  this  class  of  un- 
skilled labor  develop  unsuspected  powers, 
sometimes  surprising  their  friends  by  the 
marked  manner  in  which  they  grasp  and 
utilize  American  ideas,  the  very  great  ma- 
jority segregate  themselves'  into  colonies 
speaking  their  own  language,  and  remain 
an  undigested  and  dangerous  element  in  the 
democracy.  As  has  been  seen,  a  consider- 
able portion  is  in  this  country  transiently. 
The  remainder  is  absorbed  slowly,  and  fre- 
quently presents  aggregations  of  thousands 
of  souls  who,  after  ten  years  of  residence, 
knew  little  English,  and  continue  to  follow 
customs  and  habits  which  are  alien  to  the 
standards  of  the  Republic. 

There  remains  the  fourth  class,  made  up 
of  Orientals.  These  are  for  the  present 
segregated  in  the  Pacific  States,  and,  be- 
cause of  color  and  Asiatic  origin,  present 
a  special  problem,  which  will  not  be  con- 
sidered here.  They  are  not  among  those 
who  are  readily  assimilated. 

Criminality  Among  Immigrants 

In  considering  the  locus  of  immigrant 
groups  some  attention  has  been  given  to 
the  matter  of  absorption.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  next  question  in  impor- 
tance, that  which  relates  to  the  criminal 
record  of  these  peoples,  can  only  be  super- 
ficially handled  because  of  the  inability  of 
many  thousands  of  non-English-speaking 
foreigners,  who  become  the  prey  of  crimi- 
nals, to  make  convincing  reports.  Such  facts 
as  are  collated  by  statisticians  from  police 
records  are  therefore  incomplete,  and  can- 
not be  made  the  basis  for  final  and  accurate 
conclusions  in  regard  to  the  degree  of 
criminality  which  should  be  assigned  to  dif- 
ferent races. 

The  careful  student  must  therefore  await 
the  opening  of  communications  between  the 
non-English-speaking  populace  and  the 
mass  of  our  people — a  thing  which  is  by  no 
means  impracticable  of  accomplishment.  In 
the  meantime  we  have  statistics  to  indicate 
that  the  foreign-born  and  foreign-parentage 
population  make  a  bad  criminal  return, 
compared  to  that  made  by  native-born  of 
native  stock. 


We  know  that  the  Italian  people,  perhaps 
because  of  temperament,  show  a  high  per- 
centage of  criminality;  that  the  Irish  and 
Russians  have  an  unenviable  record;  and 
that  the  Germans  are  law-abiding.  Pro- 
fessor Commons  has  made  an  important 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  by  pointing 
out  that  the  percentage  of  criminals  among 
native-born  persons  of  foreign  parentage  is 
far  above  that  prevailing  among  the 
foreign  born  or  persons  of  all-native  stock; 
and  we  have  the  tabulations  of  Raymond 
Fosdick's  valuable  book  on  "  American 
Police  Systems "  (recently  published)  to 
verify  the  current  impression  that  the 
"  American  crime  rate  is  greatly  augmented 
by  the  presence  of  unassimilated  or  poorly- 
assimilated  races." 

What  our  people  need  now  to  consider 
is,  that  however  bad  an  exhibit  the  foreign 
population  rtiakes  in  police  records,  it  does 
not  begin  to  reflect  the  real  condition.  The 
average  alien  lives  in  an  Old  World  environ- 
ment, in  which  he  is  open  to  impudent  rob- 
bery, criminal  intrigue,  and  exploitation. 
If  he  escapes  these,  it  is  only  by  good  for- 
tune. If  he  becomes  a  victim,  there  is  no 
redress,  because  he  is  unacquainted  with 
his  rights,  and,  not  knowing  the  English 
language,  is  unable  to  complain. 

Distribution  by  States 

It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  article  to 
show  the  sources  of  immigration  to  the 
United  States,  the  accelerated  movement 
of  the  ever-increasing  tide,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  newcomers.  The  whole  matter 
can    hardly    be    dismissed    without    calling 


Foreign- 

born 

Whole 

Foreign 

Popula- 

Parent- 

State 

Area,  1920 

tion,  1920 

age,  1920 

Massachusetts 

. .     8,039 

3,852,356 

2,676,131 

Rhode    Island. 

. . .     1,067 

604,397 

435,786 

Connecticut    . . 

. . .     4,820 

1,380,631 

841,638 

New  York    . . . 

.  .  .   47,654 

10,384,829 

7,182,721 

New  Jersey   .. 

...      7,514 

3,155,900 

1,683,762 

Pennsylvania 

...    44,832 

8,720,017 

3,864,454 

Ohio    

...    40,740 

5,759,394 

. . .    36,045 

2,930,390 

543.925 

Illinois    , 

,  ...   56,043 

6,485,280 

3,322,423 

Michigan    

...    57,480 

3,668,412 

1,781,633 

.  .  .    55,256 

2,632,067 
2,387.125 

1.638.666 

Minnesota     . . . 

. . .  80,858 

L,581,362 

Iowa 

.  . .    55,586 

2,404,021 

948,376 

495,934  54.364.819  28,340,239 


IMPORTANT  FACTS  REGARDING  RECENT  IMMIGRATION 


605 


attention  to  the  fact  that  the  great  mass  of 
immigrants  is  drawn  to  thirteen  States  of 
the  Union.  This  directly  interests  the  in- 
habitants of  these  Commonwealths,  and,  be- 
cause of  their  political  importance,  indirect- 
ly affects  the  whole  citizenry  of  the  United 
States.  Figures  showing  distribution  among 
these  thirteen  States  are  given  in  the  table 
at  the  foot  of  the  opposite  page.  They 
are  intended  to  show  areas  and  popula- 
tions, as  given  by  the  official  1920  census, 
and  the  estimated  foreign-born  and  foreign- 
parentage  population.  This  latter  has 
been    secured   by   collating   data   from    the 


Thirteenth    Census    and    Immigration    Re- 
ports. 

A  glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the 
foreign  population  of  thirteen  States,  which 
comprise  somewhat  less  than  one-sixth  of 
the  total  area  of  the  United  States  (ex- 
cluding Alaska),  is  more  than  one-quarter 
of  the  whole  population  of  the  country.  The 
record  also  indicates  that  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  population  of  the  aforesaid 
thirteen  States,  which  are  the  centres  of  the 
nation's  industry,  is  foreign  born  or  of  for- 
eign parentage.  Here  is  food  for  reflec- 
tion J 


CANADA'S  ATTITUDE  TOWARD 
IMMIGRATION 

s  them  with  lo 
whole  vroblem- 


By  Charles  W.  Stokes 


4b 


%<? 


The  Dominion  still  wants  agricultural  immigrants,  and  aids^M&jMhloans,  but  the 
United  States  law  restricting  immigration  complicates  the  whole  problem — Signs  that 
the  European  tide  will  seek  to  make  Canada  a  gateway  to  the  United  States 


WHETHER  or  not  the  United  States 
decides  to  prolong  its  new  curb  on 
immigration  for  two  or  three  years, 
or  forever,  there  is  no  sidestepping  one 
thing — Canada  will  be  very  vitally  affected. 
The  United  States  is  sometimes  apt  to  think 
that  it  is  the  only  nation  in  North  America 
which  participates  in  the  vast  annual  move- 
ment of  humanity,  or  that  it  alone  has  im- 
migration problems.  Canada,  however,  in 
the  last  ten  years  has  received  close  to 
two  and  a  half  million  immigrants — a  small 
number,  of  course,  compared  to  the  million 
a  year  which  the  United  States  has  re- 
ceived in  some  years,  but  a  severer  test 
when  you  remember  that  these  two  and  a 
half  million  have  had  to  be  absorbed  into  a 
nine-million  population.  The  United  States, 
again,  has  never  officially  advertised  its 
attractions  in  order  to  get  immigrants; 
Canada  has,  for  several  years. 

Whatever  way  the  United  States  moves 
in  regard  to  immigration,  there  will  be  a 
certain  sympathetic  reaction  in  Canada,  for 
both  nations  have  toward  European  prob- 
lems an  indefinable  similarity  of  principle, 


even  if  not  always  of  conduct.  But  if  the 
United  States  bars  immigrants  Canada 
must  also  bar  them,  for  otherwise  the  hu- 
man stream  will  merely  be  diverted  in  des- 
tination, and  will  find  its  way  in  at  Mon- 
treal or  St.  John  instead  of  at  New  York. 
The  result  would  be  disaster  to  Canada,  in 
spite  of  her  greater  power  of  absorption, 
due  to  the  thinner  population.  It  does  not 
want,  and  could  not  stand,  the  strain  of 
adding  a  million  a  year  to  its  population, 
even  if  they  all  were — which  is  impossible — 
immigrants  of  the  only  kind  that  Canada 
advertises  for,  namely,  agricultural  settlers, 
who  are  wanted  to  develop  the  vast  idle 
lands  of  the  Northwest. 

So  far  Canada  has  been  very  fortunate 
in  her  immigrants.  They  have  been  drawn 
almost  exclusively  from  the  "  Nordic  "  peo 
pies  (to  use  the  up-to-date  phraseology  of 
the  anti-immigrationist) ;  the  somewhat 
colder  climate  of  Canada  has  repelled  the 
Southern  Europeans.  Nearly  900,000  of 
the  ten-year  2,500,000  were,  for  example, 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  about 
800,000    were    ex-residents    of    the    British 


fi06 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Isles.  The  next  in  order  were  Slavs — a 
very  long  way  behind — followed  by  Germans 
and  Scandinavians.  Canada's  last  census 
revealed  a  foreign-born  population  of  less 
than  11  per  cent.,  as  contrasted  with  the 
15  per  cent,  of  the  United  States. 

But  Canada  keeps  her  statistics  on  a  dif- 
ferent basis  from  that  of  the  United  States. 
By  "  foreign  born  "  she  means  "  born  out- 
side the  British  Empire."  Thus  the  Eng- 
lishman, the  Australian,  the  Maltese,  the 
Hindu,  the  West  Indian  negro,  is  not  for- 
eign born,  whereas  the  American,  with  a 
lineage  going  all  the  way  back  to  New  Am- 
sterdam, is.  To  include  British  subjects 
born  outside  the  Dominion  of  Canada  would 
add  another  11  per  cent,  to  Canada's  for- 
eign born.  This  is  Canada's  peculiar  immi- 
gration problem. 

As  a  member  of  the  British  Empire  Can- 
ada must  always  give  a  sentimental  prefer- 
ence to  British  immigrants,  especially  those 
from  the  British  Isles.  In  those  isles  the 
bulk  of  Canada's  immigration  expenditure 
has  been  made.  But  for  several  years  it 
has  been  becoming  daily  more  manifest  that 
Great  Britain  can  furnish  the  least  quan- 
tity of  the  only  class  of  immigrants  which 
Canada  needs — the  agriculturists.  The 
war  demonstrated  more  forcibly  than  ever 
that  Great  Britain's  agricultural  popula- 
tion is  so  inadequate  to  produce  enough 
foodstuffs  that  it  would  be  politically  un- 
wise to  reduce  the  number  still  further. 

During  and  since  the  war  agriculture  has 
prospered  in  Great  Britain,  thereby  elimi- 
nating one  inducement  to  emigrate  to  a 
country  where  farming,  though  profitable, 
is  still  to  some  extent  in  the  pioneer  phase. 
During  and  since  the  war  the  proverbially 
underpaid  British  farm  laborer  has  had 
his  wages  raised  so  much  that  the  urge  to 
emigrate  from  10  shillings  a  week  to  $60  a 
month  has  left  him.  Hence  Canada's  ac- 
tivities have  been  diverted  from  Great  Brit- 
ain to  the  United  States,  Holland,  the  Scan- 
dinavian countries,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  to 
Russia,  where  dissatisfied  farmers  are  still 
to  be  found. 

But  Canada  cannot  prevent  non-agricul- 
tural immigrants  from  the  British  Empire 
from  seeking  her  shores,  notwithstanding 
that  economic  conditions  in  the  Dominion 
p. re  at  present  almost  as  unsettled  as  those 
cf  the  United  States.  She  can  discourage 
them  by  pointing  to  the  unemployment  and 


the  closed  industries,  and  she  can  interpose 
certain  barriers,  but  she  cannot  gainsay 
their  right  to  move  freely  about  within  the 
British  Empire.  One  barrier  has  been  in- 
terposed in  the  form  of  a  requirement  that 
every  non-agricultural  immigrant  landing 
in  Canada  must  have,  in  addition  to  the 
railway  fare  to  his  destination,  the  sum  of 
$250;  yet  the  Spring  rush  is  already  bring- 
ing immigrants  in  thousands  by  every  boat. 
The  British  Government,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  inaugurated  an  Imperial  Settlement 
scheme  whereby,  under  the  pretense  of  tak- 
ing his  discharge  in  any  overseas  part  of 
the  British  Empire,  any  British  ex-service 
man  could  have  his  passage  paid  thither 
provided  he  were  acceptable  to  the  over- 
seas country. 

Another  problem  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
day  of  free  land  is  well-nigh  gone.  Cana- 
dian immigration  advertising  was  built  up 
around  the  strong  selling  point  that  every 
able-bodied  male  of  18  years  or  over  could 
homestead  160  acres  of  land  in  the  North- 
west free,  upon  agreeing  to  certain  fairly 
easy  settlement  conditions.  There  is  still  a 
large  block  of  this  land  left,  but  it  is  too 
remote  from  existing  railways,  and  in  any 
case  the  returned  soldier  of  farming  pro- 
clivities who  desires  to  enjoy  the  rather 
generous  assisted  settlement  scheme  which 
the  Canadian  Government  has  projected  has 
the  first  call  on  all  homestead  land.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  huge  blocks  of 
non-Government  land  for  sale.  In  the  three 
prairie  provinces  of  the  Northwest  there 
are  at  least  30,000,000  acres  of  good,  un- 
cultivated land  within  fifteen  miles  of  ex- 
isting railways. 

Canada  needs  population  very  badly.  She 
has  only  about  two  and  one-half  persons 
to  the  square  mile;  the  United  States  has 
thirty-four.  Transcontinental  railways 
have  been  overbuilt,  and  increased  traf- 
fic is  necessary  to  save  them  from 
bankruptcy;  Canada  has  230  persons 
to  every  mile  of  railway,  while  the  United 
States  has  400.  But  Canada  does  not  want 
to  admit  the  riff-raff  of  Southern  Europe, 
to  reproduce  in  her  cities  the  east  side  of 
New  York;  she  does  not  want  to  admit  ex- 
enemies,  or  Orientals,  or  Hindus,  or  non- 
agriculturists. 

"  Unless  the  settlement  of  this  country  is 
going  to  be  a  very  slow  process,"  recently 
said     the     Hon.     J.     A.     Calder,     Canadian 


CANADA'S  ATTITUDE    TOWARD   IMMIGRATION 


607 


Minister  of  Immigration,  "  there  is  only 
one  real  solution.  With  free  land  gone,  the 
State  must  step  in  and  make  loans  to  com- 
petent farmers  who  lack  capital." 

This  experiment  has,  in  fact,  been  already 
tried  by  Canada  in  the  soldier  settlement 
scheme;  it  has  also  been  tried  by  some  Aus- 
tralasian countries,  and  by  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway.  Up  to  the  end  of  1915 
New  South  Wales,  Victoria,  New  Zealand 
and  other  Australian  States  had  advanced 
nearly  $200,000,000  in  loans  to  approved 
settlers  without  capital.  The  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway,  which  is  a  large  landowner 
in  Western  Canada,  loans  $2,000  in  improve- 
ments to  settlers  in  its  irrigation  block  in 
Alberta.  But  the  most  successful  example 
is  the  Canadian  Government's  own  soldier 
settlement  scheme.  This  was  initiated  to- 
ward the  end  of  the  war  as  a  means  of  pal- 
liating the  anticipated  economic  distress  by 
making  it  easy  for  the  returned  soldier  to 


get  back  to  the  land.  It  is  notable  because 
it  was  so  ambitious,  and  because,  out  of  the 
mirage  of  hot  air  and  Utopian  and  saccha- 
rine-like visions  that  characterized  the  few 
months  after  the  armistice,  it  has  emerged 
as  the  only  practicable  and  successful  enter- 
prise in  the  world. 

By  this  schemo  the  Canadian  ex-soldier 
(or  practically  any  allied  ex-soldier)  who 
genuinely  wants  to  go  farming  and  has  a 
reasonable  chance  of  success  is  staked  to 
everything  by  the  Government — land,  live- 
stock and  improvements — with  free  train- 
ing, pay  and  subsistence  allowance  while 
training,  all  on  the  strength  of  a  promise 
to  pay  everything  back  within  twenty-five 
years.  If  he  lives  in  Great  Britain  he  can, 
while  the  imperial  settlement  scheme  exists, 
obtain  a  free  passage.  Recent  statistics 
show  that  25,550  returned  Canadian  soldiers 
have  been  settled  on  the  land,  and  that  over 
$80,000  in  loans  have  been  approved. 


HOW  MALTA  RECEIVED   HER   CONSTITUTION 


THE  greatest  day  in  the  history  of  the 
little  Mediterranean  island  of  Malta 
fell  on  April  30,  1921,  when  the  British  Gov- 
ernor, Lord  Plumer,  in  the  stately  Hall  of 
St.  Michael  and  St.  George  in  Valletta,  read 
to  the  Maltese  Council  of  State  the  Letters 
Patent  granting  the  island  self-government. 
The  capital  was  gaily  beflagged  to  celebrate 
the  event.  From  an  early  hour  the  Palace 
Square  was  packed  with  cheering  throngs. 
At  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  Lord  Plumer 
entered  the  Council  Hall  with  the  Arch- 
bishop, Admiral  de  Robeck  and  Chief  Jus- 
tice Refalo.  He  read  the  Colonial  Secre- 
tary's letter  relative  to  the  new  Constitu- 
tion, after  which  Lieutenant  Governor  Rob- 
ertson, in  alternation  with  the  Chief  Secre- 
tary, read  the  Letters  Patent.  This  reading- 
lasted  until  after  midday.  The  ceremony 
was  ended  by  Lord  Plumer,  who  announced 
that  the  Letters  Patent  would  come  into 
force  on  May  16,  and  that  the  elections  for 
the  Legislature  and  Senate  would  be  held 
as  soon  as  possible. 

A  fanfare  of  trumpets  from  the  Palace 
balcony  announced  the  conclusion  of  the 
event  to  the  waiting  throngs  in  the  square 
below;  the  guard  gave  a  Royal  salute,  and 
the  band  played  the  national  anthem.  In- 
side the  Palace  the  great  hall  was  echoing 


with  wild  shouts  and  plaudits  for  King 
George.  The  main  features  of  the  new 
Constitution  are  as  follows: 

Self -government  regarding  all  local  af- 
fairs, excluding  the  Army,  the  Navy  and 
the  Air  Force,  buildings,  coinage  and  cur- 
rency, naturalization,  immigration,  subma- 
line  cables,  territorial  waters  and  harbors. 
A  local  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, elected  on  a  basis  of  proportional 
representation.  The  Legislature  to  have 
power  to  alter  the  Constitution,  except  in 
matters  of  religious  toleration  and  language. 
English,  Italian  and  Maltese  are  to  be  the 
official  languages.  A  special  Imperial  Mal- 
tese Government  is  constituted,  to  deal  with 
all   specifically  Imperial  interests. 

The  Letters  Patent  and  the  covering  letter 
from  the  Colonial  Secretary  were  accepted 
by  the  Council  as  a  charter  granting  the 
Maltese  all  the  essential  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  a  free  and  independent  people, 
while  holding  them  within  the  framework  of 
the  British  Empire.  Among  those  who  came 
forth  from  the  Council  Hall  was  a  white- 
haired  man,  who  was  pointed  out  by  the 
whispering  populace  as  the  Marquis  Mattel . 
Over  twenty  years  ago  this  venerable 
statesman  seconded  the  Maltese  patriot  Sa- 
vona's  resolution  for  self-government  for 
Malta;  he  is  the  only  member  of  that  coun- 
cil who  has  lived  to  see  his  hopes  fulfilled. 


THE  LIVING  FLAME  OF  AMERICANISM 

By  Franklin  K.  Lane* 

This  inspiring  address  by  the  late  Franklin  K.  Lane  was  delivered  at  Washington 
while  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  just  after  the  armistice  and  at  the  outset  of  the 
Americanization  movement.      His  friends  regard  it  as  his  greatest  speech 


WS  have  made  stintless  sacrifices  dur- 
ing this  war ;  sacrifices  of  money,  and 
blood  sacrifices;  sacrifices  in  our  in- 
dustries; sacrifices  of  time,  and  effort,  and 
preferment,  and  prejudice.  Much  of  that 
sacrifice  shall  be  found  vain  if  we  do  not 
prepare  to  draw  to  ourselves  those  later 
comers  who  are  at  once  our  opportunity  and 
our  responsibility — a  responsibility  which 
invokes  and  fortifies  the  noblest  qualities  of 
national  character. 

There  is  in  every  one  of  us,  however  ed- 
ucated and  polished,  a  secret,  selfish,  arro- 
gant ego,  and  there  is  in  every  one  of  us 
also  a  real  nobility.  In  this  war  I  could 
see  that  there  came  out  immediately  a  finer 
man — a  better  self ;  that  better  self  we  must 
keep  alive.  We  expect  that  man  to  seek 
out  his  immigrant  neighbor  and  say,  "  I  am 
your  friend.  Be  mine  as  well.  Let  me 
share  in  the  wisdom,  and  instruct  me  in  the 
arts  and  crafts  you  have  brought  from 
other  lands,  and  I  shall  help  you  to  suc- 
ceed here."  There  is  no  difficulty  in  this, 
if  our  attitude  is  right.  Americanism  is 
entirely  an  attitude  of  mind;  it  is  the  way 
we  look  at  things  that  makes  us  Ameri- 
cans. 

"What  is  America?  There  is  a  physical 
America  and  there  is  a  spiritual  America. 
And  they  are  so  interwoven  that  you  can- 
not tell  where  one  ends  and  the  other  begins. 

Some  time  ago  I  met  a  man  who  is  one 
of  the  advisers  of  the  President  of  China, 
and  he  told  me  of  a  novel  suggestion  which 
he  thought  might  be  adopted  in  that  new 
republic — that  they  should  have  a  qualify- 
ing examination  for  members  of  Congress; 
that  every  man  who  announced  himself  as 
a  candidate  should  prove  that  he  knew  what 
his  country  was,  who  its  people  were,  what 
resources  it  had,  what  its  prospects  were 
and  what  its  relations  with  foreign  coun- 
tries had  been. 

If  I  could  have  my  way  I  would  say  to 
the  man  in  New  York.  "  Come  with  me  and 


I  will  show  you  America,"  or  I  would  say  to 
the  man  in  San  Francisco,  "  Come  with  me 
and  I  will  show  you  America."  I  would 
give  to  this  man  whom  I  wished  to  Ameri- 
canize (after  he  had  learned  the  language 
of  this  land)  a  knowledge  of  the  physical 
America,  not  only  to  gain  his  admiration 
for  its  strength,  for  its  resources,  and  for 
what  it  could  do  against  the  world,  but  to 
awaken  his  pride  in  this  as  a  land  of  hope, 
as  a  land  in  which  men  had  won  out. 

I  would  take  this  man  across  the  conti- 
nent. I  would  show  him  the  8,000,000  farms 
which  went  to  feed  Europe  in  her  hour  of 
need.  I  would  take  him  out  into  Utah,  and 
show  him  that  mountain  of  copper  they  are 
tearing  down  at  the  rate  of  38,000  tons  per 
day.  I  would  take  him  to  the  highest  dam 
in  the  world,  in  Idaho,  and  I  would  let  him 
see  the  water  come  tumbling  down  and 
being  transformed  into  power,  and  that 
power  being  used  to  pump  water  again  that 
spreads  over  the  fields  and  makes  great 
gardens  out  of  what,  ten  years  ago,  was 
the  driest  of  deserts. 

I  would  take  this  man  down  South  and  I 
would  show  him  some  of  its  schools.  I 
would  take  him  up  North  and  I  would  show 
him  the  cut-over  lands  of  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan,  which  are  waste  and  idle.  I 
would  take  him  into  New  York  and  show 
him  the  slums  and  the  tenements.  I  would 
show  him  the  kind  of  sanitation  that  exists 


♦Franklin  K.  Lane,  former  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  died  after  an  operation  in  a  hospital 
at  Rochester,  Minn.,  on  May  18,  1921.  He  was 
born  in  1864  on  Prince  Edward  Island,  but 
passed  his  early  life  in  California,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  University  of  California  in 
1886.  He  entered  journalism  and  became  editor 
of  the  Tacoma  Daily  News,  but  later  took  up 
law,  was  admitted  to  the  California  bar  in  1889, 
and  had  become  a  national  figure  by  1895,  when 
President  Roosevelt  appointed  him  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  a  place  which  he 
held  for  eight  years.  In  1913  President  Wilson 
chose  him  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and 
during  his  seven  years  in  that  position  he  was 
regarded  with  ever  increasing  esteem  by  the 
nation.  The  high  ideals  that  shaped  his  charac- 
ter and  his  utterances  were  epitomized  in  his 
remark,  made  shortly  before  death,  that  he 
wished   to   live   for   the   good  he   could   do. 


THE  LIVING  FLAME  OF  AMERICANISM 


609 


in  some  of  our  cities.  I  would  show  him 
the  good  and  the  bad.  I  would  show  him 
the  struggle  that  we  are  making  to  improve 
the  bad  conditions.  I  would  tell  him,  not 
that  America  is  perfect,  not  that  America 
is  a  finished  country,  but  I  would  say  to 
him,  "  America  is  an  unfinished  land.  Its 
possibilities  will  never  end,  and  your  chance 


(Harris   &   Ewing) 
FRANKLIN  K.    LANE 

here,  and  the  chances  of  your  children,  will 
always  be  in  ratio  to  your  zeal  and  ambi- 
tion." I  would  tell  him  that  we  dare  believe 
that  America  will  ever  remain  unfinished; 
that  no  one  can  say  when  we  shall  have  re- 
claimed all  our  lands,  or  found  all  our  min- 
erals, or  made  all  our  people  as  happy  as 
they  might  be.  But — I  would  add — out  of 
our  beneficent,  political  institutions,  out  of 
the  warmth  of  our  hearts,  out  of  our  yearn- 
ing for  higher  intellectual  accomplishment, 
there  shall  be  ample  space  and  means  for 
the  fulfillment  of  dreams,  for  further 
growth,  for  constant  improvement.  That 
is  our  ambition. 

I  would  have  that  man  see  America  from 
the  reindeer  ranches  of  Alaska  to  the  Ever- 
glades of  Florida.  I  would  make  him  realize 


that  we  have  within  our  soil  every  raw 
product  essential  to  the  conduct  of  any  in- 
dustry. I  would  take  him  3,000  miles  from 
New  York  (where  stands  the  greatest  uni- 
versity in  the  world)  to  the  second  greatest 
university,  where  seventy  years  ago  there 
was  nothing  but  a  deer  pasture.  I  would 
try  to  show  to  him  the  great  things  that 
have  been  accomplished  by  the  United 
States— 250,000  miles  of  railroad,  240,000 
schools  and  colleges,  water  powers,  mines, 
furnaces,  factories,  the  industrial  life  of 
America,  the  club  life  of  America,  the 
sports  of  America,  the  baseball  game  in  all 
its  glory. 

And  I  would  give  to  that  man  a  knowl- 
edge of  America  that  would  make  him  ask 
the  question,  "  How  did  this  come  to  be?" 
And  then  he  would  discover  that  there  was 
something  more  to  our  country  than  its 
material  strength. 

It  has  a  history.  It  has  a  tradition.  I 
would  take  that  man  to  Plymouth  Rock  and 
I  would  ask,  "  What  does  that  rock  say  to 
you?"  I  would  take  him  down  on  the  James 
River,  to  its  ruined  church,  and  I  would 
ask,  "  What  does  that  little  church  say  to 
you?"  And  I  would  take  him  to  Valley 
Forge,  and  point  out  the  huts  in  which 
Washington's  men  lived,  3,000  of  them 
struggling  for  the  independence  of  our 
country.  And  I  would  ask,  "  What  do  they 
mean  to  you?  What  caused  these  colonists 
to  suffer  as  they  did — willingly?" 

And  then  I  would  take  him  to  the  field  of 
Gettysburg  and  lead  him  to  the  spot  where 
Lincoln  delivered  his  immortal  address,  and 
I  would  ask  him,  "  What  does  that  speech 
mean  to  you?  Not  how  beautiful  it  is,  but 
what  word  does  it  speak  to  your  heart? 
How  much  of  it  do  you  believe?" 

And  then  I  would  take  him  to  Santiago 
de  Cuba  and  I  would  ask,  "  What  does  that 
bay  mean  to  you?"  And  I  would  take  him 
over  to  the  Philippines,  where  10,000  native 
teachers  every  day  teach  600,000  native 
children  the  English  language,  and  I  would 
bring  him  back  from  the  Philippines  to  the 
Hawaiian  Islands. 

In  Honolulu  during  the  war  a  procession 
of  school  children  passed  before  me  and 
presented  me  with  the  flags  of  their  coun- 
tries. Every  race  was  represented,  from 
New  Zealand  clear  along  the  whole  western 
side  of  the  Pacific.  They  laid  at  my  feet 
twenty-six  flags. 

I  went  from  there  to  Mauna  Loa,  where  I 


CIO 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


visited  a  school,  a  typical  school,  in  which 
there  were  Filipinos,  Javanese,  Chinese, 
Japanese,  Portuguese,  Samoans,  Austra- 
lians, Americans,  Koreans.  I  said  to  the 
pupils,  "  Can  any  one  tell  me  why  we  are  at 
war? "  A  little  girl  13  years  old,  half 
Chinese  and  half  Hawaiian,  rose  and  said: 
"  I  think  I  can,  sir."  We  were  upon  the 
side  of  the  mountain,  looking  out  over  the 
Pacific,  and  the  only  communication  with 
the  civilized  world  was  across  that  ocean. 
"  We  are  in  this  war,"  the  child  said,  "  be- 
cause we  want  to  keep  the  seas  free — be- 
cause we  want  to  help  those  who  need  help." 
And  I  have  yet  to  hear  a  better  answer 
given.  I  would  show  this  man  whom  I  wished 
to  Americanize,  finally,  how  these  children, 
whether  Japanese  or  American,  no  matter 
what  their  origin,  stood  every  morning  be- 
fore the  American  flag,  and  raised  their 
little  hands,  and  pledged  themselves  to  one 
language,  one  country,  and  one  God. 

And  when  I  would  bring  him  back  to  this 
country  and  say,  "  Grasp  the  meaning  of 
what  I  have  shown  you  and  you  will  know 
then  what  Americanism  is.  It  is  not  110,- 
000,000  people  alone,  it  is  110,000,000  people 
who  have  lived  through  struggle,  and  who 
have  arrived  through  struggle,  and  who 
have  won  through  work."  Let  us  never  for- 
get that! 

There  is  a  sentimentality  which  would 
make  it  appear  that  in  some  millennial  day 
man  will  not  work.  If  some  such  calamity 
ever  blights  us,  then  man  will  fail  and  fall 
back.  God  is  wise.  His  first  and  His  great- 
est gift  to  man  was  the  obligation  cast  upon 
him  to  labor.  When  he  was  driven  out  of 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  it  was  the  finest,  the 
most  helpful  thing  that  could  have  hap- 
pened to  the  race.  For  when  man  passed 
that  gate,  he  met  a  world  in  chaos,  a  world 
that  challenged  his  every  resource;  a  world 
that,  alike,  beckoned  him  on  and  sought  to 
daunt  him,  a  world  that  said,  "  If  you  will 
think,  if  you  will  plan,  if  you  can  persist, 
then  I  will  yield  to  you.  If  you  are  with- 
out fibre,  if  you  are  content  with  your  igno- 
rance, if  you  surrender  to  fear,  if  you  suc- 
cumb to  doubt,  I  shall  overwhelm  you." 

The  march  of  civilization  is  the  epic  of 
man  as  a  workingman,  and  that  is  the  rea- 


son why  labor  must  always  be  held  high. 
We  have  nothing  previous  that  does  not  rep- 
resent struggle.  We  have  nothing  of  last- 
ing value  that  does  not  represent  deter- 
mination. We  have  nothing  admirable 
which  does  not  represent  self-sacrifice.  We 
have  no  philosophy  except  the  philosophy  of 
confidence,  of  optimism,  of  faith  in  the 
righteousness  of  the  contest  we  have  made 
against  nature. 

We  are  to  conquer  this  land  in  that  spirit, 
and  in  that  spirit  we  are  to  conquer  other 
lands,  for  this  our  spirit  is  one  that,  like  a 
living  flame,  goes  abroad.  Or  I  might 
compare  it  to  some  blessed  wind — some  soft, 
sweet  wind  that  carries  a  benison  across 
the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic.  We  must 
keep  alive  in  ourselves  the  thought  that 
this  spirit  is  Americanism — that  it  is  ro- 
bust, dauntless,  kindly,  hearty,  fertile  and 
irresistible,  and  that  through  it  men  win 
out  against  all  adversity.  That  is' what  has 
made  us  great. 

This  spirit  is  sympathetic.  It  is  com- 
pelling. It  is  revealing.  It  is,  above  all, 
just.  The  one  peculiar  quality  in  our  in- 
stitutions is,  that  not  alone  in  our  hearts, 
but  out  of  our  hearts,  has  grown  a  means 
by  which  man  can  acquire  justice  for  him- 
self. 

That  is"  the  reason,  my  Russian  friend, 
my  Armenian  friend,  why  this  country  is 
a  home  to  you.  Bring  your  music,  bring 
your  art,  bring  all  your  soulfulness,  your 
ancient  experience,  to  the  melting  pot,  and 
let  it  enrich  our  mettle.  We  welcome  every 
spiritual  influence,  every  cultural  urge,  and 
in  turn  we  want  you  to  love  America  as  we 
love  it,  because  it  is  holy  ground — because 
it  serves  the  world. 

Our  boys  went  across  the  water — never 
let  us  hesitate  to  speak  their  glorious  names 
in  pride — our  boys  went  across  the  water, 
because  they  were  filled  with  the  spirit 
that  has  made  America;  a  spirit  that  meets 
challenge;  a  spirit  that  wants  to  help.  Com- 
bine these  two  qualities  and  you  have  the 
essence  of  Americanism — a  spirit  symbol- 
ized by  the  Washington  Monument;  that 
clean,  straight  aim  lifted  to  Heaven  in 
eternal  pledge  that  our  land  shall  always 
be  independent  and  free. 


(Photo  Underwood  &  Underwood) 
GILDED  CONTAINER  FOR  THE  GRAM  OP  RADIUM  WHICH  PRESIDENT  HARDING  PRESENTED 
TO  MME.  CURIE  FOR  THE  WOMEN  OF  AMERICA.  THE  $100,000  WORTH  OF  RADIUM  IS  IN  THE 
TEN  LITTLE  GLASS  TUBES,  WHICH  ARE  SEEN  IN  THE  TRAY,  BUT  WHICH  ARE  KEPT  IN  THE 
TEN  HOLES  IN  THE  HEAVY  LEADEN  CONTAINER  AT  THE  LEFT,  AND  THE  CONTAINER  IS 
SECURED   BY  THE    COMBINATION   LOCK   SHOWN  ON  THE   RIGHT. 


HONORS  FOR  THE   DISCOVERER   OF   RADIUM 


TjTKTRAORDINARY  honors,  including  de- 
•*-^  grees  from  many  universities,  were 
showered  upon  Mme.  Marie  Curie,  the  dis- 
coverer of  radium,  during  the  weeks  of  her 
visit  to  the  United  States.  These  tributes 
culminated  in  an  impressive  ceremony  at 
the  White  House  on  May  20,  1921,  when 
President  Harding  presented  to  the  visitor 
a  gram  of  radium  purchased  for  her  by 
American  women  at  a  cost  of  $100,000.  The 
radium — 1,006  milligrams  by  careful  meas- 
urement— was  enclosed  in  a  mahogany  and 
lead  container  that  weighed  110  pounds 
and  cost  $2,700.  The  ceremony  was  at- 
tended by  many  distinguished  diplomats  and 
scientists.  After  M.  Jusserand,  the  French 
Ambassador,  had  formally  introduced  Mme. 
Curie,  President  Harding  said  to  her: 

We  greet  you  as  foremost  among  scientists 
in  the  age  of  science,  as  leader  among  women 
in  the  generation  which  sees  woman  come 
tardily  into  her  own.  *  *  *  It  has  been 
your  fortune,  Mme.  Curie,  to  accomplish 
an  immortal  work  for  humanity.  We  bring 
to  you  the  meed  of  honor  which  is  due  to 
pre-eminence  in  science,  scholarship,  research 
and  humanitarianism.  But  with  it  all  we 
bring  something  more.  We  lay  at  your  feet 
the  testimony  of  that  love  which  all  the  gen- 


erations of  men  have  been  wont  to  bestow 
upon  the  noble  woman,  the  unselfish  wife, 
the  devoted  mother. 

In  testimony  of  the  affection  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  of  their  confidence  in  your  scien- 
tific work  and  of  their  earnest  wish  that  your 
genius  and  energy  may  receive  all  encour- 
agement to  carry  forward  your  efforts  for 
the  advance  of  science  and  conquest  of  dis- 
ease, I  have  been  commissioned  to  present  to 
you  these  phials  of  radium.  To  you  we  owe 
our  knowledge  and  possession  of  it,  and 
so  to  you  we  give  it,  confident  that  in  your 
possession  it  will  be  the  means  further  to 
unveil  the  fascinating  secrets  of  nature,  to 
widen  the  field  of  useful  knowledge,  to  allevi- 
ate suffering  among  the  children  of  man. 
It  betokens  the  affection  of  one  great  people 
for  another. 

Mme.  Curie  replied  briefly  and  felicitous- 
ly, thanking  the  President  and  the  Ameri- 
can people — in  the  name  of  France  and  of 
her  native  Poland — for  honoring  her  "  as 
no  woman  had  ever  been  honored  in  Amer- 
ica before "  ;  she  accepted  the  gift,  she 
said,  "  in  the  hope  that  I  may  make  it 
serve  mankind." 

Among  later  tributes  paid  to  Mme.  Curie 
was  that  of  the  American  Museum  of  Na- 
tural History,  New  York,  which  elected  her 
an  honorary  life  member. 


THE  WORLD'S  HOUSING  SHORTAGE 

By  Gustavus  Myers 

Why  four  million  families  are  inadequately  housed  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States — 
The  enormous  increase  of  rents,  and  what  is  being  done  to  correct  the  situation — .4. 
brief  survey  of  the  situation  in  England  and  continental  Europe 


ONE  of  the  most  serious  consequences 
of  the  World  War  is  the  housing  sit- 
uation in  many  countries.  Some  of 
the  events  of  the  war  are  gradually  being 
relegated  to  the  domain  of  memories,  and 
the  peoples  of  the  world  have  become  ac- 
customed to  some  of  the  changes  it 
wrought.  But  the  housing  shortage  is  pres- 
ent and  acute,  affecting  not  only  nations 
that  were  in  the  war,  but  those  that  were 
not.  Its  magnitude  is  such  that  a  period  of 
intense  application  to  the  subject  will  be 
necessary  before  the  populations  of  the  va- 
rious countries  can  be  assured  of  adequate 
housing  accommodations. 

During  the  war  the  nations  were  wholly 
absorbed  in  the  great  conflict.  Millions  of 
men  were  withdrawn  from  industry  and 
sent  to  the  front,  and  vast  numbers  of 
others  had  to  leave  their  normal  occupations 
to  work  in  industries  essential  to  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war.  The  consequence  was 
that  operations  which  did  not  contribute  to 
the  war  were  almost  suspended.  The  build- 
ing of  houses  was  practically  at  a  stand- 
still. A  host  of  workers  in  the  building 
trades  either  went  into  the  national  armies, 
or  their  skill  was  utilized  in  the  construc- 
tion of  ships,  especially  in  the  United 
States,  which  had  to  improvise  a  great  new 
merchant  marine.  The  use  of  pneumatic 
drills  and  other  modern  apparatus  made 
the  process  of  turning  house  builders  into 
shipbuilders  fairly  easy. 

The  effect  upon  housing  in  the  United 
States  became  sharply  noticeable  after  the 
war.  For  a  number  of  years  before  the 
war,  there  were  built  in  the  United  States, 
it  is  estimated,  between  350,000  and  400,000 
family  dwellings  every  year,  including  pri- 
vate homes  and  apartment  houses.  The 
war  swelled  the  populations  of  cities  and 
towns.  Many  rural  residents  went  there 
to  work,  attracted  by  the  high  wages  in 
war    industries,    while    numerous    relatives 


of  those  drafted  into  the  army,  not  caring 
to  stay  alone  in  the  country,  sought  quar- 
ters in  the  cities.  When  the  soldiers  re- 
turned from  Europe,  many,  instead  of  go- 
ing back  to  the  country  districts,  stayed 
in  the  cities.  Meanwhile  the  natural  in- 
crease of  resident  population  was  going  on. 
There  was  the  greatest  demand  for  hous- 
ing, and  rents  precipitately  rose,  yet  in 
1919  only  about  70,000  houses  were  built 
throughout  the  United  States. 

The  extent  of  the  housing  shortage  in 
this  country  may  be  judged  from  the  re- 
sults of  recent  investigations.  In  an  arti- 
cle published  this  year  in  The  American 
Contractor,  containing  an  estimate  based  on 
building  permit  statistics  for  fourteen 
large  cities,  it  was  estimated  that  the  ac- 
cumulated deficit  by  the  beginning  of  1921 
amounted  to  about  147  per  cent,  of  the 
normal  annual  building  program,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  United  States  faced  a  de- 
mand equivalent  to  a  normal  output  of  two 
and  a  half  years.  After  a  careful  exami- 
nation, John  Ihlder,  manager  of  the  Civic 
Department  of  the  United  States  of  Com- 
merce, reported  to  the  National  Council  of 
that  body  early  in  1921  that  the  nation 
needed  1,250,000  new  homes,  and  that  4,- 
000,000  families  lacked  adequate  housing. 
The  report  declared  that  many  families 
were  forced  to  "  double  up "  in  a  single 
house  or  apartment,  or  to  take  in  lodgers, 
and  that  this  condition,  if  continued,  might 
have  serious  effects  upon  morals  and  the 
spread  of  infectious  diseases.  The^report 
further  pointed  out  that  those  most  af- 
fected by  the  housing  shortage  were  the 
wage  earners  and  small-salaried  profes- 
sions. 

In  New  York  City  alone,  according  to  a 
careful  survey  made  by  Health  Commis- 
sioner Royal  S.  Copeland  from  the  records 
of  the  Tenement  House  Department,  living 
accommodations    are     required     for    about 


THE  WORLD'S  HOUSING  SHORTAGE 


613 


100,000  families.  This  is  in  addition  to  the 
normal  growth  of  the  city,  which  requires 
accommodations  for  about  30,000  families 
annually.  In  many  other  cities  the  demand 
for  housing  is  proportionately  urgent. 

The  Increase  in  Rents 

The  housing  shortage  has  caused  rents 
to  increase  enormously.  A  recent  compila- 
tion by  the  United  States  Department  of 
Labor  on  the  average  cost  of  living  in  the 
United  States,  from  1913  to  the  end  of 
1920,  based  upon  investigation  in  thirty- 
two  cities,  gives  the  percentages.  Up  to 
December,  1917,  rents  had  not  risen  3  per 
cent,  over  the  1913  figure.  By  the  end  of 
1918  they  had  increased  9.2  per  cent,  over 

1913.  By  June,   1919,  the  percentage  was 

14.2.  In   the   next   six   months   it   rose   to 

25.3,  and  to  34.9  by  June,  1920.  By  De- 
cember, 1920,  it  was  51.1  per  cent,  over 
the  1913  figures,  and  was  still  rising.  The 
table  shows  that  while  rents  have  been 
making  deeper  and  deeper  inroads  into  the 
average  family's  budget,  the  prices  of  food, 
clothing  and  other  goods  have  been  going 
down.  During  and  immediately  after  the 
war,  it  was  the  high  prices  demanded  for 
commodities  and  merchandise  that  most  en- 
gaged public  attention.  But  now  it  is  high 
rents  that  are  causing  general  concern. 

In  every  city  there  have  been  notably 
large  increases  in  rents.  How  these  speci- 
fically have  risen  is  shown  by  other  tables 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor 
on   the  costs    of   living   as   compared   with 

1914.  Usually,  the  percentage  of  increase 
from  that  year  to  the  end  of  1917  was 
slight.  In  New  York  rents  increased  an 
average  of  nearly  36  per  cent.,  and  about 
the  same  in  Philadelphia  from  December, 
1917,  to  December,  1920.  In  the  same 
period  they  rose  more  than  47  per  cent, 
in  Chicago,  nearly  25  per  cent,  in  Boston 
and  46.5  per  cent,   in  Baltimore. 

The  increase  in  rents  in  Cincinnati  before 
1917  was>-  negligible,  but  from  the  close  of 
that  year  rents  began  rising  and  the  in- 
crease was  25  per  cent,  by  December,  1920. 
In  Indianapolis  the  increase  was  only  1.6 
per  cent,  before  1918;  by  December,  1920,  it 
reached  32.9  per  cent.  Likewise  in  Minne- 
apolis the  rent  increase  by  the  end  of  1920 
was  36.8  per  cent.,  practically  all  of  which 
took  place  after  1918. 

The  same  conditions  applied  to  New  Or- 


leans, the  rent  increase  of  which  from  1918 
to  1920  was  39.7  per  cent.,  and  to  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  where  the  rent  increase  in  three 
years  was  66.2  per  cent.  Before  1918  St. 
Louis'  rent  increase  was  less  than  3  per 
cent.,  but  by  December,  1920,  it  reached  42.4 
per  cent.  Kansas  City  had  a  small  rent  in- 
crease of  5.4  per  cent,  before  1918;  by  De- 
cember, 1920,  it  rose  to  63.9  per  cent. 

In  a  number  of  cities  considerable  rent  in- 
creases were  made  both  before  and  after 
1918.  Detroit,  a  highly  industrial  city,  the 
population  of  which  was  suddenly  swelled, 
had  a  rent  increase  of  32.6  per  cent,  from 
1914  to  the  end  of  1917,  from  which  figure 
it  went  up  to  108  per  cent,  in  December, 
1920.  Washington,  D.  C,  overflowing  with 
an  influx  of  persons  assisting  in  war  ac- 
tivities, had  a  rent  increase  of  24.9  per 
cent,  before  1918;  by  December,  1920,  rents 
had  increased  a  total  of  68  per  cent.  Cleve- 
land's rent  increase  from  1914  to  1917  was 
11.3  per  cent.,  rising  to  80  per  cent,  in  De- 
cember, 1920.  Norfolk,  Va.,  the  shipbuild- 
ing activities  of  which  brought  a  quick 
growth  of  population,  had  to  face  by  De- 
cember, 1920,  a  rent  increase  of  90.8  per 
cent.,  nearly  all  of  which  came  after  1917. 
Portland,  Ore.,  also  a  shipbuilding  port, 
had  a  22.2  per  cent,  rent  increase  before 
1918,  after  which  it  rose  to  36.9  per  cent. 

Buffalo's  rent  increase  was  9.4  per  cent, 
before  1918;  it  then  rose  to  48.5  per  cent,  by 
December,  1920.  Atlanta's  rent  increase 
went  up  from  14  per  cent,  in  December, 
1918,  to  73.1  per  cent,  in  December,  1920; 
Birmingham's  from  8.1  to  68.5,  Pittsburgh's 
from  7.6  to  35,  Denver's  from  12.8  to  69.8, 
and  Richmond,  Va.,  from  1  to  25.9  per  cent, 
in  the  same  period.  The  two  cities  in  the 
list  having  the  lowest  percentage  of  rent 
increases  are  San  Francisco  and  Oakland, 
Cal.,  with  a  total  rent  increase  from  1914  to 
December,  1920,  of  only  15  per  cent.,  and 
Scranton,  Pa.,  with  a  rent  increase  of  18.5 
per  cent,  in  the  same  period. 

Laws  to   Encourage  Building 

Rents  are  still  mounting,  even  in  the 
States  where  remedial  laws  have  been 
passed.  Legislation  designed  to  stop  rent 
profiteering  does  not  prevent  landlords 
from  raising  rents,  if  they  can  produce 
proof  that  their  costs  justify  the  increases. 

To  encourage  home  building,  some  Legis- 
latures,   such   as   those   of   New   York   and 


014 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


New  Jersey,  have  passed  laws  allowing 
cities  to  grant  tax  exemption  for  varying 
periods.  The  New  York  City  ordinance  ex- 
empts for  ten  years  new  buildings,  the  con- 
struction of  which  is  begun  before  April 
1,  1922,  up  to  $5,000  for  a  one-family 
house,  and  $10,000  for  a  two-family  house, 
or  at  a  rate  of  $1,000  per  room,  not  to  ex- 
ceed $5,000  per  apartment,  for  multi-family 
houses.  In  New  Jersey  a  five-year  ex- 
emption from  taxation  is  allowed.  These 
measures  are  stimulating  the  building  of 
moderate-priced  homes  and  apartments.  The 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan 
published  figures  on  May  1,  1921,  showing 
that  the  building  of  apartments  in  the  five 
boroughs  of  New  York  City  had  increased 
more  than  450  per  cent,  since  the  tax-ex- 
emption ordinance  went  into  effect,  as  com- 
pared with  the  same  period  a  year  ago.  In 
various  parts  of  the  United  States  house- 
building operations  are  energetically  going 
on.  The  Federal  Reserve  Bank  of  Dallas, 
Texas,  for  instance,  reported  in  March, 
1921,  a  50  per  cent,  increase  in  building  ac- 
tivity in  that  district,  as  compared  with 
the  previous  month. 

The  contention  of  builders  has  been  that 
of  all  the  items  of  expense  in  house  building 
the  largest  has  been  the  cost  of  labor,  which 
comprises  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  cost 
of  building  a  house.  Extreme  labor  union 
rules,  they  assert,  have  greatly  added  to 
this  cost;  for  example,  where  a  few  years 
ago  a  brick  mason  laid  from  1,500  to  2,000 
bricks  a  day,  he  has  in  recent  years  laid 
only  half  that  number,  and  at  double  the 
wages  that  he  formerly  received.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  building  trades  unions  say 
that  they  had  to  adopt  their  rules  in  self- 
defense  against  gross  abuses  by  unscrupu- 
lous contractors.  That  combinations  have 
existed  to  keep  up  the  price  of  certain  build- 
ing materials  was  shown  by  the  report  of 
the  Federal  Trade  Commission  and  by  the 
recent  investigation  in  New  York  City, 
which  brought  convictions  in  the  criminal 
courts.  Collusion  between  labor  leaders  and 
contractors,  and  the  use  of  the  strike  by 
labor  leaders  to  extort  money  from  builders, 
was  shown  by  investigations  in  New  York 
and  Chicago;  in  New  York,  early  in  April, 
Robert  P.  Brindell,  long  head  of  the  Build- 
ing Trades  Council,  was  taken  to  Sing  Sing 
Prison  to  serve  a  sentence  of  from  five  to 


ten  years  for  extorting  $5,000  for  calling 
off  a  strike. 

Recently,  however,  the  prices  of  building 
materials  have  declined  somewhat  from  the 
excessive  point  reached  last  year.  In  some 
cities,  building  trades  labor  unions  refused 
to  accept  a  reduction  in  wages,  but  in 
others,  notably  in  Chicago,  such  reductions 
were  favorably  considered,  showing  that 
building  trades  unions  were  beginning  to 
realize  that  if  housing  relief  is  to  com. 
they  also  must  do  their  part. 

Meanwhile,  the  United  States  Senate 
Committee  on  Reconstruction  and  Housing, 
of  which  William  M.  Calder  of  New  York  is 
Chairman,  has  reported  ten  recommenda- 
tions urging  the  Government  to  take  some 
action  for  the  erection  of  homes  through- 
out the  country.  Two  of  its  proposals  for 
legislation  deal  with  the  gathering  of  data 
on  construction  methods,  costs  and  designs, 
and  the  regular  publication  of  these  facts  by 
Government  agencies.  Another  recommen- 
dation concerns  the  speedy  transportation 
of  building  materials.  Still  others  would 
allow  the  Federal  Reserve  Board  to  lend 
money  on  long-time  loans  for  home  building, 
would  put  in  operation  various  other  finan- 
cial functions,  and  would  permit  a  certain 
tax  exemption  in  order  to  encourage  home- 
building  throughout  the  nation. 

England's  Lack   of  Houses 

In  England  the  housing  situation  is  acute, 
and  is  felt  most  severely  by  the  working 
classes.  In  general,  a  laborer's  house  was 
one  which,  before  the  war,  could  be  built 
with  a  fair  return  on  the  money  invested 
at  an  annual  rental  of  £20.  Previous  to  the 
war,  about  60,000  to  100,000  of  these  types 
of  houses  were  annually  built;  the  average 
yearly  construction  from  1900  to  1910  was 
80,000.  During  the  war  the  building  of 
houses  practically  ceased.  It  was  estimated 
that  by  the  end  of  1918  there  was  a  short- 
age of  from  300,000  to  400,000  working- 
class  houses.  During  the  wrar  almost  noth- 
ing was  done  to  repair  old  houses  or  to  ef- 
face slum  buildings. 

J.  J.  Clarke,  in  his  book,  "  The  Housing 
Problem,"  published  in  London  in  1920,  es- 
timated that  there  were  at  least  70,000 
houses  virtually  unfit  for  habitation,  and  a 
further  300,000  which  were  seriously  defec- 
tive. But  people  had  to  continue  living  in 
these  until   better  quarters   were  provided. 


THE  WORLD'S  HOUSING  SHORTAGE 


615 


About  3,000,000  people  were  living  in  over- 
crowded conditions,  which  meant  more  than 
two  in  a  room.  An  investigation  by  the 
London  County  Council  showed  that,  in  the 
area  covered  by  its  inquiry,  758,000  people 
were  living  in  the  most  congested  condi- 
tions. 

After  the  war  private  building  opera- 
tions in  England  were  greatly  impeded  by 
prohibitive  building  costs.  In  March,  1919, 
the  Government  took  action.  A  bill  was 
passed  giving  new  and  wider  powers  to  the 
Ministry  of  Health,  and  another  act  in  De- 
cember, 1919,  still  further  increased  these 
powers.  Housing  action  by  local  authori- 
ties was  made  compulsory. 

England  and  Wales  were  divided  into 
eleven  districts,  each  of  which  was  given  a 
Housing  Commissioner  responsible  to  the 
central  staff  of  the  Housing  Department  to 
work  in  co-operation  with  the  local  author- 
ities. The  local  officials  were  required  to 
make  a  survey  of  housing  needs,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  the  Ministry  of  Health  a  scheme  for 
meeting  all  or  some  of  them.  Building 
could  be  begun  without  waiting  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  survey.  Local  authorities 
were  ordered  by  the  law  to  raise  the  money 
to  carry  out  these  projects.  In  small  dis- 
tricts, however,  where  the  taxable  value 
was  low,  the  Ministry  of  Health  was  em- 
powered, under  certain  conditions,  to  make 
a  loan  for  building  purposes.  Special  sub- 
sidies were  also  offered  to  public  utility  so- 
cieties, and  direct  grants  to  private  persons 
building  houses  of  approved  types  which 
would  help  in  relieving  the  housing  short- 
age. 

No  time  was  lost  in  establishing  the  ad- 
ministrative machinery  to  carry  out  these 
projects.  Prelimniary  surveys  showed  the 
urgent  need  of  at  least  800,000  houses. 
Other  estimates  put  the  figure  at  500,000 
houses.  In  February,  1920,  Dr.  Addison, 
Minister  of  Health,  estimated  that  if  build- 
ing labor  were  available,  100,000  houses 
might  be  completed  by  the  end  of  1920  and 
200,000   in   1921. 

These  expectations,  it  turned  out,  were 
oversanguine.  In  answer  to  a  question  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  Oct.  20,  1920,  Dr. 
Addison  reported  that  only  10,042  houses 
had  been  completed ;  of  these,  7,448  were  pro- 
vided by  local  authorities  and  public  utility 
societies  under  the  Housing  act  and  the 
other  2,594   by   private  persons   under   the 


subsidy  scheme.  In  addition  to  these  com- 
pleted houses,  there  were  under  construction 
on  Oct.  1,  1920,  59,520  houses,  which  were 
mostly  being  built  by  local  authorities  and 
private  utility  societies.  The  number  of 
houses  covered  by  signed  contracts  by  the 
beginning  of  1921  totaled  133,000.  Tenders 
had  been  approved  for  148,158  houses. 

For  these  disappointing  results  different 
reasons  have  been  given.  There  have  been 
charges  and  countercharges  of  red  tape,  of 
holding  up  of  supplies  by  profiteers,  of  re- 
striction of  output  by  workers,  of  trade 
union  opposition  to  the  open  shop  and  other 
explanations.  Of  one  thing  there  is  no  doubt  : 
the  ranks  of  the  building  workers  were 
sadly  shorn  by  the  war.  Figures  show  the 
war's  havoc  in  reducing  the  number  of 
bricklayers,  joiners,  masons  and  others. 
Sixty  local  guilds  of  building  workers  have, 
however,  been  formed  sufficiently  to  bid 
for  housing  contracts. 

Whatever  the  estimated  housing  needs  of 
England,  whether  the  conservative  figure 
of  500,000  dwellings  or  the  larger  one  of 
800,000  dwellings  is  accepted,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  only  a  very  small  number,  re- 
ported to  be  about  60,000,  had  been  begun 
and  about  12,000  completed  by  the  end  of 
1920.  Although  further  progress  has  been 
made  in  1921,  the  housing  shortage  is  still 
a  huge  problem.  In  some  districts  the 
people's  dire  needs  have  led  to  the  seizure 
of  unoccupied  houses  or  public  buildings, 
and  in  a  number  of  sections  the  huts  used 
by  the  army  camps  during  the  war  have 
been  used  for  temporary  dwellings.  A  bill 
was  recently  introduced  in  Parliament  au- 
thorizing the  commandeering  of  unoccupied 
houses  suitable  for  working-class  dwellings 
and  their  use  in  relieving  the  emergency. 

Scotland,  with  a  population  less  than  that 
of  New  York  City,  was  confronted,  after 
the  war,  with  a  shortage  of  about  150,000 
houses.  Popular  solicitude  over  the  situa- 
tion resulted  in  mass  meetings  throughout 
the  country.  The  outcome  was  that  a  Gov- 
ernment Committee  of  Inquiry  Into  the 
High  Cost  of  Building  Working-Class 
Houses  was  appointed;  the  Scottish  Board 
of  Health  gave  its  attention  to  the  problem; 
and  local  official  bodies  pressed  practical 
demands  for  remedial  action.  The  conse- 
quence was  the  granting  of  State  aid  for 
housing.  By  the  end  of  February,  1920, 
contracts  had  been  let  for  the  construction 


()lft 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  19,137  houses  to  cost  £17,968.966,  or  a 
little  more  than  $70,000,000  at  current  rates 
of  exchange. 

As  in  England,  the  concrete  results  in 
Scotland  have  been  disappointing.  A  re- 
port of  meetings  of  the  Government  Com- 
mittee of  Inquiry  in  Edinburgh,  presented 
by  J.  L.  Jack,  Director  of  Housing  under 
the  Scotch  Board  of  Health,  declared  that 
although  land  was  cheaper  than  five  years 
ago,  the  Government's  aid  project  had  in- 
flated land  values.  It  accused  contractors 
in  many  instances  of  profiteering,  and  as- 
serted that  the  cost  of  materials  had  in- 
creased 25  per  cent,  since  1919,  giving 
specific  facts  to  prove  the  charge.  The  re- 
port also  said  that  labor  was  not  giving 
adequate  work,  thus  largely  increasing  con- 
struction costs.  According  to  the  report  a 
survey  by  local  authorities  in  December, 
1920,  indicated  a  shortage  in  Scotland  of 
131,000  houses,  of  which  the  local  authori- 
ties proposed  to  provide  115,000.  Mr.  Jack 
reported  that  the  local  authorities'  estimate 
of  housing  shortage  was,  in  his  opinion,  too 
conservative.  The  Scottish  people  have  been 
so  aroused  over  housing  conditions  and  so 
insistent  upon  a  remedy  that  a  Scottish 
Housing  and  Town  Planning  Congress  was 
held  in  Edinburgh  on  April  19  and  20,  1921. 
One  of  its  objects  was  to  urge  the  Scottish 
Members  of  Parliament  to  carry  out  their 
pledges  in  obtaining  full  measures  to  re- 
lieve the  housing  shortage. 

France  and  Other  Countries 

Although  Paris  and  some  other  French 
cities  are  overcrowded  and  rents  have 
greatly  increased,  the  problem  of  the  French 
people  is  concerned  first  of  all  with  restor- 
ing the  districts  so  frightfully  devastated 
by  the  Germans  in  the  north  of  France. 
By  February,  1921,  more  than  2,000  co- 
operative societies  of  reconstruction  had 
been  formed  and  were  in  active  operation. 
Through  the  Credit  National  the  Govern- 
ment is  assisting  them  by  subventions  and 
advances.  Construction  of  houses  for  work- 
ingmen  has  been  facilitated  by  funds  ad- 
vanced to  industrial  enterprises  and  to 
various  societies  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
building  model  dwellings.  In  addition,  spe- 
cial corporations  have  been  authorized  to 
construct  such  dwellings. 

Holland  is  one  of  the  countries  which 
kept  out  of  the  war,  yet  it,  too,  has  a  press- 
ing shortage.     The  demand  for  houses  both 


for  workers  and  for  the  general  public  is  so 
great  that  for  the  first  time  in  its  history 
Holland  has  consented  to  the  erection  of 
wooden  houses.  Hitherto,  because  of  cli- 
matic conditions,  the  high  cost  of  wood,  and 
the  traditional  building  policy  of  the  au- 
thorities, practically  all  buildings  for  per- 
manent occupancy  have  been  constructed  of 
brick,  stone  or  concrete.  The  wooden  houses 
now  being  built  are  for  permanent  use  and 
are  portable,  so  that  they  can  be  transferred 
from  one  industrial  plant  to  another,  as 
necessity  requires.  Each  house  is  for  a 
single  family  and  costs  about  3,300  florins, 
which  is  about  $1,800  at  present  exchange 
rates. 

Switzerland,  though  not  involved  in  the 
war,  has  been  filled  with  political  refugees 
who  have  added  to  its  population.  There 
the  housing  shortage  has  been  such  that 
rents  have  hugely  increased  and  in  many 
cases  are  now  more  than  double  what  they 
were  in  1914. 

In  all  the  larger  cities  of  Hungary  the 
need  of  more  houses  is  urgent.  Budapest  is 
the  greatest  sufferer;  its  population  is  esti- 
mated to  be  50  per  cent,  greater  than  before 
the  war.  Building  construction  was  entirely 
stopped  by  the  war  and  people  have 
crowded  into  the  city  from  the  country  dis- 
tricts. There  has  also  been  a  great  influx 
of  people  who  left  the  territories  of  pre-war 
Hungary  now  occupied  by  Czechoslovaks, 
Rumanians  and  Jugoslavs.  Since  late  in 
1919  many  of  these  refugees  have  been 
existing  in  freight  cars  standing  on  switches 
of  the  principal  railway  stations  at  Buda- 
pest and  in  many  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. Others  of  the  homeless  have  been  as- 
signed quarters  by  the  authorities,  who 
have  commandeered  all  space  considered  to 
be  in  excess  of  the  requirements  of  the 
occupier.  Recently  it  was  announced  that 
the  Hungarian  Government  was  to  take 
measures  for  the  construction  of  houses  in 
the  congested  districts. 

In  Germany,  it  is  estimated,  fully  1,000,- 
000  dwellings  are  desperately  needed,  but 
no  building  whatever  is  going  on,  largely 
because  of  the  general  lack  of  materials 
and  their  prohibitive  cost  when  obtainable. 
The  Housing  Commission  has  requisitioned 
all  unoccupied  dwellings  and  assigned 
families  to  live  in  them.  Rich  occupants 
having  more  room  in  their  mansions  than 


THE  WORLD'S  HOUSING  SHORTAGE 


617 


they  need   have  been  compelled  to  take  in 
any  lodgers  that  the  Government  sends. 

Faced  by  a  large  deficiency  in  dwellings, 
Italy  has  enacted  drastic  rent  restriction 
laws,  effective  until  July  1,  1922.  The  in- 
creases of  rent  are  restricted  in  the  case  of 
well-to-do  tenants  to  40  per  cent.,  and  are 
graduated  on  a  scale  that  does  not  permit 
more  than  a  10  per  cent,  increase  to  work- 
ing people.  But,  as  an  inducement  to  in- 
vestors to  build,  these  rent  restrictions  do 
not  apply  to  new  houses  constructed  within 
a  certain  period. 

Canada  and  Australia 
Canada,  too,  is  wrestling  with  the  housing 
problem,  which  is  occupying  the  attention 
of  many  of  its  cities.  Winnipeg  is  an  ex- 
ample of  the  large  decrease  in  house  con- 
struction before  and  after  the  war.  During 
the  two  years  before  the  war,  3,392  houses 
and  149  apartments  were  built.  In  the  five 
years  from  1915  to  1919,  only  258  houses 
and  11  inferior  apartments  were  con- 
structed, and  in  1920  only  262  houses  and 
11  small  converted  apartments  were  built 
in  Winnipeg.  In  view  of  the  house  famine 
there  and  the  sudden  increase  in  rents,  the 
Manitoba  Council  of  Industry  recently  made 
an  inquiry  to  determine  whether  there  was 
any  basis  for  the  charge  that  the  landlord 
was  profiteering.  It  reported  that  costs 
including  taxes  had  so  increased  that  land- 
lords were  not  receiving  an  excessive  return 
upon  their  investment. 

In  Australia,  according  to  a  recent  reso- 
lution of  the  Master  Builders'  Federal  Con- 
vention, one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  lack 
of  dwellings  is  the  scarcity  and  high  cost  of 
materials,  due  to  the  dislocation  of  industry 
and  the  lessened  production  resulting  from 


the  war;  other  causes  are  the  loss  of  me- 
chanics killed  or  incapacitated  during  the 
war,  leading  to  scarcity  of  labor;  the  les- 
sened output  due  to  shortening  of  hours 
and  general  decrease  of  efficiency  and  the 
moving  of  men  out  of  industry  into  the  agri- 
cultural regions.  The  convention  recom- 
mended that  vocational  classes  be  made 
available  for  training  unskilled  men  for  the 
building  trades.  It  further  urged  that  the 
erection  of  other  than  residential  buildings 
be  limited.  The  State  of  Victoria,  Aus- 
tralia, has  been  putting  into  effect  compre- 
hensive home-building  plans  for  returned 
soldiers  and  sailors.  The  War  Service 
Homes  Commissioner  has  bought  large 
areas  and  is  having  them  laid  out  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  latest  town  planning 
ideas.  In  the  city  of  Melbourne  provision 
has  been  made  for  1,115  dwellings. 

In  various  parts  of  New  Zealand  the  de- 
mand for  workingmen's  homes  has  far  ex- 
ceeded the  supply.  There,  as  elsewhere, 
costs  of  construction  are  high.  In  addition, 
there  has  been  a  scarcity  of  building  ma- 
terials, and  private  capital  has  been  timid 
in  making  investments  in  private  houses. 
To  relieve  the  acute  housing  shortage  the 
New  Zealand  Parliament  recently  appro- 
priated $3,742,900  for  the  building  of  work- 
ers' homes  in  different  centres  of  the  coun- 
try during  1921. 

Thus  the  available  data  on  the  subject 
show  that  the  situation  so  acutely  felt  in  the 
United  States  extends  to  the  whole  civilized 
world  and  amounts  in  the  aggregate  to  a 
shortage  of  many  millions  of  dwellings.  It 
is  evident  that  a  long  and  trying  period 
must  intervene  before  the  people  of  the 
various  countries  can  again  have  anything 
like  the  number  of  homes  they  really  need. 


THE  WAR'S  HARVEST  OF  THE  UNBORN 


THE  world  is  now  familiar  enough  with 
the  statistics  of  life-loss  during  the  war. 
It  has  remained  for  Dr.  Richard  P.  Strong, 
a  Professor  of  Tropical  Medicine  at  the 
Harvard  Medical  School,  to  estimate  the 
potential  loss  of  life  entailed  in  the  un- 
timely cutting  off  of  the  nations'  manhood 
in  its  flower.  According  to  the  estimates 
of  Dr.  Strong,  the  loss  in  the  world's 
population,     both     actual     and     potential, 


reaches  at  a  conservative  estimate  the 
staggering  total  of  43,000,000  people.  It 
will  take  France — the  chief  sufferer— 70 
years  to  recover  her  former  population, 
thinks  Dr.  Strong.  He  further  estimates 
the  direct  financial  cost  of  the  struggle  at 
the  sum  of  $84,000,000,000,  and  the  cost  to 
all  nations  together,  directly  or  indirectly 
concerned,  at  the  gigantic  total  of  $348,- 
000,000,000. 


THE  TREND  OF  DEMOCRACY 
IN  EUROPE 

By  Frank  Bohn,  Ph.  D. 

How  the  pathway  of  democratic  government  has  been  blocked  by  the  old  ideals  of  kingship 
since  the  close  of  the  World  War — The  political  drift  in  Central  Europe — Momentous 
importance  of  the  ultimate  decision  of  Germany  and  Russia 


AFTER  the  revolution  in  Central  and 
L  Eastern  Europe,  the  next  event  on  the 
schedule  is  the  counter-revolution. 
What  are  the  plans,  what  the  hopes  of  the 
exiled  monarchs  and  aristocrats?  What 
thoughts  of  loyalty  and  love  for  their  de- 
posed rulers  still  animate  the  minds  of  the 
common  people  in  the  revolutionary  coun- 
tries? 

In  April,  1915,  I  paused  momentarily  to 
join  a  crowd  in  one  of  the  famous  resident 
streets  of  Berlin.  The  crowd  included  per- 
haps a  hundred  people,  workingmen,  trades- 
people, common  soldiers  and  servant  girls. 
My  doubt  as  to  the  motive  for  the  gather- 
ing did  not  last  long.  The  nearest  house 
door  swung  open.  A  liveried  lackey  ap- 
peared upon  the  steps.  An  automobile  drew 
up  before  the  gate.  At  the  door  appeared 
one  of  the  younger  Princes  of  the  House  of 
Hohenzollern  and  his  Princess.  The  men 
in  the  crowd  uncovered.  As  royalty  passed 
by,  an  awed  whisper  came  from  many  lips: 
u  God  prosper  you !  " 

The  feeling  here  expressed  was  unde- 
niably religious.  In  the  mind  of  aristocrat 
and  peasant  alike,  loyalty  to  the  sovereign 
under  the  old  regime  has  partaken  of  the 
nature  of  religious  worship.  All  democratic 
revolutions  in  the  last  four  centuries,  the 
French  Revolution  not  excepted,  have  begun 
with  the  overthrow  in  the  individual  mind 
of  this  deep-seated  religious  postulate.  But 
Americans  do  not  pause  to  reflect  that  the 
ancient  way  of  thinking  in  this  matter  has 
been  the  norm.  Our  own  attitude  is  ex- 
ceptional, and  has  been  but  recently  de- 
veloped. Considered  as  biological  evolution, 
modern  democracy  is  still  an  adventure,  to 
which  human  nature,  generally,  may  or  may 
not  finally  adjust  itself. 

There  is  only  one  first-class  nation  in  the 
world  which  has  made  a  purely  republican 


form  of  government  succeed  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  and  that  is  our  own.  The 
French  Revolution  itself  has  given  France, 
after  eighty-two  years  of  monarchy  mixed 
with  turmoil,  exactly  fifty  years  of  the 
Third  Republic.  In  the  whole  of  Europe, 
the  mountain  fastness  of  Switzerland,  16,000 
square  miles  in  extent,  alone  upholds  the 
banner  of  a  republicanism  toward  which 
there  is  turned  no  jealous  monarchial  eye. 
A  consideration  of  these  facts  is  disconcert- 
ing, to  say  the  least,  to  the  partisans  of 
democracy  universal.  Thrones  have  top- 
pled. The  incumbents  have  been  shaken 
off.  But  the  thrones  are  still  standing,  and 
their  late  occupants  are  anxious  to  reas- 
sume  power. 

Constantine  has  already  been  returned  to 
the  throne  of  Greece  amid  the  acclamations 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  Greek  people. 
Neither  aristocracy  nor  property  interests 
could  have  consummated  this  counter-revo- 
lution against  the  will  of  a  popular  major- 
ity. "  Nevertheless,  the  people  refused  to 
obey  the  voice  of  Samuel;  and  they  said, 
Nay;  but  we  will  have  a  King  over  us." 
(I.  Samuel,  viii.,  19.)  The  Hebrews  de- 
manded a  King  despite  the  voice  of  Provi- 
dence, and  the  Greeks  have  reinstated  theirs 
contrary  to  the  united  demand  of  France, 
Britain  and  Italy. 

During  the  last  seven  years  democracy 
has  been  making  its  real  birth  struggle  as 
a  world  force.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
from  the  Protestant  Revolution  until  1910 
democracy  evolved  a  social  order  only  on  the 
western  fringes  of  Europe  and  in  America. 
If  we  place  before  ourselves  a  map  of  the 
Eastern  Hemisphere,  we  quickly  see  how 
insignificant  were  the  areas  recreated  by 
the  revolutions  in  England  and  France. 
The  primary  fact  in  the  history  of  this, 
last  decade  has  been  not  the  war,  but  the. 


THE   TREND  OF  DEMOCRACY  IN  EUROPE 


61!) 


revolutions  which  followed  the  war.  Since 
1910  revolution  has  burst  forth  from  the 
Rhine  to  Kamchatka  and  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  China  Sea.  It  is  rending  the  British 
Empire  in  Ireland,  Egypt  and  India.  In 
each  of  these  dependencies  the  fundamental 
appeal  is  being  made  in  terms  of  democracy 
and  republicanism.  The  Chinese  revolution 
is,  in  itself,  far  too  stupendous  a  fact  to  be 
comprehended,  as  yet,  by  the  Western  mind. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  this  revolutionary  event 
may  well  be  considered  by  the  future  as  the 
most  important  in  the  history  of  our  age. 
But  the  mind  of  our  Western  world  has  been 
obsessed  by  war,  and  our  activities  have 
centred  around  the  making  of  war  and  the 
making  of  peace.  Meanwhile  the  immediate 
outcome  of  the  revolutions  has  apparently 
ceased  to  interest  the  leading  members  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States.  And 
yet  it  is  a  primary  determining  factor  as 
regards  the  essentials  of  world  civilization 
for  all  time  to  come. 

In   Hungary   and   Austria 

What  is  the  present  political  trend,  either 
for  democracy  or  away  from  it,  in  the 
recently  arisen  Central  European  States 
organized  or  reorganized  as  republics?  In 
Greece,  Hungary,  Austria,  Poland  and 
Czechoslovakia — above  all,  in  the  new  Ger- 
many? 

Greece  has  chosen  to  return  to  monarchy, 
and  the  former  King  was  able  to  regain  his 
throne  without  a  struggle.  But  what  was 
so  easy  for  Greece  has  proved  at  least  tem- 
porarily impossible  for  Hungary;  the 
future  may  have  a  different  result  to  show. 
Hungary,  more  than  any  other  revolution- 
ary country  in  Europe,  represents  the  logi- 
cal outcome  of  failure  and  despair.  The 
four  years  and  four  months  of  war,  with 
the  Hungarian  conscience  but  half  enlisted ; 
the  defeat,  with  territorial  disruption  and 
national  isolation ;  a  few  months  of  a  strug- 
gling, impossible  democracy,  and  then  Bol- 
shevism for  over  four  months;  renewed  war 
upon  Rumania  with  a  second  defeat  and 
the  capture  and  sacking  of  Budapest — 
these  disastrous  events  left  but  one  thing 
to  do — to  return  to  tyranny.  Such  a  return 
is  exemplified  by  the  present  regime  of 
Admiral  Horthy. 

The  coup  attempted  by  the  late  Emperor 
Charles  in  Hungary  gives  to  the  American 
public   its   first  intimation  of   the   realities 


of  monarchial  reaction.  The  never-ending 
intrigues — the  fishing  in  troubled  waters; 
ceaseless  preparation  of  local  conditions 
by  the  monarchial  elements;  the  constant 
throwing  of  the  international  politics  of 
Europe  into  turmoil  and  confusion — all  this 
is  foreshadowed  by  the  visit  which  Charles 
has  made  to  the  shrunken  remains  of  the 
Hungary  over  which  he  once  ruled.  But 
this  is  not  1815.  Charles  is  backed  by  no 
Holy  Alliance.  On  the  contrary,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Little  Entente,  each  of  which 
has  prospered  territorially  at  the  expense 
of  Hungary,  threatened  to  invade,  and 
Charles  withdrew.  He  has  lost  the  first 
round.  But  he  and  his  heirs  will  come 
again,  and  again,  and  still  again.  The 
people,  if  not  the  present  Government  of 
Hungary,  desire  the  return  of  Charles.  If 
the  question  were  placed  before  the  Hun- 
garian people,  with  the  ballot  boxes  open 
to  all,  Charles  would  today  be  elected,  as 
was  Constantine,  by  a  comfortable  major- 
ity. 

The  Hungarian  peasantry  has  not  been 
in  the  slightest  degree  revolutionary, 
though  the  Calvinist  element  quietly  ac- 
cepted the  republic  and  would  continue  their 
support  if  others  would  furnish  the  initia- 
tive. The  sturdy  and  powerful  Hungarian 
junkers  vie  with  their  Prussian  colleagues 
in  clearness  of  purpose  and  striking  power. 
How  long  will  the  Kings  of  Jugoslavia  and 
Rumania  be  so  agreeably  disposed  toward 
the  Republic  of  Czechoslovakia  that  they  will 
join  hands  with  it  against  their  brother 
monarch? 

Republican  prospects  in  Austria  are  much 
fairer  than  in  Hungary,  and  for  three 
reasons,  one  far  from  satisfying  to  the 
friends  of  democracy.  The  first  lies  in  the 
nature  of  Austrian  society.  We  have  here 
an  educated  and  intelligent  peasantry,  as 
the  peasant  populations  of  Europe  go.  The 
Austrians  resemble  not  the  Prussians,  but 
the  South  Germans.  The  entire  population 
was  profoundly  affected  by  1848 — much 
more  so  than  the  population  of  Prussia.  The 
second  reason  lies  in  the  present  sad  state 
of  the  Austrian  people.  They  are  starving 
and  hopeless.  If  they  are  to  live  they  must 
eat  out  of  the  hand  of  the  great  allied 
powers.  The  various  Socialist  elements  are, 
temporarily,  in  complete  domination  of  the 
Austrian  Government,  and  are  likely  to  re- 
main so  indefinitely.     The  Austrian  junkers 


()20 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


correspond  neither  in  power  nor  in  point  of 
view  to  those  of  Prussia  or  Hungary.  Today 
their  landed  estates  are  being  rapidly  ex- 
propriated. Finally,  the  basic  purpose  of 
Austrian  policy  is  and  will  be  union  with 
Germany,  with  which  country  their  future 
is  bound  up.  At  present  the  Austrians  want 
no  Hapsburg  in  the  way  of  their  salva- 
tion. 

Democracy  in  Poland 
Monarchy  in  Poland  brings  sad  memories 
to  mind.  The  Polish  Nation  was  disrupted 
and  divided  by  Prussia,  Austria  and  Russia 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  because  the  aris- 
tocracy could  not  agree  upon  the  election 
of  a  King.  There  is  no  Polish  royal  house 
to  furnish  heirs  to  legitimacy.  No  doubt 
the  mass  of  the  Polish  people,  peasantry 
and  urban  dwellers  alike,  are  still  as  unfit- 
ted for  a  successful  democracy  as  the  Prus- 
sians. Yet  the  national  tendency  will  be  to 
worry  along.  There  is,  of  course,  the  recent 
example  of  the  Balkan  nations,  Serbia,  Ru- 
mania and  Bulgaria,  each  of  which  in  turn, 
as  it  was  liberated  from  the  thralldom  of 
the  Turk,  selected  a  King  and  hastily  as- 
sembled the  trappings  of  royalty.  If  the 
Polish  people  should  fail  utterly  in  their 
democratic  effort,  it  is  conceivable  that  they 
might  do  as  their  neighbors  have  done.  At 
present,  however,  Poland,  by  her  strong 
alliance  with  France  and  her  conclusion  of 
peace  with  Soviet  Russia,  offers  fair  pros- 
pects of  stability,  and  there  are  sound 
reasons  for  hoping  that  the  Government's 
efforts  toward  economic  reconstruction  will 
complete  the  work  of  making  Poland  "  safe 
for  democracy." 

In  Czechoslovakia  conditions  are  basically 
different  from  those  of  any  other  country 
of  Central  Europe.  In  each  nation  under 
discussion  the  question  we  have  set  before 
us  must  be  reviewed  in  terms  of  history, 
both  recent  and  remote.  Bohemia  was  the 
"  first  fruits  "  of  modern  democracy  in 
Europe.  Seventy  years  before  America  was 
discovered,  a  generation  following  the  re- 
bellion of  the  bold  Wat  Tyler  in  England, 
democratic  Bohemia  was  rising  desperately 
against  the  banded  tyrants  of  Church  and 
State  in  Europe.  Her  good  fight  of  that 
time,  renewed  during  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation and  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  only  to 
be  lost  again,  has  left  in  Czechoslovakia  a 
profound  tradition  of  democracy.  Of  all  the 
republics  east  of  the  Rhine,  that  of  Czecho- 


slovakia has  today  the  best  chance  of  sur- 
vival in  its  present  form.  In  1919  there  was 
real  danger  of  Bolshevism.  The  debacle  in 
Russia  has  now  removed  this  threat.  Bar- 
ring foreign  domination,  the  republican 
form  of  government  may  be  considered  as 
permanent  here  as  in  France  or  Switzer- 
land. 

So  complex  are  the  forces  at  work  in  Ger- 
many, so  involved  in  foreign  politics  are  all 
interior  policies,  that  definite  conclusions 
regarding  that  country  are  impossible  at 
the  present  time.  The  mass  of  the  peasantry 
in  all  parts  of  Germany  would,  no  doubt, 
join  the  junkers  in  welcoming  back  the 
petty  monarchs  and  the  Kaiser.  In  East 
and  West  Prussia,  the  peasantry  are  as  yet 
little  removed  from  serfdom.  The  so-called 
German  revolution  of  November,  1918,  was 
in  reality  no  revolution  at  all.  As  I  wrote 
somewhat  later,  in  The  New  York  Times, 
the  coup  d'etat  of  Nov.  9  was  arranged  for 
by  the  Imperial  Government.  Actual  in- 
vasion by  the  Allies  would  no  doubt  have 
led  to  a  real  democratic  uprising.  The 
junker  coup  d'etat,  by  which  Ebert  and 
Scheidemann  remained,  temporarily,  the  de- 
positaries of  power,  was  the  most  successful 
piece  of  political  camouflage  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  "  Peace  with  honor  "  meant 
that  the  internal  situation  could  perhaps 
be  saved. 

Aims  of  German  Junkers 
Just  what  was  it  that  the  imperial  power 
sought  to  keep  through  the  period  of  defeat 
and  political  disintegration?  The  answer 
is  simplicity  itself.  The  junkers  feared 
nothing  so  much  as  the  forcible  seizure  and 
division  of  their  landed  estates.  Before  their 
very  eyes,  literally,  and  wandering  from 
pillar  to  post,  were  the  exiled  and  starving 
aristocrats  of  Russia.  The  Russian  lande9 
estates  had  been  seized  and  parceled  out 
during  the  Spring  of  1918.  The  German 
junkers  temporarily  surrendered  political 
power,  but  kept  their  estates.  In  this  they 
were  greatly  aided  by  the  Spartacist  •  re- 
bellion of  January,  1919,  headed  by  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Rosa  Luxemburg.  Landed  prop- 
erty was  never  so  valuable  in  Germany  as 
it  is  today.  Potatoes,  grain  and  meat  are 
at  a  premium.  Compared  with  other  ele- 
ments of  the  German  population,  the  junk- 
ers were  never  before  so  rich. 

This,  then,  is  not  the  time  to  talk  about 
the  junkers'  sudden  demise.     Never  before 


THE  TREND  OF  DEMOCRACY  IN  EUROPE 


621 


was  the  world  so  full  of  revolution  and 
counter-revolution.  Changes  are  kaleido- 
scopic. The  junkerdom  coolly  calculates 
that  the  whirligig  of  time  must,  of  itself, 
bring  it  again  into  full  possession  of  polit- 
ical power.  It  looks  at  the  pigmies  who 
lead  the  various  elements  of  the  German 
Socialist  movement,  and  wonders  how  they 
can  last  from  morning  to  night.  The  junk- 
ers are  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  pur- 
poseful groups  of  men  produced  by  the  his- 
tory of  modern  Europe.  This  class  carries 
its  self-esteem  to  the  point  of  fanaticism. 
It  will  play  any  game  and  make  or  break 
any  rules  to  serve  its  purpose. 

The  German  Working  Class 

What  about  the  mind  and  purpose  of  the 
German  working  class?  I  have  touched  upon 
the  fact  that  the  peasantry  is  essentially 
undemocratic.  In  Brandenburg,  Pomerania, 
and  East  and  West  Prussia,  the  Protestant 
peasantry  still  votes  for  the  candidates  of 
the  junker  party  as  it  did  in  the  time  of 
Bismarck. 

In  South  Germany,  however,  the  peas- 
antry forms  the  foundation  of  the  Catholic 
Party,  and  the  "  Blacks  "  and  the  "  Blues  " 
are  today  estranged.  The  leaders  of  the 
Catholic  Party  have  seemingly  accepted  the 
republic  with  faith  and  good-will.  We  can 
understand  this  when  we  reflect  that 
the  peasants  of  German-speaking  Alsace, 
though  Catholic,  are  politically  French  and 
republican.  Catholic  South  Germany,  like 
Alsace-Lorraine  and  the  Rhineland,  fell 
under  the  liberating  influence  of  the  French 
Revolution  during  the  Napoleonic  regime. 
Its  peasantry,  also,  because  of  fundamental 
racial  characteristics,  is  more  like  the 
French  than  the  North  Germans.  North 
Germany  is  Nordic  or  Teutonic.  South  Ger- 
many, like  Central  and  Eastern  France,  is 
Alpine  (sometimes  wrongly  called  Celtic)  in 
racial  stock.  This  fact  has  never  been  suf- 
ficiently emphasized  in  Central  European 
history.  The  South  German  and  Austrian 
peasants  have  never  been  militarized. 

The  Centrist  Party,  with  the  regular 
Social  Democratic  Party  and  the  Demo- 
crats, forms  the  middle-class  bulwark 
against  the  extremes  of  right  and  left.  The 
recent  election  for  the  Prussian  Assembly, 
like  the  national  election  of  a  year  ago, 
furnished  an  indication  of  this  tendency, 
which  will  go  still  further.    The  parties  of 


the  middle  class  lost  heavily  both  to  the 
right  and  the  left.  We  are  driven  to  the 
conclusion  that  no  party  in  Germany  today 
can  make  the  people  accept  fully  the  rep- 
erations  program  which  France  has  de- 
manded and  succeeded  in  getting  her  allies 
to  sanction.  If  a  national  election  were  held 
today,  the  parties  of  the  middle  would  suffer 
further  diminution  of  power.  The  tendency, 
more  and  more,  is  for  South  German  peas- 
antry and  Rhenish  province  Catholic  worker 
and  small  shopkeeper  to  turn  in  desperation, 
not  to  the  junkers,  but  to  the  party  of  the 
great  industrialists. 

The  Social  Democratic  rank  and  file,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  being  pulled  apart  and 
drawn  toward  the  right  and  left.  Similarly 
the  Independents  are  being  disintegrated 
and  driven  in  two  directions.  A  year  ago 
V3  were  calculating,  because  of  the  results 
in  the  national  elections,  that  the  Independ- 
ents would  absorb  half  the  regulars.  Time 
has  changed  all  this.  The  Independent 
Socialist  Party,  broken  in  halves  by  the 
recent  Communist  crisis  in  its  party  con- 
gress, is  now  chaotic.  The  whole  situation 
seethes,  and  the  elements  are  being  thrown 
hither  and  thither.  While  the  majority 
Socialists  lost  thirty  votes  in  the  Prussian 
election  of  Feb.  20,  the  Independents  gained 
a  paltry  five. 

The  recent  communist  rebellion,  which 
suddenly  flared  up  and  as  quickly  died 
down,  represents  a  deep  underlying  agita- 
tion. A  few  weeks  before  the  outbreak  a 
communist  paper  in  Munich  boldly  appealed 
to  the  junker  students  of  the  universities  to 
join  with  them  and  prepare  for  the  day 
of  the  new  liberation  war  of  Germany 
against  the  Allies.  Both  the  ruling  Socialist 
bloc  and  the  Independent  Socialists,  mean- 
while, are  battered  about  by  exterior  forces. 
Allied  pressure  of  all  sorts  tends  to  em- 
barrass any  whose  present  or  past  action 
makes  them  responsible.  While  Bolshevism 
remains  dominant  in  Russia,  neither  the 
Independent  Socialists  nor  the  German 
Communists  can  possibly  settle  upon  a 
continuing   internal    policy. 

The  tragedy  of  middle-class  power  as  rep- 
resented by  the  present  Government  lies  in 
the  fact  that,  whether  its  enemies  to  the 
right  and  left  unite  or  remain  divided,  the 
danger  to  the  present  order  is  almost 
equally  great.  During  the  recent  communist 
rebellion  the  junkers  hid  from  sight,  and  no 


022 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


doubt  cherished  many  secret  hopes.  Should 
another  junker  uprising  occur  like  the  Kapp 
"  putsch  "  of  last  Spring,  the  Communists 
will  not  be  nearly  so  ready  to  execute  the 
present  strike  orders  of  the  Government. 
Their  tendency  will  be  to  wait  and  see  the 
junkers  temporarily  seated  in  power,  with 
the  understanding  that  they  will  strike  on 
their  own  initiative  and  for  their  own  pur- 
poses. 

The  Industrialist  Group 

I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  why 
the  allied  Governments — especially  Great 
Britain  under  the  leadership  of  Lloyd 
George — have  not  realized  the  possibility  of 
bracing  the  present  Government  of  Ger- 
many. This  could  be  done  through  stimu- 
lating German  industries,  furnishing  raw 
materials  on  credit  and  finding  foreign 
markets.  Of  all  possible  Governments  in 
Germany,  the  one  which  holds  power  at 
present,  despite  the  midwifery  attending  its 
long-delayed  birth,  is  most  likely  to  main- 
tain internal  peace,  develop  toward  a  sound 
democracy,  and  pay  the  reparations  bill 
recently  agreed  upon. 

One  phenomenon  which  will  undoubtedly 
have  its  influence  in  that  development,  how- 
ever, is  the  rise  to  power  of  the  great  Ger- 
man industrialists.  It  should  be  noted  that 
war  and  the  aftermath  of  war  have  made 
for  the  complete  political  disintegration  of 
the  lesser  bourgeoisie,  which,  in  the  recent 
Prussian  elections,  sent  only  26  members 
to  the  Assembly,  as  compared  with  92  for 
the  Centrists  and  114  for  the  majority 
Socialists.  The  great  industrialist  group, 
however,  is  a  horse  of  a  totally  different 
color.  The  stupendous  forces  which  went 
into  the  making  of  the  German  imperialism 
of  1914  could  never  have  been  assembled  or 
organized  without  the  industrialists'  willing- 
help.  From  first  to  last  the  former  Kaiser 
exerted  himself  to  win  the  complete  sym- 
pathy and  support  of  this  class.  Its  leaders 
were  men  to  conjure  with.  Such  were  the 
Krupps  and  Albert  Ballin,  and,  today,  Hugo 
Stinnes.  Despite  all  socialistic  camouflage, 
this  is  the  dominant  class  in  Germany  today. 
The  total  failure  of  the  Socialist  politicians 
to  make  even  a  beginning  in  the  socializa- 
tion of  German  industries  has  more  than 
ever  before  thrown  economic  power  into 
their  hands.  Since  the  armistice,  the  Gov- 
ernment has  not  only  refused  to  socialize 
new  industries,  but  has  steadily  loosened  its 


hold  upon  all  the  important  state-owned  and 
state-managed  industries  of  the  pre-war 
period.  Every  failure  of  the  Government 
in  the  economic  sphere  has  meant  the  rise 
to  greater  authority  of  the  "  captain  of  in- 
dustry." Germany  is  now  rapidly  develop- 
ing a  laissez-faire  economic  system.  Sup- 
posedly, this  is  balanced  by  the  shop  coun- 
cils. In  reality,  the  shop  councils  in  Ger- 
many are  moribund,  and  are  likely  to  re- 
main so  for  a  long  time.  The  Rockefellers 
and  Morgans  of  Germany  are  coming  to 
dominate  her  political  as  well  as  her  eco- 
nomic life. 

If  the  60,000,000  of  German  people  are  to 
eat  and  wear  clothes,  they  must  regain  their 
foreign  trade.  Otherwise  there  is  room  in 
Germany  for  only  40,000,000,  living  at  a 
low  standard.  The  present  wabbling  and 
inefficient  German  State  furnishes  no  ef- 
fective direction.  So  actual  power  naturally 
gravitates  to  two  classes,  the  junkers  and 
the  great  industrialists,  with  the  lafter 
dominant. 

The  degree  to  which  the  military  help  of 
the  junkers  may  be  used  depends  upon  the 
degree  of  unemployment  and  starvation 
which  will  make  revolutions  and  counter- 
revolutions possible.  Prophecies  have  little 
value,  yet  I  may  venture  the  suggestion  that 
the  junkers  will  wish,  as  before  the  war, 
to  league  themselves  with  the  great  indus- 
trialists. Under  conditions  of  revolutionary 
threat,  a  very  possible  and  efficient  bloc 
could  be  made  up  of  junkers,  industrialists 
and  the  Catholic  Party.  Of  428  seats  in 
the  Prussian  Assembly,  these  three  parties, 
in  the  election  of  Feb.  20,  won  a  total  of 
225.  In  a  national  election  they  would  now 
do  quite  as  well.  A  further  drift  of  the 
Socialists  to  the  left  would  drive  the  Cen- 
trists to  the  right. 

Chances  of  the  Hohenzollerns 
And  yet,  as  regards  Germany,  I  would 
say — and  this,  despite  the  statement  of  Ger- 
man friends  for  whose  opinion  I  have  very 
great  regard,  and  despite  all  the  facts  above 
cited — that  there  is  no  real  danger  of  the 
return  of  the  Hollenzollerns  and  the  lesser 
royalties  to  power.  If  the  junkers  still  hold 
a  large  measure  of  power,  it  is  because  of 
the  value  and  importance  of  their  landed 
estates.  Elsewhere  they  have  lost.  The 
economic  system  they  built  during  their 
mighty  past,  under  the  leadership  of  Bis- 
marck and  Wilhelm — the  regime  of  monar- 


THE   TREND  OF  DEMOCRACY  IN  EUROPE 


623 


chial  State  socialism — is  breaking  down  at 
every  point.  Meanwhile  the  masses  of  the 
people,  in  city  and  country,  are  being  driven 
by  the  existing  conditions  to  accept  the 
leadership  of  those  who,  all  agree,  are  best 
fitted  to  guide  the  wreck  of  Germany  away 
from  the  rocks  and  the  whirlpools.  This 
suggests  that  the  Government  of  Germany 
during  the  transition  period  will  resolve 
itself  into  some  form  of  oligarchy.  Only 
time  will  tell. 

Not  only  in  Germany,  but  in  every  coun- 
try of  Central  Europe  and  the  Balkans  the 
chances  of  democracy  may  be  affected  large- 
ly by  conditions  in  Russia.  He  who  con- 
ceives of  Bolshevism  primarily  as  an  eco- 
nomic system  has  but  a  superficial  view  of 
the  Bolshevist  regime.  Bolshevism  may  be 
compared,  psychologically,  to  Mohammedan- 
ism. Barbaric  and  fanatical,  Bolshevism  is 
a  reactionary  phase  of  crowd  psychology 
during  the  war  and  post-war  periods.  It 
has  dominated  Russia  and  permeated  Cen- 
tral Europe  as  a  result  of  the  unutterable 
despair  of  a  seemingly  endless  and  terribly 
destructive  war. 

The  hope  of  the  Western  democracies  that 
the  Russia  of  1917  could  find  her  way  to  a 
republican  form  of  government  was  all  too 


soon  dispelled.  With  the  revolution  of 
March,  1917,  the  small  democratic  group  of 
European-trained  democratic  intellectuals 
tried  to  substitute  themselves  for  the  mon- 
archy. The  Bolshevist  clique  ruthlessly 
snatched  power  from  them,  and  has  held  it 
ever  since  by  simply  murdering  its  oppo- 
nents by  the  thousands.  From  80  to  90  per 
cent.,  illiterate,  resembling  in  all  their  men- 
tality and  mode  of  life  more  the  people  of 
China  and  India  than  those  of  Western 
Europe,  the  Russian  masses  now  stoically 
await  the  coming  of  a  kindlier  rule.  The 
final  determination  of  Russia's  form  of 
government  may  have  a  far-reaching  effect 
on  the  history  of  the  new  nations. 

The  hectic  two  and  a  half  years  which 
have  followed  the  end  of  the  World  War 
have  obstructed,  but  we  hope  not  perma- 
nently, the  way  of  democracy  in  Europe. 
Some  of  us  thought  in  December,  1918,  some 
of  us  still  think  today,  that  Europe  cannot 
save  herself.  A  truly  democratic  and  compre- 
hensive League  of  .Nations  alone  could 
have  brought  freedom  and  order  to  her 
broken  peoples  within  a  reasonable  time. 
Meanwhile,  as  the  days  and  years  pass,  the 
exiled  monarchs  and  the  advocates  of  de- 
mocracy alike  sit  without,  buoyed  up  by 
hope,  and  watch  the  witches'  caldron  boil. 


JAPANESE   "CULTURE"   PEARLS 


T  EWELERS  in  London  have  been  greatly 
*J  perturbed  over  a  new  type  of  "  cult- 
ure "  pearls,  which  is  said  to  be  so  perfect 
that  it  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  nat- 
ural article.  Prominent  pearl  merchants  met 
on  May  5,  1921,  to  discuss  measures  of  self- 
protection.  The  Japanese  firm  of  K.  Miki- 
moto,  which  has  developed  this  business,  ex- 
plained through  its  London  representatives 
that  its  founder  had  been  experimenting 
with  the  artificial  cultivation  of  pearls  since 
1879.  The  process  developed  by  Mr.  Miki- 
moto  is  exactly  like  the  natural  process:  an 
irritant  is  introduced  into  the  living  oyster, 
causing  the  secretion  of  nacre,  which  grad- 
ually covers  the  foreign  particle  until  it  has 
grown  into  a  symmetrical  pearl.  At  first 
this  semi-artificial  product  was  more  or  less 
defective,  but  at  last  it  has  come  to  be  so 
completely  like  a  natural  pearl  that  not  even 
an  expert  can  tell  the  difference.  The  proc- 
ess is  thus  described: 


A  tiny  round  core  of  mother  of  pearl  is 
introduced  into  the  Liver  of  the  oyster.  The 
oysters  are  then  "  parked  "  in  one  of  our  sea- 
bed farms,  and  after  some  six  years  the 
shells  are  re-examined,  and  perfect  pearls 
are  found  to  have  been  produced,  the  only 
difference  being  that  man,  instead  of  nature, 
had  introduced  the  irritant.  It  is  quite  impos- 
sible to  tell  the  natural  pearl  from  the  cult- 
ured pearl,  and  the  life  and  lustre  of  both 
are  identical.  Our  contention  is  that  in 
beauty  and  real  value  there  is  nothing-  to 
choose  between  the  two  varieties.  *  *  * 
Everybody  in  the  trade  knows  that  our  pearls 
are  cultured,  and  we  sell  them  as  such.  *  *  * 
It  is,  of  course,  quite  impossible  to  trace 
their  later  history,  and  it  is  possible  that 
their  real  origin  may  be  lost  sight  of. 

The  dealers  declared  that  they  would 
find  means  to  protect  the  legitimate  trade. 
Some  of  them  contended  that  the  culture 
pearls  had  "  a  glassy,  bluey  look,"  and  that 
nothing  had  been  produced  to  give  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  finest  product,  such  as  the 
Indian  pearl. 


JUGOSLAVIA'S  CONSTITUTIONAL 

PROBLEMS 

By  Dr.  Ivan  Schvegel 

Lute  Member  of   the   Jugoslav  Parliament,   Belgrade 

Chief  points  of  the  basic  law  under  which  the  new  triple  kingdom  will  soon  be  pursuing 
its  career — Conflict  of  parties  over  certain  features — Centralization  versus  Federation 


THE  political  and  economic  consolidation 
of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs,  Croats 
and  Slovenes  is  making  fast  and  permanent 
progress.  The  crisis  under  which  Europe  is 
still  suffering — and  not  Europe  alone,  but 
the  whole  world,  including  the  countries  not 
directly  affected  by  the  war — naturally  also 
reacts  upon  Jugoslavia,  and  delays  the  set- 
tlement of  many  important  questions,  other- 
wise her  progress  would  be  even  more  ap- 
parent. But  good  observers  will  realize 
that  incidents  of  secondary  importance, 
though  they  may  appear  large  for  the  mo- 
ment, cannot  have  any  considerable  influ- 
ence upon  the  national  development  of  a 
great  and  rich  country — with  an  area  as 
large  as  Italy's— inhabited  by  14,000,000 
diligent  and  patriotic  people,  chiefly  agri- 
cultural, and  led  by  a  progressive  and  far- 
sighted  Government. 

After  the  terrible  devastation  of  Serbia 
and  the  great  suffering  and  disorder  in 
the  other  provinces,  caused  by  the  war, 
order  and  security  have  now  been  estab- 
lished. The  new  Constitution  of  the  Jugo- 
slav Kingdom  now  being  framed  by  the 
Constituent  Assembly  will  in  a  few  months 
be  a  reality  under  the  leadership  of  Serbia's 
\eteran  statesman,  Nicola  Pashitch.  After 
a  lifelong  experience  as  a  leader  in  his  own 
Serbia,  M.  Pashitch  has  now  shown  marked 
ability  and  patience  in  dealing  with  the 
greater  and  more  complex  problems  of 
united  Jugoslavia. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, where  he  headed  the  Jugoslav  dele- 
gation, he  again  assumed  the  Presidency 
of  the  Belgrade  Government  after  the  last 
elections,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
the  passage  of  the  constitutional  laws,  man- 
aged to  form  a  working  majority  of  the 
two  largest  parties,  the  Radicals  and  the 
Democrats,  to  whom  were  later  added  the 


Mohammedan  Party  and  a  fraction  of  the 
Farmers'  Party,  representing  in  all  a  bloc 
of  240  members. 

There  remain  in  the  opposition  the  Com- 
munists, the  Catholic  Party,  the  Repub- 
licans, the  National  Club,  the  Raditch 
Party  of  Croatia — the  latter  controlling 
half  the  mandates  from  Croatia — the  Social- 
ists and  the  majority  of  the  Farmers' 
Party.  The  latter  two,  however,  though 
outside  of  the  Government,  are  not  expected 
to  obstruct  the  Government  policy,  while 
the  other  opposition  forces,  opposing  the 
Government  each  on  its  own  special 
grounds,  lack  coherence,  and  cannot  at  this 
time  form  a  general  policy  and  Government 
of  their  own.  Therein  lies  the  strength  of 
Mr.  Pashitch's  present  combination. 

The  following  is  a  short  resume  of  the 
eighty-six  articles  of  the  Constitution  as 
submitted  to  Parliament  by  the  Govern- 
ment: 

The  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and 
Slovenes  is  a  constitutional,  parliamentary, 
hereditary  monarchy.  The  official  lan- 
guage is  the  Serbo-Croat,  and  in  Slovenia 
also  the  Slovenian  dialect  of  that  language. 
Laws  and  citizenship  are  uniform  for  the 
whole  kingdom.  Titles  of  nobility  are  abol- 
ished. Personal  liberty,  private  property, 
freedom  of  conscience  and  worship,  free- 
dom of  the  press  and  of  assemblage  are 
guaranteed. 

The  legislative  power  is  shared  by  the 
sovereign  and  the  Parliament.  The  King 
appoints  army  and  Government  offi- 
cers and  represents  the  country  in  its 
xelations  with  foreign  countries.  He  de- 
clares war  and  concludes  peace,  but  in  cases 
where  Jugoslavia  is  not  actually  attacked 
bv  another  country  the  declaration  of  war 
is  dependent  on  the  consent  of  Parliament. 
The  King  convokes  Parliament,  and  can  also 


JUGOSLAVIA'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  PROBLEMS 


625 


dissolve  it,  in  which  case  new  elections  must 
take  place  within  three  months.  No  act  of 
the  sovereign  is  valid  without  countersigna- 
ture by  the  proper  Minister.  The  King  be- 
comes of  age  at  18  years.  The  reigning 
dynasty  is   the   house   of   Karageorgevitch. 

Parliament,  whose  members  enjoy  per- 
sonal immunity,  was  to  consist  of  two 
houses,  the  House  of  Commons  and  the 
Senate;  the  former,  with  300  members,  to 
be  chosen  by  general,  equal  and  secret 
ballot,  for  a  term  of  four  years;  every  citi- 
zen who  has  reached  the  twenty-first  year 
to  have  the  right  to  vote,  except  officers 
and  soldiers  in  active  service.  The  Senate, 
according  to  the  Government  proposal,  was 
intended  to  consist  of  100  members,  not  less 
than  40  years  old,  with  at  least  high  school 
education.  It  could  not  be  dissolved.  Sena- 
tors were  to  be  elected  for  nine  years,  one- 
third  every  third  year.  Laws  to  be  passed 
by  the  House  of  Commons  and  forwarded 
to  the  Senate,  which  would  either  accept  or 
return  them  with  counter-proposals.  If  the 
Commons  refused  to  assent  to  changes  by 
the  Senate  and  the  latter  persisted  in  them, 
the  law,  after  one  month,  would  come  up 
again  before  the  lower  house,  and  become 
valid  if  passed  by  a  qualified  majority.  This 
procedure  has  become  unnecessary  by  the 
fact  recently  reported  in  cable  dispatches, 
that  the  Constituent  Assembly  in  its  final 
vote  has  decided  to  drop  the  entire  Senate 
proposition  and  to  adhere  to  the  old  Serbian 
principle  of  a  single  House  (Skupshtina). 

The  executive  powers  are  exercised  by  the 
King  through  the  Ministerial  Cabinet.  For 
executive  purposes  the  country  is  divided 
into  provinces,  districts  and  townships. 
The  provinces  shall  not  exceed  thirty-five; 
they  will  enjoy  considerable  self-government 
in  provincial  assemblies  and  provincial  com- 
mittees, elected  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
central  Parliament.  The  State  Council  will 
act  as  the  highest  administrative  tribunal 
for  settling  conflicts  between  the  various 
administrative  authorities.  Half  of  its 
members  will  be  elected  by  the  people,  half 
named  by  the  King.  The  obligation  for 
military  service  and  taxes  is  general.  Taxes 
can  be  introduced  only  by  law.  A  special 
chapter  deals  with  the  independence  of 
courts  and  jurisdiction.  Changes  can  be 
introduced  into  the  Constitution  only  by  a 
two-thirds  majority  of  the  Representatives 
in  the  Skupshtina. 


This  is  the  Constitution  proposed  by 
the  Government  as  the  result  of  the 
Radical-Democratic  compromise;  with  some 
modifications  it  will  probably  be  ac- 
cepted. At  least  five  other  drafts,  differ- 
ing more  or  less,  were  submitted  by '  the 
parties  according  to  their  political  pro- 
grams. The  Farmers  placed  particular  in- 
sistence on  agrarian  questions  and  reforms, 
while  the  Socialists  demanded  far-reaching 
social  legislation.  The  Government  met 
their  requests  by  adding  to  the  Constitu- 
tion an  entire  chapter  on  social  and  eco- 
nomic regulations,  which,  to  a  great  extent, 
only  emphasizes  and  broadens  its  own  pro- 
posals. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  if,  in  these  days 
of  changing  reforms,  a  detailed  social  pro- 
gram should  be  introduced  into  a  Constitu- 
tion. Some  points,  however,  will  be  of  great 
importance;  for  instance,  State  working- 
men's  insurance,  obligatory  intervention  of 
the  State  to  prevent  or  settle  social  con- 
flicts, and  the  stipulation  that  whenever 
private  property  must  be  expropriated,  this 
cannot  be  done  without  just  compensation  to 
the  owner.  This  rule  will  help  to  promote 
order  and  safety  and  to  secure  our  com- 
mercial and  economic  relations  with  foreign 
countries.  A  so-called  Economic  Council, 
composed  of  representatives  of  all  produc- 
ing elements  of  the  country,  will  be  created 
to  propose,  discuss  and  elaborate  all  eco- 
nomic legislation  before  iti  is  presented 
to  Parliament  for  final  acceptance. 

The  most  difficult  part  of  the  internal 
economic  problems  of  Jugoslavia,  as  well 
as  of  other  European  countries,  is  the 
agrarian  question,  dealing  with  the  partition 
and  distribution  of  the  large  estates  and 
privately  owned  forest  lands,  and  compensa- 
tion of  the  owners.  In  Czechoslovakia,  for 
instance,  it  is  intended  that  not  more  than 
250  hectares  of  forest  and  150  hectares  of 
agricultural  land  shall  be  owned  by  one  in- 
dividual. [A  hectare  is  equivalent  to  2.47 
acres.]  The  fact  that  the  Jugoslav  Mo- 
hammedan Party,  representing  the  large 
proprietors  of  Bosnia,  whose  possession 
dates  from  the  days  of  the  Turkish  con- 
quest, has  accepted  membership  in  the  same 
Cabinet  with  some  of  the  small  Farmers' 
partisans  who  advocate  reform,  is  proof 
that  a  compromise  of  a  similar  character 
has  also  been  arrived  at  in  Jugoslavia.  It 
is  said  that  the  Mohammedan  Begs  in  Bos- 


C2C 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


nia  will  receive  a  compensation  of  250,000,- 
000  crowns  in  return  for  the  estates 
(begluk)  which  they  will  have  to  surrender. 
In  other  parts  of  the  country  this  problem 
is  less  acute;  in  Serbia  it  does  not  exist  at 
all. 

Since  I  am  myself  materially  interested 
in  this  matter  I  can  speak  of  it  only  with 
caution,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  too 
radical  a  reform  would  not  only  be  an 
injustice,  but  also  an  impossibility  in 
a  country  like  Jugoslavia,  which  still  lacks 
intensive  agricultural  development  and  in- 
ternal colonization.  Complete  reform  can 
be  achieved  only  in  time,  after  careful 
study,  with  good  organization  and  large 
financial  means.  All  these  are  still  want- 
ing to  the  necessary  extent.  A  compro- 
mise solution  will  therefore  be  enacted 
which  will  not  completely  satisfy  anybody, 
but  will  divide  dissatisfaction  among  all 
concerned.  s 

The  other  objections  to  the  proposed  Con- 
stitution, based  upon  the  differing  party 
programs  of  the  Republicans,  the  Raditch 
Party,  the  National  Club  of  Croatia  and  the 
Catholic  Party  of  Slovenia,  exhibit  a  more 
fundamental  difference  from  the  Govern- 
ment's stand  in  what  is  really  the  main  issue 
of  the  constitutional  controversy,  the  question 
between  centralization  and  federalism.  They 
ask  for  the  division  of  the  country  into  au- 
tonomous provinces.  The  Republicans  de- 
mand a  plebiscite  to  decide  the  matter.  The 
National  Club  proposes  the  establishment 
of  the  following  provinces — on  a  historical 
rather  than  on  a  practical  basis:  Serbia 
and  Macedonia,  Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia, 
Bosnia-Herzegovina,  Slovenia,  Medjumurje, 
Istria,  with  Islands  and  Montenegro.  They 
would  give  large  legislative  authority  to  the 
Provincial  Legislatures,  leaving  to  the  Cen- 
tral Parliament  only  foreign  affairs,  cur- 
rency, part  of  the  finances,  army,  Post 
Offices  and  Federal  administration.  Schools 
and  matters  of  public  health,  for  instance, 
would  go  to  the  provinces. 

Mr.  Protitch,  the  former  Prime  Minister, 
who  as  a  result  of  the  difference  of  opin- 
ions resigned  his  seat  in  the  Assembly,  was 
prepared  to  make  greater  concessions  to  the 
autonomist  program;  and  in  his  draft  pro- 
posed nine  provinces  instead  of  the  more 


than  thirty  of  the  Government  version.  In 
a  pamphlet  recently  issued  he  defends  his 
policy  on  the  grounds  that  too  drastic 
changes  are  inadvisable  and  that,  at  least 
in  the  beginning,  historical  creations  must 
be  somewhat  respected.  To  those  who 
point  to  the  centralist  Constitution  of  Italy 
as  an  example,  he  answers  that  the  Italian 
administration  is  the  slowest  and  most  bu- 
reaucratic in  Europe;  and  that  bureaucracy 
as  the  outcome  of  centralism  weakens  the 
best  nation  and  destroys  independent  think- 
ing. He  draws  attention  to  the  example  of 
England,  where  the  limits  of  the  historic 
counties  have  not  been  changed  for  700 
years. 

The  answer  that  might  be  made  to  the 
esteemed  veteran  statesman  is  that  funda- 
mental conditions  in  England,  or  even  in 
the  United  States,  are  different  from  those 
governing  the  Constitution  and  safety  of 
the  countries  of  Central  Europe,  which  are 
surrounded  by  hostile  nations  and  naturally 
need  a  greater  amount  of  centralism  to  pro- 
tect them  against  aggression  in  peace  or 
war  and  to  insure  their  permanent  pros- 
perity. On  the  other  hand,  also  the  Demo- 
crats, as  the  most  pronounced  exponents  of 
so-called  centralism,  admit  that  their  poli- 
cies cannot  be  ruthlessly  carried  into  ef- 
fect, and  that  centralized  administration 
must  be  consistent  with  a  large  amount  of 
self-government. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  among  the 
leading  men  less  difference  of  opinion  than 
of  programs,  and  perhaps  too  much  in- 
sistence on  words  and  political  theories. 
The  common  people  know  that  the  real 
character  of  a  Constitution  depends  on  its 
future  working,  on  the  men  to  whose  care 
it  will  be  entrusted  and  on  the  national 
spirit  which  not  even  the  best  laws  can 
command. 

In  the  course  of  time  such  differences,  as 
today  seem  hardly  surmountable,  will  fade 
away  and  lose  practical  interest  in  the  eyes 
of  a  new  generation,  which  will  be  con- 
fronted by  hundreds  of  other  pressing  prob- 
lems that  will  have  to  be  solved  by  the 
Jugoslav  Nation  in  the  process  of  realizing 
that  social,  cultural  and  economic  growth 
and  unity  for  which  its  people  have  fought 
and  suffered. 


[Com  munications] 

BULGARIA'S  CRIMES  AGAINST 

SERBIA 

Why  Serbians  have  no  sympathy  with  the  Bulgarian  plea  for  easier  treaty  terms — 
Statement  of  a  correspondent  who  witnessed  the  effects  of  Bulgarian  occupation  during 
the  World  War 


To    the   Editor  of   Current  History: 

THE  plea  for  Bulgaria  made  by  P.  M. 
Mattheeff  in  the  May  issue  of  Cur- 
rent History  is  correctly  described  in  the 
headline  as  a  "  passionate  "  protest.  This 
it  certainly  is,  and  in  his  case  passion 
seems  to  have  completely  obscured  reason. 
It  is  an  example  of  special  pleading,  an 
appeal  pro  doma  sua,  which  could  not  de- 
ceive any  student  of  Balkan  politics  who 
had  even  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the 
facts. 

M.  Mattheeff's  point  of  view  is  indicated 
in  his  opening  sentence,  in  which  he  refers 
to  Bulgaria  as  the  State  which  "  led  "  the 
other  allies  in  the  Balkan  war  of  1912. 
There  was  no  question  of  leadership  in  that 
war.  Greece  and  Serbia  came  into  it  as  the 
allies  and  equals  of  Bulgaria,  not  as  vassal 
States  following  a  superior.  Later  develop- 
ments, however,  showed  that  Bulgaria  in- 
tended to  make  them  such,  and  it  is  curious 
that  at  this  late  hour  the  impression  of 
Bulgaria's  "  leadership  "  should  still  persist 
in  M.  Mattheeff's  mind.  He  seems  to  forget 
the  fact  that  Bulgaria,  far  from  "  leading," 
was  unable  to  finish  up  her  share  of  the 
war  on  her  own  territory  by  the  capture  of 
Adrianople,  until  the  Serbs  sent  down  their 
heavy  artillery  to  break  the  Turkish  re- 
sistance. 

If  one  were  to  adopt  M.  Mattheeff's  point 
of  view,  one  would  regard  the  Bulgarians 
as  a  brave  and  loyal  people,  led  astray  by 
their  wicked  King  and  forced  by  him  to 
oppose  the  Allies  in  the  World  War.  This 
is  the  argument  employed  ad  nauseam  by 
the  Bulgarians  and  their  supporters  in 
other    countries. 

But  what  are  the  facts?  To  obtain  these 
we  must  examine  Bulgaria's  record.  This 
begins  with  the  treason  of  1913.  In  1912 
the  Balkan  States  achieved  what  had  long 
been  regarded  as  impossible — the  forma- 
tion of  a  league  against  the  common  enemy, 


Turkey.  In  September  of  that  year  they 
mobilized  their  forces  and  declared  war  on 
the  Sultan.  By  May,  1913,  they  had  won 
a  complete  victory.  Turkey  was  practically 
driven  out  of  the  Balkans,  the  allies  seizing 
all  her  territory  right  up  to  Tchataldja,  a 
few  short  miles  from  Constantinople. 

This  success  was  not  received  with  un- 
mixed satisfaction  by  all  the  great  powers. 
Germany  and  Austria  saw  their  dream  of 
the  domination  of  the  Balkans  shattered  by 
the  interposition  of  a  Confederation  of 
Balkan  States.  They  saw  that  it  would 
have  to  be  broken  up.  They  at  once  began 
to  intrigue,  to  sow  dissension  among  the 
Balkan  allies  by  awakening  appetites  and 
desires  which  could  be  realized  only  at  the 
expense  of  the  common  peace. 

They  found  a  favorable  terrain  at  Sofia. 
The  Bulgarian  nation,  intoxicated  by  its 
victory,  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  insidious 
counsels  of  the  Ballplatz,  and  put  forward 
excessive  claims  for  territorial  concessions 
in  the  conquered  Turkish  Provinces.  These 
were  resisted  by  the  Serbs,  who  took  their 
stand  on  the  Serbo-Bulgarian  Treaty  of 
Alliance,  in  which  the  main  principles  of 
the  division  of  the  conquered  territory  had 
already  been  laid  down.  It  was  further 
provided  in  that  treaty  that  in  case  of  dis- 
agreement the  points  in  dispute  should  be 
submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  the  Czar 
of  Russia,  whose  decision  both  sides  agreed 
to  accept. 

Betrayal  of  Her  Allies 

It  soon  became  clear  that  Bulgaria  had 
no  intention  of  fulfilling  this  part  of  her 
treaty  obligations.  During  the  negotiations 
her  representatives  raised  difficulty  after 
difficulty.  All  this  time  she  was  secretly 
massing  her  troops  so  as  to  be  in  a  position 
of  superiority,  should  there  be  an  appeal  to 
armed  force. 

Then  came  the  crowning  act  of  treason. 


628 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


During  the  night  of  June  29-30,  1913,  the 
Bulgarian  Army,  without  the  slightest 
warning,  made  a  sudden  attack  on  its  Serb- 
ian and  Greek  allies.  Fortunately  for  Serbia, 
her  soldiers  come  of  a  sturdy  race,  and,  the 
first  moment  of  surprise  past,  they  de- 
fended themselves  with  vigor.  The  Bul- 
garians were  driven  from  position  after 
position.  Bulgaria's  difficulties  became 
her  enemies'  opportunity.  Rumania,  which 
had  long  demanded  a  rectification  of  her 
frontier  with  Bulgaria  and  the  cession  of 
the  Dobrudja  Province,  took  advantage  of 
her  neighbor's  embarrassments  to  press 
her  claims,  and  when  these  were  resisted 
she  also  mobilized  her  army,  forcibly  seized 
the  province  in  dispute,  and  marched  on 
Sofia.  Turkey,  too,  seeing  a  chance  of 
avenging  at  least  a  part  of  her  defeat,  in- 
vaded the  territory  she  had  just  lost  and  re- 
captured Adrianople.  Bulgaria  was  forced 
to  sue  for  peace,  and  on  Aug.  6,  1913,  the 
Treaty  of  Bucharest  was  signed. 

That  Bulgaria  was  forced  to  sign  the 
Treaty  of  Bucharest  was  nobody's  fault 
but  her  own.  It  was  the  direct  result  of 
her  disgraceful  act  of  treachery  against 
her  allies.  But  this  M.  Mattheeff  does  not 
admit,  and  he  informs  us  that  "  Bulgaria's 
joining  the  Central  Powers  was  an  un- 
avoidable consequence  "  of  this  treaty. 

Such  was  Bulgaria's  first  act  of  treason, 
for  which  she  paid  by  losing  nearly  all  the 
fruits  of  her  victory  against  the  Turks. 
Her  second  act  of  treachery  had  much 
more  terrible  consequences.  In  1913  she 
alone  suffered  for  her  crimes.  In  1915  all 
Europe  was  a  victim  of  her  treason. 

In  the  Spring  of  that  year  the  World  War 
had  reached  its  most  crucial  point,  and 
Germany  and  Austria  had  been  driven  on 
the  defensive.  A  ring  of  trenches,  such  as 
the  world  had  never  before  seen,  ran  from 
the  North  Sea  to  the  Adriatic,  and  from 
the  Adriatic  to  the  Baltic.  The  Central 
Powers  were  completely  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  steel,  on  which  bristled  10,000,000 
bayonets.  But  Turkey  had  been  brought 
into  the  war  and  had  closed  the  Dardanelles, 
thereby  completely  isolating  Russia  from 
her  allies.  An  allied  army  had  been  landed 
at  Gallipoli,  but  was  held  in  check  by  the 
Turkish  Army.  Turkey,  however,  being 
isolated  in  her  turn,  was  in  danger  of  col- 
lapse for  want  of  munitions,  which  she 
could  procure  only  from  Germany.     It  was, 


therefore,  for  Germany  a  life-and-death 
question  to  drive  through  the  Balkans  to 
join  hands  with  her.  This  she  could  suc- 
ceed in  doing  only  if  Bulgaria  threw  her 
weight  into  the  scale  against  the  Entente 
Powers.  The  fate  of  Europe  came,  there- 
fore, to  Sofia  for  decision.  If  Bulgaria 
joined  the  Entente  and  marched  on  Con- 
stantinople, the  end  of  the  war  was  in 
sight.  If  she  betrayed  the  Allies  and  turned 
against  them,  their  plight  became  a  des- 
perate one. 

And  Bulgaria  committed  a  fresh  act  of 
treason.  She  joined  the  Central  Powers. 
But  this  she  kept  secret  to  the  last  moment. 
Acting  on  instructions  from  Berlin,  M.  Ra- 
doslavoff,  the  Bulgarian  Premier,  assured 
the  Entente  Powers  that  Bulgaria  was  com- 
ing in  on  their  side.  Even  when  she  mo- 
bilized her  army  she  gave  London,  Paris 
and  Petrograd  to  understand  that  this  was 
done  to  resist,  not  to  aid,  Germany.  It  was 
only  when  Germany  had  completed  her 
preparations  for  the  attack  on  Serbia  that 
Bulgaria  threw  off  the  mask  and  hurled 
her  forces  against  Serbia's  eastern  frontier. 
No  more  cynical  act  of  treachery  is  re- 
corded in  history  than  Bulgaria's  action 
vis-a-vis  the  Entente.  As  a  direct  result  of 
it  hundreds  of  thousands  of  French,  Brit- 
ish, Russian,  Italian  and  American  soldiers 
are  lying  dead  in  Europe  today.  Bulgaria 
saved  Germany  from  destruction  in  1915 
and  prolonged  the  war  by  three  years. 
This  the  world  may  one  day  forgive,  if  the 
criminal  shows  sincere  repentance,  but  it 
can  never  forget  it. 

M.  Mattheeff  declares:  "Bulgaria  failed 
because  she  blundered  in  choosing  sides. 
The  conquerors  have  declared  that  in  doing 
so  Bulgaria  transgressed.  So  be  it!  But 
is  there  no  limit  to  the  punishment  for  such 
transgression  ?  " 

Crimes   During  Occupation 

The  limit  of  punishment  is  generally 
measured  by  the  repentance  of  the  criminal. 
But  Bulgaria  has  not  only  the  perfidy  and 
treason  of  her  Government  on  her  con- 
science. She  has  three  years  of  nameless 
cruelty  and  oppression  in  occupied  Serbia 
to  answer  for.  I  maintain,  without  fear  of 
disproof,  that  the  Bulgarian  people  delib- 
erately started  out  to  exterminate  a  whole 
race.  Serbia  was  swept  clean  of  everything 
portable  —  plows,      harrows,      agricultural 


BULGARIA'S  CRIMES  AGAINST  SERBIA 


629 


implements,  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  household 
furniture — in  a  word,  everything  that  could 
be  taken  was  appropriated  and  the  people 
left  to  starve.  Thousands  were  murdered 
in  cold  blood.  The  National  Library  in  Bel- 
grade was  carried  off  to  Sofia  and  its  price- 
less volumes  and  manuscripts  reduced  to 
pulp.  Every  book  in  Serbian  that  couid  be 
found  was  destroyed,  Serbian  schools  and 
churches  were  replaced  by  Bulgarian  ones, 
priests  and  teachers  were  taken  off  to 
starve  to  death  in  concentration  camps. 
Railway  locomotives  and  rolling  stock  were 
carried  off  wholesale. 

I  do  not  state  these  things  from  hearsay. 
After  the  Bulgarian  Army  was  driven  from 
Serbian  Macedonia  I  rode  with  Professor 
Reiss  of  Lausanne  University  from  one  Ser- 
bian village  to  another,  only  to  hear  the 
same  monotonous  tale  of  murder,  rape,  in- 
cendiarism and  plunder.  Priests  and  teach- 
ers had  been  hanged  and  shot  and  hundreds 
of  peasants  deported.  War,  I  know,  always 
brings  horror  in  its  train,  but  in  no  other 
part  of  Europe  were  such  atrocities  com- 
mitted as  in  that  part  of  Serbia  under  Bul- 
garian occupation.  In  the  circumstances, 
as  long  as  human  nature  is  what  it  is,  the 
fact  that  "  the  Serbian  mind  is  poisoned 
against  everything  Bulgarian  "  may  excite 
surprise  in  the  mind  of  M.  Mattheeff,  but 


I  doubt  if  his  feelings  will  be  generally 
shared. 

But  hardly  was  the  armistice  signed  than 
Bulgaria  began  to  flood  Europe  with  ap- 
peals in  misericordia,  declaring  that  she 
was  more  sinned  against  than  sinning.  Jus- 
tice, I  know,  should  be  passionless,  not  vin- 
dictive. But  in  view  of  Bulgaria's  crimes 
and  treasons  there  is  no  measure  of  repara- 
tion in  the  Treaty  of  Neuilly  that  is  not 
justly  due. 

Instead  of  acknowledging  this  the  Bul- 
garians imitate  their  former  allies  in  their 
attempts  to  evade  fulfillment  of  the  treaty 
obligations.  M.  Mattheeff  complains  that 
the  institution  of  obligatory  personal 
labor — in  lieu  of  obligatory  military  ser- 
vice— has  been  objected  to  by  the  Belgrade 
Government,  and  that  at  its  request  the 
Supreme  Council  of  the  Allies  has  de- 
manded the  repeal  of  the  law.  But  M.  Mat- 
theeff omits  to  state  that  the  Belgrade  Gov- 
ernment has  proof  that  the  so-called  labor 
recruits  have  been  lodged  in  barracks,  have 
been  clothed  in  uniform  and  are  subjected 
to  military  drill.  In  other  words,  it  is  not 
a  labor  organization,  but  merely  a  camou- 
flaged military  force. 

GORDON   GORDON-SMITH. 
Washington,  D.  C,  May  17,  1921. 


ALBANIA'S  CONFLICT  WITH  SERBIA* 


To   the   Editor  of  Current  History: 

Official  Albanian  reports  announce  that 
the  Serbian  authorities  are  deporting  great 
masses  of  the  Albanians  of  Kosova,  with  a 
view  to  populating  this  region  with  Rus- 
sian refugees.  In  order  to  explain  this  un- 
lawful measure  it  will  be  necessary  to 
throw  some  light  on  recent  Serbo-Albanian 
relations,  as  well  as  to  sketch  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  people  of  Kosova  and  Dibra, 
who,  by  the  decisions  of  the  London  Con- 
ference of  1913,  were  separated  from  their 
mother  country,  Albania,  and  were  ceded  to 
Serbia  and  Montenegro  as  the  result  of  dip- 
lomatic compromises. 

By  Aug.  20,  1920,  just  after  the  difficul- 
ties between  the  Italians  and  Albanians 
were  done  away  with,  the  Albanian  Gov- 
ernment was  confronted  with  a  new  trouble, 
namely,    the    conflict    with    Serbia.      Ever 


since  the  armistice,  the  Serbs  had  been  oc- 
cupying territory  belonging  to  political  Al- 
bania, i.  e.,  the  Albania  of  1913,  which  lay 
in  both  the  Scutari  and  the  Dibra  regions, 
in  North  and  Northeastern  Albania.  En- 
couraged by  the  peaceful  attitude  of  the 
Albanians,  and  dissatisfied  with  the  strip 
of  Albanian  territory  already  under  their 
control,  the  Serbs  were  making  daily  in- 
roads into  the  interior  of  Albania.  In  both 
the  Scutari  and  Dibra  districts,  however, 
they  were  repulsed  with  great  success  by 
the  people;  the  Albanian  Government  had 
no  part  in  this  situation.  The  people  of  the 
Dibra  region  finally  drove  the  Serbian  sol- 

*Mr.  A.  B.  Sula,  the  writer  of  this  letter,  Is 
an  Albanian  graduate  of  Robert  College.  Con- 
stantinople, and  until  recently  was  Chief  Clerk 
of  the  Albanian  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  He 
came  to  this  country  on  the  advice  of  the 
Albanian  Government  to  prepare  himself  for  a 
diplomatic  career  in  his  home  land.— Editor. 


G30 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


diers  back  to  the  boundary  of  1913,  and 
even  forced  the  evacuation  of  the  City  of 
Dibra  itself.  The  Albanians  did  not  at- 
tempt to  occupy  this  city,  although  not  a 
single  Serb  lives  there,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  it  was  assigned  to  Serbia  by  the  Lon- 
don Conference  of  1913,  and  also  through 
fear  that  some  undesirable  international 
complications  might  arise. 

The  Albanians  supposed  that  as  a  result 
of  their  wise  and  moderate  policy  they 
would  be  left  alone  to  live  a  prosperous  and 
independent  life.  This,  however,  was  not 
the  plan  of  the  Serbs,  who  returned  with  a 
huge  army,  passed  the  Albanian  frontiers 
near  Dibra,  and  laid  waste  142  Albanian 
villages,  massacring  the  unfortunate  popu- 
lation—women, children  and  old  men — who 
were  not  able  to  flee  with  the  rest  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  devastated  region.  (This 
has  been  confirmed  by  the  Serbian  press.) 
After  having  completed  this  carnage,  which 
is  beyond  any  description,  the  Serbs 
marched  toward  the  Albanian  capital  and 
attempted  to  threaten  the  Albanian  Gov- 
ernment. Thanks  to  the  patriotic  efforts 
displayed  by  the  whole  Albanian  people, 
the  advance  of  the  Serbs  toward  the  Al- 
banian capital  was  checked. 

The  Albanian  Government  shortly  after 
this  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Ser- 
bian Government.  The  parleys,  however, 
led  to  no  result,  because  the  Serbs  did  not 
want  to  evacuate  the  territory  they  had 
lately  invaded,  and  so  a  deadlock  in  Serbo- 
Albanian  relations  followed.  The  Albanian 
Government  has  recently  sent  an  official 
note  to  Belgrade  asking  the  evacuation  of 
the  strip  of  Albanian  territory  which  ever 
since  the  armistice  has  been  under  Serbian 
occupation,  giving  notice  that,  in  case  Ser- 
bia fails  to  comply  with  this  demand,  the 
matter  will  be  submitted  to  the  League  of 
Nations,  of  which  both  parties  are  mem- 
bers. Furthermore,  the  Albanian  Govern- 
ment has  declared  its  intention  to  send  a 
delegation  to  Belgrade,  with  a  view  to  set- 
tling the  matters  in  dispute  between  the  two 
countries. 

Not  content  with  Kosova,  Dibra  and  other 
territory  which  they  are  holding  in  their 
possession,  together  with  almost  one  million 
unhappy  Albanians,  contrary  to  the  princi- 
ple of  self-determination  of  nations,  the 
Serbs  are  coveting  even  more  Albanian  ter- 
ritory.   And  how  is  this  insatiable  greed  ex- 


pressed ?  By  laying  waste  the  most  flour- 
ishing localities,  and  by  deporting  or  exter- 
minating the  Albanian  population,  which 
was  living  in  these  localities  before  any 
other  Balkan  nation  had  come  into  existence. 

According  to  recent  dispatches,  which  are 
also  confirmed  by  the  liberal  Serbian  Press, 
the  Serbian  atrocities  and  acts  of  oppression 
among  the  Albanians  of  Kosova  and  Dibra 
are  increasing  day  by  day;  massacres  and 
executions  of  every  kind  are  committed  by 
order  of  the  Serbian  authorities,  without 
due  process  of  law. 

The  Serbs,  seeing  clearly  that  they  can- 
not assimilate  the  stout-hearted  people  of 
Kosova,  Dibra,  &c,  have  decided  to  annihi- 
late them.  This  is  the  Serbian  interpreta- 
tion of  the  "  self-determination  of  nations," 
and  of  the  theory  "  The  Balkans  for  the 
Balkan  Peoples."  The  people  of  Dibra  are 
to  be  especially  pitied,  inasmuch  as  this  is 
the  second  time  they  have  been  reduced  to 
such  an  extremity.  Their  first  subjection 
came  when  they  rose  against  the  Serbs  in 
1914,  in  protest  against  the  decisions  of  the 
London  conference  of  1913,  which  assigned 
to  Serbia  this  entirely  Albanian-populated 
city.  Similar  protests  have  been  made  by 
the  Albanians  of  Kosova  against  the  Ser- 
bian occupation,  but  their  protests  have 
brought  them  only  persecution,  deportation 
and  extermination,  and  have  made  them 
subject  to  the  maximum  of  obligations  with- 
out even  the  minimum  of  privileges. 

When  Mr.  Trumbitch  was  the  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  of  Serbia,  he  made  certain 
semi-official  declarations  regarding  the  res- 
toration to  the  Albanian  State  of  some  por- 
tions of  the  Kosova  and  Dibra  territories, 
but  since  his  resignation  these  declarations 
have  been  ignored.  In  addition  to  this,  even 
more  territory  belonging  to  the  Albanian 
State,  as  fixed  by  the  London  conference  of 
1913,  is  being  held  by  the  Serbs,  who  seem 
to  have  forgotten  the  fact  that  if  the  Al- 
banians had  not  granted  right  of  way  to 
the  Serbian  army  while  it  was  being  pur- 
sued by  the  Austro-Bulgarian  armies  the 
destiny  of  the  present  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State  would  have  been  different.  Mr.  Pa- 
shitch,  at  least,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of 
Albania's  hospitality  and  her  peace-abiding 
attitude  toward  the  defeated  Serbian  army, 
ought  not  to  maintain  an  unfavorable  policy 
toward  Albania.  A.  B.   SULA. 

1907  F  Street,  Washington,  D,  C,  May  23,  1921. 


RUMANIA  IN  THE  NEW  EUROPE 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

Under  the  above  caption,  Prince  Antoine 
Bibesco,  Rumanian  Minister  to  the  United 
State?,  in  an  article  contributed  to  Current 
History  for  May,  has  attempted  to  answer 
what  he  calls  the  anti-Rumanian  propa- 
ganda in  this  country.  This  propaganda, 
according  to  Prince  Bibesco,  consists  of  the 
following  accusations:  that  Rumania  politi- 
cally and  culturally  is  a  backward  country, 
ruled  by  a  corrupt  oligarchy;  that  she  op- 
presses racial  minorities,  such  as  the  Jews 
and  Magyars,  and  that  she  persecutes  reli- 
gious dissenters. 

In  reply  to  the  first  charge,  Prince 
Bibesco  asserts  that  it  is  not  true.  His 
basis  for  this  denial  is  some  agrarian  re- 
forms, recently  introduced,  which  assign  to 
the  peasants  2,000,000  hectares  of  land, 
caned  out  of  estates  exceeding  500  hec- 
tares. Considering  that  Rumania  before 
the  war  had  a  large  peasant  population 
without  land  of  its  own,  and  practically 
serfs  to  the  Tchokois,  or  big  landed  pro- 
prietors, the  recent  agrarian  reforms  will 
no  doubt  bring  a  certain  improvement  in 
the  hard  lot  of  the  peasants.  Whether  the 
reforms  are  such  as  to  make  Rumania  a 
truly  democratic  country,  like  Serbia  and 
Bulgaria,  whose  peasantry  consists  of  sma'1 
landowners,  is  another  question.  The  an- 
nexation of  Transylvania,  Bukowina,  the 
Banat  and  Bessarabia  will  most  probably 
limit  the  power  which  the  Rumanian  aris- 
tocracy exerted  upon  the  Government;  but 
whether  it  will  put  a  stop  to  the  corrupt 
practices  for  which  Rumanian  administra- 
tion has  been,  and  is,  notorious  remains  to 
be  seen.  This  corruption  evidently  still  ex- 
ists. The  proof  of  this  is  found  in  the 
quotations  from  a  Rumanian  newspaper, 
given  on  page  220  of  the  Current  History 
number  in  which  Prince  Bibesco's  article  is 
published.  According  to  this  newspaper, 
"  boundless  corruption  "  pervades  the  ad- 
ministration; no  reconstruction  work  is 
done,  and  a  Czech  Ministerial  Councilor  is 
quoted  as  having  declared  that  he  was 
"  constantly  receiving  incontrovertible  tes- 
timony of  acts  disgraceful  to  Rumanian 
reputation."  This  is  corroborated  by  the 
testimony  of  Charles   H.   Grasty,  the  well- 


known  correspondent  of  The  New  York 
Times,  who,  in  a  letter  from  Bucharest  a 
few  weeks  ago,  spoke  of  the  prevalent 
"  graft "  system,  so  impudently  practiced 
by  officials  both  high  and  low. 

In  answer  to  the  accusation  that  Rumania 
has  oppressed  racial  minorities,  such  as  tjie 
Jews  and  Magyars,  Prince  Bibesco  points 
to  the  Rumanian  laws  insuring  equal  rights 
and  equal  legal  treatment  to  all  citizens. 
In  confirmation  of  this  he  tells  us  that 
there  is  a  chair  for  the  Magyar  language 
and  history  at  the  University  of  Bucharest, 
and  that  Magyar  teachers  receive  from  the 
Government  higher  salaries  than  Rumanian 
teachers  do.  In  order  to  clinch  the  argu- 
ment, he  asserts  that  the  political  and  so- 
cial emancipation  of  the  Rumanian  Jews  is 
complete. 

Unfortunately  for  Prince  Bibesco,  we  find 
again  a  complete  disproval  of  his  assertions 
in  regard  to  the  Magyars  on  page  220  of 
Current  History  above  referred  to.  There 
we  are  told  that  Magyar  children  are  forced 
to  attend  Rumanian  schools,  especially  "  in 
the  district  of  Csik,  where  there  are  125,888 
Magyars  and  only  18,032  Rumanians."  In 
another  district  all  public  servants  have 
been  notified  that  if  they  send  their  chil- 
dren to  Hungarian  schools  the  act,  "  if  per- 
sisted in,  will  render  them  liable  to  prosecu- 
tion before  the  Military  Court  for  treason." 
This,  then,  is  the  freedom  and  "  equality  of 
rights  "  enjoyed  by  a  Magyar  under  Ru- 
manian rule:  he  is  to  be  tried  by  a  court- 
martial  if  he  dares  to  send  his  child  to  a 
Hungarian  and  not  to  a  Rumanian  school. 
If  additional  proof  were  wanted  of  how 
racial  minorities  are  faring  in  Rumania,  and 
how  far  Jews  have  really  been  emancipated, 
we  may  quote  the  following  statements 
made  by  Paul  Scott  Mowrer  in  his  recent 
book,  "  Balkanized  Europe."  Mowrer,  for 
many  years  correspondent  of  The  Chicago 
Daily  News,  writes  from  personal  knowl- 
edge and  investigation  conducted  during  his 
travels  through  Europe.  Speaking  of  Ru- 
mania and  her  new  territorial  acquisitions, 
he  says  (p.  226): 

All  the  new  provinces  are  under  military 
occupation,  and  in  all  a  strong  hand  is  being 
used.  Minorities,  on  one  pretext  or  another, 
are    being     expropriated     in     favor     of     Ru- 


632 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


manians.     New  and  incompetent  officials  are 
making   a   reputation   for   themselves   similar 
to    that    earned    by    the    Northern    "  carpet- 
baggers "    in  the   South,   after   the  American 
Civil  War.     Arrests,  expulsions  and  even  dis- 
orders are  not   infrequent. 
In  regard  to  the  law  about  the  Jews,  he 
says  that  it  gives  the  right  to  vote  and  to 
own   property  to  all  Jews  who   can  prove 
they  were  bom  in  Rumania,   and  then  he 
adds: 

This  is  well  enough  for  the  more  highly  cul- 
tured Sephardic  Jews  of  the  old  Spanish- 
speaking  stock;  but  the  majority  of  Ru- 
manian Jews  are  of  the  Ashkenazic  or  Yid- 
dish speaking  German  strain,  who  have  fled 
into  Rumania  out  of  Russia  and  Poland,  and 
many  of  whom  have  no  family  papers.  A 
generation  will  have  to  elapse  before  they 
can  take  advantage  of  the  somewhat  equivo- 
cal  reforms. 

It  is  evidently  too  early  yet  to  declare 
that  "the  political  and  social  emancipation 
of  the  Rumanian  Jews  is  complete,"  as 
Prince  Bibesco  affirms. 

The  testimony  of  independent  and  impar- 
tial   writers    about    the    status    of    racial 
minorities  in  Rumania,  which  I  have  cited, 
applies  equally  well  to  the  condition  of  the 
Bulgarians  in  Southern  Dobrudja,  who  have 
been  put  under  Rumanian  rule  by  the  Paris 
Peace  Conference.     In  this  province,  where 
out  of  a  total  population  of  almost  275,000 
inhabitants,  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
whom  is  composed  of  Bulgarians  and  Turks, 
with  less  than  7,000  Rumanians,  the  same 
Rumanian   oppression  obtains.     Under   one 
pretext  or  another,  expropriations,  arrests, 
expulsions,  closing  of  schools  and  churches, 
and  military  and  civil  corruption   are  the 
order  of  the  day.     Those  of  your  readers  who 
remember  how  in  1913  Rumania,  by  stab- 
bing Bulgaria   in   the  back,   obtained   pos- 
session of  Southern  Dobrudja  will  certainly 
smile    at    Prince    Bibesco's    assertion    that 
"  Rumania  has  never  since  its  foundation 
cherished  plans  of  aggression."     Is  it  pos- 
sible that  he  is  unaware  of  the  fact  that 
highly    placed    political    men    and    eminent 
writers  in  Europe  and  elsewhere  qualified 
Rumania's  conduct  in  1913  as  "  an  act  of 
robbery  and  brigandage"? 


Prince  Bibesco  concludes  his  article  with 
the  boast  that  "  Rumania  stands  out  as  a 
European  outpost  of  Westernism,  amid  sur- 
roundings sunk  back  to  a  barbarian  level." 
If  by  "  Westernism  "  he  means  a  veneer  of 
civilization,  the  introduction  of  luxury  and 
dissipation  and  the  spread  of  vice  and  im- 
morality, Rumania  certainly  leads  the  way 
among  nations  of  the  Near  East.     Its  capi- 
tal, Bucharest,  has  long  since  prided  itself 
on  being  "  Little  Paris,"  and  in  some  social 
respects  it  goes  ahead  of  Paris.     If,  how- 
ever, by  "  Westernism  "  he  means  culture, 
education,  purity  of  family  life  and  social 
morality,   a   Rumanian    should   be    the   last 
man  to  throw  stones  at  his  neighbors.     In 
the  matter  of  popular  education,  for  exam- 
ple, Bulgaria  in  1910  occupied  by  the  liter- 
acy of  the  army  recruits  the  tenth  place 
among     the     European     powers,     standing 
ahead   of  Hungary,  Italy  and   Russia,  and 
in  the  first  place  among  the  Balkan  States. 
Three  years  later  only  5  per  cent,   of  the 
recruits   in   Bulgaria  were  illiterate,  while 
in  Rumania  and  Greece  the  proportion  was 
41  per  cent,  and  30  per  cent.,  respectively. 
In   1914   illiteracy   among   the   non-Moslem 
population  of  Bulgaria  was  35  per  cent.,  in 
Rumania    65    per    cent.,    in    Serbia    63    per 
cent.,  in  Greece  57  per  cent.     The  number 
of  pupils  per  1,000  inhabitants  in  Bulgaria 
in  1908  was  121,  in  Rumania  88,  in  Serbia 
51;    in    Greece    from   1910-11   it   was    116. 
Bulgaria  has  one  school  to  every  788  inhab- 
itants,   Greece    to    691,   Rumania   to    1,291, 
Serbia  to  2,065.    These  figures  are  more  re- 
markable when  one  takes  into  consideration 
that  Rumania  has  always  been  more  or  less 
a    country    possessing    home     rule,    while 
Serbia  and  Greece  had  already  been   self- 
governed  countries  for  half  a  century  before 
Bulgaria   in    1879   began   its   political   life, 
untrammeled    by   the    shackles    of    Turkish 
misrule  and  tyranny. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  moral  and  cultural 
status  of  Rumania  today. 

THEODORE    VLADIMIROFF. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.>  May  7,  1921. 


KORFANTY  AND  THE  SILESIAN  PLEBISCITE 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  the  June  issue  of  Current  History  I 
note,  in  the  article  entitled  "  The  Sijesian 
Crisis  and  Korfanty,"  a  number  of  inac- 
curate statements,  to  which  I  am  sure  you 
will  appreciate  having  your  attention  called. 
In  the  summary  printed  in  italics  (Page 
389)  you  speak  of  an  "  invasion  of  armed 
Polish  bands,  under  Polish  agitator."  The 
word  "  invasion  "  is  borne  out  in  the  con- 
text by  the  following  sentence :  "  The  ir- 
ruption across  the  Polish  frontier  into 
Silesia  of  a  large  Polish  force,  directed  by 
Adalbert  Korfanty."  Korfanty's  uprising 
was  one  of  native  elements  under  a  native 
leader,  and  there  was  no  invasion  or  irrup- 
tion of  any  kind.  Indeed,  later  on  you  speak 
of  the  general  strike  declared  early  in  May 
by  "  the  Polish  workmen  who  form  the 
population  of  the  mining  districts  of  Rybnik 
and  Pless.  This  was  followed  by  news 
that  lawless  Polish  bands  had  appeared  and 
were  terrorizing  the  country.  These  up- 
risings *  *  *."  The  strike,  which  you 
speak  of  as  having  occurred  "  early  in 
May,"  was  really  the  beginning  of  the  up- 
rising, and  the  talk  of  "  lawless  Polish 
bands  "  was  the  German  description  of  the 
Polish  native  insurgents. 

Elsewhere  you  speak  of  the  result  of  the 
plebiscite  as  "  a  victory  for  the  Germans. 
Fully  two-thirds  of  the  districts  had  elected 
to  remain  with  Germany."  The  result  of 
the  plebiscite,  according  to  the  Peace  Treaty 
(Article  88),  was  to  be  determined  by  com- 
munes, and  it  was  the  wishes  of  the  "  in- 
habitants "  that  were  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Whether  the  very  technical  in- 
terpretation of  the  Peace  Treaty,  which  al- 
lowed imported  outvoters  to  vote  on  equal 
terms  with  the  resident  natives,  was  a  fair 
one  may  be  a  matter  of  opinion.  I  do  wish, 
however,  to.  point  out  that  the  figures  as 
ultimately  announced  gave  a  total  vote  for 
Germany  of  716,408  and  for  Poland  of  471,- 


406  (New  York  Times,  March  23,  1921). 
I  think  you  will  see  these  figures  are  far 
from  giving  Germany  two-thirds  of  the  total 
vote  cast  in  the  plebiscite.  What  is  more, 
in  the  total  counted  for  Germany  are  in- 
cluded some  65,000  votes  cast  in  Leobschutz, 
a  district  which  was  to  decide  its  allegiance 
as  between  Germany  and  Czechoslovakia, 
and  not  between  Germany  and  Poland.  In 
that  district  only  300  voted  for  Czecho- 
slovakia. How  these  65,000  votes  can  pos- 
sibly be  counted  as  for  Germany  against 
Poland  I  am  not  able  to  understand. 

The  result  was  to  be  computed  by  com- 
munes, and  you  will  see  from  the  Peace 
Treaty  (Article  88)  that  there  was  to  be 
a  partition  of  Silesia  according  to  the  re- 
sults of  the  plebiscite.  As  a  matter  of  his- 
tory, you  probably  know  that  Germany  in- 
sists on  the  indivisibility  of  Upper  Silesia, 
contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty. 
From  the  point  of  view  of  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  treaty,  it  appears  to  be  a  mat- 
ter of  little  concern  who  got  the  majority 
of  the  total  vote  (including  the  emigrant 
voters,  who,  by  the  way,  were  told  to  clear 
out  by  the  15th  of  April  under  the  threat 
of  arrest  or  fine),  and  therefore,  even  apart 
from  the  actual  majority  in  the  total  plebis- 
cite area,  it  cannot  be  said  with  historic 
correctness  that  "  the  result  *  *  *  was 
a  victory  for  the  Germans." 

Fully  realizing  the  importance  of  Cur- 
rent History  as  a  record  of  present-day 
events  and  of  their  background,  I  have  no 
doubt,  in  view  of  the  scholarly  liking  for 
accuracy  and  the  general  tone  of  fairness 
which  characterizes  your  magazine,  that 
you  will  prefer  to  have  your  attention 
drawn  to  anything  which  will,  I  believe,  not 
be  to  the  future  historian  true  and  explain- 
able facts. 

LUDWIK  EHRLICH,  Director. 

Polish  Bureau  of  Information,  40  West  Fortieth 
Street,  New  York,  June  2,  1921. 


LORD  READING'S  ENEMIES  IN  INDIA 


How  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his  Moslem  ally,  Mohammed  All,  are  working  against  British 
rule,    supplementing    open    sedition    with    secret    and    subtle    propaganda — The 
Viceroy's  gigantic  task 


new 


LORD  READING,  the  new  Viceroy  to 
India,  attacked  his  formidable  task 
with  an  act  that  was  bound  to  have  a 
clarifying  effect.  He  had  a  long  talk  on 
May  13  with  Mr.  Gandhi,  the  head  and 
front  of  the  nationalist  movement  that  is 
trying  to  overthrow  British  rule  in  India. 
He  listened  to  Gandhi's  views  with  the 
deepest  attention,  and  in  return  set  forth 
his  own  policy.  What  went  on  between  the 
Hindu  mahatma  and  the  man  who  was 
formerly  the  Supreme  Justice  of  England 
has  not  yet  been  told,  but  that  it  was  a 
momentous  interview  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion. The  mystical  Gandhi,  however,  repre- 
sents only  the  Hindus;  the  Mohammedans 
also  must  be  reckoned  with.  Mohammed  Ali, 
the  Moslem  leader,  is  preaching  the  doctrine 
of  his  prophet  and  namesake — the  verdict  of 
the  sword.  The  bold  disloyalty  of  his  utter- 
ances is  sufficiently  illustrated  by  a  recent 
speech  at  Madras. 

We  have  been  made  slaves  once  [said  Mo- 
hammed Ali]  ;  we  do  not  want  to  be  made 
slaves  again  ;  but  if  the  Emir  of  Kabul  does 
not  enslave  India,  and  does  not  want  to  sub- 
jugate the  people  of  India,  who  have  never 
done  any  harm,  and  who  do  not  mean  to  do 
the  slightest  harm  to  the  people  of  Afghanis- 
tan or  elsewhere,  and  if  he  comes  to  fight 
against  those  who  have  always  had  an  eye 
on  his  country,  who  wanted  to  subjugate  his 
people,  who  hold  the  holy  places  of  Islam, 
who  want  to  crush  Islam  in  their  hostile 
grip,  who  want  to  destroy  the  Moslem  faith, 
and  who  are  bent  on  destroying  the  Khali- 
fate,  then  not  only  shall  we  assist,  but  it 
will  be  our  duty  and  the  duty  of  every  man 
who  calls  himself  a  Mussulman  to  gird  up 
his  loins  and  fight  the  good  fight  of  Islam. 

The  truth  seems  to  be,  judging  from  Mo- 
hammed Ali's  own  words  on  various  occa- 
sions, that  he  does  not  feel  certain  what 
attitude  Mr.  Gandhi's  non-co-operators 
would  take  in  the  event  of  another  Afghan 
invasion.  At  Allahabad  he  asserted  that 
no  non-co-operator  would  ever  desire  an  Af- 
ghan invasion.  It  was  better,  he  said,  to 
remain  in  hell  than  to  go  to  heaven  with  the 
aid  of  a  foreign  power,  but  if  any  foreign 
power  waged  war  to  make  India  free,  the 


non-co-operators  would  not  render  any  aid 
to  the  Government,  but  would  simply  watch 
the  fight.  He  denied  that  he  had  had  cor- 
respondence with  the  Emir  of  Afghanistan. 
Mohammed  Ali  further  declared  that  if  the 
people  of  India  followed  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Gandhi  they  would  have  freedom  and  home 
rule  within  a  year. 

Despite  the  favorable  opening  of  the  new 
Indian  Legislature  at  Delhi,  and  the  atti- 
tude of  the  new  Indian  members,  who  came 
out  for  election  in  defiance  of  the  Gandhi 
orders,  and  who,  during  their  short  tenure 
of  office,  have  shown  an  amazing  modera- 
tion and  desire  to  co-operate  with  the  Brit- 
ish members,  sedition  flames  through  the 
land — sedition  skillfully  and  shrewdly  dis- 
seminated. The  Indian  agitators  are  no 
tyros.  To  that  Lord  Chelmsford,  the  prede- 
cessor of  Lord  Reading,  testified  on  May  20 
in  a  public  address  in  London,  when  he 
Eaid: 

It  is  common  knowledge  that  there  lias  been 
for  many  years  considerable  political  agita- 
tion in  India.  It  is  equally  well  known  that 
the  Indian  political  agitator  has  little  to 
learn  with  regard  to  methods  of  agitation. 
He  has  drunk  deeply  from  the  experience  of 
agitators,  whether  in  England  or  in  Ireland, 
and  he  has  not  been  unmindful  of  the  greater 
subtleties  of  women  agitators,  and  these 
methods  have  been  applied  with  great  skill 
in  India.  The  aim  has  been  to  create  discon- 
tent with  British  rule,  and  to  bring  dis- 
credit on  the  Government  of  India,  and  it  is 
not  always  easy  for  the  Government  to  know 
how  to  deal  with  the  subtle  methods  that 
are  adopted.  I  recollect  that  shortly  before 
the  Duke  of  Connaught's  visit  I  was  anxious 
that  the  people  of  Delhi  should  see  the  fort 
and  palace  illuminated,  with  the  fountains 
playing,  and  I  directed  that  it  should  be 
opened  at  a  low  fee.  For  two  or  three  days 
the  people  went  in  by  thousands ;  then  one 
day  not  a  soul  came,  and  I  found  that  the 
rumor  had  been  spread  abroad  that  a  thou- 
sand women  had  gone  into  the  fort  and  not 
one  had  come  out  again.  But  when,  later,  the 
people  of  Delhi  found  that  none  of  their  rel- 
atives were  missing,  they  returned  in  their 
hundreds.  The  aim  of  the  agitator  was  to 
get  people  to  refuse  the  gifts  that  the  Gov- 
ernment offered. 

How  will  the  new  Viceroy  deal  with  the 
skillful    propaganda   of   rebellion   that   en- 


LORD  READING'S  ENEMIES  IN  INDIA 


635 


velops  him  night  and  day?  The  Afghanis- 
tan danger  is  real,  as  the  explanations 
made  before  the  new  Legislature  in  connec- 
tion with  the  large  budget  eloquently  ad- 
mitted. Afghanistan  has  made  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  Moscow,  and  the  Emir,  heart- 
ened by  the  Bolshevist  agitators  who  are 
everywhere  in  Afghanistan,  is  making  de- 
fiant and  impossible  demands.  The  eco- 
nomic unrest  of  India  is  great,  and  many 
strikes  testify  to  the  strength  of  the 
Gandhi-Mohammed  Ali  propaganda.  The 
poverty  of  the  people;  the  discontent  of  the 
Indian  merchants,  who  faced  bankruptcy, 
owing  to  the  worldwide  commercial  stagna- 
tion that  has  followed  the  war;  the  old 
religious  racial  hatreds — all  these  are  be- 
ing fused  by  a  magnetic  leader  into  one 
united  revolt  against  the  Government  of 
the  British,  and  their  "  satanic "  civiliza- 
tion, which  must  be  destroyed  to  enable  the 
people  to  revert  to  the  primitive  ways  of 
the  old  Vedas  and  the  simple,  homely,  free 
and  idyllic  life  which  underlay  them.  This 
is  the  teaching  which  the  Hindu  people  are 
absorbing  rapidly,  and  to  this  the  Moslem 
agitators  are  adding  the  menace  of  the 
sword.     What  will  be  the  outcome  of  it  all? 


How  much  of  Gandhi's  teachings  have 
contributed  to  the  results  of  the  March  cen- 
sus, which  show  an  amazingly  small  in- 
crease in  population  since  the  last  census,  it 
is  impossible  to  determine.  The  figures 
show  that  during  the  decade  1911-1921  the 
population  of  the  country,  including  both 
British  India  and  the  native  States,  in- 
creased only  from  315,150,000  to  319,000,- 
000 — or  at  a  rate  of  only  1.27  per  cent,  for 
the  whole  decade.  The  increases  noted  since 
1872  had  been  on  an  ever-rising  scale,  and 
even  between  1901  and  1911,  when  the  cen- 
sus area  was  approaching  fixity,  the  in- 
crease was  7.1  per  cent.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  the  census  just  taken  would 
show  a  population  of  at  least  340,000,000. 
The  influenza  plague  of  1918,  which  took 
a  toll  of  approximately  6,000,000  people, 
should  be  duly  considered.  It  is  also  stated 
that  the  method  of  taking  the  census  was 
defective,  the  census  takers  being  arbitra- 
rily assigned  their  task,  with  no  pay.  It 
should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that 
Gandhi  has  carried  his  fanatic  teaching  so 
far  as  to  forbid  his  followers  to  have  chil- 
dren until  India  has  gained  independence. 


IN  DEFENSE  OF  KING  CONSTANTINE 


To   the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

I  have  been  very  much  interested  in 
reading  the  article  in  your  May  issue  on 
"What  the  Greeks  Are  Fighting  For."  I 
am  writing  at  once  to  express  my  appre- 
ciation of  it  and  of  the  attitude  you  have 
taken  in  presenting  the  true  side  of  the 
Greek  question,  even  though  that  side  is 
the  unpopular  side  in  this  country.  I  am 
myself  a  Greek,  and  as  such  have  more 
closely  at  heart  the  interests  of  Greece — 
with  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  existing  there — than  the  Ameri- 
can press  can  have.  Therefore  I  am  re- 
joiced to  see  this  fair  and  scholarly  pre- 
sentation of  the  situation  in  my  country. 
I  hope  that  this  article  may  do  much 
toward  disabusing  the  minds  of  the  Ameri- 
can public  of  the  utterly  false  idea  that 
King  Constantine  is  or  ever  was  pro- 
German.  He  was  not.  If  he  was  not  pro- 
German,   however,   it   was   not   because   of 


anything  the  Allies  did,  as  any  Greek 
knows  who  is  familiar  with  the  intimate 
facts  of  Greek  politics  during  the  early 
years  of  the  war,  and  who  is  not  blinded 
by  personal  devotion  to  Venizelos;  for  the 
allied  powers  continually  antagonized  him 
and  forced  him  into  a  friendship  with  his 
brother-in-law,  the  Kaiser,  which  he  did  not 
feel. 

And  why  cannot  the  American  public  be 
persuaded  of  King  Constantine's  entire  de- 
votion and  loyalty  to  his  country  and  his 
people  by  the  results  of  the  November 
elections?  Who  is  to  judge  whether  Con- 
stantine is  the  well-beloved  of  his  people, 
if  it  is  not  the  Greek  people  themselves? 
And  the  overwhelming  majority  which  was 
returned  for  him  at  the  polls  should  be  a 
proof  to  the  American  public  that  they  have 
been  fed  on  propaganda  when  they  have 
been  assured  that  Constantine  is  the  arch 
enemy  of  the   Greek  people.     I  wish  that 


636 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


your  article,  or  Mr.  Hibben's  article,  to  be 
exact,  had  said  even  more  about  this.  I 
want  the  American  people  to  understand 
and  believe  it. 

I,  and  I  am  sure  all  Americans  and 
Greeks  who  have  seen  this  article,  will  read 
your  magazine  with  increased  interest  and 
confidence  now  that  we  have  seen  that  you 


dared  to  print  what  is  the  real  truth.  Cap- 
tain Paxton  Hibben's  disinterested  and 
high-minded  friendship  for  Greece  is,  of 
course,  known  to  all  Greeks,  and  you  are 
fortunate  to  have  had  one  so  well  informed 
to  write  the  article  for  you. 

D.  J.  THEOPHILATOS. 
59  Pearl  Street,  New  York,  May  31,  1921. 


WHAT  JAPAN  IS  DOING  TO  CHINA 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  article 
by  Sidney  C.  Graves,  entitled  "  Japanese 
Aggression  in  Siberia,"  which  appeared  in 
the  May  issue  of  Current  History.  As  in- 
dicated by  this  writer,  Manchuria  is  almost 
entirely  dominated  by  the  Japanese. 

The  interpretation  of  Japan's  activities 
in  China  is  comparatively  easy  for  those 
who  know  what  is  actually  occurring  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Pacific.  Prominent  men 
of  various  nationalities,  who  have  a  first- 
hand knowledge  of  both  China  and  Japan, 
have  repeatedly  called  the  attention  of  the 
world  to  those  activities.  And  yet,  as  a 
whole,  Japan  may  plume  herself  on  having 
blinded  the  great  powers,  as  well  as  the 
smaller  nations  of  the  world,  to  her  aggres- 
sive and  unlawful  conduct  in  the  Orient. 
What  she  has  overlooked  is  that  the  time  is 
bound  to  come  when  the  world  will  know 
and  understand  her  better.  She  has  also 
failed  to  learn  the  great  lesson  of  the  war 
and  has  continued  her  wrongful  and  im- 
perialistic policy,  oblivious  to  the  fate  that 
overtook  German  imperialism. 

I  should  like  to  bring  before  your  readers 
a  few  of  the  Japanese  practices  in  China 
which  I  personally  witnessed  when  I  re- 
turned home  in  1919.  The  more  obvious 
cases  of  Japanese  aggression — in  Korea, 
Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Formosa  and  Shan- 
tung— the  world  now  knows.  But  there  are 
other  misdeeds,  of  the  greatest  menace  to 
China's  future,  which  the  world  knows  noth- 
ing about.    A  few  of  these  are  listed  below: 

The  Opium  Traffic 

China  has  suffered  greatly  from  the 
opium  scourge,  and  has  officially  done  away 
with  it.  The  Japanese,  however,  who,  so 
far  as  human  words  hold,  have  claimed  to 
be  China's  friends,  are  doing  all  they  can  to 


keep  the  opium  traffic  alive.  Taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  extra-territorial  rights  of 
foreigners  in  China,  Japan  has  assured  her 
nationals  in  China  protection  in  carrying 
on  the  traffic  on  a  large  scale.  That  traf- 
fic is  in  full  swing  today  in  certain  prov- 
inces, in  Foochow  and  other  cities  of  Man- 
churia and  Mongolia.  Japanese  steamship 
lines,  and  even  the  Post  Offices,  are  used  for 
the  transmission  of  the  drug,  which  is  sold 
on  guaranteed  delivery.  I  may  refer  in 
passing  to  the  scarcity  concealed  mainte- 
nance of  Japanese  opium-smoking  houses. 

[Mr.  Pelham  Hung-,  editor  of  the  Peking 
and  Tientsin  Times,  while  attending  in  Tokio 
a  conference  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  jour- 
nalists held  in  April,  declared  in  a  public  in- 
terview with  the  representative  of  the  Kokusai 
that  "  97  per  cent,  .of  the  morphine  smugglers 
in  China  are  Japanese  subjects."  To  sup- 
press this  nefarious  trade,  said  Mi-.  Hung, 
was  China's  greatest  need  today.  "  I  believe," 
he  added,  "  that  the  majority  of  the  Japanese 
people  are  ignorant  that  their  countrymen  are 
largely  responsible  for  the  business  that  is 
ruining  the  bodies  and  souls  of  over  100,000 
Chinese  men,  women  and  children  every  year. 
Their  officials,  however,  cannot  pretend  igno- 
rance. *  *  *  A  Sino-Japanese  entente  can  never 
come  until  Japanese  nationals  stop  smuggling 
morphine."  Mr.  Hung  recalled  the  fact  that" 
the  Japanese  Consul  General  in  Tientsin  prom- 
ised in  1919  to  "  punish  severely  all  Japanese 
nationals  found  engaged  in  this  vile  trade,"  but 
"  today  matters  are  as  bad  as  when  the  prom- 
ise was  first  given."  Though  Mr.  Hung  did 
not  charge  that  the  Japanese  authorities  of- 
ficially encouraged  the  traffic,  he  showed 
clearly  that  they  tolerated  it.  Great  Britain, 
he  pointed  out,  forbade  the  exportation  of 
opium  to  China  in  1917,  and  neither  the  Brit- 
ish nor  other  European  countries  are  now  in- 
dulging in  the  sale  of  opium  or  other  narcotics 
in    China.— Editor.] 

Gambling  and  Prostitution 

Gambling,  like  opium   smoking,  is  penal- 
ized by  law,  but  one  who  has  been  in  China, 


WHAT  JAPAN  IS  DOING  TO  CHINA 


637 


especially  in  the  regions  referred  to  above, 
has  seen  many  gambling  houses  openly  do- 
ing business  along  the  city  streets.  For- 
eigners believe  that  these  houses  are  run 
by  Chinese.  If  one  will  only  take  the 
trouble  to  pause  and  gaze  upward  at  the 
sign,  one  will  see  the  words,  "  Japanese 
merchant."  This  means  that,  alike  in  the 
case  of  opium  smoking  and  gambling,  the 
Chinese  authorities  have  no  right  of  en- 
trance and  search  without  previously  noti- 
fying the  Japanese  Consul.  If,  finally,  a 
search  is  decided  on,  it  must  be  undertaken 
jointly.  It  is  well  known  to  the  Chinese 
that,  when  such  raids  are  planned,  the  Japa- 
nese engaged  in  such  nefarious  business  are 
almost  always  warned  from  the  consulate 
before  the  police  reach  the  field  of  opera- 
tions. 

The  Japanese  also  take  advantage  of  poor 
Chinese  who  are  in  need  of  ready  money 
to  make  small  loans  at  a  good  profit.  The 
Japanese  lender  requires  no  security,  but 
depends  wholly  on  the  support  of  the  Japa- 
nese Consul  to  collect  his  money.  Only 
those  who  have  seen  the  Japanese  process 
of  collection  know  what  this  means. 

Wherever  there  are  Japanese,  there  is 
Japanese  prostitution,  which  is  not  only 
encouraged  but  legalized  by  the  Japanese 
Government.  The  extension  of  the  system 
to  China  is  but  a  part  of  the  deliberate 
Japanese  policy  to  ruin,  both  physically  and 
morally,  the  nations  with  which  they  are 
brought  into  close  contact.  This  deliberate 
policy  will  have  the  most  serious  conse- 
quences in  Korea. 

The  law  of  China  prohibits  the  sale  of 
arms  and  munitions  to  individuals  or  to 
private  concerns.  Yet  in  various  places  one 
always  sees  armed  bands  of  rebels  roaming 
about,  bearing  modern  rifles  and  making 
trouble  for  the  good  citizens  of  China.  Such 
arms  and  munitions  come  from  Japan,  the 
only  country  in  the  world  at  .present  which 
undertakes  to  endanger  the  peace  of  other 
nations,  the  only  country  which  has  no 
sense  of  international  law. 


Japanese  "  Name-Letting  " 

"  Name-letting "  is  something  of  which 
Americans  have  no  knowledge,  and  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  any  one  who  has  not 
lived  in  China  who  has  ever  heard  of  it. 
The  merit  of  this  invention  belongs  wholly 
to  the  Japanese.  In  the  last  few  years, 
China  has  increased  her  taxes,  and  these 
have  become  a  heavy  burden  to  the  people. 
Some  of  the  lower  class,  who  lack  a  sense 
of  nationalism,  seek  to  avoid  the  payment 
of  these  taxes.  This  is  where  the  "  always- 
ready-to-be-your-friend  "  Japanese  comes  in 
and  says :  "  Let  us  list  your  business 
and  property  under  our  own  name,  collect- 
ing therefor  a  commission  far  smaller  in 
amount  than  the  sum  which  you  will  have 
to  pay  to  the  tax  officials."  Undoubtedly 
the  Japanese  by  this  device  have  aided 
many  of  the  poorer  class  to  dodge  their 
taxes.  The  consequences  of  this  business 
have  sometimes  been  disastrous  for  the 
Chinese,  for  in  some  cases  the  Japanese 
"  name-lender "  flees  to  escape  his  ac- 
cumulated debts;  the  Japanese  Consul  then 
steps  in  and  takes  possession  of  all  goods 
listed  under  the  said  debtor's  name,  regard- 
less of  their  true  ownership. 

The  arbitrary  character  of  the  Japanese 
is  seen  in  the  matter  of  the  Chinese  boycott 
of  all  Japanese  goods.  The  Chinese  people, 
in  view  of  the  Shantung  award  particular- 
ly, will  not  buy  Japanese  manufactures  of 
any  kind.  The  Chinese  authorities  cannot 
force  the  Chinese  people  to  buy,  and  yet 
the  Japanese  dare  to  demand  that  these  au- 
thorities, whom  they  deem  responsible,  shall 
be  dismissed!  How  do  the  Japanese  know 
that  the  Chinese  public  does  not  like  Amer- 
ican or  English  goods  better? 

I  have  given  above  only  a  few  examples 
of  what  the  Japanese  are  doing  in  China. 
As  to  what  Japan  is  doing  through  diplo- 
matic channels,  the  world  is  informed  daily 
through  the  press.  Whatever  the  field,  the 
Japanese  policy  never  changes. 

GARDNER  KUOPING  LIU. 

University  of  Chicago,  May  17,  1921. 


GERMANY'S  TRADE  TREATY 
WITH  RUSSIA 


rlE  Russian  Soviet  Government,  after 
successfully  concluding  its  negotiations 
for  a  trade  agreement  with  Great 
Britain,  bent  all  its  efforts  to  obtaining  a 
similar  agreement  with  Germany,  a  country 
considered  by  Leonid  Krassin,  the  London 
negotiator,  as  even  more  important.  The  dis- 
cussions were  long  protracted,  and  it  was 
not  until  May  6  that  the  German  and  Bol- 
shevist representatives  in  Berlin  succeeded 
in  bringing  the  negotiations  to  a  satisfac- 
tory end. 

This  agreement,  though  only  preliminary, 
indicated  a  mutual  desire  to  establish  solid 
economic  and  political  relations  between  the 
two  countries.  It  was  signed  for  Germany 
by  Gustav  Behrendt  and  Freiherr  (Baron) 
von  Maltzen;  for  Soviet  Russia  by  Aaron 
Scheinmann   and    M.    Gans.      The   compact 


gave  full  diplomatic  immunity  to  the  re- 
spective political  and  trade  delegations  to 
be  exchanged,  as  well  as  the  full  consular 
powers  necessary  to  legalize  contracts  and 
facilitate  business;  granted  to  merchant 
ships  of  either  party  the  usual  privileges 
relative  to  territorial  waters,  and  author- 
ized the  reopening  of  all  radio,  telegraph 
and  postal  communications.  Each  delega- 
tion was  empowered  to  protect  the  rights 
of  war  prisoners  and  interned  civilians  and 
to  facilitate  the  departure  of  its  nationals 
from  the  other  country.  Both  parties  bound 
themselves  not  to  permit  their  respective 
delegations  to  conduct  propaganda  while 
resident  in  the  other  country. 

The  full  text  of  this  agreement,  trans- 
lated into  English  from  the  Prager  Press 
of  May  10,  is  as  follows: 


TEXT    OF    THE    AGREEMENT 


The  German  Government  and  the  Russian  So- 
cialist Federative  Soviet  Republic,  moved  by  the 
desire  to  serve  the  cause  of  peace  between  Ger- 
many and  Russia  and  to  promote  the  prosperity 
of  both  peoples  in  mutual  good-will,  conclude  the 
following  provisional  agreement: 

ARTICLE  1— The  sphere  of  activity  of  the 
Delegations  for  the  Care  of  Prisoners  of  War 
already  existing  shall  be  enlarged  so  that  they 
may  be  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  protecting 
the  interests  of  all  their  nationals.  Trade 
Delegations  shall  be  attached  to  both  these  Dele- 
gations, in  order  to  promote  economic  relations 
between  their  countries.  Until  normal  relations 
are  fully  restored,  the  Delegations  shall  be 
known  as  "  The  German  Delegation  in  Russia  " 
and  "  The  Delegation  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federative  Soviet  Republic  in  Germany."  The 
Delegations  shall  have  their  headquarters  in 
Moscow  and  Berlin  respectively.  The  Delega- 
tion of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federative  Soviet 
Republic  in  Germany  shall  be  regarded  as  the 
only  body  representing  the  Russian  State  in 
Germany. 

ARTICLE  2— The  head  of  the  Delegation  shall 
enjoy  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  prin- 
cipals of  accredited  missions.  Until  otherwise 
agreed,  seven  members  of  the  Delegation  shall 
further  enjoy  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
members  of  accredited  Missions,  in  so  far  as 
they  are  not  citizens  of  the  State  in  which  they 
are  residing. 

With    regard    to    those    persons    employed    in 


the  Delegations  who  are  not  citizens  of  the 
State  in  which  they  are  residing,  both  Govern- 
ments engage  to  take  such  steps  as  will  be 
necessary  to   ensure : 

1.  That  their  houses  shall  be  searched  only 
after  the  Ministry  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
State  in  which  they  are  residing  has  been 
given  notice,  and  in  so  far  as  delay  does 
not  involve  risk,  in  the  presence  of  a  repre- 
sentative of  that  authority  and  a  represent- 
ative of  the  Delegation. 

2.  That  cases  of  imprisonment  and  arrest 
shall  be  communicated  immediately  to  the 
central  authority  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
State  where  the  persons  concerned  are  resid- 
ing, and  that  authority  shall  inform  the  head 
of  the  Delegation  within  a  period  not  exceed- 
ing 24  hours  after  the  imprisonment  or  ar- 
rest. 

3.  That  these  persons  and  the  members  of 
their  families  shall  be  exempt  from  all  obli- 
gations to  perform  State  labor  of  any  kind, 
and  from  military  service  and  all  obligations 
connected  with  war. 

ARTICLE  3— Each  Government  engages  to 
secure  suitable  offices  for  the  Delegation  of 
the  other  party,  and  to  see  that  the  head  and 
the  personnel  receive  suitable  living  accommo- 
dation. They  further  engage  to  give  every  as- 
sistance in  procuring  the  necessary  materials 
for   the  work   of  the   Delegation. 

article  4— The  German  Delegation  in  Rus- 


GERMANY'S  TXADE  TREATY  WITH  RUSSIA 


639 


sia  shall  be  entitled  to  import  free  of  tariff  and 
duty  the  materials  necessary  to  carry  on  its 
official  duties  and  to  keep  its  quarters  in  re- 
pair, as  well  as  the  food  and  other  necessaries 
required  by  the  German  personnel  up  to  40 
kilograms  per  month  per  person.  The  import 
permit  shall  be  issued  by  the  Russian  Delega- 
tion in  the  country  of  origin  on  production  of 
a  covering  list  which  must  be  authenticated  in 
Germany  by  the  Foreign  Office,  and  in  other 
countries  by   the   German   representatives   there. 

ARTICLE  5— The  heads  of  the  delegations 
shall  be  accredited  to  the  central  authority  for 
Foreign  Affairs  of  the  State  where  they  are 
residing.  The  delegations  shall  deal  with  that 
authority,  and  in  trade  matters  directly  with 
the   other  central   authorities   as   well. 

ARTICLE  6— The  Delegations  shall  be  given 
the  following  consular   powers : 

1.  To  protect  the  interests  of  their  nationals 
in  accordance  with  the  traditions  of  interna- 
tional law. 

2.  To  issue  passports,  identification  papers 
and  vises. 

3.  To  receive,  certify  and  attest  docu- 
ments. 

Both  contracting  parties  engage  to  enter  into 
immediate  negotiations  for  the  conclusion  of  an 
agreement  concerning  the  keeping  of  a  register 
of  births,  deaths  and  marriages,  and  data  con- 
cerning marriage   contracts. 

ARTICLE  7— Each  Delegation  shall  have  the 
right  to  use  the  wireless  stations  and  public 
postal  facilities,  to  hold  uninterrupted  official 
communication  with  its  Government,  and  with 
the  representatives  of  its  Government  in  other 
countries,  either  openly  or  in  code,  and  further 
to  communicate  by  courier  in  accordance  with 
a   special   agreement. 

ARTICLE  8— Until  a  treaty  is  concluded  which 
which  shall  determine  on  principle  the  rights  of 
the  citizens  of  both  parties,  the  following  pro- 
visions shall  hold  good : 

1.  The  provisions  of  the  agreement  of  April 
19,  1920,  the  supplementary  agreement  of 
July  7,  1920,  and  the  supplementary  agree- 
ment of  today's  date  shall  apply  to  the  Rus- 
sian war  prisoners  and  interned  civilians  in 
Germany.  Otherwise  Russian  citizens  in  Ger- 
many shall  be  treated  in  respect  to  their  per- 
sons and  property  in  accordance  with  inter- 
national law  and  the  general  laws  of  Ger- 
many. 

2.  German  citizens  within  the  territory  of 
the  Russian  Socialist  Federative  Soviet  Re- 
public at  the  time  of  the  conclusion  of  this 
agreement  shall  retain  the  rights  stipulated 
in  the  supplementary  agreement  of  today's 
date  as  former  war  prisoners  or  interned 
civilians. 

3.  To  German  citizens  who  go  to  the  terri- 
tory of  the  other  party  for  trade  purposes  in 
accordance  with  this  agreement  and  who 
comply  with  the  passport  regulations,  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federative  Soviet  Republic 
guarantees  the  inviolability  of  their  property, 
whether  brought  with  them  or  acquired  in 
Russia,   in  so  far  as  it  is  acquired  and  used 


in  accordance  with  the  special  agreements 
made  with  the  competent  organs  of  the  Rus- 
sian Socialist  Federative  Soviet  Republic. 
Special  letters  of  safe  conduct  from  the  Rus- 
sian Socialist  Federative  Soviet  Republic 
shall  ensure  the  inviolability  of  this  property, 
except  in  so  far  as  claims  can  be  made 
against  the  holder  of  the  letter  of  safe 
conduct  on  the  ground  of  legal  transactions 
into  which  he  has  entered  with  the  Russian 
Socialist  Federative  Soviet  Republic  after 
the  conclusion  of  this  agreement. 

ARTICLE  9— The  Russian  Government  shall 
permit  persons  who  have  been  German  citizens, 
but  have  lost  their  nationality,  as  well  as  their 
wives  and  children,  to  leave  the  country  if  it 
can  be  proved  that  this  is  for-  the  purpose  of 
emigrating   to   Germany. 

ARTICLE  10— The  German  Government 
guarantees  to  Russian  ships,  and  the  Russian 
Government  to  German  ships,  in  their  respective 
territorial  waters  and  ports,  treatment  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  usages  of  international  law. 
In  so  far  as  Russian  ships  serving  trade  pur- 
poses are  granted  special  privileges  in  the  mat- 
ter of  shipping  dues,  in  accordance  with  this 
stipulation,  as  ships  belonging  to  the  State,  the 
Russian  Government  guarantees  to  grant  similar 
privileges  to  German  merchantmen.  In  every 
case,  however,  a  ship  belonging  to  either  con- 
tracting party  in  the  ports  of  the  other  party 
may  be  held  liable  for  such  charges  as  are 
directly  connected  with  the  said  ship,  such  as, 
for  example,  harbor  dues,  cost  of  repairs,  or 
claims  for  compensation  in  cases  of  collision. 

ARTICLE  11— Both  Governments  shall  imme- 
diately take  all  steps  to  make  possible  the 
speedy  resumption  of  postal,  telegraphic  and 
wireless  communication,  and  to  guarantee  these 
communications  by  means  of  special  agree- 
ments. 

ARTICLE  12— The  German  Delegation  in  Rus- 
sia shall  protect  the  economic  interests  of  the 
German  realm  and  its  citizens  through  its 
trade   delegation. 

The  Russian  Trade  Delegation  in  Germany,  as 
the  State  Trade  Bureau  for  legal  transactions 
in  German  territory,  shall  be  regarded  as  the 
legitimate  representative  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment. The  latter  shall  recognize  as  binding 
all  legal  transactions  undertaken  either  by  the 
head  of  the  Delegation,  or  by  the  head  of  the 
Trade  Delegation,  or,  finally,  by  any  authorized 
agent    of    either    of    these. 

ARTICLE  13— The  Russian  Government  en- 
gages to  include  an  arbitration  clause  in  all 
legal  contracts  with  German  citizens,  German 
firms  and  German  juridical  persons  entered  into 
upon  the  territory  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federative  Soviet  Republic  and  of  States  united 
with  it  in  a  State  scheme  of  imports  and  ex- 
ports. In  the  case  of  legal  contracts  entered 
into  in  Germany  and  their  economic  results, 
the  Russian  Government  shall  submit  to  Ger- 
man law,  and  in  the  case  of  civil  obligations  to 
German  courts  and  execution,  but  only  in  so  far 
as  the  obligations  in  question  arise  from  legal 
transactions  entered  into  with   German  citizens, 


040 


THi:   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


German  firms,  and  German  juridical  persons 
after  the  conclusion  of  this  agreement.  The 
right  of  the  Russian  Government  to  include  the 
arbitration  clause  also  in  transactions  con- 
cluded in  Germany  shall  remain  intact.  Other- 
wise the  property  of  the  Russian  Government 
in  Germany  shall  enjoy  the  protection  custo- 
mary under  international  law.  In  particular  it 
shall  not  be  subject  to  German  jurisdiction  and 
execution  in  any  cases  other  than  those  speci- 
fied  under   Paragraph  1. 

ARTICLE  14— Both  Delegations  shall  be  en- 
titled to  engage  the  experts  necessary  for  the 
accomplishment  of  their  economic  duties.  Re- 
quests for  the  admission  of  experts,  to  be  ac- 
companied by  detailed  explanations,  shall  be 
made  by  the  central  authority  to  the  representa- 
tives of  the  other  party,  and  shall  be  dealt  with 
immediately. 

ARTICLE  15— Both  Delegations  and  the  per- 
sons employed  by  them  shall  confine  themselves 
in  their  activities  strictly  to  the  duties  accorded 
them  under  this  agreement.  In  particular  they 
shall  be  under  the  obligation  to  refrain  from 
any  agitation  or  propaganda  against  the  Gov- 
ernment or  State  institutions  of  the  country 
where  they  are  residing. 

ARTICLE   16— Until   a  future  trade  agreement 


shall  be  concluded,  this  agreement  shall  form 
the  basis  of  the  economic  relations  between  the 
two  countries,  and  shall  be  interpreted  in  a 
spirit  of  reciprocal  good-will  with  a  view  to 
the   promotion   of   economic   relations. 

ARTICLE  17— This  agreement  shall  come  into 
force  on  the  day  on  which  it  is  signed.  The 
agreement  may  be  denounced  by  either  side 
with  three  months'   notice. 

If  the  agreement,  when  denounced,  shall  not 
be  replaced  by  another  agreement,  each  of  the 
contracting  parties  shall  be  entitled,  after  the 
expiration  of  the  period  of  notice,  to  appoint 
a  commission  of  five  members  in  order  to  wind 
up  the  transactions  already  entered  into.  The 
members  of  this  commission  shall  have  the 
position  of  agents  without  diplomatic  privileges, 
and  shall  complete  the  winding  up  of  business 
within  a  period  not  exceeding  six  months  after 
the    expiration    of   this    treaty. 

For   Germany, 

GUSTAV   EEHRENDT, 
FREIHERR     VON     BALTZEN. 

For   Soviet   Russia, 

SCHEINMANN, 
GANS. 
Berlin,   May   0.    1921. 


WHY   BUSINESS   IS    DEPRESSED 


A  SHORT  but  illuminating  tabulation, 
showing  the  comparative  deprecia- 
tion of  European  currencies  since  the  war 
was  given  by  Edward  A.  Filene,  a  Boston 
business  man  who  has  traveled  over  all 
Europe  since  the  war,  in  an  address  de- 
livered before  the  World  Alliance  for  Inter- 
national Friendship  Through  the  Churches 
on  May  18,  1921.  Mr.  Filene's  aim  was  to 
show  that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  busi- 
ness depression  and  unemployment  in  the 
United  States  was  the  country's  inability  to 
dispose  of  its  surplus  products,  owing  to 
Europe's  great  economic  and  financial  dis- 
tress. To  obtain  the  food  products  and  raw 
materials  necessary  for  its  existence, 
Europe  must  be  granted  long-term  credits, 
said  Mr.  Filene.  But,  he  pointed  out,  such 
credits  could  not  be  given  until  conditions 
in  Europe  were  more  or  less  permanently 
settled,  and  this  demanded  co-operation  of 
the  American  Government  with  the  Govern- 
ments of  the  struggling  countries  of  the 
Old  World.  To  understand  the  state  to 
which  those  countries  have  come  financially, 
said  Mr.  Filene,  one  must  survey  the  situa- 
tion in  figures: 


At  the  rate  of  exchange  on  May  8,  for  in- 
stance [he  said],  compared  with  the  normal 
value  and  in  terms  of  our  money,  the  quan- 
tity of  food,  or  cotton,  or  copper,  that  could 
be  bought  here  for  $100,  cost 
In  England    ...$122.10     In  Austria    ..$7,660.38 

In  France 233.02    In  Germany      1, .170.95 

In  Italy    375.85     In  Poland     ..20,255.32 

,    In  Belgium   . . .   233.09     In  Czechoslo- 
vakia       1,460.43 

These  figures  speak  for  themselves.  The 
desperate  financial  situation  of  Austria  has 
been  exposed  by  the  Austrian  Chancellor 
before  the  Supreme  Council.  The  enormous 
depreciation  shown  for  Poland  has  been  ex- 
plained by  the  Poles  on  the  ground  that 
the  Germans,  by  refusing  trade  and  by 
other  devices,  had  deliberately  forced  down 
the  value  of  the  Polish  mark  for  reasons 
of  their  own,  prominent  among  which  was 
the  alleged  wish  to  induce  the  Poles  of  Up- 
per Silesia  to  abandon  Poland  and  to  vote 
for  union  with  Germany.  From  this  tabu- 
lation it  is  seen  that  although  the  financial 
situation  of  the  Entente  countries  is  unfa- 
vorable that  of  Germany  and  the  new  re- 
public of  Czechoslovakia  is  far  worse,  while 
Austria  is  facing  bankruptcy  and  Poland 
stands  on  the  verge  of  financial  ruin. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[American    Cartoon] 


"There'll  be  only  one  pilot  for  this  ship" 


v.  w    I  ot  i.    Times 


642 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


They'll  have  to  cancel  this  driver's  license 


'  :S 


** 


\? 


-Brooklyn    Eagle. 


A  menacing  feature  has  been  introduced  into  the  Upper  Silesian  problem 
by  the  activities  of  Polish  irregular  forces  under  Korfanty  and  the  seizure  of  a 
number  of  important  districts  in  advance  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Council. 
The  Allied  troops  have  been  reinforced  in  an  attempt  to  restore  order. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


643 


[American  Cartoon] 


More  Irritation  than  Lubrication 


~a** 


San    Francisco    Chronicle. 


644 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American     Cartoons] 


Digging  In 

—Louisville   Courier- 
Journal. 

The  extension  of 
time  given  to  the 
Germans  by  the 
Allies  for  accept- 
ance of  the  allied 
terms  on  repara- 
tions and  disarm- 
ament expired  on 
May  12.  By  that 
time,  after  great 
difficulty,  a  Ger- 
man Cabinet  head- 
ed by  J.  Wirth  had 
been  formed,  and 
this  Cabinet  ac- 
cepted the  terms 
without  modifica- 
tion. They  call 
for  reparations  of 
about  $36,000,000,- 
000. 


An    Old    Song 

with  a  New 

Meaning 

"Fast  Stands  and 
Sure  the  Watch — 
the  Watch  on  the 
Rhine!" 

iv  York  Tribune. 

Apropos  of  the 
firm  stand  taken  by 
the  Allies,  especially 
France,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  German  repa- 
rations. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


645 


[English  Cartoon] 


THE  ALLIED   MAYPOLE 


■Passing  Jlhow,   London. 


German  militarism  has  been  largely  shorn  of  its  power  by  the  provisions  of 
the  Peace  Treaty.  That  treaty  called  for  the  reduction  of  the  German  army  to 
100,000  men.  Efforts  have  been  made,  especially  by  Bavaria,  to  evade  the  pro- 
vision by  the  maintenance  of  Home  Guards  that  could  easily  be  transformed  into 
a    formidable    military    force. 


646 


THE    NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[Italian    Cartoons] 


What  the  Fascisti  Did  to 
the  Reds 

Two  years  ago  Red  Revolution 
scorned  attack.  A  year  ago  it  be- 
gan to  totter,  and  this  year's  May 
elections  showed  the  "granite" 
giant  to  be  only  a  statue  of  chalk, 
after  all. 


Turkey    Makes    Constan- 

tine's  Throne  Still  More 

Uncomfortable 


— II    420,    Florence. 


^—11  420,   Florence. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


647 


[American    Cartoons] 


"I  Ain't  the  Man  I  Used 
to  Be!" 

The  excess  profits  tax  was 
for  three  years  one  of  the  chief 
reliances  of  the  Government  in 
raising  money  to  meet  its  cur- 
rent needs.  During  that  period 
prices  were  high,  there  was  an 
orgy  of  spending  and  the  prof- 
its of  large  corporations  were 
beyond  all  precedent.  Now, 
however,  deflation  is  in  full 
swing,  the  "consumers'  strike" 
shows  few  signs  of  being 
broken,  and  the  excess  profits 
have  so  shrunken  that  the 
yield  from  the  tax  will  be  com- 
paratively  small. 


-Dayton  News, 


"He's  Pulling  Leather!" 

The  cost  of  living  is  steadily 
decreasing  in  the  United  States, 
although  the  reduction  is  more 
notable  in  wholesale  than  in  re- 
tail lines.  A  recent  report  of 
the  Federal  Reserve  Board  em- 
phasized the  fact  that,  while 
from  January  to  May  there  had 
been  a  reduction  of  11  per  cent, 
in  the  price  of  raw  materials, 
there  had  been  a  reduction  of 
only  3  per  cent,  to  the  consumer. 
The  reluctance  of  the  retailer 
to  fall  in  line  with  the  whole- 
saler is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant factors  hindering  business 
revival. 


-Los   Angeles    Times. 


f)48 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


Now  "Step  On  'Er!" 


Tdronia     Neics-T rib  line. 


The  resumption  of  world  trade  and  the  opening  of  a  new  era  of  prosperity 
have  been  waiting  on  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  German  reparations. 
Now  that  a  definite  sum  has  been  stated  by  the  Allies  and  agreed  to  by  Ger- 
many, the  greatest  element  of  doubt  has  been  removed,  and  the  consensus  of 
opinion  among  financiers  is  that  a  trade  revival  all  over  the  world  may  be  con- 
fidently expected. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


649 


[American     Cartoons] 


Y.    World. 


Uncle    Has    an 

Interest  in 

the  Pot 

■<il     Press 

Association. 


The  mandate  as- 
signed to  Japan  over 
Yap  by  the  Supremo 
Council  has  stirred 
the  United  States  to 
declare  through  Sec- 
retary Hughes  that 
as  a  participant  in 
the  Allied  victory 
this  country  claimed 
a  voice  in  territorial 
mandates  and  did 
not  recognize  any 
decisions  in  that 
matter  in  which  it 
had  had  no  part. 


Who  Said 
'Isolation?' 


In  response 
to  an  invita- 
tion by  the 
Allied  Gov- 
ernments, the 
United  States 
Government  on 
May  6  an- 
nounced that  it 
would  partici- 
pate in  future 
Allied  confer- 
ences, though 
"m  a  i  ntaining 
the  traditional 
policy  of  ab- 
stention  in 
matters  of  dis- 
tinctly Euro- 
pean concern." 


6$0 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[German    Cartoons] 


—  Ulk.    Berlin. 


COUNT   OTTAKAR    (Harding):      "Away,   throw   the   monster    (the    League 
of  Nations)    into   the  abyss!"     (Freischutz). 


The  Rope 
Dancer 

PRESIDENT 
HARDING: 

"Confound  it, 
between  Amer- 
ican Liberty 
and  the  Eiffel 
Tower  top  of 
French  insan- 
ity, it  is  hard 
to  preserve  a 
balance." 


•Kladdera  datsch.  Berlin. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


651 


[American    Cartoons] 

Future  World  Trade  Situation 


— Central    Press    Association,  Cleveland. 
As  "Viewed  With  Alarm"  by  Schwab,  the  Steel  King. 


Deutschland's  Over- 
Alls 


"111    have    to    hustle    to 
pay  those  reparations." 


-Sioux    City    Tribune. 


652 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American     Cartocns] 


Just  Count 
Him  Out 

Great  Brit- 
ain and  France 
view  the  Si- 
lesian  matter 
from  different 
angles,  and 
each  would  be 
glad  to  have 
the  moral  sup- 
port of  the 
United  States, 
which,  how- 
ever, has  re- 
mained stead- 
ily aloof. 


York      Evt  ning    Mail. 


No    Meddling    in 
Foreign  Muddles 

So  many  domestic  prob- 
lems are  pressing  for  solu- 
tion in  the  United  States 
that  "America  first"  has 
become  the  policy  of  the 
present  Administration.  It 
has  declined  to  take  any  of- 
ficial part  in  the  settle- 
ment cf  the  Silesian  ques- 
tion, though  Ambassador 
Harvey  is  to  attend  the 
meetings  of  the  Supreme 
Council   as   an   observer. 


coil  ml    Press    Association, 
leldnd. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


658 


^AoC\'h^ 


This  Might 
Stop  Him 

The  alarm- 
ing mortality 
due  to  automo- 
bile accidents 
has  led  to  a 
general  de- 
mand that  the 
speed  maniac 
shall  receive 
jail  sentences 
instead  of 
fines.  In  the 
first  eight 
months  of  1920 
about  500  were 
killed  by  autos 
in  New  York 
City   alone. 


[American 
Cartoons] 

Oh,  Yes- 
Has  Teeth  'n 
Everything 

At  the  time  the 
prohibition  law 
went  into  effect 
it  was  freely  pre- 
dicted that  it 
would  be  render- 
ed nugatory  by 
public  apathy  or 
disapproval.  Its 
enforcement  has 
presented  great 
difficulties,  but 
many  violators  of 
the  law  have 
learned  that  it  is 
not  wise  to  defy 
it. 


-New   York  Evening  Mail. 


—Rocky     Mountain     N6W8,   Denver. 


654 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American    Cartoons] 

His  Turn  Now 


j/]/^*^*^,  7/Ii*^aZ^-^r 


Slipping 
One  Over 

Referring  to 
the  appoint- 
ment of  Am- 
bassador Har- 
vey to  be  un- 
official  ob- 
server in  the 
Supreme  Coun- 
cil. 


Brooklyn  Eagle. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


655 


[Scottish  Cartoon] 

John  Bull's  Troubles 


—-Glasgow    Bulletin. 


"If  This  Is  Peace,  Give  Me  War" 


Ireland  is  seething  with  insurrection,  serious  riots  have  recently  occurred 
in  Egypt,  and  the  Nationalist  movement  under  Gandhi  in  India  is  a  cause  of 
grave  apprehension. 


65G 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[Norwegian  Cartoon] 


Peace  on  Earth 


nil  i  11 


H      isen      (h;  ,8t  rnr.:-. 


What  our  streets  would  look   like,   if  the   mind   of  the   individual   were   the 
same   as  the  mind  of  nations. 


LETTERS  OF  AN  UKRAINIAN  SOLDIER 

These  thrilling  letters  were  written  by  Lieutenant  Omilan  Tarnavsky  of  the 
Ukrainian  Army  to  his  father,  the  Rev.  Philemon  Tarnavsky,  pastor  of  the  Ukrainian 
Greek  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  They  were 
translated  from  the  original  Ukrainian  by  Father  Tarnavsky  and  Mrs.  Eleanor  E. 
Ledbetter  of  the  Cleveland  Public  Library,  who  is  Chairman  of  the  American  Library 
Association's  Committee  on  Work  With  the  Foreign  Born.  The  father,  as  Mrs.  Led- 
better explains,  came  to  America  in  1909,  "  having  reached  the  limit  of  endurance  of 
political  persecution  in  his  native  Galicia."  His  oldest  daughter  died  the  next  year; 
in  1913  he  tvas  joined  by  two  sons.  His  wife  and  other  daughter  were  at  Przemysl 
when  the  war  broke  out,  and  he  heard  nothing  of  them  for  four  long  years.  In  191 U 
his  remaining  son,  Omilan,  tvas  to  come  to  America  for  a  vacation  visit  before  entering 
the  University  of  Lemberg,  but  he  delayed  his  trip  and  was  caught  in  the  vortex  and 
summoned  to  service  in  the  Austrian  Army.  His  father  heard  from  him  in  1916,  when 
he  lay  in  a  hospital,  threatened  ivith  the  amputation  of  a  leg.  For  the  next  two  years 
Father  Tarnavsky  pictured  the  boy  as  a  cripple,  destitute  and  suffering,  and  when 
the  armistice  still  brought  no  word  he  gave  him  up  for  dead.  Then  suddenly  came 
these  letters,  bringing  joy  to  the  members  of  the  family  in  America.  Aside  from  their 
human  interest,  they  give  a  vivid  picture  of  the  sufferings  endured  by  those  who  were 
caught  in  the  South  Russian  maelstrom  after  the  great  war. 


Bohdan,  C zechoslovakia,  Sept.  2,  1920. 

DEAREST  FATHER:  I  am  writing  to 
tell  you  the  complete  story  of  my 
Odyssey.  I  found  myself  this  morning 
in  Bohemia.  I  rub  my  eyes  to  see  if  I  am 
awake  or  dreaming.  I  cannot  realize  that  I 
am  really  in  some  European  country  where 
a  person  feels  free,  where  the  people  wear 
hats  and  ties. 

I  came  here  with  an  army  unit  which  re- 
fused to  obey  General  Pavlenko,  whom  the 
Poles  called  rebels  and  traitors.  We  had 
joined  and  served  in  General  Pavlenko 't; 
army  only  because  we  thought  we  could 
take  advantage  of  the  situation  to  regain 
our  western  Ukrainian  Republic.  Seeing 
that  we  were  not  able  to  accomplish  this, 
we  decided  by  force  of  arms  to  break  our 
way  through  the  Polish  lines  from  the 
Dniester  into  Bohemia;  in  this  we  succeeded, 
breaking  the  Polish  line  at  Kosov,  and  so 
we  got  out  from  the  enchanted  ring  in  which 
we  had  been  for  one  year  and  a  half. 

Now  I  want  to  describe  to  you  my  per- 
son. Don't  think,  father,  that  I  am  going 
to  indulge  any  boasting.  I  hope  my  de- 
scription will  interest  you,  and  that  I  may 
serve  as  a  typical  illustration  of  the  boys 
who  sacrificed  everything  for  the  good  of 
the  cause,  and  who,  finding  themselves  un- 
able to  accomplish  their  aim,  after  various 
adventures  landed  here.     I  will  begin  with 


my  outward  appearance.  My  mental  dis- 
position I  leave  to  your  own  judgment.  I 
will  only  tell  you  that  my  views  of  life  are 
now  far  different  from  those  of  the  cul- 
tured world;  so,  you  see,  I  am  changed  be- 
yond recognition. 

In  am  25  years  old  now,  and  I  can  tell 
you  that  I  am  looking  very  old.  My  hair 
became  thinner  and  thinner,  and  left  a  small 
bald  spot,  and  this  explains  why,  though  I 
was  in  the  Ukrainian  Army  of  Petlura,  I 
could  not  raise  a  scalp  lock.*  My  hair,  to 
my  great  regret,  became  gray,  but  I  do  not 
mourn.  It  is  the  result  of  physical  and 
moral  suffering.  My  teeth  are  spoiled  and 
need  very  badly  to  be  put  in  order,  but  I 
cannot  afford  it.  As  the  result  of  being  on 
different  fronts  and  eating  from  different 
filthy  kitchens,  I  acquired  catarrh  of  the 
stomach,  but  I  don't  worry  about  it,  know- 
ing that  there  is  no  remedy.  Otherwise  I 
am  healthy.  I  am  in  good  spirits,  and  have 
the  moral  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I 
have  acted  rightly,  that  I  did  not  betray  my 
ideal  and  did  not  derive  any  personal  gain 
out  of  the  war.  jrbe  best  proof  of  this  is 
that  I  am  naked  and  barefoot.  My  outer 
covering,  or  so-called  uniform,   consists  of 


♦The  Ukrainian  Cossacks  of  the  old  period 
shaved  their  heads  close,  leaving  only  one 
lock    hanging    from    the    side. 


658 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the   seven   parts   described   below,   and   ac- 
quired at  different  times: 

1.  An  old  cap  from  Denikin's  army,  rid- 
dled with  bullets. 

U.  A  Polish  coat,  with  the  Polish  eagle  on 
the  buttons. 

3.  Leather  trousers  which  once  upon  a 
time  belonged  to  some  "  combrig  "—this  is 
the  name  by  which  the  Bolsheviki  call  the 
commander  of  a  brigade— and  which  I  cap- 
tured in  some  fighting  with  the  Bolsheviki 
near  Kiev. 

J.  Shoes  of  which  1  became  the  possessor  in 
the  last  adventure,  but  which  I  have  already 
burned  at  an  unlucky  bonfire  while  crossing 
the  mountains  of  Cernahora. 

5.  A  Bolshevist  overcoat,  very  light  and 
poor,  in  connection  with  which  is  a  long 
and  very  tragic  story  which  I  do  not  want  to 
tell  you  now. 

6.  One    torn-to-pieces    shirt. 

7.  A  scrap  of  underwear. 

As  to  my  belongings,  they  consist  of  a 
knapsack  and  what  it  contains,  namely,  a 
towel,  a  piece  of  soap  and  a  shoe  brush, 
which  I  use  very  seldom,  even  to  clean  my 
uniform.  I  also  possess  some  live  stock  in 
the  shape  of  a  little  dog,  of  a  Pomeranian 
breed,  which  I  captured  from  a  Polish  of- 
ficer in  the  battle  at  Lemberg  on  Dec.  27, 
1918,  and  which,  in  hope  of  victory,  I 
named  Nika.  This  little  dog  shared  with 
me  good  and  bad  .fortune;  on  several  occa- 
sions it  saved  my  life.  On  April  20,  1919, 
it  was  severely  wounded  in  a  battle  near 
Bodnariwka,  and  I  took  it  out  from  the? 
front  line  on  my  shoulder.  This  is  all  that  I 
possess,  adding  only  25  Soviet  rubles,  which 
I  must  ea  ry  with  me  as  a  remembrance, 
and  also  because  I  cannot  buy  with  them  so 
much  as  a  package  of  matches. 

Now  you  know  how  I  look;  and  all  my 
comrades  who  have  suffered  look  the  same. 
I  hope,  with  your  help,  to  become  somewhat 
more  civilized  in  appearance,  so  that  I  can 
show  myself  among  people,  because  in  my 
uniform  as  I  now  look  I  would  be  arrested 
at  the  first  occasion  as  a  tramp.  I  am 
very  sorry  that  my  financial  condition  does 
not  permit  me  to  perpetuate  my  appearance 
by  taking  a  picture  of  myself. 

Lately  I  received  a  letter  from  mother 
and  uncle,  from  which  I  learned  that 
mother  and  sister  are  safe  and  living  in 
M — ,  which  news  made  me  very  happy.  I 
was  very  much  surprised  to  see  they 
thought  I  had  some  money,  which  I  never 
expect  to  have.  This  idea  they  based  upon 
my  expression  of  determination  and  strong- 
desire  to  reach  Bohemia  and  then  America. 


I  wrote  them  thus,  knowing  from  my  war 
experiences  that  money  is  not  needed  for 
travel.  I  found  out  during  the  war  that  a 
person  can  live  without  a  shirt,  without 
shoes;  that  one  can  sleep  not  only  on  a  soft 
bed,  but  also  in  trenches  or  on  the  bare 
ground;  that  one  can  get  along  very  nicely 
without  collar  and  tie;  that  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  seat  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper; 
that  one  meal  is  enough,  and  that  even 
without  one  you  can  live,  and  that  for  mov- 
ing from  place  to  place,  Nature  has  pro- 
vided good  means  in  the  shape  of  two  feet. 
Basing  my  views  on  these  convictions,  I 
wrote  to  mother  about  my  plan.  Now  that 
I  have  arrived  here,  I  am  hoping  that  you, 
father,  will  help  me  a  little  to  accomplish 
this  plan. 

As  you  see,  I  have  become  a  great  philos- 
opher since  the  war,  and  an  ardent  disciple 
of  Diogenes.  The  truth  is  that  I  have  no 
objection  to  putting  an  end  to  this  gypsy 
existence  and  to  starting  some  real  life,  but 
I  am  now  beginning  to  realize  that  it  will 
be  very  difficult.  Perhaps  if  I  once  get 
back  into  the  civilized  world  I  can  change 
my  way  of  living,  although  I  have  no  pres- 
ent means  to  accomplish  this.  I  do  not 
even  know  how  to  begin  it.  You  know  what 
I  want  first — rest,  rest,  rest,  rest.  I  would 
not  object  even  if  the  Czechs  put  me  into 
prison,  for  there  I  could  rest,  both  physical- 
ly and  mentally. 

Now  I  want  to  describe  for  you  my  cur- 
riculum vitae.  You  know  everything  up  to 
1916.  After  I  graduated  from  the  military 
academy,  well  versed  in  military  lore,  I  was 
commissioned  a  Lieutenant  and  sent  to  the 
eastern  front,  where  I  was  very  severely 
wounded  in  1916.  My  leg  was  almost  shat- 
tered by  shrapnel.  The  surgeons  wanted  to 
amputate  it,  but  I  said  I  would  rather  die 
with  two  legs  than  live  with  one.  They 
managed  to  put  it  together  in  some  way, 
so  that  after  six  months  I  returned  to  duty 
and  was  sent  to  the  Italian  front.  There  I 
took  part  in  the  bloody  battles  on  the 
Brenta  and  Piave  until  the  outbreak  of 
revolution  in  Austria  in  November,  1918. 
Then  I  made  my  way  by  foot  from  Italy 
over  the  Alpine  peaks  to  the  Tyrol, 
where  I  reached  Bozen,  and  by  the  valley 
of  the  River  Drava  to  the  Carpathian 
mountains,  where  I  arrived  at  the 
Galician  border.  Having  the  conviction  that 
I  could  serve  our  cause  best  at  the  front,  I 


LETTERS  OF  AN  UKRAINIAN  SOLDIER 


659 


had  no  time  to  v.rsit  with  mother,  much 
less  to  get  rid  of  my  Italian  cooties,  but  re- 
enlisted  at  once  and  went  with  the  Ukrain- 
ian Army  to  Lemberg.  I  took  part  in  the 
Winter  campaign  near  Lemberg.  Then  came 
the  very  sad  retreat  from  Galicia.  During 
our  offensive  I  was  wounded  again  at  the 
battle  of  Chartkoff,  but  the  wound  healed 
very  soon,  and  after  one  month  I  was  able 
to  serve  again  at  the  front. 

On  July  16  the  Ukrainian  Army  crossed 
the  River  Zbruch,  and  I  considered  at  the 
time  that  we  were  crossing  the  limits  of 
Europe,  for  Russia  and  the  Great  Ukraine  I 
count  as  Asia.  We  crossed,  not  to  return, 
and  here  began  our  terrible  suffering.  Dif- 
ferent political  changes  and,  above  all,  the 
ravages  of  typhoid  fever  annihilated  our 
army.  Nearly  30,000  officers  and  men  died 
of  typhoid.  The  epidemic  was  terrible;  we 
had  no  nurses,  no  physicians,  no  medicines, 
not  even  a  field  hospital.  It  was  a  heavy 
task  to  bury  the  dead,  both  those  behind 
the  lines  and  those  killed  at  the  front.  All 
the  young  men  of  our  family,  all  my  cous- 
ins, all  the  boys  among  our  kindred,  law- 
yers, physicians,  students — all  have  been 
killed  or  died  of  disease.  I  alone  am  left. 
Alex,  who  was  an  artillery  Lieutenant,  blew 
out  his  brains  in  typhoid  delirium.  Aunt 
still  looks  for  his  return,  and  I  cannot  tell 
her  what  his  fate  actually  was.  Dr.  Kon- 
stanty  K.,  a  young  physician,  died  of  ty- 
phoid at  Kaminiec-Podolsk.  Young  Joann 
C.  also  died  of  typhoid.  My  cousin  Victor 
was  shot  by  the  Bolsheviki  at  Kiev.  Victor 
P.  was  killed  in  the  battle  at  Lemberg. 
Michael  T.  was  killed  on  the  Russian  front. 
Andrew  G.  was  killed  on  the  Italian  front; 
Michael  C.  on  the  western  front;  Myron  B. 
at  Lemberg.  Peter  B.  was  missing  on  the 
Polish  battlefield,  and  Stefan  B.  was  killed 
on  the  Piave.  So  you  see,  father,  that  I  am 
now  the  only  young  man  left  in  our  whole 
family. 

This  is  a  very  sad  picture  I  have  drawn. 
You  can  imagine  how  we  suffered  and  how 
terrible  the  epidemic  was.  There  were  only 
5  per  cent,  of  boys  like  myself  who  sur- 
vived. I  will  give  you  more  details  in  my 
next  letter. 

Now  I  want  to  tell  you  what  wars  we 
fought.     I  served  as  follows: 

1.  With    the    Ukrainians    against    the    Bol- 
sheviki. 

2.  With  the   Ukrainians  against   Denikin. 

3.  With   the   army    of   Denikin    against   the 


Bolsheviki.  [After  Denikin  had  promised 
liberty  to  Ukrainia.]  Then,  when  Denikin 
failed  to  keep  his  promise  to  establish  an  in- 
dependent Ukrainian  Republic,  we  went  over 
to  the  Bolsheviki  and  fought. 

4.  Against    Denikin. 

5.  With  the  Bolsheviki  against  the  Poles. 
After  parting  with  the  Bolsheviki  we  joined— 

6.  With  the  Poles  and  Petlura  against  the 
Bolsheviki.  In  this  last  war  we  did  not  take 
any  active  part ;  every  one  tried  to  be  neu- 
tral. 

Now,  father,  tell  me,  do  you  know  any 
other  army  that  has  fought  so  many  wars  ? 
I  don't  believe  you  do.  It  seems  to  me  that 
we  made  a  record.  Through  them  all  we 
were  never  false  to  our  ideal,  and  never  be-, 
trayed  our  Ukrainian  flag. 

Our  last  adventure  was  breaking  through 
the  Polish  lines  into  Czechoslovakia.  We 
organized  and  decided  in  this  way  to  pro- 
test against  the  Polish  rule  in  Galicia,  not 
having  strength  enough  to  clear  this  re- 
gion from  the  Polish  invaders.  I  must  add 
that  many  of  us — including  myself — fought 
a  guerrilla  war  in  Ukrainia,  particularly 
after  we  left  the  Bolsheviki. 

Well,  you  see  my  situation.  As  I  said,  I 
would  like  to  gain  some  repose  of  mind, 
even  in  a  Czech  prison.  I  write  you  this  let- 
ter from  the  village  of  Bohdan,  on  the  bor- 
der line  of  Galicia  and  Rusinia.  At  the 
first  opportunity  I  will  mail  it.  Perhaps 
you  may  get  a  cablegram  before  you  gee 
this  letter,  if  I  should  be  able  to  get  some 
few  crowns  to  pay  for  it.  I  hope  in  this 
way  to  communicate  with  you  and  get  some 
help.  I  cannot  give  you  my  address,  as  I  do 
not  know  where  I  will  be  tomorrow. 

How  does  it  seem  to  you,  father,  to  look 
at  this  European  turmoil  from  America!  I 
read  in  some  papers  that  our  Ukrainian 
people  in  America  have  turned  Bolshevist. 
Is  this  true?  Have  they  joined  the  Third 
International?  I  want  to  tell  you  that  the 
time  I  was  with  the  Bolsheviki  will  be  a 
black  page  in  the  history  of  my  life.  They 
are  bandits;  their  hands  are  red  with  blood. 

I  must  close  now.  I  hope  that  the  mail 
connections  I  have  with  you  now  will  not  be 
interrupted.  Forgive  me  for  my  poor  writ- 
ing; I  am  not  used  to  such  a  civilized  job. 
For  years  I  have  not  written  anything  be- 
sides signing  army  orders.    1  kiss  you. 

OMILAN. 

Libcrcc,  Czechoslovakia,  Sept.  12,  1920. 

Dearest  Father:  1  write  you  this  second 


660 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


letter  from  exile.  I  do  not  know  whether 
you  received  my  first  letter  or  not.  I  have 
reached  my  temporary  destination  and  I  am 
interned  in  camp.  The  Czechs  treat  us  very 
sympathetically  and  give  us  plenty  of  free- 
dom, but  I  cannot  make  use  of  it  on  account 
of  my  outward  appearance  and  my  physical 
condition.  I  am  barefooted  and  naked,  and 
in  my  pockets  is  a  vacuum  Torricelli.  They 
give  us  something  to  eat,  but  what  they 
give  is  insufficient  and  unsatisfactory  for  a 
man  of  any  refinement.  However,  I  do  not- 
mind  this,  for  I  have  been  used  to  a  life  like 
this  for  a  long  time.  The  worst  thing  is  the 
lack  of  tobacco,  and  I  beg  of  you,  if  possi- 
ble, to  send  me  some  tobacco  or  cigars,  for 
it  is  impossible  to  obtain  them  here  even  at 
high  prices. 

I  would  like  you,  so  far  as  you  find  it 
possible — for  I  have  no  other  source  to  im- 
prove my  condition — to  provide  me  with 
some  clothing,  so  that  I  can  dress  myself 
again  like  a  civilized  man.  Things  are  very 
expensive  here.  It  costs  in  Czech  money 
about  2,000  kronen  to  get  a  suit  and  over- 
coat, without  shoes. 

I  do  not  expect  to  get  better  meals  and 
better  accommodations,  although  I  need 
these  greatly  to  improve  my  physical  health, 
which  is  very  badly  shattered  by  different 
adventures  and  wars;  but  one  needs  plenty 
of  money  for  that  purpose.  I  would  also 
like  to  have  my  teeth  put  in  order,  so  I  beg 
you,  father,  to  send  me  a  little  money  as 
soon  as  possible;  if  you  can,  send  it  by  cable. 
I  myself  would  like  to  cable,  but  I  cannot 
afford  it.  I  can  hardly  get  money  to  put 
the  stamp  on  the  letter. 

When  I  become  again  a  civilized  man  I 
am  going  to  study  English,  for  I  think  I  will 
need  it  in  the  future.  It  will  be  the  easiest 
thing  I  can  do,  because  I  do  not  .feel  strong 
enough  to  start  the  study  of  any  specialty. 
I  imagine  my  future  as  the  entrance  to  a 
tunnel;  it  seems  like  a  black  opening  with- 
out any  bottom.  I  have  not  thought  seri- 
ously about  it  before,  because  I  have  been 
living  in  a  condition  where  I  never  thought 
further  than  one  day.  It  was  always  pos- 
sible that  the  next  day  I  might  not  be  alive, 
and  sometimes  I  rather  hoped  I  would  not 
be.  I  was  always  in  danger  of  death.  Now, 
at  least,  my  life  is  safe.  Though  the  Poles 
and  Bolsheviki,  with  whom  I  always  fought 
and  against  whom — f  rom  their  viewpoint — I 


have  sinned  greatly,  are  very  anxious  to 
catch  me,  they  cannot  do  me  any  harm  now. 
Here  in  Czechoslovakia  they  have  divided 
our  Ukrainian  unit,  with  which  I  landed 
here,  into  laborers'  divisions.  To  such  a 
division  I  belong  myself;  I  am  ranked  as 
commander.  Some  of  my  old  acquaintances 
are  here.  One  of  them  has  a  father  in 
America;  perhaps  you  know  his  address. 
He    is    Nicholas    N.,    from    the    village    of 

B ,  and  his  father  is  Peter  N.*     Write 

me  if  you  know  his  address,  for  Nicholas 
needs  help  as  well  as  I.  I  have  met  a  few 
boys  here  who  were  prisoners  of  war  in 
Italy,  and  from  them  I  learned  that  my  best 
friend,  Stephen,  was  still  alive,  that  he  was 
an  Italian  prisoner  of  war;  I  was  given  his 
address.  It  made  me  very  happy  to  learn 
that  my  friend  was  alive  also.  [Stephen  was 
a  theological  student  just  ready  for  ordina- 
tion when  the  war  began  in  1914.]  There 
is  a  rumor  that  my  uncle  [an  officer  of  hign 
rank],  who  was  captured  by  the  Poles,  has 
escaped  from  his  Polish  prison  and  is  here, 
but  I  am  not  sure.  My  condition  now  does 
not  seem  very  enviable,  but  I  expect  it  will 
change  very  soon  for  the  better,  and  I  am 
not   discontented   with   what   I    have    now. 

I  have  not  seen  mother  for  many  years, 
and  now  I  hear  the  Bolsheviki  are  in  Ga- 
licia,  so  I  cannot  gain  any  communication 
with  her  now.  They  must  be  in  misery. 
When  the  Muscovite  ruffians  come  there 
will  be  bad  doings.    I  know  them  too  well. 

I  wait  impatiently  for  a  letter,  dearest 
father,  after  so  many  years  of  separation 
I  am  sorry  you  are  so  far,  and  that  the  com- 
munication is  so  poor  that  one  has  to  wait 
so  long  for  an  answer. 

I  must  close  now.     I  kiss  you. 

OMILAN. 


♦Peter  N was  a  peasant  who  had  de- 
voted his  life  to  the  education  of  his  son  Nicho- 
las ;  as  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  secure  suf- 
ficient money  to  accomplish  this  in  Galicia,  he 
came  to  America  for  that  express  purpose.  The 
boy  had  graduated  from  the  gymnasium  (high 
school),  in  1914,   and  his  father  had  never  heard 

from  him  since  the  war  began.      Mr.   T was 

able,  upon  inquiry  among  his  countrymen,  to 
learn  Peter's  address,  and  wrote  him:  "  Your 
son  and  mine  are  both  alive;  they  are  in  Czecho- 
slovakia, and  are-  in  need  of  help."  The  next 
Saturday  at  close  of  work,   Peter  took  the  train 

and  traveled  700  miles  to  the  home  of  Mr.  T , 

where  the  two  fathers  talked  from  noon  until  11 
o'clock  at  night  about  their  sons,  so  long 
mourned  as  dead,  and  so  miraculously  restored 
to  life.— Translator. 


LETTERS  OF  AN  UKRAINIAN  SOLDIER 


661 


Terezin,   Czechoslovakia,   Sept.   24,   1020. 

Dearest  Father:  Did  you  get  my  letters? 
I  have  written  you  three  times.  Now  I  write 
you  from  another  place.  I  expect  to  stay 
here  for  some  time.  We  are  engaged  in 
service  here  and  receive  3  crowns  daily.  It 
is  about  enough  for  a  letter  and  stamp. 
Everything  is  very  expensive;  you  can  get 
all  necessities  here,  but  you  have  to  pay 
terrible  prices.  I  sit  in  the  barracks  and  do 
not  go  out  on  account  of  my  so-called  uni- 
form. If  this  state  of  affairs  lasts  much 
longer  I  fear  I  shall  go  insane. 

I  thought  I  would  write  some  recollec- 
tions from  Great  Ukraine,  but  I  am  in  such 
a  queer  mood  now  that  at  times  I  am  not 
able  to  write  a  letter,  much  less  my  recol- 
lections, so  I  put  it  off.  I  am,  however,  be- 
ginning to  recover  my  normal  poise,  though 
very  slowly;  I  think  it  will  be  a  long  time 
before  I  will  be  as  before.  Some  man  has 
said  that  the  most  complete  moral  rest  is 
in  prison,  and  this  seems  to  me  to  be  true, 
for  my  present  life  differs  but  little  from 
prison  life.  Such  a  life  has  good  and  bad 
aspects  for  me.  It  is  rest  that  I  need,  and 
yet  rest  wears  on  me,  for  I  was  used  to  a 
free  life  in  the  Great  Ukrainian  steppes, 
where,  in  spite  of  wars  and  enemies,  there 
is  some  sweep  and  plenty  of  motion  and 
space  such  as  you  would  not  find  in  any 
civilized  country. 

Culture  has  made  very  slow  progress  in 
the  Ukraine.  I  can  truthfully  say  that 
from  the  sixteenth  century  it  has  remained 
in  the  same  level.  You  can  meet  the  sam? 
Zaporogian  Cossacks  as  those  of  the  old 
time.  In  General  Pavlenko's  army  there  is 
a  Zaporogian  unit,  whose  members  do  not^ 
differ  in  any  respect  from  their  ancestors 
of  old — the  same  adventurers  and  cut- 
throats. Among  them  I  met  some  Hejdu- 
nak;  the  same  as  those  who  captured  Uman. 
[A  historical  episode  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury]. To  cut  the  throat  of  a  Jew  is  to 
them  the  same  as  to  kill  a  fly.  I  have  had 
a  chance  to  be  with  them — I  would  not  say 
I  have  had  the  pleasure.  I  was  with  them, 
I  lived  with  them  and  I  fought  in  their 
ranks.  It  is  true  that  I  would  not  wish  to 
be  with  them  again.  But,  anyway,  after 
this  life  in  Great  Ukraine,  to  be  shut  up  in 
barracks  in  Czechoslovakia  is  rather  hard 
on  me.  I  need  it,  however,  to  strengthen 
my  nerves — if  I  have  any  nerves  left. 

I  got  my  first  letter  from  Stephen  and  I 


was  very  happy  and  glad  that  at  least  I 
can  communicate  with  one  of  my  friends. 
It  seems  that  our  Ukrainian  boys  have  been 
scattered  over  the  face  of  the  whole  world. 
I  have  just  heard  of  300  who  have  long 
been  war  prisoners  of  the  British  on  the 
Island  of  Madagascar,  and  who  now,  after 
circumnavigating  the  Continent  of  Africa, 
have  arrived  also  in  Czechoslovakia. 
I  must  close  now.     I  kiss  you. 

OMILAN. 

Terezin,  Czechoslovakia,  Oct.  18,  1920. 
Dearest  Father: 

It  is  almost  seven  weeks  now  since  I 
wrote  you.  It  seems  a  very  long  time,  but 
I  think  the  trouble  is  with  the  communica- 
tion. I  received  two  letters  from  mother. 
They  are  all  well. 

One  thing  worries  me  very  much.  Mother 
wrote  me  that  you  are  in  poor  financial  con- 
dition;* and  I  felt  very  uncomfortable  over 
having  asked  for  help  without  knowing  the 
conditions.  Now  I  see  you  will  not  be  able 
to  fulfill  my  requests,  so  I  beg  you  don't 
heed  these  lamentations  of  Jeremiah.  Put 
all  my  letters  into  the  waste  basket.  If  you 
want  to  help  me,  send  what  few  pennies  you 
have  left  over,  but  do  not  deny  yourself.  If 
I  had  known  the  conditions,  I  would  have 
refrained  from  making  a  request  for  help. 
I  am  accustomed  to  misery  now,  so  I  do  not 
consider  it  as  a  misfortune,  but  as  a  neces- 
sity. I  adapt  myself  now  to  a  new  condi- 
tion like  a  chameleon,  or,  rather,  as  the  ox 
adapts  itself  to  the  yoke. 

I  do  not  leave  my  barracks;  I  do  not  suf- 
fer from  the  cold  because  I  do  not  go  out. 
I  am  happy  because  I  am  not  alone.  There 
are  at  least  1,000  officers  and  several  thou- 
sand Ukrainian  soldiers  in  Terezin.  Where 
I  am  now  there  are  12  officers  and  300 
Ukrainian  soldiers,  and  in  company  you 
cannot  feel  bad.  You  know  the  gypsy  hung 
himself  for  company.  So  I  ask  you  once 
more,  don't  heed  my  letters.  Perhaps  I  put 
you  in  some  unpleasant  position  by  my  re- 
quest. I  can  get  along  very  well  myself, 
and  the  war  can  get  along  very  well  with- 

*This  was  a  misunderstanding-  by  the  young- 
officer  of  a  letter  sent  by  his  father  to  hi; 
mother,  explaining-  that  he  was  unable  to  send 
funds  for  all  the  Ukrainian  refugees  mentioned 
by  her  as  being  in  need  of  assistance.  Imme- 
diately on  receipt  of  the  first  letter,  the  father 
cabled  money  to  the  Governor  of  Rusinia  for  the 
son's  passage  to  America;  and  upon  receipt 
of  the  second  letter  another  sum  was  sent  di- 
rectly to  the  young  man.  The  money,  however, 
was  long  in  reaching  its  destination. 


662 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


out  me.  I  have  wandered  all  over  Europe 
for  six  years.  It  seems  to  me  already  far 
too  long,  and  yet  I  don't  know  what  the 
future  has  in  store  for  me.  Perhaps  I  must 
wander  six  years  longer.  If  there  should  be 
no  new  adventure  in  the  Spring,  I  will  try 
to  get  some  physical  labor.  Now  I  am  not 
able  to,  because  very  many  people  are  out 
of  work,  and  in  addition  it  is  very  cold.  Per- 
haps it  will  not  be  necessary,  because  our 
diplomats  say  that  our  cause  is  progress- 
ing favorably  now,  and  perhaps  we  will  get 
back  to  our  country  without  any  new  ad- 
venture, though  I  fear  this  is  a  vain  hope. 
At  present  I  must  be  satisfied  with  3  kronen 
daily  and  two  cups  of  black  coffee,  one  in 
the  morning  and  one  in  the  evening. 

The  worst  thing  is  my  clothing.  It  is  now 
increased  by  one  shirt,  which  I  received  as  a 
gift  from  a  comrade,  God  bless  him.  He 
had  three  and  I  had  only  one.  Now  we 
each  have  two.  With  my  shoes  there  is 
some  improvement  also.  I  received  from 
the  Czechs  a  pair  of  old  army  shoes,  which 
I  am  very  sorry  I  cannot  wear  on  account 
of  their  dimensions.  Our  Ukrainian  Gov- 
ernment and  our  diplomats  forget  us,  and 
the  strangers  do  not  care  much  about  us. 
In  the  beginning  they  made  us  happy  by 
telling  us  that  we  would  get  the  same  wages 
as  Czech  officers.  This  would  happen,  they 
said,  within  a  fortnight,  but  from  Nov.  15 
they  put  it  off  ad  kalendas  Graecas  in  in- 
finitum. 

I  am  going  now  to  arm  myself  with  pa- 
tience and  to  wait  until  Spring.  In  the 
Spring  perhaps  we  will  start  some  adven- 
ture, or  try  to  get  some  physical  labor,  or  I 
do  not  know  myself  what.  Perhaps  I  will 
enlist  in  some  foreign  legion.  I  cannot  live 
as  I  live  now.  It  is  true  that  I  did  live  in 
worse  conditions  than  now,  but  that  was 
due  to  war  and  to  iron  necessity.  It  was 
something  quite  different — trenches,  gren- 
ades, mines,  shrapnel,  cannon  balls,  hunger, 
cold,  cooties  and  different  things.  Here,  on 
the  contrary,  everything  is  normal.  Th^ 
people  are  peaceful,  and  I,  ragged  and  torn, 
am  without  a  penny  in  my  pocket,  without 
any  aim,  without  any  tomorrow,  like  a  dog. 
But,  father,  I  don't  mind.  One  must  wait; 
some  day,  maybe,  "  the  sunshine  into  our 
windows  will  come." 

Did  you  see  any  one  in  America  from 
my  birthplace?  I  passed  it  in  1918,  but  I 
could  not  locate  the  place  where  the  church 


was.  There  was  not  even  a  post  left  of  the 
whole  village.  How  the  people  there  must 
have  suffered!  You  are  lucky,  father,  that 
you  did  not  see  anything  that  was  going  on 
there. 

I  beg  you  once  more  to  pardon  my  letters 
of  request  and  to  write  me  a  very  nice  long 
letter.     1  kiss  you.  OMILAN. 

Terezin,  Czechoslovakia,  Nov.  8,  1020. 
Dearest  Father: 

For  three  days  I  have  been  receiving  let- 
ters from  you,  two  written  to  Terezin  and 
one  to  Liberec,  with  priceless  news  for  me. 
The  last  letter  even  enclosed  $2.  There  was 
no  limit  to  my  happiness  when  I  got  these 
letters,  and  I  did  not  dare  to  believe  that  a 
way  could  be  open  for  me  to  America.  It 
was  like  a  temple  of  India  opening  for  me; 
revealing  a  god  of  gold  within,  who  would 
help  me  to  get  out  of  this  enchanted  ring. 

I  expect  some  difficulties,  because  I  have 
to  get  a  passport  and  a  discharge  or  fur- 
lough from  the  army  of  the  West  Ukrainian 
Republic.  Our  dictator  has  ordered  the  mo- 
bilization of  all  Ukrainians  belonging  to 
West  Ukraine  and  living  in  Czechoslovakia, 
so  you  see,  father,  it  looks  very  bad  for  me. 
In  the  office  of  our  Secretary  of,  War  I  have 
a  friend  with  whom  I  made  all  the  old 
Ukrainian  campaigns.  If  they  do  not  remove 
him  I  can  count  on  a  speedy  and  satisfac- 
tory fulfillment  of  my  request.  It  will  be 
very  sad  for  me  to  leave  my  comrades,  and 
to  play  no  part  in  the  coming  events.  Per- 
haps they  will  have  to  fight  again  with  the 
Polish  brigands,  and  my  palms  will  itch  to 
fight  them;  but  the  desire  to  see  my  father 
and  my  brothers  is  worth  something,  too. 

I  am  afraid  I  cannot  get  along  with  the 
money  you  sent  me  if  they  keep  postponing 
the  passports.  I  have  no  information  as  to 
what  it  costs  from  Liberec  to  Rotterdam, 
but,  any  way,  I  will  try  to  get  along,  and  I 
am  determined  to  go  to  America,  even  if  I 
have  to  be  lodged  on  the  smokestack. 

I  wonder  that  you  cannot  communicate 
with  mother.  I  have  good  communication 
with  her  now,  and  receive  letters  every  six 
days.  It  would  be  good  for  mother  and  sis- 
ter to  come  with  me  to  America,  and  you 
must  write  them  urging  them  to  join  me.  I 
will  let  them  know  when  I  am  ready  to 
leave,  and  in  case  they  are  coming  I  can 
wait  for  them  here  in  Czechoslovakia,  or 
they  can  meet  me  in  Germany.     I  cannot  go 


LETTERS  OE  AN  UKRAINIAN  SOLDIER 


663 


to  Galicia;  if  I  did,  the  Poles  would  hang 
me  immediately.  So  think  it  over,  father, 
and  let  me  know  by  cable  what  you  decide. 
My  trip  will  be  delayed  by  that,  but  I  would 
be  glad  to  come  together  with  them. 

Irene  wrote  me  that  she  got  $5  with  your 
letter,  and  that  before  that  they  got  10,000 
crowns.*  This  seems  to  me  a  very  large 
amount.  I  did  not  get  any  money  from  you 
yet  except  the  $2,  which  means  184  crowns. 
An  American  dollar  gleams  like  gold  here. 
One  dollar  is  worth  384  Polish  marks  and 
400  Austrian  crowns,  but  Polish  and  Aus- 
trian money  is  of  no  value  here.  It  is  like 
the  dust  you  empty  in  the  ashbin. 

The  first  thing  I  shall  do  when  I  receive 
the  money  will  be  to  buy  a  suit  and  to  get 
what  other  things  I  need  for  the  trip.  I 
think  I  will  go  to  Prague  to  our  Ukrainian 
Ambassador,  to  ask  him  to  clear  the  diffi- 
culties from  my  way.  Then  I  must  wait 
for  your  letter  about  mother  and  Irene. 

I  am  in  Terezin  now,  but  I  expect  to  be 
transferred  very  soon  to  Liberec,  so  write 
the  next  letter  to  that  town.  I  have  no 
special  news  for  you.  I  stay  in  the  bar- 
racks and  blow  on  my  hands  to  keep  them 
warm,  and  I  warm  my  heart  with  hope  for 
the  future.  I  thank  Ivan  for  sending  the 
tobacco,  but  I  did  not  get  it.  I  am  an  un- 
happy boy  without  tobacco. 

My  dog  is  with  me,  and  if  it  does  not  cost 


too  much  I  think  I  will  take  him  with  me 
to  America.  I  would  cry  if  I  had  to  leave 
him  in  the  old  country,  because  he  has  been 
with  me  in  good  and  bad  fortune  and  shared 
my  meals  and  my  home  under  the  blue  sky. 
But  if  I  cannot  get  enough  money  to  take 
the  dog  with  me,  then  I  will  have  to  leave 
him  with  my  best  comrade. 

I  asked  how  much  the  steamship  ticket 
cost,  and  it  looks  as  though  it  will  be  very 
high,  but  I  think  I  will  get  better  informa- 
tion. Today  with  the  $2  you  sent  me  I 
shall  have  a  banquet  in  the  shape  of  some 
sausage  and  a  glass  of  beer — a  treat  which 
I  have  not  had  for  a  very  long  time;  my 
little  dog  will  enjoy  the  feast  with  me.  I 
shall  be  happy,  and  I  will  praise  the 
Lord  in  heaven  that  I  have  a  father  in 
America.     I  kiss  you.  OMILAN. 

[The  young  man  finally  received  the 
money  to  pay  his  way  to  America,  but,  the 
translator  states,  he  is  still  eating  out  his 
heart  in  Czechoslovakia,  as  our  Govern- 
ment officials  do  not  see  their  way  to  vise- 
ing  his  passport  unless  he  goes  back  to  the 
Polish  authorities  in  Galicia  for  credentials. 
The  irony  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that  if  he 
goes  to  Galicia  the  authorities  will  hang 
him,  because  he  fought  against  the  Poles.] 


♦This  remittance  was  more  than  seven  months 
on  the  way. 


THE   GREAT  NAPOLEON'S   GRANDDAUGHTER 


PARIS  observed  the  centenary  of  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte's  death  with  elabo- 
rate ceremonies  on  May  5.  Amid  all 
the  pomp  in  honor  of  the  one-time  ar- 
biter of  Europe,  another  figure  stood  out 
in  contrast — tl  at  of  a  woman  of  50,  dressed 
in  black,  with  a  fine,  open  face,  lined  by 
sorrow  and  the  incessant  effort  to  eke  out 
a  livelihood,  a  teacher  in  an  ordinary  ele- 
mentary school  near  the  Boulevard  St.  Mi- 
chel. This  poor  teacher,  now  living  in  a 
tiny  apartment,  with  her  cat  and  a  few 
meagre  possessions,  is  the  granddaughter 
of  Napoleon  I.  Her  father  was  the  illegiti- 
mate son  of  Napoleon  and  Eleonore  de  la 
Plaigne,  a  maid  of  honor  to  Caroline  Marat 
Napoleon  gave  the  boy  the  title  of  Count 
Leon.  Born  in  1806,  "  Count  Leon  "  died  in 
1881,  after  an  exciting  and  feverish  life, 
into  which  he  crowded  excessive  gambling, 


many  duels  and  love  affairs,  and  some  mys- 
tical meditations.  The  Count  married  and 
had  three  sons;  two  of  these  are  now  dead, 
the  other  is  living  quietly  in  the  Vosges. 
The  Count's  only  daughter,  Charlotte  Leon, 
the  subject  of  this  paragraph,  was  born 
when  her  father  was  60  years  old.  She 
began  life  as  a  teacher  in  Algeria  to  sup- 
port her  widowed  mother,  to  whom  the 
Count  had  left  but  small  means  of  subsist- 
ence. After  hard  years  of  struggle  on  a 
pittance  she  finally  went  to  Paris,  where 
she  married  a  M.  Mesnard,  taking  the  name 
of  Mme.  Mesnard-Leon.  Her  husband  is 
now  dead,  and  she  lives  alone,  barely  re- 
moved from  want,  meditating  on  the 
strange  destiny  of  her  grandfather,  the 
great  Emperor,  of  her  father's  wild  and 
stormy  life — and  of  her  only  son,  who  died 
for  France  at  Rheims  during  the  war. 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF  CHILD  LIFE 
UNDER  BOLSHEVISM 

By  Dr.  Boris  Sokolov* 

How  the  fanatical  purpose  of  the  Soviet  leaders  to  "nationalize"  the  children  of  Russia 
and  educate  them  as  communists  is  causing  their  death  by  thousands — Mothers  forced 
to  send  infants  to  Government  "nurseries"  where  they  perish  of  neglect 


VERY  little  has  thus  far  been  said  about 
the  children  and  the  tears  they  have 
been  shedding  most  copiously  in 
Soviet  Kussia.  It  is  as  if  the  worries  of  the 
adults,  their  trials  and  tribulations,  had 
altogether  pushed  aside  the  problems  of  the 
children.  We  adults  are  really  great 
egoists.  Suffering  ourselves,  we  pass  by 
the  tears  of  our  children  lightly  and  care- 
lessly. 

Speaking  at  the  Pirogoff  Medical  Con- 
gress in  August,  1920,  Doctor  Horn  said: 
I  am  prepared  to  forgive  the  Bolsheviki  a 
great  many  things,  almost  everything.  *  *  * 
But  one  thing  there  is  which  I  can  not  and 
will  not  forgive  them,  namely,  those  experi- 
ments, positively  criminal  and  worthy  of 
the  most  savage  tribes  of  the  African  jun- 
gle, which  the  Bolsheviki  have  been  making 
all  this  time  with  our  young  generation,  with 
our  children !  This  crime  knows  no  parallel 
throughout  the  history  of  the  world  !  They 
have  destroyed,  morally  as  well  as  physical- 
ly, a  whole  Russian  generation ;  they  have 
destroyed  it  irretrievably,  and,  alas,  beyond 
remedy  ! 

Among  the  first  to  come  under  the  sus- 
picion of  the  Bolsheviki  and  to  be  subjected 
to  all  manner  of  persecution  and  reprisals 
were  the  Russian  pedagogues.  Not  only  the 
teachers  of  high  schools  and  elementary 
schools,  but  also  the  women  teachers  in  the 
kindergartens,  nurseries  and  other  institu- 
tions for  children. 

At  the  conference  on  Public  Education 
held  in  1918,  the  Bolshevist  Commissary 
Lilina  said: 

We  have  to  create  out  of  the  young  genera- 
tion a  generation  of  communists.  We  must 
make  real,  good  communists  of  the  children, 
for  they,  like  wax,  are  easily  molded.  And 
when  we  shall  have  grown  tired  and  step 
aside,  our  places  will  be  taken  by  them — 
our  new  communists  who  will  have  been 
brought  up  from  childhood  in  the  ideas  of 
communism.  Therefore  we  must  at  once, 
without  procrastination,  commence  the  train- 


ing of  the  children.  This,  however,  requires, 
first  of  all,  that  we  sweep  from  the  schools 
and  institutions,  as  with  a  broom,  all  this 
bourgeois  tuft-hunting  crowd,  all  these  ped- 
agogues and  teachers  who  are  thoroughly 
permeated  with  the  poison  of  the  bourgeois 
philosophy  of  life. 

We  must  remove  the  children  from  the  per- 
nicious influence  of  the  family.  We  must 
register  the  children,  or,  let  us  speak  plain- 
ly, nationalize  them.  Thus  they  will  from 
the  very  start  remain  under  the  beneficial 
influence  of  communist  kindergartens  and 
schools.  Here  they  will  absorb  the  alphabet 
of  communism.  Here  they  will  grow  up  to 
be  real  communists.  To  compel  the  mother 
to  surrender  her  child  to  us,  to  the  Soviet 
State,  that  is  the  practical  task  before  us. 
(Reported  in  the  official  journal  of  the  Com- 
missariat of  Public  Education,  Narodnoye 
Prosvieschenie,    No.   4.) 

In  accordance  with  this  "  idee  fixe,"  the 
Bolshevist  power  set  out  in  1918  to  in- 
augurate its  "  childhood  measures."  These 
were  definite,  drastic  measures,  devoid  of 
all  foresight,  and,  of  course,  bringing  alto- 
gether unexpected  results  for  the  Bolshe- 
viki. The  persecution  of  the  teachers  and 
educators  by  the  Bolshevist  authorities 
forced  the  most  efficient  and  ideal  elements 
among  the  pedagogical  staffs  to  abandon 
their  class  rooms  and  to  seek  other  em- 
ployment. Their  places  were  taken  by  com- 
munists who  not  only  lacked  in  experience, 
but  were  total  strangers  in  the  field  of 
pedagogy  and — this  was  the  worst  of  all — 
openly  hostile  to  it. 

Carrying  out  its  scheme  of  nationalizing 
the   children,   bent  on   tearing   them    away 


*Dr.  Sokolov  is  a  leading  member  of  the  So- 
cialist-Revolutionist Party,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  first  All-Russian  Constituent  Assembly. 
Like  most  of  those  delegates,  he  is  now  an  exile 
from  Russia.  His  article  was  written  for  the 
Volia  Rossii,  the  organ  of  the  Russian  Constit- 
uent group,  published  in  Prague,  Czechoslo- 
vakia, and  appeared  in  the  issue  of  Feb.  16,  1921. 
The  translation  here  presented  is  that  of  the 
Russian  Information  Bulletin,  New  York  City. 


THE    TRAGEDY    OF    CHILD    LIFE    UNDER    BOLSHEVISM 


665 


from  their  families,  the  Soviet  Government 
allowed  very  little  food  to  be  distributed  on 
children's  ration  tickets,  insisting  that  every 
infant  above  the  age  of  one  year  should 
be  turned  over  to  the  Bolshevist  nurseries. 
This  the  population,  i.  e.,  the  mothers,  posi- 
tively refused  to  do.  That  they  were  right 
may  be  seen,  among  other  evidence,  from 
the  report  of  the  Soviet  Inspection  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1920,  where  we  find  the  following 
annihilating  criticism  of  those  institutions: 

The  thoroughgoing-  inspection  of  sixteen 
children's  nurseries  in  the  City  of  Petrograd 
has  revealed  a  criminal  and  disgraceful 
treatment  of  the  young  generation  at  the 
hands  of  the  responsible  persons.  So  we 
found  the  Rozdestvenskia  Nursery,  where 
more  than  100  children,  ranging  in  age  from 
1  to  4  years,  were  maintained  (and  most  of 
them  children  of  workers)  in  a  condition 
which  demanded  its  immediate  closing.  The 
children,  left  to  their  own  devices,  under  the 
supervision  of  inexperienced  and  rough-spo- 
ken nurses,  with  filthy  clothing,  pale  from 
lack  of  sufficient  nourishment,  made  a  pain- 
ful Impression.  The  place  itself,  unventilated 
and  poorly  heated,  fostered  all  manner  of  dis- 
eases and  contributed  to  the  exceedingly 
high  rate  of  mortality  among  the  children. 
In  the  course  of  three  months  the  child  pop- 
ulation of  that  institution  renewed  itself  to 
an  extent  of  90  per  cent.  »In  other  words, 
nearly  all  of  them  were  sent  to  the  hos- 
pital, or,  having  failed  even  to  reach  the 
hospital,  they  perished  while  still  at  the 
nursery. 

The  well-known  physician,  Doctor  N. 
Petrov,  spoke  of  the  impressions  he"  had 
gained  from  a  visit  to  several  nurseries  for 
children  from  1  to  5  years  of  age  in  Petro- 
grad and  Moscow,  before  a  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  Children's  Specialists: 

The  Vyborg  Nursery  was  once  considered 
almost  a  model  for  others.  I,  therefore,  vis- 
ited it  in  the  first  place. 

The  broad  staircase  is  filthy  and  untidy, 
and  from  the  distance  I  hear  already  the 
children  crying  and  weeping  desperately. 
The  Superintendent,  M-va,  now  a  communist, 
formerly  a  schoolmistress  in  a  country 
school,  reluctantly  and  hesitatingly  gave  me 
permission  to  look  over  the  nursery.  And 
—just  as  reluctantly— she  came  along  with 
me  en  my  inspection. 

"  Why  do  the  children  cry  like  this?  "  I 
asked  her. 

M-va  frowned,  answering : 

"  Oh,  you  know,  it  is  really  impossible  to 
do  anything  with  these  children  !  " 

The  large  room,  crowded  with  little  beds, 
was  literally  filled  with  the  moans  of  crying 
and  weeping  children.  Some  were  without 
underwear,  others— in  dirty  little  shirts 
tinned  black  with  filth,  ajid  most  of  them 
without   bed    sheets    and   pillow    slips.     Thus 


were  lying  in  their  beds— sometimes  two  in 
one— little  children  ranging  in  age  from  1 
to  5  years. 

A  woman,  evidently  one  of  the  nurses, 
wearing  an  apron  and  cap,  was  going  from 
one  bed  to  another  and  quieting  the  loudest 
criers  by  vigorous  little  spankings.  My  par- 
ticular attention  was  attracted  by  one  child 
crying  more  bitterly  than  the  rest.  I  went 
over  to  the  bed.  A  pretty  little  three-year- 
old  girl  it  was.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
spankings  from  the  nurse,  she  did  not  stop 
crying  loudly  and  with  somewhat  unusual 
plaintiveness. 

"  But  listen,"  said  I  to  M-va,  "  this  little 
girl  is  ill.  She  has  fever.  And,  look  here, 
there  is  even  a  rash  here.  She  is  undoubted- 
ly suffering  from  the  measles  !  " 

"  Yes,  yes,  that  may  be,"  replied  the  Su- 
perintendent rather  indifferently  and  betray- 
ing no  surprise  at  all;  "  we  have  many  sick 
children,  but  there  is  no  place  to  send  them 
to.  In  Petrograd  the  children's  hospitals  are 
overcrowded." 

As  for  the  other  Soviet  nurseries,  they 
present  exactly  the  same  picture,  in  the 
capital  as  well  as  in  the  provincial  towns. 
Thus  we  read  in  the  report  of  the  Congress 
on  Kindergarten  Training,  held  in  July, 
1920: 

The  Joint  Inspection  Committee  of  the  Peo- 
ple's Commissariats  of  Education  and  Pub- 
lic Health  has  demanded  the  immediate  clos- 
ing of  nurseries  in  five  provincial  capitals 
along  the  Volga,  owing  to  the  abominable 
manner  in  which  the  children's  training  is 
carried  on  there,  and  also  because  of  the 
disproportionately  large  number  of  cases  of 
sickness. 

The  critical  state  of  this  official 
"  guardianship  "  of  little  children  was  still 
further  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the 
Bolshevist  Government  did  not  countenance, 
and  does  not  suffer  to  this  very  day,  any 
private  initiative  in  this  matter.  The  nu- 
merous, and  often  model,  institutions  for 
the  care  of  children  which  came  into  exist- 
ence especially  after  the  March  revolution 
of  1917,  were  either  closed  or  transferred 
to  official  Bolshevist  management.  Even 
against  the  Children's  Defense  League,  the 
only  organization  working  hard  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  children,  the  Bolsheviki  are 
fighting  incessantly.  The  President  of  this 
league,  the  well-known  Doctor  Kishkin, 
complained  to  me: 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  children's 
problem  is  very  critical,  and  notwithstand- 
ing that  our  league,  the  only  remaining  in- 
dependent organization  of  its  kind  in  Rus- 
sia, renders  a  great  amount  of  help  to  the 
Government  in  this  work,  we  are  still  treated 
as    outcasts.     We    have    been    forced    during 


6C6 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


these  two  years  to  spend  more  strength  and 
energy  on  our  self-preservation  than,  alas, 
on  serving  the  cause  of  the  children.  The 
Bolsheviki  tolerate  nothing  which  is  not  of 
the  Soviet,  even  though  it  be  a  beneficial 
and  necessary  thing  for  the  Russian  people. 

Tragedy  of   Russian  Motherhood 

Of  private  nurseries,  a  few  have  sur- 
vived through  some  miracle.  There  remain 
two  or  more  in  Moscow  and  about  as  many 
in  Petrograd.  The  Superintendent  of  one  of 
these  (The  Lesshaft  Nurseries  in  Torgovaia 
Street,  25)  spoke  at  length  to  me  about  the 
tragedy  of  Russian  motherhood.    She  said: 

The  Russian  mother  is  now  living  through 
a  deep  tragedy,  indeed.  Just  look  at  the 
women  you  pass  on  the  street ;  you  will  at 
once  be  able  to  point  out  a  mother  of  an  in- 
fant among  them.  She  is  the  one  with  the 
pale,  wan,  careworn  face.  You  can  imagine 
what  it  means :  the  Soviet  Government  in- 
sistently demanding  that  the  mother  turn 
over  her  children  to  the  official  nurseries, 
when  you  have  seen  for  yourself  wrhat  a  hor- 
ror they  are  !  And  they  are  such  horrors  be- 
cause they  have  been  intrusted  to  people 
who  do  not  love  that  work  and  who  are 
perfect  strangers  to  it.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  death  rate  among  the  nursery 
children  is  appalling,  and  to  send  your  child 
there  is  almost  certain  death.  So  Russian 
mothers,  even  the  most  desperately  poor  and 
most  unfortunate,  do  not  care  to  surrender 
their  children  to  the  Soviet  nurseries.  But 
here  comes  a  new  tragedy.  The  earnings  of 
the  husband  are  so  triflingly  small  in  Soviet 
Russia  that  it  compels  the  wife,  especially 
the  workingman's  wife,  to  seek  outside  em- 
ployment by  all  means. 

This  is  the  reason  why  mothers  are  com- 
pelled to  leave  at  home,  without  any  attend- 
ance, their  one-year-old,  and  frequently 
even  younger  infants.  But  that  is  only  one 
t-ide  of  the  tragedy.  On  the  other  side,  the 
Soviet  Government,  anxious  to  drive  every 
child  into  its  official  nurseries,  only  re- 
luctantly and  very  meagrely  allows  food  on 
children's  ration  tickets.  Very  seldom  it 
furnishes  milk  and  very  irregularly  other 
foodstuffs. 

Thus  there  stands  again  before  the  Russian 
mother  the  spectre  of  death  threatening  her 
little  one.  For  free  commerce  is  suppressed, 
and  there  is  no  place  where  she  can  buy 
milk. 

In  1920  the  few  remaining  private  nur- 
series, which  were  really  model  institutions, 
suddenly  became  objects  of  special  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  Bolsheviki.  But  this 
solicitude  of  the  Soviet  Government  turned 
out  to  have  a  sinister  motive  behind  it. 
These  private  nurseries  (Lesshaft,  Diets- 
koie  and  Solodovnikov  nurseries),  notwith- 
standing that  they  have  been   left   in   the 


hands  of  private  individuals,  have  been 
called  by  the  Bolshevist  authorities  "  Soviet 
Model  Nurseries  "  and  are  now  being  shown 
to  all  foreign  visitors  and  delegations  as 
such. 

Having  suffered  defeat  in  its  scheme  to 
take  the  children  away  from  their  mothers 
and  to  nationalize  them;  having  met  a 
categorical  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 
mothers  to  turn  over  their  children  to  the 
Soviet  nurseries,  or,  as  they  are  popularly 
known  in  Petrograd,  "  morilki  "  (starvation 
houses),  the  Soviet  Government,  neverthe- 
less, did  not  give  up  its  intention,  but  shift- 
ed the  struggle  to  the  field  of  public  feed- 
ing of  children.  "  One  way  or  another,  we 
shall  force  the  mothers  to  agree  to  have 
the  children  nationalized  " — this  utterance 
of  Commissary  Badaiev  was  reflected  in 
his  policy  of  child  nourishment.  The  strug- 
gle raging  around  the  food  allowances  for 
children  has  its  past  history  as  well  as  its 
present,  and  is  in  brief  as  follows: 

In  the  beginning  (1918),  as  long  as  there 
was  still  a  certain  degree  of  free  commerce, 
the  mothers  in  the  cities  paid  scant  atten- 
tion to  the  official  rations.  Milk  they  ob- 
tained in  more  or  less  sufficient  quantities 
in  the  markets,  just  as  other  needed  articles 
of  food  for  their  children.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, the  ring  about  free  commerce  began 
to  grow  tighter  and  tighter,  in  Petrograd 
more  so  than  in  Moscow.  Then  the  prob- 
lem of  public  feeding  of  the  children  be- 
came particularly  pressing. 

Special  "  children's  centres "  were  then 
established  in  various  city  districts,  and  the 
mothers  were  also  permitted  to  take  part  in 
this  work.  But  here  two  viewpoints  became 
apparent:  that  of  the  Soviet  Government, 
which  demanded  peremptorily  that  little 
children  be  fed  at  Soviet  restaurants  (for 
children),  and  that  of  the  mothers,  who 
were  equally  categorical  in  demanding  a 
special  children's  food  allowance  to  be  given 
to  the  mothers  at  home.  The  mothers  were 
pointing  out  that  it  was  utterly  absurd  to 
demand  that  little  children  between  1  and 
4  years  of  age  should  be  fed  at  Soviet  res- 
taurants, even  though  these  be  specially 
provided  for  children,  since  the  preparation 
of  the  food  there  was  so  far  below  the 
most  elementary  requirements  of  child  hy- 
giene that  "  it  would  be  a  crime  for  moth- 
ess  to  feed  their  children  in  Soviet  restau- 


THE    TRAGEDY   OF   CHILD    LIFE    UNDER   BOLSHEVISM 


667 


rant  /'     (Report    of    Conference    of    Petro- 
grad  Mothers,  July,  1920.) 

In  this  struggle,  which  lasted  all  through 
1919  and  through  the  first  few  months  of 
1920,  the  mothers  came  out  victorious  in 
the  end.  A  children's  ratio  was  estab- 
lished and  is  being  given  to  the  mothers  at 
home,  although  with  great  delays  and  irreg- 
ularity. 

Appalling    Infant    Mortality 

The  results  of  this  criminal  policy  of  the 
Bolsheviki  began  to  tell  already  in  1919. 
The  city  children  born  within  the  period 
from  1917  to  1920  have  shown  themselves 
entirely  unfit  to  survive.  They  have  fur-( 
nished  an  appalling  rate  of  mortality,  they 
are  extremely  sickly  and  weak  and  bear 
the  marks  of  degeneracy.  Thus  we  cannot 
help  agreeing  with  the  opinion  of  the  Piro- 
gov  Medical  Congress  and  the  Children's 
Defense  League  when  they  say: 

The  Soviet  Government  has  done  practically 
nothing-  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  the 
children.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  with  its 
stupid  measures  frequently  prevented  private 
initiative  from  saving  the  newly  born  citi- 
zens of  Soviet  Russia.  By  driving  out  ex- 
perienced pedagogues  and  turning  this  work 
over  to  communists  who,  although  they  may 
be  idealists,  understand  nothing  about  the 
raising  of  children,  the  Soviet  Government 
has  from  the  very  first  steps  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  children  contributed  an  ele- 
ment   of    disintegration    and    degeneration. 

Cold,  objective  figures,  too,  show  plainly 
the  present  condition  of  young  urban  Rus- 
sia. Thus  the  official  Bolshevist  Public 
Health  organ,  the  Izvestia  Zdravookhran- 
enia,  No.  11,  cites  the  following  figures  for 
the  City  of  Moscow,  particularly  significant 
because  the  population  of  Moscow  has  al- 
most remained  stationary: 


Marriages  in- 

1914 

1916 

1917 

1919 

1020 


Births  in— 

12,000        1913 54,000 

7,500        1915 49,700 

9,900       1916 57,375 

18,781        1918 31,500 

20. ()()(>        1919 26,676 

1920 23,000 

Mortality  of  children  up  to  the  age  of  16 
\ears  per  10,000  inhabitants: 

1913 81    1919 372 

1915 7S   1920 400 

1918 100 


In  other  words,  along  with  an  increase 
of  marriages,  the  number  of  births  has 
gone  down  sharply.  But  the  newly  born 
infants  also  turn  out  to  be  unfit  for  sur- 
vival. There  are  as  many  children  dying 
as  there  are  born. 

"  To  us  it  is  plain,"  said  the  Society  of 
Child  Specialists  on  this  occasion,  "  that 
so  high  a  mortality  rate  among  the  children 
and  such  a  marked  decline  in  the  birth  rate 
is  directly  connected  with  the  measures 
taken  by  the  Government,  which  is  doing 
everything  in  its  power  to  destroy  the  fam- 
ily and  to  nationalize  the  children,  begin- 
ning with  one-year-old  infants.  We  have 
to  note  with  sorrow  that  the  young  genera- 
tion of  this  period  does  not  exist  for  Rus- 
sia." 

Such  are  the  facts,  such  is  the  reality.  A 
sea  of  children's  tears,  heaps  of  little  chil- 
dren's corpses  strew  the  path  of  the  Soviet 
power. 

Editorial  Note— A  tendency  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment to  modify  its  policy  in  this  field  as  in 
others  was  indicated  at  the  beginning  of  May 
by  a  statement  made  in  London  by  Arthur 
Watts  of  the  Friends'  Emergency  War  Relief 
Committee,  one  of  the  two  Quaker  workers  who 
have  been  granted  full  permission  by  the  Rus- 
sian Government  to  carry  on  relief  activities 
among  children.  After  ten  months'  labors  in 
Russia  Mr.  Watts  said:  "  We  are  now  responsi- 
ble for  the  daily  feeding  of  16,000  children  in 
Moscow,  having  been  given  complete  freedom 
by  the  Soviet  authorities,  after  we  had  made 
clear  that  our  action  was  not  to  be  taken  as 
approval  of  the  political  regime,  but  as  an  act 
of  humanity.  The  supplies  are  distributed 
through  the  Departments  of  Public  Health  and 
Public  Instruction,  which  are  run  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  children.  They  are  devoid  of  po- 
litical coloring,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
Lunacharsky  employs  in  prominent  positions 
leading  Mensheviks,  who,  although  they  oppose 
the  Government,  are  working  loyally  for  them 
on  behalf  of  the  children.  Conditions  regarding 
bread  and  fuel  are  better  just  now,  but  those  in 
respect  of  fats  and  milk  are  more  serious  than 
ever,  owing  to  failure  of  last  season's  fodder 
crops  and  the  drought.  Till  recently  only  3,000 
of  the  16,000  children  were  able  to  be  supplied 
with  the  free  milk  to  which  they  were  entitled 
from  the  welfare  centres,  but  we  are  steadily 
increasing  this  total.  Last  year  the  £35,000  we 
were  able  to  spend  in  medicines,  milk  and  cloth- 
ing almost  all  came  from  England,  but  this  year 
we  have  received  £180,000  through  the  American 
Friends'  Service  Committee  from  the  Hoover 
and  other  funds,  besides  help  from  the  Save- 
the-Children  Fund  in  England." 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  KOLCHAK 

By  Sidney  C.  Graves 

Former    Staff  Major   and   Assistant   to   Chief   of   Staff   of 
the    American    Expeditionary    Force    in    Siberia 

Mr.  Graves,  who  writes  as  an  eyewitness,  gives  an  interesting  picture  of  the  process  by  which  Kolchak's 
republic  degenerated  into  a  despotism,  and  his  rule  into  an  organized  system  of  terrorism  which  alienated 
the  whole  Siberian  population.  An  important  part  of  the  article  is  the  account  of  the  friction  which  arose 
between  the  American  Chief  of  Staff  and  the  Omsk  authorities  from  the  arbitrary  acts  of  the  Kolchak 
Generals,  Semenov  and  Kalmikov,  and  also  because  of  the  anti-American  campaign  of  inavM  and  abuse 
which  was  waged  by  the  Kolchak  partisans  in  the  Vladivostok  Russian  press. 


WHAT  was  the  real  cause  of  the  defeat 
of  Kolchak  by  the  Bolsheviki?  Of  the 
numerical  superiority  of  the  Reds  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  but  that  the  efficient  function- 
ing of  these  forces  was  due  solely  to  their 
leadership  by  coerced  Russian  officers  of 
the  old  regime  is  manifestly  absurd,  al- 
though this  factor  has  been  repeatedly  as- 
signed as  one  of  the  principal  reasons  for 
the  success  of  the  Soviet  armies  over  Kol- 
chak, as  over  Denikin  and  Wrangel. 

In  Siberia  the  fall  of  Kolchak  was  attrib- 
uted to  failure  of  allied  support — partic- 
ularly American  support — and  General 
Graves,  commanding,  was  openly  accused  of 
active  opposition  to  the  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment, not  only  by  Russians,  but  by  many 
misinformed  people  in  the  United  States. 
The  fault,  however,  lay  within  that  Govern- 
ment itself,  for  its  political  character  and 
the  conduct  of  its  agents  was  such  as  to 
alienate  completely  the  confidence  and  sup- 
port of  the  masses  and  to  drive  a  large  per 
cent,  of  the  population  into  support  of 
Bolshevism  as  an  alternative  to  escape  the 
reactionary  terror  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected. Many  allied  observers  with  Kolchak, 
Denikin  and  Wrangel  declared  emphatically 
that  the  reactionary  character  of  these  ven- 
tures contributed  largely  to  their  failure. 
The  failure  of  Kolchak  was  typical. 

Consider  the  auspicious  circumstances 
under  which  the  Omsk  Government  was 
ushered  into  power.  The  efforts  of  the 
heroic  Czechs  had  cleared  all  Central 
Siberia  of  the  Bolsheviki,  so  that  Kolchak 
was  able  to  set  up  his  allegedly  liberal  gov- 
ernment at  Ufa,  directed  from  Omsk,  with- 
out let  or  hindrance.  The  people  hailed  the 
new  democratic  regime  with  joy,  and  pre- 
pared to  give  it  their  wholehearted  support. 
But  on  Nov.  18,  1918,  only  about  one  week 
after  the  birth  of  the  new  republic,  Kolchak, 


aided  at  least  in  part  by  allied  support  of 
his  contention  that  only  a  strongly  cen- 
tralized Government  would  have  power  to 
overthrow  the  Bolsheviki,  renounced  this  re- 
public and  assumed  the  role  of  dictator. 
The  people  were  filled  with  doubt  and  un- 
easiness, yet  they  acquiesced,  in  view  of 
Kolchak's  protestations  that  he  would  lay 
down  his  dictatorship  the  moment  the 
object  sought  was  accomplished — in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  Kolchak  officials  had 
not  yet  begun  to  abuse  their  authority. 
These  factors  were  reinforced  by  the  cap- 
ture of  Perm  by  General  Gaida,  a  Czech, 
who  had  resigned  his  command  of  the  Czech- 
oslovak forces  to  lead  the  Kolchak  troops. 

Belief  in  the  eventual  success  of  Kolchak 
was  still  widespread.  But  the  military 
situation,  at  first  so  favorable,  went  from 
bad  to  worse.  Gaida,  Kolchak's  one  effi- 
cient and  honest  General,  was  pursued  from 
the  start  by  jealousy  and  persecution  from 
Omsk,  and  the  strategical  blunder  of  his 
chief  of  staff,  General  Bogoslavsky,  during 
the  Bolshevist  offensive  of  June,  1919, 
which  cost  Kolchak  the  lives  of  some  25,000 
much  needed  men,  contributed  to  force  his 
dismissal.  He  was  succeeded  by  General 
Dietricks,  whose  regime  was  marked  by 
gross  corruption,  dishonesty  and  abuse  of 
power.  .  Dietricks's  counter-offensive  during 
September  and  October  of  1919  at  first 
gave  promise  of  success,  but  the  support  of 
the  people  was  going,  if  not  already  gone, 
and  the  restoration  of  class  privilege  and 
the  reactionary  reign  of  terror  incident 
thereto,  drove  civilian  and  soldier  alike 
into  the  ranks  of  Bolshevism.  Dietricks's 
retreat  became  a  rout;  Omsk  was  threat- 
ened, and  Genetral  Sakharov,  his  successor, 
failed  to  make  good  his  boast  that  he  could 
defend  it. 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  KOLCHAK 


669 


Military  opposition  to  the  Soviet  forces 
may  be  said  to  have  ceased  with  the  fall  of 
Omsk  and  the  destruction  of  the  remnants 
of  the  army,  about  the  middle  of  November, 
as  Dietricks  had  prophesied.  In  this  at- 
tempted defense  of  the  city  Kolchak  lost 
approximately  40,000  men,  and  complete 
trainloads  of  supplies  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Bolsheviki. 

The  Interallied  Attitude 

Before  considering  in  detail  the  extremes 
of  the  Omsk  Government,  which  underlay 
the  military  failure,  a  brief  understanding 
of  the  divergent  participation  of  the  various 
allies  is  advisable. 

The  British,  represented  by  a  mission,  at 
the  head  of  which  was  Gentral  Knox,  con- 
tinued to  the  last  to  support  Admiral  Kol- 
chak, and  through  him  a  considerable 
quantity  of  arms  and  equipment  was  fur- 
nished Kolchak's  troops.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  obtain  American  recognition  and 
support,  and  in  this  General  Knox  was 
strongly  seconded  by  Mr.  Soukine,  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Omsk 
Government,  who  believed  that  the  moral 
backing  and  supplies  which  could  be  fur- 
nished by  the  United  States  were  essential 
to  success. 

The  French  were  in  complete  accord  with 
the  British,  but  were  mainly  concerned  with 
instruction  and  liaison  work,  and  for  this 
purpose  furnished  advisory  officers  with 
each  Siberian  unit  and  opened  schools  for 
Russian  officers.  General  Janin,  who  came 
to  Siberia  with  the  hope  of  assuming  the 
field  command  and  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  French  Military  Mission,  and  technically 
also  in  charge  of  all  Polish,  Czech  and 
Yugo-Slav  forces,  became  greatly  incensed 
at  the  extremes  of  the  Kolchak  Government, 
and  was  bitterly  condemned  in  Russian 
circles  because  he  failed  to  prohibit  the  is- 
suance of  a  Czech  memorandum  setting 
forth  in  detail  the  atrocities  of  the  Omsk 
forces. 

The  Japanese,  for  their  part,  issued 
proclamations  of  neutrality  and  non-inter- 
ference in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Rus- 
sian people.  Their  objects  and  mode  of 
operation  were  covered  by  me  in  an  article 
appearing  in  Current  History  for  May, 
and  it  is  sufficient  to  state  here  that  their 
activities  were  confined  to  Eastern  Siberia, 
that  they  seized  every  opportunity  to  foster 


or  instigate  anti-Americanism,  and  that 
they  subsidized  various  factions,  one  against 
the  other,  with  an  apparent  inconsistency 
readily  explained  by  their  paramount  en- 
deavor— namely  to  foment  discord  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  make  their  continued  oc- 
cupation of  Southeastern  Siberia  a  neces- 
sity. 

The  orders  given  General  Graves,  the 
American  commander,  were  those  of  strict 
neutrality,  and  fortunately  these  instruc- 
tions were  not  changed  from  Washington 
nor  deviated  from  by  the  American  Ex- 
peditionary Force  during  the  entire  period 
of  occupation.  The  failure  of  our  forces 
actively  to  support  Kolchak  and  to  condone 
the  actions  of  his  agents,  and  other  semi- 
independent  Cossack  leaders  in  the  Far 
East,  led  to  a  bitter  anti- American  cam- 
paign in  an  endeavor  to  force  a  change  of 
policy  where  persuasion,  seconded  by  Gen- 
eral Knox  and  the  British,  had  failed.  This 
activity  was  mainly  confined  to  propaganda 
in  the  press,  instigated  by  such  men  as  Gen- 
eral Kretichinsky,  who  on  one  occasion  sent 
a  messenger  to  see  General  Graves  with  the 
statement  that  he  would  stop  all  offensive 
articles  if  he  were  paid  $20,000  a  month, 
and  that  it  would  be  to  Gentral  Graves's 
advantage  to  reply  before  7  P.  M. 

A  considerable  number  of  rifles  were  pur- 
chased by  part  payment  in  the  United 
States  and  forwarded  General  Graves  for 
delivery  to  Omsk,  but  the  first  shipment 
was  held  at  Chita  by  Ataman  Semenov, 
who  gave  the  lieutenant  in  charge  a  few 
hours  to  deliver  or  be  attacked.  This  the 
American  officer  refused  to  do,  and  Seme- 
nov failed  to  make  good  his  threat,  but  the 
hostile  attitude  of  this  Cossack  leader  and 
of  Kalmikov,  further  east,  led  to  the  fol- 
lowing telegram,  for  which  General  Graves 
was  criticised  in  the  United  States  by  mis- 
informed people,  who  credited  him  solely 
with  refusing  to  furnish  Omsk  with  needed 
rifles  and  consequently  aiding  the  Bolshe- 
viki.    To  quote: 

In  view  of  the  anti-American  declara- 
tions of  Kalmikov  and  actions  of  General 
Rozanov  in  doing-  nothing  to  stop  Kalmikov, 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Semenov  has 
told  Kalmikov  that  he  will  assist  him  in  case 
of  trouble  against  the  United  States,  I  have 
informed  the  War  Department  and  have 
recommended  no  sale  of  military  supplies  to 
Admiral  Kolchak  for  the  Government  so  long 
as  his  agents  in  the  East  are  threatening  to 
declare  war  on  the  United  States.  Please  tell 
the    Foreign    Minister    the   above    and    say   to 


670 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


him  that  I  have  refused  to  give  up  rifles  now 
here  as  long  as  the  above  conditions  con- 
tinue. The  Golos  Rodini  is  publishing 
libelous,  insulting  and  disgusting  lies  about 
the  Americans  and  Rozanov  failed  to  take 
action.  Tell  the  Foreign  Minister  that  un- 
less action  is  taken  at  once  I  shall  close  the 
paper-  and  arrest  the  editors.  This  will  be 
done  because  there  is  practically  no  au- 
thority here  willing  to  act  in  protecting 
American  soldiers  from  these  insults. 

An  occasion  of  open  rupture  finally  oc- 
curred with  Semenov's  troops,  but  the  fall 
of  the  Omsk  Government  and  the  resultant 
revolution  which  spread  over  the  Far  East 
eliminated  the  Kolchak  agents  as  well  as 
American  unpopularity. 

In  addition  to  the  force  of  8,500  troops, 
the  United  States  sent  to  Siberia  a  group  of 
railway  experts,  in  charge  of  J.  F.  Stevens, 
who  were  to  assist  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  railways.  When  the  inter- 
allied railway  agreement  was  promulgated 
in  February,  1919,  the  employment  of  this 
technical  advice  was  provided  for,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  to  co-ordinate  the  widely 
different  functions  of  the  Allies. 

By  virtue  of  this  plan  an  Interallied  Rail- 
way Committee  was  provided  to  superintend 
a  Military  Transportation  Board,  which  co- 
ordinated the  transportation  of  allied 
troops,  and  a  Technical  Committee  for  ex- 
pert advice  in  the  operation  of  the  railway 
systems  and  'shops.  The  road  was  to  be 
guarded  in  sectors  by  Chinese,  Japanese, 
and  American  troops,  while  all  the  allies 
represented  were  to  share  in  the  expense 
of  this  arrangement  and  pay  for  the  move- 
ment of  their  soldiers.  This  cost  the  United 
States  over  $4,500,000  and  we  were  the  only 
power  to  fulfill  our  financial  agreement. 
China  made  a  small  payment,  Japan  a 
larger  proportional  part,  and  the  other 
allies  practically  nothing. 

It  was  intended  that  the  Trans-Siberian 
should  function  for  the  benefit  of  the  en- 
tire population  without  reference  to  the 
Omsk  Government  or  other  political  affilia- 
tions, but  by  means  of  station  commandants 
and  regional  boards,  the  Russians  retained 
control  of  the  cars  and,  from  the  terminals, 
regulated  the  character  and  destination  of 
shipments.  As  a  result,  only  commodities 
for  Kolchak,  or  the  Cossack  leaders  in  the 
east,  were  permitted,  and  where  private 
enterprise  was  concerned  the  officials  pros- 
pered in  the  sale  of  space.  The  American 
railway  officials  could  give  advice,  but  no 


measures  were  ever  taken  at  Omsk  to  as- 
sure that  it  would  be  acted  upon,  and  what 
little  our  so-called  Russian  Railway  Service 
accomplished  in  Siberia  is  due  entirely  to 
the  perseverance  and  ability  of  its  members 
in  the  face  of  almost  open  opposition  by  the 
official  class. 

The  conversion  of  the  railway  into  a  line 
of  supply  for  the  Kolchak  army  brought 
allied  troops  into  conflict  with  the  peasants 
of  Eastern  Siberia,  who  became  increasingly 
bitter  against  the  Omsk  Government,  and  in 
order  to  assist  in  its  downfall  attempted, 
with  some  success,  to  destroy  the  road  un- 
der American  and  Japanese  protection.  It 
is  regrettable  that  American  troops  should 
have  been  forced  to  take  the  field  in  defense 
of  the  interallied  railway  agreement,  and 
that  such  of  our  soldiers  who  lost  their  lives 
did  so  indirectly  in  defense  of  the  Kolchak 
Government — a  Government  representing 
nothing  for  which  America  stands. 

Kolchak's  Reactionary  Extremes 

The  political  character  of  the  Omsk  Gov- 
ernment remains  to  be  considered.  Even 
had  Kolchak's  armies  been  of  the  most 
efficient  character,  his  success  would  have 
been  impossible  in  view  of  the  wave  of 
opposition  which  finally  swept  over  the  en- 
tire population  of  Siberia,  and  the  reasons 
for  this  sentiment  against  Kolchak  furnish 
the  fundamental  explanation  for  his  failure. 

After  the  coup  d'etat  in  November,  1918, 
when  Admiral  Kolchak  assumed  the  powers 
of  dictator,  the  officials  returning  to  office 
took  up  their  duties  almost  with  timidity, 
as  the  revolution  had  engendered  a  fear  of 
the  people  in  their  hearts.  The  peasant 
was  willing  to  send  his  sons  to  fight 
against  the  Bolsheviki,  as  he  was  convinced 
that  the  new  Government  meant  an  end  to 
the  forced  requisition,  murder  and  brutal 
treatment  which  he  had  suffered  during  the 
temporary  administration  of  the  Soviets. 
Had  these  conditions  continued  and  the  pro- 
testations of  democratic  policy  been  ful- 
filled, both  by  the  protection  of  private 
rights  and  the  recognition  of  suffrage  un- 
der the  Kerensky  law,  the  support  of  the 
people  would  have  been  retained  with  prob- 
able success  against  the  Red  Government. 

As  they  became  more  firmly  established., 
however,  the  army  and  official  class  began 
to  exercise  their  functions  in  an  arbitrary 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  KOLCHAK 


671 


manner  without  reference  to  law,  justice,  or 
anything  except  their  personal  inclinations. 
In  the  beginning  those  of  other  political 
groups  than  the  Omsk  Government  were 
permitted  to  live  in  Omsk  and  in  the  rear  of 
the  lines,  but  in  a  very  short  time  these 
persons  were  arxested  and  disappeared 
without  any  record  of  trial  or  even  of  the 
arrest.  Property  rights  were  absolutely 
disregarded  and  requisition  became  a  by- 
word for  pillage  and  personal  gain  by  offi- 
cers in  charge  of  small  detachments. 

The  brutalities  of  General  Rozanov,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  Krasnoyarsk  district, 
and  who  later  assumed  command  of  the  Kol- 
chak  forces  in  the  Far  East,  furnish  a 
striking  example  of  the  atrocities  practiced 
under  the  guise  of  fighting  Bolshevism.  In 
pacifying  this  district,  which  was  generally 
anti-Kolchak  in  sympathy,  General  Roza- 
nov's  troops,  on  entering  a  village,  would 
demand  the  name  and  residence  of  every 
partisan,  the  location  of  hostile  bands  and  a 
guide  to  lead  them  in  a  surprise  attack. 
Failing  to  secure  this  information,  every 
house  was  burned,  and  in  the  event  that  the 
demands  were  not  complied  with,  every 
fifth  male  was  shot  regardless  of  age.  These 
practices  were  by  no  means  confined  to  this 
locality,  and  within  300  versts  of  Omsk  an 
expedition  in  charge  of  a  Colonel  Francke, 
who  had  been  interpreter  for  Colonel 
Ward,  British  member  of  Parliament  and 
lecturer  in  Siberia,  devasted  entire  villages. 
On  this  occasion  innumerable  girls  were 
raped  and  one  woman,  after  being  made  to 
witness  the  execution  of  her  father  and 
brother,  was  stripped  of  her  clothing,  tied 
across  a  barrel  and  whipped  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  necessitate  her  removal  to  a 
hospital;  and  all  this  because  a  male  mem- 
ber of  the  household  was  suspected  of 
having  been  implicated  in  an  uprising.  In 
the  eastern  part  of  Siberia  American  offi- 


cers examined  bodies  which  bore  mute  testi- 
mony of  having  had  their  tongues  and 
finger  nails  pulled  out,  and  of  having  been 
victims  of  other  unspeakable  tortures  in- 
flicted before  death  in  an  endeavor  to  pro- 
cure information  or  to  enforce  the  draft 
edict  of  Kolchak.  A  pogrom  against  the 
Jews  was  carried  out  in  Ekaterinburg  in  the 
middle  of  July,  1919,  and  anti-Semitic  re- 
ports place  the  minimum  number  of  killed 
at  2,000. 

These  few  examples  show  the  justifica- 
tion for  a  memorandum  published  by  the 
Czechs  in  November,  in  which  the  atrocities 
of  the  Omsk  Government  were  enumerated 
and  condemned.  This  document  is  the  more 
convincing  in  having  emanated  from  Czech 
sources,  as  the  Czechs,  in  their  early  strug- 
gles with  the  Bolsheviki,  acted  with  the  ut- 
most severity,  but  always  in  accordance  with 
their  regulations,  and  if  property  was  seized 
or  persons  arrested,  the  order  authorizing 
the  action  and  setting  forth  the  reasons 
therefor  was  published. 

The  Omsk  Government  relied  solely  on 
a  military  success,  and  no  criticism  for  their 
failure  to  retain  the  support  of  a  people 
liberated  from  the  Soviet  yoke  can  be  too 
severe.  Recognition  of  Admiral  Kolchak 
by  the  Allies  would  have  accomplished  noth- 
ing unless  the  powers  in  so  doing  placed 
an  army  in  Central  Siberia  to  maintain  his 
authority — an  army  which  would  have  been 
forced  to  operate,  with  a  precarious  line  of 
communications,  against  practically  the  en- 
tire population  of  Siberia  struggling  to 
achieve  the  personal  liberty  which  is  their 
right. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  true  domocratic 
movement  will  arise  in  Russia,  uniting  all 
elements  in  a  mutual  endeavor  of  sacrifice, 
and  guaranteeing  the  rights  of  all  classes. 
Until  that  time  the  Soviet  Government  will 
prevail. 


£*r~* 


THE  SOVIET  PRISONS 


By  Leo  Pasvolsky 

How  the  Russian  Government  fills  its  prisons  with  the  Czar's  former  rebels — Its  treat- 
ment  of  men  who  belong  to  other  parties  and  the  working  of  the  "hostage"  system — 
Starvationy  violence  and  death  the  penalties  paid  for  not  agreeing  with  Bolshevist  doctrine 


THE  Red  Terror,  always  mentioned  so 
prominently  in  all  discussions  of  the 
Soviet  regime,  represents  the  most 
spectacular  of  the  punitive  measures  of 
which  the  Communist  masters  of  Russia 
avail  themselves,  but  it  is  not  the  most  im- 
portant one.  Overwhelmingly  gruesome  as 
it  is,  the  Red  Terror,  nevertheless,  is 
sporadic;  at  different  periods  it  reaches 
greater  or  lesser  intensity.  But  there  is 
one  kind  of  punitive  activity  which  goes  on 
all  the  time;  it  is  the  work  of  the  Soviet 
prisons. 

Under  the  Soviet  system  there  are  two 
sets  of  institutions  charged  with  the  repres- 
sion and  the  punishment  of  offenses  against 
the  Government;  both  of  these  make  use  of 
the  prisons  in  the  course  of  their  work. 
The  first,  working  on  a  quasi-juridical  basis, 
is  represented  by  the  Supreme  Revolu- 
tionary Tribunal  in  Moscow  and  by  the 
various  local  tribunals.  The  second,  work- 
ing entirely  on  the  basis  of  arbitrary  ad- 
ministrative rule,  is  represented  by  the 
"  All-Russia  Extraordinary  Commission  for 
Combating  the  Counter-Revolution, "  and  by 
the  various  local  extraordinary  commis- 
sions. 

In  the  general  scheme  of  Soviet  "  jus- 
tice "  these  two  systems  are  supposed  to  be 
quite  different  and  distinct.  The  tribunals 
are  intended  to  be  permanent  and  to  have 
charge  mostly  of  criminal  cases.  The 
commissions  are,  theoretically,  intended  to 
be  temporary  institutions,  brought  into  be- 
ing for  the  purpose  of  eradicating  any  form 
of  activity  that  may  endanger  the  existence 
of  the  Soviet  regime.  But  the  work  of  the 
two  systems,  naturally,  overlaps  very  con- 
siderably, and  in  this  overlapping  of  the 
jurisdiction  and  the  actual  work  of  the  revo- 
lutionary tribunals  and  the  extraordinary 
commissions,  the  latter  have  by  far  the 
greater  importance  of  the  two. 

In  actual  practice,  the  extraordinary  com- 


missions hear  both  the  criminal  and  the  po- 
litical cases  of  any  considerable  importance; 
or  rather,  they  often  dispose  of  such  cases 
without  even  a  pretense  of  a  trial.  Ac- 
quittal by  the  revolutionar  tribunal  seldom 
constitutes  immunity  from  the  long  arm  of 
the  extraordinary  commission.  In  Russia's 
everyday  life  the  word  "  Tche-kah  "  (an  ab- 
breviation of  the  words  "  Tchrezvychaynaya 
Kommissia"  the  Russian  equivalent  for  the 
words  "  extraordinary  commission ")  has 
already  acquired  a  significance  of  unprece- 
dented dread  and  horror ;  it  is  a  nightmare  of 
Russian  life,  the  memory  of  which  will,  un- 
doubtedly, long  outlive  that  of  the  whole 
Soviet  regime  and  the  rest  of  its  work. 

Bloody  Work  of  the  "  Tche-Kah  " 

The  "  Tche-kah  "  is  the  instrument  of  the 
Red  Terror,  which  is  a  system  of  execu- 
tions, without  any  process  of  law  or  even 
a  perfunctory  procedure  of  a  trial.  Persons 
arrested  on  suspicion  of  counter-revolu- 
tionary activity,  in  most  cases  as  a  result  of 
denunciation,  and  thrown  into  the  prisons 
controlled  by  the  "  Tche-kah,"  are  usually 
considered  by  those  about  them  as  practical- 
ly doomed.  Their  liberation  from  the 
clutches  of  the  "  Tche-kah  "  is  regarded  as 
almost  a  miracle;  so  few  escape  death  at 
the  hands  of  the  hangmen. 

The  extraordinary  commissions  were  or- 
ganized early  in  the  existence  of  the  Soviet 
regime,  and  their  bloody  work  has  proceeded 
uninterrupted  ever  since.  The  direction  of 
this  work,  in  its  larger  ramifications,  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  President  of  the  All-Rus- 
sian Commission,  a  Pole  named  Felix 
Dzerzhinsky,  and  of  his  two  principal  as- 
sistants, Peters  and  Latsis,  both  Letts. 
These  names  are  now  universally  known 
throughout  the  country,  and  have  become 
symbols  of  cruelty  and  ruthlessness.  Be- 
sides these,  each  local   extraordinary  com- 


THE  SOVIET  PRISONERS 


673 


mission   has   its    own   little   Dzerzhinsky   or 
Latsis. 

Capital  punishment,  the  "  supreme  pen- 
alty "  in  the  terminology  of  Soviet  juris- 
prudence, was  introduced  in  Soviet  Russia 
early  in  1918.  It  continued  in  existence  of- 
ficially, in  the  form  of  ordinary  process  of 
"  law,"  and  particularly  in  the  form  of  the 
Red  Terror,  until  February,  1920,  when  it 
was  temporarily  suspended.  In  a  report 
published  at  that  time,  the  "  Tche-kah  "  an- 
nounced the  number  of  executions  during 
the  years  1918  and  1919  as  9,641.  This 
figure  covers  the  activities  of  only  the  All- 
Russian  Extraordinary  Commission.  How 
many  persons  were  destroyed  in  the  sinister 
shadows  of  the  local  commissions  no  one 
knows  and,  most  probably,  no  one  will  ever 
know. 

Treacherous  Executions 

Whatever  the  statistics  of  the  Red  Terror 
during  the  period  of  its  greatest  intensity, 
on  Feb.  15,  1920,  capital  punishment  was 
officially  suspended.  But  the  night  of  Feb. 
15-16  was  truly  a  night  of  St.  Batholomew 
for  most  of  the  "  Tche-kah  "  prisons.  Boris 
Sokolov,  a  prominent  revolutionist,  who  re- 
cently escaped  from  Russia,  states  that  on 
that  night  "  all  the  prisons  of  Soviet  Russia 
were  flushed  with  blood.  On  the  wall  of  a 
special  "  Tche-kah  "  prison,  when  he  was  in- 
carcerated there,  Sokolov  read  an  inscrip- 
tion that  ran  as  follows:  "  The  night  of  the 
suspension  of  capital  punishment  became 
a  night  of  blood.'' 

A  statement  of  the  prisoners  kept  in  the 
Moscow  prison  of  Butyrki,  dated  May  5, 
1920,  reads:  "On  the  night  following  the 
issuing  of  the  suspension  decree  seventy-two 
persons  were  shot  in  our  prison."  The  num- 
ber of  victims  in  Petrograd  that  night  is 
estimated  at  400.  A  letter  from  the  Saratov 
prison,  dated  June  5,  1920,  states:  "  It  was 
a  frightful  night.  From  midnight  on  the 
whole  prison  reverberated  with  the  shrieks 
and  wails  of  the  women  who  were  led  out 
to  execution.  And  the  most  fearful  part  of 
it  was  that  we  all  knew  about  the  decree. 
Altogether  fifty-two  persons  were  shot  that 
night." 

Capital   Punishment 

But  these  treacherous  executions  were  not 
the  only  feature  of  the  activities  of  the 
"  Tche-kah  "  after  the  official  suspension  of 


the  death  penalty.  According  to  the  sus- 
pension decree,  capital  punishment  was  abol- 
ished for  all  of  Soviet  Russia,  except  the 
war  zone.  And  so  on  April  15,  1920,  the  fol- 
lowing circular  order,  signed  by  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Special  Division  of  the  All-Rus- 
sian Commission,  Yagoza,  was  sent  to  all 
the  Presidents  of  extraordinary  commis- 
sions : 

Secret.  Circular.  To  Presidents  of  Ex- 
traordinary Commissions,  Special  Divisions: 
In  view  of  the  suspension  of  capital  punish- 
ment, you  are  instructed  to  transfer  all  per- 
sons held  for  crimes  which  call  for  the 
supreme  penalty  to  the  war  zone,  since  the 
suspension  decree  does  not  affect  that  terri- 
tory. 

This  arrangement,  however  cumbersome 
and  difficult  at  best  because  of  the  lack  of 
transportation  facilities,  soon  became  unnec- 
essary. A  short  time  after  this  order  was 
issued  practically  the  whole  of  Soviet  Rus- 
sia (twenty-nine  provinces,  including  that  of 
Moscow)  was  declared  under  military  law, 
and  the  decree  suspending  capital  punish- 
ment became  a  dead  letter.  The  death  pen- 
alty was  re-established  on  May  24.  The 
Moscow  Izvestiya  in  its  issue  No.  115  re- 
ported that  from  Jan.  17  to  May  20,  i.  e., 
during  the  period  of  the  suspension  of  the 
"  supreme  penalty,"  the  number  of  execu- 
tions was  521.  Toward  the  end  of  the  year 
1920  the  Red  Terror  became  more  and  more 
intense.  During  the  first  ten  days  of  1921 
(Jan.  1  to  10)  the  number  of  executions 
officially  reported  was  347;  the  actual  num- 
ber, again,  cannot  be  known. 

So  much  for  the  executions  and  the  Red 
Terror  proper.  But,  as  stated  above,  the 
ruthless  deeds  of  these  extraordinary  com- 
missions, alike  in  Moscow  and  in  the  prov- 
inces, are  sporadic  and  are  not  the  incubus 
that  weighs  most  heavily  on  the  lives  of  the 
Russian  people.  The  maladministration  of 
the  prison  system  is  far  more  serious. 

Soviet  Prisons  Crowded 

The  Soviet  regime  is  not  only  using  all  the 
prisons  existing  under  the  Czar,  but  has 
found  it  necessary  to  utilize  for  prison  pur- 
poses such  buildings  as  empty  factories,  and 
even  schools.  The  number  of  persons  kept 
in  prison  by  the  punitive  and  repressive 
agencies  of  the  Soviet  Government  is 
greater  than  ever  before  in  Russia's  history. 
If  a  future  historian  seeks  for  evidence  of 


674 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  Soviet  regime's  lack  of  popularity  in 
Russia,  he  will  find  excellent  indications  of 
it  in  the  fact  that  the  Soviet  rulers  have 
been  compelled  not  only  to  fill  beyond  their 
utmost  capacity  the  prison  buildings  of  the 
imperial  regime,  but  to  seek  space  elsewhere 
for  a  huge  overflow  of  prisoners.  The  im- 
perial Government,  symbolized  by  the  Czar 
and  his  bureaucracy,  who  frankly  arrayed 
themselves  against  the  people,  never  had  so 
many  enemies  and  never  required  so  many 
places  of  incarceration  for  their  victims  as 
the  Soviet  Government  of  today,  symbolized 
by  the  communist  leaders,  who  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  supreme  privilege  of  being 
the  only  spokesmen  for  the  Russian  people. 

The  Soviet  regime  has  far  oustripped  its 
imperial  predecessor,  not  only  in  the  extent 
of  its  prison  activities,  but  also  in  the  fright- 
fulness  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
prisoners  are  forced  to  live.  Many  of  Lenin's 
victims,  incarcerated  as  enemies  of  his 
regime,  had  precisely  the  same  status  with 
regard  to  the  Czar's  regime,  and,  until  the 
revolution  of  March,  1917,  were  inmates  of 
the  imperial  prisons.  Their  testimony,  as 
well  as  other  documentary  evidence,  is  now 
available  to  give  a  more  or  less  connected 
picture  of  the  system  of  prison  administra- 
tion that  exists  in  Soviet  Russia  today. 

Sufferings  of  Prisoners 

According  to  well  authenticated  data,  dur- 
ing the  third  year  of  the  Soviet  regime 
alone  145,000  persons  were  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned, an  average  of  nearly  12,000  a 
month.  What  are  the  conditions  of  life  for 
them  in  the  Soviet  prisons? 

The  most  important  of  the  political  pris- 
ons in  Soviet  Russia  is  the  Butyrski  prison 
in  Moscow,  famous  under  the  imperial  re- 
gime. It  is  filled  to  capacity,  and  most  of 
those  confined  there  are  well-known  Social- 
ist, labor  and  anarchist  leaders.  A  group  of 
anarchists  imprisoned  there  recently  ad- 
dressed a  declaration  to  the  anarchists  of 
Europe,  in  which  they  state  that  no  Gov- 
ernment on  earth  has  ever  treated  an- 
archists so  inhumanly  as  does  the  Soviet 
Government.  Men  are  arrested  merely  for 
their  convictions;  in  prison  they  are  beaten, 
insulted,  often  shot  without  any  provoca- 
tion whatever.  The  declaration  is  signed  by 
sixty-one  prisoners. 

On  May  1,  1920,  a  group  of  212  Socialists 
and  anarchists,  all  prisoners  in  the  Butyrski 


prison,  addressed  a  statement  to  Socialists 

of  the  world,  in  which  they  said: 

We  protest  against  the  insolent  deception 
which  the  Bolsheviki  attempt  to  foist  on  the 
proletariat  of  Western  Europe.  *  *  *  They 
do  in  prisons  what  the  Czar's  Government 
never  did,  but  just  before  the  arrival  of  for- 
eign delegations  in  March  most  of  the  Social- 
ists in  the  Butyrski  prison  were  transferred 
to    Siberia   in    irons. 

This  is  the  system  in  the  Moscow  prison; 
in  the  provinces  it  is  infinitely  worse.  In 
the  prison  of  Samara  anarchist  prisoners 
were  beaten  unmercifully,  put  in  irons,  &c, 
for  the  slightest  trace  of  insubordination. 
A  man  who  had  been  incarcerated  in  the 
Odessa  "  Tche-kah "  prison,  in  a  recently 
published  pamphlet  gave  a  shocking  de- 
scription of  the  things  he  saw  there.  The 
Odessa  prisons  were  already  overcrowded, 
and  the  "  Tche-kah "  was  using  a  school 
building  for  its  purposes.  The  most  im- 
portant personage  in  this  prison  was  a  Lett 
named  Abash,  a  former  sailor,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  "  garrison,"  and  personally 
did  the  work  of  the  executions.  Whenever 
he  was  drunk  or  under  the  influence  of  co- 
caine, at  which  times  he  v/as  particularly 
noisy  and  overbearing,  the  whole  prison 
knew  that  he  was  preparing  for  his  work, 
which  he  performed  in  the  cellar  of  one  of 
the  outbuildings. 

A  Cry  From  the  Heart 

K.  Alenin,  the  author  of  this  pamphlet, 
tells  the  following  incident,  which  is  ex- 
tremely characteristic  of  the  prison  situa- 
tion. Among  those  in  the  "  Tche-kah " 
prison  at  that  time  were  two  prominent 
local  labor  leaders,  who  had  been  arrested 
for  agitation  against  the  Soviet  regime. 
Even  the  dreaded  "  Tche-kah  "  did  not  dare 
to  execute  these  two  men,  but  merely  kept 
them  behind  bars,  while  its  agents  made 
daily  overtures  to  them  to  set  them  free, 
provided  they  promised  to  desist  from  their 
agitation.  Both  refused.  One  day,  hearing 
from  other  prisoners  the  stories  which 
Abash,  when  partly  under  the  influence  of 
liquor  or  cocaine,  was  fond  of  telling  con- 
cerning the  secrets  of  his  cellar,  the  elder  of 
the  two  labor  leaders  exclaimed: 

And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  all  this  is  done 
in  the  name  of  Socialism  !  And  we,  the  old 
militants  for  the  people's  freedom,  who  spent 
the  best  years  of  our  lives  in  the  struggle, 
who  gave  up  our  families,  our  personal  hap- 
piness,   everything,    did    all    that   in    order   to 


THE  SOVIET  PRISONERS 


675 


behold  now  this  communist  paradise  !  *  *  * 
What  have  they  given  the  workmen? 
Bread?  No!  Work?  No!  They  have 
crowded  all  sorts  of  thieves  into  their  insti- 
tutions of  government,  and  they  steal  every- 
thing on  which  they  can  lay  their  hands, 
wear  diamond  rings,  squander  huge  sums  of 
money    for    their    carousals.      They    are    the 


World     Photos) 


FELIX    DZERZHINSKY 

President  of  the  Extraordinary   Commission, 
from  Mrs.  Clare  Sheridan's  recent  bust 


builders,  they  are  the  teachers.  And  I,  who 
have  suffered  for  thirty  years  in  the  struggle 
for  the  happiness  of  men,  I  am  a  "  counter- 
revolutionist  !  "  Abash  is  a  Socialist,  and  I 
am  a  counter-revolutionist !  But,  of  course, 
I  am  a  counter-revolutionist.  Wre  don't  want 
such  a  revolution  as  this.  May  it  be  ac- 
cursed, this  revolution  of  yours  ! 

The  "  Hostage  "  System 

A  set  of  documents,  similarly  descriptive 
of  another  Soviet  prison,  that  of  Yaroslavl, 
was  recently  published  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee of  the  Socialist-Revolutionist  Party. 
These  documents  are  concerned  with  the 
condition  of  sixty-three  prominent  members 
of  that  party,  incarcerated  in  the  Yaroslavl 
Central  Prison,  also  made  famous  under  the 
imperial  regime  as  one  of  the  important  po- 
litical prisons.  Six  of  these  prisoners  had 
done  penal  servitude  under  the  imperial  re- 
gime; fifteen  had  been  exiled  to  Siberia  by 
the  Czar's  Government.  One  of  them  es- 
caped from  Siberia  in  1914  in  order  to  en- 
list in  the  army,  but  was  caught  in  Moscow 
and  sent  back  to  Siberia  to  a  prison  there, 
from   which  he  was   released   only   by   the 


March  revolution.  Another  had  seen  im- 
prisonment in  five  of  the  most  terrible  of 
the  imperial  prisons.  Six  of  these  prisoners 
are  members  of  the  Russian  Constituent  As- 
sembly, dispersed  by  the  Bolsheviki. 

Most  of  these  prisoners  do  not  even  know 
why  they  were  arrested  or  how  long  they 
will  remain  in  prison.  In  response  to  their 
inquiries  on  this  score  some  of  them  were 
told  that  they  would  remain  in  prison 
"until  the  end  of  the  civil  war";  some 
"until  the  end  of  the  war  with  Poland." 
Some  were  even  told  that  they  would  be  kept 
in  prison  "  until  the  arrest  of  Victor  Cher- 
nov." [See  below.]  In  reality,  they  are 
kept  in  prison  because  they  are  members  of 
the  Socialist-Revolutionist  Party,  the  most 
formidable  opponent  of  the  Soviet  regime. 
Most  of  them  are  kept  as  hostages  in  the 
struggle  which  this  regime  conducts  against 
its  enemies. 

The  wives  of  several  of  the  prisoners 
were  offered  the  position  of  agents  of  the 
extraordinary  commissions  and  the  re- 
ward promised  for  this  was  the  liberation 
of  their  husbands.  In  many  cases  the  pris- 
oners' relatives  are  arrested,  tortured  for  in- 
formation and  held  as  hostages.  The  men- 
tion of  Chernov's  name  in  connection  with 
these  prisoners  has  reference  to  an  incident 
of  this  kind. 

The  Case  of  Chernov 

Victor  Chernov,  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent leaders  of  the  Socialist-Revolutionist 
Party,  was  the  President  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly.  Until  the  beginning  of  1920  he 
was  working  in  disguise  in  many  parts  of 
Russia.  At  the  time  when  the  British  labor 
delegation  visited  Moscow  Chernov  ap- 
peared at  a  meeting  of  the  Moscow  printers, 
called  in  honor  of  the  British  guests,  and, 
disguised  as  an  old  man,  delivered  a  scath- 
ing attack  against  the  Soviet  regime.  His 
identity  was  discovered,  but  he  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape.  Failing  to  find  Chernov, 
whose  arrest  was  of  course  immediately 
ordered,  the  agents  of  the  "  Tche-kah  "  ar- 
rested his  wife  and  his  two  daughters,  aged 
17  and  12.  During  their  search  for  Cher- 
nov the  agents  were  informed  that  he  would 
appear  at  a  certain  meeting.  They  took 
his  younger  daughter  to  this  meeting  and 
tried  to  intimidate  her  into  finding  her 
father  for  them. 

Chernov  is  now  in  Paris,  and  the  state- 


670 


THE   NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


ment  that  his  family  will  be  kept  prisoners 
in  the  Yaroslavl  prison  until  his  arrest  is  an 
apt  illustration  of  the  "  Tche-kah  "  methods. 

Punishment  by   Starvation 

Until  Aug.  12,  1920,  most  of  these  prison- 
ers were  kept  in  the  Moscow  Butyrski 
prison,  some  as  long  as  eighteen  months. 
Late  in  July  they  began  to  demand  from  the 
agents  of  the  "  Tche-kah  "  that  a  group  of 
other  Socialist-Revolutionists,  held  in  ap- 
palling conditions  of  life  in  a  prison  at- 
tached to  the  Special  Division  of  the  Ex- 
traordinary Commission,  be  transferred  to 
the  Butyrki.  Their  demand  was  refused  and 
on  Aug.  11  they  declared  a  hunger  strike, 
to  begin  the  following  morning.  But  on  the 
evening  of  Aug.  11  a  detachment  of  special 
troops,  consisting  of  Magyars  and  Letts, 
appeared  in  the  prison,  and  it  was  an- 
nounced to  the  prisoners  that  all  the  Social- 
ists would  be  transferred  to  other  prisons. 
They  were  ordered  to  pack  their  things  im- 
mediately. The  prisoners  refused  to  obey 
the  order,  demanding  first  an  interview  with 
a  special  agent  of  the  "  Tche-kah."  But  the 
agent  refused  to  appear,  and  the  prisoners 
were  taken  out  by  force.  They  resisted, 
but  were  overwhelmed.  Even  those  among 
them  who  were  patients  at  the  hospital  were 
dragged  out  of  bed  and  taken  to  the  Yaro- 
slavl prison. 

When  brought  to  Yaroslavl,  a  series  of 
punitive  measures  was  applied  to  them.  In 
a  statement  sent  by  these  prisoners  to  the 
All-Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  of 
Soviets,  as  well  as  to  the  Central  Commit- 
tees of  all  the  Socialist  and  Communist  Par- 
ties and  of  the  Third  International,  under 
date  of  Sept.  23,  1920,  these  punitive  meas- 
ures were  enumerated  as  follows: 

They  were  forbidden  to  receive  visits  from 
their  relatives.  Until  Sept.  20  they  were 
not  permitted  to  communicate  with  their  rela- 
tives. Only  once  were  they  permitted  to  re- 
ceive packages  of  food  and  clothing  from 
their  relatives,  but  very  few  of  these  rela- 
tives were  informed  of  the  time  when  the 
packages  would  be  transmitted,  and  only  a 
small  number  of  prisoners  received  help  from 
the  outside.  These  packages  were  trans- 
mitted by  a  representative  of  the  Political 
Red  Cross  on  Sept.  8 ;  after  that  date  he  was 
allowed   access  to  the  prison. 

The  prisoners  were  refused  permission  to 
receive  any  newspapers  or  books.  Most  pris- 
oners were  kept  in  solitary  confinement ;  in 
some  cases  two  men  were  placed  in  a  cell 
designed  for  solitary  confinement.  They 
were    not    permitted    to    communicate    with 


each  other,  and  for  some  time,  during  their 
short  walks  in  the  prison  yard,  were  kept  five 
steps  apart  all  the  time.  They  were  not  per- 
mitted to  go  to  the  toilets,  but  special  re- 
ceptacles were  provided  in  the  cells.  The  air 
in  the  cells  was  sickening,  but  prisoners  were 
not  permitted  to  approach  the  windows,  as 
the  guards  had  orders  to  shoot  any  one 
looking  out   of   the   windows. 

The  food  given  to  the  prisoners  was  in 
smaller  quantities  than  in  Moscow  and  was 
utterly  insufficient  for  nutrition.  Prevented 
from  obtaining  assistance  from  the  outside, 
the  prisoners  were  doomed  to  slow  starva- 
tion. They  were  placed  in  a  situation  in 
which  they  could  not  buy  anything  for  them- 
selves. As  one  of  the  punishments  for  the 
"  obstruction  "  during  the  transfer  from  the 
Moscow  prison,  they  wei^e  fined  100,000 
rubles,  and  all  the  money  they  had  was  taken 
away  from  them. 

Reproach  for  Communists 

In  connection  with  this  statement,  the 
Central  Committee  of  the  Socialist-Revolu- 
tionist Party  addressed  an  open  letter  to 
the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party,  which  read  as  follows: 

Tour  party  is  in  power.  Tou  do  not  conceal 
this  fact,  but,  on  the  contrary,  do  everything 
in  your  power  to  emphasize  it  in  the  work  of 
all  the  institutions  of  the  Soviet  regime. 
This  means  that  you  bear  full  responsibility 
for  everything  that  is  done  in  the  name  and 
by  the  will  of  the  Soviet  Government.  At 
the  present  time,  in  the  city  of  Yaroslavl,  in 
the  Soviet  House  for  the  Deprivation  of  Lib- 
erty, over  the  gates  of  which  there  is  a  sign 
that  reads  "  The  Russian  Socialist  Federated 
Soviet  Republic,"  while  above  it  is  the  old 
sign,  "  The  Yaroslavl  Penal  Prison  "—in  this 
Socialist  prison  over  sixty  persons  are  tor- 
tured by  means  of  starvation,  all  of  them  im- 
prisoned for  precisely  the  same  reason  for 
which  they  suffered  imprisonment  under  the 
imperial  regime,  viz.,  the  mere  fact  of  being 
members  of  the  Socialist-Revolutionist 
Party.    *    *    * 

But  if  the  insults  and  acts  of  violence,  the 
deprivation  of  light  and  air,  the  orders  to 
fire  on  the  windows  of  the  cells  are  a  repe- 
tition, perhaps  in  a  more  accentuated  form, 
of  the  methods  used  by  the  prison  wardens 
of  the  Czar's  regime,  the  torture  by  means 
of  starvation  is,  surely,  an  innovation  of  the 
Socialist  prison. 

The  amount  of  food  received  by  the  prison- 
ers in  Yaroslavl  is  less  than  the  norms 
which  your  own  food  supply  institutions 
have  established  as  starvation  norms.  *  *  * 
You  will,  perhaps,  explain  this  by  the  dif- 
ficulties experienced  by  you  because  of  the 
food  crisis.  But  if  this  were  so,  then  your 
political  police  would  not  prevent  the  rela- 
tives and  friends  of  the  prisoners  from  send- 
ing them  assistance.  At  the  price  of  huge 
sacrifices,  the  relatives  of  the  prisoners  have 
organized  assistance  for  them,  but  the  agents 


THE  SOVIET  PRISONERS 


677 


of  your  extraordinary  commission  have  ar- 
ranged the  conditions  of  the  deliveries  in 
such  a  way  that  packages  were  delivered 
only  on  two  occasions  in  two  months.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  send  the  prisoners 
money  to  enable  them  to  purchase  the  things 
they  need,  but  the  prison  administration 
chose  to  accept  only  a  certain  amount,  which 
was  immediately  conriscated  in  order  to  cover 
the  alleged  cost  of  the  damages  caused  dur- 
ing the  transfer  of  the  prisoners  to  Yaro- 
slavl.   *    *    * 

Why  do  you  need  all  this?  Do  not  justify 
yourselves  on  the  ground  that  you  do  not 
know  of  this.  You  do  know,  you  cannot  but 
know  what  is  done  in  Yaroslavl  in  the  glory 
of  your  name.  The  President  of  the  Council 
of  People's  Commissaries,  Lenin;  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Central  Executive  Committee 
of  Soviets,  Kalinin,  and  many  others  among 
you  were  personally  informed  of  this. 

With  the  hands  of  your  hangmen  in  the 
Communist    torture   chamber   of   your   Yaro- 


slavl prison  you  are  making  efforts  to  finish 
secretly  the  work  that  was  left  undone  by 
the  henchmen  of  the  Czar,  to  destroy  through 
torture  of  starvation  the  old  militants  for 
Socialism  and  the  revolution. 

We  demand  from  you  consistency  and  cour- 
age. If  you  decline  responsibility  for  the 
torture  by  starvation  in  the  Yaroslavl  prison, 
then  put  an  end  to  it.  But  if  you  have  de- 
cided to  carry  it  to  its  logical  end,  then  have 
the  courage  to  admit  openly  that  in  your 
Soviet  prisons,  under  the  guise  of  imprison- 
ment, you  practice  a  system  of  slow  and 
inhumanly  painful  murder. 

When  such  are  the  measures  of  self- 
preservation  that  the  Soviet  regime  utilizes, 
is  there  any  wonder  that  the  hatred  of  it  on 
the  part  of  the  Russian  people  is  so  intense 
as  to  be  almost  frenzied,  and  that  the  num- 
berless thousands  of  its  foes  swell  so  ap- 
pallingly the  ranks  of  its  victims? 


LENIN'S  FIGHT  FOR  SOVIET  RUSSIA 


How  the  Moscow  dictator  obtained  a  de  facto  recognition  of  the  Bolshevist  Government 
from  Great  Britain — Confirmed  by  the  English  Courts — Domestic  reforms  in  Soviet 
policy  pushed  through  despite  all  opposition 

[Period  Ended   Junk   10,    1921] 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  triumph  in  obtaining 
a  trade  treaty  with  Great  Britain  was 
considerably  enhanced  in  May  by  a 
decision  of  the  British  Court  of  Appeals 
recognizing  as  legal  the  Bolshevist  Govern- 
ment's confiscation  of  private  property  in 
Russia.  After  Great  Britain's  removal  of 
restrictions  on  exports  to  Russia,  large 
English  firms  immediately  began  to  reach 
out  tentatively  for  Russian  trade.  The 
crucial  test,  however,  was  yet  to  come.  In 
the  Russo-British  Trade  Agreement,  signed 
in  London  on  March  16,  Article  13  gave  the 
Moscow  Government  the  right  to  terminate 
the  agreement  summarily  in  the  event  that 
the  British  courts  decided  adversely  regard- 
ing its  right  of  confiscation.  Underlying 
this  paragraph  was  the  contention  of  the 
Soviet  Government  that  it  could  not  do 
business  with  Great  Britain  if  its  deposits 
of  gold,  transferred  to  cover  its  commercial 
transactions,  remained  subject  to  attach- 
ment by  the  creditors  of  Russia,  or  similar- 
ly if  its  right  to  dispose  of  any  confiscated 


property  should  not  be  upheld  by  the 
British  courts. 

The  test  case  chosen  to  decide  the  issue 
was  that  entitled  "  Luther  vs.  Sagor." 
Suit  had  been  brought  by  A.  M.  Luther  as 
the  English  representative  of  a  Russian 
company  which  owned  a  veneer  factory  at 
Staraja,  in  the  Government  of  Novgorod. 
Soviet  agents  confiscated  the  mill,  and  fin- 
ished the  products  under  the  1918  decree, 
and  in  1920  Krassin's  delegation  in  London 
sold  some  of  the  veneer,  or  plywood,  to 
James  Sagor  &  Co.  Luther  then  sued  the 
Sagor  firm  to  recover  for  his  principals 
both  the  plywood  and  damages. 

This  case  was  decided  on  May  12  in  favor 
of  the  Soviet  Government.  The  Court  of 
Appeals  held  that  the  Soviet  Government — 
by  virtue  of  the  trade  treaty — was  now 
recognized  by  the  British  Government  as 
the  de  facto  Government  of  Russia,  and 
that  in  consequence  the  English  courts  had 
no  authority  to  interfere  with  the  Bolshe- 
vist confiscatory  decrees. 


(57S 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


The  court  decision  made  it  clear  that  two 
main  issues  must  be  decided — whether  the 
Government  whose  property  rights  were 
contested  was  recognized  as  a  sovereign 
Government  by  the  British  Government, 
and  whether  such  rights  could  be  contested 
on  moral  grounds,  as  incompatible  with  the 
moral  and  political  principles  upheld  by  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  salient  passages  of 
the  decision  on  these  points  are  given 
below : 

Further,  the  courts,  in  deciding  the  ques- 
tion whether  a  particular  person  is  a  sov- 
ereign, must  be  guided  only  by  the  state- 
ment of  the  sovereign  on  whose  behalf  they 
exercise  jurisdiction.  As  was  said  by  this 
court  in  the  case  of  Mighell  vs.  Sultan  of 
Johore,  "  Whenever  there  is  the  authoritative 
certificate  of  the  King  through  his  Minister 
of  State  as  to  the  status  of  another  sover- 
eign, that  in  the  courts  of  this  country  is  de- 
cisive." In  the  present  case  we  have  from 
the  Foreign  Office  a  recognition  of  the  So- 
viet Republic  in  1921  as  the  de  facto  Govern- 
ment, and  a  statement  that  in  1917  the  Soviet 
authorities  expelled  the  previous  Government 
recognized  by  his  Majesty.  It  appears  to  me 
that  this  binds  us  to  recognize  the  decree 
of  1018  by  a  department  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  sale  in  1920  by  the  Soviet 
Republic  of  property  claimed  by  them  to  be 
theirs  under  that  decree,  as  acts  of  a  sover- 
eign State,  the  validity  of  which  cannot  be 
questioned  by  the  courts  of  this  country  un- 
less it  is  possible  to  do  so  for  the  second 
reason  argued  before  us— incompatibility  with 
the  moral  and  political  policy  of  the  United 
Kingdom.     *     *     * 

Regarding  this  second  argument,  the 
Court  expressed  its  views   as  follows: 

It  remains  to  consider  the  argument  that 
the  English  courts  should  refuse  to  recognize 
the  Soviet  legislation  and  titles  derived  under 
it  as  confiscatory  and  unjust.  *  *  *  But 
it  appears  a  serious  breach  of  international 
comity  if  a  State  is  recognized  as  a  sover- 
eign independent  State  to  postulate  that  its 
legislation  is  "contrary  to  essential  principles 
of  justice  and  morality."  Such  an  allegation 
might  well,  with  a  susceptible  foreign  Gov- 
ernment, become  a  casus  belli,  and  should  in 
my  view  be  the  action  of  the  sovereign 
through  his  Ministers  and  not  of  the  Judges 
in  reference  to  a  State  which  their  sovereign 
has  recognized. 

This  decision,  based  on  these  salient  fea- 
tures, and  backed  by  an  imposing  docu- 
mentation of  legal  precedents,  was  hailed 
by  Moscow  with  jubilation,  as  it  not  only 
upheld  the  Soviet  rights  in  the  case  in  ques- 
tion, but  provided  security  for  the  future 
in  all  similar  cases.  The  Bolsheviki  also 
made  capital  out  of  the  British  court's  con- 


firmation of  their  status  as  a  recognized 
de  facto  Government.  With  this  legal  im- 
pediment removed,  the  Moscow  Government 
found  its  way  open  to  the  full  resumption 
of  commercial  relations  with  Great  Britain, 
though  from  certain  statements  made  by 
Leonid  Krassin,  the  Russian  who  negotiated 
the  treaty,  it  had  no  immediate  hope  of 
much  trade.  Krassin  late  in  May  was  in 
Berlin,  arranging  detailed  plans  for  the 
resumption  of  trade  with  Germany,  which 
he  declared  to  be  much  more  important  for 
Russia's  prosperity  than  that  which  would 
follow  the  agreement  with  Great  Britain. 
Although  Krassin  reported  trade  prog- 
ress with  Belgian,  Dutch  and  Scandinavian 
interests,  the  one  great  country  to  whose 
trade  potentialities  the  Moscow  dictators 
looked  with  a  longing  eye — the  United 
States — still  remained  outside  the  enchanted 
ring  of  Bolshevist  persuasion.  Krassin,  it 
is  true,  declared  that  600,000  pairs  of  boots 
had  been  bought  privately  in  America  at  a 
price  only  slightly  exceeding  $3  a  pair; 
also  an  unspecified  amount  of  coal  and 
some  2,000  tons  of  rope.  The  American 
Government,  however,  after  the  advent  of 
the  new  Administration,  showed  itself  as 
averse  to  any  step  toward  recognition  as 
the  Wilson  regime  had  been.  Copies  of  the 
Soviet  official  organ,  Izvestia,  received  in 
this  country  on  May  16,  showed  the  extent 
of  the  Moscow  Government's  disappoint- 
ment.    One  article  said  in  part: 

The  essence  of  the  Washington  answer  Is 
that  the  resumption  of  commerce  with  Rus- 
sia will  be  possible  only  after  we  have  re- 
turned to  a  bourgeois  regime.  This  is  pure 
nonsense.  The  English  bourgeoisie  who  have 
signed  a  trade  agreement  with  us  did  not 
consider  this  change  necessary.  We  did  not 
propose  to  the  Americans  to  change  their 
capitalistic  regime  for  a  communistic  one. 

After  various  speculations  regarding 
the  real  reasons  behind  Secretary  Hughes's 
inflexible  letter  of  refusal,  the  article  con- 
cluded thus :  "  Little  by  little  the  industrial 
interests  of  America  will  predominate  and 
will  force  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  change  its  policy  toward  Soviet 
Russia." 

Intimately  connected  with  the  Soviet's 
plans  for  reopening  trade  relations  with 
the  world  was  Lenin's  scheme  for  giving 
concessions  in  Russia  to  foreign  enter- 
prises willing  to  exploit  and  develop  the 
countrv's  vast  economic  resources.     No  con- 


LENIN'S  FIGHT  FOR  SOVIET 


679 


cessions  have  yet  been  actually  given — not 
even  those  for  which  Mr.  Washing-ton  B. 
Vanderlip,  the  American  promoter,  is 
negotiating.  The  rebuff  of  the  Soviet  by 
Secretary  Hughes  apparently  had  an  un- 
favorable influence  not  only  on  Mr.  Vander- 
lip's  pending  concessions  in  Kamchatka,  but 
also  on  a  new  project  to  obtain  10,000,000 
acres  of  timber  land  in  the  Archangel 
district. 

Meanwhile  Lenin  continued  his  own 
rlans  for  Soviet  reform.  He  won  com- 
plete approval  for  his  new  policies  at  the 
final  session  of  the  All-Russian  Trade 
Union  Congress  held  in  Moscow  on  May 
27.  At  his  behest  the  Central  Council  of 
Labor  and  Defense  was  empowered  to  name 
a  committee  for  the  execution  of  the  re- 
forms outlined,  notable  among  which  was 
the  return  to  capitalistic  methods  in  the 
free  exchange  of  goods,  with  other  meas- 
ures devised  to  satisfy  the  discontented 
peasants.  Especially  important  was  the 
fact  that  Lenin  conceded  the  Labor  Unions' 
right  to  co-operate  in  naming  this  commit- 
tee, which  will  work  out  details  with  the 
Labor  Council.  This  recognition  by  Lenin 
of  the  influence  of  the  trade  unions  in 
Russia  had  the  effect  of  bringing  into 
power  a  body  of  Socialists  who  have  re- 
jected the  extreme  communism  of  the 
Third  International  and  who  are  closely 
allied  in  theory  with  the  International 
Trade  Union  Federation,  whose  head- 
quarters are  in  Amsterdam.  Only  last 
Summer  Lenin  denounced  this  group  and 
its  activities,  but  large  numbers  of  work- 
men in  Russia  are  said  to  be  supporting  it 
and  demanding  a  share  in  the  control  of 
industrial   affairs   of   the   country. 

The  new  decrees  sanctioning  free  trade 
had  no  visible  effect  in  overcoming  the  food 
shortage,  which  was  reported  as  serious, 
especially  in  Moscow.  Soviet  papers  con- 
tinued to  complain  of  rampant  speculation 
and  jobbery  under  free  trade.  This  was 
especially  noticeable  on  the  streets  of  Petro- 
grad.  The  trains  also  were  packed  with 
speculators  bringing  back  large  quantities 
of  food,  and  riding  without  ticket  or  with- 
out leave.  The  Soviet  leaders  were  becom- 
ing more  and  more  convinced  that  the  situa- 
tion could  be  served  only  by  a  system  of 
exchange  based  on  co-operation.  The 
peasants  were  holding  on  to  their  grain  for 
seed   purposes,   and   governmental   commis- 


sions sent  to  the  villages  outside  Moscow 
had  returned  empty  handed.  The  Govern- 
ment's hope  that  it  might  secure  a  supply 
of  flour  from  the  Caucasus  ended  in  dis- 
appointment, as  several  million  poods  of 
corn  had  been  destroyed  by  rebellious  ele- 
ments in  that  region. 

Unmoved  by  these  setbacks,  Lenin,  sup- 
ported strongly  by  his  chief  lieutenant, 
Milutin,  the  Soviet  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture, pushed  through  his  whole  program 
of  reform  at  the  congress  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  which  closed  its  sessions  in 
Moscow  on  May  31.  Zinoviev,  the  Soviet 
Governor  of  Petrograd,  and  head  of  the 
faction  opposed  to  reforms,  accepted  the 
new  plans  in  grim  silence.  The  policy  out- 
lined by  Lenin  and  Milutin  consisted  of  the 
following  salient  features: 

The  peasants  to  pay  one-third  of  their  grain 
to  the  Government  as  a  State  tax.  They  are 
empowered  to  dispose  of  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  through  the  newly  restored  co-opera- 
tive societies.  All  forcible  requisitions  of 
peasant  grain  to  cease. 

The  largest  industries,  such  as  the  leather, 
salt  and  textile  industries,  as  well  as  the 
means  of  transportation,  to  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  Government.  The  factories  to 
be  speeded  up  to  supply  the  peasants'  needs 
and  the  workmen  to  be  stimulated  to  greater 
productivity  by  a  bonus  system.  The  trade 
unions  to  supervise  the  work  of  these  indus- 
tries and  to  fix  the  wage  scale. 

The  co-operative  societies  and  private  in- 
dustries to  be  aided  and  encouraged  by  the 
Government  in  every  way  by  financial  sub- 
sidies, by  the  leasing  of  factories  to  the 
smaller  industries,  and  by  strict  holding  of 
the  Government  officials  in  charge  to  effi- 
cient administration.  The  trade  unions  to  fix 
the  wage  scale  also  for  these  smaller  indus- 
tries. The  Government  to  have  the  right  of 
inspection.  > 

The  co-operative  societies  to  be  similarly 
stimulated  and  encouraged.  All  hindrances 
to  free  trade  to  be  removed. 

By  no  means  reassuring  to  the  agricul- 
turists was  the  requisition  for  1921,  under 
the  guise  of  a  "  tax  in  kind,"  of  2,200,000 
poods  (36,000  tons)  of  butter,  all  of  which 
must  be  delivered  by  Nov.  1,  under  penalty 
of  prosecution. 

Neither  the  success  of  the  Government 
in  securing  a  trade  agreement  with  Great 
Britain  nor  its  theoretical  sanction  of  con- 
cessions, nor  its  announcement  of  reforms 
at  home,  had  any  effect  in  placating  the 
conservative  Russian  elements  abroad.  A 
congress  of  Russian  manufacturers  and 
business   men  which  closed   its   sessions   in 


680 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Paris  on  May  24  passed  thirteen  resolutions 
attacking  the  Soviet  regime  bitterly  as  an 
undemocratic  and  unrepresentative  Govern- 
ment, denouncing  the  trade  agreement  as 
an  instrument  of  further  depletion  of  Rus- 
sian gold,  and  warning  all  foreign  capital- 
ists that  concessions  granted  by  Lenin 
would  not  be  recognized  by  the  future 
legitimate  Government  of  Russia. 

Lenin  and  Trotzky  also  have  active 
enemies  nearer  home,  as  indicated  by  their 
systematic  drive  against  the  anarchists. 
There  is  a  grim  irony  in  a  document  sent 
to  German  syndicalists  by  the  Russian  an- 
archists, headed  by  Emma  Goldman  and 
Alexander  Berkman,  both  of  whom  the 
United  States  deported  to  Russia,  denounc- 
inr  the  Soviet  regime  in  violent  terms,  com- 


plaining that  Lenin  had  declared  bitter  war 
upon  them,  and  was  throwing  them  into 
prison  by  the  hundreds,  and  appealing  to 
their  German  comrades  to  publish  the 
Soviet's  misdeeds  in  all  anarchist  journals. 
All  the  anarchists  who  signed  this  appeal, 
with  the  exception  of  Goldman,  Berkman, 
and  one  other,  were  in  prison  at  the  time 
the  document  was  sent.  The  disillusion  of 
the  ex-Americans  with  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment, which  before  their  deportation  they 
extolled  in  unmeasured  terms,  has  long 
been  known. 

Recent  events  in  Siberia,  notably  the 
seizure  of  Vladivostok  by  the  forces  of  the 
late  General  Kappel,  a  former  Kolchak 
leader,  will  be  treated  more  fully  in  these 
pages  next  month. 


FINLAND  AS  LEADER  OF  THE 
BALTIC  STATES 

Steady,  prosperous  and  full  of  youthful  energij,  she  calls  herself  the  u  Resolute  Outpost 
of  Western  Civilization" — Lithuania  still  at  swords'  points  with    Poland   over    Vilna 

[Period    Ended   June   10,    3021] 


WHAT  Finland  is  today,"  said  the  Fin- 
nish Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  not 
long  ago,  "  the  Baltic  States  will  be 
fifty  years  from  now."  Esthonia,  Latvia 
and  Lithuania  are  still  enmeshed  in  the  eco- 
nomic and  political  difficulties  of  the  war's 
aftermath.  With  envious  eyes  the  little 
Baltic  States  look  across  the  water  at  the 
big  and  prosperous  democracy  established 
by  Finland,  which,  after  enjoying  practi- 
cally fifty  years  of  freedom  under  the  lax 
rule  of  the  Russian  Dukes,  won  her  inde- 
pendence soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
Russian  revolution,  had  that  independence 
as  a  sovereign  State  early  confirmed  by 
the  allied  powers,  and  was  thus  enabled  to 
devote  her  energies  to  the  task  of  develop- 
ing her  resources. 

Across  the  deep  blue  waters  of  the  Baltic 
the  Finns  can  still  see  the  great  bulk  of 
Kronstadt  rising  dimly  on  the  horizon  line, 
with  the  smoke  from  the  crippled  Soviet 
factories;  but  the  long  line  of  Summer 
villas,  once  filled  with  Summer  residents 
from    Petrograd,    is   now   almost   deserted. 


Only  a  few  villas  are  inhabited  by  the  Rus- 
sians, who  have  lost  their  all  in  the  great 
overturn;  the  rest  are  closed  and  forlorn. 
At  night  those  who  live  by  the  shore  can 
hear  the  booming  of  the  Kronstadt  sunset 
guns — a  sound  of  ominous  import,  espe- 
cially to  the  4,000  interned  Russian  refu- 
gees from  Kronstadt,  who  fled  across  the 
ice  when  Trotzky's  force  took  the  citadel 
and  crushed  the  rebellion  of  the  sailors 
there. 

Dr.  John  Finley,  an  American  educator, 
who  has  been  making  an  extended  tour  of 
the  Baltic  States,  especially  Finland,  and 
who  has  sent  from  there  a  series  of  thought- 
ful and  illuminative  articles,  noted  in  Fin- 
land a  native  energy  and  progressiveness 
which  made  him  think  of  America.  Dra 
Finley  wrote  in  May: 

What  strikes  surprisingly  and  impressively 
a  stranger,  who  has  a  schoolbook  association 
between  Finns  and  slant-eyed  Lapps,  is  that 
Finland,  for  a  century  and  more  a  part  of 
Russia  and  separated  from  her  physically 
be  only  a  crooked  imaginary  line,  is,  after 
all,     markedly     and     progressively     Western. 


FINLAND  AS  LEADER  OF  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


681 


She  calls  herself  the  "  resolute  outpost  of 
western  civilization,"  and  it  is  somewhat 
humiliating  that  the  United  States  was  not 
the  first  to  recognize  her  political  inde- 
pendence. 

Yet  Finland  is  eager  to  resume  her  old 
economic  friendship  with  Russia,  for  the 
present  interrupted.  The  bridge  over  the 
Sestrarieka  is  literally  and  metaphorically 
out  of  repair.  And  Finland  is  suffering 
from  this  fact ;  for  before  the  war  she  got 
her  grain  largely  from  Russia,  while  Russia 
came  to  her  for  lumber  and  paper.  So  Fin- 
land has  had  to  find  other  markets,  but 
under  greatest  hardships  because  of  the  rate 
of  exchange. 

Finland  has,  however,  the  pulse  and  what 
the  doctors  would  call  the  "  blood  pressure  " 
of  youth.  There  is  no  coal  in  Finland,  but 
there  is  a  splendid  circulatory  system  of 
rivers  and  lakes  (about  35,000)  with  an  avail- 
able horse  power  of  3,000,000,  that  is,  approx- 
imately one  horse  power  per  person.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  before  long  all  the  railroads  will 
be  electrified,  using  water  power. 

Finland  was  temperate  even  before  prohi- 
bition was  enacted.  The  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs  told  me  that  the  consumption 
before  the  war  was  only  one  liter  per  per- 
son per  year.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  the  land 
urea  is  covered  by  trees,  and  the  State  owns 
a  large  share  of  all  the  forest  land   (32,000,- 

000  of  the  nearly  50,000,000  acres). 

The  people  are  many  of  them  tall,  straight 
and  lithe,  as  if  they  had  come  out  of  their 
forests  of  tall,  straight  pines.  They  are  still 
what  James  Lane  Allen  would  call  forest- 
bodied  and  forest-minded.  Their  system  of 
education  is  such  that  there  is  a  smaller  per- 
centage of  illiterates  in  Finland  than  in  any 
other  country  of  the  world  except  possibly 
Denmark.  And  the  education  of  the  children 
and  youth  includes  physical,  musical  and 
vocational    training.      In   visiting   the    schools 

1  found  that  studies  had  been  made  of  our 
methods  of  physical  and  health  education  in 
the  United  States  and  especially  in  New 
York,  and  also  of  our  plans  for  school  build- 
ings. 

The  Government  makes  subventions  in  sup- 
port of  the  theatre  and  opera,  and  censors 
moving  pictures  and  forbids  cabarets.  It 
gives  special  scholarships  for  advanced  study 
in  music,  art,  architecture,  the  drama  and 
other  subjects.  It  maintains  a  university 
with  3,000  students  and  is  about  to  establish 
another  university.  It  has  the  enterprise  of 
a  Middle  Western  State;  and  when  one  enters 
the  harbors  or  the  "  Grand  Central  Station  " 
of  its  capital,  Helsingfors,  one  can  easily 
imagine  one's  self  in  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul 
or  Kansas  City.  Only  Helsingfors  is  cleaner 
than  any  American  city  that  I  have  seen  of 
its  size. 

Finland  is  leading  a  movement  to  draw 
the  Baltic  nations  together.  It  has  already 
established  close  contact  with  Latvia,  which 
sent   to    Finland    early    in    May    a    special 


delegation  of  members  of  the  Lettish  Con- 
stituent Assembly.  The  project  of  a  Taltic 
union,  which  Finland  strongly  favors,  was 
enthusiastically  discussed  both  privately 
and  in  the  Finnish  press.  The  other  Baltic 
States,  with  this  view,  are  also  drawing 
together,  and  even  Poland  has  evinced  a 
desire  to  draw  closer  to  her  sister  repub- 
lics on  the  Baltic.  That  the  Baltic  States 
are  serious  in  this  project  of  alliance  is 
indicated  by  the  recent  announcement  of  a 
conference  of  the  Foreign  Ministers  of 
Esthonia,  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  to  be  held 
at  Riga  (Latvia)  before  the  end  of  June. 

One  dissonant  note  in  the  general  Baltic 
harmony  was  the  dispute  between  Lithu- 
ania and  Poland  over  the  disputed  territory 
of  Vilna.  Both  the  Poles  and  the  Lithu- 
anians are  unshakable  in  their  respective 
claims,  and  the  conferences  initiated  at 
Brussels,  under  the  Presidency  of  M.  Paul 
Hymans,  gave  no  sign  as  they  went  on  that 
a  solution  would  be  found.  The  Lithuanians 
were  convinced  that  they  were  the  natural 
and  rightful  inheritors  of  the  territory  now 
held  by  the  Polish  insurgent  leader,  General 
Zeligowski,  the  legitimate  heirs  of  the  Lith- 
uanian Grand  Dukes  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries.  The  majority  of  Poles, 
not  only  those  resident  in  Vilna,  but  those 
of  Poland,  refused  to  admit  that  Lithuania 
had  any  rights,  and  insisted  that  Vilna, 
with  its  large  number  of  Polish  inhabitants, 
should  be  annexed  to  Poland.  The  Lithu- 
anian and  Polish  delegates  in  Brussels 
naturally  reflected  this  attitude,  and  from 
the  beginning  of  the  negotiations,  late  in 
April,  it  was  only  too  evident  that  the  two 
disputing  parties  held  wholly  irreconcilable 
views.  The  Poles  rejected'  all  solutions 
which  implied  Lithuania's  possession  of 
Vilna.  Lithuania  presented  a  formal  series 
of  proposals  at  the  session  of  May  20.  These 
proposals  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Poland  recognizes  the  sovereignty  of  the 
democratic  Republic  of  Lithuania  over  Vilna 
and  its  territory. 

Should  the  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  decide  to  assign  the  territory  of  Me- 
mel  to  Lithuania,  Poland  agrees  to  recognize 
the  sovereignty  of  Lithuania  over  the  said 
territory. 

In  order  to  guarantee  the  cultural  auton- 
omy of  the  Polish-speaking  Lithuanian  citi- 
zens of  the  territory  of  Vilna,  Lithuania 
agrees  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers  on  the  basis  of 


682 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  principles  contained  in  the  treaty  of  June 
28,  1910,  between  those  powers  and  Poland. 

Lithuania  assures  Poland  free  access  to  the 
sea  by  all  railways  and  waterways,  and  to 
this  end  undertakes  to  conclude  a  transit 
agreement  with  Poland. 

Lithuania  and  Poland  agree  to  be  guided  in 
their  reciprocal  relations  by  the  principles 
contained  in  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of 
Nations  or  established  subsequently  to  that 
Covenant  by  the  said  League. 

These  proposals  were  rejected  by  the  Po- 
lish delegates,  who  opposed  all  solutions 
implying  the  possession  of  Vilna  by  the 
Lithuanians.  Seeing  that  the  views  of  the 
delegations  were  irreconcilable,  M.  Hy- 
mans,  as  President  of  the  sessions,  pre- 
sented a  plan  of  his  own,  devised  to  solve 
not  only  the  boundaiy  questions,  but  also 
the  political,  military  and  economic  rela- 
tions between  the  two  countries.  The  in- 
tervention of  M.  Hymans  brought  some  new 
hope,  but  on  June  2  the  note  of  discourage- 
ment and  reserve  sounded  by  Professor 
Askenazy,  head  of  the  Polish  delegation, 
proved  itself  to  be  based  on  realities,  for 
on  that  date  the  Lithuanian  representative 
in  Washington  announced  officially  that  the 
negotiations  had  been  broken  off.  His  ad- 
vices alleged  that  the  Poles  were  to  blame 
for  this  rupture,  which  had  been  caused  by 
the  Polish  insistence  that  the  conference 
should  be  attended  by  delegates  from  Vilna 


itself,  who  should  have  equal  rights  with 
the  other  delegates.  The  Lithuanians  re- 
fused to  consider  this  proposal,  saying  that 
as  Vilna  was  under  the  domination  of 
Zeligowski,  any  delegates  sent  by  him 
would  inevitably  vote  for  Poland,  and  the 
Lithuanian  delegates  would  be  outnum- 
bered. The  Lithuanians  were  preparing  to 
lay  the  whole  issue  before  the  Council  of 
the  League  of  Nations. 

Two  of  the  Baltic  republics,  Esthonia  and 
Latvia,  have  been  recognized  de  jure  by 
the  allied  powers.  Lithuania  is  'still  clamor- 
ing for  such  recognition,  and  considers  her- 
self unjustly  treated  in  that  such  recogni- 
tion is  still  withheld.  It  is  unlikely  that 
her  national  aspirations  will  be  granted  un- 
til her  boundary  dispute  with  Poland  has 
been  settled.  The  United  States  Govern- 
ment, so  far,  has  declined  to  recognize  any 
of  the  Baltic  States  except  Finland.  A 
strong  movement  in  the  United  States  tend- 
ing toward  such  recognition  was  evidenced 
on  May  16,  when  Representative  Walter  M. 
Chandler  of  New  York  presented  to  Secre- 
tary of  State  Hughes  a  memorandum  em- 
bodying vigorous  arguments  in  favor  of 
the  recognition  of  all  three  States.  A  spe- 
cial appeal  was  submitted  to  President 
Harding  on  May  31,  signed  by  more  than 
1,000,000  names,  many  of  them  those  of 
men  of  national  and  official  prominence. 


HINDENBURG'S  STATUE   FOR   FIREWOOD 


ABOUT  a  year  ago  the  colossal  wooden 
statue  of  Germany's  military  idol,  Gen- 
eral von  Hindenburg,  disappeared  over- 
night from  its  place  at  the  end  of  Berlin's 
famous  Siegesallee  (Avenue  of  Victory)  in 
the  Thiergarten.  The  day  before  it  had 
towered,  grotesquely  impressive  in  its  big- 
ness and  its  bristling  armor  of  nails,  every 
one  of  which  it  had  cost  some  Hindenburg 
admirer  a  certain  number  of  pfennige  to 
drive  home,  the  united  proceeds  going  to 
war  charities.  The  next  morning  Berlin 
citizens  rubbed  their  eyes;  the  Hindenburg 
statue  had  disappeared.  No  one  knew  what 
had  become  of  it;  there  was  no  official  ex- 
planation, and  this  strange  disappearance 
became  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  day.  Ber- 
liner s,  however,  shed  no  tears  over  the  loss, 


for  in  the  days  of  defeat  this  grim,  un- 
gainly effigy,  the  most  tragic  of  all  re- 
minders, had  become  an  eyesore. 

An  extraordinary  sequel  followed  toward 
the  end  of  May,  1921,  when  an  advertise- 
ment appeared  in  a  Berlin  paper  offering 
the  statue  for  sale,  in  whole  or  in  part,  as 
firewood.  This  inglorious  ending  of  the 
"  Iron  Hindenburg  "  seemed  to  have  an  al- 
most symbolical  fitness.  And  yet  it  may 
be  misleading,  for  many  evidences  indicate 
that  General  von  Hindenburg  still  retains 
a  part  of  the  nimbus  which  once  encircled 
his  massive  head,  and  the  new  republicans 
looked  with  no  happy  eye  on  the  applause 
that  greeted  the  General  as  he  marched  in 
the  funeral  cortege  of  the  late  Empress  at 
Potsdam. 


NORWAY'S  INDUSTRIAL  CRISIS 


Community  Aid,  battling  with  a  Bolshevist-led  general  strike,  keeps  the  chief  industries 
going — Bolshevist  plots  in  Sweden  and  Denmark — Rapprochement  between  France  and 
Scandinavian  countries. 

[Period   Ended   June   10,    1921] 


SYMPTOMATIC  of  the  industrial  con- 
dition which  has  prevailed  in  Norway 
ever  since  the  seamen's  strike,  which 
began  on  May  9  and  which  turned  into  a 
general  strike  two  days  later,  was  the  ar- 
rival of  a  Norwegian- American  Line  steam- 
ship at  Hoboken  on  June  6  bringing  back  a 
200-ton  cargo  which  the  strike  had  made  it 
impossible  to  unload  in  Christiania.  The 
steamer  was  manned  by  a  volunteer  crew 
which  included  a  millionaire,  five  captains, 
fourteen  mates  and  several  college  students 
and  business  men  of  Norway.  These  repre- 
sented the  effort  of  the  Community  Aid 
organization  to  keep  necessary  industries 
going  in  the  face  of  great  strikes. 

Community  Aid  had  broken  the  railroad 
workers'  strike,  nullifying  all  efforts  to 
make  it  general,  but  it  had  not  been  strong 
enough  to  prevent  the  present  crisis,  though 
it  has  gained  ground  by  furnishing  more 
and  more  social  workers. 

Before  the  World  War  the  Norwegian 
merchant  marine  was  said  to  operate  more 
cheaply  than  that  of  any  other  nation,  and 
the  Norwegian  ship  owners  tried  in  May  to 
return  to  their  antebellum  economies,  begin- 
ning with  a  cut  in  seamen's  wages.  This 
started  the  seamen's  strike,  and  the  trade 
unions  of  the  national  labor  organization 
called  a  general  strike  in  sympathy  with 
the  sailors,  excepting  only  the  workers  of 
the  railroads,  telegraphs,  postal  service, 
hospitals  and  the  union  co-operative  con- 
cerns. Nearly  all  newspapers  were  stopped 
except  the  Socialist  and  Syndicalist  journals. 
The  latter,  especially  the  Christiania  daily, 
Klassekampen,  continued  urging  the  work- 
men to  revolutionary  action,  although  the 
labor  leaders  alleged  that  the  strike  was 
not  political. 

In  the  districts  of  Christiania,  Stavanger 
and  Bergen  the  strikers  joined  in  violent 
rioting  in  an  attempt  to  prevent  the  neces- 
sary transportation.  Social  workers  of  the 
Community  Aid  came  forward,  volunteering 


for  service  under  the  protection  of  the  police, 
who  rapidly  restored  order  in  each  of  the 
three  cities  named,  making  many  arrests 
of  ringleaders  and  others.  The  social  work- 
ers manned  some  of  the  coastwise  vessels, 
but  many  of  the  larger  craft  were  so  short- 
handed  that  motorboats  were  extensively 
used  to  supplement  the  railroads.  Especial- 
ly in  Nordland  and  other  northern  provinces, 
where  railroads  are  lacking,  the  motorboats 
were  used  very  effectively  for  distribution 
of  provisions  and  other  necessary  supplies. 
Here,  and  in  some  other  provinces,  unions 
refused  to  join  the  strike  and  social  work- 
ers were  numerous. 

The  dispatch  of  goods  by  motorboats  was 
bitterly  but  vainly  opposed  by  the  strikers 
in  Christiania.  Social  workers  manned  the 
harbor  industries  there,  and  by  the  end  of 
May  were  supplying  the  population  with 
bread,  which  hitherto  had  been  made  only 
by  the  workmen's  co-operative  concerns  for 
their  own  use.  Strikers  attacked  the  Chris- 
tiania electrical  works,  but  were  dispersed. 
Early  in  June  social  workers  were  keeping 
up  all  the  necessary  work  in  Christiania, 
and,  though  the  strike  continued,  its  effects 
were  not  strongly  felt  there.  Off-shore  ship- 
ping, however,  was  tied  up  by  a  lack  of 
hands. 

SWEDEN— The  arrest  on  June  9  of  a  well- 
known  Bolshevist  leader  in  Kiruna,  in 
the  iron-mining  district,  where  a  communist 
organization  was  discovered,  resulted  in  un- 
covering what  the  Stockholm  newspapers 
considered  as  a  sensational  and  widespread 
plot  for  a  Bolshevist  revolution  in  Sweden. 
Several  arrests  were  made  in  Stockholm  in 
the  same  connection.  The  documents  dis- 
covered were  reported  to  show  that  this  plot 
was  to  start  a  Bolshevist  revolution 
simultaneously  in  Sweden,  Finland  and 
Norway,  and  to  implicate  400  foreign  Bol- 
sheviki  staying  in  Sweden.  It  was  expected, 
at  last  advices,  that  these  would  be  arrested 


(584 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


and  expelled  from  the  country.  Five  Finns 
arrested  in  Stockholm  were  found  by  police 
records  to  be  former  members  of  the 
Finnish  "  Red  Guard."  One  Swede  was 
also  arrested. 

A  rapproachement  between  France  and  the 
Scandinavian  countries  was  foreshadowed 
by  the  visit  in  the  latter  part  of  May  of  a 
delegation  of  city  councilors  of  Paris  to 
Stockholm,  Christiania,  and  Copenhagen,  to 
study  the  municipal  institutions  of  the  three 
Scandinavian  capitals.  Both  the  French  and 
Scandinavian  press  made  much  of  this  offi- 
cial visit.  The  delegation  consisted  of  the 
President  of  the  Municipal  Council  of  Paris, 
M.  Le  Corbeiller,  and  fourteen  representa- 
tives of  different  Paris  institutions.  Special 
efforts  were  made  by  the  Scandinavian  au- 
thorities to  do  them  honor.  On  the  first 
day  of  the  week's  visit  in  Stockholm,  the 
city  gave  a  reception  and  luncheon,  and  the 
Grand  Governor  of  Stockholm,  acting  as 
host,  gave  the  guests  an  elaborate  speech  of 
welcome.  M.  Le  Corbeiller,  in  his  reply, 
appealed  to  Sweden  to  continue  to  extend 
her  hand  to  France  for  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  world.  The  King  gave  an 
afternoon  tea  in  honor  of  his  French  guests. 

Count  Wrangel,  the  Swedish  Foreign 
Minister,  when  asked  his  opinion  of  the 
French  delegation's  visit  by  a  correspondent 
of  Le  Temps,  declared  that  the  Swedish 
Government  had  expressed  in  its  recep- 
tion the  friendship  felt  by  all  classes  of  the 
Swedish  people  for  France.  Sweden,  he 
said,  had  been  forced  to  maintain  neutrality 
in  the  war,  owing  to  her  geographical  posi- 
tion. Questioned  as  to  Sweden's  actual 
policy  toward  Soviet  Russia,  Count  Wrangel 
answered : 

We  are  trying,  as  far  as  possible,  to  es- 
tablish commercial  relations  with  Russia. 
We  have  not  yet  concluded  a  treaty  like  the 
Anglo-Russian,  but  we  have  no  objection  to 
seeing  our  commercial  men  establish  trade 
relations  with  agents  here.  Before  extend- 
ing such  relations  we  wish  to  see  the  results 
of  private  negotiations  between  our  mer- 
chants and  the  agents.  Our  geographical 
position  is  different  from  England's,  and  it 
is  necessary  for  us  to  be  more  careful  about 
the  propaganda  of  communism. 

The  Swedish  press  continued  to  show  ex- 
citement over  the  report  of  the  Aland  Is- 
lands Commission.  Nearly  all  the  papers 
declared  that  the  document  violates  all  con- 
siderations of  justice.  Aftonbladet  (Stock- 
holm) headed  an  article:  "  Finland's  Guar- 


antee Worth  Nothing — A  Slap  in  the  Face, 
Say  the  Alanders — Future  Will  Show  What 
Aland  Is  Exposed  To."  Tidningen:  "This 
lamentable  document  surpasses  all  that 
could  have  been  believed  possible  in  aban- 
donment of  juridical  principles  in  favor  of 
political  opportunism.  *  *  *  "  Other  pa- 
pers declared  that  the  report  does  not  give 
the  last  word,  and  contrasted  it  with  the  re- 
port of  the  three  Judges,  who  "  recognized 
the  solid  basis  of  the  Swedish  thesis." 

Sweden's  recent  abolition  of  capital  pun- 
ishment goes  further  than  Norway's  simi- 
lar legislation  fifteen  years  ago,  which  re- 
served the  death  penalty  for  Cabinet  Minis- 
ters, as  a  guarantee  against  their  recklessly 
committing  offenses  against  the  State,  such 
as  embroiling  it  in  a  bloody  war  unjustly. 

M.  Hammarskjold,  the  Swedish  Minister 
of  Defense,  resigned  in  the  middle  of  May, 
because  the  Riksdag  passed  a  bill  limiting 
the  period  of  military  service  to  165  days  in- 
stead of  225  days,  as  he  proposed. 

DENMARK — Danish  Syndicalists  decid- 
ed in  May  to  affiliate  themselves  with 
the  Third  International,  as  a  result  of  Bol- 
shevist intrigues  in  Denmark.  Social-Demo- 
craten  (Copenhagen)  published  new  docu- 
ments proving  that  all  directors  of  the  Syn- 
dicalist movement  were  lavishly  subsidized 
by  the  Soviet  Government  of  Russia.  In 
the  last  year  the  Bolsheviki  covered  the 
deficit  of  a  Bolshevist  newspaper  in  Den- 
mark amounting  to  312,000  Danish  crowns, 
and  expended  half  a  million  crowns  in  Den- 
mark to  hold  together  the  Danish  adherents 
to  Moscow.  The  Danish  Bolshevist  Party, 
numbering  2,000  adherents,  and  enjoying 
no  other  revenue,  has  set  aside  this  year 
220,000  crowns  for  propaganda,  and  also 
found  means  to  buy  a  house  in  the  centre  of 
Copenhagen.  The  Russian  Reds  have  dis- 
bursed in  all  more  than  1,500,000  crowns  to 
sustain  the  Danish  opposition. 

Great  honors  were  extended  to  the  Indian 
poet,  Rabindranath  Tagore,  when  he  arrived 
in  Copenhagen  on  May  21.  About  a  thou- 
sand people  received  him  at  the  station.  The 
next  day  he  was  entertained  at  the  Danish 
Students'  Club,  where  he  gave  a  reading 
from  his  poems  to  a  large  audience.  Later 
in  the  evening  the  students  organized  a 
torchlight  procession  in  his  honor.  At  the 
invitation  of  the  university,  he  gave  a  pub- 
lic lecture  on  India,  and  afterward  left  for 
Stockholm. 


HOW  FRANCE  CELEBRATED  THE 
NAPOLEON   CENTENARY 


Premier  Briand' s  successful  fight  for  a  vote  of  confidence  is  strangely  linked 
up  with  the  nation  s  mental  attitude  at  the  centenary  of  Napoleon's  death 


THE  vote  of  confidence  given  to  M.  Bri- 
and,  the  Premier,  by  the  French  Senate 
at  the  session  of  May  31,  was  an  earnest 
of  the  nation's  mood  to  insist  on  reasonable 
measures  regarding  German  reparations. 
M.  Briand,  who  for  eight  days  had.  fought 
his  opponents  face  to  face  and  delivered 
his  defense  with  telling  effect,  had  de- 
clared to  the  Senate  his  belief  that  the  new 
German  Premier,  Dr.  Wirth,  was  absolutely 
sincere  in  his  desire  to  live  up  to  the  ac- 
cepted conditions,  and  that  it  behooved 
France,  by  pursuing  a  policy  of  modera- 
tion, to  aid  him  to  do  so.  This  was  the 
first  time  since  the  war  that  a  French  Pre- 
mier had  publicly  praised  the  sincerity  of  a 
German  Government  leader.  That  M.  Bri- 
and's  words  were  convincing  was  proved  by 
the  fact  that  after  all  the  attacks  only 
eight  Senators  dropped  the  white  card  of 
disapproval  into  the  urns,  while  269  others 
dropped  in  the  blue  card  of  approval. 

Though  M.  Briand  thus  won  the  Senate's 
support  of  his  Rhine  policy  and  of  his  plan 
of  complete  co-operation  with  the  interallied 
nations  in  Upper  Silesia,  the  general 
French  fear  that  Germany,  after  all,  was 
playing  a  double  game  and  would  yet  work 
to  make  her  promises  valueless,  persisted 
in  the  minds  of  many  leaders.  War  Minis- 
ter Barthou,  it  is  true,  on  his  return  early 
in  June  from  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the 
Rhine  armies,  declared  that  he  had  found 
the  training  of  the  1921  recruits  so  far  ad- 
vanced that  he  looked  forward  to  demo- 
bilizing the  class  of  1919  by  the  end  of 
June.  He  added,  however :  "  That  is  my 
conviction,  provided  always  that  Germany 
continues  to  show  good-will." 

The  prevailing  uneasiness  was  reflected 
in  the  official  speeches  at  the  centenary  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  which  was  celebrated 
in  Paris  on  May  4  and  5.  Amid  the  sombre 
splendor  of  Notre  Dame,  where  the  great 
Corsican  crowned  himself  Emperor  in  1805, 
the  brilliant  ceremonies  of  the  4th  were  wit- 


nessed by  a  dense  throng  of  the  nation's 
notables,  all  gazing  up  at  the  throne  on 
which  sat  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Paris 
in  robes  of  bright  scarlet,  which  blazed  out 
vividly  against  the  dark  background.  The 
Abbe  Henocque,  wearing  on  his  black  cas- 
sock the  symbol  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  and 
the  Croix  de  Guerre,  delivered  an  eloquent 
sermon  lauding  Napoleon  as  the  restorer  of 
religion,  and  struck  the  note  which  was  re- 
peated throughout  the  fete,  namely,  the  les- 
son of  patriotism  to  be  derived  from  the 
great  Frenchman's  career. 

The  scene  shifted  in  the  afternoon  to 
the  venerable  precincts  of  the  Sorbonne, 
where  a  distinguished  audience  listened  to 
solemn  speeches  commemorating  the  civil 
institutions  founded  by  Napoleon,  and  ex- 
pressing France's  gratitude.  Both  of  these 
events,  however,  were  preliminary  to  the 
celebrations  held  the  next  day  at  the  Arc 
de  Triomphe  and  the  Tomb  of  Napoleon, 
in  which  the  Government  took  a  more  ac- 
tive part.  Standing  beside  the  Unknown 
Warrior's  Tomb,  President  Millerand  eulo- 
gized the  former  Emperor,  linking  his  name 
with  that  of  the  unknown  soldier.  The 
days  of  despotism  were  over,  he  said,  and 
France  need  have  no  fear  in  eulogizing 
Napoleon  as  one  of  France's  great  national 
glories.  He  then  drew  the  lesson  for  the 
present  and  the  coming  time: 

Napoleon  thought,  in  September,  1808,  that 
he  could  cut  the  claws  of  the  Prussian  Army 
by  a  military  agreement  limiting  its  strength. 
But  he  failed  to  take  account  of  Prussian 
hypocrisy,  of  the  tenacity  of  a  people  which 
never  admits  itself  to  be  beaten.  Scharn- 
horst,  to  avenge  Jena,  began  his  labors  in 
1807.  He  succeeded  so  well  that  the  Prus- 
sian Army,  reduced  to  42,000  men  by  the  con- 
ditions of  the  treaty,  possessed  in  August, 
1813,  no  fewer  than  280,000  men.  By  what 
means?  It  is  useless  to  find  them  in  the 
history  of  yesterday  ;  today's  history  is  suffi- 
cient. Prussia  has  more  tenacity  than  im- 
agination ;  she  has  no  vain  pride  in  regard 
to  repetition,  if  repetition  as  a  process  suits 
her    ends.      Ludendorff    is    copying    Scharn- 


6SG 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


horst  today,  borrowing  from  him  his  means 
of  dissimulation,  his  indirect  combinations, 
his  instructions,  and  even  his  very  language. 
Vanquished  Prussa  is  preparing,  under  Lu- 
dendorff's  orders,  the  revenge  for  which  it 
will  yet  fix  the  exact  moment,  and  the  min- 
gled threat  and  hope  of  which  it  acclaimed 
at  Potsdam.  [The  funeral  of  the  late  Kai- 
serin  is  referred  to  here.]  We  will  not  allow 
her  to  begin  this  process  all  over.  Napo- 
leon's mistake  should  be  for  us  a  sufficient 
lesson.  What  good  would  our  victory  have 
been  for  us  if  victory  had  not  killed  during 
the  war  the  national  industry  of  impenitent 
Prusssia?  We  do  not  wish  for  war;  we  hate 
war,  annexations,  conquests  and  imperial  vis- 
ions. But  it  cannot  be  construed  as  a  wish 
for  war  to  compel  Germany  to  fulfill  the  ' 
terms  of  peace  by  those  measures  of  coercion 
which  her  resistance  and  bad  faith,  aggra- 
vated by  her  insolence,  have  made  inevitable. 

The  booming  of  great  guns  closed  the 
ceremony  at  the  precise  moment  when — 
a  hundred  years  before — Napoleon  had  died 
at  St.  Helena. 

Ceremonies  no  less  significant  were  held 
at  the  Tomb  of  Napoleon,  where  Marshal 
Foch  delivered  an  address  which  moved 
the  large  audience  greatly.  The  conclusion 
of  this  address  follows: 

Sire,  sleep  in  peace  !  From  the  very  tomb 
you  are  still  working  for  France.  Whenever 
danger  threatens  the  Fatherland,  our  flags 
are  moved  by  the  breath  of  your  imperial 
eagle  as  it  passes.  If  our  legions  have  re- 
turned in  triumph  through  the  Triumphal 
Arch  which  you  erected,  it  is  because  that 
sword  of  Austerlitz  had  shown  us  how  to 
unite  and  lead  the  forces  which  win  to  vic- 
tory. Your  masterly  lessons,  your  obstinate 
labor  remain  unparalleled  examples.  As  we 
study  and  meditate  upon  them,  the  art  of 
war  assumes  an  ever-growing  grandeur. 

In  a  special  article  written  for  The  Lon* 
don  Times,  Marshal  Foch  drew  another 
lesson.  Though  he  acknowledged  Napo- 
leon's mistakes  in  placing  the  individual 
above  the  nation  and  war  above  peace,  he 
did  homage  to  his  unconquerable  spirit  and 
fierce  energy  for  France: 

In  the  dark  hours  of  the  war,  we  often 
asked  ourselves:  "If  Napoleon  were  to.  rise 
from  his  tomb  at  the  Invalides,  what  would 
he  say  to  us,  what  would  he  do  with  our 
armies  of  today?  He  would  have  said  to  us: 
"  You  have  millions  of  men ;  I  never  had 
them.  You  have  railways,  telegraphs,  wire- 
less, aircraft,  long-range  artillery,  poison 
gases  ;  I  had  none  of  them.  And  you  do  not 
turn  them  to  account?  I'll  show  you  a  thing 
or  two !  "  And  in  a  couple  of  months  he 
would  have  changed  everything  from  top  to 
bottom,  reorganized  everything,  employed 
everything   in    some    new   way,    and    crushed 


the  bewildered  enemy.  Then  he  would  have 
come  back  at  the  head  of  his  victorious 
armies— and  would  have  been  very  much  in 
the  way. 

Similar  exercises  were  held  in  Corsica. 
The  same  note  was  voiced  there;  likewise 
in  the  celebration  of  the  new  national  fete 
of  Joan  of  Arc  on  May  8.  France's  deter- 
mination to  secure  justice  from  Germany, 
if  need  be,  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  was 
similarly  expressed  by  President  Millerand 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Lille  on 
May  16. 

In  all  these  national  festivities  the  note 
of  a  renewed  Catholicism  was  heard  again 
and  again.  France,  it  will  be  recalled,  has 
reopened  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Vat- 
ican. Senator  Charles  Jonnart,  formerly 
the  Allied  High  Commissioner  in  Athens, 
and  later  Extraordinary  Ambassador  to  the 
Vatican,  was  nominated  by  Premier  Briand 
on  May  17  as  French  Ambassador  to  the 
Holy  See. 

With  the  triumph  of  the  radical  element 
of  the  railroad  brotherhood  early  in  June, 
and  the  probability  of  a  pitched  battle  be- 
tween the  moderate  and  extreme  factions, 
the  fate  of  both  this  union  and  the  General 
Confederation  of  Labor  was  left  hanging 
in  the  balance.  The  Government  decree 
dissolving  the  Confederation  for  the  anti- 
governmental  activities  of  its  radical  lead- 
ers still  stands  unexecuted,  but  any  increase 
of  radicalism  is  a  bad  omen  for  the  exist- 
ence of  either  of  these  organizations.  The 
Government  was  taking  steps  to  eliminate 
the  surreptitious  teaching  of  communism 
in  the  public  schools.  It  was  also  waging 
a  determined  war  on  criminality,  and  on 
June  1  it  resumed  its  former  system  of  de- 
portation to  the  penal  colony  of  French 
Guiana,  interrupted  for  lack  of  transporta- 
tion since  1915.  The  resumption  was  due 
to  the  overcrowding  of  French  prisons, 
which  was  serious.  Some  700  convicts  left 
La  Rochelle  on  a  former  German  freighter 
on  June  1,  shut  up  in  eight  huge  iron  cages 
constructed  between  decks,  guarded  by  fifty 
military  warders. 

"DELGIUM— The  Belgian  Chamber  of 
-L-'  Deputies,  on  May  13,  ratified  the 
treaty  of  Trianon,  putting  an  end  to  the 
state  of  war  with  Hungary,  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  the  132  members  present.  *  *  * 
The  long-expected  split  in  the  Belgian  So- 


HOW  FRANCE  CELEBRATED   THE  NAPOLEON  CENTENARY 


687 


cialist  Party  became  definite  on  May  29, 
when  the  extremists  decided  to  constitute  a 
communist  party,  which  will  seek  contact 
with  the  Third  International  of  Moscow. 
*  *  *  a  Franco-Belgian  monument  on 
the  summit  of  Mount  Kemmel,  to  commemo- 
rate the  victorious  allied  resistance  to  the 
German  attack  in  1918,  was  unveiled  on  May 
22.  *  *  *  The  proposed  ocean  yacht 
race  for  the  cup  offered  by  King  Albert  of 
Belgium  from  Sandy  Hook  to  Ostend  has 
been  abandoned  for  this  year,  only  two  en- 
tries having  been  received. 

TJOLLAND— Secretary  Hughes  of  the 
J--*-  United  States,  on  May  27,  sent  a  new 
note  to  Holland  on  the  oil  question  through 
the  American  Minister  at  The  Hague,  in- 
structing him  to  take  issue  with  the  Dutch 
Government's  statement  that  in  claiming 
rights  for  American  nationals  to  help  ex- 
ploit the  Djambi  oil  field  in  the  Dutch  East 
Indies  the  United  States  Government  had 
acted  too  late.  The  United  States  contends 
that,  as  Dutch  citizens  are  permitted  to 
share  in  the  development  of  oil  properties 
in  the  United  States,  American  citizens  are 
entitled  to  equal  opportunity  in  the  whole 
Dutch  territory.  Representatives  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company,  which  wants  a  con- 
cession for  one-half  the  Djambi  oil  fields, 
also   expressed    surprise   at   the    statement 


that  their  claim  came  too  late,  as  they  said 
that  persons  acting  in  the  interests  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  as  late  as  October, 
1920,  were  told  by  the  Dutch  Colonial  Min- 
ister that  no  consideration  could  be  given  to 
an  application  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
because  it  was  a  foreign  interest. 

The  annual  convention  of  the  World's 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  met  in 
Utrecht  on  June  10,  with  delegates  from  all 
national  organizations  in  attendance.  The 
sessions  were  taken  up  mostly  with  com- 
paring reports  of  war  work  organizations 
and  deciding  upon  the  policy  to  be  pursued 
during  the  coming  year.  The  sessions  were 
to  close  on  June  17. 

A  marble  bust  of  the  former  German  Em- 
press was  received  by  the  Kaiser  at  Doom 
on  May  18.  Although  the  Kaiser  was  for 
some  time  extremely  depressed  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  he  is  now  reported  to 
have  emerged  from  his  gloom.  He  has  paid 
a  visit  to  the  Bentinck  family  to  thank 
them  for  their  marks  of  sympathy.  The 
Doom  municipality,  on  May  25,  bought  a 
strip  of  woodland  which  belonged  to  his  es- 
tate, but  was  outside  his  fences  and  there- 
fore useless  to  him.  He  wished  to  sell  it  in 
small  allotments  as  building  ground  in  or- 
der to  add  to  his  income,  but  the  town  will 
preserve  it  for  the  public  in  its  natural 
state. 


HOME  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  BRITISH  PREMIER 

Mr,  Lloyd  (korges  Coalition  Government  again   defeats   its   enemies — 
Approaching  settlement  of  the  coal  miners'  strike  hastened  by  use  of  fuel  oil 

[Period   Ended   June  10,    1921] 


/^MCE  again  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  his 
^  Coalition  Cabinet  have  weathered  a 
threatening  storm,  making  a  new  show  of 
strength  in  the  face  of  hostile  criticisms  of 
the  Government's  Irish  policy,  defections  in 
Parliament  and  the  general  labor  turmoil. 
Talk  of  a  general  election  subsided  for  the 
time,  and  even  the  labor  crisis  showed  signs 
of  approaching  settlement.  Though  the 
Anglo-French  conflict  of  policy  on  the  Si- 
lesian  question  produced  a  tense  situation  in 
foreign  affairs,  especially  after  Lloyd 
George's   speech   containing  the  words,  "  I 


am  alarmed,  I  am  frightened,"  nevertheless 
public  interest  continued  to  centre  upon 
home  troubles,  among  which  the  Irish  and 
labor  problems  continued  to  be  foremost. 

Out  of  what  was  termed  the  "creeping 
paralysis  "  of  the  coal  miners'  strike,  from 
which  the  midland  and  northern  counties 
chiefly  suffered,  considerable  relief  was 
presently  obtained  by  the  use  of  oil  as  fuel. 
It  was  pointed  out  that  so  long  as  coal  was 
cheap,  accessible  and  easily  obtained  it  held 
its  own  against  the  commercial  encroach- 
ments of  oil,  but  now  that  these  attributes 


C88 


THE   NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


had  vanished  "  the  twilight  of  the  coal  age 
seemed  to  have  set  in."  Thus  by  June  1  the 
Great  Eastern  Railway,  which  was  almost 
shut  down  a  fortnight  before,  was  running 
almost  normally  with  over  sixty  converted 
oil-burning  locomotives,  while  several  other 
railways  and  great  engineering  plants  were 
following  suit  as  fast  as  possible. 

Meantime  quiet  "  conversations "  for  a 
settlement  of  the  dispute  continued  until 
May  27,  when  definite  negotiations  between 
the  mine  owners  and  miners  were  again 
opened  under  the  handling  of  Premier 
Lloyd  George.  On  the  28th  he  met  repre- 
sentatives of  both  parties  and  handed  them 
a  plan  for  temporary  arrangements  leading 
to  a  permanent  peace.  His  proposals  pro- 
vided for  a  gradual  scaling  down  of  wages 
until  they  reached  an  economic  level  which 
the  industry  was  capable  of  sustaining,  and 
were  based  on  the  grant  of  £10,000,000  from 
the  Exchequer  and  surrender  by  the  own- 
ers of  the  standard  profits  for  three 
months  in  the  districts  where  Government 
assistance  was  required.  As  a  hopeful  sign, 
on  May  31,  the  National  Union  of  Rail- 
waymen  and  the  Transport  Workers'  Fed- 
eration decided  to  lift  the  embargo  on  im- 
ported or  "  tainted  "  coal.  However,  the 
atmosphere  became  clouded  again  by  re- 
turns from  the  colliery  districts,  indicating 
that  the  miners  were  voting  solidly  against 
the  Government's  new  peace  proposals.  A 
reply  of  the  mine  owners  on  June  3,  while 
declaring  that  they  were  "  unalterably  op- 
posed "  to  a  national  pool  and  a  national 
settlement  of  wages,  nevertheless  made  new 
offers,  including  one  to  provide  a  subsist- 
ence wage  for  the  low-paid  workers.  Fore- 
shadowings  of  peace  were  seen  when,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  coal  deadlock,  the 
owners  and  miners  had  a  full  and  frank 
conference  on  June  6  without  the  presence 
of  Government  representatives.  Another 
meeting  on  the  7th  resulted  in  an  announce- 
ment by  the  miners'  representatives  that 
they  had  decided  to  call  a  special  confer- 
ence of  the  Miners'  Federation  and  to  rec- 
ommend a  ballot  on  the  owners'  new  pro- 
posals. When  the  miners'  delegates  met 
they  agreed  to  the  latter  proposal,  and  on 
June  10  formally  decided  to  submit  the  of- 
fer of  the  coal  owners  to  a  vote  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Miners'  Federation,  to  be  taken 
June  15.  This  was  the  first  time  in  the 
ten  weeks'  warfare  that  the  rank  and  file 


had  had  an  opportunity  to  express  their 
views,  and  it  was  generally  believed  that  an 
amicable  settlement  of  the  strike  was  in 
sight. 

Otherwise  the  disturbed  industrial  situa- 
tion was  intensified  by  a  walkout  of  500,000 
cotton  mill  operators  against  a  proposed 
30  per  cent,  reduction  in  wages,  and  by  the 
acute  depression  in  shipping.  The  case  of 
the  latter  was  declared  to  be  the  worst  on 
record,  with  thousands  of  longshoremen, 
seamen,  firemen,  officers  and  engineers 
walking  the  docks  looking  for  berths.  With 
the  slump  in  freight  rates  and  shipping 
values,  shipbuilding  had  come  to  a  stand- 
still so  far  as  new  orders  were  concerned. 
Thus,  no  contract  for  a  cargo  boat  had  been 
reported  for  about  twelve  months,  and  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  important 
yards  were  ordered  closed.  The  woolen  in- 
dustry, too,  was  in  a  deplorable  condition, 
although  it  had  not  suffered  from  strike 
troubles. 

Representatives  of  farmers  and  workers 
in  the  House  of  Commons  received  a  shock 
on  June  8  when  Sir  Arthur  G.  Boscawen 
announced  the  Government's  decision  prac- 
tically to  repeal  the  Agricultural  act,  not 
six  months  old,  by  which  means  it  purposed 
saving  £30,000,000  a  year  in  subsidies.  At 
the  same  session  Dr.  McNamara,  Minister 
of  Labor,  asked  leave  to  introduce  a  bill 
to  curtail  unemployment  benefits  5  and  6 
shillings  a  week  for  men  and  women,  re- 
spectively, as  an  absolutely  necessary  meas- 
ure in  the  interest  of  public  economy. 

The  new  American  Ambassador,  Colonel 
George  Harvey,  arrived  in  the  course  of 
the  month,  as  did  Rear  Admiral  Sims.  The 
cordiality  of  the  welcome  extended  to  the 
latter,  who  came  to  England  to  receive  a 
degree  of  doctor  of  laws  from  Cambridge 
University,  was  particularly  marked.  One 
newspaper  declared  he  was  "  the  best  friend 
in  need  that  England  found  during  the 
war."  A  guard  of  honor  of  destroyers 
escorted  the  American  Admiral's  ship  into 
Liverpool,  and  later  he  was  entertained  by 
the  King  and  Queen  in  Buckingham  Palace. 

Following  a  solemn  Memorial  Day  service 
in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  May  30,  Am- 
bassador Harvey  unveiled  a  replica  of 
Houdon's  bust  of  George  Washington  in 
the  crypt  near  the  graves  of  Nelson  and 
Wellington.     It    stood    there,    he    said,    to 


HOME  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  BRITISH  PREMIER 


689 


commemorate  "  a  great  British  soldier  and 
a  great  American  patriot."  Lord  Bryce 
announced  that  in  acknowledgment  of  this 
gift  it  was  proposed  to  present  to  the 
American  people  busts  of  the  famous  Earl 
of  Chatham  and  Edmund  Burke. 

A  record  job  lot  of  113  obsolete  warships 
was  announced  by  the  Admiralty  as  having 
been  sold  to  one  firm  for  breaking  up  at 


the  flat  rate  of  50  shillings  per  ton  on 
actual  displacement.  Under  the  contract 
the  provisional  price  was  deemed  to  be 
£600,000.  The  lot  included  the  battleships 
Dreadnought,  Magnificent,  Hindustan,  Do- 
minion and  Mars,  six  cruisers,  six  light 
cruisers,  three  flotilla  leaders,  seventy-two 
torpedo-boat  destroyers,  thirteen  torpedo- 
boats  and  eight  monitors. 


THE  NEW  NORTH-OF-IRELAND 
PARLIAMENT 


Ulster  Chamber  organized  at  Belfast  by  forty  Unionist  member s,  while  eleven  Sinn 
Feiners  and  Nationalists,  also  elected,  remain  away — Speaker  for  the  British  House  of 
Commons  elected  by  royal  sanction  through  Viceroy — Burning  of  Dublin  Custom  House 

[Period   Ended  June  10,   1921] 


BENEATH  the  turmoil  of  a  decidedly 
active  warfare  the  current  of  peace 
efforts  in  Ireland  still  wandered  un- 
certainly. A  new  negotiator  was  disclosed 
in  former  Governor  Martin  H.  Glynn  of 
New  York,  who,  upon  his  return  from  Ire- 
land and  England,  admitted  that  he  had 
acted  as  an  intermediary  between  Premier 
Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  de  Valera.  Another 
peace  effort  came  in  a  long  letter  written 
by  Pope  Benedict  to  Cardinal  Logue  ap- 
pealing to  both  the  English  and  Irish  to 
abandon  violence  and  proposing  that  the 
Irish  question  be  settled  by  a  body  selected 
by  the  whole  Irish  Nation.  This  effort  was 
criticised  by  friends  of  the  Irish  on  the 
ground  that  the  Pope  had  directed  his  ap- 
peal to  the  people  of  Ireland  over  the- 
heads  of  their  Government.  A  word  on 
the  subject  from  Sir  Hamar  Greenwood, 
Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  was  to  the  ef- 
fect that  if  Ireland  failed  to  settle  itself 
through  the  medium  of  the  two  new  Par- 
liaments "  a  situation  would  arise  which 
the  Government  must  face  with  all  its  re- 
sources." 

Final  elections  for  the  Southern  Parlia- 
ment left  the  situation  as  stated  in  last 
month's  Current  History.  A  few  contests 
did  not  change  the  result  of  124  Sinn  Fein 
members   facing  four   Imperialists.      While 


it  was  believed  that  the  moderates  among 
the  former  were  in  a  conciliatory  mood, 
nothing  could  be  said  as  to  how  far  the 
extremists  were  prepared  to  go  to  wreck 
the  new  parliamentary  system. 

Hardly  had  the  curfew  been  raised  at  5 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  24,  the  date 
fixed  for  elections  to  the  Northern  Parlia- 
ment, when  opposing  parties,  with  bands 
thundering,  began  parading  the  streets  of 
Belfast  and  soon  came  into  fierce  conflict. 
At  the  outset  clubs  and  stones  were  mostly 
used,  though  revolver  firing  was  indulged 
in  here  and  there.  A  feature  of  the  day 
was  the  number  of  children,  with  names 
on  the  register,  who  recorded  their  votes. 
A  little  fellow  two  and  a  half  years  old 
presented  himself  at  a  booth  in  South  Bel- 
fast and  voted.  It  was  estimated  that  90 
per  cent,  of  the  voters  of  Belfast  went  to 
the  polls. 

Early  returns  showed  that  Sir  James 
Craig,  Premier  designate,  had  gained  a 
great  personal  triumph  in  County  Down, 
where  he  polled  more  than  13,000  votes  over 
de  Valera.  The  figures  for  the  three  can- 
didates who  were  certain  of  election  in  this 
constituency  were  Sir  James  Craig,  Union- 
ist, 29,829;  de  Valera,  Sinn  Fein,  16,269, 
and  Andrews,  Nationalist,  12,584.  London- 
derry returned  Professor  John  MacNeil,  the 


690 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Sinn  Fein  Vice  President,  along  with  three 
Unionists.  Michael  Collins,  Chief  of  the 
Irish  Republican  Army,  and  Arthur  Grif- 
fiths, "  Vice  President  of  the  Republic," 
also  won  seats  in  Armagh  in  company  with 
Unionists.  In  the  West  Division  of  Belfast 
Joseph  Devlin,  M.  P.,  Nationalist,  was  elect- 
ed with  T.  H.  Bum,  M.  P.,  Unionist.  The 
final  count  <gave  the  Unionists  forty  seats 
against  eleven  won  by  the  Sinn  Feiners  and 
Nationalists. 

Organization  of  the  Northern  Parliament 
took  place  on  June  7  in  the  Council  Cham- 
ber of  the  City  Hall,  Belfast.  Forty  Union- 
ist members  were  sworn  in,  with  some  175 
Government  officials  and  prominent  citizens 
present.  The  eleven  Sinn  Feiners  and  Na- 
tionalists did  not  appear.  The  formal  cere- 
mony went  through  without  a  hitch  and  in 
a  quiet,  unemotional  manner.  The  Viceroy, 
Viscount  Fitzalan,  entered  the  Council 
Chamber  at  11:30  A.  M.  and  took  a  chair. 
Thereupon  the  Sergeant  at  Arms  brought  in 
n  new  mace  and  laid  it  on  the  table.  Arch- 
bishop d'Arcy,  Anglican  Primate,  read 
prayers,  and  then  the  Viceroy  announced 
that  he  had  authority  from  the  King  to 
sanction  the  election  of  a  Speaker  for  the 
House  of  Commons.  Robert  William  Hugh 
O'Neill  was  unanimously  elected.  Premier 
Sir  James  Craig  was  the  first  member  to 
take  the  oath,  which  read:  "I  swear  by 
Almighty  God  that  I  will  be  faithful  and 
bear  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty  King 
George,  his  heirs  and  successors,  according 
to  law,  so  help  me  God."  The  other  thirty- 
nine  members  followed  in  threes,  including 
two  women,  Mrs.  Julia  Chichester  and  Mrs. 
Robert  McMordie. 

After  adjournment  by  the  Speaker  at 
12:40  until  June  22  a  luncheon  was  served 
at  which  Joseph  Devlin's  seat  was  the  only 
one  reserved  for  members  of  the  Opposition. 
On  this  occasion  the  Viceroy  made  his 
maiden  speech  in  Ireland.  Lord  Fitzalan 
spoke  of  conditions  generally  and  was  fre- 
quently applauded.  After  luncheon  Sir 
James  Craig  read  a  message  from  King 
George  announcing  His  Majesty's  intention 
of  opening  the  Parliament  on  June  22  in 
person.  The  Premier  also  announced  his 
Cabinet  as  follows: 

Home  Secretary— Sir  Dawson  Bates. 
Minister  of  Finance— H.  M.  Pollock. 
Minister  of  Education— The  Marquis  of  Lon- 
donderry. 
Minister  of  Labor — J.  M.  Andrews. 


Minister   of   Agriculture— Hon.   E.   A.   Arch- 
dale. 

The  elections,  however,  brought  no  cessa- 
tion of  fighting,  burning  and  reprisals. 
Reports  of  ambushes  and  other  attacks  on 
Crown  forces  in  Ireland  during  the  week- 
end of  May  16  showed  the  highest  record 
for  such  a  period — thirty-three  persons 
killed.  On  May  17,  while  a  military  foot- 
ball match  was  in  progress  at  Bandon, 
County  Cork,  fire  was  opened  on  the  play- 
ers and  spectators  with  a  Lewis  gun. 


(Photo   Keystone   View   Co.) 


VISCOUNT   FITZALAN 

New  Viceroy  of  Ireland,  formerly   Jcnoivn   as 

Lord  Edmund  Talbot 


But  these  and  similar  actions  were 
dwarfed  into  comparative  insignificance  by 
the  burning  of  the  Dublin  Custom  House 
on  May  25.  This  was  regarded  as  the  most 
serious  damage  done  by  the  revolutionaries. 
The  building,  of  which  nothing  but  the  shell 
remained,  was  erected  145  years  ago,  dur- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Irish  Parliament, 
on  a  quay  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Liffey, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
structures  in  Ireland.  It  had  little  to  do 
with  the  customs,  but  housed  many  of  the 
chief  administrative  departments,  and  its 
destruction  was  therefore  regarded  as  more 
disabling    to    the    ordinary    machinery    of 


THE  NEW  NORTH-OF-IRELAND  PARLIAMENT 


691 


Government  than  if  Dublin  Castle  had  been 
burned.  The  methodically  planned  opera- 
tion was  carried  out  in  the  afternoon  by  a 
body  of  about  seventy  raiders.  These  men 
approached  the  building  amid  the  throngs 
of  ordinary  passers-by,  and  suddenly  over- 
powered the  guards  before  an  alarm  could 
be  given.  They  then  entered  the  building, 
held  up  the  officials  at  revolver  point,  and 
proceeded  to  throw  all  the  documents  and 
books  on  the  floor,  which  they  saturated 
with  petrol  and  ignited.  Within  a  few 
minutes  the  greater  part  of  the  huge  build- 
ing was  in  flames. 

Suddenly  the  gathering  crowd  of  awed 
spectators  was  driven  helter-skelter  as 
armored  cars  with  three  tenders  loaded 
with  auxiliary  police  came  at  full  speed 
along  the  quays.  As  they  approached  they 
were  greeted  with  bombs  from  the  railroad 
bridge  and  revolver  fire  from  the  Custom 
House  windows.  A  machine  gun  and  rifles 
were  promptly  brought  into  return  action. 
Fire  being  opened  on  the  police  from  ad- 
joining streets,  a  machine  gun  was  sent  to 


sweep  them.  This  caught  the  crowd  be- 
tween two  fires,  resulting  in  numerous 
civilian  casualties.  The  last  act  of  the 
dramatic  scene  was  the  desperate  attempt 
of  the  raiders  to  escape  from  the  building 
under  rifle  fire  from  police  and  with  the 
roof  burning  over  their  heads.  In  the 
fighting  7  civilians  were  killed,  4  auxiliaries 
and  7  civilians  wounded,  and  111  prisoners 
taken  by  the  police.  The  damage  was 
estimated  at  $10,000,000,  a  sum  which,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  stated,  Southern  Ireland 
would  have  to  pay  in  additional  taxes. 

That  the  announced  intention  of  Irish 
revolutionaries  to  carry  the  warfare  into 
England  was  no  idle  threat  was  demon- 
strated in  Liverpool  and  suburban  districts 
of  London  on  May  15.  Bandit  gangs 
traversed  the  City  of  Liverpool  in  auto- 
mobiles. Six  districts  in  London  were 
visited  by  armed  men,  who  wore  masks  and 
carried  bottles  of  petrol,  and  showed  no 
hesitation  in  shooting.  Altogether,  incen- 
diary fires  attributed  to  Sinn  Fein  terror- 
ists broke  out  in  thirteen  districts. 


(Photo   International) 

DUBLIN   CUSTOM   HOUSE,    ONE   OF   THE   MOST   BEAUTIFUL    BUILDINGS    IN    IRELAND,    WHICH 
WAS    BURNED    AND    TOTALLY    DESTROYED    BY    SINN    FEINERS    ON    MAY    25,    1921 


CANADA'S  NEW  GOVERNOR  GENERAL 

General  Lord  Byng  succeeds  the  Duke  of  Devonshire — Attitude  of  Canada,  Australia, 
New  Zealand  and  South  Africa  on  disarmament  and  the  Anglo- Japanese  treaty 

[Period   Ended  June   10,    1921] 


WHEN  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  formally 
prorogued  Parliament  on  the  evening 
of  June  4,  he  performed  his  last  act  of 
that  kind  in  Canada.  His  Excellency  is  suc- 
ceeded by  General  Lord  Byng,  who  was  cre- 
ated first  Baron  of  Vimy  in  1919.  Byng's 
appointment  is  immensely  popular  in 
Canada,  chiefly  owing  to  his  association 
with  the  Canadian  corps  in  the  great  war. 
He  directed  the  corps  as  a  unit  in  its  great 
success  at  Vimy  Ridge  in  1917.  Subsequent- 
ly he  was  given  command  of  the  Third  Brit- 
ish Army.  Lord  Byng,  who  is  the  seventh 
son  of  the  second  Earl  of  Strafford,  is  ex- 
pected to  assume  his  duties  as  Governor 
General  in  August. 

Within  a  few  days  of  prorogation  Pre- 
mier Arthur  Meighen  sailed  for  London  to 
take  part  in  the  conference  of  British  Em- 
pire Premiers  and  representatives.  Prior  to 
his  departure  a  dispatch  was  sent  to  the 
Canadian  newspapers  by  the  Canadian 
Press  Company's  representative  accompany- 
ing Mr.  Meighen.  The  latter's  attitude  on 
two  vital  questions,  namely,  armaments  and 
the  British- Japanese  treaty  of  alliance,  were 
outlined  in  that  dispatch.  In  regard  to  the 
former  it  was  intimated  that  Premier 
Meighen  was  opposed  to  any  commitments 
at  this  time  for  naval  expansion  or  ex- 
penditures beyond  those  actually  under- 
taken. The  financial  situation  and  the  un- 
certainty of  the  industrial  outlook  in  the 
countries  of  the  empire  were  quoted  as  his 
reason  for  the  view  that  matters  relative  to 
armament  should  not  be  considered  at  this 
gathering,  or  if  considered  should  not  be 
approved  as  suggested  policies.  As  to  the 
treaty  with  Japan,  it  was  intimated  that 
Mr.  Meighen's  attitude  was  in  accord  with 
that  of  Premier  Smuts  of  South  Africa  and 
Premier  Hughes  of  Australia.  With  them 
he  was  of  opinion  that  the  treaty  should  be 
renewed  with  modifications  that  would 
make  it  acceptable  to  the  United  States. 
The  correspondent  of  the  Canadian  Press 
may  be  regarded  as  the  official  publicity 
man  for  the  Canadian  Premier  in  connec- 


tion with  the  conference,  and  the  views  thus 
expressed  on  the  two  issues  mentioned  may 
be  taken  as  those  of  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment. The  newspapers  generally  do  not 
agree  with  the  view  of  a  section  of  the 
British  press  that  this  is  the  most  important 
imperial  conference  ever  held  in  respect  to 
defense  matters.  They  are  inclined  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  stepping  stone  to  the  constitu- 
tional conference  expected  to  be  held  next 
year,  at  which  the  status  of  the  overseas 
dominions  and  Britain  will  be  clearly  de- 
fined. 

Premier  W.  M.  Martin  and  the  Liberal 
Government  of  the  province  of  Saskatche- 
wan were  re-elected  in  the  general  elections 
held  on  June  9.  The  Government  will  have 
from  40  to  45  seats  in  a  House  of  63,  the 
independents  14  to  16,  Conservatives  and 
Labor  the  rest.  The  election  was  fought 
largely  on  purely  local  issues.  Harris  Turner 


GENERAL    LORD    BYNG 
Hero  of  Vimy  Ridge,  who  has  become  Gover- 
nor General  of  Canada 


CANADA'S  NEW  GOVERNOR  GENERAL 


693 


of  Saskatoon,  a  blinded  war  veteran  who 
edits  a  newspaper,  was  among  the  sitting 
members  returned,  and  there  is  some  talk  of 
his  leading  the  opposition  ranks  in  the  next 
Legislature. 

A^TRALIA  —  Views  which  Premier 
Hughes  of  Australia  intended  to  advo- 
cate at  the  British  Imperial  Conference  were 
published  at  length  in  London  on  May  22  in 
The  Sunday  Times,  as  cabled  from  Aus- 
tralia. Mr.  Hughes  began  by  arguing  that 
an  adequate  navy  was  indispensable  to  Aus- 
tralia and  continued: 

Th.'  bearing  of  the  Japanese  treaty  upon 
the  naval  defense  of  the  empire  is  obvious. 
As  we  have  seen,  there  has  lately  been  much 
talk  of  strained  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan.  Now  in  them  lie  the 
germs  of  great  trouble  in  this  world.  What 
is  the  hope  of  the  world  as  I  see  it?  It  is  an 
alliance  between  the  two  great  branches  of 
English-speaking  peoples.  Here  is  our  dilem- 
ma. Our  safety  lies  in  a  renewal*  of  the 
Anglo- Japanese  treaty,  yet  that  treaty  is 
anathema  to  the  Americans.  "We  not  only 
have  no  quarrel  with  America,  we  have  no 
quarrel  with  Japan.  Our  ideal  at  the  con- 
ference is,  as  I  see  it,  a  renewal  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  treaty  in  some  such  form, 
and  modified  if  that  should  be  deemed  proper, 
as  will  be  acceptable  to  Great  Britain,  to 
America,  to  Japan  and  to  ourselves.  When 
one  comes  to  the  alleged  causes  of  disputes 
between  Japan  and  America,  those  differences 
appear  to  be  trivial  as  compared  with  the 
tremendous  evil  which  war  would  inflict  upon 
both  nations. 

The  Victorian  Electricity  Commission  has 
accepted  the  single  tender  of  the  Interna- 
tional General  Electric  Company,  a  subsid- 
iary of  the  General  Electric  Company,  for 
furnishing  switch  gear  and  transformers 
for  the  development  of  coal  near  Melbourne 
at  a  price  of  £379,000,  which  is  £200,000  be- 
low the  lowest  combination  of  British  sec- 
tional bids  submitted. 

Sir  Eric  Drummond,  Secretary  General 
of  the  League  of  Nations,  announced  on 
June  2  that  he  had  received  from  Australia 
a  telegram  informing  him  that  the  Aus- 
tralian Government  on  May  8  had  estab- 
lished a  civil  administration  in  the  former 
German  colony  of  New  Guinea  under  the 
mandate  of  the  League. 

NEW  ZEALAND— Sir  John  Findley  of 
..New  Zealand,  speaking  before  the 
Royal  Colonial  Institute  in  London  early  in 
June,  talked  on  the  forthcoming  Imperial 
Conference   and    pointed   out   that   for   the 


first  time  the  dominions  would  take  a  for- 
mal directive  share  in  the  shaping  of  the 
imperial  foreign  policy — in  connection  with 
the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty.  "  Some  day," 
he  said,  "  there  will  be  a  world  conflict  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West,  and — as  the 
only  means  of  preserving  our  Western 
civilization — a  larger  federation  may  be 
imperatively  required,  which  will  embrace 
all  English-speaking  people  of  the  globe  and 
will  bring  us  nearer  the  poet's  ideal  of  "  the 
parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the 
world." 

SOUTH  AFRICA— General  Smuts  in  a 
speech  to  the  House  of  Assembly  at  Cape 
Town  declared  himself  in  favor  of  a  re- 
newal of  the  Anglo-Japanese  treaty,  but 
added:  "I  agree  with  Mr.  Hughes  (the 
Australian  Premier)  to  this  extent,  that  no 
renewal  should  take  place  unless  we  can 
satisfy  America  by  the  form  the  treaty 
takes  that  no  jeopardy  of  her  interests  is 
involved.  When  I  look  at  the  question  as  a 
whole  and  the  interests  for  which  we  stand, 
it  seems  to  me  vital  that  every  effort  should 
be  made  to  keep  in  touch,  sympathy  and 
contact  with  the  great  American  Republic." 
In  another  address  on  May  27,  also  out- 
lining his  attitude  in  the  Imperial  Confer- 
ence, he  warmly  defended  the  League  of 
Nations,  making  an  earnest  plea  that  the 
League  be  given  a  chance  to  show  what  it 
could  do.  "  Do  not  let  us  fight  the  League 
of  Nations,"  he  said,  "but  let  us  fight  the 
Supreme  Council,  which  may  be  wrong." 
He  saw  no  other  hope  for  the  future  of  the 
human  race  than  that  of  an  association  of 
nations,  great  and  small. 

771GYPT — Semi-political  riots  occurred  in 
•*-*  Alexandria  and  Cairo  in  the  latter  part 
of  May.  In  Cairo  on  May  20  there  was  a' 
demonstration  against  the  Government 
started  by  students  in  the  Bulac  quarter. 
A  student  was  killed  outside  the  Ministry 
of  Finance,  and  many  policemen  were  se- 
verely injured.  Egyptian  Lancers  were 
compelled  to  intervene  to  disperse  the  ri- 
oters. At  the  funeral  of  the  student  next 
day  rioting  was  renewed  and  the  police  had 
finally  to  fire  on  the  mob.  Two  persons 
were  killed  and  fifteen  wounded. 

In  Alexandria  the  disturbance  was  more 
serious.  Twelve  Europeans  and  thirty-six 
natives  were  killed  and  191  persons  wounded 
in  riots  on   May  22   and   23.      The  trouble 


694 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


started  between  Greeks  and  natives  and 
indiscriminate  shooting  spread  throughout 
the  city.  There  was  general  looting  and 
many  houses  in  the  customs  quarter  were 
burned. 

Official  circles  held  that  the  rioting  in 
both  cities  had  its  basis  in  the  fact  that 
none  of  the  Egyptian  nationalists  was 
chosen  on  the  delegation  going  to  London 
to  discuss  the  future  of  Egypt.  The  Premier 
had  refused  to  appoint  Zaglul  Pasha  or  any 
of  his  supporters  on  the  mission,  which  is 


headed  by  Adly  Pasha,  the  Prime  Minister 
himself. 

T  [BERIA- — Five  pounds  sterling,  and  no 
-^  more,  is  to  be  the  price  of  a  wife,  ac- 
cording to  a  recently  ratified  convention  be- 
tween the  Governments  of  Liberia,  regulat- 
ing relations  between  tribes  on  the  Sierra 
Leone  border.  No  claim  can  be  made  in  re- 
spect of  a  woman  except  by  her  husband 
and  no  woman  can  be  compelled  to  return  to 
a  claimant  against  her  will. 


THE  VATICAN'S  NEW  RELATIONS 
WITH  FRANCE 

Appointment  of  Senator  Jonnart  as  Ambassador  to  the  Holy  See  and  of  Mgr.  Cerretti 
as  Papal  Nuncio  at  Paris  marks  a  further  increase  of  the  Vatican  s  diplomatic  prestige 
— Difference  between  the  French  and  Italian  attitudes 


WITH  the  appointment  of  Senator  Jon- 
nart to  be  Ambassador  Extraordi- 
nary at  the  Vatican,  and  Mgr.  Cer- 
retti to  be  Apostolic  Nuncio  at  Paris,  diplo- 
matic relations  between  the  Holy  See  and 
the  French  Republic,  after  sixteen  years'  in- 
terruption, have  been  resumed.  The  ap- 
pointments are  tentative,  however — only  for 
six  months — for  the  French  Senate  has  not 
yet  confirmed  the  act  of  the  Chamber  vot- 
ing the  necessary  credits.  Still,  face  to  face 
with  a  fait  accompli,  it  is  expected  that  the 
Senate  will  now  pass  the  Chamber  bill,  when 
the  appointments  will  become  permanent. 
In  his  allocution  to  the  Sacred  College  on 
June  13  the  Pope  expressed  joy  at  the 
restoration  of  diplomatic  relations  with 
France,  to  which,  he  says,  the  Pontificate 
will  gladly  adhere,  faithful  to  its  traditions, 
and  only  desiring  harmony  between  the 
Church  and  the  State  for  the  common 
good. 

The  new  arrangement  presupposes  an  ex- 
change of  diplomats,  and  provides  for  the 
recovery  by  France  of  her  office  as  protec- 
tor of  Catholics  in  the  Orient,  and  for  the 
good  offices  of  the  Vatican  in  making  the 
treaties  which  were  the  outcome  of  the  great 
war  prevail  in  Catholic  communities,  so  that 
universal  peace  may  be  hastened.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  to  be  no  modification 


of  French  legislation  in  regard  to  worship 
and  religious  schools  and  associations — that 
is  to  say,  the  associations  law  will  not  be 
abrogated,  and  the  Concordat  of  1801  will 
not  be  revived.  In  the  appointment  of 
Bishops  France  is  to  have  the  "  most  favored 
nation  "  treatment ;  Presidents  of  the  repub- 
lic finally  may  visit  the  Quirinal  without 
prejudice  to  the  Vatican. 

The  reconciliation  is  due  to  several  defi- 
nite causes,  chief  among  which  are  the  de- 
sire of  the  French  people  to  reward  the  im- 
mortal patriotism  of  the  French  priests 
during  the  war,  and  the  recognition  that  the 
Vatican  has  again  become  a  powerful  force 
in  world  politics.  Had  the  Allies  been  bet- 
ter represented  at  the  Vatican  during  the 
war,  its  friends  say,  the  consistent  neutral 
attitude  of  the  Pope  would  have  been  better 
understood  by  them,  and  certain  delinquen- 
cies of  which  pro-German  officials  at  the 
Vatican  were  guilty  would  not  have  taken 
place.  As  it  was,  what  could  Sir  Henry 
Howard  and  his  successor,  the  Count  de 
Salis,  representatives  of  Great  Britain,  and 
J.  van  den  Heunel,  the  representative  of 
Belgium,  hope  to  achieve  against  such 
trained  diplomats  as  Prince  von  Schonburg- 
Hartenstein,  the  Austro-Hungarian  Ambas- 
sador, Dr.  von  Muhlberg  of  Prussia  and 
Baron  von  Ritter  von  Griinstein  of  Bavaria  ? 


THE  VATICAN'S  NEW  RELATIONS  WITH  FRANCE 


695 


And  what  chance  had  the  devoted  Cardinal 
Mercier,  who  came  in  December,  1915,  to 
tell  the  Holy  Father  about  the  rape  of  Bel- 
gium, when  he  was  circumvented  on  every 
occasion  by  his  Eminence  of  Cologne,  Cardi- 
nal Felix  von  Hartmann? 

"  Your  eminence,"  said  von  Hartmann, 
tolerantly,  on  one  occasion,  when  these 
Princes  of  the  Church  met  at  the  house  of  a 
Roman  lady,  "  your  Eminent  need  not  feel 
embarrassed.  We  shall  not  talk  of  the 
war." 

"  And  your  Eminence  may  be  quite  cer- 
tain," replied  the  Belgian  Cardinal,  sol- 
emnly, "  that  I  shall  not  even  hint  at  peace." 
Had  the  Allies  been  adequately  repre- 
sented at  the  Vatican,  it  is  inconceivable 
that  the  German  and  Austrian  influences 
which  caused  the  Pope  to  present  his  peace 
note  of  Aug.  1,  1917,  would  not  have  been 
laid  bare.  As  it  was,  these  influences  pre- 
vailed, and  behind  the  universal  discussion 
of  the  peace  note  the  Teutons  prepared  for 
Caporetto  and  Picardy.  All  this,  however, 
did  not  prevent  the  note  from  being  the  sin- 
cere expression  of  a  neutral  monarch  for 
peace,  of  a  similar  inspiration  to  the  note 
which  his  Holiness  sent  to  Cardinal  Logue 
on  May  21,  appealing  to  both  the  Irish  and 
to  the  English  to  abandon  violence  in  Ire- 
land. 

As  early  as  July,  1918,  France  began  a 
rapproachement  by  sending  M.  Denys  Cochin 
on  a  private  mission  to  Pope  Benedict  XV. 
Two  years  later,  at  the  canonization  of  Joan 
of  Arc  at  St.  Peter's,  France  sent  an  extra- 
ordinary delegation,  headed  by  that  distin- 
guished historian  and  statesman,  Gabriel 
Hanotaux.  Thus  was  the  rupture  gradually 
healed,  although  probably  few  of  the  soldier 
priests  of  France,  and  fewer  still  of  the 
members  of  the  Curia,  even  wished  to  have 
relations  revert  to  the  old  status,  under 
which  the  Vatican  could  not  exercise  the 
proper  authority  over  religious  bodies  in 
France,  because  they  claimed  to  be  French, 
nor  the  French  Government  properly  con- 
trol them  because  they  also  claimed  to  be 
of  the  Vatican. 

The  Concordat  of  1801,  the  famous  agree- 
ment entered  into  between  Napoleon  and 
Pius  VII.,  had  outlived  its  usefulness  for 
both  parties.  Even  as  early  as  Leo  XII. 's 
time,  Cardinal  Rampollo,  the  Papal  Secre- 
tary of  State,  believed  that  a  change  in  the 
Concordat  would  work   to   mutual   benefit, 


but  that  the  initiative  must  come  from 
France.  The  Dreyfus  case,  with  its  Roy- 
alist plots,  in  which  religious  orders  were 
concerned,  carried  the  temper  of  Frenchmen 
too  far.  So  the  associations  law,  which 
drove  the  orders  from  France,  closed  their 
schools  and  confiscated  their  property,  was 
followed  and  amplified  by  the  Separation 
act,  by  which  France  abrogated  the  Concor- 
dat, deprived  the  Church  of  its  property  and 
organized  rights,  and  reduced  the  clergy  to 
simple  citizenship,  with  orders  not  to  recog- 
nize any  authority  from  abroad.  Thus  de- 
prived of  both  the  material  and  spiritual 
support  of  the  Mother  Church,  20,000  French 
priests  went  to  the  front  and  freely  offered 
their  lives  for  the  country,  which  had  made 
many  of  them  beggars.  They  used  rifles 
against  the  Germans,  and  crucifixes  against 
the  horrors  of  the  trenches.  They  were 
Frenchmen  first,  and  then  priests,  and  all 
France  was  grateful. 

So  after  the  war  the  element  of  gratitude 
joined  that  of  political  exigency,  and  France 
was  constrained  to  go  to  Canossa,  but  with- 
out humiliation.  By  a  curious  coincidence, 
on  the  very  day,  May  25,  that  M.  Jonnart 
departed  for  Rome,  there  died  at  Paris  the 
man  who,  as  Premier  of  France  sixteen 
years  before,  had  been  the  chief  instrument 
in  divorcing  the  State  from  the  Church,  Dr. 
Emile  Combes.  On  May  31,  M.  Jonnart  was 
received  at  the  Vatican. 

Charles  C.  A.  Jonnart,  very  wealthy  him- 
self, and  married  to  a  wealthy  wife — the 
daughter  of  M.  Aynard,  the  influential  Dep- 
uty of  the  Department  of  the  Rhone — owner 
of  half  a  dozen  beautiful  chateaux,  a  devout 
Catholic,  as  well  as  a  man  of  the  world,  a 
statesman,  a  diplomat,  was  bom  in  1857. 
He  has  been  engaged  in  public  life  since 
1889,  when  he  was  first  elected  Deputy  from 
the  Pas  de  Calais.  Later  he  was  elected 
Senator  from  the  same  department.  He 
was  Minister  for  Public  Works  in  the  Casi- 
mir  Perier  Cabinet  in  1893,  and  has  passed 
two  terms  as  Governor  General  of  Algiers. 
He  filled  for  a  short  time  the  thorny  post  of 
Chairman  of  the  Reparations  Commission, 
and  has  on  more  than  one  occasion  been  in 
the  running  as  a  possible  Premier  and  a 
possible  President  of  the  Republic.  He  was 
Premier  Clemenceau's  first  choice  as  French 
High  Commissioner  in  Alsace-Lorraine  im- 
mediately after  the  war,  a  post  subsequently 
filled   by    M.    Millerand,    now   President    of 


696 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


France.  M.  Jonnart's  most  interesting  mis- 
sion perhaps  was  in  1917,  when  he  headed 
the  allied  representatives  who  went  to 
Athens  and  expelled  King  Constantine  from 
Greece. 

The  new  papalinuncio  to  Paris,  Mgr.  Bon- 
aventura  Cerretti,  Archbishop  of  Corinth,  is 
probably  the  most  gifted  diplomat  in  the 
College  of  the  Vatican.  Although  subordinate 
as  Secretary  of  the  Congregation  of  Extra- 
ordinary Ecclesiastical  Affairs  to  the  Papal 
Secretary  of  State,  Cardinal  Pietro  Gas- 
parri,  he  is  known  to  exercise  a  dominating 
influence  in  things  diplomatic.  Like  the 
late  Cardinal  Ferrata,  to  whom  he  bore  a 
striking  resemblance,  he  was  born  in  the 
Province  of  Arvieto,  in  1872.  There  he  made 
his  studies  for  the  priesthood,  which  he  en- 
tered in  1895.  Almost  immediately  he  was 
attached  to  the  Congregation  of  Extraordi- 
nary Ecclesiastical  Affairs,  equivalent  to 
Papal  Foreign  Office.  Nine  years  later 
Pius  X.  sent  him  to  be  secretary  to  the 
Apostolic  Legation  at  Mexico  City;  two 
years  later  he  filled  a  similar  post  with  the 
Papal  Legate  at  Washington.  The  war 
found  him  Legate  for  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  whence  he  was  recalled  by  the 
present  Pope  to  succeed  Mgr.  Pacelli  in  the 
Foreign  Office,  who  had  been  ordered  as 
nuncio  to  Munich. 

Mgr.  Cerretti  has  twice  been  on  missions 
to  America.  The  first  time  was  in  July, 
1917,  when  the  ship  on  which  he  sailed  flew 
the  white  and  gold  papal  flag,  as  a  moral 
warning  to  German  submarines.  Again,  in 
the  Spring  of  1919,  he  came  as  the  Pope's 
personal  representative  to  the  golden  jubilee 
of  Cardinal  Gibbons.  At  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, in  1919,  although  the  Vatican  had  no 
recognized  standing  as  a  political  power, 
Mgr.  Cerretti  was  present  as  its  representa- 
tive, and  did  much  among  the  delegates  of 
the  Allies  toward  promoting  a  true  concep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Father's  unswerving  neu- 
trality during  the  war.  He  also  saved  the 
Catholics  in*  the  surrendered  German  colo- 
nies from  much  unnecessary  humiliation 

The  re-establishment  of  diplomatic  rela- 
tions between  France  and  the  Vatican  has 
revived  in  the  Italian  press  a  debate  on  the 
relations  between  the  Quirinal  and  the  Vati- 
can and  the  possibility  of  a  similar  recon- 
ciliation. II  Messaggero,  on  June  9,  pointed 
out  the  mutual  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
such  a  reconciliation.   The  Pope  by  recover- 


ing his  freedom  of  action,  and  the  State  by 
freeing  itself  from  clerical  antagonism. 
L'Osservatore,  the  organ  of  the  Vatican, 
for  the  first  time  welcomed  such  a  rap- 
prochement: The  Church,  it  said,  had  done 
much  to  bring  it  about;  it  had  removed  the 
inhibition  which  had  prevented  Catholics 
from  taking  part* in  the  civil  Government, 
and  had  then  allowed  them  to  form  a  politi- 
cal party,  and  to  hold  portfolios  in  the  Cabi- 
net; moreover,  it  had  tried  to  range  them 
on  the  side  of  law  and  order  in  the  recent 
elections.  It  awaited  only  the  QuirinaFs 
initiative. 

But  the  cases  of  France  and  Italy  and 
their  relations  to  the  Vatican  are  not  the 
same.  The  differences  of  the  Quirinal  and 
the  Vatican  are  fundamental.  The  case  of 
the  Vatican  is  this:  The  Kingdom  of  Italy 
from  1860  till  1870  illegally  absorbed  the 
States  of  the  Church,  and  thus  deprived  the 
Popes  of  all  temporal  power.  It  makes  no 
difference  that  the  people  of  Romagna,  Um- 
bria,  the  Marches  and  of  Rome  itself  voted 
by  plebiscite  for  incorporation  in  the  king- 
dom— the  illegality  exists.  That  the  Vati- 
can, however,  would  be  ready  to  negotiate 
for  a  condition  which  would  at  least  nomi- 
nally restore  the  temporality  of  the  Popes 
was  made  clear  by  Pius  X.,  who  wrote: 

"  The  Pope  in  his  character  of  monarch 
has  the  power  to  contract  or  to  extend  his 
domains  like  other  monarchs  and  by  trea- 
ties with  them,  but  he  cannot  be  deprived 
of  his  temporality  by  force."  The  Vatican 
believes  that  the  essence  of  this  temporal- 
ity is  still  preserved  through  the  Pope's 
possession  of  the  domain  of  the  Vatican, 
the  Lateran  palaces  and  the  villa  of  Castel 
Gandolfo. 

But  the  Quirinal  does  not  even  acknowl- 
edge this  semblance  of  temporality.  By  the 
law  of  May  13,  1871,  it  considered  Pope 
Pius  IX.  and  his  successors  to  be  tenants 
of  these  places,  with  a  yearly  guarantee  by 
the  Italian  Government  of  3,225,000  lire  for 
their  upkeep,  which  sum,  however,  is  still 
unclaimed  and  unpaid.  The  working  of  the 
law  of  guarantees  was  illustrated  by  the 
following  case:  When  the  conclave  which 
was  to  elect  Leo  XIII.  met  in  1876,  the  Car- 
dinals, fearing  that  the  Roman  mob  might 
invade  the  Vatican  and  that  they  might 
suffer  indignities,  if  nothing  worse  there- 
from, asked  the  Government  for  safe  con- 
duct to  Civita  Vecchia,  the  port  of  Rome, 
twenty-eight  miles  northwest  of  the  Eternal 


THE  VATICAN'S  NEW  RELATIONS  WITH  FRANCE 


697 


City.  The  Government  promised  them  safe 
conduct,  but  added  that  if  the  conclave  was 
held  elsewhere  the  new  Pope  could  not  re- 
turn to  the  Vatican. 

A  revival  of  the  question,  coming  on  the 
heels  of  the  French  reconciliation,  has  in- 
spired some  ardent  French  Catholics  to 
point  out  that  the  domains  of  the  Popes  at 
Avignon  and  Comatat-Venaissin,  in  France, 
enjoyed  for  six  centuries  by  them  until 
taken  away  in  1791,  might  be  restored.  But 
no  intelligent  Catholic  deems  such  a  solu- 


tion possible.  Most  persons  who  have  stud- 
ied the  question  believe  that  the  solution 
lies  in  Italy's  recognition  of  the  temporal- 
ity of  the  Popes  over  the  areas  where  they 
now  exercise  temporal  authority,  with  per- 
haps an  open  way  between  them.  They 
cannot  imagine  that  any  large  community 
of  Italians,  even  if  the  Government  permit- 
ted it,  would  exchange  its  present  status 
for  papal  rule,  as  it  was  in  the  Eternal 
City  before  the  troops  of  Victor  Emmanuel 
made  a  breach  at  the  Porta  Vecchia. 


SPAIN'S  MURDER  SYNDICATE 


[Period   Ended  June  10,    1921] 


GERMAN  propaganda  for  trade,  if  for 
nothing  more,  has  been  revived  in 
Spain  by  the  publication  at  Madrid  of  a 
Spanish  edition  of  the  Munchner  Neueste 
Nachrichten,  beginning  with  a  series  of  ar- 
ticles from  the  pen  of  the  former  German 
Ambassador  at  Rome,  Count  von  Monts, 
pretending  to  prove  that  Germany  was  not 
responsible  for  the  war.  Old  arguments  and 
old  documents  are  used,  among  the  latter 
being  extracts  from  the  British-Russian 
correspondence  unearthed  at  the  Petrograd 
Foreign  Office  by  Lenin  in  December,  1917, 
and  recently  published  with  pro-German 
editorial  notes  in  a  New  York  paper. 

The  only  difference  between  this  propa- 
ganda and  that  indulged  in  during  the  war 
is  that  now  the  Munich  paper  gives  more 
attention  to  religious  topics  than  it  does  to 
those  of  interest  to  the  proletariat. 

The  Paris  Matin  is  publishing  a  series  of 


articles  from  its  Madrid  correspondent  deal- 
ing with  Spain's  great  syndicate  of  murder, 
particulars  of  which,  from  time  to  time, 
have  been  presented  in  Current  History. 
According  to  the  figures  of  the  Matin  man 
in  the  six  months  ending  April  30,  327  em- 
ployers of  labor  had  been  slain  and  167 
workers. 

After  the  Spaniards  and  Moors  had 
agreed  upon  an  armistice  on  April  24,  hos- 
tilities were  renewed,  on  May  7,  by  Generals 
Sanjurio  and  Costro,  as  reprisal  for  an  at- 
tack made  on  a  Spanish  convoy  marching 
between  Meniero  and  Tyenin. 

The  new  Spanish  tariff,  which  particu- 
larly affects  the  American  republics,  went 
into  effect  on  June  1,  accompanied  by  a 
Ministerial  decree  imposing  pro  rata  duties 
on  all  merchandise  imported  from  countries 
the  money  of  which  has  depreciated  in  com- 
parison with  the  peseta. 


PORTUGAL'S  NEW  GOVERNMENT 


[Period   Ended   June   10,    1921] 


THERE  was  a  political  flareup  in  Portu- 
gal in  the  third  week  of  May;  for  a 
time,  a  cabinet  crisis  threatened  to  give 
way  to  revolution.  On  May  21  the  Prime 
Minister,  Senhor  Bernardino  Machado,  and 
the  entire  Cabinet  placed  their  resignations 
in  the  hands  of  President  Almeida.  As  the 
opposition  forces  led  by  Senhor  Augusto 
Soares  had  stated  their  policy  as  "  every- 
thing or  nothing,"  and  declined  to  co-oper- 


ate, rumors  were  spread  that  another  revo- 
lutionist leader,  Machado  dos  Santos,  had 
been  proclaimed  President  of  the  Republic, 
and  that  Senhor  Bernardino  Machado  and 
Senhor  Alvaro  had  fled  to  the  provinces, 
where  they  were  attempting  to  start  a 
counter-revolution.  This  last  story  of  a 
revolution  and  counter-revolution  was  pub- 
lished in  the  papers  of  Madrid. 

It  was  proved  to  be  incorrect  but  not  be- 


098 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


fore  the  story  had  been  cabled  abroad  with- 
out any  subsequent  contradiction.  What 
had  actually  happened  was  this:  Senhor 
Machado's  Government,  which,  like  its  pre- 
decessors, had  represented  the  maximum 
Parliamentary  concentration,  did  not  re- 
ceive an  adverse  vote,  but  went  out  of  of- 
fice through  fears  of  a  revolution  directed 
against  itself  and  Parliament  on  account  of 
administrative  scandals. 

One  measure  claimed  by  the  revolutionary 
junta  was  the  dissolution  of  Parliament,  but 
the  question  arose  as  to  who  was  to  preside 
over  the  elections,  since  the  constitutional 
authority  would  have  disappeared.  Some 
appealed  for  foreign  intervention — Great 
Britain,  for  example — under  which  the  elec- 
tions might  be  guaranteed.  But  this  was 
denounced  by  others,  as  it  was  reported 
that  Royalists  and  Integralists  were  wait- 
ing for  just  such  an  opportunity  in  order  to 
prove  their  supremacy  by  intrigue,  if  not 
through  numbers.  Finally,  on  May  25,  the 
President  devised  a  slate  which  satisfied 
all  parties,  at  least  for  the  time.    It  was: 


THOME  BARROS  QUTIROZ,  Premier  and 
Finance. 

ANTONIO  GRANJO,  Interior  and  Com- 
merce. 

MELLO  BARRETO,  Foreign  Affairs. 

MATOS  CID,  Justice. 

LADISLAU  PEREIRA,  Marine. 

ABOIM  INGLEZ,  Agriculture. 

RIBEIRO  DE  CARVALHO,  Labor. 

Colonel   ALBERTO  DA  SILVEIRA,  War. 

The  majority  of  the  press  and  republican 
opinion  received  the  Cabinet  well.  Senhor 
Antonio  Maria  da  Silva,  the  former  Minis- 
ter of  Finance,  who  is  the  leader  of  the 
Democrats,  declared  that  the  new  Premier 
might  count  upon  the  complete  support  of 
his  party,  the  new  Ministers  being  Republi- 
cans with  respect  to  whose  loyalty  there 
could  be  no  doubt.  Senhor  Antonio  Granjo, 
the  new  Minister  of  Commerce,  has  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  adopting  the  pro- 
posals of  his  predecessor,  mentioning  in 
particular  the  measure  for  the  protection 
and  encouragement  of  the  mercantile  ma- 
rine. 


THE  BALKAN  STATES  GROWING 
NEIGHBORLY 

Rumania,  Jugoslavia  and  Czechoslovakia  collaborating  with  Italy  for  an  economic 
alliance  that  will  help  Central  Europe  commercially— Jugoslavia  and  Rumania  sign 
a  treaty  of  alliance — The  Zadruga,  a  Bulgarian  phenomenon 

[Period   Ended   June   30,    3921] 


SINCE  the  middle  of  May  several  events 
have  happened  which  supplement  the 
movement  of  the  Little  Entente,  as 
outlined  in  the  June  Current  History, 
for  political  solidarity  in  the  Balkans  and 
economic  revival  in  the  emancipated  States 
of  the  defunct  Austro-Hungarian  Empire. 
To  be  sure,  the  vote  of  the  Austrian  Salz- 
burg, north  of  Italy's  new  Tyrolian  fron- 
tier, for  union  with  Germany  somewhat  dis- 
concerted the  Rome  Government;  for  such 
a  union  would  have  a  strong  influence  upon 
Italy's  new  German  subjects  south  of  the 
Brenner,  who  recently  elected  to  the  Italian 
Chamber  the  entire  Bolzano  ticket — four 
members  of  the  Deutsche  Verland  led  by 
Count  Frederick  Toggenburg.     Also  diplo- 


matic exchanges,  which  ensued  between 
Rome  and  Vienna,  revealed  the  latter's  in- 
difference to  the  Salzburg  vote,  which,  in 
diplomatic  circles,  is  looked  upon  as  an  en- 
tering wedge  for  Austria  itself.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  new  conference  of  plenipo- 
tentiaries of  the  Entente  and  Little  Entente, 
which  opened  at  Porto  Rosiga,  near  Mon- 
falcone,  on  June  15,  is  expected,  on  French 
as  well  as  Italian  initiative,  to  give  the  coup 
de  grace  to  all  Austrian  aspirations  for  a 
realization  of  the  Salzburg  plebiscite.  A 
formal  protest  against  a  pan- Austria  pleb- 
iscite was  made  by  Rumania  at  Vienna  on 
May  21. 

This  conference,  like  the  preceding  ones 
at  the  same  place,   while  nominally  called 


THE  BALKAN  STATES  GROWING  NEIGHBORLY 


699 


to  devise  a  formula  by  which  Austria  may 
be  economically  and  financially  rehabilitat- 
ed, has  a  more  extended  program  in  view — 
the  economic,  if  not  the  political,  interests 
of  the  Little  Entente  and  its  ramifications 
in  Central  Europe.  At  this  conference 
Lieut.  Col.  Clarence  B.  Smith  represents 
the  United  States  in  the  character  of  an 
unofficial  observer.  The  Harding  Adminis- 
tration takes  the  view  that  the  United 
States  is  vitally  interested,  not  only  in  the 
economic  restoration  of  Central  Europe,  but 
also  in  the  methods  which  the  Balkans  are 
able  to  contribute  in  order  to  bring  that 
about.  These  methods  are  of  particular 
concern  to  the  American  manufacturers  of 
agricultural  implements  and  of  railway 
stock. 

Italian  delegates  at  Belgrade  completed  a 
commercial  treaty  with  Jugoslavia  on  June 
2.  On  the  same  day  the  Tribuna  Bel- 
gradese  announced  that  Italy,  in  collabora- 
tion with  Rumania,  was  negotiating  at 
Prague  an  economic  alliance  in  which  Jugo- 
slavia and  Czechoslovakia  would  be  brought 
to  a  better  understanding.  According  to 
Signor  Salata,  one  of  the  Italian  delegates 
at  Belgrade,  and  M.  Ribarc,  his  Serbian 
colleague,  the  basis  of  this  alliance  would 
be:  (1)  The  safeguarding  and  protection 
of  the  minority  nationals  in  territory  still 
to  be  assigned;  (2)  an  immediate  exchange 
of  commercial,  financial  and  industrial  in- 
formation among  the  nations  interested  for 
their  mutual  benefit.  Meanwhile  the  Ital- 
ian State  Railways'  New  York  office  an- 
nounced that  the  famous  Dolomite  Road, 
running  from  Cortina  to  Bolzano,  via  Cana- 
zel  and  Karersee,  had  been  opened  for  its 
entire  length  of  seventy  miles,  and  that  the 
public  motor  service  in  the  Dolomite  region 
would  begin  running  this  Summer.  This  is 
a  distinct  achievement  for  Italian  roadbuild- 
ers,  who  performed  such  miracles  of  con- 
struction for  the  army  during  the  war. 

On  June  8,  M.  Pashitch,  Premier  and 
Foreign  Minister  of  Jugoslavia,  and  Take 
Jonescu,  Minister  without  portfolio  of  Ru- 
mania, signed  at  Belgrade  an  agreement 
guaranteeing  the  maintenance  of  the  status 
created  by  the  Trianon  and  Neuilly  treaties. 
This  means  that  both  Jugoslavia  and  Ru- 
mania will  mutually  aid  each  other  in  pre- 
serving what  they  respectively  received 
from  Hungary  and  Bulgaria.  Two  days 
later,  at   Bucharest,  the  last  bone  of  con- 


tention between  Rumania  and  Czechoslo- 
vakia was  removed.  On  the  one  hand,  Ru- 
mania agreed  to  turn  over  to  Czechoslovakia 
three  villages,  with  a  population  of  3,000, 
nearly  all  Czechs;  on  the  other  hand,  Cze- 
choslovakia agreed  to  surrender  to  Rumania 
eight  villages  with  a  population  of  10,000, 
of  whom  7,000  are  Rumanians. 

The  Rumanian  Government  also  ap- 
pointed a  Commission  to  go  to  Warsaw  with 
powers  to  carry  out  the  negotiations  with 
the  Polish  Government  looking  toward  the 
conclusion  of  a  commercial  treaty  and  an 
agreement  for  the  transit  of  goods  through 
Rumania  and  for  navigation  on  the  rivers 
connecting  the  two  countries.  The  Commis- 
sion is  also  examining  a  proposal  that 
Poland  be  given  facilities  to  use  the  port  of 
Brailla  as  a  maritime  and  commercial  base 
in  the  same  way  as  Czechoslovakia  is  to  use 
Trieste  through  the  Italian  agreement. 

Jugoslavia,  Rumania  and  Greece  had  in- 
dividually protested  to  the  Bulgarian  Gov- 
ernment against  the  alleged  invasion  of  the 
former  Bulgarian  territory  given  them  by 
the  Treaty  of  Neuilly  by  bands  of  Bulgar 
brigands.  Individually  and  collectively 
they  had  complained  on  the  subject  to  the 
Supreme  Council  with  added  recriminations 
to  the  effect  that  Bulgaria  was  not  carry- 
ing out  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  particularly 
in  regard  to  the  demobilization  of  her  army 
and  the  making  of  reparations.  Bulgaria's 
answers  to  the  last  complaints  having  been 
deemed  satisfactory  by  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil, the  Bulgarian  Government,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  April,  addressed  an  identical  note  to 
the  Charges  d'Affaires  of  Jugoslavia,  Ru- 
mania and  Greece  at  Sofia  offering  in  each 
case  to  join  the  complaining  Government  in 
a  thorough  investigation. 

As  none  of  the  censuring  Governments 
had  answered  Bulgaria's  invitation  by  the 
middle  of  May,  Bulgaria  laid  the  entire  mat- 
ter before  the  representatives  of  the  En- 
tente at  Sofia,  accusing  the  interested  Gov- 
ernments of  entering  upon  a  campaign  to 
destroy  the  prestige  of  Bulgaria  as  well  as 
to  obstruct  her  revival.  This  had  the  effect 
of  bringing  a  reply  from  Bucharest,  and  by 
May  17  a  mixed  Bulgar-Rumanian  commis- 
sion had  made  an  investigation  of  the  Do- 
brudja  and  had  signed  a  protocol  that  the 
conditions  complained  of  were  mainly  due 
to  smugglers  and  to  the  laxity  of  the  cus- 
toms guards  on  each  side  of  the  frontier — 


700 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


a  matter  which  could  be  remedied  by  more 
stringent  regulations  by  the  Ministries  of 
Interior,  both  at  Sofia  and  Bucharest,  work- 
ing in  better  accord.  It  is  asserted  by  the 
press  of  Sofia  that  the  complaints  of  Jugo- 
slavia and  Greece,  which  principally  concern 
Macedonia  and  Thrace,  can  be  explained 
and  amicably  settled  in  a  similar  way,  al- 
though it  is  beginning  to  be  charged  peri- 
odically by  the  Bulgarian  Government  that 
armed  bands  of  Serbs  and  Greeks  frequent- 
ly raid  villages  on  its  side  of  the  frontier, 
burning  houses,  slaying  people  and  carry- 
ing off  movable  property.  Apparently, 
here,  at  most,  it  is  the  old  story  of  the 
comitadjis  of  Turkish  times. 

Stephane  S.  Bobtcheff,  a  professor  of 
law  at  the  University  of  Sofia,  has  offered 
an  explanation  of  the  phenomenon:  While 
Bulgaria  is  essentially  an  agricultural  coun- 
try, rapidly  reviving  through  the  confisca- 
tion of  the  large  estates  for  the  use  of  the 
nation,  through  the  solidarity  of  landowners 
and  land  workers,  enforced  national  labor, 
and  the  development  of  the  Green  Interna- 
tional, the  people,  at  the  same  time,  except 
in  the  case  of  certain  urban  minorities,  will 
have  nothing  to  do  with  Bolshevism. 

In  the  Zadrouga  he  finds  the  explanation 
of  the  illusion  of  communism  without  its 
actuality,  for  the  actuality  would  mean  the 
obliteration  of  individual  thought  and  enter- 
prise to  which  the  independent  Bulgarian 
would   never  consent.       The   Zadrouga,   or 


union  of  several  families  who  claim  a  com- 
mon ancestry,  has  existed  for  centuries  in 
the  southern  and  western  regions  of  Bul- 
garia. Once  there  were  hundreds  of  these 
communities;  now  there  are  fewer  than 
fifty.  The  reason,  according  to  M.  Bobt- 
cheff, is  that  the  Zadrouga,  being  in  prin- 
ciple a  Soviet,  came  to  grief  because  it 
denied  its  members  the  rewards  of  per- 
sonal initiative — just  as  the  Russian  Soviet 
does — while  its  best  features  with  personal 
initiative  became  absorbed  by  the  nation  at 
large,  and  today  accounts  for  the  national 
cohesion  among  nearly  all  classes.  For  ex- 
ample, the  ideal  of  the  Zadrouga  has  be- 
come nationalized — "  Each  for  all  and  all 
for  the  Zadrouga;  each  what  he  is  able  to 
do  and  to  each  what  he  needs." 

The  Zadrouga  holds  all  property  in  com- 
mon, and  the  community,  not  the  individual, 
may  benefit  where  individual  achievement, 
gain,  or  ability  surpasses  the  common 
status.  It  is  governed  by  the  Starei,  or 
Elders;  the  Domakini,  or  Auditors;  the 
Zapovednitzi,  or  Masters,  and  the  Sadii,  or 
Judges.  Years  ago  the  Domakin  exercised 
the  function  of  a  dictator;  at  that  time  the 
Zadrouga  bore  an  exact  resemblance  to  the 
Lenin  Soviet. 

The  Zadrouga  began  to  decline  when  the 
attractions  outside  the  community  proved 
too  strong  for  the  gifted  or  educated  mem- 
bers to  resist  the  rewards  of  personal 
achievement  and  hence  personal  advance- 
ment in  the  world. 


RACE  SUICIDE  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA 


THE  Gaboon  area  is  becoming  a  vast 
graveyard  for  the  dying  races  of  Cen- 
tral Africa,  according  to  Frederick  W.  H. 
Migeod,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  who  has  returned  to  London  from 
two  journeys  across  equatorial  Africa  from 
sea  to  sea.  The  sands  of  the  Sahara  have 
been  advancing  southward  and  there  has 
been  a  steady  trek  of  native  tribes,  as  if 
pushed  by  the  sand,  south  and  west  into 
French  territory.  There  they  are  held  up 
by  the  more  vigorous  coastal  races,  and  they 
settle  down  as  if  resigned  to  die  out. 
Women  refuse  to  bear  children,  and  in  one 
tribe    the    chief    has    absolutely    forbidden 


marriage,  with  the  same  idea.  It  is  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Migeod  as  the  most  amazing 
case  of  racial  suicide  on  a  huge  scale  that 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

On  the  other  hand,  France  is  about  to  at- 
tempt to  stop  the  advance  of  the  desert  by 
damming  the  Upper  Niger  in  order  to  irri- 
gate nearly  4,000,000  acres  of  land  on  which 
it  is  proposed  to  raise  cotton.  A  bill  intro- 
duced in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  proposes 
to  appropriate  $250,000,000  for  the  purpose. 
With  the  Niger  utilized  between  Bammako 
and  Timbuctoo,  the  cotton  crop,  it  is  be- 
lieved, will  exceed  that  in  the  United 
States. 


HUNGARY  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS 

Waiving  party  differences,  Hungarians  co-operate  to  secure  internal  tranquillity  and  to 
improve  border  relations — Education  handicapped  ,by  want  of  the  books  destroyed  under 
the  Bolshevist  regime — Tottering  Austria — Minority  rights  in  Czechoslovakia 

[Period    Ended    June    10,    1921] 


HUNGARY  is  on  the  road  to  consolida- 
tion. Although  still  bitter  because  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Peace  Treaty, 
she  is  trying  her  best  to  live  on  friendly 
terms  with  her  neighbors,  especially  the 
recession  States,  as  a  political  and  eco- 
nomic necessity.  At  present  the  biggest 
gap  seems  to  separate  her  from  Rumania, 
because  of  the  inclement  treatment  of  Hun- 
garians in  Transylvania.  Refugees  still  ar- 
rive in  Budapest  from  this  former  part  of 
Hungary,  who  give  vivid  stories  of  their 
persecution. 

Several  difficulties  must  be  overcome  be- 
fore friendly  relations  can  be  established 
with  this  neighbor.  What  Hungary  aims  at 
is  economic  treaties,  and  the  consequent  lift- 
ing of  the  export  ban.  Although  Hungarian 
money  increased  conspicuously  in  value  re- 
cently, this  rise  is  handicapped  because  of 
the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of  commercial 
traffic  with  neighbors.  Rumania,  espe- 
cially, is  slow  to  come  to  an  understanding 
with  Hungary  in  this  respect. 

Relations  with  Czechoslovakia  have  im- 
proved recently,  because  of  the  friendly  ex- 
change of  views  between  spokesmen  of  both 
Governments  on  reopening  commercial  in- 
tercourse. Discussions  toward  this  end  have 
brought  the  date  near,  it  is  thought,  when 
all  disturbing  conditions  will  be  removed. 
Of  course  there  remain  grievances  because 
of  alleged  disrespect  for  minority  rights 
granted  by  the  Peace  Treaty,  such  as  the 
political  status  of  Hungarian-speaking  citi- 
zens residing  in  Slovakia,  and  also  their 
right  to  use  the  Hungarian  language  in 
their  dealings  with  State  offices  and  in 
their  schools. 

Decision  regarding  the  four  western  coun- 
ties bordering  on  Austria  is  eagerly  sought. 
Hungary  offers  to  withdraw  entirely  from 
the  territory  in  question  if  Austria,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  give  Hungary  a  narrow 
strip  on  the  eastern  edge  of  this  area,  where 
a  number  of  sugar  refineries  are  located. 
The  contention  is  that  all  the  beets  refined 


there  are  produced  in  Hungary.  Besides 
this,  Hungary  would  grant  certain  customs 
concessions  on  Austrian  products  along  the 
frontier.  For  a  time  Austria  seemed  in- 
clined to  consider  the  offer,  but  lately,  as  if 
encouraged  by  some  of  the  Entente  powers, 
she  became  less  willing  to  compromise  her 
claim  established  by  the  Peace  Treaty,  and 
indicated  a  desire  to  have  the  provisions 
executed  literally.  Parleys  were  still  in 
progress  when  these  pages  went  to  press. 

Although  the  internal  political  situation 
cannot  be  called  tranquil,  there  is  a  mani- 
fest desire  to  overlook  party  lines  and  work 
in  harmony  for  the  good  of  the  country. 
The  new  Ministry  under  Count  Bethlen  is 
supported  on  important  matters  by  the  two 
major  parties  in  the  National  Assembly — 
the  Farmers'  Party  and  the  Christian  bloc. 
Law  and  order  prevail,  and  freedom  of 
speech,  press  and  assembly  is  more  and 
more  rehabilitated.  A  mass  meeting  by 
Socialists  on  May  1  was  allowed,  and  no 
disorders  occurred.  That  such  a  meeting 
was  permitted  is  considered  an  unmistak- 
able step  toward  placating  opposing  groups. 
In  strange  contrast,  a  demonstration  by  the 
Christian  Social  Democrats  planned  on  the 
opening  day  of  an  international  congress 
by  Christian  Socialists,  May  16,  was  forbid- 
den. It  is  said  that  permission  was  with- 
held to  prevent  clashes  between  the  Chris- 
tian and  non-Christian  Socialists. 

Count  Julius  Andrassy,  having  definitely 
aligned  himself  with  the  Christian  bloc,  de- 
livered a  masterly  address  in  the  National 
Assembly,  taking  sides  unequivocally  with 
Christian  ideals  and  Christian  Hungary, 
but  he  warned  all  who,  under  the  cloak  of 
such  a  program,  would  besmirch  the  name 
of  Christianity  and  commit  excesses 
against  persons  suspected  of  having  sup- 
ported the  Bolshevist  regime.  He  especially 
enjoined  restraint  toward  citizens  of  the 
Jewish  faith,  and  said  that  anti-Semitism 
had  no  place  in  the  platform  of  a  Christian 
party. 


702 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Jungerth,  representing  the  Hungarian 
Government  in  its  dealing  with  the  Russian 
Soviet,  announced  that  he  had  come  to  an 
understanding  regarding  the  repatriation 
of  Hungarian  war  prisoners  still  under 
Bolshevist  control.  The  terms  provide  for 
their  immediate  repatriation  if  the  Hun- 
garian Government  releases  all  persons  sen- 
tenced to  death  or  to  more  than  ten  years' 
imprisonment.  The  agreement  is  accept- 
able to  both  countries. 

Albert  Berzeviczy,  Chairman  of  the  Acad- 
emy for  Sciences;  Julius  Pekar,  Assistant 
Secretary  of  Public  Education;  Julius 
Varga  and  other  noted  educators  deplore 
the  conditions  that  exist  in  schools  and  the 
shocking  dearth  of  school  books.  Some 
schools  have  been  closed  for  lack  of  text- 
books. For  lack  of  money  and  material, 
reprints  cannot  be  made.  The  Bolsheviki 
are  charged  with  the  destruction  of  old 
books,  which  they  described  as  promoting 
the  interests  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  a  soci- 
ety built  upon  capitalism.  Instead  they  in- 
augurated a  system  of  free  thought  and  en- 
lightenment, especially  on  sex  hygiene,  and 
shocking  revelations  are  now  being  made 
regarding  their  system  of  education. 

Because  of  repeated  charges  in  the  for- 
eign press  that  terrible  deeds  are  commit- 
ted in  internment  camps  established  by  the 
Government  to  disinfect  the  nation  of  rabid 
theories,  Baron  Redding-Biberegg,  head  of 
the  International  Red  Cross  in  Switzerland, 
was  invited  to  inspect  such  camps.  In  his 
report  he  makes  the  following  statements: 

The  unbiased  truth  is  that  conditions  are 
satisfactory,  and  gross  misrepresentations 
were  published  in  the  press.  In  fact,  I  have 
made  my  inspection  tour  to  establish  the 
number  and  identity  of  those  interned  who 
are  citizens  of  foreign  countries.  I  have 
advocated  their  release,  and  the  Hungarian 
Government  is  more  than  ready  to  grant  this. 
The  only  difficulty  might  arise  in  the  case 
of  the  Galician  Jews,  because  of  the  un- 
willingness of  the  Polish  Government  to  per- 
mit these  to  cross  the  border.  Uninfluenced 
by  any  motive,  I  might  state  that  although 
on  principle  I  do  not  believe  in  the  necessity 
of  internment  camps,  yet  I  find  that  all  laws 
of  humanity  have  been  observed.  The  in- 
terned have  not  adequate  clothing,  and  the 
American  Relief  Administration  is  doing  its 
best  to  alleviate  this  need. 

The  whole  country  was  roused  to  a  high 
pitch  of  enthusiasm  by  the  celebration  of 
Count  Albert  Apponyi's  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  public  service,  and,  incidentally,  of 
hir    seventy-fifth    birthday.      Hundreds    of 


Hungarian  towns  elected  him  an  honorary 
Burgess,  the  National  Assembly  held  a  fes- 
tival session,  and  special  services  were  held 
in  churches.  Felicitations  were  sent  to  the 
aged  statesman  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
including  America,  especially  by  citizens  of 
Hungarian  birth. 

A  USTRIA— Austria  has  not  yet  col- 
^"*-  lapsed,  but  it  is  certainly  tottering. 
In  the  early  days  of  June  it  was  left  with- 
out a  Government,  as  Dr.  Mayr's  Cabinet 
resigned,  and  the  prospect  of  forming  a 
more  authoritative  Cabinet  is  remote.  The 
Government's  fall  was  precipitated  by  the 
action  of  the  annexationists,  that  is,  the 
Pan  Germans  and  other  influential  groups, 
who  favored  unification  with  Germany. 
The  people  are  mainly  in  sympathy  with  this 
plan,  at  least  on  one  score:  They  hope  that 
inclusion  with  Germany  would  mean  a 
brighter  future  for  Austria.  Racial  sympa- 
thies have  played  a  large  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  such  sentiment.  The  Prov- 
inces of  Tyrol  and  Salzburg  have  over- 
whelmingly voted  in  favor  of  such  align- 
ment, and  Dr.  Mayr,  in  view  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Allies,  especially  France,  and  of 
the  Financial  Commission  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  could  do  nothing  but  point  out 
the  conclusions  and  resign. 

Dr.  Mayr's  warnings  remained  unheeded, 
because  the  various  provinces  are  very 
loosely  linked  to  one  another.  The  financial 
outlook  is  gloomier  than  ever,  because  it  is 
feared  that,  unless  some  strong  hand  inter- 
venes, the  Allied  Commission  will  leave 
Austria  to  her  fate.  As  a  last  resort  it  was 
proposed  to  hold  a  joint  conference  June  15 
at  Porta  Rosa,  near  Trieste;  but  even  if 
such  a  conference  should  decide  on  meas- 
ures, their  application  is  doomed  because 
of  the  stanch  refusal  of  the  Pan  Germans 
to  consider  anything  without  unification 
with  Germany.  The  French,  on  the  other 
hand,  refuse  to  countenance  anything  of 
the  kind,  because  it  would  strengthen  Ger- 
many. The  French,  however,  are  encour- 
aging the  Austrians  to  yield  nothing  to  the 
Hungarians  on  the  question  of  the  West 
Hungarian  counties  adjudged  to  Austria  in 
Versailles. 

Eleven  former  army  officers,  some  of 
high  rank,  were  placed  on  trial  on  the  tech- 
nical charge  of  having  participated  in  the 
plot  of  former  Emperor  Charles  to  regain 
his  throne.     It  is  alleged  that  the  officers 


HUNGARY  AND  HER  NEIGHBORS 


703 


have  recruited  legionary  troops  and  placed 
themselves  at  the  disposal  of  Hungarian 
Carlists  in  pursuance  of  the  plan. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA  is  trying  to  solve 
difficulties  which  arise  over  the  posi- 
tion assumed  by  the  German  element  in 
Bohemia  and  Moravia,  and  by  the  Hunga- 
rians in  Slovakia;  also  by  the  Ruthenians 
and  Ruthen-Magyars  in  Podkarpatska  Ru- 
sinia.  The  question  revolves  mainly  about 
the  minority  rights,  and  spokesmen  of  all 
parties  seek  an  understanding  to  eliminate 
what  can  be  termed  "  non-participation  "  in 
the  affairs  of  State  by  the  various  groups. 
Rudolf  Keller,  a  publicist  of  note,  recently 
declared  himself  in  favor  of  bringing  about 
an  alignment.  He  thinks  that  the  differ- 
ences can  be  smoothed  out,  provided  the 
Czech  Government  will  make  some  conces- 
sions. The  solution  lies  in  the  admittance 
of  nationality  leaders  to  State  offices, 
equality  in  all  respects,  the  use  of  the 
mother-tongue,  definite  regulations  of  the 
quota  of  the  former  national  indebtedness 
by  the  succession  States,  and  initiation  of 
a  State  budget  system. 

Magyar-speaking  subjects  of  Podkar- 
patska Rusinia,  together  with  some  of  the 
Ruthenian-speaking  populace,  clamor  for 
recognition.  Recently,  a  delegation  com- 
posed mainly  of  members  of  the  Hungarian- 
Ruthenian  Party  appeared  in  Prague  and 
sought  an  audience  with  President  Ma- 
saryk.  They  were  not  received  by  the 
President  and  had  to  make  their  plea  to  his 
secretary.  They  also  left  a  voluminous 
memorandum  in  which  they  made  the  fol- 
lowing claims: 

Termination  of  authority  by  representa- 


tives of  the  military  in  civil  cases;  regula- 
tion of  the  right  to  vote  so  that  only  those 
would  vote  who  have  resided  in  what  was 
formerly  Upper  Hungary  at  least  since 
Jan.  1,  1919;  power  of  the  National  As- 
sembly in  Prague  to  determine  autonomous 
rights  of  Ruthenia  and  to  lay  down  the 
principles  upon  which  the  Ruthenian  Legis- 
lature should  be  called  into  life;  reinstate- 
ment of  all  Hungarian  functionaries  dis- 
charged before  the  sanction  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  for  refusal  to  swear  allegiance;  re- 
call of  administration  officials  instated 
since  the  occupation  unless  they  speak  the 
Magyar  or  Ruthenian  language;  restitution 
of  detached  territories  within  the  counties 
of  Saros,  Zemplen  and  Abauj;  establish- 
ment of  parallel  classes  in  public,  trade  and 
high  schools  with  Magyar  as  the  language 
of  teaching;  compulsion  of  State  and  mu- 
nicipal authorities  to  accept  papers  drawn 
in  the  Hungarian  language;  the  taking  of 
a  new  census,  free  from  falsifications;  the 
establishment  of  free  trade,  and  the  utiliza- 
tion of  all  revenues  derived  from  forestry 
and  operation  of  mines  for  the  promotion  of 
interests  of  that  part  of  the  country  which 
is  devoted  to  these  industries.  Despite 
these  difficulties,  conditions  seem  to  im- 
prove, and  agitation  against  Czech  over- 
lordship  is  on  the  decline. 

Czechoslovakia  has  reached  an  agreement 
with  Austria  regarding  the  gold  reserve  in 
the  Austro-Hungarian  bank.  The  Czechs 
will  receive  15,000,000  gold  crowns  and  will 
be  permitted  to  purchase  the  bank's  build- 
ings in  the  country  at  the  inventory  price, 
less  20  per  cent.  Czechoslovakia  on  June 
8  also  made  an  amicable  arrangement  for 
the  exchange  of  several  villages  on  the 
border.     [See  Page  699.] 


GERMAN  WAR  CASUALTIES  6,888,982 


GERMANY'S  casualties  in  the  World 
War  were  placed  at  6,888,982  by  Dr. 
William  S.  Bainbridge  of  New  York,  com- 
mander in  the  Naval  Medical  Corps,  in  a 
recent  address  at  Boston  before  the  Asso- 
ciation of  Military  Surgeons  of  the  United 
States.  The  figure  was  determined,  he 
said,  through  two  years'  service  in 
Germany  during  the  war  as  an  observer 
and  from  the  study  of  official  and  semi- 
official publications  and  statements  in 
German,    Dutch    and    Scandinavian    maga- 


zines. According  to  Commander  Bain- 
bridge's  tabulations,  the  German  losses 
were  divided  as  follows:  Killed  in  battle, 
1,531,148;  missing,  991,340;  wounded, 
4,211,481;  died  of  disease,  155,013.  It  had 
been  absolutely  established,  however,  he 
said,  that  90  per  cent,  of  the  German 
wounded  were  refitted  for  service  in  the 
field  or  at  the  base  hospitals,  or  rendered 
self-supporting.  Of  the  sick  and  wounded 
who  reached  the  home  hospitals  in  Ger- 
many only  1.6  per  cent.  died. 


THE  TURKISH  DRIFT  TOWARD 

MOSCOW 


How  a  complete  reversal  of  the  situation  in  the  Near  East  was  brought  about  by  Mustapha 
Rental's  rejection  of  the  new  allied  proposals,  and  the  conclusion  of  a  strong  alliance 
of  the  Turkish  Nationalists  with  the  Bolshevist  Government  of  Russia. 


THIRTY  days  have  brought  a  change, 
at  least  on  the  surface,  of  the  Near 
East  question  as  it  emerged  from  the 
London  conference  last  Spring.  In  the  middle 
of  May  hostilities  between  the  Greeks  and 
the  Turkish  Nationalists  had  ceased;  a 
rapprochement  had  been  effected  between 
the  latter's  Government  at  Angora  and  the 
Sultan's  Government  at  Stamboul;  at 
Angora  the  Grand  Parliament  was  sympa- 
thetically debating  the  report  of  Bekir  Sami 
Bey  on  the  London  Conference,  the  pro- 
posals of  the  Entente  modifying  the  Treaty 
of  Sevres,  and  the  arrangements  he  had 
made  with  France  and  Italy;  Greece  lastly 
had  asked  the  good  offices  of  Great  Britain 
to  intercede  at  Constantinople  and  was 
feverishly  seeking  a  formula  by  which  it 
might  accept  the  Entente  proposals  modify- 
ing the  Sevres  Treaty  and  still  save  her 
face. 

Now  all  is  changed.  The  Government  in 
which  Bekir  Sami  Bey  was  Foreign  Min- 
ister has  been  overthrown;  his  work  at  Lon- 
don has  been  repudiated;  the  extreme  Na- 
tionalists, strongly  backed  by  the  Moscow 
Government,  are  in  control  at  Angora;  their 
motto  is  "  No  surrender;  no  compromise  " — 
no  surrender  to  the  Allies;  no  compromise 
with  the  Sultan.  Finally  Greece  is  on  the 
point  of  renewing  hostilities,  with  the  as- 
sured aid  of  Great  Britain  and  Italy  and 
with  the  possible  aid  of  France. 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  this 
change  prove  either  that  the  Turk  is  at  his 
old  game  of  playing  one  nation  off  against 
the  others  or  that  the  influence  of  the 
Moscow  Bolshevist  Government,  whether 
exerted  through  promise  of  material  sup- 
port or  threats  of  coercion,  has  proved  too 
much  for  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha. 

As  a  token  of  its  good  faith  the  Entente 
had  declared  its  neutrality  in  the  conflict 
between  the  Greeks  and  the  Nationalists, 
which  was  a  real  aid  to  the  latter;   Great 


Britain  had  released  the  Turkish  prisoners 
held  at  Malta;  the  Italian  military  Govern- 
ment at  Adalia  had  acknowledged  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Turkish  authorities  there 
and  was  preparing  to  withdraw  from  the 
territory;  a  similar  evacuation  on  the  part 
of  the  French  in  Cilicia  had  released  the 
Cilician  Turkish  Army  Corps  for  action 
against  the  Greeks;  there  were  almost  daily 
conferences  between  Stamboul  and  Angora 
under  the  direction  of  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission. 

In  the  first  week  in  May,  during  the  cele- 
bration of  the  first  anniversary  of  the  Grand 
Parliament,  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  took  occasion  to  praise 
the  work  of  Bekir  Sami  Bey  at  London, 
which,  he  said,  gave  every  promise  of  early 
peace;  for,  as  he  pointed  out,  with  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Entente  proposals  and  the 
ratification  of  the  treaties  with  France  and 
Italy — all,  however,  capable  of  modification 
— the  Greeks  would  be  obliged  to  hasten 
the  steps  toward  capitulation  which  they 
had  already  taken. 

A  fortnight  later  he  made  before  the 
same  body  an  address  which  told  quite  a 
different  story: 

Gentlemen :  We  are  the  only  victors  among 
the  vanquished  nations.  We  have  conquered 
the  Armenians  in  the  east  and  the  Greeks  in 
the  west.  We  have  entered  into  agreements 
with  the  Western  powers  on  condition  that 
the  interests  of  our  country  are  safeguarded, 
and  we  have  assured  them  of  our  peaceful  in- 
tentions. 

The  British  statesmen  alone  pretend  to 
ignore  our  pacific  aims.  Among  the  van- 
quished nations  of  1918,  Turkey  alone  has 
succeeded  in  not  remaining  vanquished, 
thanks  to  the  provident  foresight  of  our 
policy  and  the  valor  of  our  arms.  Despite 
the  efforts  of  our  enemies  during  the  last 
twelve  months,  the  Treaty  of  Sevres  no 
longer  exists,  neither  in  law  nor  in  fact. 

They  wanted  to  break  up  our  country  and 
so  dismember  us.  We  have  prevented  it.  To- 
day we  have  powerful  and  good  friends  in 
the  East.    We  have  entered  into  sincere  pacts 


THE  TURKISH  DRIFT  TOWARD  MOSCOW 


705 


with  the  Governments  of  Azerbaijan,  with 
Northern  Caucasus,  with  Afghanistan  and 
with  the  Mussulman  population  of  Mesopo- 
tamia and  Syria,  with  whom  we  have  the 
most   intimate   understanding. 

We  have  precious  relations  with  Persia, 
Armenia  and  Georgia.  But  above  all  we  have 
established  most  friendly  and  fraternal  re- 
lations with  the  Russian  Soviet  Republic, 
which  has  promised  to  support  and  aid  us 
with  all  its  power,  so  that  we  are  in  a  good 
way.  "We  shall  try  to  strengthen  these  re- 
lations by  a  program  of  common  action, 
which  will  be  drawn  on  fundamental  prin- 
ciples at  the  coming  conference  at  Moscow,  in 
which  our  delegates  will  participate.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  these  efforts  will  be  entirely 
in  conformity  with  the  desires  of  our  people. 
We  shall  establish  a  popular  Government, 
which  will  govern  according  to  the  exigencies 
of  civilization  and  humanity. 

In  another  speech,  a  few  days  later,  he 
went  further  and  said : 

"We  really  expected  nothing  from  the  Lon- 
don Conference  and  based  our  hopes  on 
Moscow.  The  excellent  results  of  our  recent 
conference  at  Moscow  proved  finally  the  har- 
mony and  interests  which  exist  between  our 
two  peoples.  The  Entente  diplomats  in  Lon- 
don, being  hostile  to  Russia,  were  naturally 
also  hostile  to  Turkey.  Russia  and  Turkey 
stand  inevitably  in  similar  relations  to  the 
imperialistic  powers  of  Europe,  and  the  more 
we  stiffen  the  struggle  in  common  the  more 
we  shall  ultimately  gain. 

What  had,  meanwhile,  happened  at 
Angora  ? 

The  trouble  began  when  Bekir  Sami  Bey 
presented  the  Entente  proposals  and  the 
French  and  Italian  treaties,  and  recom- 
mended the  immediate  acceptance  of  the 
terms  in  regard  to  Smyrna  and  Thrace.  He 
was  supported  in  this  by  twenty  members. 
Then  Kemal  Pasha  waved  the  proposals 
aside  and  asked  that  the  treaties  be  con- 
sidered. A  great  uproar,  led  by  Remzi 
Pasha,  a  cousin  of  Javid  Bey,  and  Mukhtar, 
arose  in  opposition.  The  clauses  which  were 
particularly  obnoxious  to  the  extremists 
were  the  economic  clauses  granting  rights 
of  exploitation  in  Asia  Minor,  despite  the 
fact  that  these  rights  were  to  be  granted 
only  on  condition  that  collaboration  should 
be  made  with  Turkish  enterprise.  Both  the 
proposals  and  the  treaties  were  unanimously 
rejected  and  the  Cabinet,  of  which  Bekir 
Sami  Bey  was  Foreign  Minister,  resigned. 

In  Stamboul  this  action  was  interpreted 
as  meaning  "  no  concessions  to  the  Entente 
Powers;  down  with  the  reigning  Sultan!  " 
In  Constantinople  also  it  was  declared  that 
the  extremists  were  particularly  anxious  to 


repudiate  the  French  treaty,  which  fact,  on 
the  admission  of  the  Old  Turks,  proves  con- 
clusively that  Bolshevist  agents  at  Angora 
completely  controlled  the  Grand  Parlia- 
ment. 

The  Cabinet  of  extremists,  formed  May 
22,  was  made  up  as  follows: 

Fevzi   Pasha Grand  Vizier  and  War 

Yussuf  Kemal  Bey.. .  .Foreign  Affairs 

Ata   Bey Interior 

Fehmi   Bey Sheik-u!-Islam 

Hassan    Bey Finance 

Jelal   Bey Supplies 

Refik    Bey £ Public  Health 

Ref ik   Shef ket  Bej£  .1 ./.  Justice 

Omer  Lutfi  Bey Pi^lfiffarka. 

Hamdullah  SubhiJ^.Educatldi/w©  i(  }  ± 
Two  other  evems^tt/jjdbo^said  m'iimfy 
stantinople  to  have  been  br&ighf  alR>«t  by 
the  Bolsheviki,  werW  ©)&}r#f usal  S5#  .the 
Kemalist  Government  to  rerJ*vj8/the  son  of 
the  Turkish  heir  presumptive  and  the  hang- 
ing of  Mustapha  Segir,  an  Anglo-Indian,  as 
a  spy. 

The  circumstances  of  the  first  event  were 
as  follows:  Prince  Omer  Faruk  Effendi, 
son  of  the  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid  Effendi, 
left  Constantinople  on  April  28,  telling  his 
father  that  he  could  no  longer  restrain  him- 
self from  joining  the  Nationalists.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  the  Angora  Govern- 
ment was  suspicious  and  declined  to  receive 
him.  Thereupon  Abdul  Medjid  sent  a  pro- 
test to  Kemal  Pasha,  as  he  considered  this 
refusal  to  be  an  insult  not  only  to  himself 
and  his  son  but  also  to  the  Sultanate.  He 
declared  that  all  the  members  of  his  family 
had  the  right  to  go  to  Angora  and  also  to 
visit  the  Turkish  Army  at  the  front. 

The  case  of  the  British-Indian  aroused  an 
even  greater  sensation.    The  accused,  Mus- 
tapha Segir,  or  Sachir,  was  publicly  hanged 
in  Parliament  Square  at  Angora  on  May  27, 
after  a  trial   of  eighteen  days  by  the  so- 
called  Court  of  Independence.    The  best  ac- 
count of  the  trial,  which  was  published  in 
the  Bolshevist  Chrezvitchaika  of  Constanti- 
nople, may  be  summarized  as  follows: 
The  courtroom  was  crowded.    The  prisoner 
gave  his  name  as  Mustapha  Segir,  and  said 
that  he  was  of  Indian  parentage  and  that  his 
age  was  33.    He  added  that  he  was  formerly 
a  British  Consul  in  Persia.    His  defense  was 
that   he   had   come   to  Angora   under   British 
instructions,    to   work   for   an    amicable    feel- 
ing   on    the    part    of    the    Kemalists    toward 
Great   Britain.     Asked   whether   Earl    Curzon 
had     given     him     his     instructions,     he     an- 
swered,  "  Yes,  in  part." 
Documents    said    to    have    been    handed    by 


'06 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  prisoner  to  the  British  Intelligence  De- 
partment here  were  brought  up,  containing 
details  concerning  Kemal,  where  Kemal  lived 
and  the  number  and  speed  of  Kemal's  auto- 
mobile. A  Turkish  associate  of  the  prisoner, 
in  giving  evidence,  detailed  other  general  in- 
structions, such  as  the  finding  out  of  the 
relations  between  the  Bolsheviki  and  the 
Kemalists,  what  divisions  existed  in  the 
Angora  Parliament,  and  how  to  profit 
thereby;  whether  the  majority  were  for  war 
or  peace  by  negotiation  and  how  far  the 
Kemalist  majority  was  really  hostile  to 
Britain. 

The  President  of  the  court  asked  the  ac- 
cused who  was  really  behind  him,  and  to  this 
he  replied  that  in  the  Foreign  Office  in  Lon- 
don there  were  two  currents  of  policy,  one 
which  aimed  at  avoiding  a  widening  of  the 
breach  between  Britain  and  Turkey,  while 
the  other  was  militarist  and  aimed  at 
strengthening  Greece  and  wiping  out  Turkey. 
He  was  in  touch  with  the  former  group. 
Despite  the  desire  to  maintain  amicable 
Anglo-Turkish  relations,  it  appeared,  it  was 
also  part  of  the  policy  of  this  group  to  stamp 
out  the  Kemalist  movement.  In  this  it  was 
allegedly  working  with  the  Sultan,  the  Im- 
perial Court  and  the  Turkish  Liberal  Party 
at  Constantinople. 

No  attention  was  paid  at  Angora  to  the 
appeals  made  by  the  British  High  Commis- 
sioner on  behalf  of  the  unfortunate  Anglo- 
Indian  and  he  was  executed  in  accordance 
with  the  sentence.  The  case  was  said  to 
have  decided  the  Interallied  Commission  at 
Constantinpole  to  raise  the  inhibition  which 
prevented  Greek  warships  from  passing 
through  the  Straits  into  the  Black  Sea, 
where  they  will  now  be  able  to  prevent  the 
Nationalists  from  receiving  any  more  Bol- 
shevist aid  through  that  route.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  execution  would  produce  a 
profound  impression  in  India.  In  addition  to 
this  defiance  of  Great  Britain,  the  Nation- 
alist authorities  took  no  action  to  release 
any  British  prisoners  in  exchange  for  the 
Turkish  prisoners  released  at  Malta. 

Bekir  Sami  had  declared  at  London  that 
the  Kurds  were  perfectly  happy  under 
Turkish  rule.  As  a  disproof  of  this  declara- 
tion, no  sooner  had  he  returned  to  Angora 
than  a  Kurdish  revolt  began.  At  Mergifoun, 
on  May  31,  the  Kurds,  according  to  infor- 
mation received  in  Constantinople,  defeated 
the  Kemalist  troops  and  took  2,000  prison- 
ers. The  rebels  demanded  that  the  Bol- 
shevist delegation  be  sent  home  and  that 
negotiations   be   at    once   opened    with   the 


Greeks  by  Muktar  Pasha  for  peace.  At 
Angora  it  was  believed  that  the  Kurdish 
revolt  was  organized  at  Stamboul. 

On  June  9  there  was  a  serious  conference 
of  British  Cabinet  Ministers  at  the  country 
home  of  the  Prime  Minister  to  consider  the 
new  situation  in  the  Near  East.  Develop- 
ments along  certain  lines,  it  was  reported, 
may  call  for  a  change  in  the  policy  of  the 
Government.  In  this  case  effective  aid 
would  be  given  the  Greeks  in  the  shape  of 
munitions  and  the  Black  Sea  ports  of  the 
southern  littoral  might  be  blockaded. 

It  was  reported  in  Athens  that  British, 
Italian  and  French  aid  to  the  Greeks  up  to 
June  9  had  gone  much  further  than  the  re- 
spective Governments  had  officially  ad- 
admitted.  The  Greeks  were  said  to  be  par- 
ticularly well  reinforced  in  the  way  of  tanks, 
airplanes  and  gas  shells.  According  to  a 
Constantinople  account  they  had  in  line  120,- 
000  men,  of  whom  80,000  were  effectives, 
while  the  Nationalists  had  only  100,000, 
with  but  60  per  cent,  effectives.  According 
to  M.  Gounaris  and  other  members  of  the 
Greek  Government  who  visited  the  Smyrna 
front  in  the  first  week  of  May,  the  new 
situation  had  greatly  improved  the  morale 
of  the  Greek  Army. 

King  Constantine,  who,  it  has  been  re- 
ported, outlined  the  new  Greek  offensive — 
for  it  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  a 
successful  commander  of  Greek  troops 
against  the  Turks  in  1912  and  against  the 
Bulgars  in  1913 — arrived  in  Smyrna  with  a 
large  staff  on  June  12.  Before  leaving 
Athens  he  issued  the  following  proclama- 
tion: 

I  depart  to  put  myself  at  the  head  of  my 
army.  Over  there,  where  for  centuries  Hel- 
lenism has  fought  with  the  aid  of  the 
Almighty,  victory  will  crown  the  combats  of 
our  race,  which  moves  irresistibly  toward 
its  destinies.  Our  predominance  there  today 
will  assure,  as  in  the  time  of  our  ancestors, 
the  realization  of  the  high  ideals  of  liberty, 
equality  and  justice. 

The  last  of  our  race  guides  our  arms  and 
our  admirable  record  of  civilization  lays  upon 
us  duties  of  which  we  have  a  profound  ap- 
preciation. We  have  even  the  right  to  pro- 
claim with  pride  that  we  are  accomplishing 
our  purposes.  The  Greek  people  in  sacred 
union  confers  upon  us  this  duty  by  its  incom- 
parable  sacrifices. 

Confiding  in  the  Divine  aid,  in  the  spirit  of 
our  heroic  army  and  in  the  unconquerable 
force  of  the  Greek  ideal,  I  go  where  I  am 
called  by  our  supreme  national  aspirations. 


CHINA'S   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   JAPAN 

Plans  of  the  Peking  Government  to  resist  Japanese  aggression  and  to  prevent  Great 
Britain  from  sanctioning  further  encroachments — Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen,  elected  President  of 
China  by  the  Canton  Assembly,  appeals  for  recognition  to  the  United  States 

[Period   Ended  June  10,    1921] 


CHINA,  big,  unwieldy  and  flabby,  is  in 
the  hard  grip  of  Japan,  but  she  is 
struggling.  A  Tokio  paper  not  long 
ago  stated  that  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment was  determined  to  lay  the  Shantung 
issue  before  the  next  Assembly  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  Not  long  ago  the  Pe- 
king Government  cabled  Mr.  Wellington 
Koo — the  Chinese  representative  on  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  at  Geneva 
— that  China's  failure  at  the  first  League 
Assembly  to  protest  against  the  Japanese 
settlement  had  created  a  storm  at  home;  he 
was  therefore  directed  to  pave  the  way  for 
such  a  protest  in  the  fullest  and  most  care- 
ful way.  The  Peking  Government,  follow- 
ing its  fixed  policy  of  resistance  to  Japa- 
nese designs,  formally  warned  the  British 
Government  in  May  that,  in  case  of  renewal 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  in  July,  it 
would  repudiate  any  clauses  tending  to  im- 
pair the  integrity  of  China.  The  decision 
of  Great  Britain  regarding  this  renewal,  it 
may  be  said  here,  awaits  the  assembling  in 
London  of  the  Imperial  Council.  Canada  is 
known  to  be  opposed  to  embodying  in  the 
new  treaty  any  clause  which  would  pledge 
the  United  Kingdom  to  assist  Japan  in 
case  she  and  a  third  nation  should  <go  to 
war,  on  the  ground  that  this  might  lead  to 
a  situation  in  which  Great  Britain  and  her 
dominions  would  find  themselves  compelled 
to  fight  the  United  States — a  possibility 
which  Canada,  loyal  to  American  ties  and 
traditions,  considers  unthinkable. 

China  is  playing  a  waiting  game.  The 
boycott  of  Japanese  goods  goes  on,  causing 
the  loss  to  Japan  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars.  Peking  is  working  to  get  a  de- 
cision of  the  Lea*gue  of  Nations  on  Japan's 
octopuslike  encirclings  in  China  itself  and 
in  Manchuria.  The  Chinese  leaders  are 
striving  to  prevent  the  renewal  of  the  An- 
glo-Japanese Alliance.  Bertram  Lenox 
Simpson,  a  British  authority  on  Asiatic  sub- 
jects, widely  known  under  his  pen  name  of 
Putnam  Weale,  passed  through  New  York 


in  May  on  his  way  to  London  to  oppose  the 
renewal  of  the  Treaty  with  Japan.  "  If 
China  is  forced  by  Japan  to  commit  sui- 
cide," he  told  an  interviewer,  "  she  means  to 
put  up  a  big  fight  doing  it!  "  Though  Ja- 
pan had  lost  out  on  most  of  the  outrageous 
twenty-one  demands,  he  added,  she  had 
made  her  position  in  Shantung  and  Man- 
churia permanent  by  acquiring  railway  con- 
cessions for  ninety-nine  years,  and  had 
strengthened  her  economic  control  by  mul- 
tiplying her  own  postoffices,  by  securing  80 
per  cent,  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the 
country,  by  fighting  every  effort  of  the  Chi- 
nese Government  to  increase  its  revenue  in- 
dependently of  Japan,  by  establishing  a 
chain  of  garrisons  on  various  pretexts,  and 
these,  once  established,  had  never  been 
known  to  be  withdrawn.  As  to  the  con- 
sortium, Putnam  Weale  declared  that  Japan 
had  no  fear  that  China  would  derive  any 
benefit  from  that,  inasmuch  as  she  knew 
that  "  the  Chinese  themselves  dislike  the 
proposed  measure  so  much  that  they  will 
make  it  unworkable."  All  in  all,  he  implied, 
the  situation  is  deplorable  from  China's 
standpoint,  but  she  is  resolved  to  publish 
Japan's  aggressions  to  the  world  and  to 
fight  for  her  liberty  to  the  end. 

Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen  was  elected  by  the  Can- 
ton Assembly  President  of  the  Provisional 
Southern  Government  of  China — of  all 
China,  he  himself  declared  in  an  appeal  for 
recognition  sent  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  on  May  15 — and  formally  as- 
sumed office  at  Canton  on  May  5.  In  the 
note  to  Washington  Dr.  Sun — who  was  the 
first  Provisional  President  of  the  Chinese 
Republic,  and  who  has  rallied  to  his  sup- 
port a  number  of  prominent  Chinese,  nota- 
bly Mr.  Wu  Ting-fang,  the  former  Ambas- 
sador— described  the  present  situation  as 
follows : 

While  the  Peking  Government  is  fast 
crumbling  from  sheer  hollowness,  foreign 
domination  tends  to  spread  from  North  to 
South.     The   existence   of  China  as   a   nation 


708 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


is  in  jeopardy.  Since  the  unconstitutional 
dissolution  of  the  National  Assembly  in  June, 
1917,  no  de  jure  Government  has  existed  in 
Peking.  *  *  *  As  the  National  Assembly 
which  elected  me  represents  the  whole  coun- 
try, so  it  shall  be  my  first  endeavor  to  unite 
all  provinces  and  territories  of  the  republic 
under  one  Government,  which  shall  be  pro- 
gressive and  enlightened.  *  *  *  The  legiti- 
mate rights  of  foreign  powers  *  *  *  shall 
be  scrupulously  respected.  *  *  *  Foreign 
capital  and  expert  knowledge  in  pursuance 
of  the  open  door  policy  will  be  welcome. 
*  *  *  1  appeal  to  the  Governments  of  the 
friendly  powers  to  withdraw  recognition  from 
the  soi-disant  Government,  which  is  avow- 
edly no  de  jure  Government,  and  which  is 
proving  itself  not.  even  a  de  facto  Govern- 
ment, and  in  the  same  manner  in  which 
they  recognized  the  Republican  Government 
formed  by  the  National  Assembly  in  1913, 
I  request  that  they  accord  recognition  to  this 
Government,  formed  now  by  the  same  As- 
sembly. 

Dr.  Sun's  appointment  elicited  from  the 
Military  Governors  and  commanders  in  the 
North  a  joint  declaration  denouncing  him 
for  having  ignored  the  Peking  President's 
plans  for  a  reconciliation  of  the  North  and 
South;  they  threatened  to  organize  a  puni- 
tive expedition  against  the  Canton  insur- 
gents. Such  an  undertaking,  especially  if 
the  previously  announced  campaign 
against  the  insurgent  Mongolians  takes 
place,  means  more  demoralization  in  the 
vast,  disorganized  land,  more  confusion  in 
the  already  bankrupt  Treasury,  but  the 
Tuchuns  are  actuated  only  by  present  ac- 
tualities. 

Pankiang,  the  last  base  for  defense  of 
Outer  Mongolia,  fell  to  the  Mongols  and 
their  Russian  allies  under  General  Ungern- 
Sternberg  late  in  April.  The  Chita  Gov- 
ernment was  apprehensive  of  the  possibility 
that  this  lieutenant  of  Semenov  seeks  to 
build  out  of  Mongolia  an  anti-Bolshevist 
empire,  though  the  Mongols  had  sent  peace 
emissaries  to  Peking.  Chinese  military  dis- 
patches dated  June  5  reported  that  the 
Hutukhtu,  or  Living  Buddha,  had  died  at 
Urga,  and  that  his  widow  and  General  Un- 
gern-Sternberg  were  administering  Outer 
Mongolia  together.  The  Chinese  com- 
mander on  the  Mongol  front  had  asked  for 
reinforcements  to  meet  the  new  offensive 
threatened  by  General  Chang  Tsao-lin  to 
retake  Urga,  captured  by  the  Mongolian- 
Russian  forces  in  February;  1921. 

The  three   super-Tuchuns — Chang   Tsao- 
lin,   Tsao-kun   and   Wang  Chan-yuan — held 


an  important  conference  at  Tientsin  early 
in  May.  They  haled  before  them  the  Prime 
Minister  and  several  Cabinet  Ministers  to 
discuss  military  and  financial  policies.  The 
conference  foreshadowed  important  changes 
in  the  Peking  Cabinet,  responsive  to  the 
undoubted  political  power  wielded  by  these 
military  leaders,  especially  Chang  Tsao-lin 
and  Tsao-kun.  These  changes  were  an- 
nounced on  May  16  as  follows: 

Chi  Yao-shan,   Minister  of  the  Interior. 

Li    Shih-wei,    Finance. 

Tsai    Chen-chsun,    War. 

Admiral   Li   Mingh-sin,    Navy. 

Chang   Chih-man,   Communications. 

Li  Shih-wei,  who  is  a  Director  of  the 
Sino-Japanese  Industrial  Company,  brings 
back  Japanese  influence  into  the  Cabinet. 
The  utter  confusion  of  the  finances,  the 
impossibility  of  demobilization,  and  the 
serious  situation  in  Mongolia  make  the 
Premier's  task  very  difficult.  The  Govern- 
ment's lack  of  money  has  brought  about  the 
wholesale  resignation  of  professors  and 
teachers  in  the  Peking  University.  The 
Government's  attempts  to  negotiate  a  trade 
agreement  with  the  new  Far  Eastern  re- 
public have  been  checked,  mainly  through 
Japanese  opposition. 

Abundant  rains  in  Northern  China  have 
put  an  end  to  famine  conditions  there,  ac- 
cording to  a  cablegram  from  the  Ameri- 
can Minister,  Charles  R.  Crane,  on  June  10. 
Millions  of  lives  have  been  saved  since  last 
September  by  American  contributions.  In 
March  6,000,000  people  were  being  fed  by 
the  China  Famine  Fund.  A  month  later 
American  relief  organizations  were  feeding 
9,000,000  Chinese.  Surprisingly  large  con- 
tributions were  made  also  by  Chinamen  to 
the  famine  fund.  Though  the  famine  has 
abated,  the  relief  work  will  be  continued  by 
church  organizations,  in  order  to  provide 
for  the  thousands  of  orphans.  Sub- 
scriptions made  through  the  China  Famine 
Fund  totaled  $4,374,206.  This  sum,  with 
the  million  previously  contributed  by  the 
Red  Cross,  $1,250,000  by  church  agencies, 
and  $250,000  by  Chinese,  made  the  grand 
total  exceed  $6,874,000. 

China's  commercial  treaty  with  Ger- 
many, signed  on  May  20,  consists  of  seven 
articles,  deals  with  the  mutual  right  of  ap- 
pointing diplomatic  and  consulai  represen- 
tatives, and  gives  to  the  nationals  of  both 
countries  the  right  to  travel   and  trade  in 


CHINA'S  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  JAPAN 


709 


all  places  where  the  nationals  of  other  States 
are  permitted  to  do  business.  Nationals 
will  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  local  courts 
and  will  be  eligible  to  equality  in  taxes  and 
other  imports  on  the  same  basis  as  other 
nationals.  The  agreement  is  to  be  the 
basis  of  a  definitive  treaty. 

Supplementary   notes   exchanged   specify 
that  China  is  entitled  to  apply  Article  264 


of  the  Versailles  Peace  Treaty  regarding 
import  charges  against  Chinese  goods. 
Germany  agrees  to  reimburse  China  for 
internment  expenditures,  and  also  to  pay 
in  advance  a  portion  of  the  indemnity 
equivalent  to  half  the  proceeds  of  liquidated 
German  property  in  cash  and  railway 
bonds.  Germany  is  to  assist  Chinese 
students. 


PERILS  OF  JAPANESE  IMPERIALISM 


Alarm  over  the  dangers  of  Japan  s  colonial  out-reachings  evidenced  in  the  hold- 
inn  of  an  Extraordinary  Council  at  Tokio — Situation  in  China  and  Siberia 


[Period    Ended   June  10,    1921] 


THE  various  kinds  of  trouble  emanating 
from  the  annexed  or  occupied  regions 
on  the  mainland  of  Asia  are  in  the  aggre- 
gate  alarming  to  all  thoughtful  Japanese. 
An  extraordinary  council  was  held  in  Tokio, 
beginning  May  18,  which  discussed  the 
measures  to  be  taken  to  cope  with  the 
situation  in  Japan's  colonial  ventures.  This 
council  was  attended  by  the  highest  Japa- 
nese military  and  civil  officials  of  the 
colonial  territories.  The  sessions  were 
secret,  and  no  official  report  of  what  was 
decided  was  issued;  it  was  semi-officially 
understood,  however,  that  the  Japanese  oc- 
cupation of  Siberia,  the  Shantung  con- 
troversy with  China,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  United  States  toward  Japanese  aspira- 
tions in  the  Far  East  were  the  main  topics 
of  discussion. 

Regarding  the  Siberian  occupation,  the 
Kenseikai,  or  Opposition  Party,  headed  by 
the  former  Premier,  Viscount  Kato,  has 
been  unwearied  in  its  attacks  on  the  policy 
of  the  Government.  Warning  after  warn- 
ing has  been  issued  by  this  leader,  stressing 
the  hostility  which  the  presence  of  the  Japa- 
nese troops  was  engendering.  The  Asahi, 
a  well-known  paper  of  Osaka,  was  quoted 
by  the  Japan  Chronicle  on  April  14  to  the 
effect  that  an  opinion  in  favor  of  with- 
drawal from  Siberia  was  gaining  strength 
in  Government  circles  and  was  finding  sup- 
port among  officers  of  the  General  Staff. 
M.  Tanaka,  the  Minister  of  War,  soon  to 
retire  because  of  illness,  was  reported  to 
be  anxious  to  effect  this  withdrawal  before 


his  retirement.  The  Jiji  Shimpo,  however, 
declared  that  Japan  would  withdraw  only 
one  and  a  half  divisions — that  she  had  no 
intention  to  evacuate  the  Siberian  territory 
completely. 

This  announcement  antedated  the  Kap- 
pel  coup  in  Vladivostok,  which  overthrew 
the  Provisional  Government — virtually  con- 
trolled by  the  Chita  Republic  of  the  Far 
East — and  extended  to  Nikolsk  and  other 
places  (May  24).  The  military  situation 
was  so  threatening  that  the  people  of  the 
Maritime  Province  appealed  to  Japan  for 
protection,  and  it  was  stated  that  Japan 
had  promised  to  send  troop  contingents  to 
certain  points.  This  new  situation,  of 
course,  made  the  prospect  of  evacuation 
more  remote,  as  Japan's  whole  point  has 
been  that  she  cannot  withdraw  her  forces 
until  the  political  conditions  in  Siberia  are 
stabilized. 

The  strained  situation  with  China  over 
Shantung  remained  in  statu  quo,  though  it 
was  decided  at  the  Tokio  council  that  every 
effort  must  be  made  to  persuade  Peking  to 
negotiate.  The  Government  was  called  upon 
to  answer  a  number  of  opposition  attacks, 
based  on  the  concessions  allegedly  made  to 
the  consortium  powers  regarding  Japan's 
special  privileges  in  Manchuria  and  Mon- 
golia. The  import  of  its  answer  was  that 
though  it  had  consented  to  exclude  these 
territories  nominally,  it  had  still  reserved 
the  rights  of  Japan  generally  in  all  territory 
where  she  had  acquired  special  privileges. 
Regarding  Korea,  the  Nichi  Nichi  declared 


710 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


that  Japan  was  seeking  to  conclude  a  special 
agreement  with  China  to  extend  consular 
and  police  control  of  the  million  or  more 
discontented  and  even  rebellious  Koreans  in 
Manchuria  and  Siberia.  The  Tokio  Govern- 
ment was  also  considering  economic  meas- 
ures for  the  benefit  of  destitute  Koreans  in 
Manchuria,  with  the  object  of  combating 
their  disaffection.  In  her  opposition  to 
Bolshevism  Japan  did  not  waver;  her  atti- 
tude toward  the  semi-Bolshevist  republic  of 
the  Far  East  at  Chita  continued  to  be  one 
of  watchful  waiting  and  she  maintained  her 
rejection  of  all  trade  overtures  by  Chita 
pending  the  attainment  of  greater  stability. 
Justification  of  this  reserve  was  found  in 
the  Kappel  coup,  which  was  aimed  at  Chita. 

With  regard  to  the  controversy  with  the 
United  States  regarding  Japan's  mandate 
in  the  Pacific,  notably  over  the  Island  of 
Yap — a  situation  for  which  Viscount  Kato 
vigorously  denounced  the  Government  at  a 
meeting  of  his  party  on  May  26 — it  was 
authoritatively  announced  from  Tokio  on 
May  27  that  Japan  would  not  reply  directly 
to  Secretary  of  State  Hughes's  note  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  on  the 
question,  but  would  initiate  a  series  of  diplo- 
matic exchanges  with  Washington  in  an 
effort  to  reach  an  understanding.  The  Japa- 
nese negotiators  at  the  communications  con- 
ference in  Washington,  which  went  into 
recess  toward  the  end  of  May,  let  it  be 
known  that  Japan  was  not  averse  to  some 
kind  of  international  control  of  the  cables, 
provided  this  could  be  arranged  without  im- 
pairing Japan's  political  control  of  the  Is- 
land of  Yap. 

Japan  has  found  one  more  cause  for  un- 
easiness in  the  arrival  at  Washington  of  one 
Soon  Hyun,  "  Diplomatic  Agent  from  the 
President  and  Provisional  Government  of 
Korea  to   the   United   States   of  America," 


and  his  presentation  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  a  lengthy  proclamation  denouncing 
Japan's  acts  toward  Korea  and  appealing 
for  American  recognition.  After  recapitu- 
lating the  various  steps  by  which  Japan 
established  her  rule  over  Korea,  the  appeal 
concludes  as  follows: 

The  autocratic  and  militaristic  Government 
of  the  Empire  of  Japan  deliberately  spurned 
and  broke  its  solemn  pledge  and  promise  to 
the  Government  and  people  of  Korea  and 
refused  to  withdraw  the  Japanese  military 
and  naval  forces  from  Korea  and  Korean 
ports,  when  and  after  the  war  between  Japan 
and  Russia  was  terminated,  but,  instead,  by 
unjust  and  cruel  application  of  military  force 
and  arms,  made  captive  our  rulers  and  all 
our  Government  officials  and,  after  first  de- 
claring a  protectorate  over  our  beloved  coun- 
try, finally  attempted  and  assumed  to  annex 
Korea  and  make  of  it  an  integral  part  of  the 
Empire  of  Japan. 

Earnest  and  patriotic  Koreans  who  refuse 
to  recognize  the  alleged  right  or  authority 
of  the  autocratic  and  militaristic  Government 
of  the  Empire  of  Japan  to  rule  over  Korea 
and  its  20,000,000  people  look  to  the  United 
States  of  America  as  the  great  Republic,  sym- 
bolizing in  them  an  ever-burning  beacon 
light  of  liberty  which  will  ultimately  lead  the 
nations  of  the  world  to  a  universal  reign  of 
law  based  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed 
and  sustained  by  the  organized  opinion  of 
civilized    mankind. 

In  an  effort  to  force  the  Government  to 
cut  down  national  expenditures,  the  Opposi- 
tion Party  began  late  in  May  an  organized 
study  of  the  possibilities  of  at  least  partial 
disarmament,  on  which  the  leaders  expect 
to  base  the  policy  of  the  party  in  the  next 
Diet.  The  public  campaign  of  Mr.  Ozaki 
Yukio  is  said  to  have  done  much  toward 
focusing  public  interest  on  this  question, 
though  the  more  prominent  men  in  both 
parties  incline  to  the  view  that  little  or 
nothing  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  dis- 
armament until  the  principal  allied  nations 
and  Japan  take  up  the  problem  at  the 
initiation  of  the  League  of  Nations. 


MEXICO'S  ATTITUDE  ON 
PROPERTY  RIGHTS 


President  Obregon  and  Secretary  Hughes  thrash  out  serious  differences  regarding  the 
guarantees  to  be  given  to  American  owners  of  oil  wells  in  Mexico — A  proffered  treaty 
that  carries  recognition  with  it — Increase  of  Bolshevism  in  Mexico 

[Period   Ended   June   10,    1921] 


SECRETARY  Hughes  brought  the  dis- 
cussion of  Mexican  recognition  to  a 
head  on  June  7  when  he  announced  that 
the  fundamental  question  was  the  safe- 
guarding of  property  rights  against  con- 
fiscation. With  that  object  in  view  he  had 
proposed  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce 
in  which  Mexico  would  agree  to  safeguard 
property  rights  that  had  existed  before  the 
Carranza  constitution  of  1917  wr.s  pro- 
mulgated. He  did  not,  however,  define 
what  he  meant  by  property  rights,  whether 
investment  of  American  capital  in  useful 
production  and  development  or  the  acquir- 
ing by  American  capital  of  vast  land  and 
other  monopolies,  wherever  they  could  be 
had,  and  by  whatever  means.  It  is  the  lat- 
ter feature  to  which  Mexico  objects  and 
which  she  is  trying  to  eliminate  by  the  Con- 
stitution of  1917. 

-What  the  Harding  Administration  is 
seeking  to  achieve  is  a  mutual  accommoda- 
tion between  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
under  which  there  would  be  no  confiscation 
of  legitimate  American  vested  rights  and 
interests.  But  Mexico  hesitates  to  sign  a 
pledge  not  to  disturb  alleged  rights  vested 
in  monopolies.  That  is  the  crux  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  two  Governments.  The 
making  in  proper  form  of  a  treaty  recogniz- 
ing property  rights,  but  not  monopoly 
rights,  would  at  once  end  the  controversy 
and  would  result  automatically  in  grant- 
ing recognition  to  Mexico. 

The  essential  portions  of  Secretary 
Hughes's  statement  of  June  7  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  fundamental  question  which  confronts 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  con- 
sidering- its  relations  with  Mexico  is  the  safe- 
guarding- of  property  rights  against  confisca- 
tion. Mexico  is  free  to  adopt  any  policy 
which  she  pleases  with  respect  to  her  public 
lands,  but  she  is  not  free  to  destroy  without 
compensation    valid    titles    which    have    been 


obtained  by  American  citizens  under  Mexi- 
can laws.  A  confiscatory  policy  strikes  not 
only  at  the  interests  of  particular  individu- 
als, but  at  the  foundations  of  international 
intercourse.    *    *    * 

This  question  is  vital  becavise  of  the  pro- 
visions inserted  in  the  Mexican  Constitution 
promulgated  in  1917.  If  these  provisions  are 
to  be  put  into  effect  retroactively,  the 
properties  of  American  citizens  will  be  con- 
fiscated on  a  great  scale.  This  would  con- 
stitute an  international  wrong  of  the  -gravest 
character,  and  this  Government  could  not 
submit  to  its  accomplishment.  If  it  be  said 
that  this  wrong  is  not  intended,  and  that 
the  Constitution  of  Mexico  of  1917  will  not 
be  construed  to  permit,  or  enforced  so  as  to 
effect,  confiscation,  then  it  is  important  that 
this  should  be  made  clear  by  guarantees  in 
proper  form.  The  provisions  of  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  Executive  Decrees  which  have 
been  formulated  with  confiscatory  purposes, 
make  it  obviously  necessary  that  the  pur- 
poses of  Mexico  should  be  definitely  set 
forth. 

Accordingly  this  Government  has  proposed 
a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  with  Mex- 
ico, in  which  Mexico  will  agree  to  safeguard 
the  rights  of  property  which  attached  before 
the  Constitution  of  1917  was  promulgated. 
The  question,  it  will  be  observed,  is  not  one 
of  a  particular  administration,  but  of  the 
agreement  of  the  nation  in  proper  form 
which  has  become  necessary  as  an  interna- 
tional matter  because  of  the  provisions  of 
its  domestic  legislation.  If  Mexico  does  not 
contemplate  a  confiscatory  policy,  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  can  conceive 
of  no  possible  objection  to  the  treaty.  *  *  * 
The  question  of  recognition  is  a  subordi- 
nate one,  but  there  will  be  no  difficulty  as 
to  this,  for,  if  General  Obregon  is  ready  to 
negotiate  a  proper  treaty  and  it  is  drawn  so 
as  to  be  negotiated  with  him,  the  making 
of  the  treaty  in  proper  form  will  accom- 
plish the  recognition  of  the  Government 
that   makes   it. 

President  Obregon  has  repeatedly  stated 
that  he  would  sign  no  formal  treaty  or 
protocol  as  a  condition  of  recognition.  He 
said  on  May  20: 

The  acceptance  and  signing  of  a  conven- 
tion   to    obtain    recognition    by    the    United 


712 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


States  would  be  equal  to  placing  in  doubt 
the  rights  that  Mexico  has  to  all  the 
privileges  international  law  establishes. 
Mexico  is  not  a  new  State.  Her  rights  can- 
not be  doubted  as  a  sovereign  country. 
Mexico  will  evade  none  of  her  obligations, 
accepting,  moreover,  all  the  responsibilities 
of    her    situation. 

On  May  22,  George  T.  Summerlin, 
Charge  d'Affaires  of  the  American  Em- 
bassy at  Mexico  City,  left  Washington  with 
the  memorandum  prepared  by  Secretary 
Hughes,  which,  it  was  said,  avoided  any 
reference  to  the  existing  controversy,  but 
affirmatively  guaranteed  the  rights  of 
American  property  and  American  citizens 
in  Mexico.  Mr.  Summerlin  arrived  in 
Mexico  City  on  May  27,  and  presented  the 
memorandum  to  President  Obregon.  The 
latter's  reply  w'as  received  in  Washington 
on  June  3  and  was  considered  not  entirely 
satisfactory.  He  stood  out  for  his  original 
contention  that  negotiations  must  be  con- 
ducted with  both  parties  acting  on  the  basis 
of  equality.  But  Washington  is  not  dis- 
posed to  abandon  the  upper  hand,  and  in- 
tervention to  coerce  Mexico  into  adopting 
the  Administration  view  has  already  been 
suggested.  It  was  stated  that  no  foreign 
Government  would  object  to  anything  the 
United  States  chose  to  do  to  Mexico.  The 
interests  in  Mexico  of  British,  French  and 
Dutch  companies  are  mainly  concerned 
with  oil,  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Ameri- 
can concerns,  and  look  to  the  United  States 
to  act  in  their  behalf.  The  propaganda  in 
news  dispatches  on  the  controversy  with 
Mexico  is  enormous. 

The  Mexican  Foreign  Minister  on  June  9 
announced  the  willingness  of  Mexico  to 
agree  to  some  of  the  suggestions  contained 
in  Mr.  Summerlin's  memorandum  after 
certain  changes  had  been  made  by  the 
United  States  Government.  It  was  confident- 
ly expected  that  these  changes  would  be 
made.  A  note  from  President  Obregon 
asked  for  forbearance  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  until  its  suggestions  could  be 
carried  out  in  a  legal  manner. 

That  there  is  some  danger  from  Bol- 
shevism  in  Mexico  all  parties  admit.  On 
May  1  communists  in  Morelia,  the  capital 
of  Michoacan,  rushed  the  cathedral  guards, 
destroyed  the  images  and  raised  the  red 
and  black  flag  of  their  creed  on  the  church 
tower.  Police  easily  dispersed  them  and 
restored   order.     On   Thursday,   May   12,   a 


mass  meeting  was  called  to  express  indig- 
nation at  the  event.  Some  15,000  persons 
assembled  in  the  Aztec  Garden  and  were 
preparing  to  march  through  the  town. 
Suddenly  they  were  fired  on  by  police  and 
soldiers,  apparently  under  orders  of  the 
chief  of  police,  who  was  present.  He  had 
attempted  to  persuade  the  paraders  to 
disperse  and  on  their  refusal  the  clash  fol- 
lowed. 

Radicals  among  the  spectators  joined  the 
police  in  firing  on  the  crowd,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  streets  were  filled  with  fight- 
ing men,  women,  and  children.  More  than  a 
hundred  persons  were  wounded  and  a  .score 
killed,  among  the  latter  being  an  Inspector 
of  Police  and  a  prominent  Red  leader, 
named  Isaac  Arriaga,  who  was  also  chief 
of  the  local  agrarian  commission,  then  hold- 
ing hearings  on  land  cases.  Federal  troops 
restored  order  and  replaced  the  city  police, 
patrolling  the  streets.  A  manifesto  was 
issued  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
Catholic  women  of  Mexico  to  observe  May 
17,  18  and  19  as  days  of  mourning  for  the 
victims  of  the  riots  at  Morelia. 

On  Friday,  May  13,  mobs  bearing  red 
flags  took  possession  of  the  capitol  in 
Mexico  City  while  Congress  was  sitting. 
Their  leaders  mounted  the  tribune  and  made 
subversive  speeches.  Some  members  who 
ventured  to  protest  were  roughly  handled 
and  were  thrown  out  of  the  hall.  Only  the 
prompt  arrival  of  Yaqui  Indian  battalions, 
it  is  said,  saved  the  building  from  destruc- 
tion and  cleared  out  the  Reds.  President 
Obregon  immediately  instructed  the  prose- 
cuting attorney  to  investigate  all  the  facts 
and  bring  to  justice  those  who  took  part  in 
the  disgraceful  demonstration. 

These  events  strengthened  the  Liberal 
Constitutionalists,  who  form  the  dominant 
political  party,  with  Obregon  himself  as  its 
leader.  Hitherto  reckoned  extremely  lib- 
eral, they  have  been  joined  by  Catholic  and 
independent  members  in  the  line-up  against 
the  radical  groups.  A  memorial  signed  by 
138  Liberal  Constitutionalist  Deputies  and 
several  Senators  was  sent  to  President 
Obregon  on  May  17,  urging  him  to  deal 
vigorously  with  the  ultra-radicals,  warning 
him  that  he  might  meet  the  fate  of  Fran- 
cisco Madero  if  he  fails  to  change  his 
policy,  and  advising  that  Elias  Calles,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior,  and  Adolfo  de  la 
Huerta,   the   former    Provisional    President 


MEXICO'S  ATTITUDE  ON  PROPERTY  RIGHTS 


713 


and  now  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  be 
dropped  from  the  Cabinet  as  having  en- 
couraged the  radicals. 

President  Obregon  issued  orders  prohibit- 
ing mass  meetings,  parades  and  all  kinds 
of  demonstrations.  Nevertheless,  disorders 
continued.  On  June  4  the  American  Em- 
bassy was  guarded  by  police  armed  with 
rifles  following  notice  that  a  group  of 
Italian  anarchists  had  planned  to  blow  up 
the  embassy.  On  June  5  a  bomb  was  placed 
inside  the  palace  of  Archbishop  Orozco  y 
Jimenez  of  Guadalajara,  which  exploded 
and  destroyed  the  south  side  of  the  build- 
ing. 

The  Archbishop  was  not  at  home.  The 
Knights  of  Columbus  called  meetings  to  dis- 
cuss measures  to  protect  the  lives  of  church 
officials  and  a  group  of  young  Mexicans 
planned  to  start  a  newspaper  to  combat  Red 
doctrines. 

A  revolutionary  plot  in  the  State  of 
Oaxaca  appears  to  have  had  ramifications 
in  all  parts  of  the  republic.  Followers  of 
Carranza  boasted  that  some '  Mexicans  and 
American  oil  men  had  organized  a  campaign 
in  Washington  to  place  Esteban  Cantu  in 
the  Presidency,  with  Manuel  Cahero  as  Vice 
President,  and  to  force  Mexico  to  return  to 
the  Constitution  of  1857.  Plotters  planned 
to  capture  the  city  of  Oaxaca  and  had 
established  headquarters  in  a  school  build- 
ing near  by.  It  was  surrounded  early  on 
June  4  and  a  dozen  men  were  arrested, 
among  them  Jose  Sanchez  Juarez,  grand- 
son of  Benito  Juarez,  Mexico's  great  reform 
President,  and  Jesus  Acevedo,  former  Gov- 
ernor of  Oaxaca.  Documents  seized  are 
said  to  have  recognized  Felix  Diaz  as  their 
chief.  Simultaneous  outbreaks  were  planned 
for  June  6  in  Guadalajara,  Morelia,  Mon- 
terey, Saltillo,  Torreon,  Chihuahua  and 
other  smaller  cities.  General  Gonzalo 
Enrile,  who  was  taken  at  Oaxaca,  was  shot 
while  attempting  to  escape  from  prison. 
General  Fernando  Vizcaino  was  caught  in 
Mexico  City,  court-martailed  and  shot.  He 
was  chief  of  staff  of  General  Pablo  Gon- 
zales and  documents  found  on  him  showed 


a  combination  between  Gonzales  and  Cantu, 
the   ousted   Governor  of  Lower   California. 

Mexican  outlaws  in  Yucatan  sacked  a 
hacienda  owned  by  Edward  Thompson,  a 
former  United  States  Consular  officer, 
destroying  valuable  historical  documents 
and  antique  Indian  relics,  the  result  of 
twenty-six  years'  collecting.  Mexico  will  be 
asked  to  indemnify.  Elmer  Buchanan,  an 
American  on  the  ranch  of  A.  M.  Berkeley, 
was  killed  and  another  American  wounded 
near  Tampico  on  June  1. 

General  Maximilian  Kloss,  an  Austrian 
in  Carranza's  war  department,  was  shot 
and  killed  before  his  home  in  Mexico  City 
on  May  21.  Obregon  had  made  him  Consul 
General  at  Berlin,  but  he  had  been  recalled 
four  months  ago  for  special  duty  in  the  war 
office. 

Mexican  railways,  previously  under  the 
dual  management  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
Department  of  Communications,  were 
transferred  directly  to  the  Executive  De- 
partment by  order  of  President  Obregon  on 
May  30,  as  a  result  of  the  recent  strike. 

A  decree  was  issued  on  June  7  announc- 
ing that  petroleum  companies  must  pay  an 
average  increase  of  25  per  cent,  in  export 
taxes  on  their  products,  beginning  July  1. 
It  is  expected  that  this  increase  will  net 
the  Government  about  $15,000,000.  The 
proceeds,  it  was  announced,  would  be  used 
solely  in  making  payments  on  Mexico's 
foreign  debts:  This  is  the  first  move  made 
to  begin  settlement  of  these  debts  which 
have  been  in  default  since  1913.  The  de- 
cree, which  is  based  on  the  law  of  May  8, 
1917,  is  aimed  at  the  prevention  of  ex- 
cessive production,  the  protection  of  the 
nation's  oil  reserves  and  at  compelling  ex- 
porters to  pay  toward  the  national  expenses 
a  proportionate  amount  of  their  profits. 
American  oil  interests  denounced  the  decree 
as  confiscation,  and  appealed  to  the  State 
Department  to  interfere  in  their  behalf. 
Another  step  in  Mexican  financial  reform 
was  contained  in  a  decree  of  June  8  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  of  any  foreign 
money  except  gold  or  thexirculation  of  any 
such  currency  after  July  1. 


THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION 


[Period   Ended  June  10,   1921] 


COSTA  RICA  on  May  15  ratified  the 
agreement  to  join  the  Central  Amer- 
ican Union,  which  thus  becomes  a  strong 
federal  republic,  consisting  of  the  four 
States  of  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Salvador 
and  Costa  Rica.  Only  Nicaragua  held  out, 
unfortunately  cutting  off  land  communica- 
tion between  Costa  Rica  and  the  rest  of  the 
new  republic.  She  feared  that  entrance  into 
the  union  might  in  some  way  involve  her 
rights  under  the  Bryan-Chamorro  treaty, 
which  provided  for  the  possible  building  of 
an  interoceanic  canal  across  Nicaragua  by 
the  United  States.  There  is  nothing,  how- 
ever, in  the  Central  American  pact  to  sus- 
tain this  stand.  Article  4  is  a  specific  pledge 
to  carry  out  faithfully  all  previous  inter- 
national treaties  to  which  the  several  States 
had  bound  themselves. 

Speaking  on  June  1  at  a  luncheon  in  honor 
of  Maximo  H.  Zepeda,  Nicaraguan  Foreign 
Minister,  who  was  about  to  leave  for 
Europe,  Secretary  Hughes  gave  a  cordial 
indorsement  to  the  Central  American  Fed- 
eration, saying  it  would  "  in  the  opinion  of 
this  Government  be  a  happy  result,  as  it 
would  seem  that  important  advantages 
would  accrue  through  united  effort  in  the 
field  of  common  interest."  This,  it  was 
thought,  would  be  the  means  of  inducing 
Nicaragua  to  join  the  union.  Nevertheless 
she  maintains  her  separate  legations,  while 
Guatemala  on  June  5  voted  to  close  her  le- 
gations in  Cuba,  England  and  Spain. 

The  first  gas  well  ever  discovered  in 
Costa  Rica  has  been  brought  in  at  Cahunite, 
about  180  miles  west  of  the  Panama  Canal. 
Gas  was  struck  at  a  depth  of  about  800  feet, 
and  the  estimated  flow  was  a  million  cubic 
feet  daily. 

GUATEMALA  —  A  strong  plea  for  im- 
migrants was  made  by  Dr.  Julio 
Bianchi,  Guatemalan  Minister,  at  a  confer- 
ence on  world  trade  in  New  York  on  May 
17.  The  United  States,  he  said,  had  the 
capital,  Europe  had  the  people  and  Latin- 
America  had  the  land.  The  people  want  to 
leave  Europe,  America  wants  to  employ  her 


capital,  Guatemala  needs  the  development 
which  the  two  together  could  give. 

A  cattle  company  financed  by  Americans 
is  negotiating  for  the  purchase  of  17,000 
acres  of  coast  land  near  Puerto  Barrios,  on 
the  Atlantic,  now  covered  by  a  dense  trop- 
ical forest  containing  valuable  mahogany 
trees.  These  would  be  cleared  and  sold, 
and  the  land  be  used  for  raising  cattle. 

The  United  States,  it  was  reported  from 
Washington  on  June  3,  was  about  to  urge 
Guatemala  to  release  from  prison  Estrada 
Cabrera,   former    President,    who   was    de 
posed  by  the  revolution  of  April,  1920. 

PANAMA. — Instead  of  acquiescing  in  the 
settlement  of  the  Costa  Rican  boundary 
dispute,  as  affirmed  in  Washington, 
Panama  appealed  to  South  American  na- 
tions to  intervene  in  her  controversy  with 
the  United  States,  sending  envoys  to  Peru, 
Argentina,  Brazil  and  Chile  to  demand  that 
final  disposition  of  the  disputed  area  be 
left  to  a  commission  from  the  Latin- 
American  nations  and  the  United  States. 
Panama  also  sent  her  Foreign  Minister, 
Narciso  Garay,  to  Washington  to  make  a 
final  appeal  to  Secretary  Hughes.  He  pre- 
sented an  opinion  rendered  by  Dr.  Busta- 
mente,  the  Cuban  authority  on  international 
law,  that  Chief  Justice  White  exceeded  his 
jurisdiction  as  arbiter  of  the  dispute  and 
that  Panama  is  therefore  justified  in  refus- 
ing to  accept  the  award,  Senor  Garay 
met  President  Harding  on  June  7  and  ex- 
pected to  have  a  conference  with  Secretary 
Hughes,  but  there  were  no  indications  of 
any  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  United 
States. 

pANAMA  CANAL  ZONE.— The  Secre- 
-*■  tary  of  War  on  June  2  named  a  com- 
mission to  be  sent  to  Panama  to  investigate 
the  entire  civil  administration  of  the  Canal 
Zone.  The  present  system,  Mr.  Weeks  ex- 
plained, was  wholly  one  of  State  socialism, 
practically  the  entire  population  being  on 
the  Government  payroll,  employes  being 
furnished  with  living  quarters  and  buying 
provisions  from  Government  commissaries 
at  cost,  while  wages  are  25  per  cent,  higher 


THE  CENTRAL  AMERICAN   UNION 


715 


than  for  similar  work  elsewhere.  He 
Lelieves  considerable  money  can  be  saved 
by  a  thorough  reorganization. 

SALVADOR — Earthquakes  in  Salvador  on 
May    14  were  followed   in  June  by  a 
four-day  flow  of  hot  water  from  the  vol- 


cano of  San  Miguel  and  a  terrific  storm 
which  swept  down  from  the  mountain,  de- 
stroying twelve  villages  and  ruining  crops. 

American  fire  insurance  companies  were 
reported  on  May  16  to  be  canceling  policies 
in  San  Salvador  on  account  of  the  preva- 
lence of  incendiarism. 


REFORMS  UNDER  CUBA'S  NEW  PRESIDENT 

Dr.    Zayas   begins  by  recommending  many  important  changes  and  rigid  economies 
— Help  furnished   by   Generals   Crowder  and  Goethals — Other   West  Indian  Islands 

[Period    Ended   June   10,    1921] 


DR.  ALFREDO  ZAYAS  was  inaugurated 
as  fourth  President  of  Cuba  on  May 
20,  taking  the  oath  of  office  before  a  bril- 
liant assemblage  in  the  National  Palace. 
The  ceremony  marked  the  end  of  one  of  the 
bitterest  campaigns  in  Cuba's  political  his- 
tory. Earlier  in  the  day  General  Francisco 
Carillo  took  the  oath  as  Vice  President  in 
the  Senate  Chamber.  Immediately  after 
the  inauguration  Sefior  Menocal,  the  retir- 
ing President,  boarded  a  steamer  for  Key 
West  and  New  York,  on  his  way  to  Europe 
with  his  family  for  a  rest.  He  is  going  to 
Spain,  where  he  will  present  a  speed  boat, 
the  gift  of  the  Cuban  Government,  to  King 
Alfonso. 

The  Cuban  Congress  met  on  May  21,  and 
President  Zayas  delivered  his  first  mes- 
sage, urging  among  other  things  ineligibil- 
ity of  the  President  for  re-election,  election 
of  President  by  direct  vote  of  the  people, 
abolition  of  the  rule  requiring  a  quorum  of 
two-thirds  in  both  houses  of  Congress  be- 
fore sessions  can  be  opened,  creation  of  a 
Federal  district  to  include  Havana  and 
suburbs  and  to  be  governed  by  a  commis- 
sion; abolition  of  immunity  for  members  of 
the  Legislature,  and  authorizing  larger 
cities  to  organize  a  new  form  of  municipal 
government. 

President  Zayas  also  recommended  rigid 
economy  by  reducing  the  budget  of  Govern- 
ment expenses  for  the  year  beginning  July 
1  from  $136,000,000  to  $60,000,000.  He 
asked  that  Congress,  if  it  did  not  care  to 
undertake  such  revision,  allow  him  to  put 
into  effect  the  budget  of  $64,000,000.  Cuts 
in  expenditures  he  called  for  in  every  gov- 


ernmental department  except  education.  He 
urged  the  necessity  of  revising  the  commer- 
cial reciprocity  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  especially  regarding  sugar  and  to- 
bacco, and  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bank  which  could  issue  notes  and  act  as 
fiscal  agent  of  the  Government. 

Reorganization  of  the  Cuban  army  of 
11,000  men,  which  now  costs  $6,000,000  a 
year,  owing  chiefly  to  the  high  salaries 
paid,  is  another  of  Dr.  Zayas's  proposed 
tasks.  Elimination  of  sinecures  was  ini- 
tiated on  June  7  by  a  decree  ordering  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  investigate 
every  case  where  there  is  reason  to  believe 
Government  employes  are  not  earning  their 
salaries. 

Many  of  the  proposed  reforms  were  said 
to  have  been  inspired  by  General  Enoch  H. 
Crowder,  who  was  sent  to  Cuba  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  to  straighten  out  the  electoral 
tangle  that  followed  the  campaign  there. 
On  June  2  Enrique  Maza  introduced  a  reso- 
lution, which  was  adopted,  asking  the  Pres- 
ident to  furnish  Congress  with  information 
on  General  Crowder's  mission  and  the  pow- 
ers he  possessed.  The  Deputy  declared  that 
the  United  States  in  aiding  Cuban  inde- 
pendence had  acted  simply  for  the  selfish 
purpose  of  gaining  more  power. 

Another  American,  Major  Gen.  Goethals, 
has  been  inspecting  Cuba  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  the  public  roads.  He  left  on 
June  9,  but  will  return  in  July  to  attend 
the  opening  of  a  new  highway  between  Ha- 
vana and  the  eastern  end  of  the  island. 

Cuban  finances  are  very  slowly  emerging 
from  the  difficulties  occasioned  by  endeav- 


716 


THE   NEW   \ORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


oring  to  keep  up  prices  of  sugar  against 
declining  markets  all  over  the  world.  Seven 
large  institutions  have  been  obliged  to 
liquidate  and  three  small  banks  suspended 
payment  owing  to  heavy  runs.  New  York 
banks  have  approximately  $40,000,000  tied 
up  in  Cuban  sugar.  On  May  30  there  were 
139  mills  grinding,  while  the  warehouses 
held  1,322,000  tons,  as  against  661,000  last 
year.  Expiration  of  the  moratorium  on 
June  16  was  looked  forward  to  with  anx- 
iety and  a  conference  of  American  bankers 
was  called  for  June  14  to  consider  the  situ- 
ation. Meanwhile  trade  in  the  island  is 
stagnant  and  unemployment  is  growing, 
75,000  being  out  of  work  in  Havana. 

General  Jose  Miguel  Gomez,  former 
President  of  Cuba  and  leader  of  revolu- 
tions during  the  Span.ish  regime,  died  in 
New  York  on  June  13  at  the  age  of  65. 
When  still  a  mere  lad  Gomez  had  taken 
up  arms  against  Spain,  and  had  served 
with  distinction  in  the  patriot  army  during 
the  Ten  Years'  War  (1868-78).  Again,  in 
the  '90s,  he  took  the  field  with  the  revolu- 
tionists in  the  bitter  struggle  that  led  to 
the  Spanish-American  war.  At  this  time 
he  held  a  commission  as  Major  General.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  during  the  American  occupation 
of  Cuba.  Later  his  revolt  against  Presi- 
dent Palma's  administration  led  to  Ameri- 
can intervention  and  to  his  imprisonment. 
Released  from  prison,  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent in  1908  by  the  Liberal  Party.  Almost 
to  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  in  active 
opposition  to  his  successors  in  the  Presi- 
dency. 


tional  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Colored  People  subsequently  reported  that 
Colonel  John  H.  Russell,  commanding  the 
marines  in  Haiti,  had  imprisoned  two  native 


Harris   &   Ewing) 
DR.    ALFREDO   ZAYAS 
Latest  photograph  of  the  new  President 
of    Cuba 

editors,  Jolibois  and  Lanoue,  and  had  for- 
bidden Haitian  newspapers  to  publish 
American  comments  on  the  memorial  to 
Congress. 


pORTO  RICO— Statehood  or  independence 
*-  is  the  demand  of  the  Porto  Rican 
Unionist  Party  with  which  the  new  Gov- 
ernor of  the  island,  E.  Montgomery  Reily  of 
Kansas  City,  is  confronted  at  outset  of  his 
term.  The  demand  was  presented  to  Presi- 
dent Harding  last  Spring,  accompanied  by 
a  request  to  have  the  Governor  elected  in- 
stead of  being  appointed.  This  would  re- 
quire legislation,  and  Porto  Ricans  were 
anxiously  awaiting  the  result. 

TTAITI — Three  Haitian  delegates  pre- 
-"  sented  a  memorial  against  atrocities 
by  American  marines  and  a  demand  for 
their  withdrawal.  They  expressed  resent- 
ment at  Secretary  Denby's  remark  that  the 
charges  are  "  the  same  old  rot."     The  Na- 


SANTO  DOMINGO— The  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  announced  on  June 
7  that  a  proclamation  would  be  issued  soon 
fixing  the  date  when  the  American  Govern- 
ment forces  would  be  withdrawn  from  the 
Dominican  Republic.  This  proclamation 
was  issued  on  June  14  in  Santo  Domingo 
City  by  Rear  Admiral  S.  S.  Robison,  the 
Military  Governor.  It  pledged  withdrawal 
within  eight  months,  provided  that  certain 
conditions  were  fulfilled,  among  others  the 
following:  Orderly  elections  for  the  new 
Government,  ratification  of  the  Military 
Government's  acts,  and  validation  of  the 
republic's  loan.  The  primary  assemblies  te 
choose  the  electors  were  to  be  convened  by 
the  Governor  within  one  month. 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  DEPRESSION 

Drop  in  exchange  and  in  prices  of  staple  products  reduces  trade  and  causes  severe 
suffering — Nearly  $100,000,000  of  American  exports  lying  unclaimed  in  South 
American  ports  to  be  liquidated  by  a  new  corporation. 

[Period   Ended   June   10,    1921] 


SOUTH  AMERICA  has  suffered  severely 
from  the  decline  in  the  prices  of  raw 
materials  to  the  production  of  which 
they  are  particularly  well  adapted.  It  has 
even  become  difficult  to  dispose  of  them  at 
any  price  owing  to  the  decreased  purchas- 
ing power  of  European  countries  which 
were  the  principal  takers  of  South  Ameri- 
can exports.  It  is  estimated  that  Ameri- 
can merchandise  valued  at  almost  $100,000,- 
000  is  lying  unclaimed  at  Buenos  Aires,  Rio 
Janeiro,  Montevideo  and  Valparaiso  owing 
to  the  decline  in  exchange. 

A  determined  effort  is  now  being  made 
to  liquidate  these  goods.  A  committee  of 
eight  was  appointed  at  a  meeting  of  more 
than  300  exporters  in  New  York  on  June  3 
to  form  a  corporation  to  take  over  the  re- 
jected and  unclaimed  merchandise  in  South 
American  ports,  daily  depreciating  in  value 
from  exposure  and  storage  charges,  and  in 
some  cases  subject  to  sale  by  auction  in  the 
importing  countries.  The  corporation  will 
take  title  by  assignment  and  determine  in 
each  case  whether  to  sell  the  merchandise 
at  a  percentage  of  invoice  where  it  lies  or 
to  transship  it,  perhaps  for  return  to  the 
United  States. 

At  the  second  Pan  American  Postal  Con- 
ference to  be  held  in  August  in  Rio  Janeiro 
mi  effort  will  be  made  to  lower  rates  on 
parcels  and  mail  matter  to  South  America 
and  establish  closer  connections  with  the 
United  States,  such  as  were  urged  by  Este- 
t.an  Gil-Borges,  Venezuelan  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  during  his  visit  to  the 
United  States.  At  the  same  time  the  in- 
dependent commission  formed  to  investi- 
gate the  working  of  the  League  of  Nations 
has  drafted  a  report  recommending  that  the 
League  organize  a  separate  bureau  for 
Latin  Americans  to  strengthen  the  relations 
of  South  American  members.  A  group  of 
Spanish  merchants  intend  to  send  a  floating 
sample  exhibition  of  industries  to  Latin 
American  ports  in  an  endeavor  to  capture 
the  markets  there. 


A  RGENTINA — Argentine  commerce  is 
-£*■  believed  to  have  touched  bottom  and 
the  American  Chamber  of  Commerce  in 
Buenos  Aires,  on  June  9,  sent  an  invitation 
to  Herbert  Hoover  to  visit  Argentina  at  an 
early  date  to  assist  in  its  revival.  German 
manufacturers  are  said  to  be  obtaining  con- 
siderable orders  for  wire  fencing,  railway 
rolling  stock,  steel  rails  and  other  products 
at  prices  with  which  no  other  country  can 
compete. 

Strikes  have  added  to  the  trade  depres- 
sion in  Argentina,  and  several  conflicts 
have  occurred  with  union  port  workers  who 
tried  to  prevent  non-union  men  from  un- 
loading ships.  The  Custom  House  ware- 
house at  Buenos  Aires  was  burned  on  May 
29,  causing  a  loss  of  millions  of  pesos.  The 
Government  is  now  protecting  non-union 
labor,  and  it  was  believed,  as  this  issue  of 
Current  History  went  to  press,  that  the 
general  strike  called  to  support  the  port 
workers  would  prove  a  failure. 

Argentina  has  suffered  a  great  loss  in  the 
death,  at  the  age  of  63,  of  Dr.  Luis  Maria 
Drago,  noted  jurist  and  author  of  the  world- 
famous  Drago  doctrine.  He  died  on  June  9 
in  Buenos  Aires.  He  held  that  the  collec- 
tion of  private  loans  in  one  country  by  the 
military  forces  of  another  implied  a  poten- 
tial occupation  of  territory,  and  was  there- 
fore at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Amer- 
'  ican  policy.  The  occasion  was  the  simul- 
taneous appearance  off  the  coast  of  Vene- 
zuela in  1902  of  German,  Italian  and  British 
warships  to  collect  a  private  debt  owed  by 
the  nation  to  individuals  in  their  respective 
countries. 

BRAZIL— An  issue  of  $25,000,000  twenty- 
year  8  per  cent,  noncallable  bonds  of 
Brazil  was  offered  to  American  investors  on 
May  16  by  a  syndicate  of  New  York  bank- 
ers and  was  oversubscribed  in  forty-five 
minutes.  The  proceeds  are  to  be  used  in  the 
electrification  of  the  Government  railways, 
and  all  materials  and  supplies  will  be  pur- 


718 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


chased  from  American  manufacturers.  This 
is  the  first  time  Brazilian  securities  have 
been  sold  openly  in  the  American  market. 

Two  American  companies  have  recently 
been  organized  to  develop  tracts  of  forest 
and  diamond-bearing  lands  in  Bahia,  Brazil. 

Hugo  Stinnes,  the  German  captain  of  in- 
dustry, is  reaching  out  for  ore  fields  in 
Brazil,  one  of  his  companies,  the  Rhine- 
Elbe  Union,  having  acquired  rich  deposits 
of  iron  ore  in  the  Sabara  district  of  Minas 
Geraes.  A  German  shipping  company  will 
carry  the  ore  to  German  smelters  and  trans- 
port German  coal  on  the  outgoing  trips. 

Brazil  is  rapidly  developing  her  oil  fields, 
which  now  number  thirty-five,  representing 
an  area  of  25,000  square  kilometers  in  the 
States  of  Alagoas,  Pernambuco,  Bahia  and 
Sergipe.  There  are  more  than  200,000 
square  kilometers  of  petroleum  fields  to  be 
developed,  with  an  estimated  capacity  in 
ten  years  of  500,000,000  barrels.  Wells  on 
Government  land  are  property  of  the  Gov- 
ernment; those  on  private  lands  belong  to 
the  owner.  Residents  or  foreigners  may 
operate  under  license,  but  both  Federal  and 
State  Governments  can  appropriate  private- 
ly owned  oil  wells  if  public  necessity  justi- 
fies it. 

Six  American  scientists,  headed  by  Dr. 
Henry  H.  Rusby,  Dean  of  the  College  of 
Pharmacy  of  Columbia  University,  are  about 
to  explore  the  headwaters  of  the  Amazon. 
They  intend  to  pick  up  the  lost  trail  of  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt's  River  of  Doubt  and  trace 
it  to  its  source.  Their  chief  object  is  the 
discovery  of  new  herbs  and  drugs  for  the  en- 
richment of  medicine. 

CHILE — The  Chilean  Congress  opened 
on  June  1,  and  President  Alessandri 
m  his  first  message  emphasized  the  neces- 
sity of  reaching  a  solution  of  the  Tacna- 
Arica  question,  suggesting  that  a  plebiscite 
be  held  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
whether  those  districts  should  remain 
Chilean  or  become  Peruvian.  He  asked  for 
a  conference  with  representatives  from 
Peru,  Colombia  and  Ecuador,  to  settle  the 
boundaries  of  all  the  west  coast  nations,  so 
that  the  peace  of  the  South  American  Con- 
tinent may  not  be  disturbed. 

He  also  proposed  the  creation  of  the  of- 
fice of  Vice  President,  reorganization  of 
the  Foreign  Office  and  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  and  also  advocated  wo- 


man suffrage.  He  included  in  the  adminis- 
tration program  a  Government  control  of 
nitrate  prices  and  a  participation  in  profits 
in  return  for  the  abolition  of  export  duties 
and  the  suppression  of  speculation. 

Announcement  was  made  on  May  17  of 
the  sale  of  2,000,000  tons  of  nitrate  by  the 
Chilean  Nitrate  Producers'  Association  to 
a  nitrate  pool  in  London  at  £14  a  ton,  ship- 
ments to  begin  in  September.  Fire  on  June 
8  destroyed  30,000  tons  of  nitrate  stored  at 
Iquique,  causing  a  loss  of  2,000,000  pesos. 

/COLOMBIA— Earl  Harding,  Chairman 
^  of  the  Colombian  Commercial  Corpo- 
ration, in  an  address  to  the  Pan  American 
Advertising  Association  on  May  29,  an- 
nounced that  Colombia  would  use  the  $25,- 
000,000  which  she  will  receive  from  the 
United  States  under  the  treaty  ratified  by 
the  Senate  in  public  improvements  and  rail- 
way development.  Much  of  it  will  be  spent 
for  materials  to  be  purchased  in  the  United 
States. 

One  of  the  larger  islands  located  in  the 
harbor  of  Barranquilla,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Magdalena  River,  has  been  acquired  by  the 
Petroleum  Company,  Ltd.,  a  subsidiary  of 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey, 
on  which  a  refinery  with  a  daily  capacity 
of  25,000  barrels  will  be  erected. 

Tp  CUADOR— Prof  essor  W.  W.  Rowlee 
-^  and  George  W.  Mixter  are  exploring 
Ecuador  for  quipe  timber  for  the  American 
Balsa  Company.  Quipe  is  a  very  light, 
buoyant  wood,  used  extensively  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  cork  in  the  manufacture  of  life 
preservers  and  similar  articles. 

Messages  from  Santa  Elena,  sixty  miles 
southwest  of  Guayaquil,  on  May  20,  re- 
ported that  oil  had  been  found  on  the  fields 
of  the  Ancon  Oil  Company  at  a  depth  of 
more  than  3,000  feet. 

"pERU— Virtually  all  the  nations  of  the 
-*-  world  have  been  invited  to  send  rep- 
resentatives to  Lima  in  July  to  attend  the 
celebration  of  Peruvian  independence.  Many 
have  already  accepted,  and  American  par- 
ticipation was  expected  to  be  authorized  by 
the  Senate  at  the  request  of  President  Har- 
ding. Argentina  will  send  a  cavalry  troop 
and  an  air  squadron.  Bolivia  will  send  a 
company  of  infantry.  An  international  ex- 
hibition will  be  opened   about  July  20,   in 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  DEPRESSION 


719 


which  the  agricultural  and  mineral  prod- 
ucts of  Peru  will  be  displayed.  Foreigners 
are  planning  to  exhibit  and  Peru  has  agreed 
to  admit  the  exhibits  and  permit  them  to  be 
sold  free  of  duty  and  consular  charges.  An 
equestrian  statue  of  Jose  de  San  Martin, 
the  Argentine  General  who  played  a  leading 
part  in  the  liberation  of  the  South  Ameri- 
can colonies  from  Spanish  rule,  will  be  un- 
veiled. 

With  reference  to  the  reported  disturb- 
ances in  Peru,  noted  in  Current  History 
for  June,  Recardo  Espinosa,  Director  of 
Government,  cabled  to  The  New  York  Times 
under  the  date  of  Lima,  May  21,  denying 
that  President  Leguia  has  set  up  a  dictator- 
ship and  stating  that  the  political  exiles 
comprised  a  small  body  of  political  malcon- 
tents who  had  failed  in  a  conspiracy  against 
the  Government,  involving  assassination. 

Among  the  exiles  was  General  Oscar 
Benavides,  a  former  President  of  Peru. 
They  were  deported  on  the  steamer  Paita 
on  May  11,  ostensibly  to  Australia.  When 
six  days  out,  about  1,500  miles  off  Callao, 


they  overpowered  the  officers  of  the  Paita, 
took  possession  of  the  steamer  and  directed 
the  crew  to  steer  for  Costa  Rica.  A  dis- 
patch from  San  Jose  announced  their  ar- 
rival on  May  25  at  Punta  Arenas.  They 
were  detained  on  board  pending  considera- 
tion of  their  appeal  to  the  Costa  Rican  Gov- 
ernment for  asylum.  They  pledged  them- 
selves to  abstain  from  interfering  in  Peru- 
vian politics  if  permitted  to  land  and  remain 
in  Costa  Rica. 

A  partial  moratorium  was  declared  in 
Peru  on  May  14.  Debts  owed  to  banks  are 
collectible  in  instalments  of  10,  20  and  30 
per  cent,  at  the  expiration  of  30,  60  and  90 
days,  but  the  collection  of  foreign  drafts 
was  excepted  from  the  decree. 

VENEZUELA— According  to  a  dispatch 
from  London  of  June  9  a  British  com- 
pany has  sent  two  airplanes,  aviators  and 
photographers  to  Venezuela  to  prospect  for 
oil  in  the  Orinoco  delta.  It  is  said  that 
wherever  oil  seeps  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground  the  vegetation  withers  and  dies,  and 
photographs  show  this  plainly. 


ITALY'S  NEW  PARLIAMENT 

Premier  Giolitti's  new  Coalition  Government  apparently  can  count  on  the  support  of 
275  Deputies,  as  against  a  possible  opposition  of  260 — Detailed  results  of  the  recent 
elections 

[Period   Ended   June   12,    1921] 


ALTHOUGH  Article  3  of  the  decree  of 
King  Victor  Emmanuel,  issued  April 
7,  appointed  June  8  for  the  convocation  of 
the  Senate  and  of  the  Chamber  to  be  elected 
May  15,  Parliament  did  not  assemble  at 
Montecitorio  until  June  11,  when  the  Dep- 
uties were  sworn  in  and  his  Majesty  de- 
livered his. Address  from  the  Throne;  they 
were  then  to  adjourn  until  June  13  to  elect 
the  President  of  the  Chamber. 

Of  the  535  Deputies  composing  the  new 
twenty-sixth  Legislature  only  about  300 
were  present  to  take  the  oath  and  listen  to 
the  address.  Among  them  were  many  So- 
cialists, all  of  whom  rose  when  the  King 
entered,  as  did  all  the  Fascisti.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  both  parties  would  absent  them- 
selves in  a  body;  the  Socialists,  by  orders, 
and  the  Fascisti,  because  their  leader,  Ben- 


ito Mussolini,  had  said:  "No  one  can  swear 
that  the  cause  of  Italy  is  necessarily  bound 
to  the  monarchy."  But  it  developed  that 
the  anti-monarchical  interpretation  put 
upon  the  phrase  was  due  to  Socialist  prop- 
aganda. 

The  King's  speech  took  scarcely  ten  min- 
utes. His  theme  was  co-operation  and  na- 
tional loyalty  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
country  —  political  and  administrative  re- 
forms and  cordial,  sincere  loyalty  to  Italy's 
allies  and  Associate)  (The  United  States). 
The  matters  which  most  needed  legislation 
set  forth  April  2  in  the  address  of  the 
Council  of  Ministers  to  his  Majesty  asking 
for  dissolution  and  a  new  election  were  in- 
dicated but  not  mentioned.  At  the  session 
of  June  13  Enrico  de  Nicola,  who  had  been 
President  of  the   twenty-fifth   Legislature, 


720  THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 

was  re-elected  to  that  office.  He  is  a  Nea-  ers,  m  certain  circumstances,  are  ready  to 
politan  lawyer  of  grea*-  energy,  eloquence  replace  the  Popularists  in  the  Government, 
and  patience,  who  declined  portfolios  under  Both  parties,  however,  would  unite  against 
both  Nitti  and  Giolitti.  Again  and  again  the  Government  should  it  attempt  to  put 
he  had  quieted  interruptions  in  the  last  through  an  election  law  to  take  the  place  of 
Chamber  by  saying  to  the  disturber — once  the  scrutin  de  liste,  which,  as  the  only 
the  Hon.  Orlando — "  Why  not  show  the  organized  parties,  save  the  Republican, 
same  attention  that  you  desire  others  to  they  have  found  to  be  to  their  advantage, 
show  when  you  have  the  floor?  "  For  twQ  bmg  the  Government  counts  on 
So  Signor  Giolitti,  as  President  of  the  Catholic  and  Socialist  coalition  or  support: 
Council  and  Minister  of  the  Interior,  with  A  bill  for  tne  breaking  up  of  the  large  es- 
a  Cabinet  composed  of  five  members  of  his  tates  with  equitable  profits  for  peasants  and 
own  party,  three  Popularists  or  Catholics,  landowners,  and  a  bill  for  co-operation  of 
three  Radicals,  two  Reformists  or  War  So-  the  workers  in  the  large  industries.  If  the 
cialists,  and  two  non-political  experts  hold-  Government  is  forced  to  make  concessions, 
ing  the  portfolios  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  at  the  risk  of  losing  the  support  0f  the 
Navy,  faces  the  new  Chamber  composed  of  more  conservative  elements  in  the  bloc,  it 
535  Deputies,  over  200  of  whom  have  never  has  prepared  bills  on  a  reform  of  the  judi- 
before  sat  in  Montecitorio,  and  among  ciary>  decentralization  of  certain  Govem- 
whom  there  are  more  doctors,  lawyers  and  ment  departments,  and  the  yielding  to  Par- 
professors  than  at  any  time  in  recent  years.  liament  of  the  sole  right  to  declare  war 
What  may  happen  has  not  even  been  mdi-  and  negotiate  treaties.  Both  the  Catholics 
cated  at  the  preliminary  meetings  of  party  and  the  Socialists  will  support  the  Govern- 
leaders;  still,  certain  figures  and  political  ment  if  it  presents  its  bill  on  free  educa- 
facts  will  explain  most  eventualities.     Ac-  tion  in  the  rjg^  way# 

cording  to  the  official  division,  the  parties  _,,       _,     .  ..         .     ,_      . 

.  .  .  °,.       „                                            <.       orT[r  The   Socialists,  m  the  late  election,  car- 

which   the   Government  counts  on  for  275  .    ,                      ...                         .                     . 

,,        j.        .        . ,              ...    ,.       ,  ,,  ried     no     constituency     completely;     their 

votes,  thus  forming  the  constitutional  bloc,  *                       * '     .  ,. 

..             .,     „,      ,        i.i.                      £  n  greatest  return  was   seventeen  out   of  the 

the  result  of  local  coalitions,  are  as  follows:  .  ,.     _        ,.          .     ,    ,     .       ,,.. 

twentv-eight     Deputies     elected     m    Milan- 
Liberal  Democrats  (Giolitti's  own  party)  .  .10fi  .    *    . 

Nitti  Liberals   «  Pavia;  in  fifteen  they  were  entirely  unsuc- 

Progressives,   or  Anti- Socialist  Agrarians.  26  cessful;    elsewhere    their    ratio    was    two    to 

Fascisti    28  seven.     The  four  Germans  in  the  Opposi- 

Radicais  37  ^on  are  members  of  the  Deutsche  Verland 

fnlepTnTents'  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'.\  16  of  Bolzano;  the  six  Slavs  are  members  of 

the   Slavic   Unity   of   Gorizia-Gradisca  and 

Total  275  Istria-Parenzo.     Thus  of  the  twenty-seven 

The  Opposition  is  thus  officially  divided:  Deputies  elected  from  the  former  Austro- 

Popularists,  or  Catholics 107  Hungarian    territory    ten    are    Outlanders. 

Republicans  8  Bombacci,  the   prescribed   communist  lead- 
United  Socialists   321  er,  was  elected  from  Trieste.                       i 

8^™!?.. V.V.'.V '//.'. '''.".'  '.'.'.'.'. '. '.'. '. \ V. '.  i  In   the   third   week   in   May   Government 

Germans  . . . . '  ^l.... ..... ...... ... 4  employes    numbering    20,000    went    on    a 

—  "  white  strike  " — that  is,  they  reported  for 

Total  260  rollcall,  but  did  not  work — by  which  they 

This  gives  the  Government  a  majority  of  hoped  to  evade  the  law  which  visits  a  Gov- 
only  fifteen,  which  may  at  any  time  be  ernment  employe  with  discharge  if  absent 
wiped  out  by  the  Nitti  Liberals.  In  such  an  without  leave.  Italy's  civil  servants  all 
attempt  to  overthrow  the  Government,  over  the  country  number  400,000,  and  a 
however,  support,  it  is  expected,  would  general  strike  would  have  seriously  crip- 
come  from  the  Popularists,  who  have  rep-  pled  or  annihilated  Government  business, 
resentation  in  the  Government,  notwith-  The  Fascisti  were  appealed  to  by  the  strik- 
standing  the  fact  that  they  are  listed  with  ers,  but  these  modern  Lictors  merely  ad- 
the  Opposition,  because  in  the  past  the  ex-  vised  them  to  return  to  work  and  let  Parlia- 
tremists  among  them  have  voted  with  the  ment  handle  their  grievances,  which  they 
Socialists.  At  the  same  time  their  prestige  did  on  June  10  after  4,000  of  them  had 
is  threatened  by  the  Socialists,  whose  lead-  been  discharged  or  otherwise  disciplined. 


WHAT  IS  THE  MATTER  WITH 
BUSINESS 


American  export  trade  is  still  suffering  from  abnormally  high  prices,  but  Europe  is 
showing  signs  of  recovery — French  trade  improving  and  Germany  takeing  long  strides 
— Facts  and  figures  that  indicate  a  more    encouraging    trend    in    the    United    States 


AN  intent  scrutiny  of  the  past  may  seem 
a  strange  preparation  for  a  glance  in- 
to the  future,  but  only  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  past  insures  a  fair  judg- 
ment of  the  probable  course  of  events 
and  of  present  opinions  of  them.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  call  up  memories  of  opinions 
of  the  present,  formed  when  the  present 
was  yet  a  month  or  so  away,  to  appreciate 
the  truth  of  this. 

When  the  armistice  was  signed,  the 
world  was  thrown  off  balance  by  the  tre- 
mendous relief  from  a  conflict  of  years. 
Optimism  was  the  common  feeling.  At  last 
everything  was  to  be  well  with  the  world. 
Europe  was  to  go  to  work,  trade  was  to 
revive,  things  were  to  return  to  normal. 
But  they  didn't.  Instead,  matters  appeared 
to  grow  worse.  Prices  rose  with  a  rush  to 
points  never  approached  in  war  times. 
Business  activity  became  actually  violent 
until,  as  unexpectedly  as  they  had  risen, 
prices  halted,  wavered,  broke  and  fell. 
Business  declined,  trade  fell  off.  Every- 
where there  were  signs  of  deepest  de- 
pression. 

On  every  hand  were  heard  arguments 
that  Europe  was  bankrupt,  that  the  Conti- 
nent could  never  pay  its  debts,  and  that 
Germany  would  never  pay  the  indemnity. 
Bolshevism  was  seen  as  a  menace  about  to 
spread  westward  from  Russia,  engulfing 
all  transatlantic  civilization  in  its  progress. 
Optimism  gave  way  to  bitterest  pessimism. 
Failures  and  panics  here  were  freely  pre- 
dicted. Everything  seemed  wrong  with  the 
world.  But  again  sentiment  was  mistaken. 
None  of  the  things  predicted  happened. 
Instead,  the  world  went  plodding  along  as 
though  upon  a  pre-destined  path,  improv- 
ing a  little  here  and  a  little  there,  success- 
fully overcoming  an  assault  on  this  side 
and  an  attack  on  that,  until  that  time  which 
was  the  future  has  become  the  present,  and 
now  new  prognostications  are  being  made 


with  no  less  assurance  because  the  prog- 
nosticators  have  seen  their  earlier  prophet 
cies  discredited  and  denied. 

The  head  of  one  of  this  country's  biggest 
hardware  businesses,  an  institution  with  an 
international  reputation  and  trade  mark, 
was  moved  to  comment  on  these  facts  the 
other  day.     Said  he: 

I  travel  much  throughout  the  country- 
sounding  out  the  sentiments  of  what  you 
would  call  the  little  fellows,  the  small-town 
storekeepers,  the  country  newspaper  editors, 
the  conductors  and  trainmen  on  whose  cars 
I  ride— every  one,  in  fact,  with  whom  I  can 
make  a  contact.  In  addition,  I  am  thrown 
much  into  the  company  of  big  bankers,  men 
of  international  as  well  as  national  affairs, 
and  I  take  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States.  With  one  and  all  I  discuss  the  same 
topic:  What  is  the  country  coming  to? 
What  will  the  future  bring?  What  can  we 
do  or  should  we  do  to  better  ourselves,  our 
country  and  the  world? 

And  I  have  been  struck  by  the  opposing 
viewpoints  these  conversations  have  dis- 
closed. The  bankers  are  perplexed,  puzzled, 
troubled,  in  fact.  It  is  clear  to  them  that 
conditions  present  a  problem  which  must 
be  solved,  that  ways  must  be  found  to 
finance  the  trade  of  the  world,  to  start  up 
production  in  all  countries,  so  that  condi- 
tions may  return  to  what  they  call  normal. 
They  sense  the  problem,  but  they  have  not 
sensed  the  solution.  And  they  are  dis- 
turbed accordingly. 

Opposed  to  this  is  a  totally  opposite  view, 
which  is  typical  of  many  of  the  small-town 
men  with  whom  I  have  talked,  and  which 
is  well  exemplified,  perhaps,  in  the  words 
of  a  cobbler  who  put  a  pair  of  heels  on  my 
shoes  as  I  waited  in  his  shop  in  a  Middle 
West  city.  As  he  worked  he  replied  to  my 
leading  .questions,  practically  thinking  out 
loud  and  answering  me  by  an  oral  mar- 
shaling of  his  ideas. 

"  Europe's  been  there,"  said  he,  "  since 
the  days  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  I 
don't  know  how  many  years  before.  In 
those  years  there's  been  a  lot  worse  things 
happen  than  this  big  World  War.  Stands 
to  reason  there  must  have  been.  But 
things   went   right    on   just    the    same.      Eu- 


72*2 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


rope's  still  there,  and  there's  still  folks 
there,  and,  as  near  as  1  can  see,  she'll  still 
be  there  when  we're  dead  and  gone.  It 
don't  seem  to  me  to  make  much  matter 
what  we  do  or  what  they  do.  You  can't 
destroy  a  continent  and  you  can't' destroy  a 
people.  What's  due  to  happen  will  happen, 
.  and,  when  all's  said  and  done,  it  won't 
make  a  whole  parcel  of  difference  what  we 
do  to  try  to  change  things." 

What  that  shoemaker  said  seemed  to  me 
to  have  a  lot  of  good,  sound  sense  back  of 
it.  No  matter  what  we  do,  things  will  cer- 
tainly go  on  just  as  a  good  Providence  has 
decreed  that  they  should  go  on.  Perhaps 
we  can  make  things  a  little  better  for  all 
hands  if  we  do  the  right  thing,  but  it  seems 
to  me  we're  just  as  likely  to  make  matters 
worse  trying  to  help  them.  Some  day,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  events,  the  whole 
situation  will  right  itself,  no  matter  what 
we  do,  and,  it  seems  to  me,  maybe  the  best 
thing  for  all  of  us  would  be  to  get  right 
down  and  saw  wood.  By  that  I  mean  go 
to  work  and  hustle,  just  as  we  were  doing 
before  war  came,  and  count  on  it  that,  in  the 
long  run,   things  will  come   out  all  right. 

Progress  Seen  in  Europe 

To  the  extent,  at  least,  that  our  efforts 
to  aid  in  the  reconstruction  of  Europe  have 
been  abortive,  this  idea  seems  to  have  been 
realized  by  the  facts.  Progress  has  cer- 
tainly been  made  toward  a  more  stable  con- 
dition of  affairs  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
it  is  not  easy  to  see  where,  in  recent  months 
at  least,  this  progress  should  be  attributed 
to  any  concerted  effort  on  the  part  of  this 
Government  or  the  business  community  of 
the  United  States  to  direct  the  movement 
of  events.  Indeed,  the  movement  of  events 
has  seemed  not  to  be  in  response  to  any 
preconceived  direction,  but  problems  have 
risen  and  been  met  upon  the  spot,  just  as 
they  were  accustomed  to  arise  and  be  met 
before  the,  war  set  the  thoughts  of  men 
upon  the  problem  of  reorganizing  and  re- 
constructing the  world,  where,  before,  they 
had  been  devoted  to  making  the  best  of  oc- 
currences as  they  came  up. 

Questions  which  press  for  solution  seem 
unnumbered.  Political  questions,  economic 
questions,  financial  questions  crowd  each 
other  for  first  place  in  the  minds  of  the 
men  who  are  striving  to  bring  the  world 
back  to  the  condition  that  we  call  normal, 
though  what  would  have  been  at  the  present 
a  truly  normal  condition,  had  not  the  World 
War  occurred,  none  may  assert  with  as- 
surance. 

Yet  all  the  problems  simmer  down  to  one 


problem,  the  problem  of  money,  and,  in  in- 
ternational thought,  money  means  gold. 
The  war  has  not  altered  the  needs  or  the 
desires  of  the  races  that  entered  the  con- 
flict. To  the  extent  that  men  were  lost, 
it  has  reduced  the  demand  for  goods,  but 
this  reduction  has  been  much  more  than 
offset  by  the  increased  demands  of  those 
who  are  left.  Not  only  was  production  tre- 
mendously reduced,  but  ordinary  waste  and 
destruction  were  greatly  increased  while 
Europe  was  at  war. 

Europe's  wants  are,  then,  as  great  as, 
if  not  greater  than,  ever  before.  Capacity 
for  production  is  greater  here  than  at  any 
other  period  4t»  the  nation's  history.  But 
one  thing  is  wanting  to  permit  a  resumption 
of  trade  upon  a  record-breaking  scale  and 
an  immediate  return  to  what  we  call  normal. 
And  that  one  thing  is  gold.  At  present 
we  have  the  goods  and  most  of  the  gold. 
Europe  has  very  little  of  either.  It  may 
truly  be  said  that  we  cannot  afford  to  sell 
indefinitely  to  a  customer  who  cannot  pay. 
It  may  just  as  truly  be  remarked,  however, 
that  we  cannot  afford  to  corner  all  the 
goods  arid  gold  in  the  world.  Too  much, 
in  such  a  case,  would  be  as  bad  as  too 
little.  We  cannot  prosper  if  the  world  does 
not  prosper,  and  it  is  unthinkable  that  ways 
will  not  be  found  by  which  exchange  of 
goods  may  be  brought  about,  regardless  of 
which  nations  have,  or  have  not,  gold.  Gold 
was  employed  at  first  in  international 
transactions  to  expedite  the  exchange  of 
commodities.  It  was  devised  to  help  trade, 
not  to  check  it;  yet  today,  gold,  or  rather 
the  absence  of  it  from  some  countries,  is 
so  far  from  expediting  business  that  it  is 
putting  all  but  a  complete  stop  to  it. 

Making  Victory  an  Asset 

A  correspondent  of  The  London  Econo- 
mist, in  a  recent  letter  to  that  publication, 
wrote : 

The  value  of  a  bill  on  London  payable  in 
gold  is  unquestioned,  but  arises  from  the  sta- 
bility of  gold  as  a  measure  of  value.  Unfor- 
tunately the  bond  between  our  currency  and 
gold  was  broken  by  the  war.  The  Bank  of 
England  has  failed  to  restore  it,  and  admits 
its  failure  by  reducing  the  Bank  rate  before 
the  pound  sterling  has  reached  its  pre-war 
equivalent  of  $4.86.  "We  are  therefore  driven 
by  the  logic  of  events  to  erect  a  new  barrier 
against  inflation,  where  the  old  one  has  been 
swept  away.  What  that  barrier  is  to  be  must 
be  determined  by  our  economic  health  as  a 
nation. 


WHAT  IS  THE  MATTER   WITH  BUSINESS? 


723 


In  a  general  sense  inflation  was  produced  by 
the  fact  that  we  spent  18,000,000,000  more 
than  we  earned  during  the  war,  the  evidence 
of  this  being  that  we  have  no  increase  in  our 
assets  to  set  against  that  figure,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  a  fairly  palpable  decrease,  consid- 
ering the  state  of  the  country,  the  neglected 
state  of  house  building,  roads,  &c.  Victory 
as  an  asset  can,  unfortunately,  only  be 
realized  by  our  own  industry.  The  process  of 
deflation,  which  is  the  reverse  of  inflation, 
must  therefore  necessarily  involve  the  pay- 
ment of  our  debts  or  the  creation  of  assets 
to  an  equivalent  value.  In  a  figurative  sense 
we  have  been  putting  ourselves  into  liquida- 
tion, and,  by  so  doing,  we  have  been  taking 
the  resources  of  merchants  and  manufactur- 
ers—which are  the  very  life  blood  of  industry, 
as  the  Bolshevists  are  beginning  to  discover. 
Bolshevism  believed  that  the  bourgeois,  the 
class  that  organizes  and  controls  industry, 
could  be  dispensed  with,  and  Russia  has 
been  reduced  to  ruin.  We  are  not  very  much 
better  ourselves,  for  that  same  class  is  being 
crushed  out  of  existence  by  the  heavy  bur- 
dens imposed  on  it. 

The  straggle  to  get  back  to  a  gold  basis 
will  not  be  made  more  difficult  by  natural 
deflation.  With  our  population  in  the  present 
state  of  inactivity,  with  two  million  unem- 
ployed, one  million  on  strike  and  a  further 
million  on  short  time,  our  progress  toward 
paying  our  debts  and  re-establishing  a  gold 
currency  is  not  merely  slow,  it  is  retrograde. 
That  comes  of  efforts  at  artificial  deflation 
by  methods  recommended  by  the  Cunliffe 
committee. 

The  prosperity  of  industry  is  far  more  im- 
portant than  the  immediate  conversion  of  our 
debts  to  a  gold  basis.  Gold  is  our  servant; 
not  our  master. 

Gold  Alone  No  Help 

But  though  foreign  trade  is  difficult  if 
not  well-nigh  impossible  without  gold,  mere 
possession  of  the  metal  is  no  assurance  of  a 
prosperous  foreign  trade  for  the  country 
possessing  it.  The  Government  report  of 
the  money  in  circulation  in  the  United 
States  on  June  1  showed  that  our  gold  hold- 
ings were  the  largest  on  record,  the  stock 
amounting  to  $3,175,037,198,  an  increase  of 
$391,202,771  over  the  total  of  Jan.  1  and  of 
$528,421,448  over  that  of  May  1,  1920,  the 
low  level  of  last  year.  Until  this  month  the 
maximum  in  our  history  was  $3,095,077,467 
on  July  1,  1919,  and,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  on  Aug.  1,  1914,  our  total  stock  was 
only  $1,887,270,664.  Today  the  United 
States  holds  nearly  40  per  cent,  of  all  the 
gold  in  the  world.  Economists  say  no  such 
accumulation  by  one  nation  occurred  in  the 
history  of  the  last  two  centuries. 

Yet  all  this  gold  seems  to  be  doing  us  no 


good.  It  has  not  been  accompanied  by  an 
increase  of  paper  currency.  In  fact,  up  to 
date,  there  has  been  a  decrease.  Nor  is  it 
being  made  the  basis  for  increased  credit. 
The  loan  account  of  our  banks  has  been 
steadily  contracting  while  this  gold  im- 
portation was  in  progress. 

And,  meantime,  while  we  have  been  ac- 
quiring this  record  stock  of  gold  our  foreign 
trade  has  been  falling  away  from  us.  Latest 
available  figures  from  the  Department  of 
Commerce  follow: 

May* 
1021.  1920. 

Imports    $208,000,000  $451,004,944 

Exports    330,000,000  745,523,223 

Excess   of  exports..      122,000,000  314,518,279 

Eleven  Months  Ending  May 
1921  1920. 

Imports    $3,471,876,268       $4,685,74t;,r>,So 

Exports    6,179,603,978  7,479,611,900 

Excess   exports    2,707,727,690         2,793,865,326 

In  other  words,  in  approximately  the  last 
year  our  exports  fell  off  $1,300,007,928  and 
our  imports  $1,213,870,292.  Nor  has  this 
been  any  sudden  drop.  Monthly  figures 
show  that  the  decline  has  been  steady  since 
last  December.    The  record  follows: 

EXPORTS 

December,   1920    $720,286,774 

January,    1921    654,271,423 

February 486,281,".97 

March     386,680,346 

April     340,338,729 

May    330,000,000 

IMPORTS 

December,   1920   $266,057,443 

January,    1921    208.796,989 

February    214,529,680 

March    251,969,241 

April     254,597,362 

May    207,000,000 

In  England  and  France 

Meantime,  how  has  England  fared? 
Later  figures  than  those  already  published 
in  this  magazine  are  not  available  at  the 
time  of  writing,  but  the  record  for  the  first 
four  months  of  the  year  shows  a  decrease 
in  exports  and  imports  similar  to  the  change 
which  has  occasioned  alarmed  comment  in 
the  United  States.  Total  exports,,  in  which 
are  included  exports  of  British  products  as 
well  as  re-exports  of  foreign  goods,  dropped 
from  £497,302,154  in  the  first  four  months 
of  1920  to  £323,014,213  in  the  first  four 
months  of  1921,  a  decrease  of  £174,287,941. 
Total  imports  fell  from  £697,167,383  to 
£397,621,757,  a  decrease  of  £299,545,626. 

A  readjustment  of  French  trade  figures 
through  February  of  the  present  year 
shows  marked  changes  from  the  figures  as 
reported  by  the  French  Government,  but,  at 


724 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  same  time,  makes  out  a  better  case  for 
the  French  than  the  official  figures  did. 
Here  are  the  figures  for  1920  and  the  first 
two  months  of  this  year  adjusted  to  current 
values: 

(In  millions  of  francs.) 

Total  Total.  Excess 

Month.                                     Imports.  Exports.  Imports. 

January,   1920   3,040  1,009  1,941 

February     4,340  2,138  2,202 

March             .... 5[420  2,330  3,090 

April    ....' o,320  2,540  2,780 

Mav              4,110  2,400  1,710 

June    ! 3,990  2,790  1,200 

Augrueit '.".'.I .WW".".".!  !!!".I'.4,ii6  3,528  588 

teptember     4,047  3,314  733 

October        3,737  3,360  377 

November    3,608  2,543  1,065 

December    3,744  2,109  1,635 

Tanvarv     1921    2,258  2,241  17 

February           . ' 1.301  1,766  *265 

•Excess  exports. 

The  figures  published  each  month  by  the 
French  Government  are  cumulative  for  the 
year,  so  that  in  July,  1920,  when  a  new 
schedule  was  last  introduced,  there  was 
added  a  correction  to  adjust  the  prices  for 
the  preceding  six  months  to  the  new  level; 
hence  figures  for  July,  exclusive  of  the  cor- 
rection, are  not  available  at  this  time,  and 
the  month  has  been  omitted  from  the  tabu- 
lation. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that,  although  these  cor- 
rected figures  make  the  adverse  balance  of 
trade  for  France  greater  than  the  official 
figures  showed,  at  the  same  time  they  dis- 
close a  more  marked  improvement,  for  in 
February  the  excess  of  imports  is  turned 
into  an  excess  of  exports.  As  a  fact,  the 
adverse  French  balance  of  trade  in  1919 
was  84  per  cent,  greater  than  the  customs 
figures  showed,  so  that  the  change  to  a 
favorable  balance  is  just  that  much  more 
of  an  accomplishment  than  appeared  in 
official  figures. 

Germany's  Tremendous  Strides 

Figures  for  Germany  have  not  been  pub- 
lished, so  that  comparisons  cannot  be  made 
for  the  nation  which,  above  all  others,  must 
increase  its  foreign  trade  and  create  a  large 
excess  of  exports  over  imports  if  it  is  to 
pay  off  the  indemnity  to  its  conquerors  in 
the  war.  There  are  plenty  of  signs,  how- 
ever, that  Germany  is  making  tremendous 
strides  along  the  path  that  leads  to  a  favor- 
able trade  balance,  and  in  this  connection  it 
is  worth  quoting  from  a  bulletin  just  issued 
by  the  First  Federal  Foreign  Banking  As- 
sociation.   Says  this  document: 

The  international  trade  of  the  whole  world 


has  been  noticeably  contracting  in  the  last 
five  months,  and  the  effective  demand  for 
manufactured  merchandise  of  all  kinds  by 
foreign  customers  has  lately  been  falling  off 
even  faster  than  the  fall  in  movement  of  raw 
materials.  In  this  situation,  a  very  drastic 
competition  between  the  industries  of  several 
nations  has  developed.  Germany  has  led  off 
in  going  after  business  by  cutting  prices. 
Belgium's  industries  have  also  offered  their 
output  at  reductions  from  prevailing  price 
levels,  which  has  been  a  trying  matter  to  com- 
peting industries  in  England.  Exporters  here 
inform  us  of  instances  where,  within  a  few 
weeks,  France  and  Sweden  have  successfully 
negotiated  competitive  business  which  had  be- 
fore been  regularly  done   with  America. 

The  fact  is  very  plain  to  anybody  who 
keeps  well  acquainted  with  the  figures  of 
foreign  trade  published  by  our  Government 
and  others,  that  American  export  business 
is  dropping  more  rapidly  than  that  of  its 
chief  competitors,  and  this  seems  to  be 
due  to  the  maintenance  of  high  export  prices. 
It  is  impossible  to  profiteer  now,  in  the  in- 
ternational market.  It  is  going  to  be  hard 
enough  to  meet  competition  and  keep  up 
foreign  sales  by  concessions  in  price.  One  of 
the  unfavorable  factors  in  our  foreign  trade 
situation  is  that,  except  for  a  few  exception- 
ally capable  and  farsighted  men,  our  people 
seem  to  have  very  little  definite  information 
about  the  prices  their  foreign  competitors  are 
making. 

Our  export  prices  in  recent  months  have 
not  only  been  high,  out  of  line  with  the 
prices  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  seem- 
ingly out  of  line  with  domestic  prices,  but 
they  are  all  at  "  sixes  and  sevens,"  in  va- 
rious lines,  with  each  other.  If  prices 
throughout  the  whole  structure  of  our  busi- 
ness organization  have  responded  to  the  arti- 
ficialities of  our  drastic  campaign  for  "  de- 
flation "  in  the  same  way,  it  is  a  very  in- 
different kind  of  testimony  for  the  method. 
Our  raw  materials  (which  are  holding  up  in 
volume  of  export  movement  better  than  our 
manufactures),  have  had  a  price  decline 
that  has  brought  cotton  and  metals  down  to 
the  1913  level,  and  the  whole  group  to  a 
fair  relationship  to  a  "  deflation  "  point.  This 
is  because  the  organization  of  their  market- 
ing makes  them  more  directly  amenable  to  in- 
ternational competition.  But  our  manufac- 
tures, the  export  volume  of  which  has  been  cut 
in  two  since  the  first  of  the  year,  were  in 
March  still  sticking  up  at  224  per  cent,  of 
the  pre-war  price  level.  And  there  was  no 
consistency  throughout  the  decline  in  prices, 
such  as  it  was,  that  was  beginning  to  appear 
—one  line  was  up,  another  down.  The  whim 
of  export  movement  as  between  different 
lines  was  just  as  irregular.  The  central 
fact  of  the  situation  is  the  glaring  one  that 
our  organization  of  export  of  manufactures 
has  been  working  in  the  dark.  Everybody 
knows  that  the  war-time  condition  of  things, 
in  which  foreign  merchants  begged  for 
goods,  asked  our  banks  and  consular  agen- 
cies to  get  them  into  touch  with  our  manu- 


WHAT  IS  THE  MATTER   WITH  BUSINESS? 


725 


facturers,  and  there  was  no  finesse  about 
prices,  is  past.  But  we  haven't  done  much 
in  the  realization  that  we  now  have  to  go 
after  business,  will  have  to  talk  up  for  it  and 
meet  competitive  prices,  and  to  that  end  must 
find  some  way  of  knowing,  as  definitely  as 
we  are  able,  what  the  other  fellow's  prices 
are.  From  now  on  we  are  sure  to  meet  the 
keenest  and  cleverest  kind  of  skillful  inter- 
national price-making.    *    *    * 

It  seems  very  difficult  for  some  of  our  ex- 
port executives  to  overcome  the  persistent 
delusion  that  it  is  "  exchange  "  that  is  caus- 
ing them  to  lose  foreign  orders. 

The  exchanges  are  a  cause  of  increased 
difficulty  in  handling  foreign  business ;  they 
will  be  for  several  years  a  cause  of  difficulty, 
and  men  who  have  to  do  with  export,  from 
selling  to  financing,  will  have  to  develop  a 
better  quick  grasp  of  exchange.  But,  as  af- 
fecting the  market  for  our  goods,  exchange  is 
not  now  as  serious  a  factor  as  the  fundamen- 
tal differences  in  costs  of  production  and  in 
prices  that  have  developed  in  international 
commerce. 

Money,  whether  it  is  cheap  money  or  stable 
money,  is  only  a  medium  of  exchange.  If  the 
pound  sterling  goes  down  in  value  so  that 
more  pounds  can  be  bought  for  so  many 
dollars  than  at  par,  it  also  goes  down  in 
value  in  the  buying  and  the  pricing  of  goods, 
so  that  it  takes  more  pounds  to  buy  a  hun- 
dred tons  of  fabricated  steel.  If  the  cost  of 
production  of  the  steel,  measured  in  commod- 
ities of  international  market,  do  not  change, 
it  will  lake  just  as  many  dollars  to  buy  the 
hundred  tons  in  sterling  at  $3.94%  as  at 
$4.86. 

Handicap  of  High  Prices 

It  is  clear  that  profit  may  be  made  by  a 
skillful  use  of  the  exchanges,  but  it  should 
be  equally  apparent  that  "  cut-rate  "  money 


will  not  account  for  all  price  differences. 
There  has  been  a  real  reduction  in  produc- 
tion costs  made  by  European  manufacturers 
or  a  real  reduction  in  percentage  of  profit 
accepted,  and  it  behooves  American  manu- 
facturers to  realize  that  not  exchange  dif- 
ficulties but  a  real  price  competition  is 
taking  away  from  them  the  trade  which 
the  war  threw  into  their  laps. 

Evidence  of  the  failure  of  our  manufact- 
urers to  reduce  prices  in  line  with  the  de- 
flation in  the  prices  of  raw  materials  is  dis- 
closed by  the  accompanying  table,  which 
was  prepared  by  the  statistical  department 
of  the  Foreign  Banking  Association.  In  it 
prices  and  volumes  in  January  last  have 
been  taken  arbitrarily  as  a  base,  or  100  per 
cent.,  and  prices  and  volumes  in  the  ensuing 
months  have  been  computed  as  percentages 
of  these  figures,  as  shown  in  the  table  at 
the  foot  of  this  page. 

So  much  for  the  international  situation 
as  it  affects  this  country.  What,  now,  of 
the  domestic  situation? 

Encouraging  Signs  at  Home  . . 

Certainly  the  so-called  period  of  defla- 
tion, into  which  this  nation  entered  last 
year,  is  not  at  an  end.  Commodity  and 
security  markets  alike  reflect  the  depression 
which  has  supplanted  the  intense  activity 
that  was  the  first  result  of  the  termination 
of  the  war.  There  is  unemployment  in  large 
measure.  There  is  a  curtailment  of  manu- 
facturing enterprise.    There  is  a  lag  in  pro- 


Breadstuffs    

Meats    

Dairy   products    

Cotton    

Cottonseed  oil 

Jan. 

'21. 

100 

100 

....100 

100 

,...100 

Volume  of  Exports 
Feb.        Mar. 
'21.           '21. 

85  82 
101            98 

71  67 

81  61 

56  51 
62             58 
88             96 

109            83 
84            78 

109             69 
37            43 
79           100 

57  49 

m         34 

67  17 
77             61 

86  69 

72  39 
SO             76 

107           106 

68  44 
7!»              57 

82  69 
available. 

Anr. 
'21. 
88 
78 
69 
52 
30 

* 

* 

* 

* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
78 

* 
* 

* 

* 

Year 

1913. 

46.5 
61.3 
59.2 
66.1 
57.3 
35.3 
26.3 
43.6 
51.9 

96.9 
37.2 
40.1 
51.4 
32.7 
63.4 
60.1 
38.7 
44.0 
26.5 
26.0 
46.3 
39.9 

47.5 

Relative  Prices. 
Jan.           Fel>.         Mar. 
'21.             '21.           '21. 
100             93             86 
100             87             81 
l'OO             93             89 
100             89             71 
100             93             78 
100             96             95 
100           111           115 
100             82             61 
300             93             86 

100             91             90 
100           101           116 

100             81             72 
100             81             79 
100             94             81 
100           103             86 
100           114             94 
100             91             89 
100             99           102 
100             81             72 
100             80             82 
100             89             87 
loo             93             89 

100            93             87 

Apr. 
'21. 
80 
77 
93 
64 
67 

Coal    

100 

* 

100 

* 

i  Naval   stores    

100 

....100 

* 

Manufacturing  metals    . . . 

Cement    

Lumber    

Leather    

....100 

100 

100 

100 

* 
* 

Paper    

100 

100 

* 
* 

100 

* 

Mineral    oils    

Steel    products    

Cotton  goods  

Shoes     

Sugar    

....100 

100 

....100 

100 

100 

100 

82 

* 

* 
* 

Both    groups    

*Data  for  compilation 

....100 
not  yet 

* 

726 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


cluction  which  is  the  more  noticeable  because 
of  the  fierce  pace  which  was  maintained  for 
so  long. 

But  all  this  is  not  to  say  that  the  times 
are  bad,  that  the  outlook  is  gloomy,  that 
the  future  is  filled  with  uncertainty  and 
doubt.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  much  in 
the  situation  to  encourage  confidence  and 
assurance  that  we  are  approaching  the  end 
of  our  ordeal.  After  all,  we  have  not  had 
the  wholesale  failures  which  were  confident- 
ly predicted  some  months  ago.  We  have 
had  no  money  panic  such  as  those  we  ex- 
perienced periodically  before  the  creation  of 
the  Federal  Reserve  system.  As  a  fact,  we 
have  had  much  less  of  a  disaster  than  we 
predicted  for  ourselves,  and  our  success  in 
avoiding  the  evils  which  we  had  regarded 
as  unavoidable  should  lend  courage  to  the 
thought  that  we  may  be  now  imagining  for 
ourselves  troubles  much  more  intense  than 
we  shall  be  asked  to  confront. 

There  are  positive  as  well  as  negative 
reasons  for  such  assurance.  To  be  sure  no 
general  upturn  in  business  is  to  be  noted; 
the  improvement  lies  more  in  a  strengthen- 
ing of  underlying  conditions,  but  some  prob- 
lems that  had  seemed  well  nigh  insurmount- 
able have  been   overcome 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  regard  the 
movements  of  the  stock  market  as  a  barom- 
eter of  the  later  moves  of  business  have  had 
difficulty  in  reconciling  the  continued  weak- 
ness of  the  market  with  the  conviction  that 
the  worst  was,  to  a  major  degree,  over  with 
business  and  that  signs  of  improvement 
were  to  be  looked  for.  In  such  a  case  it  is 
probably  well  to  forget  the  old  rule  and  to 
accept  as  a  working  basis  the  theory  that, 
in  this  instance,  as  in  previous  ones,  the 
financial  markets  are  reflecting  the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  financial  community  itself,  which 
is  experiencing  a  sense  of  hopelessness  that 
the  downward  movement  can  be  combated, 
and  a  sentiment  that  it  must  be  allowed  to 
run  its  course,  a  state  of  mind  which  aggra- 
vates, if  anything,  the  very  condition  which 
it  would  wish  to  see  altered.  The  increase 
in  building  activity  which  has  been  gen- 
erally reported  throughout  the  country  is 
certainly  an  omen  for  good.    The  awarding 


of  building  contracts  means  work  for  m 
hands. 

The  railroad  situation  has  taken  a  ti  »  v  pP" 
which  should  be  for  the  better.  Revisit  ' 
of  railway  wages  goes  into  effect  this 
month  together  with  the  abrogation  of  the 
national  agreements  which  were  hold- 
overs from  the  period  of  Government  con- 
trol, thus  allowing  the  carriers  to  make  a 
fresh  start,  so  to  speak.  Prospects  of  labor 
for  many  men  now  among  the  great  ranks 
of  unemployed  are  held  out  in  these  de- 
cisions of  the  Railroad  Labor  Board.  It  is 
expected  that  the  railroads  will  add  to  their 
forces  at  once,  under  new  agreements  and 
new  rates  of  pay,  and,  in  addition,  will 
begin  to  undertake  some  cf  the  deferred 
repair  and  maintenance  work  which  will 
give  employment  to  additional  hands. 

This  may  appear  optimistic  in  view  of 
che  fact  that  the  earnings  of  200  railways 
were  $1,494,000  less  in  April  than  in  March. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
troubles  of  the  railways  have  been  due,  not 
to  lack  of  business,  but  to  lack  of  control 
of  costs.  These  are  now  to  be  fixed  again 
at  a  point  which  will  allow  the  carriers  a 
fair  return  on  their  investment  and  operat- 
ing costs.  There  would  be  cause  for  dis- 
may if  the  roads  had  been  able  to  operate 
profitably  and  yet  had  been  unable  to  ob- 
tain the  business  to  make  this  possible.  On 
the  contrary,  there  is  no  lack  of  business 
other  than  a  seasonable  one,  and  the  volume 
is  sufficient,  and  will  become  more  so,  to 
enable  the  roads,  with  properly  adjusted 
costs,  to  do  business  at  a  profit  instead  of 
a  loss. 

All  values  are  relative.  We  appreciate 
heat  because  we  know  cold.  We  desire 
prosperity  because  we  know  its  opposite. 
Judged  on  such  a  basis,  should  we  not  say 
that  general  business  conditions  are  reason- 
ably satisfactory  just  now?  Certainly  they 
are  far  better  than  some  of  us  expected 
them  to  be,  far  better  than  they  very  easily 
could  be.  The  movement  toward  normalcy 
is  slow,  perhaps,  but  it  is  steady,  and  today 
we  are  nearer  the  desired  point  than  we 
were  a  month  ago.  Judged  from  such  a 
viewpoint,  conditions  are  good,  and  they 
are  becoming  better. 


fm^SSSi«^^»SiS«^ 


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CURRENT    HISTORY 


A     MONTHLY     MAGAZINE      OF 
5ty*  Nero  fork  ©intra 

Published-  by    The    New    York    Times    Company,    Times    Square,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


M 


ii 


Vol.  XIV.,  No.  5 


AUGUST,  1921 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


FRONTISPIECE   PORTRAIT  AND   ILLUSTRATION: 

Charles  G.  Dawes,  Director  of  the  Budget .     .  723 

William  H.  Taft  Taking  Oath  as  Chief  Justice 726 

THE  CALL  FOR  A  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 727 

SANTO  DOMINGO   TO  BE   FREE     ...     By  Horace  G.  Knowles  733 

MENACE   OF  THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 

By  George  L.  Koehn     738 

THE    PLIGHT   OF    CHINA By   Jesse   Willis    Jefferis     742 

CHINA   AND  THE   ANGLO-JAPANESE   ALLIANCE 

By  Sao-Ke  Alfred  Sze     746 

DOCUMENTS  BEARING  ON  CHINA'S  DESTINY 749 

MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE   GREEK  WAR     .     By  Clair  Price    754 

WHY  THE   GREEKS  ARE   FIGHTING  TURKEY 

By  Adamantios  Th.   Polyzoides     761 

THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK" 

By  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge  .  767 

THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM  IN  POLAND     .      .     By  James  Jay  Kann     776 

INTERNATIONAL    CARTOONS    OF    CURRENT    EVENTS     .      .      .     781 

HOW  TRADE  UNIONS  ARE  RUINING  BRITISH  INDUSTRY 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker     795 

DEBTS    OF    FOREIGN    GOVERNMENTS    DUE    UNITED    STATES     802 

SWITZERLAND'S    DISPUTE    WITH    FRANCE 

By  M.  E.  de  Gourmois     803 

THE  POLISH  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK     .     By  Preston  Lockwood     807 

SANTO  DOMINGO'S  TITLE  TO  INDEPENDENCE 

By    H.    S.    Krippene  809 

THE    AMERICAN   EXIT    FROM    SANTO    DOMINGO 813 

THE   RAPID   INCREASE   OF   DIVORCE     .      .     By  Gustavus   Myers  816 

AMERICAN  CLAIMS  AGAINST  GERMANY 822 

GREEK  MOBILIZATION   NOT   SUSPENDED 

By  Efthymius  A.  Gregory  825 

Contents  Continued  on  Next  Page 

Copyright,    1921,    by   The   New    York    Times    Company.     All    Rights    Reserved. 
Entered    at    the    Post    Office    in    New    York    and    in    Canada    as    Second    Class    Matter. 


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|p     Table  of  Contents — Continued 


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826 
833 
833 
835 


THE  WAR  WON  ON  THE  EASTERN  FRONT 

By  Captain  Gordon  Gordon-Smith 

MME.    CURIE'S    FAMILY By   Mrs.    Louis    Czajkowa 

THE  DJAMBI  OIL  CONTROVERSY     ....     By  J.  H.  Muurling; 

THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA     .      .     By  J.  H.  Wallis 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  RIGHT  TO   STATEHOOD  ASSAILED 

By  Anthony  Pessenlehner,  LL.  D. 

THE   BRITISH   IMPERIAL   CONFERENCE 849 

A  TRUCE  IN  THE  IRISH  WARFARE 851 

CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH  DOMINIONS 855 

GREAT  ISSUES  THAT  DISTURB  FRANCE 857 

ITALY  UNDER  A  NEW  CABINET 860 

AUSTRIA   UNDER   A  NEW   MINISTRY 862 

GERMANY'S  EFFORTS  TO  MEET  HER  OBLIGATIONS     ....  863 

HUNGARY'S   STRUGGLE    FOR   A   SECURE   FOOTING     ....  867 

BELGIUM  NOW  LUXEMBURG'S  PROTECTOR 869 

THE    CZECHOSLOVAK   ALLIANCE    WITH    RUMANIA     ....  870 

ALBANIA'S    FEUD   WITH    GREECE 872 

THE  LITTLE   ENTENTE'S   PROBLEMS 873 

SCANDINAVIA'S    FIGHT    AGAINST    BOLSHEVISM 874 

RUSSIA    IN    DESPERATE    STRAITS 876 

UNION   OF    THE    CAUCASUS    STATES 878 

THE  ARMENIAN   MASSACRES     ....     By  Arshag  Mahdesian  879 

THE  CURIOUS  MUDDLE   OF   THE   GRECO-TURKISH  WAR     .      .  880 

HARD  PROBLEMS  IN  PALESTINE  AND  MESOPOTAMIA     ...  882 

PERSIA'S    PLANS    UNDER    NEW    LEADERS     .......  886 

JAPAN  FOR  A  CONCILIATORY   FOREGN  POLICY 887 

VLADIVOSTOK  CAPTURED  BY  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS     ....  889 

THE  MEXICAN  OIL  CONTROVERSY 894 

LAUNCHING   THE   CENTRAL  AMERICAN  UNION 897 

GERMANY  UNDERBIDS  ALL  RIVALS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA     .      .  899 

CUBA'S  TRIBUTE  TO  A  FORMER  PRESIDENT 901 

PUTTING  BUSINESS   ON  ITS   FEET  AGAIN 903 


INDEX    TO    NATIONS    TREATED 


PAGE 

ALBANIA     872 

ARGENTINA     899 

ARMENIA     878,  879 

AUSTRALIA      

AUSTRIA      862 

AZERBAIJAN     878 

BELGIUM     869 

BRAZIL     899 

CANADA     832,  855 

CAUCASUS     STATES...  878 

CENTRAL    AMERIA....  897 
CENTRAL      AMERICAN 

UNION    897 

CHILE      . 900 

CHINA 742,   746,  749 

COLOMBIA     900 

COSTA   RICA    897 

CUBA     901 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

870,   835,  845,  873 


TAGE 

DENMARK     875 

EGYPT 856 

ENGLAND     795,  849 

FRANCE     857 

GERMANY    822,  863,   869,  899 

GEORGIA    878 

GREECE     825,  872,  880 

GUATEMALA     897 

HAITI     902 

HOLLAND    S33,  869 

HUNGARY    867,  871 

IRELAND     851 

ITALY    860 

JAPAN     887 

JUGOSLAVIA    866,  873 

LUXEMBURG     869 

MESOPOTAMIA     882 

MEXICO    894 

NEW    ZEALAND    856 

NICARAGUA     897 

NORWAY    875 


PAGE 

PALESTINE    882 

PERU     ooo 

PERSIA    886,  898 

POLAND     807 

RUMANIA      ....870,   871,  873 

RUSSIA     876 

SALVADOR 897 

SANTO    DOMINGO 

809,  813,  902 

SIBERIA 889 

SOUTH     AFRICA.......  856 

SOUTH    AMERICA 899 

SPAIN      848 

SWEDEN      874 

SWITZERLAND 803 

TURKEY     880 

UNITED     STATES 727 

UPPER    SILESIA 863 

VENEZUELA    901 

WEST    INDIES 901 


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?. 


m. 


845       ?/ 


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•.•.«S^^^^^.^^^^^^:^S^^^^^^^^S^^^1 


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w. 


I 
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(Photo  International) 


CHARLES  GATES  DAWES 


Chicago  financier  and  former  Brigadier  General  in  France,  appointed  Director  of  the 
Budget,  being  the  first  man  to  hold  that  newly  created  office 


(.Photo    liuleiwoud    &     L'nderwoocl) 

EX-PRESIDENT  TAFT  TAKING  THE  OATH  AS  CHIEF  JUSTICE 

William  Howard  Taft,  organizer  of  the  American  Government  in  the  Philippines, 
and  former  President  of  the  United  States,  is  here  seen  taking  the  oath  as  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Beside  him  stands  Attorney  General 
Daugherty.  On  the  extreme  right,  holding  a  paper  in  his  hand,  is  Chief  Justice 
Hoehling  of  the  District  of  Columbia  Supreme  Court,  who  is  administering  the  oath 
of  office.  Mr.  Taft  is  the  first  man  in  the  United  States  to  hold  both  the  office  of 
President  and  that  of  Chief  Justice 


THE  CALL  FOR  A 
DISARMAMENT    CONFERENCE 

President  Harding's  proposal  meets  with  acceptance  from  all  the  powers  invited  to 
take  part — Text  of  the  Knox-Porter  resolution  declaring  peace  between  this  country  and 
the  Central  Powers — Appointment  cf  ex-President  Taft  as  Chief  Justice 

[Period  Ended  July  15,   1921] 


INTENSE  interest  was  aroused  the 
world  over  by  the  proposition  for 
a  conference  on  the  limitation  of 
armaments  which  was  issued  by 
President  Harding  on  July  10.  This 
momentous  action  was  announced  in 
the  United  States  through  the  follow- 
ing official  statement: 

The  President,  in  view  of  the  far- 
reaching  importance  of  the  qestion  of 
limitation  of  armament,  has  approached 
with  informal  but  definite  inquiries  the 
group  of  powers  heretofore  known  as 
the  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers,  that  is,  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy  and  Japan,  to  ascertain  whether  it 
would  be  agreeable  to  them  to  take  part 
in  a  conference  on  this  subject,  to  be 
held  in  Washington  at  a  time  to  be 
mutually  agreed  upon.  If  the  proposal 
is  found  to  be  acceptable,  formal  invita- 
tions for  such  a  conference  will  be  is- 
sued. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  question  of 
limitation  of  armament  has  a  close  rela- 
tion to  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  prob- 
lems, and  the  President  has  suggested 
that  the  powers  especially  interested  in 
these  problems  should  undertake  in  con- 
nection with  this  conference  the  con- 
sideration of  all  matters  bearing  upon 
their  solution  with  a  view  to  reaching  a 
convmon  understanding  with  respect  to 
principles  and  policies  in  the  Far  East. 
This  has  been  communicated  to  the 
powers  concerned,  and  China  has  also 
been  invited  to  take  part  in  the  discus- 
sion relating  to  Far  Eastern  problems. 

The  invitation  to  the  armament 
parley  received  prompt  acceptance 
from  most  of  the  powers  concerned. 
France  and  Italy  were  enthusiastic, 
and  Great  Britain  scarcely  less  so. 
Premier  Briand  of  France  stated  that 
he  himself  would  head  the  French 
delegation,  although  later  it  was  in- 


timated that,  as  the  French  Parlia- 
ment would  be  in  session  in  Novem- 
ber, which  it  was  assumed  would  be 
the  month  in  which  the  conference 
would  be  held,  it  might  prove  imprac- 
ticable for  him  to  be  absent  from  this 
country.  China,  which  was  invited 
to  participate  in  the  discussion  of  the 
Far  Eastern  problems,  also  sent  a 
formal  acceptance. 

It  was  stated  in  Washington  on 
July  14  that  Japan  had  sent  formal 
approval  of  the  President's  proposal 
for  a  conference  of  the  great  powers, 
but  had  limited  her  participation  to 
discussion  of  the  question  of  the  lim- 
itation of  armaments.  She  had.  not 
accepted  the  President's  suggestion 
that  the  conference,  in  addition  to 
discussing  disarmament,  should  de- 
vote itself  to  problems  affecting  the 
Far  East  and  the  Pacific. 

While  the  text  of  the  Japanese  re- 
sponse was  not  at  that  time  made 
public,  it  was  decided  to  view  the 
communication  as  an  acceptance  of 
the  proposal,  and  plans  were  at  once 
begun  for  the  holding  of  the  confer- 
ence. It  was  stated  that  the  next 
step  would  be  to  issue  formal  invi- 
tations to  the  conference  in  the  name 
of  President  Harding.  While  there 
had  been  informal  suggestions  from 
London  that  it  would  better  suit  the 
wishes  of  the  British  Government 
and  the  Dominion  Premiers  then  in 
session  there  to  have  a  preliminary 
conference  in  London,  the  Washing- 
ton Administration  construed  the 
communications  received  from  the 
four  great  powers  and  China  as  ac- 


728 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ceptances  of  the  President's  sugges- 
tions that  the  conference  should  take 
place  in  Washington.  There  had  been 
no  opposition  to  the  President's 
tentative  suggestion  of  Armistice 
Day,  Nov.  11,  as  the  date  of  opening. 

The  attitude  of  the  foreign  press 
in  countries  not  included  in  the  in- 
vitation was  one  of  approval.  Hol- 
land showed  indications  of  wishing 
to  be  a  participant  in  the  conference 
owing  to  her  large  interests  in  the 
Pacific.  The  total  surface  of  the 
Dutch  Indian  possessions  exceeds 
5,000,000  square  miles.  The  success 
of  the  conference  would  solve  for  her 
the  vital  problem  of  the  protection 
of  her  colonies. 

Prior  to  the  issuance  of  the  pro- 
posal the  President's  hands  had  been 
strengthened  by  the  adoption  of  the 
Borah  amendment,  which  had  pre- 
viously passed  the  Senate  and  was 
adopted  in  the  House  on  June  29  by 
a  vote  of  330  to  4.  Its  passage  fol- 
lowed the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  the 
President  to  the  Republican  leader, 
Mr.  Mondell,  embodying  an  appeal 
for  an  expression  of  opinion  favor- 
able to  the  limitation  of  armaments 
through  international  agreement. 
The  large  majority  by  which  the 
amendment  was  passed  was  inter- 
preted as  largely  due  to  the  Presi- 
dent's plea.  The  Borah  amendment 
provided : 

That  the  President  is  authorized  and 
requested  to  invite  the  Governments  of 
Great  Britain  and  Japan  to  send  repre- 
sentatives to  a  conference  which  shall 
be  charged  with  the  duty  of  promptly 
entering  into  an  understanding  or 
agreement  by  which  the  naval  expendi- 
tures and  building  programs  of  said 
Governments — the  United  States,  Great 
Britain  and  Japan — shall  be  reduced 
annually  during  the  next  five  years  to 
such  an  extent  and  upon  such  terms  as 
may  be  agreed  upon,  which  understand- 
ing or  agreement  is  to  be  reported  to 
the  respective  Governments  for  ap- 
proval. 

Although  the  amendment  was 
concerned  simply  with  naval  disar- 
mament and  applied  to  three  powers 
only,  its  passage  was  significant  of 
the  general  Congressional  attitude 
toward   disarmament   and   gave   the 


moral  backing  of  the  House  and  Sen- 
ate to  the  more  comprehensive  pro- 
posal of  the  President  that  followed. 
The  primary  purpose  of  this  Gov- 
ernment in  proposing  that  the  con- 
ference should  take  up  Far  Eastern 


(Keystone    View     Co.) 

CYRUS    E.    WOODS 

New   Ambassador    to    Spain,   succeeding 

Joseph    E.    Willard 


and  Pacific  problems,  as  well  as  the 
question  of  the  limitation  of  arma- 
ments, was  born  of  a  desire  to  re- 
move causes  of  friction  which,  unless 
removed,  might  lead  to  war.  The 
suggestion  was  understood  to  have 
the  hearty  approval  of  Great  Britain, 
and  especially  of  the  Dominion 
Premiers  then  in  session  in  London, 
the  interests  of  whose  countries  were 
largely  bound  up  with  problems  of 
the  Pacific.  It  was  also  felt  in  Lon- 
don that  such  a  conference  would 
tend  to  clarify  the  vexing  problems 
connected  with  the  proposed  renewal 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  treaty. 

The  other  outstanding  event  of  the 
month  in  the  United  States  was  the 


THE  CALL  FOR  A  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 


rgfl 


signing  by  the  President  of  the  joint 
Congressional  resolution  which  de- 
clared the  war  with  Germany  and 
Austria  to  be  at  an  end.  This  reso- 
lution passed  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives on  June  30  by  a  vote  of 


WILLIAM    MILLER    COLLIER 

Newly  appointed  United  States  Ambassador  to 
Chile 


263  to  59.  On  the  following  day  the 
Senate  adopted  it  by  a  vote  of  38  to 
19.  On  July  2  it  was  signed  by  the 
President  in  the  home  of  Senator 
Frelinghuysen  at  Raritan,  N.  J., 
where  he  was  spending  the  week-end. 
The  text  of  the  resolution  follows : 

Joint  resolution  terminating  the  state 
of  war  between  the  imperial  German 
Government  and  the  United  States  of 
America  and  between  the  imperial  and 
royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government 
and  the  United  States  of  America. 

Sec.l.  That  the  state  of  war  de- 
clared to  exist  between  the  imperial 
German  Government  and  the  United 
States  of  America  by  the  joint  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  approved  April  6, 
1917,  is  hereby  declared  at  an  end. 

Sec.  2.  That  in  making  this  dec- 
laration, and  as  a  part  of  it,  there  are 
expressly  reserved  to  the  United  States 


of  America  and  its  nationals  any  and 
all  rights,  privileges,  indemnities,  rep- 
arations or  advantages,  together  with 
the  right  to  enforce  the  same,  to  which 
it  or  they  have  become  entitled  under 
the  terms  of  the  armistice  signed  Nov. 
11,  1918,.  or  any  extension  or  modifica- 
tions thereof;  or  which  were  acquired 
by  or  are  in  the  possession  of  the  United 
States  of  America  by  reason  of  its  par- 
ticipation in  the  war  or  to  which  its 
nationals  have  thereby  become  right- 
fully entitled;  or  which,  under  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles,  have  been  stipu- 
lated for  its  or  their  benefit ;  or  to  which 
it  is  entitled  as  one  of  the  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers;  or  to 
which  it  is  entitled  by  virtue  of  any  act 
or  acts  of  Congress  or  otherwise. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  state  of  war  de- 
clared to  exist  between  the  imperial  and 
royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government 
and  the  United  States  of  America,  by 
the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  ap- 
proved Dec.  7,  1917,  is  hereby  declared 
at  an  end. 

Sec.  Jf.  That  in  making  this  decla- 
ration, and  as  a  part  of  it,  there  are 
expressly  reserved  to  the  United  States 
of  America  and  its  nationals  any  and 
all  rights,  privileges,  indemnities,  repa- 
rations or  advantages,  together  with  the 
right  to  enforce  the  same,  to  which  it 
or  they  have  become  entitled  under  the 
terms  of  the  armistice  signed  Nov.  3, 
1918,  or  any  extensions  or  modifications 
thereof;  or  which  were  acquired  by  or 
are  in  the  possession  of  the  United 
States  of  America  by  reason  of  its  par- 
ticipation in  the  war  or  to  which  its 
nationals  have  thereby  become  right- 
fully entitled;  or  which,  under  the 
Treaty  of  Saint  Germain-en-Laye,  or 
the  Treaty  of  Trianon,  have  been  stipu- 
lated for  its  or  their  benefit  or  to 
which  it  is  entitled  as  one  of  the  princi- 
pal allied  and  associated  powers;  or  to 
which  it  is  entitled  by  virtue  of  any  act 
or  acts  of  Congress  or  otherwise. 

Sec.  5.  All  property  of  the  im- 
perial German  Government  or  its  suc- 
cessor or  successors  and  of  all  German 
nationals  which  was  on  April  6,  1917,  in 
or  has  since  that  date  come  into  the 
possession  or  under  control  of,  or  has 
been  the  subject  of  a  demand  by  the 
United  States  of  America  or  of  any  of 
its  officers,  agents  or  employes,  from 
any  source  or  by  any  agency  whatso- 
ever, and  all  property  of  the  imperial 
and  royal  Austro-Hungarian  Govern- 
ment*  or  its  successor  or  successors,  and 
of  all  Austro-Hungarian  nationals 
which  was  on  Dec.  7,  1917,  in  or  has 
since  that  date  come  into  the  possession 
or  under  control  of,  or  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  a  demand  by  the  United  States 
of  America  or  any  of  its  officers,  agents 
or  employes,  from  any  source  or  by  any 


730 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


agency  whatsoever,  shall  be  retained  by 
the  United  States  of  America  and  no 
disposition  thereof  made  except  as  shall 
have  been  heretofore  or  specifically 
hereafter  shall  be  provided  I.  law  until 
such  time  as  the  imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment and  the  imperial  and  royal 
Austro-Hungarian  Government,  or  their 
successor  or  successors,  shall  have  re- 
spectively made  suitable  provision  for 
the  satisfaction  of  all  claims  against 
said  Governments  respectively,  of  all 
persons,  wheresoever  domiciled,  who 
owe  permanent  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  of  America  and  who  have  suf- 
fered through  the  acts  of  the  imperial 
German  Government,  or  its  agents,  or 
the  imperial  and  royal  Austro-Hun^a- 
rian  Government,  or  its  agents,  since 
July  31,  1914,  loss,  damage  or  injury  to 
their  persons  or  property,  directly  or 
indirectly,  whether  through  the  owner- 
ship of  shares  of  stock  in  German, 
Austro-Hungarian,  American,  or  other 
corporations,  or  in  consequence  of  hos- 
tilities, or  of  any  operations  of  war 
or  otherwise,  and  also  shall  have 
granted  to  persons  owing  permanent 
allegiance  to  the  United  States  of 
America  most-favored-nation  treat- 
ment, whether  the  same  be  national  or 
otherwise,  jin  all  matters  affecting  resi- 
dence, business,  profession,  trade,  navi 
gation,  commerce  and  industrial  prop- 
erty rights  and  until  the  imperial  Ger- 
man Government  and  the  imperial  and 
royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government 
or  their  successor  or  successors  shall 
have  respectively  confirmed  to  the 
United  States  of  America  all  fines,  for- 
feitures, penalties  and  seizures  imposed 
or  made  by  the  UiJted  States  of  Amer- 
ica during  the  war,  whether  in  respect 
to  the  property  of  the  imperial  German 
Government  or  German  nationals  or  the 
imperial  and  royal  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  or  Austro-Hungarian  na- 
tionals, and  shall  have  waived  any  and 
all  pecuniary  claims  against  the  United 
States  of  America. 

Sec.  6.  Nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  construed  to  repeal,  modify  or 
amend  the  provisions  of  the  joint  reso- 
lution "  declaring  that  certain  acts  of 
Congress,  joint  resolutions  and  procla- 
mations shall  be  construed  as  if  the 
war  had  ended  and  the  present  or  ex- 
isting emergency  expired,"  approved 
March  3,  1921,  or  the  passport  control 
provisions  of  an  act  entitled  "  An  act 
making  appropriations  for  the  diplo- 
matic and  consular  service  for  the  fis- 
cal year  ending  June  30,  1922,"  ap- 
proved March  2,  1921,  nor  to  be  effec- 
tive to  terminate  the  military  status  of 
any  person  now  in  desertion  from  the 
military  or  naval  service  of  the  United 
States,  nor  to  terminate  the  liability 
to  prosecution  and  punishment,  under 


the  Selective  Service  law,  approved 
May  18,  1917,  of  any  person  who  failed 
to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  said 
act,  or  of  acts  amendatory  thereof. 

It  was  pointed  out  at  Washington 
that  the  next  step  would  probably  be 


Moffett,    Chicago) 


CHARLES    B.    WARREN 

New  Ambassador  to   Japan,  succeeding 

Roland   S.    Morris 


the  issuance  by  the  President  of  a 
formal  peace  proclamation,  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  negotiations  for  a  treaty  of 
peace  and  amity  with  the  former 
enemy  powers. 

Army  Reduction 

On  June  30  President  Harding 
signed  the  Army  Appropriation  bill, 
under  which  the  regular  army  must 
be  reduced  to  150,000  men  by  Oct.  1. 
At  the  same  time  he  sent  a  message 
to  Congress  suggesting  that  it  might 
be  necessary  later  on  to  ask  for  a 
modification  of  the  measure  to  pro- 
vide for  the  50,000  enlisted  men  who 


THE  CALL  FOR  A  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 


731 


would  have  to  be  dropped.  While  no 
definite  plan  in  discharging  men 
from  the  army  had  been  worked  out, 
Secretary  Weeks  indicated  that  so 
far  as  possible  men  who  wished  to 
remain  in  the  service  would  not  be 
discharged.  His  department  hoped 
to  be  able  to  reduce  the  army  as  re- 


JOHN    G.    EMERY 

Of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  new  Commander  of  the 

American  Legion,  succeeding  Colonel  Galbraith 


quired  by  favorable  action  on  appli- 
cations for  discharge.  The  Secre- 
tary further  stated  that  the  army 
forces  on  duty  in  Hawaii  and  the 
Canal  Zone  would  be  maintained  at 
their  present  strength. 

Pershing  Chief  of  Staff 

General  Pershing  on  July  1  as- 
sumed his  new  duties  as  Chief  of 
Staff  in  succession  to  Maj.  Gen. 
March,  and  at  the  same  time  Maj. 
Gen.  Harbord  took  charge  as  execu- 
tive assistant  to  General  Pershing. 
The  assumption  of  their  new  duties 
took  place  simply  and  without  cere- 
mony. Within  a  few  hours  after  he 
became     Chief     of     Staff     General 


Pershing  was  acting  as  Secretary  of 
War,  Secretary  Weeks  having  gone 
on  a  five-day  visit  to  his  farm  at 
Lancaster,  N.  H.,  and  Assistant 
Secretary  Wainwright  having  de- 
parted on  a  trip  of  inspection  of 
army  posts  in  the  South. 

Airplanes  vs.  Warships. 

In  the  army  and  navy  tests  to  de- 
termine the  efficiency  of  airplanes  as 
antagonists  of  warships,  the  former 
German  submarine  U-117,  which  was 
the  terror  of  the  Atlantic  coast  ship- 
ping four  years  ago,  was  sent  to  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean  in  "sixteen  min- 
utes by  naval  fliers  sixty  miles  off 
the  Virginia  Capes  on  June  21.  Be- 
fore reaching  the  anchored  target  far 
out  at  sea  the  planes  had  flown  in 
triangular  formation  a  distance  of 
seventy-five  miles  from  their  bomb- 
ing base  at  the  Hampton  Roads  Naval 
Station.  The  only  planes  used  in  the 
actual  assault  were  a  single  division 
of  three  F-5-L  planes  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  Delos  Thomas.  Just  a 
dozen  163-pound  bombs,  each  con- 
taing  117  pounds  of  T  N  T,were  used. 
The  first  salvo  of  only  three  bombs 
fell  with  such  precision  as  to  bracket 
the  submarine,  port  and  starboard, 
and  probably  inflicted  damage 
enough  to  put  the  vessel  out  of  com- 
mission, though  no  direct  hits  were 
registered.  Nine  minutes  later  nine 
more  bombs  were  dropped,  and  the 
submarine  went  to  the  bottom. 

On  July  13  it  took  army  aviators 
twenty  minutes  after  the  first  hit  to 
sink  the  former  German  destroyer 
G-102  in  fifty  fathoms,  sixty  miles 
east  of  Cape  Charles,  Va.  Fifty- 
one  300-pound  TNT  missiles  were 
dropped  on  the  target.  The  first  di- 
rect hit  was  made  at  10:20  o'clock, 
and  eight  minutes  later  the  destroyer 
was  seen  to  be  sinking  rapidly,  her 
decks  being  awash  to  the  funnels  and 
her  bridge  a  shattered  heap.  It  was 
then  that  the  fatal  hit  was  scored  by 
one  of  the  Martin  bombers.  It  struck 
amidships  in  the  funnels  and  wrought 
such  destruction  that  the  destroyer 
lunged  forward  and  was  out  of  sight 


732 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


in  two  minutes.  Only  a  large  ellipti- 
cal spot  of  loosened  oil,  amid  which 
floated  splintered  wreckage,  was  left. 
Less  encouraging  to  the  advocates 
of  airplanes  as  attacking  craft  was 
the  test  made  June  29,  when  the  old 
battleship  Iowa,  controlled  by  radio 
and  steaming  at  a  gait  of  only  4% 
knots,  was  struck  only  twice,  though 
eighty  bombs  were  dropped. 

U-Boats  Sunk  by  Gunfire 

With  deadly  precision,  in  which 
half  the  shots  fired  by  two  destroy- 
ers were  recorded  as  hits,  the  former 
German  submarines  U-140  and 
U-148  were  riddled  by  gunfire  attack 
and  sent  to  the  bottom  sixty  miles 
east  of  Cape  Charles,  Va.,  on  June 
22.  The  U-140  was  attacked  by  the 
destroyer  Dickerson,  the  leading  ship 
in  a  division  of  five  destroyers  that 
steamed  in  line  formation  past  the 
submarine.  The  Dickerson's  gunners 
fired  thirty-nine  shots  out  of  a  pos- 
sible forty  permitted  by  the  rules  for 
experiments,  and  nineteen  of  these 
were  hits.  From  the  time  that  the 
first  shot  was  fired  until  the  U-140 
sank  only  1  hour  24i/2  minutes 
elapsed.  A  little  later  the  destroyers 
steamed  in  similar  fashion  past  the 
U-148,  and  out  of  forty  shots  fired 
twenty  were  hits.  The  submarine 
wrent  to  the  bottom  in  less  than  30 
minutes. 

Secretary  Denby  of  the  navy  took 
action  on  June  23  to  check  any  ten- 
dency toward  so-called  "Sovietism" 
in  the  navy  by  removing  Captain 
Clark  D.  Stearns  of  the  battleship 
Michigan  for  having  permitted  his 
crew  to  discuss  with  him  discipli- 
nary matters  vested  only  in  the  com- 
manding officer.  The  action  of  Cap- 
tain Stearns  was  said  to  have  had 
the  approval  of  former  Secretary 
Daniels,  but  the  action  of  Secretary 
Denby  showed  his  emphatic  disap- 
proval of  the  policy  of  his  predeces- 
sor. The  order  issued  on  the  Michi- 
gan to  which  the  Secretary  took  ex- 
ception provided  for  a  "  ship 
morale  "  committee  to  consist  of  four 
petty  officers  and  ten  other  enlisted 


men  to  investigate  and  report  to  the 
Captain  on  disciplinary  cases,  and  to 
transmit  to  the  Captain  from  the 
crew  suggestions  tending  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  ship  or  the  naval 
service. 

Rebuke  to  Admiral  Sims 

Rear  Admiral  William  S.  Sims  was 
publicly  reprimanded  on  June  24  by 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  Denby  for  his 
remarks  on  Ireland  and  England  at 
the  luncheon  of  the  English-Speaking 
Union  in  London,  June  7.  [See  July 
Current  History.]  The  essential 
part  of  the  reprimand,  after  reciting 
the  remarks  to  which  exception  was 
taken,  was  as  follows: 

The  department  is  not  unmindful  of 
your  record  and  achievements  as  an 
officer  of  the  navy,  but  the  conspicuous 
position  you  now  hold,  coupled  with  the 
fact  that  you  have  previously  offended 
in  a  similar  manner,  merely  serves  to 
add  to  the  gravity  of  the  present  of- 
fense. The  department  deplores  the 
fact  that  it  is  necessary  to  rebuke  a 
flag  officer  in  public,  but  you  have 
made  such  action  unavoidable.  The  de- 
partment expresses  its  strong  and  un- 
qualified disapproval  of  your  conduct  in 
having  delivered  a  highly  improper 
speech  in  a  foreign  country  and  you 
are  hereby  publicly  reprimanded 

The  Admiral  refused  to  comment 
on  the  reprimand  except  to  say  that 
he  hadn't  known  his  speech  was 
"  loaded  as  much  as  it  was,"  and  that 
he  had  got  "  what  was  coming "  to 
him. 

Allied  Debt  Refund  Bill 

A  bill  to  enable  the  refunding  of 
the  obligations  of  foreign  Govern- 
ments to  the  United  States  was  in- 
troduced in  the  Senate  on  June  23  by 
Senator  Penrose  of  Pennsylvania, 
Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee. 
The  bill  was  intended  to  clothe  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  Mellon  with 
sweeping  authority  to  refund  the  ob- 
ligations of  the  foreign  Governments 
and  to  adjust  claims  of  the  United 
States  against  them.  It  was  broad 
enough  to  permit  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  receive  bonds  and 
obligations  of  "  any  foreign  Govern- 


THE  CALL  FOR  A  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 


733 


ment "  in  substitution  for  those  now 
or  hereafter  held  by  the  United 
States  Government.  The  bill  was  in- 
troduced at  the  request  of  President 
Harding,  who  in  turn  acted  at  the 
instance  of  Secretary  Mellon.  It  was 
announced  that  public  hearings  would 
begin  at  once  on  the  bill. 

[For  details  of  the  $11,000,000,000 
debts  of  foreign  Governments  to  the 
United  States  Government  see  Page 
802.] 

To  Defer  Bonus  Action 

President  Harding  appeared  in  per- 
son before  the  Senate  on  July  12  to 
make  a  presentation  of  the  reasons 
why  the  soldiers'  bonus  bill,  already 
condemned  by  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  Mellon,  ought  not  to  be 
passed  at  the  present  time  lest  it 
contribute  to  "  the  paralysis  of  the 
Treasury."  He  spoke  forcibly  of  the 
need  of  appropriate  action  for  dis- 
abled soldiers  and  sailors,  which  he 
urged  was  a  primary  consideration 
as  a  matter  of  national  gratitude. 
The  enactment  of  the  adjusted  com- 
pensation bill  in  the  midst  of  the 
struggle  for  readjustment  and  res- 
toration, however,  he  said,  would 
hinder  every  effort  and  greatly  im- 
peril the  financial  stability  of  the 
country.  In  addition  this  menacing 
effort  to  expend  millions  in  gratuities 
would  imperil  our  capacity  to  dis- 
charge our  first  obligations  to  those 
we  must  not  fail  to  aid.  Stating  that 
he  did  not  wish  to  restrict  the  action 
of  Congress,  he  urged  the  prompt  re- 
adjustment and  reduction  of  war- 
time taxes  and  the  enactment  as  soon 
as  possible  of  the  pending  tariff  bill. 
After  a  spirited  debate,  the  bonus  bill 
was  referred  again  to  the  Finance 
Committee  on  July  15. 

The  United  States  Labor  Board  on 


June  27  extended  its  wage  reduction 
order,  effective  July  1,  to  nearly 
every  large  railroad  in  the  country. 
No  change  from  the  average  12  per 
cent,  reduction  granted  104  carriers 
on  June  1  was  made.  It  was  esti- 
mated that  the  general  extension  of 
the  wage  cut  would  lop  approxi- 
mately $400,000,000  annually  from 
the  country's  railroad  labor  bill. 

The  decrease  in  the  cost  of  living 
between  June,  1920,  and  May,  1921, 
was  16.7  per  cent.,  according  to  fig- 
ures based  on  prices  from  thirty-two 
cities,  made  public  June  3  by  the 
Department  of  Labor.  Except  for 
fuel,  light  and  housing,  all  items 
dropped  in  price  between  the  periods 
mentioned. 

Taft  as  Chief  Justice 

On  June  30  William  Howard  Taft 
was  nominated  by  President  Harding 
as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  succeed- 
ing the  late  Edward  Douglass  White. 
The  nomination  was  confirmed  by  the 
Senate  on  the  same  day.  The  new 
Chief  Justice  took  the  oath  of  office 
on  July  11.  He  is  the  only  man  in 
the  nation's  history  who  has  held  the 
office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  and  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  nation  greeted 
his  appointment  with  almost  univer- 
sal approbation. 

It  was  announced  on  June  24  that 
Charles  B.  Warren  of  Michigan  had 
been  chosen  by  President  Harding 
as  Ambassador  to  Japan.  On  the 
same  date  William  Miller 'Collier  was 
nominated  as  Minister  to  Chile.  Mr. 
Warren  is  a  lawyer  of  international 
reputation  and  has  been  prominent 
in  Republican  councils.  Mr.  Collier 
served  as  Minister  to  Spain  under 
Presidents  Roosevelt  and  Taft. 


SANTO  DOMINGO  TO  BE  FREE 

By  Horace  G.  Knowles 

Former    United    States    Minister    to    Santo    Domingo 

How  objectionable  features  of  the  American  Government's  plan  of  withdrawal  were 
removed — The  most  serious  blot  that  remains  is  the  recent  loan  negotiated  without  the 
consent  of  the  Dominican  people,  saddling  them  with  an  annual  payment  of  14  per 
cent,  on  $2,500,000 


FOLLOWING  somewhat  along  the 
lines  of  the  previous  Adminis- 
tration's announcement  of  Dec. 
23,  1920,  in  which  it  stated  its  deci- 
sion to  put  an  end  to  our  nearly  five 
years'  military  occupation  of  the 
Dominican  Republic,  an  occupation 
regarding  which  the  American  people 
had  been  kept  in  almost  complete  ig- 
norance, and  yielding  to  the  appeals 
of  the  Dominican  people  for  a  fulfill- 
ment of  the  pre-election  promise  of 
President  Harding,  the  present  Ad- 
ministration, through  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  and  Military  Governor 
Robison,  issued  on  June  14  a  procla- 
mation to  the  Dominican  people,  in 
which  were  stated  the  conditions  on 
which  the  American  military  force 
would  be  withdrawn  from  Santo 
Domingo  and  sovereignty  and  self- 
government,  restored  to  the  natives 
of  that  country. 

[See  documents,  Page  813 ;  also  ar- 
ticle, Page  809.] 

Certain  conditions  of  the  plan  em- 
bodied in  the  proclamation,  notably 
those  relating  to  the  selection  of  the 
Dominican  members  of  a  commission 
to  negotiate  with  the  United  States 
a  treaty  of  evacuation,  the  ratifica- 
tion of  "  the  acts  of  the  Military 
Government,"  and  a  military  mission 
to  be  composed  of  officers  of  the 
American  Army,  were  so  contrary  to 
the  promises  and  assurances  given 
by  both, the  last  and  present  Admin- 
istrations, and  so  very  objectionable 
to  the  Dominican  people,  that  the  en- 
tire population  was  aroused  to  a 
pitch  of  patriotic  indignation  never 
known  before  in  that  country. 


Meetings  of  protest  were  held 
simultaneously  in  every  city,  town 
and  hamlet  of  the  country.  In  Santo 
Domingo  City,  the  capital  of  the 
country,  over  15,000  participated  ac- 
tively in  the  demonstration,  the  like 
of  which  was  never  known  before  in 
that  old  city.  It  was  not  a  gathering 
of  either  politicians  or  members  of  a 
particular  party.  It  was  patriotism 
of  the  famous  Boston  "  tea  party  " 
kind,  and  not  politics,  that  inspired 
the  people  to  such  intense  protest.  A 
formal  document  of  protest  and  ap- 
peal was  unanimously  adopted  by 
that  memorable  meeting  and  imme- 
diately forwarded  to  President  Har- 
ding, who  took  due  notice  of  it.  The 
subject  matter  of  the  petition  of  pro- 
test was  then  taken  up  personally  by 
Secretary  Hughes,  and  without  delay 
he  so  modified  and  clarified  the  plan 
of  June  14  that  the  major  objections 
to  it  were  removed. 

The  status  of  the  Dominican  situ- 
ation may  now  be  said  to  be  better 
than  at  any  time  since  the  occupa- 
tion began,  and  there  is  every  pros- 
pect and  hope  that,  as  negotiations 
proceed,  it  will  not  be  long  before  a 
thorough  and  in  every  way  satisfac- 
tory understanding  between  Wash- 
ington and  Santo  Domingo  will  be 
reached.  That  now  easily  attainable 
end  is  the  one  hope  of  the  Domi- 
nicans and  the  plain  duty  of  the  pres- 
ent Administration. 

The  revised  proclamation  by  Sec- 
retary Hughes  was  hailed  with  de- 
light by  the  friends  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo, and  brought  great  relief  to  its 
citizens.      It    greatly    clarified    our 


SANTO  DOMINGO  TO  BE  FREE 


735 


relations  with  the  South  American 
countries.  We  were  losing  ground 
heavily  in  South  America.  Because 
of  our  doings  in  Santo  Domingo  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  being  repre- 
sented in  all  the  Latin-American 
countries  as  a  diplomatic  bludgeon 
to   enable  the   United   States   to   do 


HORACE   G.    KNOWLES 

Former   Minister   of   the    United   States   to 

Rumania,    Serbia,    Bulgaria,    Santo 

Domingo    and    Bolwia 


whatever  it  pleased — anything  or  all 
the  things  it  prohibited  European 
countries  from  doing — to  the  Latin- 
American  countries,  and  then  to  pre- 
vent the  Latin  Americans,  in  case 
of  invasion  or  attack,  as  in  Santo 
Domingo,  from  receiving  assistance 
from  any  European  power.  If  the 
Latin-American  countries  are  to  un- 
derstand that  the  way  we  have 
applied  the  Monroe  Doctrine  to 
Santo  Domingo  is  the  way  we  may 
apply  it  to  any  one  of  them,  they 
will  want  none  of  it;  and,  sooner  or 
later,  an  alliance  will  be  formed  to 
enable  them  to  break  away  from  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  or  fight  it.     I  can 


see  no  other  peril  to  our  country  so 
great  or  so  imminent  as  that,  and 
dim  of  vision  are  our  statesmen  and 
national  leaders  if  they  cannot  see  it. 

Soon  the  tariff  wall  will  be  built 
around  our  country,  and  this  large, 
rich  market  for  foreign  manufac- 
tures will  be  closed  to  those  nations 
of  Europe  who  are  now  both  our 
debtors  and  our  foreign  trade  com- 
petitors. It  is  only  with  the  profits 
on  their  foreign  trade,  in  our  mar- 
kets or  others,  that  they  can  ever  pay 
the  interest  and  principal  of  the  debt 
they  owe  us.  The  harder  we  press 
them  for  what  they  owe  us,  the 
harder  must  they  press  us  in  the  for- 
eign markets  of  the  world.  Thus  it 
is  plain  that  the  commercial  Arma- 
geddon for  us  will  be  in  South 
America.  As  we  close  our  doors  to 
European  manufactured  products 
and  immigration,  we  shall  automati- 
cally divert  them  to  South  America. 
There,  sooner  or  later,  we  shall  have 
to  meet  them  in  great  phalanxes, 
first  in  commercial  and  then  in  polit- 
ical battle. 

The  invasion  and  oppression  of 
Santo  Domingo  was  not  only  a  wrong 
to  that  little  country,  but  an  assault 
on  the  sovereign  rights  of  one  of  the 
Latin-American  republics.  As  they 
looked  at  their  little  Dominican  sis- 
ter in  chains,  saw  her  homes  being 
burned,  her  people  tortured  and 
killed,  her  jails  filled  with  her 
patriots,  her  public  money  seized  and 
misspent,  her  country  exploited  and 
bankrupted,  and  her  taxes  gathered 
and  spent  to  reward  American  poli- 
ticians and  job-hunters,  they  real- 
ized that  the  "great  power  of  the 
North  "  had  broken  one  of  the  links 
of  their  Latin-American  chain;  and 
feared  that,  sooner  or  later,  another 
and  then  another  link  might  be 
broken,  and  that  the  horrors  of  five 
years  of  oppression,  suffered  by  the 
Dominicans,  might  be  imposed  upon 
one  or  many  of  them.  Is  it  any  won- 
der that  they  regard  us  with  sus- 
picion and  fear?  It  will  require 
tremendous  tact  for  Harding  and 
Hughes,  great  men  as  they  are,  to 


736 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


get  this  terrible  nightmare  out  of  the 
minds  of  the  Latin  Americans. 

The  Dominican  people,  before  our 
advent,  were  happy,  prosperous  and 
peaceful,  save  for  some  few  political 
disorders,  such  as  we  have  at  most 
of  our  elections.  They  did  not  owe 
us  a  dollar;  no  American  property 
was  in  peril;  no  American  had  been 
harmed.  As  a  nation  they  were 
happy  mostly  because  they  be- 
lieved in  us  and  trusted  us.  They 
considered  that,  because  of  our 
friendship  for  them,  as  was  mani- 
fested among  other  things  by  the 
Roosevelt  treaty  of  1907,  they  were 
safe  from  any  foreign  foe.  From 
that  dream  of  security  they  were 
rudely  awakened  in  1916,  when,  with- 
out notice,  an  American  fleet,  with 
frowning  turrets  and  large  calibre 
guns,  stole  into  the  roadstead  of  their 
capital  city  and  dropped  anchor  there. 
Then,  in  the  shadow  of  those  formid- 
able guns,  an  American  Admiral, 
holding  in  hand  an  order  partly  in  the 
handwriting  of  President  Wilson  and 
bearing  his  signature,  landed  with  a 
large  detachment  of  marines  and  be- 
gan the  invasion  and  occupation  of 
that  country — an  occupation  which 
has  now  lasted  for  over  five  years. 

The  undoing  of  this  wrong  has  be- 
gun. The  promise  of  President  Har- 
ding has  begun  to  be  fulfilled,  and  jus- 
tice toward  Latin-American  countries 
is  to  be  practiced.  Soon  the  Domini- 
can Republic  will  be  free,  and  her 
complete  sovereignty  will  be  restored 
to  her.  The  latest  order  of  Secretary 
Hughes,  dated  June  25,  modifying 
and  clarifying  the  previous  order  of 
the  Department  of  State,  issued  on 
June  14,  seems  to  give  to  the  Domini- 
cans the  promise — if  not  as  yet  the 
full  assurance — of: 

1.  The  restoration  of  their  national 
severeignty,  full  liberty  and  indepen- 
dence, and  complete  self-government 
within  eight  months  from  June  14, 
1921. 

2.  The  election,  as  soon  as  the  details 
can  be  arranged,  of  a  National  Con- 
gress, said  election  to  be  free  and  un- 
trammeled  and  without  any  interfer- 
ence whatsoever  of  the  American  mili- 
tary force. 

3.  The  right  to  have   their   National 


Congress  select  the  Dominican  mem- 
bers of  the  commission  that  is  to  nego- 
tiate the  treaty  of  evacuation  with  the 
United  States. 

4.  The  withdrawal  of  the  entire  mili- 
tary force  from  the  republic  within  the 
specified  period  of  eight  months. 

The  only  acts  of  the  American 
Military  Government  in  Santo  Do- 
mingo that  the  United  States  will  ask 
to  be  ratified  are  those  connected 
with  the  raising  of  funds  which  were 
expended  by  the  said  Military  Gov- 
ernment during  the  occupation. 

The  one  fly  in  the  ointment,  now 
so  well  and  carefully  prepared  by 
Secretary  Hughes  to  heal  the  Domini- 
can wound,  seems  to  be  a  loan  of  $2,- 
500,000  negotiated  by  an  over- 
zealous  American  naval  officer  with- 
out either  the  consent  or  the  aid  of 
the  Dominican  people,  and  intended 
to  be  forced  upon  them  regardless  of 
their  protests  and  of  the  very  unfa- 
vorable criticism  provoked  in  our 
country  by  the  said  loan.  This  loan  is 
guaranteed  by  two  nations — the 
United  States  and  the  Dominican  Re- 
public— and  seems  to  be  better  se- 
cured than  any  bonds  our  Govern- 
ment ever  issued.  It  is  a  first  lien 
upon  the  customs  revenues  of  the 
Dominican  Republic,  which  are  col- 
lected and  controlled  by  the  United 
States,  and,  as  the  proceeds  of  the 
loan  will  be  paid  to  officials  of  the 
United  States  and  will  be  disbursed 
by  them,  there  will  be  a  moral  obliga- 
tion, involving  the  good  name  and 
credit  of  our  country,  fully  to  protect 
the  bonds. 

Notwithstanding  this  double-bar- 
reled guarantee,  the  representative 
of  the  Navy  and  State  Departments, 
given  such  a  free  hand  to  negotiate 
the  loan  with  Wall  Street  bankers, 
agreed  with  them  for  an  annual  in- 
terest rate  of  14  per  cent.,  which, 
combined  with  other  charges,  makes 
a  total  cost  charge  of  over  9  per 
cent.,  up  to  nearly  19  per  cent.  The 
representatives  of  Chile  are  on  their 
way  to  this  country  to  conclude  an  8 
per  cefit.  loan  for  $25,000,000.  As  this 
article  is  being  written  there  is  to  be 
seen  in  all  the  New  York  newspapers 


SANTO  DOMINGO  TO  BE  FREE 


737 


the  announcement  by  a  prominent 
banking  house  of  an  issue  of  $1,000,- 
000  Porto  Rican  4%  Per  cent,  bonds, 
offered  at  a  price  that  will  net  the 
investors  less  than  5*4  per  cent.  For 
the  United  States-Dominican  Re- 
public bonds,  a  great  deal  better  se- 
cured, why  pay  14  per  cent. — nearly 
three  times  as  much?  There  must 
be  something  wrong.  In  the  New 
York  market  there  are  being  sold 
State  bonds  that  net  the  investors  less 
than  5  per  cent,  and  scores  of  8  per 
cent,  industrial  loans  are  being 
placed;  yet  our  Government  is  sad- 
dling upon  the  Dominicans  a  loan 
with  an  annual  interest  charge  of  14 
per  cent.,  plus  a  proportionate  com- 
mission to  the  bankers!  Who  is  re- 
sponsible for  thus  throwing  the  poor 
Dominicans  to  the  wolves  of  Wall 
Street?  It  is  believed  that  this  very 
questionable  operation  was  slipped 
past  Secretary  Hughes,  and  that 
when  he  learns  the  details  of  it  he 


will  decline  to  give  it  his  approval 
and  insist  upon  its  immediate  cancel- 
lation. 

It  will  not  be  long  now  before  the 
final  chapters  in  the  unfortunate 
Dominican  affair  will  be  reached.  In 
the  crown  of  nations  soon  will  be  re- 
set the  brilliant  Dominican  Republic 
gem.  There  will  be  a  declaration  by 
our  Government  as  to  the  meaning 
and  value  of  national  sovereignty, 
confirming  our  support  of  the  prin- 
ciple that  sovereignty  is  sovereignty 
wherever  it  exists,  and  that  whoever 
is  entitled  to  it  shall  never  be  de- 
prived or  robbed  of  it,  if  we  can  pre- 
vent it.  We  will  say  that  there  is  no 
big  and  no  little  sovereignty;  that 
neither  the  size  nor  condition  of  a 
nation  in  any  way  diminishes  or  en- 
larges it;  that  we  hold  it  inviolate 
when  possessed  by  others,  as  we  do 
our  own,  and  that  in  our  hearts  we 
respect  it  in  its  entirety,  like  honor 
in  a  man,  like  chastity  in  a  woman. 


DECLINE  OF  THE  GREAT  WHITE  PLAGUE 


DR.  JAMES  ALEXANDER  MILLER, 
the  newly  elected  President  of  the  Na- 
tional Tuberculosis  Association,  declared  be- 
fore the  seventeenth  annual  meeting  of  that 
body,  held  in  New  York  in  June,  that  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  the  battle  against 
tuberculosis  in  the  United  States  was  in 
sight.  "  After  years  of  hard  work,"  said 
Dr.  Miller,  "  the  death  rate  continues  to 
go  down,  and  this  is  in  marked  contrast 
to  the  tremendous  increase  in  tuberculosis 
in  Europe  on  account  of  the  war."  His 
statement  was  borne  out  by  the  testimony 
of  experts  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

It  was  stated  that  there  were  12,000  tu- 
berculous ex-service  men  in  various  hospi- 
tals of  the  United  States.  One  regulation 
passed  by  the  association  indicated  that  a 


certain  percentage  of  returned  soldiers  were 
refusing  to  avail  themselves  of  the  facil- 
ities for  treatment  offered  through  the 
Public  Health  Service  and  other  organiza- 
tions, and  urged  that  the  Compensation  act 
be  amended  so  as  to  reduce  the  compensa- 
tion sanctioned  for  such  patients  among  the 
ex-service  men. 

The  association  put  on  record  its  appre- 
hension of  the  growth  of  the  disease  in 
Europe,  following  the  war,  and  adopted 
resolutions  calling  on  the  United  States 
Public  Health  Service  to  see  that  trained 
examiners  should  be  stationed  at  all  the 
ports  of  debarkation  to  prevent  the  entrance . 
of  tuberculous  immigrants  from  France, 
Italy,  Russia,  Germany,  and  other  countries 
involved  in  the  war. 


MENACE  OF  THE 
ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 

By  George  L.  Koehn 

Department    of    History,    Reed    College,    Portland,    Ore 

How  renewal  of  the  treaty  might  endanger  the  friendship  between  England  and  the 
United  States — Pact  that  forced  Japan  into  the  World  War  may  also  force  Great  Britain 
to  take  sides  against  us — How  it  has  served  Japan  s  ambition  to  dominate  China 


THE  opening  of  the  Imperial  Con- 
ference in  London  late  in  June 
focused  the  attention  of  stu- 
dents of  world  politics  on  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance.  One  of  the  ob- 
jects of  that  conference  was  to  de- 
cide the  momentous  question  of  a  re- 
newal. So  momentous  was  it,  in  fact, 
that  no  agreement  could  be  reached 
on  it  before  the  date  of  the  treaty's 
expiration;  the  emergency  was  met 
by  a  ruling  that,  in  the  absence  of 
definite  action,  the  alliance  was  au- 
tomatically renewed  for  one  year. 
Thus  the  issue  is  still  pending.  What 
action  will  Great  Britain  and  Japan 
take:  will  they  renew  the  compact  in 
its  present  form,  or  will  they  modify 
it?  The  British  dominions  bordering 
the  Pacific  are  vitally  concerned  in  its 
renewal.  So,  also,  is  the  United 
States. 

Many  Americans,  especially  those 
who  live  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  view 
with  uneasiness  the  renewal  of  the 
alliance  in  its  present  form.  They 
regard  this  pact  as  inimical  to  the 
safety  of  the  United  States,  and  feel 
that  if  it  should  be  renewed  without 
change  British-American  relations 
would  be  poisoned  by  mutual  distrust 
and  fear,  and  vitiated  by  a  continu- 
ous anticipation  of  war. 

To  understand  the  issues  involved, 
it  is  necessary  to  review  the  events 
that  led  up  to  the  creation  of  the 
original  alliance.  In  1854,  an  Amer- 
ican naval  officer  (Commodore 
Perry)  opened  the  doors  of  a  back- 
ward, Oriental  nation  named  Japan 
to  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the 
world,   and   in   half  a  century  that 


backward  country  was  among  the 
first  five  powers  of  the  world.  No 
sooner  did  it  realize  its  power  than  it 
launched  into  a  policy  of  economic 
imperialism,  followed  by  military 
aggression.  It  adopted  the  policy 
that  any  territory  within  its  prox- 
imity must  be  under  its  control  as  a 
matter  of  national  safety;  and  so  it 
began  to  cherish  designs  on  Korea, 
a  peaceful  nation  of  17,000,000  souls, 
whose  country  was  the  doorway  into 
China. 

Japan  realized,  however,  that  her 
designs  would  conflict  with  China 
and  the  many  European  nations  who 
were  just  then  cvarving  that  empire 
into  spheres  of  influence,  and  know- 
ing that  she  was  unprepared  for  war 
with  a  European  power,  she  sought 
an  ally  to  give  her  the  necessary  fi- 
nancial assistance,  and  to  protect  her 
from  European  interference.  It  was 
England  that  first  freed  Japan  from 
European  interference  by  a  treaty  in 
which  she  pledged  herself  to  prevent 
European  nations  from  intervening 
in  case  of  a  war  between  Japan  and 
China.  The  pact  was  signed  on  July 
16,  1894,  and  it  is  significant  that 
just  one  week  later,  on  July  25,  Japan 
picked  a  war  with  China  over  Korea. 

Japan  won  a  brilliant  victory  over 
China,  but  the  fruits  of  that  victory 
were  stolen  by  the  intervention  of 
Russia,  France  and  Germany.  Japan 
realized  that  if  she  were  to  cope  suc- 
cessfully against  European  powers 
for  the  control  of  Asia,  she  must  ally 
herself  with  a  strong  European 
power.  She  remembered  England's 
aid  in  the  Chinese  war,  and  decided 


MENACE  OF  THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


:;<.) 


to  make  that  great  power  her  ally. 
Fortunately  for  Japan,  Russia  was 
at  that  time  encroaching  on  Eng- 
land's interests  in  India,  through  her 
interests  in  Persia  and  Afghanistan, 
and  Russia's  interests  in  Manchuria 
and  Mongolia  were  affecting  Eng- 
land's monopoly  of  the  Yangtse  val- 
ley. Then,  too,  the  spectre  of  Ger- 
man commercial  competition  in  the 
Far  East  was  disturbing  to  Britain's 
well-being  there.  The  suppression  of 
Russian  aggression  being  a  common 
enterprise,  Japan,  in  exchange  for 
England's  recognition  of  Japan's 
special  interests  in  Korea,  guaran- 
teed England's  interests  in  the 
Yangtse  valley  and  in  India. 

Thus  the  fateful  alliance  of  1902 
was  concluded.  The  alliance  made 
possible  the  war  with  Russia,  and 
Japan's  consequent  victory.  During 
this  war — in  1905 — the  alliance  of 
1902  was  strengthened  into  a  binding 
defensive  alliance,  in  which  each  na- 
tion guaranteed  to  guard  the  inter- 
ests of  the  other  in  its  respective 
spheres  of  influence.  This  pact 
recognized  Japan's  special  interests, 
and  her  right  to  do  with  Korea  as 
she  pleased.  In  1910,  therefore, 
Korea  was  definitely  annexed  to 
Japan,  against  the  protests  of  its  in- 
habitants, and  also  of  America. 

Alliance  Against  Whom? 

In  1911  the  alliance  was  again  mod- 
ified to  assure  England  that  her  in- 
terests in  India  would  be  especially 
safeguarded  by  Japan,  and  to  exclude 
the  operation  of  the  alliance  from 
those  nations  with  whom  either 
England  or  Japan  had  a  general  arbi- 
tration treaty.  As  the  alliance  was 
then  modified,  it  remains  today. 
Since  then  the  two  nations  against 
whom  this  alliance  was  originally 
aimed  have  been  removed.  Russia 
will  not  be  concerned  with  Far  East- 
ern affairs  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
Germany  will  not  be  a  factor  in 
Asiatic  problems  for  an  even  longer 
time.  Against  whom,  then,  is  this  al- 
liance aimed?  What  are  the  motives 
and  reasons  that  prompt  its  contin- 


uance? Whatever  the  answer,  the  al- 
liance as  it  works  today  amounts  to 
this:  It  says  to  England,  "Go  as 
far  as  you  like  in  the  Yangtse  Val- 
ley, and  in  India";  it  says  to  Japan, 
"  Go  as  far  as  you  like  in  your  sphere 
of  influence" — which  Japan  inter- 
prets as  the  rest  of  China. 

This  alliance  is  an  obstacle  to  good 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States;  first,  because  it 
is  conducive  to  bringing  about  a  war 
between  America  and  Japan ;  and,  sec- 
ond, because  in  case  of  war  England 
would  be  morally  bound  to  come  to 
the  aid  of  Japan. 

That  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance 
is  the  basis  of  Japan's  foreign  policy 
is  indicated  by  the  testimony  of  Count 
Hayashi,  the  Japanese  Minister  who 
negotiated  the  alliance,  and  that  of 
Baron  Kato,  who  has  had  more  to  do 
with  enforcing  it  than  any  other  man. 
Count  Hayashi  in  his  Secret  Memoirs 
says  of  it :  "  It  is  the  basis  of  this 
country's  foreign  policy ."  Baron  Kato 
says :  "  The  Anglo- Japanese  Alliance 
is  revered  and  respected  in  Japan  as 
long  as  it  can  be  used  as  a  stepping 
stone  in  China.  It  will  remain  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  the  shaft  on 
which  the  wheels  of  Japanese  diplo- 
macy revolve."  Mr.  A.  M.  Pooley, 
England's  most  eminent  authority  on 
Far  Eastern  questions,  declares  in  his 
book  on  Japan's  foreign  policy:  "  That 
Japan  has  been  in  a  position  to  carry 
out  successfully  her  policy  of  wanton 
aggression  in  China  is  due  to  the  al- 
liance of  1902."  Such  eminent  stu- 
dents of  Far  Eastern  problems  as 
E.  T.  Williams,  T.  F.  Millard,  J.  O. 
Bland,  K.  K.  Kawakama,  are  all  of 
the  opinion  that  Japan's  policy  in  the 
Far  East  would  not  have  been  pos- 
sible without  the  Anglo-Japanese  Al- 
liance. 

On  the  basis  of  this  alliance,  which 
associated  her  on  terms  of  equality 
with  a  great  European  power,  Japan 
adopted  a  foreign  policy  which  in- 
volves these  three  aims: 

1.  To  have  repealed  all  legislation  of 

a  discriminatory  measure,  and  to  obtain 

equal    privileges    and    rights    for    her 

people; 


739a 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


2.  To  obtain  a  free  hand  in  China 
and  to  proclaim  a  so-called  Monroe 
Doctrine  over  Asia; 

3.  To  gain  the  control  of  the  Pacific. 

In  every  one  of  these  ambitions, 
Japan's  policy  has  come  into  direct 
conflict  with  that  of  the  United 
States,  and  has  led  to  a  state  of  af- 
fairs which  some  observers  believe 
makes  a  war  highly  probable. 

Japan's  first  policy,  that  of  secur- 
ing the  repeal  of  all  discriminatory 
measures  against  her  nationals,  has 
an  important  bearing  on  the  Califor- 
nia issue.  This  issue,  like  that  of 
race  equality  in  general,  is  being  used 
by  Japan  merely  as  a  smoke  screen 
to  hide  her  actions  in  the  Far  East, 
and  to  imbue  the  populace  of  Japan 
with  a  strong  hatred  of  America  as  a 
popular  pretext  for  war.  Her  loud 
protestations  about  the  California 
issue  are  answered  by  merely  point- 
ing to  the  fact  that  Japan  herself 
does  not  allow  foreigners  to  become 
citizens  or  hold  land,  does  not  allow 
them  even  to  become  laborers  or  en- 
gage in  any  business.  Many  Ameri- 
cans now  realize  that  Japan  is  harp- 
ing on  the  California  issue  to  keep 
America's  attention  from  the  Far 
East,  just  as  she  harped  on  the  issue 
of  race  equality  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence to  keep  the  world's  attention 
from  the  issue  of  Shantung.  It  is 
over  China  and  the  Far  East  that 
American  and  Japanese  policy  must 
seriously  conflict. 

Policy  Toward  China 

What  has  been  our  policy  toward 
China?  The  United  States  has  been 
the  only  true  friend  of  the  Celestial 
Empire.  When  China  was  on  the 
verge  of  dismemberment  by  the  poli- 
cies of  economic  imperialism  and 
"spheres  of  influence"  pursued  by 
the  Great  Powers,  John  Hay,  the 
American  Secretary  of  State,  recog- 
nized the  fundamental  importance  of 
the  square  deal  in  China,  and  devised 
a  plan  to  check  the  progress  of  the 
spheres  of  influence  policy  in  that 
country.  He  succeeded  in  securing 
the  acceptance  by  all  the  major  pow- 


ers, including  Japan  and  England,  of 
those  principles  of  the  Commercial 
Open  Door  and  the  preservation  of 
the  territorial  integrity  of  China 
which  constituted  the  Hay  Doctrine. 
The  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  Hay 
Doctrine,  which  is  but  an  extension 
of  the  same  principle  to  the  Far  East, 
are  the  only  two  traditional  foreign 
policies  of  the  United  States.  They 
are  both  based  on  the  same  broad- 
minded  principles:  (1)  The  protec- 
tion of  a  weaker  nation  by  its 
stronger  neighbor,  and  (2)  the  safe- 
guarding of  equal  commercial  priv- 
ileges to  all  nations  dealing  with  the 
weaker  countries.  This  means  that 
no  nation,  regardless  of  political  in- 
terests or  geographic  proximity,  can 
maintain  special  commercial  priv- 
ileges or  monopolies  to  the  detriment 
of  free  and  open  competition  of  the 
commerce  of  all  nations.  The  United 
States  has  always  intended  to  en- 
force these  policies.  She  has  done 
so  in  South  America  to  the  benefit 
of  all  concerned.  Her  military  un- 
preparedness  in  the  past  has  pre- 
vented her  from  doing  so  in  China. 
She  has  had  to  depend  on  the  pledges 
of  those  nations  who  signed  the  Hay 
Doctrine. 

Japan  Ignores  The  "  Open  Door  " 

Japan  has  broken  her  pledge,  and 
her  every  move  since  the  Russo-Japa- 
nese war  has  been  to  destroy  the 
efficacy  of  the  doctrine,  and  to  sub- 
stitute for  it  the  war-breeding 
"spheres  of  influence"  policy.  She 
annexed  Korea  in  1910,  after  cruelly 
putting  down  the  native  revolt,  and 
against  America's  official  protest. 
She  then  began  her  policy  of  eco- 
nomic aggression  and  followed  it  up 
by  the  political  subjugation  of  For- 
mosa, Mongolia,  and  Manchuria. 
Wherever  Japan  entered,  her  stay 
was  followed  by  the  slavish  subjec- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  and  the  sup- 
pression of  all  free  commercial  com- 
petition. To  such  an  extent  did  her 
underhand  measures  and  vicious  dis- 
criminations prevent  foreign  trade, 
that  in  the  port  of  Newchwang,  Man- 


MENACE  OF  THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


739b 


churia  (to  cite  an  instance  where, 
twenty  years  ago,  two-thirds  of  all 
cotton  goods  used  by  the  Chinese 
entered  from  the  United  States), 
there  is  no  longer  a  single  American 
firm.  The  Japanese  Government  has 
actually  driven  out  every  American 
merchant,  closed  the  American  mis- 
sions and  schools,  and  compelled  our 
Government  to  recall  our  Consul- 
General.  Both  the  Shanghai  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  and  the  American 
Association  of  China  have  issued 
formal  protests  against  Japan's  un- 
fair discriminatory  measures,  which 
range  from  putting  American  trade 
marks  on  her  own  cheap  imitations, 
to  the  entire  exclusion  of  American 
goods  by  excessive  taxes  or  railway 
rates.  Mr.  T.  F.  Millard,  an  au- 
thority on  China  and  tne  Far  East, 
in  his  testimony  before  the  Senate 
Foreign  Relations  Committee  stated 
that  it  was  Japan's  intention  to  force 
all  American  trade  with  China  to 
pass  through  her  hands.  Thus  the 
Japanese  Government  violated  every 
principle  of  the  Open-Door  policy,  if 
not  with  the  active  assistance  of 
England,  at  least  with  her  tacit  con- 
sent. Japan  would  never  have  dared 
to  violate  a  fundamental  American 
policy  had  she  not  felt  that  the  great- 
est navy  in  the  world  would  at  least 
"keep  the  ring"  for  her. 

Vicious  Aggressive  Policy 

It  was  not  until  1915,  however, 
that  the  most  vicious  nature  of 
Japan's  aggressive  policy  came  to 
light.  While  the  allied  nations  were 
busily  engaged  in  the  war,  Japan 
took  advantage  of  this  situation  to 
present  to  China  her  infamous  twen- 
ty-one demands.  The  disgraceful 
method  by  which  Japan  on  this  oc- 
casion attempted  to  force  her  dom- 
ination down  the  throat  of  a  helpless 
people  will  always  remain  as  the  su- 
preme example  of  the  national  per- 
fidy and  callousness  to  which  a 
bureaucratic  nation's  belief  in  her  di- 
vine mission  to  force  her  leadership 
on  weaker  peoples  can  drive  her. 
When  Japan's  real  intention  to  sub- 


jugate China  was  discovered,  she 
made  some  awkward  attempts  at  ex- 
planation. Her  chief  excuse  was  that 
she  intended  to  establish  a  Monroe 
Doctrine  over  Asia.  Let  us  not  be 
deceived.  To  America,  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  represents  a  check  on  im- 
perialistic aggression  and  a  protec- 
tion of  democracy ;  to  Japan  it  means 
the  predominance  of  a  strong  nation 
over  weaker  nations. 

Suppose  the  United  States  had  used 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  to  apply  in 
South  America  a  commercial  and  po- 
litical policy  like  that  which  "Japan 
has  practiced  in  Korea  and  Man- 
churia, and  which  is  embodied  in  her 
demands  on  China  in  1915.  Suppose 
that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  should  be 
construed  to  mean  that  no  railway 
could  be  built  in  South  America  ex- 
cept under  conditions  dictated  by  the 
United  States ;  that  no  mines  or  ma- 
terial resources  could  be  exploited 
without  first  consulting  the  United 
States ;  that  no  foreign  loan  would  be 
made  without  United  States  sanction ; 
that  Americans  must  be  employed  as 
politicial,  financial  and  military  ad- 
visers to  the  South  American  Gov- 
ernments; that  the  South  American 
Governments  must  purchase  at  least 
half  of  their  armaments  from  the 
United  States;  that  American  goods 
must  be  given  a  preferential  rate,  and 
that  Americans  must  be  heads  of  po- 
lice in  important  South  American 
cities.  Every  one  of  these  conditions 
Japan  has  already  put  into  effect  in 
Manchuria,  and  wherever  she  has  es- 
tablished a  sphere  of  influence.  These 
conditions  were-  included  among  her 
twenty-one  demands,  by  which  she 
intended  to  subjugate  China.  Japan 
remembers  and  cherishes  an  undying 
hatred  toward  the  United  States,  be- 
cause it  was  America's  official  pro- 
test which  made  her  give  up  the  most 
objectionable  of  these  demands. 

America  in  the  Way 

America  realizes  that  she  has  def- 
inite obligations  toward  China;  that 
those  obligations  are  written  into  the 
fundamental  policy  of  this  nation.  We 


739c 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


have  been  content  in  the  past  to  an- 
swer Japan's  interference  with  that 
policy  by  mere  lip  protest.  But  now  that 
we  are  prepared,  now  that  the  leaders 
of  our  ever-increasing  trade  interests 
in  China  are  complaining  most  bit- 
terly against  Japan's  interference,  the 
time  is  here  when  our  protests  will 
take  a  more  material  form.  Japan 
realizes  that  America  is  the  only  coun- 
try that  stands  in  the  way  of  her  ag- 
gressive ambitions  in  the  Far  East 
and  the  Pacific.  Her  press  convinces 
the  people  that  America  stands  in  the 
way  of  their  daily  bread,  and  that 
war  would  mean  their  economic 
emancipation ;  it  threatens  war  if  the 
United  States  does  not  recede.  Amer- 
ica will  not  recede.  She  has  just 
fought  a  war  for  pure  unselfish  prin- 
ciple. How  much  sooner  will  she 
fight  in  this  instance,  where  that 
same  principle  of  "  might  makes 
right "  is  even  more  apparent — 
where  a  feudal  yellow  race  is  an  even 
greater  menace  than  was  the  Prus- 
sian autocracy — where  not  only  fun- 
damental principle  but  a  basic  foreign 
policy  is  at  stake,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  very  large  and  legitimate  inter- 
ests of  her  Chinese  trade. 

We  see  Japan  increasing  her  army 
from  1,500,000  to  4,500,000  men.  We 
see  her  spending  huge  sums  in  a  gi- 
gantic naval  program.  It  is  very 
questionable  whether  she  will  join  the 
Great  Powers  in  an  agreement  to  re- 
duce armaments.  She  is  fanatically 
exploiting  the  raw  materials  of  China 
for  purposes  of  her  own  self-suffi- 
ciency. She  is  preparing  her  people 
for  the  coming  war.  America  real- 
izes that  Japan's  vast  preparations 
are  directed  against  her,  and  feels 
only  too  keenly  the  menace  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  Alliance. 

Terms  of  the  Alliance 

Turning  now  to  the  Alliance  itself, 
we  find  that  Article  II.  of  the  1911 
pact  reads  as  follows: 

//,  by  reason  of  unprovoked  attack, 
or  aggressive  action  on  the  part  of  any 
power  or  powers,  either  high  contract- 
ing party  is  involved  in  war  in  defense 


of  its  territorial  rights  or  special  in- 
terests mentioned  in  the  preamble  of 
this  agreement,  the  other  high  con- 
tracting party  will  at  once  come  to  the 
assistance  of  its  ally,  and  will  conduct 
war  in  common  and  make  peace  in  mu- 
tual agreement  with  it. 

This  section  of  the  treaty  can 
mean  nothing  else  than  that,  should 
the  United  States  become  embroiled 
in  a  war  with  Japan,  England  is 
bound  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Japan. 
The  express  wording  of  the  Alliance 
leaves  no  room  for  doubt  concerning 
England's  obligation.  It  explicitly 
places  upon  England  the  obligation 
to  go  to  war  against  the  United 
States  in  the  event  of  hostilities  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Japan. 

Even  more  important  than  the 
exact  wording  of  the  Treaty  of 
Alliance  is  the  recent  interpretation 
placed  upon  it.  Treaties,  like  other 
laws,  grow  and  expand  by  the  in- 
terpretation placed  upon  them.  It 
is  less  than  seven  years  ago  that  oc- 
casion arose  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty — an  occa- 
sion when  this  alliance  was  definite- 
ly and  precisely  interpreted  by  both 
England  and  Japan.  Fresh  within 
the  memory  of  all  is  the  incident  to 
which  I  refer.  In  August,  1914, 
after  Germany  had  sent  her  troops 
through  Belgium,  England,  even  be- 
fore she  formally  declared  war,  sent 
a  request  through  the  British  ,  Am- 
bassador at  Tokio  asking  for  Japa- 
nese aid  under  the  terms  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  Alliance.  K.  K. 
Kawakami,  eminent  Japanese  his- 
torian and  political  writer,  describes 
in  detail  in  his  book,  "Japan  and 
World  Peace,"  the  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  Japanese  entrance  into 
the  war.  He  states  that  Sir  Conyng- 
ham  Greene,  the  British  Ambassa- 
dor to  Japan,  on  Aug.  3,  the  day  be- 
fore England  declared  war,  made  a 
formal  request  on  the  part  of  his 
Government  for  aid  under  the  terms 
of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty  of 
Alliance. 

Baron  Kato,  Japanese  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  after  confer- 
ence with  Count  Okuma,  then  Prime 


MENACE  OF  THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


739d 


Minister,  on  the  following  day  in- 
formed the  British  Ambassador  that 
Japan  would  not  evade  the  responsi- 
bilities she  had  assumed  in  entering 
into  the  alliance  with  Great  Britain. 
Japan,  upon  the  urgent  request  of 
the  British  Ambassador,  decided  to 
act  at  once,  and  on  Aug.  14  sent  an 
ultimatum  to  the  Imperial  German 
Government  demanding  the  immedi- 
ate release  of  all  German  connections 
in  the  Far  East.  In  this  ultimatum 
Japan  officially  set  forth  as  the  rea- 
sons for  her  demands  the  "safe- 
guarding of  the  general  interests  as 
set  forth  in  the  agreement  of  alliance 
between  Japan  and  Great  Britain, 
and  in  order  to  secure  a  firm  and 
enduring  peace  in  Eastern  Asia, 
which  is  the  aim  of  said  agreement." 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
ultimatum  refers  in  exact  words  to 
the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,  and 
that  it  expressly  states  that  such 
sction  was  being  taken  in  fulfillment 
of  the  Japanese  treaty  obligations. 

Why  Japan  Declared  War 

On  Aug.  23,  Japan  issued  a  formal 
declaration    of    war,    in    which    she 
again  referred  to  the  Alliance  as  the 
reason  for  her  action.     I  quote  the 
exact  words  of  the  Imperial  Rescript 
declaring  war  which  was  issued  at 
Tokio  on  Aug.  23,  1914.    It  says : 
We,    on   our  part,    have    entertained 
hopes   of  preserving   the   peace .  of   the 
Far  East  by  the  maintenance  of  strict 
neutrality,  but  the  action  of  Germany 
has  at  length  compelled  Great  Britain, 
our  ally,  to  open  hostilities  against  that 
country.    Accordingly,  our  Government 
and  that  of  his  Britannic  Majesty,  after 
full    and    frank    communication    with 
each  other,  agreed  to  take  such  meas- 
ures as  may  be  necessary  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  general  interests  contem- 
plated  in    the    agreement    of    alliance. 
We,  in  spite  of  our  ardent  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  peace,  are  compelled  to  de- 
clare war,  especially  at  this  early  pe- 
riod of  our  reign. 

This  document  explicitly  states 
that  such  action  is  being  taken  in  ful- 
fillment of  the  Anglo- Japanese  Treaty 
of  Alliance.  Baron  Kato,  in  an  offi- 
cial   address    before    the    Japanese 


Diet,     explaining    why     Japan     was 
forced  to  enter  the  war  in  1914,  said: 

Great  Britain  was  at  last  compelled 
to  take  part  in  the  contest.  The  British 
Government  asked  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment for  its  assistance  under  the 
terms  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance. 
Therefore,  inasmuch  as  she  is  asked  by 
her  ally  for  assistance  at  a  time  when 
the  commerce  of  Eastern  Asia,  which 
Japan  and  Great  Britain  regard  alike 
as  one  of  their  special  interests,  is  sub- 
jected to  constant  menace,  Japan, 
which  regards  the  alliance  as  the  guid- 
ing principle  of  her  foreign  policy,  can- 
not but  comply  with  such  request  and 
do  her  part.  The  Government,  there- 
fore, finally  agreed  to  take  such  meas- 
ures as  may  be  necessary  to  protect  the 
general  interests  contemplated  in  the 
agreement  of  alliance.  Japan  had  no 
desire  or  inclination  to  get  herself  in- 
volved in  the  present  conflict.  She  only 
believed  that  she  owed  it  to  herself  to 
be  faithful  to  the  alliance  and  strength- 
en its  foundation  by  insuring  the  per- 
manent peace  of  the  East  by  protect- 
ing the  special  interests  of  our  two 
allied  powers. 

The  statement  of  Baron  Kato  was 
further  affirmed  by  his  successor  to 
the  post  of  foreign  affairs.  Viscount 
Motono,  in  an  official  address  to  both 
houses  of  Parliament  in  1918,  said: 

Our  alliance  with  Great  Britain  al- 
ways has  been  the  fundamental  basis 
of  our  foreign  policy.  It  was  above  all 
things  the  reason  why  the  Japanese 
participated  in  this  war.  Since  then 
Japan  has  spared  no  effort  to  assist 
her  ally. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  any  open- 
minded  student  will  be  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  Japan's  entrance  into 
the  war  was  under  a  fair  and  frank 
interpretation  of  the  provisions  con- 
tained in  the  Anglo-Japanese'alliance. 
England,  by  her  formal  request  for 
Japanese  aid,  showed  by  that  act  that 
she  regarded  Japanese  aid  as  a  ne- 
cessity for  carrying  out  the  provis- 
ions of  this  alliance.  Japan,  by  her 
immediate  action  upon  that  request, 
left  no  doubt  as  to  the  interpretation 
of  her  obligations  under  the  agree- 
ment of  alliance.  There  can  be  no 
mistake,  therefore,  in  saying  that 
J)oth  England  and  Japan  regarded  the 
Japanese  entrance  into  the  war  as  an 
act  in  compliance  with  her  undoubted 


740 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


obligations  under  the  provisions' con- 
tained in  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance. 

England  Legally  Bound 

This  being  true,  it  must  necessarily 
follow  that  England  is  in  the  same 
way  both  morally  and  legally  bound 
-to  aid  Japan  in  the  event  of  a  prob- 
able war  between  the  United  States 
and  Japan.  England  is  thus  bound 
not  only  by  the  specific  wording  of 
the  treaty  itself,  but  also  by  the  legal 
interpretation  placed  upon  that  alli- 
ance in  1914.  The  World  War  origi- 
nated in  Europe.  It  was  entirely  re- 
moved from  the  continent  of  Asia. 
It  had  not,  in  fact,  touched  the  Japa- 
nese nation  in  any  respect.  Yet 
England  and  Japan  both  regarded 
Japan's  entrance  into  the  war  as  the 
only  logical  interpretation  which 
could  be  placed  on  the  Anglo-Japa- 
nese treaty  of  alliance.  England's 
legal  obligation  also  is  plain. 

The  American  people  have  been 
lulled  into  a  feeling  of  security  in  re- 
gard to  the  alliance  by  the  statements 
of  a  misinformed  press.  We  have 
been  told  that  Article  IV.,  which  was 
inserted  into  the  treaty  in  1911,  ob- 
viates the  obligation  of  England  to 
participate  in  a  Japanese-American 
war.  Such  a  contention  arises  from 
a  misunderstanding  of  the  treaty 
obligations  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  and  has  ab- 
solutely no  foundation  in  fact.  Ar- 
ticle IV.  of  the  treaty  states : 

Should  either  high  contracting  party 
conclude  a  treaty  or  general  arbitra- 
tion with  a  third  power,  it  is  agreed 
that  nothing  in  this  alliance  shall  en- 
tail upon  such  contracting  party  the 
obligation  to  go  to  war  with  the  power 
with  whom  such  a  treaty  of  arbitra- 
tion is  in  force. 

Article  IV.  does  not  in  any  way  im- 
pair England's  obligation  to  go  to 
war  against  the  United  States  under 
the  terms  of  this  alliance  unless  it 
can  be  definitely  shown  that  a  treaty 
of  general  arbitration  exists  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 
Such  a  treaty,  however,  does  not  ex- 
ist, nor  is  such  a  treaty  being  consid- 


ered by  the  United  States.  It  is  true 
that  a  treaty  of  general  arbitration 
was  formulated  in  1911,  but  the 
United  States  Senate  refused  to  ratify 
that  treaty  in  March,  1912,  with  the 
statement  that  it  would  "  never  con- 
sent to  a  treaty  of  general  arbitra- 
tion between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain."  The  only  treaty  con- 
cerning arbitration  now  in  existence 
between  the  United  States  and  Eng- 
land is  one  of  the  eleven  so-called 
"  Bryan  treaties."  This  merely  pro- 
vides that  before  the  United  States 
and  England  declare  war  they  must 
first  submit  their  differences  to  a 
commission  of  inquiry.  The  treaty 
contains  no  provision  that  would  pre- 
vent either  power  from  declaring  war 
after  an  inquiry  has  been  made.  It  is, 
therefore,  in  no  sense  a  treaty  of  gen- 
eral arbitration,  and  has  never  been 
interpreted  as  such.  Since  the  treaty 
of  general  arbitration  failed  of  rat- 
ification in  March,  1912,  there  is 
nothing  whatsoever  in  the  form  of  a 
treaty  that  would  fall  within  the 
meaning  of  Article  IV.  of  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  Arti- 
cle IV.  of  the  Treaty  is  inoperative  as 
far  as  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  are  concerned.  England's 
moral  and  legal  obligation  to  go  to 
war  against  the  United  States  in  the 
case  of  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan  remains  unim- 
paired. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the 
Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  menaces  the 
future  friendly  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  The 
fact  itself  that  England  has  pledged 
her  honor  and  respect  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  world  to  the  fulfillment 
of  an  alliance  with  a  potential  enemy 
of  the  United  States — an  agreement 
which,  by  its  express  wording  and  ex- 
plicit interpretation,  obligates  Eng- 
land to  go  to  war  against  the  United 
States — is  a  menace  to  British- Amer- 
ican relations.  It  is  realization  of  this 
fact  that  has  caused  so  many  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Empire  itself  to 
come  out  in  open  opposition  to  the 


MENACE  OF  THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


741 


Anglo-Japanese  Alliance.  As  the 
Hon.  Earnest  G.  Theodore,  Premier 
of  Queensland,  recently  remarked: 

My  recent  visit  to  America  has  con- 
vinced me  that  much  of  the  regrettable 
misunderstanding  between  this  country 
and  England  is  due  to  the  Anglo-Japa- 
nese alliance.  The  treaty  will  never  be 
understood  by  our  cousins  across  the 
Atlantic,  who  have  adopted  the  maxim 
of  trusting  to  God  and  keeping  their 
powder  dry. 

Picture  the  situation,  with  the 
United  States  situated  between  the 
two  greatest  naval  powers  of  the 
world,  who  are  bound  in  an  alliance 
to  the  fulfillment  of  which  they  have 
pledged  their  national  honor,  an  al- 
liance which  specifically  binds  them 
to  the  conduct  of  a  war  in  common 
against  any  third  power,  an  alliance 


which  drew  Japan,  without  hesita- 
tion, into  the  European  war  on  the 
side  of  England,  an  alliance  which 
leaves  no  room  for  doubt  concerning 
England's  obligation  to  go  to  war 
against  the  United  States  in  the  case 
of  Japanese-American  hostilities. 
Situated  as  we  are  between  these  two 
great  naval  powers,  beholding  the  ris- 
ing power  of  Japan,  and  realizing 
that  England  is  bound  to  Japan  in 
such  a  treaty  of  alliance,  we  can 
never  regard  England  as  a  friend  or 
even  as  a  neutral  in  the  causes  of 
friction  which  now  exist,  or  in  those 
which  are  likely  to  exist,  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan.  As  long  as 
this  alliance  continues  we  must  re- 
gard England,  even  as  we  regard 
Japan,  as  a  potential  enemy  of  the 
United  States. 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  TREATIES  WITH  AFGHANISTAN  AND  PERSIA 


A  TREATY  of  amity  and  alliance  between 
Soviet  Russia  and  Afghanistan  was 
signed  at  Moscow  on  Feb.  28,  1921,  and 
thereby  the  Bolshevist  leaders  acquired  one 
more  means  of  influencing  or  controlling 
events  on  the  border  of  British  India.  Russia 
agrees  to  hand  over  to  Afghanistan  certain 
frontier  territory  which  belonged  to  her  in 
the  last  century,  and  guarantees  the  inde- 
pendence of  Bokhara  and  Khiva.  Russia 
promises  to  give  Afghanistan  financial  and 
other  help,  and  a  supplementary  clause 
pledges  the  payment  of  a  yearly  subsidy  of 
1,000,000  rubles.  This  clause  has  been  in- 
terpreted to  mean  that  Afghanistan  is  now 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  dependency  of 
the  Moscow  Government,  and  will  be  com- 
pelled to  obey  the  dictates  of  Lenin  and 
Trotzky.  As  the  British  have  already  had 
serious  trouble  from  the  aggressive  spirit 
of  the  Afghans  on  the  Indian  border,  the 
new  treaty  has  a  special  importance  for 
them.  A  clause  binding  both  Russia  and 
Afghanistan  not  to  enter  with  any  third 
State  into  a  military  or  political  agreement 
which  could  damage  one  of  the  signatories, 
is  evidently  aimed  at  Great  Britain. 

The  treaty  of  peace  and  alliance  conclud- 


ed by  Soviet  Russia  with  Persia  on  Feb.  26, 
1921,  is  of  somewhat  wider  scope.  The 
characteristic  B  o  1  s  h  e  v  ist  declarations 
against  monarchists  and  capitalists  run  like 
a  red  line  through  the  text.  All  Czarist 
treaties,  concessions,  and  loans  are  abjured. 
Russia  gives  up  the  grip-  which  the  Czar's 
Government  had  acquired  on  northern  Per- 
sia. Each  signatory  acknowledges  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  other,  pledges  itself  not  to 
harbor  parties  or  forces  hostile  to  the  other, 
and  agrees  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  other 
if  attacked  by  a  third  power.  In  case  So- 
viet Russia  is  compelled  to  throw  its  armed 
forces  into  Persia  in  fulfillment  of  this 
agreement,  it  promises  to  withdraw  such 
troops  as  soon  as  its  military  operations 
are  concluded.  Persia  pledges  herself  not 
to  transfer  to  third  parties  any  concessions 
which  Moscow  has  returned  to  her.  A  cur- 
ious stipulation  is  contained  in  Clause  15, 
which  declares  that  Russian  Orthodox  reli- 
gious missions  in  Persia,  as  in  other  coun- 
tries of  Islam,  were  merely  part  of  the 
"  rapacious  intrigues  of  Czarism;  "  the 
treaty  withdraws  all  missionaries  from 
Persia  and  hands  over  the  mission  prop- 
erties to  the  Persian  Government. 


THE  PLIGHT  OF  CHINA 

By  Jesse  Willis  Jefferis 

Nation  torn  between  two  contending  Governments — That  at  Canton,  headed  by  Sun 
Yat-sen,  has  the  higher  democratic  ideals,  while  that  at  Peking  has  the  greater  strength 
and  recognition — Danger  of  a  coalition  of  Japan  and  China  to  fight  Western  imperialism 


THE  recent  return  of  Dr.  Sun 
Yat-sen,  father  of  Republican 
China,  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Southern  Chinese  Government,  was 
disconcerting  to  the  militarists  at 
Peking  and  displeasing  to  the  mon- 
archists at  Tokio,  who  realize  that 
the  strange  doctrines  of  republican- 
ism introduced  by  "  foreign  devils  " 
will  continue  relentlessly  to  gnaw 
away  the  foundations  of  political 
principles  and  traditions  4,000  years 
old.  On  his  assumption  of  office,  Dr. 
Sun  issued  a  manifesto  to  all  foreign 
powers  and  a  special  appeal  to  the 
United  States,  setting  forth  the 
abuses  of  the  Peking  Government, 
the  state  of  anarchy  into  which  the 
country  had  fallen,  and  the  patriotic 
aims  of  the  Southern  leaders.  [The 
full  text  of  these  documents  will  be 
found  on  Pages  749-753.] 

In  the  past,  Peking  officials  have 
viewed  with  contempt  the  struggles 
for  liberty  of  the  revolutionaries  in 
South  China,  who  had  the  temerity 
to  secede  from  the  Central  Govern- 
ment; but  now  Peking's*  financial 
plight  is  so  serious  as  to  dislocate  the 
arm  of  her  military  power  and  to  re- 
sult in  the  dissolution  of  her  Parlia- 
ment, the  liberal  members  of  which 
have  voted  to  join  the  Extraordinary 
Assembly  convened  at  Canton  under 
the  leadership  of  President  Sun  Yat- 
sen. 

The  present  outlook  is  worrying 
Japan,  which  has  effectively  used 
Peking  as  a  pawn,  but  is  now  threat- 
ened with  a  checkmate  by  Canton. 
A  Government  genuinely  republican 
is  likely  to  prove  unmanageable.  To 
direct  the  policies  of  a  Manchu  mon- 
arch, or  to  bribe  the  military  Gov- 


ernors of  Chinese  provinces,  would 
not  be  an  insuperable  task;  but  the 
seeds  of  democracy  planted  in  the 
Flowery  Kingdom  threaten  a  politi- 
cal upheaval  so  momentous,  irresisti- 
ble and  far-reaching  as  to  be  felt 
around  the  world. 

To  meet  this  critical  situation,  a 
conference  of  Inspector  Generals  was 
hastily  summoned  by  Premier  Chin 
of  the  Peking  Government  to  as- 
semble at  Tientsin.  The  program 
proposed  to  further  the  reunification 
of  China  was  as  follows : 

1.  The  military  supression  of  the  Mon- 
golians, who  are  fighting  for  the  restora- 
tion of  autonomy. 

2.  Reorganization  of  the  Peking  Par- 
liament. 

3.  The  arrest  of  President  Sun  Yat- 
sen. 

Although  Sun  Yat-sen  was  elected 
to  the  Presidency  by  the  National  As- 
sembly of  South  China  in  April,  con- 
gratulations have  not  been  received 
thus  far  from  the  provinces  of  Huan, 
Szechuan,  Yunnan  and  Kweichow. 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  General 
Wang  Chan-yuan  is  organizing  a 
separate  federation  of  six  neutral 
provinces,  which  have  agreed  to  es- 
tablish their  capital  at  Hupeh,  to  pool 
their  finances,  to  raise  an  army  for 
"driving  out  bandits,"  and  to  prevent 
Peking  from  forcing  these  provinces 
to  accept  military  Governors. 

Thus  the  Peking  Government 
hopes  to  reunite  China  by  refusing 
autonomy  to  Mongolia,  by  centraliz- 
ing so  far  as  possible  the  military 
power  and  resources  of  the  refractory 
provinces,  and  by  crushing  out  democ- 
racy,  for  which,  it  is  said,  the  prov- 
inces   are    totally    unfitted    both    by 


THE  PLIGHT  OF  CHINA 


743 


nature  and  by  tradition.  In  view  of 
the  difficulties  which  beset  the  citi- 
zens of  the  American  Commonwealth 
in  their  efforts  to  realize  the  princi- 
ples of  true  democracy,  the  militar- 
ists of  Peking  and  the  monarchists 
of  Tokio  perhaps  have  some  reason 
for  the  conviction  that  400,000,000 
Orientals — Manchus,  Chinese,  Mon- 
gols, Mohammedans  and  Tibetans — 
who  have  been  self-governing  only  in 
local  communities,  cannot  at  present 
be  welded  into  a  national  union  under 
a  republican  form  of  government. 

This  was  the  view  taken  by  Pro- 
fessor Goodnow  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, who,  in  1915,  as  constitu- 
tional adviser  to  President  Yuan 
Shih-kai,  published  a  pamphlet  to 
show  that  a  monarchy  was  more  suit- 
able to  China  than  a  republic.  Ad- 
vice from  so  authoritative  a  source 
was  cheerfully  adopted  by  President 
Yuan  Shih-kai,  who  declared  his  in- 
tention to  ascend  the  throne  as  "  The 
Son  of  Heaven,"  despite  the  fact  that 
he  had  cast  hundreds  of  Chinese  into 
filthy  jails  for  daring  to  suggest  such 
an  unpopular  idea ;  for  the  revolution 
in  favor  of  a  republic  had  swept 
thirteen  out  of  a  total  of  eighteen 
provinces. 

A  retrospect  of  the  political  an- 
archy which  has  prevailed  in  China 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution 
in  1911  is  likely  to  lead  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  awakening  of  the 
"  Sleeping  Dragon  "  from  its  4,000 
years'  state  of  suspended  animation 
was  entirely  too  rude  and  abrupt,  re- 
sulting in  a  reaction  of  racial  ill- 
humor  which  only  time  can  mollify. 
The  sudden  transition  from  a  pater- 
nal despositism  to  a  republic  has  been 
followed  by  an  upheaval  comparable 
almost  to  that  which  resulted  from 
Russia's  leap  in  the  dark  from  Czar- 
ism  into  Bolshevism.  If  the  Manchus 
and  the  present  Peking  Government 
had  been  willing  to  follow  the  consti- 
tution proposed  by  the  Chinese  liber- 
als, the  Flowery  Kingdom  would 
never,  like  Gaul,  have  been  divided 
into  parts,  waiting  for  a  conqueror. 
The  natural  political  evolution  of 
China  should  have  been  from  a  des- 


potism to  a  constitutional  monarchy, 
and  finally  to  a  republic. 

The  independence,  arrogance  and 
venality  of  the  Tuchuns,  or  provincial 
military  Governors  of  the  North,  are 
today  the  chief  impediment  to  the  re- 
unification of  China.  Controlling,  as 
many  do,  not  only  the  finances,  but 
the  military  power  of  the  provinces, 
they  are  often  able  unduly  to  in- 
fluence the  policies  of  Canton  and 
Peking:  for  without  the  support  of 
these  ambitious  Generals  compara- 
tively nothing  can  be  accomplished. 
It  would  seem  that  only  such  a  civil 
war  as  was  fought  in  America  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  can 
solve  the  problem  of  State  rights  in 
China  and  guarantee  the  sovereignty 
of  the  republic. 

The  "White  Peril." 

Reunification  must  be  realized 
without  delay,  or  China  will  suffer 
the  fate  of  Turkey  and  the  Holy  Ro- 
man Empire;  for  trie  yellow  race  is 
confronted  as  never  before  with  the 
"  white  peril,"  more  ominous  and 
overwhelming  than  the  terror  in- 
spired among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  by  the  peaceful  inva- 
sion of  the  little,  almond-eyed  men 
from  the  Kingdom  of  the  Rising  Sun. 
The  militarists  of  Japan  realize  that 
only  a  solid  yellow  front  can  with- 
stand the  imperialism  of  the  Western 
nations.  "  Without  China,  Japan 
would  have  lost  her  independence," 
says  Dr.  Uesugi  of  the  Imperial  Uni- 
versity of  Tokio.  "  The  establish- 
ment of  friendship  between  Japan 
and  China  is  the  question  of  the  whole 
Asiatic  continent." 

The  overthrow  of  the  Government 
of  Sun  Yat-sen  and  the  restoration  of 
the  monarchy  in  China  is  openly  es- 
poused by  Japan,  which  sees  in  such 
restoration  its  hope  fo  the  reunifica- 
tion of  China  and  the  formation  of  an 
Asiatic  League  of  Nations.  "  We  sin- 
cerely hope  that  under  the  leadership 
of  General  Chang  Tso-lin  of  Mukden 
the  monarchy  will  be  restored,"  says 
The  Herald  of  Asia,  a  leading 
Japanese  weekly  published  in  Tokio. 
"  China   needs   now   nothing   so   ur- 


744 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


gently  as  a  period  of  strong  dis- 
cipline under  centralized  authority." 
A  union  of  the  yellow  race  for  pro- 
tection against  the  imperialism  and 
commercial  exploitation  of  Western 
nations  is  no  more  impossible  than 
the  long-discussed  British-American 
alliance  to  preserve  world  peace;  for 
China,  of  which  Japan  was  formerly 
a  dependency  and  from  which  she 
received  her  early  culture,  is  just  as 
truly  the  mother  country  of  the  King- 
dom of  the  Rising  Sun  as  England  is 
the  mother  country  of  America. 
"  China  has  three  enemies,  of  which 
Japan  is  not  one,"  says  Dr.  Wang 
Chung-hui,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  China.  These  three 
enemies,  he  says,  are : 

1.  Article  XXI.  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, laying  down  the  doctrine  of  regional 
understanding — a  direct  challenge  to 
China's  integrity. 

2.  The  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance,  which 
will  lead  to  war,  with  China  on  the  side 
of  America. 

3.  The  Lansing-Ishii  notes,  upholding 
the  doctrine  that  geographical  propinquity 
confers  rights. 

The  Anglo  -  Japanese  Alliance, 
which  may  ultimately  be  renewed, 
though  with  modifications,  is  viewed 
with  apprehension  by  the  Chinese, 
who  regard  this  pact  as  a  "  robbers' 
agreement,"  by  which  England  and 
Japan  will  protect  each  other  in  the 
exploitation  of  the  Far  East.  If, 
however,  the  alliance  is  not  renewed, 
Japan  and  China  are  likely  to  be 
drawn  closer  together  than  they 
ever  have  been  since  the  close  of  the 
Chinese-Japanese  War  in  1894. 

Sino-Japanese  Solidarity 

"  We  should  make  the  control  of 
China's  foreign  policy  and  the  man- 
agement of  her  internal  financial  and 
military  affairs  our  goal,"  says  Mr. 
Uchida,  member  of  the  Japanese 
House  of  Peers,  "  thereby  establish- 
ing an  Eastern  Asiatic  Federated 
Empire,  with  Japan  as  its  leader." 

But  Japan  must  return  to  China 
Germany's  former  rights  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Shantung,  together  with  the 


control  of  the  Tsinanfu-Shunteh  and 
Ksomi-Hanchow  Railroads.* 

Japan  must  also  relinquish  the 
special  privileges  procured  under 
duress  from  China;  they  are  wholly 
inconsistent  with*  the  policy  of  the 
"  open  door,"  which  guarantees  equal 
opportunities  for  the  commerce  of  all 
nations.  By  securing  an  abundance 
of  China's  raw  materials,  Japan,  with 
her  cheap  labor,  would  be  able  to  un- 
derbid the  merchants  of  the  Western 
world. 

Left  alone,  China  will  be  unable 
to  withstand  the  overwhelming  pres- 
sure brought  to  bear  upon  her  by 
Japan,  which  now  has  a  preponderat- 
ing influence  in  South  Manchuria, 
East  Mongolia  and  other  coastal 
provinces.  No  Napoleon  is  needed 
to  warn  us  of  the  danger  that  Japan's 
militarization  of  China  might  lead 
eventually  to  an  Asiatic  invasion  of 
Europe,  already  prostrated  by  the 
most  destructive  war  in  history.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  relations  between 
China  and  Japan  may  largely  decide 
the  future  of  civilization. 

The  policy  of  an  "  open  door  "  in 
China  for  the  commerce  of  all  na- 
tions, as  enunciated  by  President  Mc- 
Kinley  in  1908 ;  the  proposal  by  Sena- 
tor Knox  in  1915  to  neutralize  the 
railroads  of  Manchuria,  when  threat- 
ened with  domination  by  Japan; 
President  Roosevelt's  act  in  return- 
ing to  China  America's  share  of  the 
Boxer  indemnities,  to  be  used  for  the 
education  of  Chinese  youth  in  the  col- 
leges of  the  United  States,  and  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  plea  for  the  political 
unity  of  China  at  the  outbreak 
of  an  armed  conflict  between  North 
and  South  over  the  Manchu  restora- 
tion— all  these  have  tended  to  create 
the  conviction  among  the  Chinese 
people  that  America  is  a  genuine  and 
disinterested  friend. 

Not  until  the  dispatch  of  the 
Lansing-Ishii  note,  Nov.  15,  1917, 
recognizing  the  principle  that  terri- 


*China's  firm  refusal  to  negotiate  with  Japan 
over  Shantung,  or  to  accept  other  than  an  un- 
conditional restoration  of  Shantung  and  all 
rights  previously  enjoyed  bv  German v,  was  again 
emphasized  by  China  through  Dr.  W.  W.  Yen, 
Chinese  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  on  June  22. 


THE  PLIGHT  OF  CHINA 


745 


torial  propinquity  creates  special  in- 
terests for  Japan  in  Chinese  terri- 
tory, and  President  Wilson's  accept- 
ance under  protest  of  the  "  Shantung 
infamy,"  a  dagger  aimed  at  the  heart 
of  the  Chinese  Nation,  did  America's 
influence  in  China  begin  to  wane. 
The  fact  that  both  countries  have  re- 
pudiated the  Versailles  Treaty  re- 
mains, however,  a  hopeful  sign  that 
they  will  stand  together  when  the 
real  test  comes  regarding  the  justice 
of  the  provisions  governing  China 
and  the  islands  in  the  Pacific. 

Status  of  the  Consortium 

Commercial  competition,  which, 
many  concede  was  the  cause  of 
the  last  great  war,  will  probably 
result  in  a  conflict  between  the  white 
and  yellow  races;  unless  it  is  super- 
seded by  economic  co-operation.  The 
dismemberment  of  China  will  con- 
tinue until  her  political  entity  and 
national  sovereignty  are  sufficiently 
secure  firmly  to  resist  foreign  en- 
croachments. 

Undoubtedly,  the  most  efficient 
measure  for  the  reconstruction  of 
China  is  the  new  financial  consortium 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  Belgium, 
Japan  and  the  United  States,  through 
which  loans  may  be  advanced  to  the 
Chinese  Government,  not  for  special 
privileges,  not  for  further  disorgan- 
ization of  the  struggling  republic, 
•but  for  the  building  of  railroads, 
highways,  &c,  and  for  the  reorgan- 
ization of  China's  decentralized  bank- 
ing system.     This  international  con- 


sortium, headed  by  Thomas  W. 
Lamont,  may  not  only  enable  Amer- 
ica to  treble  her  trade  with  China, 
which  now  totals  $400,000,000  a  year, 
but,  best  of  all,  will  tend  to  relieve 
China  from  the  pressure  of  external 
interests  and  from  the  civil  strife 
within,  both  of  which  are  now  threat- 
ening her  very  life  as  an  independent 
nation. 

But  this  program  of  fair  play  can 
never  be  put  into  operation  until  it 
has  the  support  of  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment, which  now  realizes  that  it 
has  been  sadly  demoralized  by  Japa- 
nese loans,  made  ostensibly  for  in- 
dustrial development,  but  actually  for 
political  disorganization,  in  order 
that  Japan  might  fish  in  troubled 
waters.  Neither  can  China  ever  func- 
tion as  a  nation  so  long  as  it  is  di- 
vided into  warring  factions. 

At  the  present  moment,  President 
Sun  Yat-sen  of  South  China  is  anath- 
ematized in  the  North  as  the  Jeffer- 
son Davis  of  the  Southern  secession- 
ists. Premier  Chin,  the  recognized 
head  of  the  Peking  Government 
— said  to  be  the  puppet  of  General 
Chang  Tso-lin,  the  Military  Governor 
of  Manchuria,  and  of  General  Tsao 
Kun,  the  Military  Governor  of  Chi-li 
— is  denounced  by  the  liberals  of  the 
South  as  a  hopeless  reactionary.  Only 
a  Chief  Executive  approved  by  both 
factions  and  powerful  enough  to 
force  into  line  the  Governors  of  the 
provinces,  most  of  which  are  practi- 
cally independent,  can  restore  the  po- 
litical unity  of  China. 


SUIT  OF  THE  INVENTOR  OF  MELINITE 


YEARS  ago  a  French  inventor  named 
Turpin  filed  a  copyright  with  the 
Patent  Office  of  his  Government  for  the 
invention  of  a  picric  acid  explosive.  The 
process  was  rediscovered  by  two  French 
army  officers  and  used  by  the  French  Army 
under  the  new  name  of  melinite.  Four 
years  before  the  war  the  French  courts  ad- 
mitted M.  Turpin's  claim  to  the  invention 
of  melinite,  and  ordered  the  Government  to 
pay  him  $20,000  damages,  plus  an  annual 
income  of  $4,000.  Not  satisfied  with  this, 
M.   Turpin   has   now  brought   suit   against 


the  Government,  demanding  royalties  on 
every  recoiling  cannon  manufactured  in 
France  for  either  national  or  foreign  use. 
He  asserts  that  he  is  the  original  inventor 
of  every  high  explosive,  every  cannon,  shell 
and  bomb  used  by  the  belligerent  armies 
in  the  World  War — even  trinitrotoluene,  the 
French  seventy-five  and  the  universal  de- 
tonators— and  gives  proof  that  he  has 
covered  all  these  inventions  by  patents  in 
the  last  thirty  years.  If  the  French  courts 
recognize  his  contentions,  he  may  yet  be- 
come a  multimillionaire. 


CHINA  AND  THE 
ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


By  Sao-Ke  Alfred  Sze* 

•Chinese  Minister  to  the   United   States 


Why  the  United  States  and  China  should  be  consulted  in  arranging  any  renewal  of  the 
pact  between  Japan  and  Great  Britain — The  only  guarantee  of  peace  in  the  Far  East 
— Avowed  objects  of  the  alliance  summarized  in  clear  terms 


IT  has  been  said  that  an  agricultur- 
ist   is   one    who    can    make   two 

blades  of  grass  grow  where  only 
one  grew  before.  So  a  banker  may 
be  defined  as  one  whose  business  it 
is  to  produce  two  dollars  with  one. 
Where  can  money  be  placed  to  the 
best  advantage?  Economists  tell  us 
that  materials,  labor  and  capital  are 
the  essential  elements  of  production. 
Capital  is  what  bankers  deal  in.  In 
order  to  make  capital  productive  they 
have  to  seek  a  combination  of  ma- 
terials and  labor.  Like  Alexander, 
they  are  always  seeking  more  worlds 
to  conquer.  What  country  presents 
a  more  alluring  prospect  for  the  in- 
vestment of  capital  than  China? 
Within  its  limits  may  be  found  every- 
thing that  satisfies  human  wants.  It 
has  all  the  raw  materials  that  are 
essential  to  industrial  progress. 

Take  the  Province  of  Shansi,  for 
example.  This  province  lies  just 
north  of  the  Yellow  River.  It  is  an 
immense  coal  bed.  With  modern 
methods  of  development,  this  region 
may  some  day  rival  Eastern  Penn- 
sylvania in  anthracite  production. 
There  is  the  Province  of  Sechuen. 
This  is  a  western  province  of  the 
republic,  bordering  upon  the  Ti- 
betan plateau.  It  is  walled  in  on  all 
sides  by  lofty  mountain  ranges.  It 
has  always  been  known  as  the  treas- 
ure house  of  China.  Salt,  petroleum, 
gold  and  other  metals  are  found  in 
sufficient  quantities  to  meet  a  con- 
stant demand.  Its  vegetable  prod- 
ucts, such  as  wood  oil,  are  growing 
in  commercial  importance.     I  might 


go  on  and  tell  of  the  products  of  the 
other  provinces,  but  this  is  enough 
to  show  what  opportunities  Ameri- 
can capital  has  in  China's  develop- 
ment. It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me 
to  say  that  China  can  furnish  all  the 
labor  required  for  all  industrial  pur- 
poses. In  fact,  her  economic  strength 
lies  in  her  labor.  To  provide  em- 
ployment for  Chinese  labor  at  home 
may  solve  a  great  many  problems 
that  are  confronting  other  countries. 
China  may  be  said  to  be  a  country  of 
the  future,  and  as  such  it  presents 
immense  possibilities  and  great  op- 
portunities for  all. 

The  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance 

I  have  been  asked  to  say  some- 
thing about  the  Anglo-Japanese  Al- 
liance. This  is  treading  on  very 
treacherous  ground  for  a  diplomat. 
When  John  Hay  was  Secretary  of 
State,  it  was  the  custom  for  a  newly 
appointed  Minister  to  come  to  Wash- 
ington some  time  before  proceeding 
to  his  post,  for  the  purpose  of  receiv- 
ing instructions.  One  newly  ap- 
pointed Minister  came  to  Washing- 
ton and  went  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment every  day  for  a  month  to  re- 
ceive instructions,  but  got  none.  At 
last,  when  it  was  about  time  for  him 
to  leave,  he  called  on  Secretary  Hay 
to  say  good-bye,  and  as  he  was  about 
to  go  he  asked  the  Secretary  about 


*This  article  by  the  Chinese  Minister  at  Wash- 
ing-ton is  based  upon  a  speech  which  he  de- 
livered before  the  New  York  State  Bankers' 
Association  in  Atlantic  City,  June  24,  1921. 


CHINA  AND   THE  ANGLO-JAPANESE  ALLIANCE 


747 


his  instructions.  For  the  moment 
the  Secretary  did  not  seem  to  under- 
stand what  he  meant.  The  Minister 
then  explained  that  he  had  been  in 
Washington  for  a  month  to  receive 
instructions  and  had  not  yet  got 
them.  The  situation  began  to  dawn 
upon  the  Secretary,  and  he  simply 
answered:  "Make  no  speeches." 
This  is  good  advice  for  all  public  men 
to  follow.  Many  have  disregarded 
this  advice  and  got  into  trouble.  One 
reason  is  that  a  speaker  is  apt  to  be 
misquoted.  Another  reason  is  that 
words  when  detached  from  their 
connections  often  take  on  different 
meanings.  You  will  recall  a  very 
recent  instance  of  this  with  refer- 
ence to  a  very  distinguished  Ameri- 


Harris    &    Ewing) 


SAO-KE   ALFRED   SZE 
Chinese  Minister  to  the  United  States 


can  naval  officer.  But  on  questions 
of  the  day  it  is  sometimes  desirable 
for  public  men  to  make  their  views 
known  in  order  to  clear  the  atmos- 
phere. Among  friends  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  speaking  my  mind  free- 
ly on  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance, 
but  it  must  be  understood  that  I  am 
speaking  now  not  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  Chinese  Government,  but 
only  as  a  private  citizen  of  the 
Chinese  Republic. 

What  is  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alli- 
ance? It  is  a  warlike  measure  de- 
signed by  England  and  Japan  to  pro- 
tect their  interests  in  the  Far  East. 
Its  avowed  object,  as  set  forth  in  the 
premable  of  the  agreement,  has  a 
threefold  aspect,  namely:  (1)  The 
consolidation  and  maintenance  of  the 
general  peace  in  the  regions  of  East- 
ern Asia  and  India;  (2)  the  preser- 
vation of  the  common  interests  of  all 
powers  in  China  by  insuring  the  in- 
dependence and  integrity  of  the 
Chinese  Empire,  and  the  principle  of 
equal  opportunities  for  the  commerce 
and  industry  of  all  nations  in  China ; 
(3)  the  maintenance  of  territorial 
rights  of  the  high  contracting  parties 
in  the  regions  of  Eastern  Asia  and 
of  India,  and  the  defense  of  their 
special  interests  in  the  said  regions. 
The  alliance  has  a  ten-year  term, 
which  expires  in  July.  Accordingly, 
the  question  is  now  before  the  two 
countries  for  the  third  renewal. 

China  Not  Consulted 

You  observe  that  this  alliance  has 
a  good  deal  to  do  with  China,  but 
China  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Here 
is  an  agreement  vitally  affecting 
China,  but  China  has  not  even  been 
consulted  in  its  making.  You  will 
agree  with  me  that  any  nation  would 
resent  such  treatment. 

The  Chinese  people,  therefore,  have 
good  reasons  to  object  to  the  renewal 
of  the  alliance.  They  regard  the 
situation  as  intolerable.  The  senti- 
ment against  a  renewal  is  growing  in 
intensity  and  strength  all  over  the 
country.  The  press  has  taken  the 
matter  up,  and  the  Provincial  Gov- 


748 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ernments  have  made  official  inquiries 
of  the  Central  Government  in  regard 
to  it.  The  Chinese  people  are  aroused 
as  a  nation  and  have  raised  their 
voice  against  it. 

The  preservation  of  peace  in  the 
Far  East  is  a  matter  of  such  supreme 
moment  that  it  concerns  not  only 
England  and  Japan,  but  other  coun- 
tries as  well.  China  and  the  United 
States  ought  to  have  something  to 
say  in  the  matter. 

With  the  possession  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  and  Guam  the  United 
States  may  be  considered  as  an  Asi- 
atic power.  China  occupies  a  large 
portion  of  the  Continent  of  Asia.  Un- 
der the  circumstances,  China  and  the 
United  States  have  certain  rights  to 
be  consulted  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  Far  East.  An  agreement 
for  guaranteeing  peace  in  the  Far 
East,  therefore,  should  include  China 
and  the  United  States  as  parties.  Un- 
less China  and  the  United  States  be- 
come parties  to  the  agreement,  I  can- 
not see  how  peace  in  the  Far  East 
can  be  made  enduring. 

Some  years  ago  the  ABC  powers 
were  instrumental  in  promoting  peace 


on  the  American  Continent.  You  may 
be  interested  to  know  that  there  are 
ABC  societies  formed  in  China 
for  international  co-operation,  A  rep- 
resenting America,  B  Britain  and  C 
China.  The  object  is  to  secure  Anglo- 
American  co-operation  in  the  develop- 
ment of  China.  Such  co-operation 
the  Chinese  people  welcome. 

As  I  have  been  so  long  in  England, 
I  know  pretty  well  the  general  senti- 
ment of  the  British  people  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  is  fortunate  for  the  world 
at  large  that  the  same  guiding  hand 
that  led  the  British  Nation  through  a 
successful  war  is  still  at  the  helm  of 
British  affairs.  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
who  has  seen  so  much  suffering  and 
misery  inflicted  by  war,  will  not  per- 
mit the  peace  of  the  world  to  be  again 
disturbed.  I  feel  sure  he  will  in  time 
find  a  way  to  get  China  and  the 
United  States  into  his  confidence  in 
affairs  of  the  East.  With  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  at  the  head  of  the  British 
Government  the  problem  of  the  Pa- 
cific will  be  solved,  I  believe,  with  the 
same  statesmanlike  wisdom  that  has 
marked  the  handling  of  other  momen- 
tous questions  in  the  last  few  years. 


THE  PASSING  OF  THE  DREADNOUGHT 


IT  was  announced  by  the  British  Admiralty 
on  June  1  that  the  old  battleship  Dread- 
nought, first  of  a  famous  class,  was  to  be 
broken  up.  The  Admiralty  has  sold  the 
once  mighty  vessel,  which  blocked  all  the 
Kaiser's  naval  ambitions,  together  with 
over  100  other  obsolete  battleships,  cruisers, 
monitors,  destroyers  and  torpedo  boats. 
Launched  on  Feb.  2,  1906,  with  her  ten  12- 
inch  guns,  her  complete  armored  belt  and 
her  speed  of  twenty-one  knots,  she  not  only 
made  the  rest  of  the  British  fleet  obsolete, 
but  also  the  rapidly  growing  fleet  on  which 
the  Germans  were  building  their  hopes.  The 
Dreadnought  meant  that  the  Kiel  Canal  had 
to  be  widened,  the  locks  enlarged  and  the 
docks  rebuilt.  German  time  and  money  that 
might  have  been  spent  on  constructive  work 


were  wasted  on  mere  alterations.  Though 
the  design  was  varied,  every  capital  ship 
laid  down  by  every  country  since  then  has 
been  built  on  the  all-big- gun  model  of  the 
Dreadnought.  This  new  battleship  type, 
initiated  by  the  late  Lord  Fisher,  was  a 
stroke  of  genius.  When  the  great  conflict 
began  in  1914,  Great  Britain  held  an  un- 
questionable advantage  on  the  sea.  And 
now,  only  fifteen  years  after  King  Edward 
VII.  launched  the  great  vessel  at  Ports- 
mouth, with  Lord  Fisher  standing  at  his 
side,  the  Dreadnought  goes  to  the  scrap 
heap,  hopelessly  obsolete.  Such  is  the  speed 
of  naval  progress:  sic  transit  gloria.  The 
advocates  of  a  naval  holiday — a  period  of 
lessened  activity  in  battleship  building — 
have  here  an  argument  on  their  side. 


DOCUMENTS  BEARING  ON 
CHINA'S  DESTINY 


Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen's  proclamation  against  the  Peking  Government,,  with  his  special  appeal 
to  the  United  States  for  recognition  of  the  Canton  Government — South  China  s  charges 
against  Japan— Peking  speaks  on  Shantung-— Important  declaration  of  the  United 
States  regarding  the  "open  door" 


THE  split  between  North  and 
South  China  was  accentuated 
by  the  return  of  Dr.  Sun  Yat- 
sen,  the  first  Provisional  President 
of  the  Chinese  Republic,  to  the  office 
of  President  under  the  new  Canton 
regime,  on  May  5,  1921.  On  his  as- 
sumption of  office  Dr.  Sun  issued  a 
proclamation  addressed  to  all  the 
foreign  powers.  In  this  he  set  forth 
the  deplorable  state  into  which  China 
had  fallen,  bitterly  attacked  the 
Peking  Government  as  illegal  and  un- 
democratic, declared  himself  the  con- 
stitutional leader  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, laid  down  his  program  for  reuni- 
fication, and  appealed  to  all  the 
powers  to  recognize  his  Government. 
The  text  of  this  proclamation  follows : 

During  the  last  four  years  the  pa- 
triots of  China  have  been  waging  war 
against  the  militarists  and  traitors  of 
the  country  for  the  cause  of  constitu- 
tional government  and  for  national  ex- 
istence itself.  It  has  been  no  war  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  of  China, 
but  a  struggle  between  militarists  and 
democracy,  between  treason  and  pa- 
triotism. That  the  people  in  the  North 
are  sympathetic  with  the  purposes  and 
aims  of  the  South  has  been  demonstrat- 
ed by  the  fact  that  they  have  spon- 
taneously organized  demonstrations  and 
boycotts  for  the  same  purposes  and 
aims. 

The  Government  at  Peking  has  lost 
the  last  vestige  of  its  control  over  the 
provinces — even  those  nominally  within 
its  jurisdiction — where  the  military 
satraps  are  plundering  the  people  and 
ruining  the  country.  These  militarists 
wage  war  among  themselves  in  the 
struggle  for  power.  One  of  them  has 
lately  gone  to  the  extent  of  treacher- 
ously leaguing  himself  with  the  Rus- 
sian monarchists,  and  aiding  and  abet- 
ting them  to  attack  and  capture  Urga. 


While  the  Peking  Government  is  fast 
crumbling  from  sheer  hollowness,  for- 
eign domination  tends  to  spread  from 
north  to  south.  The  existence  of  China 
as  a  nation  is  in  jeopardy.  Since  the 
unconstitutional  dissolution  of  the  Na* 
tional  Assembly  in  June,  1917,  no  de 
jure  Government  has  existed  in  Peking. 
New  election  laws  may  have  been  made 
and  new  National  Assemblies  may  have 
been  elected,  but  they  all  lack  legal 
basis.  Confirmation  of  this  has  come 
from  an  unexpected  quarter — from  Hsu 
Shih-chang  himself,  when  he  issued 
the  order  in  October  last  for  the  holding 
of  a  general  election,  based,  not  on  the 
new  election  law  which  is  the  basis  of 
his  own  title,  but  on  the  old  election 
law,  which  is  incompatible  with  his 
claim  to  the  Presidency.  The  extraor- 
dinary spectacle  is  thus  presented  of 
the  self-styled  President  of  the  repub- 
lic confessing  that  he  has  no  legal  right 
to  that  title.  Thus  in  this  hour  of 
crisis,  when  the  national  existence  itself 
is  imperiled,  there  is  in  Peking  no  Gov- 
ernment which  is  legally  constituted  or 
able  to  discharge  the  functions  of  Gov- 
ernment. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  the  only  body  of  legally 
elected  representatives  of  all  the  prov- 
inces and  territories  of  the  country,  has 
established  a  formal  Government  and 
has  elected  me  to  be  President  of  the 
republic.  Being  the  founder  of  the  re- 
public, I  cannot  afford  to  see  it  in  dan- 
ger without  making  an  effort  to  save  it. 
Having  been  summoned  once  before — in 
1911— to  the  Presidency,  from  which  I 
resigned  after  a  short  tenure,  in  order, 
as  I  thought,  to  bring  about  unity  to 
the  country,  I  intend  now  to  do  all  in 
my  power  to  discharge  those  duties  and 
functions  honestly,  faithfully  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  my  fellow-citizens. 

As  the  National  Assembly  which  has 
elected  me  represents  the  whole  coun- 
try, irrespective  of  north  or  south,  so 
it  shall  be  my  first  endeavor  to  unite 
all  provinces  and  territories  of  the  re- 
public under  one  Government,  which 
shall   be   progressive   and    enlightened. 


750 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


The  legitimate  rights  of  foreign  pow- 
ers and  their  nationals,  duly  acquired 
by  treaty,  contract  or  established  usage, 
shall  be  scrupulously  respected.  The 
vast  resources  of  the  country,  natural 
and  industrial,  shall  be  developed  so 
that  the  whole  world,  suffering  from 
the  disastrous  effects  of  long  years  of 
war,  will  be  benefited.  For  this  purpose 
foreign  capital  and  expert  knowledge 
will,  in  pursuance  of  the  open-door  pol- 
icy, be  welcomed.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  with  the  Southern  provinces  enjoy- 
ing good  government  and  prosperity 
under  honest  administration  and  a  con- 
structive program,  other  provinces  will 
be  only  too  ready  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
of  militarism  and  misrule,  and,  ac- 
knowledging the  authority  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, bring  about  the  much-desired 
unification  of  the  country.  I  believe 
my  task  is  lightened  by  the  fact  of  the 
illegality  and  incompetency  of  the 
Peking  Government.  That  Government 
is  not  recognized  by  the  Chinese  peo- 
ple themselves,  but  is  being  propped  up 
solely  by  its  possession  of  the  historic 
capital  of  the  country  and  its  conse- 
quent recognition  by  the  foreign 
powers. 

I  appeal  to  the  Governments  of  the 
friendly  powers  to  withdraw  recognition 
from  the  soi-disant  Government  which 
is  avowedly  no  de  jure  Government, 
and  which  is  proving  itself  not  even  a 
de  facto  Government.  And,  in  the  same 
manner  in  which  they  recognized  the 
republican  Government  formed  by  the 
National  Assembly  in  1913,  I  request 
that  they  accord  recognition  to  this 
Government  formed  now  by  the  same 
Assembly.  This  is  the  only  Govern- 
ment of  the  republic  actuated  by  no 
desire  of  selfish  gain,  but  by  the  sole 
motive  of  serving  the  republic  to  the 
best  of  its  ability.  Members  of  this 
Government  represent  those  ideals  and 
those  principles  which,  if  the  republic 
is  to  survive  and  take  its  rightful  place 
in  the  family  of  nations,  as  they  firm- 
ly believe  it  will,  must  necessarily  tri- 
umph, viz.,  liberalism,  constitutionalism 
and  devotion  to  the  common  weal. 

Special  Appeal  to  America 

To  the  United  States,  however,  Dr. 
Sun  made  a  special  appeal  for  recog- 
nition, believing  that  the  American 
Government,  pre-eminently,  was  the 
friend  of  democratic  China  and  her 
protector  by  virtue  of  the  Hay  doc- 
trine of  the  open  door,  which  is  char- 
acterized as  the  "  Monroe  doctrine 
of  China."  The  text  of  this  appeal, 
dated  May  17,  1921,  was  obtained  for 
Current  History  from  Ma  Soo,  the 


unrecognized  representative  of  the 
South  China  Government  at  Wash- 
ington. It  is  addressed  to  President 
Harding  and  reads  as  follows : 

Your  Excellency: 

I  have  just  issued  a  manifesto  to  the 
Friendly  Nations,  but  I  am  impelled,  on 
behalf  of  my  countrymen,  to  make  a 
particular  appeal  to  your  Excellency, 
for  the  reason  that  we  regard  America 
as  the  Mother  of  Democracy  and  the 
champion  of  liberalism  and  righteous- 
ness, whose  disinterested  friendship  and 
support  of  China  in  her  hour  of  distress 
has  been  demonstrated  to  us  more  than 
once.  China  is  now  in  the  most  critical 
time  of  her  existence.  Whether  democ- 
racy triumphs  or  fails,  much  depends 
upon  the  decision  of  America.  This 
time  we  look  again  to  America  to  sup- 
port righteousness  and  to  help  uphold 
the  will  of  the  Chinese  people. 

As  I  have  shown  in  my  manifesto  to 
the  Friendly  Nations,  the  so-called  war 
between  North  and  South  China  is  not 
a  war  between  the  different  sections 
of  the  country,  but  a  national  struggle 
between  militarism  and  democracy,  be- 
tween treason  and  patriotism.  That  the 
people  in  the  North  are  sympathetic, 
and  are  working  in  co-operation  with 
the  South,  has  been  demonstrated  by 
the  fact  that  they  have  spontaneously 
organized  demonstrations  and  boycotts 
in  order  to  fight  against  the  foreign 
opressor  who  supports  these  traitors. 

When,  at  the  end  of  the  great  war, 
the  powers  advised  us  to  cease  fighting 
and  bring  about  the  unification  of  the 
country,  the  South  complied  by  meet- 
ing the  North  at  a  conference  in  Shang- 
hai. The  South  was  ready,  for  the  sake 
of  early  restoration  of  peace,  to  yield 
in  practically  everything,  on  one  condi- 
tion, namely,  that  the  Peking  Govern- 
ment should  repudiate  all  the  secret 
treaties  and,  in  particular,  the  Twenty- 
one  Demands  of  Japan,  which  were  con- 
tracted after  the  illegal  dissolution  of 
Parliament,  and  which  were  merely  the 
bait  offered  by  the  Emperor  Yuan 
Shih-kai  for  the  recognition  of  his  abor- 
tive empire.  But  this  simple  and  just 
demand  of  the  South  was  rejected. 
The  South. being  unwilling  to  sacrifice 
national  independence  for  a  nominal 
unification,  the  Peace  Conference  came 
to  a  deadlock,  and  the  state  of  war 
continued. 

Furthermore,  it  was  simply  the 
weight  of  public  opinion  in  China  that 
forced  China's  delegates  to  the  Peace 
Conference  at  Paris  to  present  an  ap- 
peal for  the  restoration  of  Shantung  to 
China.  The  Northern  militarists,  how- 
ever, worked  secretly  against  this  ap- 
peal, for  should  Japan  be  forced  to  re- 


DOCUMENTS  BEARING   ON   CHINA'S   DESTINY 


.31 


tarn  Shantung,  they  would  lose  the  ma- 
terial support  of  Japan. 

The  internal  condition  of  China  has 
gone  from  bad  to  worse.  While  the 
people  of  North  China  are  dying  by  the 
millions  from  starvation,  food  in 
abundance  is  "cornered"  by  these  mili- 
tarists around  the  famine  districts  for 
the  sake  of  self-gain.  This  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  when  some  foreign 
philanthropists  offered  a  large  quantity 
of  rice  to  relieve  the  famine,  situa- 
tion, the  Chinese  Famine  Relief  Society 
declined  the  offer  in  kind,  but  requested 
in  its  stead  the  equivalent  in  money,  on 
the  ground  that  plenty  of  food  can  be 
gotten  even  in  the  famine  areas. 

Such  is  the  state  of  affairs  in  China 
that  unless  America,  her  traditional 
friend  and  supporter,  comes  forward 
to  lend  a  helping  hand  in  this  critical 
period,  we  shall  be  compelled,  against 
our  will,  to  submit  to  the  Twenty-one 
Demands  of  Japan.  I  make  this  special 
appeal,  therefore,  through  your  Ex- 
cellency, to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  save  China  once  more; 
for  it  is  to  America's  genuine  friend- 
ship, as  exemplified  by  the  John  Hay 
Doctrine,  that  China  owes  her  exist- 
ence as  a  nation.  The  John  Hay  Doc- 
trine is  to  China  what  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine is  to  America.  The  violation  of 
this  Hay  Doctrine  would  mean  the  loss 
of  our  national  integrity  and  th2  subse- 
quent partitioning  of  China.  Just  as 
America  would  do  her  utmost  to  keep 
intact  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  letter  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  so  we  in  China 
are  striving  to  uphold  this  spirit  of  the 
John  Hay  Doctrine.  It  is  in  this  spirit, 
therefore,  that  I  appeal  to  the  author 
of  the  John  Hay  Doctrine  to  befriend 
the  Chinese  Nation  again  in  this  hour 
of  her  national  peril,  by  extending  im- 
mediate recognition  to  this  Govern- 
ment.       (Signed)     SUN  YAT-SEN. 

Japan  Arms  North  China 

The  new  South  China  Government 
shortly  after  its  inauguration  found 
itself  called  upon  to  renew  actual 
fighting  with  its  northern  opponents, 
and  according  to  charges  made  by 
Dr.  Wu  Ting-fang,  the  Foreign  Min- 
ister in  Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen's  Cabinet, 
these  continuers  of  civil  war  were 
armed  and  even  officered  by  the  Jap- 
anese. Ma  Soo,  the  Washington  rep- 
resentative of  Dr.  Sun,  received  a 
long  dispatch  from  Dr.  Wu  on  July 
7  in  which  an  account  was  given  of 
the  circumstances  under  which  the 
militarists  of  Kwangsi,  the  province 


bordering  on  Kwangtung,  invaded 
the  latter  territory  and  how  they 
were  finally  repelled.  The  dispatch, 
which  made  serious  charges  against 
Japan,  reads  as  follows: 

War  has  been  forced  upon  the  people 
of  Kwangtung.  We  have  '  °en  at  pains 
to  preserve  peace  in  South  China,  so 
that  industry  might  be  developed  and 
business  prospered,  but  we  are  not  per- 
mitted to  go  on  with  the  peaceful  de- 
velopment of  the  province.  The  Kwang- 
si militarists,  urged  by  the  war  lords 
in  North  China  and  aided  by  funds  from 
Tokio,  have  been  for  the  last  three 
months  harassing  the  borders  of 
Kwangtung.'  In  several  places  they 
have  crossed  the  boundary  line  and  dis- 
turbed the  peaceful  inhabitants. 

Instead  of  repelling  the  marauders  by 
force,  we  withdrew  our  troops  further 
into  the  province,  hoping  that  time  and 
reason  would  lead  them  to  see  the  in- 
justice of  their  actions,  but  our  pa- 
tience has  been  mistaken  for  weakness, 
and  on  May  22  a  large  force  of  Kwangsi 
militarists  boldly  marched  across  the 
border  line  and  many  miles  into 
Kwangtung,  plundering  the  city  of 
Ling  Shan,  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
Kwangtung.  Our  soldiers  urged  them 
to  withdraw,  but  in  answer  they  fired 
upon  them.  Then  our  soldiers  drove 
them  back,  and  since  then  there  has 
been  fighting  in  many  places  along  the 
border  line.  On  June  30  our  troops  met 
the  Kwangsi  forces  near  Wuchow,  the 
most  important  commercial  city  in 
Kwangsi,  situated  about  100  miles  from 
the  City  of  Canton. 

Wre  succeeded  in  capturing  that  city 
after  a  severe  battle,  but  in  the  strug- 
gle we  discovered  that  we  were  not 
fighting  against  the  Kwangsi  mili- 
tarists alone.  There  were  many  Japa- 
nese fighting  in  their  ranks.  The  Japa- 
nese Captain  Nagamura  directed  the 
Kwangsi  forces  in  that  campaign,  and 
many  of  the  arms  and  munitions  that 
fell  into  our  hands  with  the  capture  of 
the  city  were  of  Japanese  manufacture. 
We  have  also  just  discovered  that  the 
Japanese  steamer  Kogawa  Maru,  laden 
with  arms  and  ammunition  destined  for 
Kwangsi,  is  now  in  the  Port  of  Shang- 
hai ready  to  sail  for  South  China. 

As  there  is  an  understanding  among 
the  different  powers  not  to  permit  the 
importation  of  arms  and  ammunition 
into  China  for  internal  warfare,  call 
their  attention  to  this  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  that  understanding.  The  peo- 
ple of  China  cry  for  justice.  They 
hope  their  cry  will  be  heard  by  liberty- 
loving  people  of  America. 


752 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Shantung  Parley  Refused 

Despite  the  charge  of  the  Canton 
Government  that  the  Peking  Govern- 
ment is  in  league  with  the  Japanese 
in  their  encroachments  on  China,  the 
Peking  leaders  continue  to  give  signs 
that  they  have  no  intention  of  yield- 
ing to  Japan  in  the  matter  of  Shan- 
tung. The  sending  of  Mr.  Simpson 
("  Putnam  Weale  ")  to  London  to  or- 
ganize a  '  whole  campaign  against 
Japan  and  the  Shantung  settlement 
demonstrated  this  quite  recently.  For 
many  weary  months  Japan  has  used 
every  persuasion  to  induce  China  to 
enter  into  discussions  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  Shantung 
Peninsula  might  be  returned  to 
China.  These  invitations  have  been 
continuously  refused.  An  official 
statement  on  the  subject — the  first 
in  many  months — was  issued  in 
Peking  on  June  22  by  Dr.  W.  W. 
Yen,  the  Chinese  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  After  asserting  that  China 
had  always  lost  territory  or  prestige 
as  a  result  of  negotiations  over  inter- 
national questions,  Dr.  Yen  explained 
the  Chinese  view  regarding  Shantung 
as  follows: 

If  Japan  intends  unconditionally  to 
restore  the  German  leased  territory  in 
Shantung  and  the  inalienable  rights 
and  privileges  formerly  enjoyed  by  Ger- 
many, she  should  announce  that  fact  to 
the  world  in  unequivocal  terms.  If  she 
proposes  to  make  conditions  for  such 
restitution,  she  should  likewise  frankly 
announce  those  terms  for  all  nations  to 
pronounce  jugment  upon  them. 

China  does  not  want  an  empty  res- 
toration, but  wishes  to  know  in  advance 
what  restoration  is  meant — what  Japan 
proposes  to  do  with  all  public  buildings, 
docks,  railway  terminals,  railways, 
mines,  the  property  seized  by  Japan 
since  her  occupation  by  forced  sale ; 
the  salt  industry,  and  the  revenues 
from  the  railways  collected  by  Japan 
during  her  occupation.  Let  Japan  go 
on  record  as  to  what  she  intends  to  do 
with  these  and  other  questions,  and 
there  will  be  no  need  for  negotiations. 

Furthermore,  China  does  not  wish  to 
jeopardize  her  right  to  carry  the  Shan- 
tung question  to  the  League  of  Nations 
by  entering  into  direct  negotiations. 
China  does  not  purpose  to  permit  Japan 
to  cite  such  negotiations  in  support  of 
possible  opposition  to  submission  of  the 
question  to  that  body. 


China  also  would  be  lacking  in  proper 
consideration  for  the  nations  which 
have  interested  themselves  in  the  Shan- 
tung settlement  should  she  undertake 
to  negotiate  directly.  This  is  particular- 
ly true  with  reference  to  the  Senate 
and  people  of  the  United  States,  who 
have  evinced  a  friendly  desire  to  see 
China's  interests  safeguarded. 

Internationalization  of  the  port  of 
Tsing-tao  would  meet  with  approval 
by  China.  It  is  in  line  with  China's 
declared  policy  and  action  in  throwing 
open  various  ports  to  international 
trade,  and  it  is  realized  that  it  would  be 
greatly  to  China's  interest.  The  initia- 
tive in  this  direction,  however,  lies  with 
China  and  not  with  Japan. 

[For  furthrr  details  of  Japan's  foreign  policy, 
see   Page   887.] 

INSISTING  ON  THE   OPEN   DOOR 

The  Peking  Government  was  much 
elated  by  a  new  declaration  for  the 
open-door  policy  in  China,  issued  by 
Secretary  Hughes  in  answer  to  a  let- 
ter from  Sao-ke  Alfred  Sze,  the 
Chinese  Ambassador  at  Washington, 
inquiring  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
United  States  Government  on  the 
various  complaints  made  by  the  Brit- 
ish, Japanese  and  Danish  Govern- 
ments against  wireless  concessions 
granted  by  China  to  an  American 
wireless  company.  The  full  corre- 
spondence was  given  out  subsequent- 
ly by  Mr.  Sze.  The  Ambassador's 
note,  dated  June  9.  referred  to  the 
agreement  made  on  Jan.  8  between 
the  Chinese  Minister  of  Communica- 
tions, representing  the  Peking  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  Federal  Telegraph 
Company,  an  American  corporation, 
"  for  the  erection  and  operation,  as  a 
joint  enterprise  of  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment and  the  American  company, 
of  stations  for  wireless  communica- 
tion. "  It  further  referred  to  the  pro- 
tests made  by  several  of  the  powers, 
on  the  ground  that  previous  rights 
granted  to  their  respective  nationals 
were  thereby  violated.  The  reply  of 
the  American  Secretary  of  State  was 
sent  on  July  1,  1921.  Here  is  the  of- 
ficial text: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  note  of  June  9,  and  in 
reply  assure  you  that  it  is  not  the  in- 
tention of  this  Government  to  withdraw 


DOCUMENTS   BEARING   ON   CHINA'S   DESTINY 


753 


from  the  position  hitherto  taken  by  it 
in  support  of  the  rights  accruing  to  the 
Federal  Telegraph  Company  under  the 
contract  of  Jan.  8  last.  In  its  view,  the 
communications  which  it  has  received 
from  the  other  interested  Governments, 
in  reply  to  its  inquiries  as  to  the  rea- 
sons for  their  protests  to  the  Chinese 
authorities  against  this  contract,  tend 
only  to  confirm  this  Government  in  its 
belief  that  the  adverse  claims  which 
have  been  urged  as  excluding  the  Fed- 
eral Telegraph  Company  from  partici- 
pating with  the  Chinese  Government  in 
establishing  wireless  communications 
are  founded  upon  assertions  of  monopo- 
listic or  preferential  rights,  in  the  field 
of  Chinese  Governmental  enterprise, 
which  cannot  be  reconciled  either  with 
the  treaty  rights  of  American  citizens 
in  China  or  with  the  principle  of  the 
open  door. 

Your  reference  to  the  principle  of  the 
open  door  affords  me  the  opportunity  to 
assure  you  of  this  Government's  con- 
tinuance in  its  whole-hearted  support 
of  that  principle,  which  it  has  tradition- 


ally regarded  as  fundamental  both  to 
the  interests  of  China  itself  and  to  the 
common  interests  of  all  powers  in 
China,  and  indispensable  to  the  free 
and  peaceful  development  of  their  com- 
merce on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  has  never 
associated  itself  with  any  arrangement 
which  sought  to  establish  any  special 
rights  or  privileges  in  China  that  would 
abridge  the  rights  of  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  other  friendly  States;  and 
I  am  happy  to  assure  you  that  it  is  the 
purpose  of  this  Government  neither  to 
participate  nor  to  acquiesce  in  any  ar- 
rangement which  might  purport  to 
establish  in  favor  of  foreign  interests 
any  superiority  of  rights  with  respect 
to  commercial  or  economic  devolopment 
in  designated  regions  of  the  territories 
of  China,  or  which  might  seek  to  create 
any  such  monopoly  or  preference  as 
would  exclude  other  nationals  from  un- 
dertaking any  legitimate  trade  or  in- 
dustry or  from  participating  with  the 
Chinese  Government  in  any  category 
of  public  enterprise. 


HUGO  STINNES,  THE  GERMAN  CROESUS 


TO  say  "  Stinnes  "  today  in  Germany  is  to 
pronounce  the  German  equivalent  for 
"  Rockefeller."  This  comparison  is  true, 
however,  only  as  regards  the  enormous  for- 
tune which  Hugo  Stinnes,  coal  magnate, 
steamship  owner  and  newspaper  controller, 
has  by  a  chain  of  fortunate  circumstances, 
depending  mainly  on  the  war,  but  also  on 
the  man's  undisputed  commercial  ability, 
been  enabled  to  amass.  Aside  from  his  vast 
interests,  or  rather  by  means  of  the  power 
they  give  him,  this  sinister-looking  figure 
has  become  a  political  force.  The  Eco- 
nomic Review  of  June  10  describes  him  as 
follows : 

He  has  the  somewhat  squat  figure  of  a 
country-  parson  ;  his  swarthy  complexion  and 
black  hair  and  beard  have  earned  him  the 
name  of  "  the  Assyrian,"  the  gaze  of  his 
narrow  eyes  under  heavy  eyebrows  is  pene- 
trating, his  mouth  is  hard  and  long,  with 
thin   lips.  *  *  * 

The  leader  and  financier  of  the  German 
Popular  Party,  he  is  now,  from  both  the 
economic  and  the  political  standpoint,  a 
central  figure  of  public  life,  and  it  is  even 
said  that  the  Fahrenbach  Cabinet  did  not 


dare  to  reach  any  decision  without  hearing 
his  views.  While  his  vast  industrial  under- 
takings spread,  further  and  further  through 
Germany,  and  his  numerous  newspapers 
give  the  law  to  the  rest  of  the  press,  he  is 
proclaimed  by  the  ultra-pan  Germans  as  the 
legitimate  successor  of  Bismarck.  To  the 
Socialists,  naturally,  he  is  anathema  as  the 
incarnation  of  capitalism  and  reaction. 

Stinnes  has  reached  his  present  position 
within  thirty  years.  Only  50  years  of  age, 
he  started  his  career  at  Mulheim  on  the 
Ruhr  with  a  capital  of  50,000  marks.  The 
stages  of  his  rise  were  through  the  sale  of 
coal  to  the  acquisition  of  mines,  from  iron 
and  steel  production  to  shipping.  The  chief 
purveyor  of  military  supplies  for  the  Ger- 
man Government  during  the  war,  he 
charged  and  received  fabulous  profits, 
plunged  into  politics,  bought  newspapers 
(including  the  official  organ  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  Deutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung) 
and  even  the  Hirsch  Telegraph  Union,  in- 
dispensable for  the  lesser  German  press. 
Today  he  seems  to  be  on  the  way  to  buying 
up  all  Germany. 


MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE 
GREEK  WAR 


By  Clair  Price 

An    American    newspaper    correspondent    who    has    lived    in    the    Near    East 

What  the  Turkish  Nationalists  under  Mustapha  Kemal  are  fighting  for,  and  how  the 
fate  of  Europe  may  hang  upon  the  decision  of  their  war  with  the  Greeks — Why  the 
struggle  centres  about  the  Treaty  of  Sevres — Constantinople  the  key  of  the  situation 


THE  new  campaign  begun  about  the 
middle  of  July  by  King  Constan- 
tine  and  his  Prime  Minister 
against  the  Turkish  Nationalist  forces 
under  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  may 
justly  be  said  to  involve  the  fate  of 
Europe.  The  danger  of  this  new  war 
for  control  of  Asia  Minor  is  fully  real- 
ized by  some  of  the  allied  Premiers. 

The  war  in  Asia  Minor  between  the 
Turks  and  the  Greeks  centres  about 
the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  which  originally 
was  wholly  favorable  to  Greece  and 
unfavorable  to  Turkey.  The  first 
trouble  came  when  that  treaty  was 
modified  at  the  London  Conference 
held  in  February,  1921.  Greece,  seeing 
herself  threatened  with  loss  of  the 
advantages  gained  under  the  original 
treaty,  rejected  the  modifications  de- 
cided upon  by  the  Allies,  and  rushed 
into  another  war  with  Turkey,  a  war 
devised  to  enforce  the  Sevres  Treaty 
on  a  strong  Turkish  Nationalist  Gov- 
ernment, for  whom  that  treaty  is 
"suicide  400  times  over."  It  is  a  war 
of  peculiar  futility,  inasmuch  as  its 
outcome,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  yet 
to  receive  the  consent  of  Russia — the 
senior  partner  to  all  settlements  in 
Turkey,  a  senior  partner  temporarily 
laid  up  with  troubles  of  his  own. 
Until  Russia  guarantees  a  new  regime 
over  the  Straits  of  Constantinople  it 
is  difficult  to  consider  any  such  new 
regime  as  permanently  written  into 
Near  Eastern  history.  The  Russian 
Government  has  already  repudiated 
the  Near  Eastern  settlement  which 
the  Sevres  Treaty  proposes.     In  its 


treaty  of  last  March  with  the  Turk- 
ish Nationalists  it  announced  its 
own  policy  respecting  the  Straits  in 
the  following  language: 

In  order  to  secure  full  freedom  of 
trade  on  and  around  the  Black  Sea,  a 
conference  of  the  neighboring  States 
Bhall  be  called  to  draw  up  the  necessary, 
detailed  and  authoritative  statutes, 
which  shall,  however,  in  no  way  tend 
to  diminish  the  absolute  sovereignty  of 
Turkey,  or  the  security  of  the  country 
and  its   capital,   Constantinople. 

Greece's  disregard  of  such  a  pro- 
nouncement can  hardly  be  accidental. 
One  can  look  upon  the  blow  which 
Greece  has  dealt  the  Turkish  Nation- 
alist Government  only  as  an  attempt 
to  rush  the  imposition  of  the  Sevres 
Treaty  during  Russia's  absence.  In 
the  light  of  France's  coolness  toward 
the  Sevres  Treaty  and  of  Italy's 
known  hostility;  in  the  light  of  the 
century  of  worry  which  Constanti- 
nople has  occasioned  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, one  may  infer  that  the  Brit- 
ish are  not  disinterested  spectators 
of  this  attempt  to  present  the  future 
Russia  with  a  Greek  fait  accomvli  in 
the  region  of  the  Straits.  One  may 
go  further  and  find  in  the  present 
Greco-Turkish  war  a  circumstance  of 
the  highest  importance  in  connection 
with  Great  Britain's  failure  thus  far 
to  summon  the  general  peace  confer- 
ence provided  for  in  the  Anglo-Rus- 
sian Trade  Agreement. 

The  Religious  Issue 

But  the  Anglo-Russian  struggle  for 
the  mastery  of  the  East,  a  struggle 


MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE  GREEK  WAR 


755 


which  has  raged  for  more  than  a  cen- 
tury from  the  Balkans  to  Burma,  is 
not  as  historic  an  aspect  of  the 
Greco-Turkish  war  as  the  mediaeval 
religious  issue  which  still  abides  be- 
tween the  Ecumenical  Patriarch  ot 
Orthodox  Christianity  and  the  Caliph 
of  Sunni  Mohammedanism. 

Judaism,  Christianity  and  Moham- 
medanism have  all  sprung  from  the 
same  corner  of  the  earth.  All  three 
are  monotheist  religions  with  many 
elements  held  in  common.  Just  as 
Christianity  may  be  looked  upon  as 
Judaism  plus  the  Messiahship  of 
Jesus,  so  Mohammedanism  may  be 
looked  upon  as  Christianity  plus  the 
sword  of  Mohammed ;  for  Mohammed 
did  not  come  to  reveal  a  new  religion, 
but  to  convert  the  world  to  the  relig- 
ion revealed  before  him  by  Moses  and 
Jesus.  Yet,  closely  related  as  they 
are,  the  respective  believers  in  Chris- 
tianity and  Mohammedanism  proba- 
bly hate  each  other  more  than  the 


((£)    Underwood    &    Underwood) 

MUSTAPHA  KEMAL   PASHA 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish 

National    Army 


devotees  of  any  other  two  religions 
on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  the  memory 
of  the  great  Mohammedan  conquest 
is  too  green  in  Christian  minds  to  per- 
mit of  peace. 

It  is  idle  to  point  out  that  Europe 
no  longer  lives  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
that  wars  arise  nowadays  out  of  poli- 
tics rather  than  religion,  that  the 
Sign  of  the  Cross  has  been  somewhat 
eclipsed  of  late  by  the  Sign  of  the 
Factory  Chimney.  It  is  a  waste 
of  breath  to  point  out  that  there 
are  as  good  brains  in  Mohammedan- 
ism as  in  Christianity,  and  that  the 
Near  East  has  abundant  need  of  both, 
if  its  broken  pieces  are  to  be  picked 
up  and  put  together  again.  For  Eu- 
rope is  still  a  small  continent  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  Mohammedan- 
ism and  the  sea.  Good  Europeans 
know  what  to  expect  of  the  sea,  but 
not  even  the  shrewdest  of  them 
looks  upon  Mohammedanism  as  a  de- 
pendable force.  Twice  in  the  last 
dozen  of  centuries  Mohammedanism 
has  ripped  and  torn  its  way  deeply 
into  Europe.  Once  it  was  Charles 
Martel  who  flung  the  Arabs  back 
from  Tours ;  nothing  now  remains  of 
that  raid  except  the  memory  of  the 
great  days  when  Cordoba  ranked 
with  Bagdad  as  a  seat  of  Arab  learn- 
ing. Later  it  was  Vienna  which  twice 
stood  like  a  rock  in  the  path  of  the 
Grand  Turk — and  Constantinople  is 
still  a  Turkish  bridgehead.  The 
Ecumenical  Patriarch  still  wanders 
homeless  among  the  churches  he  lost 
in  Stamboul  on  the  afternoon  of  May 
29,  1453.  Now  that  Russia  for  the 
moment  is  out  of  it,  Greece  has  be- 
come the  spearhead  of  Christian  Eu- 
rope, and  the  Greeks  are  ready  to 
sound  the  Last  Post  over  the  Mosques 
of  Stamboul. 

No  move  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tendom has  hurt  Mohammedanism  so 
much  as  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  and 
the  association  of  Great  Britain's 
name  with  that  treaty  is  in  marked 
contrast  to  the  benevolent  tradition 
which  characterized  British  policy  in 
Mohammedan  countries  down  to  1914. 
Great    Britain's    historic    enemy    at 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Constantinople  has  been  Russia,  and 
one  may  infer  that  the  greatest  Mo- 
hammedan power  in  the  world  would 
not  have  put  its  name  to  the  Sevres 
Treaty  without  a  very  urgent  motive. 
For  the  present,  Greece  has  under- 
taken the  imposition  of  the  treaty  on 
the  Turkish  Nationalist  Government, 
and  the  Greco-Turkish  war  is  being 
waged  in  the  small  ring  of  a  world 
arena,  an  arena  in  which  far  greater 
issues  are  at  stake  than  were  settled 
in  the  great  war.  If,  however,  we 
may  cut  sharply  away  the  endless 
ramifications  of  the  Greco-Turkish 
war,  we  shall  find  that  the  Turkish 
end  of  the  war  presents  a  remarkable 
story  in  itself. 

The  British  Occupation 

The  crash  of  the  last  three  years' 
events  in  Europe  still  obscures  the 
fact  that  the  old  Turkish  Empire  has 
at  last  been  partitioned.  When  Gen- 
eral Townshend,  of  Kut-el-Amara 
fame,  led  a  Turkish  delegation  down 
to  a  British  battleship  off  the  Dar- 
danelles at  midnight  of  Oct.  30,  1918, 
what  was  left  of  Turkey  consisted  of 
about  300,000  square  miles  stretching 
from  Bulgaria  to  Baku.  The  separate 
armistice  with  Great  Britain,  which 
the  Turkish  delegation  signed  that 
night,  stipulated  the  withdrawal  of 
the  unbeaten  Turkish  armies  in 
Transcaucasia  behind  the  old  Turco- 
Russian  frontier,  and  Turkey  there- 
after, pending  the  signing  of  peace, 
occupied  an  area  of  some  250,000 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of 
some  10,000,000.  Turkey  then  in- 
cluded only  Turkish  territory  proper. 
The  Arab  countries  from  the  Persian 
Gulf  to  Libya  were  lost. 

The  armistice  was  followed  by  one 
of  the  important  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  Europe,  but  amid  the  din  of 
a  world  war  which  was  smashing  to 
its  close  it  slipped  by  almost  unno- 
ticed. The  Anglo-French  Salon iki 
force  marched  into  Constantinople ; 
the  greatest  naval  force  Constantino- 
ple had  ever  seen,  a  force  which  in- 
cluded a  large  proportion  of  the  Brit- 
ish Grand  Fleet  itself,  steamed  up  the 


Dardanelles  and  anchored  off  Dolma 
Bagtsche    Palace ;    and,    temporarily 

at  least,  Constantinople  had  been  re- 
turned to  Christian  control. 

The  British  command  in  Constan- 
tinople took  over  the  policing  of  the 
Pera  section,  detailed  control  i 
to  operate  the  Bagdad  Railway  to 
Konia,  whence  British  expeditionary 
forces  operated  it  all  the  way  to 
Mesopotamia,  and  dispatched  heavier 
forces  to  Batum  for  the  occupation 
of  Transcaucasia.  The  French  com- 
mand policed  the  Stamboul  section 
of  the  capital,  operated  the  railw 
of  Turkey  in  Europe,  and  garrisoned 
the  principal  towns.  The  Italian  com- 
mand policed  Scutari,  on  the  Asiatic 
shore  of  the  Constantinople  area,  and 
later  occupied  a  largo  area  of  Turkey 
in  Asia,  extending  from  Adalia  to 
Konia.  The  rest  of  Turkey  in  Asia 
was  not  occupied;  the  British  com- 
mand did  not  have  troops  available. 
Here  the  war  had  broken  down 
the  whole  fabric  of  ordinary  inter- 
course. Banditry  and  typhus  were 
laying  waste  what  was  left  to  lay 
waste;  whole  provinces  lay  in  weed- 
grown  ruins;  and  in  large  areas 
across  which  the  Turkish  and  Rus- 
sian armies  had  surged  neither  man 
nor  animal  could  be  found  alive. 
Throughout  this  great  stretch  of 
primitive  Alpine  country  the  allied 
command  in  Constantinople  per- 
mitted the  Sultan's  Government  to 
police  the  larger  towns  in  an  effort  to 
bring  such  order  out  of  the  appalling 
chaos  as  it  could. 

The  Sultan's  Government  had  now 
returned  to  the  British  influence, 
which  had  dominated  it  from  1810  to 
1888.  Purged  of  its  Russian  alliance 
and  traditionally  linked  to  the  Sultan- 
Caliph  by  reason  of  India's  60,000,- 
000  Mohammedans,  Great  Britain 
was  Turkey's  inevitable  refuge  as 
long  as  the  Turkish  Government 
should  be  too  weak  to  stand  alone 
against  the  powerful  influent 
which  make  a  perpetual  battleground 
of  Constantinople.  For  the  time  be- 
ing the  Turks  looked  to  the  Moham- 
medans of  India  to  produce  a  British 


MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE  GREEK  WAR 


757 


peace  treaty  as  easy  in  its  terms  as 
the  British  armistice  had  been,  and, 
in  so  far  as  the  broken-down  means 
of  communication  in  Asia  Minor  per- 
mitted, the  Sultan's  Government 
obeyed  the  allied  demands  to  the  let- 
ter, demobilizing  such  forces  as  the 
terms  of  the  armistice  demanded,  and 
surrendering  large  quantities  of  war 
material  to  British  units  on  the 
fringes  of  the  Constantinople  area. 
Further  than  that,  the  Turks  sought 
in  the  United  States  an  escape  from 
permanent  British  domination.  Tur- 
key's demand  to  be  taken  under  an 
American  mandate  became  unani- 
mous, despite  the  fact  that  the  Allied 
Board  of  Censors  in  Constantinople 
had  forbidden  the  publication  of 
"news  from  Russian  Soviet  or  Ameri- 
can agencies"  in  the  Turkish  press. 

Then  came  the  Greek  occupation 
of  the  great  Turkish  port  of  Smyrna 
on  May  15,  1919,  which  alienated 
Turkey  from  the  British  and  com- 
pelled her  to  stand  or  fall  by  her  own 
strength. 

MUSTAPHA    KEMAL'S    DEFIANCE 

Because  the  Greek  disembarkation 
had  been  preceded  by  a  small  British 
landing,  the  Turks  rightly  or  wrongly 
interpreted  it  as  a  British  move.  It 
caused  such  amazement  that  every 
shop  in  Stamboul  shut  its  doors  for 
three  days,  and  the  British  command 
across  the  Golden  Horn  in  Pera 
mounted  machine  guns  on  Galata 
Bridge.  The  Turks  claimed  that, 
since  Greece  had  not  been  one  of  the 
Allies,  the  Greek  occupation  of 
Smyrna  was  a  violation  of  the  ar- 
mistice they  had  signed  with  Great 
Britain,  and  was  equivalent  to  a  new 
declaration  of  war  on  Turkey.  Even 
now,  in  little  Turkish  villages  far 
away  in  the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor, 
one  may  see  Turkish  men  mumbling 
over  their  coffee  about  the  "dirty 
English,"  and  Turkish  women  pass- 
ing with  the  red  brassard  inscribed 
in  black  Turkish  script :  "Remember 
Smyrna  until  it  is  avenged." 

The  armistice  with  Great  Britain 
was  torn  up,  and  thereafter  not  an- 


other bullet  was  surrendered  to  the 
Allies.  Thrown  on  their  resources, 
the  Turks  were  able  to  find  a  strong 
man  in  the  person  of  General  Musta- 
pha  Kemal  Pasha,  then  Commander 
of  the  Turkish  Third  Army  Corps 
stationed  at  Sivas  in  Asia  Minor.  In 
view  of  the  sort  of  government  which 
Constantinople  has  forced  upon  the 
Turkish  Nation  for  the  last  centurv. 
a  system  of  government  in  which 
nearly  every  strong  man  whom  Tur- 
key could  produce  was  sooner  or  later 
assassinated,  Mustapha  Kemal's  rise 
at  this  desperate  moment  evidences 
the  soundness  and  virility  of  the 
Turkish  people.  Mustapha  Kemal 
declared  his  allegiance  to  the  person 
of  the  Sultan,  whom  he  regarded  as 
a  prisoner  in  enemy  hands,  but  he  re- 
pudiated the  Sultan's  Government, 
which  he  declared  was  incapable  of 
registering  the  decrees  of  the  Turk- 
ish people,  by  reason  of  the  pressure 
of  the  allied  command  in  Constanti- 
nople. 

Disregarding  Constantinople's  de- 
mand for  his  resignation,  he  hastily 
began  extemporizing  a  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment in  Asia  Minor  which  should 
represent  the  Turkish  Nation  until 
such  time  as  the  Sultan's  Govern- 
ment in  Constantinople  would  be  able 
to  function  freely.  In  the  meantime 
the  Sultan's  Government  preferred 
charges  against  the  Greeks  of  atroci- 
ties committed  during  their  occupa- 
tion of  Smyrna,  and  the  allied  com- 
mand in  Constantinople  sought  to 
ease  an  increasingly  difficult  situa- 
tion by  dispatching  a  commission, 
consisting  of  the  British,  French, 
Italian  and  American  High  Commis- 
sioners, to  conduct  an  investigation 
at  Smyrna.  The  result  of  the  investi- 
gation was  that  four  Greek  officers 
were  sentenced  to  long  terms  of  im- 
prisonment, but  the  commission's  re- 
port was  officially  suppressed.  One 
who  looks  upon  the  old  Turkish  Em- 
pire as  one  of  the  major  scandals  of 
Christendom  may  be  permitted  to 
point  out  that  it  is  by  such  suppres- 
sions of  the  truth  that  hatred  of  the 


758 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Turkish  Nation  has  been  manufac- 
tured. 

Mustapha  Kemal's  efforts  brought 
some  300  delegates  from  the  Turkish 
provinces  of  Asia  Minor  trekking  into 
the  ruined  town  of  Erzerum.  The 
Congress  of  Erzerum  in  July.  1919, 
was  followed  by  the  still  larger  Con- 
gress of  Sivas  in  September,  at  which 
the  Grand  National  Assembly  was 
organized  to  sit  at  Angora  as  the  pro- 
visional Turkish  Government.  The 
final  inauguration  of  the  National 
Assembly  was,  to  any  lover  of  Tur- 
key, the  most  hopeful  event  which 
has  occurred  in  Turkey  for  more  than 
a  century.  It  is  impossible  to  visual- 
ize its  vast  promise  for  Turkey  with- 
out knowing  something  of  the  old 
days  of  the  empire,  and  of  a  Turkish 
Government  in  Constantinople  which, 
in  fact,  was  anything  but  Turkish. 

The  old  Turkish  Empire  occupied 
the  military  centre  of  the  world.  It 
was  the  junction  of  three  continents. 
The  trade  routes  of  Asia,  Africa  and 
Europe  crossed  and  crisscrossed  it. 
With  the  rise  of  the  mechanical  revo- 
lution Europe  began  to  reach  out 
along  the  trade  routes  after  the  raw 
materials  of  Asia  and  Africa.  From 
a  continent  of  castles  and  serfs,  Eu- 
rope became  a  continent  of  blast 
furnaces  and  trade  unions,  driven  by 
industrial  hunger  into  that  terrific 
competitive  search  for  raw  materials 
which  goes  under  the  name  of  impe- 
rialism. Europe's  reach  for  the  raw 
materials  of  Asia  and  Africa,  along 
with  the  control  of  the  trade  routes 
to  fetch  home  these  materials,  in- 
evitably brought  it  into  touch  with 
Constantinople.  The  medieval  re- 
ligious feud  which  has  centred  for 
centuries  in  the  Mohammedan  bridge- 
head of  Constantinople  became  in- 
extricably interwoven  with  the  pow- 
erful industrial  influences  of  Euro- 
pean imperialism.  Although  an  East- 
ern and  a  non-industrial  nation,  Tur- 
key endeavored  to  drop  into  step  with 
the  new  industrial  march  of  Europe; 
but  the  young  Russian  Empire  was 
already  feeling  the  bars  of  its  Black 
Sea  jail,  Great  Britain  was  finding  it 


imperative  to  bar  Russia  from  the 
Straits,  and  Constantinople  had  al- 
ready become  the  battleground  of  the 
most  powerful  political  forces  in  the 
world. 

One  can  indicate  only  a  few  typical 
results  for  Turkey.  The  capitulations 
were  forced  on  the  Sultan's  Govern- 
ment by  which  every  unscrupulous 
rascal  who  could  show  a  foreign  pass- 
port was  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  Turkish  courts.  Treaties  were 
forced  on  the  Sultan  for  the  "pro- 
tection" of  his  minorities,  treaties 
which  were  not  enforced  and  which 
had  the  single  effect  of  stimulating 
his  minorities  against  the  empire. 
Money  was  loaned  to  Turkey  by  bank- 
ers who,  in  return,  took  over  a  mort- 
gage on  every  piaster  of  the  Turkish 
Government's  revenue,  making  the 
Government  a  helpless  subsidiary  of 
its  foreign  bondholders.  The  time 
finally  came  when  Turkey  needed 
everything  necessary  to  a  modern  in- 
dustrial country,  railroads,  harbors, 
ships,  good  roads,  water  power,  fac- 
tories, but  even  its  salt  and  tobacco 
were  already  foreign  monopolies. 
So  completely  was  its  income  tied  up 
that  when  the  Sultan  built  the  Hedjaz 
Railway  he  had  to  call  for  popular 
subscriptions,  and  Turkish  women 
stripped  the  jewels  off  their  fingers 
and  even  cut  off  their  hair  and  sold 
it.  The  Turkish  Government  long 
ago  ceased  to  rule  in  Constantinople, 
and  the  European  embassies,  each 
with  its  court  of  concession  hunters, 
permitted  nobody  to  succeed  it.  The 
empire  became  an  insane  asylum  of 
jangling  races  and  religions,  while 
Constantinople  became  such  a  cess- 
pool that  its  future,  a  British  doctor 
once  said,  has  become  not  a  political, 
but  a  medical  problem. 

A  Patriotic  Movement 

It  was  a  bitter  and  an  unaccus- 
tomed position  for  Turkey.  The  re- 
sult was  a  slow  but  substantial 
growth  of  a  Turkey-for-the-Turks 
movement,  a  sound  nationalist  move- 
ment which  envisaged  a  Turkey 
standing  again  erect  among  the  na- 


MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE  GREEK  WAR 


759 


tions  by  its  own  strength.  For  the 
moment,  however,  Turkey  was  tied 
hand  and  foot.  In  order  to  preserve 
her  life  she  was  compelled  to  rely  on 
the  great  British  Embassy  in  Con- 
stantinople which  saved  her  from 
Russia  in  1856  and  again  in  1876.  But 
the  British  Embassy  refused  in  1880 
"to  accept  concessions  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  railroad  from  Constan- 
tinople to  Bagdad,  and  Turkey's  need 
of  such  an  elementary  highway  was 
so  urgent  that  she  finally  broke  with 
Great  Britain  and  let  the  first  of  the 
Bagdad  concessions  in  1888  through 
the  German  Embassy,  relying  on  the 
Berlin-to-Bagdad  scheme  to  afford 
her  the  same  protection  from  Russia 
as  the  British  Embassy  had  pre- 
viously afforded.  Turkey's  position 
remained  as  humiliating  under  Ger- 
man domination  as  it  had  been  under 
British  influence,  but  the  completion 
of  the  Bagdad  Railway  was  expected 
to  hasten  the  day  when  Germany 
could  be  dismissed  as  Great  Britain 
had  already  been  dismissed. 

When  in  1907,  however,  Great 
Britain  unexpectedly  signed  a  truce 
with.  Russia  in  Persia,  and  King  Ed- 
ward VII.  met  the  Czar  at  Reval  in 
1908  preparatory  to  lending  his 
powerful  support  to  Turkey's  great 
enemy,  an  electrical  shock  ran 
through  Turkey.  *Any  agreement  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  Russia, 
Turkey  reasoned,  would  inevitably 
mean  her  own  partition  (and  the  se- 
cret Anglo-Russian  agreement  of 
1915,  by  which  Russia  "annexed" 
Constantinople,  showed  how  shrewdly 
Turkey  reasoned)  ;•  if  Turkey  was 
to  break  her  bonds  it  was  now  or 
never. 

Turkish  nationalism  broke  surface 
at  once  in  the  Young  Turkish  revolu- 
tion of  July,  1908.  Throughout  the 
empire  this  movement  was  hailed 
with  the  wildest  enthusiasm,  but  it 
flickered  and  went  out  in  the  foul  air 
of  Constantinople.  The  great  war 
came,  and  "although  Germany  was 
compelled  to  drag  the  Turk  into  it  by 
the  heels,  Turkey's  interests  lay  in- 
evitably with  Germany,  for  it  was 
Germany  who  was  fighting  Russia. 


Once  in  the  war,  Turkey  rescinded 
the  capitulations  and  Turkish  na- 
tionalism rose  again  to  meet  its  sup- 
posed opportunity. 

But  Germany's  collapse  in  1918 
only  returned  Turkey  to  the  British 
influence,  and  allied  garrisons  in 
Constantinople  itself  (the  only  en- 
emy capital  which  the  Allies  have  oc- 
cupied) now  fastened  a  more  rigor- 
ous control  than  ever  on  the  Sultan's 
Government.  But  beneath  the  sur- 
face the  current  of  Turkish  national- 
ism still  flowed  so  strongly  that,  with 
the  Greek  occupation  of  Smyrna,  it 
was  able  to  take  the  utterly  unprece- 
dented course  of  throwing  up  at  An- 
gora a  free  Turkish  Government  in 
flat  defiance  of  Great  Britain. 

Angora  Formidable 

At  Angora  Turkish  nationalism 
found  at  least  its  long-denied  oppor- 
tunity. Throughout  the  Autumn  and 
Winter  of  1919  the  Angora  Govern- 
ment attracted  increasing  numbers 
of  Turkish  leaders  from  Constanti- 
nople, and  its  growing  prestige  stiff- 
ened the  hands  of  the  Sultan's  Gov- 
ernment. From  the  British  point  of 
view  the  situation  became  intolera- 
ble, and  early  in  March,  1920,  the 
British  command  in  Constantinople 
withdrew  the  British  control  officers 
from  the  Bagdad  Railway  and  the  al- 
lied command  withdrew  the  Italian 
forces  of  occupation  from  the  region 
about  Konia.  Having  evacuated  Asia 
Minor  to  the  Angora  Government, 
early  on  the  morning  of  March  16 
the  British  command  in  Constanti- 
nople seized  the  Constantinople 
telegraph  and  telephone  system, 
effectively  cutting  off  the  Sultan's 
Government  from  Angora,  and 
deported  to  Malta  every  Turkish 
leader  in  the  capital  who  was  sus- 
pected of  the  nationalist  taint  and 
who  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing good  his  flight  to  Angora. 

Meanwhile,  Mustapha  Kemal's 
Government  at  Angora  was  hemmed 
in  on  all  sides  by  enemies. 

The  Armenians,  who  had  set  up  the 
Republic    of    Erivan    in    Transcau- 


760 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


casia,  were  gathered  along  the  old 
Turco-Russian  frontier  awaiting  re- 
patriation into  the  eastern  Turkish 
provinces — a  repatriation  which  the 
Turks  believed  would  be  the  cover 
for  the  detachment  of  a  large  area  of 
Turkish  territory  and  its  incorpora- 
tion in  the  Erivan  Republic.  The 
Angora  Government  continued  to 
hold  the  old  Turco-Russian  frontier 
with  a  strong  garrison,  and  still 
holds  it. 

The  Greeks  had  occupied  Smyrna 
city,  Smyrna  province,  and  a  ragged 
area  greatly  overrunning  the  bound- 
aries of  Smyrna  province.  Greeks 
were  also  flowing  into  Trebizond  and 
Kastamuni  provinces  on  the  Black 
Sea,  and  a  propaganda  was  rife  for 
the  detachment  of  these  provinces 
from  Turkey  and  their  elevation  into 
the-  Greek  Republic  on  the  Pontus. 
Here  the  Angora  Government  also  as- 
signed garrisons,  and  still  holds  un- 
contested its  Black  Sea  frontier,  but 
the  Smyrna  theatre  is  still  the  scene 
of  military  operations. 

The  British  Egyptian  Expedition- 
ary Force  had  evacuated  the  plain  of 
Adana,  Syria,  and  the  fringes  of  Up- 
per Mesopotamia  to  the  French,  and 
here  Mustapha  Kemal  launched  a 
campaign  which  pressed  back  the 
Franco-Armenian  forces  until  the 
French  command  at  Beirut  was 
forced  to  sue  for  an  armistice.  Fur- 
ther negotiations  between  Angora 
and  Beirut  recovered  for  Turkey  all 
the  Adana  plain  and  extended  the 
Turkish  frontiers  in  Syria  and  Up- 
per Mesopotamia  down  to  the  line 
of  the  Bagdad  Railway. 

These  operations  compelled  France 
to  evacuate  most  of  Turkey  in  Eu- 
rope, and  the  Turks  of  Adrianople 
(European  Turkey)  immediately  be- 
gan an  isolated  nationalist  move- 
ment under  the  leadership  of  Colonel 
Jaffer  Tayer  Bey.  Angora  at  once 
moved  on  the  Straits  to  link  up  with 
Adrianople.  This  precipitated  such 
a  crisis  at  Constantinople  that  the 
British  command  was  compelled  to 
evacuate  Batum  and  to  recall  to  Con- 
stantinople every  British  and  Indian 
soldier  it  could  lay  its  hands  on.    The 


Greeks  were  hurriedly  loosed  against 
Jaffer  Tayer;  his  nationalist  move- 
ment was  snuffed  out,  and  with 
Greece  holding  Turkey  in  Europe  in 
Constantinople's  rear,  the  British 
command  was  able  to  throw  its 
strength  upon  the  Asiatic  shores  of 
the  Constantinople  area,  where  Brit- 
ish battleships  were  now  shelling 
the  Angora  troops  in  the  very  sub- 
urbs of  the  capital. 

Effects  of  Sevres  Treaty 

While  this  situation  had  been  de- 
veloping, the  Treaty  of  Sevres  was 
handed  to  the  Sultan's  Government 
on  May  11.  Except  that  German  and 
Russian  interests  were  excluded,  the 
Sevres  Treaty  proposed  to  fasten  of- 
ficially and  permanently  on  the  Sul- 
tan's Government  the  same  outside 
control  which  had  slowly  rotted  that 
Government  during  the  old  days  of 
the  empire.  It  proposed  to  make 
over  immediately  to  Greece  all  of 
Turkey  in  Europe  except  the  Con- 
stantinople peninsula;  to  deprive 
Turkey  of  military  access  to  Constan- 
tinople, and  to  make  her  retention  of 
the  capital  contingent  upon  her  ob- 
servation of  "the  provisions  of  the 
present  treaty,  or  of  any  treaties  or 
conventions  supplementary  thereto  " ; 
to  transfer  Smyrna  and  its  hinter- 
land to  Greek  administration  within 
the  Greek  customs  system,  and  to 
place  what  remained  of  Turkey  un- 
der the  permanent  financial,  mili- 
tary and  economic  control  of  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Italy.  Its  final 
proposal  was  to  commit  the  peculiarly 
Turco-Russian  problem  of  the  Straits 
to  an  international  commission  to  be 
"composed  of  representatives  ap- 
pointed respectively  by  the  United 
States  of  America  (if  and  when  that 
Government  is  willing  to  partici- 
pate), the  British  Empire,  France, 
Italy,  Japan,  Russia  (if  and  when 
Russia  becomes  a  member  of  the 
League  of  Nations),  Greece,  Ruma- 
nia and  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  (if  and 
when  the  two  latter  States  become 
members  of  the  League  of  Nations) ." 


MUSTAPHA  KEMAL  AND  THE  GREEK  WAR 


761 


A  delegation  of  elderly  Anglophile 
Turks  representing  the  Sultan's 
Government  in  Constantinople  final- 
ly signed  the  treaty  on  Aug.  10,  but 
the  Angora  Government  had  already 
denounced  it,  and  with  its  denuncia- 
tion France  tacitly  and  Italy  openly 
had  associated  themselves.  The  Rus- 
sian Government  had  also  repudiated 
it,  and  at  the  Conference  of  London 
last  February  the  British  Govern- 
ment itself  offered  to  modify  it  by 
evacuating  Constantinople  and  in- 
stituting allied  investigations  into 
the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants  in  the 
Smyrna  area,  and  in  Turkey  in  Eu- 
rope. But  the  proffered  modifica- 
tions were  rejected  by  the  Greek  dele- 


gates, and  within  a  week  Greece  had 
launched  a  blow  from  Smyrna  which 
was  intended  to  smash  Angora,  to 
hurl  Turkey  back  into  Asia  Minor, 
and  to  erect  in  her  place  a  new  Greek 
Empire  across  the  Straits.  Angora 
broke  the  Greek  drive  at  Eski-Shehr, 
however,  and  extinguished  the  last 
lingering  spark  of  life  in  the  Sevres 
Treaty. 

Now  the  Turks  and  Greeks  are 
again  fighting  for  a  settlement  of  the 
great  issues  at  stake.  The  immediate 
issue  is  Smyrna.  The  future  of  Con- 
stantinople depends  on  the  fate  of 
Smyrna — and  the  future  of  Europe, 
perhaps,  depends,  upon  the  fate  of 
Constantinople. 


WHY  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING 

TURKEY 


By  Adamantios  Th.  Polyzoides 

Editor   of    the    Greek    Daily,    Atlantis 

A  war  for  the  rescue  of  millions  of  Greeks  from  intolerable  Turkish  persecutions — 
Historical  evidence  to  prove  that  Asia  Minor  always  has  been  Greek  territory — Appalling 
facts  of  recent  massacres,  which  are  among  the  causes  of  the  present  war 


WHAT  is  the  essential  character 
of  the  Greek  struggle  in  Asia 
Minor?  Is  it  an  imperialistic 
campaign  such  as  the  Socialists  con- 
sider it  to  be,  or  is  it  an  assignment 
given  to  Greece  by  Great  Britain  in 
order  to  strengthen  and  maintain  the 
British  hold  on  the  Near  East;  or  is 
it  an  effort  of  King  Constantine  to 
preserve  his  popularity  with  the 
Greek  people  ? 

All  these  explanations  and  many 
more  of  a  similar  character  have  been 
given  to  the  events  that  we  are  wit- 
nessing in  the  war  now  going  on  in 
the  region  that  was  the  cradle  of 
Greek  and  Christian  civilization.  And 
yet  no  one  seems  to  know,  or  dares  to 
say,  that  this  whole  Greek  campaign 
is  purely  a  struggle  of  self-preserva- 


tion, conducted  by  the  same  nation 
that  sent  the  first  settlers  and  that 
has  always  furnished  most  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  extended  territory 
known  as  western  Asia  Minor. 

The  most  superficial  reading  of 
history  will  show  to  what  an  extent 
the  Near  East  is  Greek  territory. 
That  previous  to  the  Greeks  there 
may  have  been  other  races  in  those 
lands  no  one  denies.  But  even  in  that 
case,  those  aborigines  have  been  so 
completely  absorbed  by  the  Greek 
element  during  the  last  thirty  cen- 
turies, that  no  trace  of  them  remains, 
save  perhaps,  in  some  grotesque 
forms  of  prehistoric  ruins — ruins 
which,  even  to  this  day,  have  not 
given  us  the  secret  of  the  races  that 


762 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


built  those  walls,  temples  and  palaces 
of  so  long  ago. 

On  the  other  hand,  Greece,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  has  left  the  im- 
print of  her  culture  and  civilization 
over  all  that  vast  territory  in  which 
Hellenism  has  never  ceased  to  pre- 
dominate for  three  thousand  years. 

Asia  Minor,  making  the  western- 
most end  of  the  Asiatic  continent, 
forms  an  extensive  peninsula,  stretch- 
ing between^ the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  Black  Sea,  from  the 
Gulf  of  Tssus  (the  present  Alexan- 
dretta)  to  the  shore  of  Trebizond,  and 
advances  as  if  to  meet  the  European 
continent.  Thus  we  consider  Asia 
Minor  the  first  stop  of  Asia,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  Asiatic  peoples  con- 
sider Greece  the  first  sentinel  of 
Europe.  Here  we  have  two  names, 
Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  which  by  na- 
ture are  inseparable.  Here  we  have 
two  opposing  elements  that  must  live 
together.     *     *     * 

There,  notwithstanding  the  differ- 
ences in  geography,  in  racial  fea- 
tures, in  religions  and  habits,  the  will 
of  nature  has  always  been  stronger 
than  human  prejudices.  Greece  and 
.Asia  Minor  have  always  been  destined, 
willy-nilly,  to  be  provinces  of  the  same 
State  *  *  *  In  this  continuous 
struggle,  which  began  historically  with 
the  Trojan  war,  Greece  and  Asia 
have  been  alternately  the  victors, 
and  for  the  last  400  years  the  Turks 
were  the  masters  of  both  lands.  It  is 
a  fact,  however,  that  long  before  the 
Ottoman  conquest  the  Greek  element 
was  fighting  and  winning  for  so  many 
centuries  that  the  Christian  world  be- 
came used  to  consider  Asia  Minor  as 
an  integral  part  of  Greece.  Anatolia 
in  those  years  was  simply  Asiatic 
Greece. 

How  long  will  this  arrangement 
last?  God  alone  knows.  And  yet  we 
must  acknowledge  that  European  civili- 
zation is  daily  making  new  progress  in 
the  redemption  of  its  lost  territory. 
Asia  Minor,  always  leaning  to  Europe, 
whose  waters  bathe  its  three  sides, 
turns  its  back  to  Anatolia  as  if  to  show 
that  it  does  not  belong  to  it.  It  is  there- 
fore for  this  reason  that  we  have  always 
considered  Asia  Minor  as  an  annex  to 
Europe  and  as  the  necessary  comple- 
ment of  the  Constantinople  Empire. 
This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  not- 
withstanding its  temporary  subjection 
to  the  Asiatics,  Asia  Minor  has  never 
remained  under  their  mastery,  except 
only  the  period  of  400  years  when  this 
mastery  was  extended  to  cover  Old 
Greece  itself. 


These  are  not  the  words  of  a  Greek 
imperialist,  nor  the  arguments  of  a 
politician.  They  are  the  sober 
thoughts  and  findings  of  a  learned 
Frenchman,  Dr.  Ph.  le  Bas,  author 
of  probably  the  best  historical  book 
on  Asia  Minor. 

According  to  the  same  historian 
the  country  was  first  mentioned  as 
Asia  Minor  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries,  A.  D.  But  it  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  tenth  century,  A.  D.. 
when  the  Greek  Emperor  Constantine 
VIL,  known  as  Porphyrogenitus  (the 
one  born  in  purple)  stated  that  Ana- 
tolia was  the  name  given  to  the  terri- 
tory east  of  Constantinople,  while  the 
same  territory  was  known  to  the  in- 
habitants of  greater  Asia,  to  Hindus 
and  Ethiopians,  and  to  those  living  in 
Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  as  the  Mid- 
dle West  or  Asia  Minor.  From  the 
Byzantines  the  Turks  inherited  the 
name  of  Anatolia,  which  they  gave  to 
the  entire  territory  known  today  as 
Asia  Minor. 

According  to  the  division  made  by 
the  Turkish  Sultans  after  their  con- 
quest of  that  territory,  Asia  Minor, 
which  is  separated  from  the  rest  of 
Asia  by  a  straight  line  drawn  from 
the  Gulf  of  Alexandretta  to  Trebi- 
zond, was  split  into  the  following 
named  provinces  or  vilayets:  Aidin, 
with  Smyrna  as  capital ;  Houdavendi- 
kiar,  with  Broussa  as  capital ;  also 
these,  known  under  the  names  of  their 
capitals :  Konieh,  Angora,  Kastamoni, 
Sivas,  Trebizond  and  Adana.  In  addi- 
tion, the  Asiatic  territory  adjacent  to 
Constantinople  was  made  part- of  the 
Province  of  Constantinople,  while  the 
independent  counties  or  Sandjaks  of 
Ismid  and  the  Dardanelles  formed 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Zone  of 
the  Straits. 

Persecution  by  Turks 

More  than  three  million  Greeks 
lived  in  this  vast  territory  in  1914. 
These  Greeks  were  the  remaining 
population  after  400  years  of  con- 
tinuous persecution  by  the  Turkish 
conquerors.  It  is  estimated  that 
nearly  two  million  Greeks  made  their 


WHY  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  TURKEY 


763 


escape  to  Russia  and  other  lands  after 
the  fall  of  Constantinople.  That  an 
equal  number  were  massacred  in  all 
parts  of  the  empire  during  the  four 
centuries  between  the  Turkish  con- 
quest and  the  Greek  revolution  of 
1821  is  a  conservative  estimate  of  the 
Greeks'  national  loss  under  the  Turks. 
But  to  this  must  be  added  the  Greek 
youths  that  were  snatched  from  their 
families  at  the  tender  age  of  ten,  to 
be  brought  up  by  the  State  and  be- 
come the  Janissaries,  the  backbone  of 
the  military  organization  of  the  Em- 
pire. In  the  beginning  a  thousand  of 
these  boys  were  taken  each  year,  but 
afterward  the  number  was  greatly  in- 
creased; as  the  Janissaries  were 
maintained  for  200  years,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  upward  of  a  million  Greeks 
were  lost  that  way.  An  equal  number 
was  forced  to  adopt  Islam,  while  the 
number  of  those  who  renounced  their 
faith  voluntarily  in  order  to  share  the 
spoils  and  the  privileges  of  the  ruling 
§race  can  only  be  guessed  at.  Thus 
'one  is  not  far  from  the  fact  when 
placing  at  five  to  six  million  people 
the  net  loss  of  the  Greek  nation  under 
the  domination  of  the  Turk. 

This  systematic  extermination  or 
Turkification  of  the  conquered  race 
was  based  on  very  solid  reasons — 
from  the  Turkish  point  of  view.  The 
founder  of  the  Turkish  dynasty,  Er- 
togrul,  had  only  400  families  with  him 
when  he  settled  around  Broussa  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  tenth  century  A. 
D.  This  small  Turkish  group  for  the 
next  hundred  years  was  continually 
occupied  with  efforts  to  gain  the  sup- 
port of  the  chieftains  of  various  bar- 
barian bands  that  were  coming  from 
Turkestan  and  Indo-Chinese  borders 
and  settling  on  the  fringes  of  the  By- 
zantine Empire.  The  paramount  ob- 
ject of  the  Turks  was  the  creation  of 
a  strong  army,  and  this  could  not  be 
formed  except  at  the  expense  of  the 
conquered   population. 

Being  the  strongest  element  in  Asia 
Minor,  the  Greeks  naturally  paid  the 
largest  toll  of  suffering  exacted  from 
the  Christian  peoples  of  the  Near  East 
after  the  Turkish  invasion.   That  they 


survive  today  is  due  to  the  tenacity  of 
their  superior  civilization,  and  their 
religious,  cultural  and  communal  or- 
ganization, which  they  preserved  un- 
der the  most  trying  circumstances. 

Against  this  hard-headed  and 
morally  strong  element  the  Turk,  not- 
withstanding his  fighting  qualities 
and  his  fanaticism,  had  to  give  way. 
He  had  some  very  significant  victor- 
ies in  Europe,  and  for  a  moment  his 
victorious  armies  threatened  Vienna 
itself.  But  aside  from  his  military 
prowess,  and  his  contempt  for  death, 
the  Turk  lacked  the  attributes  of  a 
civilized  and  civilizing  people,  and 
when  he  abandoned  Europe  he  left 
behind  him  nothing  but  the  memory 
of  a  hideous  nightmare.  Travelling 
over  what  for  five  centuries  has  been 
the  Ottoman  Empire,  one  looks  in  vain 
for  such  landmarks  as  the  Moors  left 
in  Spain,  and  the  Arabs  in  Bagdad  and 
Jerusalem.  No  more  backward  na- 
tion ever  invaded  Europe  from  the 
East,  and  the  invasion  was  made  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  destroying  all 
that  Greek  and  Christian  civilization 
had  accomplished  in  twenty-five  cen- 
turies. 

Asia  Minor  was  first  colonized  by 
Aeolian,  Ionian  and  Doric  settlers, 
who  established  themselves  along  the 
coast  of  the  Aegean  and  all  the  way 
up  to  the  Black  Sea.  Even  before  the 
campaign  of  Alexander  the  Great,  it 
was  one  of  the  most  highly  developed 
centers  of  Greek  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion, as  well  as  of  commerce  and  busi- 
ness. It  was  scarcely  less  so  after  the 
premature  death  of  Alexander,  and 
after  the  Hellenic  Empire  fell  under 
the  heel  of  the  legions  of  Rome. 

Greeks  Saved  Christianity 

Greece  fell,  politically  and  mili- 
tarily, just  about  the  time  when 
Christianity  made  its  appearance  in 
the  Near  East.  That  fact  explains  the 
marvellous  Hellenic  revival  of  Byzan- 
tium. It  was  on  ground  previously 
prepared  by  the  teachings  of  Greek 
philosophy  that  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  fell,  and  it  was  the  eager  adop- 
tion of  the  Christian  doctrine  by  the 


764 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Hellenized  portion  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire that  gave  Christianity  its  first 
and  only  chance  for  development  and 
stability  in  the  world.  With  the  Jew- 
ish world  holding  strictly  to  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  past,  and  the  Roman 
Empire  firmly  upholding  the  ancient 
pagan  gods,  who  but  the  Greeks  of 
Asia  Minor  saved  Christianity  in 
those  early  years? 

The  Orthodox  Church  was  original- 
ly Greek;  the  seven  general  councils 
whose  canons  had  fixed  its  doctrines 
were  Greek.  And,  as  Finlay  says  in 
his  marvellous  history  of  the  Greeks 
under  the  Romans,  "from  the  moment 
a  people,  in  a  state  of  intellectual 
civilization  in  wThich  the  Greeks  were, 
could  listen  to  the  preachers,  it  was 
certain  that  they  would  adopt  the  re- 
ligion." In  Athens  Paul  was  listened 
to  with  great  respect  by  the  philoso- 
phers. Constantine  the  Great  was 
probably  the  first  Roman  to  under- 
stand that  the  destinies  of  Christian- 
ity and  Hellenism  were  closely  inter- 
woven, and  when  he  made  Christian- 
ity the  official  religion  of  his  Eastern 
Empire  he  sealed  the  fate  of  the  old 
Roman  imperialism,  which  gave  place 
under  Emperor  Leo  III.  to  the  Hellen- 
ized Byzantine  Empire. 

For  a  thousand  years  this  Byzan- 
tine Empire  made  itself  the  bulwark 
of  Greek  and  Christian  civilization 
against  the  hordes  of  Asia.  When  this 
empire  fell  in  1453,  after  being 
treacherously  abandoned  by  the  whole 
of  Europe,  the  whole  world  awoke  to 
the  danger  threatening  it  from  the 
East.  With  the  fall  of  Constantinople 
Greek  culture  became  the  common 
possession  of  Europe.  The  Reforma- 
tion, followed  by  the  discovery  of 
printing,  made  the  treasures  of  Greek 
philosophy  and  Christian  literature 
accessible  to  all,  and  this  spiritual 
movement,  crowned  by  the  discovery 
of  America,  gave  the  whole  world  the 
new  aspect,  which,  with  some  slight 
variations,  is  continuing  to  our  day. 

Greece  was  the  victim  sacrificed  on 
the  altar  of  Christianity  and  Civiliza- 
tion. But  for  five  hundred  years  the 
civilized  world  took  little  interest  in 
the    fortunes    and    the    never-ending 


struggles  of  this  gallant  people  of  the 
Near  East. 

Thus  we  come  again  to  the  main 
purpose  of  our  story,  which  is  to  ex- 
plain the  present  Greek  campaign  in 
Asia  Minor.  That  campaign  is  simply 
a  continuation  of  the  same  old  strug- 
gle between  a  highly  civilized  people 
and  a  barbarian  invader,  who  after 
five  hundred  years  has  remained  as 
much  a  stranger  to  the  culture,  the 
morality  and  the  ideals  of  Greek- 
Christian  civilization  as  he  was  when 
he  first  came  to  oppress  Europe  ten 
centuries  ago. 

The  Greek  today  cannot  reconcile 
himself  with  the  idea  that  he  is  to 
continue  to  live  under  the  shadow  of 
Turkish  domination.  A  nation  which 
refused  subjection  to  the  Turk  when 
the  Turk  was  in  the  prime  of  his 
power  will  not  suffer  itself  to  be 
placed  now  at  the  mercy  of  so  back- 
ward and  so  barbarous  an  alien  ele- 
ment. 

When  it  becomes  more  widely  un-. 
derstood  that  Asia  Minor,  or,  rather, 
the  westernmost  part  of  Asia  Minor, 
along  the  Black  Sea,  is  nothing  less 
than  a  portion  of  Greek  territory  held 
by  a  foreign  oppressor;  when  it  be- 
comes known  that  the  presence  of  the 
Turk  there  dates  only  from  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  while  the  Greek  was 
there  long  before  the  fall  of  Troy; 
when  the  world  realizes  that  the  mil- 
lions of  Greeks  in  Asia  Minor,  suffer- 
ing through  long  centuries,  have 
never  given  up  the  thought  of  ulti- 
mate liberation,  then  and  only  then 
will  it  be  understood  why  the  present 
struggle  can  never  end  until  the  Turk 
shall  have  ceased  to  be  the  master  in 
that  land  hallowed  by  the  martyrdom 
of  a  noble  people. 

Fighting  for  Greek  Cities 

The  Greek  soldiers  that  are  fight- 
ing for  possession  of  Eski-Shehir 
know  that  this  is  the  ancient  Dory- 
leaum,  while  next  to  it  stand  the 
ruins  of  old  Hierapolis,  the  hallowed 
city.  But  is  not  Angoria  a  city  with  a 
splendid  Greek  past,  as  is  proved  by 
its  name  and  by  the  ruins  surround- 


WHY  THE  GREEKS  ARE  FIGHTING  TURKEY 


'65 


ing  it?  Is  not  Smyrna  the  birthplace 
of  Homer,  and  is  it  not  on  its  ancient 
Acropolis  that  the  tomb  of  the  mythi- 
cal Tantalus  is  shown  to  the  present 
day?  And  Ephesus,  excavated  by 
Austrian  scientists;  and  Priini,  ex- 
cavated by  the  Germans;  and  Perga- 
mus  and  Militus — are  these  not  all 
cities  of  immortal  splendor,  now  once 
more  open  to  the  admiration  of  the 
world?  And  are  not  Laodicea  and 
Tralles  and  Nicaea  and  Kyzikos  and 
Nicomedia  and  Chaldea  and  Neokes- 
sareia  and  Elioupolis  and  Philadel- 
phia proof  enough  that  all  over  that 
territory  it  is  the  Greek  who  is  at 
home,  and  not  the  invader  ? 

The  Turk  has  always  known  that 
the  success  of  his  political  organiza- 
tion depended  mainly  on  the  good  will 
of  his  Greek  subjects,  as  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  there  were  times  when 
he  tried  to  win  over  the  friendship  of 
this  race.  Thus  he  allowed  the  reli- 
gious organization  of  the  Greeks  to 
remain  intact  -  during  all  the  long 
years  of  the  Ottoman  regime.  The 
Sultan  Mohamet  II.,  who  conquered 
Constantinople,  was  the  first  to 
inaugurate  a  policy  of  tolerance 
toward  the  Orthodox  Church,  his  ob- 
ject being  to  win  the  predominating 
Greek  element  of  his  newly  acquired 
empire  by  means  of  favors  to  the  old 
State  Church.  The  Greek  accepted 
the  favor,  but  refused  to  sell  their 
birthright  and  their  ideals ;  what  they 
wanted  was  their  freedom  and  a  Gov- 
ernment of  their  own,  and  this  the 
Turk  could  not  give  without  jeopardiz- 
ing the  entire  fabric  of  the  Empire. 

The  Turk  gave  position,  wealth  and 
standing  to  any  Greek  who  would  be- 
come a  renegade;  but  such  Greeks 
were  few,  and  they  soon  found  out 
that  by  rejecting  Christianity  and 
Hellenism  in  favor  of  Islam  and  Tu- 
ranism  they  became  wholeheartedly 
despised  and  hated  by  both  elements. 

Another  reason  why  the  Turk 
needed  the  Greek  in  the  management 
of  his  empire  was  his  utter  incapacity 
to  govern  so  highly  developed  an  or- 
ganism as  the  Byzantine  empire  was 
when  it  fell  under  the  Ottomans.  And 
it  was  the  same  reason  that  made  the 


Turk  turn  to  Armenians  and  Arabs,  to 
Syrians  and  Kurds,  to  Albanians  and 
Jews  in  quest  of  helpers  and  advisors 
in  the  management  of  his  imperial  es- 
tate. But  none  of  these  elements  ac- 
cepted as  a  definitely  established  fact 
the  domination  of  the  Turk.  Thus  the 
struggle  between  the  conqueror  and 
the  conquered  has  continued,  until  we 
are  witnessing  today  the  more  or  less 
complete  emancipation  of  these  racial 
elements. 

Intolerable  Persecutions 

That  so  many  Greeks  still  remain 
under  the  Turks  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  have  always  formed  the  predomi- 
nant element  in  the  region  of  Constan- 
tinople ;  and  it  is  against  these  Greeks 
who  have  done  so  much  toward  under- 
mining Turkish  power  that  the  Turks 
are  aiming  their  last  arrow. 

It  was  against  this  uncompromis- 
ing Greek  element  that  the  fury  of 
the  Turk  was  let  loose  after  the 
second  Balkan  war.  During  that 
period  the  Greeks  still  living  under 
the  Sultan  suffered  persecutions  for 
the  like  of  which  we  have  to  go  back 
at  least  a  hundred  years  to  the  mas- 
sacre of  Chio. 

Over  300,000  Greeks  were  violently 
deported  from  their  homes  between 
January,  1914,  and  the  middle  of  1917. 
Over  400,000  were  deported,  massa- 
cred, or  otherwise  injured  from  1917 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  at  a  time  when 
the  anti-Greek  and  anti-Armenian 
persecution  reached  its  climax.  And 
the  bloody  record  of  Turkish  barbar- 
ism continued  even  after  the  armi- 
stice, until,  according  to  estimates  of 
the  Greek  Government  and  the  Ecu- 
menical Patriarchate,  more  than  730,- 
000  Greek  civilians  were  made  to  suf- 
fer at  the  hands  of  the  Turkish  au- 
thorities in  the  last  seven  years.  That 
more  than  500,000  of  these  victims 
have  been  massacred  or  died  as  the 
result  of  their  sufferings  is  only  a  de- 
tail in  the  appalling  record  that  is 
marking  the  last  days  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

I  have  before  me  a  copy  of  the 
"  Black  Book  of  the  Sufferings  of  the 


766 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Greek  people  in  Turkey  from  the  Ar- 
mistice to  the  End  of  1920."  This 
pamphlet,  published  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  Ecumenical  Patriar- 
chate, and  bearing  the  official  seal  of 
the  double-headed  Byzantine  Eagle, 
ought  to  be  in  circulation  in  every 
civilized  country. 

Here  we  have  a  report  of  the  Bishop 
of  Amassia.  A  certain  Ali  Ghalib, 
Prefect  of  Tsarshamba,  near  Bafra, 
where  some  of  the  best  Turkish  to- 
bacco comes  from,  completely  an- 
nihilated the  whole  district,  setting 
fire  to  it,  and  exiled  to  Castamoni  all 
the  male  population  between  the  ages 
of  14  and  90.  The  carrying  away  and 
raping  of  fifty  girls  and  married 
women  by  the  Turkish  soldiery  is  one 
item  of  the  tragic  episode.  Another 
is  the  hanging  of  178  young  men  in 
the  market  place  of  Samsoun  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  they  were 
Greeks.  The  destruction  of  210  vil- 
lages in  that  same  diocese  and  the  de- 
portation and  subsequent  massacre  of 
more  than  70,000  Greek  men,  women 
and  children  are  covered  in  a  single 
paragraph  of  this  most  interesting 
and  singularly  plain  narrative.  Two 
hundred  Greek  schools  destroyed, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  Greek 
churches  plundered  and  smashed  to 
pieces.  What  more  does  a  nation  need 
to  go  to  war  against  the  perpetrators 
of  such  deeds  ? 

Thus  the  tragic  report  continues. 
Bishop  after  bishop  and  diocese  after 
diocese  send  in  their  reports,  cover- 
ing hundreds  of  cases  in  hundreds  of 
villages,  all  after  the  armistice, 
Amassia  reports  228  killed,  and  Eliou- 
polis  494,  Philadelphia  230,  and 
Chalcedon  610,  Nicomedia  37,  and 
Heraclea  54,  Angora,  23,  and  Ephe- 
sus  35,  Ancon  100,  and  Chaldia  24 
*  *     *  and  so  on  in  an  endless  story. 

These  reports  cover  only  a  very 
small  part  of  what  has  happened  in 
Turkey  between  the  armistice  and  the 
end  of  1920. 

When  one  has  the  facts  before  him, 
as  the  Greek  nation  has  them,  one 
does  not  ask  why  Greece  continues 
the  war  in  Asia  Minor.     It  is  not  a 


question  of  Greek  imperialism,  be- 
cause it  is  not  imperialism  to  demand 
what  has  always  been  yours.  It  is  not 
a  question  for  or  against  this  or  the 
other  leader  of  the  Greek  nation,  be- 
cause personalities  have  nothing  to  do 
with  this  all-absorbing  Greek  problem. 

Those  who  light-heartedly  ask 
that  Greece  comply  with  the  sober 
advice  of  her  friends — or,  rather, 
her  supposed  friends — and  abandon 
Asia  Minor  after  shaking  hands  with 
Turkey,  not  only  betray  a  complete 
lack  of  understanding  of  the  issue, 
but  they  also  fail  to  see  beyond  their 
diplomatic  monocles. 

For  Greece  the  maintenance  of  her 
army  in  Asia  Minor  until  such  time 
as  her  persecuted  sons  and  daughters 
are  freed  from  the  Turkish  yoke  is 
not  a  question  of  national  pride  or  of 
royal  prestige.  It  is  a  question  af- 
fecting the  very  life  of  more  than 
2,500,000  people  who  have  the  same 
history,  the  same  religion,  the  same 
language  and  the  same  aspirations, 
and  who  help  to  make  the  totality  of 
the  Greek  nation.  These  Asia  Minor 
Greeks  who  for  five  long  centuries 
have  kept  the  faith,  and  never  lost 
the  hope  of  liberation,  are  entitled  to 
their  overdue  freedom. 

Unpopular  as  the  war  in  Asia 
Minor  may  seem  to  many,  it  is  the 
only  way  open  to  the  Hellenic  people 
in  their  struggle  for  national  unity, 
for  the  preservation  of  their  national 
life,  and  for  the  honor  and  the  prop- 
erty of  those  Greeks  who,  after  so 
many  sacrifices  and  so  many  suffer- 
ings, were  left  unredeemed  when  the 
great  war  ended. 

In  her  campaign  Greece  will  wel- 
come the  help  of  all  those  who  be- 
lieve in  the  righteousness  of  her 
cause,  and  who  wish  to  see  the  Greek 
and  Christian  civilization  victorious 
in  its  ancient  cradle.  But,  even  should 
she  be  abandoned  by  the  powerful 
and  civilized  peoples  of  the  world, 
Greece,  faithful  to  that  ancient  oath 
of  the  youth  of  Athens,  will  not 
shame  her  arms,  and  will  defend  her 
patrimony,  whether  with  the  help  of 
the  many  or  entirely  alone. 


(Photo  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York) 

EXTINCT   ANIMALS   HUNTED   BY   PREHISTORIC   MAN,    INCLUDING    A   GIANT   MOOSE   AND    GIANT 
BEAVER.      FROM  A   PAINTING   BY   CHARLES   R.    KNIGHT 


THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK" 

By  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge 


Object  of  the  expedition  sent  out  by  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  to  explore 
the  regions  of  Central  Asia,  believed  to  be  the  cradle  of  the  human  race — The  "missing 
link"  and  the  types  of  "sub-man"  now  extinct 


WHEN  and  where  lived  the  "Miss- 
ing Link"  ?  How  shall  we  find 
conclusive  evidence  that  will 
enable  us  to  connect  the  species  of 
animals  to  which  we  belong,  and  to 
which  scientists  have  given  the  name 
of  Homo  Sapiens  (Man  of  conscious 
thought,  or  knowledge) ,  with  earlier 
and  more  primitive  forms  of  life? 
Who  or  what  were  the  beings  from 
which  humanity  sprang? 

This  was  the  problem  that  Charles 
Darwin,  the  English  scientist,  ex- 
pounded to  his  startled  contempo- 
raries in  the  '70s  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  he  demonstrated  his 
now  generally  accepted  theory  of  the 
evolution  of  mankind  from  a  long 
series  of  antecedent  lower  forms. 
Darwin's  "Descent  of  Man"  appeared 
on  Feb.  24,  1871.  On  the  fiftieth  an- 
niversary of  this  publication,  almost 
to  a  day,  viz.,  on  Feb.  19,  1921,  the 


American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory sent  out  from  San  Francisco  a 
scientific  expedition  to  the  Far  East 
in  an  attempt  to  solve  Darwin's  riddle 
by  discovering  traces  of  the  first  hu- 
man progenitors  of  the  race.  This  ex- 
pedition, headed  by  Roy  Chapman 
Andrews,  the  explorer  of  the  great 
desert  of  Gobi,  at  the  time  this  article 
was  written,  was  still  outfitting  at 
Peking  preparatory  to  a  five  years' 
search  in  Central  Asia  for  the  fossil 
remains  of  primitive  man  on  what 
scientists  now  incline  to  believe  was 
the  ground  of  his  origin.  This  par- 
ticular part  of  the  whole  investiga- 
tion will  be  under  the  direction  of 
Walter  Granger,  a  distinguished 
paleontologist  of  the  Museum's  staff. 
It  is  naturally  impossible  to  pre- 
dict the  result  of  this  well  equipped, 
adequately  financed  search,  with 
trained  scientists  at  its  head.    They 


768 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


may  spend  five  years  and  come  back 
empty  handed.  The  laws  of  proba- 
bility are  all  against  any  particular 
individual  or  group,  working  within 
a  time  limit,  discovering  anything  so 
elusive  as,  let  us  say,  the  skeleton, 
or  even  the  skull  of  any  creature  that 
can  be  identified  as  in  any  sense  a 
progenitor  of  humankind.  Human 
remains,  doubtless,  may  be  found  in 
great  numbers  and  variety.  Here, 
above  all,  the  words  of  Bryant  are, 
applicable : 

Take  the  wings  of  the  morning, 
And  traverse  Barca's  desert  sands, 
Or  lose  thyself  in  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no 

sound 
Save  its  own  murmurs,  yet — the  dead 

are  there! 

The  "  Recent  "  Records 

Dead  men's  bones  a-plenty,  dating 
as  far  back  as  the  end  of  the  Fourth 
Glacial  'Age,  or  somewhere  from 
25,000  to  50,000  years  ago— these 
might  be  turned  up  almost  anywhere, 
given  time,  money  and  will  to  dig  for 
them.  Europe's  ancient  caves  have 
yielded  many  specimens  of  Neolithic 
man — that  is  to  say,  man  of  the  New 
Stone  Age — and  Asia,  Africa,  Amer- 
ica and  Australia  were  inhabited  by 
men  of  this  period  of  development 
down  to  historic  or  even  recent  times ; 
the  North  American  Indians,  most 
of  them,  had  not  progressed  beyond 
the  Neolithic  stage  when  the  first 
white  settlers  came. 

Here  and  there,  even,  have  been 
found  remains,  a  few  bones  and  many 
implements,  of  Paleolithic  man — man 
of  the  Old  Stone  Age.  These  were 
human  beings  who  inhabited  this 
earth  during  the  last  glacial  epoch. 
How  long  they  had  existed  as  human 
beings  before  that  time  when  the 
polar  ice  cap  thickened  and  spread, 
from  year  to  year,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  some  great  cosmic  digression 
from  the  normal,  we  do  not  know. 
The  record  stops  there;  more  prop- 
erly we  might  say  that  the  record  of 
humanity,  of  man  as  we  know  man 
today,  of  Homo  Sapiens,  in  short, 
begins  under  a  sheet  of  ice  more  than 


a  mile  thick  that  covered  the  north- 
ern part  of  our  globe  down  to  South- 
ern England  and  Middle  Germany  in 
Europe,  down  to  New  York  in  Amer- 
ica, probably  50,000  years  ago  and 
for  perhaps  ten,  twenty  or  thirty 
thousand  continuous  years  prior  to 
that. 

We  do  not  even  know  what  caused 
the  glacial  epochs,  of  which  this 
latest  was  the  fourth  to  leave  its 
record  graven  in  the  rocks;  it  may 
have  been  the  oscillation  of  the  Poles, 
the  same  gradual  shifting  of  the 
earth's  position  in  space  that  astrono- 
mers tell  us  is  still  going  on  and  that, 
in  another  20,000  years  or  so,  will 
make  Vega  instead  of  Polaris  the 
"  pole  star."  Perhaps  there  will  come 
another  glacial  epoch;  perhaps  a 
hundred  thousand  years  from  now 
scientists  will  discover,  under  the 
detritus  or  glacial  drift,  rolled  down 
from  the  flattened  Rocky  Mountains 
to  the  plains  of  Nebraska,  fossi] 
skulls,  fragments  of  pottery  and  in- 
scribed stones  to  prove  that  man  lived 
in  the  period  we  call  "  now,"  and  try 
in  vain  to  link  these  poor  relics  with 
an  earlier  past !  We  do  not  know.  We 
only  know  that  any  cause  sufficient 
to  reduce  the  mean  annual  tempera- 
ture by  only  ten  degrees  on  the  Centi- 
grade scale  would  surely  bring  on 
another  glacial  epoch,  for  then  the 
reduced  heat  of  the  short  arctic  Sum- 
mer would  never  be  great  enough  to 
melt  all  the  ice  formed  by  the  in- 
creased cold  of  the  long  arctic  Win- 
ter, and  year  by  year  the  ice  would 
pile  up  at  the  Poles,  and  year  by  year 
slip  toward  the  Equator,  progressing 
perhaps  only  a  foot  a  year,  but  re- 
lentlessly gaining  that  foot,  until  once 
more  all  the  seats  of  civilization  and 
centres  of  human  life  save  those 
fringing  the  tropics  would  be  buried 
under  the  same  sort  of  rocks,  gravels 
and  sands  as  now  overlie  the  earliest 
traces  yet  found  of  the  human  race. 
This  we  know,  for  what  has  just  been 
suggested  as  a  possibility  of  the 
future  is  a  fact  of  the  past,  and  of  the 
not  very  distant  past,  as  geological 
time  is  reckoned. 


THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK" 


769 


The  Prehistoric  Period 

We  have  just  swung  the  pendulum 
of  imagination  a  hundred  thousand 
years  ahead ;  now  let  us  swing  it  back 
half  a  million  years  or  more.  We  must 
go  back  through  the  period  that 
elapsed  between  the  Third  Glacial 
Epoch  and  the  Fourth,  a  period  that 
stretched,  perhaps,  from  150,000  B.  C. 
down  to  50,000  B.  C;  back  of  that, 
back  through  the  Second  Glacial  Pe- 
riod, that  may  easily  have  been  as 
long  ago  as  400,000  years;  then  we 
must  go  back  another  100,000  or  150,- 
000  years,  before  the  time  when  the 
earliest  record  was  carved  in  the 
rocks  by  the  drifting  ice  of  the  First 
Glacial  Period.  In  every  one  of  these 
ages  or  periods  of  geological  time,  if 
the  geologists  have  read  the  riddle  of 
the  rocks  aright,  there  lived  upon 
earth  beings  like  men,  implement-us- 
ing animals  with  skulls  and  skeletons 
similar  to  those  of  the  human  race. 

And  yet  we  do  not  know  when  hu- 
man life  began,  nor  ivherel 

For  these  earlier  forms,  scientists 
now  quite  generally  believe,  are  relics 
of  a  race  or  species  today  totally  ex- 
tinct ;  they  are  not  our  ancestors,  any 
more  than  the  apes  and  the  monkeys 
are  our  ancestors.  Who  or  what 
these  were,  the  beings  from  which 
humanity  of  today,  or  much  of  it,  did 
spring —  that  is  the  quest  upon  which 
Darwin  set  the  world  of  science  in 
1871,  and  it  is  the  quest  upon  which 
the  Natural  History  Museum's  expe- 
dition into  Central  Asia  set  out  early 
in  1921. 

In  the  short  half -century  between 
these  two  events  the  deepest-rooted 
beliefs  of  the  civilized  world  have 
been  overturned.  Evolution  is  ac- 
cepted as  universally  today  by  pulpit 
and  public  as  it  was  rejected  and 
ridiculed  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  no 
longer  a  "theory"  to  be  argued 
against,  but  a  definite,  scientific 
fact,  demonstrated  a  thousand  times 
over  in  the  case  of.  plants  and  ani- 
mals and,  by  analogy,  in  the  case  of 
man.  But  there  is  yet  to  be  found 
tangible  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
an   earlier  form   of  being  than  the 


men  who  lived  about  the  end  of  the 
last  Glacial  Age,  say  50,000  years 
ago,  a  being  of  whom,  or  of  which,  it 
can  be  predicated,  to  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  anthropologists,  that 
it  was  the  creature  that  came  be- 
tween man  and  his  earliest  progeni- 
tor, which,  in  turn,  may  well  have 
been  also  the  progenitor  of  the  an- 
thropoid apes  and  of  the  pre-human 
types  that  lived  half  a  million  years 
ago. 

If  the  expedition  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History  finds 
the  remains  of  such  a  creature  it  will 
be  the  rarest  of  accidents.  Much 
more  probable,  traces  may  be  found 
of  completely  developed  human  be- 
ings of  an  older  period  than  any  we 
now  know,  for  nowhere  but  in 
Europe  and  around  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  has  extensive  scien- 
tific research  for  such  remains  been 
made,  and  all  the  evidence  these  have 
yielded,  as  I  have  said,  points  to  Cen- 
tral Asia  as  the  common  centre  from 
which  humanity  came. 

Darwin's  Theory 

Darwin,  in  1859,  in  publishing 
his  great  work,  "The  Origin  of 
Species,"  predicted  that  "light  would 
be  thrown  upon  the  origin  of  man 
and  his  history."  In  1871,  thirteen 
years  later,  his  "Descent  of  Man" 
threw  that  light  upon  the  human 
race,  a  light  that  has  not  only  not 
been  extinguished,  but  that  has 
burned  for  half  a  century  with  ever- 
increasing  brilliancy.  As  to  the  im- 
port of  this  revelation,  Darwin  ex- 
pressed himself  as  follows: 

It  gives  man  a  pedigree  of  prodigious 
length,  but  not,  it  may  be  said,  of 
noble  quality.  The  world,  it  has  often 
been  remarked,  appears  as  if  it  had 
long  been  preparing  for  the  advent 
of  man;  and  this,  in  one  sense,  is  strict- 
ly true,  for  he  owes  his  birth  to  a  long 
line  of  progenitors.  If  any  single  link 
in  this  chain  had  never  existed  man 
would  not  have  been  exactly  what  he  is 
now.  Unless  we  willfully  close  our  eyes 
we  may,  with  our  present  knowledge, 
approximately  recognize  our  parent- 
age ;  nor  need  we  feel  ashamed  of  it. 
The  most  humble  organism  is  some- 
thing much  higher  than  the  inorganic 


770 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


PITHECANTHROPUS  ERECTUS 

The    Ape-Man   of  Java,    loicest    Tcnoivn    type    of 

prehistoric    man,    ivhose    antiquity    is 

estimated  at  500,000  years 

(By   permission,    after   McGregor's'  model    in   Museum 
of  Natural  History) 


dust  under  our  feet;  and  no  one  with 
an  unbiased  mind  can  study  any  living 
creature,  however  humble,  without  be- 
ing struck  with  enthusiasm  at  its  mar- 
velous structure   and  properties. 

To  review  here  the  truly  marvelous 
reasoning,  backed  up  by  incontro- 
vertible facts  marshaled  in  tre- 
mendous array,  by  which  Darwin 
traced  the  common  origin  of  man 
and  all  other  vertebrates  to  the  low- 
est form  of  marine  life,  through  the 
fishes  and  the  amphibians  to  the  land 
mammals,  wrould  be  tedious  and  is 
unnecessary  for  the  purpose  of  the 
moment.  It  is  important  to  note  his 
positiveness,  as  when  he  said,  re- 
ferring again  to  the  conclusion  that 
man  is  descended  from  some  less 
highly  organized  form : 

The  grounds  upon  which  this  conclu- 
sion rests  will  never  be  shaken,  for  the 
close  similarity  beetween  man  and  the 
lower  animals  rests  on  facts  which  can- 
not be  disputed.     *     *     *     The  great 


principle  of  evolution  stands  up  clear 
and  firm,  *  *  *  It  is  incredible 
that  all  these  facts  should  speak  false- 
ly. *  *  *  Man  is  the  co-descendant 
with  other  mammals  of  a  common  pro- 
genitor. 

Two  questions  immediately  stirred 
the  thought  of  the  world.  "If  these 
things  are  true,  what  becomes  of  the 


PILTDOWN  MAN 

With   some  characteristics  of  the  ape  and  some 

of  man.    Antiquity  variously  estimated  at 

100,000   to   300,000   years 

(Restoration    by    McGregor,    Museum    of    Natural 
History) 


doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  ?"  was  the  first  question  and  the 
one  that  pressed  most  urgently  for 
an  answer.  "Where  are  the  ceatures 
that  came  between  the  ape  and  man  V 
was  the  second. 

We  can  now,  after  fifty  years,  an- 
swer neither  of  these  questions  ex- 
cept as  Darwin  himself  answered 
them:  "I  do  not  know."  But  the  re- 
search that  was  already  under  head- 
way when  Darwin  wrote,  and  that 
gained  new  impetus  from  the  sudden 
rise  of  his  theme  into  the  command- 
ing position  of  humanity's  most  im- 
portant problem,  has  disclosed  such 
a  series  of  previously  unknown  facts 
as  to  strengthen  immeasurably  the 
beliefs   that   the   "Descent  of  Man" 


THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK" 


771 


expressed,  and  to  shatter  forever  a 
mass  of  belief  and  dogma  that  had 
been  held  to  lie  at  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  social  order.  We  can 
sum  up  the  facts  as  to  man's  origins 
as  these  have  been  disclosed  in  the 
■last  fifty  years  and  state,  with  some 
reservations,  the  beliefs  as  to  man's 
future  held  by  scientific  thought  to- 
day, but  we  cannot  produce  the 
"missing  link,"  nor  demonstrate 
either  the  mortality  or  the  immor- 
tality of  the  human  soul. 

The  Fossil  Remains 

A  review  of  the  half  century's  evo- 
lutionary research  would  begin  with 


NEANDERTHAL   MAN 

Type  of  man  inhabiting  Central  France  25,000  to 
k0,000  years  ago 

(From   a   restoration    by   McGregor,    Museum   of 
Natural    History) 


the  reconstruction — one  of  tremen- 
dous interest,  though  perhaps  incon- 
clusive to  the  unscientific  mind — of 
the  fossil  remains  of  the  extinct 
species  that  lived  before  the  Fourth 
Glacial   Period,   and   that   resembled 


man,  yet  was  not  man,  as  we  use 
the  term.  It  would  concern  itself,  first 
jof  all,  with  the  discovery  in  1856  of 
part  of  the  skull,  two  leg  bones  and 
a  few  other  fragments  of  a  presuma- 
bly human  skeleton  in  a  glacial  de- 
posit in  the  Neander  Valley  in  Ger- 
many; it  would  also  consider  the 
Piltdown  skull  found  just  before  the 
war  in  a  geological  formation  of  the 
Thames  Valley  in  England  that  must 
have  been  present  before  the  last  Ice 
Age,  and  it  would  take  cognizance  of 
about  half  a  -  score  of  other  speci- 
mens of  manlike  creatures  having  a 
geological  age  greater  than  that  of 
the  earliest  known  remains  of  true  or 
modern  man.  For  example,  in  the 
caverns  of  Spy,  in  Belgium,  two  skele- 
tons precisely  like  the  remains  of  the 
Neanderthal  man  were  found;  near 
Heidelberg  a  jawbone  of  a  different 
type ;  at  Trinil,  in  Java,  in  1892,  a  leg 
bone,  two  teeth  and  the  brain-cap  of 
still   another   type   were   discovered. 


CRO-MAGNON  MAN 

Highest      type      of     prehistoric     man,      with      great 

increase   of   brain  power   over  earlier   types. 

Antiquity  about  25,000  years. 

(By    permission,    after   McGregor's    model    in    Museum 
of   Natural   History) 


'72 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


These,  with  a  few  other  relics  ob- 
viously of  the  Neanderthal  type,  are 
all,  apart  from  the  evidences  of  the 
situations  in  which  they  were  re- 
spectively found,  and  the  remains  of 
other  animals  and  primitive  tools  or 
weapons  found  near  them,  that  we 
possess  to  build  upon  for  even  a  frag- 
mentary picture  of  earlier  human 
types. 

The  very  lowest  type  of  these  is 
that  represented  by  the  Java  remains, 
which  scientists  have  refused  to  clas- 
sify as  of  the  genus  Homo,  and  which 
they  have  defined  as  the  Pithecan- 
thropus erectus,  or  "ape-man  who 
walked  erect."  Somewhere  around 
the  end  of  the  time  that  geologists 
call  the  Pliocene  Period,  or  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  succeeding  Pleistocene, 
this  ape-man  walked  erect  in  the  trop- 
ical forests  of  Java.  Reduced  to 
years,  we  may  safely  say  that  it  was 
.more  than  half  a  million  years  ago; 
it  may  have  been  fifty  million  years. 
Hailed  at  first  as  the  "  missing  link  " 
between  humanity  and  that  direct  an- 
cestor of  man  which  Darwin  described 
as  "a  hairy,  tailed  quadruped,  prob- 
ably arboreal  in  its  habits,  and  an  in- 
habitant of  the  Old  World,"  scientists 
have  now  reached  the  conclusion  that 
this  creature  was  neither  human  nor 
sub-human ;  that  he  was  the  product 
of  evolution  in  a  direction  that  would 
not  have  led  to  the  sort  of  human 
beings  we  are  if  the  evolutionary 
process  had  not  been  terminated  by 
the  extinction  of  his  species ;  in  short, 
that  it  was  but  one  of  the  millions  of 
Nature's  experimental  failures,  a  few 
of  which  still  survive  in  the  monkeys 
and  apes  of  today,  which,  it  is 
probable,  are  themselves  the  prod- 
uct of  evolutionary  processes  that  be- 
gan long  after  the  strain  that  pro- 
duced man  had  become  established. 
It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  this 
evolution  is  continuous,  that  it  is  still 
going  on,  in  man  as  in  all  other  forms 
of  life.  From  these  very  monkeys 
and  apes  of  today,  unchecked  by  out- 
side influences,  there  may  yet  be 
evolved  beings  equal  or  superior  to 
the  men   of  today.     But   from   the 


weight  of  scientific  evidence  it  is 
clear  that  we  may  drop  the  Pithe- 
canthropus out  of  consideration  when 
we  go  hunting  for  traces  of  human- 
ity's ancestors. 

Traces,  indeed,  we  find  scattered 
all  through  the  geologic  periods  that 


Diagram  showing  evolution  of  the  brain,  from 
pre-human  to  modern  human  form.  Note  early 
d<  velopment  of  back  of  brain,  as  compared  with 
late  development  of  forehead,  the  seat  of  higher 
mental  faculties 

(From    Osborn's    "  Men   of    the    Old    Stone   Age  ") 


overlie  the  time  when  the  bearer  of 
the  Java  skull  stood  erect  among  his 
crouching  cousins.  Down  through 
half  a  million  years  or  so  some  sort 
of  creatures  that  made  and  used  stone 
implements  lived  in  many  parts  of 
the  world,  and  we  can  study  these 
implements,  each  with  relation  to  the 
geological  age  of  the  rocks  and  gravel 
among  wThich  it  was  found,  and  note  a 
steady  development  from  the  crudi- 
ties of  the  earliest  to  the  refinements 
of  the  later  forms,  and  so  reach  some 
fairly  definite  conclusions  as  to  the 
physical  and  mental  development  of 
the  species  of  beings  that  made  and 
used  these  things.  And  we  know  that 
we  are  dealing  with  a  human  type, 
with  the  genus  Homo,  in  these  conclu- 
sions and  speculations,  because  the 
human  animal  is  the  only  one  that 
has  ever  acquired  the  ability  to  make 
implements.  The  higher  apes  may 
on  occasion  use  implements — clubs, 
stones  as  missiles  or  for  cracking  the 
shells  of  cocoanuts  or  shellfish — but 
man  alone  makes  either  tools  or 
weapons.  We  find  still  further  proof 
that  these  implements  were  the  work 
of  a  human-like  being  when  we  find 


THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK 


773 


them  associated  with  traces  of  fire 
in  places  and  under  conditions  where 
the  fire  must  have  been  deliberately 
kindled ;  for  only  human  beings  make 
or  use  fires. 

But  until  we  come  down  to  the 
Third  Interglacial  Period — the  age 
preceding  the  last  Ice  Age — we  find 
no  remains  of  these  creatures  them- 
selves, if  we  except  the  Heidelberg 
skull,  the  precise  geological  period  of 
which  is  subject  to  some  question. 
Here,  in  the  warm  period  that  lasted 
perhaps  100,000  years  and  ended  pos- 
sibly as  long  ago  as  that,  when  the 
last  great  polar  ice  cap  was  formed, 
we  find  the  Piltdown  skull  in  Eng- 
land; and  in  the  period  simultaneous 
with  the  last  era  of  ice  and  imme- 
diately following  it,  a  possible  50,000 
years  ago,  we  find  the  Neanderthal 
man  and  his  contemporaries,  the  men 
of  Spy.  Were  either  or  both  of  these 
our  progenitors?  Scientific  thought 
today  tends  strongly  toward  the  re- 
jection of  this  assumption. 

The  Neanderthal  Men 

The  Neanderthal  men,  Professor 
Henry  Fairfield  Osborn  of  the  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History  believes — 
and  most,  if  not  all  paleontologists 
have  reached  the  same  conclusion — 
were  merely  another  experiment  in 


THE    WOOLLY    RHINOCEROS,     ONE    OF    THE    ANIMALS 

HUNTED    BY    THE    NEANDERTHAL   MAN    ABOUT    30,000 

YEARS    AGO 

(By  permission,   from  a  painting  by  Charles  R.  Knight  for  the 
Museum    of    Natural     History,     New    York) 


evolution,  an  experiment  that  reached 
an  immensely  higher  stage  of  de- 
velopment than  poor  Pithecanthropus 
ever  attained,  but  that  came  to  an 
end  when  the  last  of  the  Neander- 
thalers  perished,  possibly  in  conflict 
with  the  first  of  the  true  men  to  in- 
vade Europe. 

The  preponderance  of  scientific 
weight,  therefore,  is  behind  the  con- 
clusion that  in  the  Neanderthal  man 
evolution  produced  not  Homo  Sapiens, 
but  a  different  species  of  Homo ;  that 
these  beings,  like  ourselves  but  of  a 
different  species,  were  almost  but 
not  quite  human  in  our  modern  sense ; 
sub-men,  "gorilla-like  monsters,  with 
cunning  brains,  shambling  gait,  hairy 
bodies,  strong  teeth,  and  possibly 
cannibalistic  tendencies,"  who,  if  the 
suggestion  of  Sir  Harry  Johnston  be 
accepted,  are  the  germ,  through  "dim 
racial  remembrance,"  of  the  ogre  in 
folklore ;  creatures  of  enormous  mus- 
cular power,  with  almost  no  nose,  no 
forehead,  no  chin,  and  a  thick  ridge 
of  hair  that  may  have  grown  down 
the  back  of  the  neck  and  along  the 
spine  in  a  mane  that  bristled  or  stood 
erect  when  they  were  enraged;  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  the  whole 
body  was  covered  with  hair,  thicker 
in  Winter  than  in  Summer,  and  al- 
most concealing  the  brownish  skin; 
doubtless,  too,  the  males 
had  heavy  beards  growing 
from  lips,  cheeks  and 
throats. 

Naked  they  roamed 
through  the  valleys  of  the 
Alps,  across  the  wide  plain 
that  is  now  the  bed  of  the 
North  Sea,  and  so  over  the 
British  Isles  and  Norway. 
The  Glacial  period  prob- 
ably drove  them  south. 
Small-brained,  they  could 
yet  think  and  reason  better 
than  any  of  the  apes, 
though  they  probably  pos- 
sessed no  articulate  speech. 
They  used  flint  knives  and 
wooden  clubs  as  weapons. 
They  knew  the  use  of  fire, 
in  all  probability,  but  used 


-~\ 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


it  to  keep  off  enemies,  and  continued 
to  eat  their  food  raw. 

Before  the  last  of  these  Neander- 
thal men  had  disappeared,  Europe 
began  to  be  invaded  from  the  south, 
as  the  ice  cap  began  to  melt,  by  an 
entirely  different  type  of  man,  the 
'product  of  a  different  chain  of  evo- 
lution, the  earliest  specimen  of 
Homo  Sapiens  of  which  we  know  any- 
thing at  all,  and  which  had  reached, 
at  least  25,000  years  ago,  a  stage  of 
development  higher  than  ,  that  of 
many  of  the  savage  tribes  now  living. 
But  science  is  still  without  evidence 
that  will  connect  either  these  or  the 
Neanderthal  species  of  man,  or  the 
species  of  which  the  Piltdown  skull 
is  all  we  have  to  go  by,  with  dis- 
tinctly lower  forms  of  life. 

Evolution  and  Religion 

We  do  know  now,  however — sci- 
ence has  proved  it  conclusively — that 
Darwin's  words,  received  with  such 
skepticism  when  he  wrote  them  fifty 
years  ago,  were  true : 

To  believe  that  man  was  aboriginally 
civilized,  and  then  suffered  utter  deg- 
radation in  so  many  regions,  is  to  take 
a  pitiably  low  view  of  human  nature. 
It  is  apparently  a  truer  and  more 
cheerful  view  that  progress  has  been 
much  more  general  than  retrogression; 
that  man  has  risen,  though  by  slow  and 
interrupted  steps,  from  a  lowly  condi- 
tion to  the  highest  standard  as  yet 
attained  by  him  in  knowledge,  morals 
and  religion. 

How  shocking  such  a  hypothesis 
seemed  to  the  average  thought  of 
Darwin's  day,  rooted  and  grounded  in 
the  dicta  and  dogmas  of  the  Hebraic- 
Christian  religious  teachings,  it  is 
impossible  for  any  one  of  today  to 
realize.  Archbishop  Usher's  chronol- 
ogy, which  gave  the  world  a  life  of 
but  4,004  years  before  the  birth  of 
Jesus  Christ,  was  but  one  of  the  least 
important  of  the  rooted  beliefs  and 
convictions  accepted  by  the  whole 
civilized  world  as  absolute  truths  that 
had  to  be  thrown  overboard  if  what 
Darwin  wrote  were  true.  The  whole 
structure  of  religion  seemed  to  be  tot- 
tering. Darwin  himself  recognized 
this  when  he  wrote: 


He  who  believes  in  the  advancement 
of  man  from  some  low  organized  form 
will  naturally  ask,  how  does  this  bear 
on  the  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul?  *  *  *  Few  persons  feel  any 
anxiety  from  the  impossibility  of  deter- 
mining at  what  precise  period  in  the 
development  of  the  individual,  from  the 
first  trace  of  a  minute  germinal  vesi- 
cle, man  becomes  an  immortal  being; 
and  there  is  no  greater  cause  of  anx- 
iety because  the  period  cannot  possibly 
be  determined  in  the  gradually  ascend- 
ing organic  scale. 

I  am  aware  [he  went  on]  that  the 
conclusions  arrived  at  in  this  work  will 
be  denounced  by  some  as  highly  irre- 
ligious; but  he  who  denounces  them  is 
bound  to  show  why  it  is  more  irreli- 
gious to  explain  the  origin  of  man  as  a 
distinct  species  by  descent  from  some 
lower  form,  through  the  laws  of  varia- 
tion and  natural  selection,  than  to  ex- 
plain the  birth  of  the  individual 
through  the  laws  of  ordinary  reproduc- 
tion. The  birth  both  of  the  species 
and  of  the  individual  are  equally  part 
of  that  grand  sequence  of  events  which 
our  minds  refuse  to  accept  as  the  re- 
sult of  blind  chance.  The  understand- 
ing revolts  at  such  a  conclusion,  wheth- 
er or  not  we  are  able  to  believe  that 
every  slight  variation  of  structure,  the 
union  of  each  pair  in  marriage,  the 
dissemination  of  each  seed,  and  other 
such  events,  have  all  been  ordained  for 
some  special  purpose. 

And  here  we  are,  fifty  years  later, 
still  seeking  the  link  in  the  chain  of 
evolution  that  connects  our  own 
species  with  primitive  life-forms; 
still  asking  for  proof  of  immortality. 
We  may  never  find  either.  To  say 
that  either  quest  is  futile  would  be 
foolish;  to  say  that  the  discovery  of 
either  is  essential  to  human  prog- 
ress or  human  happiness  would  be 
even  more  so. 

Evolution  goes  on,  slowly  in  the 
individual,  with  accelerating  and  al- 
most breath-taking  speed  in  the 
species.  In  the  fifty  years  since 
Darwin  wrote  his  "  Descent  of  Man," 
doubtless  not  a  single  child  born  into 
the  world  has  within  his  physical 
structure  a  single  cell  or  combination 
of  cells  which  in  its  formation  and 
grouping  is  not  precisely  like  those 
of  a  thousand  of  its  direct  ancestors, 
as  far  as  the  most  powerful  instru- 
ments of  the  biologist  can  determine ; 
yet  we  know  that  there  are  differ- 


THE  QUEST  FOR  THE  "MISSING  LINK" 


775 


enccs,  from  generation  to  generation, 
and  that  in  a  million  generations 
these  divergences,  so  slight  that, 
seen  from  any  one  point,  they  ap- 
pear parallel,  will  have  evolved  a 
new  and  different  kind  of  being 
from  those  of  which  the  writer  and 
his  readers  are  individual  specimens. 
But  we  know — we  have  the  evidences 
all  around  us — that  in  the  same  fifty 
years  since  Darwin  wrote  the  human 
species  has  made  longer  and  swifter 
strides  toward  the  goal  of  happiness 
and  comfort  for  all  of  its  component 
individuals,  toward  the  conquest  of 
its  environment  and  the  power  over 
life  and  death  that  is,  perhaps,  man's 
nearest  approach  to  Divinity,  than 
in  any  five-hundred-year  period  of 
the  past. 

Immortality  of  the  Race 

Perhaps  the  great  fruit  of  the  seed 
Darwin  sowed  is  the  concept,  now 
gaining  wide  acceptance  among  biol- 
ogists, that  immortality,  like  evolu- 
tion itself,  is  not  individual  but  racial ; 
that  the  organism  destined  to  survive 
forever  is  the  species,  not  the  unit; 
that  it  only  needs  that  all  the  domi- 
nant individuals  of  the  human  family 
should  realize  this  for  man  to  proceed 
with  even  greater  speed  toward  the 
fulfillment  of  the  millennial  dreams 
that  lie  at  the  roots  of  all  religious 
philosophies. 

"  The  biologist  says,"  remarks  Ver- 
non Kellogg,  himself  one  of  the  fore- 
most investigators  in  that  field  of 
knowledge,  "  if  he  is  not  a  bigoted 
biologist,  that  he  has  no  right  to  say, 
and  will  not  say,  that  there  cannot  be 
a  human  spirit-life.  He  cannot  au- 
thoritatively, and  hence  will  not  try 


to,  affirm  that  there  cannot  be  human 
immortality.  He  simply  remains  ag- 
nostic.   He  does  not  know." 

But  hear  him  a  little  further.  "  If 
evolution  is  carrying  man  forward — 
and  we  do  not  doubt  it — it  is  doing 
it  in  a  different  way.  This  way  seems 
to  be  the  way  of  social  evolution, 
based  on  man's  social  inheritance  and 
the  biologic  factor  of  mutual  aid.  *  *  * 
That  means,  in  the  ultimate  analysis, 
that  future  man  can  be  consciously 
determined  by  man  today;  that  hu- 
man evolution  has  been  turned  over 
to  humankind  itself  to  direct.  What 
an  opportunity,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
what  a  responsibility!  *  *  *  The 
soundest  of  science  leads  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  man  has  in  his  own 
hands  a  great  instrument  for  deter- 
mining the  fate  of  himself  as  a  spe- 
cies, the  future  of  mankind." 

We  may  well  rest  here.  Nothing 
that  the  Andrews  expedition  is  likely 
to  bring  back  from  Asia  can  do  much 
more  than  cement  still  more  strongly 
man's  intimate  kinship  with  every 
other  form  of  life.  No  new  discoveries 
of  man's  origins  can  alter  the  fact 
that  our  race  is,  as  the  eminent  French 
scientist,  Mr.  Boule,  points  out,  one 
body  with  the  world  that  carries  it. 
We  are  the  product  of  causes  so  re- 
mote, of  the  interplay  of  forces  so  pro- 
digious, of  actions  and  reactions  so 
complex,  that  they  may  well  be  said 
to  have  constituted  the  chief  and 
only  important  steps  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  earth  itself,  and  to  have 
had  as  their  sole  purpose,  if  we  con- 
cede a  purpose  at  all  behind  it,  the 
creation  of  man  out  of  the  substance 
of  earth  itself  by  the  process  we  call 
evolution. 


!« *« 


MASTODON    AND    ROYAL,    BISON,    ANIMALS    OF    THE    OLD    STONE    AGE,    AS    RESTORED    IN    A 
PAINTING    BY    CHARLES    R.    KNIGHT    OF    THE    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY,    NEW    YORK 


THE  JEWISH   PROBLEM  IN  POLAND 

By  James  Jay  Kann 

Lute    Treasurer    of    the    American    Relief    Administration's    Mission    to    Poland 

A  dispassionate  view  of  both  sides  of  the  case,  showing  that  Polish  hatred  of  the  Jews  is 
due  to  an  intense  desire  for  national  unity,  to  the  Jews'  unfair  commercial  methods  and 
to  their  pro-German  and  pro-Bolshevist  leanings — Possibilities  of  a  solution 


THERE  have  been  many  articles 
and  statements  written  con- 
cerning Poland's  Jewish  prob- 
lem, some  of  them  for  ulterior  motives 
and  others  from  sincere  conviction, 
but  for  the  greater  part  they  have  all 
been  either  pro-Polish  or  pro-Jewish 
in  intent.  In  the  following  article  I 
shall  present  the  facts  as  I  saw  them, 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  will  please 
neither  the  one  extremest  nor  the 
other.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
two  parties  to  a  bitter  struggle  have 
seldom  a  monopoly  of  righteousness 
on  either  side. 

Since  the  report  of  the  Morgenthau 
Commission  it  is  almost  unnecessary 
to  waste  space  with  a  denial  of  the 
vivid  and  exaggerated  stories  of 
atrocities  which  have  been  dissemi- 
nated for  one  reason  or  another,  as 
the  various  allegations  of  this  kind 
were  fully  investigated  and  properly 
disposed  of  by  that  body  of  men. 
During  four  months'  residence  in 
Poland,  including  visits  to  many 
parts  of  the  country,  I  saw  no  such 
atrocities. 

In  approaching  this  problem  from 
an  unprejudiced  viewpoint,  it  is  neces- 
sary, first  of  all, to  rid  one's  self  of  the 
misconception  that  it  is  a  religious 
problem.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is 
that  the  basis  of  friction  between  the 
Poles  and  the  Jews  is  not  Judaism,  but 
Polish  nationalism,  combined  with  an 
economic  cause  which  is  probably 
secondary  in  importance. 

The  Poles  are  a  people  of  intense 
patriotism,  which  reaches  a  degree  of 
almost  fanatical  fervor.  The  disinte- 
gration of  their  country  and  the  major 
share   of   their   political    misfortune 


have  been  due  to  the  factional  differ- 
ences among  themselves.  After  years 
of  dismemberment  Poland  has  finally 
been  reunited,  but  the  lessons  of  the 
past  have  taught  them  the  value  of 
cohesion,  and  reunion  of  the  country 
in  spirit  and  culture  has  become  the 
goal  of  their  ambitions. 

The  years  of  subjection  to  foreign 
Governments  have  left  the  particular 
imprint  of  each  of  the  governing 
countries  upon  the  portion  of  Poland 
under  its  rulership.  These  marks  are 
not  easy  to  eradicate.  German  Poland 
today  is  as  different  in  many  respects 
from  Russian  and  Austrian  Poland  as 
one  nationality  of  the  same  race  of 
mankind  is  from  another.  To  bring 
these  dismembered  parts  together  in  a 
strong  union  is  a  task  demanding  the 
statesmanship  and  ability  of  a  Bis- 
marck. 

Why  Jews  Are  Hated 

When  the  intensity  of  desire  for 
unification  in  a  people  is  so  inherent, 
any  body  of  men  opposing  the  fulfill- 
ment of  this  desire  are  naturally 
bound  to  incur  hatred.  Hatred  is  es- 
sentially based  on  fear,  and  it  is  fear 
that  the  Jews  will  thwart  them  in 
their  national  ambition  that  has 
brought  forth  the  enmity  of  the  Poles 
to  as  great  a  degree  as  their  hatred 
for  the  Germans  and  the  Russians. 

Thanks  to  the  protection  of  the  Al- 
lies, for  the  moment  Poland's  fears 
from  external  aggression  are  allayed. 
All  the  more  have  they  been  concen- 
trated upon  the  possibility  of  internal 
disruption.  For,  living  among  them, 
scattered  throughout   their  country, 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM  IN  POLAND 


111 


with  the  exception  of  the  Duchy  of 
Posnan  (German  Poland) — forming  a 
large  part  of  the  population  of  the 
cities,  the  strategic  points  of  the 
country's  economic  and  political  life — 
is  a  people  not  only  of  a  different  race, 
but  claiming  a  different  nationality. 

The  Jews  who  live  today  in  Poland 
are  mainly  the  immigrants  of  recent 
years  who  have  come  westward  from 
Russia.  These  late  arrivals,  or  Litt- 
vacs,as  they  are  called,  are  the  leaders 
of  Jewish  life,  barring,  of  course,  the 
small  but  highly  cultured  and  intelli- 
gent group  of  Assimilators,  who  are 
completely  disowned  by  the  great 
mass  of  their  co-religionists.  These 
Littvacs  are  as  orthodox  in  their  be- 
lief and  customs  as  were  their  fore- 
fathers generations  ago.  They  stand 
stalwart  in  their  resistance  to  any 
suggestion  which  will  tend  to  modify 
their  ghetto  life.  They  are  Jews,  first, 
last  and  always,  and  they  will  not 
assume  Polish  nationality  or  Polish 
culture,  whatever  persecution  may 
be  brought  to  bear  to  make  them 
conform  to  the  will  of  the  majority. 
Their  language  is  a  jargon  called 
Yiddish.  They  will  not  speak  Polish, 
though  they  teach  Hebrew  in  their 
schools.  Their  lives  are  lived  in 
that  part  of  the  city  called  the  ghetto. 
Their  schools,  their  social  life  and 
their  interests  centre  around  the 
synagogue. 

Let  the  reader  consider  what  his 
feelings  would  have  been  if  he  had 
learned  during  the  World  War  that 
there  were  schools  in  this  country 
wherein  the  pupils  were  taught  the 
German  language,  or  even  what  he 
would  think  today,  were  it  discovered 
that  there  were  institutions  of  learn- 
ing solely  employing  a  foreign 
tongue  and  not  even  demanding  of 
their  students  the  study  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.  Certainly  no  more  un- 
fair treaty  was  ever  signed  than  that 
which  forced  the  Polish  Government 
to  permit  the  Jews  resident  within  its 
domain  to  conduct  schools  of  their 
own,  using  their  own  language.  This 
interference    in    a    strictly    internal 


question,  which  was  prompted  by  the 
American  Jewry,  and  to  a  lesser  de- 
gree by  the  Jewry  of  other  countries, 
will  cause  a  lasting  resentment,  far 
outbalancing  the  good  which  might 
be  accomplished  by  such  a  privilege. 
It  constitutes  a  wound  to  national 
pride  and  dignity,  which  has  brought 
forth  a  protest  even  from  the  Polish 
reformed  Jews. 

Is  it  not  possible  for  us,  who  are 
confronted  by  the  great  problem  of 
Americanization,  and  who  compre- 
hend so  well  the  necessity  of  melting 
the  various  races  and  nationalities 
that  come  to  our  shores  into  a  homo- 
geneous body  of  American  citizens,  to 
understand  the  impossibility  of  per- 
mitting a  people  to  live  among  the 
citizens  of  any  nation,  and  yet  not  be 
of  them. 

The  Jewish  Bloc 

The  Jewish  population  of  Poland  is 
a  small  minority  (5,000,000  out  of  a 
total  of  30,000,000), and  not  integrally 
resident  in  one  section  of  the  country, 
but  permeating  the  entire  population. 
If  the  cardinal  principle  of  republican 
government  is  that  the  minority  shall 
conform  to  the  will  of  the  majority, 
it  certainly  does  not  befit  us  to  preach 
to  a  sister  republic  the  doctrine  of  al- 
lowing the  minority  not  only  all  the 
rights  enjoyed  by  the  majority,  but 
added  privileges  as  well. 

And  this  is  what  the  Jews  in  Poland 
desire,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  have 
theoretically  gained.  They  have 
elected  to  the  Polish  Diet,  members 
of  the  Jewish  Nationalist  Party, 
whose  sole  political  efforts  are  de- 
voted to  safeguarding  their  own  in- 
terests and  securing  further  conces- 
sions. The  mere  fact  that  such  a  party 
exists  proves  to  the  Poles  the  com- 
plete lack  of  interest  which  the  Jews 
have  for  the  national  welfare.  No 
more  striking  evidence  of  the  absolute 
separation  of  the  Jew  from  his  fellow- 
countrymen  is  his  voluntary  assump- 
tion of  a  distinctive  appearance.  He 
insistently  wears  a  long  black  smock, 
a  tight-fitting  black   cap,   and   high 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


black  boots,  which,  coupled  with  his 
refusal  to  shave  or  cut  his  hair,  marks 
him  unavoidably  for  what  he  is,  and 
permits  him  to  present  as  unattrac- 
tive a  personal  appearance  as  could  be 
accomplished  if  prompted  by  inten- 
tion. 

To  a  foreign  observer  such  determi- 
nation is  quite  impossible  of  under- 
standing. To  the  Pole  it  is  unmistaka- 
bly the  badge  of  a  secret  fraternity 
conniving  for  the  downfall  and  pos- 
session of  his  country.  With  equal 
determination,  the  Jews  insist  on 
crowding  together  in  ghettos,  where 
filth  and  disease  cannot  possibly  be 
prevented.  True,  both  the  garb  and 
the  ghetto  are  the  products  of  hun- 
dreds of  years  of  oppression  and  com- 
pulsion, and  it  is  perhaps  fittingly 
ironical  that  the  descendants  of  their 
oppressors  should  find  these  former 
means  of  subjection  a  source  of  dis- 
comfiture and  worry. 

Offers  of  Polish  citizenship  and  na- 
tionality hold  no  attraction  to  the 
Jew.  He  will  have  none  of  them,  for 
he  distrusts  the  Pole,  and  he  has  no 
interest  in  the  wars,  problems  or  pros- 
perity of  a  country  he  will  not  call 
his  own.  To  the  great  majority,  the 
brilliant  dream  of  Zionism  is  the  only 
future  worth  having,  and  of  a  cer- 
tainty, if  all  the  Jews  of  Poland  could 
be  transported  to  Palestine  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  would  be  reached 
— for  Poland. 

The  complete  lack  of  patriotic  and 
public  spirit  among  the  Jews  cannot 
fairly  be  attributed  to  their  absence 
of  faith  in  the  promises  of  the  Poles 
that  they  will  be  granted  full  citizen- 
ship and  political  equality.  For  those 
Jews  who  have  deserted  the  ghetto 
and  given  up  their  secular  peculiari- 
ties, though  still  maintaining  their  in- 
dependence of  thought  and  religious 
belief,  have  prospered  in  their  va- 
rious occupations  and  professions. 
Some  of  the  most  prominent  bankers, 
merchants,  manufacturers  and  pro- 
fessional men  of  Poland  are  Jews,  and 
the  textile  mills  of  the  great  manu- 
facturing City  of  Lodz,  the  largest  in- 


dustrial metropolis  of  Poland,  are 
owned  for  the  greater  part  by  capi- 
talists of  the  Jewish  race.  These  suc- 
cessful men  have  surrendered  no  more 
of  their  racial  individualism  than 
nave  the  modernized  Jews  in  any 
other  country  in  the  world,  and  the 
application  to  them  of  the  name  "As- 
similators"  should  not  mislead  one 
into  the  fallacious  belief  that  assimi- 
lation necessarily  means  a  surrender 
of  religious  conviction.  Of  all  the 
leaders  of  Polish  life  and  thought 
with  whom  I  discussed  this  problem, 
I  never  met  one  who  expressed  the 
hope  that  the  Jews  would  desert  their 
creed. 

Foreign  Sympathies 

The  impression  that  the  ambition 
of  the  Jews  is  anti-nationalistic  in 
strengthened  by  the  unfortunate  pref- 
erence of  great  numbers  of  them  for 
the  rulership  of  the  Germans  or  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki.  Their  leaning 
toward  the  Germans  is  explained  by 
the  fact  that  during  the  German  occu- 
pation of  Poland  there  was  a  strong 
and  efficient  Government,  which  pro- 
vided greater  security  to  person  and 
property  than  does  the  present  weak 
and  recently  organized  administra- 
tion of  the  Poles.  The  Germans,  being 
administrators  of  an  enemy  country, 
had  no  more  prejudice  against  the 
Jews  than  against  the  Poles,  and  it  is 
also  true  that  business  was  far  better 
under  their  sovereignty  than  it  is 
now. 

Among  the  poor  Jews — and  the 
great  majority  of  them  are  in  a  pitia- 
ble state  of  poverty — there  is  also  a 
strong  radical  feeling,  which  tends  to 
create  a  sympathy  for  Bolshevism,  en- 
couraged by  the  presence  of  many 
Jews  in  highly  responsible  official 
positions  in  the  Russian  Soviets.  In 
Eastern  Poland,  where  the  battle  with 
the  Bolsheviki  has  been  waged  with 
such  intensity,  there  are  many  al- 
leged cases — founded  on  varying  de- 
grees of  truthfulness — of  connivance 
between  the  Jewish  population  and 
the  attacking  enemy.    Were  it  to  be 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM  IN  POLAND 


779 


granted  that  these  stories  as  an  en- 
tirety are  false,  the  fact  would  still 
remain  that  the  Jews, by  their  passive 
attitude  and  lack  of  interest  in  the 
success  of  the  Polish  armies,  have  laid 
themselves  open  to  the  charge  of  anti- 
patriotic  sympathies. 

The  rare  instances  of  violence  to 
the  Jew  arise  from  suspicion  of  his 
giving  aid  to  the  enemy,  from  indig- 
nation against  his  profiteering  and 
usurious  methods  of  business,  or  from 
crude  desire  to  indulge  in  the  prac- 
tice of  so-called  Jew-baiting ;  the  cases 
of  Jew-baiting  have  been  instigated 
almost  entirely  by  Polish-American 
soldiers  of  General  Haller's  army,  who 
are  unaccustomed  to  the  freakish  ap- 
pearance of  the  Jew,  and  find  it 
provocative  of  an  ignorant  and  brutal 
sense  of  humor.  The  failure  of  the 
Government  to  protect  the  Jews 
against  such  harm  and  humiliation  is 
not  due  to  any  predetermined  policy 
of  the  officials,  but  rather  to  the  gen- 
eral weakness  of  the  administrative 
system,  which  is  equally  powerless  to 
prevent  smuggling  or  graft. 

We  Americans,  who  possess  one  of 
the  most  efficient  governments  of 
the  world,  protect  the  person  of  our 
American  negroes  with  such  laxity 
that  they  are  daily  the  unfortunate 
victims  of  mob  license.  Scarcely  a 
morning  passes  that  one  does  not 
read  in  the  newspapers  of  the  hanging 
of  one  or  more  negroes,  and  occa- 
sionally of  their  being  burned  alive. 
The  number  so  put  to  death  im- 
measurably exceeds  the  total  number 
of  Jews  in  Poland  who  have  suffered 
physical  violence  of  any  kind  at  the 
hands  of  the  populace. 

The  Economic  Cause 

To  understand  the  economic  cause 
of  the  violent  prejudice  against  the 
Jews,  one  must  be  conversant  with 
present  and  past  conditions  of 
Poland.  The  Poles  are  divided  into 
two  classes,  the  aristocratic  land- 
owners and  peasants.  The  absence  of 
a  large  and  powerful  bourgeoisie,  such 
as  exists  in  every  modern  country,  is 


a  great  weakness  to  the  social  struc- 
ture. The  organization  of  commerce 
on  a  scientific  and  respected  basis  is 
as  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  trade  is, 
therefore,  still  conducted  mainly  in 
the  old  manner. 

The  Jews,  inclined  by  heredity 
toward  a  mercantile  life,  having  for 
centuries  been  forbidden  the  owner- 
ship of  property,  form  the  great  class 
of  merchants.  Their  business  is  run 
in  a  small  bargaining  fashion,  unde- 
niably lacking  in  the  principles  of  fair- 
ness or  equity,  and  the  ignorant,  naive 
Polish  peasant  is  at  their  mercy  for 
the  securing  of  the  goods  he  needs. 
Today,  when  instability  is  so  univer- 
sal in  all  material  things,  the  peasant 
is  at  an  even  greater  loss  to  determine 
whether  or  not  he  is  being  charged  a 
fair  value  for  the  article  he  purchases.; 
There  can  be  no  denial  of  the  fact 
that  the  Jewish  merchant  is  guilty  of 
shameless  profiteering,  and  also  of 
the  smuggling  of  forbidden  goods, 
tempted  by  the  large  profits  he  can 
obtain  for  the  sale  of  them.  If  the 
Polish  Government  is  as  yet  unable 
to  protect  the  peasant  from  such  in- 
justice, can  it  be  surprising  that  in 
turn  it  is  incapable  of  protecting  the 
Jew  from  the  occasional  outbursts  of 
anger  aroused  by  his  unfortunate  oc- 
cupation ? 

The  anti-Semitic  party  does  not 
wish  for  a  better  understanding  be- 
tween the  Jews  and  the  Poles,  but 
strives  to  increase  existing  ill-feel- 
ing, to  aggravate  the  unpleasant  fric- 
tion in  every  instance,  and  to  fan  the 
smoldering  flames  of  prejudice  into 
a  conflagration,  before  which  the 
Jews  will  flee  never  to  return.  The 
historic  example  of  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jews  from  Spain  teaches  them 
no  lesson  in  political  shortsighted- 
ness. To  them  the  Jew  will  never  be 
anything  but  what  he  is  today,  and 
they  will  not  grant  the  remotest  pos- 
sibility of  his  becoming  an  asset  to 
the  community.  It  is  their  convic- 
tion that  material  prosperity  will  only 
give  the  Jews  the  means  to  control 
the  State  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
Poles,  and  it  is  futile  to  point  out 


'80 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  examples  of  France,  England  and 
America,  where  the  Jewish  immi- 
grant, granted  equal  opportunity  and 
equal  rights,  has  within  the  space  of 
a  generation  or  two  become  complete- 
ly nationalized,  and  has  developed 
into  the  finest  type  of  patriotic 
citizen. 

That  the  Polish  Government  per- 
mits the  violent  agitation  and  insid- 
ious propaganda  of  the  anti-Semitic 
party  to  persist  is  greatly  to  be  re- 
gretted, and  it  only  serves  to  make 
a  wise  and  practical  solution  of  the 
racial  problem  more  difficult.  The 
widespread  publication  in  newspapers 
and  periodicals  of  articles  preaching 
such  prejudiced  and  untruthful  doc- 
trines causes  indignant  protest  from 
many  people  in  this  country ;  but  can 
we  as  a  nation  condemn  the  Polish 
Government  for  failure  to  suppress 
the  printing  of  such  matter  when  we 
tolerate  Mr.  Henry  Ford's  literary  ef- 
forts in  The  Fort  Dearborn  Indepen- 
dent? 

The  first  step  toward  solving  the 
Jewish  problem  in  Poland  is  for  the 
radical  parties  on  both  sides  to  be- 
come reconciled  to  the  fact  that  the 
Jews  are  a  permanent  part  of  the 
population  of  the  country,  and  that 
their  future  destiny  is  identical  with 
that  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  If 
they  both  cling  to  the  idea  of  the 
eventual  migration  of  the  Jewish  res- 
idents, no  improvement  in  the  exist- 
ing conditions  can  be  hoped  for.  But 
if  the  two  extremists  can  be  brought 
to  acknowledge  the  impossibility  and 
undesirability  of  their  ambition,  a 
great  stride  toward  a  basis  of  mutual 
co-operation  will  have  been  accom- 
plished. 

The  Poles,  on  their  side,  must  real- 
ize that  prosperity  breeds  patriotism, 
and  that  a  prosperous  Jewish  commu- 
nity will  be  loyally  grateful  to  the 
State  and  will  be  an  economical  and 
political  asset  to  the  country.  They 
must  never  forget  that  the  Jew  to  a 


great  extent  is  the  resultant  product 
of  centuries  of  oppression  and  perse- 
cution. They  must  endeavor  to  con- 
tradict the  untruthful  stories  con- 
cerning the  character  and  habits  of 
the  Jews,  and  to  dissipate  the  feeling 
of  prejudice.  They  must  be  convinced 
of  the  potential  ability  of  the  Jew  to 
become  a  devoted  patriot,  and  they 
should  take  the  first  step  toward  in- 
ducing the  Jews  to  believe  in  their 
sincerity. 

The  Jews  must  be  persuaded  to  for- 
sake their  secular  peculiarities.  They 
must  be  educated  in  the  modern  con- 
ception of  religious  practice,  taught 
that  devotion  to  State  is  as  paramount 
as  devotion  to  creed.  They  must  also 
be  taught  that  surrender  of  ghetto 
life  and  of  its  attendant  habits  and 
customs  does  not  in  any  way  imply 
diminution  of  religious  devoutness. 
The  true  meaning  of  the  word  assimi- 
lation must  be  made  clear  to  them, 
and  they  must  be  shown  that  if  they 
accept  the  benefit  of  equal  political 
and  economic  rights  and  privileges 
they  must  also  assume  the  duties  and 
obligations  of  national  citizenship. 
They  must  seek  in  every  possible  way 
to  show  their  Catholic  neighbors  that 
the  sole  difference  between  them, 
aside  from  one  of  blood,  is  that  of  a 
religious  belief. 

Peculiar  as  it  may  seem,  the  hope 
for  a  future  solution  of  this  problem 
depends  on  the  outcome  of  the  Rus- 
sian situation.  For  Russia  once  more 
open  to  the  world  will  provide  Poland's 
Jewish  merchants  with  an  unrivaled 
opportunity  for  profitable  trade.  Let 
there  be  sufficient  legitimate  work 
for  Jew  and  Gentile  alike,  and  a  great 
part  of  the  discontent  and  ill  feel- 
ing would  subside.  By  a  process  of 
mutual  concessions  the  leaders  of 
both  parties  must  adopt  a  program  of 
rapprochement  leading  to  a  common 
goal,  and  thus  strive  to  fuse  the  two 
races  into  a  strong,  united  and  pro- 
gressive nation. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[American  Cartoon] 


THE  ONLY  WAY  TO  DISARM 


NO\N     ALL     TOGETHER  , 
LETS     DROP   'El^s 

Ons-two-  tk- 


Tacovia  News-Tribune. 


782 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[English  Cartoon] 

THOSE  GERMAN  WAR  CRIMINALS 


..^•^mV 


— London  Opinion. 

The  Hun    (apropos  of  the  Leipsic  court's  inadequate  sentences)  :  "But  you 
can't  expect  a  German  to  punish  a  German  for  behaving  like  a  German !  " 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


783 


[American  Cartoon] 

"THEY  COME  DOWN  TWO  BY  TWO" 


-Los  Angeles  Times. 


784 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[German  Cartoons] 

The    Entente   Situation 


-Wahrc  Jakob, 
Stuttgart. 


The    Entente 

as  Seen  by 

Germany 


Entente:  "  I 
am  getting  old. 
I  wonder  wheth- 
er the  paint  will 
hide  the  cracks 
and   wrinkles." 


-Kladderadatsch , 
Berlin. 


INTERNATIONAL   CARTOONS   OF   CURRENT  EVENTS 


785 


[American  Cartoon] 


The  Lost  Dog 


The  United  States  has 
a  greater  amount  of  the 
world's  wealth  than  any 
other  nation.  Gold  has 
been  pouring  in  to  an  ex- 
tent that  has  aroused  the 
apprehension  of  finan- 
ciers. But,  despite  this 
surplus,  business  has  con- 
tinued to  shrink  and  un- 
employment is  prevalent 
in  all  industrial  centres. 
Credit  must  be  advanced 
to  impoverished  nations 
in  order  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  them  to  become 
again  our  customers. 


Ncio    York    Tribune. 


[German  Cartoon] 

THE  PROCESSION  BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  DOLLAR 


atldv raaatsch ,   Berlin. 


786 


THE  NEW   YOftK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


After  Germany's 
Acceptance  of 
the   Ultimatum. 
Lloyd     George  : 
"Health!    Here's    to 
Justice     and     Free- 
dom!" 

Briand:  "Health! 
Here's  to  Fraternity 
and  Humanity!  " 

[It  is  but  natural 
that  the  vanquished 
should  think  the 
terms  of  the  victor 
unbearable.  Ger- 
m  a  n  y  protests 

against  what  she 
thinks  the  excessiive 
indemnities  d  e  - 

manded  by  the  Al- 
lies. They  on  the 
other  hand  point  to 
the  reduction  from 
the  original  de- 
mands as  a  proof  of 
their  moderation.] 


[German-Swiss   Cartoon] 

Kt 

WW 

S>A  _      EJE            C&^                11 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^m 

— Nebelspalter,  Zurich. 


[Polish  Cartoon] 


Germany's  Idea  of  Repara- 
tion 

Germany  :  "  Perhaps  I  am 
technically  wrong,  and  I  will 
pay  nominal  damages — on  con- 
dition that  I  may  retain  Upper 
Silesia." 

[One  of 'the  things  that  irri- 
tated the  Allies,  and  among 
other  reasons  caused  the 
brusque  rejection  of  the  Ger- 
man reparation  proposals  at  the 
London  Conference,  was  the  in- 
sistence that  the  payments  pro- 
posed should  be  conditioned  on 
the  retention  of  Upper  Silesia 
by  Germany.  At  that  time  the 
plebiscite  had  not  been  taken.] 


-Mv.cha,   Warsaw, 


INTERNATIONAL   CARTOONS   OF   CURRENT  EVENTS 


787 


[American  Cartoons] 


-Ohio    State    Jodrnal. 


The   Bolshevist   Predicament 

"  If  you're  going  anywhere,  you 
have  to  have  oars." 


Having  Consumed  All  the 
Golden  Eggs — 

[Lenin  in.his  address  at  the  Mos- 
cow Congress  practically  acknowl- 
edged that  the  Bolshevist  experi- 
ment had  proved  a  failure  and  that 
the  only  hope  of  restoring  mori- 
bund Russia  lay  in  concesions  to 
capitalism.] 


■Dallas  News. 


788 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


[Austrian  Cartoons] 


Briand's  Triumph 


For  decades  Ger- 
many will  now  have 
to  work  for  France. 


-Kikeriki,    Vienna. 


The  reparation 
terms,  which  re- 
quire Germany  to, 
pay  $35,000,000,000, 
are  here  typified  by 
the  magic  ring  of 
the  Nibelungen, 
which,  in  the  hands 
of  Alberich  the 
dwarf,  (Briand,) 

makes  slaves  of  all 
within  reach  of  its 
power. 


Waiting  for 

Help  from  the 

Entente 

Austria  (gazing 
westward)  :  "Hang 
it  all,  when  will 
the  sun  rise 
again? 


The  plight  of 
Austria  has  been 
more  severe  than 
that  of  Germany, 
for,  although  her 
obligations  are 
less,  her  resources 
have  shrunk  to  the 
vanishing  point. 
Help  has  been  ex- 
tended, howe*ver, 
by  the  Allies,  and 
there  is  no  disposi- 
tion to  press  her 
beyond  her  ability 
to   pay. 


-Kikeriki ,   Vienna. 


INTERNATIONAL   CARTOONS   OF   CURRENT   EVENTS 


789 


[American  Cartoons] 


WHY? 


The  increase  of  the 
Japanese  Navy  in 
number  of  vessels  and 
in  fighting  strength 
is  viewed,  if  not  with 
deep  concern,  at  least 
with  a  certain  grav- 
ity on  this  side  of  the 
Pacific.  The  Japa- 
n  e  s  e  immigration 
problem  and  the  man- 
date over  Yap  have 
not  yet  been  settled, 
although  it  is  hoped 
that  these  can  be  ad- 
justed  by  diplomacy. 


•New   York   Evening 
Mail. 


"And  you  laughed 
at   Summer  furs" 


Although  talk  of 
disarmament  is  in 
the  air,  the  nations 
still  adhere  to  their 
naval  programs. 
Taxes  are  staggering, 
not  only  in  the  Unit- 
ed States,  but  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ja- 
pan. All  profess  to 
be  willing  to  curtail 
warlike  preparations, 
but  none  is  willing 
to  set  the  example. 


■Detroit    News. 


790 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[American  Cartoons] 

Victor  and  Vanquished.  Hurry  up!  It's  getting  heavy. 


Le*  5  3ea 

Whets «j.H*ep<rt  **• 


-Detroit   News. 


■Brooklyn     Eagle. 


The  ProdigaPs  Return 


About  Face! 


-San    Francisco    Chronicle. 


— Detroit   News. 


Cheering  to  the  public  is  the  fact 
that  the  American  dollar,  which  at 
the  peak  of  high  prices  was  worth 
only  37  cents  compared  with  pre-war 
values,  is  now  worth  65  cents  by  the 
same  standard. 


The  general  reduction  that  has 
taken  place  in  prices  and  wages  has 
not  yet  been  reflected  to  any  marked 
extent  in  the  charges  for  public  utili- 
ties, which  in  many  cases  have  ad- 
vanced. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


791 


[American  Cartoon] 


"  IT  LOOKS  FINE,  BUT  I  CAN'T  MAKE  IT  BREATHE  " 


— Dayton  News. 


792 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[Dutch  Cartoon] 

LLOYD  GEORGE'S  SILESIAN  SPEECH 


— De    Amsterdammer,    Amsterdam. 
J.  Bull   (to  Poland)  :  "  Stop  trying  to  climb  in.    Wait  till  we  open  the  door 


Upper   Silesia 

The  robber  (Po- 
land) and  his  look- 
out   (France.) 

The  attempt  of 
Poland  to  forestall 
the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Council 
and  to  seize  the  dis- 
puted Upper  Sile- 
sian  territory  by 
force  of  arms  has 
ended  in  failure. 
The  raid  of  Korfan- 
ty  and  his  Polish 
irregulars  irritated 
the  British  and  Ital- 
ians, who  hinted  that 
the  French  had  been 
lukewarm  in  oppos- 
i  n  g       it.  Lloyd 

George  declared 

that  the  Allies  could 
not  permit  the  "un- 
ruly children"  of  the 
treaty  to  "  break 
crockery"  in  Europe. 


■K  la  dele)  'a  da  tsch, 
Berlin. 


INTERNATIONAL   CARTOONS   OF   CURRENT   EVENTS 


793 


[American  Cartoon] 


DANGEROUS  BUSINESS 


-New  York  Evening  Mail: 


The  Sinn  Fein  agitation  in  Ireland  has  many  sympathizers  in  the  United 
States,  and  these  have  been  active  to  an  extent  that  might  under  certain  condi- 
tions create  tension  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain.  A  shipment  of  arms 
designed  for  the  Sinn  Fein  was  recently  seized  in  New  York. 


794 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


[German  Cartoon] 

THE  AMERICAN  LIFE  PRESERVER 


—Kladderadatsch,  Berlin. 
"  That  life  belt,  after  all,  was  made  of  thorns  " 
[Referring  t-o  America's  refusal  to  recommend  Germany's  indemnity  scheme  to  the  Allies] 


HOW  TRADE  UNIONS  ARE  RUINING 
BRITISH  INDUSTRY 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

Startling  facts  and  figures  regarding  the  union  policy  of  restricting  output  in  mines 
and  factories — Why  British  coal  costs  three  times  as  much  as  American  coal — Five 
English  miners  do  only  as  much  work  as  one  American  miner — Labor   itself  injured. 


THE  British  trade  unions  are  organiza- 
tions which  pursue  simultaneously  eco- 
nomic and  political  aims.  The  study 
of  their  activities  in  the  economic  field  re- 
veals the  fact  that  they  have  inflicted  the 
greatest  injury  upon  England's  industry  and 
trade,  and  upon  the  nation  as  a  whole.  The 
uncritical  defenders  of  British  trade  union- 
ism tell  us  that,  owing  to  the  activities  of 
the  unions,  British  labor  conditions  have 
been  greatly  improved  and  British  wages 
have  risen  considerably.  It  is  true  that  dur- 
ing the  last  few  decades  British  labor  has 
been  benefited  by  shorter  hours,  higher 
wages  and  the  improvement  of  factories, 
houses,  &c.  However,  it  is  a  mistake  to 
ascribe  this  advance  to  the  trade  unions.  In 
the  United  States,  where  the  power  of  trade 
unions  is  small,  labor  is  far  better  off  than 
in  England,  and  the  highest  wages  are  paid 
in  those  industries,  such  as  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  and  the  Ford 
works,  where  trade  unions  are  not  recog- 
nized. Labor  conditions  throughout  the 
world  have  vastly  improved  in  the  last  few 
decades,  and  the  reason  for  that  universal 
improvement  is  obvious.  The  remuneration 
of  labor  depends  upon  its  productiveness. 
Improved  machinery  and  organization  have 
created  that  abundance  of  useful  and  neces- 
sary things  which  constitute  prosperity. 
Labor  organizations  by  themselves  create 
nothing.  The  British  trade  unions,  far  from 
benefiting  the  workers  by  increasing  the 
supply  of  goods,  have  restricted  it  to  the  ut- 
most. They  have  kept  the  English  workers 
in  relative  poverty  by  preventing  the  expan- 
sion of  industries.  They  are  principally  re- 
sponsible for  the  backwardness  of  industrial 
England,  and  for  the  economic  stagnation  of 
the  country. 

The  industries  of  Great  Britain  are  ex- 
traordinarily backward,  if  compared  with 
those  of  the  United  States.     England's  in- 


feriority is  startling.  The  facts  of  the  posi- 
tion are  glaringly  shown  by  a  comparison  of 
the  British  and  American  censuses  of  pro- 
duction. The  only  census  of  production 
taken  in  the  United  Kingdom  refers  to  the 
year  1907.  The  American  census  of  produc- 
tion nearest  in  date  was  taken  in  1909.  The 
two  years  are  so  close  together  that  the  re- 
sults of  the  two  investigations  are  fairly 
comparable.  From  these  two  documents  we 
learn  that  in  1907-1909  British  and  Ameri- 
can production  compared  as  follows; 

Number  Value 

of  Workers,  of  Products. 
United  States,  private 
manufacturing-  indus- 
tries only,  in  1909....  6,615,046  £4,134,421,000 
United  Kingdom,  indus- 
tries of  all  kinds,  in- 
cluding the  production 
of  public  utilities,  such 
as  gas  and  waterworks, 
&c,    in    1907 6,019,746      1,617,340,000 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  taking  the  indus- 
tries as  a  whole,  production  per  worker 
was  two  and  a  half  times  as  great  in  the 
United  States  as  in  the  United  Kingdom — 
that  in  1907-1909  two  average  Americans 
produced  as  much  as  five  Englishmen. 
This  comparison  is  strictly  fair.  In  both 
censuses  wholesale  prices  formed  the  basis 
of  calculation,  and  in  1907-1909  British  and 
American  wholesale  prices  for  similar 
goods  were  approximately  equal.  Hence 
British  and  American  wares  competed 
freely  in  British,  in  American  and  in  neu- 
tral markets.  Since  the  time  of  the  two 
censuses  American  production  per  worker 
has  increased,  while  British  production  per 
worker  has  declined  considerably.  We  may, 
therefore,  safely  estimate  that  production 
per  worker  is  at  least  three  times  as  great 
in  the  United  States  as  in  England.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  cannot  wonder  that 
American    wages    are    from    two    to    three 


796 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


times  as  high  as  are  British  wages,  and 
that,  measured  by  their  consumption,  sav- 
ings, &c,  the  American  workers  are  from 
two  to  three  times  as  well  off  as  are  the 
British  workers. 

In  the  industries  taken  as  a  whole, 
American  production  per  worker  is  three 
times  as  great  as  is  British  production  per 
worker.  In  the  more  efficient  British  in- 
dustries, such  as  the  cotton  industry, 
America's  advantage  in  production  per 
worker  is  relatively  small.  In  others,  such 
as  the  iron  and  steel  and  engineering  indus- 
tries, which  are  very  backward  in  England, 
America's  superiority  in  output  per  worker 
is  absolutely  startling.  In  the  British 
Government  report  on  the  engineering 
trade,  which  was  published  toward  the  end 
of  the  war,  we  read: 

Nearly  every  employer  who  appeared  be- 
fore us  had  the  same  story  to  tell.  "While 
alleging  that  the  British  mechanic  stands 
second  to  none  of  the  mechanics  of  the 
world— that  his  skill,  initiative,  and  adapt- 
ability enable  him  readily  to  cope  with  all 
engineering  manufacturing  difficulties —  each 
employer  in  turn  complained  of  two  things. 
The  first  complaint  was  that  the  workman 
deliberately  restricts  his  output  below  that 
which  represents  a  reasonable  day's  work, 
and  that  this  deliberate  restriction  does  ul- 
timately have  a  serious  effect  on  his  char- 
acter and  makes  him  physically  incapable 
of  producing  a  reasonable  day's  work, 
through  habit  which  this  restriction  engen- 
ders. 

The  second  complaint  was  that  the  restric- 
tions imposed  by  trade  union  rules  class 
as  skilled  work  (a  definition  which  can  be 
determined  by  the  rate  of  pay)  that  which 
is  in  fact  unskilled  work.  These  two  points 
seem  to  include  the  main  difficulties  with 
which  employers  have  to  contend,  and 
which  present  a  most  grave  aspect  if  they 
are  to  continue  after  the  war,  in  face  of  the 
great  national  problems  which  will  the» 
demand  solution. 

We  are  satisfied  that  both  these  allega- 
tions are  founded  on  fact.  *  *  * 

The  trade  unions  have,  in  the  past,  been 
very  reluctant  to  admit  piece  rates.  Indeed, 
even  now,  some  of  the  unions  forbid  their 
members  to  accept  piece  rates  where  these 
have  not  previously  been  in  force,  and,  where 
piece  work  has  been  started,  the  members 
are  asked  to  discourage  it  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. It  has  also  been  evidenced  to  us  that 
cases  have  occurred  wherein,  should  the  men 
earn  more  than  time  and  a  half,  they  have 
been  fined  by  their  unions.  *  *  * 

Experienced  and  authoritative  foreign 
observers  likewise  have  frequently  ascribed 
the     extraordinary     stagnation     of     many 


British  industries,  and  especially  of  the 
iron  and  steel  industry,  which  not  so  long 
ago  dominated  the  world,  to  the  fatal  in- 
fluence of  the  British  trade  unions  and  to 
their  policy  of  restricting  output.  The 
final  report  of  the  American  Industrial 
Commission  of  1902  stated: 

That  the  tendency  of  workingmen  is  to 
restrict  the  output  of  their  labor  within  more 
or  less  definite  limits,  which  they  have  come 
to  consider  right  and  just,  is  undeni- 
able. *  *  *  The  trade  unions  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, for  instance,  have  always  been  relatively 
stronger  than  those  of  America,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  tendency  to  fix  definite 
limitations  to  the  performance  of  each  work- 
man has  been  stronger  there.  One  standard 
contrast  between  industrial  conditions  in 
Great  Britain  and  in  the  United  States  is 
the  greater  freedom  of  the  American  work- 
man from  restrictive  rules.  To  it  is  often 
attributed,  in  a  large  degree,  his  greater 
activity  and  effectiveness.  The  alleged  de- 
cline of  British  industry  is  often  laid  at 
the  door  of  the  unions,  by  reason  of  their 
limitation  of  the  product  of  their  members. 

Judge  Gary,  the  President  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  which  produces 
per  year  about  twice  as  much  iron  and  steel 
as  the  whole  of  the  United  Kingdom,  stated 
before  the  United  States  Senate  Committee 
on  Education  and  Labor  in  October,  1919: 

I  think  it  is  immoral  for  a  small  minor- 
ity of  men,  organized,  if  you  please,  to  com- 
pel by  force  a  large  majority  to  yield  to 
their  desires  and  to  submit  to  their  con- 
trol. Because,  if  the  industries  of  this  coun- 
try or  any  other  were  controlled  by  union 
labor  it  would  mean  decay,  less  production, 
higher  cost;  and  this  country  could  not  suc- 
ceed in  its  contest  with  other  countries  for 
the  world's  business— it  would  be  in  the  con- 
dition that,  I  fear,  England  is  in  today, 
but  which,  I  hope,  it  will  come  out  of.  *  *  * 

Labor  unions  are  practically  in  control  of 
the  industries  in  England  today,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think.  I  am  afraid  they  are. 
And  if  they  have  control,  I  believe  it  is 
a  very  great  hindrance  to  the  progress, 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  England.  Of 
course,  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  that  is  my 
belief.  I  think  England  is  dealing  not  only 
with  conditions  of  unrest,  but  with  condi- 
tions which  compel  her  to  do  things  which 
are  not  the  best  things  to  be  done.  And  I 
firmly  believe,  whether  I  am  right  or  wrong, 
if  labor  unions  had  control  of  the  indus- 
tries of  this  country  it  would  not  only  mean 
the  closed  shop,  but  it  would  mean  the  im- 
position and  enforcement  of  conditions  which 
would  restrict  output  and  increase  cost  and 
add   to  the   expenses   of  living. 

Previous  to  the  war  the  production  of 
iron  was  almost  stagnant  in  Great  Britain, 


HOW    TRADE    UNIONS   ARE   RUINING   BRITISH   INDUSTRY 


797 


while  it  rapidly  increased   in  Germany,  as 
the  following  figures  show: 


1890. 
1913. 


Production    of    Iron : 
In  Germany.         In  the  United    Kingdom. 
4,658,000  tons  8,033,000  tons 

19,292,000  tons  10,260,000  tons 


Between  1890  and  1913  English  iron  pro- 
duction increased  by  20  per  cent.,  while 
German  iron  production  increased  by  more 
than  300  per  cent.  In  1890  England  pro- 
duced almost  twice  as  much  iron  as  Ger- 
many, while  in  1913  Germany  produced  al- 
most twice  as  much  iron  as  the  United 
Kingdom.  In  steel  the  position  had  changed 
no  less  strikingly  to  England's  disadvan- 
tage. Commenting  upon  the  rapid  expan- 
sion of  the  formerly  insignificant  German 
iron  and  steel  industry,  and  upon  the  utter 
stagnation  of  the  English  iron  and  steel 
trade,  which  used  to  dominate  the  world, 
an  authoritative  German  technical  handbook, 
"  Gemeinfassliche  Darstellung  des  Eisenhut- 
tenwesens,"  (Diisseldorf,  1912,)  stated: 

No  land  on  earth  is  as  favorably  situated 
for  iron  production  as  is  England.  Extensive 
deposits  of  coal  and  iron,  easy  and  cheap 
purchase  of  foreign  raw  materials,  a  favor- 
able geographical  position  for  selling  its 
manufactures,  reinforced  by  the  great  eco- 
nomic power  of  the  State,  made  at  one  time 
the  island  kingdom  industrially  omnipotent 
throughout  the  world.  Now  complaints  about 
constantly  increasing  foreign  competition  be- 
come from  day  to  day  more  urgent.  These 
are     particularly     loud     with     regard     to     the 

■  wing  power  of  the  German  iron  indus- 
try. *  •  • 
The  German  trade  unions,  with  their  So- 
are  opposed  to  progress.  If  their 
aspirations  should  succeed,  the  German  iron 
Industry  would  be  ruined.  An  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  German  trade  unions  to  increase 
the  earnings  of  the  skilled  workers  by  limit- 
ing the  number  of  apprentices,  the  imitation 
of  the  policy  which  has  been  followed  by  the 
British  trade  unions,  would  produce  a  scar- 
clty  of  skilled  workers  in  Germany,  as  it  has 

England.    The  British  iron  industry  should 

to  us  Germans  a  warning  example.     The 

English  trade  unions,  with  their  short-sighted 

■unpionship    of    labor,    with    their   notorious 

licy  of  "  ca'  canny,"  (the  limitation  of  out- 
put),   and    with    their    hostility    to    technical 
improvements,     have     seriously     shaken     the 
if ul  position  of  the  British  iron  trade. 

Owing  to  the  restrictive  policy  pursued 
by  the  trade  unions,  the  British  industries 
have  suffered  severely.  The  great  organ- 
izations of  the  workers  have  in  many  cases 
refused  to  employ  improved  labor-saving 
machinery,     arguing     that    its    use    would 


put  men  out  of  work.  In  other  cases  they 
have  produced  no  more  with  the  best  mod- 
ern machinery  than  with  old  and  out-of- 
date  machines  previously  used,  thus  dis- 
couraging employers  from  modernizing 
their  plants. 

The  basis  of  England's  wealth  and  power 
is  the  coal  industry.  A  few  decades  ago 
Great  Britain  produced  more  coal  than  all 
the  nations  of  the  world  combined.  Eng- 
land was  at  that  time  the  most  efficient 
nation  in  the  world,  both  in  manufacturing 
and  in  mining.  However,  of  late  the  coal 
output  per  man  has  rapidly  declined  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  while  it  has  equally  rap- 
idly increased  in  the  United  States  and 
elsewhere.  Since  1880  the  following  ex- 
traordinary change  has  taken  place  in  Eng- 
land and  in  America: 

COAL  PRODUCED  PER  MAN  PER  DAY. 

United  United  States. 

Kingdom.  (Bituminous).  (Anthracite). 

Tons.  Tons.                    Tons. 

1880 1.33  ... 

1885 1.28 

1890 1.08  2.56                          1.S5 

1895..... 1.18  2.90                          2.07 

1900 1.10  2.98                          2.40 

1905 1.08  3.24                          2.1S 

1010 1.00  3.46                          2.17 

1915 0.98  3.91                          2.19 

1918 0.80  3.78                          2.^9 

During  the  years  under  consideration  coal 
production  per  worker  per  day  has  very 
greatly  increased  in  the  United  States,  ow- 
ing to  the  improved  machinery  and  organi- 
zation introduced  into  coal  mining.  In  the 
same  period  British  production  per  worker 
has  disastrously  declined,  notwithstanding 
the  extraordinary  mechanical  progress 
made.  About  80  per  cent,  of  the  coal  mined 
in  the  United  States  is  bituminous.  Com- 
parison of  the  British  and  American  sta- 
tistics shows  that  production  per  worker  is 
almost  five  times  as  large  in  the  United 
States  as  in  Great  Britain — that  one  Ameri- 
can miner  produces  as  much  coal  as  five 
British  miners.  The  British  miner  works, 
as  a  rule,  five  shifts  per  week.  It  follows 
that  an  American  miner  produces  approxi- 
mately as  much  coal  per  day  as  his  British 
colleague  produces  during  an  entire  week. 
We  can,  therefore,  not  wonder  that  British 
coal  is  three  times  as  dear  as  American 
coal,  to  the  ruin  cf  British  trade  and  indus- 


798 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


try,  although  the  American  miner  receives  output  Per  coai-cutting  Machine. 

higher  wages  than  the  British  miner.     The  tt  .  I"t^he  In  the 

United  Kingdom.     United  States. 

representatives  of  the   British  coal  mining  ToriB  Tong 

unions  frequently  assert  that  America's  ex-       190a   8,158  10,457 

traordinarv      superiority      in      output      per       JfJJJ    B«'  11,722 

.    .  ,    r  4.1.         •     *  4.1. - 1    i9ie 7»G°i        i5»e 

worker    is   due   to   the    possession    of   thick 

seams  lying  close  to  the  surface.  That  is  Production  per  machine  has  rapidly  in- 
one  of  the  reasons,  but  not  the  principal  creased  in  the  United  States  and  rapidly 
one.  The  extraordinarily  low  production  declined  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  the 
per  worker  in  England  is  due  mainly  to  the  result  has  been  that,  per  machine,  produc- 
restrictive  policy  pursued  by  the  workers  tion  was  in  1916  twice  as  great  in  the 
and  by  their  hostility  to  labor-saving  ma-  United  States  as  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
chinery.  Before  the  Royal  Commission  on  The  defenders  of  the  British  mining 
the  Coal  Industry  an  eminent  engineer,  Mr.  unions  habitually  assert  that  natural  condi- 
Forster  Brown,  stated:  tions  and  the  greater  use  of  machines, 
Mechanical  appliances  for  coal  cutting  and  whtch  the  British  miners  refuse  to  employ 
getting  are  employed  to  a  greater  extent  in  or   deliberated   prevent  running  at   a   rea- 

America   than  in  this  country.   *   *  *     I  think  ,  ,        ,  .    .  .,,       - 

it    is    due    to    two    main    causes:      Partly   the  SOnable    ******     are     solel>'     ^sponsible    for 

physical     conditions    under     which     coal    is  America's  extraordinary  superiority  in  coal 

worked  in  America  are  better,  but  also  I  am  production    per    worker.      That    might    pos- 

of  opinion  that  American   labor  has  grasped  s£D)y  be  tme  with  regard  to  the  bituminous 

to   a    far   greater    extent   than  labor    in    this  .            fe        cannot   be 

country  has  grasped  the  fact  that  the  sound-  '                                                                              * 

improve    its    position    and    its  to    the    American    anthracite    mines.      The 

employment  is  to  get  the  maximum  output  United   States  has  only  a  little  anthracite. 

per  unit    of  labor  employed  compatible   with  it   occurs    in   a   circumscribed    area,   and    is 

health    and    safety,    either    by    direct    manual  found  m   geams  whi(,h  are  go  m       .           ulftr 

labor  or  the  help  of  machines.  7 

and     broken    that    coal-cutting    machinery 

Before  the  same  Commission  Lord  Gain-  cannot  be  used.     Many  of  the  American  an- 
ford  of  Headlam,   the   eminent  coal  owner,  thracite    mines    are    exhausted,    partly    ex- 
complained:  hausted,  or  waterlogged.     Nevertheless,  the 
The  terms  demanded   by  miners  have  fre-  American    anthracite    miner    produces    per 
quently    prevented    and    retarded    fair    trials  day    almost    three    times    as    much    as    the 
being  given  to  coal-cutting  and  labor-saving  British  miner,  who  is  aided  by  a  good  deal 
appliances    which    managers    have    been   keen  ^  machinerv<  as  ghown  by  th;  figures  pre. 
to  introduce.  .                   .                              .•  "                !* 

viously  given.      Even   m   the  best-equipped 

Coal-cutting  machines  are  only  used  pits  of  South  Yorkshire,  which  have  only 
very  little  in  Great  Britain,  as  compared  recently  been  opened,  and  which  exploit 
with  the  United  States.  In  1916  only  26,-  very  thick  seams,  the  British  coal  miner 
303,110  tons  of  coal  were  mined  by  produces  only  about  a  ton  of  coal  per  day- 
machinery  in  the  United  Knigdom,  and  less  than  half  as  m^ch  as  the  American 
no  less  than  253,285,962  tons  of  coal  anthracite  miner,  and  one-fourth  as  much 
were  machine-cut  in  the  United  States.  as  the  American  bituminous  miner. 
The  fact  that  the  British  miners  deliberate-  In  ^course  of  his  speech  to  the  Gen- 
,  ,  ,  eral  meeting  of  Bolckow,  Vaughan  &  Co.. 
ly    reduce    output    may    be    seen    by    com-  ^          at  Manchegter<  on   Sept    30>  ^ 

paring     the     British     and     the     American  gir  j    E    Johnson  Ferguson>  Bt  ?  the  chair„ 

record   of   coal   produced   per   machine.      In  man<   gave   the   following   figures,   showing 

this   respect  the  two  countries  compare  as  the  fall  in  output  and  increased  wages  at 

shown  at  top  of  the  next  column.  the  company's  collieries: 

Average      Wag 

Average  Coal 

Men     em-  Total  Wai  Coal  output  Per 

Ploy  Wag  Per     Man.  Per    -Man.         Ton. 

i         B.  d.  Tons.  Tons. 

Year  ending  June  30,  1914..   8,844         735,236        83     2  8      2,320,410      262.37        6  4 
Year  ending  June  30,  1920..    9,487      1,589,036      167  10  0      1,616,233      170.36      19  1% 
Increase   or   decrease +643     +853,800    +84     7  4     —704,177    — 92.01+13  3% 


HOW    TRADE    UNIONS   ARE   RUINING   BRITISH   INDUSTRY 


799 


Coal  is  the  principal  source  of  power  used 
for  industrial  and  commercial  purposes,  and 
it  is  at  the  same  time  the  most  important 
raw  material  of  industry,  especially  in  the 
iron  and  steel  and  engineering  industries. 
We  cannot  wonder  that  British  industry 
and  commerce  are  stagnating,  and  that  un- 
employment is  unprecedented,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  British  coal  costs  three  times  as 
much  as  American  coal.  That  disastrous 
handicap  of  England  is  due  not  so  much 
to  natural  conditions  as  to  the  action  of  the 
misguided  trade  unions. 

The  harmful  effect  of  restriction  of  out- 
put is  unfortunately  not  limited  to  the 
British  coal,  iron  and  steel  and  engineering 
industries,  but  is  general.  Lord  Askwith, 
who  was  Controller  General  of  the  "Com- 
mercial, Labor  and  Statistical  Department 
and  Chairman  of  the  Fair  Wages  Advisory 
Committee,  and  who  has  had  an  unrivaled 
experience  of  British  labor,  wrote  in  his 
book,  "  Industrial  Problems  and  Disputes  ": 

Tt  would  be  useless  to  calculate  how  much 
talent  and  how  many  rising  hopes  have  been 
dashed  down  in  the  atmosphere  of  insistence 
on  time  work,  with  its  watchword,  "  Keep 
your  time  by  the  slowest,"  or  in  the  absolute 
command  of  foremen  or  colleagues  that  the 
number  of  rivets,  the  tale  of  bricks,  the 
lasting  of  boots,  the  cuts  of  clothes,  or  the 
output  of  articles  of  every  kind  must  be  kept 
within  or  below  the  rule  of  the  shop. 

A  discharged  soldier,  who  returned  to  work 
for  a  motor  car  firm  at  Birmingham,  found 
that  in  turning  cylinders  he  could  do  a  job 
in  forty-three  minutes,  and  he  maintained 
this  speed  for  three  weeks.  The  man  was 
warned  that  the  official  time  was  seventy 
minutes.  The  warning  being  ignored,  on 
v.  4  last  the  union  stopped  the  shop  until 
the  man  was  moved  to  other  work.  The 
same  kind  of  intervention  seems  to  take 
place  on  most  engineering  work  on  which 
piece  rates  are  paid. 

In  the  collieries  the  restriction  is  exercised 
Indirectly.  If  a  miner  exceeds  ?  certain  out- 
put per  day,  varying  from  four  to  seven 
tons,  he  finds  himself  delayed  by  the 
"  shunt  "  men,  who  cut  down  his  supply  of 
tubs  and  props.  In  South  Wales  and  La- 
narkshire the  output  laid  down  is  a  fixed 
number  of  tubs  per  day,  called  a  "  stint," 
i  if  this  were  regularly  exceeded  the  pit 
would  be  stopped  to  enforce  it.  The  same 
applies  to  the  docks.  Recently  a  ship  dis- 
irging  grain  in  bulk  in  Birkenhead  was 
I  because  the  union  considered  ir>0 
tnn>  a  day  was  an  excessive  rate,  though 
the  rate  was  laid  down  both  in  the  ship's 
charter-party  and  the  sale  contract.  The 
ult  is  that  the  elevators  are  now  running 
at  23  per  cent,  below  full  speed.  In  Cardiff 
and    elsewhere   carters   are   not   now   allowed 


to  load  more  than  one  tier  on  team  wagons. 
On  Nov.  10  last  a  team-lorry  was  stopped  in 
Bute  Street,  Cardiff,  by  the  union  delegate, 
and  the  carter  made  to  unload  eight  bags 
which  were  in  a  second  tier.  At  Immingham  . 
a  motor-lorry  was  stopped  because  it  had  a 
full  six-ton  load.  The  driver  asked  the  dele- 
gate what  the  limit  was,  and  he  said:  "I 
don't  know,  but  you  have  got  too  much  on 
there,    anyhow." 

The  restriction  is  of  special  moment  when 
we  find  it  applied  to  house  building.  At 
Huddersfield,  during  the  building  of  an  ex- 
tension, four  men  were  stopped  by  their 
union  for  three  days  because  they  laid  480 
bricks  in  a  day  of  eight  hours.  A  slater  was 
warned  at  the  same  place  because  he  fixed 
a  gutter— a  plumber's  job— in  order  that  he 
might  gei"  on  with  his  own  work.  Instance* 
might   be    multiplied    indefinitely. 

To  the  more  enlightened  trade  unionists 
it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  the  policy  of 
limiting  output  is  bound  to  be  disastrous 
to  the  workers  themselves.  G.  N.  Barnes, 
M.  P.,  stated  in  The  Evening  Standard  of 
July  9,  1920: 

The-r-e  is  a  fundamental  error  in  the  sup- 
position that  increased  production  leads  to 
unemployment.  The  idea  that  less  work  for 
one  man  means  more  for  another  is  entirely 
v/rong.  A  worker  who  adopts  the  "  ca!  can- 
ny "  policy  is  doing  no  good  to  himself  or 
any  other  human  being,  and  is  simply  pay- 
ing homage  to  a  stupid  fetish  which  is  a 
curse  of   the    workshop. 

First  of  all,  the  idea  of  more  production, 
less  employment,  is  entirely  opposed  to  the 
facts  as  they  have  revealed  themselves  in  the 
last  generation.  During  that  period  there 
has  been  an  ever-widening  extension  of  pro- 
duction, and  at  the  same  time  a  steadily 
diminishing  proportion  of  unemployment  *  *  * 

Increased  production  at  the  present  time 
would  have  swift  effect  in  lowering  prices. 
The  more  clothes  or  boots  that  are  pro- 
duced the  less  chance  has  the  profiteer  for 
high  prices.  That,  however,  is  but  an  inci- 
dental advantage.  At  the  moment  food  is 
very  high  in  cost,  a  dominant  cause  being 
that  we  are  importing  vast  supplies  from 
America  without  being  able  to  send  equiva- 
lent values  in  manufactured  articles.  The 
result  is  that  the  value  of  the  sovereign  in 
America  has  gone  down  *  *  *  The  policy  of 
"  ca'  canny  "  is  the  policy  of  high  prices 
for  the  necessities  of  every  working-class 
household. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Thomas,  M.  P.,  stated  at  a 
gathering  of  railwaymen  at  Kentish  Town, 
on  March  15,  1921: 

I  want  you  to  get  clearly  into  your  minds 
that  in  return  for  a  fair  day's  pay  you  must 
do    a     fair    day's     work.       Nothing    is    mor 
vicious    and    more    uneconomic    or    more    cal- 
culated to  react  upon  you  than  the  assump- 


800 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tion   that  you   are    providing  work   for  some 
one  else  by   doing-  as   little   as  ^ou  can. 

The  idea  of  men  benefiting  themselves 
by  making  their  production  scarce  and 
dear  is  perfectly  correct  within  limited 
scope.  Diamonds  owe  their  great  value  to 
their  scarcity.  If  they  were  as  common  as 
paving  stones  no  one  would  wear  them  as 
jewelry,  and  they  would  be  worth  no  more 
than  paving  stones.  If  the  makers  of  cer- 
tain indispensable  goods,  such  as  boots  or 
clothes,  succeed  in  establishing  an  artificial 
scarcity  value  for  their  productions,  they 
may  be  able  to  exploit  the  community  for 
their  personal  benefit,  but  if  all  the  work- 
ers in  a  country  pursue  the  policy  of  mak- 
ing their  goods  scaree  and  dear,  no  one 
will  be  any  better  off,  but  all  will  suffer 
from  the  general  shortage.  That  is,  unfor- 
tunately, the  position  in  Great  Britain. 
Limitation  of  output,  far  from  benefiting 
the  British  workers,  is  injuring  them  most 
seriously.  Owing  to  their  policy  they  suf- 
fer, in  the  first  place,  from  a  general  scar- 
city and  dearness  of  goods  and  from  the 
high  cost  of  living,  which  creates  wide- 
spread dissatisfaction;  in  the  second  place, 
they  suffer  from  widespread  unemploy- 
ment. The  goods  which  the  British  work- 
ers turn  out  grudgingly  at  high  prices  and 
in  totally  insufficient  quantities  are  pro- 
duced in  large  quantities  and  at  cheaper 
prices  elsewhere.  These  more  cheaply  pro- 
duced goods  naturally  undersell  similar 
British  goods,  both  in  foreign  markets  and 
in  the  English  home  market,  and  the  result 
is  unemployment  and  poverty  among  the 
workers. 

The  medieval  guilds  were  closed  corpo- 
rations. The  members  of  every  guild 
strove  to  keep  the  special  kind  of  work  in 
which  they  were  engaged  to  their  own  mem- 
bers, and  jealously  prosecuted  those  guilds 
which  endeavored  to  encroach  upon  their 
privileges.  A  maker  of  hats  was  not  al- 
lowed to  make  caps,  and  a  maker  of  caps 
was  prohibited  from  making  hats.  Every 
locality  had  privileges  of  its  own,  and  en- 
trance into  a  guild  was  made  exceedingly 
difficult.  The  result  was  that  labor  ceased 
to  be  fluid.  Men  who  had  lost  their  em- 
ployment in  an  occupation,  the  productions 
of  which  were  not  in  demand,  could  not 
engage  in  the  making  of  other  goods  be- 
cause   of    the    jealousy    of    the    established 


unions,  even  if  there  was  a  great  shortage 
of  labor.  The  result  was  disastrous  to  the 
workers.  Goods  were  made  artifically 
scarce  and  dear,  and  unemployment  became 
great  and  general. 

The  French  Revolution  of  1789  was 
principally  due  to  economic  causes.  France 
swarmed  with  workers  who  could  not  find 
employment.  The  great  Turgot  endeavored 
to  save  the  situation  by  freeing  industry 
from  its  shackles.  He  prevailed  upon  the 
King  to  issue  the  celebrated  Edict  of  1776, 
which  abolished  the  privileges  of  the  guilds. 
Unfortunately,  the  power  of  the  established 
interests  was  too  great.  The  Edict  was  re- 
voked. The  sufferings  of  the  people  be- 
came ever  greater.  The  Revolution  broke 
out  in  1789,  and  one  of  its  first  acts  was 
the  destruction  of  the  ancient  guilds, 
which  aroused  the  jubilation  of  the  people. 
The  British  trade  unions  are  creating  a 
state  of  affairs  which  resembles  that  of 
France  before  1789.  An  unemployed  worker, 
no  matter  how  skilled,  may  not  enter 
another  trade  which  is  short  of  workers. 
Some  time  ago  a  lengthy  labor  dispute  oc- 
curred in  the  piano  trade.  The  unem- 
ployed piano  case  makers  wished  to  find 
work  in  the  furniture  factories,  which  suf- 
fered from  an  acute  shortage  of  workers. 
However,  they  were  turned  away  because 
the  furniture  workers  meant  to  keep  the 
making  of  furniture  exclusively  to  them- 
selves. The  United  Kingdom  has  been  suf- 
fering severely  through  the  shortage  of 
houses.  The  number  of  workers  in  the 
building  trades  had  declined  between  1910 
and  1920  to  almost  one-third,  as  shown  by 
the  following  figures  from  the  People's 
Year  Book: 

1019.  1911.  1914.  1920. 

Masons    7?,, 012  52,188  34,381  19,310 

Slaters    9,79(1  8,391        4,154  3,073 

Plasterers      .  .  .   31,300  25,082  19,479  12,067 

Joiners     265,000  208,995  126,345  108,199 

Bricklayers    ..115,993  102,752  73,071  53,063 


Totals 


...495,103    397,408     258,030     19(1,312 


At  the  end  of  the  war  the  demand  for 
houses  was  unprecedented.  The  representa- 
tives of  labor  asserted  that  a  million  work- 
ing class  houses  were  wanted.  Besides, 
hardly  any  painting  and  repairing  had  been 
done  since  1914.  At  least  5,000,000  houses 
were  in  urgent  need   of  painting,  patching 


HOW    TRADE    UNIONS   ARE   RUINING    BRITISH    INDUSTRY 


801 


and  redecorating.  Nevertheless,  the  build- 
ing trade  unions  restricted  their  previously 
low  output  very  greatly  and  refused  to  re- 
ceive 50,000  ex-soldiers  whom  the  Govern- 
ment had  trained.  The  building  trades 
could  at  the  time  have  absorbed  200,000 
unemployed  workers,  and  the  expansion 
would  have  vastly  improved  employment  in 
other  affiliated  trades,  such  as  furniture 
making,  brick  making,  &c.  Notwithstand- 
ing widespread  unemployment  and  the  most 
extraordinary  shortage  of  bricklayers  the 
building  trade  unions  would  not  abandon 
their  policy  of  short-sighted  selfishness. 
George  Barnes,  M.  P.,  who  was  General  Sec- 
retary of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  En- 
gineers for  ten  years,  stated  in  the  House 
of  Commons  on  Feb.  16,  during  a  debate  on 
unemployment: 

I  say,  and  I  say  it  with  extreme  regr\,c, 
that  you  will  set  no  better  world  until  you 
have  made  a  better  use  of  the  world  you  live 
in.  Taking  things  as  they  are,  there  seem 
to  be  three  causes  for  the  present  unemploy- 
ment. The  first  is  tha-t  the  world  has  been 
disrupted  by  the  war.  *  *  *  The  second 
cause  of  the  present  paralysis  of  industry  is, 
I  would  suggest,  the  lack  of  confidence  due  to 
industrial  disputes  and  conflicts  within  the 
past  two  or  three  years.  I  wonder  if  it  is 
as  fully  appreciated  as  it  should  be  that 
during  the  last  twelve  months  27,000,000  days 
have-  been  lost  by  strikes,  27,000,000  days  at 
a  time  when  the  world  is  starving  for 
goods,  and  when  every  man  should  be  do- 
ing his  best  to  get  the  world  on  its  legs 
iin.   *   *   * 

We  were  told  that  there  wore  6,000  appli- 
cants for  bricklayers.  It  is  very  well  known 
thai  the  number  of  bricklayers  wanted  is 
not  merely  6.000  but  00,000.  *  *  *  There 
no  hiicklayers  available,  although,  as  is 
well  known,  there  is  work  for  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  them  if  only  they  '  could  be 
found.  It  is  not  right.  I  deplore  the  fact 
that  there  has  been  so  little  fellow  feeling  on 
the  part  of  the  bricklayers  for  the  men  who 
wont  to  the  war  and  fought  on  their  behalf, 
v thing,  in  fact,  was  done  to  safeguard 
the  interests  of  the  men  in  the  industry  and 
nsure  that  there  should  be  no  under- 
payment; yet  nothing  whatsoever  has  been 
done  by  the  bricklayers  to  welcome  these 
men  as  they  deserve  to  be  welcomed.  *  *  * 
We  are  not  producing  things  in  their  right 
ortion. 

Rigid  trade  unionism  in  England  has 
destroyed  the  fundamental  right  of  men  to 
earn  their  living  by  the  work  of  their 
hands.  Starving  men  may  accept  charity, 
but  t^ey  must  not  work  at  a  trade  which 


is  short  of  workers  but  which  jealously 
closes  that  trade  to  all  outsiders  in  order 
to  preserve  for  its  members  a  profitable 
monopoly.  That  state  of  affairs  cannot 
last. 

During  and  especially  after  the  war  the^ 
British  trade  unions  followed  the  policy  of 
raising  wages  while  keeping  output  low. 
From  the  official  statistics  we  learn  that  in 
certain  trades  and  industries  the  following 
wage  advances  were  secured  between  1915 
and  1920: 

Workers       Weekly  Advances     Annual 

Affected.  in  Wages.  Amount. 

101.1 3,470,000  £677,700  £3,1,240,400 

1916 3,593,000  637,000  33,124,000 

1917....     5,029,000  2,307,000  119,964,000 

1918 5,998,000  2,988,000  155,376,000 

1919 6,160,000  2,432,000  126,464,000 

1920...   7,600,0C0  4,693,000  244,036,000 


Total 


£714,204,400 


The  official  table  by  no  means  covers  the 
whole  increase  of  wages.  In  the  first  place, 
millions  of  workers  whose  wages  have  been 
raised  do  not  come  under  the  purview  of 
the  department  which  looks  after  labor.  In 
the  second  place  the  enormous  increase  in 
wages  has  been  accompanied  by  a  drastic 
reduction  in  working'  hours.  Lastly,  dur- 
ing the  years  for  which  figures  are  sup- 
plied a  vast  number  of  overtime  hours  at 
specially  high  rates  were  worked.  During 
the  years  under  review  at  least  £1,000,- 
000,000  were  added  to  the  yearly  labor  bill. 
We  cannot,  therefore,  wonder  that  the 
prices  of  all  British  goods  rose  enormously, 
partly  through  the  deliberate  scarcity 
created  by  the  trade  unions,  and  partly 
through  the  huge  addition  made  to  the 
wages  bill.  Nevertheless,  labor  agitators 
have  accused  the  capitalists,  the  profiteers, 
and  have  pilloried  them  because  of  the  high 
cost  of  living  for  which  the  trade  unions 
themselves  are  chiefly  responsible. 

The  British  trade  unions  have  not  only 
made  all  goods  scarce  and  dear,  thereby  do- 
ing almost  irremediable  damage  to  the  in- 
dustries and  commerce  of  the  country  and 
to  the  people  as  a  whole,  but  they  have 
destroyed  the  pride  of  the  workers  in  their 
work  by  rewarding  slackness  and  penalizing 
ability.  In  many  industries  payment  by  re- 
sults has  been  abolished  by  trade  union 
pressure,  and  time  payment  regardless  of 
results   has   been   introduced   in   its   stead. 


802 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Moreover,  the  payment  of  unskilled  workers 
has  been  raised  to,  or  near  to,  that  of 
highly  skilled  workers.  Lastly,  increase  in 
payment  is  no  longer  the  reward  of  ability, 
but  is  automatically  acquired  because  the 
workers  in  many  trades  are  paid  in  accord- 
ance with  their  age.  For  instance,  in  the 
perambulator  and  invalid  carriage  trade  the 
following  wages  were  fixed  for  male  work- 
ers per  week  of  forty-eight  hours: 


Workers  15  to    If.    years    old 20».  per  Week. 

Workers  It;  to    17   years   old 26s.  per  week. 

Workers  IT  to   18  years  old 33s.  per  week. 

Workers  is  to    19  years  old 40s.  per  we< 

Work.  20    y<  ars    old 47s.  per 

Workers  20  to    12 1    years    old 54s.  per  week. 

Hundreds  of  similar  wage  rates  could  be 
given.  Age,  not  ability,  being  rewarded  by 
higher  pay,  we  cannot  wonder  that  both 
manufacturers  and  customers  complain 
about  shoddy  work. 


DEBTS  OF  FOREIGN  GOVERNMENTS 
DUE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 


AN  official  statement  issued  in  July,  1921, 
e  the  complete  schedule  of  foreign 
debts  due  to  the  United  States  at  that  time 
as   follows : 

OBLIGATIONS    HELD    FOR   ADVANCES    UN- 
DER     LIBERTY      BOND      ACTS-  IN- 
TEREST AT  6  PER  CENT. 
Countrv.  Amount. 

Belgium     $347,691,566*23 

Cuba     9,023,500.00 

Czechoslovakia    61,256,206.74 

France    2,950,762,938.19 

I    Britain    4,166,318,35s.  14 

1.1,000, 000. 00 

Italy     1,648.034,050.90 

ia     2(5,000.00 

Rumania     23. 205, MO. 52 

Russia     187,729,750.00 

ia 26,175,130.22 


Total    $9r435,225,S29.24 

OBLIGATIONS  RECEIVED  FROM  SECRE- 
TARY OF  WAR  AND  SECRETARY  OF 
NAVY  ON  ACCOUNT  OF  SALE  OF  SUR- 
PLUS WAR  MATERIALS-. 

Principal  1  'ate  of 

Country.  Amount  Payable.        Maturity. 

Belgium     $19,000,000.00     Apr.    10.   1022 

8,392,097.57    Aug.     5,  1922 
196,483.57    Aug    21.  1022 


Total    

Czechoslovakia 


.$27,388,581.14 

0,000.00 

5,000,000.00 

4,902,994.9-1 
2,464,950.38 
1,291,903.85 

1,902. 14.-..  37 


June  30,  1922 
June  30,  1923 
June  30,  1924 
Oct.  14,  1922 
Jan.  2s  192:5 
June  30,  1925 


Total    

.  .$20,021,004.11 

Esthonla    

.      5,000,000.00 

June  30,  1022 

.1,000, (Mil). Oil 

J  urn-  30,  1923 

2,213,377.88 

June  30,  1924 

Total    

..213,377.88 

France     

. .400.000  1 

Aug.     1     1929 

Latvia     

June  30,  1922 

Lithuania     

..     4,159,491.96 

30,  1922 

Poland     

.  .    10. oro. (Mm. oo 

(0,  1022 

10,000,000.00 

June  30,  1923 

10.000,000.00 

June  30,  1924 

10,000,000.00 

June  30,  1924 

7,890, 

June  30,    1024 

,867.71 

Oct.       1,  192:. 

3.941 

Oet.     L5,  192.-, 

2,200, 700.  oo 

Mar.  27.   1926 

Total    

.  .$59,036,320.25 

Prim 

Country.                                ount  Payable.  Maturity. 

Rumania    5,000,000.00  June  30.  1022 

5.000,000.00  June  30,  1923 

2,922,675.42  June  30,  1924 

Total     .$12,922,075,42 

Russia    400.OS2.30  June  30,  1922 

Serbs,        Croats       and 

Slovenes    5,000,000.00  June  30,  1922 

5,000,000.00  June  30,  1923 

10,000,000.00  June  30,  1024 

50,350.28  June  30.  1024 

281,205.51  Apr.    L5,  1924 

•       4,040,40.1.20  Jin 

Total     $24,978,020.99 

Grand    total .$565,048,413.80 

OBLIGATIONS      HELD  BY      THE      UNITED 
STATES  CHAIN  CORPORATION. 

Principal  Date  of  Int., 

Country.                    Payable.  Maturity  % 

Armenia    $3,931,505.34  June  30,  1921  5 

Austria    24,055,708.92  Jan.  21,  192.1  (5 

Czecho- 
slovakia    ...   2,873,238.25  Jan.     1,192.1 

Hungary     1,685,835.61  Jan.      1,102,1  6 

Poland    24,353,590.97  June  30,  1021  6 

Total     .$56,899,879.09 

OBLIGATIONS    RECEIVED  BY    TREASURER 
FROM  AMERICAN  RELIKF    AD- 
MINISTRATION. 
Principal  Dati  Int., 

Country  /able.  Maturity  % 

Armenia    $8,028,412.15  June  30,  102 1  5 

Czecho- 
slovakia   ...6,428,089.19  June  30,  1923  5 

Esthonia    t,785,767.72  June  30,  1921 

Finland     8,281,926^17  June  30,  1921 

Latvia     2, 610, 417. S2  June  30,  1921 

Lithuania    ...       822,136.07  June  30,  1921  .1 

Poland    51,671,740.30  June  30,  1023 

Russia     4, 465, 46.1. 07  June  30,  1921 

Total    .... $84,093,963.55 

The  grand  total  of  original  obligations,  as 
enumerated  above,  is  $10,084,367,706.59.  To 
this  is  to  be  added  the  unpaid  interest, 
which  on  July  1  aggregated  in  excess  of 
$1,000,000,000,  making  the  entire  obligation 
on  July  1  in  excess  of  $11,100,000,000. 

A  bill  has  been  introduced  in  Congress  to 
empower  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
fund  these  obligations  at  his  option. 


SWITZERLAND'S  DISPUTE 
WITH  FRANCE 

By  M.  E.  de  Gourmois 

[A    Swiss   citizen,    formerly    a    student    at    the    University    of    Neufchatel,    who    did    military    service    on 

the   Swiss  border  during  the   war] 

Story  of  the  controversy  caused  by  France's  proposed  abolishment  of  the  "Free  Zones" 
adjoining  Geneva — How  the  treaty  of  Versailles  has  upset  an  age-old  arrangement 
between  the  two  countries — A  storm  of  Swiss  protests  leads  to  new  negotiations 


NEGOTIATIONS  begun  at  Berne,  Switz- 
erland, toward  the  end  of  April,  1921, 
have  called  attention  to  an  unpleasant 
issue  between  France  and  Switzerland.  The 
controversy  has  to  do  with  the  so-called 
"  free  zones  "  of  Upper  Savoy  and  Gex,  on 
the  Franco-Swiss  frontier,  adjoining  Ge- 
neva. Both  districts  are  French  territory, 
but  ever  since  feudal  times  they  have  been 
economically,  and  even,  at  certain  periods, 
politically  united  with  Geneva.  The  present 
status  of  affairs,  under  which  Switzerland 
has  all  the  advantages  of  trade  and  ex- 
change, while  French  business  interests  are 
protesting,  dates  back  to  1815  and  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna,  under  which  France 
agreed  not  to  placo  its  customs  line  on  the 
frontier  in  the  neighborhood  of  Geneva,  but 
to  leave  certain  "  free  zones." 

This  situation  was  left  unquestioned  until 
the  end  of  the  war  with  Germany,  when  the 
French  Government,  influenced  by  home 
business  interests,  caused  to  be  inserted  in 
the  Versailles  Treaty  a  clause  (Article  435) 
which  declared  that  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  of  1815  were  no  longer  consistent 
with  present  conditions,  and  that  it  was  de- 
sirable "  for  France  and  Switzerland  to 
come  to  an  agreement  together,  with  a  view 
to  settling  between  themselves  the  status  of 
these  territories  under  such  conditions  as 
shall  be  considered  suitable  by  both  coun- 
tries." 

As  Switzerland  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Peace  Conference,  and  had  no  part  in  dis- 
cussing and  signing  the  treaty,  this  clause 
of  Article  435  was  tantamount  only  to 
a  wish  for  negotiations,  and  could  not  in 
any  way  be  considered  as  compulsory.  On 
May  5,  1919,  however,  the  Swiss  Federal 
Council  notified  the  Peace  Conference  that 
it  was  willing  to  comply  with  the  wish  ex- 
piessed,  but  that  it   made  all   reservations 


regarding  the  new  status  to  be  adopted,  and 
that  no  modifications  could  be  made  in  the 
present  regime  "  until  new  arrangements 
had  been  agreed  upon  between  France  and 
Switzerland  to  regulate  matters  in  the  ter- 
ritory." , 

To  understand  why  the  Swiss  Government 
was  so  cautious  in  the  wording  of  this  note, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider,  behind  the  ap- 
parent simplicity  of  the  phraseology  of 
Article  435,  the  historical,  geographical  and 
economic  questions  involved. 

A  map  of  this  small  part  of  Europe, 
which  is  not  as  large  as  Greater  New  York, 
shows  that  Geneva,  situated  at  the  end  of 
the  lake  of  the  same  name,  is  the  only  im- 
portant town  of  the  whole  region.  One  can- 
not help  being  struck  by  the  fact  that  Ge- 
neva is  the  natural  centre  of  the  district, 
which  is  cut  off  from  the  main  part  of 
France  by  high  mountains,  the  Jura  to  the 
west  and  the  Savoyarr  Alps  to  the  south, 
the  only  natural  way  of  communication  be- 
ing the  narrow  break  in  the  mountains 
which  the  Rhone  River  channels. 

Passing  over  the  feudal  period,  when  this 
ground  was  a  bone  of  contention  between 
the  overlords  of  the  Houses  of  Savoy  and 
Geneva,  one  notes  that  it  was  in  the  six- 
teenth century  that  the  first  mention  of  the 
"  free  zones  "  appeared.  Geneva  had  seized 
the  Pays  de  Gex,  then  a  "  fief "  of  the 
House  of  Savoy.  The  city,  however,  did  not 
retain  its  conquest,  but  turned  it  over  to 
King  Henry  IV.  of  France,  on  the  guaran- 
tee that  free  trade  and  free  communications 
between  that  district  and  Geneva  should  ex- 
ist permanently.  That  district  of  Gex  re- 
mained French  until  the  second  period  of 
the  French  Revolution,  when  Geneva  also 
was  annexed  to  the  French  Republic 
(1798). 

The  district  of  Upper  Savoy,  on  the  other 


804 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


hand,  after  having  been  conquered  by  the 
Republic  of  Beme,  was  subsequently  turned 
back  to  the  House  of  Savoy,  and  according 
to  the  Treaty  of  Saint  Julien  in  1603  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  established  a  free  zone  in 
Upper  Savoy  and  granted  to  the  Republic 
of  Geneva  trading  privileges.  At  the  time 
of  the  Directory,  Savoy  was  also  annexed 
to  France,  so  that  the  whole  territory,  now 
partly  PVench  and  partly  Swiss,  which  is 
limited  by  the  mountains,  was  united  and 
formed  the  "  Departement  du  Leman  "  (an- 
other name  for  Lake  Geneva),  with  Geneva 
as  capital. 

After  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  that  ar- 
rangement, which  seemed  the  only  practical 
one,  was  broken  again.  Nobody  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  (1815),  or  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Paris  (1814),  seemed  opposed  to 
having  the  Districts  of  Gex  and  Upper  Sa- 
voy (Chablais  and  Faucigny)  united  to  Ge- 
neva. Only  differences  in  religion  between 
the  town,  which  was  Protestant,  and  the 
agricultural  districts,  which  had  remained 
Catholic,  can  be  blamed  for  the  failure  of 
the  desired  fusion  to  take  place. 

The  Congresses  of  Paris  and  Vienna  were 
respectfuj,  however,  of  the  principle  of  the 
free  zones  which  had  been  in  existence  for 
over  two  centuries,  and,  while  incorporating 
the  Canton  of  Geneva  into  the  Swiss  Con- 
federation, both  Congresses  clearly  specified 
that  the  customs  lines  of  France  and  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Sardinia  would  be  placed  be- 
hind the  surrounding  mountains.  This  de- 
cision is  recorded  as  follows:  In  the  last 
part  of  the  third  paragraph  of  the  first  ar- 
ticle of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  of  Paris,  Nov. 
20,  1815 :  "  The  French  customs  line  will  be 
placed  to  the  west  of  the  Jura,  so  that 
the  whole  district  of  Gex  shall  be  outside 
of  that  line."  Again,  in  the  last  part  of 
the  second  paragraph  of  the  treaty  between 
the  King  of  Sardinia,  the  Swiss  Confedera- 
tion and  the  Canton  of  Geneva,  Turin, 
March  16,  1816,  "  *  *  *  also  that  the 
customs  line  be  placed  at  least  one  league 
from  the  Swiss  border  and  beyond  the 
mountains  mentioned  in  the  said  protocol." 

The  Treaty  of  Vienna,  which  is  the  com- 
plement of  these  two  treaties,  has  created 
Switzerland  as  it  is  today,  and  is  for  that 
country  the  fundamental  basis  of  its  rights, 
freedom  and  constitution.  It  is  perpetual 
in  its  dispositions  regarding  Switzerland, 
and  was  acknowledged  as  such  by  the  Peace 


Conference  when  the  case  of  Swiss  neutrali- 
ty was  submitted. 

When  Upper  Savoy  finally  became  French 
in  1860,  as  a  result  of  a  plebiscite,  the  Im- 
perial French  Government  issued  a  procla- 
mation confirming  the  existence  of  the  free 
zone  in  that  department,  and  recognizing 
the  perpetual  neutrality  of  Upper  Savoy, 
thus  endorsing  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  in  that 
respect. 

The  regime  thus  instituted  has  been  a 
great  factor  in  the  prosperity  of  Geneva  and 
the  zones.  Outside  of  the  city,  which  has  a 
population  of  about  130,000,  the  territory 
of  the  canton  is  very  small,  and  by  far  in- 
adequate to  supply  the  town  with  the  vege- 
tables and  dairy  products  it  needs.  The  ad- 
ditional supply  comes  mostly  from  the  free 
zones.  The  French  people  of  these  districts, 
before  the  World  War,  came  to  town  to 
sell  their  products  and  to  buy  in  the  numer- 
ous stores  of  the  city  all  the  manufactured 
articles  and  wearing  apparel  they  needed. 
The  Savoyard  was  feeding  the  Genevois, 
and  the  Genevois  was  in  turn  clothing  and 
entertaining  the  Savoyard. 

The  disturbances  caused  by  the  war  have 
somewhat  modified  that  picture.  Passport 
regulations,  the  closing  of  the  border,  big 
differences  in  the  exchanges,  have  ham- 
pered relations  between  Geneva  and  the  free 
zones.  The  Savoyard  is  still  selling  his 
dairy  and  garden  products  in  Geneva — the 
town  needs  them  and  pays  a  good  price  for 
them — but  the  Frenchman  is  no  longer  buy- 
ing clothes  and  manufactured  articles  in  the 
city.  The  exchange  is  prohibitive;  he  would 
have  to  give  from  two  to  three  of  his  French 
francs  for  one  Swiss  franc's  worth  of  goods, 
and  so  he  now  prefers  to  make  his  pur- 
chases in  his  own  village  or  in  some  more 
remote  French  town.  Stores  in  these  dis- 
tricts have  had  a  prosperous  period,  they  do 
not  feel  any  longer  the  competition  of  Ge- 
neva's merchants.  They  want  to  retain 
their  clientele  and  fear  that,  when  the  ex- 
change between  France  and  Switzerland  be- 
comes normal  again,  they  will  lose  their 
customers  if  the  regime  of  the  free  zone  is 
still  in  existence. 

The  business  associations  of  these  French 
territories,  as  well  as  the  customs  authori- 
ties of  France,  who  have  been  losing  an 
appreciable  amount  of  taxes  under  the  pres- 
ent status,  have  brought  pressure  on  the 
French  Government,  asking  it  to  cancel  the 


SWITZERLAND'S  DISPUTE  WITH  FRANCE 


805 


free  zones.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  free 
zone  privileges  are  not  reciprocated  by  the 
Swiss  authorities;  while  any  kind  of  Swiss 
products  can  enter  the  French  zones  with- 
out paying-  duty,  the  Swiss  customs  are  on 
the  political  border.  The  French  food  prod- 
ucts would  be  liable  to  duty  if  there  were 


EDMUND  SCHULTHESS 
New  President  of  Switzerland 


any,  and  the  French  manufactured  articles 
of  the  zones  must  pay  the  regular  duties 
when  entering  Swiss  territory.  It  thus  ap- 
pears that  Geneva  has  every  interest  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  free  zones,  whereas 
opinion  in  France  is  divided;  the  farmers 
want  the  free  zones,  and  the  business  men 
want  the  customs  line  at  the  political  bor- 
der. 

One  would  expect  that,  as  a  consequence 
of  the  age-old  friendship  between  France 
and  Switzerland,  particularly  Geneva,  the 
negotiations  foreseen  by  Article  435  of  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  would  have  been  conducted 
along  amicable  lines,  and  that  a  compromise 
would  have  been  easily  found.  This  has  un- 
fortunately not  been  the  case,  and  the 
French  note  of  May  18,  1919,  in  answer  to 
the  nove  from  the  Swiss  Government  men- 
tioned at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  took 
the  stand  that  Article  435  implied  the  open- 
ing of  negotiations  with  a  view  to  canceling 
the  free  zones.     Such  an  interpretation  was. 


of  course,  utterly  inacceptable  to  the  Swiss 
Federal  Council.  Unsatisfactory  negotia- 
tions have  slowly  proceeded  ever  since.  On 
March  22  the  French  Government  issued  a 
note  announcing  that  a  law  canceling  the 
free  zones  was  about  to  be  introduced  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  French 
Senate;  this  note  further  stated  that  the 
French  Government  "  could  not  contemplate 
submitting  to  a  court  of  arbitration  a  ques- 
tion of  sovereignty."  Such  a  bill  wa.- 
actually  introduced,  but  even  before  it  was 
passed  the  Paris  Government  announced 
that  the  change  would  be  made  and  the 
frea  zones  abolished  as  from  April  26. 

This  created  a  storm  of  protest  in  Switz- 
erland, and  France  lost  several  of  her  best 
friends  in  the  Swiss  Confederation  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  issuance  of  that  unfortu- 
nate note.  Such  newspapers  as  Le  Journal 
de  Geneve  and  La  Gazette  de  Lausanne, 
which  had  defended  the  cause  of  France 
during  the  war  even  beyond  the  safe  limits 
of  a  strict  neutrality,  were  for  once  in  com- 
plete agreement  with  their  colleagues  of 
German  Switzerland,  and  criticised  sharply 
the  attitude  of  France. 

A  question  of  principle  was  raised:  Was 
France  going  to  break  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles on  a  minor  point,  and  thus  create  a 
precedent  which  would  be  a  powerful  lever 
in  the  hands  of  the  adversaries  of  that 
treaty,  and  perhaps  induce  Germany  to 
evade  some  of  her  obligations  ?  It  was  to 
the  best  interest  of  France  that  such  a 
thing  should  not  happen.  As  a  consequence 
of  the  sharp  criticisms  uttered  by  the  Swiss 
newspapers  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
French  papers,  among  them  the  Journal  des 
Debats,  the  question  was  reconsidered,  and 
on  May  20,  1921,  the  French  Government 
sent  a  note  to  the  Swiss  Federal  Council 
stating  that  France  was  prepared  to  reopen 
negotiations  and  was  sending  a  delegation 
to   Berne  for  that  purpose. 

The  French  and  Swiss  delegations  began 
their  sessions  at  Berne  en  May  27.  The 
Swiss  at  the  very  outset  issued  a  state- 
ment, addressed  to  the  French  delegates, 
in  which  they  emphasized  the  conciliatory 
spirit  with  which,  in  accordance  with  their 
instructions,  they  were  prepared  to  conduct 
the  discussions,  and  implied  that  they  were 
prepared  to  yield  to  the  French  desire  to 
remove  the  customs  line  to  the  frontier. 
The    statement,    however,    went    on    to    say 


806 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


that  so  vital  a  concession  must  be  rewarded 
by  suitable  compensation,  and  that  the  pro- 
visions contained  in  the  French  project 
must  be  altered  accordingly.  The  state- 
ment added: 

In  these  circumstances  the  Swiss  delegation 
must  regard  the  French  preliminary  projeet 
merely  as  the  starting  point,  reserving  the 
right  to  formulate  any  proposals  for  its  modi- 
fication which  may  seem  necessary,  and  pos- 
sibly to  present  a  draft  convention  of  its 
r.rrn. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  solution  by  mu- 
tual agreement  will  be  reached,  as  Switzer- 
land undoubtedly  has  treaties  and  justice 
on  her  side  when  she  says  that  no  one-sided 
solution  can  be  accepted.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  case  be  submitted  to  the 
League  of  Nations,  or  that  a  plebiscite  be 
called  for  in  the  free  zones.     If,  however, 


both  the  French  and  Swiss  delegates  have 
the  sincere  desire  to  avoid  complications 
and  are  ready  to  make  the  necessary  con- 
cessions, a  satisfactory  solution  can  be 
found.  France  would  then  not  be  accused 
of  having  broken  a  treaty  the  fulfillment  of 
which  means  everything  to  her. 

In  addition  to  the  question  of  the  free 
zones,  the  negotiations  between  France  and 
Switzerland  will  have  to  include  another 
poi?it:  the  neutrality  of  Upper  Savoy,  which 
was  established  in  1815  for  the  benefit  of 
Switzerland.  The  settlement  of  this  ques- 
tion is,  however,  not  likely  to  create  com- 
plications, as  the  Swiss  Government  and 
Swiss  public  opinion  seem  to  agree  that  the 
neutrality  of  Upper  Savoy  is  a  part  of  that 
status  "  which  is  no  longer  consistent  with 
present  conditions." 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  HONORED  IN  ENGLAND 


HIGH  honors  were  paid  by  England 
to  the  memory  of  George  Washington 
in  June.  Sulgrave  Manor,  the  ancestral 
home  of  the  Washingtons,  was  rededicated 
on  June  21,  1921,  with  elaborate  ceremonies 
following  its  restoration,  at  a  cost  of  $50,- 
000,  to  the  form  in  which  it  existed  three 
centuries  ago.  The  exercises  were  arranged 
by  the  Sulgrave  Institution,  organized  in 
19 12  to  foster  friendship  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States;  it  was  this 
organization  which  initiated  the  movement 
for  restoration  and  conducted  the  necessary 
work  from  the  first.  Lord  Mayors  and 
other  great  dignitaries,  robed  in  their  most 
picturesque  regalia,  participated  in  the 
ceremonies.  The  exercises  began  with 
short  services  in  the  Sulgrave  Parish 
Church,  where  lie  buried  Laurence  Wash- 
ington and  his  wife,  with  their  eleven  chil- 
dren, and  were  concluded  on  the  lawn  of  the 
Manor  House,  where  the  Marquis  of  Cam- 


bridge, brother  of  Queen  Mary,  delivered 
the  principal  address.  Letters  were  read 
from  Calvin  Coolidge,  Henry  Cabot  Lodge, 
Samuel  Gompers  and  Charles  W.  Eliot. 

A  second  ceremony  was  held  in  London  on 
June  30.  The  bronze  copy  of  Houdon's 
statue  of  George  Washington — the  original 
of  which  stands  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capi- 
tol of  Virginia,  at  Richmond — was  unveiled 
at  Trafalgar  Square  as  the  gift  of  Virginia 
to  Great  Britain.  The  unveiling  was  wit- 
nessed by  a  large  and  distinguished  com- 
pany, including  Earl  Curzon,  Viscount 
Bryce  and  other  notables,  and  the  members 
of  the  Virginia  delegation  headed  by  Pro- 
fessor Henry  Louis  Smith,  President  of 
Washington  and  Lee  University.  The  gift 
was  accepted  by  Earl  Curzon  on  behalf  of 
the  British  Government.  Friendship  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
was  emphasized.  Ambassador  Harvey  was 
absent  from  both  ceremonies. 


[Official] 

THE  POLISH  LEGISLATURE 
AT  WORK 


By  Preston  Lock  wood 


THE  Legislature  of  the  Pvepublic  of  Po« 
land  began  its  labors  two  years  ago 
without  any  foundation  of  law  and  gov- 
ernment on  which  to  build.  Elected  on  Jan. 
26,  1919,  the  Legislature  met  for  the  first 
time  on  Feb.  10  of  the  same  year.  There  was 
no  Constitution,  and  no  provisional  organi- 
zation of  the  country.  The  three  parts  of  the 
new  republic,  formerly  under  the  sway  of 
Russia,  Germany  and  Austria,  respectively, 
sent  Deputies  to  this  Parliament  so  far  as 
they  were  sufficiently  free  from  the  Ger- 
man and  Ukrainian  invaders  to  be  able  to 
hold  elections. 

The  new  Legislature,  elected  by  all  men 
and  women  of  21  years  or  more  (between 
90  and  100  per  cent,  of  the  voters  went  to 
the  polls),  faced  four  groups  of  problems: 

1.  The  taking  of  immediate  measures  to 
cope  with  the  prevailing  conditions — starva- 
tion, epidemics,  &c. — and  to  meet  the  need 
of  organizing  the  defense  of  the  countiy 
against  Germans,  Ukrainians  and  other  in- 
vaders, including  brigands. 

2.  The  task  of  reconstructing  a  country 
devastated  by  Russians,  Germans,  Austro- 
Hungarians  and  Turks,  more  than,  perhaps, 
any  other  European  country. 

1.  The  urgent  obligation  of  realizing  the 
century-old  wishes  of  the  Polish  people  to 
unite,  to  do  away  with  the  undemocratic 
laws  of  the  countries  which  had  governed 
Poland,  and  to  reform  the  .educational  and 
social  system  quickly  enough  to  satisfy  the 
hopes  of  the  population,  whose  nerves  had 
been  sorely  tried  by  the  war. 

4.  The  universal  need  of  Poland,  as  of  all 
countries,  to  carry  on  the  ordinary  business 
of  Government  as  smoothly  as  possible. 

In  every  one  of  these  directions,  the  Par- 
liament, which  has  not  yet  finished  its  sit- 
tings, has  made  some  progress,  and  though 
some  of  the  laws  may  seem  imperfect,  and 
others  have  already  been  changed,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  complexity  of  its 
problems  and  the  way  in  which  they  have 
been  met  will  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  the 
future  historian,  who  will  probably  have  no 


reason  to  blame  the  Legislature  for  lack  of 
wi=dom  or  zeal. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  the  whole  country  a  new  Constitu- 
tion. But,  before  that  was  enacted,  the 
Legislature,  though  itself  assuming  the 
sovereign  power,  entrusted  Joseph  Pil- 
sudski  with  the  office  of  Chief  of  State  and 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  armed  forces, 
laying  down  rules  as  to  his  responsibility 
to  the  Diet,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Cabinet 
appointed  by  him  with  the  co-operation  of 
the  Legislature. 

The  Legislature  had,  of  course,  to  adopt 
at  once  rules  of  its  own  procedure,  and 
these,  very  liberal  from  the  first,  have  been 
changed  as  need  arose  and  experience  dic- 
tated. The  Constitution  was  finally  adopted, 
as  the  result  of  a  series  of  compromises  be- 
tween the  main  groups  of  the  Legislature, 
on  March  17,  1921,  and  it  is  believed  that  it 
is  one  of  the  most  democratic  and  liberal 
Constitutions  in  the  world.  In  the  mean- 
time, steps  have  been  taken  to  co-ordinate 
the  organization  of  the  three  parts  of  Poland 
by  creating  new  territorial  divisions  and  by 
giving  these  a  reasonable  measure  of  home 
rule.  In  some  parts,  particularly  in  what 
was  formerly  Russian  Poland,  there  had 
been  very  little  home  rule;  in  others,  main- 
ly in  Prussian  Poland,  the  country  was  or- 
ganized so  as  to  give  preponderance  to  the 
Germans  over  the  Polish  majority.  In  Aus- 
trian Poland  the  Government  had  been  very 
undemocratic. 

The  Polish  Legislature  at  once  began  to 
democratize  the  franchise  and  to  introduce 
a  unitary  system  of  organization.  It  then 
proceeded  to  take  up  the  matter  of  civil 
law,  the  law  governing  family  relations, 
contracts,  damages,  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty, &c.  A  commission  was  appointed  to 
draw  up  a  Polish  system  of  law  in  place  of 
the  four  systems  actually  prevailing.  The 
necessity  for  this  is  obvious,  for,  at  pres- 
ent, in  what  was  the  Austrian  part,  the 
Austrian  Civil  Code  of  1811  is  in  force;  in 
what  was  German  Poland,  the  German  Civil 


808 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Code  of  1896  prevails;  in  what  was  formerly 
Russian  Poland,  around  Warsaw  (the  Con- 
gress Kingdom),  the  Napoleonic  Civil  Code 
(as  in  Louisiana,  South  America,  France 
and  Belgium);  and  in  other  parts  of  late 
Russian  Poland,  the  Russian  civil  law.  The 
Commission  of  Codification,  composed  of 
leading  professors,  judges  and  practicing 
lawyers,  has  been  holding  frequent  meet- 
ings and  is  working  out  a  new  legal  code. 

To  meet  the  immediate  needs  of  defense, 
many  laws  have  had  to  be  passed  organiz- 
ing the  army  and  assuring  its  supplies.  In 
this  starved  and  overcrowded  country, 
where  over  a  million  houses  were  destroyed 
during  the  war,  and  where  practically  no 
building  is  going  on,  because  of  its  high 
cost,  laws  on  billeting  had  to  be  passed,  as 
well  as  laws  devised  to  supply  the  army 
with  food  and  other  necessary  articles.  Sim- 
ilarly, there  has  been  a  need  of  laws  pro- 
tecting tenants  against  eviction  by  land- 
lords. Evictions  are  today  very  rare.  Also 
provision  had  to  be  made  against  the  rais- 
ing of  rents. 

All  such  legislative  measures,  conceived 
in  the  interest  of  the  poor,  have  sometimes 
been  so  far  reaching  as  to  make  property  a 
burden,  rather  than  a  privilege.  Laws  had 
to  be  passed  to  provide  for  exceptional 
criminal  proceedings  in  invaded  or  upset 
territories,  but  most  of  these  enactments 
have  now  been  abolished.  It  may  safely  be 
raid  that  whenever  a  law  restricting  per- 
sonal liberty  was  under  consideration,  the 
debates  were  very  thorough  and  every  pos- 
sible angle  was  considered.  The  Polish 
people  have  submitted  to  these  restrictions, 
though  they  believed  some  of  them  to  be 
unreasonable.  They  are,  however,  very  im- 
patient to  get  rid  of  them,  and  since  the 
signing  of  the  Peace  Treaty  with  Soviet 
Russia,  the  most  burdensome  restrictions 
have  ceased  to  exist.  Steps  have  been  taken 
to  improve  the  material  situation  of  low- 
salaried   Government  officials. 

Elementary  instruction  was  at  once  made 
compulsory  in  the  whole  of  Poland,  and  the 
Legislature  gave  an  earnest  of  its  deter- 
mination to  do  away  with  illiteracy  by  mak- 
ing the  situation  of  elementary  school 
teachers  particularly  attractive,  providing 
that  teachers  should  be  given  land  plots  en- 
abling them  to  raise  vegetables  and  grain 
either  for  their  own  use  or  for  purposes  of 
sale.     In  an  agricultural  country,  this  is  an 


important  endowment.  Later  on,  a  law  was 
passed  organizing  on  a  liberal  basis  the  uni- 
versities and  other  academic  schools.  There 
are  in  Poland  five  universities,  two  poly- 
technic schools,  a  mining  academy  and  an 
academy  for  veterinary  science.  The  sys- 
tem of  high  schools  was  unified,  and  laws 
have  been  passed  fixing  in  a  liberal  way  the 
status  and  income  of  professors,  teachers, 
judges  and  other  public  servants. 

Poland  has  always  represented  an  eco- 
nomic unity,  although,  for  a  time,  it  was  ar- 
tificially divided  by  political  boundaries  and 
unnatural  customs  barriers.  Its  reunion  as 
an  independent  country  makes  for  a  revival 
of  destroyed  industries,  and  encourages  the 
creation  of  new  ones.  It  has  large  mineral 
deposits,  but  the  main  production  of  the 
country  is  still  agricultural.  Most  of  the 
land  in  Poland — from  60  to  70  per  cent,  of 
the  surface — belongs  in  freehold  to  owners, 
whose  shares  do  not  exceed  200  acres,  and 
are  sometimes  as  small  as  a  quarter  of  an 
acre.  The  remainder — from  30  to  40  per- 
cent.— forms  estates  and  belongs  to  the 
State,  to  various  public  and  private  cor- 
porations, and  to  private  individuals. 

Since  the  population  of  Poland  is  very 
dense  (about  200  to  the  square  mile),  there 
is  a  strong  demand  for  land.  According  to 
a  decision  of  Parliament,  made  in  1919,  and 
finally  embodied  in  a  statute  of  1920,  large 
estates  are  to  be  broken  up,  leaving  a  pre- 
scribed maximum  for  individual  cultivation, 
the  rest  being  sold  in  small  plots.  This 
"  agrarian  reform "  has  already  assumed 
concrete  shape,  and  some  estates  have  been 
actually  purchased  from  their  owners. 

The  conquering  Governments  had  im- 
posed various  disabilities  on  Poles  for 
Polish  patriotic  activities.  All  these  have 
been  removed.  Moreover,  a  special  statute 
was  passed  granting  amnesty  even  to  per- 
sons who  had  offended  against  the  mili- 
tary or  political  law  and  order  of  Poland. 

Such  is  the  bare  outline  of  what  the 
Polish  Legislature  has  done  in  the  first  two 
years  of  its  existence.  Many  of  the  or- 
dinary problems  of  finance  and  administra- 
tion also  have  been  dealt  with.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  all  these  things  have  been 
accomplished  despite  invasions  by  Germans, 
Ukrainians,  Bolsheviki  and  other  neighbors. 
Only  in  the  light  of  that  fact  can  one  realize 
how  much  energy  and  devotion  the  Legisla- 
ture has  given  to  its  difficult  task. 


SANTO  DOMINGO'S  TITLE 
TO  INDEPENDENCE 


By  H.  P.  Krippene 


The  author  of  this  fair-minded  .surrey  of  the  situation  in  Santo  Domingo  is  a  graduate  of  the  I  diversity 
of  Wisconsin,  who  served  as  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Army  until  the  armistice.  Since  then  he 
has  been  engaged  in  business  in  Santo  Domingo.  His  statement  of  the  mistakes  of  the  American  Military 
Administration  and  of  the  capacity  of  the  Dominicans  for  self-government  is  written  from  the  viewpoint 
of  an  observer  who  has  lived  among  these  people  for  several  years. 


THOUGH  the  Dominicans  have  always 
maintained  that  the  American  occupa- 
tion of  Santo  Domingo  was  unjusti- 
fiable, it  is  probable  that  in  the  beginning 
the  majority  did  not  consider  it  an  un- 
friendly act.  Wearied  with  strife  and  star- 
vation, in  the  throes  of  their  last  and  most 
vicious  revolution,  they  inwardly  welcomed 
the  arrival  of  the  American  forces  that 
were  to  bring  them  peace  and  order.  As 
a  result  of  war  conditions,  Santo  Domingo 
almost  at  once  entered  upon  the  greatest 
business  era  of  her  history,  and  the  Amer- 
ican Government,  in  the  role  of  "  big- 
brother,"  had  every  prospect  of  creating  an 
excellent  and  lasting  impression.  With  the 
coming  of  peace  and  business  and  the 
promise  of  a  program  of  construction,  the 
Dominicans  had  impressive  evidence  that  we 
were  going  to  be  their  friend  and  benefac- 
tor; and  we  were  launched  upon  a  policy 
which  would  have  done  more  to  further 
friendly  relations  with  the  Latin-American 
republics  than  the  costly  balm  recently  ac- 
corded Colombia. 

It  is  evident,  after  four  years  of  military 
administration,  that  the  great  advantage 
we  once  held  in  this  republic  has  been  lost. 
The  Dominicans  now  asl^  nothing  more  of 
us  than  "  to  get  out."  The  good  that  the 
occupation  has  actually  done  has  been  lost 
sight  of  in  a  maze  of  maladministration 
and  extravagance,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find 
many  instances  where  we  have  shown  the 
Dominicans  a  way  to  better  government. 

During  the  month  of  November,  1916, 
Admiral  Knapp  issued  a  proclamation 
stating  that  the  occupation  was  undertaken 
with  no  immediate  or  ulterior  object  of  de- 
stroying the  sovereignty  of  Santo  Domingo, 
but  simply  to  assist  the  country  to  return 
to  a  condition  of  internal  order  which  would 
enable  it  to  assume  again  its  obligations  as 


one  of  the  family  of  nations.  A  few  months 
later,  however,  the  Dominican  Government 
ceased  to  function,  and  the  American  Mili- 
tary Government  assumed  control.  The  lat- 
ter at  once  began  laying  plans  for  the  gen- 
eral improvement  of  the  country.  Roads 
were  to  be  constructed;  schools  and  hos- 
pitals were  to  be  built;  education  was  to  be 
extended  to  the  masses;  land  was  to  be 
surveyed,  titles  cleared  and  taxes  levied: 
in  short,  it  appeared  that  Santo  Domingo 
was  soon  to  rival  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba  in 
all  the  higher  works  of  progress. 

The  Road-Building   Fiasco 

In  order  to  appreciate  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  confronted  the  Military  Gov- 
ernment and  one  of  the  first  great  mistakes 
which  it  committed — viz.,  in  respect  to 
road  building — a  knowledge  of  the  geo- 
graphical complexion  of  Santo  Domingo  is 
necessary. 

The  Dominican  Republic  is  more  than 
five  times  the  size  of  Porto  Rico;  yet  its 
population  is  less  than  a  million  inhabitants. 
Most  of  the  people  are  living  in  the  six 
natural  seaports,  or  in  the  outlying  dis- 
tricts. This  is  due  to  various  causes,  the 
most  important  of  which  is  that  the  in- 
terior is  still  wild  and  uncultivated.  The 
republic  is  divided  into  a  north  and  south 
watershed  by  a  chain  of  mountains  run- 
ning east  and  west  across  the  centre  of  the 
island.  The  capital,  Santo  Domingo  City, 
is  the  largest  outlet  of  the  southern  water- 
shed, and  Puerto  Plata,  lying  almost  di- 
rectly north  of  the  capital,  a  distance  of 
about  130  miles,  is  the  largest  port  on  the 
northern  slope.  Almost  directly  back  of 
Puerto  Plata  and  in  line  with  Santo  Do- 
mingo City,  is  the  largest  inland  city,  San- 
tiago, which  lies  in  the  most  fertile  agri- 
cultural region  of  the  northern  slope.     San- 


810 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


tiago  occupies  the  same  strategical  position 
with  relation  to  Puerto  Plata  on  the  north 
and  the  capital  on  the  south  that  Chicago 
does  to  New  York  and  to  the  West. 

It  can  easily  be  seen  that  a  thoroughfare 
connecting  the  capital  and  Puerto  Plata, 
and  passing  through  Santiago,  would  be 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  the  island;  for  the  vast  un- 
cultivated interior,  with  Santiago  as  a 
centre,  would  then  have  both  a  northern  and 
southern  outlet,  without  considering  the 
various  eastern  ports,  also  more  or  less  in 
touch  with  Santiago.  Before  the  occupa- 
tion, considerable  work  had  been  done  in 
enlarging  the  trails  which  still  connect 
these  cities,  but  a  lack  of  funds  had  always 
been  responsible  for  the  failure  of  the 
Dominican  road-building  program. 

An  Obras  Publicas,  or  Public  Works  or- 
ganization, was  established  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Military  Government,  and  work 
en  these  roads  was  begun.  When  one  con- 
siders that  the  trails  in  many  places  of  the 
interior  are  mudholes  and  swamps  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  and,  where  they 
cross  the  dividing  range,  difficult  mountain 
passes,  it  would  seem  that  the  Military 
Government  should  have  placed  a  contract 
with  some  experienced  road-building  firm, 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  handle  this  dif- 
ficult undertsanding  itself.  It  has  been 
stated  that  bids  were  solicited,  but  that 
they  were  all  considered  prohibitive.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Obras  Publicas 
has  proved  the  more  expensive  experiment, 
and  the  roads  are  not  yet  built.  This  body 
has  been  severely  criticised  by  the  Domini- 
cans; and  the  criticism,  on  the  whole,  is 
just;  for  extravagance  and  incompetence 
are  everywhere  in  evidence.  Many  of  the 
men  who  made  up  the  personnel  were  young, 
inexperienced  engineers,  and  the  men  who 
had  expert  knowledge  had  gained  their  ex- 
perience upon  the  thoroughfares  of  Ameri- 
can cities.  As  a  result,  thousands  of  dol- 
lars were  expended  upon  machinery  and 
labor-saving  devices,  which,  when  put  into 
operation  on  the  jungle  passes  of  the  in- 
terior, were  found  impracticable  and  were 
left  to  rust.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been 
expended  by  this  branch'of  the  Government, 
which  has  now  stopped  operations  for  lack 
of  funds,  and  there  is  very  little  to  show 
for  it.  Had  these  roads  been  completed, 
Santo  Domingo  would  now  be  a  new  field 


for  the  American  automobile  exporter.  A 
great  many  cars  have  already  appeared  in 
the  republic,  though  there  is  still  little  use 
for  them,  and  a  horse  continues  to  be  the 
only  means  of  travel  in  the  interior.  Fur- 
thermore, thousands  of  acres  of  extremely 
fertile  land  would  now  be  open  to  cultiva- 
tion. 

The  Land  Tax 

The  revenue  of  the  republic  has  been  de- 
rived in  the  past  from  customs  receipts 
and  from  internal  taxes.  The  latter  are 
collected  from  licenses  issued  mainly  to 
business  houses  for  the  privilege  of  operat- 
ing. The  Military  Government  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  work  out  and  levy  a  land  tax. 
Very  few  Dominicans  have  ever  questioned 
the  value  of  a  land  tax,  but  they  almost 
unanimously  question  its  wisdom  at  this 
time.  With  thousands  of  acres  of  land  in 
the  interior  unsurveyed,  some  of  it  very 
difficult  to  approach,  and  with  much  of  it 
of  uncertain  ownership,  they  concur  in  the 
opinion  that  it  has  worked  more  injury  than 
good.  The  natives  were  asked  to  acknowl- 
edge and  assess  their  own  land,  a  thing  dif- 
ficult in  itself,  not  only  because  of  the  rea- 
sons mentioned,  but  also  because  under- 
valuation carried  a  penalty  with  it,  and  as 
many  of  the  people  feared  the  Military 
Government,  some  of  them  probably  over- 
valued their  land  for  the  sake  of  security. 
In  a  pamphlet  issued  by  one  of  the  City 
Councils,  they  agreed  that  the  land  tax 
would  be  of  great  value  to  the  Dominican 
Government;  but  they  asked  that  it  should 
not  be  put  into  operation  for  a  period  of 
from  three  to  five  years,  so  that  land- 
owners could  prepare  themselves  to  make 
intelligent  returns.  The  tax,  however,  was 
put  into  operation  at  once,  and  it  appears 
that  the  revenue  derived  from  it  did  not 
reach  expectations,  for  the  Military  Govern- 
ment immediately  began  an  investigation  of 
the  reported  valuations,  and  in  most  cases 
raised  them.  The  land  tax,  however,  will 
work  one  immediate  result.  Many  of  the 
politicians  and  land  holders  have  held  in 
the  past  large  tracts  of  land  to  which  they 
had  little  or  no  just  claim.  The  tax  will 
force  some  of  them  to  open  the  lands  to  the 
public,  for  it  will  be  impracticable  to  hold 
them  idle  and  non-productive. 

Though  some  schoolhouses  have  been 
built,  the  teachers  are  very  poorly  paid  and 


SANTO   DOMINGO'S   TITLE   TO   INDEPENDENCE 


811 


the  schools  poorly  equipped;  yet  thousands 
of  dollars  have  been  spent  on  equipment 
bought  at  wartime  prices  and  stored  here 
for  use.  The  crowning  disappointment  in 
the  development  of  education  came  a  few 
weeks  ago,  when  the  Military  Government 
announced  that  the  schools  would  be  closed 
indefinitely  because  of  lack  of  funds — and 
this  despite  our  boast  that  the  landmarks 
we  leave  are  pre-eminently  schools  and  edu- 
cation. 

No  Civil  Government 

One  of  the  most  serious  disappointments 
the  people  of  this  republic  have  experienced 
arises  from  the  fact  that  no  effort  has  been 
made  to  re-establish  a  civil  government  un- 
der American  control.  This  work  should 
have  been  begun  some  time  ago,  ^or  there 
is  no  reason  to  assume  that  a  military  gov- 
ernment is  necessary  in  any  country  during 
times  of  peace.  Conditions  have  been  nor- 
mal in  the  island  for  at  least  the  last  three 
years,  so  there  has  been  ample  time  to  hold 
an  election  under  the  supervision  of  the 
marines  and  to  establish  a  civil  govern- 
ment, which  would  now  be  working  har- 
moniously with  the  American  officials. 
Conditions,  laws,  and  the  people  are  so  dif- 
ferent in  these  Latin-American  republics 
that  the  Americans  can  never  succeed  in 
governing  a  nation  of  this  type  by  military 
rule.  If  these  circumstances  had  been 
recognized,  and  the  power  to  rule  them- 
selves under  the  guidance  of  the  United 
States  had  been  given  the  Dominicans  at 
least  two  years  ago,  much  of  the  criticism 
to  which  we  are  now  subjected  could  have 
been  avoided.  If  the  Military  Government 
had  carried  on  without  the  earmarks  of 
absolute  military  control;  if  it  had  given 
regularly  to  the  public  a  statement  of  the 
expenditures  of  Dominican  moneys;  if  it 
had  taken  the  Dominicans  into  its  confi- 
dence and  told  them  more  of  its  projects 
for  improvements,  it  might  not  even  have 
been  necessary  to  establish  a  civil  govern- 
ment. 

The  attitude  of  the  American  military 
authorities,  on  the  whole,  has  been  that  of 
conquerors.  They  have  made  little  effort 
to  know  the  Dominicans,  to  learn  their 
language  or  to  understand  their  customs. 
They  have  been  told  that  the  Dominicans 
are  lazy  and  immoral;  that  Dominicans  can 
never  learn  to  govern  themselves;  that  they 


are  a  worthless,  shiftless  people,  incapable 
of  reasoning  or  understanding:  and  the  ma- 
jority of  the  American  officials,  though 
there  are  some  noteworthy  exceptions,  have 
accepted,  these  statements  as  facts,  and 
acted  accordingly. 

Promise  of  the  Future 

The  island  of  Santo  Domingo  requires 
only  time  and  money  to  become  the  centre 
of  the  West  Indies.  With  a  climate  which 
is  mild  but  not  enervating,  a  rich  and  virgin 
soil,  and  a  degree  of  "  personal  liberty  "  no 
longer  known  in  the  States,  Santo  Domingo 
will  of  a  certainty  surpass  Porto  Rico  as  a 
sugar  country  and  Cuba  as  a  Summer  re- 
sort. When  highways  have  been  built,  when 
land  has  been  cleared,  and  a  stable  govern- 
ment has  been  established,  this  island  will 
assume  a  position  second  to  none  in  the 
West  Indies;  and  that  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  world,  Santo  Domingo 
has  had  a  turbulent  history.  She  has  been 
called  "  the  land  of  blood  and  revolution," 
but  an  examination  of  the  facts  proves  that 
this  charge  is  unfounded.  It  is  true  that 
progress  has  been  retarded  by  the  various 
revolutions,  and  that  the  present  conditions 
are  due  mainly  to  the  fact  that  the  Treas- 
ury, in  times  of  peace,  found  itself  so  de- 
pleted by  past  purchases  of  arms  and  am- 
munition that  public  works  could  not  be 
financed  on  a  large  scale.  The  revolutions 
themselves,  however,  were  usually  more  of  a 
strategical  than  of  a  bloody  nature.  Vic- 
tories were  more  often  gained  by  a  display 
of  a  superior  military  force  than  by  a 
crushing  attack.  Civilians  were  seldom 
harmed,  foreigners  never,  In  fact,  fighting 
was  often  stopped  on  both  sides  so  that 
foreign  business  concerns  could  pass  goods 
on  to  ports  for  shipment.  The  Dominican 
business  men,  however,  now  fully  realize 
that  revolutions  are  a  serious  detriment  to 
business,  and  the  country  people  know  that 
fighting  always  means  loss  of  stock  and 
men,  so  it  appears  reasonable  to  believe  that 
any  future  government  established  by  the 
republic  will  show  greater  stability.  Un- 
doubtedly there  is  still  need  of  American 
supervision,  but  the  Dominicans  are  ready 
for  a  much  greater  degree  of  self-rule  than 
they  now  have. 

The  retarding  effects  of  instability  are 
everywhere  in  evidence,  but  this  country  is 


812 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


not  a  wilderness,  as  many  Americans  be- 
lieve. The  capital  on  the  south  is  a  flour- 
ishing city  of  60,000  people,  the  centre  of 
many  beautiful  homes;  and  the  number  of 
automobiles  that  can  be  seen  on  the 
streets  discountenances  the  idea  that  the 
Dominicans  are  a  shiftless  people.  La  Ro- 
mana,  on  the  southeast,  is  a  modem  trop- 
ical town.  Santiago  is  a  commercial  centre 
of  great  promise,  and  as  soon  as  there  are 
sufficient  funds  to  lay  the  newly  planned 
sewer  system  the  streets  will  be  widened 
and  improved  to  equal  those  of  any  mod- 
ern city  in  these  latitudes.  Many  of  the 
towns  have  electric  light,  waterworks  and 
telephone  systems. 

Puerto  Plata,  on  the  north,  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  ports  in  the  West  Indies. 
Of  an  early  morning,  as  one  comes  into  an 
emerald  harbor,  with  the  sun  rising  from 
the  ocean  on  the  left,  one  sees  the  majestic 
outlines  of  Isabella  del  Torres  rising  in  the 
background.  In  the  depression  between  it 
and  the  sea  the  sparkling  red  roofs  of  the 
houses  peep  from  the  foliage  of  the  royal 
palms.  As  the  visitor  leaves  the  wharf  and 
walks  up  the  clean  white  streets  of  the  city 
he  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  he  is  not 
mingling  with  a  "  degenerate  people." 
Squalidness  and  dirt  and  carelessness  are 
everywhere  in  evidence,  but  these  are  not 
peculiar  to  Santo  Domingo;  they  prevail 
more  or  less  in  all  of  these  tropical  islands. 
It  is  disappointing  to  note  that  many  of 
the  writers  who  visit  Santo  Domingo  select 
only  the  flaws,  while  from  the  neighboring 
islands  they  take  only  the  romance. 

The  greatest  injustice  has  been  done  the 
•Dominican  people  themselves.  This  may  be 
due,  in  part,  to  the  fact  that  many  low- 
caste  Haitians  are  always  wandering 
through  the  country  in  search  of  work  and 
that  the  critic  making  only  a  superficial  ex- 
amination considers  them  Dominicans. 
However,  when  the  hostile  critic  says  that 
the  Dominican  people  are  inferior  to  the 
Haitians  he  insults  their  race;  when  he 
says  they  are  lazy  and  shiftless,  he  mis- 
represents their  character;  when  he  states 
that  they  are  ignorant  and  puerile  he  min- 
imizes their  intelligence.  The  Dominicans 
are  not,  primarily,  a  black  race,  as  is  com- 
monly believed,  for  they  are  descendants 
of  the  Spaniards  who  came  here  as  con- 
querors,   and    of    the    Indians    whom    they 


found  living  here.  The  Spaniards  brought 
with  them  at  a  later  period  a  number  of 
slaves,  and  these,  together  with  some  of 
the  Haitian  immigrants,  mixed  their  blood 
with  that  of  the  Dominicans,  but  to  a  much 
lesser  degree  than  is   ordinarily   supposed. 

In  Santo  Domingo,  as  in  Mexico,  there 
is  no  middle  class.  If  this  is  detrimental 
to  the  country,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  it 
works  a  hardship.  The  educated  class  is 
made  up  of  land  owners,  business  men  and 
politicians  and  as  a  whole  it  is  a  refined, 
cultured,  progressive  type.  Many  of  its 
members  have  been  educated  in  foreign 
schools  and  universities,  have  traveled  more 
or  less  extensively  and  are  cosmopolitan  in 
ideas  and  customs.  They  read  widely,  dis- 
cuss present-day  problems  with  a  keen  in- 
sight ang^  intelligence,  and  socially  they 
carry  themselves  with  a  grace  and  refine- 
ment which  prove  them  equal  to  the  high- 
est types  of  any  nation. 

The  peasant  class,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
extremely  poor  and  illiterate.  Although 
the  law  requires  children  to  go  to  school 
until  they  are  14  years  of  age,  many  fam- 
ilies are  forced  by  poverty  to  send  their 
children  to  work  at  an  early  age.  This  im- 
plies a  condition  much  worse  than  it  ac- 
tually is,  for  as  a  rule  the  people  are  well 
nourished,  happy  and  contented.  Living 
here  is  not  a  struggle  as  it  is  in  a  more 
highly  developed  country,  and  the  majority 
of  the  poor  people  easily  earn  enough  to 
buy  their  rice  and  beans  and  to  supply 
their  simple  luxuries.  They  usually  build 
their  own  "  casitas,"  and  plant  enough  to 
supply  their  wants  throughout  the  year. 
They  are  quiet,  peace  loving  and  hospitable; 
a  stranger  never  fails  to  find  a  welcome 
wherever  he  may  stay.  They  cannot  be 
considered  progressive  when  compared  with 
the  working  class  of  northern  countries, 
but  this  is  more  or  less  true  throughout 
the  tropics. 

The  peons,  as  a  whole,  have  favored  the 
intervention,  for  it  has  enabled  them  to 
work  in  peace  and  preserve  the  fruits  of 
their  labor.  They  ask  nothing  more  of  any 
Government.  This  is  their  desire :  "  My  cig- 
arrillo  (cigarette),  a  drop  of  rum  when  I 
wish  it,  and  always  peace  to  enjoy  the 
great  out-of-doors."  An  empty  philosophy, 
we  may  think  it,  but  it  is  possible  that  we 
may  not  be  right. 


THE  AMERICAN  EXIT  FROM 
SANTO  DOMINGO 


Text  of  the  Proclamation  by  which  the  United  States  pledges  itself  to  withdraw  its 
military  forces  from  the  island  within  eight  months — Assurances  by  the  Washington 
Government  in  response  to  Dominican  protests 


AFTER  five  years  of  military  rule  over 
L  Santo  Domingo,  culminating  in  ex- 
treme discontent  among  the  Dominican 
people,  the  United  States  Government  has 
at  length  pledged  itself  to  withdraw  all 
military  forces  within  a  period  of  eight 
months.  The  occupation  of  the  island  by 
United  States  Marines  occurred  on  May  15, 
1916;  the  proclamation  issued  by  Admiral 
Robison  in  Santo  Domingo  City  on  June  14, 

1921,  implies  that  it  will  end  in  February, 

1922,  provided  that  certain  essential  condi- 
tions are  fulfilled. 

This  proclamation  is  an  effective  answer 
to  the  many  bitter  complaints  of  Domini- 
cans in  regard  to  alleged  abuses  and  mal- 
administration. For  many  months  the 
Dominicans  have  maintained  a  commission 
in  the  United  States,  headed  by  the  deposed 
President,  Dr.  Francisco  Henriquez  y  Car- 
vajal,  which  has  been  indefatigable  in  pre- 
senting their  case  to  the  Government  and 
people  of  the  United  States.  President  Har- 
ding's decision,  embodied  in  the  proclama- 
tion, represents  a  radical  departure  from 
the  policy  of  his  predecessor. 

The  proclamation  itself,  prepared  by  the 
State  Department,  and  made  public  by  Sec- 
retary Hughes,  outlines  a  systematic  plan 
for  the  withdrawal,  which  is  to  occur  within 
eight  months,  the  time  deemed  necessary 
for  an  orderly  winding  up  of  the  Adminis- 
tration, and  for  the  establishment  of  a  na- 
tive Government.  All  acts  of  the  Military 
Government  are  to  be  validated,  especially 
the  final  loan  for  $2,500,000  now  being 
raised  in  order  to  complete  the  publie  works 
still  in  process  of  construction,  and  the 
duties  of  the  general  receiver  are  to  be  ex- 
tended, so  as  to  afford  a  guarantee  for  the 
payment  of  this  loan  and  the  whole  foreign 
debt.  The  primary  elections  are  to  be  called 
within  one  month  after  the  date  of  the 
proclamation,  the  Board  of  Electors  to 
choose  the  necessary  officials  and  magis- 
trates, and  the  new  President  to  be  elected. 


A  Guardia  Nacional,  or  Civil  Guard,  is  to  be 
constituted,  and  every  assurance  is  to  be 
given  that  the  withdrawal  will  be  followed 
by^  an  era  of  peace  and  order.  The  procla- 
mation calls  on  the  Dominican  people  to 
give  their  helpful  co-operation  to  the  plans 
outlined. 

Text  of  the  Proclamation 

The  proclamation  issued  on  June  14  by 
Admiral  Robison,  recently  appointed  Mili- 
tary Governor  to  succeed  Admiral  Snowden, 
reads  as  follows: 

Whereas,  by  proclamation  of  the  Military 
Governor  of  Santo  Domingo,  dated  Dec.  23, 
1920,  it  was  announced  to  the  people  of  the 
Dominican  Republic  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  desired  to  inaugurate  the 
simple  processes  of  its  rapid  withdrawal  from 
the  responsibilities  assumed  in  connection 
with  Dominican  affairs ;  and, 

Whereas,  it  is  necessary  that  a  duly  con- 
stituted Government  of  the  Dominican  Re- 
public exist  before  this  withdrawal  of  the 
United  States  may  become  effective,  in  order 
that  the  functions  of  government  may  be  re- 
sumed by  it  in  an  orderly  manner ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  S.  S.  Robison,  Military 
Governor  of  Santo  Domingo,  acting  under 
the  authority  and  by  direction  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  declare  and  an- 
nounce to  all  concerned  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  proposes  to  withdraw 
its  military  forces  from  the  Dominican  Re- 
public in  accordance  with  the  steps  set  forth 
herein.  It  is  the  desire  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  assure  itself  before 
its  withdrawal  is  accomplished  that  the  in- 
dependence and  territorial  integrity  of  the 
Dominican  Republic,  the  maintenance  of  pub- 
lic order,  and  the  security  of  life  and  prop- 
erty will  be  adequately  safeguarded,  and  to 
turn  over  the  administration  of  the  Domini- 
can Republic  to  a  responsible  Dominican 
Government,  duly  established  in  accordance 
with  the  existing  Constitution  and  laws.  To 
this  end  it  calls  upon  the  Dominican  people 
to  lend  to  it  their  helpful  co-operation,  with 
the  hope  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  military 
forces  of  the  United  States  may  be  com- 
pleted, if  such  co-operation  is  extended  in 
the  manner  hereinafter  provided,  within  a 
period  of  eight  months.     The  executive  power 


814 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


vested  by  the  Dominican  Constitution  in  the 
President  of  the  Republic  shall  be  exercised 
by  the  Military  Governor  of  Santo  Domingo 
until  a  duly  elected  proclaimed  President  of 
the  Republic  shall  have  taken  office,  and  un- 
til a  Convention  of  Evacuation  shall  have 
been  signed  by  the  President  and  confirmed 
by  the  Dominican  Congress. 

Within  one  month  from  the  date  of  this 
proclamation  the  Military  Governor  will  con- 
vene the  primary  assemblies  to  assemble 
thirty  days  after  the  date  of  the  decree  of 
convocation  in  conformity  with  Articles 
LXXXII.  and  LXXXIII.  of  the  Constitution. 
The  se  assemblies  shall  proceed  to  elect  the 
electors  as  prescribed  by  Article  LXXXIV. 
of  the  Constitution.  In  order  that  these 
elections  may  be  held  without  disorder,  and 
in  order  that  the  will  of  the  Dominican  peo- 
ple may  be  freely  expressed,  these  elections 
will  be  held  under  the  supervision  of  the  au- 
thorities designated  by  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor. 

The  electoral  colleges  thus  elected  by  the 
primary  assemblies  shall,  in  accordance  with 
Article  LXXXV.  of  the  Constitution,  proceed 
to  elect  Senators,  Deputies  and  alternates  for 
the  latter,  and  to  prepare  for  the  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  of  the  Appellate 
Courts  and  the  Tribunals  and  Courts  of  the 
First  Instance,  as  prescribed  by  Article 
LXXXV.    of    the    Constitution. 

The  Military  Governor,  performing  the 
functions  of  Chief  Executive,  will  then  ap- 
point, in  accordance  with  Article  LIU.  of  the 
Constitution,  certain  Dominican  citizens  as 
representatives  of  the  republic  to  negotiate  a 
Convention  of  Evacuation.  In  order  that  the 
enjoyment  of  individual  rights  may  be  in- 
sured, and  in  order  that  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  republic  may  be  conserved,  the 
said  Convention  of  Evacuation  shall  contain 
the  following  provisions : 

1.  Ratification  of  all  of  the  acts  of  the  Mili- 
tary  Government. 

2.  Validation  of  the  final  loan  of  *2,r)()0,000, 
which  is  the  minimum  loan  required  in  order 
to  complete  the  public  works  which  are  now 
in  actual  course  of  construction,  and  which 
can  be  completed  during  the  period  requireu 
for  the  withdrawal  of  the  military  occupation 
and  are  deemed  essential  to  the  success  of 
the  new  Government  of  the  republic,  and  to 
the  well-being  of  the  Dominican  people. 

3.  Extension  of  the  duties  of  the  General 
Receiver  of  Dominican  Customs,  appointed 
under  the  convention  of  1907,  to  apply  to  the 
said  loan. 

4.  Extension  of  the  powers  of  the  General 
Receiver  of  Dominican  Customs  to  the  collec- 
tion and  disbursement  of  such  portion  of  the 
internal  revenues  of  the  republic  as  may 
prove  to  be  necessary,  showld  the  customs 
revenues  at  any  time  be  insufficient  to  meet 
the  service  of  the  foreign  debt  of  the  re- 
public. 

5.  The  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  Domin- 
ican Government,  in  order  to  preserve 
peace,    to    afford    adequate    protection    to    life 


and  property,  and  to  secure  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  all  obligations  of  the  Dominican 
Republic,  to  maintain  an  efficient  Guardla 
Xacional,  urban  and  rural,  composed  of  na- 
tive Dominicans.  To  this  end,  it  shall  also  be 
reed  in  said  convention  that  the  President 
of  the  Dominican  Republic  shall  at  once  re- 
quest the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
send  a  military  mission  to  the  Dominican 
Republic,  charged  with  the  duty  of  securing 
the  competent  organization  of  such  Guardia 
Xacional  ;  the  Guardia  Nacional  to  be  of- 
ficered by  such  Dominican  officers  as  may 
be  competent  to  undertake  such  servi 
and,  for  such  time  as  may  be  found 
necessary  to  effect  the  desired  organiza- 
tion, with  American  officers  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  Dominican  Repub- 
lic upon  the  nomination  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  expense  of 
said  mission  will  be  paid  by  the  Dominican 
Republic,  and  the  said  mission  will  be  in- 
vested by  the  executive  of  the  Dominican 
Republic  with  proper  and  adequate  authority 
to    accomplish   the    purpose    above   stated. 

The  Military  Governor  will  thereupon  con- 
vene the  Dominican  Congress  in  extraordi- 
nary session  to  confirm  the  Convention  of 
{evacuation  referred  to  above. 

The  Military  Governor  will  then  assemble 
the  electoral  colleges  for  the  purpose  of -elect- 
ing a  President  of  the  Dominican  Republic, 
in  accordance  with  Article  LXXXV.  of  the 
Constitution,  and,  simultaneously,  officials 
other  than  the  Senators  and  Deputies  elected 
at  the  first  convocation  of  the  electoral  col- 
leges, will  be  installed  in  office.  * 

The  Dominican  President  so  elected  will 
■then  take  office,  in  accordance  with  Article 
LI.  of  the  Constitution,  at  the  same  time 
signing  the  Convention  of  Evacuation  as 
confirmed    by    the    Dominican    Congress. 

Upon  this  ratification  of  the  Convention  of 
Evacuation,  assuming  that  through  the  co- 
operation of  the  people  of  the  Dominican  Re- 
public a  condition  of  peace  and  good  order 
obtains,  the  Military  Governor  will  transfer 
to  the  duly  elected  President  of  the  Republic 
all  of  his  powers,  and  the  Military  Govern- 
ment will  cease,  and  thereupon  the  forces  of 
the  United  States  will  be  at  once  withelrawn. 

The  further  assistance  of  the  Advisory 
Commission  appointed  under  the  proclama- 
tion of  Dec.  23,  1920,  being  no  longer  re- 
quireel,  it  is  hereby  dissolved,  with  the  ex- 
pression of  the  grateful  appreciation  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  of  the  self- 
sacrificing  services  of  the  patriotic  citizens 
of  the  Dominican  Republic  of  whom  it  has 
been  composed. 

Withdrawal  Plan  Protested 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  Domini- 
cans were  opposed  to  the  conditions  of  the 
withdrawal  as  laid  down  in  the  proclama- 
tion. Cable  after  cable  was  sent  from  the 
island  republic  to  Senor  Carvajal  in  Wash- 


THE  AMERICAN  EXIT  FROM  SANTO  DOMINGO 


815 


ington,  one  signed  by  the  various  newspa- 
pers of  Santo  Domingo  City,  exhorting  him 
to  "  protest  energetically  against  the  procla- 
mation before  the  State  Department,  the 
Senate  and  the  American  people."  Similar 
messages  were  received  from  the  Presi- 
dents and  other  officials  of  the  "  juntas  "  in 
other  parts  of  the  Dominican  Republic. 
Other  dispatches  intimated  that  the  popular 
storm  was  about  to  break  in  the  form  of  a 
mass  demonstration,  to  be  staged  in  the 
capital.  This  demonstration  occurred  on 
June  20.  An  enormous  throng  gathered  at 
a  meeting,  in  which  participated  the  Arch- 
bishop, members  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  Faculties  of  the  universities.  Demand 
was  voiced  at  the  meeting  that  the  offer  of 
conditional  withdrawal  be  refused.  A  letter 
embodying  the  protests  and  declaring  that 
the  Dominicans  would  assume  no  further 
obligations  than  the  convention  of  1907,  pro- 
viding for  assistance  by  the  United  States 
in  the  collection  and  application  of  the  cus- 
toms revenues  of  the  country,  was  handed 
to  the  Military  Governor  by  the  leaders  of 
the  demonstration.  » 

Moved  by  these  protests,  the  State  De- , 
partment  instructed  the  American  Legation 
at  Santo  Domingo  to  make  public  a  supple- 
mentary statement,  setting  forth  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  proclamation.  The  Govern- 
ment held  that  the  terms  of  the  withdrawal 
were  extremely  liberal,  and  that  all  the  con- 
ditions  laid    down   were   necessary   for   the 


best  interests  of  the  republic  itself.  In  or- 
der, however,  to  put  the  minds  of  the  pro- 
testers at  rest  on  certain  points,  it  issued 
this  new  statement  on  June  28.  The  main 
points  clarified  were:  (1)  The  Dominican 
representatives  to  be  empowered  to  negoti- 
ate the  Convention  of  Evacuation  will  not 
be  appointed  by  the  United  States,  but  by 
the  Dominican  Congress,  as  soon  as  that 
body  shall  be  elected;  these  appointments 
will  merely  be  ratified  by  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor. (2)  The  condition  laid  down  in  the 
proclamation  providing  that  the  Convention 
of  Evacuation  shall  validate  all  the  acts  of 
the  Military  Governor  was  intended  prima- 
rily to  insure  the  recognition  of  the  Domini- 
can debt,  including  the  loan  now  being  nego- 
tiated, and  in  no  way  implied  that  the  laws 
and  regulations  passed  by  the  Military  Gov- 
ernment must  continue  without  repeal  by 
the  new  Government.  (3)  The  proviso  for 
extension  of  the  powers  of  the  general  re- 
ceiver was  merely  a  further  guarantee  for 
the  payment  of  the  last  loan.  The  state- 
ment added :  "  Financial  conditions  through- 
out the  world  are  at  present  on  such  an  un- 
stable basis  that  it  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  obtain  funds  at  this  time,  to  give  addi- 
tional guarantees  to  those  which  were  de- 
manded in  the  past.  Should  the  customs 
revenues,  as  is  anticipated,  prove  more  than 
sufficient  to  meet  the  service  of  the  public 
debt  of  the  republic,  this  provision  will 
never  become  operative." 


NEW  CANCER  X-RAY  IN  LONDON 


MME.  CURIE,  after  a  seven  weeks'  visit, 
left  the  United  States  for  France  on 
June  24,  1921,  laden  with  honors  and  bear- 
ing with  her  the  precious  gram  of  radium 
which  the  women  of  the  United  States  had 
presented  to  her.  Before  her  departure  she 
expressed  her  firm  hope  that  cancer,  that 
scourge  of  the  race,  would  yet  be  van- 
quished by  radium.  At  the  very  time  of 
her  departure,  a  London  dispatch  reported 
that  the  West  London  Hospital  had  in- 
stalled a  new  X-ray  treatment  for  cancer — 
one  invented  by  the  Bavarian  physician, 
Dr.  Wintz — and  had  already  recorded  re- 
markable results.  A  demonstration  of  this 
new  process  was  given  by  the  hospital  on 
June  24.    The  apparatus,  which  cost  $10,000 


to  install,  was  attached  to  the  outstretched 
arm  of  an  upright  standard  machine,  and 
projected  over  the  patient's  bed.  The  con- 
trolling switches  were  in  an  apartment  shut 
off  by  a  lead  partition.  A  funneled  base 
was  lowered  into  close  contact  with  the  pa- 
tient's body,  and  around  it  were  spread 
leaded  rubber  wrappings.  The  rays  worked 
invisibly,  and  there  was  no  heat,  no  danger 
and  no  discomfort.  The  intensity  of  the 
rays,  it  was  said,  was  such  as  had  never  be- 
fore been  available  for  practical  work.  The 
hospital  authorities,  on  the  basis  of  results 
already  attained,  stated  it  was  their  hope 
to  effect  cures  in  80  per  cent,  of  the  cases 
treated,  one  condition  being  that  the  pa- 
tient had  undergone  »o  previous  operation. 


THE  RAPID    INCREASE  OF  DIVORCE 

By  Gustavus  Myers 

A  survey  of  the  phenomenal  growth  in  the  number  of  American  marriages  that  end 
in  shipwreck — .4  historical  summary  of  the  phases  through  which  the  movement  has 
jiassed — Official  figures  on  the  subject  for  the  last  fifty  pears 


AMERICA'S  black  spot  is  the  divorce 
court;  America's  disease  is  divorce," 
said  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mark  A.  Matthews 
of  Seattle,  Wash.,  recently.  Addressing  a 
convention  of  the  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Long 
Island,  on  May  17,  1921,  Bishop  Frederick 
E.  Burgess  recounted  how  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  produced  by  the  laxity 
and  rottenness  of  the  laws  of  marriage,  and 
he  commented,  "  This  low  standard  of  mo- 
rality in  Roman  society  would  seem  to  be 
fast  approaching  in  America." 

These  are  only  two  of  the  many  clergy- 
men who  have  been  trying  to  fix  national 
attention  upon  wThat  they  consider  our  most 
serious  social  evil.     The  outcry  against  the 
enormously  increasing  divorce  rate  is  not  a 
sudden  one,  nor  has  it  been  confined  to  min- 
isters.    Many  public  men  and  women  have 
uttered  warnings  of  its  growing  enormity. 
In  1918  an  important  hearing  on  the  sub- 
ject was  held  by  a  committee  of  Congress, 
but  the  war  absorbed  public  interest,  and 
the  facts  and  statements  there  produced  re- 
ceived but  little  publicity.     It  wTas  at  that 
hearing     that     the     Rev.      (now     Bishop) 
William    T.    Manning    of    Trinity    Church, 
New  York  City,  made  this  declaration: 
The  happiness,  the  safety,  the  well-being  of 
our  nation  depend  directly  upon  the  stability 
and  well-being  of  our  home.     Now,   there  Is 
one  menace  more  than  any  other  threatening 
the    life   of   that    institution,    and    that    is   the 
appalling  increase   of  divorces.     The  menace 
of  that,  the  danger  of  that,  to  the  life  of  our 
nation,    I   believe  we  all  feel.    *    *    *    It  was 
true   recently,   and   I   believe  it  is   true  today, 
that    the    number   of   divorces,    the   proportion 
of    divorces    to    marriage,    is    greater    in    our 
country    than    in    any    other    country    in    the 
world  that  calls  itself  civilized. 

Are  such  expressions  of  alarm  impelled 
by  casual  or  exceptional  conditions-?  Is 
the  huge  divorce  rate  in  the  United  States 
chronic,  or  has  it,  as  in  some  countries, 
been  largely  brought  about  by  extraordi- 
nary war  dislocations? 

In  England  and  Germany  the  Great  War 


is  authoritatively  represented  to  have  been 
responsible  for  a  great  impetus  to  divorce. 
A  recent  dispatch  from  England  said  that 
the  courts  were  overcrowded  with  divorce 
cases,  a  chief  cause  of  which  was  the  lone- 
liness of  women  during  the  long  absence  of 
their  husbands  at  the  front.  A  cable  from 
Berlin  tells  how  Germany,  not  so  long  ago 
pluming  herself  as  a  country  of  solid  do- 
mesticity, has  become  a  land  of  divorce; 
statistics  now  show  one  divorce  in  every 
eight  marriages,  the  majority  of  divorces 
being  granted  for  breach  of  marriage  vows. 
A  judge  of  the  leading  divorce  court  in 
Berlin  attributes  the  rush  for  divorces 
largely  to  war  causes;'  he  specifies  how, 
►  during  the  war,  there  were  many  hasty 
marriages  followed  by  the  long  separation 
demanded  by  army  service;  and  how  in  the 
absence  of  husbands  many  wives  living  in 
a  general  atmosphere  of  wartime  frivolity 
and  immorality  went  recklessly  to  excesses. 
This  judge  verifies  what  many  observers 
of  German  war  methods  suspected :  that  the 
unmorality  of  the  German  Government  was 
accompanied  by  a  widespread  breakdown 
of  private  morality.  Among  other  ways 
in  which  this  manifested  itself,  the  judge 
says,  was  in  "  the  shocking  lack  of  moral 
restraints  and  the  trend  toward  pleasure 
and  luxury  "  shown  by  many  women. 

Such  an  explanation  may  be  largely  true 
of  European  countries  engaged  in  a  long, 
desperate  war  tending  to  displace  all  nor- 
mal standards.  But  can  it  be  applied  to  the 
United  States?  Our  participation  in  the 
war  was  brief,  and  neither  our  national 
nor  our  private  life  can  be  said  to  have 
been  disarranged.  Moreover,  there  is  the 
striking  fact  that  long  before  the  war  di- 
vorces were  steadily,  ominously  increasing, 
and  that  the  process  has  been  continuing 
uninterruptedly. 

To  trace  the  growth  of  divorce  in  the 
United  States  it  is  necessary  to  go  far 
back.      Some   investigators,   and   illustrious 


THE  RAPID  INCREASE  OF  DIVORCE 


817 


^nes  at  that,  have,   in  their  veneration  of 
the   past,   been    misled    into    thinking   that 
divorce  is  a  fairly  modern  American  prac- 
tice.    Even   Bancroft,  the  historian,  wrote 
of  New  England:  "Of  divorce  I  have  found 
no    example."      Bancroft   was    wholly   mis- 
taken.    Had  he  carefully  examined  the  rec- 
ords  of   the    Massachusetts    General    Court 
during  the  Puritan  regime  he  would  have 
found    that    a    number    of    divorces    were 
granted,  mainly  for  desertion  and  bigamy, 
and  that  in   settlement  and   Colonial  times 
some  divorces  were  allowed  in  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  and  others  in  New  York. 
In  that  era,  however,  and  also  for  some 
decades  after  the  Revolution,  divorces  were 
not  numerous.     European  observers  travel- 
ing  in   this   country  noted   the   remarkable 
sense    of    independence    American    women 
had,  compared  with  European  women.     In 
many    European    countries    divorces    were 
forbidden  or  discouraged  by  church  canons, 
and  in  such  of  those  countries  as  allowed 
them,  they  were  expensive  to  obtain.     But 
in  addition  there  was   a  state  of  mind  on 
the    part   of    European    women    in    general 
which  prevailed  to   a   much  less  extent  in 
America.     So  long  as  the  husband  did  not 
complicate   matters   by  desertion   and   non- 
support  the  European  woman  was  inclined 
to  overlook  her  spouse's  lapses  from  virtue, 
and   to   a  considerable   degree  this  view  is 
still   evidenced   in   Europe.     The   American 
woman  never  tolerated  this  condoning.     If 
poor  and  friendless,  she  would  yield  to  the 
exigencies   of   the  occasion   and   continue   a 
union  that  she  resented,  for  the  one  reason 
that    there   was   no    other   course    that    she 
could    follow.      If    well-to-do    or    rich,    she 
would   seek    relief   in    separation.      Divorce 
was  then  an  unpleasant  extreme  because  of 
the   general    standard   of   the  times,  which 
viewed  it  as  disgraceful.     Church  influence 
also  was  strong,  though  not  predominant, 
and    its    tendency    was    to    regard    sternly, 
even  to  the  point  of  social  ostracism,  both 
those  responsible  for  divorces  and  the  divor- 
cees themselves. 

Two  events,  however,  brought  a  great 
change  in  the  attitude  of  many  American 
women  toward  the  problem  of  marriage  and 
divorce.  The  entry  of  women  into  industry 
gave  them  opportunities  for  self-support; 
they  were  no  longer  wholly  dependent,  and 
had  greater  control  over  the  question  of 
whom    and    when    they    should    marry.      If, 


when  married,  they  had  good  cause  for 
sundering  the  tie,  they  could  often  return 
to  their  industrial  jobs.  This,  of  course, 
was  not  conveniently  practicable  where 
there  were  young  children,  but,  on  the 
whole,  the  fact  that  many  women  had  the 
opportunity  to  win  their  own  living  gave 
them  a  greater  field  of  independent  action. 

In   the  "Woman's   Rights"   Era 

The  second  event  was  the  movement  for 
woman's  rights.  Manhood  suffrage  had 
been  generally  gained  in  the  United  States 
by  1828,  by  which  time  laws  restricting  the 
right  to  vote  to  propertied  men  had  been 
abolished.  Immediately  thereafter  came  the 
movement  to  establish  woman's  political  and 
social  rights.  One  of  the  pioneers  of  this 
was  Frances  E.  Wright,  who,  in  1829  and 
1830,  gave  a  series  of  lectures  in  many 
American  cities.  As  in  the  case  of  many 
radical  movements,  this  movement  went  to 
extremes  of  agitation.  Miss  Wright  did 
not  believe  in  marriage;  she  proposed  free 
sex  unions;  urged  that  children  be  sepa- 
rated from  their  parents,  and  called  for 
the  establishment  of  State  institutions  in 
which  the  children  were  to  be  placed  and 
reared.  The  American  people  were  not  at 
all  receptive  to  any  proposals  for  the  dis- 
ruption of  family  life,  and,  in  fact,  Miss 
Wright  herself  later  virtually  repudiated 
her  earlier  views  by  marrying.  But  under- 
neath this  movement  there  were  ideas  which 
increasingly  appealed  to  many  thinking 
American  women. 

One  of  these  ideas  was  the  right  of 
women  to  have  a  direct  voice  in  politics. 
Another  was  the  control  by  women  over 
their  property  and  wages.  Still  another 
was  the  effacing  of  the  double  standard  of 
morality.  Miss  Wright  and  other  agitators 
pointed  out  that  men  were  an  inexcusably 
privileged  class;  that  no  matter  what  their 
moral  transgressions  were  they  retained 
standing,  whereas  when  a  woman  committed 
an  infraction  the  whole  crushing  weight  of 
social  proscription  fell  upon  her.  "  Why 
this  discrimination?"  asked  the  woman's 
rights  leaders  of  that  day.  They  denounced 
it  as  thoroughly  unjust  and  demanded  its 
removal. 

Intelligent  men  of  the  day  realized  that 
a  new  era  was  setting  in,  threatening  the 
overthrow  of  "  man's  domination."  A  writer 
in   the   Knickerbocker   Magazine,   published 


818 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


in  New  York  City  (issue  for  August,  1834), 
told,  in  a  spirit  of  trepidation,  how  women 
were  beginning  to  demand  the  vote;  how 
colleges  were  beginning  to  admit  them,  and 
how  they  were  on  the  point  of  achieving 
other  rights  hitherto  held  by  men  as  ex- 
clusive privileges.  "  My  nerves,"  he  wrote, 
"  already  begin  to  tremble  in  view  of  the 
momentous  revolution  which  the  evidence 
I  have  presented  seems  to  indicate.  A  war 
of  rights  is  pending,  and  every  man  will 
soon  have  to  come  out  in  defense  of  his 
ancient   prerogatives!  " 

In  the  following  .years  the  agitation  to 
abolish  negro  slavery  became  increasingly 
the  dominant  issue,  tending  to  obscure  other 
questions.  Still,  the  revolt  of  women 
against  what  they  thought  existing  injus- 
tices went  on  energetically,  for  many  of 
the  leaders,  such  as  Lucy  Stone,  were  at 
the  same  time  agitators  against  slavery  and 
advocates  of  woman's   rights. 

Tn  1852  and  1853  there  was  another  or- 
ganized attempt — chiefly  on  the  part  of  men 
radicals — to  discredit  the  marriage  insti- 
tution and  to  substitute  free  love.  In  a 
notable  debate  then  published  in  The  New 
York  Tribune,  Henry  James  and  Horace 
Greeley  effectively  exposed  the  free-love 
propaganda,  although  their  points  of  attack 
differed. 

Divorce  statistics  were  then  unknown;  in 
all  Government  and  State  reports  the  sub- 
ject was  completely  ignored.  In  fact,  it  was 
not  until  1842  that  Massachusetts — the  first 
State  to  do  so — established  a  general  sys- 
tem of  marriage  and  death  statistics,  and  it 
did  so  only  after  urgent  petitioning  by  the 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
and  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 
But  no  provision  was  made  by  any  official 
body  anywhere  in  the  United  States  until 
many  years  later  for  reporting  divorces. 

Conditions  Seventy  Years  Ago 

Those  who  are  inclined  to  disparage 
overmuch  the  state  of  our  times  may  find 
matter  for  thought  in  Henry  James's  state- 
ment in  1852  that  there  was,  undoubtedly, 
"  a  very  enormous  clandestine  violation  of 
the  marriage  bond ;  careful  observers  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  an  unequaled  violation  of 
it."  James's  argument  was  that  this  arose 
from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  divorce, 
and  that  by  freely  legitimizing  divorce — that 
is,  by  making  it  easy  and  inexpensive — this 


immorality  would  be  reduced.  Greeley's 
opinion  was  strongly  the  opposite.  He  con- 
tended that  if  marriages  could  be  contracted 
and  dissolved  at  pleasure  it  would  intro- 
duce a  reckless  facility  and  wild  levity. 
His  further  comments  present  interesting 
facts  as  to  forces  then  busily  engaged  in 
trying  to  discredit  the  established  marriage 
institution. 

If  divorce  on  mere  application  were  per- 
mitted, he  wrote,  the  innocent  would  be 
sought  in  marriage  by  those  who  under 
strict  marriage  laws  plotted  ruin  outside 
marriage.  "  How  many  have  already  fall- 
en victim  to  the  sophistry  that  the  ceremony 
of  marriage  is  of  no  importance — the  af- 
fection being  the  essential  matter?  How 
many  are  every  day  exposed  to  this  sophis- 
try? *  *  *  The  free-trade  sophistry  re- 
specting marriage  is  already  on  every  liber- 
tine's tongue;  it  has  overrun  the  whole 
country  in  the  yellow-covered  literature, 
which  is  as  abundant  as  the  frogs  of  Egypt 
and  a  great  deal  more  pernicious.  It  is 
high  time  that  the  press,  the  pulpit  and 
every  other  avenue  to  the  public  mind  were 
alive  to  the  subject,  presenting,  reiterating 
and  enforcing  the  argument  in  favor  of 
the  sanctity,  integrity  and  perpetuity  of 
marriage." 

What  immediate  influence  the  campaign 
against  marriage  had  it  is  not  possible  to 
say.  Evidently  not  much.  It  was  the  agita- 
tion making  divorce  an  acceptable  idea,  and 
the  demand  for  laws  allowing  a  greater 
latitude  in  breaking  matrimonial  bonds,  that 
then  had  the  practical  effect.  There  was 
a  tendency  on  the  part  of  legislators  to  re- 
lax the  strictness  of  ancient  laws  concern- 
ing marriage  and  divorce.  Even  when  these 
laws  came,  however,  there  was  no  importu- 
nate rush  for  divorces.  An  article  on  the 
subject  in  The  North  American  Review  for 
April,  1860,  said  that  divorces  were  still 
rare. 

It  was  after  the  Civil  War  that  the 
doctrines  for  woman's  emancipation  began 
to  show  results.  Such  leaders  as  Victoria 
and  Tennie  C.  Claflin  demanded  not  merely 
the  suffrage  right  for  women  but  the  com- 
plete enfranchisement  of  the  sex.  What 
they  chiefly  meant  was  that  women  should 
no  longer  be  *  man's  chattel,"  but  should 
be  invested  with  full  rights  as  human  be- 
ings. But  their  views  were  often  distorted, 
and    they    were    made    to    appear    as    full- 


THE  RAPID  INCREASE  OF  DIVORCE 


819 


fledged  proponents  of  a  free-love  campaign. 
So  unpopular  was  their  campaign  that  they 
were  ridiculed  and  ostracized;  influential 
people  of  that  time  were  not  disposed  to 
tolerate  any  views  impairing  the  marriage 
relation.  Both  of  the  Claflins,  it  may  be 
said,  later  married. 

But  the  fashion  of  publicly  making  light 
of  marriage  began  to  spread.  So-called 
comic  papers  having  wide  circulation  and 
vaudeville  shows  abounded  in  jokes  and  al- 
leged witticisms  on  marriage,  while  serious 
writers  professing  to  have  a  mission  wrote 
books  and  plays  either  openly  or  adroitly 
attacking  and  mocking  marriage.  A  wit- 
ness who  hacl  made  a  study  of  divorce  tes- 
tified before  the  House  of  Representatives 
Judiciary  Committee  in  1918  that  one  of 
the  leading  provocations  of  divorce  had 
come  from  the  writings  of  extreme  radicals 
on  the  sex  question.  He  instanced  Ellen 
Key,  Bernard  Shaw  and  others  "  who  write 
in  all  sorts  of  unreason  their  story  screeds 
of  heathenish  devilment  against  the  per- 
manence of  homes  and  against  personal 
purity."  If  he  meant  to  imply  that  such 
writings  had  more  effect  upon  women  than 
upon  men  he  was  entirely  mistaken,  for 
official  statistics  show  that  on  an  average 
twice  as  many — and  often  more  than  twice 
as  many — divorces  have  been  granted  to* 
the  wife  as  to  the  husband;  and  although 
it  is  true  that  a  greater  percentage  of  di- 
vorces for  adultery  are  granted  to  men 
than  to  women,  yet  this  is  a  cause  in  which 
men  have  the  evidential  advantage.  And 
he  should  have  added,  in  justice  to  Ellen 
Key,  that  some  years  before  he  testifed  she 
had  written  an  article  virtually  repudiating 
her  former  ideas  and  explaining  that  the 
originators  of  the  woman's  movement  never 
imagined  that  the  ideals  they  had  in  mind 
would  degenerate  to  a  low  basis. 

Government  Investigations 

By  1881  the  divorce  question  had  become 
such  a  scandal  that  the  New  England  Di- 
vorce Reform  League  was  organized  by 
leading  Protestants  and  Catholics.  It  was 
made  a  national  organization  in  1885,  and 
its  stated  purpose  was  "  to  promote  an  im- 
provement in  public  sentiment  and  legisla- 
tion in  the  institution  of  the  family,  espe- 
cially as  affected  by  existing  evils  relating 
to  marriage  and  divorce."  It  was  at  the 
solicitation  of  this  body  that  the  United 
States   Government  made   its  first  investi- 


gation of  marriage  and  divorce.  This  re- 
port was  issued  in  1887-1888  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  and  covered  the  years 
from  1867  to  1886.  Another  report  was 
issued  in  1906-7  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Cen- 
sus, covering  the  twenty  years  from  1887 
to  1906.  In  July,  1917,  Congress  provided 
the  funds  for  another  investigation  from 
1906  to  1916;  unfortunately  it  was  decided, 
because  of  war  conditions,  not  to  cover  the 
previous  years,  but  to  limit  the  report  to 
the  year  1916. 

From  these  three  reports  accurate  fig- 
ures are  obtainable  for  the  forty  years  from 
1867  to  1906,  and  for  the  year  1916,  while 
the  figures  for  other  years  have  been  es- 
timated by  members  of  the  International 
Committee  on  Marriage  and  Divorce.  This, 
then,  is  the  result: 

DIVORCES    IN  THE  'UNITED   STATES. 
Year.  Number. 

1861,   estimated   7,114 

1862-1866,  estimated    42,979 

1867-1870,   counted   43,850 

1871-1888,   counted    949,746 


Total  for  thirty-seven  years 1,043,689 

The  further  progressive  increase  of  di- 
vorce year  by  year  since  1889  is  here  shown  : 
Year.                       Number.  Year.  Number. 

*1889    31,735  *1905    67,976 

*1890    33,641  *1906    72,062 

*1N!)1    35,540  U907    77,600 

*1892 36,579  |1908   81,700 

*1993    37,468  U909   85,000 

*1894    37,568  tl910   91,600 

•1895    ..... 40,387  11911    94,600 

*1896    42,937  U912    100,000 

*1897    44,699  f  1913    103,000 

*1898   47,849  U914    105,000 

*1899    51,437  11915    ,.  .  107,000 

*1900    55,571  *1916   108,702 

*1901    60,984  fl917    120,000 

*1902 61,480  fl918    125,000 

*1903    64,925  fl919    129,000 

*1904   66,199  |1920    132,000 


Total   1889-1920    2,349,419 

*Counted.     fEstimated. 

Thus,  from  1861  to  1920  there  were  grant- 
ed in  the  United  States  a  total  of  about 
3,393,000  divorces.  It  is  estimated  that,  as 
a  result  of  these,  there  were  perhaps  1,350,- 
000  divorce  orphans.  The  increase  of  di- 
vorce compared  with  population  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  1916  Government  report  pub- 
lished in  1919: 

Divorce  Rate 
Per  100,000 
Population. 

73 

84 

112 


Year. 
1870     .  .  . 

Divorce  Rate 

]'ir  100,000 

Population. 

:  .      28 

Year. 
1900 

1880 
1890    ... 

39 

53 

1906 

1916 

820 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


In  particular  States  the  increase  in  di- 
vorces in  1916,  as  compared  with  1906,  was 
enormous.  In  Oregon  it  was  109  per  cent., 
in  New  Jersey  120  per  cent.,  in  Idaho  150 
per  cent.,  in  Arizona  186.4  per  cent,  and 
in  California  207.4  per  cent.  Except  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  Colorado,  South 
Dakota,  West  Virginia,  Maine,  Mississippi, 
Alabama  and  North  Dakota  the  divorce  rate 
for  1916  was  higher  than  for  1906.  Recent 
statistics  privately  gathered  show  a  con- 
tinuous increase  in  divorces.  In  New  York 
City  about  500  more  divorces  were  granted 
in  1920  than  in  1919.  In  Providence,  R.  I., 
962  divorces  were  granted  in  1920,  as  com- 
pared with  718  in  1919  and  556  in  1917. 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  report  a 
great  increase  in  divorces  in  recent  years; 
in  Pittsburgh  there  was  a  25  per  cent,  in- 
crease in  1920  over  1919.  In  Detroit  3,715 
divorces  were  granted  in  1920,  an  increase 
of  700  over  1919.  In  Atlanta,  Ga.,  880 
divorces  were  granted  in  1920,  as  against 
770  the  previous  year.  Seattle  has  Jpecome 
a  notable  divorce  centre,  with  nearly  2,500 
cases  a  year.  These  are  but  a  few  ex- 
amples of  increases.  Only  a  few  cities, 
such  as  Baltimore,  Toledo,  Portland,  Ore., 
and  some  others  report  decreases  in  di- 
vorces. 

Chief  Grounds  of  Divorce 

Government  figures  show  that  desertion 
is  the  principal  ground  of  divorce,  with 
cruelty  second  in  the  list;  these  two  causes 
account  for  nearly  two-thirds  (65.1  per 
cent.)  of  all  the  divorces  granted.  Of  di- 
vorces granted  to  the  husband,  desertion 
has  been  the  cause  in  practically  one-half 
the  cases;  adultery  the  cause  in  one-fifth, 
and  cruelty  in  a  little  more  than  one-sixth 
of  all  cases.  But  of  divorces  granted  to 
the  wife,  the  most  frequent  cause  has  been 
cruelty,  with  desertion  next.  Divorces 
granted  to  the  wife  because  of  the  hus- 
band's adultery  constituted  7.5  per  cent,  of 
all  the  cases,  as  against  20.3  per  cent, 
granted  to  the  husband  for  the  same  cause. 
Drunkenness  as  a  cause  for  divorce  has  been 
a  minor  factor.  A  little  more  than  one- 
half  of  all  divorced  couples  had  no  children. 

Two  generations  ago  there  was  a  general 
although  not  invariable  reluctance  to  label 
oneself  as  a  divorced  person;  the  idea  was 
personally  and  socially  repugnant,  and  a 
permanent  stigma  was  supposed  to  attach 
itself  to  any  seeking  rupture  of  marriage 


ties.  But,  according  to  Bishop  Manning 
and  others,  a  wholly  different  concept  now 
largely  prevails.  In  his  testimony  on  causes 
of  divorce,  Bishop  (then  Rev.  Dr.)  Manning 
thus  described  the  change: 

Under  our  present  system  we  have  really 
reached  the  point  under  which  marria 
among  our  people  is  no  longer  a  permanent 
contract.  As  things  stand  under  our  pres- 
ent law,  it  is  a  contract  terminable  almost 
at    will. 

Further  than  that,  the  present  state  of  law- 
has  a  worse  influence.  It  tends  to  tempt 
people  to  procure  divorces  and  produce  situ- 
ations in  which  they  can  procure  divorce 
and  with  numbers  of  people  the  marriage 
contract  is  entered  into  with  that  in  mind. 
Divorce  is  made  so  easy  that  g>reat  numbers 
of  people  enter  into  the  marriage  contract 
with  the  thought  of  divorce  already  in  mind, 
and  they  are  in  a  state  of  mind  under  which 
on  the  most  trivial  grounds  and  for  the  most 
passing  reasons  they  ate  prepared  to  break 
up  the  home  and  seek  relief  in  the  dlvoi 
courts. 

Bishop  Manning  pointed  out  that  another 
great  evil  was  the  practical  effect  of  ktw 
in  allowing  the  rich  and  well-to-do  to  create 
a  domicile  in  whatever  State  it  was  easiest 
to  get  a  divorce.  This  the  poor  could  not 
do.  He  urged  the  need  of  laws  applying 
equally  to  rich  and  poor  and  making  it  dif- 
ficult to   obtain   divorces. 

Bishop  William  H.  Moreland  of  Sacra- 
mento has  expressed  the  same  thought  as 
to  a  certain  state  of  popular  mind.  "  Our 
young  people,"  he  said,  "  knowing  that  the 
law  permits  a  consecutive  polygamy,  en- 
ter the  marriage  state  with  the  idea  that  if 
disappointment  results  they  may  break  it 
off — and  draw  another  ticket  in  the  lottery." 
Bishop  Moreland  proposes  that  there  should 
be  a  uniform  divorce  law,  a  ten  days'  no- 
tice of  application  for  marriage  licenses, 
and  he  urges  the  education  of  public  opin- 
ion. 

At  present  our  forty-eight  States  have 
more  than  forty  different  codes  of  law  on 
the  subject  of  marriage  and  divorce.  These 
codes  allow  a  wide  vange  of  grounds  for 
divorce,  ranging  from  violation  of  the  mar- 
riage vow  to  bad  temper  and  religious  be- 
lief. South  Carolina  has  been  the  only 
State  that  has  not  recognized  absolute  di- 
vorce for  any  cause.  Under  the  incongru- 
ous and  conflicting  divorce  laws  in  opera- 
tion many  cases  occur  in  which  a  couple, 
married  in  one  State  before  the  divorce  de- 
cree allows  it,  are  branded  bigamists  in  an- 
other State. 


THE  RAPID  INCREASE  OF  DIVORCE 


821 


Though  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
divorces  in  the  United  States  has  its  dis- 
quieting aspects,  it  cannot  justly  be»  taken 
as  a  proof  of  a  corresponding  decline  in 
morality.  When  it  is  recalled  that  in  for- 
mer times  few  people,  whatever  grounds 
they  had  for  doing  so,  sought  legal  relief 
from  marital  unhappiness,  the  reflection 
upon  the  moral  standards  of  our  day  be- 
comes lessened.  There  is  good  evidence 
that   previous   to   fifty  or   sixty  years   ago 


there  were  abundant  lapses  from  domestic 
virtue,  but  they  did  not  culminate  in  legal 
action  so  as  to  leave  public  records  of  the 
fact.  On  the  other  hand,  in  more  recent 
decades,  it  has  been  the  almost  invariable 
practice  to  apply  to  the  courts  for  release. 
It  is  this  fact  which  gives  our  age  the 
appearance  of  having  degenerated,  when, 
if  we  make  a  real  comparison  with  other 
times,  present  conditions  are  not  so  dis- 
creditable  as   they   seem. 


THE  STORY  OF  A  HISTORIC  HOAX 


TN  a  London  charity  hospital  on  June  9, 
-L  1921,  there  died  a  man  of  74  years  who 
was  registered  as  Louis  Redman.  This 
white-bearded  old  man,  who  died  impover- 
ished and  forgotten,  was  no  other  than 
Louis  de  Rougemont,  notorious  twenty- 
three  years  ago  as  the  perpetrator  of  one 
of  the  most  colossal  hoaxes  of  modern 
times.  This  French  adventurer  arrived  in 
London  at  the  beginning  of  March,  1898. 
He  had  worked  his  passage  from  New 
Zealand.  Before  many  days  he  was  telling 
an  astonished  and  admiring  world  of  his 
marvelous  adventures  in  Australia. 

De  Rougemont's  story  was  substantially 
as  follows:  He  had  been  wrecked  among 
the  South  Sea  Islands  in  1864.  By  a  series 
of  accidents  he  reached  one  of  the  most 
desolate  places  in  Northern  Australia,  a 
spot  where  no  white  man  had  ever  been. 
There  he  was  captured  by  a  cannibal  tribe, 
among  whom  he  lived  for  thirty  years.  By 
sheer  force  of  personality  he  dominated 
the  tribe,  became  the  chief  and  married  a 
native  woman.  Adventure  after  adventure 
followed;  he  rescued  two  white  women 
from  a  fate  worse  than  death,  he  had  nar- 
row escapes  from  crocodiles,  he  rode  tur- 
tles, he  refused  a  harem  of  proffered  wives 
in  favor  of  his  "  Wamba." 

England  was  impressed.  Popular  mag- 
azines published  his  amazing  adventures. 
De  Rougemont  lectured  before  the  British 
Association.  The  French  traveler  became 
a  personage.  Fluent  and  ready  witted,  he 
underwent  the  ordeal  of  questions  without 
losing  his  composure.  Meanwhile,  however, 
expert  students  had  begun  to  find  flaws  in 
his  "  facts."  One  of  the  chief  skeptics  was 
an  Australian,  Louis  Beck,  author  of  books 
on  the  South  Seas.  De  Rougemont's  story, 
he    declared,    was    a    wonderful    work    of 


imagination  and  nothing  more.  Some  of 
its  features,  such  as  the  "  flying  wambats," 
were  grotesquely  and  obviously  false.  De 
Rougemont  was  called  to  the  office  of  The 
Daily  Chronicle,  which  describes  the  inter- 
view as  follows: 

He  was  a  remarkable  figure.  Slight,  gray- 
beardecl,  hair  brushed  up  from  a  high, 
wrinkled  forehead,  wonderfully  bright  eyes 
under  rather  heavy  lids,  he  was  a  man  who 
would  have  been  notable  in  any  gathering. 
He  was  invited  to  tell  his  story,  and  he  did 
so.  Then  came  the  cross-examination.  It 
was  conducted  by  a  member  of  the  staff,  a 
barrister  who  had  the  subject  at  his  fingers' 
ends.  De  Rougemont  broke  down.  He  be- 
came confused,  burst  out  into  a  passionate 
asseveration  of  the  truth  of  his  story,  then 
faltered  miserably  and  refused  to  say  more. 

Meanwhile  the  paper  had  kept  its  Aus- 
tralian wires  busy.  M.  H.  Donahoe,  a  jour- 
nalist in  Australia,  began  a  searching  in- 
vestigation of  de  Rougemont's  movements 
and  brought  the  truth  to  light.  The  man's 
real  name  was  Henri  Louis  Grin.  He  was 
born  of  respectable  parentage  in  the  Canton 
Vaud,  Switzerland.  He  began  his  career  as 
courier  to  the  English  actress  Fanny 
Kemble.  In  a  like  capacity  he  went  to  Aus- 
tralia, where  he  drifted  about  from  one  em- 
ployment to  another,  and  finally  worked  his 
way  from  New  Zealand  to  England,  where 
he  enjoyed  his  short-lived  fame. 

Those  who  knew  him  declare  that  he  was 
no  vulgar  adventurer.  He  told  his  amazing 
falsehoods  with  no  desire  of  personal  gain. 
The  student  of  French  literature  recalls  at 
once  the  famous  Tartarin  de  Tarascon  of 
Daudet,  whose  exaggerations  were  the 
effect  of  that  "  mental  mirage "  so  often 
encountered  in  the  South  of  France.  The 
exact  processes  by  which  de  Rougemont  con- 
ceived his  colossal  hoax  would  furnish  an 
interesting  study  to  the  psychologist. 


AMERICAN  CLAIMS  AGAINST 
GERMANY 

An  official  tabulation  showing  the  claims  and  losses  of  American  citizens  against 
Germany — A  total  of  $221,000,000,  exclusive  of  Shipping  Board  vessels 


THE  Secretary  of  State  reported  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  on  March 
2,  1921,  a  summary  of  the  claims  of  Ameri- 
can citizens  against  Germany.  The  claims 
number  1,253,  aggregating  in  amount  $221,- 
231,465.69,  and,  in  addition,  a  total  of  672,- 
618,713.46  Rumanian  lei;  this  latter  sum 
represents  claims  for  military  requisitions 
and  damage  to  property  of  American  citi- 
zens in  Rumania  at  the  time  of  the  German 
invasion  of  that  country  in  1916.  [The  lei, 
the  nominal  value  of  which  is  49.3  cents,  is 
quoted  now  in  New  York  exchange  at  about 
1  2-3  cents.] 

This  amount  does  not  include  any  claims 
of  the  United  States  Government  for  the 
loss  of  Shipping  Board  vessels,  for  the  pay 
of  soldiers  in  the  army  of  occupation  or  any 
other  strictly  Government  claims. 

The  report  also  shows  that  the  American 
property  located  in  Germany  which  was 
sequestrated  by  the  German  Government 
aggregates  in  value  $190,000,000.  To  offset 
this  the  United  States  Alien  Property  Cus- 
todian has  in  his  custody  property  of  Ger- 
mans sequestrated  during  the  war  amount- 
ing to  a  total  of  $400,000,000.  In  addition, 
the  Shipping  Board  reported  to  the  Hon. 
Tom  Connolly,  Congressman  from  Texas, 
under  date  of  June  16,  1921,  that  it  now 
holds  40  Germans  ships  of  a  total  of  352,887 
tons — 16  cargo,  24  passenger  vessels. 

The  official  report  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment is  as  follows: 

Statements   of  alleged  losses   and  claims  arising 
from  loss  of  life. 

Number.         Amount. 
Pre      war,     mainly     Lusitania 

claims    135        $15,865,756.02 

Belligerents   15  205,346.74 

Total    7150        $16,071,102.76 

Statements   of  alleged  losses  and  claims   arising 
from  personal  injuries. 

Number.         Amount. 

Pre-war     46  $1,761,316.41 

Belligerent   40  634,237.23 

Total     "SO  $2,395,553.64 

Statements  of  alleged  losses  and  claims  of  pri- 
vate owners  arising  from  the  sinking  of 
vessels. 

Number.         Amount. 

Pre-war 11  $6,604,487.96 

Belligerent 89  23. SOT, 270.17 

Total    100       $30,411,764.13 


Insurance   losses:     Losses   by    American    insur- 
ance companies   or   organizations    (including  the 
Bureau    of    War    Risk    Insurance),    as    reported 
to  the  department  up  to  the  present  time,  an 
follows : 

Pre-war    $34,349,900 

Belligerent     50,734,713 


Total    $85,084,613 

The  Treasury  Department  has  notified  the  De- 
partment of  State  that  it  is  desired  to  make 
claim  to  reimburse  the  Government  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  for  losses  paid  on  business  written  by 
the  Bureau  of  War  Risk  Insurance. 

Among  the  heaviest  pre-war  losses  of  this 
character  were  those  sustained  by  several  Amer- 
ican corporations  which  had  valuable  property 
interests  in  Rumania. 

GENERAL,  LOSSES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
GOVERNMENT. 

Various  items  nave  been  communicated  to  the 
department  as  losses  sustained  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  as  a  result  of  the  war 
which  are  not  included  in  the  general  summary 
of  losses  and  claims  as  set  forth  above.  These 
items  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows : 

Pre-war.  Belligerent. 
Cargoes,     United    States    Gov- 
ernment owned    $36,185,890 

War  vessels   of  United   States 

Navy    12,958,394 

Armed  vessels  requisitioned  as 

Naval    auxiliaries 1,566,964 

Department  of  Labor  expenses 
in  caring  for  German  offi- 
cers and  sailors 900,000 

Expenses     of      United      States 

Navy    re  same $26,477  

War  Department  expenses  in 
caring   for    prisoners   of   war 

in  the  United  States 3,305,300 

Expenses  Department  of  Jus- 
tice in  handling  enemy  aliens 

in  United  States 1,032,656 

United  States  Navy  expenses 
in  restoring  damaged  in- 
terned German  ships 6,9C1,285 

United  States  Navy  demurrage 
charges  in  re  damaged  Ger- 
man vessels 8,762,433 

Shipping  Board  expenses  in  re- 
pairing     damaged       German 

ships    8,584,942 

Relief  and  repatriation  of  sub- 
marined American  seamen...  50,000  200,000 


Total    $76,477    $80,457,864 


Grand    total,    pre-war    and 
belligerent    $80,534,341 


AMERICAN  CLAIMS  AGAINST  GERMANY 


823 


Property  belonging  to  many  Americans  was 
d  by  the  German  Army  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  both  in  Germany  and  in  the  countries 
invaded  by  the  German  Army.  A  great  deal  of 
valuable  American  property  in  Belgium  was 
either    seized   for   military   purposes   or   damaged 


or  destroyed  during  the  German  occupation  of 
Belgium.  Much  valuable  American  property 
available  for  war  purposes,  such  as  automobiles, 
machinery  and  supplies,  was  promptly  taken  by 
the  German  Army.  American  property  in 
Northern  France  was  also  host   or  damaged. 


CLAIMS   OF  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  AGAINST   GERMANY 

Claims   and   losses   which   may   be   readily  classified  are  herein  set  forth  in  summary,  indicating 
the   items   into  which   the   claims  and   losses  may     be  conveniently   classified,    the   number  of  claims 
which    has  been   filed,    the   number   which   is  prospective,   and   the   amounts   of   tjhe  claims   and   the 
alleged  losses. 
Summary   of  losses — statement   of  alleged   losses  or   communications   indicating   intention    of   filing 

claims    (without  accompanying  irroof). 


Num- 
ber. 

Submarine  warfare  451 

(Including  loss  of  life,  personal  injuries,  loss  of 
hulls,  cargoes  and  personal  effects,  war-risk 
insurance,  losses  due  to  submarine,  raiders 
and  mines.  These  figures  do  not  include  hull 
losses  for  which  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment may  be  liable  through  requisition,  nor 
insurance  claims  on  hulls,  except  by  Bureau 
of  War  Risk  Insurance). 
Military  requisitions  of  and  damage  to  property, 
including  that  in  occupied  territory 77 


Personal  injuries,  arrests,  detentions,  expulsions.        2 
Sequestration  cases,  damage  to  property  in  Ger- 
many,    including    loss,     use,     sale    liquidation, 
forced  loans    '   82 


Miscellaneous,  not  included  above, 


23 


Total  of  above,  as  stated  In  dollars 

Other  items  mentioned  above  if  converted  into 
dollars  at  ordinary  value  of  the  respective 
coins,   about   


Amounts.  ber. 

$110, 2,1  l,0n,S. 69    .........     411 

23,500  pesetas 

22,909.25    lire 

17,709.55    francs 

£13,701    


-Claims    Filed- 

Amounts. 
$23,321, 243. 6f 

£7,908 


$10,299,279.69    35 

6,842,599.05    marks 

1,419,388.91    francs 

13,580.05    rubles 


$5,439,539.41 
£2,932 

161,850  francs 
9,680.16  guilders 


55,650   pesos 4,500  marks 

£11,868    *1,016,422  taels 

(53,000   kronen 

f672,618,713.46  lei 

$200,000  2  $52,500 


$46,066,419.28    65    $6,075,986.05 

59. 000   francs 42,000  francs 

29,744,866.40    marks 496,874.95    marks 

£135.259    £2,800 

443,970.33    kronen 

$2,539,420.81    5    $5,238,646.85 

186,698.28  marks 


$169,359,178.47    $40,127,915.96 


107,390,560.10 


1,057,815.25 


Complete  total    635    $180,098,234.48    518    $41,133,231.21 

672,618,713.46   lei 

Grand  total  of  1,253  claims  and  statements  of 

loss     or     communication     indicating     inten-  

tion   of   filing   claims ...     $221,231,465.69 

672,618,713.461ei 

*A  weight  of  silver.  tClaim  for  German  destruction  of  property  in  Rumania  at  time  of  German 
invasion  of  Rumania  in  1916.    Stated  in  lei,  a  coin  of  Rumania. 

Claims  in  which  no  amounts  have  yet  beten  stated 37 

Statements  of  losses  and  statements  concerning  property  in  Germany  in  which  no  amounts  have 
n  given.     Many  of  these  may  become  claim  s,    particularly    those     based     upon     s*ub  marine 

warfare     858 

The  items  included  in  the  foregoing  summary,  which  comprise  the  principal  part  of  the 
amounts  claimed  or  losses  alleged,  are  loss  of  lif  e,  personal  injuries,  vessels  sunk  in  submarine 
warfare,  cargoes  lost  in  submarine  warfare,  insurance  paid,  and  premiums  paid  on  war  risk  in- 
surance. Further  information  regarding  these  lo  sses  and  claims  is  set  forth  below  under  their 
respective  headings.  In  the  statements  which  follow,  the  term  "  pre-war  "  relates  to  losses  which 
occurred  prior  to  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war.  The  term  "  belligerent"  relates  to 
losses  which  occurred  during  the  participation  o  f  the  United  States  in  the  war. 


y.*i 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


No  account  is  taken  in  this  report  of  the  ex- 
penses of  the  American  Army  in  occupied  ter- 
ritory  in  Germany. 

Monetary  losses  sustained  by  the  Shipping 
Board  on  account  of  sinkings  due  to  submarine 
warfare  are  comprised  in  three  principal  classes : 
(1)  Vessels  owned  by  Shipping-  Board  and  not  in 
service  of  army  or  navy,  (2)  requisitioned  Amer- 
ican steamers,  and  (3)  requisitioned  Dutch 
steamers.      (See   Exhibit   10.) 

EXHIBIT  NO.   11 
Recapitulation  of  American  steamships  and  sail- 
ing vessels  destroyed  by  submarines,  raiders 
or  mines  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

Typo.                                                   Number.  Gross  Tons. 
Steamships: 

Freight    steamers 66  251,302 

Tankers     » 14  06,335 

Freight  and  passenger 5  51,303* 

Total     85  368,940 

Sailing  Vessels : 

Ships    3  8,282 

BarKs  and   barkentines 7  7,271 

Schooners 58  43,010 

Barges 4  2,071 

Total    72  01,540 

Grand    total 157  430,489 

AMERICAN    INTERESTS    IN    GERMANY 

The  treatment  of  American-owned  property  of 
various    descriptions    in    Germany    is    a    possible 


source  of  further  claims.  Several  thousand 
American  citizens  have  filed  with  the  depart- 
ment statements  describing  their  property  in 
Germany,  and  giving  an  estimate  of  its  value. 
An  abstract  of  information  furnished  the  depart- 
ment regarding  American  interests  in  Germany 
follows  : 

Character    of    Property.  Estimated  Values. 

Real    estate $10,271,449.48 

Debts,    including    accounts    and 

bills    receivable 20, 207, 147.27 

Securities    67,183,750.55 

Deposits    30,951,549.20 

Miscellaneous    property 40,010,371.10 

Inheritances,       real,       personal 
and    miscellaneous 3,563,079.16 


Total     $101, 147, 340. 7<> 

By  an  ordinance  of  Jan.  11,  1020,  various  war 
measures  adopted  by  the  German  Government 
relating  to  enemy  property  in  Germany  were  re- 
pealed. 

Consequently,  while  American  citizens  since 
Jan.  11,  1020,  have  been  abl  eto  obtain  the  pos- 
session -of  real  estate  and  certain  classes  of  per- 
sonal property  which  had  been  sequestrated  by 
the  German  Government,  they  have  been  unable 
to  obtain  the  release  of  credits,  cash  and  de- 
posits. 

The  amount  of  claims  which  may  be  expect.. I 
to  result  from  sequestration  of  American  prop- 
erty in  Germany  is  as  yet  uncertain. 

Losses  by  American  prisoners  of  war :  By  ref- 
erence from  the  War  Department  some  613  cases 


EXHIBIT    NO.    10. 
United   States  Shipping  Board   losses  in  dollars. 
Deadweight  Date  of 

Vessel.  Tons.  Value.  Accident.  Location. 

(a)  Owned— Total  losses: 

Council   Bluffs 4,200         $840,000*00        Nov.  13,  1010        Sunk  by  mine  off  Terchelling. 

Florence    H 5,500  962,500.00        Apr.   17,  1018        Explosion      at      Quiberon      Bay, 

France. 

Lake   City 4,000  800,000.00        Oct.      3,  1018        Sunk  in  collision  off  Key  West. 

Lake  Placid 4,200  840,000.00        May  10,  1010       Sunk   by   mine    off   Bingo   Light, 

Sweden. 
West   Arvada 8,800       1,760,000.00       June  10,  1010       Mined  near  Dutch  coast. 

(a)  Owned— Partial  losses  : 

Englewood    7,323        1,464,600.00        Aug.  IS,  1010        Struck    mine    mouth    of    Thames 

River. 
Liberty   Glo 7,500        1,500,000.00        Dec.     5,  1010        Struck  mine  off  Terchelling. 

(b)  Requisitioned— total  losses: 

Alamanoe 5,300        1,103,883.33        Feb.     5,1018        Torpedoed      off      Maiden      Head, 

Ireland. 

Atlantic   Sun 3,800  626,728.77        Mar.  is,  1018        Torpedoed,    Atlantic   Ocean. 

Carolina    4,100  037,500.00        June    2,1918        Sunk     off     Delaware     Capes     by 

submarine. 
Pinar  del  Rio 4,060  776,071.23       June    0,1018        Submarined     off     United     States 

coast. 

Santa   Maria 8,300        1,483,529.73        Feb.  25,  1018        Torpedoed  off  Lome-.   Ireland! 

T>'ler    4.200  915,457,51         May     2,1918        Sunk    by    submarine    off    French 

coast. 
Winneconne     3,200  500,012.60       June   8,  1018       Sunk    by    submarine    off    Jersey 

(c)  Chartered     from     Dutch—  coast. 
Total  losses : 

Merak     •  •  •  •  -5.250        1,304,675.03        Aug.     (»,  1018        Sunk  by  submarine  off  Diamond 

Shoals. 

Tfexel   5.600        1,405,864.68        June    2,  1018        Sunk  by  submarine. 

1  eselhaven    6,293        1,524,069.77        Feb.   14,  1010        Sunk  by  mine. 


AMERICAN  CLAIMS  AGAINST  GERMANY 


823 


in  which  American  prisoners  of  war  lost  prop- 
city  in  Germany  or  suffered  other  injuries  or 
losses  while  prisoners,  have  been  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  Department  of  State.  The  losses 
submitted  by  the  War  Department  were  com- 
piled from  data  contained  in  the  affidavits  of 
tin  American  military  prisoners  who  were  held 
in  various  prison  camps  and  hospitals  in  Ger- 
many. In  addition  to  the  complaints  regarding 
loss  of  personal  property,  other  grounds  of  com- 
plaint are  cruelty,  neglect,  lack  of  food  and  med- 
icine,   ill   treatment,    insanitary    living  conditions 


and   enforced   labor.     These  cases  may   be  sum- 
marized a?  follows  : 
Number    of    cases    in    which    value    of 

property    is    reported 2SMi 

Total  value  of  property  lost  as  report- 
ed     | $12,560.08 

Cases  in  which  miscellaneous  injuries 
are  reported,  but  no  amounts  of  claim 

or   loss    alleged 4tH 

Cases  involving  loss  of  property  in 
which  estimates  or  statements  are  in- 
complete       11(5 


GREEK  MOBILIZATION  NOT  SUSPENDED 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  your  June  issue,  under  caption 
"  Greece  in  New  Difficulties,"  you  state 
that  "  in  Greece  *  *  *  mobilization  has 
been  suspended  and  martial  law  declared." 
This  statement  should  be  accepted  with  a 
reserve  similar  to  that  with  which  the  news 
of  Mr.  Venizelos's  triumph  should  have  been 
received.  Every  intelligent  newspaper 
reader  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  Greece, 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  has  been 
the  victim  of  shameless  misrepresentation. 
Reports  that  in  after-election  demonstra- 
tions in  Athens  pictures  of  the  former 
Kaiser  were  in  evidence;  that  Queen  Sophie 
invited  the  former  German  Emperor  to 
Corfu,  &c,  filled  the  columns  of  both  the 
American  and  European  journals  during 
the  last  few  months.  One  does  not  have  to 
be  a  genius  to  understand  that  such  pub- 
lications constitute  pitiless  murder  of  the 
truth. 

When  reading  a  dispatch  from  Athens 
one  should  bear  in  mind  that,  so  far  as  is 
known,  every  foreign  newspaper  corre- 
spondent in  Athens  is  either  a  Greek 
Venizelist  or  a  Frenchman.  Of  course,  to 
be  a  Greek  Venizelist  or  a  Frenchman  is 
no  crime.  The  fact  is  worth  mentioning, 
however,  for  it  shows  that  the  news  these 
correspondents  send  is  not  reliable.  Those 
who  read  Athenian  Venizelist  or  Paris  news- 
papers know  this.  They  know  that  under 
the  guise  of  a  narrative  of  events,  false 
information  is  being  presented  to  the  public. 
For  example,  the  Athenian  Daily  Patris, 
the  leading  Venizelist  organ  in  Greece,  pub- 
lishes frequent  accounts  of  alleged  mistreat- 
ment of  Venizelists,   only  to   publish   their 


denial  on  the  day  following,  as  the  Greek 
law  demands  that  a  refutation  be  given  as 
muck  publicity  as  a  charge.  It  is  amusing 
occasionally  to  see  denials  made  by  the  very 
persons  who,  according  to  the  Patris,  have 
been  the  victims.  By  thus  butchering  the 
truth  the  Venizelists — and  only  a  few  mili- 
tants, for  the  great  majority  of  Mr.  Veni- 
zelos's followers  are  patriotic  men — aim  at 
the  overthrow  of  the  present  Greek  Govern- 
ment. Mr.  Venizelos  does  not  approve  of 
such  methods.  Certainly  no  one  with  a 
grain  of  patriotism  would  approve  of  his 
country's  betrayal  for  the  sake  of  political 
advantage,  and  the  slanders  we  see  dis- 
patched from  Athens  are  scarcely  less  than 
treasonable  acts. 

No,  the  mobilization  in  Greece  has  not 
been  suspended.  On  the  contrary,  if  the 
entire  Greek  press  and  the  letters  I  receive 
from  Greece  can  be  relied  upon,  the  Greeks 
have  responded  to  their  country's  call  en- 
thusiastically. Though  it  is  true  that  mar- 
tial law  has  been  declared,  its  application 
was  made  necessary  not  by  the  Greeks'  un- 
willingness to  fight,  but  by  the  suspicious 
movements  of  the  Turkish  followers  of  Mus- 
tapha  Kemal  Pasha  in  Greece. 

The  report  that  "  Greece  has  asked  Italy 
to  intervene  at  Angora  "  is  not  "  worthy  of 
consideration,"  as  you  seem  to  believe 
(P.  520).  Mr.  Gounaris,  asked  to  confirm 
it,  vehemently  denied  it,  adding  that  "  such 
rumors  are  the  products  of  machinations 
calculated  to  impede  the  Government's 
task."  (Athens  Politeia,  April  25,  1921.) 
EFTHYMIUS  A.  GREGORY. 

Aiken,  8.  C,  June  11,  1921. 


THE  WAR  WON  ON  THE 
EASTERN  FRONT 

By  Gordon  Gordon-Smith 

Captain.    Royal    Serbian     Army 

A  clear  view  of  &olossal  blunders  in  strategy  committed  by  both  sides — Violation  of 
Belgium  was  Germany's  chief  error,  and  that  of  the  Allies  was  their  delay  in  striking 
on  the  eastern  front — Truth  emerging  from  the  dust  of  battle 


AS  the  World  War  of  1914  recedes  into 
the  distance,  much  that  has  hitherto 
been  obscure  is  becoming  clear.  The 
dust  of  battle  is  dying  down,  and  the  main 
points  of  strategy  and  policy  are  beginning 
to  stand  out  more  clearly.  But  so,  at  the 
same  time,  are  the  colossal  errors  com- 
mitted on  both  sides  becoming  more  ap- 
parent. On  the  side  of  the  Allies  the  great, 
the  cardinal,  error,  was  the  theory  that  the 
war  could  be  won  only  on  the  western  front. 
It  is  now  becoming  clear  that  this  is  the 
front  on  which  the  war  could  not  be  won. 
It  was  this  error  of  judgment  on  the  part 
of  the  French  and  British  staffs  which 
made  the  war  drag  on  for  over  four  long 
years.  » 

This,  of  course,  is  not  conceded,  even 
today,  by  the  "  westerners,"  who  still  re- 
fuse to  admit  the  capital  error  they  made 
in  rejecting  any  other  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem than  one  obtained  in  France  and  Flan- 
ders. But,  as  the  months  pass,  the  "  east- 
erners "  are  slowly  but  surely  coming  to 
their  own.  Their  numbers  are  not  great  in 
the  United  States.  This  is  only  what  might 
be  expected,  as  the  American  forces,  from 
the  time  they  entered  the  war,  fought  only 
on  French  soil.  It  is,  therefore,  only  nat- 
ural that  the  western  front  should  exercise 
a  sort  of  hypnotic  influence  on  their  con- 
sideration of  the  war. 

But  in  spite  of  this  the  easterners  are 
beginning  to  find  partisans  in  the  ranks  of 
the  American  Army.  Not  the  least  of  these 
is  Colonel  H.  H.  Sargent,  the  well-known 
authority  on  strategy,  whose  latest  book, 
"  The  Strategy  of  the  Western  Front " 
(A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  Chicago),  is  a  pow- 
erful indictment  of  the  errors  in  policy  and 
strategy  made  by  the  Allies.  Colonel  Sar- 
gent's works  on  the  campaigns  of  Napoleon 
are  classics  in  American  military  literature, 


and   the    present    volume    will    undoubtedly 
add  to  his  reputation. 

In  order  to  realize  the  astounding  errors 
made  by  the  Allies,  and  the  almost  equally 
extraordinary  mistakes  made  by  the  Cen- 
tral Powers,  the  causes  of  the  World  War 
must  be  kept  in  view.  The  curious  thing 
is  that  these  were  not  realized  by  the 
Allies,  especially  the  British,  at  the  time  war 
was  declared,  and  many  people  fail  to  grasp 
them  even  today. 

The  cause  of  the  war,  or  at  least  the 
causa  causans,  was  the  ambition  of  Ger- 
many to  be  the  master  of  Europe,  the  first 
step  toward  the  mastery  of  the  world.  In 
order  to  realize  this  ambition ;  the  first  thing 
necessary  was  the  creation  of  "  Mittel 
Europa,"  an  empire  under  German  leader- 
ship running  from  the  Baltic  and  the  North 
Sea  to  the  Persian  Gulf.  There  was  noth- 
ing impracticable  in  the  idea;  in  fact,  it 
came  within  a  hairsbreadth  of  being 
realized.  What,  then,  was  necessary  to 
realize  it?  The  union  of  Austria  and  Ger- 
many, the  support  of  the  Balkan  States  and 
an  alliance  with  Turkey.  The  union  be- 
tween Germany  and  the  Austrian  Empire  in 
1914  was  already  a  fait  accompli;  the  Aus- 
trian Emperor  was  practically  the  vassal  of 
his  powerful  German  neighbor.  The  Otto- 
man Empire  had  also  joined  the  combina- 
tion, so  that  the  two  main  parts  of  the 
future  world  empire  were  already  created. 

All  that  remained  to  be  done  was  to  link 
them  up  by  bringing  the  Balkan  States  into 
the  combination.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this,  Carl  von  Hohenzollern  had  been  placed 
on  the  throne  of  Rumania,  and  Ferdinand 
of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  on  the  throne  of  Bul- 
garia. The  Kaiser  had  made  sure  of  the 
support  of  Greece  by  giving  his  sister  in 
marriage  to  King  Constantine.  Through 
thirty  long  years  this  edifice  of  the  future 


THE  WAR  WON  ON  THE  EASTERN  FRONT 


827 


grandeur  of  £he  German  Empire  had  been 
built  up,  slowly  but  surely,  by  William  II. 
The  Kaiser  and  those  around  him  com- 
pletely realized  the  enormous  possibilities 
of  this  grandiose  scheme.  Once  it  was 
realized,  Germany  would  be  master  of  the 
entrances  to  the  Baltic  and  the  Black  Sea, 
the  Kaiser's  fiat  would  run  from  Koenigs- 
berg-in-Preussen  to  the  Persian  Gulf, 
Europe  would  be  cut  m  two,  and  Russia 
completely  isolated  from  the  rest  of  Europe. 
Without  the  permission  of  Germany  the 
Russians  would  be  unable  to  hold  any  com- 
munication with  the  remainder  of  Europe, 
except  by  airplane.  The  creation  of  such  a 
situation  was  equivalent  to  German  domina- 
tion of  Europe.  As  soon  as  it  was  effected, 
France,  Great  Britain  and  Italy  would  fall 
to  the  rank  of  second-class  powers,  accept- 
ing the  dictation  of  Berlin  and  allowing  the 
Wilhelmstrasse  to  impose  its  policy  on 
them. 

But  a  chain  is  strong  only  in  the  ratio 
of  its  weakest  link,  and  one  link  was  weak 
in  the  Pan-German  chain.  To  be  precise, 
it  was  missing.  That  link  was  Serbia.  This 
little  country  lay  right  athwart  German 
ambitions,  completely  barring  the  route  to 
the  Near  East.  For  thirty  years  nothing 
was  left  undone  to  crush  Serbian  resistance 
to  the  German  scheme  and  to  force  her  to 
enter  the  Pan-German  combination.  Every 
kind  of  pressure,  diplomatic,  economic  and 
financial,  was  brought  to  bear  on  her.  But 
the  statesmen  in  Belgrade  saw  the  danger. 
They  knew  that  once  the  Pan-German  com- 
bination was  complete,  each  of  the  States 
composing  it  would  be  completely  under 
the  thumb  of  Germany.  "  Mittel  Europa  " 
could  be  created  only  at  the  expense  of  the 
liberty  and  the  independence  of  the  smaller 
States.  Serbia,  therefore,  resisted  every 
effort  to  force  her  to  enter  the  combina- 
tion, and  as  long  as  she  held  out  she 
brought  the  whole  grandiose  scheme  to 
naught.  Her  destruction  was  therefore  re- 
solved upon.  When  this  was  accomplished, 
"  Mittel  Europa "  would  be  achieved,  and 
Germany  would  be  master  of  the  Eastern 
Hemisphere. 

Of  course,  no  one  in  Berlin  or  Vienna  for 
one  moment  believed  that  this  could  be 
brought  about  without  a  general  European 
war,  and  for  this  war  'Germany  was  pre- 
paring through  forty  long  years.  But  what 
will  amaze  future  generations  is  the  fact 
that   the    remainder   of    Europe   looked   on 


without  realizing  whither  German  ambi- 
tions were  trending.  Still  more  astounding 
is  the  fact  that  Germany  made  no  effort 
to  conceal  her  plans  and  ambitions.  Not 
one  volume,  but  a  whole  library  exists,  stat- 
ing the  aims  of  her  national  policy.  It  was 
perhaps  this  very  fact  that  caused  the  blind- 
ness of  the  other  powers.  If  Germany 
really  had  such  intentions,  they  argued,  she 
would  take  good  care  not  to  proclaim  them 
from  the  house-tops.  This  was  an  immense 
error.  The  German  Government  had  to 
have  the  whole  nation  solidly  behind  it  in 
its  schemes,  and  for  this  public  opinion  had 
to  be  educated  to  understand  them  and 
accept  them.  Hence  the  mass  of  Pan-Ger- 
man literature. 

Official  Germany,  of  course,  on  the  rare 
occasions  when  some  statesman  of  the  En- 
tente became  anxious,  always  washed  its 
hands  of  such  propaganda,  declaring  that 
the  various  writers  expressed  only  their 
personal  views,  and  that  these  views  were 
in  no  way  inspired  by  the  Government.  The 
ever-increasing  strength  of  Germany,  both 
military  and  economic,  rendered  the  possi- 
bility of  relegating  her  to  her  proper  place 
without  a  European  cataclysm  less  and  less 
likely,  and  all  the  European  statesmen 
shirked  the  task;  none  of  them  were  willing 
"  to  bell  the  cat."  They  accordingly 
"  carried  on,"  hoping,  like  so  many  political 
Micawbers,  that  "  something  would  turn 
up  " — preferably  some  kind  of  internal  re- 
volt in  Germany  against  militarism  and  ex- 
aggerated Pan-German  ambitions.  And  so 
Europe  moved,  slowly  but  surely,  to  the  in- 
evitable catastrophe. 

Meanwhile  Germany  and  Austria  care- 
fully scanned  the  political  horizon,  watch- 
ing for  the  favorable  moment  to  strike. 
This,  they  decided,  had  come  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1914.  In  the  last  fateful  days  of 
July  they  unmasked  their  batteries  and  the 
World  War  was  on. 

Why  Germany  Failed 

The  German  plan  was  simple.  It  was  to 
send  an  Austrian  army  down  to  Serbia  to 
crush  and  seize  that  country.  This  victory 
would  have  the  effect  of  bringing  Rumania 
(with  which  country  Austria  had  a  military 
convention  almost  equivalent  to  an  alliance), 
Bulgaria  and  Greece  in  on  the  side  of  the 
Central  Powers.  The  Turkish  ally  would 
join  the  movement,  and.  "  Mittel  Europa " 
would  be  realized.     This  would,  of  course, 


828 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


immediately  bring  France  and  Russia  into 
the  war.  It  was  the  role  of  Germany  to 
mass  her  armies  at  once  on  the  French  and 
Russian  frontiers  to  prevent  these  countries 
from  interfering  with  the  realization  of  the 
"  Mittel  Europa  "  plan.  The  Serbian  cam- 
paign, it  was  expected,  would  be  over  in  four 
weeks'  time.  A  huge  empire,  running  from 
the  Baltic  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  200,000,000  would  at  once  come 
into  being.  By  damming  back  the  military* 
forces  of  France  and  Russia  behind  two 
lines  of  entrenchments,  complete  peace 
would  reign  in  the  newly  created  "  Mittel 
Europa."  This  area,  behind  the  rampart 
created,  would  then  be  taken  in  hand  and 
organized,  politically,  commercially,  indus- 
trially and  militarily,  with  the  usual  Ger- 
man efficiency  and  thoroughness.  With  a 
monopoly  of  the  commerce  of  this  huge  ter- 
ritory, German  mills  and  factories  would 
find  enough  trade  to  keep  them  busy.  Life 
would,  therefore,  go  on  almost  normally 
behind  the  bulwark  of  the  German  and  Aus- 
trian entrenchments. 

Once  Germany  had  established  her  thor- 
ough grip  on  "  Mittel  Europa,"  s"he  would 
gather  together  her  forces  for  the  final  vic- 
tory. Every  available  man  would  be  con- 
centrated against  France,  and  her  resist- 
ance crushed.  Then  it  would  be  the  turn 
of  Russia,  and  the  Central  Powers  would  be 
masters  of  Continental  Europe  and  confront 
Great  Britain  on  her  island  stronghold,  but 
a  Britain  without  an  army,  with  nothing 
but  her  fleet  between  her  and  destruction. 
That  the  German  plan  was  not  only  possi- 
ble but  feasible  is  beyond  all  doubt.  In 
fact,  when  it  is  realized  how  near  the  Ger- 
man project  came  to  accomplishment,  the 
world  may  shudder  at  its  narrow  escape. 

Why,  then,  .did  it  fail  ?  For  this  there 
were  three  reasons:  a  military  miscalcula- 
tion, diplomatic  incompetence  and  national 
Prussian  arrogance.  The  military  miscalcu- 
lation was  the  misjudging  of  the  military 
strength  of  Serbia.  Instead  of  the  Aus- 
trian invasion  being,  as  Berlin  and  Vienna 
expected,  a  mere  "  promenade  militaire,"  it 
resulted  in  two  Austrian  defeats.  Twice 
the  army  of  Field  Marshal  von  Pojierek 
crossed  the  Danube,  and  twice  it  was  hurled 
back  in  confusion.  And  so,  instead  of  "  Mit- 
tel Europa  "  being  achieved  in  the  first  four 
weeks  of  the  war,  it  was,  thanks  to  the 
bravery    of   King    Peter's    troops,    still    un- 


achieved twelve  months  later.  There  is  not 
the  slightest  doubt  that  Serbia,  by  her  gal- 
lant resistance,  saved  Europe.  If  she  had 
given  way  in  the  first  four  weeks  of  the 
war  Europe  would  have  been  doomed. 

The  second  cardinal  error  was  made  by 
German  diplomacy,  which  assured  the  Great 
General  Staff  that  if  the  German  armies 
invaded  Belgium,  the  Belgian  Government 
would  confineitseif  to  a  protest,  but  would 
offer  no  active  resistance.  Not  only  did  the 
German  Army  find  itself  face  to  face  with 
the  forts  of  Liege,  but  her  action  at  once 
brought  Great  Britain  into  the  war.  If  the 
Germans  had  not  invaded  Belgium,  there  is 
little  doubt  that  Great  Britain  would  not 
immediately  have  entered  the  war.  The 
British  people  argued  that  since  1870 
France  had  foreseen  the  possibility  of  a 
fresh  conflict  with  Germany,  and  had  taken 
her  precautions  to  meet  the  danger.  Her 
well-equipped  and  well-trained  army  was  on 
a  war  footing  almost  equal  to  that  of  Ger- 
many. In  addition,  she  had  her  alliance 
with  Russia. 

If,  then,  Germany  had  not  gone  through 
Belgium,  Great  Britain  would  not  have  en- 
tered the  war  at  once.  It  is  quite  certain, 
of  course,  that  she  would  never  have  per- 
mitted the  defeat  of  France,  and  would  have 
come  to  her  assistance  if  this  threatened. 
But  this  intervention  might  have  been  too 
late,  and  France  might  have  been  crushed 
before  Great  Britain  was  able  to  throw  her 
weight  into  the  scale. 

Germany's  Chief  Blunder 

Germany's  action  in  invading  Belgium 
was  not  only  a  mistake  politically,  but,  as 
Colonel  Sargent  points  out,  was  also  a  mili- 
tary error.  Her  proper  strategy  was  not 
to  invade  France,  but  was,  on  the  contrary, 
at  once  to  go  on  the  defensive,  dig  herself 
in,  and  shut  France  up  within  her  frontiers 
while,  in  conjunction  with  Austria-Hungary, 
she  overran  Serbia  and  crushed  Russia  be- 
fore that  power  had  time  to  mobilize  her 
immense  but  slow-moving  forces. 

Colonel  Sargent  explains  this  solution  as 
follows: 

When  Napoleon  made  war  in  a  single  thea- 
tre of  operations,  it  was  his  invariable  rule 
to  take  the  offensive,  but  to  take  it  along 
but  one  line  at  a  "time;  and  had  Germany 
followed  this  rule  and  held  defensively  the 
French  front,  from  Luxemburg-  to  Switzer- 
land, and  then  united  the  remainder  of  her 
forces  with  those  of  Austria  offensively,  first 


THE  WAR  WON  ON  THE  EASTERN  FRONT 


829 


against  Russia  and  then  against  Serbia,  she 
couid  have  defeated  and  crushed  the  armies 
of  both  in  a  short  while,  and  then  could  have 
returned  to  the  western  front  and  with  over- 
whelming forces,  flushed  with  victory,  have 
speedily  invaded  France  via  Belgium,  as  she 
had  originally  planned,  or  overrun  both  Bel- 
gium and  Holland  and  conquered  France. 
And  in  the  meantime,  while  she  was  dispos- 
ing of  her  enemies  outside  of  France,  had 
Great  Britain  and  Belgium  declared  war 
against  her,  she  could  easily  have  held  her 
western  front  against  them,  since  neither,  at 
that  time,  had  any  army  of  consequence ;  and 
then,  upon  her  return,  could  have  gone 
through  Belgium  without  bringing  upon  her- 
self the  odium  of  violating  a  neutral  country. 

Since  the  front  between  Germany  and 
France  was  only  150  miles  in  length,  and 
was  protected,  on  the  German  side,  by  the 
River  Moselle  and  the  fortifications  of  Metz, 
and  just  back  of  them  by  the  River  Rhine 
and  the  fortresses  of  Strassburg;  and  since 
the  front  could  not  have  been  turned  by 
France  without  her  violating  the  neutrality 
of  either  Belgium  or  Switzerland,  or  both, 
which  it  is  certain  she  would  not  have  done, 
it  could  have  been  held  by  Germany  with  a 
small  part  of  her  combatant  force  while  she 
was  destroying  her  enemies  in  other  parts 
of    Europe. 

Had  she  followed  this  plan,  the  war  at  most 
would  have  lasted  but  two  years,  and  prob- 
ably not  so  long  as  that.  Had  she  followed 
this  plan,  Great  Britain,  in  all  probability, 
would  not  have'  declared  war  against  her  at 
the  beginning ;  for  it  was  the  violation  of 
Belgium's  neutrality  which  brought  Great 
Britain  immediately  into  the  war.  Had  Ger- 
many followed  this  plan,  she  would  not  have 
turned  the  good  opinion  of  the  world  against 
her  at  the  start.  And  it  was  all  so  easy, 
had  Germany  had  any  strategical  foresight; 
but,  being  obsessed  with  the  idea  that  she 
must  take  the  offensive  at  the  very  start 
against  France,  and  having  worked  out  plans 
along  these  lines  for  years,  and  believing 
that  she  could  conquer  France  in  this  way 
as  she  had  done  in  1870,  and  failing  to  see 
that  Russia's  entrance  into  the  war  in  1914 
made  the  strategical  situation  vastly  differ- 
ent from  what  it  was  in  1870,  she  swept  for- 
ward to  her  ultimate  defeat. 

This  mistake,  this  lack  of  strategical  fore- 
sight, this  stupendous  blunder  by  the  Ger- 
man General  Staff  was  appalling,  calamitous, 
for  the  Central  Powers.  It  turned  what 
should  have  been  a  short  war  into  a  long 
one.  It  cost  the  Central  Powers  billions  of 
dollars  and  millions  of  men.  It  brought  the 
young  giant,  America,  into  the  war  against 
them,  and  arrayed  against  them  a  world  in 
arms.  And,  what  from  a  German  point  of 
view  is  most  catastrophic  of  all,  it  has,  along 
with  several  subsequent  strategical  blunders, 
resulted  in  Germany's  practical  annihilation 
as  a  great  military  power. 

This  mistake  in  strategy  was  the  direct 
result  of  Prussian  national  arrogance.    At 


the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  German  mili- 
tary authorities  announced  that  they  were 
going  to  capture  and  occupy  Paris.  This 
spectacular  but  strategically  quite  unneces- 
sary exploit  proved  Germany's  undoing.  In- 
stead of  halting  her  armies  at  the  frontier, 
digging  herself  in,  and  turning  her  atten- 
tion to  more  pressing  affairs,  she  pushed  on 
— to  the  battle  of  the  Marne.  There  she  got  a 
"  wolf  by  the  ear  "  and  dared  not  let  go. 
So,  when  Austria  proved  unable  to  over- 
come Serbia,  Germany,  in  death  grips  with 
the  armies  of  General  Joffre,  could  not 
spare  the  troops  necessary  to  go  down  and 
"  clean  up  "  Serbia.  She  had  lost  the  direc- 
tion of  the  war,  and  did  not  regain  it  for 
twelve  long  months. 

The  immediate  realization  of  "  Mittel 
Europa  "  had,  for  the  moment,  to  be  aban- 
doned, until  Germany  had  so  developed  her 
strength  as  to  be  able  to  resume  the  execu- 
tion of  the  plan.  But  the  Allies  should  have 
understood  that  its  execution  was  merely 
deferred  and  not  abandoned. 

Blunder  of  the  Allies 

It  is  true  that  the  British  had  one  sound 
strategic  inspiration.  Having  forced  Ger- 
many to  the  defensive  in  the  west,  the  Allies 
prepared  to  strike  at  the  other  extremity  of 
"  Mittel  Europa,"  and  attacked  Turkey. 
Though  the  execution  of  the  Gallipoli  at- 
tack was  faulty,  the  strategy  was  sound. 
It  was  obvious  that  if  Turkey  could  be 
put  out  of  business  and  free  communication 
with  Russia  established  via  the  Black  Sea, 
an  allied  victory  was  in  sight.  So  obvious 
was  this  that  one  would  have  thought  it 
equally  obvious  that  Germany,  her  very  life 
threatened,  would  leave  nothing  undone  to 
prevent  the  success  of  the  attack  on  Galli- 
poli, and  would  herself  drive  down  through 
the  Balkans  to  the  help  of  Turkey. 

Here  once  more  Serbia  was  called  upon 
to  play  her  heroic  role.  But  this  time  the 
effort  was  beyond  her  unaided  strength. 
She  therefore  appealed  to  the  Allies  for 
help,  asking  them  to  send  250,000  men  to 
the  Danube  front  to  help  to  oppose  the  Ger- 
man Army  then  massing  in  Hungary.  This 
request  was  refused,  the  astounding  reason 
being  given  that  no  reinforcements  were 
necessary,  as  Bulgaria  was  coming  in  on  the 
side  of  the  Allies,  and  would  march  on  Con- 
stantinople to  administer  the  coup  de  grace 
to  Turkey.    Serbia,  with  her  300,000  men, 


830 


THE  NEW  YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


could  always  hold  the  Danube  front  against 
the  German  attack. 

And  so,  by  this  extraordinary  aberration 
of  allied  diplomacy,  the  destinies  of  the 
world  came  to  Sofia  for  decision,  and  the 
German-bom  Ferdinand  of  Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha,  King  of  Bulgaria,  was  the  arbiter. 
If  he  joined  the  Allies,  Germany's  doom  was 
sealed;  if  he  declared  against  them,  "  Mittel 
Europa  "  loomed  large  and  the  Allies  would 
have  their  backs  to  the  wall  and  would  be 
fighting  for  their  very  existence.  The  story 
of  the  months  of  July,  August  and  Septem- 
ber, 1915,  forms  the  most  shameful  page 
for  the  Allies  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
war,  as  it  reveals  an  infirmity  of  purpose, 
a  want  of  political  knowledge  and  a  diplo- 
matic incompetence  unique  in  history.  Then 
followed  von  Mackensen's  short  but  brilliant 
campaign  in  Serbia;  King  Peter's  armies 
were  driven  into  the  desolation  of  Albania, 
and  Germany  joined  hands  with  Bulgaria. 
This  instantly  and  automatically  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  Gallipoli  expedition, 
followed  by  General  Townshend's  surrender 
in  Mesopotamia.  The  German  plan  for 
"  Mittel  Europa  "  was,  at  last,  almost  tri- 
umphant. 

I  say  "  almost,"  because  there  was  still 
one  menace  to  its  existence.  This  was  the 
army  on  the  Saloniki  front.  There  .the 
Allies  still  maintained  a  precarious  footing, 
and  as  long  as  the  Army  of  the  Orient  was 
in  being,  Germany's  lifeline,  the  Berlin- 
Constantinople  Railway,  was  menaced.  Any 
successful  offensive  by  the  Saloniki  force 
would  once  more  isolate  Turkey. 

One  would  have  thought  that  the  great, 
the  overwhelming  results  of  a  successful 
campaign  on  the  Saloniki  front  would  have 
been  patent  to  the  meanest  intelligence. 
But  it  was  not  so.  To  the  British  Imperial 
Staff  the  Saloniki  front  was  anathema,  and 
though  the  French  General  Staff  realized 
its  possibilities,  there  was  at  that  time  no 
unity  of  command,  and  the  French  were 
unable  to  shake  the  British  opposition. 
France  could  spare  no  men  to  reinforce  the 
Saloniki  front,  and  as  Great  Britain  refused 
to  furnish  them,  the  Army  of  the  Orient 
for  two  long  years  melted  away  from  ma- 
laria in  almost  complete  inaction. 

Of  course,  a  certain  number  of  men  who 
understood  the  real  situation  realized  the 
colossal  error  that  was  being  committed, 
but  so  long  as  General  Sir  William  Robert- 


son was  Chief  of  the  Imperial  Staff,  they 
had  no  opportunity  of  making  their  views 
heard.  The  Imperial  Staff  got  rid  of  all 
the  newspaper  correspondents  at  the  Sa- 
loniki front,  except  two,  who  were  prac- 
tically official,  and  made  ruthless  use  of 
the  censorship  in  London  to  suppress  all 
reference  to  Saloniki. 

And  yet,  as  Colonel  Sargent  points  out, 
the  Balkans  were  the  "  Achilles  heel  "  of 
the  Central  Powers,  the  one  point  where 
they  were  vulnerable.  While  at  the  Army 
War  College  in  Washington  Colonel  Sargent 
addressed  a  series  of  memoranda  to  the 
War  Plans  Division  of  the  General  Staff, 
advocating  a  strong  reinforcement  of  the 
Army  of  the  Orient  by  American  troops, 
with  a  view  to  an  energetic  offensive.  His 
views,  as  was  to  be  expected,  were  com- 
bated by  the  British  Imperial  Staff. 

War  Won  in  the  East 

But  he  was  brilliantly  vindicated.  After 
the  appointment  of  Marshal  Foch  to  the 
supreme  command,  and  the  elimination  of 
General  Sir  William  Robertson  and  the  out- 
and-out  "  westerners  "  from  the  British  Im- 
perial Staff,  the  Saloniki  front  came  to  its 
own.  The  Army  of  the  Orient  was  strongly 
reinforced  and  placed  under  the  command 
of  General  Franchet  d'Esperey,  who  under- 
took a  strong  effensive.  And  then  took 
place  what  everybody  who  knew  the  situa- 
tion had  foretold.  On  Sept.  15,  1918,  the 
Second  Serbian  Army  attacked  the  Bul- 
garian centre  at  Dobra  Polie  and  drove  it 
in.  Through  the  breach  thus  made  poured 
the  whole  of  the  Army  of  the  Orient,  and 
in  ten  days  Bulgaria  was  out  of  the  war. 

Colonel  Sargent  describes  the  effect  of 
the  allied  successes  thus: 

The  allied  victory  in  the  Balkans  not  only 
disposed  of  Bulgaria,  but  it  separated  Turkey 
from  Germany  and  Austria,  severed  the  Ber- 
lin-Constantinople-Bagdad Railway,  cut  in 
two  the  great  theatre  of  operations  of  the 
Central  Powers,  and  laid  open  to  attack  the 
communications  of  the  Austrian  Army  in 
Italy  and  of  the  Germany  Army  on  the  west- 
ern front.  Coming  as  it  did  right  on  the 
heels  of  General  Allenby's  great  victory  in 
Palestine  against  the  Turks,  and  just  at  the 
time  when  Foch,  on  the  western  front,  was 
beginning  to  make  great  breaches  in  the  Hin- 
denburg  line,  it  was  a  lethal  blow  to  Ger- 
many which  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Central 
Powers.  It  meant  that  Germany  had  lost  the 
war;  for,  from  the  beginning,  the  strategical 
and  vital  centre  of  the  whole  theatre  of  war 


THE  WAR  WON  ON  THE  EASTERN  FRONT 


831 


had  been  in  the  Balkans;  and  just  as  soon 
as  the  Saloniki  army  was  sufficiently  rein- 
forced to  make  a  successful  campaign  against 
the  Bulgarians  and  cut  the  Berlin-Constan- 
tinople-Bagdad Railway,  over  which  the 
Turks  were  obtaining  munitions  of  war  from 
Germany,  while  Germany  and  Austria  were 
getting  cotton  and  other  supplies  from  Asia 
Minor,  the  entire  scheme  of  the  defense  of 
the  Central  Powers  fell  to  pieces  like  a  house 
of  cards. 

The  reasons  were  these :  With  the  Turks 
deprived  of  munitions  of  war,  and  this  de- 
privation coming  immediately  after  General 
Allenby's  masterly  movements  against  them 
in  Palestine,  they  had  no  alternative  but  to 
withdraw  from  the  war  and  seek  such  favor- 
able terms  as  they  could  obtain.  This  left 
the  Saloniki  army  free  to  move  northward 
into  Austria,  where  it  was  certain  to  be  re- 
inforced by  many  Jugoslavs  and  Rumanians, 
who  were  ready  and  anxious  to  join  with  the 
Allies  in  striking  a  powerful  blow  against 
Austria  and  Germany.  Such  an  advance 
into  Austria  through  Budapest  to  Vienna 
would  cut  the  communications  of  the  Aus- 
trian Army  in  Italy— the  only  army  of  any 
consequence  left  to  Austria — deprive  it  of  its 
supplies  and  compel  its  surrender.  Indeed, 
the  mere  threat  of  such  an  advance  upon  its 
communications  kept  it  in  such  a  state  of 
demoralization  that,  when  attacked  about 
three  weeks  later  by  the  Italian  Army,  it  was 
easily  driven  from  its  strong  defensive  posi- 
tions and   almost  destroyed. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  Napoleon's  march  down  the  Danube  in 
1805  and  seizure  of  the  Austrian  capital, 
after  capturing  an  Austrian  army  under 
General  Mack  at  Ulm,  paralyzed  the  opera- 
ti  _»ns  of  the  Austrian  Army  under  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  in  Italy  and  caused  him  to  fall 
back  before  Massena  upon  "Vienna;  and  that 
Napoleon's  great  victory  over  the  Austrian 
and  Russian  Armies  at  Austerlitz  a  few  days 
later,  not  only  resulted  in  the  reconquering  of 
Italy,  but  compelled  both  Russia  and  Austria 
to  sue  for  peace.  So  in  this  war,  as  in  the 
days  of  Napoleon,  a  successful  battle  fought 
by  the  Allies  in  the  vicinity  of  Vienna  would 
have  conquered  for  them  all  Northern  Italy. 

Austria  once  defeated  and  out  of  the  war, 
the  way  would  be  left  open  for  the  Saloniki 
and  Italian  armies  to  unite  and  attack  Ger- 
many from  the  south.  Such  an  attack  would 
not  only  deprive  her  of  the  wheat,  oil,  plati- 
num and  other  supplies  which  she  had  been 
obtaining  from  Rumania  and  the  Ukraine, 
but,  when  pushed  northward,  would  destroy 
or  threaten  the  communications  of  her  army 
on  the  western  front  with  Berlin  and  other 
important  German  cities.  Moreover,  an  ad- 
vance from  Vienna  through  the  friendly  ter- 
ritory of  Bohemia  would  bring  the  allied 
army  almost  to  Dresden  and  within  125  miles 
of  Berlin.  Such  an  invasion  of  her  territory 
would  mean,  of  course,  the  destruction  of  her 
railways,  canals  and  cities;  the  blowing  up 
of  her  bridges  and  munition  plants  and  the 
laying  waste  of  her  fields.     And  there  would 


be  no  way  to  prevent  it,  for  she  could  not 
detach  for  this  purpose  any  troops  from  the 
western  front,  since  she  was  not  then  able 
to  hold  her  own  there.  Even  had  troops 
been  available,  she  could  not  continue  to  feed 
them  and  her  own  people  with  the  British 
blockading  her  northern  coasts  and  her 
sources  of  supply  to  the  south  destroyed. 
Seeing  that  all  this  would  mean  the  bring- 
ing home  to  her  people  the  ruin  and  desola- 
tion of  war  and,  finally,  the  inevitable  anni- 
hilation or  capture  of  her  great  army  on  the 
western  front,  she  realized  that  there  was 
nothing  to  do  but  to  make  terms  with  the 
Allies. 

On  Sept.  28,  the  day  following  the  request 
made  by  the  Bulgarian  Army  for  an  armi- 
stice, Field  Marshal  Hindenburg  and  Gen- 
eral Ludendorff  considered  the  situation  and 
decided  that  the  need  for  immediate  action 
had  become  imperative.  Accordingly,  on 
Sept.  29,  they  dispatched  Major  Baron  ven 
dem  Busche  to  Berlin  to  acquaint  the  German 
authorities  with  their  decision.  On  Sept.  30 
the  Major  met  the  Chancellor,  Prince  Maxi- 
milian of  Baden,  and  the  Vice  Chancellor, 
von  Payer,  in  Berlin  and  explained  to  them 
Hindenburg' s  and  Ludendorff 's  views.  On 
Oct.  2  he  appeared  before  the  assembled 
Reichstag  leaders  and  in  a  speech  made  clear 
to  them  the  military  situation  and  concluded 
with  these  words : 

"  We  can  carry  on  the  war  for  a  substan- 
tial further  period,  we  can  cause  the  enemy 
further  heavy  losses,  we  can  lay  waste  his 
country  as  we  retire,  but  we  cannot  win  the 
war. 

"  Realizing  this  fact,  and  in  view  of  the 
course  of  events  in  general,  the  Field 
Marshal  and  General  Ludendorff  have  re- 
solved to  propose  to  his  Majesty  that  we 
bring  the  fighting  to  a  close  in  order  to  avoid 
further  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  German 
people  and  their  allies. 

"  Just  as  our  great  offensive  was  brought 
to  a  stop  on  July  15,  immediately  it  was  seen 
that  its  continuation  would  involve  undue 
sacrifice  of  life,  so  now  we  must  make  up  our 
minds  to  abandon  the  further  prosecution  of 
the  war  as  hopeless.  There  is  still  time  for 
this.  The  German  Army  has  still  the  strength 
to  keep  the  enemy  at  bay  for  months,  to 
achieve  local  successes  and  to  cause  further 
losses  to  the  Entente.  But  each  new  day 
brings  the  enemy  nearer  to  his  aim  and 
makes  him  the  less  ready  to  conclude  a  rea- 
sonable peace  with  us. 

"  We  must  accordingly  lose  no  time.  Every 
twenty-four  hours  that  passes  may  make 
our  position  worse  and  give  the  enemy  a 
clearer  view  of  our  present  weakness. 

"  This  might  have  the  most  disastrous  con- 
sequences both  for  the  prospects  of  peace  and 
for  the  military  position. 

"  Neither  the  army  nor  the  people  should 
do  anything  that  might  betray  weakness. 
While  the  peace  offer  is  made  you  at  home 
must  show  a  firm  front  to  prove  that  you 
have  the  unbreakable  will  to  conthiue  the 
fight  if  the  enemy  refuse  us  peace  or  offer 
only  humiliating  conditions. 


832 


THE  NEW   YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


"  It  this  should  prove  to  be  the  ease  the 
army's  power  to  resist  will  depend  on  a 
firm  spirit  being  maintained  at  home  and 
on  the  good  morale  that  will  permeate  from 
home  to  the  front." 

On  the  next  day,  Oct.  3,  Hlndenburg  him- 
self appeared  before  a  -meeting  of  the  Ger- 
man Cabinet  at  Berlin  and  in  the  following 
signed  statement  set  forth  the  views  of  the 
General  Headquarters  of  the  German  Army: 

"  General  Headquarters  holds  to  the  de- 
mand made  by  it  on  Monday,  the  29th  of 
September,  of  this  year,  for  an  immediate 
offer   of  peace   to   the  enemy. 

"  As  a  result  of  the  collapse  of  the  Mace- 
donian front  and  of  the  weakening  of  our 
reserves  in  the  west,  which  this  has  neces- 
sitated, and  in  view  of  the  impossibility  of 
making  good  the  very  heavy  losses  of  the  last 
few  days,  there  appears  to  be  no  possibility, 
to  the  best  of  human  judgment,  of  winning 
peace   from   our   enemies   by   force   of   arms. 

"  The  enemy,  on  the  other  hand,  is  contin- 
ually throwing  new  and  fresh  reserves  into 
the  fight. 

"  The  German  Army  still  holds  firmly  to- 
gether- and  beats  off  victoriously  all  the 
enemy's  attacks,  but  the  position  grows  more 
acute  every  day  and  may  at  any  time  compel 
us   to   take   desperate   measures. 

"  In  these  circumstances,  the  only  right 
course  is  to  give  up  the  fight,  in  order  to 
spare  useless  sacrifices  for  the  German  people 
and  their  allies.  Every  day  wasted  costs  the 
lives  of  thousands  of  brave  Germans." 

Accordingly,  on  Oct.  4,  1918,  just  five  days 
after    Bulgaria    withdrew   from   the   war,    the 


German  Government  requested  "  the  imme- 
diate conclusion  of  an  armistice  on  land  and 
water  and  in  the  air." 

This,  then,  was  the  situation :  Bulgaria 
had  been  defeated  and  had  withdrawn  from 
the  war,  Turkey,  as  the  result  of  the  anni- 
hilation of  her  Palestine  army  and  the  vic- 
tory of  the  Allies  in  the  Balkans,  had  become 
absolutely  powerless  to  continue  the  strug- 
gle and  was  making  preparations  to  sur- 
render. Austria,  with  her  whole  southern 
boundary  open  to  attack  and  the  communica- 
tions of  her  army  in  Italy  seriously  threat- 
ened, was  on  the  verge  of  complete  collapse. 
There  was  needed  only  one  more  thrust  of 
the  Italian  Army  against  her  already  par- 
tially demoralized  troops  on  the  Piave  to  de- 
feat, rout  and  dissipate  them  and  force  her, 
too,  out  of  the  war.  And  Germany,  her  armies 
short  of  food  and  her  people  threatened  with 
starvation,  her  supplies  from  overseas  and 
outside  countries  cut  off  and  her  territory 
open  to  invasion  from  the  south  and  no 
available  troops  with  which  to  stop  it,  knew 
that  she  was  beaten,  not  through  the  defeat 
of  her  great  army  on  the  western  front, 
for  that  was  still  fighting  without  showing 
the  least  signs  of  demoralization  and  was 
to  continue  to  fight  desperately,  for  a  period 
of  five  weeks  through  a  most  skillfully  con- 
ducted retreat,  but  nevertheless  beaten- 
beaten  by  the  collapse  of  her  rear,  brought 
about  by  the  great  blow  in  the  Balkans. 

Thus  the  World  War,  which  began  in  the 
Balkans,  for  the  possession  of  the  Balkans, 
ended  in  the  Balkans. 


WHY  FRENCH  CANADA  FEARS  THE  CENSUS 


THE  main  reason  why  the  French  Cana- 
dian population  fears  the  decennial 
census,  which  was  being  taken  when  these 
pages  went  to  press,  is  well  known  to  all 
Canadians.  Under  the  British  North  Amer- 
ican act,  which  established  the  Constitution 
of  the  Dominion,  it  was  provided  that  the 
Province  of  Quebec  should  have  sixty-five 
seats  in  the  House  of  Commons,  while  the 
representation  of  the  other  provinces  was 
to  depend  on  the  electoral  quotient  of  Que- 
bec, or,  in  other  words,  on  the  total  popu- 
lation divided  by  sixty-five.  It  is  no  secret 
that  the  other  provinces,  especially  those  in 
the  west,  are  gaining  population  at  a  much 
more  rapid  rate  than  the  provinces  in  the 
east.  But  whatever  the  increase  in  Quebec, 
it  will  not  increase  the  French  representa- 
tion. An  increase  of  representation  for  the 
other  provinces,  however,  spells  danger  to 
French  interests,  and  it  is  knowledge  of  this 
fact  which  makes  many  Canadians  anxious 
that  the  census  returns  should  show  the  full 
population.    In   this — according  to   a   Mon- 


treal correspondent  of  The  New  York  Globe 
— they  are  seconded  by  the  French  Canadian 
Church,  which  holds  property  interests 
rivaling  those  of  the  Mother  Church  in 
medieval  Europe,  and  which  fears  that  any 
change  of  representation  may  injure  the 
Church. 

A  complication,  however,  has  arisen  from 
the  peasants'  fear  of  conscription,  to  which 
they  are  constitutionally  opposed.  Fearing 
that  the  census  is  merely  a  recruitment 
device,  many  of  these  peasant  families  either 
avoid  making  a  complete  census  report  or 
falsify  the  report  so  as  to  make  it  appear 
that  no  member  of  the  family  is  of  military 
age.  The  French  political  advisers  are  en- 
deavoring to  combat  this  tendency  in  the 
press,  seconded  in  this  by  the  exhortations 
of  the  clergy  from  the  pulpit.  But  the 
French  peasant,  at  home  or  abroad,  is  an 
obstinate  mortal.  The  French  leaders,  there- 
fore, fear  that  the  census  may  bring  a 
diminution  of  their  Parliamentary  power. 


MME.  CURIE'S  FAMILY 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

After  reading  "  The  Story  of  Radium  in 
America  "  in  the  June  issue  of  your  maga- 
zine, I  could  not  help  feeling  that  it  was 
my  duty  to  correct  a  statement  contained 
therein.  I  have  reference  to  the  statement 
attributed  to  Dr.  Robert  Abbe  that  Mme. 
Curie's  father  was  a  Polish  Jew  named  La- 
dislaus  Sklodowski  and  her  mother  a  Swede. 
Being  a  personal  friend  of  Mme.  Curie's 
sister,  Dr.  Dluska,  I  affirm  that  both  the 
father  and  mother  of  the  illustrious  scien- 
tist are  Christians  and  Poles.  For  the  infor- 
mation of  Dr.  Abbe  I  may  give  the  follow- 
ing sketch  of  the  family  of  Mme.  Sklodow- 
ska  Curie: 

The  Sklodowskis  came  from  the  village  of 
Sklody,  Province  of  Lomza,  Poland.  Her 
grandfather  was  a  man  of  learning,  and 
held  the  position  of  President  of  the  gym- 
nasium at  Lublin.  His  eldest  son,Wladyslaw, 
was  the  father  of  the  future  discoverer  of 
radium.  Her  mother  was  Bronislawa  Bo- 
guska — not  a  particularly  Swedish  name,  it 
will  be  admitted.  There  were  five  children, 
the  eldest  of  whom,  Sofia,  died  during  child- 
hood; the  next  in  line,  Bronislawa — Mme. 
Dluska,  my  personal  friend — after  complet- 
ing her  medical  studies  at  Paris,  established 
and  is  still  managing  with  her  husband,  Dr. 
Kazimaerz  Dluski,  the  famous  sanatorium 
in     Zakopane,     Poland.     The     third     child, 


Helena  Szalayowa,  is  a  prominent  educator, 
and  Joseph,  the  brother,  is  a  very  well 
known  physician  in  Warsaw.  The  youngest 
of  the  five  children  was  Mme.  Marja  Sklo- 
dowska  Curie. 

Evidently  Current  History  is  not  the 
only  publication  that  has  printed  uncriti- 
cally erroneous  statements  about  Mme. 
Curie.  I  now  see  that  Mme.  Curie  has 
found  it  necessary  personally  to  take  up 
the  cudgels  against  the  falsehoods  dissemi- 
nated about  her.  I  herewith  give  a  trans- 
lation of  a  letter  written  by  her  in  Polish 
to  one  of  the  papers  in  Chicago,  namely, 
The  Daily  News: 

My  Dear  Mr.  Czamecki :  Due  to  the  fact 
that  frequently  there  appear  in  the  American 
press  articles  which  are  not  in  accord  with 
the  truth  so  far  as  my  nationality  and  re- 
ligion are  concerned,  I  herewith  request  that 
you  make  public  the  fact  that  I  was  born  in 
Poland,  and  that  both  my  parents  are  Polish 
by  nationality  and  Roman  Catholic  by  re- 
ligion. Both  my  father  and  mother  are  of 
purely  Polish  descent.  I  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Sklody,  Province  of  Lomza,  Poland. 

(Signed)     MARJA  SKLODOWSKA  CURIE. 

If  you  will  kindly  publish  the  foregoing 
facts  in  Current  History  your  courtesy  will 
be  appreciated. 

MRS.   LOUIS  CZAJKOWA. 

80    Garfield    Avenue,    Detroit,    Mich.,    June    23 
1921  (care  of  Polish  Consulate). 


THE    DJAMBI    OIL    CONTROVERSY 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

With  leference  to  the  Djambi  oil  contro- 
versy between  the  United  States  and  Hol- 
land, as  exposed  in  the  June  issue  of 
Current  History,  Page  405,  permit  me  to 
observe  that  the  last  sentence  of  the  pe- 
nultimate paragraph  contains  a  mistake, 
which  is  probably  due  to  wrong  translation. 
It  should  read,  "  The  majority  of  the  man- 
agers and  of  the  directors  are  to  be  Nether- 
lands subjects  or  residents  of  the  Nether- 
lands East  Indies."  This  latter  term  in- 
cludes aliens.  (See  third  paragraph  on 
Page  19  of  Senate  Document  No.  11  of  the 
Sixty-seventh  Congress,  First  Session, 
which  annuls  the  fourth  paragraph  of  the 
American  note  No.  62  as  printed  on  Page 


24.)      There   are   no   restrictions   as   to  the 
nationality  of  the  stockholders. 

You  may  be  interested  to  know  that  the 
Djambi  question  in  Holland  has  never  been 
made  so  much  an  international  issue  as  a 
point  in  domestic  politics.  When  the  pe- 
troleum companies  operating  fields  in  the 
Netherlands  East  Indies  began  to  pay  their 
comfortable  dividends,  attention  was  drawn 
to  the  desirability  of  keeping  those  profits 
within  the  country.  The  same  question  had 
turned  up  already  in  connection  with  tin 
concessions  operated  by  purely  Dutch  in- 
terests, so  that  this  movement  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  protection  of  Dutch  capital 
to  the  detriment  of  foreign  capital.  On  the 
contrary,  for  various  ventures  the  collabora- 


834 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


tion  of  American  capital  has  been  invited, 
but  with  the  exception  of  the  splendid  rub- 
ber plantations  on  the  east  coast  of  Su- 
matra, American  participation  has  been 
very  disappointing. 

There  exist  three  political  parties,  rough- 
ly speaking,  which  advocate  the  reservation 
of  the  mining  profits  for  the  Colonial  Gov- 
ernment, viz.:  (a)  the  ethical  party,  which 
preaches  that  the  Dutch  have  assumed  a 
guardiansip  over  the  natives;  (b)  the  fiscal 
party,  whose  standpoint  is  that  the  best 
method  for  the  Government  Treasury  to  fol- 
low is  to  exploit  domestic  resources  itself, 
and  (c)  the  Socialist  Party,  which  is  in  favor 
of  State  operation. 

The  result  of  the  activities  of  these  par- 
ties has  been  the  closure  of  the  Djambi  ter- 
ritory to  private  exploration  and  the  in- 
trusting of  researches  to  a  Government 
geologist.  As  it  was  considered  rather  dif- 
ficult for  a  Government  to  enter  into  the 
intricacies  of  the  oil  trade  in  the  Far  East, 
a  harmonious  solution  was  proposed  by  a 
contract  in  which  the  Government  would  ob- 
tain a  certain  part  of  the  net  profits.  Ten- 
ders were  invited;  among  others  one  Dutch 
company  offered  62%  per  cent,  for  a  cer- 
tain district,  and  the  Bataafsche  Company 
50  per  cent.,  while  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany merely  proposed  to  allow  40  per  cent. 
This  shows  that  there  was  no  discrimination 
against  foreign  capital;  the  American  com- 
pany considered  itself  automatically  out  of 
further  consideration. 

The  bill  embodying  the  two  contracts — 
for  62  V2  and  50  per  cent.,  respectively — 
was  tabled  because  of  a  slight  majority  ac- 
cepting a  motion  in  favor  of  complete  State 
exploitation.  This  decision  was  a  general 
surprise,  as  the  competition  had  been  held 
on  the  understanding  that  it  would  enjoy 
the  sanction  of  Parliament.  The  matter  was 
taken  up  again  by  the  Minister  in  1915.  As 
the  option  of  the  tenders  had  lapsed,  the 
highest  Dutch  bidder  withdrew  its  offer. 
This  resulted  in  a  suggestion  from  the  Co- 
lonial Minister  in  1917  that  the  Government 
should  establish  the  Djambi  Mineral  Oil 
Company  with  the  participation  of  the  Ba- 
taafsche Company.  In  1918  the  preliminary 
written  parliamentary  reports  were  pub- 
lished. 

To  a  neutral  observer  it  is  not  quite  clear 
why  a  foreign  company  which  had  been  a 
lower  bidder — just  as  there  were  other  na- 


tional lower  bidders  whose  offers  were  re- 
jected— now  asks  the  intermediation  of  its 
Government  in  order  to  obtain  a  place  next 
to  the  higher  bidder.  The  bill  as  passed  by 
the  Second  Chamber  embodies  and  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  original  principles. 

The  Bataafsche  Company  will  act  as  a 
producer  and  as  a  technical  partner  with 
the  Government.  In  how  far  the  sister  in- 
stitutions will  benefit  by  the  distribution  is 
not  certain,  as  the  Government  is  and  will 
become  an  important  consumer  for  its  va- 
rious enterprises,  such  as  the  State  rail- 
roads, which  are  already  experimenting 
with  American  oil-burning  locomotives,  the 
Government  scrap-metal  foundry  operated 
by  liquid  fuel,  and  the  automobile  services 
in  the  interior. 

J.  H.  MUURLING. 
Netherland   Imdian   Government  Intelligence   Of- 
fia     and   Produce    Sample    Room,    44    Beaver 
Street,  New  York,  June  14,  1921. 


Djambi  Oil  Bill  Passed 

The  First  Chamber  of  the  Dutch  Parlia- 
ment, by  27  to  8,  passed  the  Djambi  Oil  bill 
on  July  1,  providing  for  exploitation  of  val- 
uable oil  fields  in  Sumatra,  Dutch  East 
Indies,  for  forty  years,  by  a  combination  of 
the  Dutch  Indian  Government  and  the  Ba- 
tavia  Oil  Company,  an  offshoot  of  the  Royal 
Dutch  Shell  combine,  which  is  controlled  in 
London.  The  measure  is  now  a  law,  the 
Second  Chamber  having  passed  it  on  April 
29.  Under  the  bill  the  combination  will 
have  a  capital  of  10,000,000  guilders  ($40,- 
200,000  at  parity),  to  be  divided  equally, 
but  the  company  will  be  under  the  control 
of  the  Dutch  Government,  and  the  Directors 
must  all  be  Dutchmen. 

By  adoption  of  the  bill  American  inter- 
ests are  excluded  from  exploitation  in  the 
Djambi  fields.  This  is  Holland's  answer  to 
Secretary  Hughes's  notes  in  behalf  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company.  (See  Current  His- 
tory for  June,  p.  404,  and  July,  p.  687.) 
In  reply  to  the  note  of  May  27  the  Dutch 
Government  denied  that  its  act  closing  the 
Djambi  fields  to  American  participation 
was  contrary  to  the  principles  of  reciproc- 
ity. Moreover,  the  Dutch  Government  ob- 
jected to  the  representing  of  its  policy  to- 
ward foreign  nations  as  less  liberal  than 
that  of  the  United  States.  The  contrary, 
the  note  declared,  was  rather  the  case. 


GLIMPSE    OF    BEAUTIFUL    MOUNTAIN    SCENERY    IN    ONE    OF    THE 
PICTURESQUE    PROVINCES    OF    CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF 
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

By  J.  H.  Wallis 

Of    the    American    Relief    Administration 

Rapid  recovery  of  the  new  republic  from  the  depression  following  the  war — Problems  with 
which  it  still  has  to  cope — President  Masaryk  the  Czech  George  Washington — Present 
status  of  industry,  transportation,  finance  and  commerce — The  racial  problem 


TWO  years  ago  in  Prague  (or  Praha,  as 
the  Czechs  call  their  capital  city) 
there  was  a  building  known  as  "  The 
Dead  House."  Its  function  was  to  house 
dying  babies.  Into  this  "  Dead  House " 
were  put  sick  babies  from  1  to  2  years  old, 
whose  condition  appeared  hopeless.  There 
the  little  ones,  who  had  had  but  a  brief 
glimpse  of  human  life,  lay  till  death  took 
them;  lay  without  food,  without  medicine, 
cared  for  by  nurses  who  could  endure  for 
only  a  few  days  at  a  time  the  deep,  con- 
tinual horror  of  "  The  Dead  House."  There 
was  not  enough  food,  not  enough  medicine, 
for  those  who  had  a  chance;  it  would  have 
been  waste  to  give  it  to  those  condemned  to 
death.  That  is  one  picture — a  picture  of 
Czechoslovakia  early  in  the  year  1919. 

Here  is  another  picture.  It  is  Sunday, 
May  15,  1921.  Through  the  streets  of 
Prague  flows  a  great  parade.  A  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  farmers  make  up  the 
vast  procession.     They  are  members  of  the 


Agrarian  Party,  the  second  largest  political 
party  in  Czechoslovakia,  and  are  in  Prague 
to  attend  the  great  agricultural  fair  and 
exposition.  That  exposition  lasted  for  five 
days  and  was  visited  by  at  least  2,000,000 
people.  It  is  said  that  the  total  number 
of  visitors  who  came  from  outside  Prague 
for  the  occasion  was  300,000. 

These  visitors  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
Czechoslovak  Republic  and  beyond.  Two 
thousand  Ruthenians  from  Pod  Karpatka 
Rus,  the  tailpiece  of  Czechoslovakia,  the 
section  which  Hapsburg  misrule  left  greatly 
benighted,  were  in  attendance — an  encour- 
aging sign.  I  saw  a  large  group  of  swarthy 
Bulgarians  inspecting  the  machinery  ex- 
hibit, and  many  other  European  nations 
were  represented  in  the  vast  throngs  which 
attended  the  exposition.  Americans  who 
have  seen  a  big  State  fair  can  visualize  the 
appearance  and  nature  of  this  Czecho- 
slovak exposition.  Animals,  grains  and 
machinery  were  the  principal  exhibits. 


836 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  exhibit  of  machinery  was  particular- 
ly significant.  The  larger  machinery  was 
exhibited  in  the  open  air,  the  smaller  in  a 
huge  hall.  Americans,  who  thoughtlessly 
believe  that  all  the  world's  modern  farm 
machinery  is  manufactured  in  the  United 
States,  would  have  had  their  eyes  opened 
if  they  had  visited  the  exposition  at  Prague. 
Power  plows,  gasoline  tractors  of  various 
makes,  thrashing  machines,  big  and  little, 
mowers,  reapers,  corn  planters,  potato  dig- 
gers, new  forms  of  harrows,  disks  and  soil 
pulverizers,  potato  planters  with  an  at- 
tachment for  dropping  the  needed  amount 
of  fertilizer  with  the  seed  potato,  rakes, 
stationary  engines,  road  machinery,  were 
among  the  items  on  exhibit.  Practically 
everything  needed  for  modern  farming  was 
included  in  the  scope  of  the  exposition — and 
it  was  all  manufactured  in  Czechoslovakia. 
Many  Americans  do  not  realize  that  this 
new  republic  is  a  great  manufacturing  na- 
tion. A  visit  to  the  Prague  exposition 
would  have  convinced  them  of  the  fact. 
And  it  would  further  have  convinced  them 
that  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  life  of  this 
nation  had  returned  to  normal. 

These  two  pictures  are  significant.  The 
story  of  Czechoslovakia  of  today  is  a  story 
of  recovery.  It  would  be  ridiculous  to  say 
that  the  economic  life  of  Czechoslovakia  is 
normal,  that  things  are  as  they  ought  to 
be  or  as  the  people  want  them  to  be.  Czecho- 
slovakia is  affected  by  the  world  depression 
in  business.  It  is  unable  at  present  to  fmd 
satisfactory  markets  for  its  manufactures  in 
other  countries  which  it  would  naturally 
supply.  The  plight  of  Austria  injures 
Czechoslovakia.  The  transportation  prob- 
lem is  acute.  There  is  still  a  serious  short- 
age of  milk.  There  is  still  considerable 
hardship  in  certain  districts.  Tests  now 
being  conducted  by  the  American  Relief 
Administration  to  determine  scientifically 
the  condition  of  the  children  being  fed  by 
that  organization  are  disclosing  a  poorer 
state  of  nourishment  than  had  been  antici- 
pated. 

Yet  the  factory  chimneys  in  Czecho- 
slovakia are  emitting  smoke  in  a  way  that 
contrasts  strikingly  with  the  chimneys  of 
Austria.  The  people  have  confidence  and 
purpose  in  their  attitude;  they  go  about 
their  business  in  a  normal  way,  without 
fear,  sure  of  the  future.  Most  of  them  have 
enough  to  eat.   Except  in  certain  lines  there 


is  no  food  scarcity.  "  The  Dead  House  "  has 
disappeared  so  completely  as  to  seem  im- 
possible; it  seems  a  hundred  years  away 
instead  of  two.  No  longer  is  it  necessary 
for  the  American  Relief  Administration  to 
feed  500,000  children— nearly  one-fifth  of 
the  entire  child  population — as  it  did  for  a 
year  and  a  half.  The  American  Relief  Ad- 
ministration program  extends  now  to  less 
than  200,000  children,  and  this  number  will 
doubtless  be  greatly  reduced  during  the 
Summer  and  Fall.  That  it  is  necessary  at 
all  is  due  more  to  the  present  lack  of  com- 
pletely satisfactory  social  agencies  for  child- 
care  and  to  the  inequitable  distribution, 
arising  from  the  republic's  newness  as  a 
nation,  than  to  any  positive  lack  of  food 
supply  in  Czechoslovakia. 

The  Economic  Situation 

In  Prague  I  sought  out  the  leading  banker 
of  Czechoslovakia,  Antonin  Tille  of  the 
Zivnostenska  Bank,  to  get  his  views  on  the 
economic  situation  and  prospects  of  Czecho- 


THOMAS   G.    MASARYK 

President   of    Czechoslovakia,   at   a   review   of 

troops    in    Prague 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


837 


VIEW  OF  PRAGUE,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA,  SHOWING  THE  GREAT 
CASTLE  AND  CATHEDRAL  ON  THE  HILL,  WITH  THE  CHARLES  BRIDGE  OVER 

THE  MOLDAU  RIVER 


Slovakia.  Mr.  Tille  was  optimistic.  He  was 
confident  of  the  future  of  the  nation.  He 
saw  clearly  enough  the  unsatisfactory  ele- 
ments in  the  present  situation,  the  diffi- 
culties the  new  republic  has  to  face,  but  he 
pointed  out  to  me  numerous  items  of 
strength  possessed  by  Czechoslovakia  and 
some  very  satisfactory  features  in  the  pres- 
ent situation: 

The  condition  of  industry  in  Czechoslovakia 
[he  said]  is  not  so  bad  as  might  be  thought. 
me  branches  are  suffering  from  over- 
production because  they  can  find  no  markets 
for  their  goods.  These  are  the  industries 
depending  mainly  on  export.  For  them  the 
difficulties  of  transport  and  of  exchange  are 
acute.  All  our  industries  which  depend  upon 
foreign  markets  are  suffering  on  account 
of  the  difficulties  of  transportation.  There 
is  a  great  lack  of  freight  cars.  Freight  cars 
shipped  into  other  countries  are  a  long  time 
in  coming  back,  and  some  do  not  come  back 
at  all.  Even  though  we  repaint  our  cars  and 
indicate  on  them  in  big  letters  that  they  be- 
long to  Czechoslovakia,  they  do  not  always 
come  back.  We  are  now  manufacturing-  a 
good  many  cars,  but  this  does  not  supply 
all  our  needs  when  cars  remain  so  long  on 
the  way. 


Exportation  of  goods  is  also  hampered  by 
the  artificial  restrictions  placed  in  the  way 
of  business  by  some  of  the  States  of  Central 
and  Eastern  Europe.  The  prosperity  of  our 
industries  depends  upon  settlement  of  ar- 
rangements for  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween countries.  Czechoslovakia  now  has 
entered  into  commercial  treaties  with  a 
number  of  States  and  is  negotiating  with 
Others.  We  are  in  favor  of  agreements  be- 
tween States  for  free  transit  between 
non-contiguous  countries  across  intervening 
countries  without  interference  or  restriction. 
The  unsatisfactory  financial  situation  in 
Austria  is  an  injury  to  our  trade.  The  action 
of  the  Austrian  Government  in  issuing  so 
many  billions  of  unsecured  paper  has  depreci- 
ated the  value  of  the  Austrian  crown  to  such 
an  extent  that  Austria  is  unable  to  buy  our 
gouds.  For  example,  we  formerly  exported 
clothing  to  Austria,  but  the  exchange  situa- 
tion prevents  that  at  present.  In  general, 
however,  our  industrial  condition  is  improv- 
ing in  ratio  with  Europe's  adjustment  to  the 
new  political  arrangement,  the  removal  of 
artificial  barriers  between  States,  and  the 
establishment  of  freer  intercourse  between 
nations. 

Dr.   Alois   Rashin,   Czechoslovakia's   first 
Finan«e    Minister,    to    whose    Wisdom    and 


823 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT   HISTORY 


THE    NATIONAL    THEATRE    IN    PRAGUE,    CENTRE    OF    THTC    CITY'S    ARTISTIC    AND 
SOCIAL  LIFE,    AND   SCENE  OF   SOME   OF   THE   EARLIEST   ACTIVITIES   FOR   CZECHO- 
SLOVAK   INDEPENDENCE 


foresight  is  largely  due  the  nation's  rela- 
tively strong  financial  position,  happened  to 
be  in  the  bank  during  my  interview  with 
Mr.  Tille.  Mr.  Tille  called  Dr.  Rashin  into 
the  conversation.  Upon  his  arrival  our  dis- 
cussion naturally  turned  to  the  financial  po- 
sition, plans  and  prospects  of  the  Czecho- 
slovak Government.  I  mentioned  to  Dr. 
Rashin  the  fact  that  the  countries  of  Eu- 
rope had  not  only  abandoned  the  gold 
standard,  but  had  really  no  definite  stand- 
ard at  all  at  present,  since  one  could  get 
from  any  European  Government  for  a  piece 
of  paper  currency,  on  demand,  not  only  no 
gold,  but  not  even  a  definite  amount  of 
wheat  or  potatoes.  I  asked  the  former  Fi- 
nance Minister  what  plan  or  prospect  there 
was  of  establishing  the  gold  standard  in 
Czechoslovakia. 

Dr.  Rashin  replied  as  follows: 
It  was  my  hope  on  becoming  Finance 
Minister  of  Czechoslovakia  to  be  able  at  once 
to  establish  our  currency  on  a  gold  basis, 
but  I  found  that  conditions  made  impossible 
the  immediate  or  very  early  establishment 
of  the  gold  standard.  The  chief  cause  of  our 
inability  to  maintain  a  gold  standard  at  once 
was  the  fact  that  Czechoslovakia  had  to 
take  over  about  9,000,000,000  crowns  of  old 
Austrian  notes  without  any  security  back  of 
them.  This  huge  issue  of  notes  made  it  im- 
possible for  us  to  secure  a  gold  loan  of  suf- 
ficient size  to  establish  a  gold  standard.  We 
did  not,  however,  give  up  the  idea  of  a  gold 
standard ;  we  merely  accepted  the  inevitable, 


and  postponed  the  date  of  establishing  such 
a   standard. 

Meanwhile  we  put  into  effect  a  system  of 
heavy  taxation,  so  that  our  money  would 
not  be  further  depreciated.  Our  currency 
above  the  9,000,000,000  old  and  unsecured 
notes  is  secured  by  commercial  paper, 
various  other  securities  and  some  gold,  the 
gold  being  about  205,000,000  crowns.  Our 
banking  office  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance  is 
not  allowed  to  issue  more  notes  without 
security.  Our  budget  for  1921  more  than 
balances.  Our  financial  program  calls  for 
the  reduction  of  our  unsecured  note  issue 
through  retirement  by  means  of  the  applica- 
tion of  a  property  tax.  This  property  tax, 
or  tax  on  capital,  is  a  general  one.  Fortunes 
of  25,000  crowns  or  less— the  present  value 
of  the  crown  being  taken— are  exempt.  On 
fortunes  above  that  the  tax  is  graduated 
from  5  per  cent,  on  small  holdings  up  to  35 
per  cent.  There  are  to  be  six  semi-annual 
payments,  so  that  the  whole  tax  will  be  paid 
in  three  years.  We  estimate  the  entire  sum 
to  be  received  from  this  property  tax  at 
12,000,000,000  crowns.  So,  in  three  years  we 
expect  to  pay  off  the  unsecured  9,000,000,000 
of  Austrian  notes.  Our  remaining  currency 
would  then  be  fully  secured  by  gold  or  securi- 
ties, and  our  financial  position  would  be 
such  that  we  could  approach  the  United 
States  and  get  a  gold  loan,  with  which  we 
could  establish  our  currency  on  a  gold  basis. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Dr.  Engl  is, 
successor  to  Dr.  Rashin  as  Finance  Minis- 
ter, does  not  desire  to  bring  the  crown  back 
to  par.  Yet  he  is,  in  general,  following  the 
sound   financial    policy   laid    down    by    Dr. 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


839 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE   GREAT  CASTLE   AT  PRAGUE,   PART  OP  WHICH  IS  NOW 
OCCUPIED   BY    PRESIDENT    MASARYK 


Rashin.  His  budget  for  1921  more  than 
balances  with  the  receipts  conservatively 
estimated;  his  postal  and  railroad  budgets 
show  a  profit  on  account  of  higher  rates, 
and  he  proposes  to  create  a  reserve  of 
1,000,000,000  marks  with  which  to  stabilize 
the  crown. 

What  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  the  fact  that 
the  Government  of  Czechoslovakia  is  now, 
and  has  been,  taking  a  wise  and  sound 
course  in  national  finance.  It  is  doing  ex- 
ceedingly well  under  the  circumstances. 
Outside  of  England,  it  was  the  first  Euro- 
pean nation  to  "  stop  the  printing  presses," 
as  the  current  phrase  puts  it;  that  is,  to 
stop  the  inflation  of  the  currency  further  by 
increased  issues.  These  financial  matters 
are  of  genuine  importance  in  considering 
the  situation  and  the  outlook  of  Czecho- 
slovakia, 

In  addition  to  the  matters  discussed 
above,  I  asked  these  two  well-informed  men 
about  the  political  situation  in  Czecho- 
slovakia. They  agreed  entirely  on  the  fol- 
lowing matters: 

The  Government  of  Czechoslovakia  is  stable 
and  secure.  Every  one  is  satisfied  with  the 
republic ;  no  one  wants  a  monarchy,  and  no 
one  wants  Bolshevism.  The  present  Gov- 
ernment is  strong,   energetic,    able  and  busi- 


nesslike. The  heads  of  the  various  Gov- 
ernment departments,  the  Ministers,  are  now 
experts,  specialists  in  their  lines.  They  are 
not  political  figures,  but  men  who  understand 
the  business  of  their  offices  and  are  giving  a 
business  administration.  These  men  work  in 
connection  with  a  committee  of  five,  named, 
by  the  leading  parties,  with  which  committee 
all  important  matters  are  discussed.  In  this 
way  the  Government  is  certain  of  decisive 
support  in  its  measures.  Mf.  Tille  and  Dr. 
Rashin  further  agreed  that  the  relief  work 
conduct* id  by  the  American  Relief  Adminis- 
tration in  feeding  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
children— 560,000  being  the  high  figures— had 
favorably  affected  the  political  situation  of 
the  nation. 

"  Where  misery  is,  the  people  are  easily  in- 
fluenced," said  Mr.  Tille,  and  this  view  was 
borne  out  by  Dr.  Rashin,  who  stated  that  the 
American  relief  work  had  made  for  political 
stability  and  security,  diverting  the  people 
from  following  extreme  leaders. 

Industry  and  Commerce 

Another  important  interview  which  I  had 
was  with  Dr.  Hodach,  President  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  Dr.  Hodach  told 
me  that  Czechoslovakia  was  working  back 
to  normal  industrial  conditions.  "  The  spirit 
of  the  people  is  getting  better,"  he  said. 
"Prices  are  going  down;  the  people  see 
that  the  crown  has  value,  and  is  not  merely 
paper.     Now  that  the  people  have  more  to 


SiO 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


eat,    they    are    naturally    better    satisfied.'1 
Speaking"  of  industrial  life,  he  said: 

Our  industries  arc  suffering-  to  some  ex- 
tent from  high  cost  of  production,  which 
causes  our  costs  in  some  lines  to  be  greater 
than  what  the  products  will  bring,  greater 
than  prices  determined  by  world-demand. 
Our  industrial  problem  is  to  reduce  our  costs 
of  production.  Our  manufacturers  are 
making  all  possible  economies  to  meet  the 
lower  price  level.  They  are  cutting  the  num- 
ber of  workers  to  those  absolutely  necessary, 
they  are  accepting  smaller  profits.  [Mr. 
Tide  had  told  me  that  wages  would  have  to 
be  reduced  sooner  or  later  and,  in  this,  Dr. 
Hodach  seemed  to  agree.]  In  most  industries 
our  manufacturers  are  now  able  to  operate 
and   sell   at  lower  prices. 

It  is  difficult  for  us,  however,  to  compete 
with  our  neghbors,  whose  costs  of  production 
are  so  low.  Those  of  our  industries  which 
get  their  raw  materials  from  abroad  are  in 
trouble,  particularly  those  which  had  on 
hand  large  stocks  of  materials  bought  at  high 
prices,  for  most  of  those  materials  have  de- 
clined sharply  in  the*  international  market, 
thus  making  the  cost  of  the  finished  product 
greater  fqr  us  than  for  those  whose  indus-  . 
tries  benefited  sooner  by  the  lower  prices. 
Our  cotton  industry  was  an  example  of  this, 
but  in  cotton  the  trouble  is  nearly  over,  for 
most  of  the  dear  cotton  has  been  worked 
up,  and  we  are  now  buying  cheap  cotton. 
The  industries  which  get  their  raw  materials 
in  our  own  country,  such  as  the  sugar,  malt, 
beer,  starch,  alcohol,  ceramics  and  china  in- 
dustries, have  had  an  easier  time  of  it.  Our 
industrial  possibilities  are  good,  but  we  had 
t®  have  an  adjustment..  We  are  now  liqui- 
dating the  war.  We  -are  going  through  a 
crisis,  not  a  crisis  which  goes  to  the  root 
of  industrial  life,  but  a  crisis  of  prices.  I 
hope  to  see  this  price  crisis  ended  this  year-. 

Dr.  Hodach  confirmed  the  statement  of 
Mr-  Tille  concerning  the  gravity  of  the  in- 
ternational transport  situation.  He  said 
the  transport  question  in  Western  Europe 
had  been  settled,  but  not  in  Eastern  Eu- 
rope. "  The  cars  of  the  old  Austrian  em- 
pire have  not  yet  been  divided  among  the 
successor  States,"  he  said.  "  The  steamers 
on  the  Danube  have  not  been  divided.  For 
us,  the  international  situation  has  been  dis- 
tressing, but  it  is  improving.  We  are  build- 
ing up  our  Danube  port  of  Bratislava 
(Pressburg),  and  are  improving  our  rail- 
ways. Since  the  revolution  we  have  built 
25,000  cars,  but  it  is  not  enough.  We  are 
building  more  all  the  time,  and  have  bought 
about  2,500  abroad.  We  must  have  new 
railway  lines  to  serve  and  develop  the  coun- 
try, particularly  in  Slovakia."  *  Dr.  Hodach 
continued,  as  follows: 

We  must  complete  a  system  of  commercial 


treaties.  We  now  have  such  treaties  in  effect 
with  some  countries  and  are  negotiating  with 
the  others.  We  must  come  to  an  arrange- 
ment to  keep  down  duties.  It  is  not  possible 
for  one  country  to  have  all  the  needed  indus- 
tries. We  must  get  satisfactory  international 
relations  and  have  reasonable  freedom  of 
commercial  intercourse.  Czechoslovakia  now 
has  a  system  of  duties  in  self-protection  be- 
cause the  other  countries  have.  It  is  the 
residue  of  the  war  spirit.  During  the  war,  a 
belligerent  had  to  be  self-dependent,  but  such 
is  not  now  the  case. 

Czechoslovakia  will  go  to  the  Porto  Rosa 
Conference,  the  conference  between  the  so- 
called  Successor  States,  to  be  held  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  unnecessary  economic 
barriers,  &c.  Every  conference  bringing  the 
new  nations  together  is  good.  But  we  do  not 
have  exaggerated  hopes.  The  biggest  work 
is  to  be  done  through  treaties  between  coun- 
tries. We  must  have  a  satisfactory  economic 
organization  of  Central  and  Eastern  Europe 
through  commercial  treaties,  but  we  will  not 
have  a  political  federation.  We  have  the 
utmost  interest  ir>  settling  the  international 
situation. 

I  give  Dr.  Hodach's  views  at  some  length 
because  he  represents  the  attitude  of  the 
responsible  business  men  of  Czechoslovakia. 
This  attitude  is  clearly  the  expression  of  a 
rational  spirit  of  conciliation,  looking  to- 
ward international  freedom  of  intercourse 
and  progress. 

The  Czech's  George  Washington 

It  was,  lastly,  my  good  fortune  to  have 
an  interview  with  President  Masaryk,  the 
idol  of  every  Czech,  in  very  fact  a  present- 
day  father  of  his  country.  When  I  saw  him 
— on  May  18 — the  President  was  convalesc- 
ing from  a  severe  and  dangerous  illness 
which  had  kept  him  in  bed  for  three  months, 
and  which  had  alarmed  all  those  who  real- 
ize how  necessary  his  presence  still  is  for 
the  success  of  his  republic.  He  was  to 
leave  in  a  few  days  for  a  long  rest  in  Italy. 
President  Masaryk  is  more  than  70  years 
old.  On  the  occasion  of  our  conversation 
he  looked  frail,  and  it  was  slowly  and  with 
some  difficulty  that  he  walked  about  the 
great  room  in  an  upper  floor  of  the  enor- 
mous castle — formerly  royal — which  spreads 
so  mightily  over  the  ridge  that  looks  down 
on  the  great  city  of  Prague  and  the  beauti- 
ful Vltava  [Moldau]   River. 

Dr.  Masaryk  spoke  with  happiness  of  the 
present  relatively  satisfactory  condition  of 
the  Czechoslovakian  Republic,  and  with  con- 
fidence concerning  the  future.     Naturally, 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


841 


THE  GREAT  SQUARE  IN  PRAGUE,  WITH  THE  FAMOUS  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  CLOCK 
(ON    THE    LEFT),    IN    WHICH    FIGURES    OF    CHRIST    AND    THE    TWELVE    APOSTLES 
PARADE   AND   BOW  AT  THE  STRIKING   OF  THE   HOUR 


much  of  our  conversation  was  of  America. 
The  President  expressed  the  deepest  appre- 
ciation of  America's  part  in  the  war,  which 
had  made  the  Czechoslovakian  Republic  a 
reality,  and  also  of  the  work  done  by  the 
American  Relief  Committee. 

I  asked  the  President  for  his  photograph 
for  use  with  this  article.  When  he  auto- 
graphed it  and  gave  it  to  me,  I  felt  as  if 
George  Washington  had  returned  from  the 
days  of  America's  infancy  to  do  me  such  a 
favor,  for  I  realized  that  the  simple,  mod- 
est, gracious  man  with  whom  I  had  been 
speaking  is  one  of  the  great  figures  of  to- 
day and  destined  to  occupy  a  real  and  a 
large  place  in  the  history  of  Europe.  He  in- 
vited me  to  one  of  the  windows  of  the 
castle  from  which  can  be  obtained  a  wonder- 
ful view  of  the  ancient  and  picturesque  city 
of  Prague.  Leaning  on  the  window  sill,  he 
pointed  out  a  number  of  places  of  beauty 
and  historic  interest,  in  the  towered  city  lit 
with  sunlight,  along  the  river  spanned  by 
noble  bridges  far  below  us  and  on  the  ad- 
joining hill. 

Thomas  G.  Masaryk  is  accepted  univer- 
sally in  Czechoslovakia  as  a  national  hero. 
If  he  were  dead  a  hundred  years,  he  could 


not  receive  more  undisputed  homage.  It  is 
well  that  Czechoslovakia,  in  its  infant  years, 
has  such  a  national  figure,  such  a  rallying 
point,  as  Masaryk.  He  is  a  unifying  force 
of  the  first  magnitude  for  the  new  republic. 

Foreign  Policy 

Czechoslovakia  has  another  strong,  able 
and  patriotic  statesman  in  Dr.  E.  Benesh, 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  Like 
Masaryk,  Benesh  is  not  aligned  with  any  of 
the  parties;  he  is  a  national,  not  a  political, 
figure.  Under  his  wise  guidance  Czecho- 
slovakia has  been  carefully  keeping  out  of 
international  trouble,  and,  if  his  policy  pre- 
vails, will  continue  to  keep  out  of  trouble. 
He  is  the  father  of  the  so-called  "  Little 
Entente,"  as  the  protective  alliance  be- 
tween Czechoslovakia,  Rumania  and  Jugo- 
slavia is  called.  There  is  nothing  secret 
about  the  understanding  between  these 
three  States.  Dr.  Benesh  says  that  the 
"  Little  Entente  "  is  a  natural  and  essential 
arrangement  for  peace  and  stability  in 
Central  Europe.  One  good  job  the  "  Little 
Entente  "  performed  speedily  and  satisfac- 
torily was  the  squashing  of  ex-Emperor 
Karl's  attempt  to  regain  the  throne  of  Hun- 


842 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


gary.  Hungary  and  Karl  were  warned  that 
the  three  allied  nations  would  not  permit 
his  return  to  power.  A  time  limit  for  his 
departure  from  Hungary  was  set — and  he 
departed. 

This  hostile  attitude  toward  the  Haps- 
burgs,  justified  abundantly  by  remem- 
brance of  centuries  of  oppression  and  cruel- 
ty, is  the  only  warlike  note  in  Czechoslo- 
vakia's foreign  policy.  Except  for  that 
item,  this  policy,  as  set  forth  fully  in  a 
speech  delivered  by  Dr.  Benesh  in  January, 
is  one  of  peace  and  amity  with  all  Czecho- 
slovakia's neighbors,  including  Germany, 
Austria  and  Hungary;  of  neutrality  be- 
tween all  belligerents,  and  of  close  collabora- 
tion with  the  Entente  powers.  Czechoslo- 
vakia is  for  peace  and  economic  reconstruc- 
tion in  Central  Europe,  for  international 
co-operation  and  good  mutual  relations. 
Her  behavior  has  proved  the  sincerity  of 
her  declarations.  Her  policy  and  her  be- 
havior alike  offer  bright  hopes  for  the  fu- 
ture. 

The  Racial  Problem 

Czechoslovakia,  like  the  other  newly  es- 
tablished nations,  has  her  own  internal 
race  problem.  There  are  in  Czechoslovakia 
about  6,700,000  Czechs,  about  2,000,000  Slo- 
vaks, about  3,800,000  Germans,  about  900,- 
000  Magyars,  about  400,000  Russians  or  Ru- 
thenians  and  about  130,000  Poles.  The 
Czechs  and  Slovaks  are  Slavs  and  feel 
themselves  akin.  Their  languages  are  va- 
riants from  the  same  source,  the  Slovak  be- 
ing the  archaic  Bohemian  dialect.  Dr. 
Nikolau  states  that  "  the  Czechs  and  the 
Slovaks,  without  any  special  studies,  can 
read  newspapers  and  books  "written  in  each 
other's  literary  language,  and  when  speak- 
ing understand  each  other  better  still." 
Statements  from  hostile  sources  to  the  con- 
trary, it  is  most  probable  that  the  Czech 
and  Slovak  sections  of  the  population  of  the 
republic  will  work  in  satisfactory  harmony 
together,  becoming  more,  rather  than  less, 
unified  with  the  years.  The  Czechs  and 
Slovaks  together  won  liberty  and  national- 
ity for  Czechoslovakia,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  their  naturally  racial  and  mutually 
advantageous  bond  can  be  broken. 

The  Ruthenians  are  Russians  dwelling 
south  of  the  Carpathians.  They  are,  of 
course,  of  the  same  great  Slav  origin  as  the 
Czechs   and   Slovaks.     Their  speech  is  not 


greatly  different  from  the  Slovak,  but  in 
religion  they  adhere  to  the  Russian  Church. 
They  are  very  illiterate,  about  95  per  cent, 
being  unable  to  read  or  write.  It  is  said 
that  they  became  part  of  the  Czechoslovak 
Nation  of  their  own  free  will,  but  it  seems 
doubtful  that  they  have  any  genuine  at- 
tachment of  a  nationalistic  sort  to  Czecho- 
slovakia. Their  gaze  is  toward  Russia. 
Formerly  they  suffered  under  the  despot- 
ism of  Hungary,  and  their  illiteracy  is  due 
to  that  despotism.  Dwelling  south  of  the 
mountain  range,  they  find  union  with  a 
genuine  Russian  State  geographically  diffi- 
cult, and  in  joining  with  Czechoslovakia 
they  perhaps  came  as  close  to  political 
union  wfth  their  own  kind  as  circumstances 
permitted  from  a  practical  point  of  view. 
They  furnish  something  of  a  political  prob- 
lem for  Czechoslovakia,  a  problem  not  yet 
settled.  Czechoslovakia  proposes  to  solve 
the  problem  by  education. 

In  contrast  with  the  Ruthenians,  occupy- 
ing homogeneously  a  distinct  geographical 
section  of  the  republic,  and  classifiable  as 
unassimilated  rather  than  hostile,  the  Mag- 
yars may  be  called  a  hostile  element.  But 
they  do  not  occupy  so  distinct  a  geographi- 
cal section  as  do  the  Ruthenians  in  the  east- 
ern tail  of  Czechoslovakia.  The  Polish  ele- 
ment is  a  minor  matter. 

The   German   Problem 

The  big  racial  problem  which  Czecho- 
slovakia has  to  solve  concerns  the  German 
element  of  nearly  4,000,000.  Only  a  short 
time  ago  the  Germans  in  Czechoslovakia 
were  members  of  the  ruling  race,  while  the 
Czechs  and  Slovaks  were  the  subject  peo- 
ples. It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the 
Czechs,  oppressed  and  exploited  for  cen- 
turies, were  going  to  clasp  to  their  bosoms 
at  once  the  remnants  of  the  oppressor  race 
who  continued  to  reside  among  them  after 
the  winning  of  freedom.  Not  only  do  the 
Czechs  recall  centuries  of  oppression;  they 
also  remember  that,  in  the  great  war,  the 
rulers  of  the  Central  Powers  compelled  the 
Czechs  to  fight  for  their  oppressors  against 
those  who  would  liberate  them.  Further, 
the  Czechs  remember  how  they  were  used 
as  the  work  horses  of  the  old  Austrian  Em- 
pire, and  taxed  for  the  benefit  of  Austria, 
particularly  of  Vienna.  It  would  have  been 
more  than  human  had  the  Czechs,  immedi- 
ately after  gaining  their  independence,  be- 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


843 


gun  to  love  their  enemies.  Nor  was  it  to  be 
expected  that  the  German  element,  sudden- 
ly become  the  underdog  after  centuries  of 
superiority,  would  feel  quite  pleased  about 
the  matter. 

The  feeling  between  the  two  elements, 
however,  is  growing  better.  Whereas,  a 
year  ago,  a  Czech  to  whom  a  question  was 
put  in  German  would  refuse  to  answer, 
German  is  now  used  without  especial  no- 
tice, even  by  some  of  the  clerks  in  the  Gov- 
ernment offices.  This  language  question 
appears  a  hard  one.  The  Czechs  certainly 
do  not  intend  to  give  up  their  language,  nor 
do  the  Germans  intend  to  give  up  theirs. 
The  Czechs  are  not  attempting  to  extirpate 
the  German  language.  The  Germans  have 
separate  schools  for  both  primary  and 
higher  education.  German  representatives 
in  Parliament,  of  different  political  faiths 
and  different  economic  views,  all  belong  to 
a  German  party  group,  or  Central  Parlia- 
mentary Organization  of  the  German  par- 
ties. The  fact  that  they  are  German  is, 
thus  far,  of  greater  strength  than  their 
differences  of  party;  thus  far,  they  are 
unitedly  German  first,  and  Social  Demo- 
crats, Agrarians,  Clericals,  or  National 
Democrats  afterward. 

Recently  President  Masaryk  invited  the 
German  Party  group  to  discuss  with  him 
their  relations  with  the  Government.  Upon 
communication  of  the  invitation  to  the  dif- 
ferent German  parties,  it  was  discussed 
among  the  German  clubs  and  it  was  decided 
to  accept,  provided  the  "  full  meeting  "  of 
the  Central  Parliamentary  Organization 
raised  no  objection.  When  that  organiza- 
tion met,  the  radical  wing  opposed  accept- 
ing the  invitation.  Upon  a  vote  being 
taken,  the  result  was  a  draw,  which  was 
decided  against  accepting  by  the  vote  of 
the  Chairman. 

But  before  the  meeting,  the  German 
League  of  Farmers  had,  without  consulting 
the  other  parties  or  waiting  for  a  group 
meeting,  sent  a  representative  to  see  Presi- 
dent Masaryk.  To  this  representative  Presi- 
dent Masaryk  promised  that  a  place  would 
be  made  in  the  new  Cabinet  for  a  German 
and  that  Germans  would  be  called  to  im- 
portant posts  in  the  Government.  When 
the  German  -representative  asked  the  Presi- 
dent what  concessions  would  be  demanded 
from  the  Germans  in  return,  President 
Masaryk   said   that   nothing   would   be   de- 


manded, but  that  a  relaxation  of  the  tension 
would  be  expected.  Mr.  Masaryk's  spirit  of 
humanity  and  conciliation — a  spirit  worthy 
of  Abraham  Lincoln — made  a  favorable  im- 
pression upon  the  Germans,  and  the  Ger- 
man press  severely  criticised  the  refusal  of 
the  German  Parliamentary  group  to  accept 
the  President's  invitation. 

America,  through  the  work  of  the  Amer- 
ican Relief  Administration,  has  done  some- 
thing to  bring  Czechs  and  Germans  together. 
The  co-operation  on  committees  and  the  im- 
partiality in  distribution  have  been  effec- 
tive in  creating  mutual  confidence,  respect 
and  sympathy. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  German 
problem  is  a  large  one  for  Czechoslovakia. 
America  has  different  races  to  weld,  but  she 
is  not  trying  to  weld  them  into  one  of  their 
own  old  races.  Yet,  if  the  Masaryk  spirit 
of  fair  play  and  humanity  prevails,  the 
problem  is  not  too  big  a  one  for  Czecho- 
slovakia to  solve.  The  Welsh  are  not  the 
same  race  as  the  English,  yet  there  seems 
to  be  racial  harmony  in  the  largest  of  the 
British  Isles. 

The  Czechoslovak  People 

Czechoslovakia  is  a  land  of  great  natural 
resources.  But  after  all,  or  before  all,  a 
nation's  greatest  wealth  is  its  citizens.  Not 
fat  lands,  rich  mines,  vast  forests  or  favor- 
able climate  constitute  the  fundamental 
strength  of  a  nation;  a  nation's  strength, 
or  weakness — a  nation's  hope,  or  despair — 
lies  in  its  sons  and  daughters.  Then,  what 
of  the  people  of  Czechoslovakia?  Do  these 
people  possess  the  character  which,  above 
material  resources,  promises  success  for  the 
nation?  I  think  they  do.  The  Czechs  are 
physically  strong  and  healthy.  They  are 
mentally  purposeful,  confident  in  them- 
selves, energetic,  determined,  industrious. 
They  are  almost  entirely  without  illiteracy. 
They  are  reasonably  intelligent.  They  are 
willing  to  learn  from  others,  especially 
from  America  and  England.  They  are  not 
afraid  to  work.  The  Slovaks  are  Czechs 
less  developed.  They  have  more  illiterates; 
about  30  per  cent,  of  the  Slovaks  are  illiter- 
ate. Slovakia  needs  not  only  industrial  and 
economic  development,  but  education — and 
the  Government  is  giving  it  education.  But 
the  basic  character  on  which  nations  are 
built  is  there  also.  The  German  element — 
more   than   a   fourth    of   the   population — 


8U 


THE   HEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


should  furnish  value  to  the  nation  also,  if 
the  racial  problem  is  wisely  handled.  The 
Czechoslovaks  have  been  the  work  horses 
for  Austria;  now  they  work  for  them- 
selves. 

As  an  example  of  Czechoslovak  energy 
and  determination  may  be  mentioned  the 
building  activities  of  the  students  in 
Prague.  Prague  is  fearfully  short  of 
dwellings;  all  the  new  capitals  are — as  well 
as  many  other  places.  To  supply  quarters, 
2,200  students,  under  the  direction  of  archi- 
tects and  assisted  by  skilled  mechanics,  are 
erecting  emergency  wooden  dormitories. 
These  dormitories  will  house  700  students. 
The  land  is  leased  by  the  Students'  Alli- 
ance from  the  City  of  Prague.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  the  dormitories  will  be  entirely 
finished  by  September,  which  means  an  ac- 
tual working  time  of  seven  months. 

Czechoslovakia  is  doing  other  building 
than  for  students.  One  sees  no  building  in 
Austria,  and  the  change  on  entering  Czecho- 
slovakia is  noticeable.  The  Government 
has  been  giving  financial  guarantees  to  en- 
courage the  building  of  dwellings.  Under  a 
guarantee  of  interest  and  amortization  of 
capital  by  the  Government  to  banks  making 
loans  to  home  builders,  6,000  houses  have 
already  been  built.  Under  this  plan  the 
Government  dictates  the  rents  in  order  to 
protect  its  guarantees.  Individuals  or  cor- 
porations investing  in  new  houses  for  the 
working  classes  get  the  right  to  deduct 
from  their  income  subject  to  taxation,  be- 
fore the  tax  is  applied,  7  per  cent,  per  an- 
num of  the  cost  of  their  new  buildings  for 
a  period  of  ten  years,  or  70  per  cent,  in  all. 
This  inducement  has  resulted  in  the  build- 
ing of  some  houses,  and  is  expected  to  have 
further  results.  But  more  ambitious  is  the 
lottery  loan  now  being  offered  for  subscrip- 
tion, the  proceeds  of  which  are  to  be  used 
to  finance,  through  the  banks,  the  building 
of  houses.  It  is  hoped  to  raise  1,000,000,000 
crowns  (about  $14,285,714,  at  the  present 
rate  of  exchange)  by  means  of  this  loan. 
The  rate  of  interest  is  to  be  2  per  cent,  in 
addition  to  the  prizes  of  the  lottery.  This 
loan  will  result  in  the  building  of  a  good 
many  dwellings — far  more  than  could  be 
built  for  the  same  number  of  dollars  in 
America.  Czecholovakia  is  not  lying  help- 
lessly on  her  back,  waiting  for  Providence 
to  provide  homes  for  the  people. 

The     educational     program     o£     Czecho- 


slovakia is  an  enlightened  one.  Illiteracy 
among  the  Czechs  and  Germans  in  the 
country  is  practically  nil,  but  it  is  con- 
siderable among  the  Slovaks  and  (as  stated 
above)  almost  general  among  the  Ruthe- 
nians.  The  Czechoslovak  Government  real- 
izes the  necessity  and  the  importance  of 
education.  The  Government's  appreciation 
of  the  necessity  of  a  great  educational  pro- 
gram is  clearly  shown  in  the  cold  figures 
in  the  budget.  The  1920  budget  carried 
198,000,000  crowns  for  public  education; 
the  1921  budget  carries  599,000,000  crowns 
for  public  education — three  times  as  much 
as  for  1920.  And  in  the  1921  budget  ap- 
pears the  entirely  new  item  of  26,000,000 
crowns  for  schools  in  Ruthenia.  Those 
figures  tell  a  story  of  purpose  and  aspira- 
tion. Dr.  Alice  Masaryk,  the  President's 
daughter,  who,  as  a  political  prisoner,  spent 
many  months  in  an  Austrian  jail  with 
thieves,  ruffians  and  other  common  crim- 
inals, told  me  that  during  the  past  three 
years  3,000  schools  had  been  established  in 
Slovakia  and  Ruthenia.  Does  this  not  indi- 
cate that  Czechoslovakia  understands  what 
are  the  basic,  essential  things  of  national 
life  and  progress? 

The  attitude  of  Czechoslovakia  toward 
America  is  one  of  admiration  and  emula- 
tion. This  new  republic  is  grateful  to  the 
great  Republic  for  the  part  America  played 
in  gaining  Czechoslovak  liberty  and  in 
founding  the  Czechoslovak  State.  Ex- 
President  Wilson  is  still  immensely  popular 
in  Czechoslovakia.  The  great  railroad  sta- 
tion in  Prague  is  called  the  Wilson  Station. 
Pictures  and  bronze  medallions  of  Mr.  Wil- 
son are  coupled  with  pictures  and  medal- 
lions of  President  Masaryk  in  offices, 
schools,  hotel  lobbies  and  elsewhere  all  over 
the  country.  The  relief  work  conducted 
through  the  American  Relief  Administra- 
tion has  also  made  a  deep  impression.  Miss 
Masaryk  said  she  felt  sure  that,  when  an 
impartial  view  of  the  war  period  could  be 
obtained,  the  relief  activities  brought  about 
by  Mr.  Hoover  would  be  rated  of  great 
historic  importance,  the  first  post-war  ac- 
tivity of  the  sort  in  history.  Dr.  Hodach, 
whom  I  have  quoted  above,  said  to  me  con- 
cerning the  relief  work:  "Mr.  Hoover's 
work  here  not  only  relieved  distress,  not 
only  improved  the  spirit  of  the  people  and 
stabilized  conditions,  but  it  taught  us  meth- 
ods of  work  and  organization,  co-operation 


THE  UPBUILDING  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


845 


and  self-help."  In  fact,  it  is  now  expected 
that  out  of  the  organization  created  by  the 
American  relief  will  develop  a  permanent 
national  institution  of  child  welfare — a  sub- 
stantial, enduring  result  springing  from  an 
emergency  action. 

Dr.  Dumba,  formerly  Austrian  Ambassa- 
dor to  the  United  States,  whose  activities 
caused  his  dismissal  before  we  declared  war 
on  Austria,  is  said  to  have  offered  recently 
predictions  concerning  the  life  of  the  new 
or  expanded  nations  of  Central  Europe.  To 
Rumania  he  granted  the  longest  life.  Po- 
land, I  think,  had  about  five  years  in  his 
opinion,  and  Jugoslavia  about  ten.  Czecho- 
slovakia, Dr.  Dumba  thought,  might  break 
up  any  time,  in  two  or  three  years  perhaps. 
Doubtless  in  the  mind  of  the  old  Austrian 
the  wish  is  father  to  the  thought.  Czecho- 
slovakia looks  good  to  me.     I  think  it  prom- 


ises well.  It  has  a  deep  racial  tradition — 
among  the  Czechs — going  far  into  the  past. 
It  has  tremendous  resources.  It  has  char- 
acter. It  has  wise  statesmen.  It  has  Mas- 
aryk — let  us  hope  for  long!  I  think 
Masaryk  has  builded  well.  Looking  back 
on  my  visit  to  Czechoslovakia,  the  picture 
which  comes  most  strongly  to  my  mind  is 
that  of  President  Masaryk — a  frail  old  man, 
not  a  militarist,  not  a  demagogue,  but  per- 
haps the  most  generally  accepted,  the  most 
unsoiled  European  hero  of  our  generation — 
leaning  from  the  window  of  the  vast  castle, 
no  longer  possessed  by  his  country's  oppres- 
sors, and  pointing  out,  with  love  and  pride, 
the  beauties  of  the  ancient  capital  city  of 
the  nation  reborn,  under  his  leadership,  to 
a  freer  life.  I  do  not  think  hjs  labor  is 
to  be  in  vain,  or  his  vision  to  be  proved 
false. 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  RIGHT  TO 
STATEHOOD  ASSAILED 

By  Anthony  Pessenlehner,  LL.  D.* 

An  extreme  Hungarian  view  which  holds  that  the  new  republic  headed  by  President 
Masaryk  has  no  valid  ground  for  autonomous  existence — An  attempt  to  disprove  its 
claims  on  historical,  political,  economic  and  ethnical  grounds 


HISTORIC,  political,  economic  and  even 
ethnographic  considerations  were 
rudely  cast  aside  in  the  calling  into 
life  of  Czechoslovakia,  a  State  built  upon 
a  fictitious  theory  of  the  racial  identity  of 
the  Czechs,  Moravians,  Slovaks  and  Ru- 
thenians,  the  last  now  preferentially  called 
Rusins  by  the  Czechs. 

To  defend  the  existence  of  Czechoslovakia 
from  a  historical  viewpoint  is  a  hopeless 
task.  There  once  was  a  Czech  Kingdom,  a 
Moravian  Duchy,  a  no  man's  land  in  the 
north  of  Hungary  sparsely  populated  by 
some  Slavic  tribe — not  Czech  and  not  even 
the  ancestral  line  of  the  present  Slovaks — 
and  a  mountainous  country,  uninhabited 
until  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
now  called  Podkarpatska  Rusinia.  These 
are  the  four  constituent  parts  of  Czecho- 
slovakia;   of   the   four,   Bohemia   proper   is 


the  only  one  that  had  known  an  organized 
state-life,  a  nationalistic  existence.  Only 
in  the  case  of  Bohemia  proper,  which  was 
situated  entirely  within  the  confines  of  the 
late  Austria,  can  there  be  any  assertion 
of  a  recurrence  to  past  history,  to  a  re- 
vival of  a  State  that  had  once  been  in 
existence  and  lived  a  national  life  of  inde- 
pendence. There  never  was  an  independent 
country  known  as  Moravia,  Slovakia,  Ru- 
thenia,  or  Rusinia.     There  was  a  Bohemia 


♦Space  is  given  to  this  Hungarian  attack  on 
Czechoslovakia  for  the  purpose  ot  presenting  an 
issue  which  is  pregnant  with  danger  in  South- 
eastern Europe.  The  editor,  however,  does  not 
wish  to  convey  either  indorsement  of  the  argu- 
ments or  corroboration  of  the  claims  set  forth. 
It  mav  be  added  that  the  author  of  the  article, 
an  attorney  living  in  Youngstown,  Ohio,  is  a 
native  of  Hungary  and  received  his  degree  from 
Budapest  University.  He  also  studied  at  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland.  After  practicing  his  pro- 
fession in  Hungary  he  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1911  and  became  a  naturalized  citizen 
in  1919.— Editor  Current  History  Magazine. 


846 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


until  the  disastrous  battle  of  the  White 
Mountains  in  1647,  when  the  Czechs  were 
defeated  by  the  Austrians  and  their  country 
was  incorporated  into  the  realm  of  the 
Hapsburgs. 

Until  a  few  decades  ago  the  Czechs  were 
quite  content  with  their  lot  within  the  con- 
fines of  Austria,  being  ruled  over  by  the 
Hapsburg  Kaiser  according  to  his  pleasure. 
Not  only  were  they  content  with  their 
humiliating  role,  but  they  proved  the  most 
zealous  supporters  of  their  overlords,  as 
shown  in  the  liberty  war  of  1848,  when  the 
Magyars,  who  had  come  under  Hapsburg 
rule  under  quite  different  circumstances, 
once  more  asserted  their  national  indepen- 
dence and  waged  war  against  the  usurpers. 
In  this  noble  effort  to  overthrow  the  Haps- 
burgs, the  Magyars  found  themselves  op- 
posed by  the  Czechs,  who  were  the  most 
willing  tools  in  the  hands  of  the  despot  and 
gladly  volunteered  to  fight  the  Magyars  and 
keep  their  country  in  subjection  after  Rus- 
sians choked  the  so-far-victorious  revolu- 
tion. It  seemed  as  if  the  Czechs  were  afraid 
that  the  Hapsburgs  might  be  weakened 
enough  to  restore  their  own  (Czech)  inde- 
pendence. Czech  bureaucrats  were  sent  to 
Hungary  to  quell  the  national  spirit,  and 
again  Czechs  were  the  most  useful  spies 
of  the  Hapsburgs  against  the  Hungarians 
in  the  black  years  that  followed  the  lost 
revolution. 

Political  history  does  not  uphold  the  State 
known  as  Czechoslovakia.  The  parts  now 
constituting  Czechoslovakia  never  formed 
one  unit  and  have  never  known  a  sentiment 
of  cohesion.  They  were  distinctly  foreign 
and  alien  to  each  other.  Bohemia  lived  its 
own  life.  Moravia  was  a  Polish  province. 
Slovakia  was  non-existent,  its  territory  be- 
ing under  the  rule  of  the  Magyars,  who 
occupied  it  as  early  as  896.  Ruthenia  also 
was  under  Magyar  rule,  but  unpopulated, 
because  of  its  barren  lands  and  high  moun- 
tains. The  country  known  as  Hungary  in 
896  was  the  same  country  known  as  Hun- 
gary in  1914,  the  year  of  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  not  an  inch  having  been  added  to 
the  original  area  by  conquest  or  otherwise 
during  a  period  of  1,000  years. 

The  Magyars  would  not  object  to  an  in- 
dependent Bohemia  carved  out  of  what  was 
formerly  known  as  Austria,  because  once 
the  Czechs  did  in  fact  own  their  own  country 
and  live  an  organized  state-life.  But  why 
should   the   Czechs   be   given    Slovakia   and 


Uhro-Rusinia,  which  never  belonged  to 
them,  and  whose  populace  to  a  large  extent 
is  opposed  to  incorporation  into  Czecho- 
slovakia? The  coup  was  accomplished 
through  deliberate  falsification  of  past  his- 
tory and  the  misleading,  but  a  thousand 
times  disproved,  theory  of  the  racial  iden- 
tity of  the  Czechs,  the  Slovaks  and  the 
Ruthenians. 

When  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago 
the  Magyars,  by  the  united  attacks  of  the 
Bulgars  and  Petchenechs,  two  ferocious 
races,  were  driven  out  of  their  original 
European  settlement  on  the  shores  of  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  lower  Danube,  they 
moved  westward  and  organized  the  State 
of  Hungary  upon  the  shores  of  the  Middle 
Danube  and  the  Tisza.  No  rights  of  other 
nations  were  violated  by  this  occupancy,  be- 
cause the  land  was  uninhabited,  a  state- 
ment subscribed  to  by  various  historians 
and  contemporaries,  one  of  which  is  Alfred 
the  Great,  King  of  England. 

In  a  few  years  the  land  was  extended 
northward  and  westward,  the  Pannonian 
and  Moravian  Slavs  having  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  Hungarian  State.  But  these 
Slavs,  not  ancestors  of  the  present  Slovaks, 
were  not  annihilated  or  subjugated  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  warfare  of  those  times, 
but  were  absorbed  into  the  nation,  and  even 
adopted  into  the  Hungarian  nobility.  Thus 
they  were  granted  the  same  privileges  the  ; 
were  attendant  upon  being  of  the  noble 
caste,  while  those  not  taken  into  the  nobility 
simply  shared  the  lot  of  other  Magyars. 
Unification  thus  was  accomplished  by  mu- 
tual consent,  and  many  terms  in  the  Hun- 
garian language  still  offer  proof  that  there 
was  a  thorough  mingling  and  unification  of 
the  Magyars  and  whatever  Slavs  were 
found  in  the  country.  These  Slavs  spoke 
an  entirely  different  language  from  the 
Czech,  Slovak  or  Moravian  of  today.  They 
populated  the  northwesterly  part  of  what 
was  Hungary  before  the  war,  and  more 
especially  the  plains  bordered  by  the  pres- 
ent Lower  Austria  and  by  the  Rivers  Morva 
and  Garam. 

The  mountainous  part  of  Northwestern 
Hungary  was  a  dividing  territory  between 
Hungary  and  Poland,  and,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century,  between  the  newly 
created  Moravian  and  Polish  duchies.  The 
Czechs  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  territory, 
because  their  country  was  situated  further 
west  and  north,  and  did  not  reach  so  far 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  RIGHT  TO  STATEHOOD  ASSAILED 


847 


south  and  east.  Czechs  began  to  appear  in 
this  part  of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the  followers  of  John  Huss,  and 
later  the  unscrupulous  leader  Giskra,  dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  wholesale  plunder. 

In  later  times,  when  family  ties  were  es- 
tablished between  the  Moravian  and  Polish 
Dukes  and  the  Hungarian  reigning  dynasty 
— then  purely  Magyar  and  lineal  descend- 
ants of  the  clan  of  Arpad,  conqueror  of  the 
land — there  was  no  need  for  a  protective 
corridor  in  these  mountainous  and  wooded 
northwesterly  parts,  and  colonization  began. 
Germans  and  later  the  White-Croatians — 
ancestors  of  our  present-day  Slovaks — were 
settled  and  commissioned  to  clear  the  for- 
ests and  make  the  country  more  apt  for 
cultivation.  This  happened  at  about  the 
eleventh  century,  and  this  accounts  for  the 
nomenclature  applied  to  hamlets  and  towns, 
most  of  them  ending  in  what  would  be  the 
equivalent  of  "  cut  "  (cutting  the  forests) 
in  English. 

The  Ruthenians  in  the  territory  now 
called  Podkarpatska  Rusinia  by  the  Czechs, 
immigrated  in  the  fifteenth  century.  From 
the  neighboring  country,  called  Red  Russia 
(in  a  different  sense  from  our  present  Red 
Russia),  the  people  were  granted  the  privi- 
lege to  pasture  their  cattle  on  this  terri- 
tory; but,  later,  the  Hungarian  King  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  a  colonized  country 
would  yield  greater  revenues,  and  the  same 
process  ensued  that  was  previously  wit- 
nessed in  the  northwestern  regions  of  the 
country.  Thus  neither  the  Slovaks  nor  the 
Ruthenians,  much  less  the  Czechs,  were 
aborigines  in  the  part  of  Hungary  now 
known  as  Slovakia.  The  immediate  prede- 
cessors of  the  Slovaks,  the  Pannonian  Slavs, 
were  living  further  south  under  Svatopluk, 
and  gave  up  their  claims  to  the  land  so 
soon  as  Arpad  and  his  Hungarian  warriors 
appeared.  Indeed,  it  was  a  bloodless  con- 
quest, since  these  Slavs  offered  no  resist- 
ance, but  received  the  Hungarians  as  their 
superiors,  offering  them  earth,  grass  and 
water  as  symbols  of  submission. 

This  is  the  plain  truth  about  the  national 
and  political  history  of  the  territory  now 
included  in  the  realm  of  the  Czechs  as 
Slovakia  and  Podkarpatska  Rusinia.  The 
Slovaks  and  Ruthenians  were  only  immi- 
grants, and  the  Czechs  were  not  even  that. 
No  organized  State  life  existed  upon  these 
territories  before  the  Hungarian  State  was 


called  into  existence  and  welded  them  into 
the  dominion  of  the  Kings  of  Hungary. 
Nothing  was  destroyed  or  'taken  away  by 
the  rule  of  the  Hungarians,  but  things  were 
created  instead.  This  fact  is  attested  by 
several  authorities  of  non-Hungarian  origin, 
including  the  American,  the  Rev.  B.  F. 
Tefft,  D.  I).;  Professor  N.  S.  Shaler  of 
Harvard  University,  F.  D.  Millet;  the  Eng- 
lish authors,  Knatchbull-Huggessen,  Kell- 
ner,  W.  B.  Forster  Borill,  Charles  Prox- 
ton,  &c. 

From  an  ethnographic  viewpoint,  like- 
wise, there  is  no  foundation  for  Czecho- 
slovakia. The  Czechs,  Moravians,  Slovaks 
and  Ruthenians  are  undeniably  closely  re- 
lated, but  so  are  all  Slavs.  If  these  four 
branches  of  the  Slav  family  had  to  be 
united,  the  question  can  be  asked,  Why  not 
unite  the  whole  of  Slavdom  and  make  one 
country  of  the  Russians,  Poles,  Ukrainians, 
and  the  rest  of  the  numberless  branches  of 
the  Slavs?  Even  if  there  were  an  indis- 
putable ethnographic  bond  uniting  the  Slavs 
in  Czechoslovakia,  are  ethnic  considerations 
supreme,  and  should  history,  past  national 
existence,  geography,  economics,  political 
constellations,  recognized  as  just  and  de- 
sirable for  ten  centuries,  all  defer  to  one 
principle  arbitrarily  chosen  and  defensible 
only  on  very  weak  ground? 

Economic  conditions  are  such  in  Slovakia 
that  the  country  is  dependent  on  Hungary 
for  its  livelihood.  Slovaks  funrish  the 
timber  needed  in  Hungary,  while  in  times 
of  harvest  a  multitude  of  Slovaks  used  to 
descend  to  the  Hungarian  plains  and  fur- 
nish a  large  quota  of  the  necessary  hands 
to  reap  the  harvest.  Because  of  the  new 
alignment,  this  is  brought  to  an  end;  con- 
sequently the  Slovaks,  in  a  large  measure, 
are  deprived  of  their  livelihood.  The  rivers 
of  Slovakia  empty  into  the  Danube,  which 
offers  the  natural  waterway,  together  with 
the  Tisza,  of  the  geographical  entity  known 
as  Hungary,  as  it  was  before  the  war. 
Through  severance  of  railroad  trunk  lines 
the  whole  transportation  system  of  Hun- 
gary is  badly  crippled,  and  Slovakia  suffers 
in  equal  measure.  In  short,  not  only  Hun- 
gary but  also  Slovakia  is  hopelessly 
mutilated  in  an  economic  sense  for  no  rea- 
son but  to  honor  the  wish  of  the  Czechs. 

On  top  of  this  there  are  grave  signs  that 
the  Slovaks  and  Ruthenians  do  not  wish 
to  be  included  in  the  Czechoslovak  State. 
The  promise  was  made  to  them,  through  the 


848 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


medium  of  so-called  plebiscites  in  America, 
that  they  were  to  be  granted  self-determina- 
tion; but  when  it  came  to  fulfilling  this 
promise  all  sorts  of  excuses  were  resorted 
to.  Now  both  the  Slovaks  and  Ruthenians, 
wishing  to  avoid  utter  destruction,  clamor 
for  autonomy — within  Czechoslovakia,  if  it 
must  be;  but  even  this  is  considered  danger- 
ous to  Czech  interests.  Of  course,  the  Peace 
Council  has  acted,  and  now  no  agreement 
is  deemed  binding  any  more. 

Neither  the  Slovaks  nor  the  Ruthenians 
ever  dreamed  of  secession  from  the  Hun- 
garian State.  The  first  sign  of  any  sep- 
aratist consideration  for  the  Slovaks  was 
offered  in  1848,  when  the  Hapsburg  dy- 
nasty sought  aid  against  the  victorious 
Hungarians  among  Hungary's  nationalities. 
A  certain  Hurban  then  offered  a  memo- 
randum to  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  in 
which  some  linguistic  privileges  were  em- 
bodied. Upon  this,  some  paid  agents  of  the 
blind  Austrian  camarilla  started  agitation 
among  the  Slovaks  for  a  Russian  orienta- 
tion under  the  pretext  of  unifying  all  Slavs. 
This  was  a  failure  and  did  not  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  conscious  leaders  or  of 
the  masses  of  the  Slovak  people.  New 
channels  of  interest  had  to  be  opened,  and 
upon  the  leadership  of  Masaryk,  now  Presi- 
dent of  Czechoslovakia,  agitation  toward  an 
alignment  with  Bohemia  was  initiated,  Dr. 
Srobar  having  been  its  sponsor  in  Slovakia. 


There  was  a  small  group  who  subscribed 
to  this  plan,  but  in  the  main  the  Slovak 
people  were  against  it,  and  even  among  the 
leaders  there  was  no  consent.  The  more 
weighty  spokesmen  of  the  Slovaks  wished 
some  special  recognition  in  the  form  of 
unlimited  and  official  use  of  the  Slovak 
language,  but  unequivocally  declared  that 
they  wished  to  remain  with  Hungary.  A 
general  European  conflagration  had  to  be 
brought  about  to  realize  the  dreams  of  a 
few  office  seekers.  The  masses  of  the 
Slovak  people  remained  loyal  to  Hungary, 
contrary  to  the  manifestations  of  the 
Czechs,  who  committed  wholesale  deser- 
tions in  the  war.  Srobar  was  appointed 
dictator  of  Slovakia  after  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  but  he  lost  even  the  limited  con- 
fidence he  enjoyed  in  Slovakia  and  had 
to  resign.  The  resignation  of  Srobar  can 
well  be  taken  as  proof  that  his  Czech  sym- 
pathies lacked  support  in  Slovakia. 

The  Ruthenians  were  always  loyal  sub- 
jects of  Hungary.  In  the  time  of  the  lib- 
erty war  by  Francis  Rakoczi  II.  they  fur- 
nished his  most  dependable  soldiers;  he 
called  them  "  the  most  loyal  race."  Now 
these  Ruthenians  are  surprised  to  find  that 
they  are  wanted  to  form  part  of  the  Czech 
Empire.  In  their  predicament,  knowing,  as 
the  Slovaks  do,  that  they  can  hope  for 
nothing  better,  they  wish  at  least  autono- 
mous self-government.  Like  the  Slovaks,  they 
are  between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea. 


SPAIN'S  MINISTERIAL  DIFFICULTIES 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


MINISTERIAL  dissensions  began  to 
manifest  themselves  on  July  4,  and 
Manuel  Arguelies,  the  Minister  of  Finance, 
resigned,  insisting  that  the  new  tariff, 
which  went  into  effect  on  May  19,  and  the 
commercial  treaties  were  prejudicial  to  the 
interests  of  labor.  The  revised  tariff  did 
away  with  cases  of  most  favored  nations, 
and  was  of  a  provisional  character,  pending 
a  new  commercial  treaty  or  a  modus  Vi- 
vendi to  be  negotiated  in  each  case.  The 
next  day  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet  joined  Ar- 
guelies, but  the  King  called  Sefior  Allende 
Salazar  to  the  Palace,  and,  by  his  argu- 
ments, they  all  consented  to  remain,  save 
the  Minister  of  Finance,  whose  portfolio 
was  immediately  taken  by  Marino  Ordonez. 


Spain  badly  needs  a  new  division  in  her 
Moroccan  campaign,  but  the  War  Minister 
dares  not  ask  for  it.  General  Berenquer 
reports  that,  despite  a  reverse  on  June  7,  he 
is  continuing  his  march  on  Alhucemas. 

Spain  has  lodged  a  note  of  protest  at 
Paris.  Before  the  war  the  Sultan  of  Mo- 
rocco had  granted  a  concession  at  the  Port 
of  Tangier  to  an  international  corporation 
identified  with  Spanish,  British,  German, 
and  Austrian  interests.  The  enemy  alien 
interests  were  ceded  by  the  Versailles  and 
St.  Germain  treaties  to  France.  They  rep- 
resent 53  per  cent,  of  the  stock,  while  only 
20  per  cent,  is  held  by  Spain,  who  thinks 
she  should  have  had  the  right  to  acquire 
the  53  per  cent.     Hence  the  protest. 


THE  BRITISH  IMPERIAL 
CONFERENCE 

Great  problems  of  the  Empire  discussed  by  British  and  Colonial  statesmen  in  London — 
The  Dominions  gain  an  unprecedented  share  of  power  in  directing  imperial  policy — 
Anglo-Japanese  alliance  freely  discussed  and   "automatically  extended"  for  one  year 

[Period   Ended    July   10,    1921] 


A  CONFERENCE  characterized  as  mo- 
mentous beyond  precedent  in  its  bear- 
ing on  the  welfare  and  unity  of  the 
British  Empire  was  opened  at  noon  in  the 
official  residence  of  the  Prime  Minister  in 
Downing  Street,  London,  on  June  20.  The 
entire  absence  of  spectacular  features  lent 
color  to  the  conviction  that  the ,  leading 
British  and  Colonial  statesmen  had  gathered 
for  the  discussion  of  problems  of  supreme 
importance  not  only  to  the  British  Empire, 
but  to  the  whole  world.  This  seemed  to  be 
the  impression  upon  the  crowd  in  Whitehall 
watching  the  arrival  of  the  Colonial  dele- 
gates, who,  in  turn,  were  received  by  Messrs. 
Lloyd  George,  E.  S.  Montagu,  Austen 
Chamberlain,  Winston  Churchill  and  A.  J. 
Balfour.     The  delegates  were: 

South    Africa— General    Smuts,    Prime    Min- 
ister ;    Sir   Thomas   W.    Smart,    Minister    of 
Agriculture ;      Colonel      Mentz,      Minister     of 
Defense. 
Canada — Arthur  Meighen,  Prime  Minister. 
Australia — W.  M.  Hughes,  Prime  Minister. 
New   Zealand — W.    F.    Massey,    Prime   Min- 
ister. 

India— Maharaja     of     Cutch     and     Irimvass 
Gaitre. 

At  this  great  historic  meeting  Premier 
Lloyd  George  welcomed  the  delegates  in  a 
notable  inaugural  speech.  It  was  especially 
marked  by  his  declaration  that  friendly  co- 
operation with  the  United  States  was  a 
cardinal  principle  of  empire  policy.  "  We 
are  ready,"  he  declared,  "  to  discuss  with 
American  statesmen  any  proposal  for  the 
limitation  of  armaments  which  they  wish  to 
set  out,  and  we  can  undertake  that  no  such 
overtures  will  find  lack  of  willingness  on 
our  part  to  meet  them." 

Turning  by  implication  to  the  Japanese 
Alliance,  the  Premier  praised  the  loyalty  of 
Japan  in  the  war  and  said  it  was  desired 
to  preserve  that  "  well-tried  friendship 
which  has  stood  us  both  in  good  stead,  and 
to  apply  it  to  the  solution  of  all  questions 
in  the  Far  East,  where  Japan  has  special 


interests  and  where  we  ourselves,  like  the 
United  States,  desire  equal  opportunities 
and  the  open  door."  With  regard  to  Co- 
lonial relations  Mr.  Lloyd  George  remarked 
that  there  was  a  time  when  Downing  Street 
controlled  the  empire,  but  now  the  empire 
had  charge  of  Downing  Street.  The  Do- 
minions, as  signatories  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  and  members  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  had  achieved  full  national  status. 
Any  suggestions  from  them  concerning  the 
foreign  policy  of  the  empire,  therefore, 
would  receive  a  full  measure  of  welcome. 
India  had  also  proved  her  right  to  a  new 
status  in  the  councils  of  the  British  Com- 
monwealth. 

The  meeting  of  June  21  was  made  mem- 
orable by  speeches  from  Jan  Christian 
Smuts  of  South  Africa  and  Premier 
Hughes  of  Australia.  Both  urged  the  con- 
ference to  invite  America  and  Japan  to 
discuss  limitation  of  naval  armaments;  the 
storm  centre  of  the  world,  they  agreed,  was 
now  in  the  Pacific.  The  two  statesmen, 
however,  seemed  to  be  divided  on  the  ques- 
tion of  renewal  of  the  Anglo- Japanese  Al- 
liance. While  Premier  Smuts  came  out 
strongly  against  the  treaty,  and  was  sup- 
ported by  Premier  Meighen  of  Canada, 
Premier  Hughes  was,  broadly  speaking,  in 
favor  of  it,  finding  a  sympathetic  follower 
in  Premier  Massey  of  New  Zealand.  But 
the  Australian  Premier  was  not  oblivious  to 
difficulties,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  at- 
titude of  America  toward  the  treaty. 

I  am  sure  I  state  the  opinion  of  Australia 
[he  said]  when  I  say  her  people  have  a  very 
warm  corner  in  their  hearts  for  America. 
They  see  in  America  today  what  they  them- 
selves hope  to  be  in  the  future.  We  nave  a 
country  very  similar  in  extent  and  resources, 
and  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  sine  qua  non 
that  any  future  treaty  with  Japan  to  be 
satisfactory  to  Australia  must  specifically 
exclude  the  possibility  of  war  with  the 
United  States  of  America.  It  ought  to  do 
this   specifically,    but   if  not   specifically    tnen 


850 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


by  implication  so  clear  and  unmistakable 
that  he  who  runs  may  read.  *  *  *  In  any 
future  treaty  we  must  guard  against  even 
a  suspicion  of  hostility  or  unfriendliness  to 
the    United    States. 

Premier  Meighen  of  Canada  on  June  27 
presented  to  the  conference  what  was  in 
effect  a  declaration  of  Dominion  rights  in 
relation  to  the  foreign  affairs  of  the  em- 
pire. Although  the  speech  and  the  discus- 
sions which  ensued  were  not  made  public, 
it  was  understood  that  the  four  cardinal 
points  of  the  declaration  were  as  follows: 

1.  That  on  all  questions  of  foreign  policy 
which  more  directly  concern  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, such  as  matters  arising  in  connec- 
tion with  Palestine,  Mesopotamia  and  the 
Middle  East,  the  Governments  of  the  Domin- 
ions should  be  kept  thoroughly  and  constant- 
ly  informed. 

2.  That  upon  all  questions  of  foreign  policy 
affecting  the  empire  as  a  whole  the  Do- 
minion   Governments   must   be    consulted. 

3.  That  the  British  Government  should 
enter  into  no  treaties  or  special  alliances 
without  consultation  with  and  the  advice  of 
the  Dominions,  and  that  all  such  treaties, 
even  when  entered  into,  should  be  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  Dominion  Parliaments. 

4.  That  upon  all  questions  arising  as  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Canada  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Dominion  Government  must  be 
accepted  as  final. 

On  the  28th  the  subject  of  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Alliance  was  taken  up  by  the  Im- 
perial Conference.  Lord  Curzon,  Foreign 
Secretary,  explained  all  the  aspects  of  the 
alliance  without  attempting  to  influence  the 
Colonial  Premiers  in  either  direction.  Later 
Mr.  Balfour,  Lord  President  of  the  Council, 
urged  the  necessity  of  bringing  the  alliance 
into  harmony  with  the  League  of  Nations' 
requirements,  rather  than  insisting  upon 
any  special  British  interests  or  emphasizing 
its  imperial  aspect.  At  an  afternoon  ses- 
sion the  Premiers  discussed  the  question  of 
immigration  within  the  empire  and  the  best 
means  of  keeping  desirable  British  emi- 
grants within  its  confines.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  go  further  into  the  matter. 

The  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance  was  again 
the  principal  topic  on  June  30.  Little  of 
note,  however,  was  disclosed  except  that  the 
Maharaja  of  Cutch,  representing  India, 
caused  a  surprise  by  protesting  against  the 
clause  in  the  treaty  which  provided  that  in 
case  India  was  attacked  Japan  should  come 
to  her  assistance.  The  Indian  delegation, 
he  said,  was  of  opinion  that  England  and 
India  should  be  able  to  protect  India  with- 
out the  assistance  of  any  allies. 


At  the  session  of  July  1  all  the  Premiers 
of  the  British  Dominions  again  gave  their 
views  on  the  Anglo- Japanese  Alliance,  but 
th«  utmost  secrecy  enveloped  the  proceed- 
ings. All  that  the  public  was  allowed  to 
know  was  that  there  had  been  a  general 
agreement  on  the  need  of  delay  in  renewing 
the  treaty.  The  mental  fog  that  enveloped 
the  subject  was  finally  cleared  away  on 
July  3  by  the  announcement  of  a  decision 
of  the  Lord  Chancellor  that  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  Treaty  had  not  been  denounced  by 
the  note  sent  to  the  League  of  Nations  last 
July,  and  that,  therefore,  even  if  it  were 
now  denounced  on  July  15,  it  would  run 
automatically  for  another  year.  This  de- 
cision was  held  as  greatly  simplifying  mat- 
ters by  giving  ample  time  for  the  Dominions 
to  reach  definite  conclusions.  It  avoided 
an  embarrassing  situation,  as  there  would 
not  have  been  time  for  a  thorough  discus- 
sion before  July  15,  when  the  period  of  the 
treaty  ended. 

On  July  6  the  conference  grappled  with 
the  problem  of  German  reparations,  the 
task  being  to  fix  a  basis  upon  which  the 
amount  to  be  collected  by  the  empire  shall 
be  apportioned  to  its  different  parts. 
While  no  decision  was  reached  it  was  un- 
derstood as  not  improbable  that  the  amounts 
would  be  determined  by  each  country's  war 
expenditure  and  number  of  casualties.  If 
adopted  this  plan  would  assure  to  Canada 
a  fair  share  of  whatever  sums  were  paid 
over  in  recognition  of  her  heavy  sacrifices 
in  both  blood  and  treasure. 

In  the  industrial  field  the  collapse  of  the 
costly  and  prolonged  strike  of  the  coal 
miners  came  after  a  hopeless  effort  to  bring 
on  a  general  "  down  tools  "  movement  of 
all  labor.  They  got  only  a  vote  of  sym- 
pathy from  the  other  unions.  As  their 
funds  were  exhausted,  the  miners'  repre- 
sentatives made  terms  with  the  Government 
on  June  28,  on  the  basis  of  the  public  grant 
of  £10,000,000.  The  final  settlement  was 
a  compromise.  While  the  miners  agreed 
to  drop  their  demand  for  class  privilege, 
the  standard  wage  was  fixed  at  20  per  cent, 
above  the  pre-war  rate,  which,  it  was  gen- 
erally admitted,  had  been  inhumanly  low. 
An  arrangement  was  also  entered  into  by 
which  labor  shared  in  the  profits  of  the 
mines,  receiving  83  per  cent,  to  the  owners' 
17  per  cent.,  the  owners  receiving  the  bal- 
ancing concession  of  the  Government  grant 
of  £10,000,000. 


A  TRUCE  IN  THE  IRISH  WARFARE 

King  George  s  appeal  for  peace  at  the  opening  of  the  Ulster  Parliament  leads  to  concerted 
efforts  for  a  settlement  in  the  South  of  Ireland — De  Valera's  acceptance  of  Lloyd  George's 
invitation  to  a  peace  conference  brings  an  end  to  the  fighting 

[Period  Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THAT  June  22,  1921,  may  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  happiest  dates  in 
Irish  history  was  generally  conceded  in 
both  Ireland  and  England,  not  alone  on  ac- 
count of  the  hearty  welcome  extended  that 
day  to  King  George  and  Queen  Mary  in  Bel- 
fast at  the  royal  opening  of  the  Ulster  Par- 
liament, but  because  of  the  effect  of  the 
King's  speech  for  peace.  Concerning  this 
effort,  Premier  Lloyd  George  subsequently 
declared  in  the  House  of  Commons :  "  Never 
has  the  Throne  rendered  a  greater  or  finer 
service  to  the  empire."  Surrounded  by 
statesmen  and  officers  in  brilliant  uniforms 
and  by  heralds  and  Court  officials  garbed 
-with  Old  World  pomp,  King  George  ad- 
dressed the  Speaker  of  the  new  Northern 
Parliament  and  representatives  of  men  who 
had  threatened  a  few  years  ago  to  plunge 
Ireland  into  civil  war  rather  than  submit 
to  the  south.  In  moving  words  he  appealed 
to  them  to  make  the  grant  of  self-govern- 
ment to  the  six  counties  the  stepping  stone 
to  a  settlement  of  "  the  age-long  Irish  prob- 
lems affecting  the  whole  English-speaking 
world."  He  pointed  out  that  self-govern- 
ment had  been  granted  to  South  Africa,  a 
country  also  divided  by  race  and  religion. 
Then,  with  a  voice  full  of  feeling  and  ear- 
nestness, he  went  on: 

I  am  emboldened  by  that  to  look  beyond 
the  sorrow  and  anxiety  which  have  clouded 
of  late  my  vision  of  Irish  affairs.  I  speak 
from  a  full  heart  when  I  pray  that  my  com- 
ing to  Ireland  today  may  prove  to  be  the 
first  step  toward  the  end  of  strife  among 
her  people  whatever  their  race  or  creed.  In 
that  hope  I  appeal  to  all  Irishmen  to  pause, 
to  stretch  out  the  hand  of  forbearance  and 
conciliation,  to  forgive  and  to  forget,  and  to 
join  in  making  for  the  land  which  they  love 
a  new  era  of  peace,  contentment  and  good- 
will. 

Premier  Lloyd  George  on  June  24  fol- 
lowed up  the  manifestly  favorable  effect  of 
King  George's  speech  by  a  personal  letter 
of  invitation  to  Eamon  de  Valera  to  come 
to  London  with  any  colleague  he  might  se- 


lect to  attend  a  conference  with  the  British 
Government  and  Sir  James  Craig,  Premier 
of  Ulster.     The  letter  read: 

Sir:  The  British  Government  are  deeply 
anxious  that,  so  far  as  they  can  assure  it, 
the  King's  appeal  for  reconciliation  in  Ire- 
land shall  not  have  been  made  in  vain. 
Rather  than  allow  yet  another  opportunity 
of  settlement  in  Ireland  to  be  cast  aside,  they 
feel  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  make  a  final 
appeal  in  the  spirit  of  the  King's  words  for  a 
conference  between  themselves  and  represen- 
tatives of  Southern  and  Northern  Ireland. 

I  write  therefore  to  convey  the  following 
invitation  to  you  as  the  chosen  leader  of  a 
great  majority  in  Southern  Ireland  and  to  Sir 
James  Craig,  Premier  of  Northern  Ireland : 
(1)  That  you  should  attend  a  conference  here 
in  London  in  company  with  Sir  James  Craig 
to  explore  to  the  utmost  the  possibility  of  a 
settlement.  (2)  That  you  should  bring  with 
you  for  the  purpose  any  colleague  whom  you 
may  select.  The  Government  will,  of  course, 
give  safe  conduct  to  all  who  may  be  chosen 
to  participate  in  the  conference. 

We  make  this  invitation  with  the  fervent 
desire  to  end  the  ruinous  conflict  which  has 
for  centuries  divided  Ireland  and  embittered 
the  relations  of  the  peoples  of  these  two  is- 
lands, who  ought  to  live  in  neighborly  har- 
mony with  each  other  and  whose  co-opera- 
tion would  mean  so  much,  ndt  only  to  the 
empire  but  to  humanity.  We  wish  that  no 
endeavor  should  be  lacking  on  our  part  to 
realize  the  King's  prayer,  and  we  ask  you 
to  meet  us,  as  we  will  meet  you,  in  the  spirit 
of  conciliation  for  which  his  Majesty  ap- 
pealed. D.   LLOYD   GEORGE. 

This  move  on  the  part  of  the  British  Pre- 
mier was  warmly  approved  by  the  majority 
of  the  London  press  as  a  logical  sequel  to 
the  King's  generous  appeal.  The  London 
Times  declared  that  the  hour  of  peace  had 
struck  for  Ireland,  and  The  Daily  News  re- 
marked that  the  Government,  having  made 
the  offer  "  in  the  name  of  the  British  peo- 
ple, on  the  constitutional  initiative  of  the 
King  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Dominion 
Prime  Ministers,"  was  responsible  to  these 
as  well  as  to  Ireland  "  for  vigorous,  candid 
and  effective  prosecution  of  the  new  pol- 
icy."     In    Dublin    The   Freeman's   Journal, 


852 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


(International) 


ARTHUR   GRIFFITH 

Founder  of  the  Sinn  Fein  and  Vice  President 

of  the  "  Irish  Republic  " 


commenting  on  the  invitation,  said:  "The 
Premier  has  gone  further  than  he  or  his 
colleagues  ever  have  gone  in  public.  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  has  at  last  seen  the  wisdom 
of  dispensing  with  conditions  and  restric- 
tions which  hitherto  have  proved  insuper- 
able barriers  to  negotiations."  In  general 
it  was  seen  that  the  next  move  lay  with  the 
Sinn  Fein  leaders. 

Mr.   de   Valera    sent   the   following   tele- 
gram to  Mr.  Lloyd  George  on  June  28: 

I  have  received  your  letter.  I  am  in  con- 
sultation with  such  of  the  principal  represen- 
tatives of  our  nation  as  are  available.  We 
most  earnestly  desire  to  help  in  bringing 
about  a  lasting  peace  between  the  peoples  of 
these  two  islands,  but  see  no  avenue  by 
which  it  can  be  reached  if  you  deny  Ire- 
land's essential  unity  and  set  aside  the  prin- 
ciple of  national  self-determination.  Before 
replying  more  fully  to  your  letter  I  am  seek- 
ing a  conference  with  certain  representatives 
of  the  political  minority  in  this  country. 

At   the    same   time    Mr.    de   Valera   dis- 


patched a  letter  to  Sir  James  Craig,  Ulster 
Premier;  Earl  Midleton,  anti-partisan 
Southern  Unionist;  Sir  Maurice  Dockrell, 
Sir  Robert  Woods  and  Andrew  Jameson, 
Southern  Senator.    The  letter  read: 

The  reply  which  I  as  the  spokesman  for  the 
Irish  Nation  shall  make  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
will  affect  the  lives  and  futures  of  the  polit- 
ical minority  in  this  island  no  less  than  those 
of  the  majority.  Before  sending  my  reply, 
therefore,  I  would  like  to  confer  with  you 
and  to  learn  from  you  at  first  hand  the  views 
of  certain  sections  of  our  peoples  of  whom 
you  are  the  representative.  1  am  confident 
you  will  not  refuse  this  service  to  Ireland, 
and   I   shall   await  you  at  Mansion   House, 


(Wide  World  Photo) 


EAMON  DE  VALERA 
President  of   the   (t  Irish   Republic 


Dublin,  on  Monday  next  in  the  hope  that  you 

will  find  it  possible  to  attend. 
A  mistake  in  delivering  the  letter  intend- 
ed for  Sir  James  Craig  led  to  his  being  com- 
pelled to  decline  Mr.  de  Valera's  invitation, 
as  he  had  already  telegraphed  acceptance  of 
the  Prime  Minister's  invitation  to  the  Lon- 
don conference. 

In  order  that  the  Irish  leaders  might  have 
free  intercourse  to  discuss  the  situation  at 
the  forthcoming  Dublin  conference  on  July 


A  TRUCE  IN  THE  IRISH  WARFARE 


853 


4,  the  British  Government  on  June  30  re- 
leased from  prison  Arthur  Griffith,  M.  P., 
Vice  President  and  founder  of  the  Sinn 
Fein;  Professor  John  MacNeill,  M.  P.,  mem- 
ber of  the  Cabinet  of  the  Dail  Eireann;  E. 
Duggan,  M.  P.  for  Dublin  City,  and  Michael 
Staines,  M.  P.  for  South  Meath.  Subse- 
quently the  released  members  of  Parlia- 
ment met  Eamo'n  de  Valera  in  private  con- 
sultation. 

The  Mansion  House  meeting  on  July  4  be- 
tween Sinn  Fein  leaders  and  representatives 
of  Southern  Unionists  was  made  the  occa- 
sion of  a  popular  demonstration.  Large 
crowds  assembled  with  eager  expectancy. 
An  auspicious  omen  was  seen  in  the  numer- 
ous American  flags  flying  throughout  the 
city.  De  Valera  arrived  first  in  a  taxi  and 
received  a  great  ovation.  Sir  Maurice  Dock- 
rell,  the  popular  Unionist  member  for  Rath- 
mines,  came  next,  and  was  followed  by 
Arthur  Griffith.  Both  were  greeted  with 
cheers  and  by  countless  little  American 
flags.  Sir  Robert  Woods,  independent  mem- 
ber for  Dublin  University  and  famous  sur- 
geon, followed.  Then  Lord  Midleton  and 
Andrew  Jameson  appeared.  A  remarkable 
feature  in  the  reception  was  the  warm 
greeting  bestowed  on  the  Unionist  dele- 
gates, who  were  manifestly  affected.  The 
Northern  Parliament  was  not  represented. 

Lord  Midleton  at  this  meeting  demanded 
the  release  of  the  recently  kidnapped  Lord 
Bandon,  and  de  Valera  promised  to  do  his 
best.  Lord  Midleton  also  made  general 
claims  for  minority  representation  in  any 
Irish  Parliament  to  be  set  up.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting  a  brief  report  was  issued,  of 
hopeful  import. 

General  Jan  Christian  Smuts,  Premier  of 
South  Africa,  arrived  in  Dublin  on  July  5 
as  an  unofficial  peace  emissary.  During  the 
day  he  conferred  with  Lord  Mayor  O'Neill, 
E anion  de  Valera  and  Arthur  Griffith. 
Premier  Smuts  was  back  again  in  London 
the  following  morning  to  breakfast  with  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  and  the  same  evening,  in 
speaking  at  a  dinner,  he  said  that  the  Irish 
problem  was  soluble  and  peace  could  be  won 
if,  all  worked  for  it.  By  way  of  a  successful 
illustration  General  Smuts  added: 

If  ever  this  pix>blem  of  the  subjection  of 
one  people  to  another  presented  a  hopeless 
view  it  was  in  South  Africa.  But  finally,  in 
a  spirit  of  give  and  take,  forbearance  and 
trying  to  render  something  to  the  point  of 
view  of  the  other  side,   we  solved  the  prob- 


lem, and  today  South  Africa  is  one  of  the 
happiest  countries  in  the  empire.  Our  for- 
bearance and  self-sacrifice  have  paid  us 
handsome  dividends  in  our  national  life. 

Meanwhile  conferences  were  taking  place 
in  London  between  Premier  Lloyd  George, 
Lord  Midleton  and  Sir  James  Craig.  A  Gov- 
ernment report  on  the  7th  and  the  Irish 
Bulletin,  organ  of  the  Dail  Eireann,  how- 
ever, agreed  that  little  if  any  cessation  of 
fighting  had  taken  place  since  Mr.  Lloyd 
George's  invitation  to  Mr.  de  Valera.  The 
Government  report  stated  that  for  the  week 
following  Lloyd  George's  letter  the  Crown 
casualties  totaled  forty,  which,  however, 
was  below  the  average  for  the  weeks  pre- 
ceding. The  Irish  Bulletin  said  that  during 
the  twelve  days  which  had  elapsed  since  the 
letter  was  dispatched  regular  warfare  had 
continued,  and  added:  "Other  forms  of 
military  terror  are  in  full  blast."  The  Bul- 
letin printed  a  list  of,  14  murders,  14  per- 
sons wounded  and  10  properties  destroyed 
between  June  24  and  July  26. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  four  Southern 
Unionists — Midleton,  Woods,  Jameson  and 
Dockrell — with  the  Sinn  Fein  leaders  de 
Valera  and  Griffith,  began  at  11  A.  M.,  July 
8,  in  the  Dublin  Mansion  House  under  in- 
tensely  dramatic   circumstances.      A   large 


(©    Keystone    View    Co.) 

LIEUT.    GEN.    SIR   NEVIL   MACREADY 

Commander-in-Chief  of  British  military  forces 

in  Ireland 


854 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT   HISTORY 


crowd  had  gathered  in  the  vicinity  to  cheer 
the  arrival  of  both  Sinn  Fein  and  Unionist 
delegates,  but  the  lightheartedness  of  Mon- 
day had  given  place  to  a  deep  anxiety. 
During  the  long  hours  of  waiting  many 
knelt  on  the  gravel  and  recited  the  rosary. 
Even  the  singing  of  patriotic  songs  at  inter- 
vals was  not  as  enthusiastic  as  on  Monday, 
so  gravely  did  some  regard  the  day's  pro- 
ceedings. 

About  1  o'clock  the  Lord  Mayor  appeared, 
but  would  say  nothing.  An  adjournment  was 
taken  until  4  o'clock.  When  the  delegates 
returned  at  that  hour  it  was  plain  there  was 
an  awful  seriousness  in  what  seemed  to  be 
their  determination  to  go  through  with  this 
far-reaching  attempt  at  a  settlement.  At  6 
P.  M.  General  Macready,  commander  of  the 
British  forces  in  Ireland,  arrived  and  was 
greeted  with  a  remarkable  demonstration. 
Met  by  the  Lord  Mayor,  the  distinguished 
officer  saluted.  Being  himself  saluted  by 
the  officer  in  charge  of  the  Irish  Volunteers, 
he  acknowledged  the  courtesy  in  military 
fashion  amid  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the 
expectant  multitude.  The  conference  closed 
at  8  o'clock.  An  hour  later  a  letter*f  rom  de 
Valera  accepting  Lloyd  George's  invitation 
to  a  conference  in  London  was  made  public. 
Thereupon  the  waiting  crowd  melted  away 
in  peaceful  order  and  apparent  relief.  The 
text  of  Mr.  de  Valera's  letter  as  given  out 
in  London  was  as  follows: 

Sir:  The  desire  you  expressed  on  the  part 
of  the  British  Government  to  end  the  cen- 
turies of  conflict  between  the  peoples  of  these 
two    islands,    and    to    establish    relations    of 


neighborly  harmony,  is  the  genuine  desire  of 
the  people  of  Ireland. 

I  have  consulted  with  my  colleagues  and  re- 
ceived the  views  of  the  representatives  of  the 
minority  of  our  nation  in  regard  to  the  invi- 
tation you  have  sent  me.  In  reply  I  desire  to 
say  that  I  am  ready  to  meet  and  discuss  with 
you  on  what  basis  such  a  conference  as  that 
proposed  can  reasonably  hope  to  achieve  the 
object  desired.  EAMON  DE  VALERA. 

At  the  same  time  a  British  official  state- 
ment was  issued  from  Downing  Street 
which  read:  "  In  accordance  with  the  Prime 
Minister's  offer  and  Mr.  de  Valera's  reply, 
arrangements  are  being  made  for  hostilities 
to  cease  from  Monday  next,  July  11,  at 
noon."  Thus  the  peace  negotiations  had 
reached  the  stage  of  a  truce.  It  transpired 
later  that  when  Lord  Midleton  had  returned 
to  Ireland  after  seeing  Mr.  Lloyd  George  he 
had  taken  back  a  letter  from  the  Prime 
Minister  dated  July  7  and  containing  this 
passage: 

As  soon  as  we  hear  that  Mr.  de  Valera  is 
prepared  to  enter  into  a  conference  with  the 
British  Government  and  to  give  instruction-; 
to  those  under  his  control  to  cease  from  all 
acts  of  violence,  we  should  give  instructions 
to  the  troops  and  to  the  police  to  suspend 
active  Operations  against  those  who  are  en- 
gaged in  this  unfortunate  conflict. 

This  letter  had  been  read  by  Lord  Midle- 
ton at  a  conference  of  the  Sinn  Fein  leaders, 
and  had  had  the  result  of  bringing  about  de 
Valera's  acceptance  of  the  invitation  to  take 
part  in  the  proposed  conference  in  London. 
Thus,  with  a  cessation  of  fighting  in  sight, 
the  situation  was  generally  regarded  as 
auspicious  for  ultimate  peace. 


BRITAIN'S  BLINDED  WARRIORS 


T  N  the  sixth  annual  report  of  St.  Dun- 
*■  stan's  Hostel  for  Blinded  Sailors  and 
Soldiers,  issued  on  May  16,  1921,  Sir  Arthur 
Pearson,  head  of  that  English  institution, 
gave  interesting  facts  concerning  the  blind- 
ed men  who  had  passed  through  St.  Dun- 
stan's  and  are  now  earning  their  living  in 
the  most  distant  parts^pf  the  empire,  "  be- 
yond the  Rocky  Mountains  and  in  Canada, 
out  in  the  Australian  and  New  Zealand 
bush,  and  on  the  South  African  veld."  The 
report  says: 

A  man  does  not  leave  St.  Dunstan's  in 
the  sense  that  a  graduate  leaves  a  university. 
And  though  it  requires  a  big  organization 
to  keep  in  touch  with  the  blinded  soldiers  in 
this  country  alone,  every  one  will  realize  how 
heartening  it  is  to  them  to  feel  that  they  are 


still  St.  Dunstaners  and  assured  of  an  active 
interest  in  all  that  concerns  their  comfort 
and  prosperity.  The  essential  training  is 
only  the  first  step  in  the  duty  we  have 
undertaken  to  lighten  the  loss  which  it  has 
fallen  to  these  men  to  bear  throughout  their 
lives.  We  set  them  up  in  their  chosen  occu- 
pations, and  from  that  time  on  our  purpose 
is  to  do  everything  possible  to  help  them  in 
the  effort  to  overcome  their  handicap.  St. 
Dunstan's  has  always  been  a  cheery  place, 
but  those  who  have  still  to  complete  their 
training— now  at  our  new  headquarters— 
certainly  must  be  stimulated  by  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  men  who  have  made  their  fresh 
start  are  going  on  unfalteringly.  The  blinded 
soldiers  are  not  only  busily  at  work,  not 
only  making  some  remarkable  successes  in 
an  extraordinarily  wide  variety  of  occupa- 
tions, but  are  carrying  on  with  the  same 
resolution  with  which  they  set  out. 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH 
DOMINIONS 

How  the  farmers  triumphed  in  the  Federal  by-election  held  in  Alberta — Prohibition 
drawn  tighter  for  Ontario — Australia's  census  shows  a  population  of  5, 419, 7(>2 — 
New  Zealand's  restrictions  on  exports 

[Period   Ended   July   10,    1921] 


IT  is  a  long  time  since  a  Federal  by-elec- 
tion in  Canada  has  created  such  an  im- 
pression as  did  the  one  held  on  June  27 
for  the  riding  of  Medicine  Hat,  Alberta.  The 
death  of  the  Hon.  A.  L.  Sifton,  a  member 
of  the  Unionist  Government,  necessitated 
the  contest.  Robert  Gardiner,  the  candi- 
date of  the  National  Progressive  Party,  was 
returned  with  a  majority  of  9,749  over  the 
Government  candidate,  Colonel  Nelson 
Spencer.  The  National  Progressive  Party 
is  a  very  small  group  in  the  Commons,  led 
by  the  Hon.  T.  A.  Crerar,  formerly  in  the 
Union  Cabinet,  now  the  recognized  political 
head  of  the  various  farmer  political  groups 
in  the  Western  provinces,  which  aim  to  do  in 
the  sphere  of  Federal  politics  what  has  been 
accomplished  by  their  fellow-agriculturists 
in  Ontario.  Crerar,  who  is  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  freer  trade  with  the  United  States, 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  by-election. 
The  fight  of  the  farmers  was  made  chiefly 
on  what  is  known  as  the  grain  inquiry — the 
investigation  by  a  Government  commission 
into  the  handling  of  grain  at  the  elevators 
and  other  points,  especially  in  the  West. 
The  argument  was  that  the  inquiry  was  in 
reality  an  attempt  to  discredit  the  co-op- 
erative movements  of  the  various  organiza- 
tions of  Western  farmers  who  have  gone  in 
for  this  method  of  handling  the  business  of 
their  own  industry.  It  was  accentuated  by 
the  obtaining  of  an  injunction  restraining 
the  continuation  of  the  inquiry,  pending  a 
ruling  on  questions  of  jurisdiction. 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  inmost  govern- 
mental circles  defeat  was  anticipated  in 
Medicine  Hat,  but  not  to  the  extent  record- 
ed. Naturally  the  farmers'  organizations 
are  jubilant  over  the  result.  Newspapers 
which  support  the  Liberal  Party  are  in- 
clined to  the  view  that  the  by-election  prom- 
ises well  for  that  party  at  the  next  general 
election.     The  farmers  themselves  are  con- 


fident that  it  is  a  forerunner  of  a  farmers' 
group  as  the  dominant  body  in  the  next  Do- 
minion Parliament.  So  far  as  is  known, 
Premier  Meighen,  who  is  attending  the  im- 
perial conference  of  Premiers  in  London, 
will  not  hasten  a  general  election  as  the 
result  of  the  Medicine  Hat  contest. 

A  painful  sensation  has  been  caused  by 
the  evidence  so  far  adduced  at  the  inquiry 
by  a  Government  Commissioner — G.  T. 
Clarkson — into  alleged  frauds  in  connection 
with  sterling  exchange,  and  involving  a 
branch  of  the  Militia  Department.  It  re- 
mains to  be  seen  whether  there  was  delib- 
erate inside  assistance  for  the  perpetrators 
of  the  fraud,  or  merely  gross  official  negli- 
gence. The  frauds  were  carried  on  under 
the  operation  of  an  Order  in  Council  pro- 
viding for  the  payment  at  par  of  accumu- 
lated pay  and  allowances  in  sterling  of  of- 
ficers and  men  on  overseas  service.  It  is 
alleged  that  many  people  who  were  in  no 
way  connected  with  the  forces  have  been 
getting  English  money  exchanged  at  par 
under  various  pretexts,  and  making  very 
handsome  profits.  One  of  the  witnesses  de- 
clared that  he  had  been  involved  with  a  for- 
mer member  of  the  Ottawa  police  force  in 
the  matter,  and  that  the  policeman  had 
cleared  out  after  making  more  than  $14,000 
net  profit.  Another  said  he  knew  a  man 
who  had  kept  £1,000  in  circulation  by  inge- 
nious methods,  and  had  it  changed  at  par 
on  several  occasions.  The  inquiry  is  pro- 
ceeding. 

Ontario  became  as  bone  dry  as  law  can 
make  it  on  July  19,  when  the  Dominion  en- 
actment forbidding  the  importation  of  in- 
toxicants as  a  beverage  went  into  effect,  as 
well  as  a  provincial  measure  known  as  the 
Sandy  bill.  The  latter  is  for  the  prevention 
of  "  short  circuiting  " — the  ordering  of  liq- 
uor outside  of  Ontario  and  its  delivery  from 
distilleries  which  are  still  allowed  to  make 


856 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


it  for  export  trade.  In  addition  to  these  two 
measures,  the  Ontario  Temperance  act  is 
also  enforced,  and  it  is  as  stringent  a  pro- 
hibition law  as  a  province  can  enact  under 
the  Canadian  system  of  government. 

AUSTRALIA — The  Australian  census 
figures  show  that  the  Commonwealth  has  a 
population  of  5,419,702,  an  increase  of  970,- 
000  over  1911.  The  males  outnumber  the 
females  by  about  83,000.  *  *  *  Customs 
revenue  for  the  year  ended  June  30  consti- 
tutes a  record,  amounting  to  $160,000,000, 
or  $30,000,000  above  the  estimates.  Since 
the  new  fiscal  year,  however,  imports  have 
begun  to  decline.  *  *  *  The  Australian 
House  of  Representatives  on  July  6  passed 
a  bill  exempting  British  newsprint  paper 
from  duty,  but  placing  a  duty  of  £3  a  ton 
on  newsprint  from  other  countries.  *  *  * 
Many  mining  companies  in  Australia  have 
been  compelled  to  suspend  operations,  costs 
of  production  being  out  of  all  proportion 
to  market  prices.  *  *  *  The  Parliamentary 
Labor  Party  of  New  South  Wales  is  urging 
a  bill  providing  endowment  for  motherhood 
by  which  widowed  mothers  would  receive 
a  pension  of  $2.50  a  week  and  parents  in 
receipt  of  an  income  of  $45.50  will  receive 
an  endowment  of  $1.50  for  each  child  under 
14  years  of  age  after  the  first  two. 

NEW  ZEALAND— W.  F.  Massey,  Pre- 
mier of  New  Zealand,  who  went  to  London 
for  the  Imperial  Conference,  in  an  inter- 
view on  June  17  concerning  trade  with  the 
United  States  said  that  certain  conditions 
left  by  the  war  made  restrictions  upon 
exports  necessary  in  order  to  safeguard  per- 
manent interests.  The  country,  for  in- 
stance, had  refused  permission  to  the 
Armours  to  erect  storage  plants  there  and 
required  them  to  give  an  undertaking  not  to 
send  any  New  Zealand  carcases  to  the 
British  market,  as  a  condition  of  being  al- 
lowed to  export  to  America.  It  was  dis- 
covered that  a  large  proportion  of  the  meat 
they  exported  to  America  was  not  placed 
on  the  American  market,  but  was  shipped 
to  Great  Britain,  where  it  naturally  came 
into  competition  with  meat  sent  direct  from 
New  Zealand.  "  This  may  be  good  business 
for  the  meat  trust,"  said  Mr.  Massey,  "  but 


is  of  no  use  for  the  New  Zealand  pro- 
ducer." *  *  *  Over  one-fourth  of  the  babies 
born  in  New  Zealand,  of  well-to-do  as  well 
as  poor  parents,  are  reached  by  the  infant 
welfare  measures  in  force  in  that  country. 
In  forty-five  years  the  infant  mortality 
rate  has  been  more  than  cut  in  half,  until 
now  it  is  the  lowest  rate  of  any  country  in 
the  world. 

EGYPT— The  disturbances  in  Cairo  and 
Alexandria,  in  which  a  number  of  natives 
and  Europeans  were  killed,  as  related  in 
Current  History  for  July,  are  regarded  in 
Egypt  as  a  blow  to  the  Milner  project.  It 
is  generally  considered  there  that  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  protection  of  Europeans 
in  Egypt  are  not  of  much  practical  utility 
and  that  very  stringent  new  measures  will 
have  to  be  made  to  satisfy  the  demands  of 
France,  Italy  and  Greece.  *  *  *  Ma- 
homed Fahmy,  a  leader  of  the  "Young 
Egyptians,"  has  written  to  the  Council  of 
the  League  of  Nations,  according  to  a 
Geneva  dispatch  of  June  23,  asking  it  to 
mediate  between  Egypt  and  Great  Britain 
and  assure  independence  to  the  Valley  of 
the  Nile. 

SOUTH  AFRICA— A  native  African  re- 
ligious sect  which  calls  itself  Israelites,  and 
which  follows  a  prophet  named  Enoch,  re- 
fused to  evacuate  Government  land  at  Bul- 
hoek,  near  Queenstown;  it  was  forcibly 
ejected,  losing  171  killed  and  126  wounded 
in  a  fight  with  mounted  Cape  Colony  police. 
For  some  years  the  Government  had  allowed 
the  members  to  celebrate  the  "  Passover  " 
on  a  common,  but  each  year  a  growing 
number  remained  behind,  until  a  village  of 
some  350  huts  had  sprung  up.  The  sect 
refused  to  recognize  any  authority  or  to 
withdraw.  A  force  of  800  mounted  police 
started  to  evict  them,  and  about  4,000  of 
the  natives  charged  the  police  with  swords 
and  assegais.  After  the  slaughter,  the 
prophet  Enoch  surrendered  and  the  village 
was  ordered  demolished.  *  *  *  Influ- 
enza is  sweeping  through  the  Eastern 
Provinces  of  Cape  Colony,  claiming  thou- 
sands of  victims.  It  was  most  virulent  at 
Uitenhage,  20  miles  northwest  of  Port 
Elizabeth. 


GREAT  ISSUES  THAT  DISTURB 

FRANCE 

How  the  rift  in  her  relations  with  Great  Britain  is  widened  by  the  different  attitudes 
of  the  two  nations  toward  Germany,  Russia  and  Turkey — Difficulties  of  reconstruction 
in  the  devastated  areas- — A  tragic  mistake  in  a  military  execution 

[Period   Ended   July   1G,    1021] 


A  NDRE  TARDIEU,  former  French  High 
JTjl  Commissioner  to  the  United  States, 
and  one  of  the  most  prominent  op- 
ponents in  France  of  the  policy  of  concilia- 
tion to  Germany,  recorded  in  June  his  belief 
that  Anglo-French  relations  were  "  just 
emerging  from  a  serious  crisis."  That  there 
has  been  a  crisis — or,  rather,  a  series  of 
crises — all  international  observers  have 
easily  divined.  The  occasion  for  conflict 
has  always  been  the  same  since  the  signing 
of  the  armistice — namely,  the  sharp  diverg- 
ence between  the  foreign  policies  of  the 
respective  nations,  particularly  in  regard  to 
Russia,  Germany  and  the  Near  East. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  French  Gov- 
ernment did,  on  learning  of  the  decision  in 
the  British  Courts  that  Soviet  gold  and 
property  sent  to  England  for  traefc  pur- 
poses could  not  be  attached,  was  to  send 
to  the  British  Foreign  Office  France's  ex- 
press reservations  of  all  the  rights  of  her 
nationals  in  regard  to  debts  left  by  the 
Czarist  regime  and  also  regarding  property 
sequestrated  by  the  Bolsheviki  when  they 
took  power.  France  has  never  been  a  party 
to  the  Anglo-Soviet  trade  treaty,  of  which 
the  French  leaders  heartily  disapproved.  The 
French  attitude,  like  that  of  the  United 
States,  has  been  consistent  and  unchange- 
able; the  foreign  policy  of  the  Soviet  regime 
was  double-faced  and  treacherous ;  it  offered 
treaties  of  commerce  and  pursued  plans  to 
overthrow  the  Government  of  the  other 
contracting  nation;  it  repudiated  Russia's 
honorable  debts;  it  used  stolen  gold  and 
property  to  renew  its  commerce.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  Lloyd  Geoi'ge's  insistence 
in  pushing  through  the  trade  agreement 
with  Moscow,  sterile,  so  far,  in  all  practical 
consequences,  had  a  bad  psychological  reac- 
tion in  France,  combined  as  it  was  with 
French  resentment  over  Great  Britain's  fa- 


voring attitude  to   Germany  regarding  the 
fulfillment  of  the  Versailles  Treaty. 

The  policy  of  the  Government  toward 
Germany  has  been  determined  by  the  con- 
cessions made  by  Premier  Briand  in  the 
last  London  conference  of  the  allied  Pre- 
miers, in  which  he  met,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  desires  of  his  English  colleagues  for  a 
workable  solution  of  the  reparations  prob- 
lem. In  this  new  policy  of  conciliation 
Briand  has  had  the  confidence  of  the  French 
Chamber,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
both  the  Premier  and  his  policy  have  many 
bitter  and  unwearying  enemies  in  France. 
These  enemies,  who  include  such  distin- 
guished personages  as  former  President 
Poincare  and  Andre  Tardieu,  are  openly 
skeptical  of  the  Premier's  public  expressions 
of  confidence  in  the  new  German  Govern- 
ment headed  by  Dr.  Wirth.  Although  this 
element  took  note  of  the  expressions  of  good- 
will and  pledges  to  fulfill  promises  made 
both  by  Dr.  Wirth  and  Foreign  Minister 
Rathenau,  they  held  that  various  acts  of 
the  German  Government  seemed  to  be  in- 
consistent with  this  avowed  attitude. 

One  of  these  acts,  they  held,  was  the 
German  Government's  claiming  all  Upper 
Silesia,  in  spite  of  the  provisions  of  the  Ver- 
sailles Treaty  stipulating  that  Upper  Si- 
lesia should  be  divided  between  the  Ger- 
man and  Polish  populations  according  to 
communes,  as  determined  by  a  plebiscite 
vote.  They  further  pointed  out  that,  though 
Dr.  Wirth  has  promised  to  expel  the  Ger- 
man troops  of  General  Hoefer  still  in  this 
territory,  his  Government  was  itself  re- 
sponsible for  recruiting  and  munitioning 
Hoefer's  troops.  Other  inconsistencies 
pointed  out  were  the  failure  of  the  Leipsic 
tribunal  to  mete  out  any  adequate  punish- 
ment to  the  German  war  criminals,  despite 
the   Berlin   Government's   assurance   of  its 


858 


THE  NEW   YOP>K   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


desire  to  secure  verdicts  according  to  the 
evidence.  This  failure  so  incensed  the 
French  Government  that  it  withdrew  its 
Leipsic  Commission.    (See  Germany.) 

In  Upper  Silesia  the  British  made  com- 
mon cause  with  the  German  element  against 
the  Polish  insurgent  leader  Korfanty, 
whereas  the  French  attitude  was  inclined  to 
favor  the  Poles,  with  whom  France  has  a 
protective  alliance.  France  has  consist- 
ently maintained  that  the  rich  mining  dis- 
tricts of  Upper  Silesia,  which  fell  in  the 
main  to  the  Poles  under  the  plebiscite, 
should  be  assigned  to  them.  The  British, 
backed  by  the  Italians,  are  considering 
other  factors,  notably  the  complication  of 
the  vote,  which  was  bizarrely  intermingled 
between  city  and  country  districts. 

In  the  Near  East,  also,  the  French  and 
British  plans  have  sharply  clashed.  The 
visit  of  Earl  Curzon,  British  Foreign  Min- 
ister, to  Paris  around  the  middle  of  June 
resulted  in  a  decision  to  offer  Greece  allied 
intervention  between  her  and  the  Angora 
Government.  The  latest  developments  in 
the  Turkish  situation,  however,  up  to  the 
time  when  these  pages  went  to  press,  indi- 
cated that  the  British  were  inclining  to 
back  the  Greeks  against  the  Nationalist 
Turks  of  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha,  who  was 
reported  to  be  preparing  for  an  attack  upon 
Constantinople,  now  held  by  an  interallied 
regime.  The  British,  naturally,  wished  the 
French  to  join  with  them  against  the  Turk- 
ish Nationalist  leader.  The  French,  how- 
ever, who  have  been  charged  with  being 
pro-Turkish,  insist  that  they  are  war  weary 
and  wish  to  effect  peace  in  the  Near  East. 
M.  Briand  stated  this  emphatically  in  the 
French  Chamber  on  June  17,  but  refused  to 
discuss  the  Government's  plans. 

The  announcement  made  by  Winston 
Churchill,  British  Colonial  Secretary,  in 
Parliament  on  June  14  of  British  plans  for 
the  establishment  of  Mesopotamia  under  the 
kingship  of  Emir  Feisal,  and  of  Transjor- 
dania,  contiguous  to  French  Syria,  under 
the  rule  of  FeisaPs  brother,  came  as  a  shock 
to  the  French  political  leaders.  The  French 
press  denounced  the  scheme  as  a  new  Brit- 
ish attempt  to  play  the  Arabs  off  against 
the  Turks.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the 
French  deposed  Emir  Feisal  as  King  of 
Syria  only  last  year,  alleging  that  he  had 
planned  and  tried  to  drive  the  French  into 
the    sea,    and    that    the    forces    of    Ger- 


eral  Gouraud  expelled  him  from  his  new 
kingdom.  The  proposal,  on  this  ground 
alone,  was  bitter  to  French  pride,  and  the 
further  project  of  elevating  Feisal's  brother 
to  a  kingdom  side  by  side  with  French 
Syria  could  cause  them  nothing  but  alarm. 

M.  Barthou,  the  Minister  of  War,  re- 
turned to  Paris  on  June  5  from  a  week's 
visit  to  the  Rhine  occupation  area,  where 
he  had  made  a  detailed  study  of  the  moral 
and  material  conditions  prevailing  among 
the  forces — some  130,000 — guarding  the 
French  zone.  In  view  of  Germany's  un- 
mistakable efforts  to  fulfill  the  new  agree- 
ments, said  Minister  Barthou,  it  had  been 
decided  to  demobolize  the  entire  Class  19 
of  recruits,  beginning  with  the  fathers  of 
families,  the  sons  of  widows,  and  students. 
The  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  at  once 
took  active  steps  to  facilitate  the  taking 
of  the  July  examinations  for  these  return- 
ing soldier-students.  It  was  hoped  to  re- 
turn the  peasant  soldiers  to  their  land  in 
time  for  the  new  harvest.  The  French 
Army  on  the  Rhineland,  however,  was  to 
be  maintained  until  France  received  tan- 
gible and  convincing  assurance  that  Ger- 
many would  carry  out  the  full  program 
outlined  for  her.  "  France,"  said  Minister 
Barthou,  "  can  feel  confidence  in  its  army 
on  the  Rhine.  It  is  in  the  hands  of  a  great 
soldier  and  capable  administrator — General 
Degoutte."  The  Government's  strong  feeling 
against  the  anti-militaristic  propaganda 
which  has  been  going  on  in  France  was 
shown  in  the  passing  of  a  penal  law  to 
punish  all  persons  inciting  French  soldiers, 
recruits  or  reserves,  against  military  ser- 
vice. 

One  of  the  most  tragic  incidents  of  the 
war  came  up  for  discussion  in  the  French 
Chamber  on  June  22,  when  Deputy  Berthon, 
Socialist,  interpellated  the  Government  con- 
cerning the  execution  of  Lieutenants  Her- 
duin  and  Milan  before  Verdun.  The  Min- 
ister of  War  sought  to  have  the  interpella- 
tion postponed  sine  die,  but  Berthon.  sup- 
ported by  former  soldier  Deputies  from  all 
sides  of  the  Chamber,  insisted  on  action, 
and  Minister  Barthou  finally  agreed  to  have 
the  matter  brought  up  before  the  Summer 
vacation,  and  also  to  present  the  case  to 
the  Cabinet.  The  two  lieutenants  in  ques- 
tion were  court-martialed  by  General  Boyer 
and  Colonel  Bernard  following  the  terrific 
struggle  for  Fleury  on  June  8,  10  and  16, 


GREAT  ISSUES  THAT  DISTURB  FRANCE 


859 


1918,  when  the  Germans  were  nearer  to 
victory  than  ever  before  since  the  opening 
of  the  battle  for  Verdun.  The  whole  bat- 
talion commanded  by  these  lieutenants  was 
wiped  out  by  the  German  fire.  Herduin, 
however,  had  already  been  twice  wounded, 
and  decorated  for  gallantry  in  battle.  When 
sentenced  by  the  court-martial,  he  went  to 
his  death  like  a  hero,  himself  giving  the 
order  to  shoot  to  the  unnerved  and  weeping 
firing  squad  which  had  been  detailed  to  ex- 
ecute him.  He  was  buried  in  Fleury  Wood. 
In  a  letter  to  his  wife,  made  public  by  her 
subsequently,  Herduin  said,  in  part: 

Well,  I  must  meet  my  fate,  but  I  have  no 
shame.  My  comrades,  who  know  me,  know 
I  am  no  coward.  *  *  *  Demand  my  pen- 
sion. You  have  a  right  to  it.  My  conscience 
is  peaceful.  When  I  am  gone,  raise  your 
voice  against  the  military  justice  of  the 
chiefs,  always  looking  for  responsibles  td 
excuse  their  own  errors.  I  kiss  you  madly, 
for  the  last  time.  *  *  *  I  kiss,  too,  my 
eldest  son,  who  will  never  have  to  blush  for 
his  father,  who  did  his  duty.  Ah,  that  is 
the  last  time  I  say  to  you,  my  beautiful 
darling,  he  brave,  forget  me  not.  My  hand 
is  firm ;  I  die  with  tranquil  heart.  Good-bye. 
- 1  love   you. 

Herduin's  wife  sent  to  his  grave  this 
message:  "  Mort  pour  la  patrie."  (He  died 
for  his  country).  Too  late,  the  authorities 
realized  that  justice  had  erred,  and  Mme. 
Herduin  received  assurance  of  her  pension, 
and  even  an  offer  of  compensation.  In- 
formed by  her  husband's  comrades  of  the 
full  facts,  she  persisted  in  her  demand  for 
a  full  rehabilitation.  The  case  was  actively 
pushed  by  the  Socialists,  and  it  was  a  shock 
to  the  Government  to  find  many  former 
officers  taking  the  same  view.  There  is 
every  probability  that  Herduin  and  his  fel- 
low-victim will  receive  rehabilitation. 

The  French  naval  program  presented  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  on  June  10  was 
adopted,  after  some  minority  opposition. 
It  called  for  the  construction  of  six  light 
cwiisers,  twelve  destroyers,  twelve  torpedo 
boats,  and  thirty-six  submarines  at  an  ap- 
proximate cost  of  1,416,000,000  francs.  Re- 
vision of  the  naval  clauses  of  the  Versailles 
Treaty  was  demanded  by  several  Deputies. 
A  similar  demand  for  revision  of  the  agree- 
ment to  destroy  all  surrendered  German 
submarines  was  nipped  in  the  bud  when  it 
was  announced  that  the  submarines  which 
had  fallen  to  France  under  the  settlement 
had  already  been  destroyed. 


Financially,  France  found  herself  facing 
a  better  prospect  than  in  the  past.  Exports 
— especially  food  exports — were  on  the  in- 
crease. M.  Doumer,  French  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, announced  on  June  15  that  the  1922 
budget  had  been,  cut  from  26,499,000,000 
francs  to  25,596,000,000  francs.  He  esti- 
mated the  revenues  for  the  forthcoming  year 
at  25,514,000,000  francs,  but  stated  that  the 
deficit  would  be  made  up  from  the  proceeds 
of  the  national  defense  bonds,  the  sale  of 
war  stocks,  customs,  the  war-profit  tax, 
and  other  sources.  For  the  first  time,  the 
Finance  Minister  was  able  to  revert  to  a 
single  budget,  instead  of  the  double  budget 
for  the  war  years.  France's  foreign  debt, 
in  spite  of  adverse  conditions,  has  been 
reduced  about  $540,000,000.  In  April  of  the 
present  year,  France  owed  only  $6,506,- 
000,000. 

One  great  problem  which  the  Treasury 
faced  was  the  reconstruction  of  the  dev- 
astated provinces.  A  conflict  developed  in 
June  between  M.  Doumer,  the  Minister  of 
Finance,  and  M.  Loucheur,  Minister  of  the 
Liberated  Eegions,  over  the  question  of 
municipal  loans  in  this  area.  The  triumph 
of  M.  Loucheur's  view  was  shown  on  June 
17,  when  the  Government  announced  that 
it  had  authorized  the  City  of  Verdun  to 
issue  bonds  to  the  extent  of  60,000,000 
francs.  The  organization  of  Co-operative 
Societies  for  Reconstruction  was  completed 
by  the  passing  in  the  French  Senate,  on 
June  10,  of  a  bill  supplementary  to  the 
legislation  of  August,  1920. 

The  plan  of  M.  Loucheur  to  obtain  25,000 
wooden  cottages  from  Germany  was  meet- 
ing with  many  obstacles  on  both  sides  of 
the  Rhine.  The  French  insurance  com- 
panies objected  to  the  risk  involved  in 
wooden  structures.  The  cost,  also,  bade 
fair  to  be  greater  than  the  sum  allotted  to 
the  French  to  cover  this  part  of  the  war 
damage.  The  whole  subject  of  reconstruc- 
tion was  discussed  by  M.  Loucheur  with  Dr. 
Rathenau,  German  Foreign  Minister,  in  an 
interview  held   on   June   13   at   Wiesbaden. 

The  French  Senate  on  July  7  voted  a 
credit  of  10,000,000  francs  for  relief  of  the 
many  thousands  still  unemployed.  The  Gov- 
ernment was  taking  active  measures  to  fight 
tuberculosis,  to  aid  in  infant  relief,  and  to 
encourage  marriage  by  legislative  action,  in 
order  to  make  good  the  human  losses,  esti- 
mated at  2,000,000,  occasioned  by  the  war. 


ITALY  UNDER  A  NEW  CABINET 


Giolitti  s  Government  falls  because  of  a  Parliamentary  deadlock — Opposition  forces  too 
numerous  to  admit  of  constructive  work — Ivanoe  Bonomi,  a  war  Socialist,  invited  to 
form  a  Coalition  Government 

[Period    Ended   July    10,    1021] 


AFTER  the  inauguration  of  Parliament 
on  June  11,  it  soon  became  evident 
that  the  Giolitti  Government  was  no 
more  able  to  direct  legislation  in  the 
twenty-sixth  Legislature  than  it  had  been 
in  the  twenty-fifth.  Although  200  Deputies 
of  the  latter  had  not  been  returned  and 
the  whole  manner  of  the  new  Chamber  ap- 
peared to  be  more  serious  and  eager  to  put 
through  the  laws  which  the  nation  badly 
needed,  yet  the  early  sittings  showed  a  re- 
sentment against  extreme  points  of  policy, 
particularly  those  which  had  been  identi- 
fied with  certain  Ministers.  There  was 
manifest  unpopularity  of  Count  Carlo 
Sforza,  the  Foreign  Minister,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  had  executed  the  Treaty 
of  Rapallo. 

It  became  evident  that  the  Government 
would  again  become  the  victim  of  obstruc- 
tion, not  Socialistic  this  time,  but  more  or 
less  general.  Giolitti  had  made  definite 
promises  in  regard  to  the  program  which 
had  accompanied  the  demand  for  dissolu- 
tion and  a  new  Chamber  on  April  2,  and 
each  party  looked  to  the  carrying  out  of 
its  own  pet  project  of  law  in  its  own  way. 
This  could  not  be  done,  however,  without 
compromises,  and  the  pledges  of  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Council  permitted  none. 

The  crisis  came  on  June  27,  when  Filippo 
Turati,  the  leader  of  the  United  Socialists, 
proposed  a  resolution  condemning  both  the 
foreign  and  the  domestic  policy  of  the 
Government.  Before  the  resolution  was  put 
to  vote,  it  had  lost  the  clause  in  regard 
to  the  domestic  policy  and  hence  meant 
nothing  to  the  Socialists,  who  had  merely 
inserted  the  foreign  clause  to  catch  votes 
on  a  more  popular  question.  They  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  this  to  the  extent  that  the 
resolution  was  defeated  by  only  34  votes. 

So  it  was  neither  a  Socialist  victory  nor 
a  Government  defeat,  but  merely  a  strong 
condemnation  of  the  Government's  foreign 
policy    as    illustrated    by    the    acts    of   the 


Foreign  Minister,  which  had  recently  been 
the  subject  of  unfavorable  debate.  For 
Count  Sforza  had  declared  that  Porto 
Baros,  the  most  eastern  harbor  of  the  new 
State  of  Fiume,  should  be  given  to  Jugo- 
slavia as  a  matter  of  geography,  of  com- 
mercial equity,  and  quite  in  keeping  with 
the  spirit  in  which  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo 
had  been  negotiated  and  ratified.  This 
aroused  a  strong  nationalist  sentiment  in 
the  Chamber,  of  which  Signor  Turati  and 
the  Socialists  took  advantage. 

Giolitti  could,  of  course,  have  allowed  the 
Foreign  Minister  to  resign,  but  the  con- 
demnation of  the  designation  of  Porto 
Baros  was  an  entering  wedge  which  sooner 
or  later  might  have  reached  the  treaty  it- 
self— the  masterpiece  of  the  Giolitti  Ad- 
ministration. So,  rather  than  appoint  a 
new  Foreign  Minister,  who  might  be  forced 
to  drive  the  wedge  home,  he  made  the  cen- 
sure of  Count  Sforza  his  own,  and  the  whole 
Cabinet  resigned. 

Color  was  given  to  the  suspicion  that  a 
strong  Nationalist  sentiment  prevailed  in 
the  Chamber  when  the  war  Premiers  Sa- 
landra  and  Orlando  called  upon  the  King 
and  submitted  their  schemes  for  a  new  Gov- 
ernment based  on  a  reactionary  program. 
The  carrying  out  of  this  would,  of  course, 
not  only  have  meant  the  repudiation  of  the 
Treaty  of  Rapallo,  but  of  several  projects 
of  law  found  in  the  schedule  of  April  2 
(see  Current  History  for  May). 

His  Majesty  was  strongly  opposed  to 
representation  of  the  extremists  of  either 
pole  in  the  Government,  and  with  this  idea 
prevailing  he  managed  to  make  arrange- 
ments with  the  leaders  of  the  three  parties 
most  prone  to  obstructing  that  legislation 
with  which  each  was  not  particularly  identi- 
fied. Don  Sturzo,  the  leader  of  the  Catholic 
or  Popular  Party,  pledged  the  support  of 
that  party  on  the  condition  that  the  Treaty 
of  Rapallo  should  not  be  tampered  with. 
Benito   Mussolini  was  ready  to  accept  the 


ITALY  UNDER  A  NEW  CABINET 


861 


treaty  as  a  fait  accompli  provided  the 
projects  of  law  for  industrial  co-operation 
should  not  be  carried  through  in  a  com- 
munistic way.  Turati  pledged  the  neutral- 
ity of  the  United  Socialists  if  the  Govern- 
ment would  invoke  the  laws  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  public  order  against  the 
Fascisti. 

His  Majesty  then  called  to  the  Quirinal 
Ivanoe    Bonomi,    the    Reformist    or    war- 
Socialist,  as  the  man  best  calculated  to  se- 
lect a  Cabinet  which  could  put  forward  all 
the    projects    of   law    most    vitally   needed 
in  a  moderate  way.  By  July  5  Bonomi  had 
completed  his   slate.     Owing  either  to  his 
own  sagacity  or  that  of  Victor  Emmanuel 
he   selected   a   Minister   for   each  portfolio 
whose  party  was  particularly  interested  in 
the  projects  of  law  which  would  come  under 
the   jurisdiction   of   the   particular   depart- 
ment.   How  the  parties  are  represented  and 
how  many  seats  each  control  are  as  follows: 
Two   Reformists,   or   War- Socialists,   with 
Twenty-One  Seats. 
Ivanoe  Bonomi,  President  of  the  Council  and 
Minister    of    the    Interior,    who    had    had 
successively  the  portfolios  of  War  and  of 
the  Treasury  under  Giolitti. 
Alberto    Beneduce,     Minister    of    Labor    and 
Social    Economy,    professor    of    Statistics 
in  the  University  of  Rome. 
Four   Liberal   Democrats   with   106   Seats. 
Marchese     della     Torretta,     dei     Principi     di 
Lampedusa,    Minister   of  Foreign  Affairs, 
a  distinguished  diplomat,  latterly  Minister 
at  Vienna. 
Senator    Eugenio     Bergamasco,     Minister    of 
Marine,  once  Under  Secretary  in  that  de- 
partment and  by  profession  an  industrial 
engineer. 
Senator     Orso     Mario     Corbino,     Minister     of 
Public    Instruction,    Professor    of    Physics 
at  the  University  of  Rome. 
Bartolo    Belotti,    Minister    of    Commerce    and 
Industry,    who    was    an    Under    Secretary 
of    the    Treasury    during    the    first    Nitti 
Administration. 
Three    Xitti    Liberals    with    Forty-one    Seats. 
Marcello    Solcri,     Minister    of    Finance,    who 
has   been   the   unofficial  financial   adviser 
veral   Governments. 
Giovanni   Raineri,   Minister  of  the  Liberated 
Provinces,    who   had  held   the   same  port- 
folio   under    both    Nitti    and    Giolitti,    and 
before  that  twice  Minister  of  Agriculture. 
Giuseppe  de  Nava,   Minister  of  the  Treasury, 
tiic* war   Minister  of  Industry  and  Trans- 
portation, who  became  Minister  of  Finance 
in  the  third  Nitti  Cabinet. 
Three     Radicals,   or   Social    Democrats,   with 

Thirty-seven    Seats. 
Luigi    Gasparotto,    Minister    of   War,    a    dis- 
tinguished   soldier,     who     had    just    been 
elected  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents  of  the 
Chamber. 


Giuseppe  Girardini,  Minister  of  the  Colonies, 
who  had  been  the  first  Minister  for  the 
Liberated   Provinces    under   Orlando. 

Vincenzo    Giuffrida,    Minister    of    Posts    and 

Telegraphs,  a  well-known  bureaucrat,  who 

has   been  several   times   Under    Secretary 

in  various  departments. 

Three    Catholics,    or    Popularists,    wii'h    107 

Seats. 

Angelo  Mauri,  Minister  of  Agriculture,  a  Vice 
President  of  the  Chamber,  who  has  writ- 
ten much  on  land  co-operation  and 
agricultural  machinery. 

Giuseppe  Micheli,  Minister  of  Public  Works, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Catholic  Party, 
who  held  the  portfolio  of  Agriculture  in 
the  third  Cabinet  of  Nitti  and  then  in 
Giolitti' s. 

Giulio  Rodino,  Minister  of  Justice,  who,  hav- 
ing served  in  the  third  Cabinet  of  Nitti, 
held  for  a  time  the  Portfolio  of  War  un- 
der Giolitti. 

It  will  be  observed  by  the  foregoing  that 
the  Government  controls  312  seats  in  the 
Chamber.  But  the  apparent  Opposition  of 
223  is  merely  nominal — just  as  nominal  as 
it  was  when  the  Giolitti  Government 
placed  the  Catholics  in  the  Opposition, 
owing  to  the  distrust  of  the  Catholic  lead- 
ers and  the  fear  lest  their  extremists  should 
unite  with  the  Socialists — for  among  the 
Opposition  are  the  Progressives  (II  Gruppo 
del  Rinnovaniento),  who  would  vote  with 
the  Government  on  Occasion;  the  Fascisti, 
who  are  pledged  to  support  it  in  certain 
circumstances,  and  the  United  Socialists, 
who  have  promised  neutrality. 

The  Bonomi  Government,  however,  what- 
ever may  be  its  apparently  strong  moral 
and  political  status,  whatever  its  ability  to 
direct  legislation,  has  not  been  received 
with  praise  by  the  political  press.  All  agree 
that  its  Administration  will  be  brief:  The 
Conservatives  distrust  Bonomi  because  he 
was  once  a  Socialist;  the  Socialists  upbraid 
him  as  a  renegade.  All  this  is  contrary  to 
disinterested  opinion,  which  is  that  the 
new  Government  possesses  many  elements 
of  useful  permanency  which  it  will  ulti- 
mately prove.  It  is  a  compromise  Cabinet 
and  for  that  very  reason  will  be  susceptible 
of  compromise  in  presenting  the  necessary 
projects  of  law  for  which  the  nation  is  cry- 
ing. 

The-  policy  of  the  Bonomi  Government  is 
based  on  the  famous  schedule  of  projects  of 
law  of  April  2,  several  times  mentioned. 
Two  elements  favor  its  being  carried 
through  with  certain  items  in  modified 
form:  The  compromises  which  the  various 


802 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Ministers  will  be  able  to  negotiate  with 
their  parties  tending  toward  modification 
and  hence  gain  the  support  of  other  parties, 
and  the  improvement  in  the  general  con- 
ditions, social,  economic,  financial,  of  the 
nation,  which  no  longer  needs  the  measures 
as  the  Giolitti  Government  was  being 
forced  to  draft  them. 

The  first  item  on  the  program  of  Bonomi 
is  a  reform  of  the  public  service,  the 
burocrazia,  whose  lamentable  condition  was 


revealed  in  the  April  strikes.  He  wishes  to 
receive  full  power  to  do  this  as  Minister 
of  the  Interior.  This  is  of  immense  im- 
portance, as  it  strikes  at  the  very  root  of 
Italian  political  patronage.  If  he  is  suc- 
cessful in  carrying  it  through,  the  rest 
should  be  easy;  what  politicians  may  lose 
in  perquisites  they  may  expect  to  make  up 
in  party  legislation,  now  modified  to  gain 
outside  support  and  to  meet  the  changed 
conditions  in  the  nation. 


AUSTRIA  UNDER  A  NEW  MINISTRY 


[Pkriod   Ended  July  10,    1921] 


AUSTRIA  obtained  a  new  Government 
on  June  21.  It  is  headed  by  Schober, 
while  Breitsky  is  Vice  Chancellor  and  Min- 
ister of  Education;  Grimm  is  Finance  Min- 
ister; Grunberger,  Food  Minister;  Paltauf, 
Minister  of  Justice.  The  others  are  all  un- 
known men,  only  Dr.  Leopold  Weber  having 
occupied  a  seat  in  the  National  Assembly. 
The  new  Cabinet  presented  itself  to  Federal 
President  Heinisch,  who  emphasized  the 
fact  that  the  Government's  main  task  was 
not  to  create  new  things,  but  to  hold  what 
remains.  The  new  Cabinet  was  elected  by 
the  National  Assembly;  the  Christian-So- 
cialists, the  Pan-Germans  and  the  Peasant 
Party  cast  98  votes  against  the  62  votes  of 
the  Social-Democrats. 

On  July  1  the  Council  of  Ambassadors 
requested  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  postpone  its  claims  against  Aus- 
tria for  twenty  years.  These  claims  amount 
to  some  $20,000,000,  and  are  for  food-relief 
advances.  This  is  part  of  the  League  of 
Nations  plan  for  the  financial  rehabilitation 
of  Austria.  The  other  great  powers  have 
agreed  to  such  postponement. 

Officials  of  the  League  of  Nations  are 
disturbed  by  German  propaganda  for  Aus- 


trian union  with  Germany.  It  is  feared  that 
Austria,  after  receiving  all  kinds  of  money 
grants  and  assistance  from  the  Entente 
powers,  would  throw  herself,  along  with 
her  credits,  gold,  and  new  bank,  into  the 
arms  of  Germany. 

After  three  months'  investigation,  Ig- 
natius Trebitsch  Lincoln  was  expelled  from 
Vienna,  June  24,  for  treasonable  activities 
and  fraud.  He  was  charged  with  hpving 
sold  State  documents  to  Czechoslovakia. 

The  State  ownership  of  industries,  which 
was  forced  upon  Austria  by  the  social  rev- 
olution after  the  war,  has  led  only  to  dis- 
aster. The  Government  works  are  oper- 
ating at  a  loss,  and  to  avoid  bankruptcy 
they  have  had  to  borrow  from  capitalists. 
It  has  been  necessary  to  sell  some  of  them 
to  Poland,  a  country  termed  reactionary  by 
the  Socialists  of  Austria. 

Ex-Emperor  Charles  has  retired  to  the 
Abbey  of  Disentis,  the  oldest  ecclesiastical 
establishment  in  Switzerland.  The  retire- 
ment is  thought  to  interfere  in  no  way  with 
probable  plans  of  restoration.  A  report 
that  ex-Emperor  Charles  means  to  settle 
on  the  Isle  of  Corfu  is  denied  by  persons 
close  to  the  former  monarch. 


GERMANY'S  EFFORTS  TO  MEET 
HER  OBLIGATIONS 

Firm  action  of  the  Berlin  Government  aids  in  forcing  peace  upon  the  insurgents  in  Upper 
Silesia — Bavarian  Home  Guards  profess  to  have  complied  with  the  disarmanent  order — 
War  criminals  get  off  easily — Government's  taxation  plan  to  raise  reparation  funds 

[Period   Ended  July  10,    1921] 


WHAT  threatened  to  bring  about  a 
crisis  jeopardizing  the  existence  of 
the  "  Reparation  Government  "  head- 
ed by  Dr.  Wirth  turned  into  a  sort  of  vic- 
tory for  the  German  Chancellor  and  his 
policy  of  moderation  when  the  leaders  of 
the  German  and  Polish  combatants  in  Upper 
Silesia  on  June  25  accepted  the  plan  for 
withdrawal  worked  out  by  Major  Gen.  Sir 
William  Heneker,  the  British  commander, 
and  approved  by  the  Interallied  Commission 
at  Oppeln.  The  extreme  Nationalists  in  the 
Reichstag  had  been  threatening  to  cause  all 
manner  of  trouble  for  Dr.  Wirth's  Cabinet 
if  he  did  not  make  a  stand  for  German  con- 
trol of  all  the  disputed  plebiscite  territory. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  French  Government 
had  insisted  that  Berlin  must  compel  Gen- 
eral Hoefer,  the  chief  of  the  German  irreg- 
ulars in  Upper  Silesia,  to  withdraw  his 
forces  from  the  neutral  zone  proposed  by 
the  Interallied  Commission. 

Although  at  first  disclaiming  responsibil- 
ity for  the  actions  of  General  Hoefer  [see 
the  July  Current  History],  the  German 
Chancellor  finally  dispatched  a  commission, 
headed  by  Baron  von  Malzahn  of  the  For- 
eign Office,  to  put  pressure  upon  the  leader 
of  the  irregulars  and  to  convince  him  that 
an  occupation  of  the  Ruhr  industrial  district 
would  be  of  greater  injury  to  Germany  than 
a  backing  down  in  Upper  Silesia.  These 
arguments  had  the  desired  effect,  when 
backed  by  the  firm  attitude  of  General 
Heneker  and  of  General  Alberto  de  Ma- 
rinis,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Italian 
forces  in  Upper  Silesia,  who  insisted  on 
evacuation  of  the  plebiscite  territory  by 
both  Hoefer's  irregulars  and  Adalbert  Kor- 
fanty's  Polish  insurgents.  General  Le  Rond, 
the  French  commander,  put  similar  pres- 
sure upon  Korfanty,  with  a  like  result. 

The  plan  of  evacuation  provided  that  the 
Poles  leave  the  disputed  territory,  as  far  as 


the  towns  of  Gleiwitz  and  Beuthen,  by  June 
28,  while  the  Germans  were  to  retire  north- 
ward from  the  same  region  by  June  30.  By 
July  3  the  Poles  were  to  be  out  of  the  third 
zone,  including  Beuthen  and  Gleiwitz;  and 
by  July  5  both  Poles  and  Germans  must  be 
out  of  the  whole  region. 

There  was  some  delay  in  putting  this  pro- 
gram through,  and  there  was  a  clash  be- 
tween the  German  population  of  Beuthen 
and  the  French  troops  there  on  July  4, 
when  the  Polish  insurgents  were  leaving  the 
town,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Major 
Montaliere,  a  French  officer,  and  four  Ger- 
mans. A  dispatch  sent  from  Kattowitz  on 
July  7,  however,  announced  that  the  evacu- 
ation of  the  whole  district  had  been  com- 
pleted the  day  before.  British  troops  were 
occupying  the  territory  from  Beuthen  to  the 
Polish  border,  while  the  French  were  hold- 
ing Konigshutte,  Kattowitz  and  the  south- 
ern district.  Railroad  traffic  had  been  re- 
sumed throughout  the  plebiscite  territory. 

Several  more  or  less  serious  disturbances 
accompanied  the  withdrawal  of  the  contend- 
ing Poles  and  Germans,  and  the  Interallied 
Commission  declared  Gross-Strehlitz  and 
Rosenberg  to  be  in  a  state  of  siege.  It  was 
not  thought  likely  that  there  would  be  an- 
other real  revolt,  however,  despite  alarming 
rumors  from  Berlin  and  Paris  averring  that 
when  the  final  decision  on  the  division  of 
the  disputed  territory  was  arrived  at  by  the 
Interallied  Commission  and  announced  by 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Allies  there 
would  be  further  bloodshed.  Adalbert  Kor- 
fanty, on  the  eve  of  quitting  the  field,  told 
a  New  York  Times  correspondent  that,  un- 
less the  Supreme  Council's  decision  were 
"  just,"  Upper  Silesia  would  become  a  "  sec- 
ond Ireland  "  and  a  constant  source  of  trou- 
ble in  Central  Europe.  The  possibility  of 
further  trouble  remains.  Neutral  observers 
charge  that  many  of  Korfanty's  insurgents 


864 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


merely  scattered  and  concealed  their  arms, 
and  that  it  would  not  be  very  difficult  for 
General  Hoefer  to  recruit  a  fresh  German 
force  in  case  he  thought  it  advisable. 

The  Upper  Silesian  situation  was  com- 
plicated by  the  usual  injection  of  Bolshe- 
vism on  the  one  hand  and  extreme  nation- 
alism on  the  other.  Some  of  the  Polish 
insurgents  had  lost  their  patriotic  enthu- 
siasm and  advocated  a  Soviet  republic.  Many 
Germans,  who  had  come  from  Bavaria  and 
other  provinces  to  aid  General  Hoefer,  de- 
clared that,  after  having  made  Upper  Sile- 
sia "  safe  for  Germany,"  they  would  march 
on  Berlin  in  the  name  of  real  Germanism 
and  "  clean  out  the  Republican  nest "  there. 

Just  how  to  divide  the  damages,  estimat- 
ed at  from  3,000,000,000  to  4,000,000,000 
paper  marks,  caused  by  the  two  months' 
shutting  down  of  practically  all  the  mines 
and  metal  plants,  is  expected  to  constitute 
a  difficult  problem  for  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission, and  may  delay  the  final  decision  on 
the  results  of  last  March's  plebiscite. 

Fulfilling  the  Treaty  Terms 

Definite  progress  by  Germany  in  paying 
up  the  obligations  laid  upon  her  by  the  final 
terms  of  the  reparation  settlement  was  con- 
fined during  the  period  to  the  redemption, 
m  European  money,  on  June  28  of  the  sec- 
ond of  the  twenty  $10,000,000  three-month 
Treasury  notes  handed  to  the  Reparation 
Commission  in  Paris  on  May  30.  This  left 
$180,000,000  to  be  paid  by  Aug.  31.  Ger- 
many's accumulation  of  a  credit  equaling 
150,000,000  gold  marks  in  New  York  to  pay 
the  first  instalment  of  the  initial  1,000,000,- 
000-mark  payment  called  for  by  the  repara- 
tion terms  caused  a  flurry  in  dollar  ex- 
change; so  the  Reparation  Commission  ap- 
proved, on  June  25,  a  decision  by  the  prin- 
cipal allied  Governments  that  Germany 
might  pay  the  remainder  in  European  cur- 
rency or  its  equivalent. 

The  personnel  of  the  Committee  on  Guar- 
antees, a  subcommission  of  the  Reparation 
Commission  created  under  the  final  repara- 
tion terms  for  the  purpose  of  controlling 
and  supervising  Germany's  payments,  was 
given  as  follows  in  the  German  press:  Sir 
Hugh  Levick  (Great  Britain),  General  Man- 
clere  (France),  Signor  d'Amelio  (Italy),  M. 
Bemelmans  (Belgium),  M.  Sekiba  (Japan), 
and  M.  Diurich  (Jugoslavia).  The  commit- 
tee named  Leith  Bous   (Great  Britain),  M. 


Minost  (France),  Signor  Graziadei  (Italy), 
and  M.  Fredrichs  (Belgium)  as  a  Financial 
Advisory  Committee,  with  power  to  repre- 
sent their  respective  nations  on  the  Com- 
mittee on  Guarantees  in  case  of  absence  of 
the  regular  members. 

Following  the  meeting  of  Walther  Rathe- 
nau,  German  Minister  of  Reconstruction, 
with  Louis  Loucheur,  French  Minister  for 
the  Devastated  Regions,  at  Wiesbaden,  there 
was  much  cheerful  talk  in  both  Berlin  and 
Paris  about  the  possibility  that  these  two 
practical  business  men  might  work  out  a 
feasible  plan  whereby  German  labor  and 
materials,  as  well  as  money,  could  be  ap- 
plied to  the  task  of  restoration.  On  July  6, 
however,  M.  Loucheur  told  the  Commis- 
sions of  Finance  and  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
French  Senate  that  the  25,000  wooden 
houses  offered  by  the  Germans  could  not 
be  accepted,  because  the  price  asked  was 
much  too  high.  Not  more  than  five-eighths 
of  the  instalments  on  reparations  would  be 
supplied  in  material  and  labor,  said  M.  Lou- 
cheur. 

Czechoslovakia  is  to  receive  223,300  tons 
of  barges,  21,000  horsepower  in  tugs  and 
freighters  and  terminal  facilities  for  River 
Elbe  traffic  under  an  award  by  Walker  D. 
Hines,  American  arbitrator  of  Central  Eu- 
ropean shipping,  the  deliveries  to  be  made 
by  Germany  according  to  a  plan  not  yet  an- 
nounced. 

On  June  26  the  Jugoslav  Government  re- 
scinded the  50  per  cent,  impost  laid  upon 
German  goods  under  the  terms  of  the  sanc- 
tions. 

Disarming   the   "  Orgesch  " 

The  work  of  disarming  and  disbanding 
the  300,000  members  of  the  Bavarian  Home 
Guards  was  halted  by  the  murder  in  Munich 
of  Herr  Gareis,  an  Independent  Socialist 
member  of  the  Bavarian  Diet,  and  by  the 
three-day  general  strike  which  was  called 
as  a  protest  against  this  political  crime. 
Under  pressure  from  the  Allies  and  the 
labor  forces  at  home,  however,  Dr.  Wirth 
issued  an  order  on  June  27  dissolving  the 
irregular  armed  bodies  by  June  30,  under 
penalties  of  fine  and  imprisonment  for  those 
refusing  to  obey.  On  July  1  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  Allies'  terms  had  been  ful- 
filled and  that  the  "Orgesch,"  as  such,  no 
longer  existed.  What  progress  had  been 
made  in  gathering  in  the  220,000  rifles  and 
some  2,600  machine  guns  in  the  possession 


GERMANY'S  EFFORTS  TO  MEET  HER  OBLIGATIONS 


865 


of  the  "  Orgesch  "  was  not  reported.  Dr. 
Escherich,  the  organizer  of  the  "  Orgesch," 
was  quoted  as  saying  that,  while  it  might 
be  possible  to  dissolve  the  form  of  his  or- 
ganization, its  patriotic  spirit  could  not  be 
quenched.  That  scores  of  thousands  of  the 
former  members  of  this  reactionary  organi- 
zation have  merely  hidden  their  arms  and 
would  respond  to  a  call  for  a  coup  d'etat 
against  the  Berlin  Government  or  an  appeal 
to  wipe  out  the  German  Bolsheviki  is  not 
doubted  by  neutral  observers.  An  amend- 
ment to  the  army  law  passed  by  the  Reichs- 
tag provides  that  the  4,000  officers  of  the 
regular  army  are  to  be  included  within  the 
strength  of  100,000  fixed  by  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles. 

Following  the  acquittal,  on  July  6,  of 
Lieut.  Gen.  Karl  Stenger  on  a  charge  of 
having  ordered  the  shooting  of  French  pris- 
oners during  the  fighting  on  the  western 
front  in  August,  1914,  the  French  Govern- 
ment recalled  its  judiciary  mission  from 
Leipsic  and  asked  the  British  and  Belgian 
Governments  to  do  likewise.  Major  Benno 
Crusius,  a  subordinate  of  General  Stenger, 
who  was  tried  on  a  similar  charge,  and  who 
testified  that  the  General  had  issued  the 
order  in  question,  was  found  guilty  of  man- 
slaughter by  the  Leipsic  Supreme  Court, 
sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  and 
forbidden  ever  to  wear  the  German  uniform 
again.  Lieutenant  Laule,  another  officer  on 
trial  for  war  crimes,  was  acquitted  of  shoot- 
ing a  defenseless  French  Captain.  General 
Stenger  denied  that  he  had  ordered  any  de- 
fenseless prisoners  slain,  but  related  that 
when  some  of  his  soldiers  had  been  shot 
from  behind  by  apparently  wounded 
Frenchmen  he  had  said  that  such  enemies 
must  be  wiped  out. 

German  complaints  against  the  Govern- 
ing Commission  of  the  Sarre  Basin  regard- 
ing the  use  of  French  money,  the  expulsion 
of  German  functionaries  connected  with  the 
strikes  of  August,  1920,  and  the  stationing 
of  French  troops  in  the  district,  were  taken 
up  by  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations 
on  June  20.  After  listening  to  explanations 
by  M.  Rault,  President  of  the  Governing 
Commission,  the  Council  decided  that  the 
use  of  French  currency  and  troops  was  jus- 
tified, but  asked  the  commission  for  a  re- 
port on  every  case  in  which  the  expulsion  of 
a  German  functionary  had  been  maintained. 
It  suggested  that  the  commission  try  to  re- 


duce the  7,000  troops  then  stationed  in  the 

district. 

The  news  of  President  Harding's  signing 
the  declaration  of  a  state  of  peace  between 
Germany  and  the  United  States  on  July  2 
was  joyfully  received  by  the  German  press 
and  public,  although  a  few  pessimists  insist- 
ed that  it  did  not  make  much  difference,  as 
little  help  could  be  expected  from  America. 
American  flags  were  hoisted  over  several 
buildings,  including  the  one  in  which  the 
German-American  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  Berlin  has  its  offices.  The  German  Gov- 
ernment gave  out  no  official  expression  of 
opinion  and  adopted  a  policy  of  watchful 
waiting. 

On  June  23  the  German  Government  an- 
nounced its  decision  immediately  to  release 
the  remainder  of  sequestrated  American 
property  in  its  hands,  thus  completing  the 
Reichstag's  action  of  last  January. 

Government's  Taxation  Program 
Just  before  the  adjournment  of  the 
Reichstag  on  July  6  for  the  Summer,  Dr. 
Wirth  presented  the  Government's  taxation 
program,  calling  for  the  raising  of  about 
80,000,000,000  paper  marks  during  the  com- 
ing year  in  order  to  cover  the  deficit  in  the 
German  budget  and  meet  the  terms  of  the 
reparation  agreement.  In  an  effort  to  hold 
a  balance  between  the  Socialists  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  propertied  classes  on  the  other, 
Dr.  Wirth's  plan  provides  for  direct  taxation 
amounting  to  some  40,000,000,000  marks 
and  for  indirect  levies  of  about  the  same 
amount.  His  program  will  be  studied  by 
the  Permanent  Subcommittee  of  Finance. 

General  business  conditions  were  reported 
as  improving  materially,  and  the  number  of 
unemployed  persons  receiving  full  allow- 
ances from  State  was  cut  about  40,000, 
to  358,000,  while  440,000  dependents  were 
being  helped.  In  approving  an  additional 
appropriation  of  200,000,000  paper  marks 
to  pay  unemployment  benefits,  the  Federal 
Council  noted  on  June  20  fhat  the  total  ex- 
penditures for  that  purpose  in  the  fiscal 
year  of  1921  were  put  at  1,200,000,000 
marks.  At  the  same  session  an  appropria- 
tion of  7,125,000,000  paper  marks  was  added 
to  the  budget  of  the  Ministiy  of  Agriculture 
and  Foodstuffs  to  help  keep  down  the  cost 
of  foreign  grains  to  the  people.  On  June  17 
the  Reichstag  passed  a  bill  providing  for  the 
compulsory    delivery    at    a    fixed    price    of 


866 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


2.500,000  tons  of  this  year's  grain  harvest 
as  a  reserve  stock  to  be  handled  by  the  Food 
Ministry,  the  surplus  to  be  disposed  of  by 
the  producers  in  the  open  market. 

Though  American  exports  to  other  coun- 
tries have  been  falling  off  heavily,  this  has 
not  applied  to  Germany,  according  to  statis- 
tics made  public  in  July  by  the  United 
States  Department  of  Commerce.  Exports 
to  Germany  in  May  amounted  to  $20,481,- 
000,  practically  the  same  as  in  May,  1920, 
while  the  total  for  the  eleven  months  ended 
May  31  was  $350,980,000,  against  $182,475,- 
000  during  the  corresponding  period  the 
year  before.  Imports  from  Germany  in 
May  were  valued  at  $6,455,000,  against 
$4,849,000  in  May,  1920.  Germany  took 
more  copper  and  lubricating  oil  from  the 
United  States  in  May  than  any  other  coun- 
try, and  stood  second  in  purchases  of  cot- 
ton, bacon  and  flour. 

Max  Holz,  the  thirty-one-year-old  Saxon 
semi-bandit,  who  played  a  leading  role  in 
the  communist  uprising  of  last  March,  was 
tried  in  Berlin  on  charges  of  murder,  high 
treason  and  about  fifty  other  offenses, 
found  guilty,  and  sentenced,  on  June  22,  to 


penal  servitude  for  life.  The  extraordinary 
court  refused  to  regard  Holz  as  a  political 
offender,  in  contradistinction  to  its  action 
the  month  before  when  Heinrich  Brandler, 
National  Chairman  of  the  United  Commu- 
nist Party,  was  sentenced  to  serve  five  years 
in  a  fortress  because  his  revolutionary  ac- 
tivities were  credited  to  idealistic,  not  crim- 
inal, intentions.  In  an  attempt  to  restrict 
the  political  power  of  the  Communists,  the 
Prussian  Minister  of  the  Interior  issued  an 
order  on  June  20  prohibiting  them  from 
holding  administrative  office  under  the 
Prussian  Government,  even  if  elected  to 
such  office.  The  order  applies  to  district 
chiefs,  Mayors  and  heads  of  villages  or 
communes.  Among  the  German  masses  the 
revulsion  of  feeling  against  the  Commu- 
nists, due  to  the  bloody  March  revolt,  con- 
tinued to  be  manifested  by  wholesale  resig- 
nations from  the  party  and  defeats  in  local 
elections. 

The  German  record  for  fines  for  profit- 
eering was  broken  when  a  Hamburg  court 
sentenced  two  merchants  to  pay  4,790,000 
marks  and  serve  a  year  in  jail  for  illicit 
importation  of  and  profiteering  in  90,000 
pounds  of  American  lard. 


JUGOSLAVIA— OR  WHAT? 


[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THE  Belgrade  National  Assembly  adopted 
the  new  southern  Slav  Constitution  on 
June  29  by  a  vote  of  233  to  35.  The  event 
way  accompanied  by  the  firing  of  artillery 
and  a  great  demonstration  in  honor  of 
Prince  Alexander,  the  Regent.  Curiously 
the  most  protracted  debate  on  the  Constitu- 
tion concerned  the  name  by  which  the  new 
southern  Slav  State  should  be  called.  We 
are  all  familiar  with  the  appellations 
"  Jugoslavia  "  and  the  "  Monarchy  of  the 
Serbs,  Croats  (Hrvatska)  and  Slovenes, " 
the  official  name  used  hitherto;  but  there 
were  members  in  the  Assembly  who  even 
insisted  on  the  "  Croatian  Peasant  Repub- 
lic "  and  others  who  met  this  claim  by  one 
demanding  the  name,  "  Greater  Serbia." 

The  adherents  to  the  name  "  Jugoslavia  " 
are  the  Catholic  Croats  and  Slovens  and 
Bosnian  Mohammedans.  They  supported 
their  argument  by  six  propositions:  The 
name  is  shorter  and  therefore  more  con- 
venient;   it  meant  a   single   people;   it  had 


become  common  usage  abroad;  it  equitably 
suited  all  parts  of  the  nation;  the  threefold 
name  gave  the  idea  of  one  part  of  the  coun- 
try being  superior  to  the  others;  finally, 
the  threefold  name  expressed  federation, 
not  union. 

Against  these  contentions  the  advocates 
of  the  longer  name  (often  shortened  to  S. 
H.  S.)  advanced  the  following  arguments: 
It  already  had  official  acceptation  and  had 
been  used  in  all  documents  and  treaties  with 
which  the  nation  had  been  concerned;  it 
had  the  authority  of  the  Nish  Government, 
December,  1914 ;  of  the  Corfu  Declaration  of 
July,  1917,  and  of  the  Zagreb  Council  of 
1918;  the  name  was  recognized  by  all  Gov- 
ernments; it  retained  the  historic  names  of 
the  three  peoples  forming  the  nation,  and 
the  three  peoples  forming  the  nation;  the 
name  Jugoslavia  was  of  German  extrac- 
tion ;  the  word  "  monarchy "  sufficiently 
showed  unity.  On  June  23  the  advocates  of 
the  long  threefold  name  won  the  day. 


HUNGARY'S  STRUGGLE  FOR  A 
SECURE  FOOTING 

Premier  Bethlen  abolishes  military  investigations  and  the  censorship  of  press  telegrams 
— Resentment  against  Austria's  border  claim  and  the  supposed  menace  of  the  Little 
Entente 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THE  Government  is  trying  its  best  to 
put  Hungary  on  a  stable  footing,  but 
the  task  is  inherently  difficult  because 
of  the  stern  measures  included  in  the  Peace 
Treaty.  About  the  middle  of  June  the  Cabi- 
net's position  became  unstable  because  of 
the  attitude  of  the  Farmers'  Party,  the 
principal  group  in  the  National  Assembly. 
For  a  short  period  it  seemed  that  it  would 
have  to  resign,  but  the  danger  was  averted 
through  a  meeting  of  the  Farmers'  Party, 
at  which  the  Premier  and  Coun^  Gideon 
Baday,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  appeared 
and  gave  satisfactory  explanations,  eliciting 
a  vote  of  confidence. 

When  a  budget  was  offered  in  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  for  the  first  time  since 
the  war,  the  question  of  the  abolition  of 
certain  exceptional  measures  required  by 
the  Bolshevist  danger  was  much  discussed. 
An  overwhelming  majority  approved  the 
Government's  contention  that  precautions 
must  still  be  taken  against  Bolshevism,  al- 
though it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  main- 
tain all  the  measures  of  that  kind  put  into 
effect  in  time  of  acute  danger.  Count 
Bethlen,  the  Premier,  announced  that  the 
system  of  military  investigations  would 
cease  on  July  1.  He  also  stated  that  censor- 
ship of  telegrams  had  been  abandoned  and 
that  a  special  committee  would  shortly 
revise  all  orders  for  internment.  There 
were  only  700  persons  still  detained  in  in- 
ternment camps,  of  whom  half  were  Com- 
munists and  the  other  half  notorious  prof- 
iteers and  thieves,  he  said. 

That  Hungary  has  not  recovered  from 
the  Bolshevist  shock  is  indicated  by  a  new 
Press  bill,  presented  to  the  National  As- 
sembly by  Minister  of  Justice  Tomcsanyi. 
One  section  provides  that  all  periodicals 
found  guilty  of  advocating  the  overthrow 
of  lawful  government  or  social  order  by 
violence  shall  be  suspended,  and  that  in 
cases  where  great  moral  tuipitude  is  fully 


in  evidence,  such  suspension  shall  be  indef- 
inite. This  is  in  addition  to  heavy  fines 
and  imprisonment  if  circumstances  warrant 
it.  The  act  would  also  establish  joint  and 
several  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the 
author,  publisher  and  managing  editor. 
These  provisions  are  drastic  deviations  from 
the  old  Press  act,  which  knew  no  suspen- 
sion, especially  indefinite  suspension,  and 
prohibited  only  the  vending  and  the  sending 
through  the  mails  of  printed  matter  where 
immorality  was  involved.  The  bill  is  en- 
countering much  hostile  criticism.  Even  the 
so-called  Christian  papers  fail  to  hail  it  as 
a  progressive  measure  and  warn  the  Min- 
ister that  the  act  would  be  a  two-edged 
sword  which  could  be  turned  upon  any 
patriotic  and  really  constructive  press 
should  power  slip  into  the  hands  of  vicious 
elements. 

The  finance  wizard,  as  Minister  Hegedus 
is  fondly  called,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
war,  has  offered  a  detailed  budget  to  the 
National  Assembly.  The  deficit  of  the  past 
financial  year  amounted  to  6,500,000,000 
Hungarian  crowns.  The  larger  part  of  this 
deficit  accumulated  before  Hegedus  as- 
sumed responsibility,  and  he  promises  that 
through  an  intricate  method  of  taxation  he 
will  stabilize  State  finances.  When  he  ac- 
cepted the  portfolio,  he  said  he  would  re- 
main in  office  only  one  year,  within  which 
period  he  hoped  to  make  a  clean  slate  for 
his  successor.  His  half  year  in  office  has 
brought  about  many  a  desired  change.  On 
the  whole,  the  nation's  confidence  is  un- 
shaken in  this  masterful  man,  although  he 
is  not  without  critics.  He  has  his  own  ways 
and  proceeds  unfalteringly. 

The  question  of  relinquishing  dominion 
over  the  three  western  counties  and  ceding 
them  to  Austria  is  still  a  thorn  in  the  side 
of  Hungary.  For  a  long  time  hope  was 
cherished  that  this  question  would  be  left 
to  the  parties   immediately  interested,   but 


868 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


on  June  26  Hungary  was  said  to  have  re- 
ceived a  note  from  the  Entente  commanding 
her  unconditionally  to  hand  over  this  ter- 
ritory to  Austria.  France  and  Czechoslo- 
vakia  are  mainly  blamed  for  the  order, 
since  it  is  thought  that  France  desires,  by 
this  "  donation,"  to  counteract  the  move- 
ment in  Austria  to  align  with  Germany, 
while  Czechoslovakia's  motive  is  to  effect 
immediate  intercourse  with  the  Jugoslavs 
through  a  corridor  thus  gained  and  so  find 
access  to  the  Adriatic.  Hungary  is  bitter 
because  she  still  maintains  that  she  fought 
for  Austrian  interests  in  the  war  and  that 
now  she  is  compelled  to  enrich  the  very 
country  to  which  she  owes  her  downfall. 

Completion  of  the  Little  Entente,  to  which 
Czechoslovakia,  Rumania  and  Jugoslavia 
are  parties,  is  causing  Hungary  to  ask  the 
nations  of  the  big  Entente  whether  it  is 
their  intention  to  stifle  her.  In  the  Hun- 
garian interpretation  the  Little  Entente 
can  have  no  other  object  than  to  find  an 
excuse  for  military  action  whenever  the 
time  seems  ripe.  Under  such  conditions,  the 
leaders  say,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  Gov- 
ernment could  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 

Hungary's  application  for  membership  in 
the  League  of  Nations  will  be  passed  upon 
at  the  session  scheduled  for  Sept.  5,  in  Ge- 
neva. The  selection  of  Count  Albert  Ap- 
ponyi  as  Vice  Chairman  of  the  Foreign  As- 
sociation, which  assembled  in  Geneva  early 
in  June,  is  interpreted  as  a  good  omen  for 
Hungary  in  her  future  association  with  the 
great  nations.  Apponyi's  candidacy  was 
endorsed  by  all  the  powers,  but  he  declined 
the  honor  for  ethical  reasons.  He  assumed, 
however,  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Hun- 
garian-American Society  in  Budapest, 
which  was  created  to  foster  good  relations 
between  the  two  countries,  and  began  its 
activities  by  the  observance  of  the  Fourth  of 


July.  At  the  statue  of  George  Washington,, 
in  the  City  Park  of  Budapest,  an  inspiring 
address  was  delivered  by  Count  Apponyi,  to 
which  Grant  Smith,  the  American  High 
Commissioner,  made  a  suitable  reply. 

Transylvania  having  come  under  Ruma- 
nian administration,  the  fate  of  the  Hun- 
garian Unitarian  Church,  the  Mother 
Church  of  Unitarianism,  is  endangered,  ac- 
cording to  Dean  Nicholas  Jozan.  Only  10,- 
000  Unitarians  are  under  Hungarian  juris- 
diction, he  said,  while  the  other  70,000  must 
stay  under  Rumanian  rule,  their  religious 
liberties  being  trampled  upon. 

The  spotlight  was  turned  upon  the  ac- 
tivities of  the  so-called  Hungarian  emi- 
grants in  Vienna  in  a  recent  trial  there  in 
which  Schuller-Sullay  was  indicted  for  for- 
gery. In  his  testimony  the  accused  declared 
that  William  Bohm,  a  high  official  during 
the  communist  regime  in  Hungary,  hired 
him  to  forge  State  documents  so  as  to  show 
that  the-  Hungarian  "  white  "  Government 
had  put  a  price  upon  the  heads  of  the  es- 
caped Communists  and  was  preparing  to 
make  war  upon  the  succession  States.  The 
defendant  explained,  under  cross-examina- 
tion, that  the  object  of  the  whole  conspiracy 
was  to  cast  odium  upon  the  Hungarian 
Government  and  furnish  material  for  prop- 
aganda in  the  foreign  press.  The  Hun- 
garian authorities  recently  caught  in  Szeged 
a  man  named  Reismann,  alias  Paul 
(Wieder)  Telegdi,  an  emissary  of  the  Hun- 
garian Bolshevist  colony  in  Vienna,  who 
was  commissioned  to  start  agitation  in 
military  barracks  against  the  Government, 
and  especially  to  arouse  discontent  among 
farm  hands,  with  a  view  to  impeding  the 
harvest.  He  had  been  active  for  many 
months  and  had  sent  reports  regularly  to 
the  Vienna  headquarters. 


NEGRO  UPRISING  IN  THE  BELGIAN  CONGO 


TRAVELERS  arriving  at  Antwerp  in 
June  reported  that  unrest  among  Amer- 
ican negroes  employed  by  an  American 
firm  in  the  Belgian  Congo  was  causing  dis- 
quietude, although  armed  rebellion  was  at 


an  end.  The  negroes  had  been  receiving  a 
newspaper  which,  the  travelers  say,  incited 
them  to  rebellion,  and  at  the  village  of 
Kenshasa  they  organized  a  sort  of  army 
ccuiipped  with  rifles  and  ammunition. 


BELGIUM  NOW  LUXEMBURG'S  PROTECTOR 


f Period   Ended   July   10,    3921] 


DYa  formal  agreement,  the  text  of  which 
■*-*  was  made  public  on  June  12,  Belgium 
has  displaced  Germany  as  the  protector  of 
the  Duchy  of  Luxemburg.  All  customs 
formalities  between  Belgium  and  Luxem- 
burg are  abolished,  and  wherever  the 
Duchy  is  not  represented  by  its  own  con- 
sular agents  Luxemburg's  interests  will  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Belgian  consular  of- 
ficers. All  Luxemburg  money  is  to  be  re- 
placed by  Belgian  money,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  bills  less  than  10  francs  to  a  total 
of  25,000,000  francs.  The  Luxemburg  rail- 
road system  is  consolidated  with  that  of 
Belgium  and  handled  by  a  single  adminis- 
tration. Luxemburg  is  to  receive  a  loan  of 
175,000,000  francs,  to  be  raised  by  a  Bel- 
gian financial  group,  on  which  Luxemburg 
is  to  pay  2  per  cent.,  the  remaining  interest 
to  be  paid  by  Belgium. 

King  Albert  and  Queen  EHzabeth  arrived 
in  London  on  July  4  for  their  visit  of  state 
to  England,  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
suite.  A  banquet  was  given  for  them  at 
Buckingham  Palace,  and  the  next  day  they 
were  guests  of  the  city  at  the  Guildhall. 
The  first  Court  ball  since  1914  was  given 
at  Buckingham  Palace  on  July  7  in  their 
honor. 

Belgium,  according  to  cabled  reports  on 
June  30,  had  received  an  order  for  95,000 
tons  of  steel  rails  for  the  Argentine  Gov- 
ernment. The  bid  entered  by  the  United 
States  was  the  largest,  $59.84  a  ton;  that 
of  England  came  next  at  $52.36.  Germany 
bid  the  lowest,  $35.48,  but  the  contract  was 
given  to  Belgium  for  $37.40  a  ton. 

The  new  American  immigration  laws  are 
causing  congestion  at  the  port  of  Antwerp, 


especially  as  regards  Poles,  a  number  of 
whom  are  being  left  behind  by  each  steam- 
er and  are  unable  to  find  shelter.  More 
than  3,000  emigrants  were  left  stranded  at 
Antwerp  up  to  June  16. 

The  Belgian  Red  Cross  on  June  14  an- 
nounced that  it  had  purchased  one  gram  of 
radium  in  Colorado  for  1,000,000  francs,  or 
about  $80,000  at  the  prevailing  rate  of  ex- 
change. 

HOLLAND — Official  announcement  was 
made  on  June  18  of  the  resignation  of  the 
Dutch  Cabinet,  chiefly  due  to  the  defeat  in 
the  Second  Chamber  of  an  essential  clause 
in  the  new  army  bill  proposing  a  reduction 
in  forces.  The  actual  resignation,  however, 
was  postponed  on  account  of  the  visit  of 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Japan.  This  visit'was 
beleved  at  The  Hague  to  be  the  preliminary 
$o  an  effort  of  Japan  to  effect  a  rapproche- 
ment with  Holland,  more  especially  in  the 
Dutch  East  Indies.  In  reply  to  Queen  Wil- 
helmina's  telegram,  sent  after  the  Prince 
had  left,  the  Emperor  sent  a  very  cordial 
dispatch,  expressing  great  hope  for  closer 
economic  relations  between  Japan  and  the 
Dutch  colonies.  Some  disquietude,  however, 
was  caused  by  the  fact  that  Japan  had  fol- 
lowed America's  example  and  demanded 
participation  in  the  exploitation  of  the 
colonial  oil  fields.  As  in  the  case  of  the 
United  States,  Holland  declined  the  request. 

Dr.  J.  C.  A.  Everwijn  was  selected  as 
Minister  of  Holland  to  the  United  States  on 
June  22.  He  was  head  of  the  commercial 
section  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  In- 
dustry and  Commerce,  is  44  years  old  and 
belongs  to  an  old  aristocratic  Dutch  family. 


GERMANY  TO  RETURN  AMERICAN   PROPERTY 


rpHE  State  Department  at  Washington 
■*■  issued  a  statement  on  June  23,  1921, 
regarding  sequestrated  American  properties 
in  Germany.  In  compliance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  a  decree  of  Jan.  11,  1920,  the 
German  Government  had  already  released 
some  of  the  property  held  by  the  Custodian 
of  Enemy  Property  on  the  application  of 
the  legitimate  owner.    American  cash  hold- 


ings, however,  had  not  been  generally  re- 
leased. The  Washington  statement  an- 
nounced that  the  German  Government  had 
decided  to  release  all  American  properties 
still  held.  Requests  for  further  releases 
were  to  be  addressed  to  the  Information 
Office  of  the  Alien  Property  Custodian, 
Verlaengerichte  Hedemapitzstrasse,  11,  Ber- 
lin. 


THE  CZECHOSLOVAK  ALLIANCE 
WITH  RUMANIA 


[Period  Ended   July   10,    1921] 


THE  young  Czechoslovak  Eepublic  is 
struggling  to  maintain  a  general  eco- 
nomic, political  and  educational  balance.  Its 
foreign  policies  are  shaped  to  obtain  com- 
parative national  security.  For  this  pur- 
pose it  has  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
Rumania,  the  terms  of  which  were  re- 
cently given  out  officially.  Important  pro- 
visions in  the  treaty  are  these: 

Should  Hungary,  without  being  provoked, 
attack  either  Czechoslovakia  or  Rumania, 
the  other  contracting  party  will  aid  the  one 
attacked. 

Authorities  of  both  Czechoslovakia  and 
Rumania  will,  by  mutual  agreement,  outline 
the  military  arrangements  necessary  to  make 
the  alliance  effective. 

Neither  of  the  contracting  parties  shall 
enter  into  any  treaty  without  first  consulting 
the   other. 

To  make  sure  that  both  Governments  shall 
act  in  concert  for  realization  of  the  peace 
program,  they  agree  to  inform  each  other 
about  intended  measures  of  foreign  policy 
touching   their   relations   with   Hungary. 

This  agreement  shall  be  in  force  for  two 
years,  Deginning  from  the  day  of  ratification 
by  both  parties.  At  the  expiration  of  this 
time  limit,  either  party  is  free  to  withdraw 
from  the  alliance,  but  in  the  absence  of  such 
declaration  this  alliance  shall  automatically 
continue  in  force  for  the  period  of  six 
months. 

This  treaty,  quite  logically,  spreads  a 
sense  of  security  so  far  as  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  new  republic  is  concerned. 
Quite  as  logically  it  does  not  tend  to  allay 
discontent  in  the  camps  of  the  German, 
Magyar  and  Ruthenian  population,  and  even 
among  the  Slovaks  there  is  manifest  disap- 
proval. The  Germans  and  Magyars  wish  to 
realign  themselves  with  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary respectively.  The  Ruthenians  and  Slo- 
vaks are  more  anxious  to  obtain  autonomy, 
even  though  many  of  them  favor  living 
under  Hungarian  rule,  and  they  appreciate 
the  fact  that  the  foregoing  treaty  will  bring 
them  anything  but  realization  of  their 
wishes. 

The  Hungarian  population  of  the  City  of 
Kassa  staged  a  demonstration  there  on  June 
18,  demanding  autonomy  for  Slovakia.  The 
mass  meeting  was  called  by  the  Christian 
Socialists,  and  Louis  Kormendy-Ekes,  a 
member     of     the     National     Assembly     in 


Prague,  was  the  principal  speaker.  He 
charged  that  his  party  was  abused,  that  un- 
christian ideas  guide  the  Government,  that 
taxes  are  excessive,  inasmuch  as  people  en- 
gaged in  industries  and  commerce  pay  60 
per  cent,  of  their  income  and  owners  of  land 
pay  more  than  twenty  times  what  they  used 
to  pay  before  the  war.  He  charged  also 
that  all  succession  States  honor  war  bonds, 
the  only  exception  being  Czechoslovakia.  He 
criticised  military  preparations,  charging 
that  fully  5,000,000,000  sokols  are  expended 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  large  army,  and 
that  other  State  functions  suffer  in  propor- 
tion. 

Landowners  of  the  country,  especially 
those  of  Slovakia,  eagerly  look  forward  to 
the  proposed  land  reform.  According  to 
plans,  all  tracts  composed  of  more  than  150 
tillable  hectares'  and  woods  of  more  than 
250  hectares  will  be  expropriated.  No  cash 
will  be  paid  to  the  owner,  but  bonds  given, 
which  will  draw  3  per  cent,  interest  and 
amortization  at  the  rate  of  one-half  of  1  per 
cent.  The  bonds  will  mature  in  fifty  years. 
The  price  to  be  paid  will  be  regulated  ac- 
cording to  prevailing  prices  in  the  years 
1913-15,  and  will  be  paid  at  the  present  rate 
of  exchange.  The  land  thus  obtained  by  the 
State  will  be  leased  out  to  the  legionaries, 
and  only  the  remainder  to  others  who  can 
prove  they  have  the  necessary  capital  for 
cultivation.  In  meritorious  instances  the 
State  would  advance  a  loan  to  the  extent  of 
90  per  cent,  of  the  official  valuation,  and 
the  loan  also  is  payable  in  fifty  years.  The 
land  will  be  expropriated  irrespective  of  its 
ownership.  Although  the  law  will  apply  to 
the  whole  country,  it  is  charged  that  it  is 
mainly  directed  against  Hungarian  land- 
owners, against  estates  and  churches  in  Slo- 
vakia and  against  German-Austrian  owners 
in  Bohemia.  Comparatively  few  Czechs  will 
lose  their  lands. 

Dissatisfaction  is  increased  in  Slovakia 
because  of  the  striking  dissimilarity  in 
prices  of  food  and  other  necessities.  While 
flour  costs  4  sokols  a  kilogram  in  Prague 
and  6.24  in  Bohemia,  the  populace  in  Slo- 
vakia is  obliged  to  pay  7.73  for  the  same 


THE   CZECHOSLOVAK  ALLIANCE   WTTH  RUMANIA 


871 


staple.  In  general,  it  is  charged  that  while 
articles  produced  in  Slovakia  cost  but  a  tri- 
fle more  in  Bohemia,  those  imported  from 
Bohemia  cost  from  35  to  40  per  cent,  more 


in  Slovakia.  This  is  termed  discriminative, 
and  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  existing 
discontent.  (See  also  articles,  pp.  834  and 
844.) 


RUMANIANS  AND  MAGYARS 


To  the.  Editor  of  Current  History: 

The  events  which  took  place  in  the  east- 
era  corner  of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy  are  still  too  near  in  time  to  al- 
low us  to  have  a  clear  and  far-reaching- 
view  of  this  new  world  issued  out  of  the 
ruins  of  a  broken  empire.  The  repercus- 
sions of  the  desperate  struggle  which  di- 
vided the  Magyars  and  the  non- Magyar 
peoples  of  old  Hungary  still  last  and,  alas, 
will  go  on  a  long  while,  because  there  will 
always  be  pretexts  and  especially  interests 
enough  to  prevent  an  amiable   settlement. 

Let  us  take  the  relations  between  Ru- 
manians and  Magyars.  Each  side  is  over- 
busy  in  accusing  the  other.  The  Rumanians 
accuse  1he  Magyars  of  trying  to  incite  the 
Magyar  people  of  New  Rumania  against 
the  Rumanian  State;  the  Magyars  com- 
plain that  the  Rumanian  persecution  in 
Transylvania  is  growing  more  and  more  in- 
tolerable. 

Is  there  really  a  Rumanian  oppression  of 
the  Magyars?  I  dare  say,  with  the  utmost 
sincerity,  that  no  such  oppression  exists. 
These  new  citizens  of  Greater  Rumania 
have,  perhaps,  many  causes  to  complain  of 
the  Rumanian  authorities;  they  have  rea- 
sons enough  to  be  discontented  with  the  new 
situation,  but  these  complaints  are  general, 
this  discontent  is  no  Magyar  monopoly. 
You  will  find  discontent  among  all  classes; 
it  is  a  universal  sickness  caused  by  the  war 
and  to  be  found  in  all  the  countries  of  Eu- 
rope. 

However  well  the  Magyar  complaints 
may  be  founded,  they  can  hardly  be  as- 
cribed to  any  Rumanian  intolerance.  This 
alleged  oppression  is  rather  a  state  of  mind 
than  a  positive  fact.  It  is  based  above  all 
on  the  difficulty  of  forgetting,  for  the  one 
as  for  the  others.  The  Magyars  cannot  for- 
get that  they  have  ceased  to  be  the  masters, 
the  omnipotents  of  yesterday;  the  Ru- 
manians cannot  forget  that  during  many 
long  centuries  they  had  to  suffer  great  in- 
justice.   These  sentiments  lead  the  Magyars 


to  consider  each  act  of  the  Rumanian  Gov- 
ernment, as  persecution;  and  sometimes  the 
same  motives  lead  Rumanians  to  acts  of  in- 
dividual vengeance,  which,  without  being 
pardonable,  are,  nevertheless,  human  and 
comprehensible.  There  is  by  no  means  a 
change  of  parts ;  the  oppressed  of  yester- 
day have  not  turned  into  the  oppressors  of 
today.  There  is  only  taking  place  a  politi- 
cal expropriation  of  the  overmighty  to  the 
profit  of  those  who  before  have  been  de- 
prived of  rights — perhaps  a  forced  expro- 
priation, but  a  legitimate  one.  And  can  any 
new  and  just  division  of  rights  and  duties 
be  accomplished  without  the  protest  of  those 
who  must  give? 

I  expect  the  remark  that  there  is  in  ques- 
tion the  expropriation  of  a  whole  people. 
Not  at  all.  The  Magyars  are  keeping  all 
their  national  rights  and  are  restoring  to 
the  Rumanians  the  rights  they  had  taken — 
rights  which  are  not  necessary  to  the  Mag- 
yars to  live  a  free  national  life.  They  only 
are  expropriated  of  their  privileges. 

A  striking  example:  In  a  small  Ru- 
manian town  the  former  Hungarian  State 
had  established  a  school.  The  language  of 
this  school  was  the  Magyar,  though  the 
whole  Magyar  population  of  the  town  was 
not  even  fifty  souls.-  Does  it  mean  oppres- 
sion of  the  Magyars  if  the  Rumanian  lan- 
guage is  reinstated  in  its  natural  rights? 
But  this  town  is  only  one  among  a  thousand. 

Magyar  life  has  nowhere  been  hindered 
in  its  natural  development.  Only  Rumanian 
life  has  begun  to  manifest  itself,  too.  The 
struggle  has  been  so  violent,  the  heads  arc 
still  so  excited,  that  the  voice  of  reason 
cannot  be  listened  to.  But  anger  and  pas- 
sion will  pass  and  an  understanding  will 
come,  because  it  must  come.  Let  time  act, 
and  it  will  heal  man-caused  wounds.  And 
above  all,  since  it  is  impossible  to  do  justice 
to  all,  let  us  try  to  do  as  little  injustice  to 
any  one  as  can  be  done. 

I.  SCHIOPUL. 

Bucharest,   Rumania.  June.   1921. 


ALBANIA'S   FEUD   WITH  GREECE 

Conflict  over  territorial  claims  in  Albania  aggravated  by  the  Greek  war  in  Turkey- 
Spies  caught  distributing  anti-Greek  propaganda  from  Mustapha  Kemal 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


ALL  through  the  month  of  June  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  League  of  Nations  listened  to 
complaints  of  Albania  about  the  en- 
croachments of  Serbs  and  Greeks  upon  her 
territory.  Both  the  Greek  and  Jugoslav 
delegates  pleaded  guilty,  but  insisted  that 
events  subsequent  to  1913  had  made  the 
London  and  Florence  Treaties  of  that  year, 
defining  the  Albanian  frontiers,  wholly  ob- 
solete. The  matter  came  up  before  the 
Council  on  June  26  for  decision.  Consider- 
ing the  matter  as  one  of  adjustment  of  dead 
treaties  rather  than  interpretation  of  living 
ones,  the  League  Council  decided  to  refer 
the  matter  to  the  Council  of  Ambassadors. 
Against  this  decision  the  Albanian  delega- 
tion, headed  by  Bishop  Noli,  who  is  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard  University,  strongly  pro- 
tested, declaring  that  the  Council  of  Am- 
bassadors dealt  only  with  questions  between 
victors  and  vanquished,  whereas  Albania 
had  been  neutral.  A  new  memorandum  of 
charges  against  the  Greeks  and  Jugoslavs 
was  filed  by  the  delegation. 

The  friction  between  the  Albanians  and 
the  Greeks  has  been  especially  bitter  on 
account  of  the  Greek  war  upon  the  Turkish 
Nationalist  leader,  Mustapha  Kemal,  with 
whom.  Greece  has  alleged,  the  Albanians, 
who  are  the  Turks'  co-religionists,  stand  in 
a  relation  of  complicity.  The  boundary  dis- 
pute between  Greece  and  Albania  was  pre- 
sumed to  have  been  settled  in  the  Winter  of 
1919-20  by  the  exchange  of  protocols  be- 
tween the  Governments  of  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy  and  the  United  States.  The 
arrangement  then  made,  however,  was  mod- 
ified in  favor  of  Albania  by  the  subsequent 
treaty  between  Italy  and  Albania,  nego- 
tiated by  the  Italian  diplomat,  Count  Man- 
zoni,  a  year  ago.  Further  adjustments  re- 
mained pending.  Meantime  the  town  of 
Koritza,  of  mingled  Greek  and  Albanian 
population,  and  a  bone  of  contention  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  was  administered 
by  Albania.  The  Greeks  in  the  town  com- 
plained of  being  pressed  into  the  Albanian 
military  service,  of  confiscation  of  the  earn- 


ings of  returned  Greek  immigrants,  with 
other  similar  charges. 

In  the  first  week  of  May  the  Greeks  were 
outraged  by  Albanian  attacks  upon  the 
Greek  church  of  St.  George.  On  the  Thurs- 
day preceding  Good  Friday,  first  of  all, 
some  Albanian  officers,  led  by  an  Albanian 
priest  named  Premiti,  broke  into  the  church 
during  service  and  demanded  that  the  mass 
be  said  in  the  Albanian  language.  The 
priests  complied,  but  the  next  day  the 
Greek  Metropolitan  protested  to  the  Al- 
banian Governor  against  this  indignity.  A 
day  later  the  Greek  Metropolitan  myste- 
riously disappeared  and  an  armed  attack 
was  made  upon  the  Greeks  during  a  pro- 
cession, with  the  result  that  eleven  Greeks 
were  killed  and  several  wounded;  the  Al- 
banians lost  about  the  same  number. 

Next  came  the  trouble  over  Chimarra, 
also  in  Albanian  territory.  Chimarra  is  a 
small  port  opposite  Northern  Corfu,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Acroceranian  Mountains,  and 
has  been  celebrated  both  by  Horace,  the 
Latin  poet,  and  by  our  English  Byron.  Chi- 
marra came  out  openly  proclaiming  its 
union  with  Greece.  The  Albanian  Govern- 
ment at  once  sent  an  ultimatum,  bidding 
the  people  recognize  Albanian  sovereignty. 
They  were  about  to  give  way  when  Greek 
mountaineers  flocked  into  the  port  and  or- 
dered them  to  defy  the  Albanians.  The 
Albanian-Greek  feud,  thus  intensified,  was 
made  still  more  bitter  by  an  event  which 
occurred  in  Greek  territory,  south  of  the 
frontier. 

At  this  point  some  Moslem  Albanians 
were  arrested  by  the  Greek  authorities  as 
spies.  A  search  revealed  the  fact  that  these 
men  carried  Turkish  propaganda  literature, 
printed  at  Angora.  The  prisoners  declared 
that  they  had  received  this  literature  for 
distribution  from  a  certain  French  Senator, 
who  had  recently  passed  that  way  on  a  mis- 
sion to  Albania.  Identifying  this  alleged 
distributer  as  Senator  Godard,  the  Athens 
press  at  once  began  to  accuse  the  French 
Government  of  inciting  insurrection  among 


ALBANIA'S  FEUD  WITH  GREECE 


873 


the  Moslems  of  Greece.  These  attacks 
brought  a  denial  from  M.  de  Billy,  the 
French  Minister  at  Athens,  who  declared 
that  Senator  Godard  had  come  on  private 
business  and  had  no  Turkish  propaganda 
material  in  his  possession. 

A  further  examination  of  the  effects  of 
the  alleged  spies  revealed  part  of  a  speech 
delivered  by  Mustapha  Kemal,  the  Turkish 
Nationalist  leader,  delivered  before  the 
Grand  Parliament  at  Angora  on  May  10, 
which  seemed  to  place  the  origin  of  the 
propaganda  beyond  doubt.  The  extract 
from  the  speech  read  as  follows: 

Owing  to  the  geographical  situation  of  Al- 
bania we  cannot  maintain  direct  communica- 


tion with  that  country.  But  we  gladly  con- 
sented to  the  request  of  the  Albanian  officers, 
who  asked  our  permission  to  return  to  their 
country  and  organize  Albanian  forces 
against  the  Greeks.  We,  as  Mussulmans, 
take  the  greatest  interest  in  Albanian  affairs, 
and  consider  that  Albania  needs  our  assist- 
ance against  Greek  aggression.  It  is  our 
sacred  duty  to  give  aid  to  our  coreligionists. 
No  Turkish  officer  has  left  Angora,  but 
Nouredin  Pasha,  the  commander  of  one  of 
our  Smyrna  divisions,  has  proceeded  to  Al- 
bania with  200  Albanian  officers  who  had 
come  to  Asia  Minor  to  help  us,  but  who,  I 
judged,  would  do  more  effective  work  in 
their  own  land.  Greece  has  become  the 
enemy,  not  only  of  Albania,  but  of  all  the 
Levantine  races,  and  the  Balkan  States 
should  recognize  this  as  Albania  has  already 
done. 


THE  LITTLE  ENTENTE'S  PROBLEMS 


[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THE  text  of  the  three  defensive  treaties 
which  form  the  backbone  of  "  The  Little 
Entente  "  —  Czechoslovakia  -  Jugoslavia, 
signed  Aug.  14,  1920;  Czechoslovakia-Ru- 
mania, April  23;  Rumania-Jugoslavia,  June 
8 — is  now  at  hand.  All  contain  a  preamble 
and  six  articles,  and  the  last  two  follow 
the  first  (See  Current  History  for  Janu- 
ary, page  73)  in  all  essential  particulars. 
In  each  case  should  Hungary  make  an  un- 
provoked attack  upon  one  of  the  parties  the 
other  shall  come  to  the  rescue;  meanwhile 
military  conventions  shall  define  that  aid, 
and  other  conventions  shall  lay  down  a  com- 
mon foreign  policy,  which  shall  be  based 
upon  the  execution  of  the  Treaties  of 
Trianon  and  Neuilly. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  "  fathers  "  of 
"  The  Little  Entente,"  Dr.  Benesh  at  Prague 
and  Take  Jonescu  at  Bucharest,  expounded 
the  treaties  along  the  foregoing  lines;  but 
the  latter  added,  what  had  already  been 
imparted  privately  to  Current  History  by 
the  Rumanian  Legation  and  printed  in 
these  columns: 

The  second  part  of  the  great  political  pro- 
gram will  be  the  conclusion  of  an  alliance 
between  Poland,  Czechoslovakia,  Rumania, 
Jugoslavia,  Greeoe,  and,  as  soon  as  expedient, 
Bulgaria. 

In  commenting  upon  this  statement  the 
Sofia    Echo    of    Bulgaria,    on   June    16,    re- 


minded its  readers  that  the  Bulgarian 
Government  had  three  times  attempted  a 
rapprochement  at  Belgrade,  but  without 
avail.  However,  it  had  hopes  of  an  invita- 
tion from  Prague  or  Bucharest.  Conversa- 
tions with  Rumanian,  Serb  and  Czechoslovak 
diplomats  reveal  the  fact  that,  while  none 
questions  the  correct  attitude  of  M.  Stam- 
bolisky,  the  Bulgar  Premier,  which  has 
gained  for  his  country  admission  to  the 
League  of  Nations  and  a  good  measure  of 
esteem  from  several  chancelleries,  there 
are,  nevertheless,  elements  in  Bulgaria, 
whether  reactionary  or  communistic,  which, 
in  the  event  of  Greek  reverses  in  Asia 
Minor,  might  seek  to  combine  with  Kem- 
alist  and  Bolshevist  elements  to  stir  up 
trouble  in  Thrace.  With  this  fear  removed, 
it  is  added,  the  way  will  be  open  for  Bul- 
garia to  enter  "  The  Little  Entente." 

As  to  the  case  of  Greece,  neither  Dr. 
Benesh  nor  M.  Jonescu  nor  M.  Pashitch, 
the  Serbian  promoter  of  "  The  Little  En- 
tente," can  be  particularly  enamored  of 
Constantinian  Greece — they  who  are  the 
personal  friends  and  admirers  of  Venizelos. 
However,  they  recognize  the  paramount 
importance  to  Balkan  and  European  peace, 
and  believe  that  no  domestic  changes  in 
Greece  should  be  allowed  to  upset  a  settle- 
ment by  any  other  State  desirous  of  fishing 
in  troubled  waters. 


SCANDINAVIA'S  FIGHT  AGAINST 
BOLSHEVISM 

How  an  elaborate  revolutionary  plot,  subsidized  with  Russian  money,  was  crushed  by 
Sweden — Norway's  effective  way  of  handling  a  Bolshevist-led  general  strike — Russia's 
dissatisfaction  with  the  Aland  Island  settlement  leaves  a  cloud  on  the  horizon 

[Period   Ended  July  10,    1921] 


SWEDEN  has  been  much  commended  in 
the  press  of  the  world  for  her  loyalty 
in  abiding  by  the  decision  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  League  of  Nations  (June  24), 
that  the  Aland  Islands  shall  remain  under 
Finland's  sovereignty.  The  islands  are  to 
be  neutralized  from  a  military  standpoint, 
and  the  population  is  to  receive  the  guaran- 
tees recommended  by  the  Elkus  commission. 
Hjalmar  Bran  ting,  former  Prime  Minister 
of  Sweden,  protested  against  the  decision, 
saying,  in  part: 

The  Swedish  Government  cannot  refrain 
from  expressing  the  fear  that  the  Council 
has  badly  shaken  the  confidence  of  all  peo- 
ples, and  more  particularly  those  who,  like 
Sweden,  long  have  striven  for  a  realization 
of  international  law  and  who  had  felt  that 
the  League  of  Nations  had  been  created  to 
place  the  world  under  the  reign  of  this  law. 

He  agreed,  nevertheless,  to  recognize  the 
decision,  regarding  it  as  the  duty  of  a  mem- 
ber of  the  League  to  do  so,  even  though  it 
was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  his  country 
and  to  the  Aland  delegates  at  Geneva.  Even 
so,  the  decision  cannot  be  regarded  as  final ; 
for  the  next  day  the  Russian  Soviet  notified 
the  League  and  all  other  parties  concerned 
that  Russia  still  considered  itself  interested 
in  the  Aland  question  and  protested  against 
its  being  settled  definitely.  The  note  of 
protest  contained  a  reference  to  the  treaty 
of  1856,  made  at  the  close  of  the  Crimean 
war,  after  the  British  and  French  fleets 
had  destroyed  the  Russian  fortress  of 
Bomarsund  on  the  largest  of  the  Aland 
Islands.  By  its  terms  Russia  guaranteed 
that  the  islands  should  not  be  fortified,  but 
broke  its  pledge  early  in  the  World  War. 

This  demand  of  Russia  to  be  considered 
in  the  settlement  lends  significance  to  the 
Bolshevist  plot,  detected  by  the  Swedish 
police  in  the  second  week  of  June,  to  start  a 
revolution  simultaneously  in  Sweden,  Nor- 
way and  Finland.     The  precipitation  of  the 


Norwegian  general  strike  was  regarded  as 
the  advance  action  of  this  movement.  The 
chief  conspirator  in  Sweden  was  a  journal- 
ist, Jacobsen.  The  others  arrested  were  all 
Finns,  former  members  of  the  Finnish  Red 
Guards,  and  all  the  persons  in  custody  were 
considered  members  of  a  gang  directed 
from  Moscow.  Among  the  documents  seized 
were  instructions  to  agents  to  get  particu- 
lars about  Swedish  army,  navy  and  air 
forces.  Arrests  continued  through  June  17, 
and  investigations  were  expected  to  last  for 
several  weeks.  Raids  in  Northern  Sweden 
resulted  in  the  arrest  of  four  Finnish  com- 
munists, suspected  of  having  set  fire  to  large 
sawmills,  and  in  the  flight  of  many  com- 
munists to  the  coast  in  the  hope  of  escap- 
ing by  sea.  In  the  State  Council  it  was 
decided  to  expel  Wallenius,  the  Finnish 
chief  of  the  Stockholm  organization,  as  a 
particularly  dangerous  person.  Several  of 
the  Finnish  Red  Guards  arrested  had  been 
living  luxuriously  in  Stockholm.  Others 
worked  as  miners  in  the  northern  iron-ore 
fields.  It  was  found  that  extensive  subter- 
ranean works  had  been  carried  out  at 
Boden,  Sweden's  largest  fortress,  situated 
near  the  Finnish  frontier. 

This  revolutionary  organization  in  Sweden 
dates  back  to  1918,  when  many  Finnish  Red 
refugees  came  over  the  frontier  on  false 
passports.  Later  a  committee  of  six  was 
formed,  and  in  April,  1919,  a  Red  officers' 
school  was  established.  For  their  equip- 
ment Lenin  arranged  to  establish  a  special 
clothing  factory.  However,  the  pupils 
pawned  their  uniforms  and  arms,  and  that 
part  of  the  scheme  fell  through.  The  com- 
mittee of  six  arranged  for  the  smuggling  of 
jewelry  from  Soviet  Russia  into  Sweden. 
Motorboats  carried  the  goods  to  points  on 
the  Swedish  coast,  whence  motorcars  for- 
warded the  goods  inland,  both  boats  and 
cars  making  regular  trips  for  this  purpose. 


SCANDINAVIA'S  FIGHT  AGAINST  BOLSHEVISM 


87.5 


NORWAY — The  general  strike  which 
grew  out  of  the  Norwegian  seamen's  strike 
went  down  in  a  fortnight  to  crushing  defeat 
before  the  efficiency  of  the  nation-wide 
Community  Aid  Organization.  The  workers 
were  sent  back  to  work  on  June  10  without 
conditions  and  without  having  gained  any- 
thing. This  event  was  hailed  in  the  Nor- 
wegian press  as  "  a  unique  victory  for  so- 
ciety." The  Community  Aid  had  kept  the 
necessary  industries  going  by  furnishing 
volunteer  social  workers  in  all  lines  af- 
fected. The  military  was  mobilized,  but  not 
used.  The  workers  had  to  return  to  work 
individually,  taking  their  chances  of  being 
re-employed.  In  the  words  of  an  editorial 
in  Aftenposten  (Christiania) : 

No  strike  was  ever  more  lightly  entered 
into,  nor  sooner  ended  with  a  more  crushing 
defeat.  Launched  by  a  small  band  of  Bol- 
sheviki,  the  strike  necessitated  great  sacri- 
fices on  the  part  of  the  laborers,  but  all  in 
vain.  The  Bolshevist  leaders  learned  that 
society  is  no  plaything  which  they  can  beat 
fro  pieces  like  a  child.  The  strike  was  broken 
by   its    own   impossibility. 

The  Norwegian  Government  recently  in- 
troduced a  bill  proposing  to  substitute  a 
system  of  rationing  liquor,  like  that  adopted 
in  Sweden,  for  the  present  temporary  sys- 
tem of  absolute  prohibition.  The  provision 
in  the  measure  that  all  profits  from  the 
sale  of  alcohol  be  used  to  further  social  re- 
forms gives  rise  to  many  points  of  dispute. 

The  question  of  compensation  for  the  fif- 
teen Norwegian  ships  requisitioned  in 
American  shipbuilding  yards  by  the  United 
States  on  entering  the  war  was  submit- 
ted to  the  United  States  Senate,  July  1, 
in  the  form  of  an  arbitration  agreement 
for  ratification.  This  agreement  was  drawn 
up  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the 
arbitration  convention  between  the  two 
countries  in  1908,  and  its  negotiation  fol- 
lowed the  failure  of  the  Norwegian  claim- 
ants and  the  United  States  Shipping  Board 
and  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  to  adjust 
the  claims.  These  claims  amounted  to  $14,- 
157,000.  The  Senate  referred  the  arbitra- 
tion agreement  to  its  Foreign  Relations 
Committee.    Its  text  was  not  made  public. 

DENMARK— The  marriage  of  Princess 
Margaret  of  Denmark  and  Prince  Rene  of 
Bourbon  was  solemnized  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  Copenhagen,  on  June  10, 
in  the  presence  of  the  King  and  Queen  and 
other    official    personages.      The    Princess 


was  accompanied  by  her  father,  Prince 
Valdemar,  and  the  Prince  Rene  by  his 
mother,  the  Duchess  of  Parma.  The  drive 
of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  to  the  Amalie- 
borg  Palace  was  a  brilliant  progress.  The 
carriage  was  escorted  by  Hussars,  and  the 
cheering  crowds  covered  it  with  flowers. 

A  resolution  urgently  appealing  to  the 
Government  to  intervene  in  the  industrial 
crisis  that  lies  heavily  on  Denmark  was 
unanimously  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  repre- 


World    Photo) 


PRINCESS  MARGARET  OF  DENMARK 
Bride  of  Prince  Rene  of  Bourbon 


87 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


sentatives  of  various  industries  invited  by 
the  Danish  Chamber  of  Industry,  June  15, 
to  discuss  means  for  dealing  with  the  mat- 
ter. Influenced  by  the  free-trade  Agrarians, 
the  Government  had  shown  no  desire  to 
accede  to  the  Social  Democrats'  demand 
that  it  summon  the  Rigsdag.  The  Social 
Democrats  had  lately  joined  the  Conserva- 
tives  in   pointing  to   protection   as    a   solu- 


tion of  the  difficulties,  in  view  of  the  stress 
of  German  competition. 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  made  the  oc- 
casion of  a  great  Danish-American  festival 
in  the  Rebild  Hills  of  Jutland.  Joseph  C. 
Grew,  the  American  Minister  to  Denmark, 
made  an  address  which  evoked  great  en- 
thusiasm from  the  thousands  of  Americans, 
Danish-Americans,  and  Danes  present. 


RUSSIA  IN  DESPERATE  STRAITS 

Lenin's  fight  for  economic  reforms  obstructed  by  radical  Bolshevist  Waders  at  tlte  Third 
International  Congress — Famine  and,  rebellion  faced  by  the  Soviet — The  trade  move- 
ment frc:v  Europe  Still  vjezli 


THE  Soviet  newspapers  bear  eloquent  tes- 
timony to  the  desperate  efforts  of  the 
Bolshevist  Government  to  retain  power 
until  conditions  improve  so  as  to  make  for 
permanency.  From  these  papers  it  is  ap- 
parent that  Lenin's  far-sighted  plans  to  im- 
prove the  desperate  state  of  affairs  that 
now  prevails  have  met  with  an  ever-increas- 
ing opposition  on  the  part  of  Bukharin, 
Zinoviev,  Djerzinsky  and  other  extremist 
leaders.  Interesting  information  is  given 
by  the  official  organs  of  an  extraordinary 
session  of  all  the  chief  executive  bodies  held 
in  Moscow  on  May  27,  preparatory  to  the 
opening  of  the  Third  International  in  June. 
The  following  official  organizations  were 
represented:  The  Soviet  of  People's  Com- 
missaries, the  Soviet  Revolutionary  Military 
Council,  the  Labor  Defense  Council  and  the 
All-Russian  Extraordinary  Commission, 
otherwise  known  as  the  Cheka. 

The  object  of  this  extraordinary  session 
was  to  discuss  the  crisis  which  faced  the 
country.  Since  the  beginning  of  May  dis- 
quieting reports  had  been  received  from  the 
interior,  notably  of  a  strong  anti-Soviet 
movement,  which  was  gaining  momentum 
in  the  following  provinces:  Saratov,  Orel, 
Ufa,  Riazan,  Vologda,  Tambov,  Cheliabinsk 
and  Kursk.  Food  shortage  was  combining 
with  the  anti-Soviet  propaganda  of  the  Men- 
sheviki,  the  Revolutionary  Socialists  and 
the  White  Guard  elements.  A  certain  num- 
ber of  Red  Army  units  were  being  strongly 
disaffected  by  this  movement. 

The  meeting  was  stormy.  Lenin  was  bit- 
terly attacked  by  the  radical  leaders,  who 


have  made  war  on  him  since  he  declared  for 
a  partial  return  to  capitalism  and  free  trade. 
These  leaders  were  for  drastic  action  at 
home  and  for  a  continuance  of  the  efforts 
of  the  Third  International  to  work  for  revo- 
lution abroad.  A  speech  by  Lenin,  pointing 
out  the  desperate  economic  condition  of  the 
country,  declaring  that  "  the  economic  life 
of  Russia  is  on  the  eve  of  a  complete  break- 
down," and  implying  that  the  only  recourse 
was  to  work  for  reconciliation  in  Russia  and 
to  comply,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  with 
the  demands  of  the  Entente  for  a  cessation 
of  propaganda  for  world  revolution,  was 
howled  down,  and  Lenin  left  the  meeting. 

The  extremists,  led  by  Trotzky,  Bukharin, 
Djerzinsky  and  Zinoviev,  gave  no  sign  of 
relenting  in  the  drastic  policy  which  they 
advocate.  These  leaders  were  all  prominent 
in  the  new  sessions  of  the  Third  Interna- 
tional, which  opened  in  Moscow  on  June  19. 
The  majority  of  the  foreign  delegates 
brought  glowing  accounts  of  revolutionary 
movements  in  Germany,  France,  England, 
Italy  and  elsewhere.  These  stories  were  re- 
ceived with  enthusiasm.  The  violent  spirit 
of  the  extremists,  however,  was  dampened 
by  the  conditions  at  home,  alleged  by  Lenin 
and  the  conservative  leaders  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  measures  pushed  through  by 
the  radicals.  Leon  Trotzky  was  greatly  in 
the  limelight.  He  led  a  procession  of  troops 
just  before  the  Congress  was  opened.  Ef- 
figies of  Lloyd  George,  Premier  Briand  and 
other  Entente  leaders  were  greeted  with 
jeers. 

The  Congress  was  attended  by  delegates 


RUSSIA  IN  DESPERATE  STRAITS 


877 


from  the  brown  and  yellow  peoples  of  the 
Near  and  Far  East.  Women  delegates  were 
in  the  majority.  Zinoviev,  in  his  opening 
speech,  reviewed  the  standing  of  communism 
abroad,  and  advocated  an  unrelenting  strug- 
gle against  capitalism.  Both  Trotzky  and 
Bukharin,  who  is  head  of  the  Left  Wing  of 
the  Soviet  Central  Committee,  and  editor  of 
the  Moscow  Pravda,  made  speeches  to  the 
women  delegates,  urging  them  to  take  an 
active  part  in  "  the  revolutionary  front " 
abroad.  Bukharin  summed  up  the  situa- 
tion thus:  "We,  in  Russia,  are  exhausted, 
but  must  hold  on  at  all  costs.  You  on  the 
outside  must  help,  and  strain  every  effort 
to  make  the  existence  of  capitalism  impos- 
sible." 

At  a  session  reported  on  June  28  Trotzky 
was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  manifesto  to 
the  world's  proletariat.  Trotzky's  asser- 
tions that  a  conflict  might  be  expected  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
and  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  were 
contested  by  the  German  delegates,  who 
charged  that  Trotzky  was  overstressing  fu- 
ture perspectives  and  ignoring  immediate 
possibilities.  Zinoviev  declared  for  the 
strengthening  of  the  communist  parties 
abroad,  demanding  more  mass  action.  He 
announced  that  the  Executive  Committee 
had  decided  to  admit  the  British  Labor  Party 
and  the  French  Socialist  Party.  Referring 
to  the  "  splits  "  in  nearly  all  the  commu- 
'nist  groups  abroad,  he  advocated  iron 
discipline  "  to  grapple  with  bourgeois  ten- 
dencies. 

Zinoviev's  views  on  the  latter  point  won 
out  at  the  session  of  June  29,  but  only  after 
a  bitter  contest.  A  number  of  delegates 
favored  a  compromise  regarding  the  twen- 
ty-one points  laid  down  by  the  1920  Con- 
gress, but  were  voted  down.  As  finally 
adopted,  the  resolution  approved  Zinoviev's 
view  that  the  Third  International  must  in- 
sist on  the  full  twenty-one  points  as  a  quali- 
fication for  membership,  authorized  the 
sending  of  a  threat  to  expel  the  Italian  So- 
cialist Party  unless  it  excluded  all  reform- 
ists, and  threatened  the  Communist  Labor 
Party  of  Germany  with  expulsion  unless  it 
united  immediately  with  the  more  radical 
communist  element.  Further  meetings  of 
the  Congress  had  not  been  reported  up  to 
the  time  when  these  pages  went  to  press. 

An  alleged  plot  to  start  a  simultaneous 
communist  revolution  was  revealed  by  the 


police  of  Stockholm  on  June  9,  following 
the  arrest  of  a  notorious  Bolshevist  leader 
in  Kiruna,  situated  in  the  iron-mining  dis- 
trict of  Sweden.  Papers  were  found  impli- 
cating 400  Bolsheviki  staying  in  Sweden,  all 
of  whom  were  to  be  deported. 

Grave  conditions  approaching  famine  were 
reported  both  in  North  and  South  Russia  to- 
ward the  middle  of  June.  Food  riots  were 
going  on  at  several  points,  and  mutinies 
among  the  soldiers  of  the  Red  Army  were 
feared,  owing  to  a  reduction  of  rations. 
Famine  conditions  in  Kiev  were  said  to  be 
especially  severe.  In  this  district,  Nation- 
alist societies  were  active  in  hunting  down 
and  killing  the  Bolshevist  commissaries. 
Hostility  among  the  peasants  and  workmen 
was  growing  more  and  more  open. 

The  dearth  of  food  was  caused,  in  part,  by 
the  interruption  of  communications  in  West- 
ern Siberia  by  insurgent  anti-Bolshevist  ele- 
ments. The  capture  of  Omsk  and  the  revo- 
lutionary activities  from  there  to  Ekaterin- 
burg had  demoralized  all  transportation. 
[For  the  chaotic  situation  in  Siberia  follow- 
ing the  capture  of  Vladivostok  by  the  anti- 
Bolshevist  Kappelites,  see  the  article  on 
Siberia] . 

The  much  hoped-for  relief  from  Europe 
was  slow  in  materializing.  It  was  reported 
on  July  21  that  shipments  from  the  Scandi- 
navian countries,  Germany  and  Great  Brit- 
ain were  still  insignificant.  Lenin's  plan 
to  return  some  of  the  factories  to  private 
ownership  was  expected  to  result  in  the  ex- 
port of  considerable  raw  material.  Russia's 
import  trade  through  Esthonia  and  Latvia 
amounted  for  the  month  of  May  to  50,000 
tons,  as  compared  with  35,000  tons  for 
April.  About  half  of  the  imports  were  food 
products.  Royal  honors  were  paid  the 
Dutch  steamer  Alexander  Polden  when  it 
arrived  at  Petrograd  toward  the  middle  of 
June  with  a  cargo  of  herrings.  Twenty  car- 
loads of  herrings  were  immediately  unloaded 
and  dispatched  to  Moscow.  The  inhabitants 
of  Kronstadt  and  Petrograd  gave  way  to 
great  rejoicing.  Food  conditions  in  the 
former  capital  were  said  to  be  distressing. 
Only  the  day  before  the  Dutch  steamer  ar- 
rived the  Ekonomitcheskaya  Zhizn  wrote: 
"  The  fate  of  the  city  is  so  tragic  that  no 
comparison  can  be  found  in  the  world's  his- 
tory." The  mortality  from  famine  and 
disease,  this  paper  said,  was  greater  than 
that  caused  by  the  engulfing  of  Pompeii. 


UNION  OF  THE  CAUCASUS  STATES 

Armenia,  Azerbaijan,  Georgia  and  Daghestan  sign  a  compact  of  close  economic  and 
defensive  union  in  the  French  capital,  while  their  countries  are  held  in  Babylonian 
captivity  by  the  Bolsheviki 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1021] 


A  PECULIARLY  interesting  develop- 
ment, in  view  of  the  situation  prevail- 
ing in  the  Caucasus,  was  the  union  in 
Paris  on  June  10  of  the  three  main  Caucasus 
States,  Armenia,  Azerbaijan  and  Georgia, 
and  a  fourth  State — the  North  Caucasus 
Republic  of  Daghestan — into  a  close  eco- 
nomic and  protective  confederation.  Nego- 
tiations for  such  a  compact  had  been  un- 
der way  for  some  weeks,  both  in  the  Cau- 
casus and  in  France.  The  main  movers  in 
the  agreement  called  on  Premier  Briand 
on  June  22  and  presented  him  with 
a  copy  of  the  articles  of  confed- 
eration. These  delegates  —  M.  Aha- 
ronian  (Armenia),  M.  Topchibachev  (Azer- 
baijan), M.  Avalov  (Georgia),  and  M.  Tche- 
moyev  (North  Caucasus) — told  M.  Briand 
that  the  union  had  been  formed  in  order 
to  assure  the  various  peoples  of  the  Cauca- 
sus of  their  independence,  to  give  them  a 
democratic  regime,  and  to  make  them  eco- 
nomically self-sufficing.  All  four  members 
of  the  group  were  to  enjoy  equal  rights. 
All  differences  were  to  be  submitted  to  ar- 
bitration. No  foreign  compacts  were  to  be 
made  without  common  discussion  and  con- 
sent. The  four  countries  were  to  form  a 
customs  unit.  Full  freedom  of  international 
transit  was  to  be  accorded.  No  decrees  or 
arrangements  made  by  the  Soviet  regime 
now  in  power  in  the  Caucasus  were  to  be 
recognized  by  the  new  confederation. 

The  ironic  interest  of  this  compact  lies  in 
the  fact  that  Soviet  Russia  is  in  actual  pos- 
session of  the  whole  Caucasus  territory.  The 
situation  prevailing  there  is  briefly  as  fol- 
lows: Armenia,  Azerbaijan  and  North  Cau- 
casus have  been  for  some  time  in  Russian 
hands.  Georgia,  after  maintaining  inde- 
pendence for  a  considerable  period,  fell,  on 
March  17,  1921,  before  an  advance  of  the 
Soviet  armies,  its  Government  was  over- 
thrown, rnd  its  political  leaders  were  forced 
into  exile.  The  Soviet  rule  is  supreme  in 
all  these  States.  All  the  expelled  Govern- 
ments are  fighting  for  return.     The  moun- 


taineers of  Daghestan,  from  their  rocky 
fastnesses,  periodically  give  the  Soviet  new 
trouble.  The  Armenians  have  several  times 
retaken  Erivan,  the  Armenian  capital,  and 
lost  it  again;  the  city  was  last  re-entered 
by  the  Red  forces  on  April  2.  Notices  re- 
ceived on  June  5  indicated  that  the  dispos- 
sessed Armenians  had  joined  forces  in  the 
provinces  of  Karabagh  and  Zanghezur,  on 
the  border  between  Armenia  and  Azerbai- 
jan, with  the  ousted  Azerbaijani,  who  re- 
fuse to  be  reconciled  to  the  despotic  rule 
of  the  Soviet.  The  Georgian  Government, 
headed  by  Schamyl,  has  taken  refuge  in 
the  fortress  of  Gounib. 

Many  atrocities  were  committed  by  the 
Russians  in  their  invasion  of  Tiflis,  where 
corpses  were  piled  in  the  squares.  The  Az- 
erbaijani, who  had  worked  against  Soviet 
rule  on  Georgian  soil,  received  especially 
cruel  treatment.  Many  of  them  were  exe- 
cuted. Reports  from  Georgia  and  Azerbai- 
jan indicate  that  the  Soviet  rule  is  corrupt, 
despotic  and  inefficient.  The  price  of  ev- 
erything has  enormously  increased.  Trans-' 
port  and  food  conditions  are  deplorable. 
The  temper  of  these  two  peoples  is  hostile 
in  the  extreme  to  the  Soviet  administra- 
tion. Of  this  the  Moscow  leaders  are  very 
well  aware,  and  they  have  shown  a  ten- 
dency to  allow  the  local  leaders  more  in- 
fluence than  elsewhere  in  Sovietdom.  Of 
this  the  recent  oil  concession  at  Baku 
granted  to  England^  by  Azerbaijan  gives 
some  indication. 

Azerbaijan  is  particularly  the  object  of 
anxiety  on  the  part  of  outside  Govern- 
ments, who  have  long  competed  for  the  rich 
resources  of  the  Baku  oil  fields.  The  French 
formerly  controlled  these.  Then  came  the 
Dutch,  and  lastly  the  Bolsheviki,  who  are 
exploiting  the  oil  product  vigorously.  Thou- 
sands of  barrels  of  oil  are  being  sent  to 
Soviet  Russia  every  month.  The  recent  con- 
cession to  England  (reported  from  Latvia 
on  June  11)  shows  that  Great  Britain  in- 
tends not  to  be  left  out.     Some  observers 


UNION  OF  THE  CAUCASUS  STATES 


879 


of  the  Caucasus  situation  declare  that  tlie 
union  of  Caucasus  nations  concluded  in 
Paris  shows  that  the  French  are  again  seek- 
ing for  oil  control.  This  view  was  repudi- 
ated by  the  Paris  Temps,  which  commented 
as  follows: 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  French 
Government  has  not  tried  to  influence  their 
negotiations,  or  to  derive  any  special  benefit 
from  them.  It  is  natural  that  they  should 
work  in  France,  for  France  is  the  tradi- 
tional friend  of  those  who  fight  for  liberty. 
The  Supreme  Council  of  the  Allies  has  recog- 
nized the  independence  of  Armenia,  Azer- 
baijan and  Georgia,  and  the  fourth  republic, 
that  of  the  mountaineers  of  the  Caucasus,  is 
showing  to  the  Bolsheviki  that  they  will 
never  rule  tranquilly  upon  its  soil.     We  hope 


that  the  Governments  of  these  four  Cauca- 
sus republics,  when  they  shall  have  retaken 
possession  of  their  countries,  and  even  be- 
fore, will  succeed  in  establishing  good  rela- 
tions with  the  Turkish  Government  of  An- 
gora. For  the  nations  of  the  Caucasus,  an 
accord  with  Turkey  is  an  essential  condition 
of  their  emancipation.  Russia,  their  other 
neighbor,  has  need  of  emancipation  herself 
ahead  of  everything  else. 

The  answer  which  may  be  given  to  those 
who  see  little  value  in  the  new  compact  of 
exiled  Governments  is  this:  Not  so  very 
long  ago  the  present  rulers  of  Czechoslo- 
vakia and  Jugoslavia  were  exiles  in  France 
and  elsewhere.  The  plans  and  compacts 
which  they  made  in  foreign  countries  have 
now  been  translated  into  realities. 


THE  ARMENIAN  MASSACRES 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

You  have  published,  in  your  July  issue, 
an  article  entitled  "  Why  Talaat's  Assassin 
Was  Acquitted."  The  author  of  that  article, 
George  R.  Montgomery,  ought  to  have  men- 
tioned the  book,  "  The  Memoirs  of  Nairn 
Bey,"  from  which  he  has  bodily  lifted  the 
facsimiles  of  the  telegrams  and  their  trans- 
lations. "  The  Memoirs  of  Nairn  Bey,"  pub- 
lished by  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  London,  was 
prepared  by  Aram  Andonian,  an  Armenian 
journalist,  who  was  deported  from  Con- 
stantinople to  Der  Zor.  Andonian  writes  as 
follows  in  the  introduction  to  his  book  as 
to  how  he  secured  these  documents: 

For  two  years  and  a  half  I  had  been  pur- 
sued by  persecution,  living  in  hiding,  now  in 
Aleppo,  now  in  Damascus  and  Beirut,  and 
sometimes  in  the  Lebanon,  till  the  English 
entered  Aleppo,  bringing  liberty  with  them. 
Some  friends  from  Adana  then  reminded  me 
of  Nairn  Bey,  and  promised  to  satisfy  my 
great  desire  to  see  him.  Considering  his  long 
term  of  office  in  the  General  Deportations 
Committee  at  Aleppo,  it  seemed  to  me  that 
lie  ought  to  know  a  great  deal— everything, 
in    fact. 

"  The  departure  of  the  Turks  from  Aleppo, 
after  the  ai  rival  >of  the  English,  was  some- 
thins  like  the  escape  of  criminals,"  he  said 
to  me. 


"  I,  having  a  clear  conscience,  did  not  wish 
to  join  them,   and  I  stayed." 

As  the  Government  of  the  Young  Turks 
has  caused  the  documents  concerning  the 
massacre  of  Armenians  to  disappear,  we  had 
no  official  evidence  to  show.  It  was  this 
want  which  Nairn  Bey  supplied  by  handing 
over  to  us  a  great  many  official  documents, 
Ministerial  telegrams  and  decrees  to  Gover- 
nors sent  on  behalf  of  the  Ittihad  Committee, 
which  had  passed  through  his  hands  during 
his  term  of  office  under  the  General  Depor- 
tations Committee  of  Aleppo,  some  of  which 
he  had  kept,  perhaps  fearing  future  respon- 
sibility ;  one  part  of  those  documents  he  has 
written  from  memory,  and  the  most  im- 
portant ones  are  photographed  and  published 
in  the  present  work. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Andonian  and  to  the 
authoritative  standard  of  your  magazine 
these  facts  should  be  set  forth. 

ARSHAG   MAHDESIAN. 

Office  of  the  New  Armenian,  9ft  Broadway , 
New  York,  July  5,  1921. 

[The  facsimiles  of  Talaat  Pasha's  telegrams 
were  reproduced  from  Aram  Andonian' s  "  Docu- 
ments Officiels  Concernant  les  Massacres  Ar- 
meniens,"  published  in  Paris  by  H.  Turabian, 
and  it  was  from  this  French  volume  that  Mr. 
Montgomery  drew  the  main  substance  of  his 
interesting  article  in  Current  History.  "  The 
Memoirs  of  Nairn  Bey  "  evidently  is  the  English 
translation  of  the  original  work  just  men- 
tioned.— Editor.  ] 


THE  CURIOUS  MUDDLE  OF  THE 
GRECO-TURKISH  WAR 

A  month  of  vanished  hopes  and  intrigues  over  the  problems  of  the  Near  East — Greece 
rejects  intervention  while  sleeping  on  her  arms — Angora  playing  off  one  power  against 
another — Turkish  hostility  concentrating  on  Great  Britain 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THE  situation  in  the  Orient,  down  to 
July  10,  became  seemingly  more  mud- 
dled than  ever — in  spite  of  the  reas- 
suring words  of  Winston  Churchill,  the 
British  Colonial  Minister,  uttered  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  June  14  about  the 
necessity  of  Franco-British  unity  in  the 
Near  East;  nor  was  the  muddle  clarified 
when  Earl  Curzon,  the  British  Foreign 
Minister,  went  to  Paris  and  joined  with  M. 
Briand  and  the  Italian  Ambassador  in 
drafting  a  formula  by  which  the  good  of- 
fices of  the  Entente  might  be  used  to  in- 
tervene with  the  Nationalist  Turks  on  be- 
half of  Greece—a  formula  which  the  Turks 
rejected. 

The  attempts  at  cordial  co-operation  by 
London,  Paris  and  Rome  were  constantly 
thwarted  by  ignorance  of  the  true  situation, 
as  shown  by  the  press  of  these  capitals  re- 
acted upon  by  the  obvious  intrigues  there 
of  agents  sent  out  from  Angora.  The  situa- 
tion is  so  paradoxical  that  both  Athens  and 
Angora  believe  that  each  may  profit  by  its 
continuance,  as  they  imagine  they  observe 
the  waning  of  the  morale,  if  not  the  ma- 
terial strength,  of  the  Entente.  It  will  be 
shown,  however,  that  both  are  nurturing  an 
illusion:  The  seeking  of  an  inexpensive 
formula  on  the  part  of  the  Entente  really 
exhibits  no  signs  of  fundamental  weakness. 
There  have  been  few  changes  in  the  pure- 
ly military  situation.  The  Greek  and  Na- 
tionalist armies  still  face  each  other,  with 
periodic  feint  attacks  at  various  points. 
The  Greek  evacuation  of  the  Ismid  Penin- 
sula was  followed  by  reported  atrocities  on 
both  sides  and  the  landing  of  American 
marines  to  protect  American  educational 
and  missionary  property  and  the  lives  of 
those  identified  with  it.  There  was  an  un- 
confirmed report  that  General  Gouraud,  the 
French  High  Commissioner  of  Syria,  had 
renewed   hostilities   against   the   Kemalists. 


The  British  fleet  came  into  full  control  of 
the  strait  and  General  Sir  Charles  Har- 
rington increased  his  army  at  Constanti- 
nople; but  there  was  no  change  in  the  pro- 
claimed British  neutrality,  and  the  best  the 
Greeks  could  believe  from  the  situation  was 
that  an  attack  by  the  Kemalists  on  Con- 
stantinople would  eventually  bring  Great 
Britain  to  their  side.  Indeed,  Austen 
Chamberlain,  the  Government  leader  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  intimated  as  much  on 
June  23.  But  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  has 
been  careful  not  to  provoke  that  contin- 
gency. 

The  Greek  army  in  Asia  Minor,  although 
arrayed  in  uniforms  of  various  nations, 
possesses  particularly  good  footgear,  and 
a  formidable,  although  varied,  armament, 
and  plenty  of  food.  Its  wages  are  not  paid, 
but  the  Greek  Government  seems  to  have 
plenty  of  money  for  military  necessaries. 
Where  does  the  money  come  from?  Opin- 
ion is  divided  in  Athens  between  private 
American  and  British  sources  and  the  hy- 
pothecation of  the  $16,000,000  Greek  bal- 
ance still  due  on  the  Washington  loan  made 
M.  Venizelos,  the  payment  of  which  was 
stopped  when  King  Constantine  returned. 

In  default  of  a  meeting  of  the  Supreme 
Council,  which  could  not  at  the  moment  be 
arranged,  Lord  Curzon  went  to  Paris  on 
June  17  and  returned  to  London  on  June 
20.  Meanwhile,  among  other  things,  he  had 
arranged,  with  the  French  Premier  and  the 
Italian  Ambassador,  an  identical  note  to 
Greece.  According  to  the  account  of  Mr. 
Chamberlain  in  the  House  on  June  23,  this 
note  expressed  conviction  that  renewal  of 
Greek  and  Turkish  conflict  in  Asia  Minor 
contained  no  prospects  of  enduring  pacifi- 
cation of  the.  East  or  a  solution  compatible 
with  the  real  interests  and  ultimate  capa- 
bilities of  either  party.  So,  as  a  mere  dis- 
charge of  international  duty  and  as  an  ob- 


THE  CURIOUS  MUDDLE  OF  THE  GRECO-TURKISH  WAR 


881 


ligation  of  friendship,  they  were  prepared 
to  attempt  reconciliation  if  the  Hellenic 
Government  would  place  its  interests  in 
their  hands.  If  outside  intervention  or  ad- 
vice was  found  unacceptable,  the  abandon- 
ment of  an  action  thus  made  fruitless 
would  make  the  Greeks  responsible  for  the 
consequences  of  a  renewal  of  hostilities. 

The  Greek  Government  was  invited  to 
return  a  prompt  reply  to  this  proposal. 
The  three  allied  representatives  then  pro- 
ceeded to  discuss  the  terms  in  question  and 
arrived  at  a  general  agreement  as  to  the 
lines  on  which  they  would  proceed. 

On  June  25  the  Athens  Government  re- 
plied to  the  note  declining  politely  to  re- 
ceive, the  intervention  of  the  Entente  at 
that  time.  It  pointed  out  that  Greece  was 
merely  striving  to  execute  the  Treaty  of 
Sevres,  to  which  all  had  been  parties,  and 
that  the  proposal  of  the  Entente  could  not 
be  considered  unless  it  guaranteed  the 
rights  of  Greece  in  Smyrna  and  Thrace  as 
set  down  in  that  instrument.  The  rest  was, 
of  course,  open  to  arbitration. 

On  June  6,  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  had 
issued  a  proclamation  which  read: 

We  absolutely  refuse  to  enter  into  pour- 
parlers with  the  British.  Our  military  move- 
ment will  have  such  repercussions  that  the 
liberation  of  the  whole  Moslem  world  will 
follow,  and  Egypt  and  India  will  become 
completely  independent. 

Tn  spite  of  this,  General  Harrington 
sought  a  personal  conference  with  Kemal, 
suggesting  as  the  places  of  meeting  a  Brit- 
ish warship  and  then  Ineboli.  The  idea  was 
abandoned  on  July  10,  when  it  was  reported 
that  RemaPs  reply  "  was  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  was  deemed  useless  for  the  British 
commander  to  make  the  visit." 

It  had,  nevertheless,  been  reported  that, 
in  certain  circumstances,  Great  Britain 
would  be  willing  to  withdraw  its  support  to 
the  Sultan's  Government  at  Stamboul  and 
permit  the  Nationalists  to  occupy  Constan- 
tinople. These  rumors,  as  well  as  the  as- 
sumption of  power  by  General  Harrington 
over  the  High  Commissioners  at  Constanti- 
nople, encouraged  the  French  press  to  ad- 
vise its  Government  to  take  advantage  of 
the  situation  and  to  assume  the  preponder- 
ant influence  in  the  Near  East  supposedly 
about  to  be  abandoned  by  Great  Britain. 
It  also  suggested  that  General  Harrington 
be  rebuked  for  acting  without  consultation 
with  the  Interallied  Commission.  Rumors 
of  the  same  doubtful  character  reached  the 


Paris  press,  on  July  10,  telling  of  a  Balkan 
alliance  with  the  aid  of  Kemal  Pasha 
against  Greece.  It  was  said  that  this  alliance 
had  been  hatched  at  Sofia  and  had  found 
approval  at  Belgrade  and  Angora,  and  that 
its  point  of  attack  would  be  Thrace  and 
Macedonia.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that 
Bulgaria,  which  is  on  its  good  behavior  to- 
ward the  Entente,  would  not  seriously  in- 
stigate such  an  enterprise,  and  that  Serbia, 
whatever  its  enmity  toward  the  Greece  of 
Constantine,  would  not  engage  in  it. 

Meanwhile,  Bekir  Sami  Bey,  the  Foreign 
Minister  at  Angora,  who  was  obliged  to  re- 
sign when  the  treaties  he  had  negotiated 
with  France  and  Italy  at  London  were  de- 
nounced by  the  Grand  Parliament  at  An- 
gora, has  not  been  idle.  He  has  been  travel- 
ing from  Angora  to  Rome  and  from  Rome 
to  Paris  and  London,  adding  to  the  con- 
fusion by  conflicting  interviews.  Both 
in  Rome  and  Paris  he  pointed  out 
to  interviewers  that  England  alone  was 
the  obstacle  which  prevented  a  perfect  un- 
derstanding between  his  Government  and 
Italy  and  France.  Of  more  importance  as 
showing  the  trend  of  intrigue  was  the  state- 
ment made  to  the  Paris  press  in  regard  to 
his  mission  by  Dr.  Nihad  Rechad  Bey,  the 
Angora  representative  there.  Dr.  Nihad 
said : 

Unfortunately,  in  Turkey  there  is  a  convic- 
tion that  England  has  not  yet  given  up  the 
policy  of  utilizing  the  Greeks  against  the 
Turks,  and  has  not  yet  decided  to  replace 
Greater  Greece  by  the  Ottoman  Empire.  *  *  * 
An  essential  factor  in  the  Turkish  situation 
is  the  fact  that  all  parties  believe  that  Great 
Britain  is  the  dominating  influence  in  the 
situation.  All  Turkish  parties  are  unani- 
mous in  believing  that  the  recent  Greek  at- 
tack certainly  found  encouragement  and  even 
approval  from  certain  British  official  quar- 
ters. *  *  *  We  are  still  waiting  a  geste 
britannique  which  shall  strike  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  nation  as  of  old.  We  wait  in 
vain. 

At  Angora,  while  Italy  is  quite  ignored, 
anti-French  propaganda  has  been  replaced 
by  anti-British.  The  semi-official  Hakimiet 
Millie  vigorously  urges  the  defeat  of  Greece 
because  it  will  be  "  the  first  Moslem  victory 
over  Great  Britain,"  and  adds: 

Outwardly  powerful,  Britain  really  re- 
sembles a  palace  of  cards.  It  is  undermined 
by  strikes,  most  of  her  industries  are  idle, 
thousands  are  bankrupt,  millions  are  un- 
employed. The  British  Empire  is  beginning 
to  totter.  In  fact,  savage  fanatical  Europe 
is  already  in  decomposition,  and  the  Great 
Powers  are  passing  through   their   last  days. 


HARD  PROBLEMS  IN  PALESTINE 
AND  MESOPOTAMIA 

An  explanation  of  the  new  British  policy  in  the  Middle  East,  and  of  the  obstacles  it  is 
encountering — French  hostility  to  England's  plan  for  making  Emir  Feisal  King  of 
Mesopotamia — Papal  protest  against  the  Zionist  enterprise  in  Palestine 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


ALTHOUGH  the  problems  of  the  Near 
-  and  Middle  East,  so  far  as  they  affect 
France,  Italy  and  Greece,  still  measurably 
depend  upon  the  result  of  the  conflict  be- 
tween the  last-named  country  and  the 
Turkish  Nationals,  those  affecting  Great 
Britain  depend  more  directly  upon  the  ac- 
tion of  the  British  Parliament  on  the  rati- 
fication of  the  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia 
mandates.  Such  ratification  would  shift 
the  responsibilities  now  being  borne  by  the 
Imperial  War,  Colonial  and  India  Offices 
to  the  shoulders  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
until,  with  the  mandates  fully  executed,  the 
Foreign  Office  would  alone  be  concerned. 

Several  events  occurred  in  the  last  half 
of  June  which,  while  not  perhaps  bringing 
the  day  of  ratification  nearer,  clearly  re- 
vealed the  drift  of  British  policy  away  from 
its  original  conception  and  emphasized  the 
nature  of  new  responsibilities  as  well. 
These  events  were  Pope  Benedict  XV. 's  allo- 
cution in  regard  to  Palestine,  the  speech  of 
the  British  Colonial  Minister  on  the  situa- 
tion, the  publication  of  the  text  of  the  Meso- 
potamia mandate,  and  the  antagonistic 
comments  of  the  French  press  in  regard  to 
the  change  of  British  policy,  although  this 
change  had  been  shown  to  be  more  favorable 
to  French  interests. 

During  the  post-bellum  regime  of  M.  Veni- 
zelos  in  Greece,  deductions  made  from  the 
speeches  of  Lord  Curzon  and  A.  J.  Balfour 
revealed  that  the  primary  conception  of  the 
British  policy  was,  in  the  first  place,  to  cre- 
ate an  auxiliary  Greek  Empire  controlling, 
by  agreement  with  Downing  Street,  the 
whole  littoral  of  the  Aegean,  and  dominat- 
ing the  approaches  to  Constantinople;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  to  establish  a  series  of 
dependencies,  including  Palestine,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Persia  and  the  Kingdom  of  Hedjaz. 
With  the  volte-face  of  Greece,  this  policy 
has  gradually  given  way  before  the  exigen- 


cies of  political  events,  and  a  new  one  has 
developed,  which  ignores  the  aspirations  of 
the  Constantine  regime  and  leaves  France 
and  Italy  pretty  much  to  their  own  devices. 
At  the  present  time  this  new  policy  has 
reached  the  point  where  the  seemingly  tri- 
umphant progress  made  in  Palestine  has 
encountered  formidable  obstructions  to  its 
primary  object — the  establishment  of  a 
home  land  for  the  Jews.  This  opposition, 
both  internal  and  external,  comes  from  the 
Catholic  hierarchy,  from  Bolshevist  propa- 
gandists and  from  the  Arabs,  who  have 
just  dispatched  to  London  an  important 
delegation  of  malcontents.  The  Mesopota- 
mian  policy,  also,  is  now  meeting  with 
strong  objections  from  both  the  British  tax- 
payer and  the  officially  inspired  French 
press;  and  Persia,  thanks  to  the  attitude  of 
the  United  States,  the  repudiation  of  the 
Anglo-Persian  Treaty  and  the  intrigues  of 
Lenin,  seems  very  remote  indeed  from 
Downing  Street. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  diplo- 
matic relations  between  the  Vatican  and 
the  Quai  d'Orsay,  restoring  to  France  the 
prerogatives  of  the  protecting  power  over 
Catholics  in  the  Levant,  had  been  fully  re- 
established when  the  Pope,  in  the  course  of 
an  allocution  addressed  to  the  secret  Con- 
sistory of  June  14,  made  the  following  dec- 
laration : 

The  situation  of  Christians  in  Palestine 
not  only  is  not  improved,  but  has  been  made 
v/orse  by  the  new  civil  arrangements  which 
aim,  if  not  in  their  author's  intention,  at 
least  in  fact,  at  ousting  Christianity  from 
its  previous  position  to  put  the  Jews  in  its 
place.  We  therefore  warmly  exhort  all  Chris- 
tians, including  non-Catholic  Governments, 
to  insist  with  the  League  of  Nations  upon 
the  examination  of  the  British  mandate  in 
Palestine. 

This  language  is  plainer  than  is  usually 
customary  in  Papal  diplomacy.  Still,  it  is 
consistent   with   the   policy   of   the   Vatican 


HARD  PROBLEMS  IN  PALESTINE  AND  MESOPOTAMIA 


883 


first  enunciated  at  the  Consistory  of  March 
10,  1919,  when  the  central  idea  was  more 
or  less  veiled. 

Ever  since  Winston  Churchill's  return 
from  his  mission  to  the  Levant  in  early- 
June,  the  British  Parliament  had  eagerly- 
awaited  a  statement  from  the  Colonial  Sec- 
retary. This  statement  was  made  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  June  14,  and  seemed 
to  be  the  lecture  of  an  observing  traveler 
rather  than  the  defense  of  an  imperial 
policy.  By  deduction  and  inference,  how- 
ever, it  proved  to  be  a  defense,  a  very  elo- 
quent defense. 

Colonial   Secretary's   Statement 

The  Secretary  reassured  his  hearers  in 
regard  to  financial  matters.  Although  the 
expenditures  for  the  fiscal  year  1919-20 
for  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia  had  been 
between  $350,000,000  and  $400,000,000,  he 
said,  those  of  1920-21,  if  the  present  policy 
continued  unchecked,  would  not  be  more 
than  between  $45,000,000  and  $50,000,000. 
As  a  basis  for  his  ethnic  and  religious  ob- 
servations on  Palestine  he  stated  the  facts 
in  regard  to  numbers — there  were  500,000 
Moslems,  65,000  Christians  and  about  65,000 
Jews.  He  ignored  the  official  complaints 
of  Christians,  but  explained  those  of  the 
Moslems  on  the  ground  that  the  enthusiastic 
declarations  of  the  Zionist  organizations 
through  the  world,  with  their  ardent  hope 
and  aim  of  making  Palestine  a  predomi- 
lantly  Jewish  country,  peopled  by  Jews  from 
all  over  the  world,  had  alarmed  the  Arabs, 
who  particularly  feared  the  Jews  from 
Central  Europe.  This  was  a  misconception, 
he  declared.  There  had  been  brought  into 
Palestine  under  the  mandate  only  7,000 
Jews,  and  future  immigration  would  be 
limited  to  the  capacity  of  the  industries  of 
the  country  to  absorb  it. 

At  the  beginning,  the  Colonial  Secretary 
emphasized  in  a  graphic  manner  the  cir- 
cumstances which  had  caused  the  empire 
to  assume  its  present  responsibilities,  and 
indicated,,  rather  than  described,  the  change 
of  policy  already  noted,  by  showing  how 
the  affairs  of  the  Middle  East  were  being 
transferred  from  the  India  and  War  Of- 
fices to  the  Middle  East  Department  of 
the  Colonial  Office — a  bureau  of  his  own 
creation  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the 
Prime  Minister.  The  following  is  the 
illuminating  background  for  superimposed 
future  events,  as  he  sketched  it: 


During-  the  war  our  Eastern  army  con- 
quered Palestine  and  Mesopotamia,  overran 
both  these  provinces  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
and  aroused  the  Arabs  and  the  local  inhabi- 
tants against  Turkey.  We  uprooted  the 
Turkish  administration,  and  set  up  a  military 
administration  in  its  place.  We  gave  pledges 
to  the  inhabitants  that  Turkish  rule  should 
not  be  introduced  in  these  regions,  and,  in 
order  to  gain  the  support  of  the  Arabs 
against  the  Turks,  we,  in  common  with  our 
allies,  made  another  series  of  promises  to 
the  Arabs  that  we  would  reconstitute  the 
Arab  Nation,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  restore 
Arab  influence  and  authority  in  the  liberated 
provinces. 

In  regard  to  Palestine,  a  third  promise 
was  made  in  1917  of  an  important  character, 
that  Great  Britain  would,  if  successful  in  the 
war,  use  her  best  endeavors  to  establish  a 
Jewish  national  home  in  Palestine.  After 
the  war  we  entered  into  the  painful  period  of 
peace  negotiations.  The  principle  govern- 
ing the  disposal  of  the  conquered  Turkish 
provinces  and  of  the  German  colonies  was 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Council  in  Paris  dur- 
ing 1919,  and  their  conclusions  were  embodied 
in  the  Treaties  of  Versailles  and  Sevres  and 
in  the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
They  were  approved  of  on  behalf  of  Great 
Britain  by  the  whole  Cabinet  of  those  days, 
and  acquiesced  in  by  Parliament.  Under 
these  treaties  we  have  solemnly  accepted  the 
position  of  mandatory  power  for  Palestine 
and  Mesopotamia.  That  is  a  serious  respon- 
sibility. 

He  then  described  the  conditions  in  Meso- 
potamia which  had  led  to  the  nomination 
of  Prince  Feisal  as  the  head  of  State: 

First,  a  provisional  native  Government  has 
been  in  existence  for  a  good  many  months. 
It  is  our  intention  to  replace  this  in  the 
course  of  the  Summer  by  a  Government  based 
upon  an  Assembly  elected  by  the  people  of 
Irak,  to  install  an  Arab  ruler  who  will  be 
acceptable  to  the  Assembly,  and  to  create  an 
Arab  army  for  national  defense.  We  have 
no  intention  of  forcing  upon  the  people  a 
ruler  not  of  their  own  choosing,  but  as  man- 
datory power  we  cannot  be  indifferent  to 
the  choice.  The  situation  is  not  free  from 
delicacy  or  uncertainty,  but  I  think  I  am 
right  in  leaving  these  matters  in  the  hands 
of  Sir  Percy  Cox,  British  High  Commissioner. 
He  is  accustomed  to  deal  with  Arab  nota- 
bilities, and  I  hope  under  his  guidance  the 
people  will  make  a  wise  and  free  choice,  but 
I  think  it  necessary  to  state  the  view  which 
the  British  Government  takes  of  what  would 
be  the  best  choice  of  ruler. 

Broadly,  there  are  two  policies  which  can 
be  adopted  toward  the  Arab  race.  One  is 
the  policy  of  keeping  them  divided  and. using 
the  jealousies  of  one  tribe  against  another. 
The  other  policy,  and  the  one  which  is  alone, 
I  think,  compatible  with  the  sincere  fulfill- 
ment of  our  pledges,  is  to  attempt  to  build  up 
around  the  ancient  capital  of  Bagdad,  in  a 
form    friendly    to    Britain   and    her    allies,    an 


884 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Arab  State  which  can  revive  and  embody  the 
old  culture  and  glories  of  the  Arab  race. 

Of  these  two  policies  we  have  definitely- 
chosen  the  latter,  and  if  you  are  to  endeavor 
so  to  shape  affairs  in  the  sense  of  giving 
satisfaction  to  Arab  nationality  you  will,  I 
believe,  find  that  the  best  structure  to  build 
around— in  fact,  the  only  available  structure 
of  this  kind— is  the  house  and  family  and  fol- 
lowing of  the  Shereef  of  Mecca.  It  was  King 
Hussein  who,  in  the  crisis  of  the  war,  raised 
the  Arab  standard  against  the  Turks.  Of  his 
sons,  who  gathered  around  the  standard,  the 
Emir  Abdulla  and  Emir  Feisal  are  best 
known  here,  and  both  have  great  influence  in 
Irak. 

The  adherents  of  the  Emir  Feisal  have  sent 
him  an  invitation  to  present  himself  to  the 
people  and  the  Assembly  which  is  soon  to 
gather  together,  and  I  have  caused  the  Emir 

eisal  to  be  informed  that  no  obstacle  will 
be  placed  in  the  way  of  his  candidature,  and 
that,  if  chosen,  he  will  receive  the  support 
of  Great  Britain.  If  he  should  prove  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people  and  the  Assembly 
a  solution  will  have  been  reached  which  of-4 
fers,  in  the  opinion  of  the  highest  authori- 
ties, the  best  prospects  for  a  happy  and  pros- 
perous outcome. 

Mr.  Churchill  added  that  as  soon  as  the 
Arab  Government  had  been  established  and 
a  ruler  chosen,  the  British  Government 
would  then  "  enter  into  negotiations  with 
that  ruler  to  enable  us  to  readjust  our 
relations  with  Mesopotamia  upon  a  treaty- 
basis,  thus  recognizing  in  a  more  direct 
form  their  independence,  and  thus  still  fur- 
ther disengaging  ourselves  from  the  prob- 
lems, burdens  and  responsibilities  of  those 
embarrassing  regions." 

According  to  his  information,  there  was 
more  danger  in  Palestine  at  the  present 
time  than  in  Mesopotamia,  although  in  the 
former  place  the  trouble,  if  it  arose,  could 
be  more  easily  dealt  with.  In  regard  to 
the  Balfour  declaration  about  Palestine  be- 
ing converted  into  a  national  home  for 
Jews,  he  said: 

The  difficulty  about  this  promise  of  a  na- 
tional home  for  the  Jews  in  Palestine  is 
that  it  conflicts  with  our  regular  policy  to 
consult  the  wishes  of  the  people  in  a  manda- 
tory territory,  and  to  give  them  representa- 
tive institutions  as  soon  as  they  are  fitted 
for'them,  which  institutions  they  would  cer- 
tainly use  as  a  veto  on  all  further  JeAvish  im- 
migration. I  believe,  however,  that  with  pa- 
tience and  coolness  and  some  good  fortune 
we  shall  be  able  to  find  our  way.  The  Brit- 
ish Empire  has  been  built  up  by  optimists 
and  by  positive  assertions  rather  than  ba  1 
negations. 

There  are  in  Palestine  500,000  Mussulmans, 
05,000  Christians  and  05, 0(H)  Jews.  There 
have  been  brought  into  Palestine  this  year 
under   the   Zionist   scheme   about   7,000  Jews. 


This  immigration,  with  the  propaganda,  has 
greatly  alarmed  and  excited  the  Arab  popu- 
lation. *  *  *  The  Arabs  believe  that  in  a 
few  years- they  are  going  to  be  swamped  by 
scores  of  thousands  of  immigrants,  pushed 
off  their  lands,  deprived  of  the  scanty  food 
of  the  country,  and  gradually  lose  control 
of  their  institutions  and  destiny.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  these  fears  are  quite  illusory.    *    *    * 

The  Jewish  immigration  is  being  watched 
both  from  the  point  of  view  of  numbers  and 
character.  No  Jews  will  be  brought  in  be- 
yond the  number  that  can  be  provided  for  by 
the  expanding  development  of  the  resoun 
of  the  country.  There  is  no  doubt  whatev  r 
that  at  the  present  time  the  country  is 
greatly   under-populated. 

I  defy  any  one  seeing  work  of  this  kind  not 
to  feel  that  the  British  Government,  having 
taken  up  their  present  position,  cannot  cast 
it  aside  or  allow  it  to  be  rudely  and  brutally 
uprooted  and  overthrown  by  a  fanatical  Arab 
population  attacking  from  outside.  It  would 
be  a  disgrace  to  allow  this  to  take  pla 
With  a  proper  development  of  the  resources 
of  Palestine,  and  if  Jewish  capital  is  avail- 
able for  the  creation  of  irrigation  works  on 
the  Jordan,  I  have  no  doubt  there  will  be, 
year  by  year,  new  means  of  livelihood  for  a 
moderate  number  of  Jewish  immigrants,  and 
that  will  conduce  to  the  general  prosperity 
of  the  country. 

I  see  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  a 
steady  flow  of  Jewish  immigrants  into  the 
country,  accompanied  by  a  general  increase 
in  the  well-being  of  the  whole  population. 
We  cannot  possibly  agree  to  allow  the  Jew- 
ish colonies  to  be  wrecked  or  future  immi- 
gration to  be  stopped  without  definitely  ac- 
cepting the  position  that  the  word  of  Britain 
no  longer  counts  through  the  East  or  the 
Middle  East. 

The  draft  of  the  mandate  for  Mesopo- 
tamia follows  the  general  scheme  of  the 
Palestine  mandate  (See  Current  History 
for  March,  page  509),  with  the  exception  of 
certain  details  of  procedure  which  will  be 
pointed  out,  and  the  separate  object  for 
which  each  was  made:  the  aim  of  the  for- 
mer is  the  establishment  of  an  independent 
Arab  Nation;  that  of  the  latter  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  "  a  national  home  for  the 
Jewish  people." 

Al though  the  mandatory  system  has  been 
introduced  into  the  covenant  of  the  League 
of  Nations,  the  opposition  in  the  British 
Parliament  has  not  lost  sight  of  the  fact 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  covenant  im- 
posing a  duty  upon  the  United  Kingdom  to 
accept  a  mandate.  This  point  was  empha- 
sized the  other  day  by  Lord  Robert  Cecil  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  But  a  mandate, 
when  once  accepted,  cannot  be  modified  in 
any  way  except  by  the  consent  of  the  Coun- 
cil cf  the  League  of  Nations.     For  this  rea- 


HARD  PROBLEMS  IN  PALESTINE  AND  MESOPOTAMIA 


885 


son  the  British  Parliament  is  scrutinizing 
the  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia  mandates 
with  some  care,  lest  the  United  Kingdom 
be  committed  to  responsibilities  beyond  its 
strength. 

The  Mandate  for  Mesopotamia 

According  to  Article  1,  the  mandatary 
has  the  duty  of  framing,  within  three  years 
from  the  date  of  the  coming  into  force  of 
the  mandate,  an  "  organic  law  "  for  Meso- 
potamia, which  must  be  framed  in  consulta- 
tion with  the  native  authorities  and  contain 
"  provisions  designed  to  facilitate  the  pro- 
gressive development  of  Mesopotamia  as  an 
independent  State." 

Article  2  defines  the  duties  of  the  man- 
datary in  regard  to  the  maintenance  of 
troops  for  defense  and  for  the  preservation 
of  peace  until  the  "  organic  law  "  or  Con- 
stitution shall  go  into  effect.  However,  the 
control  of  foreign  relations  is  entrusted  to 
the  mandatary  (Art.  3),  who  is  made  re- 
sponsible (Art.  4)  "for  seeing  that  no 
Mesopotamia  territory  shall  be  ceded  or 
leased  to,  or  in  any  way  placed  under  the 
control  of,  the  Government  of  any  foreign 
power." 

The  mandatary  is  to  be  responsible  for 
observing  that  the  judicial  system  estab- 
lished shall  safeguard  the  interests  of  for- 
eigners, the  law,  and,  "  to  the  extent  deemed 
expedient,"  the  existing  jurisdiction  with 
regard  to  questions  arising  out  of  certain 
religious  beliefs  (Art.  6);  and  the  manda- 
tary undertakes  to  insure  to  all  "  complete 
freedom  of  conscience  and  the  free  exercise 
of  all  forms  of  worship,  subject  only  to  the 
maintenance  of  public  order  and  morals  " 
(Art  8).  Articles  9  and  10  forbid  discrim- 
ination against  any  religion,  race  or  lan- 
guage and  exact  protection  for  mission- 
ary establishments.  For  these  things  the 
mandatary  is  responsible  (Art.  11)  as  it 
is  to  see  that  there  is  no  discrimination 
"  against  the  nationals  of  any  State  mem- 
ber of  the  League  of  Nations  (including 
companies  incorporated  under  the  laws  of 
such  State)  as  compared  with  the  nationals 
of  the  mandatary  of  any  foreign  State  in 
taxation,  commerce  or  navigation,  or  in  the 
exercise  of  industries  or  professions." 

Upon  the  coming  into  force  of  the  "  or- 
ganic law  "  an  arrangement  is  to  be  made 
between  the  mandatary  and  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  Government  "  for  settling  the  terms 


upon  which  the  latter  will  take  over  public 
works  and  other  services  of  a  permanent 
character,  the  benefit  of  which  will  pass 
to  the  Mesopotamian  Government,"  and 
such  arrangement  is  to  be  communicated 
to  the  League  of  Nations  (Art.  15).  An 
obligation  is  thrown  upon  the  mandatary 
by  Article  16  of  making  "  to  the  Council 
of  the  League  of  Nations  an  annual  report 
as  to  the  measures  taken  during  the  year 
to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  mandate." 

French  Hostile  to  New  Policy 

In  the  course  of  his  speech,  Mr.  Churchill 
had  taken  pains  to  reassure  France  in  re- 
gard to  the  change  of  British  policy  in  the 
Middle  East.     He  said: 

The  general  policy  which  we  are  pursuing 
of  working  with  the  Shereeffian  family  is  in 
no  way  opposed  to  the  interests  of  France. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  surest  method  open 
to  us  of  securing  France  from  disturbance  in 
Syria  by  Arab  influences,  with  which  she  has 
unhappily  disagreed. 

It  would  be  deeply  injurious  to  both  if 
France  and  Great  Britain  should  be  unable 
to  act  together  in  the  Middle  East.  It  would 
be  absolutely  fatal  to  our  joint  interests  if 
the  impression  were  to  continue,  as  it  has 
done  during  the  last  two  years,  that  one 
country  was  indifferent  to  Arab  aspirations, 
and  that  the  other  was  specially  opposed  to 
the  Turks.  In  such  a  way  we  should  unite 
all  the  forces  in  those  lands  in  hostility 
against  us  at  the  very  time  when  we  wish 
to  reduce  our  military  forces  and  the  heavy 
expense  to  which  both  countries  are  put 
thereby.  If  we  wish  to  maintain  our  posi- 
tion and  to  discharge  our  responsibilities  in 
%  the  Middle  East,  England  and  France  must 
show  appeasement  and  friendship  toward 
both  the  Turks  and  the  Arabs. 

Notwithstanding  these  words,  there  were 
serious  critical  articles  in  the  Paris  papers 
of  June  15,  with  concentrated  censure  of 
Great  Britain's  patronage  of  Prince  Feisal. 
The  Echo  de  Paris  observes: 

Mr.  Churchill  announces  that  the  Emir 
Feisal,  traitor  to  the  oaths  he  took  and 
driven  from  Damascus  by  the  French,  will 
reign  at  Bagdad,  while  his  brother,  Abdul- 
lah, will  act  as  Regent  over  the  Transjordan 
country.  We  can  scarcely  rejoice  over  such 
news,  which  is  contrary  to  certain  assur- 
ances brought  to  us  by  Lord  Hardinge  on  his 
arrival  in  Paris.  *  *  *  So  long  as  our 
British  friends  continue  to  make  use  of  it 
(the  Hedjazian  theocracy)  to  flatter  Fan 
Arabism,  the  East  will  continue  to  furnish  us 
with    unpleasant    surprises. 

The  Temps  said  much  the  same  in  a 
milder  tone,  and  so  did  Auguste  Gauvain  in 
the  Journal  des  Debats. 


PERSIA'S  PLANS  UNDER 
NEW  LEADERS 


[Period   Ended   July   10,    1921] 


BETWEEN  June  4  and  June  11  Persia 
inaugurated  a  new  Cabinet  with  the 
Shah's  approval.  The  new  Prime  Min- 
ister emphasized  the  neutrality  of  the  na- 
tion, and  at  once  began  to  put  into  effect 
the  financial  clauses  of  the  Moscow  Treaty 
(see  June  Current  History,  page  526)  by 
first  establishing  the  Russian  Bank  as  the 
State  Bank  of  Persia,  with  branches  in  the 
provinces.  This  is  the  first  example  of 
Lenin's  recognition  of  capital  in  a  treaty 
made  with  a  foreign  Government.  The 
transfer  of  Russian  gold  has  already  begun 
across  the  Caucasus  and  the  Caspian  Sea. 
With  this  treasure  at  Teheran  the  Moscow 
Government  will  be  in  a  position  to  play  a 
new  role  in  the  Middle  East.  Few  details 
of  the  affair  have  become  known,  but  those 
few  fill  with  concern  both  No.  10  Downing 
Street  and  the  India  Office,  Persia's  new 
Cabinet  is  made  up  as  follows : 

Prime  Minister  and  Home  Affairs— GHEV- 
AM-es-SALTANEH. 

Foreign  Affairs— MOHTACHEM-es-SALTA- 
NEH. 

War—  SARD  AR-SEPAH. 

Minister  Without  Portfolio— MOSTACHAR- 
ed-DOWLEH. 

Education— MOMTAZ-ed-DOWLEH. 

Posts  and  Telegraphs— MOCHAR-es-SAL- 
TANEH. 

Justice— AM;ID-es-SALTANEH. 

Public  Works,  Commerce  and  Agriculture— 
ADIB-es-SALTANEH. 

Health— FAHIM-ed-DOWLEH. 

In  his  speech  from  the  throne,  the  Shah 
on  June  22  outlined  broadly  the  plans  for 
the  future.  These  included  the  convocation 
of  the  Senate,  the  organization  of  the  army, 
administrative  reforms,  the  balancing  of  the 
budget,  agricultural  development,  and  im- 
provement in  the  living  conditions  of  the 
peasants.  In  regard  to  foreign  policy,  Per- 
sia would  seek  friendly  relations  "with  all 
countries  and  would  seek  admittance  to  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  entente  with  Eng- 
land, based  on  the  abrogation  of  the  Anglo- 
Persian  agreement  of  1919,  was  to  be  con- 
solidated. Closer  ties  with  Soviet  Russia 
and   Afghanistan,   following  the   conclusion 


of  the   recent  treaties  with   those  nations, 
were  to  be  established. 

Ghevam-es-Saltaneh,  the  new  Premier, 
explained  these  plans  more  at  length  in  his 
ministerial  statement  issued  on  June  7. 
Here  are  the  main  portions  of  that  state- 
ment: 

My  Government  has  firmly  resolved  to  re- 
open Parliament,  and  to  gain  the  support  of 
the  legislative  authorities.  My  first  efforts 
will  be  toward  the  development  of  the  army 
on  solid  modern  bases.  My  Government  will 
strive,  in  addition  to  this  program,  to  solve 
two  great  problems:  (1)  Social  reforms,  and 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  peasants ;  (2) 
Economic  reforms,  the  exploitation  of  agri- 
cultural and  mineral  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, the  opening  of  roads,  the  creation  of 
means  of  transportation  and  the  gradual 
elimination  of  unemployment. 

These  two  problems  embrace  the  following 
reforms :  (a)  The  engagement  of  experts  and 
specialists,  an  extension  of  agriculture,  re- 
form in  respect  to  the  treatment  of  the 
proletarian  peasants  by  landed  proprietors ; 
(b)  The  former  Bank  of  Discount  will  be 
handed  over  to  the  Imperial  Government,  and 
will  henceforth  be  recognized  as  the  State 
Bank.  It  will  be  represented  in  all  provinces, 
and  its  capital  will  be  provided  from  all  the 
country's  resources;  (p)  Mining  and  other 
resources  will  be  exploited  by  specially 
created  Exploitation  Societies  under  labor 
guarantees ;  (d)  Necessary  credit  will  be  ob- 
tained, and  a  domestic  loan  will  be  issued 
in  order  to  create  institutions  indispensable 
to  the  country  ;  (e)  Considering  that  financial 
reforms  are  an  indispensable  condition  of  all 
reform,  the  Government  will  endeavor  to 
suppress  all  useless  expenses,  and  to  cover 
the  budget  deficit  by  new  domestic  revenue. 
The  Government  is  firmly  resolved  to  cover 
any  eventual  deficit  by  way  of  internal 
loans ;  (f )  Public  instruction  will  be  devel- 
oped, and  if  necessary  the  moneyed  class  -of 
each  region  will  be  appealed  to  for  aid  in 
covering  the  deficit  in  the  budget  for  primary 
schools ;  (g)  All  justified  judiciary  reforms 
will  be  carried  through,  preceded  by  the 
abolition  of  the  capitulations ;  (h)  Sanitary 
institutions  will  be  created  in  all  the  prov- 
inces. 

Animated  only  by  the  desire  of  attaining 
the  moral  and  material  welfare  of  the  nation, 
my  Government  counts  on  the  support  of  its 
beloved  sovereign  and  on  public  confidence, 
and  will  strive  to  express  faithfully  these 
principles  until  the  program  laid  down  is 
fully    completed. 


JAPAN  FOR  A  CONCILIATORY 
FOREIGN  POLICY 

Extraordinary  Council  in  Tokio  decides  on  withdrawal  from  Siberia  and  Shantung — 
Direct  negotiations  begun  with  the  United  States  to  solve  all  controversies — The  Japanese 
movement  for  armament  reduction 

[Period   Ended   July   10,    1921] 


THE  trend  observable  in  Japanese  for- 
eign policy  during  the  last  few- 
months  is  distinctly  one  of  concilia- 
tion. As  the  time  for  the  renewal  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  treaty  drew  nearer,  the 
Japanese  leaders  showed  unmistakable 
anxiety  to  allay  the  admitted  feeling  of 
hostility  existing  abroad  on  account  of 
Japan's   alleged  imperialism. 

One  of  the  most  impressive  evidences  of 
this  new  trend  was  the  calling  of  a  mixed 
military  and  civil  colonial  conference  in 
Tokio.  This  council  extraordinary  opened  on 
May  16.  Although  the  sessions  were  not  pub- 
lic, it  was  semi-officially  understood  that 
the  whole  colonial  policy  was  thoroughly 
discussed  with  the  high  colonial  officials 
especially  summoned  to  attend  the  confer- 
ence. The  Government's  policy -in  Manchu- 
ria, Korea  and  Siberia  was  given  especial 
attention.  Measures  were  considered  to 
check  the  activities  of  the  Korean  insur- 
gents in  Manchuria,  and  it  was  decided — 
according  to  Japanese  papers  of  a  semi- 
official standing — to  ask  the  Far  Eastern 
Republic  at  Chita  to  co-operate  in  checking 
these  activities.  It  was  the  sense  of  the 
council  that  a  withdrawal  from  Siberia 
should  be  effected  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
that  trade  and  other  agreements  should  be 
made  with  the  Far  Eastern  Republic  at 
Chita  which  would  tend  to  stabilize  the  con- 
ditions prevailing.  Proper  control  and  su- 
pervision of  the  Koreans  was  to  be  made  a 
condition  of  Japanese  withdrawal  ("  and  an 
excuse  for  remaining  longer,"  comments  the 
Japan  Chronicle  in  its  issue  of  May  26). 

Regarding  Japanese  policy  in  China,  it 
was  decided  to  withdraw  the  Japanese 
troops  in  the  interior  of  Shantung  Penin- 
sula, retaining  a  regiment  only  at  Tsingtau 
as  a  proof  to  China  of  Japan's  sincerity  in 
offering  to  return  the  peninsula  to  Chinese 
sovereignty.     The  Maimichi,  a  paper  pub- 


lished at  Osaka,  stated  that  the  necessity 
of  withdrawing  the  Japanese  garrison  now 
stationed  in  the  zone  along  the  Shantung 
Railroad  had  long  been  recognized  by  the 
Japanese  Government,  and  that  delay  in 
carrying  out  this  withdrawal  had  been  due 
solely  to  the  failure  of  China  to  provide  an 
adequate  policing  force.  The  new  plan  was 
to  effect  the  withdrawal  first,  and  then  to 
press  China  again  to  begin  negotiations  for 
the  retrocession  of  the  territory.  Besides 
the  withdrawal,  it  was  planned  to  abandon 
Japanese  rights  over  collieries  and  other 
mines  and  salt  fields,  as  well  as  other 
rights  acquired  under  the  Versailles  Treaty, 
and  to  sanction  the  opening  of  the  district 
as  a  commercial  mart  by  China  on  her  own 
initiative.  It  was  proposed  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  the  Diplomatic  Advisory  Council 
and  other  official  bodies  concerned  for  the 
policy  outlined,  and  strong  hope  was  ex- 
pressed that  by  making  these  concessions 
China  would  finally  be  persuaded  to  nego- 
tiate. 

With  regard  to  the  controversy  with  the 
United  States  over  the  Japanese  question 
in  California  and  the  Island  of  Yap,  it  was 
announced  from  Washington  on  June  15 
that  Japan  had  initiated  new  discussions 
through  the  Japanese  Ambassador  to  Wash- 
ington, Baron  Shidehara,  aiming  at  the 
settlement  of  all  matters  in  dispute.  Stu- 
dents of  Far  East  policy  saw  in  this  move 
an  attempt  by  Japan  to  place  herself  in  a 
stronger  position  in  respect  to  the  renewal 
of  the  Anglo- Japanese  Treaty,  one  of  the 
great  stumbling  blocks  to  which,  in  the 
minds  particularly  of  Canada  and  other 
British  Dominions,  has  been  the  belief  that 
the  treaty  embodied  a  threat  to  the  United 
States.  (Baron  Shidehara  has  made  a  pub- 
lic statement  denying  that  the  treaty 
has  any  unfriendly  meaning  toward  the 
United  States.     An  appeal  from  prominent 


888 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Japanese  residents  in  California  asking 
Japan  to  send  a  representative  Japanese 
statesman  to  give  a  series  of  lectures  in 
California  expounding  Japan's  pacific,  non- 
militaristic  purposes,  had  been  received  by 
Tokio  on  June  17.  It  was  stated  that  a 
distinguished  member  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives would  be  chosen  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

A  more  or  less  unofficial  delegation  of 
Japanese  Congressmen  arrived  toward  the 
end  of  June.  They  came  to  repay  the  visit 
of  American  Congressmen  to  Japan  last 
year.  Received  and  entertained  cordially, 
these  visitors  declared  that  all  controversies 
between  the  two  countries  were  susceptible 
of  adjustment.  They  further  stated,  after 
an  extended  visit  to  California,  that  the 
conditions  there  were  much  more  favorable 
to  the  Japanese  than  they  had  been  led  to 
believe  before  leaving  Japan.  Mr.  Nakan- 
ishi,  Chairman  of  the  delegation,  denied  that 
Japan,  in  seeking  a  renewal  of  the  treaty 
with  England,  had  any  thought  of  future 
hostilities  with  the  United  States.  One  of 
the  purposes  of  his  mission,  he  stated,  was 
to  report  on  the  possibilities  for  a  reduction 
of  armament,  which  the  people  of  Japan 
desired,  as  one  means  of  lightening  their 
taxes. 

Much  has  been  done  to  spread  this  desire 
for  reduction  by  Mr.  Yukio  Ozaki,  former 
Minister  of  Justice,  who  for  a  number  of 
months  has  been  conducting  a  campaign 
for  disarmament  covering  10,000  miles  of 
territory  in  Japan.  Mr.  Ozaki  ended  his 
long  speaking  tour — an  event  unparalleled 
in  the  history  of  Japan — on  July  4.  He  had 
spoken  in  almost  all  the  important  cities 
and  towns  from  Kyusho  in  the  furthest 
south  to  Hokkaido  in  the  furthest  north, 
addressing  more  than  100,000  people  at  100 
meetings.  Postcards  distributed  and  re- 
turned showed  that  94  per  cent,  of  his  hear- 
ers favored  limitation  of  armament. 

Speaking  specifically  for  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Ozaki  said. 

I  should  like  to  convey  this  message  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  If  the  American 
Government  proposes  an  international  confer- 
ence to  discuss  restriction  of  armaments,  it 
will  surely  be  the  beginning-  of  a  solution  of 
all  the  diplomatic  questions  between  Japan 
and  the  United  S'tates.  If  we  are  unable  to 
prevent  the  clearly  unnecessary  wasteful 
naval  competition,  how  can  we  expect  to 
solve  other  irritable  and  more  complicated 
questions    between    our    two    countries?    Tbe 


latter  will  easily  adjust  themselves  when  the 
former    has    been    settled. 

A  resolution  urging  Japan  to  take  the 
lead  in  bringing  about  armament  reduction 
was  adopted  by  the  Osaka  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce on  June  24.  A  copy  was  handed  to 
the  Japanese  Cabinet.  It  advocated  that 
both  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
be  approached  with  a  proposal  for  reduc- 
tion. A  similar  move  was  made  by  the! 
Japanese  League  of  Nations  Union  on  June 
29,  in  a  resolution  which  also  urged  a  set- 
tlement of  the  cable  controversy  with  Wash- 
ington over  Yap,  and  the  Shantung  ques- 
tion, which  it  declared  to  be  a  source  of 
prejudice  to  Japan  throughout  the  world. 
The  Chugai  Shogyo,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
Tokio  daily,  declared  that  it  was  for  the 
United  States  to  take  the  first  step  toward 
armament  limitation,  and  declared  that  Ja- 
pan could  not  understand  the  action  of  the 
United  States  Senate  in  passing  the  Borah 
amendment  for  naval  reduction,  and  at  the 
same  time  voting  for  an  increase  of  the 
naval  appropriations  passed  by  the  ^House 
of  Representatives.  The  Yomiuri  of  Tokio 
came  out  with  an  article  declaring  that  war 
was  more  than  likely  if  the  present  causes 
of  irritation  continued,  and  suggesting  that 
the  only  remedy  was  a  mutual  agreement 
for  disarmament,  whereby  all  suspicion  of 
Japan's  alleged  militarism  would  be  elimi- 
nated. 

Viscount  Kaneko,  member  of  the  Japa- 
nese House  of  Peers  and  former  represen- 
tative of  Japan  to  the  United  States,  in  a 
contribution  to  Japan-America,  the  organ 
of  the  American  Japan  Society,  published 
in  June,  urged  the  appointment  of  a  joint 
High  Commission  to  meet  in  Washington 
and  to  study  the  Japanese-American  prob- 
lem with  a  view  to  finding  a  solution  satis- 
factory to   both   nations. 

In  contrast  with  this  and  other  concilia- 
tory suggestions,  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor  went  on  record  on  June  21  as 
favoring  total  exclusion  of  Japanese  and 
other  Orientals  from  the  United  States,  and 
the  absolute  repeal  of  the  "  Gentlemen's 
Agreement."  "  In  California  alone,"  said 
the  resolution,  "  there  are  over  100,000 
Japanese.  This  peril  is  not  only  a  serious 
condition  for  California,  but  it  is  a  positive 
menace  to  our  entire  nation."  (The  recent 
census  showed  only  71,942  Japanese  in  Cali- 


JAPAN  FOR  A  CONCILIATORY  FOREIGN  POLICY 


889 


fornia.  These  figures  were  contested  by 
the  Japanese  Exclusion  League  on  June  25, 
which  declared  that  the  figures  of  the  Cali- 
fornia Bureau  of  Vital  Statistics  showed 
the  real  number  to  be  109,000,  and  that  ap- 
proximately 38,000  had  escaped  the  census.) 
Hanzo  Yamanashi,  Lieutenant  General  in 


the  Japanese  Army,  was  appointed  Minister 
of  War  to  take  the  place  of  Lieutenant 
General  Tanaka,  who  resigned  late  in  April. 
The  new  War  Minister  was  Chief  of  Staff 
of  the  Japanese  Army  during  the  siege  of 
Tsing-tao,  captured  from  the  Germans  in 
the  World  War. 


VLADIVOSTOK   CAPTURED  BY 
ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS 

The  maritime  capital  is  seized  by  armed  forces  formerly  under  Kappel,  and  they  set  up 
a  new  Government  hostile  to  the  Far  Eastern  Republic — Moscow's  protest  to  Great 
Britain  meets  with  a  rebuff — The  Chita  Government' *s  struggle  for  existence 

[Period   Ended   July   10,    1921] 


THE  chaotic  situation  in  Siberia  has  been 
rendered  more  chaotic  still  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  partisans  of  General  Kap- 
pel, a  former  leader  under  Admiral  Kol- 
chak,  in  taking  Vladivostok  and  expelling 
the  Socialist  Government  established  there 
and  ruling  as  a  branch  of  the  ambiguous 
Far  Eastern  Republic  functioning  at  Chita. 
Strong  in  its  backing  by  Moscow,  the  Chita 
Government  had  repeatedly  called  on  Japan 
to  withdraw  her  forces  and  leave  the  Rus- 
sians to  manage  their  own  affairs  without 
interference  from  the  outside.  Similar  de- 
mands had  been  made  by  Krasnoshchekov, 
the  Chita  Premier,  on  the  British  and 
French  representatives.  But  just  as  Japan 
gave  signs  of  being  impressed  by  the  grow- 
ing strength  of  the  buffer  State,  when  it 
seemed  as  though  she  would  recognize  the 
de  facto  existence  of  Chita,  and  open  trade 
agreements  with  her,  the  ever-active  and 
menacing  activities  of  the  Kappelites 
culminated  in  the  capture  of  Vladivostok, 
an  anti-Bolshevist,  anti-Chita  Government 
was  established  over  Vladivostok  and  the 
Maritime  Province,  and  Japan's  reputed  in- 
tention to  effect  at  least  a  partial  with- 
drawal was  nipped  in  the  bud. 

The  Chita  Government's  violent  protests 
to  Japan,  to  Great  Britain,  and  even  to  the 
United  States,  had  no  effect.  Moscow,  in- 
censed by  this  new  danger  to  her  pro- 
tege, sent  an  intemperate  protest  to  the 
British  Government,  charging  that  the 
overturn  in  Vladivostok  was  engineered  by 


Japan.  This  protest  was  answered  by  a 
curt  note  and  the  return  of  Tchitcherin's 
letter,  on  the  ground  that  such  charges 
against  another  nation,  supported  by  no 
proof,  were  unprecedented  in  diplomatic 
procedure. 

In  addition  to  this  menace  of  a  new  anti- 
Bolshevist  movement,  which  might  rpread 
out  from  Vladivostok  and  engulf  all  Si- 
beria, Chita  had  been  confronted  by  an 
advance  by  another  anti-Bolshevist  leader, 
General  Ungem  Sternberg,  from  Mongolia, 
with  a  motley  army  of  Mongolians,  low- 
class  Japanese  and  Russian  soldiers  of  for- 
tune. The  Republic's  army  had  defeated 
Ungern,  but  future  attacks  were  feared. 
Chita  also  turned  an  anxious  eye  to  the 
West,  in  view  of  the  capture  of  Omsk  by 
anti-Bolshevist  elements,  which  cut  off  the 
small  republic,  ostensibly  non-Communist, 
from  the  "  mother-country,"  viz.,  Soviet 
Russia.  This,  in  the  large,  was  the  par- 
lous situation  which  faced  the  Far  Eastern 
Republic  at  the  time  these  pages  went  to 
press. 

Eastern  Siberia  is  so  far  away  that  few 
people  realize  the  bewildering  series  of 
kaleidoscopic  changes  that  are  occurring 
there.  '  Bad  as  the  political  situation  in 
European  Russia  may  be,  and  it  is  bad 
enough,  it  is  favorable  as  contrasted  with 
Siberia.  The  original  Japanese  force  which 
joined  with  the  British  and  Americans  in 
the  original  occupation  and  remained  be- 
hind after    Japan's    allies    withdrew,    has 


890 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


grown  into  a  formidable  army.  Unmoved 
by  the  protests  of  the  Russians  and  the 
Chita  Government,  the  Japanese  militarists 
have  maintained  and  strengthened  their 
grip,  have  extended  their  line  of  occupa- 
tion, have  taken  over  the  Saghalin  fishe- 
ries and,  if  the  charges  of  the  Vladivostok 
and  Chita  Russians  be  believed,  have  pur- 
sued a  policy  of  favoring  every  element 
opposed  to  peace  and  order  in  Siberia. 
Every  faction  which  opposed  the  Japanese, 
it  was  charged,  was  disarmed,  while  those 
which  favored  the  Japanese  were  allowed 
to  retain  their  arms,  and  secretly  encour- 
aged. To  such  a  policy  was  attributed  the 
tolerance  by  the  Japanese  of  a  large  army 
of  Kappelites  at  Grodekovo,  in  the  Ussuri 
region  between  Harbin  and  Vladivostok, 
an  army  variously  estimated  as  between 
12,000  and  25,000  unoccupied,  predatory 
and  law-defying  soldiers,  whose  behavior 
had  made  them  a  source  of  terror  to  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district. 

To  understand  the  gathering  of  this  anti- 
Bolshevist  army  at  Grodekovo,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  follow  the  movements  of  Kolchak's 
scattered  army  following  the  overthrow  of 
the  Omsk  Government.  While  Kolchak  was 
still  waging  his  war  with  the  Bolsheviki 
two  of  his  strongest  adherents  in  the  Far 
East  were  the  Cossack  Ataman  Semenov  in 
the  Trans-Baikal  region,  and  Ataman  Kal- 
mykov  in  the  Amur  Province.  After  Kol- 
chak's  fall  Ataman  Kalmykov  was  the  first 
to  be  eliminated.  Defeated  by  the  Partizan 
Russian  forces  at  the  end  of  1919,  he  was 
forced  to  flee  into  China.  He  was  thrown 
into  prison  by  the  Chinese  and  was  shot 
while  attempting  to  escape.  A  part  of  his 
forces  then  gathered  at  Grodekovo,  under 
the  command  of  General  Savitzki,  and  or- 
ganized themselves  anew  for  a  continu- 
ance of  the  struggle  with  the  Bolsheviki. 
Meanwhile  they  sought  the  protection  of 
the  Japanese  and  abstained  from  any  ag- 
gressive attitude  toward  the  population. 

Ataman  Semenov  continued  his  reign  of 
desperate  deeds  in  Chita  and  the  Trans- 
Baikal.  After  the  elimination  of  Kalmy- 
kov and  the  withdrawal  of  the  Japanese 
forces  from  this  region,  Semenov's  position 
became  precarious.  His  forces,  unsup- 
ported by  the  Japanese,  were  easily  de- 
feated by  the  Partizans  in  the  Fall  of  1920, 
and  Semenov  himself  was  forced  to  take 
flight.     He  went  first  to  Vladivostok,  and 


then  to  Port  Arthur,  where  he  was  said 
to  be  living  under  the  protection  of  the 
Japanese,  and  where  he  issued  various 
orders  as  "  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Far 
Eastern  Army  and  Navy  " — a  title  he  had 
assumed  on  the  downfall  of  Kolchak — in 
which  he  declared  his  intention  to  continue 
the  struggle  against  Bolshevism.  Mean- 
while his  dispersed  troops,  headed  by  Gen- 
eral Saveliev,  made  their  way  through  Man- 
churia and,  drawn  by  the  forces  of  attrac- 
tion, joined  with  the  remnant  of  Kalmy- 
kov's  army  at  Grodekovo. 

Several  months  later,  a  new  stream  of 
Kolchak  soldiers  poured  into  Grodekovo. 
This  was  the  army  of  General  Kappel,  an- 
other Kolchak  leader.  After  suffering  de- 
feat by  the  Bolsheviki  in  the  region  of 
Omsk  in  the  Fall  of  1921,  Kappel  led  his 
shattered  army  on  a  spectacular  and  dra- 
matic march  to  the  East.  Through  nearly 
the  whole  of  Eastern  Siberia,  across  frozen 
snows  and  through  bitter  cold,  decimated 
by  typhus,  suffering  hunger,  this  ragged 
army  marched,  losing  thousands  on  the  way 
by  cold  and  disease.  General  Kappel  him- 
self perished  as  the  result  of  having  one  of 
his  feet  frozen.  His  men,  or  rather  what 
was  left  of  them,  finally  reached  the  goal 
of  their  long  Odyssey — Grodekovo — and  a 
certain  part  of  them  there  joined  with  the 
remnants  of  the  Kalmykov  and  Semenov 
armies,  which,  thus  reinforced,  made  up  a 
host  approximating  8,000  seasoned  war- 
riors. New  accretions  brought  this  number 
much  higher,  and  it  has  been  estimated 
even  as  high  as  25,000.  According  to  the 
Vladivostok  News  of  April  13,  this  large 
force  continued  the  reign  of  atrocity  which 
has  been  deemed  by  competent  observers  to 
be  the  cause  of  Kolchak's  downfall,  pillag- 
ing, burning,  shooting,  whipping,  and  so 
on,  deeds  which  had  already  stained  Seme- 
nov's reputation  in  the  Trans-Baikal  long 
before  Kolchak  fell.  The  whole  Ussuri 
region  was  terrorized,  and  many  of  the 
population  fled  to  Vladivostok,  bearing  with 
them  harrowing  tales. 

Under  the  impression  of  these  reports, 
the  Provisional  Government  at  Vladivostok 
strove  to  take  measures  to  end  these 
abuses.  They  sent  a  formal  complaint  to 
the  Japanese  command,  which  was  sus- 
pected of  favoring  the  armies  at  Grode- 
kovo, and  received  no  reply.  The  Russian 
Chairman     of    the     Russo-Japanese     Truce 


VLADIVOSTOK  CAPTURED   BY  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS 


891 


Committee  dispatched  a  long  memorandum 
to  the  Chairman  of  the  Japanese  section  of 
this  committee,  stating  that  he  had  re- 
ported the  outrage  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Truce  Committee,  and  that  the  Japa- 
nese representatives  of  the  Truce  Commit- 
tee had  expressed  surprise,  and  stated  that 
they  had  no  knowledge  of  the  existence  or 
activities  of  the  Grodekovo  forces.  The 
memorandum  then  cited  a  number  of  spe- 
cific outrages  which  had  been  committed  by 
the  Grodekovo  forces  and  outlined  a  pro- 
gram of  military  action  to  be  carried  out 
by  the  Vladivostok  Government,  and  with 
which  it  asked  the  Japanese  to  make  no 
interference. 

This  campaign,  however,  was  never  car- 
ried out  and  the  Kolchak  elements  waxed 
strong  and  flourished.  The  bulk  of  the 
Kappel  army  was  interned  by  the  Japa- 
nese in  and  around  Vladivostok.  They  had 
many  friends  and  partisans  in  Vladivostok 
itself,  and  in  April  last  this  element  made 
an  attempt  to  seize  the  city  and  overthrow 
the  Government.  This  attempt  failed,  and 
about  100  of  the  leaders  were  ignomini- 
ously  deported.  The  activities  of -the  group, 
however,  continued,  assuming  a  monarchist 
trend,  and  former  officers  of  Kolchak 
swanked  and  swaggered,  not  only  in  Grode- 
kovo, but  in  Vladivostok,  boasting  that  the 
end  of  the  Vladivostok-Chita  regime  was 
in  sight.  The  Japanese  commander,  General 
Tachibana,  in  a  statement  issued  late  in 
April,  denied  absolutely  that  the  Japanese 
were  favoring  the  Kappelists,  either  those 
at  Grodekovo  or  those  in  and  around 
Vladivostok,  and  in  view  of  the  report  of  a 
coming  overthrow  in  Vladivostok,  declared 
that  he  had  sent  warnings  both  to  Grode- 
kovo and  to  General  Semenov  that  Japan 
would  not  countenance  such  an  upheaval. 
In  case  it  should  occur,  he  added,  Japan 
would  show  strict  neutrality  between  the 
factions,  and  would  disarm  all  armed 
groups  found  in  the  Japanese  sphere  im- 
partially. 

The  rumors  of  a  coming  cataclysm  proved 
to  be  well  founded.  On  the  morning  of  May 
26,  the  Kappelites,  under  the  leadership  of 
General  Verzhbitski,  advanced  from  Nikolsk 
and  seized  the  city.  The  railroad  stations 
and  several  public  buildings  were  taken 
over,  and  the  old  imperial  flag  of  Russia 
raised.  The  Japanese  maintained  their 
previously  announced   policy  of  neutrality. 


The  chief  of  staff  announced  that  the  Kap- 
pel troops  had  entered  the  city  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  non-Socialist  organizations. 
The  invaders  disarmed  all  the  local  militia. 
The  streets  were  filled  with  Kappel  soldiers. 
The  towns  of  Razdolnoe  and  Pokrovka,  near 
Vladivostok,  had  also  been  occupied.  Mem- 
bers of  the  National  Assembly  in  Vladivos- 
tok were  arrested,  but  subsequently  released. 

A  new  Government  was  at  once  set  up 
under  the  leadership  of  M.  Merkulov,  a 
native  Siberian,  and  a  mining  engineer 
domiciled  in  Blagoveshchensk  before  the 
war.  A  proclamation  issued  by  him  at  the 
end  of  May  declared  that  the  main  object 
of  the  new  Government  was  to  maintain  or- 
der and  to  establish  a  democratic  Govern- 
ment. The  Assembly  was  dissolved,  but  a 
new  Assembly  was  "  summoned  to  meet  in 
July.  Communists  would  not  be  urged  to 
serve.  The  leaders  of  the  former  Govern- 
ment had  placed  themselves  under  Japanese 
protection.  The  policing  of  the  city  was 
shared  by  the  Japanese  and  the  Kappel 
troops.  Order  was  restored  by  June  6. 
Declarations  of  allegiance  to  the  new  Gov- 
ernment were  pouring  in  from  towns  and 
villages  in  the  whole  maritime  province. 

One  curious  development  was  the  refusal 
of  the  new  Government  to  allow  General 
Semenov  to  land.  Semenov  arrived  by  ship 
on  June  4,  soon  after  the  revolution  was  ef- 
fected, accompanied  by  a  large  staff.  His 
entrance  to  the  city  was  opposed,  and  ne- 
gotiations proved  fruitless.  The  new  Gov- 
ernment denied  emphatically  that  Semenov 
was  the  anti-Bolshevist  Commander-in- 
Chief.  The  Japanese  command  supported 
the  new  Government  in  refusing  him  en- 
trance to  the  city,  and  sent  the  former  lead- 
er a  message  saying  that  the  Japanese  mili- 
tary authorities  deeply  regretted  that  Seme- 
nov had  timed  his  arrival  at  Vladivostok  at 
a  moment  when  his  presence  there  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  augment  the  already  cha- 
otic state  of  affairs  in  the  maritime  prov- 
ince. His  landing,  said  the  note,  could  not 
but  create  the  impression  that  the  Japanese 
were  assisting  him.  Semenov  finally  de- 
parted, it  was  said,  to  Grodekovo. 

The  Chita  Government,  in  the  face  of 
these  developments,  showed  great  alarm, 
and  sent  a  message  to  Moscow  asking  for 
assistance.  A  special  meeting  of  the  Chita 
leaders  was  held  late  in  May,  but  no  action 
was  taken   other   than   dispatching   a   note 


892 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


to  the  Japanese  authorities  asking  them  to 
maintain  neutrality.  The  possibilities  of  an 
armed  clash  between  the  Chita  forces  and 
those  of  Vladivostok  were  thoroughly  dis- 
cussed. Though  the  Chita  army  greatly 
outnumbered  the  Kappelites,  there  were 
many  factors  to  be  considered.  The  exist- 
ence of  the  Grodekovo  forces  was  one  of 
these. 

Moscow's  Protest 

The  Moscow  Government,  however,  on  be- 
ing notified  of  these  events,  was  aroused, 
and  M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Bolshevist  Foreign 
Minister,  dispatched  a  triplicate  protest  to 
the  British,  French  and  Italian  Govern- 
ments. This  protest  read  in  part  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  struggle  of  the  toiling  masses  of  Rus- 
sia for  peace  and  for  the  right  of  self-de- 
termination has  been  subjected  to  a  fresh 
trial.  After  gigantic  efforts  and  miracles  of 
heroism,  after  having  valiantly  repulsed  the 
united  attacks  of  the  internal  counter-rev- 
olution and  of  the  majority  of  the  foreign 
powers,  they  have  won  the  right  to  govern 
themselves  by  their  own  Soviets  of  workmen 
and  peasants.  They  hoped  that  hence- 
forward they  would  be  able  to  devote  them- 
selves freely  to  the  internal  reconstruction  of 
Russia,  while  co-operating  with  other  coun- 
tries in  their  mutual  interests  in  order  to  at- 
tain the  economic  aims  which  lay  before 
them.  Unfortunately  their  hope  has  been 
shattered  by  a  fresh  attempt  at  intervention 
from  outside,  and  a  fresh  combined  attack 
of  the  Russian  counter-revolution  and  for- 
eign Governments. 

Under  the  protection  of  Japanese  bayonets 
the  White  Guards  of  Vladivostok,  who  are 
only  a  handful,  suddenly  seized  power  in  that 
town,  and  a  similar  coup  has  been  carried 
out  at  Nikolsk,  Oussouriisk  and  in  other 
localities  in  the  Japanese  occupation.  The  ex- 
treme counter-revolution  has  thus  been  re- 
installed by  the  Japanese  military  power  in 
the  district  under  their  occupation.  The 
masses  of  Russian  workers  and  peasants  of 
the  Far  East  have  done  all  in  their  power 
to  secure  an  acceptable  peace  with  Japan. 
They  have  formed  a  separate  democratic  Re- 
public in  order  to  render  this  peace  possible, 
and  with  this  object  the  Independent  Repub- 
lic of  the  Far  East  signed  an  agreement  with 
Japan,  who  was  prepared  on  this  condition  to 
withdraw  her  troops  from  these  areas  or  (sic) 
to  restore  their  liberty  to  the  Russian  masses 
of  the  Far  East.  In  the  name  of  these  latter 
the  Government  of  their  republic  has  made 
indefatigable  efforts  to  secure  a  complete 
agreement  with  Japan,  so  that  it  might  live 
with  her  in  peace  and  in  good  neighborly 
relations;  but  the  Japanese  Government  replies 
to  its  efforts  after  peace  with  a  fresh  violent 
attack  on  its  internal  liberty  and  its  external 
independence. 


The  worst  enemies  of  the  Russian  masses, 
the  extreme  reactionaries,  whose  avowed  aim 
is  to  conquer  Siberia  with  the  aid  of  Japanese 
bayonets,  and  there  to  become  the  lieutenants 
of  the  Japanese  conquerors,  have  been  raised 
to  power  by  violence  in  those  places  where 
the  domination  of  the  Japanese  armies  ex- 
tends. But  this  first  step  toward  an  attempt 
at  the  conquest  of  Siberia  is  not  an  isolated 
instance.  The  Japanese  Government  has  dis- 
tributed to  the  capitalists  of  its  own  country 
fishing  rights  in  the  waters  of  Kamchatka, 
which  hitherto  belonged  to  the  Russian  co- 
operatives and  to  others  of  our  citizens. 
Japan  is  introducing  her  control,  she  is  seiz- 
ing the  dues  imposed  on  the  fishing  areas  of 
Kamchatka ;  this  is  an  arbitrary  seizure,  and 
a  pillage  of  the  wealth  of  Russia,  which  the 
Russian  Government  regards  as  a  violation  of 
the  elementary  rights  of  the  Russian  masses. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  with  the  aid  of  the 
Japanese  military  power  that  the  remains  of 
the  counter-revolutionary  bands  of  Semenov 
and  Kappel  are  maintaining  themselves  on 
the  borders  of  China  and  are  occupying  the 
Chinese  Eastern  Railway,  and  it  is  with  the 
assistance  of  Japanese  auxiliaries  that  the 
bands  of  Ungern  are  terrorizing  Mongolia, 
and  are  there  preparing  their  attacks  against 
the  Russian  Republic.  The  agents  of  Japa- 
nese imperialism  are  penetrating  even  into 
Central  Asia,  where  they  are  trying  to  propa- 
gate their  sedition,  and  the  emissaries  of  the 
counter-revolutionary  elements  of  Turkestan 
are  hastening  to  Japan  to  elaborate  their 
plans  together. 

The  Russian  Republic  time  after  time  has 
reiterated  its  peace  proposals  to  the  Japa- 
nese Government,  but  in  spite  of  all  its  ef- 
forts after  peace  the  Japanese  Government  is 
at  the  present  time  the  instigator  of  a  fresh 
campaign  of  intervention  against  the  power 
of  the  workers  and  peasants.  The  Soviet 
Government,  which  represents  their  will, 
-warns  the  Japanese  Government  that  the 
mighty  Russian  masses  who  have  taken  their 
destinies  into  their  own  hands,  and  have  re- 
pulsed all  the  attacks  of  their  enemies,  will 
know  how  to  wage  to  a  victorious  conclusion 
this  fresh  struggle,  and  will  not  fail  to  make 
their  vigor  felt  by  those  who  attack  them. 
But  the  responsibility  for  these  hostile  acts 
cannot  be  confined  to  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment alone.  There  are  proofs  in  existence 
that  the  French  Government,  in  its  implacable 
hostility  against  the  power  of  the  workers 
and  peasants  in  Russia,  is  an  active  instiga- 
tor of  this  fresh  campaign  of  intervention, 
and  is  participating  in  the  plan  of  Japanese 
conquest  in  Siberia.  Soviet  Russia  cannot  but 
regard  all  the  powers  of  the  Entente  as 
morally  responsible  for  this  fresh  link  of  the 
interventionist  system,  which  is  the  joint 
work  of  the  powers  of  the  Entente.  It  sees 
in  it,  on  the  part  of  the  British  Government, 
a  hostile  activity  not  in  accordance  with  the 
Anglo-Russian  Treaty.  The  Russian  Govern- 
ment protests  in  the  most  energetic  fashion 
against  these  acts  directed  against  Russia, 
either  directly  or  through  the  medium  of  the 


VLADIVOSTOK  CAPTURED  BY  ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS 


893 


friendly  republic  of  the  Far  East,  and  re- 
serves the  right  to  draw  from  it  the  obvious 
conclusions. 

To  this  long  and  vituperative  message  the 
British  Foreign  Office  on  June  9  sent  a 
crushing  reply.  This  communication,  not 
signed  by  Earl  Curzon,  the  British  Foreign 
Secretary  himself,  but  by  one  of  his  sub- 
ordinates, was  transmitted  through  M. 
Krassin,  through  whom  the  Moscow  message 
had  been  delivered.  The  text  of  the  reply 
follows : 

Sir— I  am  directed  by  Earl  Curzon  of 
Kedleston  to  return  to  you  as  unacceptable 
your  communication  of  the  4th  instant  re- 
specting- recent  events  at  Vladivostok.  It  is 
neither  customary  nor  conducive  to  good  re- 
lations that  one  Government  should  in  this 
manner,  and  without  adducing  any  corrobo- 
rative evidence,  address  entirely  baseless 
charges  to  another,  and  his  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment must  therefore  decline  to  enter  into 
any  correspondence  with  you  on  the  matter. 

The  Left  Wing  of  the  British  Liberal 
Party  and  the  Laborites,  however,  did  not 
allow  the  matter  to  rest  there,  but  pro- 
tested and  sent  a  deputation  as  representa- 
tives of  the  "  Hands-Off -Russia "  Com- 
mittee to  the  Japanese  Ambassador  in  Lon- 
don to  protest  directly  against  Japanese  en- 
croachments in  the  Siberian  Republic,  and 
to  declare  that  unless  the  Japanese  with- 
drew, organized  British  labor  would  take 
a  strong  stand  against  the  renewal  of  the 
Anglo-Japanese  alliance.  The  Japanese  Am- 
bassador denied  categorically  that  the 
Japanese  had  participated  in  the  Vladivos- 
tok coup,  and  also  denied  reports  that  the 
Japanese  were  undertaking  to  transport  the 
scattered  forces  of  General  Wrangel — 
former  anti-Bolshevist  leader  in  South 
Russia — to  the  Far  East  to  join  with  the 
Kappelites.  The  Ambassador  promised  to 
obtain  a  reply  from  the  Japanese  Foreign 
Office  to  the  allegations. 

Meanwhile  the  Chita  Government  on  its 
own  behalf  transmitted  to  the  American 
representative  at  Peking  a  strong  protest 
against  the  alleged  intervention  of  Japan  in 
the  Vladivostok  upheaval  (June  23).  M. 
Agarov,  the  Chita  representative,  in  this 
note  asked  both  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  to  induce  Japan  to  withdraw 
her  forces.     The  Chita  leaders  further  pro- 


claimed the  followers  of  M.  Merkulov  to  be 
outlaws  and  enemies  of  the  Russian  people. 

What  the  immediate  effect  of  the  coup 
would  be  could  not  be  foretold,  but  the  possi- 
bilities of  an  armed  clash  could  not  be  lost 
sight  of.  One  effect  was  to  arouse  the 
hostility  of  the  Chita  Government  to  Japan. 
Hitherto  the  policy  of  the  Chita  leaders  has 
been  to  bombard  the  Japanese  Government 
with  protests  against  the  continued  occupa- 
tion of  Siberia,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
carry  on  negotiations  with  Japan  for  rec- 
ognition and  a  renewal  of  trade  relations, 
on  the  other.  Four  separate  protests 
against  the  occupation  were  sent  between 
January  and  May.  The  Japanese  with- 
drawal became  even  more  remote  in  conse- 
quence of  the  upheaval,  and  if  the  new 
situation  precipitated  comes  to  a  clash,  the 
chance  of  Japan  recognizing  Chita  and 
opening  trade  relations  seems  even  more  re- 
mote. Japan's  whole  contention  has  been 
that  she  could  not  withdraw  her  forces  un- 
til the  situation  in  Siberia  became  stable. 
At  present,  following  the  Vladivostok  coup, 
it  is  worse  than  chaos.  The  Chita  Govern- 
ment may  be  snuffed  out  like  a  candle 
flame  by  the  Kappelites  and  other  Kolchak 
forces.  Moscow,  whose  resentment  against 
the  Japanese  was  eloquently  expressed  in 
the  note  to  London,  may  come  to  Chita's 
aid.  The  situation  is  dangerous,  and  some 
new  event  may  act  as  a  spark  to  produce 
some  new  explosion. 

Meantime  an  American  mission,  sent  by 
President  Harding  soon  after  he  assumed 
office,  and  headed  by  Lieut.  Col.  William 
J.  Davis,  left  Manchuria  on  July  7  on  its 
homeward  way,  bearing  a  favorable  report 
of  the  Chita  Government  based  on  weeks 
of  personal  investigation  of  the  conditions 
prevailing  there.  The  picture  presented  is 
that  of  a  small,  courageous  and  struggling 
republic  beset  by  a  ring  of  enemies,  whose 
army,  ragged  and  unpaid,  fights  without 
hope  or  glory  for  the  freedom  of  the  new 
republic.  Though  admittedly  defective,  the 
Government  is  said  to  be  quite  successful  in 
maintaining  orderly  conditions.  The  Chita 
people,  though  Russians,  are  said  to  be 
greatly  afraid  of  being  absorbed  by  Soviet 
Russia. 


THE  MEXICAN  OIL  CONTROVERSY 

Imposition  of  9.5  per  cent,  export  duties  on  petroleum  followed  by  closing  down  of  many 
America.:  companies  in  Mexico — Noteworthy  statement  by  President  Obregon — Deadlock 
over  the  oil  tax  question  causes  indefinite  delay  in  American  recognition  of  Mexico 

[Period   Ended   July   10,    1921] 


TWO  United  States  warships,  the  cruiser 
Cleveland  and  the  gunboat  Sacramento, 
suddenly  appeared  off  the  Mexican 
port  of  Tampico  early  in  July.  The  usual 
request  for  permission  to  visit  the  harbor 
of  a  friendly  nation  was  omitted,  perhaps 
because  the  vessels  anchored  just  beyond 
the  three-mile  limit.  On  July  5  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  announced  that  the  ves- 
sels had  been  sent  there  to  guard  against 
any  possible  trouble  in  the  oil  fields.  There 
were  small  detachments  of  marines  aboard. 
The  r2spective  commanders  had  full  author- 
ity to  land  forces. 

American  representatives  of  the  Inter- 
national Association  of  Machinists,  who 
were  attending  a  convention  of  the  Mexican 
Federation  of  Labor  at  Orizaba,  telegraphed 
to  Samuel  Gompers,  President  of  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor,  requesting  him 
to  enter  protest  against  the  statement  that 
American  warships  were  at  Tampico  to 
fight  labor  unions.  Mr.  Gompers  tele- 
graphed the  protest  to  Secretary  Hughes, 
adding  that  it  was  "  a  fair  inference  "  -that 
the  warships  were  "  being  exploited  by  the 
employing  interests  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  overawing  the  workers  who  are  now  en- 
gaged in  a  lockout  imposed  upon  them." 
As  a  result,  it  was  announced  in  Washing- 
ton on  July  8  that  the  warships  had  been 
ordered  away.  They  left  on  the  12th.  Mean- 
while the  Mexicans  took  the  visit  calmly,  the 
ships  were  allowed  in  port  and  the  sailors 
enjoyed  shore  leave  for  two  days. 

Washington  officials  explained  the  pres- 
ence of  the  vessels  as  due  to  the  desire  to 
protect  American  oil  companies  in  the  event 
of  damage  through  possible  labor  troubles, 
owing  to  unemployment  caused  by  the  oil 
men's  ceasing  to  export  their  product.  Many 
members  of  the  Association  of  Mexican  Oil 
Producers,  which  represents  practically  all 
the  American  concerns  in  the  Mexican  field, 
had  decided  to  discontinue  the  shipment  of 


oil  from  Mexico  after  July  1,  because  of  the 
increase  of  export  taxes  effective  on  that 
date. 

The  Mexican  Government,  instead  of 
being  coerced  by  this  action  into  rescinding 
the  export  tax,  announced  on  July  5  that 
oil  companies  which  had  closed  down  opera- 
tions in  the  States  of  Tamaulipas  and  Vera 
Cruz  (including  the  Tampico  district)  with- 
out sufficient  justification,  had  been 
ordered  to  pay  indemnification  to  employes 
thrown  out  of  work.  This  is  similar  to  a 
law  in  France  which  forbids  the  dismissal 
of  employes  without  previous  notice  or  the 
payment  of  a  month's  wages. 

British  companies,  according  to  Mexican 
advices,  apparently  do  not  fear  the  25  per 
cent,  export  tax,  as  they  are  reported  to  be 
speeding  up  operations  instead  of  decreas- 
ing their  working  forces.  Stoppage  of  ship- 
ments by  the  American  companies,  it  was 
estimated,  would  cost  them  many  millions, 
besides  taking  away  almost  35  per  cent,  of 
world  tankerage. 

President  Obregon,  in  a  statement  to  the 
press  on  July  6,  said  he  did  not  regard  the 
situation  seriously,  as  the  oil  companies 
were  only  trying  to  make  the  Government 
give  in.  But  the  Government  was  unwill- 
ing to  change  the  taxes.  In  regard  to  the 
American  warships  sent  to  Tampico  the 
President  said  he  had  not  been  notified  by 
the  American  Government,  and  Washington 
had  not  asked  permission,  as  was  custom- 
ary. General  Manuel  Pelaez,  on  July  5, 
was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Mexican  Government  forces  at  Tampico  and 
was  sent  there  to  keep  order,  which  would 
obviate  the  necessity  of  landing  American 
troops  for  that  purpose.  On  July  6  Senator 
La  Follette  at  Washington  introduced  a 
resolution  protesting  against  such  action 
without  the  express  authority  of  Congress. 
Senator  Lodge  objected  to  its  immediate 
consideration,  and  the  resolution  went  over. 

A  noteworthy  statement  from  President 


THE  MEXICAN  OIL  CONTROVERSY 


895 


Obregon  was  published  in  The  New  York 
World  on  June  27,  in  which  he  declared  that 
Mexico  would  meet  every  just  obligation 
without  evasion.  Mexico,  he  said,  was  de- 
termined to  establish  a  full  partnership  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  people  for 
the  public  good.  Her  policy  was  to  finance  the 
national  progress  through  the  medium  of 
the  national  resources.  Mexico  had  been 
called  the  treasure  house  of  the  world,  yet 
90  per  cent,  of  the  Mexican  people  had  lived 
in  horrible  poverty,  compelled  to  suffer  and 
die  from  sheer  lack  of  the  necessities  of  life. 
Common  humanity  dictated  a  change.  The 
country  stood  today  on  the  principle  that 
the  natural  resources  of  a  nation  belong  to 
the  nation.  "  Foreign  capital  will  be  in- 
vited and  given  every  justice.  What  it  will 
not  be  given  is  excessive  privileges  at  the 
expense  of  the  people's  rights,"  the  Presi- 
dent declared. 

In  this  policy  [he  continued]  there  is  not 
even  a  hint  of  confiscation.  This  falsehood 
is  the  work   of  those   who   resent   our   policy 


of  nationalization  because  it  blocks  future 
campaigns  of  exploitation  and  monopoly. 
Every  private  right  acquired  prior  to  May  1, 
1917,  when  the  new  Constitution  was  adopted, 
will  be  respected.  Article  27,  one  clause  of 
which  asserts  the  nation's  ownership  of  sub- 
soil rights  in  petroleum,  will  never  be  given 
retroactive    effect. 

Coming  to  the  question  of  taxation :  habitu- 
al protests  and  interference  force  the  con- 
viction that  the  investors  of  more  powerful 
nations  have  the  idea  that  we  should  sub- 
mit our  taxation  plans  to  them  for  approval. 
I  will  not  attempt  to  conceal  the  bitterness 
that  this  course  has  aroused.  Every  Federal 
tax  is  applied  with  absolute  equality  to  na- 
tives and  foreigners  alike.  The  increase  in 
petroleum  taxes  is  for  specific  application 
to  our  foreign  debt.  To  call  the  tax  confis- 
catory is  absurd. 

President  Obregon  next  quoted  statistics 
to  show  that  the  Doheny  oil  group  pumped 
close  to  $28,000,000  net  profits  out  of  the 
soil  of  Mexico  in  1920,  and  yet  flooded  the 
United  States  with  complaints  that  the  tax 
policy  of  the  Mexican  Government  was 
crushing  and  ruinous.    With  regard  to  land 


PRESIDENT   OBREGON   OF   MEXICO    (IN   ARM   CHAIR)    CONFERRING   WITH    ENRIQUE    BERMUDEZ, 
THE     NEW     CHILEAN     AMBASSADOR.       CHILE     HAS     GIVEN     FORMAL     RECOGNITION     TO     THE 

MEXICAN   REPUBLIC 


896 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


monopoly,  he  said  honest  taxation  would 
force  the  landlord  either  to  cultivate  his 
holdings  or  to  sell  or  lease  to  the  small 
farmer,  hitherto  barred  from  the  land. 

President  Obregon's  statement,  it  was 
hinted  in  Washington,  had  been  prepared 
with  the  assistance  of  George  Creel,  former 
head  of  the  Bureau  of  Public  Information 
in  Washington,  who  was  in  Mexico  City. 

Although  a  majority  of  Mexican  Deputies 
are  in  favor  of  establishing  clearly  the  non- 
retroactive effect  of  Article  27,  the  Cham- 
ber on  June  29  decided  to  drop  the  debate 
for  a  time  and  take  up  the  agrarian  law 
instead.  Thus  a  settlement  of  the  oil  ques- 
tion appears  to  be  deadlocked  until  the 
Mexican  Congress  meets  in  regular  session 
in  September. 

Although  it  was  announced  that  the  in- 
creased export  tax  on  oil  would  be  used 
solely  to  make  payments  on  Mexico's  foreign 
debt,  and  these  would  be  begun  on  July  1, 
that  date  passed  without  any  action  to  this 
end.  The  only  funds  available  for  interest 
payments  are  those  in  the  National  Treas- 
ury, as  oil  export  tax  receipts  will  not  be 
available  until  August.  The  International 
Bankers'  Committee  has  decided  to  send  no 
emissaries  to  Mexico  until  Obregon  is  rec- 
ognized. Pierre  Mali,  Belgian  Consul  in 
New  York,  has  been  designated  to  represent 
Belgian  bankers  on  the  committee. 

President  Obregon's  reforms  have  made 
Mexico  quieter  than  it  has  been  for  a  dozen 


years.  No  real  revolutionary  movement  is 
afoot,  and  the  Government  apparently  is 
able  to  cope  with  minor  uprisings  and  bandit 
attacks.  General  Rafael  Pimiento,  who  com- 
manded the  guard  which  shot  President  Ma- 
dero,  was  arrested  on  June  23.  Colonel  Reyes 
Salinas,  a  nephew  of  Carranza,  who  took 
part  in  Murguia's  attempted  revolt,  was 
shot  on  July  3.  The  League  of  Nations  was 
shocked  on  June  18  to  learn  that  an  arms 
factory  in  Danzig  was  making  10,000  gun 
barrels  for  Mexico.  It  was  explained  that 
the  order  had  been  received  last  October, 
before  the  Constitution  of  the  free  city  was 
adopted,  and  the  Council  of  the  League 
dropped  the  subject. 

Mexico,  by  a  vote  of  35  to  4  in  the  Senate, 
has  prohibited  the  immigration  of  all  alien 
labor,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  unem- 
ployed persons  in  the  republic.  An  interna- 
tional trade  conference  was  opened  in 
Mexico  City  on  June  30.  American  exports 
to  Mexico  in  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30 
were  double  those  of  the  preceding  year  and 
six  times  as  much  as  the  annual  average 
prior  to  1918,  approximating  $280,000,000 
now.  Mexico,  for  the  first  time  since  before 
the  war,  is  importing  American  coal,  and  is 
buying  great  quantities  of  American  cattle, 
significant  of  the  trend  to  agriculture.  The 
Department  of  National  Property  has  asked 
for  bids  on  a  new  hotel  to  be  constructed 
in  Mexico  City  to  cost  no  less  than  4,000,000 
pesos. 


THE  POTASH  MINES  IN  ALSATIA 


BEFORE  the  war  there  were  three  Ger- 
man companies  and  one  French-Alsa- 
tian group  working  the  potash  deposits  in 
the  Miilhausen  district  of  Alsatia.  The  Ger- 
man companies,  which  held  concessions  for 
two-thirds  of  the  district,  were  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Senator  Helmer  for  liquida- 
tion, and  he  is  said  to  have  accomplished 
miracles  in  the  way  of  increased  production. 
M.  Helmer  found  the  methods  of  production 
hopelessly  out  of  date.  He  at  once  intro- 
duced a  modern  system,  with  the  following 
result:  L'nder  the  German  regime  the 
greatest  quantity  of  crude  salts  produced 
was  325,886  metric  tons  in  1914;  under  the 
new  French  regime  in  1920  the  same  mines 
produced  1,222,615  tons.     It  is  confidently 


expected  that  the  product  in  1922  will  be 
more  than  half  a.  million  tons. 

The  German  potash  producers  sought 
vainly  to  regain  control  of  the  world  mar- 
ket, but  their  offers  to  the  French  Alsatian 
group  were  indignantly  rejected.  When 
Great  Britain,  in  agreement  with  France, 
sought  to  impose  a  50  per  cent,  duty  on 
German  exports,  Germany  threatened  to 
cut  off  all  further  potash  supplies.  The 
Alsatian  producers  at  once  came  forward 
and  offered  all  the  potash  required  at  rea- 
sonable cost.  Alsatia  is  now  appealing  to 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  for  an 
agreement  which  will  eliminate  all  further 
danger  of  German  profiteers  regaining  con- 
trol. 


LAUNCHING  THE   CENTRAL 
AMERICAN   UNION 

Costa  Rica  stays  out,  but  Nicaragua  seeks  admission  while  insisting  on  protection  of 
its  treaty  with  the  United  States  in  regard  to  a  Nicaraguan  Canal 

[Period   Ended   July  10,    1921] 


THE  Provisional  Federal  Council  of 
the  Central  American  Union  began 
functioning  in  Tegucigalpa,  Honduras, 
on  June  17.  Vicente  Martinez,  delegate 
from  Guatemala,  was  named  President  of 
the  Council,  and  Martinez  Suarez  of  San 
Salvador,  Secretary.  A  National  Constit- 
uent Assembly  was  called  to  meet  in  Teguci- 
galpa on  July  20  to  arrange  for  the  signing 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  on  Sept.  15,  the 
centenary  of  Central  American  indepen- 
dence. Foreign  Governments  were  notified 
of  the  installation  of  the  Federal  Council 
and  Nicaragua  was  invited  to  join  the 
union. 

The  Federal  Council,  on  July  3,  gave  out 
a  communication  from  the  Foreign  Office 
of  Nicaragua,  announcing  that  republic's 
willingness  to  join  the  Central  American 
Union  and  urging  that  obstacles  to  her  entry 
be  removed.  The  chief  obstacle  was  a  de- 
mand for  the  abrogration  of  the  Bryan- 
Chamorro  treaty  with  the  United  States, 
which  gives  the  latter  authority  to  con- 
struct an  interoceanic  canal.  Nicaragua, 
before  joining  the  union,  will  insist  that  the 
treaty  be  fully  protected.  She  also  wants 
a  definite  undertaking  by  the  union  that 
each  State  in  the  federation  be  permitted 
to  negotiate  loans  for  its  own  internal  use, 
just  as  the  separate  States  of  the  United 
States  may  make  loans  without  reference  to 
the  Federal  Government. 

Although  the  Costa  Rican  delegates  had 
ratified  the  Central  American  compact  of 
union,  the  Costa  Rican  Congress  refused  to 
confirm  their  action,  hence  that  country 
still  remains  outside.  It  was  announced 
from  San  Jose  on  June  24  that  a  protocol 
preliminary  to  a  definite  treaty  by  which 
Costa  Rica  will  cede  to  the  United  States 
rights  along  the  San  Juan  River  had  been 
signed  by  the  Costa  Rican  Government. 
This  treaty  will  remove  obstacles  to  the 
work  of  constructing  the  Nicaragua  Canal 
and,  in  view  of  Secretary  Hughes's  recent 
declaration  in  favor  of  the  Central  Amer- 


ican Union,  it  was  believed  both  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Rica  would  soon  join.  Emiliano 
Chamorro,  former  President  and  now  Nic- 
araguan Minister  to  the  United  States, 
presented  his  credentials  to  President  Har- 
ding on  July  6. 

Another  possible  difficulty  for  the  new 
federation  is  a  boundary  dispute  between 
Honduras  and  Guatemala.  The  former 
claims  a  strip  of  territory  south  and  east 
of  the-  Motagua  River,  which  has  always 
been  in  possession  of  Guatemala.  With 
the  building  of  the  railroad  from  Puerto 
Barrios  to  Guatemala  City,  settlements 
sprang  up  in  this  strip  of  land.  Honduras 
bases  its  claims  on  some  old  Spanish  maps 
and  surveys  said  to  have  existed  when  the 
whole  of  Central  America  was  known  as 
the  Kingdom  of  Guatemala  and  was  gov- 
erned by  a  viceroy. 

Dr.  Rafael  Montufar,  former  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Guatemala  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  Central  American  Liberal  Con- 
gress, says  the  support  of  the  United  States 
is  needed  to  help  the  Central  American 
Union.  He  considers  the  federation  a 
necessity  if  the  five  countries  are  to  be 
freed  from  their  quarrels  and  rivalries. 
"  Panama,"  he  says,  "  which  is  geographic- 
ally to  be  considered  part  of  Central  Amer- 
ica, should  be  invited  to  form  part  of  the 
union." 

Narcisco  Garay,  Panama's  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  who  arrived  in  Washing- 
ton in  June,  has  been  making  every  effort 
to  settle  the  boundary  dispute  with  Costa 
Rica  without  accepting  the  White  award, 
which  the  American  State  Department  holds 
Panama  must  accept.  He  suggested  the 
formation  of  an  American  League  of  Na- 
tions to  operate  in  the  Western  Hemisphere, 
to  which  the  Costa  Rican  dispute  would 
naturally  be  referred.  The  State  Depart- 
ment intimated  that  the  suggestion  was  not 
welcome.  Next  Sefior  Garay  suggested 
two  plebiscites,  one  in  the  Atlantic  and  the 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


other  in  the  Pacific  region  in  dispute,  which 
were  also  discarded. 

The  formal  protest  of  Panama  was  pre- 
sented at  Washington  on  June  27,  and  Sec- 
retary Hughes  on  June  30  decided  that 
Panama  must  accept  the  White  award,  but 
said  the  United  States  had  no  objection  to 
Panama's  dealing  directly  with  Costa  Rica 
ta  obtain  her  consent  to  reopen  the  award 
and  settle  the  boundary  between  them  ami- 
cably. The  Panama  mission,  on  July  7, 
issued  a  statement  that  Secretary  Hughes 
mighc  extend  the  time  granted  to  Panama 
in  order  that  a  peaceful  settlement  with 
Costa  Rica  may  be  arranged. 

Concessions  for  oil  lands  and  exploration 
for  other  subterranean  deposits  have  been 
canceled  by  Costa  Rica,  according  to  a 
dispatch  from  San  Jose  on  July  6.  The 
reason  given  was  that  the  persons  who  got 
the  concessions  had  been  speculating  with 
them. 

Thirty   Guatemalan   students  to  be   edu- 


cated at  the  exper.se  of  the  Guatemalan 
Government  have  been  sent  to  the  United 
States  and  Europe  by  President  Herrera. 

Salvador's  Congress  on  June  25  approved 
a  contract  for  the  establishment  of  a  bank 
of  issue  sponsored  by  Americans  with  a 
capital  of  $1,000,000,  the  concession  to  run 
for  fifty  years;  coined  gold  to  the  amount 
of  $5,000,000  is  to  be  imported,  and  the 
bank  will  have  authority  to  issue  paper 
money  to  double  its  paid-up  capital. 

Notwithstanding  the  reduction  of  the 
United  States  Army,  Secretary  Weeks,  on 
June  18,  announced  that  the  force  on  duty 
in  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  would  be  main- 
tained at  its  present  strength.  A  special 
commission  appointed  to  investigate  the 
civil  administration  of  the  zone  arrived  at 
Panama  on  June  18.  The  tender  Beaver 
and  six  United  States  submarines  arrived 
at  Cristobal  on  June  24.  John  Findley 
Wallace,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Panama 
Canal  in  1904,  died  suddenly  in  Washington 
on  July  3. 


FROM  THE  PERSIAN  MINISTER 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

Ever  since  I  have  been  in  this  country  I 
have  taken  great  delight  in  reading  your 
Current  History  Magazine,  because  I  find 
that  it  covers  thoroughly  all  important  in- 
ternational questions  without  exaggeration. 
I  noticed  that  you  had  an  article  on  the 
Persian  Cabinet  in  your  issue  of  June,  but  I 
found  nothing  in  your  July  issue.  There 
have  been  quite  a  few  important  changes  in 
Persia.  On  June  7  a  new  Cabinet  was 
formed  to  succeed  the  one  that  had  been 
set  up  by  a  coup  d'etat  of  the  militarists, 
who  held  Persia  under  militaristic  powers 
for  over  three  months.  I  am  happy  to  say 
that  the  new  Cabinet,  which  is  headed  by 
his  Highness  Ghavam-es-Saltaneh,  is  of 
very  stable  form,  because  the  Prime  Minis- 
ter and  all  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  are 
good,  sound  men,  who  have  held  high  posi- 
tions on  former  occasions. 


What  I  would  like  to  impress  upon  you 
is  the  great  importance  of  the  abrogation 
of  the  Anglo-Persian  agreement  of  1919. 
That  agreement  was  abrogated  by  mutual 
agreement  with  the  British  Legation  at  Te- 
heran. Lord  Curzon  remarked  at  the  time 
that  he  esteemed  Persia's  friendship  more 
highly  than  any  agreement;  he  also  of- 
fered any  assistance  that  Persia  might 
need. 

I  have  noticed  on  different  occasions  that 
Persia  is  referred  to  as  a  Soviet  Govern- 
ment. Such  a  statement  is  absurd,  as  their 
Mohammedan  religion  does  not  allow  Per- 
sians to  have  such  a  form  of  government. 
A  denial  by  you  will  be  highly  appreciated. 

ABDUL  ALI   KHAN   SADIGH-ES-SAL- 
TANEH. 

Imperial    Legation    of    Persia,    Washington, 
D.  C.j  July  9j  1921. 


GERMANY  UNDERBIDS  ALL  RIVALS 
IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

While  the  whole  continent  suffers  the  severest  depression  in  its  history,  the  Germans 
are  making  use  of  the  advantage  of  cheap  coal  and  cheap  labor — Steps  taken  by  Brazil 
and  Argentina  to  encourage  immigration — Celebrating  Perus  independence 

[Period  Ended  July  10,    1921] 


FROM  the  Isthmus  to  the  Strait  of  Ma- 
gellan the  countries  of  Latin  America 
are  experiencing  an  almost  complete 
cessation  of  business  incident  to  the  col- 
lapse in  prices,  and  every  country  in  South 
America  is  passing  through  the  most  criti- 
cal period  of  its  economic  history,  accord- 
ing to  Louis  H.  Kiek,  General  Manager  of 
the  Anglo-South  American  Bank.  Despite 
this  condition  there  is  considerable  rivalry 
to  get  hold  of  the  trade  and  natural  re- 
sources of  the  different  countries.  Hugo 
Stinnes,  the  German  capitalist,  has  put 
three  big  steamers — the  Hindenburg,  Lu- 
dendorff  and  Tirpitz — in  service  to  carry 
German  cargoes  from  Hamburg  to  South 
America.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  coal  is 
only  half  as  costly  in  Germany  as  else- 
where, the  ships  are  carrying  enough  for 
a  round  trip;  this  fact,  combined  with  the 
low  wages  of  the  sailors,  enables  German 
vessel  owners  to  underbid  American  lines. 

Several  parties  of  American  prospectors 
are  engaged  in  trips  of  exploration  to  the 
west  coast  of  South  America.  One  party 
of  engineers  is  bound  for  the  wilderness  of 
Esmeralda,  Colombia,  looking  for  oil,  gold 
and  other  minerals.  Another  party  has  left 
for  the  mountains  of  Ecuador. 

ARGENTINA— The  Hispanic  Society  of 
New  York  gave  a  dinner  on  June  24  to  cel- 
ebrate the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  Gen- 
eral Bartolome  Mitre,  first  Constitutional 
President  of  Argentina.  President  Harding 
joined  in  the  tribute  in  a  letter  to  Jorge 
Mitre,  Director  of  the  Nacion  of  Buenos 
Aires,  a  newspaper  founded  by  the  General, 
whom  the  President  called  "  one  of  the 
foremost  statesmen  of  all  America  in  the 
epoch  in  which  the  independence  of  the 
continent  was  achieved."  *  *  *  The 
general  strike  called  to  support  the  port 
workers  proved  a  failure.  To  prevent  re- 
cruiting by  the  port  union  from  incoming 


ships  a  Government  decree  was  issued  re- 
quiring the  crews  of  all  ships  entering  Ar- 
gentina to  carry  the  same  identification 
documents  as  are  expected  from  passen- 
gers, including  passports  and  photographs; 
it  became  effective  on  July  19.  *  *  * 
Argentina,  however,  is  making  every  effort 
to  attract  desirable  foreign  labor,  giving 
free  land  to  settlers  in  certain  parts  of  the 
country.  The  newcomers  live  as  guests  of 
the  nation  at  the  Pasco  de  Julio,  the  immi- 
grants' hotel,  where  they  receive  free  board 
and  medical  treatment  while  waiting  for 
location  on  lands  or  for  the  free  State  em- 
ployment bureau  to  provide  them  with  jobs. 
Their  baggage,  agricultural  machinery  or 
tools  for  their  trades  are  admitted  free  of 
duty.  *  *  *  An  anti-trust  bill,  designed 
to  prevent  the  formation  of  monopolies  and 
combinations  to  fix  prices,  was  passed  by 
the  Argentine  Chamber  of  Deputies  on 
July  8. 

BRAZIL — A  dispatch  from  Paris,  dated 
July  8,  announced  that  Brazil  had  chosen 
Elihu  Root  as  one  of  its  candidates  for  elec- 
tion as  Judge  of  the  Permanent  Court  of 
International  Justice,  the  other  candidates 
being  Ruy  Barbosa  of  Brazil,  Joaquin  Gon- 
zalez of  Argentina,  and  Professor  Alejan- 
dro Alvarez  of  Chile.  *  *  *  The  North 
American  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  the  Brazilian  Federation  of 
Commerce  on  July  4  signed  an  international 
arbitration  agreement.  Contracts  have  been 
made  with  the  German  Immigration  Syn- 
dicate for  the  colonization  of  2,000  Ger- 
man families  in  Santa  Maria  Magdalena, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  their  passage  money  being  ad- 
vanced by  the  Brazilian  Government.  Three 
ships  carrying  Russian  refugees  were  re- 
ported to  have  left  Constantinople  for  Mar- 
seilles, where  they  were  to  embark  for  Bra- 
zil.   On  the  other  hand,  the  Imparcial   of 


900 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Madrid,  on  June  26,  published  a  list  of  com- 
plaints from  Spaniards  who  had  emigrated 
to  Brazil,  and  who  were-  asking  the  Span- 
ish authorities  for  transportation  home,  be- 
cause Brazilian  employers  seemed  deter- 
mined not  to  engage  foreign  workers. 

CHILE — The  resignation  of  Antonio  Hu- 
neus  as  Chilean  delegate  to  the  League  of 
Nations  was  accepted  by  the  Government 
on  July  2.  He  resigned  because  Augustin 
Edwards,  Chilean  Minister  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, had  been  appointed  Chairman  of  the 
Chilean  delegation.  *  *  *  President  Ales- 
sandri,  on  June  15,  sent  to  the  Chilean  Con- 
gress the  budget  for  1922,  amounting  to 
320,000,000  pesos  currency  and  65,500,000 
pesos  gold.  It  showed  that  the  Treasury 
deficit  is  expected  to  reach  121,500,000  pa- 
per pesos  in  1922,  owing  to  the  small 
amount  of  nitrate  being  exported.  The  ni- 
trate producers,  on  June  30,  decided  to  re- 
duce their  price  from  17  shillings  a  quintal 
to  14  shillings,  and  to  make  a  further  re- 
duction to  9  shillings  9  pence  next  March. 
The  Government  had  threatened  to  take 
control  of  the  business  unless  producers 
lowered  their  prices.  To  avert  the  threat- 
ened deficit  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  on 
June  30,  passed  a  bill  providing  for  an  in- 
ternal loan  of  100,000,000  pesos  paper  and 
50,000,000  pesos  gold.  Reductions  in  the 
budget  of  60,000,000  pesos  were  planned, 
and  new  revenue  bills  were  expected  to  raise 


60,000,000      more. 


*     Beltran      Ma- 


thieu,  Chilean  Ambassador  to  the  United 
States,  has  signed  the  issue  of  $25,000,000 
of  bonds  to  be  used  by  Chile  for  railroad 
improvement.  It  is  proposed  to  construct 
a  new  transandean  railroad  line  on  a 
southern  route  to  Northern  Argentina,  con- 
necting with  the  principal  Chilean  coal 
fields.  Argentina,  it  is  believed,  would  be- 
come a  good  customer  for  the  coal,  which 
could  be  sold  cheaper  than  that  from  the 
United  States  or  Great  Britain. 

COLOMBIA  —  President  Schultheiss  of 
Switzerland  has  consented  to  act  as  arbi- 
trator in  the  long-standing  boundary  dis- 
pute between  Colombia  and  Venezuela.  As 
the  Swiss  President  is  prohibited  from 
leaving  the  country,  he  will  appoint  experts 
to  visit  the  disputed  districts,  and  will  give 
his  decision  after  they  report.  Both  Colom- 
bia and  Venezuela  have  agreed  to  accept  it 
as  final. 

PERU — The  dreadnoughts  Arizona,  Okla- 


homa and  Nevada,  under  command  of  Rear 
Admiral  Hugh  Rodman,  left  New  York  on 
July  9  to  take  part  in  celebrating  the  cen- 
tenary of  Peruvian  independence,  beginning 
on  July  24.  Major  Gen.  Hunter  Liggett, 
representing  the  army,  and  four  civilians — ■ 
W.  B.  Thompson,  Dr.  William  C.  Farabee, 
Stephen  G.  Porter  and  A.  Robert  Elmore — 
with  Rear  Admiral  Rodman,  compose  the 
American  Commission.  The  Rear  Admiral 
was  taken  on  at  Hampton  Roads.  The  ves- 
sels were  to  remain  at  Callao  one  week. 
Lord  Dundonald  was  designated  to  repre- 
sent Great  Britain  at  the  celebration  in 
Lima,  and  left  England  on  June  22.  Gen- 
eral Mangin,  heading  a  French  mission,  on 
board  the  cruiser  Jules  Michelet,  stopped 
at  Fort  de  France,  Martinique,  on  June  20, 
en  route  to  Callao.  Ecuador  officially  de- 
clined the  invitation  of  Peru  to  take  part 
in  the  celebration  on  the  ground  that  Peru- 
vian soldiers  who  killed  a  number  of  Ecua- 
dorans in  a  border  action  had  subsequent- 
ly been  decorated  by  Peru.  As  a  result 
of  her  declination  Alberto  Bressani,  Peru- 
vian Charge  d'Affaires  in  Ecuador,  was  in- 
structed to  quit  his  post.  The  Ecuador 
newspapers  advised  similar  action  in  retal- 
iation. *  *  *  J.  Fernando  Gazzani,  for- 
merly Secretary  of  State  of  Peru,  and 
Jorge  Prado,  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  arrived  in  New  York  on  June  23 
aboard  the  steamer  Sixaola  from  Central 
America.  They  are  two  of  the  twenty-two 
Peruvians  who  were  ordered  deported  to 
Austria  by  President  Leguia,  and  whose 
practical  seizure  of  the  ship  and  landing  at 
Punta  Arenas,  Costa  Rica,  were  related  in 
Current  History  for  July.  They  deny  con- 
spiring against  the  Government,  and  expect 
to  remain  in  the  United  States  until  Pern's 
attitude  changes.  *  *  *  Fire  in  the 
Government  House  at  Lima  o*  July  3  de- 
stroyed the  northwest  wing,  containing  the 
Presidential  suite  and  official  records.  The 
police  reported  that  the  fire  was  of  incen- 
diary origin,  and  that  bombs  had  been 
planted  or  thrown  into  the  part  destroyed. 
Several  arrests  were  made  on  suspicion. 
*  *  *  Several  British  subjects  went  to 
Peru  early  this  year  through  offers  of  free 
passage  and  employment  by  the  Peruvian 
Government,  and  failed  to  obtain  it.  The 
British  Government,  on  their  behalf,  de- 
manded compensation,  but  Peru  neglected 
to  comply,  according  to  a  statement  in  the 


GERMANY  UNDERBIDS  ALL  RIVALS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 


901 


House  of  Commons.  Lieut.  Col.  Amery, 
Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty, 
said  further  urgent  representations  would 
be  made  to  Peru.  *  *  *  The  will  of 
John  Celestin  Landreau,  filed  for  probate 
in  Washington  on  June  11,  appointed  Nor- 
man B.  Landreau,  his  grandson,  heir  to  the 
famous  claim  of  the  testator's  brother, 
Theophile  Landreau,  a  French  scientist  and 
explorer,  against  Peru  for  having  discovered 
guano  and  nitrate  deposits  in  Peru  be- 
tween 1844  and  1856.  The  original  claim 
for  $100,000  was  first  recognized  by  Peru 
in  1865,  but  the  money  was  never  paid.  A 
protocol  was  recently  signed  submitting  the 
claim  to  the  arbitration  of  a  commission. 
Barton  Smith,  a  Toledo  attorney,  was  named 
American  arbitrator  on  June  21,  and  Carlos 
Prevost,  a  Peruvian  residing  in  the  United 
States,  was  named  by  Peru.  These  two 
are  to  select  as  a  third  member  a  subject 
of  Denmark,  Great  Britain  or  the  Nether- 
lands to  decide  on  the  claim. 

VENEZUELA— Dr.   Esteban   Gil-Borges, 
Foreign    Minister   of   Venezuela,    who    pre- 


sented the  statue  of  Bolivar  to  the  City  of 
New  York  last  April,  sailed  for  South 
America  on  June  15,  after  receiving  the 
freedom  of  the  city  from  Mayor  Hylan. 
At  the  ceremonies  Rodman  Wanamaker 
handed  the  envoy  a  gold  wreath  to  be 
placed  on  the  statue  of  George  Washing- 
ton in  Caracas.  During  his  stay  Dr.  Gil- 
Borges  appointed  commercial  agents  in  New 
York,  Chicago  and  Boston  to  stimulate 
trade  in  Venezuela.  *  *  *  An  economic 
survey  of  Venezuela  by  a  group  of  eighteen 
students  in  the  School  of  Foreign  Service 
of  Georgetown  University,  under  direction 
of  Professor  G.  A.  Sherwell,  was  made  pub- 
lic on  July  4.  It  says  American  goods  have 
always  been  welcome  in  Venezuela,  but  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  trade  has  been  Amer- 
ican selling  methods.  German  and  British 
merchants,  the  students  report,  "  have  al- 
ways evinced  a  readiness  to  adapt  their 
goods  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  Ven- 
ezuelans, while  it  has  been  the  policy  of 
Americans  in  general  to  attempt  to  force 
their  customers  to  alter  their  requirements 
to  fit  American  goods." 


CUBA'S  TRIBUTE  TO  A  FORMER  PRESIDENT 

Honors  paid  to  the  late  General  Gomez  culminate  in  a  riot  at  his  funeral  in  Havana 
• — Passing  of  Cuba's  financial  crisis — Affairs  in  Haiti  and  other  islands 

[Period   Ended    July    10,    1921] 


rpHERE  was  a  riot  at  the  funeral  of  Gen- 
J-  eral  Jose  Miguel  Gomez,  former  Presi- 
dent of  Cuba,  on  June  19,  in  which  one  per- 
son was  killed  and  scores  more  or  less  in- 
jured. The  death  of  General  Gomez  in  New 
York  on  June  13  was  recorded  in  Current 
History  for  July.  Religious  services  were 
held  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  on  June  16, 
after  which  the  body,  escorted  by  a  battal- 
ion of  infantry  with  full  military  honors, 
was  taken  to  the  Pennsylvania  Station  and, 
accompanied  by  the  General's  family,  was 
transported  to  Key  West,  whence  it  was 
taken  to  Havana  in  a  Cuban  cruiser.  The 
rioting  occurred  at  the  gates  of  the  old 
Colon  Cemetery,  when  the  General's  ad- 
mirers broke  through  the  police  cordon  and 
tried  to  reach  the  coffin  to  carry  it  on  their 
shoulders  into  the  cemetery.  The  funeral 
was  one  of  the  greatest  popular  demonstra- 
tions ever  seen  in   Havana.     The  cortege, 


which  was  two  miles  long,  passed  through 
streets  strewn  with  flowers,  while  airplanes 
dropped  flowers  at  the  cemetery.  President 
Zayas  was  the  nation's  chief  mourner,  fol- 
lowing close  behind  the  General's  widow  and 
children. 

The  worst  of  Cuba's  financial  crisis  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  passed  with  the  ending 
of  the  moratorium  on  June  15.  Only  one 
bank,  the  Banco  del  Proprietario,  failed  to 
meet  its  obligations.  Relief  is  looked  for 
through  financial  legislation  by  Congress, 
which  President  Zayas  called  to  meet  on 
July  18.  Plans  for  a  banking  institution 
similar  to  the  Federal  Reserve  System  of 
the  United  States  were  prepared  as  one  of 
the  suggested  remedies.  President  Zayas 
was  hopeful  the  credit  of  Cuba  could  be  re- 
stored to  a  point  that  would  make  possible 
the  floating  of  a  foreign  loan.  Government 
limitation  of  the  next  sugar  crop  to  2,500,- 


902 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


000  tons  was  also  proposed,  which  would  be 
a  reduction  of  36  per  cent,  from  this  year's 
estimated  crop  of  3,900,000  tons. 

American  bankers,  who  discussed  a  loan 
to  Cuba,  decided  to  await  word  from  Wash- 
ington as  to  its  advisability.  A  report  from 
General  Crowder  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Government  on  July  10,  and  it  was  expected 
that  the  decision  would  be  largely  guided 
by  his  advice.  One  proposal  discussed  by 
President  Zayas  and  his  Cabinet  was  to  is- 
sue a  loan  for  $40,000,000,  and  with  the  pro- 
ceeds buy  up  the  surplus  sugar  and  dispose 
of  it  on  long-term  credits  to  foreign  coun- 
tries. There  was  little  hope  of  selling  in 
the  United  States,  owing  to  the  new  tariff 
of  2  cents  a  pound  on  imported  sugar.  At 
such  a  rate,  Cubans  say,  they  cannot  com- 
pete against  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii  and  Louis- 
iana sugar  or  against  beet  sugar. 

Cuba  is  endeavoring  to  offset  losses  on 
sugar  by  increasing  her  pineapple  crop, 
which,  for  this  year,  is  estimated  at  900,000 
crates,  valued  at  $4,500,000.  She  is  also 
curtailing  Government  expenses,  the  budget 
being  reduced  from  $104,000,000  to  about 
$65,000,000.  Government  bonuses  to  public 
employes  are  eliminated,  the  War  Depart- 
ment appropriation  has  been  cut  from 
$1,500,000  to  $940,000,  and  $1,000,000  has 
been  saved  in  the  Treasury  Department. 

HAITI — Harris  Lipschitz,  formerly  of 
New  York,  who  had  been  engaged  in  land 
deals  in  Haiti,  was  murdered  at  Cavaillon, 
a  small  community  near  Aux  Cayes,  on 
June  13.  The  murder  was  reported  to 
Washington  the  next  day  by  Colonel  John 
H.  Russell,  commandant  of  the  Marines  at 
Port-au-Prince.  The  Colonel  indicated  that 
the  murder  was  the  result  of  an  attempt  at 
robbery.  In  a  letter  to  Ambrose  L.  Welch 
of  New  York,  Lipschitz  had  predicted  that 
he  would  be  murdered  as  a  result  of  a  long- 
standing disagreement  with  certain  marine 
officers,  one  of  whom  he  accused  of  attack- 
ing his  wife  and  sister-in-law.  He  said  na- 
tives were  being  incited  against  him  by  of- 
ficers, and  that  he  expected  to  be  assassi- 
nated. He  was  preparing  to  leave  the  island 
pursuant  to  an  order  of  deportation  issued 
by  the  Haitian  Civil  Government,  at  the  di- 
rection of  the  American  military  forces,  be- 
cause he  had  complained  against  their  treat- 
ment. 

Secretary  Denby  issued  an  official  state- 
ment on  June  15  that  Lipschitz 's  charges 
had  been  declared  false  by  a  board  of  in- 


quiry, which  met  last  year.  Representative 
Isaac  Siegel  of  New  York  wrote  to  Secretary 
Hughes,  asking  for  a  full  inquiry  into  the 
murder.  Mr.  Siegel  said  that  in  the  inves- 
tigation of  the  charges  last  year  Lipschitz 
was  regarded  rather  as  the  defendant  than 
as  a  prosecutor.  Investigations  into  the 
murder  have  been  started  by  both  the  State 
and  Navy  Departments. 

On  June  13  the  Navy  Department  made 
public  an  order  of  Colonel  Russell  prohibit- 
ing articles  or  speeches  attacking  the  Amer- 
ican forces  in  Haiti,  the  President  of  Haiti 
or  the  Haitian  Government.  Trials  of  per- 
sons accused  of  making  trouble  were  trans- 
ferred from  the  Haitian  courts  to  those  es- 
tablished by  the  American  forces  under  an 
order  issued  by  Colonel  Russell  on  May  26. 
This  action  was  under  authority  given  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Representative 
Siegel  characterized  it  as  military  despot- 
ism, "  in  contravention  of  every  fundamen- 
tal principle  upon  which  the  United  States 
Government  is  supposed  to  rest." 

SANTO  DOMINGO— An  enormous  dem- 
onstration in  favor  of  the  unconditional 
withdrawal  of  the  United  States  military 
forces  from  the  Dominican  Republic  was  held 
in  Santo  Domingo  City  on  June  19.  The 
desire  was  expressed  that  Santo  Domingo 
assume  no  further  obligations  than  the  con- 
vention of  1997,  providing  for  assistance  by 
the  United  States  in  the  collection  and  ap- 
plication of  the  customs  revenues.  The 
Archbishop,  members  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
lawyers  and  the  Faculties  of  the  university 
took  part  in  the  meeting  and  protested 
against  the  American  offer  of  conditional 
withdrawal.  [For  extended  treatment  of 
the  subject  of  American  withdrawal  see 
pages  809  and  813.] 

BRITTSH  WEST  INDIES— Canada  is 
not  complete  commercially  or  geographically 
unless  associated  with  the  West  Indies,  Win- 
ston Spencer  Churchill,  British  Colonial  Sec- 
retary, declared  at  a  banquet  given  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales  in  London  on  June  18 
by  the  West  Indies  Committee.  *  *  * 
Jamaica  has  been  suffering  from  the  slump 
in  sugar,  and  unemployment  is  increasing. 
Some  estates  have  suspended  operations, 
and  others  intend  to  close  unless  the  Gov- 
ernment grants  a  loan.  Hundreds  of  Ja- 
maicans are  returning  from  Cuban  cane 
fields,  and  many  will  have  to  be  brought 
back  by  the  Government. 


PUTTING  BUSINESS  ON  ITS 
FEET  AGAIN 

An  analysis  of  the  complex  causes  that  retard  the  return  of  prosperity  in  both  foreign 
and  domestic  trade — Goods  overproduced  in  the  high-price  era  now  a  handicap  to 
readjustment — Figures  showing  decline  of  exports  from  various  countries 


IT  would  be  a  comfort,  indeed,  to  bankers, 
exporters  and  manufacturers  who  must 
take  the  foreign  markets  into  account  in 
even  the  smallest  way — to  all  the  innumer- 
able interests,  in  fact,  whose  plans  must  give 
consideration  to  trade  conditions  in  coun- 
tries other  than  our  own — -if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  read  the  changes  in  international 
conditions  as  a  barometer  is  read,  and  to 
say,  for  instance,  there  seems  to  have  been 
in  July  a  10  per  cent,  improvement  over 
June.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  re- 
duce the  complex  factors  which  determine 
international  conditions  to  some  single  index 
which  would  make  such  a  determination 
possible.    No  one  has  yet  met  with  success. 

Great  dependence  is  placed  upon  the  con- 
dition of  the  exchanges.  Daily  records  are 
kept  and  published  in  the  financial  sections 
of  newspapers  and  in  periodicals  devoted  to 
foreign  trade.  Over  some  periods  the  altera- 
tions in  the  exchange  situation  have  indeed 
seemed  to  reflect  changes  in  general  busi- 
ness conditions,  and  justification  seems  to 
exist  for  the  effort  to  forecast  future  move- 
ments from  those  of  the  immediate  past  and 
present.  How  wide  of  the  mark  such  prog- 
nostications are  frequently  apt  to  strike  was 
well  illustrated  by  the  recent  remark  of  F. 
A.  Govett,  Chairman  of  the  British  Zinc 
Corporation,  when  he  told  his  stockholders: 
"  It  sounds  Gilbertian,  but  there  is  the 
solemn  fact  that  until  you  can  rectify  the 
exchange  by  putting  these  countries  on  their 
feet,  and  by  re-establishing  them  in  normal 
relations  to  ourselves,  they  are  going  to  take 
the  trade  and  make  the  profits,  until  equilib- 
rium again  results,  while  the  victorious 
country  whose  credit  still  is  good  is  going 
to  suffer  all  the  misery  and  poverty  of 
broken  trade  and  unemployment." 

Adjusting  the  Economic  Chaos 

Mr.  Govett  referred,  of  course,  to  the  Cen- 
tral European  Powers.  Comment  of  The 
Economist  upon  this  remark  cannot  be  im- 


proved upon.     Of  it  The  Economist  said; 

This  vitw  that  a  depreciated  exchange 
benefits  the  country  that  suffers  from  it 
was  much  in  evidence  during-  the  debate  on 
the  "  Safeguarding  of  Industries  "  bill.  It 
was  stated  by  Sir  Alfred  Mond,  who  at- 
tended -on  May  31,  to  be  "  the  fact,  which 
every  economist  will  admit,  that  the  coun- 
try with  an  abnormally  low  exchange  is  re- 
ceiving indirectly  an  enormous  subsidy  on 
exports.  My  honorable  friend  surely  will 
not  deny  a  proposition  which  is  to  be  found 
in  every  shilling  textbook  on  political 
economy."  However  this  may  be— and  Sir 
Alfred  might  well  oblige  the  world  with  a 
list  of  all  these  shilling  economic  textbooks 
that  explain  things  so  clearly— Sir  Godfrey 
Collins,  speaking  on  June  7,  was  able  to  cite 
some  facts  which  seemed  to  show  that  this 
alleged  subsidy  is  sometimes  singularly  in- 
effective, and  that,  at  least  under  present 
circumstances,  the  direct  contrary  of  depre- 
ciation can  be  accompanied  by  wonderful 
export  activity.  He  showed  that  while 
Italy,  with  a  depreciated  currency,  exported 
in  1920  about  one-third— in  1913  values— of 
her  pre-war  total,  America,  with  an  appre- 
ciated currency,  increased  her  export  trade 
by  60  per  cent,  in  pre-war  values  over  her 
pre-war  total.  Clearly  the  rate  of  exchange 
is  only  one  item  in  a  very  tangled  problem, 
now,  as  always,  n-ot  of  those  countries  which 
have  most  vigorously  debased  their  curren- 
The  world's  trade  seems  to  be  in  the  hands, 
cies,  but  of  those  whose  organizers  and 
workers  will  work  hardest  and  most  effi- 
ciently for  the  lowest  profit  and  wages.  If 
it  were  merely  a  question  of  currency  de- 
basement, Russia,  Poland  and  Austria  would 
be   our  most  formidable  rivals. 

This  aspect  of  the  question  was  very 
clearly  brought  out  by  Mr.  McKenna  in 
the  important  address  delivered  to  the  In- 
stitute of  Chartered  Accountants  on  the 
subject  of  international  debts,  with  special 
reference  to  tne  economic  effects  of  the 
German  indemnity  payment.  The  Chair- 
man of  the  London  City  and  Midland  Bank 
did  not  touch  at  all  on  the  question  of 
exchange.  "  At  this  moment,"  he  said, 
"  wages  in  Germany— I  speak,  of  course,  of 
real  wages— are  not  more  than  half  those 
paid  in  this  country,  and  yet  the  German 
workman  is  laboring  for  long  hours  with 
great  efficiency  and  with  apparent  content- 
ment, or  at  any  rate  acquiescence.     We  may 


904 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


perhaps  find  the  reason  for  this  industrial 
docility  in  the  superiority  of  his  present 
lot  over  his  recent  conditions.  Though  the 
German  workman  may  be  ill  paid  now,  by 
comparison  with  what  he  endured  in  the 
war  he  is  tolerably  well  off."  In  Mr. 
McKenna's  belief  this  acquiescence  in  a  low 
standard  by  the  German  worker  may  con- 
tinue—" provided  he  receives  such  bare 
means  of  subsistence  as  will  maintain  his 
energy,  it  is  possible  that  he  will  submit 
until  the  national  obligation  is  discharged." 
If  so— and  it  is  a  large  assumption  to  which 
Mr.  McKenna  was  careful  not  to  commit 
himself— the  position  that  arises  is  one  that 
should  be  very  seriously  considered  by  our 
labor  leaders  and  by  all  those  responsible 
for  the  conduct  of  our  industry ;  for  in  any 
case,  even  if  the  German  workman  is  less 
docile  than  Mr.  McKenna  expects,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  stimulus  given  to  Ger- 
man industry  by  the  need  for  meeting  the 
indemnity  payment  will  produce  competition 
in  neutral  markets,  which  will  seriously 
affect  those  of  our  enterprises  which  produce 
goods  of  a  kind  which  our  late  enemy  is 
best    able    to    export. 

Industry,  whether  agricultural  or  other, 
cannot  pay  the  worker  more  than  he  helps 
to  produce  without  very  soon  going  bankrupt. 
As  Sir  George  Touche  told  the  meeting  of 
the   Trust  Union: 

"  Many  wage-earners  took  too  literally 
the  rhetorical  promises  of  politicians  at  the 
last  general  election  about  a  greatly  im- 
proved standard  of  living  for  all.  After 
enjoying  dreams  of  a  great  national  pros- 
perity, and  enjoying  the  uneconomic  rates 
paid  out  of  capital  and  loans  during  the 
war,  it  was  hard  to  come  down  to  a  wage 
which  each  industry  could  afford  to  pay. 
Resistance  was  inevitable,  but  the  alterna- 
tive was  no  wage  at  all.  It  was  time  some 
statesman  of  commanding  influence  took 
his  courage  in  his  hands  and  told  the  people, 
who  were  ready  to  face  facts,  the  plain, 
uncompromising  truth." 

Unfortunately,  our  statesmen  of  command- 
ing influence,  having  deluded  the  electorate 
in  1918,  now  prefer  to  mend  matters  by 
not  telling  the  truth— perhaps  because  they 
know  they  would  not  be  believed  after  the 
failure  of  the  former  promises — but  by  a 
system  of  protection  giving  industry  the 
hothouse  treatment  which  is  most  unlikely 
to  brace  it  to  meet  German  competition. 
By  their  safeguarding  industry  measures 
ttiey  admit  that  they  will  raise  prices,  and 
they  embitter  labor's  already  exasperated 
feelings  by  raising  prices  at  a  time  when  the 
workers  are  called  to  accept  wage  reduc- 
tions. 

With  such  leadership  as  this  the  country 
is  heavily  handicapped  in  facing  the  prob- 
lem that  Mr.  McKenna  has  stated  for  it 
so  clearly— perhaps  to  the  point  of  rather 
overstating  it.  His  belief  that  the  German 
Government  can  always  keep  down  the 
workman's  standard  by  issuing  more  paper* 
money  seems  to  assume  that  the  latter  will 


consider  only  the  money  rates  of  his  wages 
and  not  their  real  buying  power ;  and  his 
conclusion  that  "  if  Germany  is  able  to  meet 
her  obligations,  she  will  in  doing  so  gravely 
impair  our  own  international  trade,"  as- 
sumes a  limitation  on  the  world's  power  of 
consumption  which  need  not  exist  if  the 
world  will  have  the  sense  to  leave  off  quar- 
reling and  devote  a  little  attention  to  de- 
veloping and  enjoying  its  resources.  The 
remedy  that  he  proposes— of  demanding  pay- 
ment from  Germany  in  coal,  timber,  potash 
and  sugar— can  only,  as  he  admits,  be  ap- 
plied to  part  of  the  reparation  payment, 
and  its  effect  on  our  coal  industry  would 
seem  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  payment 
in  manufactured  goods  on  our  manufactur- 
ing enterprise.  We  are  bound,  in  order  to 
meet  our  American  debt,  to  export  goods 
and  receive  none  in  return,  and  the  sale  of 
our  investments  during  the  war  means  that 
we  shall  have  less  goods  to  receive  on  inter- 
est account.  Goods  and  services  that  we 
can  claim  from  Germany  for  reparation  will 
help  to  fill  this  gap,  and  although  the  indus- 
trial competition  of  a  great  debtor  is  a  new 
feature  in  the  economic  landscape,  it  should 
stimulate  rather  than  terrify  us  if  we  can 
secure  industrial  peace  and  if  our  rulers  will 
refrain  from  dosing  our  enterprise  with 
unwholesome   quack   remedies. 

The  Only  Road  to  Prosperity 

The  conviction  that  hard  work,  more  hard 
work  and  only  hard  work  will  put  the  world 
again  on  its  feet  is  held  universally  by  the 
economists  and  thinkers  of  all  nations. 
There  is  no  other  easier  path  to  what  we 
call  normal  conditions,  although,  unfortu- 
nately, the  belief  is  still  widely  held  in  too 
many  and  too  varied  quarters  that  some 
such  path  does  exist.  The  fact  that  a  little 
knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing  has  per- 
haps never  been  exemplified  better  than  by 
present  conditions.  Before  the  World  War 
few  persons,  except  those  whose  profession 
it  was  to  be  informed,  made  pretense  to 
much  knowledge  of  international  banking 
or  economic  conditions. 

Today  the  economist  has  found  a  place 
in  many  of  our  leading  banks  and  busi- 
nesses. It  is  a  step  in  advance  for  business, 
but  it  is  a  beneficent  development  of  a  sit- 
uation which  has  at  the  same  time  less  de- 
sirable features.  Just  as  corporations  have 
come  to  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  the 
economist  and  his  work,  so  the  smaller 
business  man  down  the  line,  even  to  the  so- 
called  man  in  the  street,  has  acquired  a  no- 
tion of  economy  and  its  purposes;  a  notion 
so  hazy,  however,  as  to  be  apt  to  do  Him 
more  harm  than  good.    To  too  many  men 


PUTTING  BUSINESS  ON  ITS  FEET  AGAIN 


905 


economics  implies  some  necromancy  by 
which  results  may  be  accomplished  without 
labor,  some  device  by  which  ends  may  be 
attained  without  the  effort  which  was  once 
recognized  as  essential  to  achievement. 

This  nation,  like  other  nations,  is  passing 
through  that  phase  of  the  economic  cycle 
which  ordinarily  would  have  been  marked 
by  business  failures,  and,  before  the  crea- 
tion of  the  Federal  Reserve  System,  prob- 
ably by  a  financial  panic.  The  banks  pre- 
vented both  the  one  and  the  other.  Busi- 
nesses which  once  would  have  collapsed  into 
the  hands  of  a  receiver  were  tided  over  by 
the  banks,  and  the  process  of  deflation, 
which,  under  other  circumstances,  might 
have  resulted  in  a  general  rapid  crash,  was 
slowed  down  to  a  gentle  pace,  which  enabled 
worthy  businesses  to  weather  the  storm,  but 
which,  unfortunately,  at  the  same  time  per- 
suaded unworthy  enterprises  that  they  could 
avoid  paying  the  price  of  their  speculative 
ventures. 

International  prosperity  can  come,  of 
course,  only  when  Europe  recovers  indus- 
trially from  the  effects  of  the  war.  A  much 
greater  degree  of  prosperity  than  exists  at 
the  moment  can  be  attained  here,  however, 
by  a  proper  understanding  of  existing  con- 
ditions, and  the  right  effort  to  put  them 
under  proper  control.  Liquidation  and  de- 
flation, which  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
slow  down  at  the  outset,  have  now  appar- 
ently been  slowed  down  too  much;  it  would 
seem  that  the  time  had  come  when  pressure 
should  be  exerted  to  bring  into  line  those 
industries  which  have  been  slow  to  recog- 
nize the  trend  of  the  times,  and  which  seem 
hopeful  even  now  of  holding  on  until  the 
mistakes  of  their  own  overproduction  at  a 
time  when  price  was  no  object  may  be 
passed  on  to  the  ultimate  consumer  at  ap- 
proximately those  same  high  prices. 

High  Prices  a  Handicap 

Steel  prices  and  the  prices  of  building 
materials,  goods  at  retail  and  finished  man- 
ufactures have  lagged  too  far  behind  raw. 
materials  in  the  price  decline,  and  wages 
and  railroad  rates  are  clearly  in  need  of 
sharp  revision  downward.  B.  M.  Anderson 
Jr.,  economist  of  the  Chase  National  Bank 
of  New  York,  commenting  upon  those  con- 
ditions said  recently: 

The  general  credit  situation  is  strong  and 
thoroughly  under  control.  The  losses  con- 
sequent   upon   the    drastic    decline    in   prices 


have  been  great,  but  they  have  been  widely 
diffused.  Moreover,  the  immense  surpluses 
accumulated  by  great  businesses  of  the 
country  during  the  war  and  post-war  boom 
have  constituted  a  buffer  to  break  the 
shock  of  readjustment.  That  is  what  sur- 
pluses are  for. 

The  organization  of  our  banks  under  the 
Federal  Reserve  System  has  made  possible 
a  degree  of  intelligent  co-operation  in  han- 
dling the  credit  problems  of  readjustment 
which  no  one  could  have  anticipated  a  few 
years  ago.  Our  banks  have  extended  credit 
freely  to  all  solvent  business  men,  and  no 
unnecessary  insolvencies  have  occurred.  In 
previous  crises  the  sheer  inability  of  banks 
to  advance  additional  credit  often  meant 
that,  in  addition  to  the  necessary  in- 
solvencies, many  solvent  businesses  were 
also  pulled  down.  In  the  crisis  through 
which  we  have  just  passed,  it  has  been  pos- 
sible for  solvent  men  to  bring  their  slow 
assets  into  play  and  to  borrow  from  banks 
what  they'  needed  to  meet  their  quick 
liabilities. 

Despite  the  strength  of  the  credit  situation, 
however,  business  stagnation  is  very  great; 
and  while  some  lines  are  improving,  other  im- 
portant lines,  notably  steel,  are  on  the  down 
grade.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  unemploy- 
ment, and  a  great  deal  of  work  on  part 
time.  Profits  also  are  dwindling.  Every 
day  that  this  continues  makes  the  general 
situation  less  satisfactory,  since  it  cuts 
under  the  buying  power  of  the  public, 
making  further  readjustment  necessary.  It 
is  highly  essential  that  something  be  done 
to  break  the  deadlock  and  to  start  activity 
again. 

It  must,  of  course,  be  recognized  that  we 
cannot  have  really  satisfactory  business  in 
the  United  States  until  European  conditions 
improve.  But  it  is  possible  for  us  to  have 
much  better  business  in  the  United  States 
than  we  now  have  without  improvement 
in  Europe,  if  we  will  speedily  complete  our 
own  domestic  readjustment.  The  consuming 
power  of  our  one  hundred-odd  million 
people  in  this  richest  country  of  the  world 
is  enormously  great,  even  in  periods  of  de- 
pression. And  both  consumption  and  pro- 
duction in  the  United  States  today  are  much 
below  what  they  need  be  if  certain  domestic 
obstacles   can  be  got  out   of  the  way. 

The  thing  that  is  needed  is  a  leveling 
down  of  certain  elements  of  prices  and  costs 
which  have  so  far  resisted  the  general  down- 
ward move.  We  must  restore  the  price 
and  cost  equilibrium.  The  greatest  resist- 
ance to  readjustment  has  been  in  retail 
prices,  steel  and  its  products,  building  ma- 
terials, wages,  especially  in  the  building 
trades  and  on  the  railroads;  finished  manu- 
factures, as  compared  with  raw  materials ; 
and  railroad  rates  on  bulky  articles.  When 
these  things  shake  down  in  line  with  the 
general  price  decline,  a  substantial  general 
revival  should  speedily  follow,  and  a  real 
building  boom  is  probable.  From  a  boom  in 
the   building   trade,    activity   in   many   other 


906 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


lines  would  grow.  This  leads  to  the  question 
what  the  banker  can  do  to  facilitate  a  revival 
of  business.  We  have,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
clamor  for  more  abundant  bank  loans 
and  cheap  money  rates.  Cheaper  money 
is  desirable,  when,  and  if,  it  comes  natu- 
rally, as  a  consequence  of  the  liquidation 
of  loans  and  the  accumulation  of  funds 
in  the  banks  through  liquidation.  Arti- 
ficially cheap  money  as  a  substitute  for 
real  capital  is  undesirable.  Those  who  are 
urging  most  vigorously  the  policy  of  easy 
credits  seem  to  want  them  for  the  purpose 
of  delaying  liquidation  and  delaying  re- 
adjustment. The  chief  idea  seems  to  be  that, 
if  goods  can  be  withheld  from  the  market, 
they  can  be  sold  at  a  later  time  for  higher 
prices.  In  other  words,  the,  call  is  for  bank 
money  to  be  used  for  speculative  purposes. 
We  have  had  enough  of  that  in  recent  years. 
We  must  get  down  to  bedrock  and  funda- 
mentals, and  strike  a  level  of  prices  and 
costs  which  the  markets  will  trust  and 
on  the  basis  of  which  goods  will  move.  We 
must  not  make  loans  which  will  permit  the 
withholding  of  goods  from  the  market.  We 
should,  on  the  other  hand,  make  loans 
freely  to  those  solvent  business  men  who 
have  markets  in  sight. 

The  danger  of  a  money  panic  Is  over  now. 
The  credit  system  has  proved  its  strength. 
Moreover,  the  last  few  months  have  led  to 
the  accumulation  of  an  immense  body  of  ac- 
curate credit  information.  The  banks  of 
the  country  know,  as  they  have  never 
known  before,  the  condition  and  standing 
of  their  customers.  They  know  where  the 
strength  is,  and  they  know  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  situation  is  immensely  strong. 
They  know,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the 
weak  spots  are,  and  they  know  with  accu- 
racy and  precision  just  how  weak  they  are. 
They  know  which  concerns  can  really  pull 
through  and  which  ones  cannot.  They  know 
which  of  their  customers  are  maintaining 
prices  that  are  too  high  and  are  borrowing 
money  in  the  vain  hope  of  avoiding  losses 
through  later  improvement  in  prices.  It  is 
possible,  therefore,  for  the  banks  today  to 
do  what  they  could  not  have  done  with 
safety  three  or  four  months  ago.  They  can 
safely  and  intelligently  put  on  additional 
pressure  in  the  direction  of  liquidation. 

We  can  now  recognize  that,  in  averting 
a  panic,  we  have  taken  care  of  too  many 
weak  concerns.  We  have  slowed  down  the 
readjustment  too  much,  as  we  have  lessened 
its  severity.  The  time  has  come,  in  the 
interest  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  to  put 
additional  pressure  on  the  weak  spots,  to 
clean  up  the  wreckage,  to  clear  the  decks, 
and  to  get  ready  for  the  next  upward 
move.  Nothing  so  begets  confidence  in  the 
markets  as  a  knowledge  that,  through 
forced  liquidation  of  substantial  stocks  of 
goods,  bottom  prices  have  been  reached. 
Nothing  will  so  promote  the  revival  of  busi- 
ness activity  as  the  creation  of  the  open, 
competitive    markets    which    such    a    process 


involves.  Those  markets  which  have  kept 
most  actively  competitive  have  seen  then- 
worst.  Forced  liquidation  in  wheat,  for 
example,  brought  low  levels  a  good  many 
weeks  ago.  The  wheat  market  has  had  a 
very  substantial  improvement  since.  The 
same  appears  to  be  true  in  silks  and  in 
other  lines.  Those  industries  which  have 
delayed  their  readjustment  longest  have 
done  themselves  harm  and  have  done  the 
country  harm.  The  existing  stagnation, 
with  the  steady  pressure  of  overhead 
charges  and  with  the"  steady  curtailment  of 
the  buying  power  of  the  public,  is  much 
worse  than  the  losses  which  prompt  read- 
justment would  involve.  The  duty  of  the 
banker  under  these  circumstances  is  clear. 
He  should  not  be  party  to  policies  which 
will  continue  the  stagnation,  and  he  should 
not  lend  funds  to  enable  shortsighted  men 
to  delay  the  recognition  of  inevitable  facts. 
We  can  have  substantial  business  revival 
in  a  reasonably  short  time  if  we  will  force 
the  pace  of  readjustment  faster. 

A  "  Ragged  "  Situation 
Meantime,  what  is  the  condition  today? 
Economic  tendencies  have  been  conflicting: 
that  is,  some  have  tended  to  lower  the  level 
of  business  activity,  while  others  have 
served  to  hasten  the  movement  of  recovery 
which  has  been  noticeable  in  some  lines  for 
the  last  few  months.  The  situation  at  best, 
however,  must  be  called  ragged.  Some  lines 
have  reached  a  point  of  recession  where 
whatever  changes  occur  should  be  for 
greater  activity  and  increased  prices.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  clearly  evident  in  other 
lines  that  the  period  of  readjustment  is  no- 
where near  its  close,  and  for  these  the  out- 
look should  be  continued  recession,  with 
prices  and  wages  discovering  ever  lower 
levels.  Unemployment  is  still  widespread. 
Conditions  in  some  lines — notably  agricul- 
ture and  the  basic  industries — seem,  how- 
ever, to  be  improving;  but  at  best  it  cannot 
be  said  that  stabilization  has  been  reached, 
or  that  deflation  in  industry  has  reached 
a  point  where  buying  for  the  future  can  be 
bold  and  unhesitant.  This  failure  of  buying 
activity  tends  to  delay  stabilization  in 
various  lines,  just  as  it  was  occasioned  by 
this  lack  of  stabilization;  and  a  so-called 
"  vicious  "  circle  seems  to  have  developed, 
which  large  interests,  among  them  New 
York  bankers,  are  striving  to  break  by  as- 
sistance in  a  movement  to  "  Sell  Now."  The 
present  period  is  certainly  one  of  transition, 
and  the  time  is  not  yet  when  courageous 
buying  for  the  future  will  be  undertaken 
by  any  other  than  the  most  daring 


PUTTING  BUSINESS  ON  ITS  FEET  AGAIN 


907 


In  the  international  field,  trade  seems  to 
be  upon  the  decline.  The  last  Board  of 
Trade  figures  for  the  month  of  June — Great 
Britain's  foreign  trade — show  total  imports 
of  £88,180,000;  exports  of  British  products, 
£38,150,000;  reimports  of  foreign  merchan- 
dise, £7,080,000;  total  exports,  £45,230,000, 
and  excess  of  imports,  £42,950,000.  Details 
of  this  showing  follow: 

The  British  foreign  trade  in  June  makes 
the  following  comparison  with  June  of  1914 : 

June,  1921.  June,  1914. 
Exports     of    British 

products     £38,150,000  £39,S72,976 

Re-exports  of  foreign  ^ 

goods     7,080,000  8,7.15,434 

Total     exports £45,230,000  £48,626,410 

1  mports     88,180,000  58,281,653 

Excess  of  imports.  £42,050,000  £9,655,243 


For  France  figures  are  available  in  de- 
tail only  as  late  as  April,  although  totals 
are  at  hand  for  May.  These  show  imports 
in  April  of  food  390,345,000  francs,  raw  ma- 
terials 887,151,000  francs,  manufactured  ar- 
ticles 501,593,000  francs,  total  1,779,089,000 
francs,  as  against  exports  of  food  176,333,- 
000  francs,  raw  materials  468,453,000  francs, 
manufactured  articles  1,179,683,000  francs, 
parcel  post  107,799,000  francs,  total  1,932,- 
268,000  francs,  an  excess  of  exports  over 
imports  of  153,179,000  francs.  For  May  total 
imports  were  1,565,504,000  francs  and  ex- 
ports 1,648,644,000  francs,  an  excess  of  ex- 
ports of  83,140,000  francs.  For  Germany 
figures  are  not  available. 


DECREASE  OF  BRITISH  EXPORTS  FOR  THE  MONTH  OF  JUNE 


Compared     with     May     of     1921,     the     June 
statement  shows  the  following-  changes : 
Expts.   British  products. decreased      £4,938,410 
Re-expts.  foreign  goods. decreased 

Total   exports    decreased 

Imports    increased 

Excess   of   imports increased 


151,836 
5,090,254 
1,871,692 
6,961,946 


Compared  with*  June  of  1920,  the  changes 
are  as  follows : 

Epts.   British    products. .decreased  £78,202,350 

Re-expts.  foreign  goods. decreased  13,043,928 

Total   exports    decreased  91,246,278 

Imports     decreased  82,311,230 

Excess   of  imports increased  8,935,048 

The  trade  for  June,   1921,  compares  as  fol- 
lows with  June,  1920,  and  June,  1919 : 
Exports    of 

British  1921.  1920.  1919. 

products  £38,150,000  £116,352,350  £64,562,465 
Re-exports 

of  foreign 

goods  ....  7,080,000  20,123,928  11,963,960 
Tot.  expts.  £45,230,000  £136,476,278  £76,526,425 
Imports     .  . .   88,180,000     170,491,230  122,874,390 

Excess  of 
imports 


£42,050,000     £34,014,952   £46,347,975 


For  the   six  completed   months  of  1921,   the 

changes    from    the    same    period  of    the    pre- 
vious year  are  as  follows : 
Exports     of     British 

products     decreased  £268,574,095 

Re-exports    of    foreign 

goods     decreased  86,158,123 

Total   exports decreased  354,732,218 

Imports     decreased  461,570,737 

Excess   of  imports decreased  106,768,519 

The   trade  for  the    six   months   ended   with 
June   30,    1921,    compares  as   follows  with  the 
same  period  of  1920  and  1919: 
Exports    of  „  „ 

British        1921.  1912.  1919. 

prod'ts     £368,892,789  £637,466,884  £334,756,132 

Re-exports 

of  foreign  n       _  int  MB? 

goods .  . .  49,682,925  135.841,048  .>.>,434,29a 
Tot.  expts£418,575,714  £773,357,932  £390,190,427 
Imports.     571,763,947   1,033,334,684     716,7S7,426 

Excess  of . — nn  _,  .  ^_-;- 

imports.  £153, 188,233     £2.19,956,752     £326,  ..9<>,  999 


Experts  of  British  products  during  the  last 
twelve  months  compare  as  follows : 


1921. 

June    £38,150,000 

May     43,088,418 

April    59,867,585 

March     ...   66,808,961 

Feb 68,221,731 

Jan 92,756,094 

1920. 

.  96,630,523 
,119,364,994 
112,295,474 
117,455,913 
.114.903,335 


Dec. 

Nov. 

Oct. 

Sept. 

Aug. 

July 


1920. 
£116,352,350 
119,319,422 
106,251,692 
103,699,381 
85,964,130 
105,879,909 

1919. 

90,858,233 
87,110,531 
■  79,061,145 
66,500,628 
74,773,597 


1919. 
£64,562,465 
64,344,632 
58,482,412 
53,108,521 
46,914,921 
47,343,281 

1918. 
38,282,035 
43,218,S79 
42,820,724 
40,152,143 
43,522,237 


,137,451,904        65,315,691      43,644,398 


Imports   during  the    same  periods   compare 


June 

May 

April 

March 

Feb. 

Jan.    . 


follows : 

1921. 
£88,180,000 
.  86,308,308 
.  89,995,504 
.  93,741.654 
.  96,973,711 
.117,050,783 


Dec. 

Nov. 

Oct. 

Sept. 

Aug. 

July 


1920. 

.142,785,245 
..144,260,183 

.149,889,227 
..152,692,339 

.153,169,259 

.163,342,351 


1920. 
£170,491,230 
166,414,032 
167,129,955 
176,647,515 
170,434,526 
183,342,988 

1919. 
169,602,637 
143,545,201 
153,500,587 
148,588,572 
148,217,624 
153,065,760 


1919. 

£122,874,390 

135,612,488 

112,065,823 
105,752,979 
106,689,341 
134,456,436 

1918. 
116,243,378 
116,770,580 
117,629,803 
97,995,688 
110,179,501 
109.139,238 


For  the  twelve  last  months  the  monthly 
excess  of  imports  after  allowing  for  imported 
merchandise  re-exported,  compares  as  fol- 
lows: 


June 
May     . 
April 
March- 
Feb.     . 
Jan. 


Dec. 

Nov. 

Oct. 

Sept. 

Aug. 

July 


1921. 
.  £42,950,000 
.  35,988,054 
.  21,604,257 
.  18,044,688 
.  20,747,677 
.   14,339,568 

1920. 
.    33,455,666 
.    11,780,830 
.   21,400.193 

.  21,885,818 
.  23,897,577 
.      8,041,968 


1920. 
£24,011,952 
26,834,532 
40,470,844 
56,916,777 
61.S66.607 
51,998,602 

1919. 
52,584,473 
36,188,261 
54,797,840 
63,389,266 
58,133.102 
75,992,955 


1919. 
£46.347,975 
59,772,504 
40,236.953 
43,695,209 
54,655.263 
82,643,136 

1918. 
74,848,636 
70,634,051 
72,690,437 
53,154,317 
64,379,929 
63,472,534 


908 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


American  Trade  Falling  Off 
June  figures  for  the  trade  of  the  United 
States  are  not  available  at  this  writing,  but 
those  for  May's  trade  show  a  falling  off 
similar  to  that  experienced  by  Great  Brit- 
ain.  Here  are  the  details: 

Exports  to  Europe  during  the  month  ag- 
gregated $177,000,000,  compared  with  $384,- 
000,000  in  May  of  last  year,  while  for  the 
eleven  months  ended  with  May,  the  total 
was  $3,231,000,000,  as  compared  with  $4,568,- 
000,000  for  the  same  months  of  1920. 

Exports  to  South  America  during  May 
aggregated  $48,000,000,  against  $58,000,000  in 
May  of  last  year,  while  for  the  eleven 
months*  period  the  total  was  $506,000,000,  as 
against  $445,000,000. 

Imports  from  Europe  for  the  month 
amounted  to  $61,000,000,  as  against  $92,- 
000,000  the  same  month  last  year,  and  for 
the  eleven  months  the  total  was  $883,- 
000,000,   as  compared  with   $1,061,000,000. 

Imports    from    South    America    aggregated 

$23,000,000,    as   compared    with    $63,000,000   in 

May    of    last     year,     while    for     the     eleven 

months  the  total  was  $466,000,000,  as  against 

". 000,000. 

Exports  and  imports  by  principal  countries 
during  May  as  compared  with  May,  1920, 
follow  at  the  head  of  the  next  column : 


To- 


EXPORTS. 
May,  1921. 


Britain    $80,000,000 

France   10,000,000 

Germany   20,000,000 

Italy    23,000,000 

China   8,000,000 

Japan   12,000,000 

Argentina    8,000,000 

Brazil  4,000,000 

Chile     1,000,000 

IMPORTS. 
From—  May,  1921. 

Britain    $19,0t0,000 

France   12,000,000 

Germany     6,000,000 

Italy   7,000,000 

China   8,000,000 

Japan     23,000,000 

Argentina     5,000,000 

Brazil     7,000,000 

Chile   3,000,000 


May,  1920. 

$152,000,000 
58,000,000 
21,000,000 
33,000,000 
12,000,000 
44,000,000 
17,000,000 
14,000,000 
4,000,000 


May,  1920. 

$44,000,000 

10,000,000 

5,000,000 

6,000,000 

22,000,000 

31,000,000 

23,000,000 

10,000,000 

15,000,000 


The  latest  Bank  of  England  statement: 

July  7,  '21.    June  30,  '21 
Circulation     £129,10S,000    £129,006,000 

July  8,  '20. 

£122,743,000 

17,886,000 

117,035,000 

52,424,000 

83,894,000 

16,443,000 

12.20% 

120,737,000 

7% 

j   is   for   the 

June  30,  '21, 

1,102,100,000 

1,091,500,000 

1,662,300,000 

54,434,100,000 

127,600,000 

258,500,000 

3,531,200,000 

7,581,200,000 

10,477,000,000 

4,700,000 

6,163,900,000 

71,986,700,000 

830,200,000 

8,656,000,000 

5% 

e  same  corn- 
July  8,  '20. 
5,588,500,000 

274,400,000 

4,295,700,000 

38,012,100,000 

3,408,100,000 

26,100,000,000 
6 

Public  deposits    19,720,000        15,296,000 

Private    deposits    129,041,000      131,739,000 

Government  securities    . .     63,798,000        61,202,000 

Other    securities    85,102,000        85,82^,000 

Reserve     17,710  000        17  810  000 

Propor.   res.   to  liab 11.90%              12.11% 

Bullion     128,369,000      128,366,000 

Bank   rate    6%                     6% 

The   statement   of  the   Bank   of   Germans 
weeks  of  July  7  and  June  30,  and  is  in  marks : 

July  7,  '21. 
Coin     1  102  700  000 

Gold     1,091, 500, 000 

Bills     1,565,400,000 

Treasury   bills    79,607,700,000 

Advances 6,000,000 

Investments     282,700,000 

State   deposits    5,647,300,000 

Private    deposits     14,744,900.000 

Treasury    certificates    8,311,200,000 

Notes  of  other  banks 1,700,000 

Securities     6,050,200,000 

Circulation    70,321 ,000,000 

Other   liabilities    912,700  000 

War  loan  notes 8,706,600,000 

That  for  France  is  in  francs  and  gives  th 
parison  as  the  British  statement: 

July  7  '21.      June  30,  '21. 

Gold    5,520,500,000       5,520,300,000 

Silver     274,500,000         274  300  000 

Loans    and    disco'ts.   5,108,100,000      5,194',20o!o00 

Circulation     37,667,000,000    37,422,000,000 

Deposits 2  689  300  000      2  770  500  000 

War  advances  to 
State     25,300  000  000    25  000  000  000 

Bank   rate    6                       '     6 

Interesting  Ban k  Statements 

The  bank  statements  of  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Germany  are  of  especial  inter- 
est in  view  of  the  relation  of  these  coun- 
tries to  the  gold  standard.  The  relation  of 
Germany,  of  course,  to  any  such  standard 
is  purely  an  academic  one.  Her  issues  of 
paper  money  have  thrown  her  so  far  off  the 
gold  standard  that  it  is  highly  doubtful  if 
she  will  ever  be  able  to 
regain  it.  England  and 
France,  on  the  other  hand, 
retain  the  gold  standard 
in  their  calculations,  an- 
ticipating a  return  to  it, 
England  with  a  better 
chance  of  success  in  the 
opinion  of  unbiased  ob- 
servers. At  left  is  the  most 
recent  Bank  of  England 
statement  compared  with 
the  previous  week  and  the 
corresponding  week  in 
1920. 

From  the  most  general 
viewpoint  the  situation  to- 
day may  be  said  to  be  one 
in  which  improvements  of 
the  future  are  clearly  to 
be  foreseen  in  industry 
and  finance  along  the 
indicated  lines  which  ex- 
perience lays  down  for 
them,  but  these  improve- 
ments are  still  in  the 
future,  •  and  too  much 
cannot  be  expected  from 
day  to  day  as  progress 
toward  this  goal  is  slowly 
made. 


Current  History  Magazine — Advertising  Section 


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CURRENT    HISTORY 

A      MONTHLY     MAGAZINE      OF 
5ty*  -N>ro  ffnrk  Stars 

Published   by   The    New    York   Times    Company.    Times    Square,    New    York.    N.    Y. 


Vol.  XIV.,  No.  6     SEPTEMBER,  1921 


".1  Conts  a  Copy 
$4.00  a  Year 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FRONTISPIECE    PORTRAIT:      WALTER    LYMAN    BROWN     .      .  908 
A  HUNDRED  YEARS  OF  ITALIAN  HISTORY 

By  Guglielmo  Ferrero  909 

ALBANIA'S  REPLY  TO  GREEK  CHARGES      .     By  C.  A.  Chekrezi  916 

THE  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE  (With  Map  and  Diagrams)      .  917 
AIRPLANE   BOMB   VS.   BATTLESHIP 

By  Graser  Schornstheimer  923 

THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES 928 

IS  THE  CHURCH  ON  THE  DECLINE?     .      .     By  Gustavus  Myers  934 
THE  RIGHT  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA  TO  INDEPENDENCE 

By  Charles  Pergler  942 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN     .      .     By  L.  C.  Orbach  944 

ANOTHER  DEFENSE  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA     ....     By  C.  945 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S    ALLIANCE    WITH    RUMANIA     ....  946 

HOW  TWO  U-BOAT  CRIMINALS  WERE  CONVICTED     ....  948 

THE    IRISH    PEACE    NEGOTIATIONS 952 

IRELAND'S  PROSPERITY  A  FORCE  FOR  PEACE 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker  955 

WHAT  AILS  ALASKA?     (Map)     .      .     By  Colonel  W.  P.  Richardson  960 

MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES     .      By  Frank  Bohn,  Ph.  D.  969 

JERSEY  AND  THE  KING  OF  ENGLAND * .  976 

THE  CASE  OF  CONSTANTINE  AND  THE  ALLIES 

By  N.  J.  Cassavetes  977 

THE    CALIPHATE    OF    ISLAM By    Clair    Price  981 

CREATING  AN   INDEPENDENT    SYRIA     .     By   General   Gouraud  986 
WHY  WE   DID   NOT    DECLARE   WAR   ON   TURKEY 

By   Frank   Jewett  989 
DEMOCRATIC   CZAR    AND   PEASANT    PREMIER 

By  Constantine  Stephanove  992 
STATEMENT   FROM   THE   RUMANIAN   MINISTER 

By    Antoine    Bibesco  1000 

JAPAN'S   HOSTILITY   TO    FOREIGNERS     .      .     By    Cecil    Battine  1001 

WHAT  BROKE  RUSSIA  TO  PIECES     ....     By  John  Spargo  1005 

GERMANY'S    STRIDES    IN    AVIATION     (Map) 1009 

Contents  Continued  on  Next  Page 

Entered  at  the   Post   Office   in   New   York   and   in   Canada   as    Second    Class   Matter. 
Copyright,   1021,   by  The   New   York   Times   Company.      All   Rights   Reserved. 


Table  of  Contents — Continued 


tedkVjxf" 


m 


PAGE 

INTERNATIONAL   CARTOONS  OF   CURRENT   EVENTS     .      .      .  1010 

THE   COMMUNIST   INTERNATIONAL:      HOW   IT   STANDS     .      .  1026 

RUSSIA    SCOURGED    BY    FAMINE     (Maps) 1030 

JAPAN'S  FEAR  OF  THE  ARMS  CONFERENCE 1035 

CHINA— THE   SICK  MAN  OF  THE   FAR  EAST 1037 

A   STRONG  CHINA— AMERICA'S   BEST   INSURANCE 

By  Richard  Hatton  1039 

GERMANY'S    SEPARATE    PEACE    WITH    CHINA 1041 

GERMANY'S     BUSINESS     RECOVERY 1045 

FRUITS    OF    THE    BRITISH    IMPERIAL    CONFERENCE     .      .      .  1047 

CANADA    AND    OTHER   BRITISH    DOMINIONS 1049 

SPAIN'S  MOROCCAN  REVERSES     (Map) 1051 

FRANCE  IN  THE  ROLE  OF  HAMLET 1054 

HOLLAND'S  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS .  1056 

ITALY'S  INTERNAL  PROBLEMS 1057 

POLITICAL   DEVELOPMENTS   IN   SCANDINAVIA     .....  1059 

FAILURE   OF   THE   BALTIC   LEAGUE 1062 

POLAND'S  TROUBLES  WITH  RUSSIA 1064 

THE  GREEK  TRIUMPH  IN  TURKEY     (Map) 1065 

BEGINNING  LOUVAIN'S  NEW  LIBRARY 1070 

HUNGARY,     AUSTRIA,     CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1071 

LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  TO  DECIDE  THE  SILESIAN  TANGLE     .  1073 

RUMANIA     AND     JUGOSLAVIA 1074 

MEXICO'S  EFFORTS  FOR  RECOGNITION 1075 

CENTRAL  AMERICAN  AFFAIRS 1078 

WEST    INDIAN    TRADE    CRISIS 1079 

TRADE   RIVALRY   IN   SOUTH   AMERICA 1082 

THE   CHILEAN  PRESIDENT'S   ATTACK   ON   GRAFT     ....  1085 

THE  DEATH  OF  CARUSO 1086 

MR.  HOOVER'S  REPORT  ON  BELGIAN  RELIEF 1086 

BUSINESS    AT    THE    UP-TURN 1087 


rr  HiS 


INDEX   OF   NATIONS   TREATED 
[Page  numbers  in  parentheses  indicate   special  articles;   the   others   are   the   month's  events] 


m 


PACT 

ALASKA     960 

ALBANIA 910 

ARGENTINA     1082 

AUSTRALIA    1050 

AUSTRIA      lOTli 

BELGIUM     (1080),  1070 

BOLIVIA     108G 

BRAZIL     1083 

BULGARIA     992 

CANADA     1040 

CANAL    ZONE    1079 

CENTRAL     AMERICA.  1078 

CHILE     (1085),  1083 

CHINA     (1039),  1037 

COLOMBIA     1083 

COSTA   RICA    1078 

CUBA    1079 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

(942-0-10),  1072 

DENMARK     1001 

ECUADOR    1083 

EGYPT       1  <••>■> 

ENGLAND    (970),  1047 


TAGH 

ESTHONIA     1062 

FINLAND     1062 

FRANCE    1054 

GERMANY 

(1009,     1041),  1045 

GREECE    (977),  1005 

HAITI     1081 

HEDJAZ    981 

HOLLAND    1Q56 

HUNGARY    1071 

INDIA     1081 

IRELAND      (955 ) ,  952 

ITALY     (909),  1057 

JAMAICA    1080 

JAPAN    (1001).  1035 

JUGOSLAVIA     ...(947),  1074 

LATVIA     1063 

LIBERIA     1084 

LITHUANIA     1064 

MEXICO     (969),  107H 

.MOROCCO     1051 

NEW    ZEALAND     1050 

NICARAGUA     1078 


PAGH 

NORWAY    105!» 

PANAMA     1078 

PARAGUAY     1083 

PERU    1083 

PERSIA     10*9 

PHILIPPINES     927 

POLAND     1064 

PORTO   RICO    1080 

PORTUGAL    105s 

RUMANIA..  (946,  1000),  1074 

RUSSIA    (951,  1005),  1030 

SALVADOR    1078 

SANTO    DOMINGO 1081 

SOUTH    AMERICA 1082 

SPAIN    lo.M 

SWEDEN    1062 

SYRIA     (986),  1069 

TURKEY     ...(982,989),  1065 

INI  TED     STATES 928 

UPPER     SILESIA 1073 

URUGUAY     1084 

VENEZUELA    1084 

WEST    INDIES    1079 


WALTER  LYMAN  BROWN 

European  Director  for  the  American  Relief  Administration,  the  Hoover  organiza- 
tion which  has  undertaken  to  save  the  starving  millions  in  Russia.  He  faces  the  task 
of  combating  the  most   appalling  famine  known   in  history. 


A  HUNDRED  YEARS  OP 
ITALIAN  LIFE 


By  Guglielmo  Ferrero 

Foremost   of   Italy's   Living   Historians 

A  rapid  sketch  of  how  the  original  policy  of  the  House  of  Savoy, 
in  the  course  of  an  eventful  century,  has  developed  into  the 
present  dangerous  situation  in  Italy — Deeper  causes  of  the  pro- 
letariat's threatening  attitude 


JUST  a  century  ago,  in  the  year 
1821,   a   revolution   broke   out   in 

Piedmont.  In  the  service  of  the 
House  of  Savoy  were  a  number  of 
Italian  officers  who  had  fought  un- 
der Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  1814. 
They  were  bored  with  the  routine  of 
barrack  life  and  disgruntled  at  the 
policy  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  which 
gave  no  early  promise  of  war.  They 
came  to  an  understanding  with  the 
Liberals  and  university  students  of 
Piedmont,  whereby  the  army  was  to 
lead  an  uprising  on  a  platform  de- 
manding— in  addition  to  a  constitu- 
tion— war  against  Austria  and  inde- 
pendence for  the  Italian  nation.  At 
that  time  military  men  in  Europe 
generally  were  inclining  toward 
liberal  ideas  and  the  rapidly  devel- 
oping sentiment  of  nationalism. 
Their  position  and  influence,  they 
figured,  would  be  more  brilliant  un- 
der a  liberal  regime  than  under  the 
absolutism  re-established  on  the 
ruins  of  Napoleon's  empire. 

The  revolt  was  suppressed  without 
much  difficulty.  Monarchy  was 
really  much  more  firmly  established 
than  had  been  supposed.  But  that 
was.  not  the  end  of  the  matter.  It 
was  discovered  that  the  Prince  of 
Carignano,  head  of  the  junior  branch 
of  the  House  of  Savoy,  not  only  knew 
of  the  plot  in  advance  but  had  actu- 
ally encouraged  it,  at  least  in  the 
beginning.  He  was  so  far  compro- 
mised, in  fact,  that  when  the  mutiny 


failed  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
Court  in  Piedmont,  take  refuge  first 
with  his  father-in-law,  the  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany  (he  lived  a  life  of 
elegant  luxury  in  the  splendid  villa 
of  Poggio  Imperiale  in  Florence), 
make  amends  by  fighting  in  Spain 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Legitimists 
and  cool  his  heels  for  a  long  time  in 
expectation  of  an  eventual  pardon — 
which  was  not  granted  without  oner- 
ous conditions. 

This  indiscretion  of  the  Prince, 
nevertheless,  created  the  policy  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  House  of 
Savoy,  which,  in  1831,  was  to  suc- 
ceed the  senior  line,  left  without  an 
heir  by  Charles  Felix.  Though  he 
had  failed  in  1821,  the  Prince  of 
Carignano  was  to  prosecute  the  same 
policy  under  conditions  much  more 
favorable,  when  he  ascended  the 
throne.  That  policy  consisted  not  in 
a.  frontal  attack  on  revolutionary 
ideas — as  was  the  practice  of  the 
Holy  Alliance — but  in  making  use  of 
them  (without  at  all  believing  in 
them)  in  running  governments  and 
expanding  territories,  thus  trans- 
forming the  radical  parties  into 
props,  more  or  less  stable,  of  public 
order  at  home,  and,  abroad,  into  in- 
struments of  diplomatic  and  military 
schemes  "  of  broad  purview." 

The  Prince  became  King  in  1831. 
Till  1848  Austria  kept  watch  on  him 
so  closely  that  he  could  not  think  of 
squaring  accounts  for  that  little  af- 


910 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


fair  of  1821.  The  work  cut  out  for 
Charles  Albert,  as  he  was  now  called, 
was  to  be  a  good  boy  and  a  good  King 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Holy  Alliance. 
But  when  the  Monarchy  of  July,  so 
called,  collapsed  in  Paris,  he  did  not 
hesitate  an  instant.  On  the  fourth 
of  March  he  proclaimed  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  three  weeks  later  he  de- 
clared war  on  Austria,  thus  carrying 
out  at  last  his  original  program:  an 
alliance  of  militarism,  liberalism  and 
nationalism — the  program  of  1821. 

His  effort  came  to  grief  at  the 
battle  of  Novara.  Even  with  the 
support  of  European  Liberalism 
Piedmont  was  too  small  a  country  to 
whip  the  Austrian  Empire.  But  the 
son  of  Charles  Albert  continued  the 
same  policy  and  brought  it  to  suc- 
cess. Victor  Emmanuel  II,  broke 
away  from  the  old  Absolutist  nobility 
of  Piedmont,  which,  since  1789,  had 
been  loyal  to  Legitimist  monarchism. 
He  did  not  break  with  the  Church, 
but  he  accepted  the  revolutionary 
doctrine  that  politics  must  be  an  ex- 
clusive business  of  the  laity.  He 
joined  the  liberal  nobility  and  the 
wealthy  bourgeoisie  against  the  no- 
bles and  clergy,  who  were  partisans 
of  reaction.  He  tried  to  be  a  con- 
stitutional sovereign,  ruling  with  a 
Chamber  and  a  Senate  (elected  on  a 
basis  of  restricted  suffrage)  and  with 
a  relatively  free  press.  He  was  so 
little  afraid  of  republican  ideas  that 
he  used  both  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi 
for  his  own  purposes.  He  was  so 
little  afraid  of  the  devil  that  he  did 
not  halt  at  the  threshold  of  Rome.  He 
succeeded  in  expelling  Austria  from 
Lombardy  and  Venetia,  in  conquer- 
ing the  rest  of  Italy,  in  founding  a 
large  kingdom  and  in  building  up  a 
great  military  machine.  Militarism, 
liberalism,  nationalism!  The  alliance 
conceived  by  Charles  Albert  in  1821 
produced,  just  fifty  years  later,  the 
great  things  expected  of  it. 

Humbert's  Troubled  Reign 

King  Humbert  continued  that 
policy.  Just  as  Victor  Emmanuel  had 
governed  with  the  Right  (liberal  no- 


bility and  bourgeoisie)  against  the 
Absolutists,  Humbert  governed  with 
the  Left  against  the  Right.  The  Left 
was  a  group  of  varied  elements, 
numerous  among  them  the  old  re- 
publicans who  had  rallied  to  the  mon- 
archy in  1860,  and  who,  in  the  name 
of  "  the  people  "  anpl  of  "  democracy  " 
attacked  the  Right  and  its  policies  as 
unjust  toward  the  masses.  The  Left 
laid  special  stress  on  the  doctrine  r>f 
popular  sovereignty,  of  which  the 
liberalism  of  the  Right  had  been  the 
first  expression.  It  derived  its  main 
support  from  the  middle  classes  and 
the  intellectuals.  King  Humbert  used 
the  Left  by  exchanging  a  more  demo- 
cratic constitution,  and  a  much  more 
general  suffrage,  for  an  alliance  with 
the  Germanic  empires,  an  increased 
army  and  navy,  and  the  beginning  of 
a  colonial  domain.  His  reign  wit- 
nessed a  more  vigorous  foreign  policy 
on  the  part  of  Italy,  which  was  to 
give  the  country,  as  a  great  military 
power,  a  louder  voice  in  the  concert 
of  Europe.  The  man  chosen  to  exe- 
cute this  policy  was  Crispi,  a  friend 
and  a  pupil  of  Mazzini,  who  had  come 
over  to  the  monarchy  in  1860  with- 
out breaking  his  friendly  connections 
with  the  Republicans  and  with  the 
elements  of  the  Extreme  Left. 

Humbert  did  not  succeed  as  well  as 
his  father  succeeded.  The  latter  years 
of  his  reign,  indeed,  were  very  much 
disturbed.  A  sort  of  general  law 
seems  to  govern  all  the  movements 
springing  from  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. They  develop  in  successive  and 
ever-widening  waves,  the  wave  be- 
hind trying  to  submerge  the  waves 
in  front  of  it.  The  Liberal  Right 
thus  gave  way  to  the  Democratic  Left. 
But  during  Humbert's  reign  two  new 
waives  sweep  out  on  the  political  hori- 
zon of  Italy,  "  Radicalism,"  so-called, 
and  Socialism,  the  former  bent  on 
obliterating  the  Left  and  the  Right, 
the  latter  determined  to  destroy  not 
only  these,  but  Radicalism  also.  The 
Radicals  accused  the  Left  of  "  betray- 
ing the  people,"  just  as  the  Left  had 
accused  the  Right;  and  of  the  same 
crime  they  were  in  turn  accused  by 


A   HUNDRED    YEARS  OF  ITALIAN  LIFE 


911 


the  Socialists.  The  result  was  a  deal 
of  confusion  in  the  last  five  or  six 
years  of  Humbert's  life.  In  the  tur- 
moil the  traditional  policy  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  House  of  Sa- 
voy seemed  in  danger  of  collapse.  At 
one  moment  the  King  became  quite 
alarmed  and  seemed  disposed  to  adopt 
a  policy  of  frank  reaction.  But  prin- 
ciples cannot  be  compromised  and 
at  the  same  time  kept  vigorously 
alive.  When  Humbert  looked  about 
for  tools  to  enforce  a  policy  of  ex- 
treme conservatism,  he  found  them 
either  entirely  lacking  or  very  rusty 
indeed. 

The  Mistakes  of  Giolitti 

Crowned  in  tragic  circumstances — 
the  assassination  of  his  father — Vic- 
tor Emmanuel  III.  resolutely  went 
back  to  the  traditions  of  his  family. 
The  situation  was  difficult,  but  he  was 
keen  enough  to  find  just  the  man  to 
adapt  the  policy  of  the  younger 
branch  of  the  House  of  Savoy  to  that 
situation.  Mr.  Giolitti  comes  from  a 
respectable  middle-class  family  of 
Piedmont,  and  he  was  born  at  a  time 
when  the  Monarchy  was  virtually  a 
sacred  ikon  in  that  province.  Mr. 
Giolitti  is  one  of  the  few  politicians 
in  Italy  in  whom  devotion  to  the 
House  of  Savoy  is  sincerely  and  deep- 
ly rooted.  Add  to  that  feeling  the 
patriotism  rampant  in  the  generation 
that  grew  up  in  the  days  of  Victor 
Emmanuel's  glory ;  and  to  them  both 
a  complete  indifference  toward  the 
principles  and  doctrines  of  modern 
democracy.  Free  from  any  taint 
of  these  doctrines,  Mr.  Giolitti  has 
been  free  to  use  them  cold-bloodedly 
as  an  instrument  of  government,  in 
the  keen  if  at  times  disappointed 
hope  that  they  could  be  turned  to  the 
interests  of  the  country  he  loves  and 
of  the  Monarchy  to  which  he  is  still 
respectfully  loyal. 

Giolitti,  in  fact,  succeeded  in  strik- 
ing a  bargain  with  the  Radicals  and 
the  Socialists,  whereby,  with  their 
assistance  or  at  least  without  their 
opposition,  he  was  able  to  develop, 
during  the  first  fourteen  years   of 


this  century,  a  policy  of  militarism 
and  nationalism,  so  far  as  such  a 
policy,  given  general  conditions  in 
Europe,  was  at  all  practicable.  He 
invited  Radicals  into  his  ministries, 
and  tried  to  induce  Socialists  also  to 
accept  portfolios ;  but  never  was  for- 
eign policy  more  completely  a  mys- 
tery, more  wholly  a  matter  of  back- 
stairs intrigue,  than  during  his  days 
in  power.  In  Humbert's  time,  the 
Triple  Alliance  had  been  the  point 
of  violent  attack  from  .the  parties  of 
the  Extreme  Left;  but  Mr.  Giolitti 
twice  renewed  that  alliance  after 
calling  the  Extreme  Left  "  to  power  " 
— renewals  made  without  public  dis- 
cussion, under  the  veil  of  strictest 
secrecy,  and  with  conditions  which 
are  but  vaguely  known  even  to  this 
day.  He  gave  the  vote  to  the  masses, 
though  they  were  not  demanding  uni- 
versal suffrage,  and  though  every- 
body, Socialists  included,  was  afraid 
of  it.  As  has  been  well  observed,  he 
threw  the  key  of  the  State  into  the 
street,  in  the  hope  that  friends  would 
pick  it  up  and  hand  it  back  to  him. 
But  he  conquered  Tripoli,  giving  a 
final  push  at  the  already  tottering 
peace  of  the  world.  He  increased  the 
army  and  the  navy  to  the  limit  of  his 
resources.  If  both  army  and  navy 
were  ill-prepared  in  1915,  the  fault 
lay  less  with  the  policy  of  Mr.  Giolitti 
than  with  the  absurdities  of  the 
modern  military  system,  which  asks 
peoples  to  do  the  impossible. 

In  short,  Mr.  Giolitti  worked  zeal- 
ously, however  unwittingly,  to  help 
the  men  in  charge  of  Europe  between 
1900  and  1914  prepare  the  great 
catastrophe.  When  the  World  War 
broke  out  he  recoiled,  indeed,  from 
the  possible  consequences.  He  under- 
stood that  Italy  and  the  House  of 
Savoy  were  risking  their  existence  on 
one  throw  of  the  dice.  But  Italy  was 
dragged  into  the  war  by  the  mo- 
mentum of  the  whole  political  move- 
ment which  began  with  the  mutiny 
of  1821,  and  of  which  he  had  been 
the  last  and  most  skillful  artisan. 
Was  not  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  built 
up,  after  1848,  on  the  policy  of  the 


912 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


younger  branch  of  the  House  of  Sa- 
voy to  exploit  the  jealousies  and  dis- 
cords of  the  great  powers  of  Europe? 
Were  not  the  vital  interests  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Italy  inseparably  bound 
up  with  those  quarrels  and  conflicts  ? 
How  then  free  Italy,  overnight,  from 
entanglements  which  only  powers  that 
had  remained  neutral  in  all  the  strug- 
gles of  the  previous  fifty  years  could 
avoid  ?  Mr.  Giolitti  was  unable  to  stay 
the  avalanche  he  had  himself  con- 
tributed to  let  loose  upon  the  world. 
To  make  such  an  attempt  even  was 
to  risk  his  very  life. 

Turmoil  Under  Nitti. 

The  mistakes  of  Mr.  Giolitti's  suc- 
cessors, notably  the  supreme  incom- 
petence of  Mr.  Nitti,  saved  him  and 
brought  him  back  to  power.  On  re- 
entering Palazzo  Braschi  after  five 
long  years  of  war,  Mr.  Giolitti  found 
the  State  profoundly  stirred  by  a  gale 
of  revolution  blowing  from  two  direc- 
tions, from  the,  Socialists  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  Nationalists  on  the 
other.  In  judging  the  present  situa- 
tion in  Italy,  we  must  not  forget  the 
origin  of  the  disturbances  at  present 
raging  in  the  country.  Up  to  June, 
1919,  everything  was  quiet.  Good 
order  had  been  preserved  till  Mr.  Or- 
lando's Ministry  fell  (as  the  result 
of  his  defeats  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence), and  the  King  called  on  Mr. 
Nitti  to  form  a  new  Cabinet.  The 
Nationalists  thought  the  moment  ripe 
for  reviving  the  tradition  of  May 
Day;  and  they  tried  to  prevent  the 
organization  of  this  Ministry  by 
demonstrations  of  violence  in  all  the 
great  cities.  Praiseworthy  the  inten- 
tion underlying  this  agitation:  to 
save  the  country  from  a  Ministry  of 
monumental  incapacity.  But  the 
means  employed  were  decidedly  revo- 
lutionary. The  signal  for  nation- 
wide turbulence  was  given. 

Mr.  Nitti  managed  to  get  his  Min- 
istry together;  but  early  in  July, 
when  it  had  hardly  begun  its  career 
of  maladministration,  another  revolu- 
tionary movement,  of  far  vaster  pro- 
portions   and    emanating    this    time 


from  Socialist  centres,  was  launched 
upon  the  public.  From  one  end  of 
Italy  to  the  other  stores  and  shops 
were  raided.  Goods  were  transported 
in  great  masses  to  the  Labor  Cham- 
bers and  thence  distributed  to  the 
populace  at  absurdly  low  prices.  The 
authorities,  in  this  revolt  against  the 
High  Cost  of  Living,  were  compelled 
to  lay  the  most  capricious  and  arbi- 
trary taxes  upon  sales.  Days  of  fright- 
ful chaos,  in  short,  during  which  Italy 
had  a  first  and  fortunately  a  fleeting 
taste  of  the  Dictatorship  of  the  Pro- 
letariat ! 

But  the  Nationalists  were  not  slow 
in  coming  up  abreast  of  their  rivals 
on  the  Extreme  Left.  In  September 
the  raid  on  Fiume  was  pulled  off. 
If  all  the  agitation  now  going  on  in 
Italy  leads  in  the  end  to  a  revolution, 
history  will  fix  d'Annunzio's  Fiume 
expedition  as  the  beginning  of  it. 
There,  for  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Kingdom,  groups  of  sol- 
diers resisted  and  disobeyed  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  effect  on  the  imminent 
elections  was  tremendous.  The  So- 
cialists won  a  victory  that  eventually 
turned  the  heads  of  leaders  and  rank 
and  file  alike.  Revolution  seemed  for 
a  moment  in  full  view.  All  the  bitter- 
ness, hatred,  uneasiness,  all  the  eager- 
ness for  revolt  and  change,  which 
long  and  harsh  repression  during  the 
war  had  intensified  to  pent-up  vio- 
lence, now  broke  forth,  completely 
paralyzing  a  Government,  weak  and 
indecisive  by  temperament,  and  com- 
pletely given  over  to  inefficiency  and 
lack  of  intelligence.  Strikes,  riots, 
violence  on  small  and  on  large  scale, 
arson,  pillage,  assassination!  That  is 
the  story  of  the  next  months.  Rail- 
road men  reached  a  point  where  they 
dared  refuse  to  transport  troops  and 
munitions  to  destinations  they  chose 
to  declare  suspect.  Mr.  Nitti  just  sat 
around  looking  on,  with  his  arms 
folded! 

The  public  at  first  felt  as  helpless 
as  the  Government.  Then  gradually 
reaction  got  under  way.  The  White 
Revolution  took  form  in  opposition  to 
the  Red.    The  famous  Fasci  began  to 


A  HUNDRED   YEARS  OF  ITALIAN  LIFE 


913 


organize  in  different  towns,  mostly 
in  connection  with  the  interminable 
affair  at  Fiume.  The  object  of  the 
Fasci  seemed  at  first  to  be  support  of 
d'Annunzio  in  every  possible  man- 
ner. But  soon  the  Fascista  movement 
was  engaged  in  a  hand-to-hand  tussle 
with  the  Socialists  and  the  com- 
munists. When  Mr.  Giolitti  took  hold 
of  the  Government  again  (in  June, 
1920),  he  found  the  communist  agita- 
tion in  full  swing  and  the  Fascista 
movement  in  the  first  phase  of  its 
development. 

Doings  of  the  Fascisti 

Whether  because  he  would  or  be- 
cause he  could  do  nothing,  Mr.  Gio- 
litti did  not  interfere  with  either 
party.  He  successfully  attacked  a 
number  of  problems  left  in  a  muddle 
by  Mr.  Nitti — financial  organization, 
the  Adriatic  question  notably,  and 
peace.  But  on  the  matter  of  keeping 
domestic  order,  he  adopted  a  policy 
of  watchful  waiting,  allowing  the  two 
revolutionary  movements  to  mature 
to  their  mutual  intoxication.  The  So- 
cialists promptly  took  all  the  rope 
allowed  them,  finishing  with  the  seiz- 
ure of  the  factories  in  September, 
1920.  But  when  the  country  went  to 
the  polls  for  the  local  and  municipal 
elections  in  November  the  Socialists 
bumped  their  noses  on  the  Fusion 
bloc,  which  offered  much  more  tena- 
cious resistance  than  had  been  the 
case  a  year  before.  The  Socialists 
held  their  ground,  but  no  more  than 
that.  In  1919  they  elected  one-third, 
in  round  numbers,  of  the  Chamber. 
In  1920  they  captured  about  a  third 
of  the  municipalities.  But  episodes 
incident  to  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  local  councils,  especially  the  ter- 
rible murders  that  took  place  in  the 
Council  at  Bologna,  were  the  signal 
for  the  avalanche  of  Fascista  violence 
to  break  upon  the  country. 

On  all  hands  the  Fascisti  came  for- 
ward to  replace  an  absent  or  a  timid 
public  authority.  At  times  they  went 
far  beyond  anything  that  official  ac- 
tion would  have  held  in  view.  They 
conducted  searching  parties  and  made 


arrests.  Not  being  able  to  seize  the 
newspapers  of  the  Reds,  they  de- 
stroyed the  printing  plants.  They  at- 
tacked and  dismantled  Labor  Cham- 
bers. They  broke  up  Socialist  meet- 
ings and  Socialist  parades,  interfer- 
ing everywhere  with  Socialist  propa- 
ganda. They  did  their  best  to  make 
life  intolerable  for  leading  Socialist 
Deputies.  Finally,  they  began  their 
punitive  expediti®ns,  their  so-called 
"  reprisals."  When  a  town  treated 
itself  to  some  Socialist  excess  or 
other,  the  Fascisti  would  visit  the 
place  to  exact  "  reprisals. "  Most  often 
their  fury  was  vented  on  Labor 
Chambers,  Socialist  headquarters,  or 
Socialist  "  leading  citizens."  As  is 
the  case  usually  with  "  reprisals,"  in- 
nocent people  suffered  for  the  guilty. 

The  Government  made  no  serious 
effort  to  check  the  Fascista  move- 
ment. Indeed,  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  repress  the  Fascisti  with- 
out at  the  same  time  taking  the  So- 
cialists in  hand.  To  deal  with  both 
movements  at  once  would  have  neces- 
sitated the  proclamation  of  martial 
law.  From  this  drastic  measure  Mr. 
Giolitti  shrank,  for  a  variety  of  rea- 
sons, some  of  them  weighty,  others 
of  lesser  importance.  His  policy  was 
to  let  the  movement  wear  itself  out. 
He  was  waiting  for  general  discom- 
fort to  make  itself  felt  in  the  country 
and  for  an  inclination  to  frown  upon 
all  revolutionary  agitation  to  develop. 
He  dissolved  Parliament. 

By  a  curious  coincidence,  the  elec- 
tions ensuing  fell  just  a  century  after 
the  revolution  of  1821,  a  coincidence 
with  a  certain  symbolical  meaning. 
The  recent  elections  were  one  more 
application  of  the  policy  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  House  of  Sa- 
voy, the  most  complicated,  the  most 
hazardous  application  of  it  that  per- 
haps has  ever  been  made. 

Down  to  1914,  the  dynasty  and  the 
Government  rested  on  a  solidly 
grounded  Europe  where  the  mon- 
archical system  still  constituted  the 
framework  of  the  social  order.  They 
had  gotten  along  by  making  conces- 
sions to  the  personnel  and  to  the  plat- 


914 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


form  of  the  revolutionary  party  most 
noisy  at  the  moment — the  Republi- 
cans before  1890,  the  Socialists  there- 
after. Thus  they  had  found  support 
against  all  opposition  and  their  policy 
had  consolidated  the  Italian  King- 
dom and  enlarged  it  to  its  present 
boundaries.  In  all  this  intriguing, 
concessions  to  individuals  were  al- 
ways more  important  than  conces- 
sions to  principles ;  and  this  explains 
the  greater  success  of  the  policy  with 
the  Socialists  than  with  the  old  Re- 
publican Party  of  Mazzini.  Mazzini 
had  principles  as  clear,  as  definite,  as 
frankly  stated,  as  those  of  the  So- 
cialists are  vague,  formulistic  and 
superficial.  It  was  no  mean  task  to 
bring  the  old  Republicans  around  to 
support  the  monarchy.  The  Socialists 
trooped  up  to  the  Quirinal  at  the  first 
call,  leaving  their  principles  and  their 
doctrines  at  the  gate. 

Giolitti's  Present  Plan 

But  the  present  situation  is  far 
different  from  this.  The  dynasty  no 
longer  has  a  solid  Europe  to  fall  back 
on.  Like  all  other  Governments  on 
this  side  of  the  ocean,  it  feels  itself 
cut  off  on  a  patch  of  quicksand  sur- 
rounded by  a  flood  of  social  revolu- 
tion; and  it  has  before  it,  not  one 
revolutionary  movement,  but  two, 
and  both  hostile  to  the  present  Gov- 
ernment, the  Fascisti  more  bitterly 
hostile,  even,  than  the  Socialists.  To 
be  sure,  there  has  of  late  developed 
in  the  Italian  Socialist  movement  a 
faction  disposed  to  restore  the  ancient 
doctrines  and  the  ancient  methods  of 
revolutionary  socialism.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  large  number  of  "  leaders  " 
have  had  a  great  admiration  for  Mr. 
Giolitti  and  would  ask  for  nothing 
better  than  to  come  to  an  agreement 
with  him.  Among  them  secret  as- 
pirants to  power  are  numerous.  The 
Fascisti,  on  the  other  hand,  detest 
Mr.  Giolitti,  who  in  their  eyes  is  the 
"  hangman  "  of  Fiume ;  and  for  the 
King,  as  well,  they  have  little  use. 
It  is  apparent  that  the  old  policy 
which  brought  the  House  of  Savoy 
from  Turin  to  Rome,  a  policy  requir- 


ing the  most  adroit  and  subtle  of 
piloting,  can  no  longer  progress  on 
the  basis  of  the  traditional  charting. 

What  was  Mr.  Giolitti's  recourse  in 
the  circumstances?  His  first  thought 
was  to  crush  the  Socialists  by  giving 
a  free  hand  to  the  Fascisti.  Every- 
where the  latter  were  given,  and  are 
still  being  given,  a  free  hand  to  ter- 
rorize and  disorganize  the  Socialist 
revolutionary  movement. 

And  his  second  thought — which  re- 
quires a  still  more  delicate  touch  to 
execute — is  to  come  to  an  understand- 
ing with  the  much-chastened  Social- 
ists, transform  them  into  elements  of 
order,  and  use  them  for  a  legal  re- 
pression of  the  Fascisti. 

This  plan  is  an  intricate  one;  and 
it  will  seem  deeply  and  darkly  Machi- 
avellian to  those  who  are  unfamiliar 
with  the  history  of  the  Italian  King- 
dom and  who  study  Italian  politics 
from  an  English  or  French  stand- 
point. This  method  is  a  method  made 
respectable  by  a  century  of  successful 
use,  and  which  therefore  enjoys  his- 
torical prestige  enough  to  promise 
well  even  in  the  tangled  situation  at 
present  prevailing. 

It  is  a  risky  thing  to  prophesy  the 
outcome.  I  can  only  venture  an  im- 
pression born  rather  of  intuition  and 
of  instinct  than  of  any  convinced 
foresight.  It  is  that  the  manoeuvre 
here  contemplated  is  too  involved  to 
be  capable  of  execution  in  times  of 
agitation  like  the  present.  I  believe 
that  1921  will  mark  the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  the  policy  of  1821. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Fascisti  will 
not  be  so  readily  attached  to  the 
fusion  of  the  constitutional  parties  as 
Mr.  Giolitti  hopes.  The  Fascisti  do 
not  recognize  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo; 
they  are  bent  on  abrogating  it.  How, 
then,  can  they  co-operate  with  ele- 
ments committed  to  the  support  of 
that  treaty  ?  But  there  is  also  a  more 
general  question.  The  policy  of  over- 
coming two  revolutionary  parties  by 
beating  one  with  the  other  can  in- 
deed succeed,  but  only  on  one  condi- 
tion :  that  the  Government  using  that 
policy  have  both  parties  so  well  in 


A  HUNDRED   YEARS  OF  ITALIAN  LIFE 


915 


hand  that  it  can  bend  either  as  it 
wishes  at  the  strategic  moment.  Has 
Mr.  Giolitti  or  the  man  who  has  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Giolitti,  that  masterful 
control  over  Socialists  and  Fascisti 
alike?  Well,  then,  what  will  happen 
if,  at  the  shown-down,  the  cards  go 
against  that  policy  ? 

Here  again  let  me  venture  my  own 
guess.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
as  the  result  of  combined  efforts  of 
Government  and  middle  classes,  the 
Socialist  Party  in  Italy  were  reduced 
to  harmlessness.  People  abroad  will 
rub  their  hands  with  delight  at  this 
and  enjoy  in  foretaste  an  era  of  order 
and  prosperity  for  Italy.  But  the 
permanent  restoration  of  order,  not 
in  Italy  only,  but  in  all  Europe,  is  a 
much  more  serious  business  than  has 
been  supposed.  If  we  could  get  the 
millennium  by  beating  a  Socialist 
ticket,  how  cheap  millennia  would  be ! 

Cause  of  Existing  Chaos 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  disorder 
rampant  in  Europe,  as  a  result  of 
the  war,  has  much  deeper  causes  than 
Socialist  propaganda,  which  is  itself 
only  in  part  a  cause,  and  in  larger 
part  an  effect  of  forces  that  have 
been  working  in  Europe  since  the 
French  Revolution  to  create  the 
chaos  of  the  present.  Our  pitiable 
condition  is  the  work,  more  or  less,  of 
all  the  parties  and  groups  that  have 
governed  Europe  since  the  fall  of 
Louis  XVI.,  with  the  exception  of 
those  in  control  between  1815  and 
1848.  The  Restoration,  the  reaction 
really  tried  to  lay  a  solid,  a  coherent 
underpinning  to  the  social  fabric  of 
Europe.  All  the  other  parties  have 
tried  to  stimulate  the  spirit  of  discon- 
tent and  revolt  in  the  masses  by  push- 
ing the  military  system  of  the  French 
Revolution  to  monstrous  absurdities, 
and  by  destroying  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  nations  the  concept  of  an 
inviolable  international  law  and  the 
notion,  as  well,  of  a  sacred,  inviolable 
legality  governing  the  internal  rela- 
tionships of  peoples. 

The  great  States  of  Europe  have 


been  conducting  ferocious  struggles 
for  military,  political  and  commercial 
hegemony,  fighting  for  domination 
over  land  and  sea  and  for  the  ag- 
grandizement of  territories.  To  util- 
ize the  masses  in  this  shameful  strug- 
gle they  have  held  out  promises  of  all 
the  wealth  of  the  earth — riches,  po- 
litical power,  knowledge.  The  parties 
who  have  been  in  control  of  Europe 
are  responsible  for  the  rapacious 
selfishness  now  raging  in  the  masses. 
High  wages,  wages  reaching  the  in- 
credible figures  recently  prevailing, 
have  filled  the  laborers  with  greed. 
Universal  suffrage  has  given  to  mass 
stupidity  the  upper  hand  over  intelli- 
gence. Popular  education  has  devel- 
oped vanity  in  the  populace  far  in  ad- 
vance of  good  sense.  Not  content 
with  this,  the  masters  of  Europe  have 
finally  put  arms  into  the  hands  of  the 
mob !  A  militarized  proletariat !  None 
of  the  civilizations  preceding  ours 
ever  dreamed  of  committing  such  a 
bad  mistake.  And  now  the  people, 
who  think  themselves  the  real  peo- 
ple, affect  astonishment,  and  ask 
whether  there  is  not  something  wrong 
with  the  world,  because  the  masses, 
rich,  powerful,  vain — and  armed- ^ 
refuse  to  obey  the  little  oligarchies 
which  assert  the  right  to  send  them 
forth  to  be  massacred  by  millions  in 
the  name  of  patriotism ! 

If  today  the  Socialists,  in  spite  of 
their  ignorance  and  incompetence, 
are  masters  of  half  of  Europe,  they 
owe  that  eminence  less  to  Proudhon 
and  Karl  Marx  than  to  Napoleon  and 
Bismarck.  That  is  why  something 
more  than  an  election  or  a  change  of 
Ministries  is  necessary  before  Italy, 
or  any  other  country  in  Europe,  can 
return  to  normality.  A  long,  a  care- 
ful, a  painful  course  of  spiritual  hy- 
giene is  essential. 

To  show  how  difficult  the  process 
will  be,  an  anecdote  will  be  sufficient. 
Some  days  ago  I  met  an  important 
public  man — with  years  and  honors 
laden — who  is  regarded  in  Italy  as  a 
pillar  of  the  throne  and  a  bulwark  of 
public  order.  Conservatives  never 
pronounce  his  name  without  a  hush 


!)16 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  awe  in  their  voices.  This  gentle- 
man is  at  present  engaged  in  organiz- 
ing a  national  commemoration  of  the 
events  of  1821.    I  said  to  him : 

"  But  has  your  Excellency  reflected 
on  one  thing?  Is  it  prudent  in  times 
like  these,  when  people  are  so  gen- 
erally anxious  for  a  revolution,  of- 
ficially to  unveil  a  monument  in 
honor  of  a  group  of  soldiers  who 
mutinied  against  their  legally  consti- 
tuted superiors?  I  am  well  aware  of 


the  gratitude  and  worship  we  should 
accord  to  history.  But  isn't  it  wise 
to  recall  that  old  proverb  which 
recommends  avoidance  of  the  word 
'  rope '  in  the  presence  of  relatives 
of  a  condemned  criminal  ?" 

The  stately  personage,  this  high- 
priest  of  Conservatism,  contented 
himself  with  a  placid  smile.  He 
thought  that  I  was  joking  *  *  *  as 
I  pretended  to  be. 


ALBANIA'S  REPLY  TO  GREEK  CHARGES 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  connection  with  your  statements  in 
the  August  Current  History  under  the 
heading,  "  Albania's  Feud  with  Greece," 
I  wish  to  point  out  certain  grave  errors: 

The  affair  of  the  seizure  of  the  St. 
George  Church  of  Korcha  or  Koritza  by 
the  Albanians  in  the  first  week  of  May  last 
is  entirely  different  from  what  has  been 
depicted  by  the  news  coming  from  Greek 
sources.  I  was  visiting  Korcha  at  that  time, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  there  was  not  the 
slightest  disturbance  in  connection  with  the 
seizure  of  the  church.  The  Greek  Metro- 
politan— who  is  not  a  Metropolitan  at  all, 
but  only  a  salaried  Greek  propagandist  who 
draws  generous  emoluments  from  the  Greek 
Foreign  Office — not  only  did  not  "  myste- 
riously disappear,"  but  was  in  the  city  ail 
the  time,  being  closely  guarded  by  the  Al- 
banian authorities  against  the  just  indig- 
nation of  the  native  population. 

The  rest  of  the  mendacious  Greek  report 
that  the  Albanians  made  an  armed  attack 
upon  the  non-existent  Greeks  of  Koritza, 
and  that  massacres  ensued,  is  so  scandalous 
that  it  hardly  deserves  a  denial.  I  can  as- 
sure you  again  that  not  even  a  shot  was 
fired  or  a  sword  drawn. 

The  next  item  of  "  Albania's  Feud  with 
Greece,"  that  is,  the  question  of  Chimarra, 
is  also  entirely  different  in  character,  and 
it  so  happened  that  I  was  again  an  eye- 
witness to  that  event.  The  truth  is,  then, 
that  the  population  of  Chimarra  itself 
sent  to  Valona,  where  I  was  staying  at  that 
time,  a  deputation  of  six  men  to  secure 
from  the  Albanian  Government  certain 
privileges  and  immunities  which  they  had 


been  enjoying  in  the  past.  I  had  a  very 
pleasant  conversation-  with  the  men  myself 
at  the  villa  of  the  Governor  of  Valona, 
whose  guest  I  was,  and  I  was  so  convinced 
of  the  justice  of  their  demands  that  I  took 
their  side,  even  though  I  was  and  still  am 
an  official  of  the  Albanian  Government. 
The  result  was  that  the  Albanian  Govern- 
ment granted  all  their  reasonable  claims. 
Coming  to  the  more  tender  point  of  the 
alleged  complicity  of  Albania,  or  of  cer- 
tain Albanians,  in  the  alleged  plot  of  hav- 
ing my  country  align  itself  against  Greece 
as  an  ally  of  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha,  I  beg 
to  state  officially  that  the  Albanian  Par- 
liament, by  a  special  act  of  June  20,  em- 
powered the  Government  to  prosecute  any 
Albanian  accused  of  having  dealings  with 
Mustapha  Kemal,  as  well  as  to  adopt  the 
most  severe  measures  against  any  propa- 
ganda favoring  Turkey  or  Mustapha  Ke- 
mal. There  may  be  some  Albanians  who 
think,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  Albania  to  help  Mustapha  Ke- 
mal against  Greece,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  latter  power  has  never  ceased  to  in- 
trigue in  Albania,  as  shown  by  the  St. 
George  and  the  Chimarra  affairs;  but  this 
is  no  ground  upon  which  to  accuse  the  Al- 
banian Government  of  favoring  Mustapha 
Kemal,  any  more  than  the  United  States 
Government  could  fairly  have  been  accused 
of  complicity  with  either  belligerent  prior 
to  its  entry  into  the  World  War  because 
there  were  Americans  who  sympathized 
with  one  or  the  other  side. 

C.  A.  CHEKREZI. 

Albanian  Commissioner  to  the  United  States. 
Washington,  D.   C,  Aug.  J,,  1921. 


THE 
DISARMAMENT   CONFERENCE 


President  Harding's  invitation  to  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy 
and  Japan  formally  sent  and  accepted — Japan's  misgivings  as 
to  subjects  to  be  discussed — Facts  as  to  the  comparative  size 
of  navies  and  other  questions  at  issue 


AFTER  many  months  of  isolation, 
.  so  far  as  Europe's  efforts  to  es- 
tablish the  world's  peace  on  a 
firm  basis  are  concerned,  the  United 
States  has  acted  on  its  own  initiative 
in  calling  a  conference  of  the  principal 
naval  powers  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing the  limitation  of  armaments, 
as  well  as  all  vexed  questions, which 
obstruct  the  way  to  the  at- 
tainment of  this  almost  uni- 
versal aspiration. 

The  civilized  world  ex- 
perienced a  thrill  of  hope 
when  President  Harding  on 
July  10  sent  out  his  invita- 
tion to  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy  and  Japan  to  partici- 
pate in  a  formal  conference, 
preferably  in  Washington. 
Though  the  text  of  this  pre- 
liminary invitation  was  not 
made  public,  the  State  De- 
partment gave  the  substance 
of  it,  and  the  President's 
view  was  made  plain  that  the 
whole  disarmament  question 
was  closely  linked  with  Paci- 
fic and  Far  Eastern  prob- 
lems. China,  it  was  stated, 
had  also  been  included  in  the 
invitation.  This  first  and 
general  invitation  was 
promptly  accepted  by  all  the 
powers  addressed  *  except 
Japan.  The  formal  invita- 
tion was  not  sent  out  until 
Aug.  11.  The  text,  identical 
in  each  case,  read  as  follows : 

The  President  is  deeply  grati- 
fied at  the  cordial  response  to  his 


suggestion  that  there  should  be  a  confer- 
ence on  the  subject  of  limitation  of  arma- 
ment, in  connection  with  which  Pacific  and 
Far  Eastern  questions  should  also  be  dis- 
cussed. 

Productive  labor  is  staggering  under  an 
economic  burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne  un- 
less the  present  vast  public  expenditures 
are  greatly  reduced.  It  is  idle  to  look  for 
stability,  or  the  assurance  of  social  justice, 
or  the  security  of  peace,  while  wasteful  and 


PACIFIC  POSSESSIONS  OP  VARIOUS  NATIONS  CON- 
CERNED IN  THE  PROBLEMS  TO  BE  DISCUSSED  AT 
THE  WASHINGTON  CONFERENCE.  THE  MANDATES 
OVER  GERMANY'S  FORMER  PACIFIC  POSSESSIONS  ARE 
INDICATED    BY    THE    BLACK    OUTLINES 


918 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


unproductive  outlays  deprive  effort  of  its 
just  reward  and  defeat  the  reasonable  ex- 
pectation of  progress.  The  enormous  dis- 
bursements in  the  rivalries  of  armaments 
manifestly  constitute  the  greater  part  of 
the  encumbrance  upon  enterprise  and  na- 
tional prosperity;  and  avoidable  or  extrava- 
gant expense  of  this  nature  is  not  only 
without  economic  justification,  but  is  a 
constant  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  world 
rather  than  an  assurance  of  its  preserva- 
tion. Yet  there  would  seem  to  be  no  ground 
to  expect  the  halting  of  these  increasing 
outlays  unless  the  powers  most  largely  con- 
cerned find  a  satisfactory  basis  for  an 
agreement  to  effect  their  limitation.  The 
time  is  believed  to  be  opportune  for  these 
powers  to  approach  this  subject  directly 
and  in  conference;  and  while,  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  armament,  the  question  of  naval 
armament  may  naturally  have  first  place, 
it  has  been  thought  best  not  to  exclude 
questions  pertaining  to  other  armament  to 
the  end  that  all  practicable  measures  of 
relief  may  have  appropriate  consideration. 
It  may  also  be  found  advisable  to  formulate 
proposals  by  which  in  the  interest  of  im- 
munity the  use  of  new  agencies  of  warfare 
may  be  suitably  controlled. 

It  is,  however,  quite  clear  that  there  can 
be  no  final  assurance  of  the  peace  of  the 
world  in  the  absence  of  the  desire  for  peace, 
and  the  prospect  of  reduced  armaments  is 
not  a  hopeful  one  unless  this  desire  finds 
expression  in  a  practical  effort  to  remove 
cause  of  misunderstanding  and  to  seek 
ground  for  agreement  as  to  the  principles 
and  their  application.  It  is  the  earnest 
wish  of  this  Government  that  through  an 
interchange  of  views  with  the  facilities  af- 
forded by  a  conference,  it  may  be  possible 
to  find  a  solution  of  Pacific  and  Far  East- 
ern problems  of  unquestioned  importance 
at  this  time,  that  is,  such  common  misunder- 
standings with  respect  to  matters  which 
have  been  and  are  of  international  concern 
as  may  serve  to  promote  enduring  friend- 
ship among  our  peoples. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  Government 
to  attempt  to  define  the  scope  of  the  dis- 
cussion in  relation  to  the  Pacific  and  Far 


East,  but  rather  to  leave  this  to  be  the  sub- 
ject of  suggestions  to  be  exchanged  before 
the  meeting  of  the  conference  in  the  expec- 
tation that  the  spirit  of  friendship  and  a 
cordial  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
the  elimination  of  sources  of  controversy 
will  govern  the  final  decision. 

Accordingly,  in  pursuance  of  the  proposal 
which  has  been  made,  and  in  the  light  of 
the  gracious  indication  of  its  acceptance, 
the  President  invites  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain  to  participate  in  a  conference 
on  the  subject  of  limitation  of  armament, 
in  connection  with  which  Pacific  and  Far 
Eastern  questions  will  also  be  discussed,  to 
be  held  in  Washington  on*  the  11th  day  of 
November,  1921. 

The  text  of  the  separate  invitation 
sent  to  the  Chinese  Government  to 
participate  in  the  disarmament  con- 
ference was  also  made  public  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  President  is  deeply  gratified  at  the 
cordial  response  to  his  suggestion  that  there 
should  be  a  conference  on  the  subject  of 
limitation  of  armament,  in  connection  with 
which  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  questions 
should  also  be  discussed. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  there  can  be  no 
final  assurance  of  the  peace  of  the  world 
in  the  absence  of  the  desire  for  peace,  and 
the  prospect  of  reduced  armaments  is  not 
a  hopeful  one  unless  this  desire  finds  ex- 
pression in  a  practical  effort  to  remove 
causes  of  misunderstanding  and  to  seek 
ground  for  agreement  as  to  principles  and 
their  application.  It  is  the  earnest  wish  of 
this  Government  that  through  an  inter- 
change of  views,  with  the  facilities  afforded 
by  a  conference,  it  may  be  possible  to  find 
a  solution  of  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  prob- 
lems, of  unquestioned  importance  at  this 
time — that  is,  such  common  understandings 
with  respect  to  matters  which  have  been 
and  are  of  internal  concern  as  may  serve 
to  promote  enduring  friendship  among  our 
peoples. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  Government 
to  attempt  to  define  the  scope  of  the  dis- 


T  On<=, 

GREAT   BRITAIN              I.588.44Z 
UNITED  STATES              7  73-  173 
JAPAN                                     340.5^6 

m          ^iiMA 

■  ■* CREAT    BRn-AIN 

1 

H         ^    U  .  S     /millllllllllltjA  R  /\  rvj 

J                   ¥     ~^MHB 

1 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING  HOW  THE  GREAT  NAVAL  POWERS  COMPARE  AT  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 
THE  BRITISH  NAVY  IS  SEEN  TO  BE  FAR  THE  LARGEST,  AND  THE  JAPANESE  THE  SMALLEST 


THE  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 


919 


RELATIVE    AMOUNT    OF    NEW    WAR    SHIP    CONSTRUCTION    INVOLVED    IN    PRESENT    BUILDING 
PROGRAMS.      THE    DIAGRAM    SHOWS    HOW    MUCH    LARGER    THE    AMERICAN    PROGRAM    IS    THAN 

THE    JAPANESE    OR    BRITISH 


cussion  in  relation  to  the  Pacific  and  Far 
East,  but,  rather,  to  leave  this  to  be  the 
subject  of  suggestions  to  be  exchanged  be- 
fore the  meeting  of  the  conference,  in  the 
expectation  that  the  spirit  of  friendship 
and  a  cordial  appreciation  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  elimination  of  sources  of  con- 
troversy, will  govern  the  final  decision. 

-Accordingly,  in  pursuance  of  the  proposal 
which  has  been  made  and  in  the  light  of 
the  gracious  indication  of  its  acceptance, 
the  President  invites  the  Government  of  the 
Republic  of  China  to  participate  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  ques- 
tions, in  connection  with  the  conference  on 
the  subject  of  limitation  of  armament,  to 
be  held  in  Washington  on  the  11th  day  of 
November,  1921. 

Messrs.  Lloyd  George  and  Briand, 
the  British  and  French  Premiers,  an- 
nounced that  they  would  represent 
their  respective  countries  at  the  con- 
fernce.  Italy,  though  her  interests  in 
the  Far  East  are  of  much  less  impor- 
tance, was  equally  cordial  in  her  ac- 
ceptance. The  acceptance  of  China 
was  also  received. 

Japan,  however,  the  fourth  of  the 
allied  powers  addressed,  presented  an 


unexpected  obstacle.  The  tone  of  the 
Japanese  press  indicated  that  the  in- 
vitation had  come  as  somewhat  of 
a  shock.  The  outstanding  difficul- 
ties between  Japan  and  the  United 
States,  involving  the  Californian  is- 
sue; the  objection  of  the  United 
States  to  the  Pacific  mandates  north 
of  the  Equator  accorded  Japan  by  the 
Peace  Conference,  especially  as  re- 
gards the  cable  rights  of  the  island  of 
Yap ;  the  disapproval  of  Japan's  policy 
toward  China  and  Siberia,  and  the  al- 
leged tendency  of  the  United  States 
to  encourage  the  Chinese  in  their 
anti-Japanese  campaign  —  all  these, 
complicated  by  mutual  distrust  and 
the  increase  of  naval  armaments  on 
both  sides,  made  President  Harding's 
invitation  a  not  altogether  agreeable 
surprise  for  Japan.  The  Japanese 
Government  delayed  its  decision  for 
some  days,  holding  secret  conference 
as  to  what  answer  should  be  returned. 
Finally,  on  July  14,  a  conditional 
acceptance  was  received  from  Tokio. 


TOrtb 

GREAT  BRITAIN     1.665.332 
UNITED  STATES    1 .62 1 .  28? 
JAPAN  66^  OS6 


GREAT   BRITAIN 


HOW    THE    THREE    NAVIES    WILL    COMPARE    IF    THE    PRESENT    PROGRAMS    ARE    CARRIED    TO 
COMPLETION.     THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY  WILL  BE  PRACTICALLY  AS  LARGE  AS  THE  BRITISH 


920 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Japan  expressed  her  willingness  to 
accept  an  invitation  to  the  conference 
on  the  limitation  of  armament,  but  de- 
sired to  be  advised  as  to  the  scope 
and  nature  of  the  subjects  to  be  dis- 
cussed in  connection  with  Pacific  and 
Far  Eastern  matters.  It  was  semi- 
officially stated  in  Tokio  that  the 
Government  would  not  consider  dis- 
cussion of  such  matters  as  the  alloca- 
tion of  the  Pacific  mandates  to  Japan, 
or  the  Shantung  controversy  with 
China,  on  the  ground  that  these  had 
been  settled  at  the  Peace  Conference. 
The  Washington  Government,  how- 
ever, accepted  the  Japanese  reply  as 
in  effect  an  acceptance,  and  sent  on 
July  23,  through  the  Charge  d' Af- 
faires at  the  American  Embassy  at 
Tokio,  the  following  message: 

The  Government  of  the  United  States 
deeply  appreciates  the  readiness  of  the  Im- 
perial Japanese  Government  to  accept  the 
invitation  to  attend  the  conference  on  the 
limitation  of  armaments. 

The  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States  in  the  course  of  informal  conversa- 
tions with  His  Excellency,  the  Imperial 
Japanese  Ambassador  at  Washington,  has 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment would  not  press  its  inquiry  as  to 
the  nature  and  scope  of  the  Pacific  and  Far 
Eastern  problems  to  be  discussed  at  the 
proposed  conference  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
it  is  desirable  that  the  full  acceptance  of 
the  invitation  of  the  American  Government 
leave  this  matter  open  for  adjustment  in 
the  precise  agenda  to  be  arrived  at  later. 

The  Secretary  of  State  is  willing  to  pro- 
ceed with  exchanges  of  opinion  regarding 
the  agenda  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  con- 
ference. He  considers  it  inadvisable,  how- 
ever, at  the  present  moment,  to  hamper  the 
program  and  in  particular  to  delay  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  conference  pending  an 
agreement  regarding  this  matter. 

The  Japanese  answer  to  this,  re- 
ceived on  July  27,  was  as  follows: 

The  Japanese  Government  have  taken 
note  of  the  contents  of  the  American  mem- 
orandum of  July  23,  received  through  the 
American  Charge  d'Aff aires,  in  reply  to  the 
Japanese  memorandum  of  July  13,  on  the 
subject  of  a  conference  on  the  limitation 
of  armaments  to  be  held  at  Washington. 

It  has  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  Japanese  Government  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  willing  to  pro- 
ceed with  exchanges  of  opinion  regarding 
the  agenda  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  con- 
ference, and  that  it  considers  it  advisable 
to  adjust  in  that  agenda  the  nature  and 
scope  of  the  Pacific  and  Far  Eastern  ques- 


tions to  be  discussed  at  the  proposed  con- 
ference. The  Japanese  Government,  on  that 
understanding,  are  happy  to  be  able  to  in- 
form the  American  Government  that  it  is 
their  intention  gladly  to  accept  an  invita- 
tion for  a  conference  which  shall  embrace 
the  discussion  of  the  Pacific  and  Far  East- 
ern questions. 

The  Japanese  Government  have  been 
made  aware,  through  the  communications 
and  the  published  statement  of  the  Amer- 
ican Government,  and  the  conversations  be- 
tween the  Secretary  of  State  and  Baron 
Shidehara,  that  the  proposition  of  the 
American  Government  to  discuss  the  Pa- 
cific and  Far  Eastern  problems  is  based  on 
the  close  bearing  they  have  on  the  question 
of  the  limitation  of  armaments,  which  is 
the  original  and  principal  aim  of  the  con- 
ference, and  that  therefore  the  main  object 
of  discussing  these  problems  is  to  reach  a 
common  understanding  in  regard  to  general 
principles  and  policies  in  the  Pacific  and 
the  Far  East.  Desiring,  as  they  do,  to 
contribute  to  the  establishment  of  an  en- 
during peace  and  to  the  advancement  of 
human  welfare,  the  Japanese  Government 
earnesly  hope  that  the  proposed  conference 
may  attain  the  expected  results,  and  that 
their  ideals  may  thereby  be  brought  nearer 
to  realization. 

In  order  to  insure  the  success  of  the  con- 
ference, the  Japanese  Government  deem  it 
advisable  that  the  agenda  thereof  should  be 
arranged  in  accordance  with  the  main  ob- 
ject of  the  discussions  as  above  defined, 
and  that  introduction  therein  of  problems 
such  as  are  of  sole  concern  to  certain  par- 
ticular powers,  or  matters  that  may  be  re- 
garded as  accomplished  facts,  should  be 
scrupulously  avoided. 

Though  the  underlying  intent  of 
the  last  paragraph  was  obviously  to 
exclude  the  Japanese  Pacific  man- 
dates, including  Yap  and  the  Shan- 
tung controversy,  from  the  contem- 
plated discussions,  the  fact  remained 
that  Japan  had  consented  to  sit  in  the 
conference  called  by  the  American 
President  specifically  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  a  mutual  obligation  to 
cease  the  financially  ruinous  and  war- 
breeding  competitive  increase  of  arm- 
aments. This  was  considered  alike  in 
the  United  States  and  in  Europe  as  a 
most  encouraging  augury.  Following 
receipt  of  this  last  acceptance,  the 
Washington  Government  proceeded 
to  complete  the  arrangements  for  the 
conference.  The  date  set  for  the  open- 
ing— Nov.  11 — had  been  chosen  by 
the  President  more  for  sentimental, 
than  other  reasons.     All  the  nations 


THE  DISARMAMENT  CONFERENCE 


9-21 


invited  had  accepted  this  date  by  the 
end  of  the  first  week  in  August.  It 
was  announced  by  the  State  Depart- 
ment on  Aug.  12  that  President  Har- 
ding had  appointed  Secretary  of  State 
Hughes  to  act  as  head  of  the  Ameri- 
can delegation  to  the  conference.  It 
was  generally  understood  that  Mr. 
Hughes  would  preside  over 
the  discussions,  and  that  the 
President  would  turn  over  all 
the  details  of  its  organization 
and  procedure  to  him.  On 
Aug.  15  it  was  further  an- 
nounced that  Senator  Lodge 
would  be  one  of  the  Ameri- 
can delegates  at  the  confer- 
ence. 

Though  the  invitations  sent 
out  had  been  restricted  to  the 
five  main  powers,  China  had 
also  been  invited  to  be  pres- 
ent, and  the  State  Department 
indicated  that  other  nations, 
whose  interests  might  be  in- 
volved, such  as  Belgium  and 
Holland  (the  Dutch  colonial 
population  in  the  East  Indies, 
totaling  60,000,000  souls,  makes  this 
explainable) ,  would  be  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  the  discussions.  It 
was  explained  at  the  Dominion  Con- 
ference in  London  that  both  the  Aus- 
tralian and  New  Zealand  Premiers, 
in  view  of  the  distance  of  their  home 
lands  and  the  six  weeks'  journey  re- 
quired, would  probably  be  unable  to 
attend  the  conference,  and  that  these 
dominions  would  be  represented  by 
the  British  delegates.  A  sledge-ham- 
mer speech  made  in  London  in  July 
by  Premier  Hughes  of  Australia,  de- 
claring that  the  proposed  conference 
would  be  successful  only  if  the  con- 
ferring nations  looked  the  facts  in  the 
face,  and  cleared  up  by  definite  under- 
standings the  dangerous  conflicts  of 
policy  in  the  Pacific,  made  a  sensa- 
tion. The  Australian  Premier  was 
emphatic  when  he  discussed  the  ques- 
tion of  Japanese  immigration  to  Aus- 
tralia. No  settlement  would  be  ac- 
cepted, he  asserted,  which  tended  to 
impair  Australia's  absolute  sovereign- 
ty as  "  a  white  man's  country." 


M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Foreign  Minis- 
ter of  Soviet  Russia,  sent  to  the 
United  States  Government  a  demand 
that  not  only  Russia,  but  also  Mos- 
cow's protege — the  Far  Eastern  Re- 
public— be  invited  to  attend  the  con- 
ference. Another  uninvited  Govern- 
ment— the  newly  formed  Canton  Re- 


800.000 


600.000 


FPANCE 


150.000 


vTAPAN        O?  BRITAIN   ITALY     u.S 


THE  HUMAN  FIGURES  SHOW  THE"  COMPARATIVE   SIZE 

OF    THE    ARMIES     NOW     MAINTAINED     BY     THE     FIVE 

GREAT    POWERS 


public  of  Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen — sent  a  spe- 
cial appeal  for  participation,  declaring 
that  the  Peking  Government,  which 
had  received  an  invitation,  was  repre- 
sentative only  of  Chinese  militarism, 
not  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  that 
the  Canton  Government  should  at 
least  be  allowed  to  send  delegates ;  for 
this  solution  he  found  a  precedent  in 
the  attendance  of  both  the  Constanti- 
nople and  Angora  delegates  at  the 
recent  London  conference  on  Turkey. 

The  coming  conference  is  pregnant 
with  possibilities.  What  will  be  its 
outcome?  Issues  of  tremendous  im- 
portance are  involved. 

The  three  nations  most  deeply  in- 
volved in  the  competitive  increase  of 
naval  armaments,  of  course,  are  Great 
Britain,  the  United  States  and  Japan. 
The  British  Parliament  recently  de- 
cided not  to  abandon  the  building  pro- 
gram for  the  four  post-Jutland  battle- 
ships. Both  Japan  and  the  United 
States  also  are  continuing  their  own 
costly  naval  programs.  The  United 
States,  with  its  twelve  great  battle- 


922 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ships  building,  will  be  almost  abreast 
of  Great  Britain  by  1924.  The  Japa- 
nese  are  similarly  committed  with 
their  "  eight  and  eight "  naval  pro- 
gram. It  seems,  therefore,  that  even 
if  the  objects  of  the  conference  are 
attained,  the  effect  will  not  follow  for 
some  years  to  come.  The  present 
comparative  relation  between  Great 
Britain,  the  United  States  and  Japan 
is  shown  by  the  following  table  and 
by  the  diagrams  on  preceding  pages : 

Comparative  Gun-Power  Obtaining 
at  Present. 

Great  Britain   1,588,442 

United  States   779,173 

Japan    340,596 

Comparative   Tonnage  Under  Construction. 

United  States   842,109 

Great  Britain   328,890 

Japan   328,460 

Comparative    Relation    After    Construction 
Is  Completed. 

Great  Britain   1,665,332 

United  States   1,621,282 

Japan   669,056 

It  was  with  the  desire  to  bring  the 
ever-increasing  power  of  these  arma- 


ments to  a  halt  that  President  Har- 
ding called  the  Washington  confer 
ence.  Speaking  at  Lancaster,  N.  H., 
on  Aug.  4,  the  President  told  a  large 
throng  of  hearers  that  the  whole  idea 
of  acquisition  by  might  was  funda- 
mentally wrong. 

The  story  of  the  world  [he  said]  is  one 
age  after  another  of  developing  warfare, 
until  we  of  this  generation  have  witnessed 
the  most  gigantic  conflict  of  all  time,  and 
this  conflict  was  so  gigantic,  so  colossal  in 
treasure  and  so  costly  in  sacrifice,  that  I 
believe  that  we  of  today  are  standing  in  a 
conviction  and  a  determination  that  the 
whole  development  has  been  wrong,  that 
the  acquirement  through  might  is  contrary 
to  human  justice,  and  we  of  America  and 
all  the  world  are  resolved  today  that  wars 
ought  to  come  to  an  end. 

I  am  happy  to  bring  you  word  that  your 
Government  is  doing  all  it  can  to  bring 
about  a  conference  of  nations  and  have 
their  spokesmen  here  and  come  to  an  under- 
standing that  will  remove  the  causes  of 
war — not  a  surrender  of  nationality,  not  a 
surrender  of  our  liberties  or  our  rights  to 
determine  the  ways  we  will  pursue,  but  to 
remove  the  reasons  for  war  and  put  an  end 
to  costly  armament.  I  believe  we  shall  suc- 
ceed. 


A  WORLD  WITH  TOO  MANY  SHIPS 


SHIPPING  throughout  the  world  since  the 
end  of  the  war  has  increased  from  the 
49,000,000  tons  existing  when  the  war 
opened  to  61,974,653  tons.  So  says  the  new 
edition  of  Lloyd's  Register  Book,  just  pub- 
lished in  England.  This  seems  surprising, 
in  view  of  the  15,000,000  tons  lost  by  enemy 
action  and  marine  risks  during  the  conflict. 
It  is  explained  by  the  rush  of  many  nations 
to  acquire  new  merchant  shipping  after  the 
lessons  of  the  war.  The  economic  reactions 
of  the  war,  however,  seen  in  high  wages, 
low  output,  disordered  exchanges  and  fall- 
ing credits,  have  brought  a  corresponding 
depression  in  shipping  conditions,  and  the 
world's  harbors  are  filled  with  ships  that 
are  idle  for  lack  of  cargoes. 

The  largest  increases  in  ship  tonnage  as 
compared  with  1914  are  as  follows:  United 
States,  10,500,000  tons— an  increase  of  570 
per   cent.;    Japan,    1,421,000   tons;    France, 


1,128,000  tons;  Italy,  950,000  tons;  Holland, 
736,000  tons.  The  figures  given  for  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Italy  include  ex-enemy 
tonnage  allocated  to  these  countries  in  the 
post-war  settlement.  Taken  together,  the 
Scandinavian  countries  show  an  increase  of 
a  little  over  500,000  tons.  Germany,  which 
possessed  5,000,000  tons  of  sea-going  steel 
and  iron  steamers  before  the  war,  now  has 
only  654,000  tons.  Austria  has  lost  all. 
Greece,  for  reasons  unexplained,  has 
dropped  from  820,000  to  576,000  tons.  From 
the  figures  given,  sailing  ships  and  wooden 
steamers  are  excluded.  The  future  lies  with 
the  iron  and  steel  steamer,  while  the  oil- 
burning  ship  looms  large  on  the  horizon. 
The  new  Chairman  of  the  American  Ship- 
ping Board,  who  faces  a  difficult  task,  has 
declared  that  if  he  cannot  dispose  of  the 
wooden  ships  on  his  hands  he  will  break 
them  up  for  firewood. 


AIRPLANE  BOMB 

VS. 

BATTLESHIP 

By  Graser  Schornstheimer 

Story  of  the  recent  Army  and  Navy  bombing  tests,  in  which  the 
former  German  warships  Frankfurt  and  Ostfriesland  were  sunk, 
with  some  conclusions  drawn  from  the  results — Mastery  of  the 
airplane  over  the  battleship  by  no  means  proved 


THE  joint  Army  and  Navy  bomb- 
ing tests,  which  were  held  off 
the  Virginia  Capes  in  July, 
1921,  were  to  test  the  efficiency  of 
aircraft  and  bombs  against  surface 
warships.  Three  phases  of  these 
tests  proved  to  be  of  prime  im- 
portance, as  they  brought  out  points 
which  have  long  been  debated,  but  not 
generally  understood. 

Possibly  the  most  important  test, 
from  a  technical  standpoint,  was  that 
of  the  wireless-controlled  battleship 
Iowa.  The  target  vessel  was  con- 
trolled from  another  battleship,  the 
Ohio,  which  was  specially  fitted  for 
the  purpose.  The  object  was  to  ascer- 
tain the  probabilities  of  bomb  hits 
from  reasonable  altitudes  on  a  moving 
target.  Out  of  a  total  of  eighty 
dummy  bombs  dropped,  only  two 
scored  hits.  The  planes  were  re- 
quired to  come  no  nearer  the  Iowa 
than  4,000  feet,  as  it  is  certain  that 
anti-aircraft  fire  would  destroy  any 
squadron  bombing  from  a  lower  alti- 
tude. The  Iowa  was  capable  of  mak- 
ing nine  knots,  but  the  naval  officers 
in  charge  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  use  more  than  four  and  a  half,  be- 
cause of  the  very  apparent  inability 
of  planes  to  hit  a  moving  vessel.  The 
ship  zigzagged  almost  in  the  precise 
manner  prescribed  for  avoiding  sub- 
marine attacks. 

Anti-aircraft  gunnery  experts  de- 
clare that  it  is  possible  to  keep  planes 
away  from  the  bombing  area  above 
the  ship  up  to  an  altitude  of  6,000 


feet.  If  this  is  true — and  there  is 
certainly  reason  to  believe  that  it  is, 
for  never  has  an  air  attack  been  suc- 
cessful, even  to  the  extent  of  a  single 
hit,  in  the  face  of  anti-aircraft  fire — 
it  would  seem  that  the  planes  in  the 
recent  test  had  entirely  the  better  of 
the  conditions  in  point  of  altitude. 
Had  there  been  any  anti-aircraft  op- 
position they  would  probably  have  had 
to  go  at  least  another  thousand  feet 
higher,  and  the  difficulties  of  hitting 
would  have  been  raised  by  at  least  15 
per  cent.  Then,  again,  had  the  Iowa 
used  her  full  nine  knots,  it  is  very  pos- 
sible that  not  a  single  hit  would  have 
been  made  even  from  the  4,000  foot 
altitude. 

Weather  conditions  surrounding 
the  tests  threw  a  bright  light  on  the 
efficiency  of  aircraft  as  naval 
weapons.  If  even  a  slight  squall 
arose,  bombing  operations  were  sus- 
pended. If  even  a  light  fog  drifted 
over  the  sea,  it  was  also  necessary  to 
suspend  them,  as  the  low  visibility 
precluded  hitting.  Then,  again,  it 
was  impossible  for  the  planes  to  locate 
the  Iowa  and'  her  controlling  ship 
when  in  a  known  hundred-mile  area. 
This  failure  postponed  the  Iowa  tests 
for  a  day.  However,  the  planes  were 
able  to  locate  the  ship  the  following 
day.  Ideal  weather  conditions,  not  at 
all  average  sea  weather,  prevailed  on 
the  day  the  ship  was  bombed. 

In  consideration  of  the  foregoing- 
facts,  it  is  T)nly  too  plain  that  aircraft 
are  at  a  disadvantage   when   pitted 


924 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


against  a  battleship.  During  the  war 
it  was  easy  to  bomb  cities  like  Lon- 
don or  Paris,  even  from  extreme  alti- 
tudes, because  the  targets  were  so 
large  that  a  miss  was  impossible. 
However,  anti-aircraft  fire  forced  the 
bombing  to  be  from  extreme  heights 
in  these  cases,  and  little  damage  was 
done.  To  bomb  a  warship  or  a  fleet  of 
warships  is  a  much  more  difficult 
matter. 

The  second  important  test  was  con- 
ducted against  the  former  German 
scout  cruiser  Frankfurt  on  July  18. 
The  Frankfurt  was  a  weak  vessel, 
built  very  lightly,  and  carrying  little 
or  no  armor.  When  she  was  surren- 
dered to  the  British  she  was  badly 
damaged  by  her  crew,  who  sank  her 
shortly  afterward  at  Scapa  Flow.  She 
was  raised  and  turned  over  to  the 
United  States  for  experimental  pur- 
poses. Some  of  her  fittings  had  been 
removed,  and  at  the  time  of  the  test 
none  of  her  coal  bunkers,  located  on 
the  sides  of  the  vessel  in  a  protec- 
tive manner,  were  filled.  This  frail 
shell  should  have  been  sunk  by  almost 
the  first  bomb,  according  to  all  rea- 
sonable theories. 

Bombs  up  to  600  pounds  in  weight 
were  used.  Seventy-eight  were 
dropped,  and  of  these  only  twelve 
scored  direct  hits  on  the  ship's  deck. 
Five  of  those  that  hit  were  "duds," 
and  six  exploded,  tearing  up  things  a 
bit  on  deck,  but  not  one  penetrated  to 
the  vitals,  although  the  ship's  protec- 
tive deck  was  less  than  two  inches 
thick.  The  twelfth  "hit,"  the  bomb 
which  broke  the  little  vessel's  back, 
did  not  really  hit,  for  it  exploded 
alongside,  abaft  the  mainmast  and  the 
two  19.7-inch  submerged  torpedo 
tubes.  Experts  of  the.  British  Navy 
have  been  contending  that  submerged 
torpedo  tubes  greatly  weaken  the 
structure  of  a  much  larger  and 
heavier  vessel  than  the  Frankfurt, 
and  it  is  understood  that  they  do  not 
intend  to  use  them  in  future  warships. 
This  weakness  may  have  contributed 
not  a  little  to  the  sinking  of  the 
Frankfurt. 

While  this  test  was  really  to  deter- 
mine the  efficiency  of  bombs,  the  les- 


sons of  the  Iowa  experiment  should 
be  applied  before  arriving  at  any  such 
startling  conclusions  as  did  the  vari- 
ous press  representatives  witnessing 
the  tests.  The  Frankfurt  was  a  thirty- 
knot  cruiser  and  had  an  anti-aircraft 
battery  of  4.1-inch  guns.  All  the 
bombs  were  dropped  from  altitudes  of 
less  than  4,000  feet,  and  if  the  ship's 
anti-aircraft  battery  had  been  firing, 
*it  is  extremely  doubtful  if  the  planes 
would  have  come  so  close.  Then,  too, 
had  the  Frankfurt  been  speeding 
through  the  water  at  a  speed  of  36 
land  miles  an  hour  and  zigzagging  at 
regular  intervals,  it  would  have  been 
still  more  unlikely  that  bombs  could 
have  been  landed  on  her  or  near  her 
from  any  reasonable  altitude. 

The  Ostfriesland  Test 

The  sinking  of  the  former  German 
dreadnought  Ostfriesland  off  the  Vir- 
ginia Capes  on  July  21  was  widely 
commented  on  by  ttie  press.  Six  Mar- 
tin bomber  planes  of  the  army  and 
one  Handley-Paige  plane  participated 
in  the  final  attack.    Each  of  the  for- 
mer   dropped    one    bomb    weighing 
two  thousand  pounds.    The  exploding 
missiles    started    the    seams    of   the 
dreadnought,    and    after    the    fifth 
bomb  had   been  dropped   the   vessel 
was  seen  to  be  sinking.     One  more 
demolition   bomb   was   dropped,   and 
the  ship  went  down  by  the  stern,  the 
seventh    and    final    bomb    from    the 
Handley-Paige    reaching    the    water 
after    the    Ostfriesland    had    disap- 
peared. While  the  test  varied  from  the 
conditions  of  actual  warfare  in  that 
the    vessel    had    no    opportunity    to 
manoeuvre,  or  to  reply  with  anti-air- 
craft guns,  some  experts  regarded  it 
as  of  great  significance  in  its  bearing 
on  the  future  of  the  battleship.    Gen- 
eral Williams,  United  States  Chief  of 
Ordnance,  was  quoted  as  declaring: 
"The  bombs  that  sank  the  Ostfries- 
land will  be  heard  around  the  world." 
The  impression  went  abroad  that 
the    Ostfriesland    was     sunk    after 
twenty  minutes  of  bombing     It  really 
took  nearly  two  days.     The  twenty- 
minute  period   in  question  was   the 


AIRPLANE  BOMB  VS.  BATTLESHIP 


92* 


time  during  which  the  2,000-pound 
bombs  were  dropped.  In  the  course 
of  the  first  day  fifty-two  bombs  of 
different  weights  were  dropped  at 
very  low  altitudes.  Thirteen  hits 
were  scored,  only  four  bombs  explod- 
ing. One  exploded  close  to  the  for- 
ward twelve-inch  gun  turret.  It  did 
not  damage  the  turret  in  the  least,  al- 
though a  whole  side  of  the  latter  had 
been  removed  for  Navy  ballistic  tests, 
making  it  extremely  vulnerable.  This 
would  seem  to  contradict  the  conten- 
tion that  even  though  bombs  should 
fail  to  pierce  a  warship's  deck  they 
would  kill  every  one  upon  it.  Many 
bombs  exploded  alongside  the  vessel, 
and  it  is  certain  that  they  were  the 
cause  of  some  serious  leaks  in  the  hull. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Ostfriesland  was  a  warship  of  a  type 
now  obsolete  because  of  her  light  bat- 
tery and  poor  underwater  protection. 
In  addition  to  this  her  German  crew 
badly  damaged  the  vessel  before  turn- 
ing her  over  to  the  British  and  ulti- 
mately to  the  United  States.  While 
crossing  the  Atlantic  on  her  last 
voyage  she  sprung  a  serious  leak,  and 
it  was  doubtful  for  a  time  if  she  would 
reach  New  York.  Since  she  has  been 
in  this  country  parts  of  Her  ma- 
chinery and  protection  had  been  re- 
moved by  the  Navy. 

During  the  night  after  this  bomb- 
ing, the  strained  bulkheads  aft  opened 
enough  to  let  the  stern  down  two  feet. 
In  this  weakened  condition  the  ship 
was  a  target  for  large  bombs  in  the 
morning. 

By  noon  the  airmen  were  working 
at  a  range  of  slightly  less  than  3,000 
feet  with  2,000-pound  bombs.  At 
this  range  they  should  have  been  able 
to  hit  with  almost  every  release  if 
they  were  to  prove  their  contentions 
of  accuracy,  but  the  best  that  could 
be  done  was  to  land  bombs  alongside 
the  ship.  In  all,  eight  big  bombs  were 
dropped,  one  of  which,  however,  was 
a  dummy  for  ranging  purposes.  Some 
of  the  live  bombs  fell  300  feet  away 
from  the  ship,  doing  no  damage.  One, 
which  shook  the  ship,  landed  just 
abaft  the  mainmast  on  the  starboard 


side.  The  vessel  trembled  with  the 
tremendous  concussion,  but  other 
than  this  no  ill  effect  was  observed. 

At  this  time  the  vessel  was  ob- 
served to  have  gone  down  another 
foot  at  the  stern,  though  the  bow 
seemed  to  be  in  as  good  condition  as 
ever.  Another  bomb  was  dropped 
near  the  starboard  side  of  the  bow, 
which  must  have  strained  the  hull  in 
some  way,  as  it  shook  the  ship.  The 
aviators  had  the  advantage  of  know- 
ing that  the  vessel  was  badly  damaged 
at  the  stern.  The  propellor  shafts 
were  probably  taking  in  water  at  a 
great  rate,  if  the  bulkheads  them- 
selves had  not  given  way.  Finally  a 
bomb  was  dropped  just  a  few  yards 
over  the  port  side  of  the  stern.  A 
veritable  mountain  of  water  shot  up- 
ward, swamping  the  ship.  She  shook 
with  the  impact,  and  when  the  water 
had  cleared  away  it  was  noticed  that 
the  stern  was  lower.  This  was  the 
bomb  that  "was  heard  around  the 
world."  The  ship  was  now  filling 
rapidly.  A  further  bomb  exploded 
near  the  port  quarter,  drenching  the 
sinking  vessel.  However,  this  bomb 
seemed  to  have  had  no  effect,  the 
bow  appearing  to  be  intact. 

Great  bubbles  were  coming  from 
the  stern  and  the  bow  rose  slightly 
out  of  the  water.  For  four  minutes 
the  vessel  hung  in  this  position.  Then 
the  stern  went  lower  and  the  bow 
higher  as  the  vessel  started  to  list  to 
port,  showing  that  some  of  the  star- 
board bulkheads  still  held,  even  at  the 
stern.  Finally  the  ship  turned  slowly 
over  and  sank,  only  great  air  bubbles 
marking  the  spot  she  had  just  occu- 
pied. 

Significance  of  the  Result 

The  conclusions  to  be  made  on  this 
test  are  extremely  difficult  to  reach. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  the  first  time 
a  really  large  ship  has  ever  been  sunk 
by  bombs,  and  so  there  is  no  prece- 
dent upon  which  to  base  any  judg- 
ment. The  reports  of  the  examining 
boards  on  this  and  earlier  tests  and 
the  actual  battle  experience  of  the 


926 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


war  are  the  only  things  which  throw 
any  light  on  the  matter. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
Ostfriesland  was  in  a  weakened  state 
when  the  tests  were  started  and  that 
she  was  in  a  still  more  weakened  con- 
dition when  these  latter  bombs  were 
dropped.  The  question  really  is,  "  Did 
the  ship  sink  as  a  result  of  the  direct 
punishment  by  these  bombs,  or  as  a  re- 
sult of  different  occurrences  before 
and  during  the  bombardment — these 
last  bombs  simply  hurrying  a  certain 
end?" 

During  the  battle  of  Jutland,  the 
British  battleship  Marlborough  had  a 
large  hole  torn  in  her  side  by  a  Ger- 
man torpedo  hit.  Despite  this  dam- 
age, the  vessel  was  able  to  hold  her 
place  in  line  and  keep  on  fighting. 
After  the  battle  she  returned  to  port 
under  her  own  steam  and  was  soon 
repaired.  The  vessel  was  kept  afloat 
in  this  manner:  Her  vitals  had  not 
been  harmed  throughout  the  action, 
and  so  when  she  was  torpedoed  it  was 
possible  to  pump  her  out  without  loss 
of  time;  and  this  could  be  done  even 
faster  than  water  entered  the  ship. 
Because  of  this  the  crew  could  repair 
the  minor  strains  caused  by  the  ex- 
plosion, so  that  the  damage  was  part- 
ly repaired  while  the  ship  was  ac- 
tually in  battle.  It  is  certain  that  a 
direct  torpedo  hit  causes  more  dam- 
age with  its  one  big  hole  and  many 
major  leaks  as  a  result  of  the  strains 
than  could  any  non-piercing  bomb  ex- 
ploding near  the  ship. 

No  one  was  aboard  the  Ostfriesland 
to  lessen  the  damage  done  by  the 
bombs.  Her  decks  were  not  pierced 
by  a  single  bomb,  and  thus  her  ma- 
chinery was  intact  and  would  have 
been  kept  going  in  a  real  action.  Had 
the  vessel  been  properly  pumped  out 
and  repaired  the  first  day,  it  is  en- 
tirely probable  that  she  would  not 
have  sank  that  second  noon.  Prob- 
ably she  could  have  been  kept  afloat 
for  several  days  or  a  week  longer  than 
was  the  case,  for  strains  in  one  or 
more  places  cannot  be  compared  to 
one  huge  hole  plus  such  strains,  had 
there  been  a  complement  aboard  and 


the  engines  kept  running.  The  ship 
seemed  to  resist  bombs  forward, 
where  the  hull  is  not  pierced  by  pro- 
peller shafts  or  anything  else,  to  per- 
fection. 

Definite  Conclusions 

Before  reaching  any  definite  con- 
clusion, transpose  the  situation  to  its 
war  phase.  The  Ostfriesland  was  a 
twenty-three  knot  boat  and  carried  a 
large  anti-aircraft  battery  of  4.1-inch 
guns.  Imagine  just  such  an  air  at- 
tack under  average  weather  condi- 
tions, when  the  visibility  is  poor  for 
aircraft.  The  ship  is  zigzagging  at  a 
speed  of  twenty-five  land  miles  per 
hour  and  her  anti-aircraft  barrage  is 
up.  The  Ostfriesland  had  a  rudder 
under  her  forefoot,  wh,ich  enabled 
her  to  turn  almost  within  her  own 
length,  at  her  extreme  speed.  With 
the  anti-aircraft  guns  holding  the 
planes  off  at  an  altitude  of  from  4,000 
to  6,000  feet  and  the  ship  zigzagging 
at  this  speed,  considering  the  weather 
or  not,  could  the  airmen  have  hit  her 
at  all?  If  they  did  hit  her — which 
seems  to  me  to  be  almost  impossible 
under  these  conditions — the  tests 
proved  that  their  bombs  could  not 
pierce  her  decks,  and  so  her  vitals 
would  be  intact.  Then  suppose  bombs 
were  dropped  close  enough  to  the  ship 
to  strain  her  sides.  With  a  crew  on 
board  and  the  machinery  undamaged, 
what  would  prevent  pumping  her  out 
and  effecting  repairs,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Marlborough  ? 

In  almost  every  navy  there  are 
ships  afloat  today  that  are  entirely 
superior  to  the  Ostfriesland  in  under- 
water protection.  Could  these  ships 
or  those  now  building,  which  will  be 
even  more  superior  to  the  Ostfries- 
land, be  sunk  by  bombs  under  actual 
war  conditions  ? 

One  of  the  most  puzzling  points 
seems  to  be  the  problem  of  why  the 
bombs  failed  to  pierce  the  thin  ar- 
mored decks  of  both  the  Frankfurt 
and  Ostfriesland.  The  answer  is  that 
the  bomb  lacks  velocity,  and  velocity 
is  necessary  to  penetrate.  The  bomb 
is  dropped,  not  fired,  and  it  gains  ve- 


AIRPLANE  BOMB  VS.  BATTLESHIP 


927 


locity  during  the  drop.  According  to 
the  timing  done  aboard  the  destroyer 
Graham,  the  bombs  took  ten  seconds 
to  drop  between  3,000  and  4,000  feet ; 
that  is,  they  had  a  velocity  between. 
300  and  400  feet  a  second.  In  order  to 
pierce  the  decks  against  which  they 
were  pitted,  a  velocity  of  at  least 
1,500  feet  per  second  is  required.  The 
planes  could  not  get  it  even  if  flying 
at  an  altitude  of  close  to  15,000  feet, 
and  planes  do  not  fly  at  this  altitude 
for  fun  or  for  business.  At  a  practi- 
cal altitude  for  bombing,  a  hit  cannot 
be  scored  for  the  same  reason — lack 
of  velocity — and  even  should  one  hit 
be  made  by  accident,  it  would  not  be 
able  to  pierce. 

The   old   battleship   Massachusetts 
was  sunk  in  a  few  minutes  of  big  gun 


coast  artillery  fire.     Does  that  mean 
that  the  battleship  is  useless  ? 

Editorial  Note — In  order  to  complete 
the  record  of  recent  naval  tests  it  may  be 
added  that  on  July  15,  under  orders  of 
"  shoot  to  sink,"  the  navy  engaged  in  gun- 
fire attacks  on  the  former  German  destroy- 
ers V-43  and  S-132,  sixty  miles  east  of  the 
Virginia  Capes,  and  sent  them  to  the  bottom 
in  56  fathoms  of  water.  One  target,  the 
V-43,  after  being  attacked  first  by  the  de- 
stroyer Leary  and  then  by  the  dreadnought 
Florida,  hoisted  its  stern  in  the  air  and  dis- 
appeared beneath  the  waves  at  4:50  o'clock. 
The  S-132  was  attacked  first  by  the  de- 
stroyer Herbert  and  afterward  by  the 
dreadnought  Delaware,  which  riddled  her 
hull  so  badly  that  she  sank  at  7:02  o'clock. 
Sixty  shots  were  fired  by  the  two  destroy- 
ers, which  made  8  hits.  Approximately  280 
shots  were  fired  by  the  Florida  and  Dela- 
ware, so  enveloping  the  ex-German  destroy- 
ers in  smoke  that  it  was  impossible  for 
observers  to  count  the  number  of  hits. 


A  WARM  ANSWER  FROM  THE  PHILIPPINES 

[From  Mohammed,  a  non-partisan  n>  irspaper  published  in  Jolo,  P.   I.,  June   'i,  1921] 


WE  want  to  make  comments  on  an  arti- 
cle published  in  the  Current  History 
Magazine  in  its  number  of  March,  1921, 
under  the  caption,  "  Filipino  Independence 
and  Moro  Domination."  Same  was  written 
by  Donald  S.  Root,  formerly  Lieutenant  in 
the  Philippine  Constabulary,  whose  station 
before  he  resigned  from  Government  ser- 
vice and  left  for  the  States  was  the  munici- 
pal district  of  Taglibi.  We  would  have 
kept  ourselves  silent  after  reading  it,  and 
let  the  humorous  attitude  of  Mr.  Root  to 
the  relation  of  our  Mohammedan  brothers 
to  Philippine  independence  pass  with  smiles 
over  our  faces  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
this  friend,  this  budding  writer,  has  been 
in  active  service  as  a  man  of  the  khaki  for 
four  years,  detailed  precisely  in  the  South, 
Referring  to  the  terror  that  is  alleged 
the  Mohammedans  have  instilled  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Christian  brothers,  the  author 
concludes  by  asking :  "  What  would  be  the 
result,  do  you  think,  if  that  power  (that  of 
American  arms)  were  suddenly  removed?" 
To  satisfy  Mr.  Root  we  ought,  no  doubt,  to 
answer  by  quoting  Prescott  F.  Jernegan 
in  his  short  history  of  the  Philippines,  Page 
228,  where  he  says,  in  speaking  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  Filipino  Republic :  "  The  Moros 


would  become  pirates  again."  What  an  ab- 
surdity of  ideas  indeed!  It  can  hardly  be 
conceived  how  these  American  imperialists 
can  still  entertain  such  belief.  Moro  piracy 
is  a  matter  of  the  past,  long  forgotten. 
*  *  "  Since  civil  government  has  been 
implanted  in  Mindanao  and  Sulu  the  aspects 
of  what  was  formerly  known  as  the  Moro 
problem  have  changed,  and  we  Christians 
in  the  South  conscientiously  believe  that  the 
way  for  the  unification  of  the  Christian 
and  Mohammedan  elements  has  been  solidly 
paved,  and  it  is  but  a  question  of  time  that 
the  fruit  of  our  labor  will  be  crowned  with 
complete  success. 

The  public  schools  have  been  accepted  by 
the  mass  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  their 
children  are  sent  to  schools  to  gather  even 
the  rudiments  of  primary  instruction  alone. 
In  the  Sulu  archipelago  there  are  many 
Mohammedan  teachers,  among  whom  are  a 
number  of  princesses.  Girls  likewise  re- 
ceive instruction  in  a  dormitory  established 
in  Jolo  for  the  purpose,  and  some  of  those 
that  graduate  from  there  are  sent  to  Ma- 
nila for  further  training,  after  which  they 
go  back  to  their  respective  homes  and  be- 
come school  teachers.  Order  is  enforced 
without  the  least  aid  of  the  U.  S.  Army. 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES 


Progress  toward  a  separate  peace  treaty  with  Germany — Problem 
of  the  deferred  interest  on  allied  loaris — New  peace-time  policy 
for  the  army — Reducing  the  burden  of  taxation — Wood  as 
Governor  General  of  the  Philippines 


[Period  Ended  Aug.   IT>,  1!>LM] 


IT  was  stated  officially  at  Washing- 
ton on  July  19  that  Ellis  Loring 
Dresel,  the  American  Commis- 
sioner at  Berlin,  had  been  instructed 
to  negotiate  with  the  German  Govern- 
ment a  treaty  for  the  resumption  of 
diplomatic  relations  between  the 
United  States  and  German  Govern- 
ments. Whether  these  negotiations 
were  to  result  in  a  separate  treaty  of 
pace  with  Germany  or  were  to  be 
based  in  part  on  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles was  not  stated.  Although 
President  Harding  on  July  2  ap- 
proved the  Congressional  resolution 
for  peace  with  Germany,  Austria  and 
Hungary,  the  promised  proclamation 
that  peace  exists  had  not  been  issued 
up  to  Aug.  15,  owing  to  the  many  dif- 
ficulties confronting  the  Administra- 
tion in  determining  the  subjects  to 
be  covered  in  the  document. 

jfThe  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr. 
Mellon,  stated  to  the  Senate  Finance 
Committee  on  July  20  that  the  under- 
standing reached  by  the  Wilson  Ad- 
ministration, deferring  interest  pay- 
ments on  a  loan  made  by  the  United 
States  to  one  of  the  Allies,  would  be 
binding  upon  the  present  Administra- 
tion. The  understanding  related  to 
$1,500,000,000  loaned  to  Great  Brit- 
ain from  the  proceeds  of  the  first  Lib- 
erty bonds.  The  agreement  was  that 
the  payments  were  to  spread  over  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years,  the  final 
payment  coming  in  1947.  The  inter- 
est, it  was  said,  was  to  be  consolidated 
with  the  debt. 


The  present  situation,  which  Secre- 
tary Mellon  called  embarrassing,  was 
caused  by  discussions  in  1919  between 
Albert  Rathbone,  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Mr.  Blackett, 
representing  Great  Britain,  with  the 
result  that  the  "  understanding  "  was 
reduced  to  written  memoranda.  These 
conferences,  the  committee  was  in- 
formed, were  held  after  Secretary 
Glass  and  his  successor,  Secretary 
Houston,  had  decided  that  there  was 
authority  in  law  for  the  deferment  of 
interest  payments. 

Payment  to  Great  Britain 

Some  surprise  was  occasioned  by 
the  announcement  of  the  Treasury 
Department  on  July  16  that,  despite 
Great  Britain's  debt  of  $4,500,000,000 
to  this  country,  payment  of  $32,688,- 
352  had  been  made  by  the  American 
Government  to  the  British  Ministry 
of  Shipping  in  settlement  of  a  claim 
against  the  War  Department.  The 
British  claim  was  for  transportation 
services  arising  out  of  the  war  and 
constituted  a  final  settlement  between 
the  War  Department  and  the  British 
Ministry  of  Shipping,  covering  all 
claims  of  either  party  against  the 
other  for  transportation  services. 

Secretary  Mellon  asked  Attorney 
General  Daugherty  for  a  ruling  as  to 
whether  the  act  of  March  3,  1875, 
which  requires  the  Secretary  to  with- 
hold payment  of  any  judgment 
against  the  United  States  where  the 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


929 


claimant  is  indebted  to  this  country  in 
any  manner,  applied  to  such  a  claim. 
The  Attorney  General  held  that  the 
act  did  not  apply,  as  it  was  the  prac- 
tice of  sovereign  nations  not  to  prose- 
cute their  claims  against  one  another 
in  the  courts  and  obtain  judgment, 
but  to  adjust  such  matters  through 
diplomatic  channels.  If  it  should  be 
construed  to  apply  to  the  case  in  ques- 
tion, it  might  seriously  interfere  with 
the  Government  in  its  conduct  of  for- 
eign relations.  The  British  transpor- 
tation claim,  it  was  explained,  was 
for  what  was  regarded  during  the 
war  as  "  current  expenses."  Among 
the  Allies,  it  was  said,  there  was  a 
general  understanding  that  all  cur- 
rent expenses  would  be  paid  one  an- 
other without  awaiting  the  settlement 
of  international  debts. 

Cost  of  Army  of  Occupation 

In  response  to  a  resolution  by  Sen- 
ator Borah,  Republican,  of  Idaho,  Sec- 
retary of  War  Weeks  sent  to  the  Sen- 
ate on  July  28  figures  showing  that 
the  total  cost  of  the  American  occu- 
pation forces  in  Germany  from  Dec. 
18,  1918.  to  April  30,  1921— the  latest 
date  for  which  accounts  were  avail- 
able—was $275,324,192.  Of  this 
amount,  Germany  owed  the  United 
States  for  maintenance  $240,744,511. 
It  was  stated  that  there  were  now  in 
the  American  Rhine  forces  500  offi- 
cers, 13,241  enlisted  men  and  54 
nurses. 

On  July  29  a  letter  written  by  Sec- 
retary of  State  Hughes  to  President 
Harding  was  made  public,  in  which, 
dealing  with  the  subject  of  communi- 
cation facilities  in  the  Pacific,  the 
Secretary  asserted  his  belief  that  the 
cable  from  Guam  to  Yap  would  be  al- 
located to  the  United  States.  "The 
allocation  of  the  German  cables  cen- 
tring at  Yap,"  the  latter  said  in  part, 
"  has  been  the  s'ubject  of  discussion 
at  the  preliminary  communications 
conference,  and  negotiations  are  still 
proceeding.  The  American  delegates 
to  the  conference  have  contended  that 
the  service  which  we  enjoyed  in  the 
past  should  be  restored,  and  it  is  prob- 


able that  the  cable  from  Guam  to  Yap 
will  be  allocated  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States." 

New  Army  Policy 

Secretary  of  War  Weeks  gave  to 
the  press  on  July  24  the  text  of  a 
formal  memorandum  to  General  John 
J.  Pershing,  Chief  of  Staff,  contain- 
ing President  Harding's  interpreta- 
tion of  the  act  of  June  4,  1920,  in 
which  Congress  provided  for  a  peace- 
time organization  of  the  national  de- 
fense. "  It  is  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  country,"  the  Secretary 
added,  "  that  the  President  has  pro- 
mulgated a  military  policy  for  the 
United  States." 

The  President  interpreted  the  law 


(©    Hiirris    *    Bwing) 

W.    W.    HUSBAND 

Neto    Commissioner    Gcnrral    of    Immigration, 
succrrdmu/    Mr.    Caminetti 


930 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


as  meaning  that  future  wars,  like 
those  of  the  past,  would  be  fought 
mainly  by  citizen  soldiers  fighting 
temporarily.  The  regular  army,  he 
held,  should  be  maintained  ready  for 
action,  and  in  event  of  war  should  be 
reinforced  by  a  National  Guard  and 
an  organized  reserve,  already  mobil- 
ized for  immediate  action  and  as  near 
full  strength  as  possible. 

General  Pershing  was  instructed  to 
have  the  regular  army  concentrated 
into  a  limited  number  of  organiza- 
tions, each  of  effective  military 
strength,  and  assigned  to  the  various 
"  corps  areas  "  into  which  the  country 
has  been  divided  geographically. 
Through  the  reduction  of  the  number 
of  regiments  thus  entailed,  many  reg- 
ular army  officers  will  be  released 
from  service  with  troops,  and  these 
will  be  assigned  to  train  the  National 
Guard,  the  organized  reserves,  the 
Reserve  Officers'  Training  Corps  and 
the  Citizens'  Training  Corps.  There 
will  also  be  a  surplus  of  enlisted  men, 
and  these  will  be  assigned  to  assist  in 
training  the  non-regular  organiza- 
tions. 

Federal  Expenditures 

The  total  Government  expenditures 
during  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30 
dropped  off  $9,000,000,000,  as  com- 
pared with  the  preceding  year,  repre- 
senting a  decrease  of  $1,387,000,000 
in  ordinary  disbursements  and  a  re- 
duction of  $7,846,000,000  in  payments 
on  the  public  debt,  according  to  the 
annual  statement  issued  July  19  by 
the  Treasury  Department. 

Ordinary  expenditures  for  the  year 
amounted  to  $5,115,927,689,  compared 
with  $6,403,343,841  for  the  fiscal  year 
of  1920,  while  disbursements  on  the 
public  debt  totaled  $9,182,027,170,  as 
against  $17,038,039,723  in  the  previ- 
ous fiscal  year. 

During  the  last  year  ordinary  ex- 
penditures were  heaviest  in  the 
month  of  March,  when  $536,476,360 
was  expended,  and  public  debt  dis- 
bursements were  greatest  in  June, 
when  $1,605,816,001  was  applied  on 
the  national  debt.     Of  the  ordinary 


expenditures  for  the  year  the  War 
Department  led  with  a  total  of 
$1,101,000,000,  representing  a  reduc- 
tion of  $500,000,000  compared  with 
the  previous  year.  Interest  on  the 
public  debt  was  the  second  largest 
item,  amounting  to  $999,000,000,  a 
drop  of  $21,000,000,  while  payments 
on  account  of  Federal  control  of  the 
railroads  ranked  third  in  volume,  with 
$730,000,000,  representing  a  decrease 
of  about  $300,000,000. 

Of  the  public  debt  disbursements 
for  the  year  $8,552,000,000  was  ap- 
plied to  the  redemption  of  certifi- 
cates of  indebtedness,  a  decrease  of 
about  $5,000,000,000,  as  compared 
with  the  previous  year,  while  the  next 
largest  item  was  $431,000,000  in  Lib- 
erty bonds  and  Victory  notes  retired, 
representing  a  decrease  of  about 
$762,000,000. 

Income  Taxes  for  1919 

A  preliminary  report  of  income  tax 
returns  was  published  on  July  24  by 
Internal  Revenue  Commissioner  Blair. 
It  showed  that  the  Government  ob- 
tained a  total  of  $1,269,000,000  in 
revenue  from  personal  income  taxes 
in  1919,  an  increase  of  $141,900,000, 
as  compared  with  1918. 

The  Commissioner's  report  showed 
that  there  were  5,332,760  personal  re- 
turns filed  in  the  calendar  year  1919, 
representing  a  growth  of  907,646 
from  1918,  while  the  total  amount  of 
net  income'  reported  for  1919  was 
$19,859,000,000,  an  increase  of  $3,- 
934,000,000  over  the  previous  year. 

The  average  net  income  per  return 
for  1919  was  $3,724.05,  the  average 
amount  of  tax  $238.08  and  the  aver- 
age tax  rate  6.39  per  cent. 

There  were  filed  65  returns  of  net 
income  of  $1,000,000  and  over,  189 
of  500,000  to  $1,000,000,  425  of  from 
$300,000  to  $500,000,  1,864  of  $150,- 
000  to  $300,000,  2,983  of  $100,000  to 
$150,000,  13,320  of  $50,000  to  $100,- 
000,  37,477  of  $25,000  to  $50,000, 
162,485  of  $10,000  to  $25,000,  438,851 
of  $5,000  to  $10,000,  1,180,488  of 
$3,000  to  $5,000,  1,569,741  of  $2,000 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Dtil 


to  $3,000  and  1,924,872  of  $1,000  t© 
$2,000. 

Accord  on  Tax  Bill 

A  conference  was  held  at  the  White 
House  on  Aug.  9,  presided  over  by 
the  President  and  attended  by  Secre- 
tary Mellon,  the  Republican  members 
of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee 
and  Representatives  Mondell,  Madden 
and  Campbell.  A  solution  of  the  tax 
problem  was  reached,  by  which  in- 
ternal taxation,  it  was  estimated, 
would  be  reduced  about  $600,000,000, 
while  the  excess-profits  tax  would  be 
repealed  and  cuts  made  on  transpor- 
tation and  income  surtaxes.  It  was 
figured  that  the  total  expenditures  of 
the  Government  in  the  next  fiscal 
year  could  be  held  down  to  $4,034,- 
000,000. 

The  revenue  bill  now  being  pre- 
pared, it  was  stated,  would  raise 
$3,075,000,000  instead  of  the  $3,570,- 
000,000  collected  under  the  present 
law.  Transportation  taxes  will  be 
cut  in  half,  to  be  effective  in  January, 

1922,  and  will  be  wholly  repealed  in 

1923.  The  bill,  if  passed,  will  repeal 
the  excess-profits  tax  as  of  Jan.  1, 
1921 ;  reduce  the  income  surtaxes  to 
40  per  cent.,  as  of  Jan.  1,  1921,  and 
to  33  per  cent.,  to  take  effect  Jan.  1, 
1922.  The  repeal  of  the  soft  drinks 
and  luxury  taxes  was  contemplated 
by  the  program,  while  the  loss  from 
the  repeal  of  the  excess-profits  taxes 
would  be  made  up  in  part  by  increas- 
ing the  tax  on  the  net  incomes  of 
corporations  from  the  present  10  per 
cent,  to  1214»,  instead  of  the  15  per 
cent,  previously  planned. 

The  program  was  adopted  as  a  re- 
sult of  President  Harding's  insist- 
ence on  economies  and  the  carrying 
over  of  a  number  of  "  hang  over " 
war  debts.  It  was  understood  to  be 
a  compromise  between  the  views  of 
Secretary  Mellon  and  those  of  Re- 
publican House  leaders.  According 
to  the  President,  who  announced  the 
decision  after  the  conference,  it  will 
be  necessary  for  the  Government  to 
practice  the  most  rigid  economy  in  all 
departments. 


Fordney  Tariff  Bill 

By  a  vote  of  289  to  127  the  Fordney 
Tariff  bill  was  passed  by  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  July  21.  The 
bill  carried  hides,  oil,  cotton  and  as- 
phalt on  the  free  list,  and  omitted  the 
expected  embargo  on  dyestuffs. 
Seven  Republicans  voted  against  the 
measure  and  seven  Democrats  voted 
for  it.  On  three  out  of  five  contested 
schedules  which  came  up  for  a  sepa- 
rate vote,  backed  by  most  of  the  Re- 
publican members  of  the  Ways  and 
Means  Committee,  the  Democrats, 
aided  by  dissatisfied  members  of  the 
majority,  were  able  to  win.  The  bill 
was  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  it  was 
predicted  that  many  changes  would 
be  made  and  censiderable  time  con- 
sumed before  it  would  be  put  on  its 
final  passage.  It  was  expected  that 
the  President  would  exert  pressure  to 
have  the  Tax  bill  passed  in  advance 
of  the  tariff  measure. 

A  vigorous  debate  took  place  be- 
fore the  vote  on  the  bill  was  taken 
in  the  House,  Representatives  Ford- 
ney and  Mondell  supporting  the  meas- 
ure, while  Representative  Garrett, 
acting  Democratic  floor  leader,  de- 
nounced the  bill,  which  he  termed  a 
"  monstrosity/'  declaring  that  a  day 
of  retribution  would  come  for  the 
men  who  had  framed  and  passed  it. 

Curb  on  Liquor  Raiders 

The  Senate  on  Aug.  8,  by  vote 
of  39  to  20,  passed  the  supplementary 
Prohibition  Enforcement  bill,  amend- 
ed in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  a 
misdemeanor  for  any  official  or 
agent  of  the  United  States  to  search 
the  "  property  or  premises  "  of  any 
person  without  having  previously 
procured  a  warrant,  and  to  make  it  a 
felony  for  any  person  not  an  author- 
ized official  agent  or  employe  of  the 
Government  to  cause  "  under  color 
or  claim  to  be  acting  as  such  "  any 
person  to  be  deprived  of  any  of  the 
rights  or  immunities  guaranteed  by 
the  Constitution.  The  penalty  for  the 
first  offense  named  is  a  fine  not  ex- 
ceeding $1,000  or  imprisonment  not 


932 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


exceeding  a  year,  or  both.  For  a 
violation  of  the  second  clause  the 
penalty  is  a  fine  not  exceeding  $10,- 
000  or  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
five  years,  or  both. 

Roads  Reject  Wage  Plea 

Presidents  of  Eastern  railroads  de- 
livered to  the  four  railroad  brother- 
hoods and  the  switchmen,  on  Aug.  11, 
a  flat  refusal  to  terms  which  the 
union  chiefs  had  outlined.  These 
terms  included  requests  for  informa- 
tion as  to  whether  or  not  "  the  oper- 
ating officials  of  the  railroads  will  re- 
store the  wage  rates  in  effect  on  June 
30,  1921;  second,  if  all  demands  for 
further  decreases  will  be  withdrawn ; 
third,  if  all  demands  for  the  elimina- 
tion of  time  and  one-half  time  for 
overtime  and  radical  schedule  revi- 
sion will  be  withdrawn  and  not  again 
pressed  for  a  certain  period."  The 
answer  to  the  brotherhoods  was  brief, 
merely  stating  that  "  conditions  make 
it  impossible  to  grant  the  request." 
Twenty-seven  executives  of  the  East- 
ern lines  concurred  in  the  action. 

War  Risk  Bureau  Abolished 

The  War  Risk  Bureau,  whose  func- 
tions included  the  handling  of  insur- 
ance papers  taken  out  by  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  the  World  War  and  the  care 
of  disabled  ex-service  men,  went  out 
of  existence  on  Aug.  9,  when  Presi- 
dent Harding  signed  the  legislative 
measure  transferring  to  a  new  de- 
partment of  the  Government,  created 
by  the  act,  all  the  activities  of  the 
War  Risk  Bureau  and,  in  addition,  the 
Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion and  certain  branches  of  the  Pub- 
lic Health  Service.  Following  his  ap- 
proval of  the  bill,  the  President  sent 
to  the  Senate  the  nomination  of  Col- 
onel Charles  R.  Forbes  of  Seattle, 
Wash.,  to  be  Director  of  the  new  Vet- 
erans' Bureau,  which  the  law  created. 
The  nomination  was  confirmed  on  the 
same  day. 

Under  the  new  bureau  the  country 
will  be  divided  into  fourteen  regional 
offices,  each  of  which  has  authority 


to  act  quickly  without  waiting  until 
the  Washington  headquarters  sanc- 
tions its  course.  The  three  different 
branches  of  the  Government,  which 
have  hitherto  acted  independently  in 
hospitals  and  districts  in  caring  for 
disabled  veterans,  will  now  function 
under  one  head  in  each  regional  area. 

Panama  Canal  Tolls 

According  to  The  Panama  Canal 
Record,  a  total  of  11,599,214  tons 
of  commercial  cargo  was  carried 
through  the  Panama  Canal  during  the 
last  fiscal  year,  or  2%y2  per  cent, 
more  than  in  any  preceding  year, 
while  the  tolls  amounted  to  $11,276,- 
890,  or  32i/2  per  cent,  more  than 
any  preceding  year.  In  addition, 
Government  vessels  which  passed 
through  the  canal,  tolls  free,  carried 
453,769  tons  of  cargo.  American, 
British  and  Japanese  vessels  carried 
89  per  cent,  of  the  total  commer- 
cial tonnage,  the  American  business 
amounting  to  45  per  cent.,  British  to 
32  and  Japanese  to  7  per  cent.  The 
total  number  of  ships  passing  through 
the  canal  was  2,892,  of  which  1,212 
were  American,  970  British,  140  Nor- 
wegian and  136  Japanese. 

Racing  of  Immigrant  Ships 

Frantic  midnight  racing  of  immi- 
grant ships  into  American  harbors  in 
order  to  land  monthly  quotas  in  the 
first  minutes  of  the  first  day  of  new 
months  having  developed  into  a 
scandal,  Commissioner  General  Hus- 
band of  the  Immigration  Bureau  an- 
nounced on  Aug.  6  that  he  was  will- 
ing to  "  wipe  the  slate  clean,"  admit 
under  bond  the  August  quota  excess 
of  400  or  more  then  in  the  harbors, 
and  begin  all  over  again  if  the  com- 
panies wou)d  reach  a  binding  agree- 
ment among  themselves  not  to  exceed 
quotas  thereafter.  There  was  excuse 
for  the  exceeded  quotas  in  June,  when 
the  Italian  quota  was  exceeded  by 
2,500,  the  Commissioner  said,  but 
none  for  repeated  disregarding  of  the 
rules  by  certain  lines.  Since  June  30 
probably  not  more  than  400   aliens 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


933 


had  arrived  in  excess  of  quotas,  but 
these  had  practically  taken  all  the 
time  of  the  immigration  officers  to 
handle. 

The  Secretary  of  State  on  July  20 
received  nineteen  new  appointees  as 
Consuls,  Vice  Consuls  and  Consular 
Assistants,  who  were  about  to  pro- 
ceed abroad  to  represent  the  United 
States  at  their  various  posts  after 
completing  the  course  of  instruction 
at  the  State  Department  designed  to 
familiarize  them  with  all  the  details 
of  their  duties.  Secretary  Hughes 
made  a  felicitous  address,  a  part  of 
which  follows: 

Of  course  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the 
character  of  the  American  people  will  be 
judged  by  countless  numbers  of  those  who 
live  in  other  countries  by  the  impression 
you  make  on  them.  We  don't  want  repre- 
sentatives who  are  bombastic,  boastful,  un- 
reasonable, severe  or  autocratic — who  are 
disposed  to  make  a  great  deal  of  their  au- 
thority at  the  expense  of  those  who  are 
making  polite  inquiries;  who  are  disposed 
to  be  nervous  and  petulant.  The  man  who 
succeeds  is  the  man  who  can  keep  quiet  and 
placid  when  there  is  very  severe  pressure, 
who  can  keep  his  head  and  intelligence,  at 
the  same  time  giving  the  impression  of  a 
man  adequate  to  the  exigency.  If  you  can 
give  that  impression  you  will  do  a  great 
deal  for  your  country. 

Arrest  of  Illinois  Governor 

Governor  Len  Small  of  Illinois  was 
placed  under  arrest  at  the  Executive 
Mansion,  Springfield,  111.,  on  the 
afternoon  of  Aug.  9.  Despite  the 
Governor's  protests  and  those  of  his 
attorney,  he  was  forced  to  accompany 
the  Sheriff  to  the  Court  House,  where 
he  furnished  bonds  of  $50,000  as 
surety  for  his  appearance  in  the 
Sangamon  County  Court  on  the  first 
Monday  in  September  to  answer  to 
three  indictments  charging  him  with 
having,  when  State  Treasurer,  em- 
bezzled half  a  million  dollars  of  State 
funds,  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to 
defraud  the  State  of  $2,000,000  of  the 
taxpayers'  money,  and  embezzled, 
jointly  with  Lieutenant  Governor 
Fred  E.  Sterling  and  Vernon  Curtis, 
$700,000  of  interest  on  public  funds. 
The  indictments  had  been  found  on 


July  20,  but  the  Governor  had  pro- 
tested that  he  was  immune  from  ar- 
rest by  virtue  of  his  office,  and  when 
this  plea  failed  kept  out  of  the  reach 
of  the  Sheriff  until  the  day  of  his 
arrest.  It  was  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  Illinois  that  a  Governor  of 
the  State  had  been  arrested  on  a 
criminal  charge  while  in  office.  The 
Governor  declared  that  he  was  inno- 
cent and  that  the  charges  were  due 
to  the  unscrupulous  machinations  of 
political  enemies. 

General  Wood  to  Rule  in  the 
Philippines 

Secretary  Weeks  announced  on 
Aug.  11  that  Major  Gen.  Leonard 
Wood  would  be  appointed  Governor 
General  of  the  Philippines,  provided 
that  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
consented  to  his  release  as  Provost 
of  that  institution.  The  decision  of  the 
Administration  to  name  General 
Wood  for  the  Philippine  post  had 
been  held  in  abeyance  for  some  time, 
the  Secretary  said,  in  order  to  permit 
the  General  to  submit  his  report  on 
conditions  in  the  island  possessions. 
A  preliminary  report  had  already 
been  submitted  by  him  as  head  of  the 
Wood-Forbes  Commission,  which  for 
some  months  past  has  been  investi- 
gating Philippine  conditions.  Gen- 
eral Wood  has  indicated  his  willing- 
ness to  accept  the  post,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  prior  to  his  de- 
parture for  Manila  he  declined  it  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  already  seen 
too  much  service  in  the  tropics.  It  is 
understood  that  he  became  so  inter- 
ested in  the  Philippine  situation  as  a 
result  of  his  investigation  that  he  re- 
versed his  original  decision.  No  of- 
ficial announcement  was  made  as  to 
the  tenor  of  his  preliminary  report, 
but  it  was  understood  that  conditions 
as  seen  by  him  did  not  warrant  the 
immediate  granting  of  independence 
to  the  Philippines.  As  Governor 
General  of  the  islands  General  Wood 
will  receive  a  salary  of  $24,000  a 
year,  with  a  residence  at  the  Govern- 
ment's expense. 


IS  THE  CHURCH  ON 
A  DECLINE? 


By  Gustavus  Myers 

Results  of  the  recent  religious  census  in  the  United  States  indicate 
that  the  membership,  especially  of  the  Protestant  denominations, 
is  steadily  increasing — Percentage  of  Roman  Catholic  growth 
considerably  less — Problem  of  city  churches 


WHAT  has  been  the  experience  of 
religion  and  the  Church  in  the 
general  upheaval  which  has 
changed  or  shattered  so  many  insti- 
tutions? Superficially,  church  and 
religion  seem  of  minor  importance 
compared  to  the  engrossing  interest 
in  other  affairs.  Yet  they  are  far 
more  vital  and  durable.  Political  and 
economic  systems  have  come  and 
gone,  but  through  all  these  changes 
religion  and  its  church  establish- 
ments have  survived. 

Within  particular  faiths  there  have 
been  schisms,  but  the  great  main  re- 
ligions have  preserved  their  identity 
through  all  vicissitudes.  The  strik- 
ing difference  between  modern  and 
past  times  is  that  the  Church  and  its 
functionaries  no  longer  command  the 
acute  interest  that  they  did  in  former 
ages.  They  were  then  the  arbiters 
of  political  as  well  as  religious  pol- 
icies. Had  newspapers  been  published 
five  centuries  ago  they  would  have 
given  the  same  large  space  to  the 
doings  and  sayings  of  prelates  that 
they  now  do  to  those  of  statesmen 
and  parliamentary  bodies.  That  lit- 
tle is  now  reported  of  the  plans  and 
edicts  of  church  hierarchies  is  taken 
as  proof  of  the  insignificance,  if  not 
decrepitude,  of  the  Church. 

Experience  has  taught  that  the  ap- 
parent condition  of  a  church  at  any 
one  time  is  not  to  be  accepted  as  in- 
dicative of  its  final  condition.     Many 


a  time  did  the  Jewish  Church  seem 
throttled  by  persecution,  but  it  event- 
ually emerged  strong  in  some  other 
place.  Before  the  Protestant  Ref- 
ormation the  Christian  religion,  as 
embodied  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  spiritually  was  in  a  low  state. 
But  it  was  revitalized  and  became 
robustly  militant.  During  the  French 
Revolution  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  appeared  to  be  overwhelmed, 
yet  it  came  forth  from  the  ordeal  a 
re-established  power.  The  actual 
point,  however,  is  not  the  career  of 
the  Church,  but  the  hold  of  religion. 
Under  the  fluctuation  of  events  the 
fact  has  persisted  that  vast  numbers 
of  the  different  races  have  always 
believed  in  some  one  of  the  religions 
and  reverenced  the  religious  spirit. 
Has  this  attachment  increased  or  de- 
cayed ? 

It  is  becoming  a  fashion  to  date  all 
great  changes  from  the  World  War. 
So  immense  an  impression  did  that 
conflict  make  upon  mankind  that  this 
attitude  is  understandable,  even  if 
fallacious.  Religion,  however,  went 
through  its  great  conflict  long  before 
the  World  War.  The  so-called  ration- 
alistic writers  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury assaulted  it,  and  their  work  was 
continued  in  another  direction  by  the 
materialist  scientists  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Discoveries  made 
and  facts  adduced  seemed  to  be  irrec- 
oncilably opposed  to  all  that  ortho- 


IS   THE   CHURCH   ON  A   DECLINE? 


935 


dox  religion  taught.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  the  phrase  "the  conflict 
of  religion  and  science"  was  common, 
and  religion  seemed  to  be  worsted. 
It  couM,  its  opponents  charged,  only 
offer  dogma  and  assertion  to  combat 
what  appeared  to  be  irrefutable 
proofs  of  the  evolution  of  life  and 
the  composition  of  the  universe.  As 
the  writings  and  lectures  of  scientists 
and  their  followers  permeated  large 
sections  of  society,  particularly  in 
Europe  and  America,  religion  seemed 
to  be  undermined.  Doubt  and  skepti- 
cism prevailed  as  to  church  doctrines, 
and  frequent  complaints  were  made 
by  ministers  in  America  that  church 
attendance  had  become  perfunctory. 
In  Switzerland  Professor  Elie  Gour- 
nell  expressed  a  widespread  view  of 
the  clergy  when  he  declared  that 
churches  were  no  longer  filled  with 
worshippers,  but  with  audiences. 


Alienation  of  Workingmex 

While  religion  thus  came  into  col- 
lision with  science,  the  Church  itself 
was  openly  attacked.  From  time  to 
time  labor  organizations  and  mass 
meetings  of  workingmen  in  both 
America  and  Europe  passed  resolu- 
tions denouncing  the  apparent  indif- 
ference of  the  Church  and  the  clergy 
to  the  interests  of  the  working  peo- 
ple. 

Undoubtedly  large  numbers  of 
working  people,  believing  this  charge 
of  indifference,  were  alienated  from 
the  Church,  which  was  slow  in  realiz- 
ing that  the  labor  movement  was  one 
of  the  most  powerful  and  significant 
movements  in  modern  times.  In  1906 
Dr.  Josiah  Strong  published  figures 
showing  the  alarming  increase  in  the 
number  of  barren  churches,  and 
pointing  out  that  while  the  estimated 


MAP  OF  ROMAN  CATHOLICISM'S  GAINS  AND  LOSSES,  1906-1916 
Explanation  of  lettered  key  at  bottom  of  map :  A— Eighteen  States  with  increase  of  Roman 
Catholics,  1906-1916,  but  not  large  enough  to  keep  up  with  Protestant  increase.  B— Thirteen 
States  where  single  religious  bodies  exceed  Roman  Catholic  population  in  their  mere  com- 
municant membership  lists.  C— Seven  States  of  preceding  group  with  smaller  Roman  Catholic 
population  in  1916  than  in  1906.  D— Nine  other  States  where  the  Roman  Catholic  population 
in  1916  was  less  than  in  1906.  E— The  six  unshaded  States,  Maine,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Arizona,  are  the  only  ones  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  1906-1916.  had 
an  absolute   gain. 


936 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


annual  increase  of  population  in  the 
United  States  was  2.18  per  cent.,  the 
increase  of  the  entire  church  mem- 
bership was  only  1.69  per  cent.,  the 
lowest  on  record. 

In  England  the  Rev.  Arthur  Jeph- 
son,  vicar  of  St.  John's,  Walworth, 
declared:  "  The  Church  is  largely  to 
blame  for  the  alienation  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  The  Church  is  almost 
always  the  friend  of  the  landlord  and 
employer.  The  Church  has  allied  it- 
self with  land  and  capital,  and  gener- 
ally with  the  master  against  his 
workmen.  Its  clergymen  have  dined 
with  the  rich  and  preached  at  the 
poor,  instead  of  doing  the  exact  oppo- 
site." Other  English  clergymen  ex- 
pressed themselves  similarly.  In 
Germany  Dr.  Stocker  of  Berlin  com- 
plained that  the  middle  classes — the 
educated,  industrial,  commercial  peo- 
ple— and  the  artisans  and  small 
tradesmen  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
opposed  to  the  Church;  that  the 
Church's  only  friends  were  the  aris- 
tocracy and  peasants.  In  Roman 
Catholic  countries  outspoken  priests 
and  lay  leaders  expressed  the  same 
views;  in  France  Count  de  Mun,  a 
Catholic  leader,  demanded  that  the 
Church  actively  support  a  specific 
program  for  the  improvement  of 
labor  conditions. 

Since  then  individuals  and  groups 
within  church  bodies  have  sought  to 
create  support  for  workers'  move- 
ments. These  efforts  have  not  seri- 
ously changed  the  view  of  large  num- 
bers of  workingmen  and  other  groups. 
These  look  upon  the  institutional 
Church  as  concerned  with  the  past  in- 
stead of  participating  in  present 
movements  and  as  preaching  a  vis- 
ionary instead  of  a  practical  religion. 
Such  criticisms  are  often  unjust,  and 
much  may  be  said  for  the  view  that 
religious  faith  has  its  own  special 
field.  Despite  all  attempts  to  win 
over  these  adverse  elements  in  the 
cities,  the  Interchurch  World  Move- 
ment of  North  America  in  a  recent 
review  admitted  that  the  Church 
found  it  an  increasingly  difficult  task 


because  it  seemed  unresponsive  to 
their  conditions  and  aspirations  and 
talked  to  them  virtually  in  a  dead  in- 
stead of  a  live  language. 

Normally  one  might  reasonably 
conclude  that,  confronted  by  the  dual 
opposition  of  an  aggressive  science 
and  a  detached  industrial  array, 
church  organization  and  membership 
would  suffer  pronounced  losses.  True, 
science  is  not  the  confident,  attacking 
force  it  formerly  was.  Explorations 
into  various  realms  have  caused  it  to 
modify  its  dicta,  and  in  some  cases 
have  brought  out  the  admission  that 
science  and  religion  may  not,  after  all, 
be  irreconciliably  opposed.  Never- 
theless the  teachings  of  science's  ex- 
ponents of  former  years  deeply  im- 
pregnated the  minds  of  many  people, 
and  their  effects  are  still  wide- 
spread. 

Church  Members  Increasing 

Remarkable  as  it  may  seem, 
church  membership  in  the  United 
States  has  grown  instead  of  dimin- 
ishing. At  least,  this  is  what  formal 
census  returns  show.  Previous  to 
1880  census  inquiries  dealt  very  lit- 
tle with  churches.  The  census  for  1880 
gave  no  statistics,  and  that  for  1890 
was  very  incomplete.  The  first  real 
gathering  of  facts  as  to  churches  was 
in  1906,  under  the  provisions  of  an  act 
passed  by  Congress  in  1902.  This 
act  required  a  census  of  churches  to 
be  taken  every  ten  years,  in  between 
the  regular  census  periods.  There 
was  accordingly  a  church  census  in 
1916,  the  results  of  which  were  pub- 
lished in  1919.  The  next  census  of 
churches  will  be  taken  in  1926. 

The  latest  returns  showed  that 
church  membership  in  the  continental 
United  States  had  increased  from 
35,068,058  in  1906  to  41,926,854  in 
1916,  a  gain  of  19.5  per  cent.  During 
that  decade  the  population  had  in- 
creased 17.1  per  cent.  Apparently 
the  proportionate  growth  of  church 
membership  had  outstripped  that  of 
population. 


IS   THE   CHURCH   ON  A   DECLINE? 


987 


In  outline  the  different  religious 
organizations  in  the  United  States 
stood  thus: 

Per 

1906  1!>1(5  (Jain     Cent. 

Protestant    .  .20,290,014  25,025,990  4,735,976    23.4 

Eastern  Cath- 
olic           164,968  313,626  148,658     90.1 

Roman  Cath- 
olic     14,210,755  15,721,815  1,511,060    10.6 

Jewish    101,457  357,135  255,678      ... 

Latter     Day 

Saints   256,647  462,329  205,682    80.1 

Other     Re- 
ligions          44,217  45,959  1,742      3.9 

Total   35,068,058     41,926,854     6,858,796    19.5 

Population    ..86,646,370  101,464,014  14,817,644     17.1 

Two  particularly  surprisng  features 
were  revealed  by  the  latest  census. 
The  supposition  has  been  general 
that  the  membership  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  has  been  rapidly 
growing  while  that  of  the  Protestant 
churches  has  been  fast  declining. 
But  according  to  its  own  figures,  the 
membership  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  increased  during  that  decade 
1,511,060,  which,  as  above  noted,  is 
10.6  per  cent.  During  the  same 
period  the  Protestant  church  mem- 
bership increased  much  more.  Mem- 
bership of  Protestant  churches  prac- 
ticing infant  baptism  increased  23 
per  cent. ;  that  of  Protestant  churches 
practicing  adult  baptism  28.2  per 
cent.;  and  membership  of  Protestant 
churches  having  both  rituals  17.2  per 
cent. 

The  difference  of  growth  is  all  the 
more  striking  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
reckons  its  membership  upon  the 
basis  of  its  estimate  of  its  popula- 
tion, while  the  Protestant  churches, 
as  a  rule,  count  only  communicants. 
As  the  census  report  points  out, 
church  membership  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  begins  with  baptism 
in  infancy.  In  that  Church  there  is  no 
method  of  induction  into  formal  mem- 
bership corresponding  to  confirma- 
tion or  admission  to  the  Church  in 
Protestant  bodies  except  as  there  is  a 
renewal  of  baptismal  vows  connected 
with  the  first  communion  and  con- 
firmation. In  general,  Protestant 
churches,  on  the  other  hand,  admit 
baptized  children  to  membership  only 
when  they   have   arrived  at  an   age 


when  they  can  make  for  themselves 
an  actual  profession  of  prsonal  faith. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  counts 
as  members  infants  as  well  as  adults, 
while  Protestant  churches  include 
only  grown-up  children  and  adults. 

Decreased  Catholic  Growth 

Noting  how  crowded  Roman  Catho- 
lic churches  are,  the  casual  observer 
may  be  inclined  to  dispute  the  state- 
ment that  their  membership  has  not 
been  fast  growing.  But  the  census 
report  explains  that  it  is  seldom  that 
there  are  as  many  Roman  Catholic 
churches  in  a  community  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  communicants 
as  is  the  case  with  other  religious 
bodies.  There  are  comparatively  few 
Roman  Catholic  churches,  the  report 
says,  which  are  large  enough  to  ac- 
commodate at  one  time  the  entire 
parish  membership.  It  is  because  of 
this  fact  that  the  custom  has  grown 
of  holding  a  series  of  Sunday  services 
or  masses,  one  succeeding  another  at 
different  hours. 

One  explanation  of  the  decline  of 
Roman  Catholic  membership  may  be 
the  return  of  considerable  numbers 
of  immigrants  to  Europe  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  World  War.  But  this 
does  not  by  any  means  account  for 
the  whole  change.  The  census  fig- 
ures show  that  it  has  not  only  been 
failing  to  maintain  a  proportionate 
growth  in  States  where  there  is  much 
immigration,  but  that  it  has  not 
grown  in  States  where  there  never 
were  many  immigrants.  In  sixteen 
of  the  forty-eight  States  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  reported  a  smaller 
membership  in  1916  than  in  1906. 
These  States  were  New  Hampshire, 
Vermont,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Alabama,  Mis- 
sissippi, Kentucky,  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, Missouri,  Colorado,  Montana, 
Idaho  and  Nevada.  In  this  list  of  de- 
clines must  also  be  included  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  In  eighteen  other 
States  Roman  Catholic  membership 
increased  from  1906  to  1916,  but  in 


938 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  same  States  the  percentage  of 
Protestant  membership  had  grown, 
while  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  fell  off.  In  such  heavy  recep- 
tacles of  immigration  as  New  York, 
Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania  and 
Illinois,  as  well  as  in  other  States,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  did  not  show 
a  growth  proportionate  to  that  of 
the  Protestant  Church.  There  were 
only  six  States  in  which  the  Catholic 
Church  actually  advanced,  both  in 
membership  and  in  percentage  of 
membership  of  religious  bodies. 
These  States  were  Arizona,  Connecti- 
cut, New  Jersey,  Maine,  Ohio  and  In- 
diana. It  is  believed  that  a  relatively 
higher  foreign  element  accounts  for 
the  increase  in  those  States. 

When,  in  1920,  the  Army  Reorgan- 
ization bill  was  passed,  the  question 
came  up  as  to  how  many  army  Chap- 
lains each  denomination  should  have. 
The  War  Department  asked  Dr.  Wal- 
ter Laidlaw,  the  executive  secretary 
of  the  New  York  Federation  of 
Churches,  to  make  a  computation 
based  upon  the  Government  census. 
Dr.  Laidlaw  made  an  unbiased  analy- 
sis, and  his  report  was  accepted.  In 
this  report  Dr.  Laidlaw  brought  out 
many  striking  facts. 

Of  the  reported  4,327,369  members 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  3,219,- 
732,  or  74.4  per  cent.,  were  under  13 
years  of  age.  Roman  Catholic  or- 
ganizations reporting  gave  figures 
showing  that  nearly  25  per  cent,  of 
their  membership  was  composed  of 
young  children.  Of  the  total  mem- 
bership of  religious  bodies  in  conti- 
nental United  States  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  had  37.5  per  cent., 
and  comprised  15.5  per  cent,  of  the 
total  population,  a  quarter  of  its  mem- 
bership being  children.  In  contrast, 
there  was  only  5.31  per  cent,  of  chil- 
dren under  the  'teen  age  in  Protestant 
churches.  Protestant  churches  had  a 
total  membership  in  the  United 
States  of  59.7  per  cent,  of  religious 
membership  of  all  bodies.  Although 
their  membership  in  general  included 
only  those  above  the  'teen  age,  Prot- 


estant churches  had  24.5  per  cent,  of 
the  entire  population  on  their  com- 
municant rolls. 

Era  of  Consolidation 

According  to  a  recently  published 
report,  it  was  expected  that  10,000 
Protestant  pulpits  would  be  vacant  in 
1921  because  of  the  lack  of  students 
for  the  ministry,  as  shown  by  the 
records  of  attendance  at  theological 
seminaries.  This  was  taken  in  some 
quarters  as  an  indication  that  inter- 
est in  religous  matters  was  fast  wan- 
ing. But  this  assumption  was  hasty 
and  sweeping.  It  entirely  ignored 
relevant  factors. 

In  the  first  place,  as  the  census  re- 
port shows,  recent  years  have  been  a 
period  of  consolidation  of  Protestant 
churches.  This  process,  the  report 
says,  "does  not  indicate  any  weaken- 
ing of  the  actual  strength  of  the 
churches."  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  for  example,  reported  601 
less  organizations  in  1916  than  in 
1906,  while  the  membership  reports 
showed  an  increase.  The  uniting  of 
the  Free  Baptist  churches  with  the 
Northern  Baptist  Convention  also  re- 
duced the  number  of  organizations. 
The  same  result  followed  the  union 
of  the  different  bodies  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

Furthermore,  economic  reasons 
have  had  their  influence.  While  the 
cost  of  living  in  recent  years  has  been 
excessive,  ministerial  salaries  have 
remained  paltry.  According  to  a  re- 
cent survey  of  the  Interchurch  World 
Movement  of  North  America,  only  1 
per  cent,  of  ministers  in  the  United 
States  receive  $4,000  or  more,  and 
not  quite  IV2  per  cent.  $3,000  to 
$4,000.  The  larger  salaries  are,  of 
course,  paid  in  the  cities,  where  only 
one-sixth  of  the  ministers  live.  Less 
than  5  per  cent,  get  from  $2,000  to 
$3,000,  and  not  quite  10  per  cent. 
$1,500  to  $2,000.  Nearly  33  per  cent, 
of  American  ministers  receive  $1,000 
to  $1,500,  and  nearly  39  per  cent.  $500 
to  $1,000  salary  a  year.     About  13 


IS  THE  CHURCH  ON  A   DECLINE? 


939 


per  cent,  are  paid  $500  a  year  or  less. 
No  doubt,  faced  by  the  inexorable  dis- 
parity between  income  and  cost  of 
living,  many  eligibles  have  had  to 
abandon  plans  of  studying  for  the 
ministry. 

Growth  of  Other  Creeds 

The  second  noteworthy  feature  of 
the  religious  census  is  the  growth  of 
the  Mormon  Church.  In  every  one 
of  the  thirty-nine  States  where  it  had 
members  in  1906  it  gained,  except  in 
Wisconsin.  Its  largest  proportionate 
gains  were  in  some  States  contiguous 
to  Utah.  In  Idaho,  for  instance,  it 
made  a  gain  of  40,280  members  in  ten 
years.  In  other  States  there  were 
lesser  increases,  diminishing  east- 
ward, yet,  nevertheless,  gains. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the 
progress  of  the  Christian  Science 
movement,  but  that  Church  declined 
to  give  information.  The  census  law 
of  1920  accordingly  was  drafted  to 
cover  such  refusals.  It  provides  that 
when  the  next  religious  census  is 
taken,  any  religious  body  failing  to 
report  will  be  subject  to  legal  pro- 
ceedings. 

Judging  from  the  nominal  census 
figures,  the  membership  of  the  Jew- 
ish Church  has  made  only  a  very 
slight  increase,  compared  to  the 
great  growth  of  the  Jewish  popula- 
tion in  America.  But  in  another  sec- 
tion of  the  report  this  apparent 
anomaly  is  partially  explained.  It 
says  that  Jewish  congregations 
variously  interpret  what  constitutes 
members.  Some  consider  in  member- 
ship only  seat  or  pew  holders ;  others 
allow  widows  but  not  wives  or  maid- 
ens as  members;  still  others  regard 
all  women  as  ineligible.  The  report 
continues : 

If,  however,  we  broaden  the  definition  of 
"  member  "  to  mean  one  who  shows  his  in- 
terest in  Judaism  by  making  even  a  small 
yearly  contribution  to  some  ecclesiastical 
entity,  and  by  visiting,  for  participation  in 
religious  exercises,  at  least  once  a  year,  a 
synagogue  or  similar  place  of  worship,  we 
shall  find  that  the  total  number  of  Jewish 
"  members  "  is  very  large. 

Thus  it  has  been  estimated  that  in  order 


to  accommodate  the  1,500,000  Jews  of  New 
York  City  who  are  able  and  of  proper  age 
to  attend  divine  services  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  a  million  sittings  would  have 
to  be  provided.  Actually,  in  that  city  in 
1917,  about  half  of  this  number  of  seats 
was  available  in  the  permanent  and  tem- 
porary places  of  worship  open  to  attendance 
during  the  high  holidays.  *  *  *  In 
other  words,  about  one-half  of  the  Jews  of 
New  York  City  attended  divine  worship  on 
the  "  day  of  days."  We  may  say,  therefore, 
that  about  one-half  of  the  Jews  of  New 
York  City  are,  in  one  sense  of  the  word, 
"  members."  Nor  is  there  any  good  reason 
to  suppose  that  outside  of  the  metropolis 
Jewish  religious  conditions  are  very  dif- 
ferent, taken  all  in  all,  from  those  within 
the  great  city. 

The  census  report  further  explains 
that  Jews  in  the  United  States  are 
confronted  by  a  number  of  difficul- 
ties. Frequently  they  cannot,  for 
economic  reasons,  attend  services  on 
their  Sabbath,  which  is  often  the 
busiest  commercial  day.  The  strug- 
gle for  existence,  effectively  interfer- 
ing with  their  going  to  services, 
makes  it  appear  that  Jewish  mem- 
bership is  much  smaller  than  it  is 
both  actually  and  potentially.  Hence, 
the  report  declares,  attendance  on  the 
almost  universally  observed  holidays 
is  a  far  better  criterion  of  real  mem- 
bership in  the  Jewish  Church. 

From  another  aspect — at  least  as 
indicated  by  census  figures — it  ap- 
pears that  religious  influence  has  not 
declined.  The  number  of  Sunday 
schools  in  the  United  States  increased 
in  ten  years  from  178,214  to  194,759 ; 
the  number  of  officers  and  teachers 
from  1,648,664  to  1,952,631 ;  and  the 
number  of  scholars  from  14,685,997 
to  19,935,890.  These  statistics  relate 
solely  to  what  is  called  the  Sunday 
school.  They  do  not  include  parochial 
or  other  institutions  which  supple- 
ment and  often  take  the  place  of  Sun- 
day schools. 

In  view  of  these  instructive  facts, 
what  becomes  of  the  criticism  often 
made  that  religious  teaching  has  sunk 
nearly  to  zero  ?  Only  recently  Bishop 
Philip  M.  Rhinelander  of  the  Episco- 
pal Diocese  of  Pennsylvania  com- 
plained that  "the  almost  universal 
tendency  is  to  teach  ethics  or  morals 


940 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


without  any  direct  relation  to  the 
Christian  faith,  so  that  the  average 
boy  or  girl  comes  out  of  school  with 
the  notion  that  Christianity  is  an  in- 
teresting but  outworn  philosophy, 
and  that  even  its  ethical  and  moral 
standards  are  not  final  and  of  no 
particular  authority."  But  if  the 
official  returns  are  to  be  accepted, 
vast  numbers  of  children  receive  in 
Sunday  schools  the  religious  training 
that  some  zealous  ecclesiastics  would 
like  to  see  established  in  the  public 
schools. 

Problem  of  City  Churches 

Apart,  however,  from  official  com- 
pilations, there  are  other  and  deeper 
phases  of  the  subject  of  church  and 
religion  disclosed  .by  the  investiga- 
tions of  church  bodies  themselves. 
Students  of  city  conditions  have 
often  remarked  the  noticeable  ab- 
sence of  interest  of  large  numbers 
of  city  people  in  church  affairs.  They 
find  it  hard  to  believe  official  sta- 
tistics which  show  an  increase  of  re- 
ligious interest,  when  among  city  peo- 
ple they  see  evidences  to  the  con- 
trary. 

This  apparent  enigma  is  explained, 
although  deploringly,  by  church  or- 
ganizations. In  the  survey  made  by 
the  Interchurch  World  Movement  the 
explanation  given  is  that  "  the  appeal 
of  the  city  church  is  largely  to  the 
rural  folk  that  have  migrated  to  the 
city.  Counts  made  of  those  attending 
city  churches  indicate  that  they  are 
largely  made  up  of  rural  emigrants. 
Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  those  pres- 
ent are  frequently  found  to  have  been 
born  in  the  country.  The  city  minis- 
try is  largely  recruited  from  rural  ter- 
ritory, and  this  means  that  the  mes- 
sage of  the  city  church  is  largely  in 
the  thought  language  of  the  rural 
emigrant.  It  is  intelligible  to  him, 
but  unintelligible  and  ineffective  in 
reaching  either  the  alien  immigrant 
or  the  indigenous  city  folk."  Inas- 
much as  the  census  of  1920  shows 
that  for  the  first  time  in  the  nation's 
history  urban  population  exceeds  ru- 


ral, this  condition  presents  a  critical 
problem  to  religious  denominations. 

Turning  to  Europe,  the  same  phe- 
nomena are  found.  The  appeal  of  the 
Church  is  in  the  rural  districts.  It 
was  estimated  that  in  Paris  in  peace 
times  only  about  3  per  cent,  of  that 
city's  population  attended  church  on 
Sunday,  and  in  other  European  cities 
church  attendance  was  comparatively 
small.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
there  was  a  certain  amount  of  re- 
newed interest  in  the  Church,  but  this 
did  not  last  long;  fatalism  generally 
took  the  place  of  faith.  In  England 
the  spiritualism  giving  assurances  of 
survival  of  personality  after  death 
became  popular  and  in  a  large  meas- 
ure has  remained  so. 

The  Situation  in  Europe 

The  war  also  left  the  various 
churches  in  Europe  with  diminished 
personnel  and  depleted  financial  re- 
sources. In  France  between  25,000 
and  30,000  French  priests  and  stu- 
dents and  nearly  half  of  the  total 
Protestant  ministry  were  mobilized. 
In  other  European  countries  con- 
scription of  church  forces  was  also 
heavy.  The  huge  losses  of  men, 
clerical  and  lay,  weakened  church 
forces  of  every  creed,  while  training 
for  the  ministry  and  priesthood  was 
suspended  in  many  countries  through- 
out the  war  years. 

In  some  respects  of  organization 
power,  the  Church  has  gained.  The 
French  Government,  after  a  fifteen- 
year  severance,  has  resumed  diplo- 
matic relations  with  the  Vatican,  and 
the  Italian  Government  is  on  the 
verge  of  doing  the  same.  In  other 
respects  the  power  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  has  been  weakened, 
notably  in  Czechoslovakia,  where 
360,000  former  Roman  Catholics, 
headed  by  eighty  priests,  have  broken 
away  from  the  Roman  Church  and 
established  a  National  Church.  This, 
while  retaining  the  general  Roman 
Catholic  faith,  has  renounced  adher- 
ence to  the  Pope.  The  creation  of 
this  new  church  gradually  followed 


IS  THE  CHURCH  ON  A   DECLINE? 


941 


the  refusal  of  Pope  Benedict  to  per- 
mit the  election  of  Bishops  by  laity 
vote,  to  allow  priests  to  marry,  and 
to  grant  the  use  of  the  Czech  lan- 
guage instead  of  Latin  in  the  liturgy. 
In  Russia  the  Greek  Church,  despite 
Bolshevist  opposition,  has  retained  its 
organization,  which,  however,  is  said 
tj  have  become  liberalized  in  point  of 
attitude  and  customs.  Reports  from 
Russia  assert  that  if  the  Soviet  power 
is  overthrown  the  Russian  Church  will 
be  the  only  organized  power  capable  of 
taking  its  place. 

General  Conclusions 

Summing  up  the  general  condition 
of  church  and  religion,  these  conclu- 
sions may  be  reached :  In  the  United 
States,  churches  as  a  whole  have 
gained  in  formal  membership,  power 
and  accretion  of  property,  but  the 
hold  of  most  of  them  upon  the  city 
populations  has  been  progressively 
diminishing.  Religion  does  not  have 
the  vital  appeal  to  city  people  that 
it  does  to  rural  folk.  In  Europe 
various  church  bodies  have  enhanced 
their  organization  power,  but  there, 
too,  they  encounter  indifference  or 
hostility  in  the  cities. 

Is  this  because  city  populations  are 
less  spiritually  minded  than  rural? 
Church  representatives  do  not  say 
so.  They  believe  that  underneath  the 
exterior  the  religious  spirit  is  strong 
in  city  people,  but  that  the  Church  has 
not  yet  found  the  right  means  to  give 
it  spiritual  expression  and  to  direct 
it  to  church  affiliations.  The  more 
advanced  churchmen  recognize  that 
the  cities  have  their  own  peculiar 
problems  and  ways,  greatly  differing 


from  those  of  the  country,  and  urge 
that  outworn  ecclesiastical  methods 
be  discarded  to  make  way  for  new 
ideas,  bringing  the  Church  into  a  more 
harmonious  relation  with  city  dwell- 
ers. 

Another  phase  of  the  problem 
about  which  churches  everywhere — 
both  in  America  and  Europe — are  per- 
plexed, is  the  probable  action  of 
women.  Hitherto  women  have  been 
more  assiduous  than  men  in  church 
attendance,  and,  in  fact,  have  often 
constituted  the  bulk  of  active  adher- 
ents. The  usual  assumption  that, 
therefore,  women  are  more  religious 
than  men  is  not  the  view  of  many- 
church  spokesmen.  They  think  that 
heretofore  more  women  than  men 
have  gone  to  church  because  the 
Church  gave  woman  virtually  her  op- 
portunity to  express  her  social  in- 
stincts. 

But  what  will  woman's  attitude  be, 
now  that  she  has  attained  the  fullest 
rights  to  express  herself  politically, 
industrially,  professionally  and  in 
many  other  ways?  Will  she  grow 
lukewarm  toward  the  Church,  per- 
haps abandon  it  altogether?  Some 
clerics  are  strongly  inclined  to  think 
this  a  possibility.  They  regard  it  as 
not  unlikely  that  a  time  may  come 
when  men  inside  the  Church  will  be 
as  much  disturbed  about  women  who 
are  outside  the  Church  as  women 
have  been  about  absentee  men.  Their 
suggested  remedies  for  obviating 
such  a  development  are  to  open  the 
way  for  the  fuller  participation  of 
women  in  the  control  of  churches 
and  denominational  boards,  and  to  al- 
low women  to  minister  on  an  equality 
with  men. 


THE  RIGHT  OF  CZECHOSLOVAKIA 
TO  INDEPENDENCE 


By  Charles  Pergler 

American    Bar    Association    and    of    the    Iowa    State    Bar;    formerly    Commissioner 
Czechoslovak     Republic     to     the     United     States,     Minister     to     Japan,     &c. 


TRADITION  and  history  are  so  inter- 
woven with  the  concept  of  nationality 
that  in  considering  the  right  of  a  na- 
tionality to  independence  and  statehood  it 
is  always  advantageous  and  even  necessary 
to  indulge  in  a  historical  retrospect.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  Czechoslovaks. 

As  early  as  the  seventh  century,  when 
the  historical  data  relative  to  Bohemia 
begin,  we  find  evidences  of  an  established 
Czech  State.  In  the  eleventh  century  Bo- 
fesmia,  Moravia,  Silesia  and  Poland  were 
united  under  Bretislav  I.,  King  of  Bohemia, 
and,  in  the  words  of  Count  Luetzov,  the 
eminent  historian,  "  The  idea  of  a  West 
Slav  empire  seemed  on  the  point  of  being 
realized,  but  the  Germans  stepped  in  to 
prevent  the  formation  of  a  powerful  Slav 
State  on  their  borders."  Otokar  II.,  of 
the  House  of  Premysl,  for  a  time  extended 
Czech  rule  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Baltic. 
Under  the  "  National  King,"  George  of 
Podebrad,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  lands 
of  the  Bohemian  Crown,  as  the  Czech  State 
was  then  known,  were  a  European  power 
of  the  first  order. 

The  lands  of  the  Bohemian  Crown,  almost 
four  centuries  ago,  were  Bohemia,  Moravia 
and  Silesia  (with  the  two  Lusatias),  and 
constituted  an  independent  realm,  just  as 
Hungary  was  then  an  independent  king- 
dom. In  1526  the  Czechs  called  to  the  throne 
of  their  State  the  Hapsburg  dynasty  for 
r-ractically  the  same  reasons  and  on  the 
same  conditions  as  the  Magyars  (commonly 
known  as  Hungarians).  Together  with  the 
Fragmatic  Sanction,  the  terms  under  which 
the  Hapsburgs  were  called  to  the  Hungarian 
throne  formed  what  can  be  called  the  legal 
foundation  of  the  Hungarian  revolution  in 
1848.  The  Czech  case  of  1915-18,  historic- 
ally and  legally  speaking,  is  every  bit  as 
strong  as  was  the  Magyar  case  in  1848,  if 
not    stronger.     The    compact    of    1526,    to- 


gether with  the  coronation  oaths  and  a 
large  number  of  other  historical  documents, 
form  the  legal  basis  of  the  Czech  revolution 
during  the  great  war. 

The  foundations  of  the  late  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Empire  are  to  be  found  in  a  purely 
dynastic  union  (1526)  of  the  Czech  State 
with  Austria  and  Hungary.  The  Hapsburg 
dynasty,  disregarding  its  pledges,  endeav- 
ored to  centralize  and  Germanize  this  union. 
In  1526  most  of  Hungary,  indeed  all  of  it 
except  the  Slovak  part,  was  subjugated  by 
the  Turks,  and  its  liberation  required  almost 
200  years  of  fighting  by  Austria  and  Bo- 
hemia. The  Czechs  at  the  same  time  de- 
fended their  independence  against  the  Haps- 
burgs, but  were  defeated  in  1618,  as  a  pre- 
lude to  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  later 
severely  persecuted  by  the  dynasty.  But 
they  never  submitted,  and  even  as  late  as 
1775  the  peasants  of  Moravia  defended  their 
national  church.  The  Moravians,  of  course, 
are  Czechs;-  to  hold  otherwise  would  be 
as  sensible  as  to  say  that  while  New  York- 
ers are  Americans,  Pennsylvanians  are  not. 

The  Czechs  rebelled  against  Austria  in 
1848,  but  were  unsuccessful,  while  the  Hun- 
garian revolution  was  suppressed  with  the 
aid  of  the  Russian  Government.  But  in  1867, 
following  defeats  by  Italy  and  France 
(1859),  and  by  Prussia  (1867),  Austria  be- 
came Austria-Hungary  (the  Dual  Empire) 
by  making  concessions  to  the  Magyars. 

The  Czechs  claimed  the  same  rights  as 
the  Magyars.  Failing  to  overcome  their 
opposition,  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
promised  to  concede  these  on  various  occa- 
sions, saying  especially,  in  a  rescript  to  the 
Bohemian  Diet  on  Sept.  12,  1871 :  "  We 
are  aware  of  the  position  of  the  Bohemian 
Crown  founded  on  her  constitutional  law, 
and  of  the  splendor  and  the  power  which 
it  has  brought  to  us  and  our  predecessors. 
We   are   happy   to    acknowledge   the    rights 


THE  RIGHT   OF   CZECHOSLOVAKIA    TO   INDEPENDENCE 


943 


of  the  kingdom  and  we  are  ready  to  renew 
this  acknowledgment  with  our  Coronation 
Oath."  These  promises"  were  never  carried 
out,  largely  owing  to  the  opposition  of 
Budapest  and  Germany,  the  latter  particu- 
larly desiring  Austria-Hungary  to  be  her 
vanguard  in  the  Balkans. 

Louis  Kossuth,  the  famous  Magyar  revo- 
lutionary leader,  in  a  letter  to  Helfi,  editor 
of  the  paper  Magyar  Ujsag,  dated  Nov.  8, 
1871,  declared: 

Between  the  legal  titles  which  '  form  the 
foundation  of  the  right  of  the  dynasty  to 
the  throne  in  Hungary  and  Bohemia  there  is 
not  merely  an  analogy,  but  a  complete  iden- 
tity. That  is  true  of  their  origin  and  time, 
method,  conditions  and  principles,  as  well  as 
their  literal  wording.  The  Bohemian  land  is 
not  a  patrimonium,  no  so-called  hereditary 
land,  no  mere  appendage  of  Austria,  but  a 
country  that  may  appeal  to  diplomatic  nego- 
tiations and  mutual  agreements.  It  is  a 
State,   just  like  Hungary. 

Legally  the  Czech-Austrian  case  was  not 
dissimilar  to  that  of  Norway  and  Sweden  in 
1905.  In  both  instances  there  was  merely 
the  common  bond  of  a  dynasty.  Such  bonds 
may  be  severed  by  either  country,  or  by 
operation  of  different  laws  determining 
dynastic  succession.  Hanover  was  separated 
from  Great  Britain  in  the  latter  manner. 

Slovakia  was  occupied  by  the  Magyars 
and  separated  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia 
at  an  early  date.  A  strong  case  could  be 
made  for  the  proposition  that  at  one  time 
tiie  Magyars  were  culturally  dependent 
upon  the  Slovaks.  Their  language  teems 
with  Slovak  terms  which  they  borrowed  be- 
cause of  the  backwardness  of  their  own 
idiom.  During  more  recent  decades  the 
Magyars  barbarously  persecuted  the  Slo- 
vaks and  endeavored  to  Magyarize  them. 
They  have  a  saying :  "  The  Slovak  is  not 
a  human  being." 

The  Slovak  language  is  really  a  purer 
form  of  the  Czech.  A  Slovak  understands 
Czech,  the  latter  understands  Slovak. 
There  is  not  as  much  difference  between 
a  Czech  and  a  Slovak  as  there  is  between 
a  West  Virginia  mountaineer  and  a  New 
Englander.  The  Slovak  hero  of  the  World 
War,  and  the  first  Czechoslovak  Minister 
of  War,  General  Stefanik,  was  fond  of 
raying:  "  The  Czech  is  a  Slovak  living  in 
Bohemia  or  Moravia,  the  Slovak  a  Czech 
living  in  Slovakia."    In  the  late  war  Czechs 


and  Slovaks  fought  faithfully  for  a  united 
Czechoslovak  State.  The  story  of  the  Czech- 
oslovak legions  in  Siberia,  France  and  Italy 
will  never  be  forgotten. 

All  this  makes  the  Czechoslovak  case  un- 
assailable, whether  one  looks  at  it  from  the 
viewpoint  of  history,  of  law  or  of  self- 
determination.  Both  the  Czech  and  the 
Slovak  claim  could  rest  purely  upon  the 
principle  of  self-determination.  But  it  is 
also  worth  pointing  out  that  there  is  no 
inconsistency  between  the  legal  rights  which 
the  Czechs  have  to  independence  and  the 
claim  of  Czechs  and  Slovaks  to  unity  as  a 
result  of  the  application  of  the  principle 
of  nationality.  The  Czech  State  never 
ceased  to  £xist  legally;  Czechoslovak  claims 
to  independence  were  recognized  before  the 
armistice  by  all  the  European  powers  as 
veil  as  by  the  United  States.  Our  State 
was  not  created  by  the  Paris  Conference — 
the  latter  simply  acknowledged  an  existing 
fact.  The  republic  was  a  participant  in  the 
peace  conference  as  a  sovereign  power. 

The  Carpatho-Russians  (briefly  called 
Kuthenians)  form  an  autonomous  province 
of  the  Czechoslovak  Republic  with  as  much 
self-government  as  the  individual  States  of 
the  American  Union,  and,  consequently, 
their  representatives  in  the  National  Assem- 
bly vote  only  upon  questions  common  to 
the  republic;  and  this  autonomous  province, 
Carpatho-Russia,  came  within  the  fold  of 
the  republic  upon  the  demand  of  the 
Ruthenians  themselves.  Just  as  it  cannot 
be  said,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  that 
the  republic  is  an  artificial  creation  of  the 
peace  conference,  so  it  cannot  be  maintained 
that  the  Carpatho-Russians  were  allotted 
to  it  by  the  Paris  gathering;  they  came  in 
voluntarily.  As  accident  has  it,  most  docu- 
ments relating  to  the  matter  passed  through 
my  hands  before  they  were  forwarded  to 
Paris. 

Historically,  legally,  ethnically  and  moral- 
ly, the  Czechoslovak  Republic  rests  upon 
unshakable  foundations.  Economically, 
when  the  difficulties  of  the  formative  years 
are  surmounted,  it  will  be  practically  self- 
sustaining,  as  far  as  any  modern  State  can 
be  so.  It  has  a  stable,  progressive  Govern- 
ment, and  a  peaceful,  non-aggressive,  non- 
imperialistic  foreign  policy.  Without  exag- 
geration it  can  be  said  to  have  fulfilled  the 
expectations  of  all  its  American  friends. 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  PLACE 
IN  THE  SUN 


To  The  Editor  of  Current  History : 

In  your  August  issue  you  published  an 
article  written  by  Anthony  Pessenlehner, 
to  which  you  give  the  title,  "  Czechoslo- 
vakia's Right  to  Statehood  Assailed."  Cur- 
rent History  ought  never  to  give  space  to 
such  communications.  In  the  first  place, 
the  author  does  not  assail  Czechoslovakia's 
right  to  Statehood.  Secondly,  in  all  he  says 
there  is  no  history  whatsoever.  Even  your 
footnote,  stating  that  you  do  not'indorse  the 
attack,  is  not  a  sufficient  defense  of  Cur- 
rent History  in  this  case. 

We  do  not  doubt  for  a  moment  that  the 
writer  intended  to  assail  Czechoslovakia's 
right  to  Statehood;  but,  instead,  he  con- 
firms that  right  at  the  beginning  of  his 
essay  when  he  admits  the  "  calling  into  life 
of  Czechoslovakia,"  and  does  not  attempt  to 
show  that  those  who  brought  into  life  the 
Czechoslovak  State  were  without  authority 
to  do  so  or  that  their  action  is  not  now 
valid  or  legal. 

What  he  does  is  to  assail  the  makers  of 
the  Czechoslovak  State,  claiming  that  they 
have  "  rudely  cast  aside  historic,  political, 
economic  and  even  ethnographic  consider- 
ations," and  also  that: 

The  coup  was  accomplished  through  delib- 
erate falsifications  of  past  history  and  the 
misleading,  but  a  thousand  times  disproved, 
theory  of  the  racial  identity  of  the  Czechs, 
the  Slovaks  and  the  Ruthenians. 

It  seems  to  us  that  after  our  sons  fought 
and  won  the  war,  and  liberated  peoples,  it  is 
entirely  out  of  place  for  any  one  to  say  that 
our  country  and  its  associates  "  accom- 
plished the  coup  through  deliberate  falsifi- 
cations of  past  history,"  &c.  No  condemna- 
tion is  thrown  by  Mr.  Pessenlehner  upon 
the  Czechoslovak  Republic,  but  upon  its 
makers,  among  whom  the  foremost  is  our 
United  States.  This  fact  is  attested  in  pas- 
sages such  as  this  from  the  same  August 
issue  of  Current  History  (p.  844) : 

The  attitude  of  Czechoslovakia  toward 
America  is  one  of  admiration  and  emulation. 
This  new  republic  is  grateful  to  the  great 
Republic  for  the  part  America  played  in  gain- 
ing Czechoslovak  liberty  and  in  founding   the 


Czechoslovak  State.  Ex-President  Wilson  is 
still  immensely  popular  in  Czechoslovakia. 
The  great  railroad  station  in  Prague  is  called 
the  Wilson  station.  Pictures  and  bronze  me- 
dallions of  Mr.  Wilson  are  coupled  with  pic- 
tures and  medallions  of  President  Masaryk  in 
offices,  schools,  hotel  lobbies  and  elsewhere 
all   over   the  country. 

Let  me  call  the  attention  of  your  readers 
to  the  "  history "  which  Mr.  Pessenlehner 
succeeded  in  placing  in  Current  History  : 

1.  He  admits  that  there  once  was  a 
"  Czech  Kingdom,"  also  a  "  Moravian 
Duchy,"  but  continues :  "  There  never  was 
an  independent  country  known  as  Moravia, 
Slovakia,  Ruthenia  or  Rusinia."  Suppose 
this  were  true — as  it  is  not — how  is  this  to 
react  against  the  present  Czechoslovak  Re- 
public ?  There  never  was  and  never  will  be 
an  independent  country  of  Pennsylvania,  but 
there  is  and  always  will  be  an  independent 
country  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
including  the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  so 
there  is  and  always  will  be  the  independent 
Republic  of  Czechoslovakia,  including  Mo- 
ravia, Slovakia,  &c. 

2.  The  historian  Pessenlehner  tells  you 
further  that  "  the  country  known  as  Hun- 
gary in  1896  was  the  same  as  in  1914 — not 
an  inch  having  been  added  to  it  by  conquest 
or  otherwise,"  and  "  more  than  a  1,000  years 
ago  the  Magyars  were  driven  out  of  their 
original  European  settlement — and  organ- 
ized the  State  of  Hungary."  Are  we  to 
understand  that  the  Magyars  were  "  origi- 
nally "  European  settlers?  If  not,  why  does 
the  historian  Pessenlehner  not  mention  how 
long  the  Magyars  occupied  their  "  original 
European  settlements,"  and  when  and 
whence  they  came  ? 

Then  he  states  that  when  the  Magyars 
moved  into  and  organized  the  State  of 
"  Hungaria  "  no  rights  of  other  nations  were 
violated,  for  the  reason  that  when  a  land  is 
uninhabited  it  is  no  nation's  land.  Is  it  not 
a  strange  "  historical  "  coincidence  that 
Magyars  moving  from  their  "  original  Euro- 
pean settlement  " — (what  was  its  name?) — 
into  "  an  uninhabited  land,"  organized  it 
and   named   it   "  Hungary  "  ?     Why  "  Hun- 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  PLACE  IN  THE  SUN 


945 


gary  "  ?  And  in  order  that  readers  shall  be 
induced  to  believe  him  he  quotes  as  au- 
thority "  the  historian,  Alfred  the  Great, 
King  of  England."  Suppose  it  were  true — 
as  it  is  not — that  Alfred  the  Great  wrote 
such  "  history,"  why,  pray,  should  the  his- 
torian of  Youngstown,  Ohio,  believe  the  old 
King  of  England  more  than  the  new  King 
of  England,  and  his  historians  and  Min- 
isters and  their  associates  of  the  United 
States,  who  called  into  life  the  Kepublic  of 
Czechoslovakia  ? 

Our  historian  tells  us  that  "  the  Czechs 
began  to  appear  in  this  part  of  Europe  in 
the  fifteenth  century."  Then  he  continues: 
"  In  later  times  the  white  Croatians,  ances- 
tors of  our  present-day  Slovaks,  were  set- 
tled *  *  *  this  happened  at  about  the 
eleventh  century.  *  *  * "  Those  are 
the  very  words  of  historian  Pessenlehner. 
May  we  not  call  attention  to  his  great 
invention  and  addition  to  "  history  "  that  we 
have  now  a  nation  in  old  Europe,  namely 
the  Slovaks,  who  were  produced  on  the  spot 
— after  the  coming  of  the  Magyars — by  the 
"  white  Croatians  " ;  and  now  they  are  good 


Slovaks  of  Czechoslovakia — and  they  even 
want  autonomy.  Who  in  America  would 
ever  have  believed  that  we  should  learn  of 
a  new  nation  of  old  Europe,  bom  less  than 
a  thousand  years  ago,  or,  as  the  case  may 
be,  after  the  fifteenth  century? 

If  Mr.  Pessenlehner  would  read  Current 
History,  or  any  other  history,  he  would  by 
this  time  know  all  about  the  oppressions  by 
the  Magyars  and  the  Hapsburgs,  and  all 
about  the  hatreds  of  the  Czechs,  Slovaks, 
Moravians  and  Russians;  he  would  know 
that  after  brutal  sufferings  and  bitter 
resistances  of  centuries — and  after  the 
great  war  had  cleared  the  way — these 
oppressed  nationalities  revolted  and  de- 
clared themselves  independent;  and  he 
would  also  well  know  why  some  of  these 
nationalities  have  united  in  the  new  and 
substantial  State  of  Czechoslovakia.  May 
we  not  encourage  our  historian  to  inquire 
for  more  history? 

Rev.  C.  L.  ORBACH, 

President     and     Editor-in-Chief,     Daily     Slovak- 
American,  New  York. 
WaUington,  N.  J.,  Aug.  5.  1V21. 


ANOTHER    DEFENSE    OF    CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  an  article  in  the  August  issue  of  Cur- 
rent History  ("  Czechoslovakia's  Right  to 
Statehood  Assailed"),  Dr.  Anthony  Pes- 
senlehner asserts  that  "  the  Czechs  were 
quite  content  with  their  lot  within  the  con- 
fines of  Austria,"  that  "  they  were  the 
mest  willing  tools  in  the  hands  of  the 
Hapsburg  despot,"  that  "  they  had  been 
useful  spies  of  the  Hapsburgs  against  the 
Hungarians."  Like  the  professional  propa- 
gandist, he  discerns  "  grave  signs  that  the 
Slovaks  and  Ruthenians  do  not  wish  to  be 
included  in  the  Czechoslovak  State,"  &c. 

He  puts  the  entire  blame  on  the  Czechs 
for  having  abducted  the  Slovaks  from  the 
Hungarian  State,  but  has  not  a  word  of 
censure  for  the  old  Hungarian  Government, 
which  was  responsible  for  the  Slovak  walk- 
out. He  is  clear  and  precise  as  to  what 
took  place  in  896,  the  year  the  Magyar  con- 
queror is  reputed  to  have  entered  Slovakia. 
The  victors,  we  are  assured,  treated  the 
vanquished   with   the   utmost    consideration 


and  chivalry.  But  as  to  the  treatment  the 
Slovak  grandfathers  received  at  the  hands 
of  the  Magyar  grandfathers  after  1867, 
when  Hungary  became  f»ee,  the  writer  is 
not  so  clear.  This  chapter,  singularly 
enough,  he  forgets  to  tell. 

Within  the  territory  of  the  present  Slo- 
vakia there  were,  in  1905,  33  gymnasia 
(Latin  secondary  schools),  6  "  real  "  schools 
(these  prepared  the  pupils  for  technical 
careers),  4  law  academies,  1  mining  acad- 
emy, 1  school  of  forestry,  2  Protestant,  5 
Catholic  and  1  Greek  Catholic  theological 
seminary,  140  trade,  commercial  and  other 
schools^  In  all  these  schools  Magyar  was 
the  language  of  instruction.  Not  one  was 
Slovak.  What  is  more,  students  of  Slovak 
nationality  were  prohibited  to  converse  in 
public  in  their  mother  tongue.  A  student 
suspected  of  Pan-Slavism — a  Pan-Slav  was 
one  who  read  Slovak  or  Czech  books  or 
newspapers — was  put  on  the  black  list  by 
his  professor.  Unless  he  mended  his  Pan- 
Slav  ways  he  was  summarily  expelled. 


940 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Before  1914  only  6  per  cent,  of  the 
people  of  Hungary  voted.  In  1910  out  of 
413  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
only  seven  were  non-Magyars — of  the  seven 
three  were  Slovak — though  the  Magyars 
constituted  a  meagre  half  and  the  Slovaks 
10  per  cent,  of  4;he  entire  population. 

Let  us  examine  the  record  of  the  Czecho- 
slovak Government  in  the  matter  of  schools 
for  the  Slovaks.  Since  October,  1918,  when 
Czechs  and  Slovaks  became  free  and  in- 
dependent, the  Government  has  organized 
and  opened  2,372  Slovak  public  schools,  102 
so-called  citizen  schools,  37  gymnasia,  5 
"  real  "  schools,  a  number  of  girls'  acad- 
emies, 13  normal  colleges  for  the  training 
of  teachers  and  a  university  at  Bratislava, 
the  capital.  In  addition,  the  Government 
has  provided  the  Magyars  and  Germans 
with  ample  educational  facilities. 

All  the  responsible  ethnologists  agree 
that  the  Czechs,  Moravians  and  Slovaks  are 
racially  identical,  but  Dr.  Pessenlehner  in- 
sists they  are  not.  This  is  like  maintain- 
ing that  the  Yankees  of  Connecticut  and 
the  Yankees  of  Massachusetts  are  not 
racially  identical.  The  Czechs  and  Mora- 
vians are  one  nation,  they  speak  one  lan- 
guage, with  local  brogues,  to  be  sure,  and 
they  have  common  traditions  and  history. 
The  cultural  development  of  the  Slovaks 
was  somewhat  different  from  that  of  the 
Czechs  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  owing  to 
their  separation.  The  Czechs  fell  under  the 
sovereignty  of  Austria,  the  Slovaks  became 
subjects  of  Hungary.  Yet  the  two  groups 
have  not  lost  their  racial  identity.  So  closely 
related  are  they  that  the  Czechs  and  Slo- 
vaks can  carry  on  a  conversation  and  can 
readily  read  each  other's  newspapers.  Since 
the  war   Czech   papers   make   it   a   practice 


to  run  columns  of  reading  matter  in  Slovak 
and  vice  versa.  The  Slovaks  of  Protestant 
faith  use  the  Czech  version  of  the  Bible. 

Dr.  P.'s  assertion  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding, the  Slovaks,  not  the  Magyars, 
are  the  aborigines  of  Slovakia.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  the  greatest  living  authority  on 
Slavic  antiquity.  Professor  L.  Niederle. 
The  Slavic  nomenclature  of  rivers,  moun- 
tains and  villages  proves  irrefutably  who 
settled  in  those  regions  first. 

That  the  "  Slovaks  never  wanted  to  get 
out  of  the  Hungarian  State  "  is  a  fiction ; 
as  much  so  as  that  the  French  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  never  wanted  to  get  out  of  Ger- 
many. What  was  the  use  of  wishing  it? 
That  there  is  discontent  in  Slovakia  is  true. 
But  discontent  exists  in  Hungary,  unrest 
prevails  in  Germany,  grumbling  is  heard 
in  Italy,  restlessness  is  reported  from  Spain. 
The  principal  breeders  of  discontent  in  Slo- 
vakia are  army  ex-officers,  officeholders 
of  the  old  regime  and  masters  who  are 
masters  no  longer. 

The  doctor  is  in  error  when  he  says  that 
the  Battle  of  White  Mountain  was  fought 
in  1647.  The  correct  date  is  1620.  The 
heraldic  title  of  Moravia  is  not  duchy  but 
margravate.  Moravia  never  belonged  to 
Poland. 

The  Magyars  and  the  Czechoslovaks  are 
now  next-door  neighbors.  As  things  look, 
they  will  remain  neighbors.  The  time  may 
even  come  when  they  will  want  to  play  in 
each  other's  backyard.  Don't  you  think, 
then,  it's  a  poor  policy  to  make  faces  at 
your  neighbors  living  on  the  other  side  of 
the  fence,  and  to  call  them  names?        C. 

[The  writer  of  the  foregoing  is  the  author  of 
several  books  and  at  present  is  in  a  position  of 
great  responsibility  and  importance  in  the  busi- 
ness world.] 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S  ALLIANCE  WITH  RUMANIA 


AS  Jugoslavia  allied  herself  by  treaty 
with  Italy  in  an  anti-Hapsburg  com- 
pact, so  Czechoslovakia,  who  has  so  much 
to  fear  from  Hungary,  sought  by  an  alliance 
with  Rumania  to,  attain  the  common  aim  of 
the  Balkan  States — security  pending  a  per- 
manent settlement  of  the  whole  Central 
European  situation.  The  Czechoslovak-Ru- 
manian pact  was  signed  at  Bucharest  on 
April  28,  1921.  The  object  of  the  treaty, 
as  declared  in  the  first  paragraph,  was  to 


secure  the  full  execution  of  the  Treaty  of 
Trianon  with  Hungary,  and,  specifically,  to 
unite  defensively  in  case  of  any  unprovoked 
attack  by  Hungary  upon  either  of  the  high 
contracting  powers. 

The  hostility  of  the  Magyar  Government 
to  Rumania,  whose  troops  invaded  Budapest 
a  year  ago,  and  who,  in  the  Banat  terri- 
tory, acquired  overlordship  over  many  thou- 
sands of  Magyars,  is  well  known.  To 
Czechoslovakia  Hungary  is  no  less  hostile, 


CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S   ALLIANCE    WITH   RUMANIA 


947 


and  similarly  for  territorial  reasons,  as  the 
newly  constituted  State  of  the  Czechs  on 
Hungary's  northern  boundary  was,  on  its 
outer  fringes,  made  up  of  territory  occupied 
by  a  certain  percentage  of  Hungarians.  The 
Hungarians  have  for  some  time  been  en- 
gaging in  a  violent  propaganda  to  undo  the 
work  of  the  Peace  Conference  and  to  regain 
these  territories.  The  double  motive  for  the 
alliance  of  Rumania  and  Czechoslovakia  is 
thus  made  plain.  The  text  of  the  treaty 
follows : 

Firmly  resolved  to  preserve  the  peace  secured 
by  such  great  sacrifices  and  anticipated  in  the 
pact  of  the  League  of  Nations,  as  well  as  the 
conditions  established  by  the  treaty  concluded 
at  Trianon  on  June  4,  1920,  between  the  Allied 
and  Associated  Powers  on  one  hand  and  Hun- 
gary on  the  other,  the  President  of  the  Czecho- 
slovak Republic  and  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
Rumania,  have  agreed  to  conclude  a  defensive 
alliance,  and  to  this  end  have  appointed  as  their 
plenipotentiaries,  to  wit:  The  President  of  the 
Czechoslovak  Republic,  M.  Ferdinand  Veverka, 
Envoy  P^xtraordinary  and  Plenipotentiary  of  the 
Czechoslovak  Republic  at  Bucharest:  his  Maj- 
esty the  King  of  Rumania,  M.  Take  Jonescu, 
his  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  hav- 
ing communicated  their  full  powers  found  in 
good  and  due  form,  these  plenipotentiaries  have 
agreed  as  follows: 

Article  1.— In  case  of  an  unprovoked  attack  by 
Hungary  upon  one  of  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties, the  other  party  engages  to  come  to  the  de- 
fense of  the  party  attacked  in  the  manner  de- 
termined by  the  arrangement  anticipated  in  Ar- 
ticle 2   of  the  present  convention. 

Article  2. — The  competent  technical,  authorities 
of  the  Czechoslovak  Republic  and  the  Kingdom 
of  Rumania  shall  determine  by  common  agree- 
ment the  dispositions  necessary  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  present  convention  in  a  military  con- 
vention to  be  concluded  later. 

Article  3.— Neither  of  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties shall  conclude  an  alliance  with  a  third  party 
without  previously  informing  the  other. 

Article  4. — In  order  to  co-ordinate  their  efforts 
for  peace,  the  two  Governments  engage  to  con- 
sult upon  questions  of  foreign  policy  with  refer- 
ence to  their  relations  with  Hungary. 

Article  5.— The  present  convention  shall  remain 
in  force  for  two  years  from  the  day  of  exchange 
of  ratifications.  At  the  end  of  that  period  each 
of  the  contracting  parties  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
denounce  the  present  convention.  But  it  shall 
remain  in  force  for  six  months  after  the  date  of 
the  denunciation. 

Article  6.— The  present  convention  shall  be 
communicated   to   the  League  of  Nations. 

Article  7.— The  present  convention  shall  be 
ratified,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged 
at  Bucharest  as  soon  as  possible. 


In  faith  of  which  the  said  plenipotentiaries 
have  signed  it  and  have  affixed  their  seals. 

Done  at  Bucharest,  in  two  copies,  on  April  28. 
1921. 
(For  Czechoslovakia) 

DRj    FERDINAND  VEVERKA. 
(For  Rumania) 

TAKE   JONESCU. 
Bucharest,    Apr.    28,    1021. 

Jugoslavia  and  Rumania 

The  text  of  the  Defensive  Convention 
signed  at  Belgrade  on  June  7,  1921,  between 
Jugoslavia  and  Rumania — another  of  the 
Little  Entente  treaties — is   as  follows: 

Firmly  resolved  to  maintain  the  peace  won  by 
such  great  sacrifices,  and  the  order  established 
by  the  treaty  concluded  at  Trianon  on  June  4, 
1920,  between  the  Allied  and  Associated  Powers 
on  the  one  part  and  Hungary  on  the  other  part, 
as  well  as  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  Neuilly  on 
Nov.  27  between  the  same  powers  and  Bul- 
garia, his  Majesty  the  King  of  the  Serbs, 
Croats  and  Slovenes  and  his  Majesty  the  King 
of  Rumania  have  agreed  to  conclude  a  defen- 
sive  convention. 

Article  1.  In  case  of  an  unprovoked  attack  by 
Hungary  or  Bulgaria,  or  by  both  these  powers, 
upon  one  of  the  contracting  parties  with  the 
object  of  subverting  the  order  created  by  the 
Treaty  of  Trianon  or  that  of  Neuilly,  the  other 
party  engages  to  go  to  the  defense  of  the  party 
attacked  in  the  manner  determined  by  Article  2 
of  the  present  convention. 

Article  2.  The  competent  technical  authorities 
of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slo- 
venes and  of  Rumania  shall  determine  by  com- 
mon agreement  as  quickly  as  possible  the  neces- 
sary dispositions  for  the  execution  of  the  pres- 
ent convention. 

Article  S.  Neither  of  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties shall  conclude  an  alliance  with  a  third 
party  without  previously  informing  the  other. 

Article  4.  In  order  to  unite  their  efforts  for 
peace  the  two  Governments  undertake  to  pursue 
a  harmonious  foreign  policy  in  their  relations 
with  Hungary   and  Bulgaria. 

Article  5.  This  convention  shall  remain  in 
force  for  two  years  from  the  date  of  the  ex- 
change of  ratifications.  At  the  end  of  that  term 
each  contracting  party  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
denounce  the  present  convention,  which,  never- 
theless, shall  remain  in  force  for  six  months 
after  the  date   of  the   denunciation. 

Article  (5.  This  convention  shall  be  communi- 
cated to  the  League  of  Nations. 

Article  7.  The  present  convention  shall  be  rati- 
fied and  the  ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  as 
soon  as  possible. 

(Signed) 

TAKE   JONESCU, 
NICHOLAS    PASHICH. 

(From  Le  Journal  des  D  chats,  July  19,  1921.) 


HOW  TWO  U-BOAT  CRIMINALS 
WERE  CONVICTED 


An  account  of  the  most  interesting  case  that  has  come  before 
the  German  War  Criminal  Court  at  Leipsic — Conviction  of 
subordinate  officers  who  helped  to  sink  a  hospital  ship  and 
fired  on  the  helpless  survivors  in  lifeboats 


WHEN  the  Allies  at  the  Peace 
Conference  decided  to  entrust 
to  Germany  the  trial  of  her 
own  war  criminals,  simply  furnish- 
ing lists  of  the  accused  and  all  avail- 
able evidence  against  them,  the  plan 
was  regarded  with  many  misgivings, 
especially  by  France.  In  due  time 
the  court  was  set  up  at  Leipsic,  and 
the  trials  began  early  in  the  Summer 
of  1921  in  the  presence  of  commis- 
sions sent  by  the  various  allied  Gov- 
ernments to  observe  the  proceedings. 
From  the  first  it  became  apparent 
that  the  German  court  would  not 
punish  any  criminal  of  high  military 
rank,  whatever  his  misdeeds.  A  few 
light  sentences  were  imposed  on 
scapegoats  of  inferior  position.  After 
General  Stenger  had  been  acquitted 
(July  7)  of  the  charge  of  shooting 
French  prisoners,  the  French  Gov- 
ernment indignantly  withdrew  its 
commission  from  Leipsic,  and  Bel- 
gium did  the  same,  though  the  British 
commission  continued  to  stay  and 
follow  the  proceedings. 

The  next  case  was  that  of  German 
submarine  officers  charged  with  hav- 
ing torpedoed  and  sunk  the  British 
hospital  ship  Llandovery  Castle  on 
the  night  of  June  27,  1918.  Not  only 
had  the  U-boat  commander  delib- 
erately violated  international  law  by 
sinking  what  he  knew  to  be  a  hospital 
ship,  but  he  had  also  given  orders 
later  to  fire  on  the  lifeboats  with  in- 
tent to  murder  every  survivor  and 
thus  leave  no  trace  of  the  crime. 

Though  the  Leipsic  court  did  not 
alter   its  policy   of   letting  the  man 


higher  up  escape,  this  case  was  so 
flagrant  and  the  evidence  so  irrefuta- 
ble that  it  resulted  in  a  prison 
sentence  for  two  subordinates.  The 
men  thus  singled  out  for  punishment 
were  Lieutenants  Ludwig  Dithmar 
and  Johann  Boldt,  who  had  been  serv- 
ing as  officers  on  the  German  sub- 
marine U-86  under  Captain  Helmut 
Patzig  at  the  time  of  the  sinking. 
Captain  Patzig,  the  chief  criminal, 
on  hearing  of  the  impending  prosecu- 
tion, had  taken  refuge  in  Danzig, 
which  is  now  a  free  State,  and  the 
German  Government — which  had 
done  nothing  to  prevent  his  escape — 
thereupon  announced  its  inability  to 
extradite  him,  though  his  exact  place 
of  residence  was  known.  Instead,  it 
indicted — on  its  own  initiative — the 
two  subordinate  officers  who  seem 
to  have  had  most  to  do  with  carrying 
out  Patzig's  ghastly  and  inhuman 
orders. 

The  trial  began  on  July  12.  Dith- 
mar, a  keen-faced  man  of  28,  of  a 
quiet  and  impassive  demeanor,  and 
Boldt,  who  was  only  21  when  the 
British  hospital  transport  was  sunk, 
faced  their  judges,  scowling  and  de- 
fiant. Dithmar,  who  was  still  in  the 
German  Navy,  was  in  full  naval  uni- 
form. Boldt,  who  had  become  a 
business  man,  was  dressed  in  a  frock 
coat,  on  which  he  wore  an  Iron  Cross. 
The  indictment  declared  that,  together 
with  Captain  Patzig,  the  two  accused 
officers  deliberately  killed  an  un- 
known number  of  persons  escaping  in 
boats  from  the  sinking  ship,  in  order 
that  there  should  be  no  English  wit- 


HOW  TWO   U-BOAT  CRIMINALS  WERE  CONVICTED 


949 


nesses  alive  to  tell  the  tale,  and  that 
the  men  on  trial  had  themselves  fired 
on  the  Englishmen  striving  to  escape 
their  doom. 

Invited  by  the  Court  to  speak  in 
his  own  defense,  Dithmar  refused  to 
testify,  declaring  that  he  had  prom- 
ised Captain  Patzig  to  be  silent.  This 
attitude  he  obstinately  maintained  to 
the  end  of  the  trial.  Boldt,  how- 
ever, proved  loquacious  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  in  loud  and  menacing 
tones  launched  into  an  impassioned 
defense  of  Patzig,  under  whom,  he  de- 
clared, he  was  proud  of  having 
served.  Triumphantly  he  narrated 
the  sinking  of  the  Cincinnati,  a  troop- 
ship. "  If  all  German  submarine 
officers  had  been  like  Captain  Pat- 
zig," Boldt  asserted,  "  England  would 
not  have  been  able  to  bring  about  the 
armistice  by  murdering  thousands  of 
Germans  through  the  hunger  block- 
ade." Like  Dithmar,  however,  he  re- 
fused to  reveal  the  facts  regarding 
the  Llandovery  Castle,  alleging  the 
pledge  of  secrecy  made  to  Captain 
Patzig. 

The  first  witness  called  was  Leslie 
Chapman,  second  officer  on  the 
Llandovery  Castle,  who  was  in  the 
lifeboat  which  managed  to  escape 
after  the  Germans  had  twice  called 
the  men  aboard  the  U-boat,  ques- 
tioned them,  and  then  tried  to  ram 
their  lifeboat  and  sink  the  last  evi- 
dence of  the  crime.  "It  is  my  day 
now,"  said  Lieutenant  Chapman,  as 
he  passed  the  sullen  German  officers 
on  his  way  to  the  witness  stand.  His 
story,  told  in  a  cool  and  convincing 
way,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
Court.  The  evidence  of  other  offi- 
cers of  the  ill-fated  ship  was  taken, 
including  that  of  Major  Lyons,  chief 
medical  officer,  who  had  come  all  the 
way  from  Vancouver  to  testify.  The 
clear  and  definite  picture  given  by 
all  the  British  witnesses  was  supple- 
mented and  amplified  by  the  evidence 
of  German  witnesses  on  subsequent 
days  of  the  trial.  From  the  com- 
bined evidence  the  whole  tragic  crime 
emerged  as  follows: 

When   the   submarine   rose  to   the 


surface  on  the  night  of  June  27,  1918, 
in  an  area  which  had  been  declared  by 
Germany  to  be  a  "  free  zone,"  viz.,  a 
zone  in  which  torpedoings  would  not 
occur,  it  sighted  the  Llandovery 
Castle,  which  it  had  been  following 
under  water,  and  discovered  at  once 
that  it  was  a  hospital  ship,  shown  by 
its  luminous  markings.  Patzig  was 
then  in  the  conning  tower,  with  the 
accused  Lieutenant  Dithmar  and  the 
Coxswain  Popitz.  Popitz  declared 
that  both  he  and  Dithmar  had  advised 
Patzig  not  to  torpedo  the  ship,  as  she 
was  in  the  free  zone.  Patzig,  how- 
ever, who  was  of  a  reckless  and  am- 
bitious type,  and  of  a  vindictiveness 
enhanced  by  the  possession  of  certain 
German  Admiralty  reports,  which 
contained  false  espionage  informa- 
tion regarding  the  English  hospital 
ships  which  he  was  likely  to  en- 
counter, including  the  Llandovery 
Castle,  consulted  with  Dithmar  and 
Boldt,  and  decided  to  sink  her.  At 
Patzig' s  order,  two  torpedoes  were 
fired,  one  of  which  sent  the  ship  to 
the  bottom  within  a  few  minutes. 

Chapman,  the  main  British  wit- 
ness, told  how  he  saw  seven  lifeboats 
clear,  and  two  of  them  capsize.  His 
own  boat  was  the  third.  Four  other 
boats  disappeared,  and  all  the  evi- 
dence of  the  German  sailors  pointed 
to  the  fact  that  they  had  been  fired 
on  and  sunk  by  Patzig,  Dithmar  and 
Boldt,  working  with  the  U-boat's  gun- 
ner, Meissner,  whose  death  had  oc- 
curred before  the  trial.  It  appeared 
that  Patzig,  realizing  that  his  only 
hope  of  exculpation  for  the  torpedo- 
ing would  lie  in  evidence  that  the  hos- 
pital ship  was  in  reality  a  ship  of 
war,  called  at  least  two  of  the  fleeing 
lifeboats  to  the  side  of  his  submarine, 
including  Chapman's  boat,  summoned 
the  crews  aboard,  questioned  them 
searchingly  as  to  the  supposed  com- 
batant character  of  those  on  board 
the  Llandovery  Castle,  and  asked  if 
the  ship  carried  munitions. 

One  of  the  boats — that  of  Chap- 
man— was  twice  summoned.  On  the 
first  occasion  the  occupants  of  this 


950 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


boat — the  only  one  which  escaped — 
were  endeavoring  to  pull  aboard  a 
number  of  their  comrades  who  had 
been  capsized  and  were  struggling  in 
the  water.  From  the  submarine 
came  orders  couched  in  English  to 
come  at  once  alongside.  Chapman 
vainly  protested,  explaining  that  they 
were  trying  to  save  their  comrades. 
The  German  reply  was  that  if  they 
did  not  come  at  once,  a  big  gun  would 
be  turned  on  them.  They  were 
forced  to  abandon  their  compatriots, 
who  were  left  to  drown.  After  the 
examination,  they  departed,  and 
were  again  summoned.  On  this  oc- 
casion Dr.  Lyon  was  pulled  aboard 
the  submarine  so  roughly  that  his  leg 
was  broken.  He  was  taken  to  the 
conning  tower  and  questioned,  then 
lowered  again  into  the  lifeboat.  On 
departing,  one  of  the  German  offi- 
cers— Dr.  Lyon,  in  testifying,  be- 
lieved it  was  Dithmar,  but  was  not 
certain — told  him  in  a  low  tone  be- 
hind Patzig's  back  that  it  would  be 
wise  for  the  boat  to  get  away  quickly. 

No  evidence  in  support  of  the 
"  armed  ship  "  theory  having  been  ob- 
tained, it  was  clear  that  Patzig,  realiz- 
ing his  position,  decided  to  remove  all 
traces  of  his  crime.  He  gave  orders 
for  all  hands,  except  the  officers,  to 
proceed  to  the  diving  stations,  as  if 
the  submarine  were  about  to  immerse. 
The  U-boat,  however,  remained  upon 
the  surface,  with  Patzig,  Dithmar 
and  Boldt  on  deck.  These  three  then 
and  there  agreed  upon  the  plan  of 
action.  Patzig  outlined  his  desires, 
and  his  subordinate  officers  aided  and 
abetted.  For  some  time  the  U-86 
cruised  about.  It  was  then,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  Chapman  and 
the  other  British  witnesses,  that  the 
Germans  tried  twice  to  ram  and  sink 
the  lifeboat  of  which  Chapman  was 
in  command.  The  second  attempt  al- 
most succeeded.  The  sole  survivors 
then  hoisted  a  sail  and  managed  to 
slip  away  in  the  darkness. 

It  was  then,  according  to  the 
German  testimony,  that  Patzig  or- 
dered Meissner  on  deck  to  man  the 


after  gun.  Dithmar  is  alleged  to  have 
handled  the  forward  gun.  Chapman's 
boat  was  fired  upon,  but  escaped  un- 
injured. The  submarine  crew  heard 
the  firing,  and  it  was  assumed  by 
Popitz  and  all  the  rest  that  the  com- 
mander was  firing  on  the  survivors 
of  the  Llandovery  Castle.  This  was 
common  gossip  on  the  submarine  the 
next  morning.  It  was  noticed  that 
Boldt's  hand  was  injured,  presumably 
while  serving  one  of  the  guns.  There 
was  much  depression  on  board,  and 
all  were  worried  about  the  conse- 
quences. Patzig  called  the  crew  be- 
fore him  in  the  control  room  and  said 
to  them :  "  You  know  what  has  hap- 
pened, and  I  beg  you  to  keep  silent 
about  it.  I  take  the  responsibility  on 
my  own  conscience." 

Such  is  the  story  reconstructed 
from  all  the  evidence.  The  case  was 
completed  by  July  10.  Dr.  Schmidt, 
President  of  the  Court,  pronounced 
sentence  on  Lieutenants  Dithmar  and 
Boldt.  They  were  found  guilty  of 
aiding  and  abetting  manslaughter 
(Beihilfe  zum  Totschlag),  and  sen- 
tenced to  four  years'  imprisonment 
(without  hard  labor),  in  conformity 
with  the  penalties  for  this  crime 
prescribed  by  the  Criminal  Code. 
Lieutenant  Dithmar  was  dismissed 
from  the  navy,  and  Lieutenant  Boldt 
was  deprived  of  his  civic  rights  and 
the  right  to  wear  uniform. 

In  pronouncing  sentence,  Dr. 
Schmidt  made  it  clear  that  the  ac- 
cused were  not  held  guilty  for  the  tor- 
pedoing, which,  though  plainly  a  vio- 
lation of  international  law,  was  the 
act  of  their  superior,  whose  orders 
they  had  executed.  Their  guilt  was 
in  taking  part  in  firing  upon  the 
helpless  survivors  in  open  boats.  The 
opinion  of  the  Court  was  that  these 
boats  had  been  deliberately  fired 
upon  in  order  to  get  rid  of  witnesses 
of  the  criminal  attack  upon  the  hos- 
pital ship.  The  commander's  injunc- 
tion to  the  crew  to  keep  silence  was 
beyond  question  in  reference  to  the 
firing  upon  the  lifeboats.  Though 
the  Court  did  not  believe  that  the  ac- 


HOW  TWO   U-BOAT  CRIMINALS   WERE  CONVICTED 


851 


cused  officers  themselves  had  actual- 
ly served  the  guns,  they  had  been 
parties  to  the  crime  of  their  com- 
mander. The  only  doubt  had  been  as 
to  whether  the  killing  was  premedi- 
tated or  not.  The  Court's  view  was 
that  Patzig  had  acted  under  great  ex- 
citement, on  impulse,  driven  by  the 
desire  to  conceal  his  crime.  His  ac- 
cessories came  under  the  same  cate- 
gory; they  were,  therefore,  held  not 
for  first  degree  murder,  but  for  man- 
slaughter, this  verdict  also  being  in- 
fluenced by  the  difficulties  of  their 
situation  had  they  attempted  to  dis- 
obey the  orders  of  their  ranking  of- 
ficer. Their  act,  however,  had  cast 
a  shadow  on  the  German  Navy,  es- 
pecially on  the  conduct  of  the  U-boat 
warfare. 


The  two  officers  listened  to  this 
verdict  with  impassive  faces.  A  great 
demonstration  occurred  after  the  ver- 
dict, many  Germans,  both  men  and 
women,  crowding  around  the  two 
"  heroes,"  shaking  their  hands,  and 
showering  praises  upon  them.  The 
reactionary  German  press  howled 
disapproval  of  the  "  drastic "  sen- 
tence. The  saner  organs,  however, 
were  inclined  to  view  the  verdict  as  a 
vindication*  of  German  justice  for  a 
crime  which  injured  Germany  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  and  of  which 
many  Germans  were  in  ignorance. 
Somewhere  in  Danzig  skulked  Patzig, 
a  fugitive  from  justice  and  the  real 
criminal,  while  his  subordinate  offi- 
cers were  made  the  scapegoats  of  his 
crimes. 


FATE  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  INTELLECTUALS 


THE  death  of  that  matchless  singer, 
Enrico  Caruso,  leaving  a  fortune  of 
considerably  over  $1,000,000,  brings  out 
vividly  in  contrast  the  present  fortunes  of 
his  former  colleague,  the  great  Russian 
baritone,  Shaliapin.  Caruso  earned  thou- 
sands of  dollars  a  night  for  one  perform- 
ance, as  Shaliapin  earned  thousands  of 
rubles,  marks  or  francs  for  his  triumphal 
tours  through  Europe.  The  salary  earned 
by  Shaliapin  under  the  Soviet  Government, 
which  is  still  keen  for  the  fine  arts,  though 
it  lets  its  most  eminent  scientists  die  of 
starvation,  has  been  stated  to  be  200,000 
rubles  for  one  performance.  This  seemingly 
huge  figure,  however,  is  deceptive,  in  view 
of  the  worthlessness  of  Soviet  paper,  and 
amounts  in  reality  to  only  $150.  In  com- 
parison with  the  fate  of  Russia's  most 
eminent  men  in  other  lines,  however,  even 
such  an  income  represents  affluence.  The 
Soviet  paid  it  in  order  to  encourage  the 
arts.  It  was  only  when  Shaliapin's  preten- 
sions rose  so  high  as  to  lead  him,  in  lieu  of 
his  salary,  to  demand  a  sack  of  flour,  a 
basket  of  eggs  or  a  couple  of  chickens,  that 
the  Government  began  to  count  the  cost. 
Literature    in    Russia    has    gone   by    the 


board.  Vainly  has  Maxim  Gorky,  now 
harnessed  to  the  Soviet  machine,  sought 
to  alleviate  the  lot  of  the  intellectuals  by 
creating  a  food  centre  in  the  so-called 
House  of  Science,  installed  in  the  former 
palace  of  Duchess  Maria  Pavlovna.  Gla- 
zunov,  former  Director  of  the  Conservatory 
of  Petrograd,  is  wasting  away  with  hunger, 
and  has  not  even  the  consolation  of  com- 
position, as  he  has  no  paper.  The  academi- 
cian Kotliarchesky  is  in  rags,  and  starving; 
the  poet  Block  has  the  scurvy;  the  famous 
pj  inter  Benoit  is  starving;  many  of  those 
whose  names  are  greatest  in  Russian 
science,  history,  philosophy,  have  already 
succumbed.  The  intellectuals  of  the  world, 
now  fully  realizing  the  tragedy,  are  working 
to  send  their  comrades  assistance.  A  Fin- 
nish committee  is  soliciting  subscriptions 
from  all  Europe.  The  intellectuals  of  France 
are  rallying  in  Paris.  The  famine  con- 
ditions in  the  Volga  region,  recently  re- 
vealed, will  undoubtedly  make  the  situation 
worse.  Now,  however,  that  Herbert  Hoo- 
ver, in  response  to  an  appeal  from  Maxim 
Gorky,  has  begun  active  measures  to  relieve 
the  famine  conditions  in  Russia,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Russian  intellectuals  will 
derive  some  benefit. 


THE  IRISH  PEACE 
NEGOTIATIONS 


Terms  of  the  truce  and  progress  of  the  three-cornered  negotiations 
that  followed — Chasm  between  the  British  Government  and  the 
Sinn  Fein  leaders  apparently  less  difficult  to  bridge  than  that 
between  the  North  and  South  of  Ireland 

[Period   Ended   Aug.    10,    1921] 


THE  decision  of  Eamon  de  Valera 
to  meet  Premier  Lloyd  George  in 
a  London  conference  looking 
toward  peace  was  followed  by  actions 
of  immediate  relief  to  the  well-nigh 
desperate  situation  into  which  the 
country  had  fallen.  At  3  o'clock  on 
July  9  General  Sir  Nevil  Macready, 
military  commander  in  Ireland; 
Colonel  Brind  and  A.  W.  Cope,  Under 
Secretary  in  the  office  of  the  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland,  acting  for  the 
British  Army,  and  Commandants 
Robert  C.  Barton  and  E.  J.  Duggan, 
representing  the  Irish  Republican 
Army,  met  at  British  Military  Head- 
quarters. They  agreed  upon  the 
terms  of  a  truce  as  follows : 

1.  That  there  be  no  incoming  troops  of 
the  Royal  Irish  Constabulary  and  Auxili- 
aries and  no  shipments  of  munitions  into 
Ireland  and  no  movements  for  military  pur- 
poses except  in  the  maintenance  of  drafts. 

2.  That  there  be  no  provocative  display 
of  forces,  armed  or  unarmed. 

3.  That  all  provisions  of  the  truce  apply 
to  the  martial  law  area  just  as  for  tl.e 
rest  of  Ireland. 

4.  That  there  be  no  pursuit  of  Irish  of- 
ficers and  men  or  search  for  war  material 
and  military  stores. 

5.  That  there  be  no  secret  agents  noting 
descriptions  or  movements  of,  and  no  inter- 
ference with  the  movements  of,  Irish  mili- 
tary men  and  civilians,  and  no  attempt  to 
discover  the  haunts  and  habits  of  Irish 
officers  and  men. 

6.  That  there  be  no  search  for,  or  ob- 
servance of,  lines  of  communication. 

7.  That  there  be  no  search  for  mes- 
sengers. 

Other  details  connected  with  courts-mar- 


tial, motor  permits  and  similar  matters  to 
be  agreed  to  later. 

On  behalf  of  the  Irish  Republican 
Army  it  was  agreed : 

1.  That  attacks  on  Crown  forces  and 
civilians  cease. 

2.  That  there  be  no  provocative  displays 
of  forces,  armed  or  unarmed. 

3.  That  there  be  no  interference  with 
Government  or  private  property. 

4.  The  discountenance  and  prevention  of 
any  action  likely  to  cause  disturbance  of 
the  peace  and  which  might  necessitate 
military  interference. 

Upon  the  announcement  of  the 
truce,  General  Headquarters  of  the 
Irish  Republican  Army  issued  an  or- 
der to  "  officers  commanding  all 
units  "  that  "  active  operations  by  our 
troops  will  be  suspended  by  noon 
Monday."  At  the  same  time  the  Brit- 
ish authorities  lifted  several  restric- 
tions. Mr.  de  Valera  also  gave  out  a 
proclamation,  which  read: 

Fellow-citizens:  During  the  period  of 
truce  each  individual  soldier  and  citizen 
must  regard  himself  as  the  custodian  of  the 
nation's  honor.  Your  discipline  must  prove 
in  the  most  convincing  manner  that  this  is 
a  struggle  of  an  organized  nation. 

In  the  negotiations  now  initiated  your 
representatives  will  do  their  utmost  to  se- 
cure the  just  and  peaceful  termination  of 
this  struggle,  but  history,  particularly  our 
own  history,  and  the  character  of  the  issue 
to  be  decided  are  a  warning  against  undue 
confidence. 

Unbending  determination  to  endure  all 
that  may  still  be  necessary  and  fortitude 
such  as  you  have  shown  in  all  your  recent 
sufferings- -these  alone  will  lead  you  to  the 
peace  you  desire.     Should  force  be  resumed 


THE  IRISH  PEACE  NEGOTIATIONS 


953 


against  our  nation,  you  must  be  ready  on 
your  part  once  more  to  resist.  Thus  alone 
will  you  secure  the  final  abandonment  of 
force  and  the  acceptance  of  justice  and  rea- 
son as  the  arbiter. 

With  the  striking  of  the  clock  at 
noon  on  the  11th  the  truce  went  into 
effect  amid  a  general  demonstration 
of  relief  and  rejoicing.  A  few  min- 
utes after  the  hour  a  noteworthy  in- 
cident occurred  by  which  British  sin- 
cerity to  keep  the  pact  was  made  evi- 
dent. A  private  yacht  in  Kingstown 
Harbor  hoisted  the  Irish  Republican 
tricolor  in  honor  of  the  event.  There- 
upon four  soldiers  rowed  out  to  the 
yacht  and  hauled  down  the  flag. 
When  a  complaint  was  lodged  by  the 
owner  of  the  yacht  with  the  military 
authorities  at  Kingstown  naval  base  a 
British  officer  visited  the  yacht,  per- 
sonally hoisted  the  Irish  flag  and  sa- 
luted it  before  returning  to  shore, 
where  a  great  crowd  cheered  the 
amende  honorable. 

On  the  evening  of  July  12  Eamon  de 
Valera  arrived  in  London,  accompa- 
nied by  Arthur  Griffith,  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Sinn  Fein;  Austin  Stack 
and  R.  C.  Burton,  both  Irish  members 
of  Parliament,  as  peace  envoys,  and 
Lord  Mayor  O'Neill  of  Dublin,  Count 
Plunkett  and  Erskine  Childers.  The 
first  meeting  between  Premier  Lloyd 
George  and  the  "  President  of  the  Re- 
public of  Ireland  "  was  held  in  the 
Cabinet  room  of  10  Downing  Street  at 
4 :30  P.  M.,  July  14.  They  took  tea 
together  and  conversed  for  two  hours. 
On  the  following  day  the  two  leaders 
were  again  closeted  for  an  hour  and  a 
quarter,  with  the  agreement  made 
that  nothing  was  to  be  disclosed  re- 
garding the  conversations.  On  the 
same  date  Sir  James  Craig,  the  Ulster 
Premier,  arrived  in  London,  and  in 
the  afternoon  had  a  long  interview 
with  Premier  Lloyd  George,  after 
which  the  Ulster  Cabinet  was  sum- 
moned to  London. 

In  the  absence  of  any  official  in- 
formation regarding  these  meetings 
it  was  learned  that  while  Premier 
Lloyd  George  had  obtained  from  Mr. 
de  Valera  a  waiver  of  the  inadmissi- 
ble demand  for  an  independent  re- 


public so  long  as  Ireland  was  given 
the  status  of  a  nation,  the  difficulty 
to  be  overcome  lay  in  Mr.  de  Valera's 
insistence  that  there  must  be  one  Par- 
liament for  all  Ireland,  though  will- 
ing to  grant  a  local  assembly  to  Ul- 
ster, subordinate  to  the  Dublin  Par- 
liament. On  the  other  hand,  for  the 
Ulster  side,  Sir  James  Craig  was  un- 
derstood to  be  equally  insistent  upon 
the  independence  of  the  Northern 
Parliament.  Hence  the  plan  of  a  con- 
ference of  the  three  parties  was  tem- 
porarily held  up.  The  Northern  Irish 
Premier  later  granted  an  interview  in 
which  he  declared  that  the  British 
Government  must  reach  its  own 
agreement  with  de  Valera,  and  that 
Ulster  was  determined  to  maintain 
its  present  status.  This  practically 
repudiated  the  whole  Sinn  Fein  argu- 
ment that  Ulster  was  in  the  minority 
and  must  bow  to  the  majority  in  Ire- 
land. The  same  evening  Sir  James 
Craig  and  his  colleagues  left  for  Bel- 
fast "to  carry  on  the  work  of  the 
Government." 

At  a  British  Cabinet  meeting  on 
July  20  plans  for  an  Irish  settlement 
were  discussed,  after  which  Premier 
Lloyd  George  laid  before  King  George 
agreed-upon  proposals  to  be  submit- 
ted to  Mr.  de  Valera.  These  proposals, 
in  the  form  of  a  typewritten  docu- 
ment, were  handed  to  Mr.  de  Valera 
on  the  day  following.  He  and  his  as- 
sociates then  returned  to  Dublin  for 
consultation,  arriving  on  July  22.  In 
addressing  a  large  gathering  outside 
the  Mansion  House  the  Sinn  Fein 
leader  said : 

The  lesson  learned  in  the  last  couple  of 
years  in  Ireland  is  that  acts,  not  talk, 
achieve  nations'  freedom.  If  we  act  in  the 
future  as  for  two  years  past  we  shall  not 
have  to  talk  about  freedom,  for  we  shall 
have  it. 

A  considerable  period  of  waiting 
then  ensued,  during  which  it  was  un- 
derstood Mr.  de  Valera  held  numerous 
conferences  with  his  colleagues  and 
communicated  with  Premier  Lloyd 
George  on  minor  points.  From  meet- 
ings of  the  Ulster  Cabinet  it  was 
gathered  that  a  firm  stand  was  being 


954 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


maintained  not  even  to  entertain 
overtures  which  threatened  to  dimin- 
ish the  powers  of  the  Northern  Par- 
liament. A  decisive  step,  however, 
was  taken  by  the  Sinn  Fein  leaders  on 
Aug.  5,  when  notices  were  sent  out 
for  a  full  meeting  of  the  Dail  Eireann, 
the  Irish  Republican  Parliament,  on 
Aug.  16.  This  action  automatically 
called  for  the  freedom  of  all  the  mem- 
bers still  in  prison.  On  Aug.  6 
the  British  Government  responded 
through  Dublin  Castle  by  announcing 
the  unconditional  release  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Dail  Eireann  except  J.  J. 
McKeown,  convicted  of  murder.  Upon 
representations  by  Mr.  de  Valera, 
however,  McKeown  was  ordered  re- 
leased on  Aug.  8. 

The  authority  of  the  Sinn  Fein  had 
been  remarkably  illustrated  by  the 
cessation  of  all  hostilities  against  the 
British  the  moment  the  truce  went 
into  force.  On  the  other  side,  some 
complaints  came  from  Cork  that  the 
police  and  military  under  General 
Strickland  continued  to  act  in  a  man- 
ner likely  to  exasperate  the  people, 
but  generally  throughout  the  South  of 
Ireland  the  British  lived  up  to  not 
only  the  letter  but  the  spirit  of  the 
truce,  especially  in  withdrawing  the 
unpopular  Black  and  Tans  from  duty 
and  in  subordinating  the  military  to 
the  civil  power  in  such  matters  as 


staying  executions,  liberating  prison- 
ers, &c. 

In  Ulster,  however,  where  the  truce 
did  not  immediately  obtain,  rioting 
broke  out  in  Belfast  on  the  night  of 
July  9  and  continued  with  violence  for 
several  days.  According  to  police  ac- 
counts, the  firing  at  patrols  by  Re- 
publicans in  the  Falls  district  precipi- 
tated the  outbreak.  By  daybreak  of 
the  10th  the  tide  of  battle  reached 
Townshend  Street,  where  the  Union- 
ists in  force  entered  the  fray.  By  the 
11th  incendiarism  added  one  of  the 
worst  features  to  the  savage  tumult, 
and  the  situation  became  so  alarming 
that  Colonel  Carter-Campbell,  after 
consultation  with  the  city  authorities, 
decided  to  reimpose  the  curfew.  On 
the  14th  the  sniping  and  rioting  again 
increased ;  streets  were  closed  to  traf- 
fic, tramway  service  suspended,  and 
motor  cars  ventured  into  the  fighting 
areas  only  at  top  speed.  Ambulance 
workers  were  kept  busy  taking 
wounded  persons  to  the  hospitals. 
Then  the  whole  disturbance  ceased 
suddenly  at  curfew  hour  on  the  14th, 
due,  it  was  believed,  to  an  under- 
standing reached  to  extend  the  truce 
to  Ulster.  During  this  outbreak 
twenty-two  persons  had  lost  their 
lives,  many  were  wounded,  and  over 
a  hundred  houses  were  destroyed  by 
fire  in  a  single  district. 


THE   DOVER  PATROL  MEMORIAL 


AT  Dover,  England,  the  Prince  of 
Wales  on  July  27  unveiled  a  memorial 
obelisk  erected  in  honor  of  the  men  of  the 
allied  navies  who  participated  in  the  patrol 
which  kept  the  Dover  Straits  free  from 
U-boats  during  the  World  War.  The  Ger- 
mans, better  than  any  one  else,  know  how 
effective  was  this  patrolling  fleet.  The 
obelisk  was  completed  on  June  20,  1921. 
Built  of  Norwegian  granite  and  weighing 
700  tons,  it  is  84  feet  high,  with  a  base 
21  feet  square,  tapering  to  about  five  feet 
at  the  top.   A  corresponding  obelisk  is  being 


erected   at    Cape   Blanc    Nez,   near    Calais, 
France. 

An  exact  duplicate  also  is  to  be  erected 
in  New  York  Harbor,  for  which  purpose  the 
British  Memorial  Association  gave  $23,000. 
The  City  of  New  York  has  given  a  site  for 
this  memorial  at  the  foot  of  Eighty-sixth 
Street.  After  the  unveiling  of  the  Dover 
obelisk  the  Prince  of  Wales  sent  a  cable 
message  to  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Denby 
in  which  he  transmitted  the  cordial  greet- 
ings of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  British 
Navy  "  to  their  American  comrades." 


IRELAND'S  PROSPERITY 
A  FORCE  FOR  PEACE 

By  J.  Ellis  Barker 

Impressive  facts  and  figures  showing  that  the  Irish  people,  despite 
the  recent  turmoil,  are  enjoying  the  greatest  prosperity  in  the 
island's  history — How  the  war  stimulated  their  agriculture  and 
industries — Ireland's  economic  dependence  on  England 


ECONOMIC  causes  have  brought 
about  the  great  majority  of  re- 
volts, revolutions  and  civil  wars 
in  the  history  of  mankind,  and  eco- 
nomic considerations  have  welded  to- 
gether many  States  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic.  The  economic  factor  is 
largely  responsible  for  the  strained 
relations  between  the  Irish  and  the 
English,  but  economic  causes  seem 
likely  to  bring  these  two  peoples  once 
more  together.  After  all,  Ireland  is 
rather  an  economic  than  a  political 
dependency  of  England. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  Irish  griev- 
ances is  economic.  Many  Irishmen 
assert  that  England,  actuated  by 
jealousy  and  selfishness,  has  delib- 
erately ruined  the  Irish  industries. 
To  this  they  ascribe  the  fact  that 
between  1841  and  1911  Ireland's 
population  has  decreased  from  8,175,- 
124  to  4,390,219.  In  a  surface  view 
of  the  case,  indeed,  England  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  decline  of  Ireland's 
industries  and  the  consequent  diminu- 
tion of  population;  in  reality,  how- 
ever, this  extraordinary  shrinkage 
has  been  caused  by  circumstances 
over  which  England  had  no  control, 
especially  by  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion and  by  the  advent  of  the  steam 
engine. 

It  should  be  noted,  first  of  all,  that 
Ireland  long  enjoyed  a  favored  posi- 
tion as  regards  both  agriculture  and 
industry.  As  a  consequence  of  Eng- 
land's   various    wars    with    France, 


under  Louis  XV.,  under  the  Republic 
and  under  Napoleon,  as  well  as  with 
France's  allies  on  the  Continent,  the 
price  of  food  products,  which  had  be- 
come difficult  of  importation,  rose 
greatly,  and  agriculture  flourished 
throughout  all  Great  Britain,  includ- 
ing Ireland.  This  continued  after  the 
Peace  of  Vienna  in  1815,  owing  to  the 
ruined  condition  prevailing  in  Europe. 
The  Irish  manufacturing  industries 
were  similarly  prosperous,  and  Irish 
silks,  linens,  woolens,  cottons,  glass, 
metal  wares,  &c,  all  of  excellent 
quality,  were  much  in  demand. 

This  lasted  till  toward  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  when  the  inven- 
tion of  the  steam  engine  and  steam- 
ship revolutionized  the  whole  situa- 
tion, alike  agricultural  and  manufac- 
turing. Agricultural  products  on  the 
Continent  increased.  The  products  of 
Russia  and  America  now  became 
available.  The  prices  of  foodstuffs 
declined  rapidly.  Ireland's  prosperity 
speedily  waned.  The  disastrous  po- 
tato blight,  still  a  bitter  memory, 
gave  Ireland  the  finishing  blow.  The 
extreme  precipitation  caused  by  the 
moisture  gathered  from  the  Atlantic 
was  the  cause  for  this  tragedy,  as  a 
consequence  of  which  the  Irish  farm- 
ers abandoned  the  planting  of  pota- 
toes and  emigrated  in  large  numbers. 

Moreover,  Ireland  could  not  share 
England's  phenomenal  expansion  of 
manufacturing,  because  her  soil, 
though  rich,  has  no  coal  or  iron  mines. 


956 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


The  skilled  Irish  artisans,  who  had 
produced  such  splendid  work  on  a 
small  scale,  were  forced  to  go  either 
to  England  or  elsewhere  to  make  a 
living.  Ireland's  agriculture  and 
manufacturing  industries  were  thus 
ruined  simultaneously,  not  by  Eng- 
lish selfishness  and  greed,  as  has 
been  charged,  but  by  the  advent  of 
the  era  of  steam  and  the  appearance 
of  the  potato  blight  in  its  worst  form. 

The  Coming  of  Prosperity 

As  a  matter  of.  fact,  England  has 
striven  to  make  Ireland  prosperous 
and  contented  by  appropriate  political 
and  especially  economic  measures. 
Year  by  year  Irish  self-government 
has  been  given  greater  scope  with  a 
view  to  conciliating  the  people,  and 
money  has  been  lavishly  spent  on 
both  the  agricultural  and  industrial 
development  of  the  country.  One  of 
the  most  important  measures  insti- 
tuted was  the  purchase  of  large  Irish 
estates,  and  their  sale  on  easy  terms 
to  the  farmers,  who  thus  became  ab- 
solute owners  of  the  soil.  This  transfer 
of  property  proved  exceedingly  popu- 
lar, and  led  to  a  vast  increase  in  ag- 
ricultural production,  especially  as 
improved  methods  of  cultivation  were 
introduced  at  the  same  time.  E. 
J.  Riordan,  Secretary  of  the  Irish  In- 
dustrial Development  Association, 
has  acknowledged  this  in  his  recently 
published  book,  "  Modern  Irish  Trade 
and  Industry."  The  improvement  ap- 
parent from  the  figures  he  gives  for 
the  last  twenty  years  is  certainly  re- 
markable, and  is  an  earnest  of  future 
and  still  greater  improvements.  In 
the  opinion  of  those  best  qualified  to 
judge,  Ireland  ought  to  be  able  to 
double  her  per  capita  production, 
which,  according  to  the  1908  census, 
stood  at  only  £56,  as  compared  with 
£113  for  England  and  Wales,  and 
£109  for  Scotland. 

Previous  to  the  war  Irish  agricul- 
tural production  had  already  vastly 
increased  in  quantity,  and  had  also 
very  greatly  improved  in  quality. 
Gradually    the    Irish    farmer's    old 


prejudice  against  scientific  methods 
is  being  overcome.  A  powerful  and 
very  ably  managed  Agricultural  De- 
partment is  spreading  the  knowledge 
of  improved  cultivation  far  and  wide, 
and  its  exertions  are  ably  supported 
hy  the  rapid  development  of  rural  co- 
operation. In  the  past,  Irish  agri- 
cultural produce  was  notorious  for  its 
inferiority.  The  country  produced 
small  bony  cattle,  scrawny  poultry, 
eggs  of  doubtful  freshness,  badly 
made  butter,  which  often  was 
weighted  with  hidden  stones,  &c. 
That  old  reproach  is  rapidly  disap- 
pearing. From  year  to  year  Irish 
produce  is  improving  and  is  com- 
manding better  prices.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  co-operative  movement  in 
Ireland  may  be  gauged  from  the  fact 
that  the  sales  of  butter  made  by  the 
co-operative  societies  increased  from 
£4,363  in  1889  to  £3,167,686  in  1915. 

In  order  to  safeguard  the  position 
of  Ireland,  the  production  of  wheat 
and  potatoes  has  been  greatly  re- 
duced. Root  crops,  grass  and  fodder 
plants  are  grown  instead,  and  Ireland 
has  become  a  very  important  cattle- 
raising  country.  Ireland  possesses 
about  half  the  cattle  kept  in  the  Brit- 
ish Isles.  Millions  of  young  animals 
are  sold  to  England,  where  they  are 
finished  for  the  market.  Of  recent 
years,  many  new  branches  have  been 
added  to  Irish  agriculture,  such  as  the 
making  of  cheese  and  margarine.  Be- 
tween 1904  and  1918  Ireland's  cheese 
exports  increased  from  1,142  cwts.  to 
136,452  cwts,  or  more  than  a  hun- 
dred-fold, while  margarine  exports 
grew  from  28,318  cwts.  to  126,353 
cwts.,  or  six-fold. 

The  recent  war  has  been  as  bene- 
ficial to  Ireland's  agriculture  and 
manufacturing  industries  as  was  the 
Napoleonic  war  a  century  ago.  Dur- 
ing the  ten  years  preceding  the  war, 
too,  Ireland's  progress  had  been  ex- 
ceedingly satisfactory;  between  1904 
and  1913  Ireland's  exports  increased 
from  £49,815,000  to  £73,877,000,  or  by 
50  per  cent.  The  most  important 
commodities  exported  from  Ireland 
show    considerable    progress.        Be- 


IRELAND'S  PROSPERITY  A  FORCE  FOR  PEACE 


957 


tween  1904  and  1913  exports  of  linen 
and  cotton  goods,  which  are  made 
principally  in  Protestant  Ulster,  and 
especially  in  Belfast,  have  practically 
doubled,  while  those  of  steamers  and 
of  woolen  goods  have  trebled.  While 
exports  of  sheep  increased  only 
slightly,  and  those  of  horses  showed  a 
small  decline,  the  exports  of  pigs 
were  reduced  by  nearly  £600,000.  We 
must  allow  for  the  fact  that  the  Irish 
farmers  have  lately  concentrated 
upon  the  more  profitable  pursuits, 
such  as  the  production  of  butter, 
poultry,  eggs,  bacon,  &c.  Between 
1904  and  1913  the  exports  of  cattle 
and  of  butter  nearly  doubled,  while 
the  exports  of  bacon  and  poultry  in- 
creased nearly  two-and-a-half  fold. 
The  reduction  in  the  exports  of  pigs 
was  accompanied  by  a  vastly  greater 
increase  in  the  exports  of  bacon.  It 
should  be  mentioned  that  the  export 
trade  is  of  the  very  greatest  impor- 
tance to  Ireland  because  it  is  so  highly 
developed  in  that  country.  In  1919 
the  export  trade  came  to  £39  3s.  5d. 
per  head  of  population  in  Ireland, 
while  it  came  only  to  £17  6s.  8d.  in 
the  whole  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
and  to  £9  10s.  lid.  in  France. 

Progress  Since  the 'War 

During  and  since  the  war  Ireland's 
prosperity  has  increased  at  a  par- 
ticularly rapid  pace  in  consequence 
of  the  insatiable  demand  for  food  and 
manufactures,  which  were,  and  are, 
sold  at  very  high  prices.  Ireland  was 
one  of  the  greatest  beneficiaries  of 
the  war.  Only  a  relatively  small  por- 
tion of  her  able-bodied  manhood  took 
part  in  the  fighting.  The  British 
Government  treated  Ireland  practical- 
ly as  a  neutral  country.  Compulsory 
military  service,  the  rigid  rationing 
of  food,  &c,  were  enforced  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland  and  Wales,  but  not  in 
Ireland.  Between  1904  and  1919  Ire- 
land's exports  increased  from  ap- 
approximately  £49,785,000  to  £176,- 
031,000.  The  war  led  also  to  the 
rapid  expansion  of  Irish  agriculture. 
That  may  be  seen  from  the  following 


figures  relating  to  the  production  of 
the  staple  crops: 

Wheat,  Oats, 

Bushels.  Bushels. 

1914     3,237,560  51,927,683 

1918     5,688,000  83,200,000 

Turnips,         .        Potatoes, 

Tons.  Tons. 

1914     ... 4,433,491  3,445,770 

1918     5,303,000  3,863,000 

As  these  greatly  increased  crops 
were  sold  at  vastly  increased  prices, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  prosperity  of 
rural  Ireland  increased  very  greatly 
during  the  war.  Industrial  Ireland, 
also,  was  enriched  by  the  struggle. 

The  fact  that  Ireland  has  been  en- 
joying great  prosperity  may  be  seen 
also  in  the  figures  relating  to  banking 
and  finance.  The  number  of  branches 
of  the  Irish  banks  increased  from  661 
in  1900  to  809  in  1910,  and  to  1,255 
in  1920.  Bank  deposits  in  Ireland  in- 
creased from  £49,449,000  in  1890  to 
£200,441,000  in  1920.  In  other  words, 
bank  deposits  since  1890  have  grown 
five-fold  in  Ireland,  while  they  have 
grown  only  three-fold  in  Scotland. 
Between  1915  and  1920  bank  de- 
posits have  a  little  less  than  doubled 
in  England  and  Wales  and  in  Scot- 
land, while  they  have  almost  trebled 
in  Ireland.  These  increases  are  par- 
ticularly noteworthy  if  we  bear  in 
mind  that  the  Irish  farmers  put  their 
savings  into  land  and  improvements, 
while  many  of  the  people  of  small 
means  place  money  into  the  co-op- 
erative societies  or  hoard  it. 

The  fact  that  Ireland  has  enjoyed 
unprecedented  prosperity  and  that 
that  country  has  progressed  more 
rapidly  than  England  and  Scotland 
is  confirmed  by  other  statistics, 
which  show  that  poverty  and  crime 
have  diminished  far  more  rapidly  in 
Ireland  than  in  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land. Ireland  is  obviously  on  the 
road  which  leads  to  prosperity,  and 
the  progress  of  the  country  should 
become  accelerated  when  its  political 
troubles  have  been  overcome. 

-Ireland's  economic  future  depends 
on  her  natural  resources  and  on  the 
activities  of  her  people.  Her  re- 
sources, though  limited,  are  exceed- 
ingly promising.  The  disadvantages 
of  overmuch  rain   are,  to  some  ex- 


958 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


tent,  being  neutralized  by  draining 
the  land,  and  by  afforestation.  The 
country  yields  per  acre  a  considerably 
greater  quantity  of  wheat,  barley, 
oats,  turnips  and  mangolds  than  can 
be  obtained  in  England.  More  in- 
tensive cultivation,  the  application  of 
science  to  agriculture  and  the  exten- 
sion of  co-operation  are  bound  to 
benefit  Irish  agriculture  very  greatly. 

Ireland  has  suffered  in  the  past 
from  insufficient  communications. 
These  are  being  improved  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Roads  and  railroads 
are  being  constructed,  canals  and 
rivers  are  being  deepened,  harbor 
works  have  been  undertaken  all 
around  the  coast,  schemes  for  deriv- 
ing electrical  power  from  waterfalls 
are  being  studied.  Everything  is 
done  to  accelerate  Ireland's  advance. 
The  aspect  of  the  country  greatly  re- 
sembles that  of  Denmark,  Holland 
and  Belgium,  where  production  per 
acre  is  greater  than  anywhere  else 
in  the  world.  Irish  experts  are  study- 
ing the  progress  of  these  countries, 
and  are  endeavoring  to  apply  similar 
methods  in  their  own  land.  Rural 
Ireland  should  be  able  to  support  in 
time  a  population  twice  as  great  as 
the  present  number. 

Unfortunately,  Ireland  has  poor  in- 
dustrial resources.  Practically  all 
the  coal  used  in  the  country  comes 
from  England.  The  mineral  re- 
sources of  the  Irish  are  trifling.  The 
only  resource  available  for  fuel  is 
peat,  of  which  there  is  an  abundance. 
Hitherto  it  has  not  been  possible  to 
exploit  it  commercially.  If  some 
suitable  method  should  be  discovered, 
it  would  be  of  the  greatest  value  to 
the  country. 

Dependence  on  England 

Many  Irishmen  speak  recklessly 
about  cutting  the  connection  with 
England,  not  realizing  how  very  de- 
pendent Ireland  is  upon  England 
from  the  economic  point  of  view.  The 
great  towns  are  the  eyes  of  a  coun- 
try. The  three  principal  towns  in 
Ireland — Dublin,  Belfast  and  Cork — 
are  on  the  east  coast,  and  look  toward 
England.     Ireland,  as  shown,  has  per 


head  of  population  the  largest  for- 
eign trade  in  the  world.  That  trade 
is  carried  on  almost  exclusively  with 
England.  If  we  bear  in  mind  the 
fact  that  Ireland  is  relatively  poor,  it 
will  be  obvious  that  foreign  trade  is 
to  that  country  far  more  important 
than  it  is  to  England.  Ireland  re- 
ceives from  England  practically  all 
her  coal  and  various  raw  materials 
and  manufactured  goods.  The  iron 
used  in  the  great  shipyards  comes 
from  England,  Ireland's  exports 
consist  principally  of  perishable  food- 
stuffs, especially  meat,  butter,  eggs, 
&c,  for  which  England  is  the  natural 
market.  Owing  to  the  configuration 
and  position  of  the  country,  Eastern 
Ireland,  which  looks  toward  England, 
is  densely  populated  and  well-to-do, 
while  Western  Ireland,  which  faces 
the  Atlantic,  is  thinly  populated,  wild 
and  barren. 

Before  the  war  Ireland  ranked  im- 
mediately after  the  United  States  as 
a  supplier  of  foodstuffs  to  Great 
Britain.  In  1913  Great  Britain  re- 
ceived from  the  United  States  £39,- 
000,000  of  foodstuffs,  from  Ireland 
£36,000,000,  from  Argentina  £31,000,- 
000,  from  Denmark  £22,000,000, 
from  Canada  £19,000,000,  from.  Brit- 
ish India  £17,000,000,  from  Holland 
£16,000,000,  from  Australia  £15,000,- 
000,  from  Russia  £15,000,000,  from 
New  Zealand  £9,000,000.  While 
England  was  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant market  to  the  Irish  farmer, 
the  produce  of  the  Irish  farmer  can, 
in  case  of  need,  be  replaced  without 
difficulty  from  elsewhere.  Ireland 
is  obviously  far  more  .  dependent 
upon  England  than  England  is  upon 
Ireland.  A  stoppage  of  the  Anglo- 
Irish  trade  would  inconvenience  Eng- 
land only  slightly,  but  it  would  ruin 
Ireland  speedily.  The  Irish  farmers 
would  not  be  able  to  sell  their  produce 
elsewhere,  except  at  a  very  great  dis- 
advantage, and  the  Irish  industries 
could  not  survive  were  they  deprived 
of  English  coal  and  iron. 

The  Irish  have  considerable  ability 
for  agriculture,  industry  and  com- 
merce. Hence  the  country  has  some 
extraordinarily  prospej'ous  indus- 
tries.    The  foremost  shipyards  in  the 


IRELAND'S  PROSPERITY  A   FORCE  FOR  PEACE 


959 


United  Kingdom  are  situated  in  Bel- 
fast. The  firms  of  Harland  &  Wolfe, 
and  of  Workman  &  Clark,  which  to- 
gether employ  30,000  workers,  have 
produced  many  of  the  best  liners  in 
the  world.  The  Irish  linen  industry, 
which  is  mainly  located  in  the  north- 
east, is  world  famous.  Irish  thread 
and  Irish  lace  are  known  everywhere. 
Messrs.  Guinness  of  Dublin  are  sup- 
posed to  possess  the  largest  and  the 
most  prosperous  brewery  in  the 
world.  Ireland  produces  excellent 
biscuits,  mineral  waters,  woolens, 
manufactured  tobaccos,  clothing, 
furniture,  &c.  All  these  establish- 
ments depend  upon  England  for-  their 
raw  materials,  their  finance  and  the 
sale  of  their  goods.  Irish  business 
men  have  attained  eminence  in  all 
countries.  The  awakening  of  Irish 
nationalism  may  cause  many  noted 
Irishmen  to  devote  their  energies  to 
their  country  and  may  lead  many  rich 
Irishmen  to  return  to  their  native 
land,  provided,  of  course,  that  peace 
and  order  are  maintained. 

The  country  is  singularly  well  sup- 
plied with  large  natural  inlets.  These 
are  Blacksod  Bay,  Killary  Bay,  Gal- 
way  Bay,  the  Shannon  Estuary, . 
Berehaven  and  Queenstown.  Pro- 
portionately, Ireland  is  far  better 
supplied  with  natural  harbors  than 
England.  The  most  important  trade 
route  in  the  world  is  that  between 
England  and  the  United  States.  The 
Port  of  Liverpool  is  cramped  and  not 
sufficiently  deep,  and  the  St.  George's 
Channel,  which  leads  from  that  port 
along  the  east  coast  of  Ireland  to  the 
Atlantic,  is  overcrowded  with  ship- 
ping, and  suffers  from  fogs.  If  it 
should  be  possible  to  create  a  great 
ocean  harbor  on  the  Irish  west  coast, 
the  sea  journey  from  England  to 
America  might  be  reduced  to  three 
and  one-half  days.  Certain  Irish 
leaders  are  working  in  this  direction. 

Emotion  and  common  sense  are 
strangely  blended  in  the  Irish  charac- 
ter.    Sentiment  and  passion  are  apt 


to  carry  the  Irish  people  away. 
Thoughts  of  past  grievances  have 
rankled  deeply  with  them,  and  for- 
eign agitators,  especially  Russians 
and  Germans,  have  done  their  utmost 
to  poison  their  minds  against  the 
English.  The  campaign  of  crime 
will  come  to  an  end;  perhaps  the 
truce  now  existing  is  the  end.  The 
vast  majority  of  the  Irish  people  wish 
to  live  in  peace  and  to  look  after  their 
farms  and  families.  They  realize 
that  the  outlook  is  exceedingly  hope- 
ful, that  peace  is  necessary  to  the 
country  and  that  Ireland  depends  for 
its  existence  on  the  connection  with 
England.  The  King's  speech  in  Bel- 
fast has  made  a  deep  impression. 
The  great  majority  of  the  Irish  are 
anxious  for  a  permanent  settlement. 
They  realize  that  prolonged  strife 
will  ruin  them  in  the  end.  These 
considerations  should  lead  to  the 
permanent  pacification  and  to  the  re- 
building of  the  country. 

Ireland  has  enjoyed  a  period  of  un- 
paralleled prosperity.  The  progress 
of  the  country  has  been  checked  only 
slightly  by  the  outrages  and  the  de- 
struction committed.  The  Irish  peo- 
ple in  general  are  certainly  at  present 
far  more  prosperous  than  th,ey  have 
ever  been  before,  notwithstanding 
disorder  and  crime.  There  is  every 
indication  that  Ireland  is  entering 
upon  a  new  era  in  her  history.  Self- 
government  will  give  to  the  Irish  that 
sen^se  of  responsibility  which  they 
have  lacked  hitherto.  It  should  be  a 
steadying  and  a  sobering  influence, 
and  independence  will  show  them 
that  their  economic  dependence  upon 
England  is  greater  than  they  have 
ever  realized  in  the  past.  England 
is  certainly  anxious  to  make  Ireland's 
experiment  in  self-government  a 
complete  success,  and  to  all  appear- 
ances it  will  prove  successful  unless 
foreign  agitators  should  succeed  in 
ruining  the  country  for  their  own 
ends. 


TYPICAL  SUMMER  SCENE    IN   THE   INTERIOR  OF  ALASKA,    WITH   ABUNDANT   FLOWERS   BUT   NO 
TREES.      THE  MOUNTAIN   IN   THE   BACKGROUND   IS   PILLSBURY   DOME,    ON    THE  LOWER   DELTA. 


WHAT  AILS  ALASKA? 


By  Colonel  W.  P.  Richardson 

For   more   than   twenty    years    in    the    service   of    the    United    Statts    War   Department    in    Alaska,    and    for 

twelve    years    President    of    the    Board    of    Road    Commissioners    for    Alaska;    former    commanding    officer 

of    the    United    States    Army    Division     at    Archangel,     Russia 

Popular  misconceptions  concerning  the  Territory  set  right  by  an 
authority  on  the  subject — Alaska's  Government-built  railroad  may 
be  another  of  the  mistakes  of  Congress  in  the  Far   Northern 
Territory — Population  reduced  since  the  war 


EARLY  in  the  Summer  of  1897 
there  came  from  out  the  Ca- 
nadian Yukon,  near  the  Alas- 
kan boundary,  a  story  of  gold  which 
at  first  seemed  incredible.  It  was 
the  story  of  the  Klondike.  The  fever 
of  excitement  which  immediately 
stirred  the  United  States  and  spread 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth  has 
since  died  out,  and  even  its  memories 
have  been  dimmed  by  subsequent 
world  upheavals.  But  for  those  who 
took  a  personal  part  in  that  frenzied 
rush  into  the  Far  North  the  impres- 
sions of  those  days  are  still  fresh  and 
vivid. 

The  stage  for  the  Klondike  drama 
could  not  have  been  more  admirablv 


set.  Business  in  1897  was  stagnant, 
capital  was  held  close,  money  every- 
where was  scarce,  as  evidenced  by 
the  campaign  for  free  coinage  of  sil- 
ver in  the  preceding  Summer. 
Throughout  the  world  there  was  no 
cloud  of  war.  The  psychological  con- 
ditions were  right' for  some  new  im- 
pulse of  romance,  and  the  extraor- 
dinary richness  of  the  gold  deposits 
discovered  deep  under  the  frost  of 
the  Far  North  stirred  the  imagina- 
tion to  a  high  degree.  Men  of  every 
station  in  life,  from  city,  town  and 
village,  began  to  move  toward  this 
newly  discovered  gold  field,  though 
with  scant  knowledge  of  routes  and 
less  care  for  difficulties  they  might 


WHAT  AILS  ALASKA? 


961 


meet  on  the  way.  The  larger  part, 
to  the  number  of  20,000  or  more, 
made  their  way  with  infinite  labor 
and  hardship  during  the  Winter  of 
1897-98  over  the  Chilkoot  and  White 
Passes  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Yu- 
kon. Others  sought  to  find  shorter  or 
easier  routes  by  way  of  Edmonton 
and  the  Mackenzie  River,  or  up  the 
Stikine,  while  still  others  took  the 
longer  but  better-known  route  via  St. 
Michael  and  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon. 
My  connection  with  the  movement 
and  with  Alaska  began  Aug.  1,  1897, 
when  I  left  Cheyenne,  Wyo.,  with 
Captain  P.  H.  Ray  of  the  8th  In- 
fantry as  his  assistant  (I  was  then 
a  Lieutenant  in  the  same  regiment), 
for  Seattle,  Wash.,  under  orders 
of  the  War  Department  to  pro- 
ceed by  way  of  St.  Michael  and  the 
Yukon  to  investigate  the  conditions 
attendant  upon  this  movement  of 
people  to  the  new  gold  fields.     We 


sailed  from  Seattle  on  Aug.  5  sup- 
plied and  equipped  for  a  stay  of  eight 
months  in  the  North.  The  incidents 
of  this  jouney  and  of  the  follow- 
ing Winter  at  Fort  Yukon,  though 
full  of  interest,  do  not  constitute  a 
part  of  this  story.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  they  formed  for  me,  unexpect- 
edly, the  beginning  of  twenty  years' 
work  in  Alaska. 

The  lure  of  the  country  was  beyond 
description.  The  wildness  and  beauty 
of  its  natural  scenery,  its  mountains 
and  waterways,  its  newly  discovered 
wealth,  and  its  vast,  untracked  areas 
which  might,  in  the  imagination  of 
the  adventurers,  hold  in  their  secret 
bosoms  other  and  greater  gold  de- 
posits than  the  Klondike,  all  served 
to  create  an  enthusiasm  rarely,  if 
ever,  equaled  by  any  similar  move- 
ment. It  was  a  joyous  crowd  that 
floated  down  the  river  in  the  Spring 
of  1898,  or  built  boats  on  the  shores 


ALASKA'S   ONE    RAILWAY— WITH   THE    EXCEPTION    OF   THE    SHORT    UNE    PROM   SKAGWAV    INTO 

THE    CANADIAN    YUKON— STARTS    AT    SEWARD    AND    IS    BEING    BUILT    NORTHWARD    THROUGH 

THE  MOUNT   M'KINLEY   RANGE   TOWARD    FAIRBANKS,    ON    THE    TANANA    RIVER 


962 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  St.  Michael's  Bay  and  challenged 
the  swift  current  of  the  Yukon  in  the 
long  pull  up  to  Dawson. 

In  the  Fall  of  1898  Nome  was  dis- 
covered. Here  on  the  desolate  and 
wind-swept  shores  of  Bering  Sea, 
1,200  miles  to  the  westward  of  the 
Klondike,  more  than  $3,000,000 
worth  of  gold  was  washed  from  the 
sands  of  the  beach,  and  many  times 
that  amount  has  since  been  taken 
from  the  mines  a  short  distance  back 
from  the  shore.  A  few  years  later 
came  the  discovery  of  the  rich  Fair- 
banks district  on  the  Tanana  River, 
lying  almost  midway  between  Daw- 
son and  Nome.  A  few  years  passed. 
The  great  low-grade  gold  properties 
in  Southeastern  Alaska  were  being 
worked;  the  salmon  and  other  fish 
industries  were  being  developed; 
rich  copper  deposits  were  being 
opened  up ;  extensive  coal  areas  were 
being  located ;  agriculture  had  begun. 
All  in  all,  the  future  prosperity  of 
Alaska  seemed  assured. 

•    Unfulfilled  Hopes 

The  hope  of  those  days  is  not  be- 
ing fulfilled ;  Alaska  is  not  progress- 
ing. The  rich  fields  at  Nome  and 
Fairbanks,  like  other  placer  fields, 
have  had  their  richest  deposits  taken 
out,  and  the  presenj  population  in 
these  towns  is  only  a  fraction  of  what 
it  was  in  their  days  of  high  produc- 
tion. In  fact,  the  white  population  of 
Alaska  is  less  than  it  was  ten  years 
ago,  and  even  less  than  twenty  years 
ago.  The  old  buoyant  confidence  and 
enthusiasm  are  no  longer  present. 

What  is  the  matter  with  Alaska? 

Articles  written  in  answer  to  this 
question  sometimes  charge  the  fault 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
or  to  various  bureaus  in  Washington. 
They  frequently  contain  statements 
concerning  the  resources  of  Alaska 
which  give  the  impression  that  these 
resources  are  not  developed  and  that 
the  population  of  Alaska  is  not  in- 
creasing because  of  the  restrictive 
measures  passed  by  Congress,  or  be- 
cause  of   departmental   inefficiency. 


This  is  unfair.  I  have  found  in  my 
experience  with  Congress  on  matters 
relating  to  Alaska,  and  with  the  de- 
partments as  well,  a  desire  at  all 
times  to  do  for  Alaska  whr.t  was  need- 
ed, so  far  as  the  situation  could  be 
understood  upon  the  presentations 
made,  which  were  frequently  con- 
flicting ;  I  have  found  a  helpful  spirit 
rather  than  one  of  interference. 

The  only  possible  exception  to  this 
general  tendency  might  be  found  in 
the  application  of  the  policy  of  so- 
called  conservation.  Undoubtedly, 
the  application  of  this  policy  in  ex- 
treme form  to  Alaska,  along  with  the 
discouragement  to  capital,  has  been 
hurtful  to  the  Territory.  However, 
it  may  be  said,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
if  the  stories  which  are  told  of  Alas- 
ka's resources  and  of  the  opportuni- 
ties which  she  offers  to  investors  and 
settlers  were  strictly  true,  then  no  re- 
stictive  regulation  whatsoever  could 
keep  an  independent  people  like  our 
own  from  going  to  the  Territory  and 
taking  advantage  of  these  "  rich  op- 
portunities." My  own  further  an- 
swer to  the  question  is  that  overad- 
vertising,  exaggeration  and  propa- 
ganda along  misleading  lines  have 
done  much  to  confuse  the  situation. 
In  one  of  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Board  of  Road  Commissioners  for 
Alaska  the  statement  was  made  that 
"  the  truth  about  Alaska  is  good 
enough."  That  statement  has  been 
quoted  more  than  once,  and  I  believe 
today  that  it  is  worth  repeating  and 
emphasizing. 

Prevailing  Misconceptions 

Many  erroneous  impressions  of  our 
northern  Territory  prevail.  One  of 
these  is  that  Alaska  is  an  agricultural 
country.  This  is  not  true  in  the  sense 
commonly  understood.  More  farm 
products  could  be  grown  in  a  few  rich 
counties  of  Kansas,  Oklahoma  or 
Texas  than  in  the  whole  vast  Terri- 
tory of  Alaska.  Moreover,  the  expense 
of  opening  up  a  farm  in  Alaska  is 
enormous,  and  there  is  at  present  no 
market  for  farm  products  other  than 


WHAT  AILS  ALASKA? 


£63 


immmmmmammmmmmmmmasmsMm^^^ 

■        ,.;•--.*•,-  i  ^^  0£  'V  .;:  v           .      s                   ..       -;.'■ 

>h                      :"     ■                   S-,:     -\     -'  ■                ■:::;         ... 

*s*««i^ 

S#             |||[ 

■  :;;v;-'  ■      :-:.                 :.  -  . 

»»#/Tr»  yv-c-ij 

(Underwood    &    I'ndeiwood » 

PART  OF  THE  GREAT  REINDEER  HERD  OF  ALASKA,  THE  OUTGROWTH  OF  THE  FEW  HUNDRED 

ANIMALS  WHICH  THE  GOVERNMENT  INTRODUCED  FROM  SIBERIA   SOME  YEARS  AGO  TO  SAVE. 

THE  INDIANS  FROM  STARVATION.     FOUR  PACKING  PLANTS  ARE  NOW  BEING  BUILT  IN  ALASKA 

TO  REFRIGERATE  AND   SHIP  REINDEER  MEAT  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


that    offered    by    the    small    mining 
towns  or  fishing  villages. 

There  is  more  truth  in  the  other 
statement,  frequently  made,  that 
Alaska,  lying  within  the  same  paral- 
lels of  latitude  as  Norway,  Sweden 
and  Denmark,  has  the  same  general 
climate  as  Northern  Europe.  The 
two  regions  owe  their  mild  climate  to 
two  great  ocean  currents,  both  of 
which  originate  in  warm  tropical 
waters  and  flow  first  northward  and 
then  eastward  along  approximately 
the  same  parellels  of  latitude.  The 
Gulf  Stream  in  the  Atlantic  divides 
as  it  approaches  Europe,  and  part  of 
it  flows  northward,  west  of  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  passes  around  the  North 
Cape  of  Norway  and  on  eastward  un- 
til it  is  lost  in  the  Arctic  Basin.  This 
stream  warms  all  Northern  Europe, 
because  there  are  no  mountains  be- 
tween it  and  the  interior  of  the  Con- 
tinent. The  Japan  current  in  the  Pa- 
cific likewise  divides  as  it  approaches 


America,  a  portion  going  down  the 
Washington  and  Oregon  coast,  the 
rest  eddying  back  toward  Yakutat, 
Prince  William  Sound  and  Cook  Inlet. 
This  stream  is  first  deflected  from 
entering  Bering  Sea  bjr  the  Aleutian 
Islands  and  the  Alaskan  Peninsula, 
and  the  warmth  of  the  portion  that 
eddies  back  toward  Prince  William 
Sound  is  walled  off  from  the  interior 
of  Alaska  by  high  mountains,  which 
extend  all  the  way  along  the  coast 
from  Ketchikan  to  Cook  Inlet. 

The  moisture-laden  clouds,  swept  in 
from  the  warm  ocean  upon  this  moun- 
tain range  and  its  glaciers,  produce  a 
heavy  precipitation  of  rain  in  Sum- 
mer and  of  snow  in  Winter.  There 
results,  it  is  true,  a  comparatively 
mild  climate  all  along  the  coast,  but 
one  of  excessive  moisture,  which  is 
the  principal  handicap  to  agriculture 
in  this  region.  The  climate  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands  is  not  severe,  but 
there  is  so  little  sunshine  that  these 


964 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


islands  are  useless  for  agriculture  or 
even  for  the  growth  of  timber,  which 
exists  only  in  very  small  quantities 
west  of  Cook  Inlet.  The  heavy  snow- 
fall and  lack  of  sunshine  on  the  coast 
are  the  greatest  handicaps  in  South- 
east Alaska  and  along  the  coast  west- 
ward as  far  as  Cook  Inlet,  although 
there  are  many  small  and  protected 
valleys  where  much  garden  stuff  is 
grown. 

Climate  of  the  Interior 

Crossing  the  coast  range  to  the  in- 
terior of  Alaska,  an  entirely  different 
climate  is  found.  Here  the  snowfall 
is  comparatively  light.  Throughout 
the  valleys  of  the  Yukon  and  its  trib- 
utaries very  low  temperatures  are 
experienced  in  Winter,  together  with 
short,  hot  Summers.  The  ground  is 
frozen  in  most  of  the  valleys  to  a 
great  depth,  and  it  is  thawed  only  on 
the  surface  during  the  Summer.  On 
the  hillside  slopes  it  frequently  hap- 
pens that  but  little  frost  is  encoun- 
tered. When  the  moss  covering  is 
stripped  from  the  ground  it  thaws 
down  in  Summer,  and  in  many  places 
all  the  hardier  vegetables  and  grains 
can  be  raised.  The  Summer,  although 
short,  is  quite  warm,  and  with  the 
sun  in  the  mid-season  shining  nearly 
twenty-four  hours,  all  plants  grow 
rapidly.  Also,  the  quality  of  the 
products  is  of  high  order,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  grains.  Wheat  has 
been  grown  to  a  certain  extent,  but  it 
cannot  be  said  by  the  most  enthusi- 
astic friends  of  Alaska  that  it  is  a 
wheat  country.  However,  expensive 
experiments  have  been  made  in  the 
breeding  of  wheat,  and  I  know  that 
some  excellent  results  have  been  ob- 
tained. 

I  spent  some  months  in  North  Rus- 
sia with  the  American  military  expe- 
dition there,  and  in  an  article  on  that 
subject  (Current  History,  Febru- 
ary, 1921)  I  made  some  observations 
on  the  climatic  and  agricultural  condi- 
tions in  that  part  of  Russia.  In  all 
comparisons  of  Alaska  and  North 
Europe  it  must  be  remembered  that 


agriculture  in  Europe  has  been  de- 
veloped under  necessity,  by  the  pres- 
sure of  population  through  many  hun- 
dreds of  years;  not  until  all  the  land 
has  been  taken  up  in  the  United 
States,  producing  a  similar  pressure 
upon  our  people,  will  the  agricultural 
possibilities  of  Alaska  be  developed 
as  fully  as  the  climate  allows. 

There  was  created  a  belief  through- 
out the  country  at  one  time  that  cer- 
tain capitalists  were  about  to  seize 
the  richest  of  Alaska's  resources  and 
use  them  in  development  for  their 
own  benefit.  This  also  has  not  helped 
Alaska.  I  hold  no  special  brief  for 
capital  or  "  big  business,"  but  I  am, 
on  the  other  hand,  uninfluenced  by 
any  quibbling  consideration  of  class 
bias,  and  I  do  say  that  Alaska's  para- 
mount need  is  for  aid  in  the  way  of 
capital  for  its  development.  Capital 
should  be  invited  to  take  the  venture 
in  Alaska,  giving  it  a  fair  chance  for 
liberal  returns,  and  if  it  should  later 
become  necessary  to  curb  its  activi- 
ties to  protect  the  resources,  there 
will  still  be  time  to  impose  the  neces- 
sary regulations  upon  it. 

The  Government  Railroad 

The  Government  is  now  building  a 
railroad  across  Alaska,  which  will 
cost  more  than  $50,000,000.  My 
view  regarding  this  project  was  that 
private  capital  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  .bid  upon  the  construction 
of  the  necessary  railroads  in  Alaska 
under  such  Government  restriction 
and  regulation  as  might  be  necessary 
— that  capital  should  take  the  chance 
instead  of  the  Government.  The 
Government,  however,  has  made  the 
venture,  and  the  present  outlook  is 
not  encouraging.  Many  plausible  ar- 
guments were  set  forth  for  Govern- 
ment construction  at  the  time  when 
the  decision  was  made;  and  unques- 
tionably the  Administration  was  ac- 
tuated by  an  earnest  desire  to  do 
something  helpful  for  Alaska.  On 
the  basis  of  long  experience  and 
twenty  years'  observation,  however, 
I  was  constrained  to  state  at  that 
time  that  such  a  venture  by  the  Gov- 


WHAT  AILS  ALASKA? 


96o 


SUMMIT  LAKE,  ON  TOP  OF  THE.  ALASKA  RANGE.   THE  EXCELLENT  WAGON  ROAD  IN  THE 

FOREGROUND  HAS  BEEN  BUILT  BY  THE  GOVERNMENT  FROM  VALDEZ  UP  THROUGH  THE 

MOUNTAINS  TO  FAIRBANKS,  ON  THE  TANANA  RIVER 


ernment  was  likely  to  prove  a  failure, 
or  at  least  to  fail  to  bring  about  the 
results  that  were  hoped  for.  As 
early  as  1913,  and  before  the  Railroad 
bill  passed,  in  the  report  of  the  Board 
of  Road  Commissioners  for  Alaska  to 
the  War  Department,  the  following 
statement  was  made: 

In  the  Great  Plains  country  of  the  Middle 
West  and  Northwest,  where  travel  across 
country  was  generally  safe  and  easy  with- 
out road  or  trail  of  any  kind,  development 
naturally  followed  the  construction  of  trunk 
lines  of  railroad,  and  a  similar  develop- 
ment, it  is  predicted,  will  follow  the  con- 
struction of  one  or  more  trunk  lines  in 
Alaska.  Here,  however,  the  conditions  are 
entirely  different,  and  the  attractive  figures 
of  probable  tonnage  and  earnings  of  such 
lines  presented  by  interested  and  enthusi- 
astic supporters  of  immediate  railroad  con- 
struction are  not  justified  on  any  logical 
grounds  nor  by  the  history  of  the  railroads 
already  constructed  in  the  Territory,  *  *  * 
and  no  rapid  or  general  development  will 
follow  the  construction  of  trunk  lines  of 
railroad  to  the  interior  unless  preceded  or 
accompanied  by  the  construction  of  nu- 
merous wagon  roads  and  trails  as  feeders, 
and  even  then  the  development  will  be  slow. 

Unlike  the  great  West  in  another 
respect,  Alaska  has  a  wonderful  sys- 
tem of  waterways,  both  coastal  and 
interior,  and  though  the  interior  sys- 
tem is  open  only  about  five  months 


of  the  year,  during  this  open  period 
supplies  can  be  distributed  to  almost 
every  part  of  the  Territory  by  means 
of  its  various  ramifications.  Short 
roads  between  the  deep-sea  channels 
of  the  coast  and  the  streams  of  the 
interior  will,  however,  be  necessary. 
This  was  further  emphasized  in  my 
report  of  1914.  From  the  1917  re- 
port of  the  Board  of  Road  Commis- 
sioners I  quote  the  following: 

For  more  than  a  generation  the  people 
of  the  United  States  almost  forgot  the  need 
and  value  of  wagon  roads.  This  was  the 
great  period  of  railroad  building,,  which 
spanned  the  continent  with  numerous  lines 
and  crossed  great  stretches  of  prairie  that 
had  little  need  for  wagon  roads  to  stimulate 
devlopment.  Any  hope  that  a  similar  rapid 
development  will  follow  the  construction  of 
the  Alaska  railroad  is  foredoomed  to  dis- 
appointment. 

A  vast  sum  of  money,  however,  is 
now  invested  in  the  permanent  prop- 
erty of  a  Government  railroad,  and, 
whether  this  expenditure  was  a  wise 
one  or  not,  the  problem  now  is  to 
protect  the  investment  and  if  possible 
make  it  self-sustaining  and  perma- 
nently beneficial  to  the  Territory. 

During  the  period  when  the  Rail- 
road bill  was  under  discussion  I  re- 
gret to  say  that  more  than  once  I 


966 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


heard  the  argument  that  in  case  the 
Government  could  be  induced  to  make 
this  expenditure,  whether  wise  or 
not,  it  would  be  compelled  thereafter 
to  support  further  appropriations  to 
take  care  of  the  investment  and  thus 
develop  Alaska.  Such  a  policy  I,  of 
course,  as  an  official  of  the  Govern- 
ment, could  not  countenance  in  any 
way,  although  I  recognized,  and  rec- 
ognize now,  the  force  of  the  conten- 
tion. 

Further  Development  Needs 

So  it  now  comes  to  the  proposition 
that  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  order  to  save  this  in- 
vestment, to  make  large  appropria- 
tions in  the  future,  or  provide  funds 
by  some  other  method,  not  only  for 
the  operation  and  maintenance  of 
the  railroad,  if  it  is  to  be  maintained 
until  tonnage  can  be  developed,  but 
also  for  the  construction  of  feeders 
to  the  railroad,  the  development  of 
industries  which  will  furnish  ton- 
nage, and  some  kind  of  special  in- 
ducement to  people  to  go  to  Alaska. 
Population  and  tonnage  are  absolute- 
ly necessary  to  give  support  to  the 
railroad.  A  certain  tonnage  was  ex- 
pected and  may  be  developed  in  the 
near  future  from  the  coal  beds  of 
the  Matanuska  fields  for  naval  pur- 
poses, and  also  for  use  in  the  Terri- 
tory and  along  the  coast.  This,  how- 
ever, I  understand;  is  still  uncertain. 
Beyond  the  coal  fields  there  is  no 
tonnage  in  sight  at  this  time  worth 
mentioning. 

In  the  days  of  Fairbanks's  pros- 
perity, when  the  Tanana  Valley 
placer  gold  fields  were  at  their  high 
point  of  production,  as  much  as 
26,000  tons  of  machinery,  supplies 
and  merchandise  of  various  kinds 
were  shipped  into  the  Tanana  Val- 
ley. I  have  been  reliably  informed 
that  during  the  past  season  only 
8,000  tons  were  sent  in  for  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Yukon,  which  is  only 
a  fractional  part  of  the  tonnage  re- 
quired to  maintain  the  struggling 
steamship  lines  operating  in  these 
interior  waters.     In  fact,  from  the 


present  outlook,  it  seems  hopeless  to 
expect  to  develop  a  tonnage  that  will 
even  approximately  support  the  oper- 
ation of  the  railroad  beyond  the  coal 
fields  and  adjacent  mining  proper- 
ties about  the  head  of  Cook  Inlet  for 
a  long  time  to  come. 

It  was  stated  in  one  Road  Com- 
mission report  that  at  least  80  per 
cent,  of  the  resources  of  Alaska,  as 
now  known,  lie  within  a  strip  of  ter- 
ritory including  Southeast  Alaska  and 
extending  to  the  141st  meridian  west 
longitude,  and  beyond  that  meridian 
to  Cook  Inlet,  reaching  an  average 
of  about  one  hundred  miles  to  the 
interior.  These  resources  are  most- 
ly timber,  fish,  coal  and  copper. 
This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that 
some  large-tonnage-producing  field 
may  not  be  discovered  within  reach 
of  the  railroad  further  inland.  So 
far  as  the  support  and  maintenance 
of  the  railroad  is  concerned,  the  agri- 
cultural probabilities,  however  en- 
couraging they  may  be  for  some  dis- 
tant time,  cannot  be  counted  as  a 
tonnage  asset  in  the  near  future.  It 
will  be  necessary,  therefore,  to  study 
the  area  which  may  be  reached  by 
the  railroad,  determine  the  various 
fields  that  may  produce  tonnage, 
build  spurs  of  railroad  or  wagon  road 
and  trails  to  develop  this  tonnage,  en- 
courage capital  to  enter  such  fields, 
and  give  as  wide  opportunity  and  en- 
couragement as  possible  to  the  indi- 
vidual prospector  and  home  seeker. 

When  the  Railroad  bill  was  pend- 
ing and  appeared  certain  of  passage, 
the  Board  of  Road  Commissioners 
made  a  general  analysis  of  the  situ7 
ation  and  an  estimate  of  funds  for 
the  construction  of  wagon  roads  and 
trails  to  go  forward  with  the  con- 
struction of  the  railroad;  this  esti- 
mate totaled  $7,250,000  and  was  to 
extend  over  a  period  of  ten  years. 
It  failed,  however,  to  receive  favor- 
able consideration.  Something  of  the 
kind  is  absolutely  necessary  now  in 
connection  with  the  railroad,  as  well 
as  for  other  parts  of  Alaska  in  order 
to  develop  the  Territory's  resources. 

The  physical  conditions,  with  re- 
spect to  travel  in  Alaska,  have  been 


WHAT  AILS  ALASKA? 


967 


touched  upon,  and  it  is  these  condi- 
tions that  have  done  much  to  keep 
Alaska  a  wilderness.  The  country  is 
broken  and  rugged  in  many  portions, 
buried  under  deep  snows  for  a  great 
portion  of  the  year,  with  the  ground 
in  the  Summer  thawed  only  a  short 
distance  below  the  surface,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  blanket  of  moss,  with 
dense  and  tangled  underbrush, 
throughout  the  valleys,  intersected 
by  many  swift  and  dangerous  glacier 
streams  fed  by  the  ice-cold  waters 
from  the  snows  and  glaciers  of  the 
mountains.  Travel,  therefore,  has 
always  been  extremely  difficult  and 
dangerous,  even  to  pack  animals  and 
men  on  foot,  and  practically  impos- 
sible for  wheeled  vehicles. 

Urgent  Need  of  Roads 

One  of  the  wisest  provisions  ever 
enacted  concerning  Alaska  was  the 
creation  of  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Alaska  under  the  War  De- 
partment, for  which  the  chief  credit 
is  due  to  the  wisdom  of  Senator 
Knute  Nelson  of  Minnesota,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  Senate  committee 
that  visited  Alaska  and  studied  its 
needs  in  the  Summer  of  1903. 
Whether  the  work  of  this  commis- 
sion has  been  successfully  and  satis- 
factorily carried  forward  is  hardly 
for  me  to  say,  but  it  is  pertinent  to 
remark  that  the  commission  readily 
recognized  the  great  need  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  system  of  wagon  roads 
and  trails,  and  sought  for  years  to 
get  sufficient  appropriations  for  this 
work,  under  many  difficulties,  and  I 
regret  to  say  at  times  against  opposi- 
tion where  the  board  should  have 
had  encouragement  and  support.  The 
difficulties  of  the  situation  were  set 
forth  in  the  following  passage  from 
the  commission's  1917  report: 

The  board  at  the  outset  found  itself 
confronted  with  a  problem  the  magnitude 
of  which  was  little  short  of  discouraging. 
There  presented  itself  as  the  field  of  opera- 
tions a  vast  wilderness  region  of  nearly 
600,000  square  miles,  untracked  for  the 
most  part  by  the  foot  of  white  man,  and 
possessing  throughout  all  the  Territory  less 
than  a  dozen  miles  of  what  might  be  called 
wagon  road,  with  a  few  hundred  miles  of 


pionear  trail,  mostly  constructed  by  expedi- 
tions under  the  War  Department  prior  to 
this  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  very 
character  of  the  country  carried  with  it  an 
inspiration,  and  the  manifest  need  for  roads 
and  trails  throughout  this  Territory  opened 
an  interesting  and  fascinating  field  of  ef- 
fort and  one  calculated  to  evoke  one's  best 
energies  toward  accomplishment. 

Up  to  June  30,  1917,  the  board  had 
constructed  980  miles  of  wagon  road, 
623  miles  of  Winter  sled  road,  and 
2,291  miles  of  pioneer  trail.  This 
has  since  been  increased  to  a  total  of 
nearly  5,000  miles  of  wagon  road,  sled 
road  and  trial  at  a  cost  of  approxi- 
mately $5,000,000.  The  need  for 
further  extension  of  this  system  is 
greatly  emphasized  by  the  building 
of  the  railroad. 

But  aid  should  be  given  also  to 
other  industries.  The  production  of 
wood-pulp  from  the  forests  of  South- 
eastern Alaska,  for  instance,  should 
be  encouraged,  and  proper  protection 
should  be  given  to  the  fisheries, 
which,  outside  of  the  salmon,  are 
scarcely  touched  so  far.  All  aid  to 
these  and  other  industries  that  need 
development  will  help  to  give  the  Ter- 
ritory a  stable  and  permanent  popu- 
lation. One  resource — the  reindeer 
— is  especially  worthy  of  attention. 
There  are  vast  tracts  in  Northern 
Alaska  and  the  region  bordering  the 
Bering  Sea  and  Arctic  Ocean  which 
furnish  pasturage  for  these  animals, 
and  these  regions  are  not  suitable  for 
other  purposes.  The  reindeer  indus- 
try is  not  likely  ever  to  become  a 
prime  source  of  food  supply  for  the 
States,  but  when  it  is  properly  devel- 
oped, with  the  necessary  shipping  fa- 
cilities, it  will  furnish  a  very  desir- 
able addition  in  the  way  of  game 
variety  and  will  be  profitable  to  the 
Territory  of  Alaska. 

I  do  not  undertake  to  set  forth  in 
detail  just  what  steps  should  be  taken 
to  accomplish  the  results  which  are 
desired  for  the  development  of 
Alaska,  or  suggest  specifically  the 
changes  that  might  be  desirable  in 
extending  laws  or  regulations.  Each 
particular  industry  will  have  to  be 
considered  separately,  and  the  differ- 
ent   sections    of    Alaska,    differing 


968 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


greatly  in  climate  and  other  condi- 
tions as  well  as  natural  resources,  will 
have  to  be  studied  and  dealt  with  ac- 
cording to  their  peculiar  needs. 

No  one  can  deny  the  fact  that  the 
conditions  of  life  are  difficult,  the 
climate  severe  and  trying.  Some 
persons  who  live  in  Alaska  may  and 
do  assert  that  they  prefer  that  cli- 
mate to  any  other;  but  we  all  know 
that  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  prefer  to  live  in  a 
more  temperate  climate  and  under 
more  comfortable  conditions  than 
can  be  found  at  present,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, in  Alaska. 

Nor  should  mere  scenery  be  con- 
fused, as  it  has  been  confused  by  oc- 
casional visitors,  with  the  serious 
business  ot  life.  Huge  snow-capped 
mountains  and  great  glaciers,  which 
make  for  cool  Summers  on  the  coast, 
are  not  an  asset  to  the  prospective 
farmer.  What  he  needs  is  arable 
land,  which  can  be  cleared  and 
brought  under  cultivation  without 
prohibitive  cost,  a  market  for  his 
product,  and  transportation  facilities 
to  reach  that  market — all  of  which 
conditions  exist  only  to  a  very  lim- 
ited degree  in  Alaska  at  the  present 
time.  Romantic  interest  also  should 
be  put  into  the  discard  in  consider- 
ing the  practical  question.  The  lode 
properties  of  Southeastern  Alaska, 
the  placer  gold  in  the  ocean  sands  of 
Bering  Sea,  the  rich  copper  mines  of 
Kennicott,  the  beautiful  inland  water- 
ways, the  salmon  fishing,  the  exist- 
ence of  big  game,  are  all  special  fea- 
tures, most  of  which  have  no  connec- 
tion with  the  general  development  of 
the  Territory. 

The  actual  facts  existing  at  pres- 
ent must  also  be  borne  in  mind. 
Alaska  has  suffered  from  the  war. 


Her  population  has  diminished  and 
is  diminishing ;  her  young  men,  called 
to  join  the  overseas  armies,  are  not 
returning,  because  they  see  no  suffi- 
cient inducement  to  take  them  back. 
The  old  enthusiasm  of  the  early  days 
is  gone,  and  capital  is  discouraged, 
for  reasons  already  indicated.  Ow- 
ing to  the  increased  cost  of  materials 
for  mining  operations,  combined  with 
the  new  scarcity  of  labor,  the  work- 
ing of  low-grade  gold  properties, 
which  had  been  one  of  the  principal 
industries  in  the  Territory,  has  in 
many  cases  ceased  to  be  profitable. 
Alaska  received  no  compensating 
benefit  by  any  war  industry,  such  as 
existed  in  many  parts  of  the  States. 

The  Present  Situation 

But  all  these  various  factors,  how- 
ever important,  have  only  emphasized 
a  downward  trend  of  conditions  al- 
ready observable  before  our  people 
entered  the  war.  The  time  has  now 
come,  it  seems  to  me,  to  cease  experi- 
menting in  Alaska,  and  to  give  the 
Territory  an  opportunity  along  the 
line  of  practical  frontier  experience 
of  former  days,  while  recognizing  the 
fact  that  development  will  not  follow 
quite  the  same  course  as  in  the  past, 
nor  proceed  as  rapidly.  The  present 
article  is  an  appeal  for  a  more  liberal 
policy  in  dealing  with  Alaska,  coupled 
with  every  measure  of  encourage- 
ment and  freedom  of  action  to  per- 
sons who  are  willing  to  go  there  and 
invest  their  capital  and  settle  perma- 
nently, consistent  with  the  proper 
conservation  and  progressive  devel- 
opment of  Alaska's  resources;  espe- 
cially must  the  physical  conditions  of 
the  Territory  be  recognized  and 
taken  into  account. 


MEXICO  AND  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

By  Frank  Bohn   Ph.  D. 

Serious  aspects  of  the  diplomatic  conflict  over  Mexican  taxation 
of  American  holdings — While  the  oil  interests  complain  of  con- 
fiscation, Mexico  says  her  independence  is  threatened — The 
nation's  recent  progress  toward  democracy 


TO  the  American  mind  the  most 
misunderstood  people  in  the 
world  today  is  the  Mexican  Na- 
tion. The  Mexicans  have  recently 
experienced  a  political  and  social 
revolution.  This  revolution  has 
opened  the  way  for  democracy,  in- 
stead of  the  feudalism  and  autocracy 
under  which  Mexico  has  suffered 
since  the  conquest  of  the  country  by 
the  Spaniards  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. This  is  the  one  essential  fact 
which  must  be  known  before  the 
Mexican  situation  can  be  under- 
stood; and  the  meaning  of  this  fact 
has  apparently  been  grasped  neither 
by  the  American  people  nor  by  their 
Government. 

Upon  a  recent  visit  to  Mexico  I 
had  the  opportunity  of  meeting  with 
not  only  the  President  and  members 
of  his  Cabinet,  but  also  with  large 
numbers  of  the  Mexican  people.  I 
met  repeatedly  the  chief  of  her  edu- 
cational system  and  Rector  of  her 
National  University,  Dr.  Vascon- 
celos,  as  well  as  some  of  his  teachers 
and  students.  At  the  various  ses- 
sions of  the  Pan-American  Labor 
Congress  I  had  occasion  to  observe 
the  national  and  provincial  leaders 
of  her  labor  movement  as  they  joined 
in  the  discussions  with  their  Latin- 
American  and  North  American  con- 
freres. Nothing  is  more  apparent 
to  the  observing  American  in  Mex- 
ico than  that  the  entire  mind  and 
purpose  of  this  people  have  been  pro- 


foundly revolutionized  during  these 
ten  years  of  civil  turmoil.  Mexico 
faces  her  future  with  much  the  same 
self-possession  and  high  confidence 
in  democracy  as  did  the  American 
people  after  the  reorganization  of 
their  Government  in  1787-89.  The 
whole  matter  of  our  relations  with 
Mexico  requires  the  greatest  dis- 
cernment and  care  on  the  part  of  our 
Government  and  people. 

The  crisis  has  been  rather  gradu- 
ally precipitated.  The  attitude  of 
the  State  Department  at  Washington 
remains  much  the  same  as  it  was  be- 
fore March  4  last.  The  new  regime 
in  Mexico  has  now  been  in  power  for 
about  fourteen  months.  President 
Obregon  has  been  in  office  since  Dec. 
1,  1920.  For  over  six  months  his 
Government  has  craved  recognition 
by  Washington.  On  June  7  Mr. 
Hughes,  Secretary  of  State,  pub- 
lished the  final  views  of  the  American 
Government.  His  statement  is  evi- 
dently a  resume  of  the  ultimatum  re- 
cently presented  to  President  Obre- 
gon by  Mr.  Summerlin,  our  Charge 
d' Affaires  in  Mexico  City.  In  his 
public  statement  Mr.  Hughes  says: 

The  fundamental  question  which  con- 
fronts the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  considering  its  relations  with 
Mexico  is  the  safeguarding  of  property 
rights  against  confiscation.  Mexico  is 
free  to  adopt  any  policy  which  she 
pleases  with  respect  to  her  public  lands, 
but  she  is  not  free  to  destroy  without 
compensation    valid   titles    which   have 


970 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


been  obtained  by  American  citizens  un- 
der Mexican  laws. 

More  than  a  hundred  years  ago 
Alexander  von  Humboldt  declared 
that  Mexico  was  a  "  beggar  sitting  on 
a  bag  of  gold."  Today  the  picture 
evolves  with  the  times.  We  may  now 
imagine  the  beggar,  still  barefooted 
and  clad  in  rags,  perched  on  the  crest 
of  an  enormous  pile  of  bags,  boxes 
and  barrels.  The  unhappy  creature 
struggles  to  keep  his  place  on  the 
unsteady  mass  of  gold  and  silver, 
copper  and  zinc,  oil  and  coal,  lumber 
and  henequen.  Round  about  stand 
those  who  seek  to  pull  the  unfor- 
tunate wight  off  the  top  of  the  pile 
and  place  him  at  the  bottom. 

In  natural  resources  the  Mexican 
patrimony  is  no  doubt  one  of  the 
richest  areas  in  the  world.  Its  min- 
eral wealth  has  only  been  scratched 
at  the  surface.  If  we  suppose  that 
the  gold  of  California  and  Colorado, 
the  silver  of  Nevada,  the  copper  of 
Montana,  the  oil  of  Indiana,  the  iron 
of  Lake  Superior,  and  the  coal  of 
Pennsylvania  as  yet  remained  unex- 
ploited  and  largely  outside  the  claim 
of  private  ownership,  we  have  some 
idea  of  the  hunger  on  the  part  of  the 
foreign  prospectors  and  investors  in 
Mexico.  The  wide  variety  of  this 
mineral  wealth  is  suggested  by  a  re- 
cent report  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment covering  production  for  the 
first  six  months  of  1920.  During 
that  period  there  were  mined  and 
smelted  the  following  values:  Gold, 
$15,699,996 ;  silver,  $75,824,183 ;  cop- 
per, $19,466,005;  zinc,  $3,434,339; 
lead,  $17,465,673. 

In  1919  Mexico  exported  a  million 
dollars'  worth  of  lumber  to  the  United 
States  alone.  Yet  the  lumber  indus- 
try of  Mexico  has,  in  reality,  hardly 
begun.  The  State  of  Durango  alone 
produced,  in  1918,  more  than  2,000,- 
000  feet.  Besides  pine  and  cedar, there 
are  enormous  areas  of  hardwoods,  in- 
cluding mahogany.  A  great  many 
varieties' of  these  hardwoods  of  Mex- 
ico are  unknown  in  the  United  States. 
The  total  timber  areas  which  will 
yield  merchantable  lumber  are  esti- 


mated at  25,000,000  acres,  much  of 
this  being  dense  tropical  growth. 
Our  own  diminishing  timber  re- 
sources will  mean  the  more  rapid  ex- 
ploitation of  those  of  Mexico.  Be- 
fore the  revolution  Mexico  was  al- 
ready producing  20,000,000  pounds 
of  rubber  for  export  annually.  This 
industry,  almost  destroyed  during  the 
ten  years  of  civil  war,  is  now  being 
quickly  revived.  Accessibility  to  the 
American  market  will  now  make  for 
rapid  large  scale  promotion  of  the 
rubber  plantations.  The  same  is  true 
of  cotton  and  henequen,  coffee  and 
sugar. 

Oil  and  Article  XXVII. 

The  souls  of  the  forty-niners  have 
now  turned  from  the  search  for  gold 
to  seeking  after  oil.  Every  ounce  of 
gold  must  needs  be  dug  and  washed 
or  milled  and  smelted,  but  oil,  once 
the  well  is  drilled  in  the  soil  of  Mex- 
ico, flows  freely.  Several  wells  in 
the  Tampico  district  have  produced 
as  high  as  100,000  barrels  a  day. 
One  well  produces  regularly  600,000 
barrels  a  month,  and  its  total  pro- 
duction has  thus  far  been  nearly 
800,000,000  barrels.  The  prices  of 
crude  oil,  of  gasoline  and  the  by- 
products during  the  war  period  and 
after,  make  such  a  producer  a  source 
of  wealth  beyond  the  dreams  of  even 
the  recent  past.  No  gold  mine  in 
the  history  of  North  America  can 
compare  with  it. 

Mexico's  total  production  of  oil, 
which  was  3,000,000  in  1910,  was  40,- 
000,000  in  1917,  and  increased  to 
183,000,000  barrels  last  year,  of 
which  153,797,036  barrels  were  ex- 
ported to  the  United  States.  So  we 
import  from  Mexico  an  amount 
equaling  35  per  cent,  of  our  home 
product.  What  this  means  may  be 
fully  imagined  if  we  but  take  into 
careful  consideration  the  fact  that, 
outside  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
the  total  product  of  the  whole  world 
last  year  was  only  37,000,000  barrels. 
The  amount  of  the  Mexican  product 
will  very  likely  be  doubled  as  soon  as 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 


971 


there  is  a  market  for  an  increased 
product. 

The  people  of  Mexico  are  today  un- 
prepared, technically  and  financially, 
to  exploit  their  natural  resources. 
The  machine  process,  modern  trans- 
portation and  scientific  large  produc- 
tion methods  generally  have  made 
mining  one  of  the  most  highly  de- 
veloped of  the  industries.  Great 
amounts  of  capital  are  required,  and 
the  disposition  of  mineral  products 
generally  demands  wide  technical 
knowledge  of  the  world's  markets. 
As  yet  the  Mexican  cannot  play  at 
this  game.  For  a  time  the  natives 
toiled  as  unskilled  laborers  while 
their  Government  watched  the  oil 
flow  like  rivers  down  grade  through 
relatively  short  pipe  lines  to  the  sea- 
ports and  then  by  ship  to  the  markets 
of  the  world. 

In  1917  the  Mexican  revolution 
wrote  its  principles  into  the  Federal 
Constitution.  Around  Article  XXVII. 
of  this  document,  which  deals  with 
the  possession  and  use  of  subsoil 
wealth,  the  battle  now  rages.  The 
crux  of  the  controversy  is  found  in 
the  following  paragraphs  of  the  ar- 
ticle : 

In  the  nation  is  vested  direct  owner- 
ship of  all  minerals  or  substances  which 
in  veins,  layers,  masses  or  beds  consti- 
tute deposits  whose  nature  is  different 
from  the  components  of  the  land,  such 
as  minerals  from  which  metals  and 
metaloids  used  for  industrial  purposes 
are  extracted;  beds  of  precious  stones, 
rock  salt  and  salt  lakes  formed  directly 
by  marine  waters,  products  derived 
from  the  decomposition  of  rocks,  when 
their  exploitation  requires  underground 
work;  phosphates  which  may  be  used 
for  fertilizers;  solid  mineral  fuels;  pe- 
troleum and  all  hydrocarbons,  liquid, 
solid  or  gaseous. 

Legal  capacity  to  acquire  ownership 
of  lands  and  waters  of  the  nation  shall 
be  governed  by  the  following  provi- 
sions : 

1.  Only  Mexicans  by  birth  or  nat- 
uralization and  Mexican  companies 
have  the  right  to  acquire  ownership  in 
lands,  waters  and  their  appurtenances, 
or  to  obtain  concessions  to  develop 
mines,  water  or  mineral  fuels  in  the 
Republic  of  Mexico.  The  nation  may 
grant  the  same  right  to  foreigners,  pro- 
vided   they    agree   before    the    Depart- 


ment of  Foreign  Affairs  to  be  consid- 
ered Mexicans  in  respect  to  such  prop- 
erty, and  accordingly  not  to  invoke  the 
protection  of  their  Governments  in  re- 
spect to  same,  under  penalty,  in  case  of 
breach,  of  forfeiture  to  the  nation  of 
property  so  acquired. 

The  issue  turns  largely  upon  the 
policy  to  be  pursued  by  the  United 
States  Government.  From  the  first 
our  Government  has  taken  a  positive 
stand  against  the  Mexican  interpre- 
tation of  Article  XXVII.  Certain 
documents  written  in  connection 
with  the  execution  of  this  policy  are 
most  interesting.  They  throw  much 
light  not  only  upon  our  immediate 
relations  with  Mexico,  but  also  upon  a 
much  greater  matter — the  evolution, 
by  the  Government  and  people  of  the 
United  States,  of  a  policy  of  eco- 
nomic imperialism. 

In  a  note  presented  on  behalf  of 
the  Foreign  Department  of  the 
United  States  Government  April  2, 
1918,  Mr.  Fletcher,  at  that  time  our 
Ambassador  to  Mexico,  made,  in 
part,  the  following  statements: 

While  the  United  States  Government 
is  not  disposed  to  request  for  its  citi- 
zens exemption  from  the  payment  of 
their  ordinary  and  just  share  of  the 
burdens  of  taxation  so  long  as  the  tax 
is  uniform  and  not  discriminatory  in 
its  operation,  and  can  fairly  be  consid- 
ered a  tax  and  not  a  confiscation  or  un- 
fair imposition,  and  while  the  United 
States  Government  is  not  inclined  to  in- 
terpose in  behalf  of  its  citizens  in  case 
of  expropriation  of  private  property 
for  sound  reasons  of  public  welfare, 
and  upon  just  compensation  and  by 
legal  proceedings  before  tribunals,  al- 
lowing fair  and  equal  opportunity  to  be 
heard  and  giving  due  consideration  to 
American  rights,  nevertheless  the 
United  States  cannot  acquiesce  in  any 
procedure  ostensibly  or  nominally  in 
the  form  of  taxation  or  the  exercise 
of  eminent  domain,  but  really  result- 
ing in  the  confiscation  of  private  prop- 
erty and  arbitrary  deprivation  of  vested 
rights. 

The  amounts  of  taxes  to  be  levied  by 
this  decree  are  in  themselves  a  very 
great  burden  on  the  oil  industry,  and 
if  they  are  not  confiscatory  in  effect — 
and  as  to  this  my  Government  reserves 
opinion — they  at  least  indicate  a  trend 
in  that  direction. 

Moreover,  there  appears  not  the 
slightest  indication  that  the  separation 


972 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  mineral  rights  from  the  surface 
rights  is  a  matter  of  public  utility  upon 
which  the  right  of  expropriation  de- 
pends, according  to  the  terms  of  the 
Constitution  itself.  In  the  absence  of 
the  establishment  of  any  procedure 
looking  to  the  prevention  of  spoiliation 
of  American  citizens  and  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  assurance,  vr~-e  such  pro- 
cedure established,  that  it  would  not 
uphold  in  defiance  of  international  law 
and  justice  the  arbitrary  confiscations 
of  Mexican  authorities,  it  becomes  the 
function  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  most  earnestly  and  re- 
spectfully to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Mexican  Government  to  the  necessity 
which  may  arise  to  impel  it  to  protect 
the  property  of  its  citizens  in  Mexico 
divested  or  injuriously  affected  by  the 
decree  above  cited. 

President  Carranza's  reply  to  this 
was  a  statement  that  the  provisions 
of  Article  XXVII.,  by  including  all 
concessions  made  before  1917,  were 
based  upon  an  ancient  and  well- 
known  principle  of  law  in  Spanish- 
America.  According  to  this  principle 
mineral  wealth  of  every  kind  was,  in 
colonial  times,  reserved  to  the  King 
of  Spain.  The  Government  of  Car- 
ranza  insisted  that  the  general  legal 
provision  had  never  lapsed  and  that 
it  was  merely  restated  by  Article 
XXVII.  This  standpoint  is  main- 
tained by  the  present  Administration 
in  Mexico. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  late 
President,  Carranza,  and  his  Govern- 
ment drew  upon  themselves  a  great 
deal  of  resentment  because  of  their 
attitude  toward  the  citizens  and  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States.  Car- 
ranza would  have  been  the  better 
pleased  had  no  American  business 
man  come  to  Mexico.  He  strongly 
manifested  that  natural  nativistic 
tendency  which  leads  to  suspicion  of 
all  foreigners,  especially  of  Ameri- 
cans. No  American  business  enter- 
prise ever  expected  co-operation  from 
Carranza,  and  no  such  enterprise  was 
therefore  disappointed. 

With  the  coming  of  the  present 
regime  all  this  has  been  changed.  In 
his  first  public  statement  following 
his  election  to  the  Presidency,  Obre- 
gon    declared    that    "  Mexico    wants, 


needs  and  will  seek,  by  all  means  in 
its  power,  to  secure  and  deserve  the 
friendship  and  close  co-operation  of 
America  and  all  other  countries." 
On  that  occasion  he  stated  particu- 
larly that  foreign  capitalists  would 
be  welcomed  and  assisted. 

Following  ten  years  of  civil  war, 
with  all  its  attendant  evils,  the  new 
Administration  takes  up  a  most  diffi- 
cult problem.  The  Mexican  popula- 
tion is  85  per  cent,  illiterate.  The 
masses  of  the  people  live  under  con- 
ditions which,  in  their  poverty  and 
inefficiency,  are  inconceivable  to 
Americans.  The  Mexican  people  now 
crave  nothing  so  much  as  internal 
peace  and  the  opportunity  to  produce 
the  necessities  of  life.  Candid  ob- 
servers unite  in  declaring  that  Presi- 
dent Obregon  and  his  associates  have 
undertaken  their  difficult  task  with 
patriotic  ardor  and  a  deep  sense  of 
responsibility.  In  their  efforts  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  a  true  democracy, 
they  outspokenly  seek  and  expect  the 
help  of  every  liberal  mind  in  the 
United  States. 

Taxes  and  Temperaments 

The  Mexican  Federal  taxes  on  oil 
include  a  royalty  of  15  per  cent.,  in 
kind,  at  the  place  of  production,  and 
a  further  tax  of  10  per  cent.,  in 
specie,  on  the  selling  price  of  exports. 
In  considering  the  amount  of  this 
tax  one  must  reflect  upon  the  truly 
marvelous  output  of  the  Tampico  oil 
district.  While,  at  the  beginning  of 
this  year,  the  average  productive 
well  in  the  United  States  yielded 
about  five  barrels  per  day,  the  aver- 
age production  of  the  184  wells  in 
operation  in  Mexico  was  6,855  bar- 
rels per  day.  Of  course,  in  the  United 
States,  with  a  total  of  228,700  wells, 
the  average  is  brought  down  by  the 
diminishing  output  of  many  old  and 
well-worked  districts.  Yet  the  enor- 
mous output  places  the  Tampico  dis- 
trict in  a  class  by  itself.  The  total 
of  the  Tampico  district  for  last  year 
was  enormous,  even  though  many  of 
its    richest    wells    were    temporarily 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 


973 


shut  down  because  of  the  condition 
of  the  market.  These  included  the 
famous  Cerro  Azul,  the  greatest  pro- 
ducer in  the  history  of  the  industry. 
At  the  comparatively  low  rate  of  a 
dollar  per  barrel,  twelve  days'  flow 
will  pay  for  the  drilling"  of  the  aver- 
age well.  When  the  well  flows  for 
twelve  years,  as  some  of  them  have 
done,  the  profits  are  considerable. 

When,  last  Summer,  the  present 
Mexican  Government,  in  its  slow  way, 
at  last  set  about  the  collection  of 
arrears  in  taxes,  it  encountered  all 
sorts  of  difficulties.  Naturally 
enough,  during  repeated  revolutions, 
there  developed  a  habit  of  laxity  and 
irregularity  in  connection  with  tax 
collection  and  tax  paying.  When 
there  were  two  Governments  fighting 
for  control  no  one  could  blame  an 
American  corporation  for  refusing 
to  pay  taxes  to  either.  Certain  large 
foreign  concerns  paid  a  regular  sum, 
estimated  as  averaging  for  some 
years  $30,000  a  month,  to  "General" 
Palaez  for  protection  from  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Carranza.  Palaez  was 
plentifully  supplied  with  arms  and 
ammunition  from  the  United  States. 
He  became  a  large  shareholder  in  one 
of  the  greatest  of  American  com- 
panies. With  the  incoming  of  the 
present  Mexican  regime,  however, 
following  the  death  of  Carranza, 
Palaez  realized  that,  for  the  future, 
discretion  would  be  the  better  part 
of  valor.  He  surrendered  to  the  Gov- 
ernment and  was  in  turn  made  com- 
mander of  the  Federal  forces  in  the 
Tampico  district. 

Many  foreign  oil  companies  have 
declared  their  willingness  to  abide 
by  the  provisions  of  Article  XXVII. 
in  connection  with  concessions  se- 
cured since  1917,  while  bitterly  ob- 
jecting, however,  to  the  application 
of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
to  properties  acquired  by  purchase 
or  lease  before  the  Constitution  was 
adopted.  They  base  their  claims 
upon  well-known  principles  of 
American  or  English  law,  and  in 
support  of  their  contention  they 
naturally  call  to  their  assistance  the 


diplomatic  power  of  their  home  Gov- 
ernments. In  the  case  of  the  United 
States  this  appeal  is  all  the  more 
effectual  because  the  new  Mexican 
Government  desires  immediate  rec- 
ognition by  Washington.  To  secure 
that  recognition  the  Mexican  Presi- 
dent and  his  Ministers  have  declared 
that  they  are  only  too  willing  to  ac- 
cept any  reasonable  compromise 
which  is  possible  within  the  limits 
set  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws 
of  their  country. 

Meanwhile,  the  concessionaires 
claim  exemption  according  to  the 
provisions  of  Article  XIV.  of  the 
Constitution  of  1857,  which  is  re- 
written, in  principle,  in  the  new  Con- 
stitution. Article  XVI.  states  that 
"No  law  shall  be  given  retroactive 
effect  in  the  prejudice  of  any  person 
whatsoever."  The  appeal  lies  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  nation,  but 
this  body  has  now  waited  for  four 
years  in  the  matter  of  trying  a  test 
case  and  rendering  a  decision.  Per- 
haps international  political  consider- 
ations have  been  effectual  in  post- 
poning action  by  the  court;  for, 
should  the  Supreme  Court  decide  in 
favor  of  the  Mexican  Government 
before  a  satisfactory  diplomatic  set- 
tlement has  been  reached  with  the 
Government  of  the  United  States, 
the  Mexican  Government  will  be 
placed  in  a  very  difficult  position  in- 
deed. 

Numerous  other  taxation  difficul- 
ties beset  the  agents  of  the  Mexican 
Government.  Next  in  importance  to 
the  refusal  of  certain  interests  to  pay 
the  15  per  cent,  in  kind  on  conces- 
sions prior  to  1917  is  the  disagree- 
ment as  regards  the  10  per  cent,  ad 
valorem  tax  on  exports.  There  has 
never  been  any  difference  of  opinion 
concerning  the  legality  of  this  tax. 
However,  some  of  the  companies  are 
making  use  of  the  old  and  well-known 
American  method  of  organizing 
"  wheels  within  wheels."  The  same 
institution  will  incorporate  half  a 
dozen  subsidiary  companies.  One  of 
these  will  own  the  wells,  another  the 
pipe  lines,  and  still  another  the  tank- 


074 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ers  for  ocean  transport.  Sometimes 
a  few  more  corporations  are  involved 
— purchasing  agencies,  holding  cor- 
porations, selling  concerns,  &c.  The 
representative  of  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment notes,  on  a  certain  day,  that 
crude  oil  is  selling  for  $1.50  a  barrel. 
The  "  producing  company "  in  Mex- 
ico is  very  much  pained,  however,  to 
state  to  the  Mexican  Government 
agent  that  it  receives  but  40  cents  per 
barrel.  The  shipping  corporations 
are  extortionate,  and  give  so  little  to 
the  "  producer."  The  banks  have 
charged  so  very  much  for  financing 
the  industry.  Really,  only  40  cents 
per  barrel  is  actually  received  in  the 
district,  as  shown  by  the  books  with 
a  "  complete  record  "  of  transactions 
and  balanced  accounts.  The  Mexican 
Government  declared  repeatedly  that 
when  oil  was  $1.75  a  barrel  in  New 
Orleans  it  would  accept  the  10  per 
cent,  tax  on  a  valuation  of  $1  per 
barrel.  "  We  should  be  ruined,"  re- 
plied the  agents  of  some  of  the 
concessionaries.  "  We  are  being 
squeezed  on  every  side.  We  get  but 
40  cents  a  barrel,  and  this  would 
leave  us  but  30."  Wherewith  the  con- 
cessionaire shows  a  face  expressive  of 
the  complete  ruin  he  seems  to  visual- 
ize. Last  Summer  and  Autumn  the 
Mexican  Government  actually  com- 
promised a  second  time  on  the  price 
of  oil  and  the  amount  of  the  taxes. 

The  Mexican  people  are  a  very 
simple-minded  folk.  They  do  not  un- 
derstand these  strange  methods  of 
having  half  a  dozen  different  corpo- 
rations with  interlocking  directorates 
functioning  under  one  head,  and  yet 
each  organization  denying  responsi- 
bility for  the  activities  of  all  the  oth- 
ers. All  they  see  is  that  the  oil  goes 
out  and  they  want  their  tax  per  bar- 
rel and  per  peso.  In  August  last,  in 
order  to  get  its  first  taxes,  the  Mex- 
ican Government  was  forced  to  de- 
clare that  if  payment  were  not  made 
by  Sept.  1,  no  more  oil  would  be  per- 
mitted to  leave  Mexico. 

For  some  mysterious  reason  there 
then  entered  as  a  party  in  the  situa- 
tion the  United  States  Government. 


American  naval  vessels  at  Key  West 
were  ordered  under  steam.  The 
pretext  was  that  the  tankers  sailing 
from  Tampico  and  Tuxpan  were  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board  and  that  the 
board  needed  the  oil  for  fuel.  A 
crisis  was  finally  averted  through 
the  statement  of  Mr.  Foley,  who  was 
in  charge  of  the  fuel  department  of 
the  United  States  Shipping  Board. 
Mr.  Foley  observed  that  he  had  abun- 
dant supplies  of  oil  on  hand  and  that 
the  Shipping  Board  could  conduct 
its  operations  even  if  the  Mexican 
Government  prevented  the  sailing  of 
every  oil  tanker  from  the  Mexican 
ports.  So  the  companies  surren- 
dered and  the  first  tax  was  paid.  It 
amounted  to  $3,000,000,  being  the 
first  lawful  sum  paid  by  this  group 
of  concessionaires  to  the  Mexican 
Government  for  the  many  hundreds 
of  millions  of  barrels  of  Mexican  oil 
they  had  extracted  from  the  soil  of 
that  nation.* 

Mexico  Against  imperialism 

We  now  come  to  the  larger  aspect 
of  the  controversy.  As  above  quoted, 
Article  XXVII.  contains  the  following 
statement:  "  Foreign  concessionaires 
must  agree  *  *  *  not  to  invoke  the 
protection  of  their  Governments  *  *  * 
under  penalty  *  *  *  of  forfeiture 
*  *  *  of  property  so  acquired."  The 
issue  here  raised,  the  Mexicans  claim, 
is  greater  even  than  considerations 
of  international  peace.  It  has  to  do 
with  the  whole  matter  of  the  political 
independence  of  the  Mexican  people. 
If  the  American,  British  and  French 
Governments  insist  that  the  Mexican 
people  and  Government  alter  their 
Constitution  in  order  to  comply  with 


*Since  this  article  was  written  new  complica- 
tions have  arisen  for  American  companies  that 
have  oil  wells  in  Mexico.  Congress  for  a  time 
contemplated  placing  an  import  duty  of  35 
cents  a  barrel  on  crude  petroleum  and  25  cents 
on  fuel  oil.  Thus  oil  crossing  the  Mexican  bound- 
ary would  be  taxed  heavily  on  both  sides  of  the 
line.  The  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey 
announced  on  July  1  that  it  would  discontinue 
all  shipments  of  oil  from  Mexico  and  withdraw 
all  its  tankers  from  the  Mexican  service.  The 
reason  given  was  that  under  present  condi- 
tions even  the  existing  taxes  were  confiscatory 
anrl  prohibitive.— Editok. 


MEXICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES 


975 


our  conception  of  the  law  of  contracts, 
Mexico,  like  Cuba,  will  have  become 
only  an  economic  colony  of  the  United 
States.  With  an  evident  sense  of 
this  drift  of  events  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment replied  to  the  British  note  of 
1918  (which  was  almost  identical  with 
the  American  note)  in  a  spirit  sug- 
gested by  the  following  words: 

In  virtue  of  its  freedom  of  fiscal  leg- 
islation, it  is  opportune  to  declare  that 
the  Mexican  Government  does  not  rec- 
ognize the  right  of  any  foreign  country 
to  protest  against  acts  of  this  nature 
coming  from  the  right  to  exercise  inte- 
rior sovereignty,  and,  in  consequence, 
cannot  accept  the  responsibility  which 
it  is  pretended  will  be  charged  to  her 
account  as  supposed  damages  as  a  con- 
sequence of  this  legislation. 

During  the  past  six  months  the 
leading  British  oil  interests  have  en- 
tirely reversed  their  previous  policy, 
thus  disengaging  themselves  from  the 
sanctions  of  their  home  Government. 
Following  the  specific  declarations 
of  the  Aquila  Oil  Company  (British) 
that  it  would  obey  all  Mexican  laws, 
it  received  certain  concessions  on 
Mexican  Federal  lands.  A  most 
curious  incident  followed.  A  secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  Embassy 
at  Mexico  City  called  on  Acting 
President  de  la  Huerta  in  November 
and  presented  a  note  containing  the 
following :  "  I  am  instructed  by  my 
Government  to  inquire  by  what  right 
the  Mexican  Government  is  granting 
concessions  for  drilling  for  oil  on 
Federal  lands."  De  la  Huerta  re- 
turned the  note  and  left  the  Ameri- 
can official  without  giving  any 
answer  whatever. 

As  regards  the  policy  of  the  pres- 
ent Administration,  it  is  generally 
believed  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  Mr.  Fall  of  New  Mexico,  is 
the  special  adviser  of  the  President 
and  of  the  Secretary  of  State  with 
regard  to  our  relations  with  Mexico. 
The  general  views  of  Secretary  Fall 
are  well  known.  Furthermore,  he 
has  recently  made  a  specific  state- 
ment of  policy.  Forty-eight  hours 
before  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Harding,   Mr.   Fall,  then  a  member 


of  the  Senate  Foreign  Relations 
Committee,  gave  an  interview  to  the 
press,  in  which  he  observed: 

That  Article  XXVIL,  or  any  decree 
or  law  issued  or  enacted  thereunder, 
should  not  apply  to  deprive  American 
citizens  of  their  property  rights  there- 
tofore legally  acquired: 

I  have  opposed,  and  shall  continue  to 
oppose,  any  recognition  of  any  Mexican 
Government  until  all  pending  questions 
between  the  two  countries  and  the  peo- 
ple of  the  two  countries  shall  be  in 
course  of  settlement  under  the  terms  of 
a  written  agreement. 

It  is  argued  in  many  quarters  that 
the  political  as  well  as  the  economic 
control  of  Mexico  by  the  United 
States  would  be  in  every  way  the 
best  solution  of  the  question.  Since 
the  Mexican  people  have  proved,  it 
is  said,  by  so  long  a  period  of  civil 
war  and  anarchy  their  unfitness  to 
rule  themselves,  they  themselves 
would  be  happier  in  the  long  run  if 
entire  responsibility  were  assumed  by 
the  United  States.  Less  than  a  year 
ago  a  publication  favoring  interven- 
tion quoted  what  it  claimed  to  be  an 
important  newspaper  in  each  but  one 
of  our  forty-eight  States.  In  an  arti- 
cle by  Mr.  Chester  Wright  in  the 
American  Federationist  of  June,  1920, 
we  read  that  "  twenty-two  of  these 
editorials  out  of  forty-seven  demand 
some  kind  of  policing  policy,  nine  de- 
mand a  ■  firm  hand '  in  dealing  with 
Mexico,  six  criticise  President  Wil- 
son and  his  policy  toward  Mexico 
and  seven  scold  Mexico  on  general 
principles."  Undoubtedly  these  pa- 
pers were  selected  because  of  their 
pro-interventionist  attitude.  But  the 
bare  fact  that  in  every  State  of  the 
Union  but  one  an  important  newspa- 
per could  be  found  so  severely  critical 
of  Mexico  is  in  itself  an  indication 
of  the  drift  of  journalistic  opinion 
at  that  time. 

The  Mexican  Government  main- 
tains— and  in  this  it  is  solidly  sup- 
ported by  an  intelligent  portion  of 
the  people — that  Mexico's  claim  to 
independence  is  not  at  all  disproved 
by  her  ten  years  of  civil  war.  On 
the  contrary,  her  representatives  say, 
the  results  of  the  revolution  prove 


976 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


exactly  the  reverse,  since  it  has  made 
the  way  clear  toward  freedom  and 
progress.  With  reference  to  the 
claims  of  foreign  investors  that  Arti- 
cle XXVII.  of  their  Constitution  is 
"  confiscatory,"  they  point  to  the 
Nineteenth  Amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  no  American 
who  happens  to  be  in  Mexico  as  res- 
ident or  visitor  can  do  otherwise  than 
recognize  the  humor  of  this  counter- 


claim. "  If  the  American  people," 
said  a  Mexican  citizen  to  me  recently, 
"  can  place  in  their  Constitution  an 
amendment  which  destroys  the  value 
outright  of  billions  of  property,  in- 
cluding enormous  investments  by  for- 
eigners, how,  then,  can  Americans, 
at  the  very  time  the  Nineteenth 
Amendment  was  promulgated,  criti- 
cise Mexicans  for  seeking  to  enforce 
Article  XXVII.  of  their  own  funda- 
mental law  ?" 


JERSEY  AND  THE  KING  OF  ENGLAND 


THE  recent  visit  of  King  George,  Queen 
Mary  and  their  daughter  to  the  Chan- 
nel Islands,  Guernsey  and  Jersey,  was  one 
of  the  great  events  in  the  history  of  those 
islands,  and  was  attended  by  ceremonies 
which  go  back  to  the  time  of  William  the 
Conqueror.  To  understand  the  significance 
of  what  occurred  at  St.  Helier,  Jersey,  on 
July  12,  1921,  one  must  recall  some  very  old 
history.  Jersey  was  formerly  a  part  of  the 
English  Dukedom  of  Normandy.  When 
Normandy  was  lost,  Jersey  remained  faith- 
ful to  its  English  rulers.  Many  Jersey  fam- 
ilies trace  their  ancestry  to  these  ancient 
days  and  beyond.  The  very  names  tell  of 
feudal  stock.  The  Lempriere  (l'Empereur) 
family  goes  back  in  unbroken  male  line  to 
the  Conqueror.  The  de  Carterets  sent  Frey 
de  Carteret  to  fight  with  William  at  Has- 
tings. These  families — who  once  divided 
up  the  whole  island  between  them — and 
many  others  still  hold  their  lands  in  fief  to 
the  King  of  England. 

The  address  of  the  Island  Government 
leaders  to  the  King  on  his  arrival  recalled 
these  historical  antecedents,  and  added: 

Today,  as  of  yore,  the  people  of  Jersey,  in 
their  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Throne  of 
England,  deem  no  sacrifice  too  great  to  up- 
hold that  connection.  From  time  immemorial 
every  Jerseyman  owes  service  to  the  King  on 
need  arising  for  a  call  to  arms.  Throughout 
the  great  war  Jersey  has  unsparingly  given 
her  sons.  The  women  of  Jersey,  too,  have 
done  their  duty.  This  very  day,  Sire,  by  a 
most  gracious  act  your  Majesty  has  further 
added  to  the  justifiable  pride  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  those  who  have  fought  for  their 
country. 

King  George,  in  replying,  similarly  re- 
ferred to  the  ancient  ties,  and  stated  that 


6,000  men  of  Jersey  had  done  noble  service 
in  the  war  with  Germany.  Of  this,  he  said, 
he  had  personal  knowledge,  as  he  had  pre- 
sented a  Victoria  Cross  and  other  military 
distinctions  to  soldiers  from  Jersey. 

In  the  Royal  Court,  subsequently,  the 
King  attended  the  old  Assize  d'Hommage, 
or  Court  of  Homage.  The  King  and  Queen 
sat  on  a  raised  platform,  the  King  in  the 
identical  oaken  chair  on  which  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh — a  former  English  Governor  of 
Jersey — used  to  sit  and  smoke  his  pipe. 
Each  in  turn  the  noble  scions  of  the  old 
Norman-French  nobility  came  to  him,  knelt 
on  a  raised  cushion,  and  placed  their  hands 
between  those  of  their  liege  lord,  saying: 
"  Je  suis  votre  homme  lige,  a  vous  porter 
foy  et  hommage  contre  tous  "  (I  am  your 
liegeman,  who  will  give  you  loyalty  and 
homage  against  all).  These  ancient  words 
were  uttered  amid  a  solemn  silence.  In  the 
dark  and  austere  hall,  with  all  the  scarlet 
and  other  bright  hues  of  military  and  civil 
uniforms  standing  out  in  vivid  contrast  with 
the  black  gowns  and  wigs  of  the  advocates, 
and  the  advancing  line  of  seigneurs,  kneel- 
ing one  by  one,  and  repeating  these  words 
formulated  centuries  before,  the  Middle 
Ages  seemed  to  live  anew.  Only  once  or 
twice  in  Jersey  history  has  this  old  cere- 
mony been  performed,  and  the  island  has 
no  memory  of  ever  receiving  its  monarch 
and  liege  lord  in  person  and  doing  him  this 
verbal  homage. 

After  these  ceremonies,  the  King  reviewed 
the  Officers'  Training  Corps,  and  visited 
Mont  Orgueil  Castle,  a  naked  ruin  against 
the  deep  blue  sky  and  the  blue  tumbling 
waters  of  the  English  Channel. 


THE  CASE  OF  CONSTANTINE 
AND  THE  ALLIES 

By  N.  J.  Cassavetes 

Vice   President    of   the   League   of   Friends   of   Greece 

An  indictment  of  the  past  acts  of  King  Constantine  of  Greece,  and 
a  statement  of  reasons  why  neither  the  United  States  nor  the 
Entente  Allies  should  recognize  his  Government — His  hostile  and 
pro-German  acts,  with  legal  and  other  obstacles  to  recognition 


SHOULD  the  Allies  and  the  United 
States  recognize  Constantine  as 
the  ruler  of  Greece?  This  is  a 
question  which  the  students  of  inter- 
national politics  are  asking  them- 
selves. The  Royalist  Greeks  maintain 
that  Constantine  is  the  legitimate 
King  of  Greece  because  he  was  re- 
called from  exile  by  a  majority  of  the 
voters  of  the  Kingdom  of  Greece,  and 
that  the  Allies  are  not  justified  in 
withholding  their  recognition  of  him. 
To  the  argument  of  the  Allies  and 
America  that  Constantine  cannot  be 
recognized  by  them  on  account  of  his 
pro-Germanism  during  the  great 
war,  and  that  Constantine  was  no  less 
an  enemy  to  the  allied  cause  than 
were  Kaiser  Wilhelm,  Charles  of  Aus- 
tria, and  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria,  the 
Royalist  Greeks  reply  that  Constan- 
tine never  was  pro-German,  and  that 
he  kept  his  country  out  of  war 
through  fear  of  the  German  power, 
which  he  honestly  believed  was  in- 
vincible. 

Now,  there  are  several  reasons  why 
Constantine  is  not  recognized  by  the 
Allies  and  the  United  States,  Nor  are 
these  reasons  alike  for  all  the  allied 
countries.  France,  for  instance,  re- 
fuses to  recognize  Constantine  be- 
cause on  Nov.  1,  1917,  he  ordered  the 
Royalist  troops  at  Athens  to  open  fire 
upon  French  and  Italian  detachments, 
which  were  landed  there  to  remove 
certain  stores  of  arms  with  the  previ- 
ous parole  d'honneur  of  Constantine 


that  the  Royalist  Greeks  would  not 
fire  upon  them.  No  French  Govern- 
ment, therefore,  could  remain  in 
power  after  granting  recognition  to  a 
monarch  who  broke  his  word  of  honor 
to  the  French  commander  and  had 
French  sailors  assassinated  in  the 
streets  of  Athens.  France  will  never 
recognize  Constantine,  whatever  the 
other  powers  may  do  about  it. 

Great  Britain,  like  France,  is 
pressed  by  a  strong  public  opinion  not 
to  recognize  Constantine.  The  British 
remember  Constantine's  aid  to  the 
German  cause;  they  do  not  readily 
forget  his  treason  to  Serbia,  to  whose 
aid  he  was,  by  a  specific  treaty,  bound 
to  go ;  they  remember  even  that  Con- 
stantine not  only  did  not  permit 
Greece  to  honor  her  signature  to  the 
treaty  with  Serbia,  but  that  he  even 
refused  the  unfortunate,  retreating 
Serbian  troops  a  free  passage  through 
Greece,  and  compelled  them  to  cross 
the  virtually  impassable  fastnesses  of 
hostile  Albania,  hard  pressed  by  Aus- 
trians  and  Bulgarians.  To  an  Anglo- 
Saxon,  treason  or  cowardice — the  re- 
fusal to  honor  solemn  agreements — 
is  a  very  repulsive  thing. 

The  British,  trusting  the  great 
Greek  statesman,  Eleutherios  Veni- 
zelos,  shaped  their  Near  Eastern 
policy  at  the  Peace  Conference  in  a 
way  which  took  into  the  British  plan  a 
Greater  Greece  as  an  ally  of  the 
British  Empire.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
could  trust  a  Venizelist  Greece  to  act 


978 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


honorably  and  to  abide  faithfully  by 
her  agreements.  He  had  in  mind  the 
unsurpassed  example  of  the  loyalty  of 
Mr.  Venizelos,  whose  entire  political 
career  has  been  guided  by  a  policy 
based  on  the  higher  conception  of  po- 
litical morality. 

Great  Britain  helped  Mr.  Venizelos 
to  create  a  Greater  Greece  which 
should  be  an  ally  of  Great  Britain  in 
the  Near  East.  What  guarantees  can 
Lloyd  George  have  that  the  same  Con- 
stantino, who  betrayed  Serbia  in  her 
direst  need  and  scrapped  the  treaty 
which  compelled  him  to  go  to  her  as- 
sistance, will  not  likewise  betray 
Great  Britain  in  her  hour  of  need? 
Who  can  trust  a  monarch  who  not 
only  opposed  the  will  of  the  Greek 
people  to  remain  faithful  to  their  ob- 
ligation to  Serbia,  but  even  went  so 
far  as  to  assure  Bulgaria  and  Ger- 
many that  in  case  of  an  attack  upon 
Serbia,  he,  Constantine,  would  not 
permit  Greece  to  attack  Bulgaria  and 
thus  fulfill  the  treaty  obligations 
toward  the  Serbian  people? 

Obstacles  to  Recognition 

But  there  are  also  other  reasons  for 
which  France  and  Great  Britain 
cannot  recognize  Constantine.  These 
reasons  are  of  a  legal  nature.  Con- 
stantine and  his  Government  refuse 
to  recognize  the  legality  of  the  reign 
of  the  late  King  Alexander.  The  Al- 
lies recognized  Alexander  as  a  right- 
ful King  of  the  Hellenes;  they  also 
recognized  the  revolutionary  Govern- 
ment of  Mr.  Venizelos  at  Saloniki,  to 
which  they  advanced  funds  for  carry- 
ing on  the  war  against  the  Central 
Powers.  Constantine,  in  refusing 
either  to  honor  the  obligations  of  the 
Saloniki  Government  or  to  recognize 
Alexander  as  King  of  Greece,  clearly 
indicates  his  purpose  to  induce 
Greece  to  waive  her  obligation  to  pay 
the  Allies  and  the  United  States  the 
moneys  lent  to  Mr.  Venizelos  and  to 
the  Government  of  King  Alexander. 

This  last  argument,  namely,  that 
so  long  as  Constantine  refuses  to 
recognize  the  legality  of  his  son's 
reign,  Greece  may  legally  waive  her 


obligations  to  the  United  States,  is 
the  reason  so  far  publicly  advanced 
by  our  American  Government  for  the 
non-recognition  of  Constantine. 

But  the  Allies  and  the  United 
States  are  compelled  by  another  very 
serious  reason  not  to  recognize  him. 
This  reason  is  the  fact  that  the  pres- 
ent Greek  Assembly  is  illegal.  Con- 
stantine summoned  a  National  As- 
sembly to  revise  the  Greek  Constitu- 
tion. According  to  this  Constitution, 
the  delegates  have  no  right  to  form 
themselves  into  a  Constituent  Assem- 
bly. Thus,  every  act  of  the  present 
Government  can  be  declared  null  and 
void  when  a  new  Administration 
comes  into  power  at  Athens.  The  Al- 
lies and  America,  therefore,  refuse  to 
recognize  Constantine,  not  only  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  an  enemy  to  them 
during  the  war,  not  only  because 
they  cannot  trust  him,  not  only  be- 
cause he  refuses  to  recognize  the  ob- 
ligations of  Greece  incurred  under  the 
reign  of  King  Alexander,  but  also  be- 
cause Constantine  and  his  Govern- 
ment have  violated  the  Greek  Con- 
stitution and  because  every  obliga- 
tion now  incurred  by  Greece  may  be 
declared  not  binding  by  another 
Greek  Administration  on  Constitu- 
tional grounds. 

CONSTANTINE'S  PRO-GERMANISM 

We  now  come  to  a  brief  considera- 
tion of  facts  dealing  with  the  conten- 
tion of  the  Allies  and  of  the  anti- 
Royalist  Greeks  that  Constantine 
was,  and  is,  pro-German.  The  royal- 
ist Greeks  maintain  that  Greece  was 
not  bound  to  go  to  the  assistance  of 
Serbia  in  1915 ;  that  the  Treaty  of  De- 
fensive Alliance  with  the  Serbs  had 
lapsed  because  it  did  not  foresee  the 
event  of  an  attack  upon  Serbia  by 
States  outside  of  the  Balkans.  The 
question  of  whether  Greece  was 
bound  to  assist  Serbia  in  the  event  of 
an  attack  upon,  her  by  other  than  Bal- 
kan enemies  has  been  long  debated. 
The  foremost  international  authori- 
ties declare  that  the  treaty  placed  an 
obligation  upon  Greece  to  assist  Ser- 
bia when  in  1915  the  Austrians,  and 


THE  CASE  OF  CONSTANTINE  AND  THE  ALLIES 


979 


in  1916  the  Bulgarians,  invaded  Ser- 
bian territory. 

The  pro-Germanism  of  Constantine 
can  be  shown  even  if  the  Greco-Ser- 
bian Treaty  be  said  not  to  have  re- 
quired of  Greece  to  assist  Serbia 
against  Austria  and  Bulgaria.  Serbia 
was  an  ally  of  Greece  in  any  case. 
There  might  well  be  a  dispute  as  to 
whether  Greece  was  obliged  to  attack 
the  Austro-Bulgarians.  There  could 
be  no  argument  to  justify  Constan- 
tine's  greater  respect  to  the  Germans 
and  Bulgarians  than  to  the  ally  of 
Greece-Serbia.  On  Jan.  26,  1916,  the 
Constantinist  Minister  of  War  issued 
an  order  to  the  Greek  commander  in 
Macedonia  to  retreat  and  permit  the 
Bulgars  and  Germans  to  enter  Greek 
territory  unopposed.  "  These  meas- 
ures shall  be  kept  strictly  secret," 
wrote  the  Minister  of  War,  Mr.  Yana- 
kitsas.  In  accordance  with  this  secret 
order,  the  strongest  fort  in  Mace- 
donia, which  held  the  Germans  and 
Bulgars  at  bay,  was  surrendered  to 
Germans  on  May  14,  1916,  without 
resistance,  and  made  the  Allies'  posi- 
tion in  Macedonia  very  precarious. 

That  Constantine  was  in  constant 
touch  with  the  German  Government 
during  the  war  and  that  he  betrayed 
the  movements  of  the  allied  armies 
in  Macedonia  will  be  made  manifest 
from  the  following  secret  radio  tele- 
grams exchanged  between  Athens 
and  Berlin  via  Sofia  and  Constantino- 
ple. On  Dec.  1,  1915,  the  Minister  of 
Greece  to  Berlin,  now  Minister  of 
War,  Mr.  Theotokis,  informed  Con- 
stantine that  the  Kaiser  advanced 
him  a  loan  of  40,000,000  marks.  In 
another  secret  radio  telegram  of  Mr. 
Theotokis  from  Berlin  to  Constantine, 
dated  Dec.  16,  1915,  Mr.  Theotokis  in- 
formed his  royal  master: 

Von  Jagow  made  known  to  me  that  the 
exchange  of  views  between  the  Imperial 
Government  and  the  General  Staff  con- 
tinues and  that  in  all  porbability  General 
Falkenhayn  will  arrive  tomorrow  in  Berlin, 
which  will  permit  Von  Jagow  to  continue 
with  him  the  study  cf  my  demands. 

In  a  radio  telegram  dated  Jan.  8, 
1916,  Mr.  Theotokis  transmitted  the 
following  information  to  Constantine : 


Supplementing  my  telegram  of  Jan  4  (17), 
I  have  the  honor  to  bring  to  the  knowledge 
of  Your  Majesty  that  General  Falkenhayn 
informs  me  that  the  action  against  the 
troops  of  the  Entente  may  be  taken  on  the 
following  conditions:  (1)  Our  troops  guard- 
ing the  frontiers  shall  retire  on  the  whole 
frontier  from  Lake  Prespa  to  a  place  where 
the  boundary  touches  the  Mesta,  northeast 
of  Cavalla.  (2)  All  our  other  troops  shall 
retire  beyond  the  line  of  Ekaterini,  as  far 
as  to  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Prespa. 
(3)  Greece  shall  bind  herself  not  to  admit 
or  tolerate  debarkations  of  the  Entente 
either  in  the  Gulf  of  Cavalla  or  in  the  Bay 
of  Ekaterini  and,  if  necessary,  to  prevent 
them  by  force.  (4)  His  Majesty,  the  King  of 
the  Hellenes,  shall  take  .the  engagement 
toward  His  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, that  no  public  officer,  soldier  or  in- 
habitant will  be  employed  on  the  part  of 
the  Royal  Government  in  hostile  acts 
against  the  German  troops  and  their  allies. 
(5)  Greece  shall  consent  to  the  use  of  the 
(Xanthi),  Drama,  Serres  and  (Doiran)  rail- 
way by  Germany  and  her  allies. 

Betrayal  of  the  Allies 

The  Greek  White  Book  contains 
hundreds  of  secret  radio  telegrams 
exchanged  between  Constantine  and 
Berlin,  from  which  the  following 
things  appear  to  be  true : 

First,  Constantine  was  negotiating 
secretly  with  Germany,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  according  to  the  Greek 
Constitution  only  the  responsible 
Ministers  have  the  right  to  negotiate 
with  foreign  powers ;  second,  Constan- 
tine was  receiving  moneys  from  Ger- 
many; third,  he  was  urgently  invit- 
ing the  Germans  to  attack  the  Allies 
at  Saloniki,  and  fourth,  he  had  ac- 
cepted the  terms  of  Falkenhayn 
which  required  that  the  Greek  troops 
be  withdrawn  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  Allies  from  certain  strategic 
points  in  Macedonia,  in  order  to  give 
the  Germans  a  strategic  advantage 
over  the  Allies. 

Such  was  the  attitude  of  Constan- 
tine during  the  most  critical  period  of 
the  allied  struggle.  By  contrast, 
when  in  1916  the  Serbians,  allies  of 
Greece,  asked  Constantine's  permis- 
sion to  escape  before  the  onslaught  of 
Bulgarians  and  Germans  into  Greek 
territory,  Constantine  informed  the 
Serbians  that  he  would  oppose  their 
passage  through  Greek  territory  by 


980 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


force  of  arms.  Again,  when  in  1916 
the  reorganized  Serbian  forces  asked 
Constantine  to  be  allowed  to  use  the 
Greek  railroad  line  Athens-Saloniki 
in  order  to  avoid  the  German  sub- 
marines, Constantine  refused  permis- 
sion. To  the  Allies  and  Serbia,  Con- 
stantine offered  resistance ;  to  the 
Germans  and  Bulgarians,  he  opened 
the  Greek  frontiers,  surrendered  the 
Greek  stronghold,  Fort  Rupel,  and 
even  sent  secret  radio  telegrams  ad- 
vising the  Kaiser  to  launch  an  attack 
upon  the  Allies  at  Saloniki. 

These  facts  are  well  known  to  the 
world.  Only  the  Greek  people  have 
not  been  allowed  to  know  them.  In 
the  face  of  such  a  downright  pro-Ger- 
man policy,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
neither  France  nor  Great  Britain  nor 
the  United  States  can  honor  Constan- 
tine with  recognition?  Can  the 
traitor  of  yesterday  be  trusted  to  be  a 
friend  and  an  ally  tomorrow? 

The  Allies  have  no  quarrel  with  the 
Greek  people.  The  Greeks  fought  gal- 
lantly on  their  side  and  refused  to  be 
bought  off  by  the  gold  marks  of 
Baron  von  Schenk,  or  by  the  intrigues 


of  Constantine  and  his  consort.  The 
Allies  are  waiting  for  the  awakening 
of  the  Greeks  to  oust  Constantine 
from  Greece.  And  the  ousting  is  not 
far  distant.  Today,  three-fourths  of 
the  Hellenic  race  desire  to  put  an  end 
to  all  royalty  in  Greece.  Constantine 
has  cost  Greece  altogether  too  much. 
And  although  the  Greeks  are  united 
in  the  supreme  effort  to  finish  their 
job  with  the  Turks,  they  will  turn 
their  attention  to  settling  accounts 
with  Constantine  as  soon  as  the  Turk- 
ish danger  is  eliminated.  For  some 
time  now,  while  the  guns  are  roaring 
on  the  plains  of  Asia  Minor,  a  gigantic 
movement  has  been  silently  on  foot 
to  overthrow  royalty  in  Greece  and 
to  establish  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  its  place.  The  Allies  and 
the  United  States  cannot  disgrace 
themselves  by  strengthening  the 
hands  of  Constantine.  To  recognize 
him  would  be  to  help  him  against  the 
progressive  forces  of  Hellenism.  To 
help  Greece  against  the  Turks  on  the 
one  hand,  and  to  refuse  recognition  to 
Constantine  on  the  other,  is  the  only 
sound  and  honorable  policy  for  the 
Allies  and  the  United  States. 


THOSE  WHO  DIED  IN  BATTLE 


THE  great  majority  of  the  heroes  of 
many  nations  who  fell  on  the  blood- 
stained fields  of  France  will  rest  forever 
in  the  land  where  they  fell.  The  British 
dead  occupy  vast  and  well-kept  cemeteries 
under  the  sunny  skies  of  France.  Canada 
has  planted  maples  around  the  graves  of 
her  soldiers.  America  has  identified  and 
classified  her  50,000  dead;  some  thousands 
of  these  have  been  removed  and  brought 
home,  but  the  majority  lie  under  the  plain 
white  crosses  which  mark  their  last  resting 
places.  France,  to  satisfy  longing  hearts, 
has  already  transferred  800,000  of  her  own 
dead  from  the  scarred  battlefields,  many  of 
them  to  quiet  villages  or  town  cemeteries 
where  the  bereaved  families  reside.  The 
French  Government  has  paid  all  transpor- 
tation costs  in  30,000  cases.  Only  20,000 
bodies  have  been  removed  at  the  expense  of 
the    families.      The    others    have    been    re- 


interred  in  army  cemeteries.  The  work  of 
identification  and  removal  has  been  gigan- 
tic. The  bodies  are  carried  in  special  trains 
bearing  the  Tricolor  tied  with  crepe.  Deep 
sympathy  and  respect  are  shown  by  the 
French  population  as  the  long  files  of 
wagons  bearing  the  fallen  pass  through  the 
busy  towns  and  peaceful  hamlets. 

German  soldiers  to  the  number  of  475,000 
fell  on  the  soil  of  France.  These  German 
graves  are  also  being  opened  and  the  bodies 
taken  to  special  God's  Acres,  where  they 
are  reinterred  with  all  honors  due  to  a 
fallen  enemy.  When  requested,  the  bodies 
are  shipped  to  Germany.  So  far  there  has 
been  little  success  in  obtaining  reciprocal 
action  in  the  case  of  the  25,000  French  who 
died  in  German  prison  camps  or  in  Russia. 
Berlin's  explanation  is  that  Germany's 
transportation  facilities  will  not  permit  of 
this  for  another  six  months. 


THE  CALIPHATE  OF  ISLAM 


By  Clair  Price 

Emir  Feisal,  the  British  choice  for  King  of  Mesopotamia,  dis- 
claims (my  desire  on  the  part  of  his  father  or  himself  to  wrest  the 
supreme  power  of  the  Moslem  Church  from  the  Turks — How 
this  threatens  to  upset  the  whole  British  plan  for  Arabia 


ARAB  events  have  taken  an  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  turn  in  the 
■  tentative  election  of  the  Emir 
Feisal  as  King  of  Irak,  er  Mesopo- 
tamia, as  it  is  known  in  the  West. 
His  election  by  the  Provisional  Coun- 
cil at  Bagdad,  subject  to  ratification 
by  the  National  Assembly,  which  is 
yet  to  meet,  indicates  that  the  British 
authorities  have  committed  them- 
selves to  the  Arab  program  known  as 
Sherifianism.  And  the  British  adop- 
tion of  Sherifianism  is  a  turn  of 
events  which  is  of  the  highest  inter- 
est to  all  students  of  Arab  and  Mos- 
lem affairs. 

Its  repercussion  on  the  rest  of  the 
Moslem  world  is  strikingly  illuminat- 
ed by  a  conversation  with  the  Emir 
which  is  reported  to  have  been  had 
aboard  the  P.  and  0.  steamer  Malwa 
during  Feisal's  return  from  London 
to  Mecca  last  Winter.  Moslem 
sources  in  London  have  just  made 
the  interview  public,  explaining  that 
it  was  withheld  as  long  as  Feisal  re- 
mained in  Mecca  and  was  released 
only  upon  his  departure  from  Mecca 
for  Basra  on  June  15  to  present  him- 
self at  Bagdad  as  a  candidate  for  the 
throne  of  Irak.  The  manifesto  from 
Mecca  which  the  interview  forecasts 
has,  of  course,  not  been  forthcoming, 
but  there  is  no  reasonable  cause  to 
doubt  the  authenticity  of  the  inter- 
view. 

According  to  the  announcement  in 
London,  Feisal  was  told  by  M.  Kad- 
erbhoy,  an  Indian  Moslem  leader, 
who  was  one  of  his  fellow-passengers 
aboard  the  Malwa,  that  Indian  Mos- 


lems had  not  been  able  to  forget  the 
fact  that  his  father,  King  Hussein  I. 
of  the  Hedjaz,  had  revolted  against 
the  Sultan-Caliph  during  the  war.  In 
reply  to  this,  Kaderbhoy  says,  Feisal 
snapped  away  the  cigarette  he  was 
smoking,  remarked  that  his  father 
was  responsible  to  Allah  for  his  ac- 
tions, and  walked  away.  Later 
Feisal  returned  and  explained  that 
his  father's  action  had  been  directed 
not  against  the  Sultan-Caliph,  to 
whom  he  had  always  been  faithful, 
but  against  the  Committee  of  Union 
and  Progress,  who  had  drawn  the 
Sultan-Caliph  into  the  war  on  Ger- 
many's side.  Kaderbhoy  says  that 
Feisal  went  on  to  say  that,  immedi- 
ately upon  his  arrival  at  Mecca,  he 
would  cause  a  manifesto  to  be  issued 
in  his  father's  and  his  own  name, 
declaring  that  they  recognized  the 
Turkish  Sultan  as  the  Caliph  of  Islam 
and  that  neither  of  them  sought  the 
Caliphate. 

Moslems  Boycotting  Hussein 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Indian 
Moslems  are  the  driving  force  of  Is- 
lam and  that  Feisal's  father  is  far 
and  away  the  most  prominent  possi- 
bility in  the  field  if  one  is  to  envisage 
a  transfer  of  the  Caliphate  the  inter- 
view is  of  the  highest  interest  as  il- 
luminating Islam's  attitude  toward 
the  Sherifian  program.  Further  evi- 
dence of  Islam's  attitude  is  gleaned 
from  the  boycott  which  Moslems 
have  adopted  toward  Hussein,  a  boy- 
cott which  has  gone  to  the  quite  un- 


982 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


precedented  length  of  stopping  the 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca  on  the  ground 
that  Hussein's  ability  to  guard  the 
holy  places  is  dependent  on  a  British, 
and  hence  a  non-Moslem,  subsidy.  In 
fact,  Winston  Churchill,  British  Co- 
lonial Secretary,  said  in  his  state- 
ment of  June  14  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons :  "  We  are  giving  aid  to  the 
Sherif  of  iVEecca  (Hussein),  whose 
finances  have  been  grievously  af- 
fected by  the  interruption  of  pilgrim- 
age." In  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
pilgrimage  to  Mecca  is  one  of  the  very 
foundation  stones  of  Islam,  the  se- 
verity of  Islam's  attitude  toward  the 
family  of  the  Sherif  may  be  imagined. 

France's  attitude  toward  Feisal's 
coronation  at  Bagdad  may  also  be  im- 
agined when  it  is  remembered  that 
General  Gouraud  drove  the  Emir  out 
of  Damascus  last  year.  But  the  Co- 
lonial Office  has  not  been  dealing 
with  an  easy  situation  in  the  Arab 
country,  and  a  very  curious  mix-up 
lies  back  of  Churchill's  announce- 
ment on  June  14  that  "  if  the  people 
and  Assembly  oflrak  choose  Feisal 
as  their  head  he  will  receive  the 
countenance  and  support  of  Great 
Britain."  In  that  announcement 
the  Colonial  Office  definitely  adopted 
the  Sherifian  program,  and  its 
adoption  may  at  least  be  welcomed 
as  the  first  evidence  of  a  clear  policy 
in  Arab  affairs ;  for  the  war  left  the 
newly  liberated  Arab  countries  in 
such  a  mix-up  as  has  rarely  been 
equaled. 

Before  the  war  the  Arab  countries 
between  'Libya  and  the  Persian  Gulf 
were  theoretically  under  Turkish 
sovereignty,  but  the  Government  of 
India  had  long  been  in  treaty  rela- 
tions with  a  number  of  chiefs  around 
the  Persian  Gulf,  chief  among  them 
the  powerful  Emir  of  Nejd,  Ibn  Saud, 
whose  territory  extends  from  Bah- 
rein Bay  on  the  Gulf  all  the  way 
across  the  great  Arabian  Peninsula 
to  the  now  independent  Kingdom  of 
the  Hedjaz.  Ibn  Saud's  Wahabite  sect 
of  Moslems  has  represented  Islam  at 
its  purest  ever  since  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  On  the  Red  Sea 
Coast  of  the  Arabian  Peninsula  the 


KING  HUSSEIN  OF  THE  HEDJAZ 

Sherif  of  Mecca  and  Custodian  of  the  Holy 

Cities,   hitherto   supposed   to    be   a 

candidate  for  the  Caliphate 


Foreign  Office,  which  has  been  su- 
preme in  Cairo  ever  since  British 
troops  broke  Arabi  Pasha  at  Tel- 
el-Kebir  in  1888,  maintained  touch 
with  the  Grand  Sherif  of  Mecca 
through  the  British  Agency  at  Jed- 
da,  the  port  of  Mecca ;  and  the  Grand 
Sherif  possessed  an  important  legal 
qualification  for  the  Caliphate, 
should  the  possession  of  the  Caliph- 
ate ever  fail  into  question,  in  that  he 
was  a  direct  descendant  of  the 
prophet ;  at  the  same  time  he  possess- 
ed an  important  disqualification  in 
that  he  had  no  powerful  standing 
which  would  enable  him  alone  to 
guard  the  holy  places. 

There  were  then    (and  there  are 
still,  for  that  matter)  two  independent 


THE  CALIPHATE  OF  ISLAM 


983 


military  organizations  within  the 
British  Empire,  the  War  Office  in 
London  and  the  Commander  in  Chief, 
Indian  Army,  at  Simla.  Before  the 
war  they  divided  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire for  intelligence  purposes,  the 
War  Office's  sphere  running  north 
of  a  line  drawn  from  Basra  to  Akaba, 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  off 
the  Red  Sea,  and  Simla's  sphere  run- 


C©  International) 

EMIR  FEISAL 

The  Arab  Prince  whom  the  British  are  about 

to  place  on  the   throne  of  Mesopotamia. 


ning  south  over  the  Arabian  Penin- 
sula proper.  This  arrangement  had 
to  be  disregarded  during  the  war, 
when  Simla,  at  London's  demand, 
launched  its  Mesopotamian  campaign 
north  from  Basra.  Simla  later  sur- 
rendered control  of  the  Mesopota- 
mian campaign  to  London,  but  the 
Government  of  India  retained  politi- 
cal control.  At  the  same  time  the 
War  Office  was  directing  the  Egyp- 
tian drive  across  the  little  Sinai  Des- 
ert into  Palestine,  with  the  Foreign 
Office  in  political  control. 

Thus  two  independent  British  de- 
partments conducted  political  nego- 
tiations with  the  Arabs  during  the 
war,     the     Government     of     India 
through  its  chief  political  officer  at 
Bagdad     and     the     Foreign     Office 
through    the    British    Residency    in 
Cairo.    Each  had  a  separate  program 
for  the  Arabs,  and  under  the  stress  of 
fighting    it    was    impossible    to    at- 
tempt to  harmonize  the  two  until  the 
war  was  over.     The  Government  of 
India's    program    envisaged    a    new 
British    Arabian    Government    with 
its  seat  at  the  ancient  Arab  capital 
of  Bagdad,   a  program  which   was 
built  on  Ibn  Saud,  the  powerful  Emir 
of  Nejd,  who  had  long  been  in  re- 
ceipt of  a  Government  of  India  sub- 
sidy.   The  Foreign  Office  proposed  a 
far   more   inclusive    British    Arabia 
pivoting  on  Mecca,   with  provincial 
capitals   at  Bagdad  and  Damascus, 
where  the  Grand  Sherif's  two  sons, 
the  Emirs  Abdullah  and  Feisal.  re- 
spectively, were    to   rule.      At  that 
time  it  was,  of  course,  the  British 
expectation  that  the  Turkish  peace 
terms — which  were  afterward  writ- 
ten into  the  Treaty  of  Sevres — would 
be  imposed  on  the  Turkish  Sultan- 
Caliph,  and,  relying  on  a  heavy  For- 
eign Office  subsidy,  the  Grand  Sherif 
of  Mecca  was  induced  to  proclaim  his 
independence  as  King  Hussein  I.  of 
the  Hedjaz.    At  the  same  time  the  in- 
stallation of  Abdullah  and  Feisal  on 
the  thrones  of  Bagdad  and  Damascus 
was  to  strengthen  his  house,  and  the 
breaking  of  the  Turkish  Sultan-Ca- 
liph at  the  end    of  the    war  was   to 


984 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


find  the  powerful  House  of  Hussein 
at  Mecca  in  full  official  conformity 
with  all  the  qualifications  of  the  Ca- 
liphate. This  use  of  the  Grand  Sher- 
if  of  Mecca,  a  use  which  was  first 
made  by  the  Foreign  Office  during 
the  war,  is  the  program  known  as 
Sherifianism. 

When  the  Turkish '  armistice  was 
signed  on  the  night  of  Oct.  31,  1918, 
there  were  probably  few  Arab  lead- 
ers in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia  who 
did  not  favor  the  return  of  the  Ca- 
liphate to  Mecca.  With  Feisal  com- 
manding very  strong  support  at  Da- 
mascus, where  he  had  been  actually 
set  up,  Sherifianism  seemed  on  the 
high  road  to  success.  But  the  French 
broke  Feisal  in  Damascus,  and  far  to 
the  south  in  the  Arabian  Peninsula 
Ibn  Saud,  reopening  his  old  war  with 
the  Hedjaz,  would  have  captured 
Mecca  had  he  not  preferred  to  with- 
hold his  forces.  (In  London,  where 
the  Foreign  Office  and  the  India 
Office  do  not  lie  down  together, 
this  obscure  war  amid  the  sun- 
scorched  rocks  of  the  Arabian 
Peninsula  was  hailed  as  a  great  In- 
dia Office,  victory.)  Sherifianism 
now  began  losing  its  momentum  and 
the  conviction  began  gaining  ground 
that  the  House  of  Hussein  had  no 
strength  by  which  to  stand  except  its- 
Foreign  Office  subsidy. 

Conflict  of  the  Caliphate 

Events  in  Turkey  soon  began 
weakening  still  further  the  Sherifian 
program.  With  the  growth  of  the 
Turkish  Nationalist  Government  at 
Angora,  it  became  apparent  that  Is- 
lam would  not  accept  the  breaking  of 
its  Turkish  Caliph.  Far  from  being 
willing  to  transfer  its  Caliphate  to 
the  former  Grand  Sherif  of  Mecca, 
Islam  now  began  a  determined  boy- 
cott of  the  former  Sherif  as  a  traitor, 
and,  faced  with  the  most  serious 
crisis  in  its  thirteen  centuries  of  his- 
tory, it  has  thrown  itself  into  a  des- 
perate effort  to  maintain  its  Turkish 
Caliph  in  Constantinople. 

The  result  is  that  the  Arabs  are 
compromised   in   the   eyes   of   other 


Moslems,  and  Sherifianism  became 
for  a  time  a  white  elephant  on  Brit- 
ain's hands.  In  the  meantime,  Arab 
restlessness  under  the  curious  inter- 
departmental mixup  which  the  war 
brought  about  in  their  countries,  in- 
creased to  such  a  degree  that  the 
Arabs  in  Mesopotamia  broke  into  a 
bitter  revolt  last  year  against  Gov- 
ernment of  India  rule.  The  Mesopo- 
tamia rebellion  of  1920  confronted 
Great  Britain  with  a  war  which 
would  have  focused  British  atten- 
tion as  the  Boer  War  did,  had  not 
British  attention  wearied  of  wars.  It 
was  worthy  of  note  in  that  traditional 
Arab  military  formations  were  aban- 
doned for  the  first  time,  and  British 
punitive  columns  marching  to  the  re- 
lief of  isolated  garrisons  found  them- 
selves confronted  with  six,  eight  and 
ten  lines  of  barbed  wire,  and  British 
attacks  were  followed  with  repeated 
counter-attacks.  A  month  after  the 
rebellion  began,  Bagdad  had  been  iso- 
lated and  was  digging  in;  four  gar- 
risons had  been  invested  between 
Bagdad  and  the  sea ;  the  Basra-Bag- 
dad line  had  been  cut  in  half  a  dozen 
places  and  the  Bagdad-Kermanshah 
line  into  Persia  had  been  severed. 
The  result  was  an  outburst  from  the 
war-sickened  British  taxpayer  which 
caused  Sir  Percy  Cox's  hasty  return 
to  Bagdad  to  set  up  the  promised 
Arab  Government.  On  his  arrival 
he  organized  the  present  Provisional 
Council  and  announced  that  elections 
would  shortly  be  held  for  the  Na- 
tional Assembly. 

As  soon  as  the  rebellion  had  been 
put  down  the  British  Government 
took  steps  to  straighten  out  its  inter- 
departmental mixup  In  the  Arab 
countries.  Early  this  year  both  the 
Foreign  Office  and  the  Government 
of  India  were  dispossessed,  and  the 
entire  Arab  region  from  Egypt  to 
Persia,  including  Palestine  and  Mes- 
opotamia, but  excluding  the  French 
areas  in  Syria,  was  handed  over  to 
the  new  Middle  East  Department  of 
the  Colonial  Office,  with  Winston 
Churchill  as  the  new  Colonial  Secre- 
tary. Churchill's  first  move  was  to 
summon  all  his  advisers  in  the  Arab 


THE  CALIPHATE  OF  ISLAM 


985 


country  to  a  conference  at  Cairo, 
where  two  possibilities  confronted 
him  in  the  creation  of  a  new  British 
policy.  One  possibility  was  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Foreign  Office's  Sherif- 
ian  program,  which  has  seemed  to  a 
number  of  outside  observers  to  lack 
every  essential  of  a  durable  regime. 
The  other  possibility  was  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Government  of  India's 
protege,  the  Emir  Ibn  Saud  of  Nejd, 
as  the  first  of  a  number  of  local  Arab 
rulers — a  line  of  procedure  which 
would  seem  to  conform  more  closely 
to  reality. 

From  Cairo  Churchill  proceeded  to 
Jerusalem,  where  the  appearance  of 
the  Emir  Abdullah  afforded  a  clue  to 
the  choice  which  would  ultimately  be 
made.  Abdullah  was  installed,  with  a 
Jewish  adviser  furnished  by  the  Pal- 
estine Administration,  as  ruler  *of 
Trans-Jordania,  where  he  stands 
astride  the  Hedjaz  railway  in  order  to 
contain  the  French  within  the  Hau- 
ran  until  the  Haifa-Akaba  canal  is 
begun  and  completed.  Churchill's 
conference  with  Abdullah  in  Jerusa- 
lem, however,  could  hardly  have  been 
interpreted  as  more  than  a  clue,  for 
the  Trans-Jordania  situation  is  purely 
a  local  one  and  probably  far  from 
permanent.  It  was  not  until  Church- 
ill had  returned  to  London  and  on 
June    14   made   his   momentous   an- 


nouncement of  Near  Eastern  policy  to 
the  House  of  Commons  that  the  Co- 
lonial Office's  choice  became  gen- 
erally known.  In  this  announcement 
he  declared  that  the  Colonial  Office 
had  adopted  the  Sherifian  program: 
That  Feisal  was  to  be  backed  for  the 
throne  of  Irak,  and  that  Ibn  Saud 
was  to  be  pacified  with  a  subsidy  of 
£60,000  a  year,  together  with  a  lump 
sum  of  £20,000,  which  is  the  cost  of 
a  single  battalion  of  infantry.  "  This 
subsidy,"  he  continued,  "  will  be  paid 
monthly  in  arrear,  contingent  on  the 
maintenance  of  peace  and  order  ex- 
ternally. It  must  be  understood  that 
the  granting  of  this  subsidy  gives  the 
chief  the  power  to  establish  that  or- 
der on  which  control  depends.  We 
shall  pay  only  in  so  far  as  good  be- 
havior is  assured.  If  injury  is  done, 
a  deduction  will  be  made  from  the 
subsidy  of  the  aggressor  and  will  be 
handed  over  as  compensation  to  the 
victim." 

To  many  students  of  Arab  and 
Moslem  affairs  it  would  seem  that 
Islam's  boycott  of  the  former  Sherif 
and  its  vigorous  rally  to  the  defense 
of  its  Turkish  Caliph  in  Constanti- 
nople had  killed  Sherifianism. 
Whether  the  Colonial  Office  is  able 
to  revive  it  remains  to  be  seen.  Its 
attempt  to  do  so  must  prove  one  of 
the  most  fascinating  episodes  in  con- 
temporary Islam. 


OVER  50,000  GERMAN  OFFICERS  KILLED  IN  THE  WAR 


IN  the  Franco-Prussian  War  the  entire 
German  Army  had  only  about  2,000 
officers  killed.  In  the  World  War,  out  of 
her  total  death  roll  of  1,808,545,  Germany 
lost  52,006  of  her  best  officers.  These 
authoritative  figures  were  published  in  a 
pamphlet  by  Lieut.  Gen.  von  Altrock,  "  Con- 
cerning the  Dead  of  the  German  Officers' 
Corps,"  which  appeared  in  July,  1921. 
Nearly  25  per  cent,  of  the  active  officers 
participating    in    the    conflict    are    on    the 


death  list.  Among  the  dead  are  167  Gen- 
erals, one  Field  Marshal,  two  "  General 
Obersts,"  eight  Commanding  Generals,  fif- 
teen Lieutenant  Generals,  forty-nine  Major 
Generals,  1,516  staff  officers,  107  Colonels 
145  Lieutenant  Colonels,  740  Majors,  3,376 
Captains,  1,199  First  Lieutenants,  6,715 
Lieutenants  and  2,256  Ensigns.  For  every 
thirty-four  German  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers and  privates  killed,  one  army  officer 
perished. 


CREATING  AN  INDEPENDENT 

SYRIA 

Address  by  General  Gouraud 

General  Gouraud,  commander  of  the  French  forces  in  Syria, 
delivered  this  important  speech  at  Damascus  on  June  21 ,  1921, 
outlining  the  whole  French  scheme  for  that  region  of  Asia  Minor, 
a  scheme  which  clashes  in  some  respects  with  British  Plans 


GENTLEMEN:  The  first  step 
taken  by  France  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  harmony  and 
national  liberty  in  your  midst  was 
the  creation  of  autonomous  States 
with  the  object  and  result  of 
satisfying  particularist  desires  and 
providing  a  framework  for  the 
harmonious  association  of  all.  Ex- 
perience has  proved  this  to  be  the 
way  to  prevent  differences — those 
differences  which  enrich  the  national 
life — from  becoming  antagonisms. 
Think  of  the  example  of  Switzerland, 
where  populations  of  differing  re- 
ligions and  languages  unite  in  broth- 
erly co-operation  to  maintain  a  fed- 
eration which  rests  on  a  common 
sentiment.  For  several  centuries  new 
cantons  acceded  freely,  because  the 
Federal  form  enabled  them  to  join 
the  association  without  abandoning 
their  own  character,  and  so  enlarged 
the  Swiss  Confederation.  Consider 
also  the  United  States. 

These  considerations,  and  these  ex- 
amples by  which  they  are  justified, 
led  me  to  create  the  autonomous 
States  of  Syria  last  year.  *  *  *  But 
I  have  never  ceased  to  hold  that  these 
States  ought  to  be  linked  together, 
and  that  they  ought,  thus  associated, 
to  constitute  that  independent  Syria 
which  France  has  always  wished  to 
create. 

I  will  now  examine  the  double 
problem  which  you  and  I  have  to 
solve.     We  must,  on  the  one  hand, 


complete  and  make  more  liberal  the 
organization  of  the  States,  and,  on 
the  other,  we  must  establish  the  Fed- 
eral link.  The  organization  of  the 
States  will  not  necessarily  be  the 
same  everywhere;  it  may  develop  in 
a  slightly  different  fashion  at  Da- 
mascus, at  Aleppo  and  Latakia,  ac- 
cording to  the  more  or  less  rapid 
progress  of  the  country.  I  do  not 
mention  Lebanon  here  among  the 
Federated  States,  for  special  tradi- 
tions will  have  to  develop  it  sepa- 
rately in  a  less  close  and  purely  eco- 
nomic association  with  the  Syrian 
Confederation  until  such  time  as  it 
may  decide  to  join  on  its  own  initia- 
tive. 

In  spite  of  the  possible  differences 
between  the  organization  of  the 
States  it  is  nevertheless  plain  that 
they  must,  by  a  common  regulation 
applicable  to  all,  be  provided  with  a 
representative  body,  the  powers  of 
which,  as  a  basis,  must  be  capable  of 
enlargement. 

Let  us  consider  how  this  rule  may 
be  applied  to  the  State  of  Damascus. 
You  have  been  accustomed  to  a  repre- 
sentative body,  the  General  Council 
of  the  Vilayet,  which  can  be  reconsti- 
tuted at  once  on  a  broader  basis.  In 
order  thus  to  reconstitute  it  it  is 
enough  to  take  a  census  so  that  it  may 
be  possible  to  determine  the  number 
of  electors  of  your  future  representa- 
tive assembly.  This  Council  will  be 
called  the  Government  Council  and 


CREATING  AN  INDEPENDENT  SYRIA 


987 


must  rest  upon  a  franchise  which,  al- 
though at  first  it  will  be  planned  on 
the  same  basis,  must  be  far  wider 
than  that  which  elected  the  former 
General  Council  of  the  Vilayet.  The 
decree  for  the  census  is  now  being 
prepared  in  Damascus,  and  at  the 
same  time  I  am  going  to  have  a  de- 
cree drafted  fixing  the  qualifications 
for  electing  the  Government  Council 
and  the  powers  which  this  Council 
will  have  at  first.  From  the  begin- 
ning it  will  be  the  Council's  duty  to 
express  its  views  on  the  budget  and 
the  taxes  and  upon  the  laws  and  de- 
crees which  the  Government  contem- 
plates; the  Government  will  not  be 
entitled  to  reach  a  decision  in  these 
matters  without  having  heard  the 
views  of  the  Council. 

All  that  I  now  want  to  do  is  to  make 
a  beginning  and  show  you  the  path 
which  is  open  to  you.  But  in  order 
to  help  your  Government  and  myself 
to  open  it  to  you  I  am  going  to  sum- 


GENERAL  GOURAUD 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  French  Forces  in 

Syria, 


mon  a  certain  number  of  your  nota- 
bles to  meet  here  until  the  census  is 
completed — that  is  to  say,  pending 
the  elections — a  nominated  and  pro- 
visional Government  Council,  which 
henceforth  will  have  the  same  powers 
as  the  elected  Councils  will  have  later 
on,  and  which  will  help  your  Govern- 
ment to  propose  to  me  the  reforms 
which  cannot  be  delayed:  for  exam- 
ple, that  of  an  administrative  com- 
mission designed  to  help  the  Govern- 
ment. In  the  same  way  we  shall  have 
to  revive  and  extend  the  Councils  of 
Cazas  and  Sanjaks  without  delay,  re- 
calling that  these  organs  of  local 
liberty,  modest  as  they  appear  to  be, 
are  the  most  perfect  instrument  for 
the  control  of  the  administration  by 
the  nation,  and  the  best  training 
school  for  the  nation  in  self-govern- 
ment. 

Such  must  be  the  beginning  of  the 
internal  liberties  of  your  State;  for, 
I  repeat,  nothing  is  in  question  here 
but  a  beginning;  the  future  will  de- 
pend upon  yourselves  and  upon  the 
Council  of  your  representatives, 
whose  activities  will  increase  both  by 
the  enlargement  of  the  number  of 
questions  on  which  it  will  have  de- 
liberative powers  and  by  the  widen- 
ing of  the  franchise  upon  which  it 
will  be  elected. 

And  now,  how  will  the  federation 
which  I  have  just  proclaimed  to  you 
find  its  expression  and  organization? 

Even  before  I  can  have  an  organi- 
zation arising  from  the  representa- 
tion of  the  people  of  the  States  I 
want  to  give  this  federation  a  pro- 
visional existence  and  provisional  or- 
gans. I  am  going  to  invite  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Damascus  and  Aleppo 
each  to  appoint  five  delegates,  who 
will  constitute  the  first  Federal  Coun- 
cil, summoned  to  sit  alternately  at 
Damascus  and  Aleppo,  in  order  to 
maintain  an  equal  balance  between 
the  South  and  the  North.  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  Federal  Council  will  be 
elected  by  the  Council  for  one  year, 
and  will  be  chosen  alternately  from 
among  the  representatives  of  Damas- 
cus and  those  of  Aleppo.     The  Fed- 


988 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


eral  Council  will  itself  choose  and 
nominate  the  men  from  among  whom 
it  wishes  to  see  appointed  the  Direc- 
tors General  of  the  necessary  common 
services;  one  entrusted  with  the 
preparation  of  a  common  budget,  that 
is  to  say,  schemes  for  joint  receipts 
and  the  application  of  these  receipts, 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil; and  one  for  public  works,  who 
will  have  to  say  what  works  for  the 
common  benefit  ought  to  be  executed 
at  the  expense  of  the  joint  budget  on 
the  territory  of  each  State,  and  to 
control  their  execution;  and,  finally, 
a  Directory  General  of  Wakfs. 

I  would  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  joint  budget  will  not  draw  upon 
any  of  the  resources  over  which  the 
autonomous  States  at  present  have 
control.  *  *  *  Only  experience  can  de- 
termine the  number  of  joint  Direc- 
tors General  when  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil consists  of  members  appointed  by 
Government  Councils,  themselves  the 
outcome  of  the  elections  which  will 
take  place  directly  after  the  census 

I  venture  to  hope  that  what  I  have 
said  will  make  you  feel  that  the  man- 
datory power  is  frankly  setting  you 
on  the  path  toward  complete  self- 
government  for  the  country.  If  you 
consider  the  words  in  which  I  have 
just  explained  my  intentions  to  you 
you  will  see  that  it  is  indeed  the  path 
of  liberty  which  is  opened  to  you,  and 
my  intentions  will  immediately  be 
stated  in  constitutional  declarations 
which  may  later  be  modified,  as  re- 
gards the  organization  of  the  fed- 
eration, by  the  advice  and  then  by 
the  decisions  of  the  Federal  repre- 
sentative body  springing  from  the 
Councils  of  State;  that  is  to  say,  in 
the  second  degree,  from  your  votes. 

History  is  rich  in  examples  of  the 
part  played  by  France  as  the  mis- 
sionary of  liberty ;  and,  speaking  only 
of  the  East  and  of  Syria,  where  can 
geographical  or  historical  reasons  be 
found  to  cause  France  to  wish  for 
anything  in  these  parts  except  that 
moral  ascendency  and  economic  co- 
operation  which   act   only  with  the 


consent  of  those  who  benefit  by  them? 
For  centuries  France  has  never  sought 
direct  military  or  political  responsi- 
bilities in  the  East ;  with  the  consent 
of  the  inhabitants  she  assured  for 
herself  activities  in  this  area  deep- 
rooted  enough  to  give  her  complete 
satisfaction  in  exercising  her  great 
traditional  influence  within  the  Ot- 
toman Empire,  the  maintenance  and 
improvement  of  which  she  desired  as 
long  as  that  was  possible,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people  which  it  em- 
braced. The  mad  policy  which 
dragged  the  Ottoman  Empire  into  the 
war  did  not,  moreover,  affect  our 
wish  to  resume  our  old  friendly  re- 
lations with  Turkey  in  any  way.  This 
is  proved  by  the  generous  convention 
which  France  agreed  to  in  London 
last  March,  immediately  after  the 
brilliant  success  in  the  capture  of 
Aintab.  It  is  true  that  the  Angora 
extremists  refused  to  ratify  this  con- 
vention, and  if  they  persist  we  are 
ready,  as  before,  to  resume  the  strug- 
gle and  bring  it  to  a  victorious  con- 
clusion; but  we  may  hope  that  the 
advice  of  enlightened  patriots  will 
finally  carry  it. 

France,  obliged  by  Turkey,  who 
was  led  astray  by  Germany,  to  inter- 
vene in  Syria,  has  accepted  the  task 
of  helping  the  young  independent  na- 
tion which  has  to  evolve  here  and 
guiding  it  by  her  advice.  She  will 
not  fail  I  believe  that  no  further 
hindrances  will  arise,  and  that  Da- 
mascus will  not  suffer  further  from 
the  fomenters  of  the  troubles  which 
formerly  compromised  her  future  and 
delayed  the  liberal  intentions  of 
France  for  a  year.  The  time  seems 
to  have  come  to  efface  the  memory 
of  those  evil  days,  the  recurrence  of 
which  your  wisdom  and  our  vigilance 
will  prevent.  It  has  been  resolved 
that  a  general  amnesty  shall  be 
granted  to  those  whom  the  Damascus 
Council  of  War  condemned  in  Au- 
gust, 1920,  with  the  exception  of 
those  guilty  of  crimes  under  the  com- 
mon law. 

(Translated  from  L' Europe,  Nouvelle, 
July  16,  1921.) 


WHY  WE  DID  NOT  DECLARE 
WAR  ON  TURKEY 


By  Frank  Jewett 


An  interesting  bit  of  diplomatic  history,  never  before  published, 
centring  about  Mr.  Henry  Morgenthau' s  secret  mission  to 
Constantinople  for  the  purpose  of  getting  Turkey  to  sign  a  separate 
peace  with  the  Allies — Why  he  went  no  farther  than  Gibraltar 


THERE  have  been  some  expres- 
sions of  surprise  and  some  of 
regret  that  the  United  States 
did  not  declare  war  on  Turkey  at 
the  time  she  declared  war  on  Ger- 
many. It  has  been  said  that  this  and 
that  particular  interest  was  at  work 
to  prevent  the  declaration.  The 
failure  to  declare  war  was  doubtless 
due  to  many  reasons.  Among  them 
was  the  military  reason  urged  by  the 
French  and  British  military  leaders, 
that  it  would  be  unwise  to  divert  any 
part  of  the  American  troops  from  the 
main  attack  in  Europe;  there  might 
have  been  military  disadvantages  in 
being  at  war  with  a  country  which 
was  not  to  be  included  in  the  zone 
of  American  operations. 

Another  reason  was  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  extremely  anxious  to  have 
the  United  States  declare  war  on 
Turkey,  because  the  adherence  of 
Turkey  to  the  Central  Powers  was 
not  whole-souled,  and  they  feared 
that  Turkey  might  be  persuaded  by 
America  to  withdraw  from  the  war. 
They  felt  that  their  hold  on  Turkey 
would  be  stronger  if  the  United 
States  were  to  declare  war.  Of  course, 
it  was  natural  for  the  United  States 
to  do  the  opposite  of  what  Germany 
wished.  Doubtless,  too,  the  Admin- 
istration was  influenced  by  the  ad- 
vice of  those  who  argued  that  the 
United  States  had  gone  into  the  war 
because  of  specific  provocations,  and 
that  it  was  the  policy  of  the  country 


to  declare  war  only  on  provocation 
unless  a  distinct  military  benefit 
could  be  anticipated. 

Some  have  given  as  one  of  the 
reasons  for  the  failure  to  declare  war 
on  Turkey  the  personal  influence  of 
those  interested  in  philanthropies  in 
Turkey,  if  personal  influences  of 
any  sort  are  to  be  considered,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  influence  of  For- 
mer Turkish  Ambassador  Henry 
Morgenthau  counted  the  most.  He 
was  aware  of  the  German  feeling 
mentioned  above,  and  the  purpose 
back  of  Mr.  Morgenthau's  position 
was  the  belief  that  he  could  bring 
about  a  separate  peace  with  Turkey 
and  thus  the  victory  over  Germany 
would  be  hastened  more  by  this 
means  than  by  a  declaration  of  war. 

The  story  of  Mr.  Morgenthau's 
part  in  an  attempt  at  separate  peace 
negotiations  with  Turkey  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  interesting  bits  of 
recent  diplomatic  history.  It  is  said 
that  the  project  of  a  separate  peace 
with  Turkey  was  broached  by  Mr. 
Morgenthau  to  Mr.  Balfour  at  a  re- 
ception in  New  York  while  the  latter 
was  visiting  this  country  as  a  special 
ambassador.  This  was  in  April, 
1917.  Mr.  Balfour  fell  in  heartily 
with  the  project  and  made  an  ap- 
pointment to  discuss  the  matter  more 
at  length  the  next  morning.  During 
this  discussion  Mr.  Morgenthau  used 
the  fact  of  his  intimate  relations  with 
Enver  Pasha,  Talaat  Pasha  and  the 


990 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


other  leaders  of  the  Ottoman  admin- 
istration. He  had  evidences  of  their 
confidence  in  him,  and  Mr.  Balfour 
became  quite  enthusiastic.  The  plan, 
as  Mr.  Morgenthau  had  worked  it 
out,  was  for  him  to  go  10  Egypt  and 
thence  up  to  the  advanced  British 
lines  in  Palestine.  Enver  Pasha  was 
to  come  to  Palestine  on  the  Turkish 
side,  and  the  two  were  to  meet  be- 
tween the  opposing  lines  for  a  frank 
discussion  of  the  situation.  Mr.  Mor- 
genthau was  to  dangle  the  prospect 
of  generous  loans  to  Turkey  in  case 
it  broke  away  from  the  alliance  with 
Germany,  and  was  to  urge  the  cogent 
reasons  why  it  would  be  better  for 
Turkey  to  abandon  the  war  under  the 
terms  that  Mr.  Morgenthau  would 
be  able  to  offer.  The  latter  counted 
also  upon  his  own  personal  influence. 

Mr.  Balfour  cabled  the  plan  to  the 
British  Foreign  Office,  where  it 
aroused  consternation,  as  it  was  en- 
tirely at  variance  with  the  British 
plans  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  the  acquisition  of  Meso- 
potamia and  the  liberation  of  Pales-* 
tine.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Balfour  was 
plenipotentiary,  and  the  British 
Foreign  Office  was  not  able  to  veto 
the  plan. 

Of  course,  negotiations  with  the 
Turks  at  Constantinople  were  neces- 
sary, and  it  is  said  that  Mr.  Elkus, 
who  was  then  American  Ambassador 
at  the  Turkish  capital,  interviewed 
Djavid  Bey,  and  that  before  he  left 
Constantinople  at  the  end  of  May, 
1917,  he  had  succeeded  in  arranging 
the  matter  so  far  as  the  Turkish  part 
was  concerned.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Mr.  Elkus  was  taken  ill  with 
typhus  fever  after  the  United  States 
entered  the  war  and  that  he  remained 
in  Constantinople  for  some  time  after 
diplomatic  relations  were  broken 
with  Turkey.  The  Turkish  Govern- 
ment did  its  best  to  prevent  the  rup- 
ture of  diplomatic  relations  with  the 
United  States,  but  the  Germans  be- 
came alarmed  over  the  great  hold 
that  Mr.  Elkus  was  obtaining  and  in- 
sisted that  relations  be  broken. 

The  arrangements  were  then  com- 


pleted in  America  to  have  the  attempt 
on  Mr.  Morgenthau's  part  carried 
out.  The  Turkish  Secretary  of  the 
Embassy  at  Constantinople,  who,  by 
the  way,  was  an  American,  came  out 
with  Mr.  Elkus,  and  was  to  meet  Mr 
Morgenthau  at  Gibraltar  and  was  to 
accompany  him  into  Egypt,  to  act  as 
interpreter  to  the  negotiations  with 
Enver  Pasha.  Gossip  has  it  that 
Haim  Effendi,  the  Grand  Rabbi  at 
Constantinople,  was  also  scheduled  to 
play  a  part  in  the  negotiations,  com- 
ing to  America  and  accompanying  Mr. 
Morgenthau  to  Egypt  and  then  to 
the  British  front  lines  in  Palestine. 
It  may  be  that  his  name  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  plan  only  because  he 
was  on  intimate  terms  both  with  the 
Young  Turks  and  also  with  Mr.  Mor- 
genthau, and  because  he  attempted 
to  come  to  America  in  the  Spring  of 
1917.  In  any  case,  he  got  as  far  only 
as  Holland,  where  the  British  pre- 
vented his  proceeding  further. 

Mr.  Morgenthau  set  out  from  New 
York  via  Gibraltar  with  his  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Wertheimer,  and  Major  Felix 
Frankfurter,  in  July,  1917.  It  was  re- 
ported in  the  press  that  they  were  on 
a  mission  to  distribute  alms  to  the 
Jews  in  Egypt. 

Meanwhile  the  news  had  begun  to 
leak  out  at  London,  and  naturally 
came  to  the  ears  of  Professor  Weitz- 
mann,  the  leader  of  the  Zionist  move- 
ment, who  has  recently  been  to 
the  United  States  to  stir  up  interest 
in  Zionism.  He  realized  at  once  that 
a  separate  peace  with  Turkey  would 
put  an  end  to  the  Zionist  hopes  for 
Palestine.  He  was  able  to  exert  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  British  For- 
eign Office,  but  was  told  that  inas- 
much as  Mr.  Balfour  had  agreed  to 
the  Morgenthau  plan,  they  could  not 
interfere  with  it.  They  suggested 
that  he  intercept  Mr.  Morgenthau  at 
Gibraltar  and  persuade  him  to  aban- 
don the  plan.  There  are  those  who 
say  that  his  credentials  gave  him  a 
semi-official  position  and  that  he  was 
able  to  indicate  the  attitude  of  the 
British  Foreign  Office  toward  the 
plan. 


WHY  WE  DID  NOT  DECLARE  WAR  ON  TURKEY 


991 


Mr.  Weitzmann  was  fitted  out  with 
the  necessary  papers  to  speed  him 
through  France  and  Spain,  and  had  to 
make  the  trip  from  Cherbourg  to  Gib- 
raltar in  automobiles.     At  Gibraltar 


Underwood    &   Underwood) 
HENRY    A.    MORGENTHAU 
Former   United  States  Ambassador  to  Turkey 


he  found  the  Constantinople  Embassy 
interpreter  also  awaiting  Mr.  Morgen- 
thau,  but  the  interpreter  was  not 
there  to  stop  Mr.  Morgenthau.  The 
interpreter  expected  to  embark  on  the 
same  steamer  and  go  on  to  Egypt 
with  the  commission. 

At  Gibraltar  was  waiting  also  Mr. 
Weil,  who  represented  the  French 
Government  and  had  been  sent  to  ar- 
range the  details  of  Mr.  Morgenthau's 
plan  from  the  French  point  of  view. 


Naturally,  if  Mr.  Morgenthau  should 
discuss  terms  with  Enver  Pasha,  he 
would  want  to  know  what  the  French 
were  demanding  or  willing  to  concede. 
Mr.  Weil  was  a  Hebrew  who  had 
been  director  of  the  Government  to- 
bacco monopoly  at  Constantinople.  It 
has  been  figured  out  that  Mr.  Mor- 
genthau, Mr.  Weitzmann  and  Mr. 
Weil,  all  Jews,  representing  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain  and 
France,  respectively,  must  have  used 
the  German  language  in  their  confer- 
ences at  Gibraltar,  because  it  was  the 
only  language  that  they  had  in  com- 
mon, Mr.  Weil  not  knowing  English 
and  Mr.  Morgenthau  not  being  fa- 
miliar with  French. 

Just  what  arguments  Mr.  Weitz- 
mann used  in  his  talks  with  Mr.  Mor- 
genthau upon  the  arrival  of  the  lat- 
ter at  Gibraltar,  it  is  not  easy  to  con- 
jecture; because  Mr.  Morgenthau  was 
not  at  all  favorably  disposed  toward 
Zionism,  and  the  possibility  of  his 
plan's  interfering  with  the  formation 
of  a  Jewish  State  in  Palestine  would 
not  impress  him  greatly.  It  is  said 
that  Mr.  Weitzmann  first  obtained 
the  aid  of  Major  Frankfurter,  who  is 
an  ardent  Zionist,  and  that  then  the 
two  of  them  succeeded  in  dissuading 
Mr.  Morgenthau  from  continuing 
with  his  project.  In  any  case,  the  re- 
sult was  that  the  entire  party  went 
to  Paris  to  talk  the  matter  over  with 
various  and  sundry  persons  of  impor- 
tance, and  finally  the  project  was 
postponed.  America,  however,  had 
been  kept  from  declaring  war  upon 
Turkey,  and  as  time  went  on  the  need 
for  declaring  war  appeared  to  grow 
less  and  less. 

If  those  who  regret  that  the  United 
States  did  not  declare  war  upon  Tur- 
key wish  a  reason  for  the  failure,  Mr. 
Morgenthau's  plan  for  a  separate 
peace  furnishes  a  sufficient  one. 


DEMOCRATIC  CZAR  AND 
PEASANT  PREMIER 


By  Constantine  Stephanove: 

Professor   in    the   University   of   Sofia 


How  Stambolisky,  leader  of  the  powerful  agrarian  party  in 
Bulgaria,  accepted  the  kingship  of  young  Prince  Boris — His 
methods  in  crushing  communism  and  putting  everybody  to 
work — Some   of  the   mistakes   the   new   Government   has    made 


IN  many  European  countries,  par- 
ticularly in  those  of  the  Central 

Powers,  the  internal  condition  of 
things  since  the  Autumn  of  1918  has 
been,  and  continues  to  be,  revolution- 
ary and  warlike.  Germany,  Austria, 
Hungary,  Turkey — of  the  Entente 
ex-enemies — and  Jugoslavia,  Poland, 
Greece,  Rumania,  and  the  new  Baltic 
States — of  the  allied  nations — still 
find  themselves  in  a  state  of  intense 
political  and,  in  some  cases,  military 
turmoil.  Rumania's  invasion  of  Hun- 
gary and  Poland's  war  on  Soviet 
Russia  are  still  comparatively  recent. 
Turkey  and  Greece,  even  now,  are 
locked  in  deadly  conflict  in  Asia 
Minor. 

"  Bulgaria  is  the  only  country  in 
Central  and  Southeastern  Europe 
which  I  have  just  gone  through  that 
is  not  at  war  with  somebody,"  I  was 
recently  told  by  an  English  writer 
who  had  come  to  the  East  as  corre- 
spondent of  one  of  the  big  London 
papers.  And  yet  the  impression  one 
gets  from  the  outside  world  is  that 
the  country  is  being  torn  by  internal 
dissensions,  swept  by  all  sorts  of 
revolutions,  harassed  by  armed  Mace- 
donian and  Thracian  bands.  Ac- 
cording to  the  foreign  press,  Sofia 
has  been  time  and  again  attacked, 
sacked  and  destroyed  by  reactionary 
forces.  The  land  has  been  declared 
to  be  now  a  Bolshevist  Soviet,  now 
an  Agrarian  Republic;  reports  have 
been  spread  that  it  had  been  invaded, 


dismembered  and  gobbled  up  by  ra- 
pacious neighbors.  King  Boris  is 
represented  as  dancing  to  the  fiddle 
of  all  this  variety  of  regimes.  He 
has  been  repeatedly  reported  abroad 
as  having  become  the  "  first  citizen  " 
of  a  new  Balkan  republic.  And  if 
Lloyd  George  betrayed  his  ignorance 
of  the  Teschen  region,  why  should 
Georges  Clemenceau  know  more 
about  a  particular  State  in  the  for- 
lorn Balkan  Peninsula?  Hence  his 
whisper  to  his  Secretary,  Mr.  Tar- 
dieu,  at  the  Paris  Peace  Conference: 
"  Bulgaria — is  she  a  republic  or  a 
monarchy  ?  " 

*  Professor  Stephanove  was  born  in  Macedonia, 
graduated  from  the  American  Collegiate  Institute 
of  Samokov,  Bulgaria,  and  came  over  to  Amer- 
ica and  worked  his  way  through  Yale  Univer- 
sity, receiving  his  Master's  Degree  about  1901. 
After  pursuing  graduate  studies  in  Berlin  and 
Paris  he  returned  to  Macedonia  and  was  thrown 
into  prison  by  the  Turkish  authorities  on  sus- 
picion of  being  a  spy.  The  British  Government 
obtained  his  release.  He  visited  the  United 
States  during  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  and  on 
his  return  to  Bulgaria  accepted  the  chair  of 
English  Language  and  Literature  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Sofia,  which  he  has  filled  with  distinc- 
tion ever  since.  In  the  Summer  of  1915  Pro- 
fessor Stephanove  was  sent  to  London  by  the 
Bulgarian  Government  to  try  to  get  Great 
Britain  to  recognize  Bulgaria's  rights  in  Mace- 
donia under  her  treaties  of  1912  with  Greece  and 
Serbia,  as  a  preliminary  to  Bulgaria's  coming 
into  the  World  War  on  the  side  of  the  Allies. 
He  asked  Sir  Edward  Grey  to  send  at  least  two 
divisions  of  British  troops  into  Macedonia  as  a 
guarantee  against  Turkish  attack,  but  his  re- 
quest was  refused,  and  Bulgaria  eventually 
joined  the  Central  Powers.  In  1917  the  Bulgarian 
Government  sent  him  to  Switzerland  to  get  in 
touch  with  allied  representatives  and  pave  the 
way  for  peace,  and  later  he  was  one  of  the 
delegates  appointed  to  help  negotiate  the  Bul- 
garian Peace  Treaty,  but  France  vetoed  him 
on  account  of  his  previous  activities  in  Switzer- 
land. His  fellow-countrymen  regard  him  as  one 
of  the  ablest  men  in  Bulgaria  and  the  best 
qualified  to  speak   on   Balkan   affairs.— Editor. 


DEMOCRATIC  CZAR  AND  PEASANT  PREMIER 


993 


"  A  monarchy,  sir,"  was  the  an- 
swer, delivered  only  after  hesitation. 

The  poor  Bulgarian,  after  reading 
all  these  various  versions  of  the  state 
of  things  in  his  country,  if  he  has 
any  wits  left,  and  if  he  has  any  Irish 
humor  in  him,  feels  like  cabling 
abroad,  as  Mark  Twain  once  did  from 
Paris  to  his  friends  racked  with  anx- 
iety at  home :  "  The  reports  of  my 
death  have  been  greatly  exagger- 
ated." 

The  truth  is  that  Bulgaria  is  still 
a  monarchy,  which  form  of  govern- 
ment she  has  stubbornly  clung  to 
from  time  immemorial,  especially 
ever  since  her  new  existence,  com- 
mencing from  1878 — a  regime  with 
which  even  Mr.  Alexander  Stambo- 
lisky,  her  present  Premier,  known  as 
the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  mon- 
archies, has  seen  fit  not  to  meddle. 
This  change  in  the  mind  of  the  un- 
compromising leader  of  the  Agrarian 


COMPULSORY   RESEARCH   WORK 

University  graduates  in  philology  and  histoo^y 
doing   excavation  work  at  the   Church   of  St. 
George,    Sofia,    where    valuable    archaeologi- 
cal discoveries  have  been  made. 


Party,  which,  prior  to  its  coming  into 
power,  professed  to  be  more  repub- 
lican than  any  other  republican  Gov- 
ernment in  existence,  is  the  most  re- 
markable phenomenon  in  the  history 
of  party  politics  in  Bulgaria. 

When  in  September,  1918,  Stam- 
bolisky,  the  "  ex-convict  "  of  the  fatal 
Radoslavof  f  regime,  had  got  the  best 
of  old  Czar  Ferdinand  and  had 
caused  his  speedy  expulsion  from  the 
country,  the  youthful  new  King,  son 
and  successor  to  the  throne  of  his  ill- 
fated  father,  called  the  sturdy  farm- 
er Premier  to  his  palace  and  bluntly 
asked  him : 

"  Do  the  people  want  a  republic  ? 
If  they  do,  tell  them  that  in  that  case 
I,  too,  am  a  republican,  which  right 
no  man  can  deny  me,  for  I  am  Bulgar 
born,  Bulgar  bred,  and  Bulgar  chris- 
tened." 

The  Premier,  deeply  impressed,  but 
non-committal,  closed  the  interview. 
He  at  orice  left  the  palace,  however, 
and  drove  to  the  party's  council, 
where  a  hot  and  stormy  discussion 
ensued.  Shortly  afterward  the  same 
"  chunky,"  broad-shouldered,  stern 
and  awe-inspiring  spokesman  of  the 
people  returned  to  the  boy  King,  re- 
ported his  action,  and  said: 

"  The  people  want  no  change  of 
government  with  you  in  the  palace." 

Bulgaria's  Young  King 

Czar  Boris's  tact,  frankness,  fear- 
lessness and  patriotism,  manifested 
in  those  critical  moments,  acted 
magically  not  only  upon  the  Agra- 
rians, but  upon  all  parties,  even  the 
Communistic  wing  of  the  Socialist 
faction.  Already  loved  by  the  peo- 
ple as  heir  apparent,  he  now  became 
their  idol  as  their  Czar,  and  his  popu- 
larity has  been  increasing  ever  since. 
Today  he  is  generally  recognized  as 
the  most  popular  of  the  young  mon- 
archs  on  the  Continent. 

At  the  General  Peasant  Congress 
held  in  Sofia  in  February  last,  when 
some  one  questioned  Premier  Stam- 
bolisky  about  his  republican  prin- 
ciples and  asked  what  had  become  of 
them,  he  quickly  silenced  the  inter- 


994 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS  OF  THE  GYMNASIA   (BULGARIAN  HIGH  SCHOOLS)    DOING  COMPULSORY  LABOR 
SERVICE  BY  CLEARING  UP  THE  PREMISES  IN  FRONT  OF  A  NEW  SCHOOL  ANNEX  IN  THE  CITY 

OF  SOFIA. 


pelator  by  saying:  "  Gentlefnen,  you 
couldn't  have  a  better  republican  gov- 
ernment than  that  which  the  country 
enjoys  today  with  Czar  Boris  at  the 
head."  In  a  similar  manner  Mr. 
Stambolisky  has  silenced  all  attacks 
in  the  National  Assembly  bearing  on 
the  question  of  the  Agrarian  Party's 
desertion  of  its  republican  standard. 

Fortunately  for  the  country,  young 
Boris's  democratic  bent  of  mind,  his 
nobility  of  character,  his  sincerity 
and  plain  dealing  and  his  scrupulous 
adherence  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  have  won  him  the  favor 
not  only  of  his  people,  but  also  of  all 
discerning  foreigners  who  have  vis- 
ited the  country,  and  particularly 
those  brought  into  close  contact  with 
him,  such  as  the  members  of  the  dip- 
lomatic staffs,  the  various  inter- 
national committees  sent  for  the 
regulation  of  the  provisions  of  the 
Neuilly  Treaty,  the  Reparation  Com- 
mittee, &c.  Through  them  Czar 
Boris  has  been  able  to  win  the  good 
will  of  their  respective  Governments. 
He  has  formed  close  personal  ties 
with  many  influential  foreign  person- 
ages. And,  what  is  no  less  important, 
he  has  gained  the  press  and  public 


opinion  outside  of  Bulgaria  also.  Ar- 
ticles that  have  appeared  in  leading 
newspapers  and  magazines  have  de- 
scribed him  in  flattering  terms.  His 
popularity  has  been  spreading,  par- 
ticularly in  England,  France,  Italy, 
and  even  in  the  United  States.  It 
was  only  the  other  day  that  Governor 
Miller  of  New  York  sent  to  the  amia- 
ble Bulgar  ruler  the  four  beautifully 
bound  volumes  of  the  "  Birds  and 
Flowers  of  New  York  State,"  a 
gift  of  the  Brooklyn  National  Libra- 
ry, with  the  dedication  signed  by 
him:  "To  His  Majesty,  Boris  III., 
King  of  the  Bulgarians,  with  the  good 
will  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  New 
York." 

England's  sympathy  for  the  young 
Bulgarian  Czar  is  largely  due  to  her 
traditional  respect  for  a  democratic 
and  truly  constitutional  ruler,  such 
as  she  finds  him  to  be.  That  was 
proved  in  May  last  when  Serbia,  Ru- 
mania and  Greece,  on  the  plausible 
pretext  of  applying  the  sanctions 
upon  "  unyielding,"  "  disobedient  " 
and  "  band-infested "  Bulgaria, 
secretly  decided  to  rush  into  Sofia 
and  put  an  end  once  for  all  to  the 
"  brigand    State/'      France   was   the 


DEMOCRATIC  CZAR  AND  PEASANT  PREMIER 


995 


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BULGARIAN  LABOR  SERVICE  GANG,  WITH  THEIR  INSTRUCTOR,  WEARING  THEIR  NEW  REGULA- 
TION SUMMER  HATS. 


first  to  sound  the  alarm  and  send 
forth  her  warning  to  Belgrade,  the 
Jugoslav  capital,  whence  the  direc- 
tions for  {he  intended  fait  accompli 
had  issued.  Italy,  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  followed  suit.  The 
English  Premier's  prompt  admoni- 
tion to  the  conspiring  Balkan  States, 
to  the  effect  that  any  such  rash  move 
on  their  part  "  would  be  highly  dis- 
approved by  the  great  Entente 
Powers,  and  the  transgressors  would 
be  held  responsible  for  any  fresh  dis- 
turbance of  the  Balkan  and  European 
peace,"  acted  like  a  cold  douche 
upon  the  heated  Balkan  atmosphere. 
Those  were  terrible  times  for  the 
Bulgarians,  who  were  daily  expect- 
ing to  see  their  land  seized  by  their 
hostile  neighbors.  The  moment  for 
such  an  adventure  was  most  propi- 
tious, and  a  Serbian  statesman  ejacu- 
lated :  "  Now  or  never !  Such  oppor- 
tunities come  to  nations  once  in  a 
thousand  years."  And  the  Bulgars 
remembered     the     words     of     Mr. 


Spalaikovitch,  Serbian  delegate  at 
the  framing  of  the  Bucharest  Treaty, 
1919,  who  declared  in  the  very  faces 
of  the  Bulgarian  representatives: 
"  Remember,  we  will  never  be  satis- 
fied until  we  have  stuck  our  dagger 
into  the  very  heart  of  Sofia." 

Need  of  Standing  Army 

Had  such  an  event  taken  place,  not 
so  much  Serbia,  Greece  and  Rumania 
would  have  been  to  blame  as  the 
framers  of  the  Bulgarian  Peace 
Treaty.  As  has  been  often  pointed 
out  in  European  and  American  jour- 
nals, owing  to  internal  discontent,  the 
Governments  of  these  States,  particu- 
larly of  Greece  and  Serbia,  would 
always  snap  at  an  opportunity  to 
divert  home  opinion  to  some  foreign 
subject,  especially  toward  Bulgaria, 
a  conflict  and  even  a  war  with  which 
country  would  always  be  popular. 

Among  the  ether  peace  clauses, 
that  one  providing  for  the  abolition 


996 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  Bulgaria's  standing  army  has  been 
considered  a  blunder  by  all  versed  in 
Balkan  matters.  By  this  arrange- 
ment Bulgaria  was  rendered  defense- 
less and  exposed  to  both  local  and 
outside  dangers,  for  it  made  her  an 
easy  prey  to  greedy  neighbors,  whose 
appetites  at  present  have  grown 
keener  by  virtue  of  their  triple  and 
quadruple  territorial  enlargement,  as 
compared  with  Bulgaria.  The  coun- 
try was  thus  weakened,  and  offered 
a  great  temptation  to  political  and 
military  adventures  which  in  South- 
eastern Europe  pass  for  patriotic  ex- 
ploits. Premier  Stambolisky  repeat- 
edly entreated  the  Entente's  Supreme 
Council  to  modify  that  clause  of  the 
treaty  so  as  to  allow  Bulgaria  to 
retain  at  least  the  military  organiza- 
tion in  vogue  in  peace  time;  this,  he 
pleaded,  was  indispensable  not  only 
for  her  own  protection  at  home  and 
against  eventual  aggression  from 
without,  but  indirectly  to  Balkan  and 
European  peace.  The  great  powers, 
however,  showed  themselves  for  a 
long  time  deaf  to  his  words. 

Stambolisky  Faces  a  Crisis 

The  first  occasion  when  the  En- 
tente representatives  saw  the  serious 
mistake  of  the  measure  was  on  Dec. 
24,  1919,  when  the  extreme  Socialist 
or  Communist  Party,  aided  and  abet- 
ted by  Russian  Soviet  agents  shipped 
into  the  country  with  the  Russian 
refugees  who  were  fleeing  from 
Lenin's  terror,  almost  caused  the 
overthrow  of  the  Government  and 
the  intoduction  of  a  Bolshevist  form 
of  Government.  It  was  known  that 
money  and  even  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion had  been  supplied  to  the  Com- 
munists by  the  Russian  emissaries, 
and  that  night  drills  of  Communist 
bands  had  been  taking  place  in  the 
suburbs  of  Sofia  itself.  A  general 
strike  of  all  labor  organizations,  in- 
cluding the  postal  clerks  and  railroad 
hands,  was  to  herald  the  revolution 
which  was  to  usher  into  the  country 
a  Soviet  Government. 

The  situation  was  most  critical. 
Premier  Stambolisky  was  new  in  of- 


fice ;  his  Cabinet  was  composed  of  in- 
experienced village  schoolmasters  and 
peasant  farmers,  and  he  had  only  a 
shattered  military  force  for  defense; 
furthermore,  a  young  and  untried 
ruler  was  at  the  head  of  the  State. 
The  strike  was  boldly  proclaimed 
with  big  and  high  sounding  headlines 
printed  on  flaring  red  placards.  De- 
cember 24,  1919,  will  long  be  remem- 
bered by  Sof  ians.  People  had  no  con- 
fidence in  the  new  Govenment,  whose 
real  strength  and  effectiveness  were 
still  unknown.  No  grown-up  person 
laid  his  head  on  his  pillow  on  the  eve 
of  that  day.  The  Government  sent 
out  an  order  that  all  citizens  remain 
within  doors  under  pain  of  being  shot 
dead. 

Early  the  next  morning,  when  the 
phalanxes  of  the  working  masses 
commenced  marching  in  the  streets 
in  long  processions,  with  ugly  de- 
termination in  their  faces,  almost 
everybody  concluded  that  the  days 
of  the  Government  were  over  and 
that  Bolshevism  was  about  to  become 
supreme  in  the  country.  But  scarcely 
two  hours  had  elapsed  after  the  first 
shout  of  "Long  live  the  Commune!" 
was  heard,  when  something  miracu- 
lous happened.  Stambolisky,  the  idol 
of  the  peasant  folk,  the  intrepid 
leader  of  the  Agrarian  Party  and  the 
savior  of  the  country  after  the  army 
debacle  at  the  Macedonian  front  a 
year  before,  now  had  to  show  his 
mettle  once  again.  He  appeared  on 
the  balcony  of  the  Foreign  Ministry, 
and  in  a  clear  and  resolute  voice 
asked,  or  rather  ordered,  the  vast 
throng  to  disperse.  His  words  were 
drowned  by  fierce  cries  from  thou- 
sands of  throats.  At  that  moment 
there  dashed  from  all  sides  groups  of 
armed  men,  in  village  garb — it  was 
Stambolisky's  trusted  military  force 
— drafted  from  the  various  agrarian 
organizations  and  gotten  into  shape 
and  readiness  for  just  such  an 
emergency.  With  the  aid  of  the  local 
police  force  and  the  small  military 
garrison  the  Communists  were  sur- 
rounded. In  a  short  time  the  ring- 
leaders were  arrested,    the    throngs 


DEMOCRATIC  CZAR  AND  PEASANT  PREMIER 


997 


dispersed,  and  the  streets  cleared. 
By  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  capi- 
tal was  again  in  safe  hands,  and 
Stambolisky  was  absolute  master 
of  the  situation.  So  completely 
crushed  was  the  Bolshevist  at- 
tempt to  overthrow  the  Government 
that  most  of  the  shops  of  the  capi- 
tal were  opened  in  the  afternoon. 

What  the  result  would  have  been 
had  not  the  Premier  been  so  provi- 
dent and  fearless  is  easy  to  imagine. 
It  soon  became  patent  that  Lenin's 
agents  in  Rumania,  Jugoslavia, 
Greece,  Turkey  and  other  places  were 
planning  for  a  general  coup  in  the 
Balkans,  which  would  open  the  way 
to  the  Red  armies  of  Soviet  Russia. 
The  repeated  bomb  explosions  by  Bol- 
shevist adepts  in  the  capitals  of  the 
Balkan  States  were  in  harmony  with 
this  plan. 

To  all  foreign  diplomats  it  now  be- 
came plain  how  urgent  it  was  for  de- 
fenseless Bulgaria  to  be  provided  with 
an  adequate  military  force,  if  only 
for  the  protection  of  the  Entente's 
highways  in  the  centre  of  the  Balkans 
from  a  sudden  swoop  of  the  Red  army 
down  the  Danube  or  the  Black  Sea. 

By  this  exploit  Mr.  Stambolisky 
won  his  spurs  as  a  statesman.  Since 
that  date  the  Supreme  Council  has 
been  very  favorably  disposed  toward 
him.  His  cordial  reception  in  Eng- 
land, France  and  Italy  since  that  time 
is  clear  proof  of  that.  Thanks  to  the 
implicit  confidence  the  Governments 
of  these  three  great  nations  have  in 
the  Bulgarian  peasant  Premier,  Bul- 
garia's position  has  been  enormously 
strengthened,  not  only  abroad,  but 
also  at  home.  This  has  enhanced  the 
prestige  of  the  Agrarian  Government, 
rendered  the  crown  of  King  Boris 
more  stable  and  freed  the  people  from 
the  fear  of  foreign  invasion.  When 
Stambolisky  returned  from  his  so- 
called  "  hundred  day  "  tour  abroad, 
he  told  the  national  representatives 
at  the  assembly  the  truth  when  he 
said: 

Gentlemen,  I  am  glad  to  report  to  you 
that  during  my  visit  abroad  I  was  able  to 
win  to  Bulgaria  the  strongest  men  of  Eng- 
land,   France,    Italy    and    other    countries. 


We  have  broken  the  ring  of  calumnies, 
falsehood  and  intrigues  with  which  our 
unhappy  country  has  been  for  a  long  time 
blackened  and  stifled.  Once  more  we  have 
regained  the  confidence  of  the  great 
democracies  of  the  world.  Our  future  is 
guaranteed.  All  we  have  to  do  now  is  to 
set  to  work,  give  ourselves  to  honest  labor 
and  production.  In  this  lies  the  salvation 
of  our  land. 

"  Compulsory  Labor  " 

If  we  wished  to  sum  up  in  a  single 
word  the  program  of  the  Agrarian 
Government,  which  is  an  exceedingly 
complex  affair,  perhaps  the  most  com- 
plex in  the  history  of  the  country — 
no  other  Bulgarian  National  Assem- 
bly ever  dealt  with  so  many  bills — 
that  word  is  work,  work,  work,  which 
in  the  language  of  the  English  Pre- 
mier is,  produce,  produce,  produce. 
The  difference  between  the  two 
Prime  Ministers  in  this  respect  is  that 
the  British  Chief  is  unable  to  impose 
his  "  key  to  relieve  the  present  eco- 
nomic distress  in  England,"  while 
the  Bulgarian  leader,  as  soon  as  he 
took  the  reins  of  Government  in  his 
hands,  set  all  State  machinery  in  mo- 
tion for  the  promulgation  of  his  long- 
conceived  measures  for  making  his 
people  resume  work,  in  order  to  en- 
large the  labor  capacity  of  the  coun- 
try and  increase  production.  With 
this  main  idea  in  view  Premier  Stam- 
bolisky worked  out  his  now  world-fa- 
mous system  of  compulsory  labor 
service. 

When  his  project  was  made  public, 
it  was  received  with  jeers  and  scath- 
ing criticism  by  all  the  parties  of  the 
opposition,  on  the  ground  that  it  vio- 
lated the  Constitution  and  was 
against  the  traditional  spirit  of  the 
Bulgarian  people.  Bulgaria's  neigh- 
bors, too,  raised  a  hue  and  cry  on 
learning  of  it,  and  filed  repeated  pro- 
tests against  its  application,  arguing 
that  the  so-called  compulsory  labor 
service  was  but  a  disguise  for  the  old 
compulsory  military  service.  The 
International  Commission  stationed 
in  Sofia  was  instructed  to  investigate 
and  call  the  attention  of  the  Bulga- 
rian Government  to  the  suspicions  of 
the  Serbians,  Rumanians  and  Greeks. 


998 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Stambolisky,  with  his  wonted  imper- 
turbability, informed  the  members  of 
the  committee  and  formally  notified 
their  respective  Governments  that  his 
bill  had  no  other  but  a  cultural,  useful 
and  practical  aim  in  view,  and  that 
its  working  and  application  could  be 
watched  easily  and  controlled  by  the 
Entente  agents.  On  the  contrary,  he 
argued,  the  Entente  powers  should 
give  Bulgaria  the  greatest  encourage- 
ment for  the  realization  of  such  a  no- 
ble project,  and  to  her  efforts  to  in- 
crease general  productivity  in  the 
land  by  inducing  all  of  its  citizens  of 
both  sexes  to  contribute  their  per- 
sonal share  to  that  end.  The  argu- 
ments of  the  peasant  chief  were  so 
plausible  that  no  serious  opposition 
was  encountered  from  abroad. 

It  was  during  those  discussions  that 
Professor  Golder  of  Stanford  Univer- 
sity visited  Sofia,  where  he  remained 
for  a  week.  At  the  meeting  accorded 
him  in  the  Foreign  Ministry,  Premier 
Stambolisky,  questioned  on  the  sub- 
ject by  the  American  professor,  en- 
tered into  a  detailed  description  and 
analysis  of  the  bill,  speaking  of  it 
with  enthusiasm.     He  said  in  part: 

This  is  the  greatest  bill  ever  devised  by 
a  Parliament.  I  am  proud  that  small  Bul- 
garia initiated  it,  and  I  am  prouder  that 
it  originated  with  us,  the  Agrarians.  It 
is  the  greatest  measure  we  are  adopting 
to  raise  the  country  from  its  terrible 
economic  distress,  financial  bankruptcy  and 
national  demoralization.  Work — that  is  the 
panacea  for  our  frightfully  upset  state.  We 
have  been  called  to  account  by  some  of  our 
Entente  friends,  and  I  suspect  some  op- 
position to  its  application  in  certain  quar- 
ters at  home;  but  I  am  resolved  to  see  it 
through,  for  I  am  sure  no  good,  honest  and 
sensible  man  can  be  against  such  a  humane 
and  beneficial  program.  However,  should 
the  European  Governments  try  to  hinder 
us  in  its  realization,  then  we  shall  turn  to 
the  United  States,  yes,  to  working  America, 
for  redress. 

Labor  System  Effective 

Happily,  Premier  Stambolisky  had 
no  occasion  to  appeal  to  America.  His 
system  has  been  in  operation  now  for 
over  six  months,  though  the  bill 
passed  the  National  Assembly  on 
June  5,  1920.  The  keen  observer  of 
its  working,  no  matter  how  pessimis- 


tically inclined,  cannot  help  being  con- 
vinced of  the  great  results  thus  far 
obtained,  though  this  is  but  its  vir- 
gin trial.  The  Government  had  made 
practically  no  preliminary  prepara- 
tions for  its  application.  It  had  pro- 
vided no  trained  staff  of  supervisors 
and  teachers.  There  was  a  lack  of 
the  necessary  implements,  apparatus 
and  machinery  for  its  effective  opera- 
tion. There  existed  no  real  organiza- 
tion for  the  purpose.  But,  as  one  of 
the  Ministers  expressed  it,  "  All  we 
want  now  is  to  get  started.  We  are 
fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  all  the 
regular  Labor  Service  recruits,  to  the 
number  of  23,000  people,  and  all  those 
of  the  temporary  labor  service — a 
grand  total  of  600,000  people — could 
not  all  be  properly  employed  in  this 
first  trial." 

This  defect  was  most  clearly  seen 
during  the  School  Labor  Week,  when 
all  school  boys  and  girls  from  8  years 
up,  and  all  the  university  students  to 
the  number  of  6,000,  were  called  out 
to  perform  their  labor  obligation.  It 
was  plain  from  the  very  beginning 
that  it  was  a  physical  impossibility  to 
utilize  the  efforts  of  over  half  a  mil- 
lion youngsters  in  the  short  interval 
of  one  week  without  due  preparation 
in  advance.  Still,  taking  the  lowest 
average  of  their  usefulness  at  20  levs 
per  day  (the  ordinary  labor  wage  is 
100  levs  per  day),  that  would  yield 
some  ten  millions  of  levs  earned  per 
day,  or  some  hundred  millions  of  levs 
for  the  ten  days'  labor  done  for  the 
State,  the  district  or  the  commune, 
at  the  minimum. 

The  character  of  the  work  done 
varied  with  different  localities. 
Within  a  week  all  the  school  build- 
ings throughout  the  country  were 
cleaned  and  whitewashed,  the  win- 
dows washed,  the  premises  cleared, 
plots  dug,  trimmed  and  planted, 
school  apparatus  polished,  books  and 
pamphlets  sewed  or  bound,  and  many 
other  little  offices  performed.  The 
grown-up  pupils,  besides,  planted 
trees,  did  a  good  deal  of  digging  and 
excavation  work  under  the  super- 
vision of  their  classical  teachers,  and 


DEMOCRATIC  CZAR  AND  PEASANT  PREMIER 


999 


various  other  kinds  of  heavier  manual 
labor.  The  6,000  university  students, 
men  and  women,  did  almost  the  same 
kind  of  work,  only  more  effec- 
tively, as  their  younger  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  lower  grades.  Ex- 
tensive excavations  were  made  by 
them  with  far  better  results.  The 
girl  students  were  sent  to  hospitals 
to  help  in  mending,  sewing,  cleaning, 
&c. 

Throughout  the  country,  contrary 
to  expectations,  the  labor  week  was 
welcomed  with  enthusiasm,  songs 
and  merrymaking.  The  young  people 
took  pride  in  going  to  work  and  re- 
turning home  with  tools,  with  shovels 
and  brooms  on  their  shoulders,  and 
singing : 

We're  jolly,  jolly  trudovaks, 

We  gladly  help  our  Land 

With  picks  and  hoes  and  father's  axe, 

And  cheer  to  beat  the  band. 

Whatever  arguments  or  objec- 
tions there  might  be  brought  out 
against  the  system,  it  was  plain  to 
everybody  that,  at  the  worst,  it  was 
a  recreation  week  for  all;  many  of 
the  teachers  and  professors  admitted 
that  that  was  the  first  real  holiday 
respite  they  had  had  for  years.  It 
was  a  forced  rest  for  many  over- 
worked people,  for  scholar  and  mas- 
ter, apprentice,  clerk  or  official. 

The  regular  trudovaks  are  being 
called  in"  their  respective  districts, 
and  are  employed  in  the  repair  of 
public  buildings,  schools,  churches, 
&c,  that  were  injured  during  recent 
wars.  Parks,  highways,  village 
roads,  public  fountains  are  being  re- 
paired or  newly  made;  weeding  of 
vegetable  gardens  and  of  sown  fields 
is  done  by  large  gangs,  and  other 
urgent  work  is  being  performed  by 
the  labor  service  recruits.  Here  and 
there  some  grumbling  is  heard,  but  in 
general  the  allotted  task  is  being  ac- 
complished with  good  humor,  jokes 
and  songs.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  within  a  short  period  the  coun- 
try roads,  particularly  the  village 
communications,  were  repaired  and 
the  school  houses  put  in  order.  The 
country  folk  are  elated  over  the  fa- 


cilities rendered  them.  In  many 
places  the  trudovaks  have  of  their 
own  accord  prolonged  the  limit  of 
service  in  order  to  complete  the  work 
on  a  public  building  or  highway.  The 
villagers  would  often  remark,  "  It 
should  have  been  done  long  ago." 

This  is  the  brightest  feature  of  the 
internal  situation  in  Bulgaria.  The 
Bulgarian  is  proverbially  industrious 
and  thrifty.  Work  is  his  traditional 
heirloom.  Work  and  thrift  have  been 
extolled  by  Bulgarian  folksong  and 
sung  by  Bulgarian  poets  from  earli- 
est days.  One  of  the  well  known 
Bulgarian  proverbs  runs :  "  The  rea- 
son why  the  wolf's  neck  is  strong  is 
because  he  does  the  job  himself." 

The  Cabinet's  Mistakes 

Outside  of  this  useful  measure, 
however,  the  Agrarian  party  has 
done  very  little  to  be  proud  of.  The 
mistakes  and  blunders  the  present 
cabinet  has  made  are  many,  and  are 
mainly  due  to  lack  of  trained  and  ef- 
ficient men.  Its  greatest  mistake 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  tries  to  do 
all  things  by  men  from  its  own  or- 
ganization or  party — that  is,  mainly 
by  untrained  peasants.  Because  of 
this  shortsightedness  and  narrow- 
mindedness,  the  financial  and  eco- 
nomic problems  of  the  country  have 
been  badly  bungled  and  mismanaged. 
Legislation  has  done  enormous  in- 
jury both  to  local  and  foreign  trade. 
Excessive  taxation  on  capital  and 
real  estate,  and  indiscriminate  per- 
secution of  the  wealthy  by  favoring 
the  rural  class,  have  tended  to  drive 
capital  out  of  the  country  and  gold 
out  of  the  market.  Commerce  has 
been  hindered  rather  than  facilitated 
by  the  new  tariff  laws.  The  evil  re- 
sults from  narrow  partisan  enact- 
ments are  everywhere  in  evidence. 

In  the  course  of  a  year  the  value 
of  the  lev  has  dwindled  100  per  cent, 
and  that  in  a  land  richly  blessed  by 
Providence  with  a  highly  fertile  soil, 
rich  mineral  resources,  vast  forests — 
a  land  more  ideally  distributed  among 
its  inhabitants  than  any  other  in  the 


1000 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


world.  Its  tobacco  is  famous  all  over 
the  world,  while  its  rose  industry  is 
unique  upon  the  planet. 

The  Government  itself  has  seen  the 
evil  working  of  some  of  its  measures, 
and  is  already  taking  steps  to  remedy 
them.  It  is  abolishing  the  consortium, 
which  functioned  very  detrimentally 
to  the  country's  interests,  The  Bul- 
garian people,  properly  led,  can  ac- 
complish miracles.  And  the  Premier 
is  right  when  he  says  that  Bulgaria's 
greatness  lies  in  her  peace  achieve- 
ments  rather  than   in   her  military 


prowess.  In  cultural  progress  and 
achievement  she  can  successfully 
compete  with  her  older  neighbors. 
Her  Vasoff  is  the  greatest  poet  in 
Southeastern  Europe;  her  Morphova 
is  the  prima  donna  at  the  Prague 
Opera;  her  Raitcheff  was  a  leading 
star  at  the  Petrograd  Theatre  prior 
to  the  Bolshevist  regime,  her  Mich- 
ailoff  is  leading  portrait  painter  in 
Berlin,  her  Nikoloff  is  the  most  popu- 
lar sculptor  in  Rome.  The  high 
standard  of  education  prevailing  in 
Bulgaria  is  well  known. 


STATEMENT  FROM  THE  RUMANIAN  MINISTER 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

In  the  July  number  of  your  magazine 
Theodore  Vladimiroff  takes  issue  with 
my  article  on  "  Rumania  in  the  New 
Europe,"  published  in  Current  History  for 
May.  An  analysis  of  Mr.  Vladimiroff  s  as- 
sertions will,  by  divesting  them  of  their 
emotional  trappings,  reduce  them  to  the  fol- 
lowing statements  of  substantial  and  rele- 
vant fact: 

1.  That  conditions  in  Rumania  are  not 
perfect. 

2.  That  the  effort  of  the  Rumanian  Gov- 
ernment to  transform  the  land  system  of  the 
country  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
modern  democracy  does  not  accomplish  the 
desired  results  overnight. 

3.  That  Rumania,  while  granting  full 
political  and  civil  rights  to  all  native  resi- 
dents regardless  of  race  and  creed,  reserves 
the  right  to  regulate  the  naturalization  of 
immigrants. 

4.  That  the  Rumanian  press  is  allowed 
full  freedom  in  criticising  the  Rumanian 
Government. 

No  impartial  reader -of  Mr.  Vladimiroff  s 
letter  will  maintain  that  there  is  anything 
particularly  and  specifically  discreditable  to 
Rumania  in  these  charges.  Conditions  in 
Rumania,  exhausted  and  partly  devastated 
by  years  of  war  and  an  interlude  of  an  ex- 
ceptionally ruthless  foreign  domination,  fall 
short  of  an  ideal  standard;  but  in  that  re- 
spect, at  least,  Rumania  does  not  stand 
alone.  Only  a  hopelessly  hopeful  Utopian 
would  expect  that  a  system  of  landholding 
that  has  lived  through  many  centuries  can 
be  changed  overnight.  The  great  initial 
step  is  taken,  the  execution  of  the  law  is  in 
progress  and  the  Rumanian  land  reform  is 


an  instance  of  peaceful  evolution  toward  a 
fuller  democracy  that  may  serve  as  an  ex- 
ample to  other  nations.  After  all,  an  "  oli- 
garchy "  which  yields  up  its  established 
privilege  for  the  sake  of  justice  and  national 
betterment  is  doing  fairly  well  in  this  age 
of  class  bitter-endism.  As  to  the  regulation 
of  the  conditions  under  which  citizenship 
will  be  granted  to  immigrants,  Americans 
will  be  the  last  people  in  the  world  to  ques- 
tion the  right  of  any  State  to  do  so. 

It  is  plain  that  the  real  grievance  behind 
Mr.  Vladimiroff s  somewhat  heated  denun- 
ciations is  not  what  Rumania  is  today,  but 
what  she  did  in  1913.  In  that  year  Ru- 
mania interceded  in  behalf  of  Serbia  and 
Greece,  then  treacherously  attacked  by 
their  ally  Bulgaria,  and  decided  the  conflict 
in  the  former's  favor.  That  by  checking 
the  hypertrophied  ambition  of  Bulgaria,  Ru- 
mania rendered  a  service  to  Europe  has 
been  brought  home  rather  forcibly  by  Bul- 
garia's role  in  the  World  War. 

Possibly  Mr.  Vladimiroff  would  be  satis- 
fied by  a  readjustment  of  Southeastern  Eu- 
ropean frontiers  that  would  protect  the 
racial  minorities  of  Transylvania  by  turn- 
ing them  over  to  Bulgaria.  These  minori- 
ties, however,  might  be  less  enthusiastic 
after  consulting  the  Greeks  and  Serbs  of 
Macedonia,  who  are  acquainted  with  Bul- 
garian methods  at  close  range. 

ANTOINE  BIBESCO, 
Rumanian  Minister. 

Rumanian  Legation,  1,607  Twenty-third 
Street,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C,  Aug.  8, 
1921. 


JAPAN'S  HOSTILITY  TO 
FOREIGNERS 


By  Cecil  Battine 


Drastic  laws,  sternly  enforced,  limit  the  liberties  of  aliens  in 
Japan — California's  restrictions  mild  by  comparison — Chief 
points  of  difference  between  the  two  countries 

This  article  is  by  a  Major  of  the  British  Army  and  was  originally  written— at  greater 
length— for  the  Fortnightly  Review  of  London.  The  part  here  given  is  reproduced  by  special 
permission  of  the  American  publisher  of  the  Fortnightly  Review,  Barr  Ferree.  Major  Battine' s 
summary  of  Japanese  laws  against  foreigners— notably  the  fact  that  the  authorities  forbid 
immigration  of  laborers  from  China  and  Korea  "  because  it  degrades  their  own  labor  "—is  of 
especial   significance  as   bearing  upon   the  California   situation.— Editor  Current   History. 


EARLY  in  the  European  War  Ja- 
pan had  shown  a  disposition  to 
profit  by  the  troubles  of  the 
world.  Although  it  cannot  be  alleged 
that  her  rulers  failed  in  loyal  co-op- 
eration within  the  terms  of  their  com- 
mitment to  the  Allies,  yet,  in  fact,  the 
Japanese  Army  struck  but  one  blow, 
and  that  was  to  seize  the  German 
port  of  Kiao-chau  in  Shantung  for 
Japan.  There  was  a  considerable 
sympathy  for  Germany  even  when 
war  flamed  out,  which  increased 
through  1916  and  the  Spring  of  1917, 
and  which  found  expression  in  re- 
markably outspoken  press  campaigns, 
for  the  Japanese  press,  especially  in 
wartime,  is  well  under  the  control 
of  the  Cabinet.  From  1915  onward 
Japanese  diplomacy  strove  energet- 
ically to  obtain  preponderating  au- 
thority in  China,  where  revolution 
and  civil  war  gave  both  excuse  and 
occasion  for  intervention  while 
other  powers  were  preoccupied.  The 
Peace  Conference  in  Paris  achieved 
very  little  in  harmonizing  Japanese 
aims  with  the  policy  of  her  allies  in 
the  Far  East,  and  ever  since  military 
preparations  nave  been  pushed  for- 
ward on  a  scale  which  it  would  be 
futile  to  ignore. 

Twenty  years  ago  the  Japanese 
Army,  in  peace,  numbered  150,000  of 
all   ranks,   including   8,500   officers. 


After  the  Manchurian  War  the  estab- 
lishment was  raised  to  250,000,  and  it 
has  recently  been  augmented  to 
275,000  officers  and  men.  The  Japa- 
nese military  code  provides  for  seven 
years'  service  with  the  colors  and  the 
first  echelon  of  the  reserve,  and  ten 
years  in  the  second  line.  Thus  Japan 
will  soon  be  able  to  call  out  one  and 
a  half  million  field  troops  fully 
trained,  besides  considerable  trained 
reserves  of  older  men,  and  several 
classes  of  untrained  youths  in  case  of 
a  prolonged  war.  The  complementary 
and  auxiliary  services  of  the  army, 
which  is  reckoned  at  thirty-three 
field  divisions  in  peace,  are  organized 
on  a  liberal  scale  and  fitted  with  all 
the  latest  technical  improvements. 
In  proportion  to  its  resources,  no 
country  in  the  world  is  so  well  pre- 
pared to  wage  war  on  land  at  short 
notice  and  with  such  formidable  num- 
bers. The  Japanese  Navy  already  in- 
cludes ten  capital  ships  in  commis- 
sion, ninety  destroyers  and  forty  sub- 
marines, besides  other  less  important 
vessels.  These  ships  are  manned  by 
80,000  highly  trained  officers  and 
sailors.  In  construction,  or  planned, 
in  addition,  are  fifteen  capital  ships 
and  sixty  submarines. 

Among  the  three  or  four  questions 
which  are  pending  between  Japan 
and  the  United  States  are  those  of 


1002 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  Island  of  Yap,  the  Japanese  im- 
migration m  California,  the  evacua- 
tion of  Shantung,  and  the  open  door 
in  China.  The  interests  of  the  United 
States  differ  in  no  essential  particu- 
lar from  those  of  England,  France 
and  Belgium.  Belgium  is  interested 
in  the  open  door  in  China ;  France  is 
interested  in  the  question  of  the  open 
door  in  China  and  in  the  protection  of 
Indo-China;  and  Great  Britain  is  in- 
terested in  everything,  not  only  on 
her  own  account,  but  through  Can- 
ada, Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

The  question  of  Yap  is  entirely  a 
commercial  one.  It  is  merely  a  cable 
landing,  and  is  of  as  much  impor- 
tance to  the  Dutch  East  Indies  as  it 
is  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  a  desire  to 
keep  another  country  from  control- 
ling the  commercial  cable  to  the  detri- 
ment of  commercial  interests.  The 
same  interest  inspired  Germany  to 
lay  her  cables — to  be  independent  of 
possible  British  commercial  censor- 
ship. The  United  States  is  very  much 
in  earnest  about  the  Yap  question, 
and  it  is  not  so  much  strategic  and 
military  as  it  is  commercial.  The 
United  States  is  opposed  to  the  dis- 
memberment of  China,  and  interest- 
ed in  its  division  into  spheres  of  in- 
fluence. China  cannot  be  dominated 
by  Japan,  because  China  will  ulti- 
mately absorb  the  Japanese  if  they 
try.  China  is  on  the  map  to  stay, 
and  she  will  be  backed  by  the  United 
States  in  this  endeavor. 

Preparing  for  War 

Japan  is  feverishly  preparing  for 
war.  She  is  purchasing  war  material 
in  nearly  every  country  in  the  world. 
This  may  mean  very  much  or  very 
little.  For  instance,  she  may  wish 
to  have  on  hand  what  she  needs  be- 
fore the  proposition  comes  for  dis- 
armament. Or  she  may  wish  to  make 
herself  more  worth  while  for  Eng- 
land to  renew  the  Treaty  of  Alliance. 
Or  she  may  be  preparing  for  eventu- 
alities to  enable  her  to  satisfy  her  am- 
bitions in  Asia  through  being  strong 
enough  not  to  be  dictated  to,  should 


her  interests  require  that  her  policy 
run  counter  to  that  of  other  countries. 
Under  any  circumstances  Japan  is 
justified  in  strengthening  her  mili- 
tary position  without  aiming  at  any 
particular  country. 

The  question  of  the  Japanese  in 
California  is  really  only  a  side  issue. 
Australia,  Canada  and  New  Zealand 
are  much  more  firm  and  drastic  in 
their  exclusion  of  Japanese  than  the 
State  of  California.  Under  the 
American  form  of  government  forty- 
eight  States  are  federated  into  a 
union.  Each  State  makes  its  own 
laws  and  these  are  sometimes  in  con- 
flict with  those  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, in  which  case  they  are  an- 
nulled by  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
various  States  do  not  always  respect 
the  treaty  agreements  of  the  United 
States  in  laws  which  they  pass,  but 
they  ultimately  have  to  do  so.  This 
is  the  penalty  America  pays  for  local 
self-government.  To  show  how  little 
there  is  in  the  Japanese  contention 
about  discrimination  against  for- 
eigners, Baron  Goto  stated  that 
"  Japan  is  willing  to  put  a  further 
check  on  emigration  to  America  and 
is  willing  to  meet  America  more  than 
half  way  should  the  gradual  elimina- 
tion of  the  Japanese  population  be 
desired."  The  trouble  with  the  ques- 
tion is,  America  has  accepted  "  the 
gentlemen's  agreement "  to  restrict 
emigration  and  Japan  has  lived  up  to 
it,  but,  nevertheless,  the  Japanese 
population  of  California  has  increased 
from  30,000  to  nearly  100,000  in  the 
last  few  years  through  evasion  of 
both  the  good  intentions  of  the  United 
States  and  of  Japan.  California  is 
greatly  alarmed  and  some  solution 
must  be  arrived  at. 

Japanese  irritation  is,  perhaps,  ex- 
aggerated, as  any  one  who  is  familiar 
with  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the 
Japanese  on  all  foreigners  will  read- 
ily see.  This  is  important  on  account 
of  the  plea  of  "  racial  equality " 
which  the  Japanese  threatened  to 
make  at  the  Peace  Conference,  and 
will  continue  to  make  in  the  League 
of  Nations,  much  to  the  disturbance 


JAPAN'S  HOSTILITY  TO  FOREIGNERS 


1003 


of  Australia,  New  Zealand,  Canada, 
the  Dutch  East  indies,  and  French 
Indo-China,  however  much  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Holland  may  appear  to  be  in- 
different to  it.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  Japanese  discriminations 
against  all  foreigners: 

Laws  Against  Foreigners 

Foreign  labor  immigration  into 
Japan  is  forbidden  by  Imperial  Or- 
dinance No.  352,  dated  July  28,  1899 ; 
foreigners  cannot  own  land  in  Japan 
as  individuals ;  they  cannot  engage  in 
agriculture  in  Japan ;  they  cannot  sell 
either  fruits  or  vegetables  in  Japan 
if  they  raise  them ;  they  cannot  en- 
gage in  the  fishing  business  in  Japa- 
nese waters. 

Foreign  doctors  of  medicine  can- 
not engage  in  the  practice  of  their 
profession  except  in  missionary  hos- 
pitals (foreign  doctors  who  were 
practicing  medicine  in  Japan  before 
this  law  was  passed  are  excepted)  un- 
less they  pass  a  medical  examination 
in  the  Japanese  language,  both  writ- 
ten and  oral,  before  a  board  com- 
posed of  Japanese  doctors.  (This 
does  not  apply  to  foreign  dentists.) 
Quack  doctors,  dealers  in  charms, 
doctors  of  ancient  Chinese  medicine, 
are  numerous  in  Japan.  Foreigners 
cannot  become  owners  of  ships  flying 
the  Japanese  national  flag,  and  all 
executive  interest  they  can  attain  is 
subordinated  by  law  to  Japanese  con- 
trol. Foreigners  cannot  become 
shareholders  in  Japanese  national 
banks,  the  Bank  of  Japan,  or  the  ag- 
ricultural and  industrial  banks.  The 
articles  of  some  private  companies 
exclude  foreigners  from  membership. 
Foreigners  cannot,  as  individuals, 
engage  in  mining;  they  cannot  be- 
come members,  shareholders  or  brok- 
ers of  various  Exchanges  nor  mem- 
bers of  Japanese  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce; they  cannot  engage  in  the 
emigration  business,  either  as  indi- 
viduals or  as  shareholders  in  emigra- 
tion societies  or  companies ;  they  can- 
not hold  any  public  office  and  can- 


not become  members  of  the  Japanese 
bar. 

Foreigners  do  not  enjoy  the  fran- 
chise; foreign  commercial  juridical 
persons  are  recognized  by  law,  but 
private  non-commercial  corporate 
bodies  are  not,  except  in  virtue  of  a 
special  treaty  or  convention.  For- 
eign life  insurance  companies  can- 
not write  insurance  in  Japan  unless 
a  large  per  cent,  of  the  money  col- 
lected is  left  in  the  country.  The 
laws  of  Japan  also  permit  rebates  be- 
ing given  by  Japanese  steamship 
companies  on  all  goods  imported  or 
exported  by  Japanese  merchants. 
This  system  is  being  practiced  as  a 
means  to  undersell  foreign  merchants. 

The  real  issue,  however,  is  much 
deeper.  Japan  aims  at  a  Monroe 
Doctrine  which  shall  exclude  foreign 
powers  from  exercising  any  political 
control  in  the  Far  East.  At  the 
present  minute  she  feels  that  the 
United  States  stands  in  Ker  way, 
whereas  America  is  merely  standing 
for  the  open  door  and  against  the 
grab  game  which  is  going  on  in 
Europe  and  Africa,  and  which  Amer- 
ica feels  should  not  be  carried  on  in 
Asia.  America  would  willingly  join 
with  Japan  and  the  rest  of  the  world 
in  a  doctrine  of  League  of  Nations  in 
Asia,  but  not  for  the  exclusive  benefit 
of  Japan  in  exploiting  that  region. 
Japan  has  overflowed  into  Formosa, 
Korea,  Manchuria,  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  and  California,  under  the 
pretext  of  finding  room  for  her  over- 
crowded population,  which  is  increas- 
ing rapidly.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
the  Japanese  used  modern  methods 
of  cultivation  of  unproductive  lands 
on  hillsides  and  by  irrigation,  five- 
sixths  of  the  land  surface  of  the 
country  could  be  cultivated,  and  she 
could  support  from  three  to  four 
times  her  present  population.  For 
the  cost  of  a  couple  of  battleships  she 
could  reclaim  land  in  the  territory 
which  she  now  absolutely  controls  for 
her  surplus  population. 

Intense  hostility  to  all  foreigners 
is  now  evident  everywhere  in  Japan, 
but  it  is  being  very  carefully  cultivat- 
ed against  Americans.     This  irrita- 


1004 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


tion  has  the  effect  of  making  the 
Japanese  workmen  and  smaller 
merchants  forget  their  own  troubles, 
but  may  be  carried  too  far  by  in- 
flaming the  Oriental  mind  beyond 
control,  especially  if  some  sharp 
crisis  should  occur  in  the  relations  of 
Japan  and  America.  A  severe  eco- 
nomic crisis  in  Japan,  which  cannot 
be  averted  owing  to  overproduction 
and  the  general  readjustment  which 
is  going  on  in  the  world,  may  pro- 
duce so  much  unrest  in  the  Japanese 
population  that  a  war  might  easily 
be  a  diversion  from  local  troubles. 
The  policies  of  America  are  direct 
and  open.  America  asks  nothing  but 
the  right  to  trade  on  equal  terms 
without  having  to  suffer  from  the 
closing  of  legitimate  markets  by  ex- 
ploitation for  the  benefit  of  any  one 
country.  At  bottom,  Japan  really  re- 
sents the  attitude  of  America,  which 
is  that  of  a  policeman  trying  to  main- 
tain the  status  quo. 

Degrading  Japanese  Labor 

A  peculiar  part  of  Japan's  claim 
for  consideration  of  her  subjects  in 
California  is  that  Japan  herself  for- 
bids the  immigration  into  her  bor- 
ders of  Korean  and  Chinese  laborers 
because  it  degrades  her  own  labor. 
The  Japanese  claim  that  Korean  and 
Chinese  laborers  lower  the  standard 
of  living  for  the  Japanese,  but  they 
are  not  willing  to  concede  that  Japa- 
nese labor  does  the  same  thing  for 
American  labor.  As  a  matter  of  real 
fact,  the  serious  issue  between  Japan 
and  America  is  neither  the  immigra- 
tion question  in  California  nor  the 
Yap  cable  question.  The  funda- 
mental questions  lie  deeper.  The 
United  States,  in  her  policy  in  the 
Adriatic,  has  appeared  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  Italian  grab  game  in 
Dalmatia,  and  Japan  regards  it  that 
the  United  States  is  solely  responsible 
for  Japan's  not  being  able  to  work 
her  will  in  Asia  since  the  armistice. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  America  has 
been  hauling  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire 
for  all  the  Allies  as  against  any  one 
particular  ally,  and  is  managing  to 
interfere  with  the  selfish  interests  of 


each  ally  in  turn,  thereby  making 
herself  very  unpopular.  As  she  is 
not  herself,  however,  trying  to  grab 
anything,  and  is  not  looking  for  com- 
pensations, it  may  be  that  in  time  the 
Allies  will  recognize  America's  rela- 
tive disinterestedness. 

The  Japanese  have,  of  course,  their 
side  to  the  question.  Without  deny- 
ing altogether  the  generous  and 
magnanimous  motives  of  American 
foreign  policy,  they  assert  and  point 
to  modern  instances  to  confirm  their 
contention  that  the  American  Gov- 
ernment, like  that  of  other  democra- 
cies, is  subject  to  pressure  of  public 
opinion,  capable  of  being  aroused  by 
press  propaganda,  by  incorrect  ap- 
preciation of  the  facts,  and  by  inter- 
ested parties.  Washington  has  been 
known  to  act  in  an  extemely  high- 
handed, not  to  say  incorrect,  manner 
under  the  pressure  of  electioneering 
exigency.  The  fact  that  America  at 
this  moment  is  the  base  and  arsenal 
of  the  Sinn  Fein  party  in  Ireland  i? 
assuredly  not  overlooked  in  Japan. 
The  Japanese  claim  as  much  right  to 
a  predominant  position  on  the  Asiatic 
shores  of  the  North  Pacific  as  the 
Americans  claim  on  their  side  of 
that  ocean.  As  a  military  power 
ruled  by  aristocracy,  there  is  unques- 
tionably latent  distrust  of  the  United 
States  system  of  government,  not 
unmingled  with  the  feeling  that  the 
Japanese  should  gain  something 
from  their  patriotic  sacrifices,  even 
though  American  citizens  shrink 
from  that  view.  No  doubt  the  Japa- 
nese also  greatly  underrate  both  the 
military  power,  economic  strength 
and  patriotism  of  the  rival  nation. 
Unquestionably,  too,  the  floods  of 
oratory  which  proclaimed  the  "  pass- 
ing of  the  trident "  from  British  to 
American  hands,  the  organization  of 
an  American  navy  "  second  to  none 
in  the  world,"  have  given  birth  to  an 
idea  that,  if  a  war  is  to  be  expected, 
it  had  better  come  soon,  while  Amer- 
ica is  relatively  war  weary  and  Ja- 
pan fresh,  and  while  American  prep- 
arations are  still  inadequate  to  the 
task.  Doubtless  the  exposed  condi- 
tion of  American  possessions  within 
easy  reach  of  Japan  is  a  temptation 


JAPAN'S  HOSTILITY  TO  FOREIGNERS 


1005 


to  bring  about  an  early  settlement 
of  international  differences. 

Certainly  there  are  moderating  and 
even  pacifist  influences  at  work  in 
Japan,  and  the  former  include  the 
most  capable  and  influential  of  her 
statesmen,   but  the  strength  of  the 


militant  party  cannot  be  ignored, 
and  events  might  play  into  its  hands, 
as  in  Europe,  1914,  if  diplomacy  were 
mishandled,  or  if  unexpected  events 
suddenly  roused  national  jealousies 
and  passion.  Forewarned  is  fore- 
armed in  such  cases. 


WHAT  BROKE  RUSSIA 
TO  PIECES 

By  John  Spargo 

Evidence  showing  that  all  the  small  States  which  have  split  off 
from  Russia  did  so  only  because  they  were  forced  to  it  by  Bolshevist 
misrule — Under  the  original  and  valid  revolution  they  all  ex- 
pressed a  desire  for  close  federal  union 


IT  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  as  so 
many  writers  upon  this  phase  of 

the  Russian  revolution  have  done, 
that  the  propaganda  of  separatism 
among  the  various  nationalities  of 
Russia  carried  on  through  the  Sum- 
mer of  1917  by  the  Bolsheviki,  and 
their  propaganda  of  desertion  and  re- 
volt among  the  soldiers,  had  no  other 
motive  than  bringing  the  war  to  an 
end ;  that  they  were  extreme  pacifists 
and  haters  of  war  to  whom  any  means 
of  compelling  Russia  to  abandon  the 
war  and  to  make  peace  seemed  justi- 
fiable. 

When  it  suited  their  purpose,  the 
Bolsheviki  were  always  ready  to  de- 
nounce as  a  libel  the  charge  that  they 
wanted  anything  of  the  kind.  We 
must  therefore  regard  both  forms  of 
propaganda  as  sabotage,  having  for 
its  aim  the  destruction  and  overthrow 
of  the  Provisional  Government,  and 
as  part  of  the  same  comprehensive 
policy  which  led  the  Bolsheviki  to 
propagate  sabotage  in  the  factories 
and  upon  the  railroads  at  the  same 
time.     Their  aim  was  to  cripple  the 


democratic  Revolutionary  Govern- 
ment at  every  point,  even  though 
they  were  perfectly  well  aware  that 
in  so  doing  they  were  incurring  the 
risk  of  destroying  the  machinery,  po- 
litical and  economic,  upon  which  they 
would  have  to  rely  when  they  seized 
the  reins  of  government,  as  they  all 
along  intended  to  do. 

Kerensky  realized  this,  as  he  after- 
ward told  the  present  writer,  and  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  defeating  the 
saboteurs.  The  conferences  of  work- 
ers convened  to  consider  the  serious- 
ness of  the  decline  in  production  had 
this  ultimate  object  in  view.  At  the 
great  national  conference  held  in 
Moscow  in  August  the  position  of  the 
various  nationalities  in  Russia  and 
their  relation  to  Great  Russia  under 
the  new  condition  brought  about  by 
the  revolution  were  also  thoroughly 
discussed.  At  that  important  gath- 
ering it  was  made  manifest  that  there 
was  no  considerable  demand  for 
separation  from  Russia  in  any  of  the 
border  provinces   from  the  Gulf  of 


1006 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Finland  to  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
Sea. 

The  representatives  of  Esthonia, 
Latvia,  Ukrainia,  White  Russia,  Geor- 
gia and  other  Transcaucasian  dis- 
tricts testified,  with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion, that  what  they  wanted  was  not 
separation  from  Russia,  but  a  gen- 
erous autonomy  in  a  federative  Rus- 
sian Republic.  The  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment had  provided  for  the  spokes- 
men of  the  various  nationalities  a 
free  and  open  platform  for  the  expo- 
sition of  their  views.  In  the  absence 
of  any  evidence  of  a  boycott  of  the 
conference  by  influential  political 
groups,  surely  the  views  expressed 
at  the  conference  must  be  taken  as 
authentic  interpretations  of  the  pre- 
vailing opinion.  It  is  well  worth 
while  to  take  note  of  some  of  the 
declarations  made  at  the  conference. 

Speaking  for  the  Mussulman  rep- 
resentatives, Toptchibashev,  in  an  ad- 
dress of  great  eloquence  and  power, 
declared  that  the  Mussulmans  would 
give  full  and  unqualified  support  to 
the  Provisional  Government,  "al- 
though we  are  not  yet  everywhere 
recognized  as  full-fledged  citizens." 
Answering  the  direct  questions  sub- 
mitted by  Kerensky  to  the  non-Rus- 
sian nationalities,  he  said  that  the 
Mussulmans  were  "at  one  time  with 
revolutionary  democracy,"  and  that 
they  stood  for  the  revolutionary  pro- 
gram of  peace  without  annexations 
or  contributions,  on  a  basis  of  self- 
determination  of  nationalities,  add- 
ing: "In  the  Constituent  Assembly 
the  Mussulmans  will  defend  the  prin- 
ciple of  Federalism  for  the  border 
lands.  For  the  present  the  Mussul- 
mans deem  it  necessary  to  inaugu- 
rate national  and  cultural  home 
rule." 

At  the  same  conference,  Tcheidze, 
the  Georgian  Socialist,  read  a  declara- 
tion of  principles  pledging  loyalty  to 
the  Provisional  Government  and  to 
the  Russian  revolution.  He  was  sup- 
ported by  Tchkhenkelli,  another 
Georgian  representative,  who  said: 
"The  nations  of  Transcaucasia  have 


never  made  a  single  move  toward  se- 
cession, nor  do  they  contemplate  any 
in  the  future."  He  supported,  on  be- 
half of  the  Georgians,  the  following 
program,  submitted  by  Tcheidze: 

On  the  national  question,  the  Provisional 
Government  must  issue  a  declaration  recog- 
nizing the  full  right  to  self-determination 
for  all  nationalities,  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
people's  Constituent  Assembly.  We  must 
issue  a  decree  granting  equal  rights  to  the 
non-Russian  nationalities  in  the  use  of  their 
own  languages,  and  extend  civil  and  politi- 
cal rights  to  schools,  to  the  courts,  and  so 
on.  We  must  form  a  council  to  deal  with 
national  problems,  in  which  the  representa- 
tives of  all  the  nationalities  of  Russia  will 
participate. 

Sentiment  in  Baltic  States 

On  behalf  of  the  Letts,  Zahlit  said 
that  the  Lettish  people  were  ready 
to  make  any  necessary  sacrifice  to 
maintain  liberty,  "upholding  the  Pro- 
visional Government  in  all  its  demo- 
cratic undertakings  without  any 
superflous  discussion."  He  further 
declared :  "Not  only  do  the  Letts  not 
desire  to  secede  from  Russia,  but  they 
do  not  even  care  to  have  any  border 
line  between  the  two  territories.  The 
Letts  strive  to  unite  the  territory  in- 
habited by  them,  which  they  regard 
as  an  autonomous  part  of  the  whole." 
On  behalf  of  the  Esthonians,  Piip 
declared  that  "it  has  always  bsen  the 
fondest  dream  of  the  Esthonians  that 
Esthonia  become  autonomous,  united 
to  all  Russia  by  federation.  The  ful- 
fillment of  this  hope  is  what  Er/thoni- 
ans  expect  from  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly." 

The  spokesman  of  the  Lithuanians, 
Yarnushkevitch,  endorsed  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  the  representatives  of 
the  Georgians,  the  Mussulmans,  the 
Letts  and  the  Esthonians.  In  this 
he  was  acting  in  strict  harmony  with 
the  well-established  policies  and  pro- 
grams of  the  principal  Democratic 
and  Socialist  Parties  of  Lithuania,  in- 
fluenced by  the  strength  of  the  revo- 
lutionary movement  in  Russia  in 
1905.  There  was,  for  example,  a 
great  national  Lithuanian  congress  at 
Vilna,  in  November,  1905,  which  was 


WHAT  BROKE  RUSSIA   TO  PIECES 


1007 


attended  by  more  than  2,000  dele- 
gates. This  congress,  by  an  enormous 
majority,  voted  for  Lithuanian  au- 
tonomy within  a  federative  Russian 
union.  At  about  the  same  time,  or 
shortly  thereafter,  the  Democratic 
Party  of  Lithuania  adopted  a  demand, 
not  for  separation  from  Russia,  but 
for  "large  democratic  autonomy" 
within  the  Russian  Empire.  The 
party,  in  order  the  better  to  renounce 
any  suggestion  of  separatism, 
changed  its  name  to  the  Party  of 
Democratic  Lithuanians.  In  1905  the 
Lithuanian  Social  Democratic  Party 
abandoned  its  demand  for  a  Lithua- 
nian Constitutent  Assembly,  and 
adopted  in  place  of  it  a  demand  for 
an  all-Russian  Constituent  Assembly. 
In  1907  it  joined  with  the  Russian 
Social  Democratic  Party.  A  very 
similar  movement  took  place  among 
the  Lettish  Democrats  and  Socialists. 
The  former  declared  that  for  them  to 
"separate  themselves  from  Russia 
would  be  equivalent  to  suicide," 
while  the  latter  denounced  separatism 
as  the  reactionary  tendency  of  the 
barons  and  the  clericals.  Finally,  the 
Ukrainian  Social  Democrats  specific- 
ally repudiated  holding  separatist 
aims,  contending  that  culturally  and 
economically  the  Ukraine  was  welded 
to  Russia. 

Such  facts  as  the  foregoing,  which 
are  entirely  typical  of  a  great  mass 
of  easily  accessible  evidence,  afford 
the  best  possible  answer  to  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  pro-Russian  speeches 
delivered  at  the  Moscow  conference 
of  1917  were  part  of  an  "inspired" 
propaganda.  That  could  not  be 
alleged  of  the  acts  of  the  Lithuanian 
and  Lettish  political  parties  already 
cited.  Nor  could  it  be  reasonably 
alleged  of  the  strong  desire  for  unity 
with  Great  Russia  expressed  at  the 
sessions  of  the  Esthonian  Council, 
which  was  convened  in  July,  1917,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  the  local 
Government  of  Esthonia  upon  the 
basis  of  full  Esthonian  autonomy,  in 
accordance  with  the  decision  of  the 
Provisional  Government.  There  was 
an  absolute  absence  of  anything  like 


separatism  in  that  national  repre- 
sentative body  of  Esthonians. 

It  may  then  be  accepted  as  an  in- 
contestable fact  that  prior  to  the  Bol- 
shevist counter-revolution,  despite  the 
labored  efforts  of  German  and  Aus- 
trian military  agents  and  Bolshevist 
agitators,  there  was  very  little  desire 
for  separation  from  Russia  in  any  of 
the  border  provinces.  Throughout 
the  period  of  the  regime  of  the  Pro- 
visional Government,  representatives 
of  all  the  nationalities  were  loyally 
working  with  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment toward  the  ideal  of  a  federal 
State. 

In  September,  1917,  a  conference 
of  representatives  of  various  national- 
ities in  Russia  was  held  at  Kiev. 
That  conference  was  presided  over  by 
Professor  Grushevsky,  one  of  the 
most  radical  of  the  Ukrainian  Nation- 
alists. It  was  attended  by  delega- 
tions of  Esthonians,  Letts,  Lithua- 
nians, Jews,  Ukrainians,  Cossacks, 
Georgians  and  Tartars.  Its  demand 
as  ultimately  formulated  was: 

Russia  must  become  a  democratic  Federal 
Republic.  There  must  be  formed  a  council 
of  representatives  of  nationalities  which  is 
to  co-operate  with  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment. The  Russian  delegation  to  the  future 
Conference  of  Peace  should  include  repre- 
sentatives of  such  nationalities  whose  inter- 
ests are  immediately  involved  in  questions 
to  be  decided  by  the  conference.  The  Rus- 
sian Army  is  to  be  reorganized  in  the  form 
of  national  units.  National  legislatures  are 
to  be  convoked  in  order  to  establish  the 
mutual  relations  between  the  members  of 
the  Federation  and  the  Federal  organs. 

Federation  Under  Soviets 

Even  after  the  Bolshevist  coup 
d'etat  there  was  for  some  time  no 
perceptible  movement  among  the  bor- 
der peoples  looking  to  separation 
from  Russia.  Two  weeks  after  that 
event,  in  its  declaration  of  Nov.  20, 
1917,  the  Ukrainian  Rada  pro- 
claimed that  its  purpose  was  to  re- 
main united  with  Russia.  The  dec- 
laration said: 

And  we,  the  Ukrainian  Central  Rada,  by 
your  will,  for  the  sake  of  creating  order  in 
our  country,  and  for  the  sake  of  saving  the 
whole  of  Russia,  announce  that  henceforth 


1008 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  Ukraine  becomes  the  Ukrainian  Na- 
tional Republic.  Without  separating  from 
the  Russian  Republic,  we  take  our  stand 
firmly  on  our  lands,  that  with  our  strength 
we  may  hold  the  whole  of  Russia  and  that 
the  whole  Russian  Republic  may  become  a 
federation  of  free  and  equal  peoples. 
*  *  *  Having  authority  and  power  in 
our  native  land,  we  will  defend  the  rights 
won  by  the  revolution,  not  only  in  our  own 
lands,  but  in  all  Russia  as  well. 

These  quotations  make  it  clear 
that  the  Ukrainians  were  not  contem- 
plating separation  and  complete  inde- 
pendence from  Russia  when  they  set 
up  their  republic,  but  national  au- 
tonomy within  a  federative  Russian 
Republic.  They  were,  in  the  first 
place,  emancipating  themselves  from 
the  rule  of  the  Bolsheviki  and  estab- 
lishing a  sort  of  disinfected  and  quar- 
antined area.  In  the  second  place, 
they  were  giving  form  and  reality  to 
the  old  ideal  of  cultural,  political  and 
administrative  autonomy,  creating  a 
sovereign  State  to  be  a  member  of  a 
Federal  Union  of  States  like  our  own. 

Immediately  after  the  elections  to 
the  Constituent  Assembly  were  held, 
at  the  end  of  1917,  while  the  Bolshe- 
viki were  in  control  of  the  govern- 
mental machinery,  a  commission  of 
elected  members  was  created  to  form- 
ulate the  fundamental  constitutional 
laws  to  be  submitted  to  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly.  Among  the  most 
active  and  influential  members  of  the 
commission  were  Mr.  Poska,  who 
later  became  the  Esthonian  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Professor 
Avaloff,  who  was  subsequently  Min- 
ister to  France  from  Georgia.  The 
commission  agreed  upon  the  follow- 
ing formula,  which  was  presented  to 
the  first  and  only  meeting  of  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  on  Jan.  18,  1918: 
"  The  Russian  State  is  hereby  pro- 
claimed to  be  a  Russian  democratic 
Federal  Republic  which  unites  in  in- 
soluble union  peoples  and  territories 
which  are  to  be  sovereign  within  lim- 
its established  by  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution." 

The  manner  in  which  the  so-called 
Independent  State  of  Transcaucasia 


was  brought  into  existence  and  the 
attitude  of  the  local  population  upon 
the  question  of  separation  merit  our 
attention.  At  the  Trebizond  Confer- 
ence, in  March,  1918,  Turkey — un- 
doubtedly acting  as  Germany's  vas- 
sal— demanded  recognition  of  the 
Brest-Litovsk  treaty  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  Transcaucasia  as  an  inde- 
pendent State.  The  people  of  Trans- 
caucasia had  no  choice  in  the  matter 
at  all.  There  were  no  Russian  bayo- 
nets to  protect  them  against  Turkey. 
Two  weeks  before  the  Trebizond 
Conference  the  whole  matter  was 
thrashed  out  in  the  Seim,  the  Trans- 
caucasian  Parliament.  Out  of  112 
delegates  in  this  popular  representa- 
tive body,  106  voted  for  unity  with 
Russia  in  a  federative  republic,  and 
there  was  only  one  vote  for  the  com- 
plete independence  of  Transcaucasia. 
The  members  of  the  Seim  were  di- 
vided into  representatives  of  politi- 
cal parties  and  representatives  of  the 
three  non-partisan  nationalist  groups. 
The  representatives  of  all  the  politi- 
cal parties  and  groups  voted  unani- 
mously for  unity  with  Russia.  The 
representatives  of  the  three  national- 
ist groups — Mussulmans,  Armenians 
and  Georgians — with  the  exception  of 
one  member  of  the  Georgian  group, 
voted  unanimously  for  the  same  reso- 
lution. It  is  quite  evident  that  sep- 
aration was  forced  upon  Transcau- 
casia. M.  Jordania,  one  of  the  Geor- 
gian Deputies,  explained  that  al- 
though the  Georgians  would  prefer 
autonomy  within  a  federated  Russian 
republic  to  complete  independence, 
they  would  prefer  the  latter  to  union 
with  Turkey,  either  with  autonomy 
or  without  it.  "If  we  only  had  a  choice 
left  between  secession  and  federation, 
we  would  be  in  favor  of  federation," 
he  declared.  On  behalf  of  the  Mus- 
sulmans, Khan  Khoysky  asserted 
that  the  question  of  separation  and 
independence  never  existed  for  the 
people  of  Transcaucasia  until  the  Bol- 
sheviki, by  their  destruction  of  Rus- 
sian democracy,  made  isolation  inev- 
itable. Another  Moslem  Deputy,  M. 
Agaiev,  declared :  "  There  is  no  other 


WHAT  BROKE  RUSSIA   TO  PIECES 


1009 


way  for  the  restoration  of  a  Russia 
of  free  peoples  except  federation." 

The  authentic  representatives  of 
the  Russian  nationalities  made  it  per- 
fectly plain  that  there  was  no  great 
desire  for  separation  from  Russia, 
either  in  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  war,  during  the  war  itself, 
or  after  the  revolution  of  March,  1917. 
There  was  among  the  Letts,  the 
Esthonians,  the  Lithuanians,  the 
White  Russians,  the  Georgians,  the 
Rumanians,  the  Cossacks  and  the  Tar- 
tars a  pronounced  desire  for  auton- 
omy, and  that  desire  was  favored  by 
the  great  majority  of  Russian  Demo- 


crats and  naturally  became  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  policy  of  revo- 
lutionary Russia. 

The  conclusion  is  unavoidable.  No 
political  party  or  representative  body 
that  can  be  regarded  as  an  authentic 
exponent  of  any  one  of  the  nationali- 
ties occupying  the  border  provinces  of 
Russia  ever  demanded  separation 
from  Russia  until  the  cumulative 
evils  of  the  Bolshevist  regime  drove 
them  to  it.  On  the  other  hand,  every 
such  party  and  representative  body, 
without  exception,  demanded  a  great 
federative  ail-Russian  republic,  with 
complete  autonomy  for  the  compon- 
ent parts. 


GERMANY'S  STRIDES  IN  AVIATION 


GERMANY,  one  of  the  foremost  nations 
of  the  world  today  in  respect  to  aerial 
development,  has  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  to  publish  an  aerial  Bradshaw — a  sub- 
stantial pamphlet  of  nearly  a  hundred 
pages — filled  with  aerial  time-tables  as 
definite  as  those  of  any  railway  guide. 
There  are  fourteen  pages  of  regular  daily 
departures  and  arrivals  at  towns  within 
Germany.  It  is  impressive  to  see  the  rows 
of  figures  giving  the  schedules,  when  one 
realizes  that  these  are  for  the  trackless 
deserts  of  the  air.  The  long-distance  ser- 
vices, by  arrangement  with  the  various  sur- 
rounding countries,  extend  to  Amsterdam, 
Brussels,  Paris  and  London,  on  the  west; 
to  Copenhagen  on  the  north ;  to  Prague  and 
Warsaw,  on  the  east,  and  to  the  lost  Ger- 


man territories  of  Memel  and  Danzig  on  the 
northeast.  Airplanes  loaded  with  German 
newspapers  leave  Berlin  every  morning  for 
these  former  dominions,  which  it  is  Ger- 
many's intention  to  keep  constantly  in 
touch  with  Deutschtum.  Hydroplanes  serve 
the  same  purpose  for  Schleswig.  These 
planes  are  waiting  at  Hamburg  for  the 
train  deliveries,  and  immediately  after  the 
mail  is  transferred  they  leave  for  the  Island 
of  Sylt,  off  the  coast  of  Schleswig,  the  resi- 
dents of  which  can  thus  read  the  opinions  of 
their  German  compatriots  at  home  on  the 
issues  of  the  day.  Among  the  advertise- 
ments in  the  aerial  Bradshaw  is  one  in 
which  the  Hamburg-American  Line  offers 
to  send  passengers  or  goods  to  any  town  in 
Germany. 


NORTH   SEA 


lOPENHAOeH 


hMEnet 


_  wAMCtBO.00" 


'&AHZIG  ,,)  Sj 

=§fhaTTCR«>Ar'\         rJ^x^/X  V     ^  ^^  > 


"PRAGUE 


PARIS 

F  RANC E 


bTRASSBlWG 


C2£( 


J 
I 1 .         j,'        *v» 


*<*,\ 


*+o       ^ 


BLACK  LINES  CON- 
NECTING VARIOUS 
CITIES  SHOW 
WHERE  THE  GER- 
MANS ARE  RUN- 
NING FREIGHT 
AND  PASSENGER 
AIRPLANES  WITH 
THE  SAME  REGU- 
LARITY AS  RAIL- 
WAY   TRAINS 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[Dutch   Cartoon] 

DISARMAMENT 


— De  Notenkraker,  Amsterdam 

Uncle  Sam  :  "  Do  you  also  find  it  a  bit  too  heavy?  Well,  let  us  see 
if  we  can  both  unload   some." 

A  thrill  of  hope  was  felt  by  a  burdened  world,  when  it  was  announced 
on  July  10  that  President  Harding  had  sent  out  a  call  to  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy  and  Japan  to  join  a  conference  on  disarmament.  The  invitation 
elicited  prompt  and  enthusiastic  acceptances  from  the  first  three  nations 
named,  and  a  little  later  Japan  also  accepted,  although  with  qualifications. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


10il 


[American 

Cartoon] 

FLOOD 
NEWS 

—New    York 
Evening  Mail 


The  decline 
in  the  cost  of 
living,  which 
began  in  1920, 
has  thus  far 
restored  the 
American  dol- 
lar to  two- 
thirds  of  its 
pre-war  value. 


[American 

Cartoon] 

What  makes 

more  noise  than 

a  pig  under  a 

gate? 

— St.   Louis  Post- 
Dispatch 


The  public  espe- 
cially resents  the 
tendency  of  retail- 
ers to  go  on  profit- 
eering after  whole- 
sale prices  have  de- 
clined somewhat. 


1012 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


A  RACE  FOR  HIS  LIFE 


— New    York   Evening   Mail 

Added  to  the  other  horrors  in  Russia  under  Soviet  rule  is  that  of  famine, 
which  is  afflicting  the  sorely  tried  people  to  an  extent  unknown  in  modern 
times,  except  perhaps  in  China.  Appalling  stories  are  told  of  the  population 
in  nine  or  ten  provinces  leaving  their  homes  in  a  panic-stricken  exodus  west- 
ward, driven  by  the  terror  of  starvation  and  also  by  the  fear  of  Divine 
vengeance  upon  the  country  for  the  sins  and  atheism  of  the  present  rulers. 
The  famine  has  affected  upward  of  20,000,000  people.  What  is  now  hap- 
pening in  Central  Russia  is  said  to  be  a  repetition  on  a  gigantic  scale  of  the 
flight  of  the  French  peasant  population  before  the  German  invaders.  The 
roads  leading  westward  are  crowded  with  miserable  fugitives,  whose  wagons 
are  piled  high  with  household  goods,  children  and  the  aged,  drawn  by  skeleton 
horses  and  oxen  with  bones  showing  through  their  skins.  Beneath  a  sky  of 
steel  gray  the  fields  are  parched  and  the  wheat  withered  on  its  stalk.  Sinee 
March  no  rain  has  fallen. 

Maxim  Gorky,  the  eminent  Russian  writer,  has  appealed  for  help  to  Secre- 
tary Hoover,  United  States  Secretary  of  Commerce,  who  has  promised  aid 
from  charitable  organizations,  but  has  made  a  condition  that  all  American 
prisoners  in  Russia  be  first  released.  Offers  of  help  are  also  pouring  in 
from  other  sources. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1013 


[American  Cartoon] 

OVER  THE  BACK  FENCE 


/^ 


I    BORROW  eNOVJ^H^V 

tide   us  oven  'till  iay  A 

OOfcN  cexs    WORKIhl*    MMNfl 


—Rochester   Democrat   and   Chronicle 

The  lethargy  that  afflicted  most  of  the  European  nations  following  the 
war  has  largely  disappeared  and  the  "  will  to  work  "  is  more  in  evidence. 
But  raw  materials  are  necessary  to  set  their  industries  going  again,  and  the 
chief  source  from  which  these  can  be  obtained  is  America. 


1014 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 


THE  BANYAN  TREE 


T^r— 


— Bar,    Francisco    Chronicle 

The  recent  expansion  of  Japan  has  been  remarkable.  Korea  is  under 
her  control,  China  under  her  influence,  parts  of  Manchuria  and  Russia  occu- 
pied by  her  troops.  Yap  under  her  mandate,  and  her  "  peaceful  penetration  " 
is  noted  in  Hawaii  and  California. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1015 


[German   Cartoon] 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 


K-v-rir5 


, I 


—Kladderadatscli,    Berlin 

America:     "  Pardon,  my  friends,  you  will  crush  the  man  to  death." 
France  and  England:     "  Just  so.    That's  the  idea." 


101C 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[German  Cartoon] 

THE  ENDLESS  REPARATION  TASK 


—Simplicissimus,  Munich 

"  I  can't  see  the  sun  for  Damocles'  swords.    Never  mind,  I  shall  be  able 
to  work  all  the  better  in  the  shadow." 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1017 


[American 

Cartoon] 

Tails  That 

Wag 

the  Dog 

— St.   Louiis  Star 


The  conference 
of  Dominion  Pre- 
miers in  London 
has  had  a  marked 
influence  on  the 
policies  of  the 
empire.  This  was 
evidenced  by  the 
postponement  of 
the  renewal  of  the 
Anglo  -  Japanese 
Treaty,  and  by 
the  part  play<  I 
by  Premier  Smuts 
of  South  Africa 
in  bringing  about 
the  conference 
between  Lloyd 
George  and  de 
Valera. 


[English  Cartoon] 

Left  Waiting  at  the  Church 

[Apropos    of   the   British   Labor   Party's   refusal    to    endorse    Bolshevism] 


vmmm^^m 


A  MARRIA6E 

WILL  BE 
SOLEMNISED 


Sunday   Chronicle,   Manchester 


1018 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[English  Cartoon] 

German  "  Justice  " 

Suggestion  for  a  new  statue  at  Leipzig 


—Passing  Show,  London 


[American  Cartoon] 

Vite-voshed ! 

— ©    Philadelphia   Inquirer 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1019 


[Dutch  Cartoon] 

America  Makes  Peace  With  Germany 


-De   Amsterdammer,   Amsterdam 
Ger mania:     "What  does  peace  cost  me?" 
Uncle  Sam  :     "  Nothing." 
Chorus  of  Other  Powers:    "  He's  dotty!  " 

[American  Cartoon] 


BUT     IT 
hasn't  Any 
TEETH  !( 


—Sioux  City   Tribune 
Uncle  Sam  looks  his  gift  horse  in  the  mouth. 


1020 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American  Cartoon] 
The  New  Poet 


[American  Cartoon] 
The  Great  Aspiration 


—New    York    World 


—Rochester  Democrat  and  Chronicle 


[English  Cartoon] 

Burying  the  Hatchet 


WMMmMmm 


wmw^aOT^.-^ 


-Sunday  Chronicle,  Manchester 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1021 


[English  Cartoon] 

"  THE  HARP  THAT  ONCE—" 

4>. 


—Passing  Show,  London 

John  Bull:     "It's  now  or  never,  boys.     Let's  patch  up  the  poor  old 
Harp  and  have  some  harmony  at  last!  " 


1022 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[British  Cartoon] 

LOOKING  ON  THE  BRIGHT  SIDE 

T 


.»  ^i 


— Western  Mail,   Cardiff 
Ulsterman:     "Never  mind,  Pat;   even  if  he  goes,  you  can  always  have 
a  schrap  wid  me." 


[American  Cartoon] 
P-s-s-t,  Man— Don't  Move! 


[American  Cartoon] 
Mixing  the  Colors 


—New   Orleans   Times-Picayune 


-Rochester  Democrat  and  Chronicle 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1023 


— Sioux  City  Tribune 


[American 

Cartoon] 

The  President 
"roughing  it" 

in  the 
"solitude  of  the 

wilds  " 


[American 

Cartoon] 

Two  other 
powers   inter- 
ested in  dis- 
armament 

— New  York  Times 


1024 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


[American 

Cartoon] 

The  Shipping 
Board's 
Record 

That's  what 

comes  of  trying 

to  make  a  sailor 

out  of  him   by 

putting  one  of 

those   imitation 

sailor  suits  on 

him. 

— ©    New    York 

Tribune 


X>oggo^e  itg»"l 
wkett  <x*-e  you 
qoino  "fro  «S  wirv\ 


"  Still  Posing 

—Detroit  News 


One  of  several 
causes  that  are 
hindering  the  de- 
velopment of  the 
American   mer- 
chant marine  is 
the  legacy  of  ex- 
travagance and 
incompetence  left 
by  the  old  United 
States    Shipping 
Board.  Worthless 

wooden  ships 

alone  occasioned 

a  loss  of 

$380,000,000. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  OF  CURRENT  EVENTS 


1025 


[American 


Cartoon] 


Bunghole  and 
Spigot 

—Dayton  News 


Some  of  these 
handicaps,  it  is 
hoped,  will  be  elim- 
inated as  a  result  of 
the  disarmament 
conference  to  be 
held  at  Washington 
in  November,  where 
some  of  the  Far 
Eastern  problems 
will  be  discussed. 


THE 

COMMUNIST  INTERNATIONAL: 

HOW  IT  STANDS 


Refusal  of  the  third  Moscow  conference  to  modify  the  '' twenty -one  articles" 
has  emphasized  the  split  in  the  labor  movement  of  the  world — Lenin  stands 
with  the  extremists  in  demanding  uncompromising  tactics  outside  of  Russia 
— Itemized  survey  of  the  present  status  of  communism  in  all  countries 


DISHARMONY  among  the  Socialist  and 
Communist  forces  of  the  world  for  an 
indefinite  period  was  assured  when 
the  third  congress  of  the  Third  (Communist) 
International,  held  in  Moscow,  from  June  23 
to  July  12,  1921,  voted  to  stand  by  the  fa- 
mous Twenty-one  Articles  of  Faith  adopted 
by  the  second  congress,  held  in  the  Russian 
capital  a  year  ago.  There  was  a  four-day 
debate  over  the  mooted  points,  and  Nikolai 
Lenin,  the  Bolshevist  Premier  of  Russia, 
was  obliged  to  come  to  the  aid  of  Leon 
Trotzky,  G.  Zinoviev  and  Karl  Radek  when 
they  found  themselves  hard  pressed  by  dele- 
gates supporting  modification  of  the  Com- 
munist program  in  the  interest  of  inter- 
national unity. 

The  Twenty-one  Points,  which  were  print- 
ed in  full  in  the  January  number  of  Cur- 
rent History,  insist,  among  other  things, 
upon  the  carrying  on  of  illegal,  as  well  as 
legal,  propaganda  for  the  overthrow  of  so- 
called  capitalist  Governments,  the  adoption 
of  the  name  "  Communist,"  and  the  expul- 
sion of  such  "  notorious  opportunists  "  as 
Morris  Hillquit,  Karl  Kautsky,  Jean  Lon- 
guet,  Felipe  Turati  and  Ramsay  MacDonald 
from  their  respective  Socialist  Parties  in 
the  United  States,  Germany,  France,  Italy 
and  England.  The  result  of  the  promulga- 
tion of  this  program  last  year  was  the  divi- 
sion of  the  Socialist  armies  in  nearly  every 
country  where  such  organizations  existed. 
France  was  the  only  large  country  where 
the  partisans  of  the  Moscow  program  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  possession  of  the  main 
party  machinery  and  appeared  to  be  in  a 
majority. 

The  bitterness  evoked  by  the  internal 
party  fights  over  the  Communist  program 
had  reacted  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  pres- 


tige abroad  of  the  Soviet  Government  of 
Russia,  as  its  influence  was  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  adoption  of  such  an  extreme  plat- 
form, and  many  moderate  Socialists  who 
had  been  enthusiastic  in  their  defense  of 
the  Soviet  regime  became  rather  lukewarm 
when  they  saw  that  the  Russian  leaders  of 
the  Third  International  were  not  at  all  in- 
clined to  practice  the  toleration  they  de- 
manded for  themselves.  Consequently, 
there  was  a  good-sized  minority  among  the 
500  delegates  to  the  third  congress  favoring 
the  abatement  of  some  of  the  more  offen- 
sive points,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  into  line 
the  sympathizers  with  the  general  Commu- 
nist program  who  could  not  swallow  the 
Twenty-one  Articles  of  Faith.  But  the  Bol- 
shevist steam  roller  was  too  powerful,  and 
the  minority  was  flattened  out. 

In  explaining  the  apparent  inconsistency 
of  the  Russian  Communists,  who  were  insist- 
ing upon  absolutely  uncompromising  tactics 
by  the  other  Communist  and  Socialist  Par- 
ties of  the  world,  while  at  home  they,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  Lenin,  were  making  all 
kinds  of  modifications  of  their  program  in 
order  to  remain  in  power,  Trotzky,  as  quot- 
ed in  the  cable  reports,  remarked  that  it 
was  permissible  to  make  reforms  in  a  coun- 
try where  the  proletariat  was  already  in 
power,  but  that  it  could  not  be  allowed  in 
countries  where  the  Communists  were  still 
struggling  for  control.  Lenin's  support  of 
the  extreme  program  for  foreign  consump- 
tion was  said  to  have  been  won  by  a  prom- 
ise on  the  part  of  Zinoviev,  Trotzky,  Radek, 
Bukharin  et  al.  not  to  oppose  his  internal 
program  of  conciliation  and  concessions. 

In  addressing  the  Congress  upon  this 
matter  of  concessions  Lenin  said  Soviet 
Russia  was   using   the    breathing   spell   ob- 


THE  COMMUNIST  INTERNATIONAL:     HOW  IT  STANDS 


1027 


tained  by  negotiations  with  foreign  nations 
for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding  her  own  in- 
dustries, and  that  in  the  meantime  the 
Communists  must  use  this  same  breathing 
spell  to  prepare  a  revolution  against  all 
capitalistic  countries.  He  added  that  he 
could  not  promise  anybody  any  liberty  or 
any  democracy,  because  all  the  reactionaries 
were  using  those  slogans.  Lenin  also  de- 
clared war  must  be  continued  upon  the 
Mensheviki  and  the  Social  Revolutionaries. 
His  speech  was  loudly  applauded,  and  a 
resolution  was  passed  approving  his  po- 
sition. 

President  Zinoviev's  victory  was  made 
complete  by  being  authorized  by  the  Con- 
gress to  inform  the  Italian  Socialist  Party 
that  it  could  not  be  readmitted  to  the  Third 
International  until  it  expelled  Signor  Ser- 
rati  and  his  comrades.  The  delegates  of  the 
Communist  Labor  Party  of  Germany  heard 
their  party  condemned  to  unite  at  once  with 
the  regular  United  Communist  Party  of  Ger- 
many and  to  drop  its  open  warfare  against 
all  parliamentary  activities.  A  program  of 
world-wide  propaganda,  worked  out  by  Karl 
Radek,  was  adopted  by  the  Congress  and 
made  binding  upon  all  affiliated  parties, 
despite  the  objections  of  some  delegates 
who,  while  agreeing  with  its  general  prin- 
ciples, thought  these  could  not  be  applied 
to  their  own  countries.  Zinoviev  was  unani- 
mously re-elected  President  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

Among  the  Americans  present  were  Wil- 
liam D.  Haywood,  the  I.  W.  W.  leader  who 
left  this  country  last  Spring  with  a  twenty- 
year  sentence  for  violation  of  the  Espionage 
act  hanging  over  his  head;  Ella  Reaves 
Bloor,  a  veteran  Socialist  agitator  and  Left 
Wing  leader,  and  Jack  Crosby,  a  marine 
worker  and  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Third  International.  Hay- 
wood was  made  the  object  of  a  demonstra- 
tion by  the  delegates.  He  was  in  Moscow 
to  attend  the  first  convention  of  the  Inter- 
national Council  of  Trade  Unions  (the  eco- 
nomic annex  of  the  Third  International), 
which  began  on  July  3  with  200  delegates 
and  lasted  a  fortnight.  A  congress  of  Com- 
munist Young  People's  Societies,  with  150 
delegates,  was  also  held  in  Moscow  in  July. 
The  Communist  Women's  International 
closed  a  five-day  congress  on  June  18  by 
electing  Clara  Zetkin,  the  veteran  German 
Communist    member    of    the    Raichstag,    as 


President  of  the  organization.  The  eighty- 
seven  women  delegates  were  said  to  have 
come  from  twenty-eight  countries. 

The  extent  to  which  the  radical  labor 
forces  of  the  world*  have  been  divided  by 
the  World  War  and  by  the  agitation  of  the 
Russian  Communists  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  there  are  now  three  so-called  interna- 
tional political  labor  organizations,  viz.,  the 
Third  International,  the  Second  Interna- 
tional (the  remnant  of  the  pre-war  Socialist 
International)  and  the  International  Work- 
ing Group  of  Socialist  Parties  (the  so-called 
Two-and-a-half  International  organized  in 
Vienna  last  February);  there  are  two  con- 
tending revolutionary  trade  union  interna- 
tionals, viz.,  the  Moscow  body,  with  pos- 
sibly 10,000,000  adherents,  and  the  Interna- 
tional Federation  of  Trade  Unions,  with 
headquarters  in  Amsterdam  and  an  affili- 
ated membership  of  about  27,000,000;  and 
there  are  two  Young  People's  Internationals, 
viz.,  the  Communist  organization  and  the 
Young  Workers'  International,  organized  in 
Amsterdam  last  May.  Then  there  are  many 
powerful  labor  bodies — such  as  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor — which  are  not 
affiliated  with  any  of  the  international 
groups. 

The  status  of  the  political  and  economic 
labor  organizations  in  most  of  the  principal 
countries  in  relation  to  their  international 
affiliations  may  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

UNITED  STATES— Both  the  Socialist 
Party  of  America  and  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  at  their  June  conventions, 
rejected  affiliation  with  any  of  the  existing 
Internationals.  The  two  underground  Com- 
munist groups,  obeying  an  order  from  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Third  Inter- 
national, have  united  in  the  Communist 
Party  of  America,  which,  of  course,  ac- 
cepts the  twenty-one  articles.  At  a  meeting 
held  in  Toledo  in  June  another  Communist 
Party,  composed  of  elements  favoring  open 
political  agitation  and  rejecting  the  illegal 
part  of  the  Moscow  program,  was  organ- 
ized. In  July  an  organization  called  the 
American  Labor  Alliance  was  started  in 
Brooklyn,  presumably  to  act  for  the  Com- 
munists in  carrying  on  open  propaganda. 
The  small  Socialist  Labor  Party  holds  aloof 
from  all  Internationals.  The  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World  are  in  the  Moscow 
Trade  Union  International. 

MEXICO— While  there  is  a  great  deal  of 


1028 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


radical  labor  agitation  in  Mexico,  with 
many  of  the  members  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  calling  themselves  Socialists,  the 
movement  is  greatly  confused  and  the  line 
of  demarkation  between  legal  and  illegal 
agitators  is  hard  to  find.  The  regular  Mex- 
ican Federation  of  Labor,  headed  by  Luis 
Morones,  is  lined  up  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  in  the  Pan-American 
Federation  of  Labor,  while  a  small  group 
of  extremists  belongs  to  the  I.  W.  W.  There 
is  a  Labor  Party,  which  generally  supports 
President  Obregon;  a  Socialist  Party,  head- 
ed by  Salvador  Alvarado,  ex-Governor  of 
Yucatan,  and  a  Communist  Party,  but  the 
international  stand  of  none  of  these  is  clear- 
ly defined,  although  the  Communists  are  vo- 
ciferous in  their  applause  of  Moscow  tac- 
tics and  there  has  been  considerable  talk 
about  Bolshevist  money  being  spent  in  Mex- 
ico. On  July  22  it  was  reported  that  the 
State  of  Yucatan  had  been  selected  by  the 
Communist  International  as  headquarters 
for  propaganda  in  Latin  America. 

ARGENTINA— The  Socialist  Party  has 
left  the  Second  International  and  refused  to 
affiliate  with  the  Third,  while  the  Commu- 
nist Party  accepts  the  Moscow  program.  The 
larger  of  the  two  wings  of  the  labor  union 
movement  is  affiliated  with  Amsterdam 
and  the  other  is  made  up  mostly  of  semi- 
anarchistic  elements. 

CHILE— The  Socialist  Party  has  decided 
to  affiliate  with  Moscow.  It  won  its  first 
seat  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  the 
March  elections. 

URUGUAY— The  Socialist  Party  is  af- 
filiated with  Moscow. 

GREAT  BRITAIN— The  British  Labor 
Party  remains  affiliated  with  the  Second 
International,  while  its  radical  advance 
guard,  the  Independent  Labor  Party,  has 
rejected  both  the  Second  and  the  Third  and 
decided  to  adhere  to  the  Vienna  Interna- 
tional. A  tiny  faction  of  the  I.  L.  P.  has 
split  off  and  joined  the  British  Communist 
Party,  which  accepts  the  Moscow  program. 
When  a  motion  to  allow  the  Communist 
Party  to  affiliate  with  the  Labor  Party  was 
made  at  the  Labor  Party's  June  convention, 
it  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  4,115,000  to 
224,000.  The  Scottish  Trades  Union  con- 
gress held  last  April  voted  by  a  narrow 
margin  for  affiliation  with  the  Moscow  or- 
ganization, but  the  British  trade  union  or- 


ganization, as  a  whole,  has  never  seriously 
considered   leaving   the   Amsterdam   group. 

CANADA — The  main  trade  union  body  is 
affiliated  with  the  Amsterdam  Internation- 
al.   The  political  groups  are  independent. 

SOUTH  AFRICA— The  extreme  elements 
of  the  political  labor  movement  in  the  Union 
of  South  Africa  have  united  in  a  Commu- 
nist Party,  which  accepts  the  Twenty-one 
Points,  while  the  moderate  elements  remain 
in  the  Labor  Party.  The  Cape  Federation 
of  Labor  Unions  supports  the  Moscow  pro- 
gram. 

AUSTRALIA— There  is  a  tiny  group 
called  the  Communist  Party,  but  the  bulk  of 
the  workers  are  sticking  to  the  Labor  Party 
and  the  regular  trade  unions,  although  Mos- 
cow claims  thousands  of  followers  among 
the  rank  and  file. 

RUSSIA— The  Communist  Party  (Bol- 
sheviki)  forms  the  backbone  of  the  Third 
International,  while  the  Social  Revolution- 
ary Party  and  the  Social  Democratic  Labor 
Party  (Mensheviki)  belong  to  the  Vienna 
International.  The  Russian  trade  unions, 
with  some  6,000,000  members,  head  the  In- 
ternational Council  of  Trade  Unions.  Sim- 
ilar party  lines  are  drawn  in  the  various 
Soviet  republics  under  the  rule  of  Moscow, 
such  as  the  Ukraine,  Azerbaijan,  Georgia 
and  Armenia. 

FINLAND— Neither  the  Finnish  Socialist 
Party,  with  80  of  the  200  Deputies  in  the 
Chamber,  nor  the  Trade  Union  Federation  is 
affiliated  with  any  of  the  international  or- 
ganizations, but  there  is  an  illegal  Commu- 
nist Party  adhering  to  Moscow. 

LATVIA — The  Latvian  Social  Democratic 
Party  supports  the  Vienna  International, 
while  the  Communist  Party,  which  is  being 
attacked  by  the  Government,  takes  its  or- 
ders from  Moscow. 

LITHUANIA— The  Socialist  Party  is  af- 
filiated with  Vienna. 

POLAND— The  Polish  Socialist  Party, 
embracing  in  its  membership  Joseph  Pil- 
sudski,  President  of  the  republic,  is  report- 
ed to  have  decided  to  leave  the  Second  In- 
ternational and  to  apply  for  admission  to 
the  Vienna  group.  It  has  become  so  na- 
tionalistic as  to  lose  many  of  its  prominent 
officials  to  the  Polish  Communist  Party, 
which  adheres  to  Moscow.  The  bulk  of  the 
Polish    trade    unions    support    Amsterdam, 


THE  COMMUNIST  INTERNATIONAL:     HOW  IT  STANDS 


029 


but    there    is    a    strong    minority    favoring 
Moscow. 

SCANDINAVIA— When  the  March  con- 
vention of  the  Left  Wing  Swedish  Socialist 
Party  voted,  173  to  34,  to  accept  the  Mos- 
cow program  and  change  its  name  to  Com- 
munist Party,  the  dissenters  left  the  meet- 
ing and  organized  the  Independent  Swedish 
Socialist  Party,  to  be  affiliated  with  the 
Vienna  organization.  The  regular  Swedish 
Socialist  Party,  headed  by  Hjalmar  Bran- 
ting  and  constituting  a  power  in  the  polit- 
ical life  of  the  country,  remains  in  the  Sec- 
ond International.  The  Left  Wing  seces- 
sionists from  the  Swedish  trade  union 
movement  have  voted  to  join  the  Interna- 
tional Council  of  Trade  Unions.  In  Nor- 
way the  majority  of  the  old  Labor  Party 
has  accepted  the  Moscow  program,  with  the 
exception  of  the  paragraph  calling  for  a 
change  of  name,  and  has  declared  itself  a 
section  of  the  Third  International.  The 
minority  group  has  organized  itself  into 
the  Social  Democratic  Party,  which  em- 
braces most  of  the  Labor  members  of  Par- 
liament. The  Danish  Socialist  Party,  which 
has  almost  attained  control  of  the  Govern- 
ment, stays  in  the  Second  International, 
while  a  tiny  Communist  group  and  the  di- 
minutive Left  Wing  of  the  trade  unions 
have  decided  to  join  the  Third. 

GERMANY  —  The  Social  Democratic 
Party  (generally  called  the  Majority  Social- 
ists), with  108  Deputies  in  the  Reichstag 
and  several  members  in  the  Cabinet,  belongs 
to  the  Second  International.  The  Indepen- 
dent Social  Democratic  Party,  with  61  Dep- 
uties, adheres  to  the  Vienna  International, 
and  the  United  Communist  Party,  which, 
following  the  split  in  the  Independent  Party 
last  October  had  24  Deputies,  but  which  lost 
several  of  them  as  a  result  of  the  abortive 
revolt  promoted  by  it  last  March,  is  affili- 
ated with  Moscow.  The  Communist  Labor 
Party,  a  small  group  of  anti-parliamentary 
extremists  which  was  admitted  to  the  Third 
International  as  a  "  sympathizing  "  member 
last  Winter  over  the  protest  of  the  United 
Communist  Party,  has  withdrawn  from  the 
Moscow  body  as  the  result  of  the  decision 
by  the  third  congress  calling  for  its  union 
with  the  United  Communists.  In  announc- 
ing its  defiance  of  the  Moscow  edict 
the  Communist  Labor  Party  denounced  the 
Third  International  as  a  "  reformist  body." 


The  General  German  Federation  of  Labor, 
with  about  8,500,000  members,  belongs  to 
the  Amsterdam  International,  while  some 
comparatively  small  labor  groups  are  lined 
up  with  Moscow,  the  Christian  Labor  Union 
International  and  the  International  Syndi- 
calists. 

SPAIN — Following  its  decision  at  its 
April  convention,  by  a  vote  of  8,808  to 
G,025,  not  to  accept  the  Moscow  program, 
the  Spanish  Socialist  Party,  with  its  six 
Deputies,  has  been  unaffiliated  with  any  of 
the  Internationals.  Many  of  the  supporters 
of  Moscow  have  joined  in  the  Communist 
Party  of  Spain.  The  General  Union  of 
Workingmen  is  affiliated  with  Amsterdam, 
while  the  other  labor  bodies  are  more  or 
less  anarchistic,  and  the  Syndicate  of  Metal 
Workers  voted  to  adhere  to  Moscow. 

BELGIUM— The  powerful  Belgian  Labor 
Party,  with  620,000  members,  many  Depu- 
ties in  the  Chamber  and  four  members  in 
the  Cabinet,  belongs  to  the  Second  Inter- 
national. A  tiny  group  of  Communists, 
headed  by  M.  Jacquemotte,  seceded  from  the 
party*  in  May  and  decided  to  organize  a 
Communist  Party  in  competition  with  a 
small  party  of  that  name  founded  last  year 
and  recognized  by  Moscow.  The  Belgian 
labor  unions  are  affiliated  with  Amster- 
dam— excepting  the  Christian  groups. 

HOLLAND— The  Dutch  Social  Demo- 
cratic Labor  Party  decided  at  its  1921  con- 
vention by  an  overwhelming  vote  to  remain 
in  the  Second  International.  The  Commu- 
nist Party,  whose  strength  is  insignificant, 
is  affiliated  with  Moscow.  The  Dutch  labor 
unions  are  divided  among  Socialist,  inde- 
pendent and  Christian  organizations,  with 
the  first-named  affiliated  with  Amsterdam 
and  the  last  named  with  the  Christian 
Labor  Union  International. 

LUXEMBURG— This  tiny  Grand  Duchy 
also  enjoys  the  luxury  of  a  divided  labor 
movement,  having  a  regular  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party  and  a  Communist  Party,  the 
latter  supporting  the  Moscow  program. 

PALESTINE— Even  in  the  Holy  Land 
have  the  seeds  of  Communist  division  borne 
fruit,  for  there  is  a  Communist  Party  of 
Palestine  formed  of  extremist  elements  of 
Paole  Zion,  the  old  Jewish  Socialist  organ- 
ization which  is  not  "  revolutionary " 
enough  for  the  Moscow  group,  but  supports 
the  Vienna  International. 


RUSSIA  SCOURGED  BY  FAMINE 

Tragic  situation  caused  by  famine  in  the  Volga  Basin  and  by  the  Bolshevist 
economic  policy,  which  had  prevented  the  accumulation  of  surplus  foodstuffs — 
Epidemic  of  cholera  and  vast  exodus  of  stricken  people — Maxim  Gorky's 
appeal,  and  Mr.  Hoovers  prompt  and  practical  response 

[Period    Ended    Aug.    10,    1921] 


THE  people  of  Russia,  whose  fate  has 
been  more  tragic  than  that  of  any 
other  European  people,  now  face 
famine  in  its  most  cruel  form.  Not  until 
toward  the  end  of  June  did  the  world 
learn  of  this  new  affliction  of  a  nation 
which  has  already  suffered  much.  The  Bol- 
shevist official  organ,  Pravda,  stated  in  its 
issue  of  June  26  that  "  as  a  result  of  the 
drought  and  the  crop  failure,  famine  is  rag- 
ing among  a  population  numbering  about 
25,000,000."  The  famine  territory  embraces 
the  Provinces  of  Ufa,  Tzaritzin,  Saratov, 
Samara,  Simbirsk,  Viatka,  Perm,  Kazan  and 
the  Northern  Caucasus — in  other  words,  the 
formerly  rich  and  fertile  land  of  the  Volga 
Basin.  The  dispatches  indicate  that  the 
catastrophe  is  much  greater  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  a  considerable  area  of  agricultural 
land  in  Russia  has  not  been  sown  at  all, 
owing  either  to  the  lack  of  seed  or  to  the 
peasants'  resentment  of  the  Government's 
requisition  policy.  Where  there  is  any  sur- 
plus of  foodstuffs  the  ruin  of  the  transpor- 
tation service  makes  its  distribution  impos- 
sible. 

This  news,  bad  enough  in  itself,  was  given 
to  the  world  with  a  sensational  accompani- 
ment of  wild  inventions  and  fantastic  leg- 
ends which  turned  the  disaster  into  a  chap- 
ter of  the  Apocalypse.  The  peasants,  starv- 
ing, desperate  and  furious,  were  reported 
to  be  leaving  their  famine-stricken  villages 
by  the  thousands,  and  to  be  marching  on 
Moscow,  which  was  digging  trenches  and 
throwing  up  fortifications  to  repel  the  an- 
ticipated onslaught.  The  peasants  were 
said  to  be  looting,  rioting  and  burning  as 
they  went.  Other  stories  told  of,  a  mys- 
terious Czar  of  India  who  had  arisen,  and 
who  would  feed  the  famished  multitude  if  it 
could  get  to  him,  and  of  how  a  vast  exodus 
had  started  toward  the  East,  the  like  of 
which  had  never  been  seen  since  the  days 
of  the  great  migrations.  All  these  tales,  if 
weighed  in  the  balance  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 


ernment's subsequent  official  statement, 
were  pure  inventions.  The  facts  as  given  m 
this  statement  were  as  follows: 

The  commission  of  the  Central  Executive 
Committee  for  Aid  of  the  Hungry  has  recog- 
nized a  state  of  famine  in  ten  provinces,  in- 
cluding Astrakhan,  Tzaritzin,  Saratov,  the 
German  (Volga)  Commune,  Samara,  Sim- 
birsk, the  Tartar  and  Tchuvask  territories, 
as  well  as  districts  of  Ufa,  Viatka  and  other 
places  in  that  region.  In  these  provinces  on 
account  of  the  prolonged  drought  the  har- 
vest has  been  completely  destroyed  and  will 
give  only  10  or  15  per  cent,  of  normal.  In 
some  districts  of  these  provinces  the  bad 
harvest    affects    only    some    cereals. 

The  population  of  the  ten  provinces  is 
about  18,000,000  people.  Feeding  the  rural 
population  according  to  the  lowest  standard — 
that  is,  half  the  ordinary  consumption,  and 
not  including  animals— calls  for  41,000,000 
poods  of  wheat.  (A  pood  is  equal  to  about 
thirty-six  pounds.)  For  the  city  population 
the  need  is  17,000, 000  poods.  To  sow  fields 
in  localities  where  the  crop  is  absolutely  lost 
there  is  needed  before  the  15th  of  September 
15,000,000  poods  of  wheat. 

In  view  of  the  absence  of  exact  information 
as  to  the  extent  of  the  harvest  of  other  dis- 
tricts of  Russia  it  is  as  yet  impossible  to 
estimate  the  quantity  of  wheat  which  can  be 
furnished  by  Russia  herself.  In  the  stricken 
provinces  there  are  no  reserves  of  wheat  and 
the  gifts  of  other  provinces  can  be  only 
limited. 

The  misery  is  great  in  these  districts,  but 
nowhere  are  there  the  excesses  and  violences 
of  which  the  West  European  and  American 
press  spread  false  news.  In  certain  localities 
where  complete  absence  of  food  places  the 
population  in  a  hopeless  position  great  num- 
bers of  the  population  are  seeking  to  mi- 
grate, with  the  help  of  the  Soviet  authorities, 
into  more  favored  districts  of  the  republic ; 
but  this  migration  of  hungry  peoples  has 
taken  no  form  menacing  social  security  or 
public   order. 

The  disaster  is  intensified  by  the  appear- 
ance of  cholera,  with  all  the  horrors  which 
cholera  has  always  brought  to  Russia  in  its 
visitations.  The  fact  that  there  had  already 
occurred  nearly  50,000  cases  of  this  dread 
epidemic  between  January  and  July,  of 
which   24,000   appeared   in   June  and   7,000 


RUSSIA   SCOURGED  BY  FAMINE 


1031 


cases  were  concentrated  in  the  province  of 
Saratov  (Southeastern  Russia),  came  as  a 
surprise  to  many  abroad,  though  the  anti- 
Bolshevist  foreign  press  had  printed  from 
time  to  time  reports  of  the  outbreak  of 
cholera  and  other  epidemics.  The  marching 
multitudes  who  left  their  homes  by  thou- 
sands on  the  eastern  trek  to  the  Caucasus 
and  the  Khirgiz  steppes  spread  the  disease 
over  many  districts.  The  calm  and  matter 
of  fact  statement  of  Tchitcherin  and  Rykov 
concerning  the  migration  of  these  famish- 
ing, epidemic-ridden  multitudes  contained 
no  word  to  describe  the  long  processions  of 
people  moving  along  the  eastern  roads, 
carrying  what  few  effects  they  could  trans- 
port, dropping  with  weakness  due  to  long 
hunger,  or  falling  smitten  with  lightning 
cholera,  which  disposes  of  its  victim  within 


a  few  hours.  Only  those  who  have  lived 
through  a  cholera  epidemic  in  Russia  can 
realize  the  full  extent  of  the  tragedy;  only 
such  can  know  the  meaning  of  towns  that 
have  not  been  cleaned  out  for  years,  market 
places  piled  high  with  rotting  refuse,  peas- 
ants so  ignorant  and  supersitious  that 
they  refuse  to  submit  themselves  or  their 
children  to  vaccination,  attack  the  doctors 
who  seek  to  give  them  medicine,  hide  their 
sick  and  bury  them  secretly,  and  indulge  in 
superstitious  rites  by  incantation  and  other- 
wise to  ward  off  the  disease.  As  it  has  been 
in  the  past,  so  it  is  in  the  present;  the  medi- 
cal forces  of  the  Soviet  Republic  have  had 
and  are  having  the  same  heart-breaking 
struggle  with  the  medieval,  panicstricken 
multitude. 

The  Soviet  leaders,  faced  with  the  inroads 


Ekaterinoslan 

NlKOLAEvJ 
ODE5S> 


TOTAL  FAILURE 
OF  CROPS 

CROPS  BELOW 
AVERAGE 

AVERAGE  CROPS. 

CROPS  ABOVE 
AVERAGE 


Simferopol 


>F    THE    RUSSIAN'    FAMINE    REGION.     WITH    DETAILS    OF    LOCAL.    CONDITIONS     IN     EACH 
DISTRICT,    BASED    ON    AX    OFFICIAL    REPORT 


1032 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  these  two  grim  horsemen — Famine  and 
Pestilence — have  been  bending  every  energy 
to  combat  them.  Besides  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Soviets,  which  at  once  gave 
up  all  its  normal  work  to  aid  in  fighting  the 
twin  scourges,  a  special  Famine  Relief  Com- 
mittee, made  up  of  sixty-three  members, 
was  formed  from  all  parties,  the  communists 
even  being  in  the  minority.  Noted  Menshe- 
viki  and  Social  Revolutionaries  rallied  to 
work  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men 
whom  they  believed  responsible  for  all  the 
woes  of  Russia.  The  Soviet  statement  above 
referred  to  admitted  unreservedly  that  all 
classes,  even  those  who  belonged  to  the 
hated  bourgeoisie  and  aristocrats  under  the 
Czar,  were  making  every  sacrifice,  straining 
every  effort  to  save  the  country.  The  very 
exiles  in  Paris  and  other  capitals,  inveterate 
enemies  of  the  Bolshevist  leaders,  sent  out 
appeals  to  the  whole  world  to  save  their 
torn  and  struggling  country. 

Only  two  appeals  were  sent  to  the  outside 
world  from  Russia.  One  of  these  was  made 
by  the  Archbishop  Tikhon,  head  of  the 
Orthodox  Greek  Church  in  Russia.  In  a 
short  but  eloquent  telegram  on  July  11  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  York  the 
Patriarch  said: 

Fearful  famine  in  Russia.  Greatest  part 
must  die  of  hunger.  In  those  regions  which 
ordinarily  produce  most  foodstuffs  all  grain 
now  annihilated  by  drought.  Epidemics  fol- 
lowing in  wake  of  famine.  Immediate  help 
large  scale  imperative.  Populace  deserting 
fields  and  houses,  and  running  eastward, 
crying,  "Bread!"  Send  immediately  foods 
and  medicines.     May  God  help  us  ! 

Another  voice  was  raised — that  of  the 
great  Russian  author,  Pieshkov  (Maxim 
Gorky) — which  may  be  said  to  have  rever- 
berated throughout  the  world.  In  the  name 
of  the  great  Russian  authors  of  other  days, 
Gorky  on  July  13  sent  an  appeal  to  Ger- 
hardt  Hauptmann,  Anatole  France  and 
Blasco  Ibaiiez  on  behalf  of  the  millions  of 
Russians  threatened  with  destruction.  In 
words  corroded  with  bitterness  Gorky  asked 
the  world  to  prove  that  it  still  cherished 
ideals  of  humanitarianism,  faith  in  which 
had  been  so  shaken  by  the  "  damnable  war 
and  its  victors'  unmercifulness  toward  the 
vanquished."  Gorky's  appeal,  psycholog- 
ically interesting,  read  as  follows: 

Moscow,  July  13. 
To  All  Honest  People: 
The   corn-growing   steppes   are   smitten   by 


crop  failure,  caused  by  the  drought.  The 
calamity  threatens  starvation  to  millions  of 
Russian  people.  Think  of  the  Russian  peo- 
ple's exhaustion  by  the  war  and  revolution, 
which  considerably  reduced  its  resistance  to 
disease  and  its  physical  endurance.  Gloomy 
days  have  come  to  the  country  of  Tolstoy, 
Dostoyevsky,  Meneleyev,  Pavlov,  Mussergsky, 
Glinka  and  other  world-prized  men,  and  I 
venture  to  trust  that  the  cultured  European 
and  American  people,  understanding  the  trag- 
edy of  the  Russian  people,  will  immediately 
succor  with  bread  and  medicines. 

If  humanitarian  ideas  and  feelings— faith 
in  whose  social  import  was  so  shaken  by 
the  damnable  war  and  its  victors'  unmerci- 
fulness toward  the  vanquished— if  faith  in 
the  creative  force  of  these  ideas  and  feelings, 
I  say,  must  and  can  be  restored,  Russia's 
misfortune  offers  humanitarians  a  splendid 
opportunity  to  demonstrate  the  vitality  of 
humanitarianism.  I  think  particularly  warm 
sympathy  in  succoring  the  Russian  people 
must  be  shown  by  those  who,  during  the 
ignominious  war,  so  passionately  preached 
fratricidal  hatred,  thereby  withering  the  edu- 
cational efficacy  of  ideas  evolved  by  man- 
kind in  the  most  arduous  labors  and  so 
lightly  killed  by  stupidity  and  cupidity.  Peo- 
ple who  understand  the  words  of  agonzing 
pain  will  forgive  the  involuntary  bitterness 
of  my  words. 

I  ask  all  honest  European  and  American 
people  for  prompt  aid  to  the  Russian  people. 
Give   bread   and  medicine. 

MAXIM    GORKY. 

Another  appeal  sent  directly  to  Herbert 
Hoover,  United  States  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  head  of  the  Relief  Administra- 
tion, received  an  immediate,  sympathetic, 
yet  businesslike  reply.  Mr.  Hoover's  vast 
organization,  which  is  still  tremendously 
active  in  feeding  the  starving  children  and 
peoples  of  the  countries  devastated  by  the 
war,  was  ready  to  help  Russia.  But  first 
of  all  the  Soviet  Government  must  free  all 
Americans  confined  in  Soviet  prisons:  this 
preliminary  was  essential.  Secondly,  Mr. 
Hoover  laid  down  certain  conditions  to  in- 
sure the  freedom  and  independence  of  the 
Relief  Administration,  once  it  entered  Rus- 
sia. The  Soviet  Government  must  give  a 
direct  official  statement  to  the  Relief  Ad- 
ministration representative  in  Riga  that 
help  was  needed  and  desired;  that  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  organization  should  then 
be  given  full  liberty  to  come  and  go  and 
move  freely  about  Russia;  that  they  should 
be  allowed  to  organize  local  committees 
without  Soviet  interference;  that  they 
should  be  afforded  free  transportation  for 
supplies;    that    they    should    receive    free 


RUSSIA   SCOURGED  BY  FAMINE 


1033 


housing,  fuel  and  equipment;  that  the  Gov- 
ernment rations  must  be  continued  to  the 
sick  despite  the  importation  of  food  by  the 
committee;  that  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee should  have  in,  all  directions  full  lib- 
erty, without  Soviet  interference  of  any 
kind.  The  committee,  on  its  part,  promised 
to  distribute  aid  to  all  sects  and  classes  im- 
partially, and  to  refrain  scrupulously  from 
every  kind  of  anti-Soviet  propaganda. 
Walter  Lyman  Brown,  European  director 
of  the  American  Relief  Administration, 
then  in  London,  was  to  be  sent  to  arrange 
these  matters  with  the  Soviet  authorities. 

On  receipt  of  this  offer  Gorky  at  once 
sent  a  grateful  acknowledgment,  stating, 
however,  that  the  Soviet  Government  itself 
must  give  the  final  decision  on  the  terms 
laid  down.  Subsequently  Gorky  forwarded 
a  note  signed  by  Kamenev,  as  Chairman 
of  the  All-Russian  Central  Executive  Com- 
mittee for  Helping  the  Famine  Stricken 
Populations,  in  which  he  stated  that  the 
Soviet  Government  found  the  proposals  ac- 
ceptable as  a  preliminary  basis,  and  urged 
that  Director  Brown  be  sent  at 
once  to  Riga  with  full  powers  to 
fix  the  precise  conditions  "  on 
which  this  association  will  begin 
immediate  realization  of  its  hu- 
mane intention  to  guarantee  the 
feeding,  medical  treatment  and 
clothing  of  a  million  children  and 
invalids."  On  receipt  of  this  re- 
ply, Mr.  Hoover  at  once  notified 
Mr.  Brown  to  proceed  from  Lon- 
don to  Riga,  and  to  take  all  neces- 
sary steps,  instructing  him,  how- 
ever, to  see  that  all  American 
prisoners  "  are  out  of  Russia 
before  negotiations  for  relief  are 
begun  with  the  Soviet  authori- 
ties." Word  came  from  Riga, 
shortly  before  these  pages  went 
to  press,  that  the  Moscow  Gov- 
ernment had  freed  all  American 
citizens  held  in  its  prisons,  and 
that  the  negotiations  were  pro- 
ceeding. Mr.  Hoover  made  it 
plain  in  all  his  statements  that  he 
was  acting  in  close  touch  with 
Secretary  of  State  Hughes. 

The  Third  Congress  of  the 
International  adjourned  on  July 
20,  after  re-electing  M.  Zinoviev 


Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
The  Soviet  newspapers,  in  summing  up 
the  work  of  this  Congress,  contrasted 
the  tone  of  these  later  sessions  with  that 
of  the  First  and  Second  Congresses,  where 
the  hopes  of  the  Russian  leaders  for  world 
revolution  ran  high.  The  speeches  and  reso- 
lutions of  the  Third  Congress  showed  a  de- 
cided movement  away  from  extreme  rad- 
icalism, admitted  that  the  world  revolution 
was  progressing  but  slowly,  and  advocated 
that  the  Communist  Party  should  "  go 
slow."  The  utterances  of  Lenin,  Trotzky 
and  other  Bolshevist  leaders,  however, 
showed  plainly  that  their  revolutionary  pur- 
pose had  by  no  means  been  abandoned. 
The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Interna- 
tional on  Aug.  2  sent  to  The  Daily  Herald 
of  London  a  long  and  fiery  appeal  to  all  the 
workers  of  the  world  to  come  to  Russia's 
aid,  declaring  that  the  Entente  capitalistic 
countries  were  all  in  league  to  utilize  Rus- 
sia's new  calamities  for  the  purpose  of  reor- 
ganizing the  counter-revolution  on  Russian 
soil,    and   that    the   proletariat    would    take 


S  IBERIA 


THE    SHADED    AREA    INDICATES    THE    CHIEF    FAMINE 
REGION    AND    ITS    LOCATION    WITH    REGARD    TO    THE 
REST    OF    RUS 


1034 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


measures  to  make  all  such  efforts  abortive. 
Special  appeals  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment were  not  enthusiastically  received  by 
the  German  leaders,  but  later  reports  indi- 
cated that  something  would  be  done,  de- 
spite Germany's  own  difficulties.  Foodstuffs 
already  being  sent  by  Germany  or  other 
countries  in  the  way  of  trade  via  Petro- 
grad  were  to  be  used  wholly  for  the  hungry 
populations  of  the  former  capital  and  Mos- 
cow. In  marked  contrast  with  Soviet  Rus- 
sia, the  new  republic  of  the  Far  East  at 
Chita,  Siberia,  was  reported  to  be  living  in 


plenty.  The  Siberian  situation  had  under- 
gone no  definite  change.  The  new  provi- 
sional Anti-Bolshevist  Government  which 
took  over  Vladivostok  a  few  weeks  ago  was 
still  in  power,  enjoying,  it  was  said,  the 
tacit  support  of  the  Japanese.  Word  came 
on  Aug.  6  that  the  new  Government  had 
annulled  the  concessions  granted  by  Soviet 
Russia  to  the  American  financier,  W.  B. 
Vanderlip,  declaring  that  Kamchatka  was  a 
part  of  the  maritime  province  of  which 
Vladivostok  was  the  capital,  and  that  Mos- 
cow had  no  right  to  dispose  of  it. 


NO  MENACE  IN  THE  ANGLO- JAPANESE 
ALLIANCE 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

I  am  a  firm  believer  in  viewing  inter- 
rational  affairs  with  clear  eyes  and  alert 
mind;  there  is  no  benefit  to  any  nation  in 
ignoring  actual  facts,  however  unpalatable; 
but  I  am  an  equally  firm  believer  that  every 
statement  with  regard  to  international 
questions  should  be  made  with  meticulous 
precision.  Therefore,  I  am  writing  to  pro- 
test against  the  basic  premise  of  Mr. 
Koehn's  article  on  the  Anglo-Japanese 
Alliance  in  your  issue  for  August. 

The  second  article  of  that  alliance,  as  it 
now  stands  by  the  adjustment  of  1911, 
says:  "If,  by  reason  of  unprovoked  attack 
or  aggressive  action  on  the  part  of  any 
power  or  powers,  either  high  contracting 
party  is  involved  in  war,  *  *  *  the 
other  high  contracting  party  shall  at  once 
come  to  the  assistance  of  its  ally,"  &c. 
Under  the  term,  "  unprovoked  attack  or  ag- 
gression," Japan  was  bound  to  aid  Great 
Britain  in  1914,  when  Germany,  by  invad- 
ing Belgium,  indirectly  attacked  her 
guarantor.  Under  these  same  terms,  Great 
Britain  would  have  to  join  Japan  in  a  war 


against  the  United  States  only  if  we  were 
tlie  aggressors,  and  only  then  if  there  were 
no  adequate  provocation.  I  am  aware  that 
the  question  here  would  be  the  construction 
placed  by  Great  Britain  upon  the  Japanese 
action  which  seemed  to  us  sufficient  cause 
for  war;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  should 
not  involve  ourselves  in  a  war  with  Japan 
unless  the  necessity  were  beyond  all  cavil. 

I  am  not  a  champion  of  the  Anglo-Japa- 
nese Alliance;  its  usefulness  may  be  out- 
worn, and  it  may  be  neither  wise  nor  politic 
to  continue  it  under  present  world  condi- 
tions. I  am  not  an  expert  on  problems  of 
power  in  the  Pacific;  but  I  am  one  of  the 
many  among  the  reading  public  who  are 
weary  of  even  the  less  sensational  sorts  of 
loose  thinking  and  loose  writing  on  inter- 
national topics,  feeling  that,  in  the  present 
oversensitive  state  of  mind  of  all  peoples, 
there  is  no  field  of  publicity  which  should 
be  kept  so  scrupulously  free  from  all  sug- 
gestion of  exaggeration  or  misrepresenta- 
tion. MARY  K.  ALLEN. 
1,.VJ0    Longmeadow     Street,    Springfield,    Mass., 

Aug.    2,    1921. 


JAPAN'S  FEAR 
OF  THE  ARMS  CONFERENCE 

National  danger  seen  by  many  Japanese  in  the  coming  discussions  at  Wash- 
ington— Opinion  in  Japan  divided  between  suspicion  of  the  Western  powers 
and  desi?*e  to  curtail  the  ruinous  armament  expense — What  Japan  most  desires 

[Period    Ended    Aug.    10,    1921] 


JAPAN  has  accepted  President  Harding's 
invitation  to  participate  in  the  Wash- 
ington conference  for  reduction  of 
naval  armament  and  the  clearing  up  of 
troublesome  problems  in  the  Pacific,  but  it 
is  an  acceptance  with  reservations.  It  is 
tied  down  to  the  condition  that  the  subjects 
to  be  discussed  shall  be  previously  sifted 
and  agreed  upon,  and  that  subjects  already 
settled,  or  which  concern  solely  a  given  na- 
tion, should  be  excluded  from  the  delibera- 
tions. 

Meanwhile  both  the  Government  and  the 
press  of  Japan  seem  to  be  in  a  kind  of  panic 
over  the  coming  conference.  The  conserva- 
tive elements  profess  to  see  a  national  dan- 
ger in  ic,  due  to  an  apprehended  domination 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  races,  aimed  at  check- 
ing Japan's  political  and  economic  advance 
in  Asia,  and  particularly  in  Siberia.  The 
liberal  elements,  on  the  other  hand,  declare 
that  Japan  should  enter  the  conference 
fearlessly,  and  should  frankly  state  exactly 
what  it  is  that  Japan  is  working  for  and 
needs  in  the  Far  East,  and  then  fight  to 
obtain  approval  for  her  legitimate  inten- 
tions, though  opposing  no  just  claims  set 
forth  by  the  Western  powers.  All  factions 
seem  agreed  that  Japan  is  facing  a  crisis, 
to  handle  which  successfully  will  require 
statesmanship  of  a  high  order.  Members  of 
the  Privy  Council  show  distrust  of  a  possi- 
ble Anglo-American  coalition.  A  basis  for 
such  a  view  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
Anglo- Japanese  Treaty  was  not  promptly 
renewed  by  the  Imperial  Conference  in  Lon- 
don, largely  owing  to  Dominion  opposition 
to  the  clauses  which  seemed  to  be  directed 
against  the  United  States.  This  distrust  is 
sharpened  by  the  ominous  fact  that  China 
has  been  invited  to  participate  in  the  Wash- 
ington conference.  The  Japanese  Govern- 
ment naturally  scents  some  danger  to  its 
policies  on  the  mainland  of  Asia. 


The  Nichi  Nichi  stated  late  in  July  that 
the  Government  was  earnestly  seeking  a 
settlement  of  the  Shantung  controversy 
with  China,  and  that  the  problem  of  evacu- 
ation of  Siberia  had  already  been  attacked. 
M.  Matsushima,  Attache  of  the  Foreign  Of- 
fice, had  left  for  Chita,  the  capital  of  the 
Far  Eastern  republic,  on  July  15,  to  begin 
negotiations  to  this  end.  In  view  of  China's 
firm  and  continued  refusal  to  negotiate 
with  Japan  over  the  Shantung  issue,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  what  can  be  accomplished 
along  this  line.  Not  long  ago  Dr.  Welling- 
ton Koo,  China's  representative  on  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations,  cabled 
back  to  Peking  asking  what  the  Govern- 
ment's desire  was  as  regards  Shantung.  The 
answer  was  that  it  was  still  intended  to  ap- 
peal the  whole  case  to  the  League  of  Na- 
tions next  year.  Japan  has  repeatedly  ex- 
pressed her  willingness  to  give  back  Shan- 
tung to  Chinese  sovereignty,  on  the  condi- 
tion, however,  that  she  be  allowed  to  retain 
all  the  economic  advantages  and  conces- 
sions which  she  took  over  from  Germany. 
This  China  refuses  to  accept,  holding  that 
she  never  accepted  the  Japanese  settlement 
incorporated  in  the  peace  traty.  As  for 
Siberia,  it  has  been  the  Japanese  contention 
throughout  that  they  cannot  evacuate  their 
forces  so  long  as  the  unsettled  conditions 
endanger  the  lives  of  Japan's  nationals  in 
the  Maritime  Province.  Japan  still  holds 
Saghalien. 

As  for  Japan's  naval  program,  the  Nichi 
Nichi  declares  that  the  nation's  whole  arma- 
ment problem  is  merely  relative  to  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  if  the  latter 
country  consents  to  curtail  its  program 
Japan  will  follow  suit.  If,  however,  the 
United  States  continues  building,  Japan  can- 
not allow  herself  to  be  so  far  outstripped. 
Prominent  Japanese  point  out  that  the 
United  States  is  increasing  its  fleet  units  in 


1036 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  Pacific,  and  that  it  has  constructed 
fortifications  at  Hawaii,  the  Philippines  and 
Guam. 

Sir  Charles  Eliot,  the  British  Ambassador 
to  Tokio,  had  a  conference  with  Foreign 
Minister  Uchida  on  Aug.  5  over  the  pre- 
liminary negotiations  for  the  conference. 
At  this  time  the  trend  of  Japanese  public 
opinion  was  already  veering  in  favor  of  the 
conference,  which,  it  was  pointed  out  by 
various  publicists,  might  prove  an  epoch- 
making  short  cut  to  peace  and  understand- 
ing in  the  Pacific,  and  enable  Japan  to 
divert  the  vast  sums  now  being  expended  on 
naval  armament  to  commercial  development 
in  Asia.  A  forecast  of  the  Japanese  view 
as  to  the  line  the  discussion  would  take  was 
made  by  the  Osaka  Mainichi  Shimbun.  The 
Japanese  are  ready,  it  said,  to  dismantle 
their  fortification  in  the  Pacific  if  the 
United  States  does  the  same;  but  they  are 
resolved  to  press  on  for  the  right  of  Japa- 
nese nationals  to  migrate,  with  the  guaran- 
tee of  the  freedom  of  labor  and  protection. 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  hostile  to 
both  these  aspirations. 

When  the  Japanese  exclusion  question 
came  up  in  the  United  States  Congress  on 
July  22  it  was  decided  to  discuss  the  "  gen- 
tleman's agreement "  concluded  with  Japan 
m  1908,  in  view  of  official  information  that 
Japan  was  not  observing  this  agreement, 
in  so  far  as  Hawaii  was  concerned.  Hawaii, 
it  was  declared,  was  being  flooded  by  Japa- 
nese immigrants. 

Eminent  Japanese  continue  their  efforts 
to  gain  for  their  country  what  they  term  a 
better  understanding.  The  views  of  Count 
Soyeshima,  as  expressed  in  the  Diplomatic 
Review,  were  summarized  by  the  Japan 
Chronicle  on  June  2.  He  complains  that  four 
anti-Japanese  Korean  associations  in  the 
United  States,  all  of  which  he  names,  are 
being  backed  by  influential  Americans,  by 
Senators,  university  doctors,  &c;  that 
American  propaganda  on  the  Shantung  dis- 
pute is  extremely  active  in  favor  of  China, 
and  that  American  public  feeling  is  hostile 
to  Japan  both  in  regard  to  the  Japanese  oc- 
cupation of  Siberia  and  the  "  temporary  " 
occupation  of  Saghalien.  The  issue  created 
by  California's  legislation  had  sharpened 
Japanese  resentment.  These  grievances, 
however,  could  have  been  settled  diplo- 
matically, he  adds,  had  the  Japanese  Gov- 


ernment not  shown  great  lack  of  diplomatic 
efficiency. 

Mr.  G.  Katsuda,  a  member  of  the  Japanese 
House  of  Peers  and  Chairman  of  the  As- 
sembly of  Kobe,  while  passing  through  New 
York  on  a  tour  of  the  world,  published  on 
July  24  a  review  of  the  prevailing  situation 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  Japanese  business 
man.  Mr.  Katsuda  repudiated  energetically 
the  belief  that  Japan  cherished  imperialistic 
designs  of  conquest  on  the  Asiatic  continent, 
and  declared  that,  on  the  contrary,  Japan 
had  conceived  deep  distrust  of  the  imperial- 
istic designs  of  the  western  nations  which 
were  exploiting  a  large  part  of  Asia,  in- 
cluding China,  and  that  her  whole  desire 
had  been  to  gain  protection;  thus  he  ex- 
plained the  fortifying  of  Japan's  position 
in  Pacific  waters,  undertaken  "  in  order  to 
escape  the  unfortunate  fate  of  her  neighbors 
in  Asia."  Mr.  Katsuda  admitted  that  Japan's 
methods  in  China  had  often  been  "  crude 
and  harsh  during  the  last  few  years,  though 
probably  less  so  than  those  of  England  in 
Persia  or  France  in  some  of  her  black  colo- 
nies, where  enforced  military  service  has 
been  required  of  subject  peoples";  but 
Japan's  methods,  he  asserted,  were  now 
becoming  much  more  liberal,  in  knowledge 
of  the  fact  that  "  no  nation  can  afford  to 
defy  the  public  opinion  of  the  world." 

Our  real  field  of  interest  [he  continued]  is 
the  economic  one.  We  wish  to  have  free 
access  to  the  resources  of  China,  Manchuria 
and  Eastern  Siberia,  and  also  free  and  un- 
interrupted channels  of  trade  constantly  in 
operation  between  these  countries  and  ours. 
*  *  *  The  terrific  density  of  our  popu- 
lation compels  us  to  choose  one  at  least  of 
two  alternatives — territorial  expansion  or  in- 
dustrial development.  *  *  *  To  expand 
territorially  is  against  the  most  enlightened 
public  opinion  of  the  world  today.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  we  are  to  develop  ourselves 
industrially  only,  we  must  be  supplied  with 
raw  materials  and  must  not  be  constantly 
subject  to  interferences  on  the  part  of  other 
nations  in  securing  them. 

Mr.  Katsuda  then  pointed  out  the  extreme 
demoralization  prevailing  in  China,  with  a 
Government  corrupt  and  incapable,  pitifully 
impotent  before  the  triumphant  power  of 
the  Tuchuns,  and  declared  that  as  long  as 
this  chaos  continued  Japan  had  the  right  to 
secure  and  hold  "  a  partial  control  of  a  few 
positions  on  the  Continent  to  insure  an  un- 
restricted flow  of  commerce." 

The  Japanese  Government,  while  anxious- 


JAPAN'S  FEAR  OF  THE  ARMS  CONFERENCE 


1037 


ly  looking-  abroad  for  a  strengthening  of  the 
national  position,  had  to  cope  also  with  un- 
favorable economic  conditions  at  home.  Un- 
rest and  strikes  were  increasing  in  the  ship- 
yards, steel  works  and  engineering  plants, 
and  the  strikers  were  demanding  higher 
wages  and  the  recognition  of  their  unions. 
Some  25,000  workers  were  on  strike  at  the 
end  of  July.  The  ship  strikers  at  Kobe, 
according   to   Tokio   dispatches   of  Aug.   1, 


had  won  consent  to  the  establishment  of 
workmen's  committees,  an  eight-hour  work- 
ing day  and  workmen's  pensions.  Other 
shipyard  concerns  were  expected  to  follow 
suit.  The  old  war  between  labor  and  cap- 
ital, which  for  so  long  has  been  fought  in 
the  West,  is  only  beginning  in  Japan,  but  it 
is  already  formidable,  and  there*  are  signs 
that  the  Government  is  not  at  all  certain 
of  the  best  way  to  cope  with  it. 


CHINA— THE  SICK  MAN  OF  THE 

FAR  EAST 

The  situation  one  of  political  and  financial  chaos,  which  the  Canton  republic 
would  cure  by  overthrowing  the  Peking  Government — China  prepares  to 
plead  her  case  before  the   Washington  conference 


THE  Republic  of  China,  aged  10  years, 
is  very  sick  and  with  a  malady  so 
complex  that  the  most  skilled  foreign 
specialists  are  beginning  to  despair  of  ever 
curing  it.  One  specialist  declares  that  the 
main  seat  of  the  republic's  troubles  lies  in 
extraterritoriality  and  in  general  foreign 
interference.  Another  places  it  in  the  mili- 
tary despotism  of  the  Tuchuns,  or  Military 
Governors,  which  leaves  the  Peking  Gov- 
ernment only  a  shadow  of  authority.  Still 
another  blames  the  Canton  rebels  for  the 
whole  muddle.  Mr.  Lennox  Simpson,  ad- 
viser to  the  Chinese  Government,  who  has 
been  sent  to  London  to  tilt  against  the  re- 
newal of  the  Anglo- Japanese  alliance,  puts 
much  of  the  blame  on  the  existence  of  this 
alliance,  under  cover  of  which  Japan  has 
got  her  economic  and  political  stranglehold 
on  China.  This,  with  the  incredible  fact 
that  China  has  no  customs  revenue,  all  but 
a  small  percentage  of  which  is  held  by  for- 
eign powers  in  mortmain,  to  his  mind,  ex- 
plains most  of  the  chaos  prevailing  in 
China  today. 

China  is  virtually  a  bankrupt  nation,  its 
Treasury  looted  by  the  Tuchuns  to  pay  their 
private  mercenary  armies,  its  domestic 
loans  dishonored,  its  Government  officials, 
especially  its  teachers  in  school  and  col- 
lege, unpaid.  The  foreign  consortium  to 
help    China    financially  is    encountering   a 


strong  current  of  Chinese  opposition;  Chi- 
nese bankers — the  only  hopeful  sign — are 
combining  to  help  the  Government  only  on 
the  basis  of  irreproachable  security.  Polit- 
ically Peking  still  holds  out  against  the 
Japanese  in  the  matter  of  Shantung,  cam- 
paigns against  Japan  abroad,  combats  the 
renewance  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance, 
and  prepares,  with  the  greatest  eagnerness, 
to  present  its  case  against  extraterritori- 
ality and  against  Japanese  encroachments 
at  the  new  conference  on  armament  reduc- 
tion called  by  President  Harding.  Dr.  Sun 
Yat-sen,  meanwhile,  the  newly  elected  Pres- 
ident of  the  rebel  Canton  republic,  declares 
that  the  whole  trouble  in  China  is  due  to 
the  Peking  Government,  which  he  de- 
nounces as  usurping,  unconstitutional, 
criminally  weak,  and  unspeakably  corrupt. 
The  Northern  and  Southern  forces  are 
again  at  war  in  the  Kwangsi  Province. 
What  will  be  the  outcome  of  this  chaos? 
The  President  of  the  China  Society  de- 
clared recently  in  London  that  the  Chinese 
Republic  was  a  failure.  The  Chinese  diplo- 
mats replied  by  pointing  out  that  no  re- 
public was  ever  established  without  dis- 
order, and  that  it  takes  more  than  ten  years 
to  gain  stability.  The  Chinese  Legation  at 
London  issued  a  statement  on  July  18, 
which  said  in  part: 

In  the  graver  statements  which  have  been 


10.S8 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


made  about  political  unrest  in  China,  little 
knowledge  is  shown  of  the  very  great  handi- 
caps which  the  Chinese  people  have  neces- 
sarily to  overcome  before  complete  reform 
of  the  administration  is  accomplished.  It  is 
a  historical  fact,  easy  of  verification,  that  no 
nation  has  erected  a  new  system  of  gov- 
ernment on  new  ideas,  and  owing  its  exist- 
ence to  new  forces,  in  less  than  two  decades. 
There  are  the  cases  of  the  great  Republics  of 
the  United  States  and  France,  which  in  the 
first  dozen  years  or  so  of  their  political  ex- 
perience under  an  entirely  new  form  of  gov- 
ernment encountered  many  of  the  difficult 
problems  confronting  China  at  present.  The 
Chinese  people  rely  largely  on  the  sympathy 
and  friendship  of  Western  peoples  for  their 
progress  and  for  the  solution  of  their  diffi- 
culties, and  expressions  of  views  precipi- 
tately taken  or  of  opinions  hurriedly  formed 
not  only  unnecessarily  discourage  them  in 
their  admittedly  difficult  task  of  building 
up  a  stable  republic,  but  are  hardly  con- 
ducive to  the  cause  of  general  enlighten- 
ment. 

The  Legation  further  declared  that  the 
charge  of  apathy  was  without  foundation. 
Innumerable  telegraphic  and  cable  messages 
had  been  received  from  Chinese  organiza- 
tions, protesting  against  the  renewal  of 
the  Anglo- Japanese  alliance,  and  insisting 
on  China's  rights.  This  was  proof,  declared 
the  statement,  "  that  the  public  mind  of 
China  has  been  sorely  distressed,"  and  that 
if  the  whole  deplorable  muddle  is  clarified 
by  the  Dominion  Conference  in  London  and 
by  the  Washington  Conference  in  the  Fall, 
it  will  bring  much-needed  relief  to  an  in- 
tolerable situation. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  new  republic 
set  up  in  Canton  by  Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen,  ably 
supported  by  the  veteran  Dr.  Wu  Ting- 
fang,  and  by  Mr.  Tang  Shao-yi,  respec- 
tively Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  Min- 
ister of  Finance  in  the  new  Cabinet,  and 
both  men  of  European  training,  is  the  Pe- 
king Government's  most  formidable  oppo- 
nent. Chinese  opinion  is  much  divided  over 
the  personality  of  Dr.  Sun,  in  whom  some 
see  a  dreamer  and  visionary  of  high  but 
Utopian  ideals,  who  will  lead  his  followers 
to  destruction,  while  others  have  the  very 
highest  regard  for  his  practical  abilities. 
All,  it  seems,  are  at  one  in  granting  to  him 
the    possession    of    the    purest    patriotism. 


Dr.  Sun  has  recently  sent  an  appeal  to 
President  Harding  for  permission  to  have 
his  Government  represented  at  the  Wash- 
ington conference,  and  seized  the  opportu- 
nity to  launch  into  a  new  denunciation  of 
the  Peking  Government,  which  he  declared 
did  not  represent  the  Chinese  people.  The 
chances  of  his  overturning  that  Govern- 
ment seem  slight  at  present,  as  the  funds 
of  the  Canton  Government  are  lower,  per- 
haps, than  those  even  of  Peking,  owing 
chiefly  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  deprived 
by  the  foreign  powers  of  its  share  of  the 
already  small  fraction  of  the  customs  rev- 
enues formerly  allotted  to  it. 

The  failure  of  the  Banque  Industrielle  de 
Chine  is  having  an  unfortunate  effect  on 
French  credit  and  prestige  in  China,  and 
is  strengthening  the  position  of  the  Chinese 
banking  group  organized  in  opposition  to 
the  consortium.  This  banking  group  has 
established  headquarters  in  Peking  and 
Shanghai.  Its  maximum  financial  strength 
is  estimated  at  about  $600,000,000.  This 
group  has  begun  to  make  loans  to  the 
Government,  though  only  on  the  strongest 
security,  and  furnished  the  money — about 
two  and  a  half  million  dollars — necessary 
for  the  construction  of  the  new  giant  mint 
at  Shanghai.  The  group  is  taking  care  to 
keep  its  silver  deposits — virtually  sub- 
Treasuries — in  places  of  safety  at  Shang- 
hai, Hankow  and  Tientsin,  where  it  can 
snap  its  fingers  at  the  greedy  Tuchuns. 

The  famine  is  past.  Over  600,000  people 
have  been  saved  from  starvation  by  the 
work  of  the  Red  Cross.  Employment  has 
been  given  to  many  needy  families  in  the 
construction  of  new  roads,  payment  being 
made  in  food.  More  than  74,000  thus  em- 
ployed built  a  total  of  903  miles  of  road, 
one  effect  of  which  is  expected  to  be  the 
minimizing  of  the  danger  of  future  famines. 

A  noteworthy  attempt  by  the  Government 
to  facilitate  communications  is  the  long- 
projected  aerial  mail  service,  which  early 
in  July  was  placed  in  full  operation  as  far 
as  Tsinanfu,  and  was  expected  soon  to  ex- 
tend to  Shanghai.  The  Tuchuns  of  Chihli 
and  Kiangsu  were  already  raising  obstruc- 
tions to  further  their  own  control. 


A  STRONG  CHINA- 
AMERICA'S  BEST  INSURANCE 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  JSistory: 

An  article  in  the  August  issue  of  Cur- 
rent History  from  the  pen  of  George  L. 
Koehn  contains  this  significant  paragraph: 

We  see  Japan  increasing  her  army  from 
1,500,000  to  4,000,000  men.  We  see  her  spend- 
ing huge  sums  in  a  gigantic  naval  program. 
It  is  very  questionable  whether  she  will  join 
the  great  powers  in  an  agreement  to  reduce 
armaments.  She  is  frantically  exploiting  the 
raw  materials  of  China  for  purposes  of  her 
own  self-sufficiency.  She  is  preparing  her 
people  for  the  coming  war.  America  realizes 
that  Japan's  vast  preparations  are  directed 
against  her  and  feels  only  too  keenly  the 
menace  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Alliance. 

Only  one  statement  of  Mr.  Koehn  as 
quoted  above  is  subject  to  criticism  or  con- 
tradiction. Unfortunately,  America  does 
not  realize  that  Japan's  vast  preparations 
are  directed  against  her.  The  greatest  fail- 
ing of  the  American  people  and  the  Amer- 
ican Government  has  ever  been  that  they 
refuse  to  sense  either  diplomatic  or  mili- 
tary conspiracies  aimed  at  their  well-being 
until  after  they  have  become  accomplished 
facts.  One  glance  at  Japan's  military  and 
naval  estimates  covering  recent  years 
should  send  a  shudder  of  apprehension  up 
America's  back.   Here  are  the  figures: 

1914  Army  appropriation $49,000,000 

1920  Army  appropriation 205,000,000 

1921  For  military  aviation  alone 200,000,000 

1914    Naval    appropriation 4(5,000,000 

1921    Naval    appropriation 235,000,000 

A  Japanese  military  author,  Mr.  Tasu- 
kava,  supplements  these  figures  with  a  re- 
cent volume  in  which  he  goes  so  far  as  to 
outline  Japan's  probable  campaign  against 
the  United  States,  visioning  Japanese  army 
corps  in  control  of  the  Philippines,  Hawaii 
and  the  States  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Is  the 
American  legislator  interested  in  this 
menace  steadily  creeping  closer  to  our  is- 
land possessions  and  our  Pacific  Coast?  He 
is  not.  Will  America  be  warned  by  the  fate 
of  China?     She  will  not. 

Few  Americans  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
review  the  history  of  the  Orient  since  Japan 
emerged  from  her  Asiatic  seclusion  and  as- 
sumed the  role  of  a  world  power.  Had  they 


done  so  there  would  be  far  less  smug  com- 
plaisance on  America's  part  in  viewing  con- 
ditions in  the  East  today.  Korea  knows  the 
worth  of  the  Japanese  word  and  the  bite  of 
the  Japanese  sword.  China  cringes  from 
the  flash  of  Japanese  guns  and  winces  at 
the  deceitful  voice  of  Japanese  diplo- 
macy, while  she  wallows  in  the  cesspool  of 
disintegration  dug  for  her  by  Japan  and 
polluted  with  the  vilest  intrigue  ever  prac- 
ticed by  a  nation  aspiring  to  be  classed 
among  civilized  powers.  The  United  States 
of  America  and  the  great  powers  of  Europe, 
especially  England,  must  take  shame  in 
their  unhallowed  part  in  the  Japanese  rape 
of  China.  Europe  may  swallow  her  shame, 
England  may  attempt  to  save  her  face  by 
the  excuse  of  war's  expediency.  There  is 
no  great  menace  to  Europe  in  the  present 
attitude  of  Japan,  but  America,  with  the 
Japanese  sword  already  pointing  out  across 
the  Pacific,  will  be  more  than  culpably  neg- 
ligent if  she  heed  not  the  warning  in  the 
western  sky. 

On  Aug.  24,  1914,  Count  Okuma  of  Japan, 
in  a  message  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  said  Japan  "  had  no  thought  of  de- 
priving China  or  other  peoples  of  anything 
which  they  possess."  In  September  of  the 
same  year  Japanese  troops  were  landed  in 
Shantung  Province  under  the  fictitious  and 
highly  fantastic  assertion  that  it  was  neces- 
sary for  Japan  to  take  over  the  German- 
controlled  railroad  there.  These  Japanese 
troops  promptly  and  needlessly,  from  a  mil- 
itary standpoint,  proceeded  to  violate  Chi- 
nese neutrality  by  overrunning  the  country, 
taking  what  they  desired,  maltreating  the 
Chinese  inhabitants  and  extending  their 
lines  of  military  occupation  far  beyond  any 
necessity  connected  with  the  railroad.  In 
Shantung  Japan  followed  the  same  shame- 
less tactics  toward  the  Chinese  inhabitants 
that  she  used  against  the  defenseless  Ko- 
reans when  she  thrust  her  piratical  crew 
upon  that  unoffending  country.  These  were 
the  actions  of  a  country  which,  according  to 
her  leading  statesman,  "  had  no  thought  of 


1040 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


depriving  China  or  other  peoples  of  any- 
thing they  possessed." 

Is  a  country  which  is  guilty  of  such  tac- 
tics, a  country  which  is  today  undermining 
morale  and  Chinese  politics  by  bribery,  by 
debauchery  of  officials,  by  the  reintroduc- 
tion  of  opium  where  the  people  have  made 
a  valiant  fight  to  abolish  its  horrors,  a 
country  which  is  feverishly  increasing  its 
military  and  naval  forces,  to  be  trusted  by 
the  great,  rich,  resourceful,  non-military 
nation  on  the  other  rim  of  the  Pacific? 
China  is  non-military.  China  is  rich  in  nat- 
ural resources.  China  has  400,000,000  in- 
habitants, while  Japan  has  less  than  100,- 
000,000,  yet  Japan  is  tearing  China  to 
pieces.  Is  there  any  reason  that,  to  serve 
her  own  ends,  Japan  would  hesitate  to  tear 
America  to  pieces?    There  is  not. 

If  the  American  people  continue  to  wal- 
low in  their  ignorance  of  Asiatic  affairs;  if 
American  Congresses,  always  more  inter- 
ested in  local  elections  than  in  vital  world 
problems,  continue  to  ignore  America's 
problem  in  the  Pacific;  if  American  Admin- 
istrations continue  their  childlike  trust  in 
the  smiling,  diplomatic  front  of  Japan,  the 
time  may  come  when,  having  overrun 
China,  Japan  will  feel  herself  strong  enough 
to  carry  out  her  design  of  drifting  eastward 
across  the  Pacific. 

But,  suppose  the  American  people  force 
their  political  rulers  to  heed  the  warnings 
flashing  from  out  the  Western  sky.  What 
then?  Must  the  nation  be  beggared  in  order 
to  meet  the  tremendous  military  expenses 
necessary  to  combat  this  threatened  inva- 
sion? Must  our  hard-earned  dollars  be 
thrown  into  great  armaments  and  vast 
armies  and  navies?  Must  we  spend  our  en- 
tire substance  upon  insurance  against  at- 
tack from  Japan?  Most  certainly  not. 
There  is  absolutely  no  need  for  increasing 
eur  military  and  naval  forces  beyond  their 
present  size.  In  fact,  by  taking  out  the 
only  reasonable  and  rational  insurance 
against  attack  from  Japan  we  will  be  able 
materially  to  reduce  our  expenditures  for 
national  defense. 

America's  greatest  insurance  against 
Japan's  proposed  absorption  of  her  island 
possessions  in  the  Pacific  and  domination 
of  the  western  confines  of  the  American 
Continent  will  be  found  in  China. 


Today  China  is  making  a  valiant  struggle 
to  fit  herself  for  admission  to  the  society 
of  world  powers.  She  is  emerging  from  her 
age-long  sleep  and  is  attempting  to  con- 
struct a  modern  Government  along  demo- 
cratic lines.  Hampered  though  she  is  by 
intrigue  and  dissension  fostered  from  with- 
out, China  is  making  headway  as  a  republic. 
Her  patriotic  statesmen,  especially  in  the 
south,  where  President  Sun  Yat-sen  is  hold- 
ing his  own  against  China's  enemies  with- 
in and  without,  are  building  an  enlightened 
popular  Government  and  gaining  power. 
Japan  has  seen  the  handwriting  on  the  wall 
and  is  making  every  effort  to  hold  down 
this  growing  movement  toward  moderniza- 
tion. Japan  sees  what  it  would  be  well  for 
America  to  see,  that  a  strong,  upstanding, 
commercially  and  militarily  competent  China 
will  mean  the  end  of  Japanese  imperialism. 

Here,  then,  is  America's  insurance  for  the 
future.  Let  the  American  people  and  the 
American  Government  assist  China  in  her 
laudable  effort  to  construct  a  self-reliant 
Government.  Let  America  develop  Chinese 
trade;  let  her  assist  Chinese  industries  and 
Chinese  development;  let  her,  if  necessary, 
advance  the  amount  required  to  train  and 
maintain  a  Chinese  army  equal  to  that  of 
Japan.  It  would  be  far  better  employed 
than  some  of  the  loans  recently  made  to 
European  Governments,  and  it  could  be  se- 
cured by  bonds  as  gilt-edged  as  anything 
we  have  in  the  shape  of  security  from  the 
beggared  lands  across  the  Atlantic.  Let 
the  United  States  of  America  indicate  her 
boasted  friendship  for  China,  her  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  democracy,  by  something 
more  tangible  than  empty  words,  and  she 
will  find  in  a  strong,  peaceful,  prosperous 
China,  freed  from  the  debasing  intrigue 
and  influence  of  Japan,  her  own  insurance 
for  the  future. 

Japan  will  never  turn  her  eyes  across  the 
Pacific  when  there  is  a  strong  China  on 
her  flank  friendly  to  America.  The  friend- 
ship, the  development,  the  strengthening  of 
China  should  be  America's  first  thought  to- 
day. In  that  lies  peace,  the  retrenchment 
of  armament  in  the  United  States,  the  ex- 
pansion of  trade  in  the  Pacific  and  Ameri- 
ca's everlasting  insurance  against  attack 
rom  the  West.  RICHARD  HATTON. 

1,02k  Munsey  Building,  Washington,  D.  C,  Aug. 

%,    1921. 


GERMANY'S  SEPARATE  PEACE 
WITH  CHINA 

Text  of  the  treaty  which  China  has  made  with  the  German  Government  in 
place  of  the  Versailles  pact — Germans  regain  their  property  in  China  on 
favorable  terms — China  takes  the  opportunity  to  abolish  extra-territorial  courts 


CHINA,  having  refused  to  sign  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles,  has  made  a  sep- 
arate peace  with  Germany,  and  the 
ratifications  were  exchanged  on  July  1, 
1921.  The  text  of  the  treaty  and  related  doc- 
uments is  published  in  full  below.  The  al- 
lied powers  have  by  no  means  bestowed 
their  full  approval  on  this  treaty,  because 
it  provides  for  the  return  of  property  owned 
by  Germany  in  China  before  the  war;  the 
French  press,  especially,  contends  that  the 
properties,  according  to  the  provisions  of 
the  Versailles  Treaty,  must  be  delivered  to 
the  Reparation  Commission. 

It  was  on  March  14,  1917,  that  the  Chi- 
nese Government  broke  off  diplomatic  re- 
lations with  the  German  Government,  and 
on  Aug.  14  of  the  same  year  it  declared 
war.  The  armistice  came;  the  sessions  of 
the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris  dragged 
along,  and  finally  the  bulky  Treaty  of 
Peace  with  Germany  was  signed  by  all  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  and  by  Ger- 
many at  Versailles.  But  China  did  not  sign. 
The  solution  found  by  the  President  of  the 
Chinese  Republic  was  to  end  the  state  of 
war  officially  by  decree.  This  he  did  on 
Sept.  15,  1919.  The  decree  was  not  official- 
ly communicated  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment. Its  chief  effects  were  to  remove  the 
disabilities  to  which  the  Germans  in  China 
had  been  subject  during  the  war.  The  pro- 
hibition of  trade  with  the  enemy,  however, 
was  not  lifted,  and  China  maintained  the 
sequestration  of  German  property  in  China 
and  continued  the  process  of  liquidation. 
No  legal  basis  remained,  however,  for  mu- 
tual relations,  as  all  previous  treaties  had 
been  annulled  when  the  state  of  war  began. 
It  became  apparent  both  to  Germany  and 
to  China  that  a  special  treaty  was  necessary 
to  liquidate  the  effects  of  the  war  and  to 
lay  a  foundation  for  future  relations.  A 
German  commission  was  sent  to  Peking, 
negotiations  were  begun,   and  on  May  20, 


1921,  the  conventions  published  herewith 
were  signed  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  both 
nations  in  Peking. 

The  whole  series  of  documents  was  pub- 
lished in  the  German  White  Book,  from 
which  source  they  have  been  translated  for 
Current  History.  It  will  be  seen  that  they 
fall  into  five  main  groups: 

1.  Germany's  preliminary  declaration  regard- 
ing the  liquidation  of  the  war,  and  China's  ac- 
knowledgment of   this   declaration. 

2.  The  covering  note  of  the  German  plenipo- 
tentiary, confirming  Germany's  inability  to  ac- 
knowledge anew  the  Versailles  Treaty,  in  view 
of  hopes  for  future  revision,  and  sanctioning 
China's  use  of  certain  treaty  rights. 

3.  The  German-Chinese  agreement  establish- 
ing future  relations  between  the  two  countries, 
and  dealing  with  diplomatic  agents,  customs 
and  taxes,  the  freedom  of  movement  of  the  na- 
tionals of  either  country  in  the  other  country 
and  the  jurisdiction  to  which  they  would  be 
subject.  Herein  lies  innocently  concealed  one 
of  the  most  drastic  new  policies  of  the  Chinese 
Government.  The  provision  making  the  alien 
nations  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  local 
courts  means  that  China  had  abolished  the  prin- 
ciple of  extraterritoriality,  under  which  foreign 
aliens  in  China  have  been  placed  under  the  pro- 
tection of  their  respective  Consuls  and  tried  for 
crimes  and  offenses  by  special  courts,  non-Chi- 
nese, or  only  partly  Chinese. 

4.  A  German  supplementary  note,  covering 
Chinese  goods  and  property  in  China,  war  com- 
pensation charges  to  be  paid  to  China,  and  the 
special  engagement  of  Germany  to  pay  China 
$4,000,000  in  cash  and  Chinese  railway  bonds  to 
cover  these  costs  and  to  release  for  return  the 
German  property  either  liquidated  or  not  still 
held  by  China.  In  this  supplementary  note 
Germany  asks  a  certain  number  of  questions 
regarding  the  working  of  the  new  ruling  against 
extraterritoriality,  all  directed  to  ascertaining 
exactly  what  the  rights  of  German  nationals  and 
German  advocates  will  be  in  the  courts  newly 
established  by  China  to  deal  with  all  cases  alike. 

5.  The  reply  of  the  Chinese  Foreign  Minister, 
pledging  his  Government  to  cease  all  further 
liquidation  of  German  property,  and  in  consid- 
eration of  the  sum  to  be  paid  by  Germany  in 
cash  and  bonds,  to  return  the  receipts  of  the 
liquidated  property  and  the  balance  of  un- 
liquidated property  still  in  its  possession.    This 


1042 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


note  also  answers  the  German  queries  regard- 
ing the  working  of  the  new  regime  opposed  to 
extraterritoriality. 

If  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  is  examined, 
it  will  be  seen  that  this  treatment  of  the 
German  property  in  China  differs  from  that 
laid  down  under  Article  133  of  that  Treaty. 
The  Chinese  terms  are  much  more  favorable 
for  Germany  and  for  German-Chinese 
firms.  China,  following  the  example  of  the 
Allies,  had  liquidated  about  1,200,000  taels 
worth  of  German  property  to  cover  war 
damages ;  the  value  of  the  sequestrated  Ger- 
man property  still  held  by  her  is  estimated 
as  at  least  ten  times  that  amount.  This 
property  has  been  regarded  by  the  Chinese 
Government  as  security  for  her  war  repara- 
tions claims,  which  have  been  estimated  to 
exceed  the  total  value  of  the  property  held. 
By  the  new  agreement,  China  ceases  all 
further  liquidation,  and  releases  all  prop- 
erty still  held  on  payment  of  a  sum  esti- 
mated as  one-half  the  value,  this  sum  to  be 
regarded  as  partial  payment  of  the  repara- 
tions charges  still  to  be  fully  determined  by 
the  Chinese  financial  experts.  Both  this 
arrangement  and  the  new  ruling  of  China 
against  extraterritoriality  may  yet  be  pro- 
ductive of  trouble  with  the  entente  powers. 

The  text  of  the  various  Treaty  documents 
follows : 
(1)    Germany's  Preliminary  Declaration 

The  undersigned,  duly  authorized  plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  Government  of  the  German  Realm, 
has  the  honor  to  make  the  following  communi- 
cation to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
Chinese  Republic  in  the  name  of  his  Govern- 
ment: 

The  Government  of  the  German  Realm,  guided 
by  the  desire  to  restore  relations  of  friendship 
and  commerce  between  Germany  and  China, 
and  in  consideration  of  the  fact  that  such  rela- 
tions, in  accordance  with  the  general  rules  of 
International  law,  must  be  based  upon  the 
principles  of  complete  equality  and  absolute 
reciprocity ;  and 

Whereas,  the  President  of  the  Chinese  Re- 
public issued  a  decree  on  Sept.  15,  1919,  con- 
cerning the  restoration  of  peace  with  Germany, 
Germany  engages  to  fulfill  the  obligations 
toward  China  which  arise  from  Articles  128  to 
134  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  of  June  28,  1919, 
which  came  into  force  on  Jan.  10,  1920 ; 

Further,  Germany  states  that  she  has  ■  been 
compelled  by  the  circumstances  of  the  war  and 
by  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  to  abandon  all  her 
rights,  claims  and  privileges  which  she  acquired 
by  her  treaty  with  China  of  March  6,  1898,  as 
well  as  by  all  other  agreements  regarding  the 
Province  of  Shantung,  and  so  is  deprived  of 
the  possibility  of  returning  them  to  China; 


Germany  also  formally  declares  that  she  will 
agree  to  the  abolition  of  consular  jurisdiction 
in  China,  that  she  will  abandon  in  China's 
favor  all  rights  which  the  German  Government 
possesses  over  the  "  Glacis  "  attaching  to  the 
German  Embassy  in  Peking,  admitting  that  the 
said  ground  must  be  understood  to  be  included 
in  the  term  "  public  property  "  in  the  first 
paragraph  of  Article  130  of  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles, and  that  she  is  prepared  to  repay  to 
the  Chinese  Government  the  cost  of  interning 
German  military  persons  in  the  various  intern- 
ment camps  in  China. 

Peking,   May   20,   1921.  VON    BORCH. 

[Mr.  W.  W.  Ten,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
of  the  Chinese  Republic,  on  the  same  date  ac- 
knowledged receipt  of  the  above  agreement, 
which   his'  note   reproduces    textually.] 

(2)  The  German  Covering  Letter 

Peking,  May  20,  1921. 
Your  Excellency : 

In  accordance  with  the  instructions  of  my 
Government,  I  have  the  honor  of  repeating  my 
statement  to  you  that  the  German  Government 
cannot  now  make  a  renewed  declaration  ac- 
knowledging the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  since  such 
a  step  would  amount  to  free  acceptance  of  that 
treaty  on  its  part  and  would  prejudice  the 
question  of  future  revision  ;  but  it  will  raise  no 
objections  to  China  making  use  of  certain  other 
treaty  rights,  beyond  those  contained  in  Articles 
128  to  134,  if  these  rights  should  appear  to  be 
of  advantage  to  the  country  in  their  present 
form,  or,  if  the  treaty  should  be  revised,  in  their 
revised  form.  VON  BORCH. 

(3)    The   German-Chinese   Peace   Treaty 

The  Government  of  the  German  Realm  and 
the  Government  of  the  Chinese  Republic,  guided 
by  the  desire  to  restore  relations  of  friendship 
and  commerce  by  means  of  an  agreement  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  taking  the  declaration 
of  the  German  Realm  of  today's  date  as  a  basis 
and  acknowledging  that  the  only  means  of 
maintaining  friendly  relations  between  the  peo- 
ples is  the  application  of  the  principles  of  re- 
spect for  territorial  sovereignty,  of  equality  and 
reciprocity,  have  accordingly  appointed  as  their 
plenipotentiaries  : 

The  Government  of  the  German  Realm:  Mr. 
H.   von  Borch,   Consul  General ; 

The  Government  of  the  Chinese  Republic :  Mr. 
W.  W.   Yen,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  plenipotentiaries,  having  communicated 
to  one  another  their  full  powers  found  in 
good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  the  fol- 
lowing stipulations : 

Art.  1— Both  High  Contracting  Parties  shall 
have  the  mutual  right  to  send  duly  accredited 
diplomatic  representatives  who,  on  the  principle 
of  reciprocity,  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  and  im- 
munities in  the  country  of  their  sojourn  which 
are  granted  by  international  law. 

Art  2.— The  two  high  contracting  parties 
mutually  accord  to  one  another  the  right  to 
appoint  Consuls,  Vice  Consuls  and  Consular 
Agents    in    all    places    where    the    Consulate    or 


GERMANY'S  SEPARATE  PEACE  WITH  CHINA 


1043 


Vice  Consulate  of  another  nation  is  established, 
and  these  shall  be  treated  with  the  respect  and 
consideration  which  are  accorded  to  officials 
of  the  same  rank  of  other  nations. 

Art.  3.— Nationals  of  either  republic  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  other  shall  be  at  liberty,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the 
land,  to  travel,  to  settle,  and  to  carry  on  com- 
merce or  industry  in  all  places  where  the  na- 
tionals of  any  other  State  may  do  so. 

They  shall  be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
local  courts  as  regards  both  their  persons  and 
their  property ;  they  shall  be  required  to  con- 
form to  the  laws  of  the  land  of  sojourn.  They 
shall  not  pay  hig-her  taxes,  imposts,  or  levies 
than  native  citizens. 

Art.  .'/.—Both  high  contracting  parties  acknowl- 
edge that  all  questions  of  customs  shall  be  de- 
termined by  each  solely  through  internal  legisla- 
tion. But  no  higher  tariff  shall  be  imposed 
upon  raw  materials  or  manufactured  goods 
originating  in  either  of  the  two  republics  or 
any  other  country,  on  import,  export,  or  trans- 
port,  than  those  paid  by  native  citizens. 

Art.  5.— The  declaration  of  the  German  realm 
of  today's  date  and  the  terms  of  the  present 
agreement  shall  serve  as  a  basis  in  negotiating 
the  final  treaty. 

Art.  C— The  present  agreement  shall  be  writ- 
ten in  German,  Chinese  and  French  ;  in  case  of 
differences  in  the  interpretation,  the  French  text 
shall  be  authoritative. 

Art.  7 — The  present  agreement  shall  be  rati- 
fied as  soonPas  possible  and  shall  come  into 
force  on  the  day  on  which  the  two  Governments 
announce  to  one  another  that  ratification  has 
taken  place. 

Done  in  two  copies  at  Peking  on  May  20, 
1921,  corresponding  to  the  twentieth  day  of  the 
fifth  month  of  the  tenth  year  of  the  Chinese 
Republic.  W.  W.   YEN, 

von  borch. 
(4)   German  Supplementary  Note 

Peking,   May  20,   1921. 
Your    Excellency  : 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  of  making  the 
following  statement  to  your  Excellency  on  be- 
half of  the  German  Government,  with  the  ob- 
ject of  elucidating  further  the  text  of  the  Ger- 
man declaration  and  that  of  the  German  Chinese 
agreement . 

Tariffs  on  Chinese  Goods  in  Germany— 
The  customs  regulation  contained  in  Article 
4  of  the  agreement,  by  which  the  import, 
export,  and  transport  dues  of  both  countries 
are  not  to  exceed  those  paid  by  nationals 
of  the  country  itself,  does  not  prevent  China 
from  making  use  of  the  privilege  given  to  her 
by  Article  264  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles.* 

Compensation  for  Damages— The  willing- 
ness expressed  in  the  German  declaration 
to  pay  to  China  the  expenses  of  the  various  in- 
ternment camps  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense 
that  Germany  is  prepared  to  make  this  payment 
in  addition  to  reparation  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles. 

The  German  Government  engages  to  make  a 
partial    payment    to    the   Chinese   Governmnt  of 


$4,000,000  in  cash  and  the  rest  in  Tientsin-Puku 
and  Hukuang  railway  bonds  on  the  Chinese  de- 
mands for  war  damages  reparation  to  a  total 
amount  which  shall  be  agreed  upon,  being  half 
the  receipts  from  the  liquidated  property  of 
Germans  in  China,  and  half  the  value  of  the 
sequestrated  property. 

Chinese  Property  in  Germany— Chinese  mov- 
able and  immovable  property  in  Germany  will 
be  restored  after  the  ratification  of  the  agree- 
ment. 

Chinese  Students  in  Germany— The  German 
Government  will  gladly  give  all  possible 
assistance  to  Chinese  students  in  Germany 
to  enable  them  to  be  admitted  to  schools  and  to 
receive  practical  training. 

The  undersigned  would  also  be  grateful  to  the 
Minister  for  information  en  the  following  points : 

1.  Future  Guarantees  for  German  Property- 
Can  the  Chinese  Government  promise  to  accord 
full  protection  to  Germans  in  the  peaceful  pur- 
suit of  their  occupations  and  not  to  sequestrate 
their  property  again,  except  in  accordance  with 
the  generally  accepted  principles  of  interna- 
tional law   or  the  provisions  of  Chinese  law? 

2.  Legal  Guarantees— Will  all  cases  of  Ger- 
man litigation  in  China  be  dealt  with  by  the 
newly  established  courts,  with  the  right  of  ap- 
peal, and  will  the  proceedings  be  conducted  cor- 
rectly? May  German  barristers  and  interpre- 
ters who  are  officially  admitted  to  the  courts 
give  legal  assistance  for  the  duration  of  the 
case? 

3.  Cases  Before  the  Mixed  Courts— What  pro- 
cedure does  the  Chinese  Government  contem- 
plate for  cases  before  the  Mixed  Courts  in  which 
Germans  are  actively  or  passively  involved? 

4.  Chinese  Regulations  Concerning  Trade  with 
the  Enemy— Will  all  such  regulations  cease  to 
hold  good  on  the  day  of  the  ratification  of  the 
agreement? 

5.  Regulation  of  Chinese  German  Obligations- 
Does  the  Chinese  Government  intend  to  take 
part  in  the  general  clearing  office  contemplated 
in  Article  296  of  the  Versailles  Treaty? 

von  borch. 
(5)   The  Chinese  Reply 

Peking,  May  20,  1921. 
Sir:     I  have   the   honor   to   acknowledge   your 
kind   communication    in   which,    with   the   object 
of   elucidating   further  the   text   of    the   German 


*  Germany  undertakes  that  goods  which  are  of 
the  produce  or  manufacture  of  any  one  of  the 
allied  or  associated  States  imported  into  Ger- 
man territory,  from  whatsoever  place  arriving, 
shall  not  be  subjected  to  other  or  higher  duties 
or  charges  (including  internal  charges)  than 
those  to  which  the  like  goods  the  produce  or 
manufacture  of  any  other  such  State  or  of  any 
other  foreign  country  are  subject. 

Germany  will  not  maintain  or  impose  any 
prohibition  or  restriction  on  the  importation 
into  German  territory  of  any  goods  which  are 
of  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  the  terri- 
tories of  any  one  of  the  allied  or  associated 
States,  from  whatsoever  place  arriving,  which 
shall  not  equally  extend  to  the  importation  of 
the  like  goods  which  are  of  the  produce  or 
manufacture  of  any  other  such  State  or  of  any 
other  foreign  country. 


1044 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


declaration    and    that    of    the    Chinese-German 

Agreement,    you    make   the   following-   statement : 
[Text  quoted  of  four  statements  made  in  above 

note.] 
To    the    questions    which    you    ask    I    have    the 

honor  to  reply  as  follows : 

1.  Future  guarantees  for  the  property  of 
Chinese  and  Germans :  The  Chinese  Government 
promises  to  accord  full  protection  to  Germans 
in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  their  occupations  and 
not  to  sequestrate  their  property  again  except 
in  accordance  with  the  generally  accepted  prin- 
ciples of  international  law,  or  the  provisions 
of  Chinese  law,  on  condition  that  the  German 
Government  observes  a  similar  line  of  conduct 
toward   the   Chinese  living  in  Germany. 

2.  Legal  guarantees :  German  cases  of  litiga- 
tion in  China  will  all  be  dealt  with  by  the 
newly  established  courts,  with  the  right  of  ap- 
peal, and  in  accordance  with  the  new  laws,  and 
correct  procedure  will  be  followed.  German 
barristers  and  interpreters  who  are  officially 
admitted  to  the  courts  may  give  legal  assistance 
for  the  duration  of  the  case. 

3.  Cases  before  the  Mixed  Courts :  Regarding 
proceedings  before  the  Mixed  Courts  in  which 
Germans  are  actively  or  passively  involved, 
China  will  in  future  seek  to  find  a  solution 
which  will  be  just  to  all  parties. 

4.  Chinese  regulations  concerning  trade  with 
the  enemy :  All  such  regulations  will  automati- 
cally cease  to  hold  good  on  the  day  of  the  rati- 
fication of  the   Agreement. 

The  German  trade  marks  formerly  registered 
with  the  Marine  Customs  Office  will  acquire 
validity  again  through  renewed  registration  with 


the  Marine  Customs  Office  by  the  original 
owners. 

Until  the  autonomous  customs  regulations  are 
generally  applied  German  imports  will  pay  cus- 
toms dues  in  accordance  with  the  general  cus- 
toms regulations. 

5.  Regulation  of  Chinese  German  obligations : 
It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment to  take  part  in  the  general  clearing  office 
contemplated  in  Article  296  of  the  Versailles 
Treaty. 

The  Chinese  Government  engages,  in  view  of 
the  above  declaration  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment, by  which  it  undertakes  the  obligation  of 
making  a  partial  payment  to  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment on  the  demand  for  war  damages  rep- 
aration, to  cease  all  liquidation  of  German  prop- 
erty with  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  and  in  re- 
turn for  the  receipt  of  the  above  sum  paid  for 
reparation  to  give  back  to  the  owners  the  re- 
ceipts from  liquidation  as  well  as  the  property 
retained  after  the  ratification  of  the  German- 
Chinese    Agreement. 

The  above  settlement  involves  the  decision  of 
the  question  mentioned  in  Paragraph  2  of- 
Article  133  of  the  Versailles  Treaty,  of  the 
liquidation,  sequestration  and  seizure  of  Ger- 
man property. 

The  competent  Chinese  authorities  will  nego- 
tiate separately  with  the  German  Asiatic  Bank 
and  the  Ching-Hsing  mines  concerning  the  pro- 
cedure  to   be    adopted. 

The  immovable  property  of  the  German  Asiatic 
Bank  in  Peking  and  Hankow  which  has  not  yet 
been  liquidated  will,  however,  in  accordance 
with  the  above-mentioned  procedure,  be  restored 
to  the  owners.  W.  W.  YEN. 


THE  EX-KAISER'S  FORTUNE 


THE  dispute  between  the  former  Kaiser 
and  the  local  municipality  of  Doom 
over  the  question  of  taxes  has  centred  the 
eyes  of  the  world  on  his  ex-Majesty's  in- 
come. First  of  all,  William  filed  an  appeal 
for  complete  exemption.  Assessed  on  an 
income  of  350,000  florins,  he  protested,  de- 
claring that  his  income  was  only  150,000 
florins.  The  municipality  then  placed  on 
him  the  burden  of  proof,  declaring  that  it 
was  impossible  for  the  ex-monarch  to  live 
in  his  present  style  and  to  maintain  such 
an  establishment  as  his  house  and  large 
staff  of  servants  on  the  income  declared. 
Deputies  of  the  Province  of  Utrecht,  mem- 
bers of  the  aristocracy,  supported  William 
in  his  contention,  though  it  was  generally 
understood  that  the  latter  had  large  depos- 
its in  the  Amsterdam  Bank  in  the  name  of 
his  majordomo. 

A  documented  history  of  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns,  compiled  under  the  auspices  of  the 


Majority  Socialist  Party  by  Kur  Heinig, 
was  published  meanwhile  in  Berlin.  Heinig, 
after  years  of  study  of  the  imperial  archives, 
declares  that  the  Kaiser  was  one  of  the 
thriftiest  of  monarchs,  and  amassed  by  suc- 
cessful speculation  and  private  enterprise  a 
large  fortune,  estimated  at  over  $12,000,000. 
Stock-market  speculations,  investments  in 
the  Hamburg-American  Line  and  the  Ger- 
man Electric  Company,  personal  loans  to  the 
Krupps,  $2,000,000  invested  in  mortgages 
on  Berlin  homes,  6,000,000  marks  in  Ger- 
man war  bonds,  the  income  from  fifteen 
estates  producing  half  a  million  quarts  of 
brandy  for  public  sale — all,  it  seems,  was 
grist  for  the  Kaiser's  financial  mill.  It  is 
further  declared  that  when  the  Kaiser  fled 
he  took  with  him  fifty-three  vans  of  furni- 
ture, 1,000  silver  plates,  300  gilt  service 
plates  and  a  solid  silver  service  for  100 
guests.  Heinig's  statements  will  not  be  over- 
looked by  the  Doom  burghers. 


GERMANY'S  BUSINESS  RECOVERY 

Hugo  Stinnes  dominate*  the  strenuous  campaign  for  foreign  trade,  which  is 
fast  recovering  Germany's  antebellum  business  in  South  America  and  the 
Far  East — Reparation  Commission  reports  progress  toward  the  first  payment 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,   1921] 


MDSUMMER  was  marked  by  a  real 
business  revival  in  Germany,  despite 
the  hot  weather  and  the  dire  predic- 
tions of  economic  ruin  voiced  in  Berlin  in 
connection  with  the  possibility  of  losing 
part  of  Upper  Silesia  and  the  like- 
lihood of  indefinite  continuation  of  the 
sanctions  along  the  Rhine.  So  far  as  the 
French  Government  is  concerned,  Premier 
Briand  has  said  that,  unless  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Leipsic  functions  more  effectively 
in  punishing  German  war  criminals,  there 
can  be  no  thought  of  evacuating  the  Rhine 
zone.  [Both  Upper  Silesia  and  the  Leipsic 
trials  are  treated  elsewhere  in  this  issue  of 
Current  History.] 

All  through  the  period  there  were  reports 
of  big  profits  by  German  industrial  con- 
cerns and  stories  of  trade  expansion  abroad, 
especially  in  South  America  and  the  Far 
East,  where  Germany  is  strenuously  trying 
to  regain  her  pre-war  business.  Owing  to 
the  low  exchange  value  of  the  mark,  it  is 
easy  for  German  manufacturers  to  under- 
bid their  American  and  British  competitors. 
Data  compiled  by  American  consular  agents 
show  that  during  the  last  few  months  Latin- 
American  buyers  have  been  rapidly  increas- 
ing their  orders  for  goods  "  made  in  Ger- 
many." 

Hugo  Stinnes,  Germany's  leading  indus- 
trialist, plays  a  large  role  in  the  cam- 
paign for  foreign  trade  through  his  ever- 
growing lines  of  freight  steamers  and  his 
reaching  out  after  profitable  enterprises  all 
over  the  world.  Since  being  ousted  from 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Hamburg- 
American  Line  for  opening  a  steamship 
service  to  South  America  in  competition 
with  that  company,  Herr  Stinnes  has  in- 
tensified his  shipping  activities.  On  Aug. 
10  William  B.  Ryan,  Vice  President  of  the 
United  American  Lines,  the  Harriman  con- 
cern operating  in  connection  with  the  Ham- 
burg-American    Line,     arrived     in     Buenos 


Aires  with  Richard  Peltzer,  a  Director  of 
the  latter  company,  on  a  tour  of  inspection 
of  South  American  ports.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  they  were  laying  plans  to 
meet  the  rate  war  instituted  some  time  be- 
fore by  Herr  Stinnes. 

The  steel  and  iron  industry  showed  great 
improvement,  but  the  textile  business  led 
all  the  rest,  with  the  result  that  the  num- 
ber of  unemployed  persons  and  their  de- 
pendents drawing  allowances  from  the  Gov- 
ernment fell  from  an  average  of  742,000 
in  June  to  657,000  in  July.  The  cost  of 
living,  however,  increased  materially.  The 
minimum  necessary  to  support  a  family  of 
four  in  Berlin  rose  from  285  marks  per 
week  in  May  to  324  in  July.  An  advance 
of  about  40  per  cent,  in  the  price  of  bread 
in  Berlin,  bringing  it  up  to  7  marks  for  a 
two-pound  loaf,  was  scheduled  for  Aug.  15, 
coincidental  with  the  lifting  of  the  re- 
strictions on -dealing  in  bread,  except  for  a 
certain  rationed  quantity.  The  index  figure 
for  wholesale  prices  of  foodstuffs  was  963 
in  July,  against  896  in  June,  and  924  in 
January  last.  Demonstrations  against  high 
prices  were  reported  from  various  parts  of 
Germany.  Hamburg's  shipping  traffic  in 
July  amounted  to  about  60  per  cent,  of 
what  it  was  in  July,  1913,  the  tonnage  of 
the  vessels  entering  the  port  being  873,588, 
against  688,444  in  June. 

That  Germany  might  complete  on  sched- 
ule time  the  actual  cash  payment  of  the 
1,000,000,000  gold  marks  due  not  later  than 
Aug.  31,  under  the  final  reparation  terms, 
was  indicated  by  a  statement  of  the  Repara- 
tion Commission  in  Paris  on  Aug.  11,  that 
since  July  1  Germany  had  paid  off  five  of 
the  twenty  $10,000,000  three-months'  notes 
issued  on  May  30,  making  a  total  of  seven 
thus  redeemed.  On  the  same  day  the  Berlin 
Vorwarts  positively  announced  that  they 
would  al!  be  paid  off  on  time.  Of  this  first 
billion  in  gold  marks,  Belgium  was  to  get 


1046 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


850,000,000,  according  to  a  statement  made 
by  the  Reparation  Commission  on  Aug.  3. 
This  decision  was  revised  on  Aug.  13  by 
the  Interallied  Finance  Conference  so  as  to 
give  600,000,000  marks  to  Great  Britain  on 
account  of  occupation  costs,  and  let  the  bal- 
ance go  to  Belgium  on  her  priority  account 
of  2,500,000,000  marks.  The  Reparation 
Commission  notified  Germany  that  within 
the  next  six  months  29,400  additional  horses, 
130,000  sheep  and  175,000  horned  cattle 
must  be  delivered  under  the  treaty  terms. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Council  held 
Aug.  13  it  was  agreed  that  if  Germany 
completed  the  payment  of  the  1,000,000,000 
gold  marks  on  time  the  economic  penalties 
would  be  lifted  on  Sept.  15.  The  matter  of 
withdrawing  the  troops  occupying  Diissel- 
dorf,  Duisburg  and  Ruhrort  was  put  over 
to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Council 
at  the  suggestion  of  Premier  Briand.  In 
discussing  the  lifting  of  the  economic 
barrier  along  the  Rhine,  Louis  Loucheur, 
Minister  of  the  Devastated  Regions  of 
France,  said  that  France  demanded  in  re- 
turn that  the  German  boycott  of  French 
goods  cease. 

•  It  was  reported  from  Paris  on  Aug.  5 
that  the  Reparation  Commission  had  de- 
cided that  the  United  States  Government 
would  have  to  negotiate  directly  with  Ger- 
many regarding  payment  for  the  upkeep  of 
the  American  Army  on  the  Rhine,  because 
the  United  States  is  not  a  signer  of  the 
Peace  Treaty.  This  upkeep  so  far  amounts 
to  almost  $300,000,000.  Informal  pourpar- 
lers between  Ellis  Loring  Dresel,  the  Amer- 
ican Commissioner  in  Berlin,  and  Dr.  Ro- 
sen, the  German  Foreign  Minister,  were 
held  during  the  period,  and  it  was  under- 
stood that  there  would  be  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  working  out  the  terms  of  a  formal 
peace  between  the  United  States  and  Ger- 
many after  proclamation  of  a  state  of  peace 
by  President  Harding. 

On  July  23  the  Interallied  Military  Con- 
trol Commission  reported  that  the  Bava- 
rian Home  Guards,  which  were  formally 
disbanded  on  June  30  under  pressure  from 
the  Allies  and  the  German  Socialists,  had 
turned  in  170,000.  of  the  250,000  rifles  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  in  their  possession.  On 
Aug.  11  Vorwarts  declared  that  the  work 
of  disbanding  the  so-called  self-defense  or- 
ganizations in  Upper  Silesia  and  along  the 
Silesian  border  would  soon  be  accomplished. 


Nevertheless,  impartial  observers  in  Ger- 
many have  no  doubt  that  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  good  rifles  have  been  concealed  by 
the  reactionary  farmers  and  some  of  the 
urban  bourgeoisie  for  eventual  use,  either 
in  a  monarchist  coup  d'etat  or  in  putting 
down  a  Bolshevist  revolt.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  said  to  be  plenty  of  hand 
grenades  and  revolvers  in  the  possession  of 
the  Communist  organizations,  although  the 
costly  failure  of  the  Red  uprising  last 
March  has  put  a  damper  on  the  fiery  young 
rebels  who  imagined  Germany  was  ripe  for 
a  Soviet  revolution. 

There  was  much  talk  of  what  the  reac- 
tionary Junker  and  big  business  parties 
were  going  to  do  to  Dr.  Wirth  and  his  Gov- 
ernment if  he  should  turn  the  tax  screw 
too  hard  to  suit  them.  The  latest  reports 
indicated  that,  with  the  status  quo  likely 
to  be  maintained  in  Upper  Silesia  for  some 
time  owing  to  the  Supreme  Council's  de- 
cision to  submit  the  whole  Upper  Silesian 
problem  to  the  League  of  Nations  for  set- 
tlement, the  Reichstag,  when%it  reassembles 
early  in  September,  will  accept  the  Chancel- 
lor's plan  for  raising  some  80,000,000,000 
paper  marks  a  year  by  taxation.  This  sum 
is  to  be  divided  about  equally  between  the 
masses  and  the  classes,  despite  Socialist 
threats  to  wreck  the  Cabinet  unless  drastic 
levies  are  made  upon  the  property  held  by 
war  profiteers  and  other  wealthy  persons. 

The  trend  toward  eventual  consolidation 
of  the  Majority  Socialist  Party  and  the 
Independent  Socialist  Party  continued  to 
become  more  marked.  Unless  the  Majority 
Socialists  take  too  moderate  a  stand  at 
their  September  convention  in  Goerlitz,  it 
seems  as  if  shortly  there  would  be  only  one 
German  Socialist  Party,  facing  the  reac- 
tion represented  by  the  Nationalists  and 
the  bulk  of  the  People's  Party,  while  the 
Democrats  and  a  large  fraction  of  the  Cen- 
trists occupy  a  middle  position,  and  the 
handful  of   Communists  oppose   everybody. 

On  Aug.  11  there  was  an  official  cele- 
bration of  the  second  anniversary  of  the 
coming  into  effect  of  the  Constitution  of 
Republican    Germany. 

Revised  figures  on  Germany's  losses  in 
the  World  War  given  out  in  Berlin  on  July 
27  put  the  killed  at  1,792,368  and  the 
wounded  at  4,246,874,  with  200,000  men 
still  reported  missing.  [See  the  somewhat 
different  estimate  printed  on  Page  985.] 


FRUITS  OF  THE  BRITISH  IMPERIAL 

CONFERENCE 

Definitely  settled  that  the  various  Dominions  shall  hove  a  voice  in  the  foreign 
policy  of  the  Empire — Principle  of  separate  Dominion  navies  also  adopted — 
Collapse  of  British   Government's   housing  enterprise — Other  English  affairs 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


THE  public  mind  in  England  has  been 
principally  concerned  with  the  Silesian 
and  disarmament  problems,  balanced, 
respectively,  on  the  brighter  side  by  the 
prospect  of  a  working  accord  with  France, 
the  call  of  a  conference  in  Washington  by 
President  Harding,  and  a  general  feeling  of 
relief  at  the  hopeful  trend  of  Irish  affairs. 
Unquestionably  a  clearing  is  discernible  of 
the  political,  financial  and  industrial  skies. 

Meetings  of  the  Imperial  Conference  of 
Colonial  Premiers  continued  into  August, 
but  little  was  officially  given  out  concern- 
ing the  proceedings,  and  that  little  was 
sometimes  delayed.  Thus  the  address  of  A. 
J.  Balfour  on  the  League  of  Nations  before 
the  conference  on  July  8  was  not  published 
until  the  12th.    Mr.  Balfour  said: 

If  the  League  were  to  dissolve,  a  new 
peace  treaty  would  have  to  be  framed  and 
new  machinery  would  have  to  be  devised  to 
carry  out  the  duties  with  which  the  League 
has  been  entrusted.  The  most  serious  differ- 
ence between  the  League  as  it  w"as  planned 
and  the  League  as  it  exists  is  the  absence  of 
America  and  Russia. 

The  final  meeting  of  the  conference  took 
place  on  Aug.  5.  The  feeling  prevailed 
among  the  members  that  the  gathering  had 
been  successful.  From  an  authoritative 
source  some  important  results  were  dis- 
closed. An  agreement  had  been  reached 
defining  and  settling  the  constitutional  po- 
sition of  the  different  parts  of  the  empire 
in  giving  advice  to  Downing  Street  on  for- 
eign affairs.  Thus,  according  to  the  state- 
ment: 

It  is  now  agreed  as  a  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion that  the  British  foreign  policy  must  be 
representative  of  all  the  democracies  in  the 
empire,  so  that  the  empire  speaks  with  one 
voice.  The  foreign  policy  of  the  empire  is  to 
be  determined  by  a  conference  of  Prime  Min- 
isters, but  when  this  conference  is  not  in  ses- 
sion  the    foreign   policy    must    be    carried    on 


by  the  British  Government,  subject  to  such 
consultation  with  the  Dominion  Governments 
by  cable  or  otherwise  as  is  possible.  The 
home  Government,  when  the  conference  is 
not  in  session,  might  therefore  be  described 
as  managing  director  for  the  empire  democ- 
racies in  foreign  affairs. 

All  the  Dominion  Premiers  and  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  were  willing  to  go  to  the  United 
States  immediately  for  a  preliminary  con- 
ference on  disarmament,  but  as  the  sugges- 
tion was  not  taken  up  by  the  United  States 
Government  the  proposed  Washington  con- 
ference in  November  was  regarded  as  hold- 
ing the  field. 

A  third  subject  of  deliberation,  as  supple- 
mental to  the  principle  of  co-operation  with 
the  United  States,  was  the  position  of  the 
British  Empire  as  a  bridge  or  link  between 
the  European  and  white  races  and  the  Asi- 
atic races.  As  against  the  idea  that  the 
Anglo-Saxon  races  combined  in  a  common 
interest  might  safeguard  the  world's  peace, 
the  view  of  the  conference,  it  was  said,  was 
that  greater  hope  for  the  peace  of  the 
world  lay  in  the  character  of  the  British 
Empire.    Thus : 

It  was  argued  that  in  India  there  are  in- 
numerable Asiatic  subjects  of  the  Crown, 
while  the  empire,  too,  has  long  been  in  friend- 
ly association  with  Japan,  and  that  these 
facts  point  the  way  to  a  truer  conception  of 
world  amity  than  could  be  found  in  a  more 
marked  division  of  the  races.  The  British 
Empire,  acting  as  a  link  between  Europe  and 
Asia,  co-operating  in  world  affairs  with  the 
United  States  and  wielding  influence  through 
friendly  comradeship  in  the  Far  East,  would 
be  the  greatest  promise  of  world  peace. 

After  a  full  discussion  on  Pacific  ques- 
tions in  relation  to  naval  defense  and  the 
renewal  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  Treaty,  the 
conference  agreed  that  the  needed  co-opera- 
tion with  the  United  States  in  world  af- 
fairs should  be  the  first  principle  of  British 


1048 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


policy.  The  discussion  of  Pacific  questions 
and  of  the  Anglo-Japanese  alliance,  there- 
fore, was  postponed  until  after  the  Wash- 
ington conference  on  disarmament.  The 
Imperial  Conference,  it  is  understood,  reaf- 
firmed the  principle  of  separate  dominion 
navies  and  coastal  defense,  with  a  policy  of 
imperial  co-ordination  in  time  of  need. 

A  sensation  in  British  political  circles 
was  the  resignation  from  the  Cabinet  on 
July  14  of  Dr.  Christopher  Addison,  Min- 
ister without  portfolio  and  former  Minister 
of  Health.  Dr.  Addison  was  responsible  for 
the  housing  schemes  which  the  Government 
once  supported  with  enthusiasm.  In  a  long 
letter  to  the  Prime  Minister,  with  whom  Dr. 
Addison  had  been  on  terms  of  close  friend- 
ship, the  former  Minister  contended  that 
the  precipitate  abandonment  of  his  plans 
on  the  ground  of  financial  necessity  was  not 
true  economy,  but  a  betrayal  of  solemn 
pledges  to  the  people,  and,  however  much 
one  may  allow  for  justifiable  necessity,  he 
did  not  think  that  "  the  Government  could 
safely  rest  on  shifting  opportunism,  to  the 
neglect  of  conviction."  To  this  Mr.  Lloyd 
George,  in  "  bitter-sweet  "  brevity,  replied : 
"  The  financial  situation  has  forced  us  to 
cry  '  Halt '  in  the  development  of  your 
housing  plans.  Time  will  be  given  to  the" 
new  Minister  of  Health  to  put  these  schemes 
on  a  more  businesslike  footing." 

When  the  subject  was  brought  up  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  the  15th,  in  juxtapo- 
sition with  the  Government  policy  in  the 
Middle  East,  it  was  characterized  as  an 
ironic  jest  that  they  were  unable  to  keep 
the  housing  pledge  to  the  country  on  ac- 
count of  financial  stringency,  while  asking 
for  more  millions  for  Mesopotamia  to  carry 
out  a  project  to  which,  as  Mr.  Asquith  said, 
they  were  committed  by  no  pledge. 

On  July  14  the  War  Office  issued  a  state- 
ment regarding  reduction  in  the  Territorial 
Army.  For  the  future  the  number  of  bat- 
talions   required    to    furnish    the    infantry 


brigades  was  definitely  fixed  at  168.  This 
would  permit  allotment  of  12  battalions  to 
each  of  the  14  divisions  and  give  a  total 
peace  establishment  of  4,704  officers  and 
114,240  men  of  other  ranks.  Before  the 
war  the  infantry  brigades  comprised  208 
battalions,  and  of,  these  40  were  required 
for  coast  defense  and  lines  of  communica1- 
tion.  Now  coast  defense  was  entrusted  en- 
tirely to  the  Royal  Garrison  Artillery  and 
the  Royal  Engineers,  due  to  reduction  of 
the  danger  of  invasion  to  a  minimum.  This 
reduction  saves  £390,000  a  year. 

Decontrol  of  the  railroads,  fixed  for  Aug. 
15,  moved  the  Minister  of  Transport  to  in- 
troduce a  bill  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  Aug.  7  to  obtain  greater  efficiency  and 
economy  of  operation  as  well  as  that  normal 
extension  of  transportation  facilities  which 
war  demands  had  prevented.  The  most 
striking  feature  of  the  bill  was  the  regroup- 
ing of  British  railway  lines  into  six  large 
systems,  each  serving  a  given  area.  The 
companies  assigned  to  each  group  were  left 
to  arrange  their  own  plans  of  amalgama- 
tion, provided  an  agreement  was  reached  by 
June  30,  1922.  Other  clauses  provided  for  a 
new  rate  tribunal,  the  settlement  of  wages, 
and  the  Government  offer  of  £60,000,000  to 
settle  claims  for  compensation  in  respect  to 
Government  control.  The  bill  passed  its 
third  reading  in  the  House  of  Commons  on 
Aug.  9.     N 

That  the  Throne  had  not  escaped  the  pre- 
vailing financial  stress  was  made  evident 
in  a  bill  introduced  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons on  Aug.  10  to  provide  money  to  meet 
a  heavy  deficit  in  the  King's  household  bud- 
get. Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain  explained  that 
although  the  King  had  cut  out  all  unneces- 
sary expense,  the  increased  cost  of  the  royal 
household  compelled  him  to  seek  assistance, 
since  the  Government  was  unwilling  that  he 
should  further  reduce  the  ceremonial  state 
associated  with  the  traditions  of  the  British 
throne. 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH 
DOMINIONS 

Installation  of  Lord  Byng  at  Quebec  as  Governor  General  of  Canada  am  id- 
elaborate  ceremonies — Canada  s  award  of  $300,000,000  as  her  share  of 
German  indemnities — Land  settlement  in  Australia — British  rule  in  Egypt 

[Period  Ended  Aug.   15,  1921] 


BARON  BYNG  of  Vimy,  Canada's  new 
Governor  General,  a  favorite  war  hero, 
arrived  in  Quebec  on  Aug.  11  and  was 
greeted  at  the  wharf  with  impressive  dem- 
onstrations of  popular  enthusiasm.  He  was 
welcomed  officially  by  Justice  Anglin,  the 
Acting  Administrator,  who  headed  a  party 
including  members  of  the  Federal  Cabinet, 
Provincial  Premier  Taschereau,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Provincial  Government.  Accom- 
panied by  Premier  Arthur  Meighen,  Lord 
and  Lady  Byng  were  escorted  to  the  Pro- 
vincial legislative  building  by  a  troop  of 
cavalry  through  flag-bedecked  streets  lined 
with  cheering  multitudes.  In  this  building 
the  new  Governor  General  took  the  oath 
of  office  amid  impressive  ceremonies. 
Then,  after  a  day's  social  program,  he  de- 
parted for  Ottawa  to  assume  his  new  duties. 
Canada's  share  of  the  $30,000,000,000  of 
German  reparation  money  was  fixed  by  the 
Imperial  Conference  on  July  15  at  $300,- 
000,000.  This  is  4.5  per  cent,  of  the  22  per 
cent,  allotted  to  Great  Britain,  and  amounts 
to  about  one-eighth  of  the  Canadian  na- 
tional debt. 

A  farmers'  Government  with  a  clear  ma- 
jority over  all  other  groups,  singly  or  in 
combination,  now  rules  the  Province  of  Al- 
berta. In  a  Legislature  of  61  members 
the  farmers  have  39,  the  Liberals  14,  the 
Independents  4  and  the  Labor  Party  4.  It 
had  been  generally  thought  that  the  Liberal 
Government,  under  the  Premiership  of  Hon. 
Charles  Stewart,  would  be  returned  to  power 
by  a  small  majority.  The  result  was  an 
all-around  surprise.  The  Conservative 
Party,  which  was  not  very  strong  in  the 
former  House,  but  was  the  only  opposition 
to  the  Government,  was  completely  wiped 
out  in  the  elections  of  July  18.  The  former 
Government  was  regarded  as  one  quite 
friendly  to  the  farmers  and  as  worthy  of 


their  support  in  many  respects;  but,  as  in 
Ontario,  the  farmers,  after  many  years  of 
work  in  co-operative  buying  and  selling,  had 
determined  to  organize  for  political  pur- 
poses and  to  dissociate  themselves  entirely 
from  the  old  political  parties.  Their  or- 
ganization was  a  revelation  to  most  poli- 
ticians not  connected  with  it.  Subsequent 
to  their  victory  the  farmer  members-elect 
chose  as  their  preference  for  premier 
Herbert  Greenfield  of  Westlock,  who  was 
not  a  candidate  in  the  elections,  but  is 
Vice  President  of  the  United  Farmers  of 
Alberta.  Greenfield  is  the  embodiment  of 
the  type  of  settler  made  by  the  West.  He 
is  52  years  of  age  and  came  to  Canada  from 
his  native  country,  England,  in  1892.  For 
some  years  he  engaged  in  farming  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  and  then  homesteaded 
in  the  West,  where  he  has  since  remained. 
From  the  inception  of  the  political  branch 
of  the  United  Farmers  of  Alberta  he  has 
been  an  active  worker,  and  his  gifts  as  a 
student  of  politics  and  a  master  of  homely 
phrasing  have  made  him  a  leader  among  his 
fellows.  One  of  his  first  declarations  as  to 
policy  was  that  he  would  select  as  Attorney 
General  a  man  who  was  in  complete  sym- 
pathy with  the  Prohibition  act  and  would 
fearlessly  enforce  it  in  the  Province. 
The  new  development  in  Alberta  is  expected 
to  have  an  important  influence  on  the 
larger  sphere  of  Dominion  politics. 

Hon.  Arthur  Meighen,  Premier  of  Can- 
ada, who  arrived  home  on  Aug.  7  from  the 
Imperial  Conference  at  London,  was  ac- 
corded fine  receptions  in  Halifax  and  Ot- 
tawa. The  Premier,  who  is  a  strong  sup- 
porter of  the  Washington  disarmament  con- 
ference, has  voiced  his  conviction  of  the 
real  value  of  imperial  conferences  and  his 
satisfaction  with  the  results  of  the  one  just 
closed. 


1050 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


AUSTRALIA— Every  effort  is  being 
made  by  Australia  to  attract  white  settlers 
to  help  build  up  the  country.  Today  it  is  one 
of  the  richest  and  emptiest  lands  in  the 
world.  Queensland,  for  instance,  more  than 
three  times  the  size  of  France,  and  several 
times  larger  than  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, has  a  population  of  only  about  one 
person  to  every  square  mile,  though  it  has 
actually  room  for  twelve  or  fourteen  million 
people.  Australia  possesses  a  million  acres 
containing  barely  a  single  white  man. 

The  States  and  the  Commonwealth  are 
now  co-ordinating  their  immigration  work. 
Sir  Joseph  Carruthers,  the  former  Premier, 
announces  a  comprehensive  colonization 
scheme  for  Australia,  and  the  creation  of  a 
fund  of  £30,000,000  jointly  backed  by  Great 
Britain  and  Australia,  to  be  raised  as  re- 
quired and  to  be  used  in  the  settlement  of 
unoccupied  land.  He  advocates  the  slogan 
of  "  A  million  farmers  and  a  million 
farms  "  for  Australia. 

Premier  Hughes  on  July  15  in  London  is- 
sued an  emphatic  denial  of  rumors  that 
Australia  intended  to  sell  the  Common- 
wealth Government  line  of  steamers.  He 
said  the  line  had  proved  of  great  value  in 
fostering  trade  with  Great  Britain  and  had 
earned  a  substantial  profit,  proving  that 
a  Government  could  conduct  such  ventures 
as  well  and  economically  as  private  enter- 
prise. 

Wireless  authorities,  checking  Australia's 
position  on  world  maps  by  radio  with  stan- 
dard time  clocks  at  Lyons,  France,  say 
there  is  an  error  of  perhaps  100  yards  in 
the  indicated  position  of  all  Australian 
north  and  south  lines. 

NEW  ZEALAND— W.  S.  Massey,  Pre- 
mier of  New  Zealand,  at  a  banquet  given  to 
him  in  London  on  July  14,  declared  in 
favor  of  "  empire  preference "  in  tariffs. 
If  one  country,  he  said,  closed  its  doors  to 
the  products  of  another  which  adhered  to 
a  policy  of  free  trade,  the  latter  would  be 
placed  at  a  serious  disadvantage.  Recently 
a  country  with  which  Britain  does  a  large 
trade  had  increased  its  customs  duties  upon 
everything  which  it  could  produce  itself. 
He  would  be  surprised  if  something  were 
not  done  to  protect  the  interests  of  those 
who  had  been  affected  by  that  customs  in- 
crease. He  suggested  that  countries  of  the 
empire  should  give  preference  one  to  the 
other  within  the  empire.     Meat,  wool  and 


sugar,  he  said  in  conclusion,  the  empire 
could  grow  for  itself,  and  it  would  soon  be 
able  to  do  the  same  with  cotton.  Thus, 
the  United  States'-  high  tariffs  help  to 
bring  closer  together  the  States  of  the 
British  Empire,  increasing  a  tendency  to 
trade  with  each  other  as  freely  as  the 
forty-eight  States  of  the  American  Union, 
whose  policy  has  been  called  the  greatest 
experiment  in  free  trade  the  world  has 
ever  seen. 

Natives  of  the  former  German  island  of 
Samoa,  now  held  under  mandate  by  New 
Zealand,  have  drafted  a  petition  asking  that 
the  Government  of  the  island  be  transferred 
from  New  Zealand  to  Great  Britain.  The 
Samoans  are  dissatisfied  because  they  were 
not  consulted  as  to  the  disposition  of  their 
territory,  and  European  settlers  are  dis- 
contented owing  to  the  drastic  prohibition 
regulations.  The  petition  was  withdrawn 
temporarily,  but  the  New  Zealand  Foreign 
Secretary  expected  it  to  be  renewed. 

EGYPT. — A  dispute  has  arisen  between 
British  shippers  and  the  United  States  Ship- 
ping Board  lines  for  the  transportation  of 
cotton  from  Egypt.  The  board  charged  that 
discrimination  was  used  against  its  vessels, 
even  when  the  American  bids  were  mate- 
rially lower.  The  American  position  was 
that  other  nations  must  give  every  proper 
opportunity  to  ships  which  fly  the  Stars 
and  Stripes,  or  else  run  the  risk  of  encoun- 
tering retaliatory  measures.  It  was  re- 
ported on  July  28  that  the  Shipping  Board 
had  delivered  an  ultimatum  that  unless  fair 
treatment  was  accorded  its  ships  it  would 
"  declare  an  open  market "  and  inaugurate 
a  freight  war.  Conferences  were  held  in 
London,  and  the  British  lines  on  Aug.  4 
agreed  to  allocate  to  the  Shipping  Board  50 
per  cent,  of  the  shipments  to  American  ves- 
sels direct  from  Alexandria  to  the  United 
States,  but  refused  to  assent  to  the  par- 
ticipation of  Shipping  Board  vessels  in  the 
indirect  movement  of  Egyptian  cotton  from 
England  to  the  United  States.  The  Board 
insisted  that  American  vessels  were  en- 
titled to  carry  at  least  half  the  cotton 
brought  from  Egypt  to  the  United  States 
by  way  of  British  ports.  This  produced  a 
deadlock,  and  on  Aug.  9  it  was  reported 
that  negotiations  had  been  broken  off.  The 
Egyptian  cotton  crop  amounts  to  about 
665,000  tons,  about  37  per  cent,  of  which 
comes  to  the  United  States. 


CANADA  AND  OTHER  BRITISH  DOMINIONS 


1051 


Lord  Milner's  scheme  of  independence  for 
Egypt  has  evidently  fallen  through,  and 
Great  Britain  intends  to  remain  in  control 
at  least  for  the  present  on  account  of  the 
disturbances  in  Cairo  and  Alexandria,  in 
which  a  number  of  Europeans  were  killed, 
as  related  in  Current  History  for  July. 
Minister  Winston  Spencer  Churchill,  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  the  Colonies,  in  a  speech 
at  Manchester,  officially  announced  that 
Great  Britain  had  definitely  decided  upon 
maintaining  troops  in  Egypt  and  retaining 


military  control  for  a  considerable  time  to 
come.  Meanwhile  the  Egyptian  delegation, 
headed  by  the  Premier,  arrived  in  London 
on  July  11,  and  began  conferences  to  nego- 
tiate a  treaty  regarding  the  future  status 
of  the  country.  Zaglul  Pasha,  the  Egyptian 
extremist,  who  has  been  the  bitterest  oppo- 
nent of  Great  Britain,  and  who  has  clam- 
ored for  immediate  absolute  independence, 
is  said  to  have  lost  much  of  his  popularity; 
one  of  his  principal  supporters,  Prince  Aziz 
Hassan,  a  cousin  of  the  former  Khedive, 
was  deported  early  in  July. 


SPAIN'S  MOROCCAN  REVERSES 

Berber  tribes  seriously  set  back  Spain's  colonial  rule  by  inflicting  defeats 
comparable  to  Italy's  at  Adowa,  under  a  master  mind  alleged  to  be  a  young 
Moor,  Abd-el-Krin 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


ONLY  a  few  miles  south  of  the  coast  of 
Spain,  in  full  view  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean traffic  that  passes  through  the 
Strait  of  Gibraltar,  is  a  strip  of  African  soil, 
averaging  only  three  modern  cannon  shots 
deep,  which  Spain  has  been  trying  to  subdue 
for  over  500  years.  This  littoral,  extend- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  confines  of 
Algeria,  is  inhabited  by  Moslem  tribes  of 
varied  origin,  called  at  different  periods  of 
history  by  various  names.  Chief  among 
them  are  the  Berbers.  Although  possessing 
the  suppleness  and  dignity  of  the  Arabs,  in 
many  cases  their  giant  stature  and  blond 
appearance  belie  their  supposed  tropical  ori- 
gin. They  are  supposed  by  anthropologists 
to  have  in  their  veins  the  blood  of  Norse 
Vikings,  who  are  known  to  have  been  ship- 
wrecked on  the  coast  at  about  the  time  the 
Empire  of  Rome  fell,  and  of  Gaiseric's  Van- 
dals. 

They  thrice  conquered  Spain  and  were 
thrice  pursued  across  the  strait  between  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules — the  guardian  rocks  of 
Gibraltar  and  Ceuta.  In  attempting  to  sub- 
due them  in  the  mountains,  which  were 
always  their  ultimate  refuge,  Spain  through 
the  centuries  suffered  many  reverses.  But 
so  have  the  Sultans  of  Morocco,  who  have 
attempted  to  do  the  same  thing,  for  the 
Berbers  would  acknowledge  neither  the  au- 


thority of  Madrid  nor  that  of  Fez,  or  of  the 
other  capitals,  Mequinez,  Marakesh  or  Ra- 
bat. Successive  Kings  and  Sultans  have 
passed  away  in  trying  to  make  them  do  so. 

Since  1859,  however,  when  Spain  invaded 
the  littoral  in  force,  there  has  been  a  sort 
of  armed  neutrality;  but  now,  after  all  these 
years,  the  invader  has  suffered  a  defeat 
which  can  be  compared  only  to  the  disaster 
which  overtook  England  at  Khartum  in 
1885  or  Italy  at  Adowa  in  1896. 

In  order  to  understand  the  military  catas- 
trophe some  attention  must  be  paid  to  the 
political  setting  in  which  the  tragedy  took 
place.  Germany's  objection  to  the  Franco- 
British  agreement  in  1905,  which  gave  Great 
Britain  a  free  hand  in  Egypt  and  France  in 
Morocco,  brought  about  the  Algeciras  con- 
ference of  1906.  This  practically  confirmed 
the  French  claim  to  that  part  of  Morocco 
controlled  by  the  Sultan  as  a  protectorate. 
A  year  later  the  Sultan  Mulai  Yusef  signed 
a  treaty  at  Fez  acccepting  the  protection  of 
France.  But  this  agreement  conflicted  with 
Spain's  historic  claims  to  the  littoral,  the 
Rif  coast.  So  France  and  Spain  got  to- 
gether, and  at  Madrid,  Nov.  27,  1912,  signed 
a  treaty  by  which  France  acknowledged  the 
right  of  Spain  to  exercise  her  "  protection  " 
over  a  zone  embracing  the  Ceuta  peninsula 
(all  but  the  northwestern  corner,  which  had 


1052 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


been  designated  as  an  international  zone  at 
Algeciras),  and  the  littoral,  averaging  sixty 
miles  deep,  extending  eastward  to  the  fron- 
tier of  the  French  colony  of  Algeria.  Spain, 
on  her  side,  acknowledged  the  protectorate 
of  France  over  a  zone  to  the  south  also  ex- 
tending from  the  Atlantic  to  the  colony  of 
Algeria.  By  agreements  with  the  Sultan 
each  zone  was  to  be  administered  by  a  High 
Commissioner  acting  under  the  nominal  au- 
thority of  the  Sultan's  Caliph. 

During  the  great  war  little  attempt  was 
made  to  administer  these  zones,  but  at  its 
close  France  sent  General  Lyautey  as  her 
High  Commissioner  and  General  Poeymirau 
as  the  commander  of  30,000  men.  Spain 
sent  General  Domaso  Berenguer  as  High 
Commissioner  and  General  Silvestre  in  com- 
mand of  50,000  men. 

In  January,  1920,  it  was  decided  in  both 
Paris  and  Madrid  that  the  pacification  of 
the  two  zones  should  begin.  By  September 
the  various  expeditions  under  General  Poey- 
mirau reported  success.  Those  under  Gen- 
eral Silvestre  could  not  report  the  same. 
So  General  Silvestre  marched  on.  Leaving 
strong  detachments  at  Ceuta,  Larache  and 
Melilla,  he  finally  invested  and  captured  the 
strongholds  of  Sidi-Dris  and  Tafer  Sit,  but 
the  country  was  not  subdued.  When  Winter 
came  he  had  established  more  than  a  dozen 
posts,  but  with  few  trustworthy  and  no  im- 
pregnable lines  of  communication. 

Last  Spring  that  bird  of  ill-omen,  El  Rai- 
sulo,  crossed  over  from  the  French  zone  and 
prepared  to  make  trouble  among  the  peace- 
ful valley  people  south  of  Tangier.  At 
about  thirty-five  miles  from  that  city  he 
was  surprised  by  an  army  of  about  15,000 
Spanish  troops  and  native  levies  and  forced 
to  accept  a  siege  in  a  mountain  fortress. 
While  the  siege  was  favorably  progressing 
a  Spanish  column  with  native  levies  was 
sent  to  open  the  coast  road  from  Melilla  to 
Alhucemas,  with  the  idea  of  making  the 
latter  a  point  of  departure  for  an  expedi- 
tion into  the  interior. 

El  Raisuli  has  been  in  many  tight  places, 
but  this  time  his  fate  seemed  sealed.  He 
was  about  to  capitulate  when  a  mutiny 
breaking  out  among  the  native  troops  on 
the  Melilla-Alhucemas  road,  followed  by  a 
formidable  descent  of  the  Berber  tribes 
from  the  Rif  Mountains  on  Spanish  posts 
and  lines  of  communications,  caused  the 
siege  to  be  laised.     El  Raisuli  thus  again 


escaped.  What  had  happened  to  release 
him  is  the  story  of  the  Spanish  disaster. 

General  Silvestre,  with  the  co-operation 
of  General  Barrerd,  who  was  operating  on 
the  Larache  side,  and  General  Berenguer,  on 
the  Tetuan  side,  was  preparing  for  the  oc- 
cupation of  Alhucemas  and  its  surrounding 
country  as  soon  as  the  coast  road  should 
offer  safe  communication  by  land  from 
Melilla.  Several  positions  had  already  been 
established,  when  in  May  the  mutiny  oc- 
curred, and  one  after  another  the  Spanish 
posts  became  isolated  from  Melilla,  Larache 
and  Tetuan  by  similar  revolts  of  the  native 
levies. 

On  July  20  Madrid  received  the  first  news 
of  the  initial  defeat  which  within  forty-eight 
hours  developed  into  a  disaster  so  stu- 
pendous as  to  wipe  out  nearly  all  the  in- 
terior posts  with  over  5,000  casualties  and 
a  loss  of  nearly  2,000  square  miles.  The 
news  caused  2,000  troops  to  be  sent  from 
Ceuta  to  Melilla  and  a  warship  from  San 
Sebastian,  and  the  fall  of  the  Allende-Sala- 
zar  Ministry,  probably  to  be  succeeded  by 
one  formed  by  former  Premier  Maura. 
After  the  mutiny  in  May  the  High  Com- 
missioner at  Melilla  had  asked  for  a  divi- 
sion, but,  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  August 
Current  History,  the  Minister  of  War,  on 
account  of  the  unpopularity  of  the  Moroccan 
campaign,  dared  not  send  it. 

The  news  received  on  the  20th  at  Madrid 
told  how  General  Silvestre  had  heard  that 
the  Ayguaren  post  was  being  attacked  by 
the  Kabyles,  and  had  gone  to  attempt  its 
rescue  with  the  Alcantara  Regiment,  com- 
posed of  Spaniards,  some  batteries  of  artil- 
lery and  several  ■  units  formed  by  native 
troops  organized  as  a  column  of  reinforce- 
ments. The  column  almost  immediately 
found  itself  surrounded  by  superior  forces, 
very  well  entrenched,  and  after  a  bloody 
combat  the  General  gave  orders  to  with- 
draw. The  two  positions  of  Ayguaren  and 
Anuen  were  abandoned  and  a  disorderly  re- 
treat began.  At  a  certain  point  in  the  re- 
treat the  General  and  his  entire  staff  com- 
mitted suicide. 

General  Silvestre  was  a  great  friend  of 
King  Alfonso  and  one  of  his  aides  de  camp. 
He  had  seen  nearly  all  his  service  in  Mo- 
rocco, and  before  the  occupation  of  the 
Spanish  zone  had  served  at  Casablanca  as 
chief  on  the  Spanish  National  Police,  and 
was  commander  of  the  Spanish  sector. 


SPAIN'S  MOROCCAN  REVERSES 


1053 


The  Madrid  papers  are  filled  with  stories 
of  heroic  Spanish  officers,  like  the  cavalry 
commander  Colonel  Primo-Rivera,  who  led 
400  horsemen  repeatedly  against  an  am- 
bushed enemy  until  all  his  troopers  were 
slain.  A  warship  attempted  to  cover  the 
retreat  from  Sidi-Dris,  but  without  avail. 
Nador  surrendered  and  its  garrison  was 
slain  to  a  man.  Two  Spanish  Generals, 
Sanjuro  and  Navarro,  were  taken  prisoner 
in  the  Mount  Arruit  district,  after  nearly 
all  their  men  had  been  slain.  Some 
Madrid  papers  are  accusing  German  firms 
of  having  supplied  the  Moors  with  rifles 
and  ammunition;  the  German-language 
press  there  replies  by  accusing  the  French. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  tribesmen  are 
well  supplied  with  modern  arms  and 
munitions  and  are  instructed  how  to  use 
them,  and  have  also  been  trained,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  in  modern  strategy  and  tactics; 
nor  is  there  any  doubt  that  the  successive 
mutinies  which  broke  out  at  post  after  post, 
so  as  to  invite  the  neighboring  detachments 
of  the  enemy  to  attack,  had  been  prear- 
ranged. 

The  whole  affair  indicates  some  master 
mind.  At  first  it  was  thought  that  El  Rai- 


suli  was  the  man.  But  this  Moorish  bandit 
is  as  much  an  enemy  of  the  Berbers  as  he  is 
of  Spain,  as  he  is  of  the  Sultan  himself. 
Besides,  from  his  mountain  retreat  subse- 
quently he  made  an  offer  to  pacify  the 
Spanish  zone  provided  he  be  made  the 
Caliph- Sultan  of  the  territory.  If  his  offer 
should  be  accepted  it  will  bring  him  into 
armed  contact  with  the  real  leader  of  the 
master  stroke  against  Spain.  According  to 
Melilla  advices,  via  Buenos  Aires,  this  is 
Abd-el-Krin,  a  youthful  picturesque  Moor 
educated  in  Spain.  La  Nacion  of  Buenos 
Aires,  quoting  its  Melilla  correspondent, 
gives  the  antecedents  of  the  alleged  phe- 
nomenal military  genius  as  follows: 

Before  the  war  Abd-el-Krin,  then  faithful 
to  Spain,  was  employed  in  the  Office  of  Na- 
tive Affairs  in  Melilla— a  post  equivalent  to 
that  of  Supreme  Judge  of  the  Moors.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  the  young,  energetic  Moor 
became  active  in  favor  of  the  Germans, 
whereupon  France  protested,  and  Spain,  in 
observance  of  neutrality,  interned  him.  Later 
Abd-el-Krin  escaped  from  prison,  crippling 
one  leg  in  so  doing,  and  swore  vengeance  on 
the  Spaniards,  and  especially  on  General 
Silvestre,  whom  he  hated  to  the  death.  He 
appealed  to  religious  fanaticism,  and  raised 
an  army  of  20,000  men. 


with 


SCENE    OF    SPAIN'S    CURIOUS    DEFEAT    ON    THE    RIF    COAST 

Under   the   direction    of   the   Spanish   High   Commissioner,    General   Domaso    Berenguer, 

h   the  approval  of   the   Sultan's   Caliph,    some   Spanish   soldiers   and   native   auxiliaries 


and 
were 
repairinj  the  road  between  Melilla  and  Alhucemas.  To  the  west,  a  few  miles  northwest  of 
Sheshauen,  El  Raisuli  was  being  besieged  under  the  direction  of  General  Silvestre.  A  mutiny 
of  auxiliaries  at  the  former  place,  followed  by  an  attack  by  the  Rif  tribes  and  the  capture  of 
three  guns  cut  off  two  Spanish  columns  sent  out  from  Melilla,  isolated  Melilla,  raised  the 
siege  against  the   arch-bandit,   El  Raisuli,   and   scattered  the  besiegers. 


FRANCE  IN  THE  ROLE  OP  HAMLET 

The  Briand  Government,  torn  between  conflicting  motives,  has  been  halting 
between  two  opposing  policies  regarding  Germany — The  Entente  in  peril  for 
a  time — New  promise  seen  in  the  movement  to  favor  Germany  economically 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


DESPITE  all  the  gloom  and  pessimism 
in  France  today,  despite  the  low- 
water  mark  of  the  French  Treasury, 
the  insufficiency  of  the  national  revenue, 
even  with  increased  taxation,  to  cover  the 
outgo,  and  the  grave  fears  for  the  future 
in  case  Germany  does  not  pay,  there  is  some 
evidence  that  France  is  getting  on  her  feet 
again.  Reconstruction  work  in  the  devas- 
tated areas  is  progressing,  finances  are  far 
from  hopeless.  M.  Paul  Doumer,  the  Min- 
ister of  Finance,  in  his  report  on  the  budget 
for  1922,  pointed  out  that  the  financial  dis- 
aster caused  by  the  war  was  not  as  great 
as  had  been  believed;  he  estimated  it  at 
240,000,000,000  francs — a  vast  sum,  but  con- 
siderably below  the  400,000,000,000  esti- 
mated by  some  experts  as  a  minimum 
figure.  The  total  debt  is  264,341,000,000 
francs;  of  this  amount  some  35,000,000,000 
francs  is  owed  abroad,  over  15,000,000,000 
francs  being  due  to  the  United  States.  The 
budget  for  the  coming  year  can  be  balanced, 
M.  Doumer  is  confident,  by  drastically  cut- 
ting down  Government  waste  and  expense 
rind  by  raising  certain  taxes.  Other  finan- 
cial experts,  notably  M.  Francois  Marsal, 
Ihe  former  Minister  of  Finance,  opposed 
M.  Doumer 's  suggestion  to  increase  the 
revenues  by  further  taxation,  and  declared 
that  the  whole  financial  and  economic  fu- 
ture depended  on  Germany's  being  made  to 
pay.  The  great  expense  involved  in  keep- 
ing up  so  large  an  army,  M.  Marsal  argued, 
must  be  reduced,  and  this  could  not  be  done 
until  Germany  had  disarmed. 

That  Germany  must  both  pay  and  disarm 
has  become  a  French  axiom,  but  the  na- 
tional French  feeling  still  runs  strongly 
counter  to  French  disarmament.  In  all  pub- 
lic speeches  made  by  President  Millerand, 
by  Premier  Briand  and  by  other  leaders  of 
the  Government  the  note  of  national  se- 
curity is  sounded  again  and  again.  The 
French   papers  welter   in   reports   of   Ger- 


many's hatred  and  fever  for  revenge,  of 
Germany's  insolence  and  determination  to 
balk  France  of  her  pound  of  flesh.  With 
amazement  and  grief  France  has  seen  her 
great  ally,  England,  back  the  claims  of 
Germany  to  Upper  Silesia,  thus  bringing 
on  another  of  the  many  crises  with  which 
Anglo-French  relations  have  for  many 
months  been  starred.  Vehemently  President 
Millerand  declared  at  the  naval  celebration 
in  Havre  on  July  25  that  alike  on  land  and 
on  sea  France  desired  only  to  secure  her 
future  safety,  and  that  a  strong  fleet,  even 
as  a  strong  army,  was  necessary  for  the 
execution  of  her  undeviating  policy. 

This  maritime  fete  at  Havre  brought  out 
some  interesting  facts,  notably  that  France 
is  becoming  again  a  great  maritime  nation. 
Despite  the  chaotic  conditions  prevailing 
after  the  war,  which  necessarily  reacted  on 
shipping,  France's  merchant  fleet  has  al- 
ready made  good  beyond  the  losses  caused 
by  the  war.  On  July  1,  1914,  its  tonnage 
had  stood  at  2,400,000;  in  the  near  future 
it  will  reach  a  total  of  4,000,000  tons.  The 
Temps  says: 

In  former  days  foreign  shipping-  companies 
drove  us  out  of  our  own  harbors.  Today  the 
flag  of  France  is  hoisted  by  French  lines 
over  the  docks  of  Hamburg.  At  Antwerp 
French  companies  rank  only  second  in  impor- 
tance. It  is  from  Antwerp  that  the  Moroc- 
can liners  of  the  Transatlantic  Company  sail 
as  well  as  French  steamers  for  the  Far  East 
and  India  chartered  by  the  Messageries  Line. 

As  for  French  harbors,  through  the  active 
aid  of  the  French  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
such  important  ports  as  Marseilles,  Havre, 
Bordeaux,  Rouen  and  Dunkerque  will  be 
able,  declares  the  Temps,  to  compete  with 
any  of  the  great  harbors  of  the  world, 
when  the  1909  and  1917  programs  are 
completed. 

Although  by  every  possible  means,  with 
fleet  and  army,  by  force  and  diplomacy, 
France  is  determined  to  guarantee  herself 


FRANCE  IN  THE  ROLE  OF  HAMLET 


1055 


against  future  aggression,  even  at  the  cost 
of  being  called  imperialistic,  she  is  faced 
with  problems  which  would  discourage  any 
but  the  strongest  hearts.  President  Mil- 
lerand  and  Premier  Briand,  who  have  shown 
remarkable  harmony  since  Briand  took  the 
Premiership,  are  steering  a  perilous  course. 
France's  whole  policy — the  maintenance  of 
her  forces  in  the  Ruhr,  the  continuance  of 
a  tariff  regime  there  barring  the  region 
from  the  rest  of  Germany,  the  fostering  of 
a  strong  Poland,  all  at  the  economic  ex- 
pense of  Germany — has  run  absolutely 
counter  to  Lloyd  George's  policy,  which  is 
directed  toward  the  economic  strengthening 
of  Germany. 

Security!  That  is  the  word  which  epito- 
mizes the  whole  French  ambition.  But 
combined  with  this,  and  almost  in  opposition 
to  it,  are  the  French  financial  and  eco- 
nomic needs.  Germany  must  pay,  but  if  she 
is  so  weakened  by  the  French  policy  as  to 
be  unable  to  pay,  where  will  France  be 
then?  There  are  evidences  that  a  certain 
body  of  opinion  is  arising  in  France  which 
leans  toward  the  English  tendency.  Phi- 
lippe Millet,  a  well-known  political  writer, 
in  an  article  published  in  one  of  the  Paris 
papers  on  July  14,  took  this  line  of  argu- 
ment, and  strong  in  knowledge  of  facts 
presented  to  him  by  American  and  British 
officials,  and  even  by  members  of  the 
Rhineland  High  Commission,  declared  that 
if  France  wanted  Germany  to  be  placed 
in  a  position  where  she  could  pay,  the  eco- 
nomic barrier  of  the  Ruhr  must  be  aban- 
doned. 

It  is  exactly  this  problem  which  the 
Franco-German  commission  appointed  to 
carry  on  the  negotiations  for  an  economic 
agreement  begun  by  M.  Loucheur,  French 
Minister  for  the  devastated  area,  and  Dr. 
Walter  Rathenau  early  in  June  at  Wies- 
baden, was  called  upon  to  solve.  The  news 
that  an  agreement  had  been  reached  came 
to  Paris  toward  the  middle  of  July,  after 
the  adjournment  of  Parliament,  the  Na- 
tionalist majority  of  which  has  been  con- 
sistently opposed  to  all  concessions  to 
Germany.  The  importance  of  this  agree- 
ment for  France's  future  relations  with 
Germany  cannot  be  overestimated,  for  in 
it  France  at  last  consents  to  receive  pay- 
ment in  kind.  Any  Frenchman  who  has 
suffered  war  damage  will  notify  a  duly 
constituted     board     regarding     his    needs. 


German  producers  will  be  called  on  to  send 
the  goods  needed,  and  in  return  are  to  re- 
ceive bonds  to  be  liquidated  in  marks  by 
the  German  Government,  which  will  also 
probably  tax  the  producers.  In  this  way 
Germany  will  be  paying  reparations,  but 
without  a  ruinous  outlay  of  cash. 

Above  all,  this  agreement,  if  accepted, 
will  stop  the  flooding  of  the  Rhineland  with 
French  goods,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
boycott  of  French  goods  by  Germany  on 
the  other;  France  will  promise  to  cease 
commercial  penetration,  Germany  to  aban- 
don her  boycott.  If  this  agreement  is 
executed,  it  is  obvious  that  it  will  do  much 
to  lay  solid  economic  foundations  for  the 
future  between  the  erstwhile  enemies.  The 
French  military  occupation  will  continue 
provisionally,  but  it  is  believed  that  France 
will  withdraw  her  soldiers  as  soon  as  she 
perceives  that  Germany  means  to  pay  her, 
in  kind,  if  not  in  cash,  and  gains  assurance 
that  Germany  is  not  arming  secretly  for 
revenge. 

The  latest  reef  which  has  thrust  its  head 
out  of  the  troubled  international  waters  is 
the  Silesian  situation.  In  the  month  under 
review  it  seemed  to  threaten  shipwreck  to 
the  Anglo-French  Entente.  Briand's  desire 
to  send  reinforcements  to  the  disturbed 
Silesian  area  was  disapproved  by  Lloyd 
George,  but  he  finally  consented  to  join  in  a 
note  to  the  German  Government  notifying 
the  latter  that  it  must  give  its  consent  to  the 
passage  of  reinforcements  across  Germany 
if  at  any  time  they  should  become  neces- 
sary. The  main  conflict,  however,  was  over 
the  question  of  what  part  of  the  Upper 
Silesian  territory  should  be  allotted  to  Ger- 
many, and  what  part  to  Poland.  Here  again 
the  English  view  that  Germany  must  be 
aided,  not  crushed  economically,  came  to 
the  fore.  Here  Briand  held  firm,  realizing 
that  French  sentiment  was  irreconcilably 
opposed  to  the  British  scheme  of  giving 
most  of  the  rich  mining  districts  to  Ger- 
many. It  was  announced  from  Paris  on 
Aug.  13  that  the  Premiers,  in  despair  of 
coming  to  an  agreement,  had  referred  the 
whole  question  to  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations.  [See  the  brief  article  or.  Upper 
Sfflesia  elsewhere  in  these  pages.] 

The  income  tax,  from  which  the  Govern- 
ment hoped  to  find  considerable  resources 
to  tide  it  over  while  awaiting  German  pay- 
ments, is  proving  disappointing  in  its  re- 


1056 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


suits.  In  1919  only  half  a  million  people  de- 
clared their  incomes,  in  1920  only  a  slightly 
larger  number.  This  year  again  only  500,- 
000  have  declared  their  incomes.  Half  of 
these,  furthermore,  have  returned  figures 
so  small  that  the  revenue  will  be  little  or 
nothing.  The  Ministry  of  Finance  is  plan- 
ning to  increase  its  personnel  of  inspectors 
and  to  trace  down  the  delinquents.  Mean- 
while the  budget  estimate  has  fallen  short 
by  2,500,000  francs. 

Despite  the  drought,  which  in  France  has 
been  almost  continuous  since  last  Autumn, 
the  French  wheat  crop  for  the  present  year 
is  the  best  that  the  country  has  had  since 
the  period  before  the  war.  The  former 
product  was  about  90,000,000  quintals.  This 
year's  wheat  totals  80,000,000.  The  wine 
harvest  is  large  and  of  exceptionally  fine 
quality. 

The  foundation  stone  of  the  new  library 
at  Rheims,  which  will  take  the  place  of  the 


library  destroyed  by  the  Germans,  was  laid 
on  July  21.  The  funds  were  donated  by  the 
Carnegie  Foundation  for  International 
Peace.  The  President  of  the  Foundation, 
Dr.-  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  President  of 
Columbia  University,  made  the  presenta- 
tion speech,  after  a  short  address  by  Mr. 
Myron  T.  Herrick,  the  American  Ambassa- 
dor. Dr.  Butler  declared  that  this  ceremony 
proved  again  that  "  the  human  mind  cannot 
be  broken  by  force,  and  that  even  the  great- 
est machinery  of  destruction  can  no  longer 
destroy  what  is  best  and  most  significant 
in  human  life."  This  building,  he  said,  was 
the  first  of  many  which  would  be  erected 
between  the  Vosges  and  the  sea  to  testify 
to  the  irrepressible  power  of  the  peoples 
devoted  to  liberty  and  progress.  By  this  en- 
dowment, the  Carnegie  Foundation,  he 
added,  had  wished  "  to  express  the  convic- 
tion that  France  in  1914  was  the  victim  of 
a  cruel,  premeditated,  and  unprovoked  at- 
tack." 


HOLLAND'S  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 


[Period  Ended  Aug.  13,  1921] 


GERMANY  was  expected  to  be  repre- 
sented at  The  Hague  Congress  on  In- 
ternational Law  to  be  held  at  the  Carnegie 
Peace  Palace  at  the  end  of  August. 
Geheimraths  Niemeyer,  Dove  and  Katz 
were  expected  to  attend.  Meanwhile  the 
League  of  Nations  is  rapidly  making  prep- 
arations for  the  organization  of  the  Court 
of  International  Justice,  41  nations  having 
signed  the  statute  of  the  court.  Brazil 
has  named  Elihu  Root  for  one  of  the  Judges 
and  Chile  has  nominated  Lord  Finlay. 

The  Rotterdam  Chamber  of  Commerce 
has  petitioned  the  States  General  to  reject 
a  bill  for  the  increase  of  the  tariff  on  im- 
ports, as  they  deem  it  a  danger  to  national 
commerce.  The  Third  International  Free 
Trade  Congress  will  be  opened  at  Amster- 
dam on   Sept.    13. 

Holland  would  like  to  take  part  in  the 
Disarmament  Conference.  With  a  popu- 
lation of  59,000,000  subjects  in  the  Dutch 
Indies,   she   feels   that   she  has   a  voice   in 


Pacific  questions,  especially  as  the  colonies 
are  open  to  international  trade  without 
preference  tariffs  of  any  kind.  A  scheme 
of  naval  defense  proposes  forty  submarines 
and  fifty  destroyers  and  larger  vessels  for 
the  East  Indian  fleet.  Should  the  powers, 
especially  Japan,  agree  to  disarm,  Holland 
would  be  spared  this  burden.  Holland  is 
now  the  sixth  sea  power,  with  a  tonnage  of 
more  than  2,000,000,  or  736,000  tons  more 
than  she  possessed  in  1914. 

The  Dutch  Cabinet  crisis  was  settled  on 
July  27,  Premier  Ruys  de  Beerenbrouck 
having  reconstructed  the  Ministry  with 
Burgomaster  de  Geer  of  Arnheim  holding 
the  portfolio  of  Finance  and  M.  Van  Dyk, 
former  Chief  of  the  Topographic  Institute, 
at  the  head  of  the  War  and  Navy  Depart- 
ment. The  American  Minister,  William 
Phillips,  returned  to  The  Hague  on  July  26, 
but  made  no  further  attempt  to  get  a  foot- 
ing for  the  Standard  Oil  Company  in  the 
Djambi  East  Indian  fields. 


ITALY'S  INTERNAL  PROBLEMS 

Growth  in  prestige  and  power  of  the  new  Italian  Cabinet,  headed  by  Signor 
Bonomi — Last  echoes  of  the  Fiume  controversy  in  the  problem  of  Porto  Baros — 
The  Fascisti  stirred  anew  by  rise  of  a  hostile  league 


THE  Italian  Chamber  adjourned  on  Aug. 
6,  after  which  the  President  of  the 
Council,  Signor  Bonomi,  and  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  Marchese  della  Torretta, 
immediately  departed  for  Paris  to  attend 
the  sittings  of  the  Supreme  Council,  where, 
as  has  been  reported  by  the  semi-official 
journals  of  Rome  and  confirmed  by  those  of 
Paris,  the  Marchese  exercised  a  strong  in- 
fluence in  preventing  an  imminent  breach 
between  the  British  and  French  Premiers  on 
the  Silesian  and  Turko-Grecian  problems. 

The  Chamber,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Bonomi  Ministry,  had  been  in  session  at 
Montecitorio  since  July  18.  In  spite  of  the 
dismal  predictions  made  by  both  Nationalist 
and  Socialist  extremists,  it  continued  to 
gain  in  prestige  and  in  both  legislative  and 
popular  strength.  The  exposition  of  the 
Government  program  showed  three  main 
features:  (1)  The  Adriatic  question,  pro- 
vision being  made  for  an  honorable  observ- 
ance of  all  treaties;  (2)  economic  problems, 
beginning  with  reforms  in  many  depart- 
ments of  public  service,  and  including  a 
more  equitable  relationship  between  capital 
and  labor,  not  only  in  industry,  but  in  agri- 
culture as  well,  and  (3)  the  problem  of 
public  order,  including  the  disarmament  of 
all  citizens  not  legally  authorized  to  bear 
arms. 

The  session  had  not  proceeded  far  before 
it  became  evident  that  Signor  Bonomi  would 
turn  to  the  Right  for  the  execution  of  his 
foreign  policy  and  to  the  Left  for  the  exe- 
cution of  his  home  policy.  He  was  credited 
with  the  intention  of  satisfying  the  Con- 
servatives and  Nationalists  in  foreign  pol- 
icy and  keeping  the  Socialists  quiet  by 
stern  repression  of  the  Fascisti  agitation. 
Although  the  session  was  far  from  calm- 
cries  of  the  Socialists  for  the  repression  of 
the  Fascisti  were  met  by  cries  from  the 
latter  for  the  observance  of  the  laws,  so 
that  their  work  would  be  unnecessary,  and 
on  one  occasion  thirty-five  Socialists  almost 
caused  bloodshed  by  voting  against  honor- 


ing Italy's  "  unknown  dead  soldier  " — never- 
theless, on  July  23,  the  Government  received 
the  largest  vote  of  confidence  given  to  any 
Government  since  the  famous  vote  of  April 
28,  1919,  which  enthusiastically  sent  Or- 
lando and  Sonnino  back  to  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, from  which  they  had  withdrawn 
on  the  publication  of  President  Wilson's 
memorandum  advising  the  Italian  people  in 
regard  to  the  Pact  of  London  and  Fiume. 

This  last  unfortunate  question  has  again 
come  up,  this  time  in  regard  to  the  nation- 
ality of  Porto  Baros,  the  most  eastern 
harbor  of  Fiume.  According  to  the  Treaty 
of  Rapallo,  this  part  of  the  boundary  was 
left  to  be  determined  by  subsequent  Italo- 
Jugoslav  negotiations.  Because  the  preced- 
ing Foreign  Minister  decided  that  the  har- 
bor, lying  across  the  river,  which  geograph- 
ically divides  the  new  State  of  Fiume  from 
Jugoslavia,  should  go  to  the  latter  country, 
the  Ministry  of  which  he  was  a  member  was 
rebuked  and  resigned.  The  Italian  delegates 
at  Belgrade,  now  working  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  successor,  the  Marchese  della 
Torretta,  are  understood  to  be  trying  to  have 
the  Jugoslavs  accept  political  rights  at  Porto 
Baros  and  to  have  its  commercial  adminis- 
tration go  to  Fiume.  To  foster  this  solution 
Signor  Zanella,  the  leader  of  the  autono- 
mists of  Fiume,  went  to  Belgrade  on  Aug.  8 

According  to  the  Treaty  of  Rapallo,  if  the 
delegates  do  not  reach  a  decision  in  regard 
to  the  Fiume-Jugoslav  boundary,  the  ques- 
tion will  go  for  arbitration  to  the  President 
of  the  Swiss  Republic,  whose  decision  will  be 
final.  But  what  makes  the  question  so  dif- 
ficult is  the  fact  that  the  late  Giolitti  Gov- 
ernment, in  attempting  to  oust  Gabriele 
d'Annunzio,  declared,  either  specifically  or 
by  suggestion,  that  Porto  Baros  was  in  no 
way  involved.  This  was  a  point  strongly  in- 
sisted on  in  the  Senate  on  July  20  by  Gen- 
eral Caviglia,  who  bore  the  mandate  of  the 
Giolitti  Government  to  negotiate  with  the 
poet-leader,  and  had  reassured  him  to  that 
effect.     But  d'Annunzio  continued  to  reply 


1058 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


that,  although  the  text  of  the  treaty  implied 
that  the  boundary  would  be  fixed  to  the 
east  of  Porto  Baros,  a  note  verbale  assured 
the  Jugoslavs  that  it  was  to  be  fixed  in  the 
west. 

Signor  de  Nicola,  President  of  the  Cham- 
ber, had  by  Aug.  1  succeeded  in  bringing 
about  a  truce  between  the  Socialist  and 
Fascismo  Deputies,  and  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  had  put  into  effect  certain  effective 
measures  outside  Montecitorio,  when  sud- 
denly a  new  organization  made  its  appear- 
ance called  the  Arditi  del  Popolo,  whose  pro- 
gram is  the  defeat  of  Fascismo  violence, 
just  as  the  Fascismo  program  is  the  defeat 
of  Socialist  violence.  This  new  anti- 
Fascisti  Fascismo,  which  grew  into  being 
among  violent  anarchist  and  communist 
elements,  sought  to  gain  moral  support  from 
the  public  after  the  killing  by  the  Fascisti  of 


one  of  the  sons  of  the  Hon.  Lucy  Beckett, 
daughter  of  the  second  Baron  Grimthorpe, 
and  the  wounding  of  two  others.  The 
mother  and  sons  were  fired  upon  by  mistake 
while  proceeding  in  an  automobile  to  Vi- 
terbo,  contrary  to  all  warning,  on  July  13. 
Both  the  Government  and  Fascismo  organi- 
zations showed  their  horror  of  the  deed  and 
made  every  possible  reparation,  the  offend- 
ers, to  the  number  of  five,  giving  themselves 
up  to  the  police. 

It  seemed  that  the  effect  of  the  tragedy 
would  be  to  modify  overt  acts  on  the  part  of 
the  Fascisti,  when  the  rise  of  the  Arditi  del 
Popolo,  with  its  avowed  purpose  of  putting 
into  active  effect  the  Third  International, 
caused  the  Fascisti  to  realize  that,  in  spite 
of  accidents,  mistakes  and  the  killing  of 
tourists,  there  was  still  work  for  them  to  do, 
unless  the  Government  itself  should  take  the 
Arditi  del  Popolo  in  hand. 


PORTUGAL'S    NEW    CHAMBER 


[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


ALTHOUGH  the  Republic  of  Portugal  has 
only  about  the  area  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut  and  a  population  equal  to  that 
of  New  York  City,  it  was  the  middle  of  the 
month  before  the  exact  figures  of  the  great 
national  election  of  July  10  were  known  in 
Lisbon,  so  the  celebration  over  the  results 
and  the  welcome  to  Rear  Admiral  Charles 
F.  Hughes,  United  States  Navy,  and  his 
squadron  became  mingled. 

The  election  constituted  the  new  Cham- 
ber as  follows : 

Government    Party 65 

Democrats 57 

Monarchists    5 

Catholics    2 

Other    groups    5 

Among  prominent  men  not  returned  are 
Senhores  Bernardino  Machado,  Domingues 
dos   Santos   and   Paiva  Gomes,   respectively 


Premier,  Minister  of  Labor  and  Minister  of 
the  Colonies  in  the  last  Cabinet. 

Senhor  Barros  Queiros,  the  present  Pre- 
mier, formed  a  Liberal  Government  after  the 
revolutionary  movement  at  the  end  of  May. 
Parliament  was  dissolved,  however,  before 
the  new  Ministry  had  presented  itself,  on 
the  ground  that  for  two  years  it  had  failed 
to  pass  a  budget  or  any  important  laws. 

The  new  Chamber  convened  July  25.  The 
Premier  welcomed  the  presence  of  mon- 
archists in  Parliament,  observing  that  a 
strong  republic  should  also  be  tolerant; 
his  program  includes  economy  in  adminis- 
tration, reorganization  of  public  service, 
taxation  reform,  introduction  of  a  general 
income  tax,  the  conversion  of  the  total  in- 
ternal debt,  and  the  issue  of  a  loan  for  the 
consolidation  of  the  floating  debt. 


POLITICAL  DEVELOPMENTS 
IN  SCANDINAVIA 

Reactions  against  machinations  of  Russian  Communists  are  manifest  in 
Norwegian  and  Swedish  Parliamentary  campaigns — Denmark's  King  makes  a 
life-saving  record  on  his  visit  to  Greenland  and  other  outlying  dominions 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1021] 


r[E  unearthing  of  the  Bolshevist  plot  to 
take  possession  of  Finland  and  the 
northernmost  parts  of  the  Scandinavian 
countries  in  order  to  turn  these  regions  into 
a  Soviet  republic  has  had  a  powerful  effect 
on  the  political  situation  in  both  Sweden 
and  Norway.  The  excellent  work  of  the 
Swedish  and  Norwegian  police  systems  in 
balking  this  movement  has  put  a  quietus  on 
the  frantic  cries  of  revolution  in  the  ranks 
of  labor  and  caused  a  reaction  against  the 
leaders  who  have  attempted  for  the  last  few 
months  to  turn  the  labor  parties  to  Bol- 
shevism. This  victory  over  the  machinations 
of  Moscow  has  an  important  bearing  on  the 
Parliamentary  elections  to  be  held  this 
Autumn,  and  for  which  both  countries  are 
preparing. 

The  formation  of  a  Soviet  republic,  to 
include  Far  Korelen,  the  Murman  coast, 
Northern  Finland,  Northern  Norway  and 
Northern  Sweden  clear  down  to  the  Umea 
regions,  was  the  plan  disclosed  by  the  cap- 
tured documents.  The  promoter  of  the  con- 
spiracy was  believed  to  be  the  exiled  Hun- 
garian communist  Bela  Kun,  who  was  ar- 
rested at  Lemberg  on  his  arrival  there  from 
the  Moscow  communist  congress  by  the 
Polish  authorities.  All  Northern  Europe  was 
stirred  by  the  unveiling  of  this  plot  and  the 
arrest  of  its  leaders,  including  the  well- 
known  Finnish  communists  Niemi,  Jacobs- 
son-Heikkinen  and  Paulin.  The  scheme  was 
recently  traced  by  the  Swedish  authorities 
to  the  Finnish  (Finlander)  Bolshevist 
leader,  Gyllings. 

The  direct  implication  of  Lenin  and 
Trotzky  in  the  plot  has  not  yet  been  demon- 
strated. The  relations  between  Soviet  Russia 
and  the  Scandinavian  countries — especially 
Finland — are  not  very  cordial.  Tchitcherin 
recently  sent  a  note  to  both  the  Swedish  and 
Finnish     Governments     protesting     against 


their  conference  called  for  the  neutraliza- 
tion of  the  Aland  archipelago  without  noti- 
fying Russia,  and  insisting  on  being  in- 
vited. Tchitcherin  said  that  so  long  as  the 
Alands  remain  simply  a  Finnish  province 
the  Soviet  has  no  occasion  to  intervene,  but 
that  if  the  international  position  of  the  is- 
lands is  changed  in  any  way  Russia  must  be 
heard. 

NORWAY — As  in  most  other  countries 
there  has  been  considerable  unrest  in  Nor- 
way since  the  end  of  the  war.  All  efforts, 
however,  of  a  small  minority  of  communist 
elements  in  the  Norwegian  Labor  Party  to 
develop  a  revolutionary  spirit  have  utterly 
failed.  Large  numbers  of  the  working  classes 
left  the  old  party  and  formed  a  new  organi- 
zation— the  Social  Democratic  Party —  open- 
ly opposed  to  the  Soviet  views  and  methods, 
and  urging  adherence  to  the  old  and  lawful 
parliamentary  methods  in  attempts  to  solve 
the  social  problem.  The  new  party,  undoubt- 
edly in  the  majority,  is  steadily  growing;  it 
gained  new  strength  through  the  detection 
of  the  Bolshevist  plot.  All  precautions  are 
being  taken  to  prevent  recurrence  of  similar 
political  machinations,  and  the  responsible 
political  leaders  of  the  country  have  no 
longer  any  fear  that  Bolshevism  can  make 
any  serious  headway  among  the  inhabitants. 
This  impression  is  confirmed  by  the  decisive 
victory  of  the  community  in  suppressing  the 
great  strike. 

Parliamentary  elections  are  held  in  Nor- 
way every  third  year  and  the  next  will  come 
in  October  of  this  year.  There  are  three 
main  political  parties — the  Rights  (Hoire), 
the  Lefts  (Venstre)  and  the  Social-Demo- 
crats (Socialisterne).  The  Rights  consti- 
tute the  conservative  element  in  Norway's 
political  life,  working  for  the  preservation 
of  the  present  social  order  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  private  initiative  in  all  branches  of 


1060 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


business,  though  lending  a  willing  ear  to  all 
timely  reforms  that  do  not  endanger  the 
finances  of  the  Government.  Its  adherents 
may  be  characterized  as  moderate  progres- 
sives, and  are  found  chiefly  in  the  cities, 
among  all  classes  of  urban  inhabitants. 

The  Lefts  constitute  the  liberal — in  some 
respects  even  a  radical — element  in  the  na- 
tion's political  life.  They  are  mainly  an 
agricultural  party,  supported  by  the  rural 
districts  and  working  for  the  advancement 
of  agricultural  demands  and  interests.  The 
chief  distinction  between  the  Lefts  and  the 
i'ights  is  found  in  the  position  of  each  re- 
garding the  scope  of  necessary  social  re- 
forms, the  financial  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  language  question  and  the  prob- 
lem of  prohibition.  In  the  two  matters 
named  first  the  Lefts  are  inclined  to  go 
further  than  the  Rights.  In  the  language 
question  the  Lefts  are  friendly  to  the  move- 
ment for  introducing  as  the  single,  lawful, 
written  language  the  "New  Norse"  (Lands- 
maal),  more  or  less  artificially  formed  by 
the  amalgamation  of  various  rural  dialects; 
whereas  the  Rights  are  guarding  the  inter- 
ests of  the  present  book-language  (named 
Riksmaal  by  Bjornsterne  Bjornson),  the 
origin  of  which  is  found  in  districts  where 
the  influence  of  the  Danish  tongue  has  been 
more  marked.  The  Lefts  are  in  favor  of 
the  present  system  of  absolute  prohibition, 
whereas  the  Rights  have  outlined  a  policy 
for  public  control,  as  in  Sweden,  the  State 
Treasury  to  reap  the  benefits  of  the  sale. 

The  Socialist  party,  as  mentioned  above, 
is  divided  into  two  groups.  The  Commun- 
ist group  adheres  to  the  Third  International 
and  the  noted  Moscow  theses;  the  Social- 
Democratic  group  (frequently  referred  to  as 
the  "  Right-Socialists  ")  aims  at  establish- 
ing a  new  order  of  society,  but  through  par- 
liamentary methods. 

Besides  these  main  political  parties  there 
are  minor  groups,  such  as  the  Liberal  Lefts, 
collaborating  with  the  Rights  during  later 
years:  the  Labor-Democrats,  ranking  in 
their  four  views  somewhere  between  the  So- 
cial-Democrats and  the  Lefts;  and,  finally, 
the  Association  of  Agriculturists.  Only  re- 
cently has  the  latter  been  turned  into  a  po- 
litical organization.  Its  leading  purpose  is 
advancement  of  the  farmer's  interests,  and 
its  political  ideas  are  generally  believed  to 
be  not  far  from  those  of  the  Rights. 

JNo  single  party  obtained  an  absolute  ma- 


jority at  the  elections  in  1918.  The  126 
seats  of  the  Storthing  (Parliament)  were 
divided  as  follows: 

Lefts si 

Rights    40 

Socialists    18 

Liberal  Lefts   10 

Labor-Democrats    3 

Association  of   Agriculturists 3 

Independent    1 

The  new  electoral  method  to  be  used  this 
Fall  will  increase  the  number  of  seats  in  the 
Storthing  from  126  to  150.  The  Socialist 
seats,  however,  will  be  reduced  by  the  split 
creating  the  Social-Democratic  Party. 

When  the  Storthing  elected  in  1918  con- 
vened, a  Government  of  the  Lefts  had  been 
in  power  six  years.  As  the  Lefts  still  con- 
stituted the  largest  parliamentary  group, 
the  old  Cabinet  lasted  until  its  overthrow  in 
the  Summer  of  1920,  when  the  other  groups 
in  the  Storthing  combined  against  it  in  the 
debate  on  an  interior  political  question.  Mr. 
Gunnar  Knudsen,  the  "  strong  old  man  "  of 
the  Lefts,  had  to  retire  at  the  head  of  his 
Cabinet.  The  new  Cabinet  was  formed  of 
Rights  and  Liberal  Lefts  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Mr.  Otto  B.  Halvorsen. 

Exactly  one  year  later,  this  Cabinet  has 
been  overthrown  by  an  alliance  on  a  ques- 
tion of  no  political  significance.  Ap- 
parently, however,  the  Socialists  gladly  lent 
a  helping  hand  to  defeat  the  Halvorsen 
Cabinet  because  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  Government  handled  the  recent  strike 
situation;  also  the  Lefts  seem  to  have  grown 
more  and  more  impatient  with  the  rule  of 
the  conservative  elements.  Mr.  Blehr  of  the 
Lefts,  for  many  years  prominent  in  parlia- 
mentary life,  formed  in  a  few  days  the 
present  Cabinet,  which  consists  exclusively 
of  Lefts  and  has  as  its  Foreign  Minister  the 
prominent  specialist  on  international  law, 
Dr.  Arnold  Raestad. 

The  present  political  issues  are  economic 
questions,  especially  those  concerning  com- 
mercial treaties  with  France  and  other 
wine-producing  countries.  The  French 
treaty,  which  provides  for  unlimited  im- 
portation of  French  wines  and  brandies  up 
to  14  per  cent,  alcohol,  is  being  eagerly  dis- 
cussed, particularly  in  the  prohibition  press, 
and  the  debate  on  it  in  the  Storthing  is 
awaited  impatiently.  The  Lefts,  as  a  prohi- 
bition party,  will  find  it  difficult  to  sanc- 
tion heavy  imports  of  liquor.     Meanwhile, 


POLITICAL  DEVELOPMENTS  IN  SCANDINAVIA 


1061 


new  commercial  treaties  are  being  nego- 
tiated with  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  the 
Government  will  have  to  use  the  utmost 
tact  and  sagacity  in  handling  all  these  ques- 
tions. 

The  most  important  social  event  of  the 
month  was  the  celebration  of  the  silver 
wedding  anniversary  of  King  Haakon  VII. 
and  Queen  Maud  on  July  22.  The  press 
was  unanimous  in  its  greetings  to  the  King 
and  Queen,  who  are  very  popular.  In  the 
morning,  deputations  from  the  Cabinet  and 
Storthing  presented  gifts.  Later,  Prime 
Minister  Blehr  and  his  wife,  the  President 
of  the  Storthing,  Gunnar  Knudsen,  and  the 
President  of  the  Shipping  Society  presented 
a  gift  from  the  nation  of  500,000  kroner, 
with  the  request  that  the  King  and  Queen 
themselves  determine  to  what  use  the 
money  should  be  put.  Other  gifts  were 
made  by  the  municipality  of  Christiania,  by 
the  British  subjects  in  Norway,  and  by  the 
Norwegian  colony  in  London.  King  George 
and  Queen  Mary  of  Britain  and  Queen 
Alexandra  also  sent  handsome  gifts.  Mem- 
bers of  the  royal  household  presented  a 
painting  of  Crown  Prince  Olaf,  the  only 
child  of  the  Norwegian  sovereigns.  Prince 
Olaf  is  admired  as  a  viking  type,  in  his 
fondness  for  athletics  and  outdoor  sports. 
When  he  became  of  age  on  his  eighteenth 
birthday,  July  2,  the  King  introduced  him 
to  the  Cabinet  Council,  to  participate  in  its 
proceedings,  though  without  a  vote. 

Captain  Roald  Amundsen,  in  Seattle,  re- 
ceived notification  from  Christiania,  on  July 
19,  that  the  Storthing  had  voted  him  an 
additional  500,000  kroner  to  continue  his 
quest  for  the  North  Pole,  which  was  de- 
layed last  year  when  his  power-schooner, 
the  Maud,  lost  a  propeller  in  the  ice  at 
Cape   Serdze,  Siberia. 

DENMARK— The  event  of  the  Danish 
month  was  the  visit  of  King  Christian  X. 
and  Queen  Alexandrine  to  their  outlying 
dominions,  the  Faroe  Islands,  Iceland  and 
Greenland,  the  Danish  press  teeming  with 
descriptions  of  the  distinctive  festivities  for 
the  royal  visitors  which  took  place  in  each 
region.  The  women  of  Iceland  presented 
to  Queen  Alexandrine,  the  first  queen  to 
visit  their  remote  island,  a  handsome  Ice- 
landic national  costume.  After  an  un- 
eventful journey  from  Reykjavik,  Iceland, 
across  Denmark  Strait,  the  sunlight  showed 


the  rocky  west  coast  of  Greenland  against 
fantastically  colored  clouds,  to  the  first 
royal  eyes  that  ever  beheld  that  country. 
Off  Godthaab  the  vessel  overtook  a  lone 
Eskimo  in  his  kayak.  As  this  was  the  first 
of  his  Greenland  subjects  he  met,  the  King 
had  the  kayakman  hoisted  on  board,  and 
presented    him     with    a    rifle.     The    royal 


(Bain   News   Service) 
PRINCE  OLAF  OF  NORWAY 
The  Norwegian  heir  apparent  has  become  very 
popular  on  account  of  his  athletic  j)rowess 


vessel — called  the  Island— reached  God- 
thaab the  night  of  July  9.  In  the  firth, 
hemmed  in  with  snow-clad  mountains,  a 
great  fleet  of  kayaks  and  larger  boats 
rowed  out  to  greet  the  King;  the  natives  in 
these  boats  included  many  women  in  the 
vari-colored  costume  characteristic  of 
Greenland,  with  short  trousers  and  high 
skin  boots. 

The  next  day  the  King  and  Queen  were 
received  on  shore  by  Bishop  Ostenfeld,  who 
had  come  from  Copenhagen  for  the  occa- 
sion, a  number  of  local  clergymen  and  offi- 
cials, and  crowds  of  Eskimos.  Mr.  Rasmus- 
sen,  the  Arctic  explorer,  also  was  present. 
After  church  service  in  the  morning,  the 
people  made  festival,  the  Greenland  hunts- 
man, Iver  Mathaeussen,  interpreting  the 
words  of  their  Majesties  to  the  gathering. 
The  King  was  presented  with  a  kayak  and 
the  Queen  with  a  splendid  eiderskin  blanket. 
The  gifts  bestowed  by  the  King  were  very 
practical,  including  many  rifles.  Later  the 
party  left  for  Northern  Greenland,  where 


1062 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  sovereigns  visited  Mr.  Porsild's  farthest 
north  station  for  scientific  research.  On 
the  return  voyage  the  expedition  rescued 
the  crew  and  passengers  of  a  wrecked 
steamer,  the  Bele,  which  had  on  board  two 
Danish  Bishops — Ostenfeld  and  Ludwigs — 
and  a  number  of  scientific  men.  Part  of 
the  cargo  was  recoverable,  but  some  of  the 
equipment  for  Knud  Rasmussen's  new  Arc- 
tic expedition  was  lost.  Shortly  after  leav- 
ing the  Bele,  the  King's  ship  sighted  Ras- 
mussen's vessel,  Sokongen,  and  took  the  ex- 
plorer and  his  wife  aboard. 

SWEDEN— At  the  September  elections  of 
members  of  the  Second  Chamber  of  the 
Riksdag,  Swedish  women  will  vote  under 
the  new  electoral  law,  which  then  becomes 
operative.  The  extension  of  the  franchise 
to  women  over  25  years  old,  and  to  all  per- 
sons irrespective  of  former  tax  payment 
restrictions,  is  expected  to  increase  the  num- 


ber of  voters  by  165  per  cent.  *  *  *  The 
recent  success  of  the  Community  Aid  or- 
ganization in  Norway  and  Denmark  in  pro- 
tecting the  public  in  labor  disputes  has  in- 
duced the  formation  of  a  like  organization 
in  Sweden,  which  has  received  considerable 
I  upport  from  all  classes. 

Sweden's  quarantine  restrictions  on  trade 
with  the  Soviet,  necessitated  by  the  insan- 
itary conditions  in  Petrograd,  have  caused 
the  Soviet,  in  a  huff,  to  order  its  commer- 
cial delegates  in  Stockholm  to  refuse  the 
transport  of  goods  on  any  Swedish  ship  to 
or  from  Russia.  Swedish  shipping  circles 
are  not  taking  the  action  seriously.  More 
important  is  the  fact  that  German  competi- 
tion is  causing  a  trade  and  industrial  slump, 
which  is  felt  by  both  skilled  and  unskilled 
workers  all  over  Sweden.  The  difference 
in  standards  of  living  and  wage  costs  be- 
tween the  two  countries  is  severely  felt  in 
Swedish  plants. 


FAILURE  OF  THE  BALTIC  LEAGUE 

Helsingfors  Conference  ends  without  results,  after  an  open  threat  by  Moscow 
— Repatriation  of  Lettish  Red  Guard  soldiers  from  Russia 


THE  relations  of  the  small  Baltic  States 
bordering  on  the  vast  and  demoralized 
territory  of  Soviet  Russia  are  very 
much  like  those  of  cat  and  mouse.  Con- 
scious of  their  peril  of  being  swallowed 
up,  these  States  have  long  been  trying  to 
effect  a  union,  not  merely  economic  but 
political.  Month  after  month  the  negotia- 
tions have  dragged  on  and  always,  for  some 
mysterious  reason,  have  ended  fruitlessly. 
Fear  of  incurring  the  resentment  of 
Bolshevist  Russia  has  undoubtedly  been  one 
of  the  main  causes  for  these  failures,  of 
which  the  Helsingfors  Conference,  which 
ended  without  result  on  July  28,  is  the  most 
recent  example.  Preliminary  economic  dis- 
cussions were  held  at  Riga  in  the  middle  of 
July,  which  resulted  in  the  signing  of  a 
full  alliance  between  Esthonia  and  Latvia 
and  a  close  economic  accord  between  Latvia 
and  Lithuania.  This,  however,  was  but 
part  of  an  ambitious  scheme  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Baltic  League,  closely  compacted, 
aimed  to  constitute  a  solid  defensive  and 
offensive    blow — an    aspiration    which    the 


Baltic  States  have  cherished  for  two  years. 

The  Helsingfors  Conference  opened  on 
July  25,  already  under  the  serious  handicap 
of  Soviet  displeasure.  The  Moscow  Gov- 
ernment went  so  far  as  to  send  duplicate 
notes  to  Reval  and  Riga,  announcing  that 
it  would  regard  the  projected  alliance  as 
a  casus  belli.  The  situation  was  discussed 
in  detail  by  the  assembled  delegates,  con- 
sisting of  M.  Holsti,  the  Finnish  Foreign 
Minister,  M.  Meierowicz,  now  the  Lettish 
Premier,  M.  Piip,  Foreign  Minister  of 
Esthonia,  and  M.  Dombski,  Vice  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs  for  Poland.  The  de- 
liberations were  kept  secret.  On  July  28 
the  conference  adjourned  without  forming 
the  projected  alliance  or  arranging  for  a 
military  convention.  An  official  announce- 
ment was  issued,  stating  that  another  con- 
ference would  be  held  later  in  Warsaw. 
Behind  this  new  failure  towered  the  omi- 
nous shadow  of  Russia.  [See  also  page 
1005.] 

FINLAND — Finland  has  been  the  spon- 
sor and  one  of  the  main  movers  of  Baltic 


FAILURE  OF  THE  BALTIC  LEAGUE 


1063 


union.  Her  own  relations  with  Soviet 
Russia  have  been  by  no  means  settled 
by  the  Finnish-Russian  peace  treaty, 
and  she  maintains  close  guard  over  her 
frontier.  All  people  who  cross  the  Fin- 
nish border  from  Russia  are  closely  ex- 
amined and  subjected  to  quarantine  at  Teri- 
joki,  the  former  brilliant  watering  place, 
to  which  so  many  of  St.  Peterburg's  in- 
habitants took  flight  during  the  heat  of 
Summer.  Peter  the  Great's  former  capi- 
tal is  distant  only  an  hour  and  a  half.  Up 
to  the  rickety  little  bridge  across  the  Sys- 
terback  puff  the  dilapidated  Russian  trains 
which  bring  refugees  from  Russia.  With 
contemptuous  smiles,  the  Finnish  engineers 
pull  them  across. 

Down  through  the  straggling  wooden  vil- 
lage the  refugees  are  then  taken  to  the 
quarantine  station  among  the  fir  trees, 
where  they  are  examined,  fumigated,  and 
finally  housed  in  the  neighboring  villas, 
which  form  a  soil;  of  hospital  colony.  This 
quarantine  station,  established  in  1918,  and 
originaUy  planned  to  hold  400  people,  has 
now  been  expanded  to  take  care  of  800. 
All  who  come  out  of  Russia,  many  of  them 
in  a  filthy  condition,  have  to  spend  fourteen 
clays  there,  the  only  exception  being  in  the 
case  of  official  delegates,  who  are  carefully 
chosen  by  the  Moscow  Government,  and 
who  invariably  receive  a  clean  bill  of  health. 
A  new  station  has  now  been  established  at 
Kellomaki,  a  few  miles  to  the  east,  to  re- 
ceive the  Finnish  citizens  who  are  being  re- 
turned by  Russia  under  the  terms  of  the 
Finnish-Russian  treaty. 

LATVIA — Like  the  Finns,  the  Letts  are 
receiving  back  across  the  Russian  border 
the  hordes  of  Lettish  war  prisoners  re- 
turned according  to  the  Lett-Russian 
treaty.  Day  after  day  these  repatriated 
Letts,  hungry,  ragged  and  miserable,  have 
been  pouring  over  the  frontier.  Many  are 
undesirable,  many  not  Letts  at  all,  but 
Jews;  some  are  Russians  who  had  opted 
for  Lettish  nationality.  The  only  Letts  sent 
back  who  received  a  hearty  welcome  were 
those  who  formerly  served  as  guards  in  the 
Red  Army. 

The  repatriation  of  these  former  Bolshe- 
vist soldiers  has  a  truly  dramatic  quality. 
Latvia  has  long  suffered  under  the  charge 
that  the  bloody  work  of  the  Bolshevist  lead- 
ers   was    distributed    between    Chinese    and 


Lettish  mercenaries.  After  the  fall  of  the 
Lettish  capital,  Riga,  many  of  these  Lettish 
soldiers,  driven  by  hunger  and  despair,  had 
joined  the  Red  Army.  Some  20,000  of  them 
fell  on  different  fronts.  After  the  Bol- 
sheviki  evacuated  Riga,  nearly  4,000  Letts 
made  terms  with  the  legitimate  Govern- 
ment, and  remained  in  their  home  land. 
About  2,500  remained  in  Trotzky's  service. 
After  these  Red  Lettish  soldiers  began  to 
witness  the  repatriation  of  their  com- 
patriots from  Russia,  they  also  desired  to 
return,  but  their  appeals  to  the  Moscow 
Government  met  with  a  cold  response,  as 
the  Bolshevist  leaders  were  by  no  means 
anxious  to  lose  these  sturdy  fighters  from 
their  army.  Furthermore,  the  Lettish  Gov- 
ernment itself,  knowing  that  these  Letts  had 
been  Communists,  was  by  no  means  anxious 
to  have  them  back. 

Moved  finally  by  their  earnest  pleas  and 
by  their  insistent  declarations  that  they  had 
abjured  Bolshevism,  the  Riga  Government 
decided  to  grant  their  petition.  After  a 
long  period  of  anxious  waiting  they  finally 
received  their  passports  and  were  trans- 
ported to  Moscow ;  there  they  demanded  and 
receive^  clothing  decent  enough  to  go  home 
in.  These  former  Red  Guards  had  so  turned 
against  the  Bolsheviki  that  when  propa- 
ganda agents  went  to  the  station  from 
which  they  were  departing  and  tried  to 
preach  to  them  the  pure  communist  doc- 
trine, the  Letts  hissed  them  and  gave  them 
rough  treatment.  It  was  with  demonstra- 
tions of  the  greatest  joy  that  these  exiles 
got  back  on  Lettish  soil. 

The  policy  of  the  new  Lettish  Cabinet, 
headed  by  M.  Meierowics,  has  been  to  work 
for  friendly  relations  with  the  Entente,  with 
Germany  and  Russia,  and  with  all  neigh- 
boring States.  A  concordat  with  the  Vati- 
can was  arranged  in  July.  M.  Meierowics 
admitted  that  this  policy  was  difficult  of 
realization  in  the  case  of  Russia,  but  de- 
clared that  his  Government  was  doing  all 
it  could  to  improve  at  least  the  economic 
relations  between  the  two  countries.  The 
army  was  being  reduced  as  far  as  consist- 
ent with  the  national  security,  the  budget 
was  being  cut,  and  the  finances,  according 
to  M.  Kalnin,  Finance  Minister  under  the 
new  Government,  were  improving  progress- 
ively with  industrial  conditions.  [For  the 
Vilna  controversy  see  Poland.] 


POLAND'S  TROUBLES  WITH  RUSSIA 

War  reopened  on  the  Lithuanian  and  White  Russian  border — Protest  of  the 
Ukraine  National  Committee  against  Petlura's  activities  on  Polish  soil — 
Moscow's  drastic  demands 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


THE  new  Republic  of  Poland,  according 
to  official  surveys  of  the  economic 
situation  made  by  M.  Witos,  the  Polish 
Premier,  is  making  a  remarkable  record  in 
its  efforts  to  overcome  the  many  handicaps 
caurcd  by  the  war,  the  German  occupation, 
and  the  Russian  Bolshevist  invasion.  The 
Government  is  doing  everything  in  its  power 
to  help  the  farmer  and  producer,  and  to  de- 
velop Polish  resources.  Trade  is  increasing 
in  ratio  with  the  increase  of  Poland's  com- 
mercial and  political  contacts  with  the 
Western  world.  The  depreciation  of  the 
Polish  mark  still  remains  a  cause  for  anx- 
iety to  the  Polish  Government,  but  the  Diet 
and  the  Minister  of  Finance  are  giving  con- 
stant attention  to  this  problem.  The  ex- 
change value  of  Polish  currency,  it  is  ex- 
pected, will  automatically  become  regulated 
with  the  steady  growth  of  favorable  trade 
conditions. 

The  dispute  with  Lithuania  over  the 
Vilna  area  has  become  more  and  more  em- 
bittered since  the  failure  of  the  joint  con- 
ference at  Brussels  under  the  auspices  of 
the  League  of  Nations  several  months  ago. 
When  it  became  apparent  that  the  two 
parties  could  not  agree,  M.  Hymans,  as 
representative  of  the  League  Council,  pro- 
posed a  compromise  whereby  the  Vilna  dis- 
trict should  become  a  canton  in  a  Lithua- 
nian Federation  on  the  Swiss  pattern,  this 
federation,  however,  to  be  closely  associated 
with  the  Polish  Republic  by  the  formation 
of  a  joint  council  and  the  conclusion  of  a 
defensive  military  alliance.  This  scheme 
met  with  scant  enthusiasm  from  both  par- 
ties, the  Lithuanians  especially  showing  op- 
position. The  League  Council,  however, 
still  trying  to  bring  about  a  settlement, 
sent  the  Warsaw  Government  a  request  to 
regulate  the  position  of  the  irregular  forces 
of  General  Zeligowski,  the  Polish  General 
who  had  cut  loose  from  the  Polish  Army, 
and,  following  the  example  of  d'Annunzio 
in  Fiume,  had  occupied  the  Vilna  territory 


by  force.  Meanwhile,  the  Council  sent  an 
invitation  to  both  Governments  to  meet 
again  in  conference  at  Brussels  on  July  25. 
The  invitation  was  accepted  by  Poland;  the 
Kovno  Government,  however,  declined  in 
diplomatic  language  to  attend,  thus  pro- 
tracting still  further  the  effort  to  bring 
about  peace  between  the  Vilna  Poles  and  the 
Kovno  Lithuanians  and  White  Russians. 

The  tense  situation  thus  left  outstanding 
became  worse  with  the  resignation  of  the 
Polish  Deputies  from  the  Kovno  Diet  as  the 
result  of  their  receiving  rough  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  their  fellow-Deputies  for  hav- 
ing appealed  to  the  League  of  Nations  to 
secure  better  treatment  for  the"  Polish 
minority  in  Lithuania.  The  Lithuanians,  on 
their  part,  lived  in  constant  apprehension 
of  a  new  raid  by  Zeligowski  or  some  other 
anti-Lithuanian  General.  These  smoldering 
resentments  led  to  a  new  conflict  in  July, 
when  Lithuanian  and  White  Russian  ele- 
ments, encouraged,  it  was  said,  by  the  fail- 
ure of  Korfanty's  Polish  insurrection  in  the 
plebiscite  area  of  Upper  Silesia,  reopened 
hostilities  in  the  Vilna  sector.  The  Ruthenian 
mission  in  Berlin  declared  that  the  entire 
peasant  population,  incensed  by  the  arbi- 
trary acts  of  Zeligowski,  was  in  revolt. 

Poland  also  found  herself  involved  in 
diplomatic  troubles  with  her  southeastern 
neighbor,  the  Ukraine,  over  the  presence  of 
the  former  Ukrainian  anti-Bolshevist  Gen- 
eral, Petlura,  with  whom  Poland  had  allied 
herself  in  the  ill-starred  campaign  against 
the  Soviets  in  1920,  which  almost  lost  Poland 
her  capital  to  the  invading  Muscovite  armies. 
M.  Marcotun,  President  of  the  National 
Ukrainian  Committee,  which  assumes  to  rep- 
resent the  real  Government  of  the  Ukraine, 
despite  the  claims  of  the  Soviet  regime  es- 
tablished there,  on  July  14  sent  to  the  Polish 
Government  and  the  Entente  powers  a  bitter 
protest  against  the  alleged  preparations  of 
Petlura  on  Polish  soil  to  invade  the  Ukraine 
anew   in   the  coming   Fall.    The   Ukrainian 


POLAND'S  TROUBLES  WITH  RUSSIA 


106.5 


protest  specified  exactly  the  locations  where 
Petlura's  divisions  were  billeted,  and  assert- 
ed that  the  Polish  Government  was  support- 
ing- them  with  subsidies  and  tolerating  their 
impressing  of  Ukrainian  elements  now 
domiciled  in  these  Polish  areas  into  their 
military  organization. 

Not  only  the  Ukrainians,  but  the  Soviet 
leaders,  it  appeared,  were  incensed  at  Po- 
land's toleration  of  Petlura.  The  Soviet 
grievances,  however,  were  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  this.  The  Moscow  leaders  in  July 
addressed  to  the  Warsaw  Government  a 
note  on  the  whole  subject  of  anti-Bolshevist 
organizations  in  Poland,  which  was  said  to 
be  one  of  the  most  emphatic  diplomatic  ex- 
pressions ever  sent  by  one  Government  to 
another  in  time  of  peace.  One  Warsaw 
newspaper  compared  it  with  the  Austrian 
ultimatum  to  Serbia,  which  started  the 
World  War.  In  this  note  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment, through  M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Bol- 
shevist Foreign  Minister,  accused  Poland 
of  encouraging  not  only  Petlura,  but  also 
Boris  Savinkov — an  anti-Bolshevist  plotter 
who  has  been  for  some  time  established  in 
Warsaw — and    others    to    foment    insurrec- 


tions in  Russia.  Various  other  charges 
were  made  tending  to  show  that  Poland  had 
violated  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  Riga 
Peace  Treaty.  Tchitcherin  demanded  the 
expulsion  of  all  anti-Bolshevist  organiza- 
tions still  on  Polish  soil  on  the  demand  of 
a  mixed  commission,  whose  business  it 
would  be  to  identify  all  offenders — Poles  or 
otherwise.  In  the  case  of  Polish  officials 
punishment  was  demanded. 

Poland  answered  all  these  charges  by  a 
detailed  attempt  at  refutation,  and  with 
counter-charges  against  Russia.  She  de- 
clared that  the  Bolshevist  leaders  were 
training  Polish  Communist  agitators  in 
Russia,  and  were  encouraging  Ruthenian 
and  White  Russian  attacks  upon  the  Polish 
border.  The  Polish  Foreign  Minister,  M. 
Skirmunt,  based  his  charges  on  official 
documents,  and  concluded  by  declaring  that 
so  far  as  anti-Bolshevist  organizations  in 
Polish  territory  were  concerned,  Poland  in- 
sisted on  her  right  to  grant  refuge  to  as 
many  persons  of  Russian  origin  as  she  saw 
fit.  At  latest  accounts  the  two  Govern- 
ments were  seeking  to  effect  an  under- 
standing. 


THE  GREEK  TRIUMPH  IN  TURKEY 

How  Constantines  armies,  despite  all  allied  learnings,  recovered  from  their 
former  defeats  and  broke  the  power  of  the  forces  of  Kemal — Constantinople 
the  prize  at  stake — Allies  7iow  declare  neutrality 

[Period  Eixped  Aug.  15,  1921] 


CONTRARY  to  the  solemn  admonitions 
of  the  Chancelleries  of  England, 
France  and  Italy,  delivered  to  Greece 
at  the  London  Near  East  Conference  in 
March;  contrary  to  the  subsequent  warn- 
ings of  the  French  military  experts  and  the 
apparent  materialization  of  these  warnings 
in  April,  Greece  has  since  then,  on  the  bat- 
tlefield between  July  11  and  Aug.  1,  con- 
vincingly shown  that  she  is  able  to  take 
care  of  herself  and  has  made  definite  prog- 
ress toward  executing  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
and  making  Asia  Minor  safe  for  its  non- 
Moslem  population  and  for  the  civilization 
of  the  West. 

Even  had  the  armies  of  the  enigmatical 


Constantine  been  defeated,  the  attitude  of 
the  Entente  Chancelleries  would  not  have 
been  particularly  praiseworthy;  but  with  a 
victorious  Greece  they  can  with  difficulty 
preserve  their  face  before  an  intelligent 
world.  Their  last  effort  to  do  so  had  much 
the  appearance  of  making  a  virtue  of  ne- 
cessity. At  Paris,  on  Aug.  10,  the  Supreme 
Council  made  a  scrap  of  paper  of  the 
Sevres  Treaty,  declared  that  Greece  and 
the  Turkish  Nationalists  were  engaged  in  a 
private  war,  and  proclaimed  the  neutrality 
of  England,  France,  Italy,  and  even  of 
Japan.  The  British  Prime  Minister  took 
occasion  to  observe  that  this  neutrality 
would  be  of  about  as  much  use  to  the  An- 


1066 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


gora  Government  as  that  of  the  United 
States  had  been  to  the  Berlin  Government 
before  this  country  entered  the  war.  The 
two  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Supreme 
Council,  which  were  intended  to  establish 
the  disinterested  status  of  the  Allies,  read 
as  follows: 

1.  The  allied  Governments  decide  to  main- 
tain an  attitude  of  strict  neutrality  in  the 
Greco-Turkish  war.  They  are  agreed  not  to 
intervene  in  the  conflict  with  assistance  of 
any  kind,  either  by  supplying  troops,  or  arms, 
or  credit.  But  this  decision  does  not  affect 
the  liberty  of  private  trade  under  existing  in- 
ternational law. 

2.  While  reserving  the  possibility  of  offer- 
ing their  mediation,  the  allied  Governments 
consider  the  hour  has  not  arrived  when  an 
operation  of  this  kind  can  yield  any  results. 

The  steps  which  led  toward  this  ex- 
traordinary proclamation  are  perfectly  ob- 
vious. Being  unable,  on  account  of  the  re- 
volt of  the  Turkish  Nationalists,  to  execute 
the  Sevres  Treaty  themselves,  and  unwilling 
that  the  Greece  of  Constantine  should  do  so, 
the  Allies  at  the  London  Conference  offered 
a  modification  of  the  treaty  which  Greece 
declined  to  accept;  after  the  military  check 
to  Greece  in  April,  they  offered  mediation 
on  her  behalf;  again  Greece  declined,  and 
again  she  sought  a  decision  by  force  of 
arms,  this  time  to  be  crowned  witth  success. 
Faced  with  this  triumph  the  Allies  felt  con- 
strained to  declare  neutrality. 

With  curious  feelings  they  must  now  con- 
template the  text  of  the  Greek  note  politely 
declining  their  mediation  on  June  25.  A 
salient  passage  of  this  note,  as  drafted  by 
M.  Baltazzi,  the  Greek  Foreign  Minister,  is 
given  herewith: 

By  defending  the  traditional  aspirations  of 
Hellenism,  dating  back  many  centuries,  and 
the  rights  recognized  as  her  own  by  the 
Treaty  of  Sevres,  in  compensation  of  her 
sacrifices  during  the  great  war,  Greece  has 
the  conviction  that  she  Is  defending  at  the 
same  time  the  rig) its  of  the  civilized  world 
in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  and  the 
Straits,  and,  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of 
her  two-fold  mission,  she  has,  by  an  ex- 
treme effort  of  all  her  moral  and  physical 
resources,  reached  the  point  of  being  able  to 
impose  the  decisions  taken  in  common  ac- 
cord with  the  Allies  which  originally  in- 
duced her  to  proceed  to  the  military  occupa- 
tion of  Asia  Minor;  and  which,  as  regards 
the  sacrifices  imposed  on  Greece,  are  a  direct 
emanation  of  the  solidarity  created  by  the 
alliance  of  which  the  treaty  was  a  solemn 
expression. 
This  conception  of  her  duty  led   Greece  to 


make  all  the  sacrifices  demanded  of  her  until 
the  conclusion  of  peace,  and  to  consent  to 
undertake  with  her  own  resources  after  peace 
was  concluded  a  fresh  war  against  the  Turks, 
who  are  endeavoring,  by  a  process  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  good  faith  and  to  in- 
ternational obligations,  to  evade  the  appli- 
cation of  the  treaty. 

By  devoting  herself  whole-heartedly  and 
with  ardent  faith  to  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions for  action  which  the  military  require- 
ments dictated,  Greece  is  faced  with  a  situa- 
tion in  which  military  considerations  alone 
must  guide  her  conduct  and  her  decisions. 
For  these  imperative  reasons,  and  notwith- 
standing its  ardent  desire  to  conform  to  the 
counsels  of  its  Allies,  the  Royal  Greek  Gov- 
ernment is  unable  to  accede  to  the  proposals. 

Starting  from  a  line  which  was  approxi- 
mately that  from  which  General  Papoulas 
started  last  March,  General  Polymenakos 
began  his  offensive.  Unlike  the  strategy 
of  his  predecessor,  his  was  a  thoroughly 
synchronized  movement.  Simultaneously 
three  movements  were  made:  the  first 
along  the  line  Pazerkeuy-Ismid ;  the  second 
in  the  direction  of  Yenishehr,  thirty  odd 
miles  east  of  Brusa;  the  third  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Ainegeul,  twenty-four  miles  south- 
east of  Brusa.  When  these  movements 
had  sufficiently  developed,  a  concentrated 
attack  was  made  on  Kutahia,  which  broke 
the  enemy's  centre  along  the  Bagdad  rail- 
way line,  Eskishehr-Afium  Karahissar,  and 
opened  the  way  to  these  objectives. 

Between  July  11  and  Aug.  1  the  Greeks 
had  recaptured  all  the  old  objectives  taken 
in  March  and  relinquished  in  April,  and 
had  gone  beyond  them.  In  the  North  they 
were  threatening  the  Ismid  Peninsula;  in 
the  centre  they  had  proceeded  fifty  miles 
east  from  Eskishehr,  over  the  railway  in 
the  direction  of  Angora,  with  the  Kemalists 
attempting  to  block  the  way  at  Sivrihissar, 
fifteen  miles  beyond;  in  the  South  they 
were  controlling  the  Bagdad  line  from 
Afium  to  the  foothills  of  the  Taui 

In  that  time,  even  with  due  attention  paid 
to  the  qualifying  communiques  from  An- 
gora, the  Turks  lost  between  11,000  and 
15,000  in  killed  and  wounded  and  between 
6,000  and  8,000  in  prisoners;  the  Greek 
was  7,500  in  killed  and  wounded  and 
2,000  in  prisoners.  In  the  Greek  dispatches 
the  number  of  Turkish  desertions  is  placed 
at  10,000;  the  Angora  dispatches  admit  an 
equal  number  of  wounded.  The  contrast 
tells  its  own  story. 


THE  GREEK  TRIUMPH  IN  TURKEY 


1067 


The  boast  of  Athens,  however,  that  the 
entire  force  of  Mustapha  Kemal  had  been 
reduced  to  50,000  men  cannot  be  confirmed 
even  by  the  Greek  figures  denoting  the 
enemy's  casualties.  It  may  be  true,  how- 
ever, if  the  50,000  refers  to  those  troops 
now  in  formation  and  under  the  control  of 
the  Angora  headquarters  staff,  without 
taking  into  account  the  many  undisciplined 
detachments  wandering  about  the  country 
south  of  Angora. 

We  are  told  that  Constantine  and  cold 
steel,  for  both  of  which  the  Turks  have  a 
horror,  did  the  business.  Remembering 
Constantine  at  Saloniki  in  November,  1912, 
it  is  easy  to  believe  this.  But  what  about 
the  Greek  morale,  which  suffered  such  a 
shock  last  April?  One  of  the  many  proc- 
lamations issued  by  the  Greek  commanders 
on  the  eve  of  the  offensive,  in  this  instance 
emanating  from  General  Metaxas,  the  com- 
mander of  one  of  the  attacking  corps,  in- 
dicates that  both  the  traditional  hatred  of 
the  Turks  and  the  inspiration  of  Constan- 
tine's  personality  were  invoked  to  bring 
about  a  revival: 

Officers  and  Soldiers :  The  great  and  sacred 


moment  of  combat  has  arrived.  We  shall 
begin  the  offensive.  You  know  well  the  en- 
emy who  is  facing  you.  It  is  the  one  over 
whom  you  have  been  victorious  so  often  at 
Sarantaporon,  Jannitza,  Manolissa,  Bizani, 
Sardis,  Philadelphia,  Axar,  Baloukesser, 
Brusa  and  Adrianople.  The  decisive  blow 
must  now  be  struck,  and  be  assured  that  in 
this  new  combat  all  Greeks  follow  you  with 
gratitude  in  their  hearts  and  tears  in  their 
eyes.  Our  crowned  and  glorious  King,  chief 
of  our  glorious  army,  is  leading  you.  His 
eagle  regard  is  fixed  upon  you.  Our  country 
from  one  end  to  the  other  follows  with 
sacred,  palpitating  emotions  the  exploits  of 
her  sons.  Forward  !  Be  generous  to  the  van- 
quished, gentle  and  kind  to  the  unarmed  in- 
habitants; give  them  an  evidence  of  Greek 
humanity  that  they  may  be  grateful.  Future 
generations  will  celebrate  your  courage;  his- 
tory will  speak  of  your  strength.  Forward, 
with  the  help  of  God,  under  the  command  of 
our  glorious  King;  onward  to  where  your 
country's  voice  calls  you  !  I  ask  you  all  to 
cheer  for  our  country,  for  our  King,  and  for 
our  valiant  army. 

Under  such  inspiring  words  the  Greeks 
went  "  again  to  the  battle  "  and  produced 
almost  another  Vittorio  Veneto  from  what 
had  been  almost  another  Caporetto.  The 
obstacles  against  achieving  a  complete  Vit- 


Scale  of  Miles 


SCENE  OF  THE  GREEK  ARMY'S  SUCCESSES  IN  ASIA  MINOR 
The    strategy    of   General    Polymenakos    on    July    12    was    different    from    that 


of  General 
Papoulas  on  March  24,  although  their  fronts  were  practically  identical— from  the  Mumanich, 
Mountains  south  to  Ushak  and  thence  southwest  to  Alashehr.  Papoulas  allowed  his  lett  wing 
to  advance  and  lose  contact  with  his  centre ;  a  costly  retreat  ensued.  Polymenakos  synchronized 
his  advance  ;   a  decisive  victory  followed. 


1068 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


torio  Veneto,  however,  are  obvious:  The 
field  opened  to  the  Turkish  retreat  is  al- 
most infinite;  the  Greek  transportation 
service  is  finite.  Besides  this,  the  further 
the  Greeks  pursue  their  initial  victory,  the 
more  "  difficult "  will  become  the  Allies 
diplomatically — but  the  further  the  Turks 
retreat,  the  more  amenable  will  Mustapha 
Kemal  find  the  allied  leaders. 

Behind  the  words  of  both  the  Greeks  and 
the  Nationalist  Turks,  however,  there  is  one 
concealed  stake  for  which  both  are  fighting, 
and  the  Allies  are  exerting  every  artifice 
known  to  diplomacy  to  keep  it  from  their 
possession.  That  stake  is  Constantinople. 
In  the  oyster  of  the  Near  East  it  is  the 
pearl,  and  the  shell  is  Asia  Minor.  Neither 
of  the  two  peoples  who  are  shedding  their 
blood  at  this  moment  will  be  content  to 
receive  the  shell  instead  of  the  pearl.  An- 
gora has  already  proclaimed  this  fact; 
Athens  is  now  beginning  to  hint  at  it. 

There  was  consternation  in  Angora  when 
the  Greek  successes  were  confirmed;  there 
was  surprise  in  Paris;  there  was  ill-con- 
cealed satisfaction  in  London;  in  Rome  the 
papers  reviewed  the  relations  between  Italy 
and  Greece  to  show  how  common  interests 
bound  them  to  reciprocal  favors  in  the 
Levant.  And  while  the  heads  of  these  Gov- 
ernments continued  to  watch  events  with 
folded  arms  and  ironical  visage,  the  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Athens,  in  which  London 
bankers  have  large  interests,  loaned  the 
Government  of  Constantine  150,000,000  gold 
drachmas,  and  a  formidable  memorial, 
signed  by  some  of  the  big  men  of  England, 
was  sent  to  the  Greek  Minister  at  London. 
The  memorialists  state: 

We  have  been  indisputably  informed  that 
as  soon  as  armed  pressure  is  removed  from 
the  Turks,  it  is  their  deliberate  intention  to 
exterminate  every  Armenian  and  Christian — 
man,  woman  and  child.  We  find  with  amaze- 
ment that  statesmen  representing  the  so- 
called  Christian  powers  view  this  tragic  end- 
ing of  a  historic  Christian  people  as  "in- 
evitable."   *    *    * 

The  Greek  armies  offer  the  one  hope  of 
deliverance  for  the  Armenians  and  the  other 
Christian  peoples,  which  with  shameless 
treachery  the  so-called  Christian  powers  are 
preparing  to  hand  over  again  to  the  Turk. 
We  have  observed  with  hot  indignation  the 
attempts  of  the  allied  powers  to  intervene 
for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  advance  of 
the  Greek  hosts  of  liberation.    *    *    * 


We  therefore  beg  to  assure  you,  and 
through  you  your  fellow-countrymen,  that  in 
your  purpose  of  liberation  you  have  our 
warmest  moral  support.  We  profoundly  de- 
plore the  apparent  readiness  of  the  British 
Government  to  sacrifice  to  lower  political 
expediencies  in  India  and  elsewhere  the  high- 
est interests  of  humanity  and  religion.  We 
put  on  record  our  opinion  that  in  this  respect 
the  British  Government  does  not  represent 
the  vast  majority  of  the  British  people. 

The  Greek  Minister  replied  to  this  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  Greeks  went  to  Asia  Minor  under  a 
mandate  from  the  great  powers  to  enforce, 
if  necessary,  respect  for  an  international 
pledge  to  which  the  great  powers  had  set 
their  signatures,  and  which  was  subscribed 
also  by  the  Greeks  and  Turks.  The  object 
of  the  pledge  was  to  liberate  forever  iron- 
Moslem  communities  under  the  rule  of  the 
Turk.  That  no  other  guarantee  of  libera- 
tion for  these  peoples  could  be  secured  than 
that  of  eradication  of  all  Turkish  dominion 
over,  or  administration  of,  the  territories 
inhabited  by  these  populations,  is  manifest 
from  the  long  history  of  cruel  oppression  of 
every  race  which  has  come  under  the  yoke 
of  the  Turks  ever  since  that  people  left  their 
Asiatic  birthplace  to  impose  the  law  of  the 
sword. 

But  before  the  decisive  end  of  the  Turko- 
Greek  conflict  there  will  always  be  dis- 
played, in  more  or  less  materialistic  form, 
the  bogey  of  Bolshevism.  Angora  has  con- 
stantly informed  the  Greeks  through  propa- 
ganda that  this  danger  existed,  and  has  just 
as  constantly  told  the  Allies  that  it  did  not 
exist.  So  far  the  Grand  Parliament  at 
Angora  has  merely  ratified  the  treaties 
with  Moscow  which  refer  to  the  eastern 
frontier  of  Turkey,  and  various  dispatches 
have  made  it  clear  that  the  Commissioners 
of  Kemal  are  having  a  hard  time  with 
Lenin,  whose  friendship  for  the  Turks  has 
by  no  means  been  convincingly  demon- 
strated. All  rumors  that  Russia  is  sending 
several  army  divisions  under  the  former 
Czarist  General  Brussilov  to  aid  the  Turks 
bear  their  own  contradiction  on  their  face, 
in  the  amazing  ignorance  that  they  display 
of  all  geographical  considerations.  There 
is,  furthermore,  good  evidence  now  existing 
that  this  gallant  conqueror  of  the  Austrians 
from  Pinsk  to  the  Rumanian  frontier  in 
1916  died  from  a  Bolshevist  bullet  wound — 
followed  by  a  Bolshevist  operation — in  a 
Moscow  hospital  in  December,  1918. 


FRANCE'S  PLANS  FOR  SYRIA 


[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


rpHE  French  High  Commissioner  for 
-*-  Syria,  General  Gouraud,  made  an  im- 
portant declaration  at  Damascus  in  regard 
to  the  administration  of  that  mandate.  The 
territory  will  be  divided  into  six  autono- 
mous districts,  each  with  different  Govern- 
ments organized  in  accordance  with  the 
local  exigencies  of  race,  language,  industry, 
and  customs,  all  without  customs  frontiers, 
and,  in  all  of  them,  the  Syrian  pound  of 
100  piastres  of  20  French  centimes  each, 
would  take  the  place  of  the  Turkish  and 
Egyptian  pounds,  as  respectively  used  or 
introduced  during  the  occupation  of  the 
territory  by  the  Egyptian  Expeditionary 
Force.  Only  in  the  military  area  in  the 
northeast  would  the  French  exercise  full 
colonial  control. 

The  High  Commissioner  spoke  of  the 
modified  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres 
reached  at  the  London  Near  East  Confer- 
ence last  March  as  accomplished  facts, 
declaring  that  France  would  ignore  the 
faithlessness  of  Turkey,  but  that  if  the 
Nationalists  at  Angora  refused  to  keep 
their  pledges,  France  would  then  be  pre- 
pared  to   resume   hostilities.        Making  no 


reference  to  the  Turko-Grecian  conflict,  he 
continued : 

The  hesitation  of  France  in  carrying  out 
her  good  intentions  toward  Syria  was  caused 
by  reasons  beyond  her  control.  The  first 
step  toward  unity  and  national  independence 
will  be  the  creation  of  different  independent 
federal  States.  Each  of  these,  while  satis- 
fying the  special  wishes  and  requirements  of 
its  own  people  in  internal  administration, 
will  be  linke'd  to  other  States,  on  the  same 
principle  as  prevails  in  Switzerland  and  the 
United  States  of  America. 

The  success  of  the  principle  there  augurs 
well  for  its  introduction  into  Syria.  The  or- 
ganization of  the  respective  States  may  dif- 
fer, but  the  basis  of  government  will  be  a 
Representative  Council,  whose  duties  and 
powers  will  develop  from  day  to  day.  As  re- 
gards the  State  of  Syria,  including  Damas- 
cus, Hama,  Horns,  Hauran,  a  Representative 
Council  will  replace  the  Vilayet  Council. 
The  members  will,  for  the  time  being,  be 
nominated  by  the  Government,  pending  a 
general  census,  when  the  people  will  elect 
representatives.  Local  representation  will 
also  be  given,  the  districts  forming  the  nu- 
cleus for  training  the  people  in  self-govern- 
ment. The  same  organization  will  be  estab- 
lished in  the  State  of  Aleppo.  Each  council 
will  elect  five  members  to  meet  alternately 
at   Damascus   and   Aleppo. 


ENGLAND   DESPAIRS   OF  PERSIA 


[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


JOHN  L.  CALDWELL,  for  seven  years 
**  American  Minister  to  Persia  until  he  re- 
signed last  May,  arrived  in  New  York  on 
Aug.  6  and  confirmed  the  story  of  the 
Teheran  coup  d'etat  in  February  which  re- 
pudiated the  Anglo-Persian  Treaty  and 
opened  the  way  to  the  treaty  with  Soviet 
Russia.  The  5,000  Cossacks  who  brought 
about  the  coup,  he  believes,  are  in  Teheran 
for  good,  and  whatever  relations  the  Persian 
Government  may  establish  with  Moscow, 
their  presence  will  continue  to  be  a  protec- 
tion against  Persia  going  Bolshevist,  which, 
indeed,  would  be  against  all  Persian  culture 
and  religion.  He  added  that  "  the  newly 
appointed  Minister  to  the  United  States, 
Mirza  Hussein  Khan,  is  36  years  old  and  an 
Oxford  graduate.  He  speaks  English  per- 
fectly, and  is  one  of  the  brightest  men  in 
Persia." 


Mr.  Caldwell's  opinion  of  Persia's  future, 
freed  from  the  Anglo-Persian  Treaty  and  in 
cordial  relations  with  Moscow,  is  more  opti- 
mistic than  that  expressed  by  the  British 
Foreign  Minister,  Marquis  Curzon,  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  July  26,  when  he  de- 
clared that  "the  Persian  Government  has 
deliberately  rejected  the  chance  of  recover- 
ing its  fortunes  with  British  aid  *  *  * 
it  has  fallen  back  on  the  game  of  playing 
off  one  foreign  country  against  another, 
and  now  seems  not  unwilling  to  accept  the 
caresses  of  the  Soviet  Government — 
caresses  which  generally  end  in  strangling 
those  to  whom  they  are  applied." 

The  Marquis,  therefore,  viewed  the  situation 
"  with  a  feeling  of  disappointment  and 
almost  of  despair,"  and  had  to  confess  that 
all  his  own  efforts  and  those  of  the  British 
Government   had   been    "  largely   in    vain." 


1070 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Nor  did  he  see  any  encouragement  to  per- 
severe. But  he  warned  Persia,  as  an  old 
friend,  that  the  chief  sufferer  would  be 
Persia  herself.  Finally  he  declared  that 
"  all  the  forces  of  corruption,  selfishness 
and  intrigue  "  were  being  arrayed  against 
Mr.  Armitage  Smith,  who  was  trying  to 
reorganize  the  Persian  finances. 

There  is  a  striking  resemblance  between 
the  experiences  of  this  Mr.  Smith  and  those 


of  the  American,  W.  Morgan  Shuster,  who 
actually  succeeded,  as  Treasurer  General,  in 
placing  Persian  finances  upon  a  firm  basis 
in  1911,  with  the  important  difference  that 
the  forces  arrayed  against  the  British  finan- 
cier are  chiefly  native,  while  those  which 
succeeded  in  ousting  the  American  were 
from  abroad — from  Downing  Street,  acting 
on  behalf  of  St.  Petersburg. 


BEGINNING    LOUVAIN'S   NEW    LIBRARY 


HHHE  cornerstone  of  the  new  library  of 
-*■  the  University  of  Louvain,  planned  as 
a  gift  of  the  American  people  to  the  people 
of  Belgium,  was  laid  with  elaborate  cere- 
mony on  July  28.  King  Albert,  Cardinal 
Mercier,  former  President  Poincare  of 
France  and  Premier  Carton  de  Wiart  of 
Belgium  delivered  addresses,  and  a  letter 
was  read  from  President  Harding.  Car- 
dinal Mercier  blessed  the  site  and  Nicholas 
Murray  Butler  of  New  York  laid  the  cor- 
nerstone. The  building  is  to  cost  $1,000,000 
and  will  be  completed  in  1925.  Across  the 
entire   front   are  to   be   sunk   great   letters 


reading  "  Furore  Teutonica  Diruta,  Dono 
Americano  Restituta" — Destroyed  by  Teu- 
tonic Fury,  Restored  by  America's  Gift. 
The  new  library  is  not  being  erected  on  the 
site  of  the  one  burned  by  the  Germans,  but 
on  the' Place  du  Peuple,  the  highest  eleva- 
tion of  the  city.  It  will  be  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  structures  of  the  kind  in  the  world, 
and  will  constitute  another  of  the  many 
new  ties  which  the  war  has  created  be- 
tween Belgium  and  the  United  States.  The 
design  is  by  Whitney  Warren,  the  American 
architect. 


DESIGN  FOR  THE  BEAUTIFUL  LIBRARY  AT  LOU  VAIN.  BELGIUM,  TO  BE  BUILT  BY 
AMERICANS  IN  PLACE  OF  THE  ONE  DESTROYED  BY  THE  GERMANS.   WARREN  & 

WETMORE,  ARCHITECTS 


HUNGARY,   AUSTRIA, 
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

Sensational  indictment  of  Count  Karolyi  for  alleged  treasonable  relations  with 
France  and  Italy— A  ustrias  new  appeal  for  financial  assistance — Foreshadow- 
ing  of  an   economic   rapprochement   between   the   Czechs   and   Hungarians 


HUNGARY  continues  to  be  agitated  by 
political  storms.  The  sensational 
revelations  by  Prince  Windischgraetz 
regarding  revolutionary  propagada  by 
Count  Karolyi,  and  his  alleged  treasonable 
relations  with  France  during  the  war, 
threw  the  Hungarian  Parliament  into  a  tur- 
moil. In  1908,  Karolyi  and  his  adherents 
communicated  with  both  France  and  Italy, 
which  action,  according  to  Prince  Windisch- 
graetz^ prevented  an  honorable  peace  with 
the  Entente  powers,  and  led  to  the  Piave 
disaster,  as  Count  Karolyi  had  revealed 
military  plans  to  the  enemy  powers.  The 
Prince  substantiated  his  accusations  by 
reading  the  official  records  of  a  session  of 
the  French  Senate,  in  which  one  Senator 
read  letters  written  by  Count  Karolyi  to 
Government  authorities  regarding  favor- 
able action  to  French  interests.  The  Prince 
also  asserted  that  the  French  Government 
used  Count  Karolyi  only  as  a  spy,  and  that 
it  had  no  confidence  in  him  because  of  his 
radical  tendencies  and  alleged  relations 
with  the  Soviet  Government. 

The  speech  caused  enormous  indignation 
in  the  Assembly,  and  the  Premier  called 
upon  Prince  Windischgraetz  to  submit  his 
evidence  to  the  courts.  The  Prince  did  so, 
and  an  indictment  is  now  pending. 

Another  sensation  was  caused  by  Finance 
Minister  Hegedus.  His  defense  against  re- 
peated attacks  for  his  alleged  failure  to 
restore  financial  stability  was  that  the  Hun- 
garian crown  had  trebled  in  value  in  con- 
sequence of  his  financial  policy.  Then  de- 
structive elements,  who  care  little  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  caused  the  crown 
to  drop  on  the  Zurich  Exchange  by  purposely 
spi-eading  false  and  exaggerated  rumors  of 
a  new  coup  by  King  Charles  to  be  attempt- 
ed on  Aug.  20,  and  also  by  publishing  the 
falsehood  that  the  Allies  had  subjected 
Hungary  to  a  nine  hundred  billion  repara- 
tion levy.  This  naturally  caused  deprecia- 
tion  of   the   Hungarian   crown,   as   the  na- 


tional wealth  is  estimated  at  but  six  hundred 
billions.  Since  then  the  crown  has  again 
rallied  and  gained  several  points  in  a  few 
days. 

The  cession  of  the  three  western  counties 
to  Austria  has  become  an  imminent  prob- 
lem. The  Hungarian  Government  was  noti- 
fied by  the  Allied  Council  that  evacuation 
of  the  military  must  begin  on  Aug.  10  and 
be  concluded  by  Aug.  27.  In  order  to  pre- 
vent clashes  between  contending  factions, 
Austria  was  ordered  at  the  same  time  to 
keep  soldiers  away  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
border.  In  the  same  note  the  Allies  prom- 
ised immediate  restoration  to  Hungary  of 
the  coal  mines  around  the  city  of  Pecs,  now 
under  Jugoslav  control. 

The  decision  of  the  Danube  commission 
under  Arbitrator  W.  D.  Hines  and  the  al- 
lotment of  shipping  facilities  represent  a 
total  loss  of  1,400,000  tons  in  barges  and 
100,000  horsepower  in  tugs.  Although  ex- 
acting further  sacrifices  of  Hungary,  this 
caused  little  surprise.  It  is  eagerly  ex- 
pected that  navigation  will  begin  on  a 
larger  scale.  Hungary  will  be  in  a  position 
to  export  in  all  directions,  especially  to  the 
Balkans,  largely  offsetting  the  heavy  loss 
suffered  in  tonnage. 

Ratification  of  the  peace  treaty  with 
Hungary  was  exchanged  with  the  French 
Foreign  Office  on  July  26.  Praznovsky,  the 
Hungarian  Minister  to  France,  promised 
that  Hungary  would  execute  the  treaty  in 
good  faith,  and  hoped  that  the  bordering 
States  would  also  show  their  good-will  and 
protect  the  rights  of  racial  minorities. 

Ex-Premier  Friedrich,who  was  criminally 
prosecuted  for  his  alleged  participation  in 
the  plot  that  led  to  the  murder  of  Count 
Tisza,  was  allowed  to  go  free.  The  State's 
attorney  almost  apologized  for  his  long  de- 
tention and  declared  that  the  charges  had 
proved  wholly  unfounded.  Friedrich,  upon 
his  release,  received  great  ovations.  He 
publicly  declared  that  he  would  in  time  ex- 


1072 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


pose  the  interests  behind  the  charges  pre- 
ferred against  him.  He  is  strongly  anti- 
Horthy  and  is  expected  to  wage  bitter  war 
against  the  present  Government. 

New  clues  were  discovered  to  the  smug- 
gling of  highly  colored  news  to  the  Vienna 
expatriates,  tending  to  discredit  whatever 
had  happened  in  Hungary  since  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  Bolsheviki.  Several  contributors 
to  the  daily  press  and  writers  with  good 
names  were  arrested. 

Disarmament  of  Hungary  has  been  be- 
gun since  the  arrival  in  the  country  of  an 
allied  committee  in  the  latter  part  of  July. 
There  are  Italian,  French,  English  and 
Japanese  experts  on  this  committee. 

An  agreement  had  been  reached  between 
the  Hungarian  Government  and  the  Soviet, 
whereby  all  Hungarian  war  prisoners  will 
be  released  by  the  end  of  the  year.  In 
exchange  the  Hungarian  Government  will 
permit  400  communists,  sentenced  to  im- 
prisonment,  to  proceed   to   Russia. 

AUSTRIA — Austria  has  appealed  to  the 
allied  Supreme  Council,  which  met  in 
Paris  on  Aug.  8,  for  immediate  financial 
aid  on  the  ground  that  the  international 
scheme  for  her  rehabilitation  has  thus  far 
failed  to  function.  Dr.  Maximilian  Bach, 
Austrian  Minister  to  London,  stated  that 
his  nation  faces  a  critical  situation  owing  to 
the  failure  to  obtain  loans.  This,  he  said, 
was  due  to  the  American  policy  of  granting 
no  further  credits  to  Europe  unless  author- 
ized by  Congress.     He  added: 

When  in  May  the  Financial  Commission 
of  the  League  of  Nations  worked  out  the  plan 
for  the  financial  reconstruction  of  Austria, 
it  confidently  expected  that  an  immediate 
loan  would  be  given  to  Austria  in  advance. 
No  bankers  are  now  willing  to  make  any 
advances  until  definite  word  is  heard  from 
America. 

Austria  seems  to  have  been  informed  thai 
the  United  States  withheld  its  consent  to  a 
postponement  of  the  paying  of  Austria's 
debts  for  twenty  years.  In  consequence  the 
value  of  the  Austrian  crown  again  de- 
creased, and  now  1,000  crowns  are  the 
equivalent  of  one  American  dollar.  A  com- 
mittee of  seven  from  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce at  Washington,  headed  by  President 
Defrees,  arrived  in  Vienna  July  22,  to 
gather  economic  and  financial  information. 
They  were  received  by  President  Hainisch. 

The  desire  to  incorporate  three  counties 


of  West  Hungary  into  Austria  is  agitating 
Austrian  political  circles.  It  is  held  by 
many,  including  former  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs  Count  Czernin,  that  despite 
the  edict  by  the  allied  Supreme  Council, 
the  matter  should  be  settled  in  a  friendly 
manner  with  Hungary  and  some  conces- 
sions made  to  the  latter  State  in  order  to 
avoid  an  eternally  troublesome  problem  be- 
tween the  two  countries. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA— Czechoslovakia  de- 
sires to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  Cen- 
tral Europe  if  her  interests  are  not  in  con- 
flict with  any  settlement  that  may  be 
reached,  especially  in  her  relations  to  Hun- 
gary. The  frequent  parleys  at  Marienbad 
between  Dr.  Benesh  and  Count  Banffy, 
Foreign  Ministers  of  Czechoslovakia  and 
Hungary,  respectively,  in  regard  to  a  com- 
mercial treaty  between  the  two  countries  are 
promising  to  bear  fruit. 

This  indicates  a  rapprochement,  both  of 
an  economic  and  political  nature,  between 
the  two  countries.  This  is  so  much  more 
significant  because  hitherto,  on  both  sides, 
stiffness  was  manifest  in  their  dealings  and 
unwillingness  to  concede  anything  because 
of  the  enmity  that  ensued  upon  the  division 
of  the  territory  of  Hungary.  Both  Foreign 
Ministers  now  speak  in  a  tone  of  friendli- 
ness and  point  out  that  the  two  countries 
are  economically  interdependent  and  that 
politics  should  be  forgotten  when  it  comes 
to  the  great  question,  to  live  or  not  to  live. 

In  a  speech  Dr.  Benesh  declared:  • 

History  teaches  us  that  we  and  the  Mag- 
yars cannot  live  in  permanent  opposition 
and  hostility  to  each  other.  Our  task  for  the 
future  is  a  simple  one,  namely,  we  must  as 
speedily  as  possible  resume  our  interrupted 
connections  with  Hungary  regarding  means 
of  communication,  railway,  post,  telegraph, 
telephone.  We  must  without  delay  arrive 
at  an  agreement  on  the  question  of  the  Dan- 
ube and  transport  by  water.  We  must  come 
to  an  agreement  regarding  the  supply  of 
various  articles  indispensable  for  us  and  for 
Hungary.  There  is  really  no  reason,  after 
the  ratification  of  the  Peace  Treaty,  why 
we  should  not  commence  work  on  these  ques- 
tions. People  are  always  talking  of  the  con- 
solidation of  Central  Europe  and  of  the 
restoration  of  normal  conditions  of  economic 
life.  This  is  the  only  way  which  leads  to  the 
goal. 

Count  Banffy  had  spoken  along  similar 
lines  in  the  clubrooms  of  the  Christian  Na- 
tional bloc,  upon  his  temporary  return  from 


HUNGARY,   AUSTRIA,   CZECHOSLOVAKIA 


1073 


Marienbad,  emphasizing  that,  however  pain- 
ful the  mutilation  of  Hungary  might  feel, 
economic  reconstruction  must  not  be  kept 
in  abeyance  for  political  reasons. 

The  Czechs  seem  to  value  highly  an  eco- 
nomic reconciliation  with  Hungary,  as 
shown  in  the  speeches  of  leading  politicians, 
such  as  Tusar,  President  of  the  Social- 
Democrats  and  now  Minister  to  Germany, 
and  Smeral,  somewhat  more  radical  in  his 
socialism. 

Some  of  the  members  of  the  Nationalist 
Party,  supporting  Czech  supremacy  and 
disinclined  to  listen  to  any  arguments  on 
the  part  of  the  Slovaks  to  gain  autonomous 
rights,  left  the  party  and  aligned  themselves 
with  the  People's  Party,  at  Trencsen.  This 
ends  the  factional  war  between  the  Turocz- 
Szt-Marton  and  Rozsahegy  Slovaks.  From 
the  viewpoint  of  the  Slovak  autonomists  a 


decisive  point  was  thus  gained,  and  the 
Nationalistic  paper  Robotnicke  Noviny 
satirically  remarks  that  the  two  factions 
were  drawn  together  because  of  the  general 
depression  and  their  dislike  for  the  Czechs. 

The  Nationalist-Socialists  have  presented 
a  bill  in  the  Prague  Assembly  to  make 
Hapsburg  propaganda  a  crime.  According 
to  its  provisions,  any  Hapsburg  apprehend- 
ed on  Czechoslovak  territory  will  be  crimin- 
ally proceeded  against,  and,  in  case  of 
repetition,  will  be  sentenced  to  death. 

The  American  Relief  Administration  an- 
nounced on  Aug.  5  that  the  feeding  of 
children  conducted  for  two  years  would  be 
discontinued  within  60  days.  The  Hoover 
organization  on  its  withdrawal  will  leave 
the  work  to  the  Czech  Club  Welfare  Com- 
mission, organized  by  the  American  Relief 
Administration. 


LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  TO  DECIDE 
THE   SILESIAN   TANGLE 


IRRECONCILABLE  differences  of  view 
between  the  British  and  French  Pre- 
miers as  to  what  should  be  done  with  Up- 
per Silesia  led  to  a  decision  of  non-possumus 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Interallied  Supreme 
Council,  which  opened  in  Paris  on  Aug.  8, 
1921,  and  to  the  referring  of  the  whole  con- 
troversy to  the  Council  of  the  League  of 
Nations. 

This  deadlock  and  passing  of  responsibility 
to  the  League,  it  was  realized  by  all  the 
Premiers,  mig-ht  have  serious  consequences 
in  view  of  the  tenseness  of  the  situation  in 
Upper  Silesia,  where  the  French  appre- 
hended a  new  attack  by  the  Germans,  under 
General  Hoefer,  on  the  still  menacing  Poles. 
The  French  Government  on  July  17  had  de- 
manded of  Germany  that  she  disarm  all  the 
German  bands  on  the  border,  whose  de- 
mobilization it  declared  to  be  mere  camou- 
flage, and  that  she  consent  to  the  trans- 
portation across  Germany  of  French  re- 
inforcements. Germany  in  reply  insisted 
that  these  demands  should  be  made,  not  by 
France  alone,  but  by  all  the  Allies  col- 
lectively. 

A  vigorous  and  at  times  heated  exchange 
of  notes  between  France  and  Great  Britain 
finally  culminated  in  a  joint  note  demanding 


Germany's  consent  to  the  transportation  of 
reinforcements  in  case  the  allied  Govern- 
ments found  it  necessary  to  send  additional 
forces. 

But  though  Lloyd  George,  who  was 
opposed  to  the  French  desire  for  reinforce- 
ments, had  yielded  on  this,  he  seized  the  op- 
portunity to  insist  on  an  interallied  meet- 
ing, which  France,  despite  repeated  re- 
quests, had  persistently  avoided,  to  reach  a 
final  settlement  of  this  complex  and  danger- 
ous problem. 

At  the  sessions  in  Paris,  M.Briand,  though 
opposed  by  both  the  British  and  Italian 
Premiers,  fought  valiantly  to  secure  the 
rich  industrial  region  in  Southeast  Silesia 
for  France's  protege,  Poland.  The  vexed 
question  of  boundaries,  however,  which  the 
plebiscite,  by  its  extraordinarily  commingled 
vote,  had  served  only  to  confuse  still  more, 
could  not  be  settled  in  view  of  radical  dif- 
ferences of  opinion,  and  at  the  last  moment 
Lloyd  George,  to  avoid  an  open  rupture  of 
the  Entente,  proposed  that  the  whole  dis- 
pute be  referred  to  the  League  Council — a 
suggestion  which  the  French  Premier,  de- 
spairing of  a  solution  and  no  less  anxious 
to  avoid  a  rupture,  found  himself  compelled 
to  accept. 


RUMANIA  AND  JUGOSLAVIA 


[Pkriod  Exded  Aug.  15,  1921] 


PREMIER  PASHITCH  of  Jugoslavia, 
the  Foreign  Ministers  of  Rumania  and 
Czechoslovakia,  respectively,  M.  Take  Jo- 
nescu  and  Dr.  Benesh,  met  in  Marienbad, 
Bohemia,  during  the  first  week  in  August, 
for  the  purpose  of  outlining  the  work  of 
the  military  and  commercial  conventions 
provided  for  in  the  treaties  of  the  Little 
Entente.  The  Rumanian-Jugoslav  Treaty, 
signed  June  8,  it  has  been  authoritatively 
learned,  provides  against  an  attack  from 
Bulgaria  as  well  as  from  Hungary,  which 
latter  country  is  the  chief  concern  of  the 
other  treaties. 

Take  Jonescu  has  made  a  public  state- 
ment showing  that  the  Rumanian-Jugoslav 
Treaty  does  not  provide  for  intervention  as 
between  the  Greeks  and  the  Turks,  although 
it  might  be  invoked  should  there  be  a  Bul- 
garian attempt  to  upset  the  present  Bul- 
garo- Greek  frontier. 

Urged  on  by  the  complaints  of  Greece, 
of  Jugoslavia,  and  possibly  of  Rumania,  the 
Interallied  Military  Commission  sent  an 
abrupt  demand  to  Bulgaria  on  Aug.  6  to 
demobilize  her  old  army  and  form  a  volun- 
teer army  of  not  over  12,000  men  by  Oct. 
1,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  of  Neuilly.  In  its  reply  the  Sofia 
Government  declared  that  the  conscripted 
force  was  lower  than  the  prescribed  12,000, 
and  that  a  volunteer  army  was  against  the 
principle  of  the  nation's  laws,  which  even 
provided  for  enforced  labor. 

In  reply  to  interrogations  made  by  the 
Ministers  of  France,  Great  Britain  and 
Italy  at  Sofia  on  July  20,  the  Bulgarian 
Premier,  M.  Stambolisky,  replied  that 
neither  of  the  Bulgar  missions  sent  to  Mos- 
cow and  to  Angora  was  official,  and  that 
in  regard  to  the  allied  fears  of  a  Bulgar 
invasion  of  Thrace,  he  had  taken  every 
measure  to  maintain  order  on  that  frontier 
and  to  prevent  Bulgar  irregulars  from 
crossing  it. 

Parallel  with  the  treaty  decisions  regard- 
ing free  traffic  on  the  Rhine  (delivered  on 
Jan.  8)  and  on  the  Elbe  (delivered  on  June 
14),  the  decision  on  the  Danube  was  de- 
livered by  the  arbitrator,  Walker  D.  Hines, 
on  Aug.  2. 


The  Danube  negotiations  were  by  far  the 
most  complicated  and  important  of  all.  The 
most  difficult  question  related  to  the  seizure 
of  more  than  600,000  tons  of  barges  and 
48,000  horse  power  in  tugs  by  Serbia,  Ru- 
mania and  France  in  the  last  days  of  the 
war.  The  issue  hinged  on  whether  this  was 
private  property  and  thus  immune  from 
seizure  under  international  law. 

Mr.  Hines  decided  that  the  greater  part 
of  this  shipping  was  being  used  by  the 
Austro-Hungarian  War  Ministry  for  mili- 
tary purposes,  and  therefore  was  not  en- 
titled to  immunity.  A  few  of  these  boats 
were  being  operated  by  private  owners,  and, 
therefore,  Mr.  Hines  decided  that  these 
must  be  given  up. 

A  complicated  question  was  how  much 
of  the  former  Austrian  shipping  facilities 
should  be  ceded  to  the  allied  nations  on  the 
Danube  to  meet  their  traffic  needs.  Mr. 
Hines  had  to  take  into  consideration  not 
only  the  changes  the  war  had  made  in 
Europe's  political  map,  but  also  the  changes 
in  the  economic  map.  More  than  1,400,000 
tons  of  barges  and  100,000  horse  power  in 
tugs  were  involved. 

Mr.  Hines  decided  that  the  legitimate 
needs  of  Jugoslavia  and  Rumania  are  fully 
met  by  the  fleets  they  own  and  by  the 
seizures  which  have  been  confirmed.  He 
held  that  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary 
should  cede  70,000  horse  power  in  tugs  to 
Czechoslovakia  for  its  Danube  freight 
traffic. 

The  German  peace  treaty  provides  that 
the  German  Government  shall  pay  private 
owners  for  the  amount  of  shipping  ceded; 
but,  strangely  enough,  under  the  Austrian 
and  Hungarian  terms,  the  nations  receiving 
the  shipping  are  to  pay  the  original  private 
owners.  Therefore,  Mr.  Hines  will  begin  in 
Vienna  on  Aug.  22  a  series  of  hearings  to 
fix  these  values. 

In  concluding  his  report  Mr.  Hines  pointed 
out  that  if  the  nations  on  the  Danube  would 
dispense  with  red  tape  and  really  try  to 
facilitate  river  traffic,  delays  could  be 
avoided  and  200,000  tons  could  be  added  to 
the  shipping  facilities  of  the  river  without 
any   capital    expenditure.     On   the   average 


RUMANIA  AND  JUGOSLAVIA 


1075 


Danube  trip  he  estimated  that  four  days  are 
needlessly  lost  in  present  conditions. 

It  is  learned  from  Belgrade  that  the  as- 
sassination at  Delnice,  Croatia,  on  July  21 
of  M.  Drashkovitch,  the  Jugoslav  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  was  not  due  to  any  discon- 


tent over  the  new  Constitution,  but  was 
incited  by  the  repressive  measures  which 
the  victim  had  employed  against  the  com- 
munists. The  murderer  was  a  Bosnian  com- 
munist and  not  a  Moslem  of  Bosnia,  as  was 
reported  at  the  time. 


MEXICO'S  EFFORTS  FOR  RECOGNITION 

Congress  begins  to  discuss  revision  of  Article  27  of  the  Constitution,  which 
nationalizes  oil  wells — Obregon  urges  that  it  be  made  non-retroactive,  while 
the  Supreme  Court  co?isiders  150  protests  against  its  application — Recog- 
nition by  Japan  and  Spain — Prosperity  with  enforced  law  and  order 

[Period  Ended  Aug.   1.",   Ut21] 


CONSIDERATION  of  Article  27  of  the 
Mexican  Constitution,  nationalizing 
petroleum  deposits,  be^an  in  the  Mex- 
ican Congress  on  Aug.  8,  giving  rise  to  ex- 
pectations of  early  recognition  by  the 
United  States;  for  the  chief  point  of  differ- 
ence between  the  two  Governments  lies  in 
the  interpretation  given  to  that  article.  A 
committee  of  the  Liberal  Constitutionalist 
majority  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  voted 
in  favor  of  immediate  settlement  of  the  oil 
controversy  and  requested  the  co-operation 
of  President  Obregon,  who  urged  that  in  the 
bill  defining  the  scope  of  Article  27  it 
.should  be  distinctly  stated  that  the  provi- 
sions in  it  were  not  retroactive. 

Meanwhile  the  Mexican  Supreme  Court 
began  consideration  of  more  than  150  pro- 
tests against  the  application  of  Article  27 
which  have  been  filed  with  the  Court  since 
1918  by  petroleum  companies.  The  Court's 
decision  relative  to  these  protests,  it  was  ex- 
pected, would  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the 
controversy,  even  in  advance  of  legislation 
by  Congress. 

Regarding  the  export  tax  on  oil,  which 
became  effective  on  July  1,  and  against 
which  the  Association  of  Producers  of  Pe- 
troleum protested,  members  of  Congress 
held  that  the  cry  of  confiscation  was  ab- 
surd. In  practically  all  contracts  for  mar- 
keting oil,  they  said,  it  is  provided  that 
any  increase  in  taxes  shall  be  borne  by  the 
purchaser.  Thus  the  consumer  pays,  not 
the  companies  who  proclaim  that  they  are 


facing  ruin  and  clamor  for  Government  in- 
tervention. The  Standard  Oil  and  allied 
companies  and  the  Mexican  Petroleum  Com- 
pany are  the  ones  chiefly  concerned.  They 
organized  a  shut-down  of  the  wells  to  force 
Obregon  to  rescind  the  export  tax  increase. 
Mexicans  assert  that  the  purpose  was  to 
cut  off  a  chief  source  of  revenue  and  make 
it  difficult  to  pay  the  soldiers,  so  that  the 
army  might  start  a  revolution.  Other  im- 
portant companies  refused  to  take  part  in 
the  shut-down. 

Withdrawal  of  the  American  warships 
which  visited  Tampico  in  July  [See  Current 
History  for  August,  Page  894]  produced  a 
^ood  impression  in  Mexico  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  despatch  of  two  thousand  Gov- 
ernment troops  under  General  Guadalupe  y 
Sanchez  from  Vera  Cruz  for  the  oil  region 
from  Tuxpan  to  Tampico  to  guard  property 
and  keep  order  in  view  of  the  ten  thousand 
laborers  thrown  out  of  employment  by  the 
shut-downs.  The  President  declared  he 
would  make  every  effort  to  enforce  indem- 
nification by  the  companies.  Article  123  of 
the  Constitution  provides  for  an  indemnity 
of  three  months'  pay  to  employes  dismissed 
without  sufficient  cause. 

On  July  18  the  Mexican  Petroleum  Bureau 
issued  a  circular  announcing  a  reduction  of 
10  per  cent,  of  the  valuation  on  crude  oil  as 
a  basis  for  taxation.  There  was  a  great 
shift  of  exports  owing  to  the  oil  tax  and 
the  subsequent  shut-downs.  First,  all  the 
companies  increased  shipments  at  a  rapid 


1076 


THF  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


rate  to  get  the  oil  out  of  the  country  before 
July  1,  raising  the  exports  for  June  to  17,- 
581,971  barrels,  an  increase  of  more  than 
3,500,000.  In  July  shipments  fell  to  about 
one-fifth  of  those  for  June,  and  it  was  esti- 
mated they  would  be  still  less  for  August. 

General  Calles,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
said  that  if  the  Washington  Administration 
did  not  obstruct  the  Mexican  Government  it 
would  prove  its  sincerity  to  the  world.  The 
attempt  to  exact  a  signed  protocol  from 
Mexico  in  return  for  recognition,  he  de- 
clared, was  the  work  of  a  prominent  Amer- 
ican politician  who  knew  that  the  President 
had  no  authority  to  sign  such  a  document. 
If  he  did  so  Congress  would  impeach  him, 
anarchy  would  follow,  and  the  next  step 
would  force  intervention.  One  or  two  of 
the  oil  companies,  Sefior  Calles  said,  are 
also  actively  working  for  intervention,  not 
only  in  the  United  States  but  through  hired 
agents  in  Mexico. 

Despite  these  obstacles,  it  was  announced 
on  July  21  that  both  Spain  and  Japan  had 
recognized  the  Obregon  Government  in  auto- 
graph letters.  Count  Adolf  Montgelas,  who 
for  some  time  has  been  in  charge  of  Ger- 
man affairs  in  Mexico,  instructed  by  Berlin, 
called  on  the  Mexican  Foreign  Secretary  on 
Aug.  8  and  announced  that  Germany  would 
formally  recognize  President  Obregon  as 
soon  as  arrangements  were  made  for  the 
presentation  of  his  credentials.  That  Mexico 
expects  finally  to  obtain  recognition  from 
the  United  States  is  evident  from  her  pur- 
chase in  July  of  the  McVeagh  house  at  2,829 
Sixteenth  Street,  Washington,  for  use  as  an 
embassy.  She  has  also  purchased  a  fine 
building  in  Belgrave  Square,  London,  for  a 
legation  at  a  cost  of  £15,000. 

Two  oil  wells  in  the  Amatlan  district  were 
brought  into  operation  on  July  19  and  im- 
mediately caught  fire  from  the  boilers.  The 
flames  spread  to  other  wells  and  caused 
damage  estimated  at  $7,000,000.  A  force  of 
more  than  a  thousand  laborers  was  organ- 
ized to  fight  the  fire  under  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  finally  checking  it.  Cor- 
nelius Ferris  Jr.,  American  Consul  at  Mexico 
City,  reported  on  July  15  that  oil  production 
in  Mexico  had  increased  from  10,345  barrels 
in  1901  to  163,540,000  barrels  in  1920.  Old 
wells  are  beginning  to  give  out,  but  a  com- 
paratively small  portion  of  the  Mexican  oil 
area  has  been  exploited.    The  area  extends 


along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuan tepee  and  Tabasco.  [See  also 
"  Mexico  and  the  United  States,"  Page  969.] 

President  Obregon  on  July  13  issued  a 
proclamation  inviting  the  Governments  of  all 
countries  whose  nationals  say  they  have  suf- 
fered damage  through  the  Mexican  revolu- 
tion to  establish  a  permanent  International 
Claims  Commission  to  undertake  immediate- 
ly a  study  of  the  claims.  The  invitation  was 
sent  to  Washington  and  to  Mexican  Lega- 
tions in  European  and  Asiatic  countries. 

Conditions  in  Mexico  are  improving  daily. 
The  Obregon  Government  is  mustering  out 
the  national  army  in  all  the  Central  and  in 
some  of  the  Southern  States  of  the  re- 
public. The  Generals  and  high  officers  re- 
ceive tracts  of  land  on  which  to  place  a 
colony  of  former  revolutionary  soldiers. 
Each  man  gets  fifteen  or  more  acres  of 
land  to  work  as  his  own,  and  grain  and 
farm  implements  are  supplied.  The  only 
difficult  problem  is  the  rush  to  the  cities. 
Mexico  City,  for  instance,  has  increased 
more  than  100  per  cent,  in  six  years,  from 
less  than  500,000  to  well  over  a  million. 
The  traffic  congestion  is  so  serious  that  it 
is  proposed  to  build  underground  passages 
at  twenty  of  the  principal  street  crossings 
to  accommodate  pedestrians,  the  cost  to  be 
covered  by  rentals  from  various  concessions 
which  are  to  be  located  underground. 

There  are  approximately  30,000  Ameri- 
cans in  Mexico,  of  whom  8,000  live  in  the 
capital.  The  latter  number  represents  a 
decrease  of  65  per  cent,  from  pre-revolu- 
tionary  days.  Americans  outnumber  all 
other  foreigners — with  the  exception  of 
Spaniards — and  many  more  are  now  going 
to  Mexico  to  start  business  enterprises.  To 
emphasize  its  prosperity,  Mexico  has 
opened  an  interesting  exhibition  in  Los 
Angeles  of  all  the  nation's  most  important 
products  and  manufactures. 

On  Sept.  12  Mexico  will  begin  the  cele- 
bration of  her  hundredth  anniversary  of 
independence  from  Spain.  A  centennial  ex- 
position will  be  held  in  the  National  Legis- 
lative Palace,  a  building  costing  $5,000,000 
and  occupying  two  city  blocks,  the  largest 
structure  in  Latin  America.  All  American 
manufacturers  and  exporters  have  been  in- 
vited to  exhibit  their  wares  under  its  roof. 
The  exhibits  will  enter  free  of  consular 
fees,  duties  and  freight  and  will   be  fully 


MEXICO'S  EFFORTS  FOR  RECOGNITION 


1077 


insured.  The  exposition  officials  are 
Mexicans  and  the  enterprise  is  a  private 
undertaking,  but  has  Government  backing. 

Decrees  enforcing  drastic  economies  went 
into  effect  on  Aug.  1.  They  included  a  re- 
duction of  10  per  cent,  in  all  Federal  sal- 
aries except  those  of  less  than  3  pesos  daily. 
The  reduction  applies  to  military  and  civil 
employes  alike.  By  July  10  the  army  had 
already  been  reduced  to  81,000  officers  and 
men,  including  all  branches  of  the  service. 
It  was  announced  that  the  reducing  process 
would  be  continued  until  a  minimum  of 
50,000  is  obtained.  While  other  nations 
talk  of  disarmament,  Mexico  is  effecting  it. 

An  order  was  issued  on  July  26  dispens- 
ing with  the  necessity  for  passports  in  a 
forty-mile  zone  along  the  international 
boundary.  The  order  stipulates  that  per- 
sons must  have  lived  within  the  zone  for 
one  year  before  becoming  entitled  to  the 
privilege.  Four  days  later  President  Har- 
ding issued  an  executive  order  permitting 
citizens  of  Mexico  to  enter  the  United 
States  through  border  ports  without  pre- 
senting to  the  control  officers  any  travel 
document,  provided  that  such  persons  have 
been  residents  of  the  forty-mile  zone  for 
one  year  or  more. 

General  Manuel  Pelaez,  returning  from 
the  United  States,  arrived  in  Mexico  City  on 
July  13  only  to  find  that  his  second  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  in  Tamaulipas,  General 
Daniel  Martinez  Herrera,  had  revolted  on 
that  day  and  with  less  than  200  men  was 


endeavoring  to  gain  recruits  from  the  idle 
oil  workers.  Pelaez  immediately  disavowed 
Herrera's  action  and  announced  himself  in 
complete  harmony  with  President  Obregon. 
He  charged  that  the  revolt  was  inspired  by 
the  oil  companies  to  occur  simultaneously 
with  the  presence  of  American  warships  at 
Tampico  and  to  force  an  immediate  landing 
of  marines.  General  Sanchez  had  a  brief 
encounter  with  the  forces  of  General 
Herrera  on  July  16,  after  which  the  latter 
surrendered  unconditionally. 

A  long-standing  personal  quarrel  be- 
tween two  high  military  officers,  both  well 
known  in  the  United  States,  ended  in  a 
tragic  encounter  in  the  streets  of  Mexico 
City  on  Aug.  8.  General  Jose  Allesio  Robles, 
driving  an  automobile,  was  shot  dead  by 
General  Jacinto  Trevino,  who  was  in  an- 
other machine  with  four  companions.  Tre- 
vino surrendered  voluntarily  to  the  police, 
stating  that  he  had  shot  in  self-defense 
after  Robles  had  fired  at  him.  Robles, 
however,  was  found  dead  with  his  hands  on 
the  wheel  of  his  machine  when  the  crowd 
rushed  up  after  the  shooting.  Trevino  was 
one  of  the  best-known  Generals  under  Car- 
ranza  and  was  Secretary  of  Commerce  and 
Industry  in  President  de  la  Huerta's  Cab- 
inet. Robles  was  a  follower  of  Victoriano 
Huerta,  while  his  brothers  were  Carran- 
zists.  One  of  the  brothers  is  Minister  to 
Spain  and  another  is  owner  of  the  Demo- 
crata,  the  second  largest  paper  in  Mexico 
City.     • 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  BRIGHT  SIDE 


To  the  Editor  of  Current  History: 

Admiration  for  your  valued  magazine, 
which  has  been  coming  to  me  during  my 
two  years  in  China,  is  tempered  by  the  feel- 
ing that  it  is,  in  its  selection  of  material, 
its  comment  and  exposition,  consistently 
pessimistic  and  ultimately  depressing. 
Documents  and  facts  cannot  be  questioned, 
of  course,  but  as  careful  a  review  of  the 
world's  doings  as  a  busy  life  here  affords 
convinces  me  that  there  are  facts  and  evi- 
dences coming  from  other  sources  that  are 
not  so  universally  drab  and  disheartening 
as  those  you  select  for  emphasis.  Horrible 
cartoons  are  plentiful,  but  why  omit  those 
which  portray  humanity's  hope  and  buoy- 


There  are  facts  enough  here  in  Kwantung 
to  plunge  any  observer  into  the  depths  if 
he  does  not  open  his  eyes  to  other  great 
living  currents  and  dominant  achievements 
that  are  in  this  marvelously  vital  moment 
making  for  better  things. 

I  am  not  pleading  for  the  vapid  optimism 
of  a  seed  catalogue,  nor  the  irresponsible 
allurements  of  The  House  Beautiful  or  the 
travel  maganizes,  but  the  muse  of  Current 
History  certainly  should  see  through  her 
tears  some  of  the  light  of  this  great  present 
age.  Are  you  quite  fair  to  us,  your  read- 
ers— or    are  you  really  hopeless? 

JOHN  C.  GRIGGS. 

Canton    Christian    College,   Canton,   China,  June 
28,    1921. 


CENTRAL  AMERICAN  AFFAIRS 

The  new  Union's  Constituent  Assembly  working  on  its  Constitution,  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Rica  sending  unofficial  observers — Panama  still  unwilling  to  abide 
by  the  White  award  on  the  Costa  Rican  boundary  decision — Menacing  un~ 
popularity  of  Nicaragua's  Government 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


FTV3E  Central  American  Constituent 
J_  Assembly,  consisting  of  representa- 
tives from  Salvador,  Guatemala  and 
Honduras,  met  in  Tegucigalpa  on  July  20 
to  perfect  a  federal  constitution  and  ar- 
range for  its  signing  on  Sept.  15,  the  cen- 
tenary of  Central  American  independence. 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  sent  unofficial 
observers  to  represent  them,  neither  State 
having  finally  joined  the  federation.  Costa 
Rica,  however,  is  withdrawing  its  legations 
in  foreign  countries,  as  if  in  preparation 
for  their  replacement  by  Federal  officials. 
The  Costa  Rican  Congress  remained  hostile 
to  the.  scheme. 

COSTA  RICA — France,  in  a  note  received 
at  San  Jose  on  Aug.  6,  protests  against 
the  imposition  by  Costa  Rica  of  a  high 
tariff  on  French  merchandise  as  prejudicial 
to  trade.  To  help  establish  credits  in  the 
United  States,  Costa  Rica  in  July  sent  cou- 
pons from  Government  bonds  amounting 
to  $500,000  to  New  York  to  be  collected  as 
they  fall  due. 

Guatemala  also  is  trying  to  stabilize  for- 
eign exchange  by  exporting  gold  coin.  Its 
withdrawal  has  caused  a  shortage  of  cur- 
rency which  the  Government  met  by  putting 
in  circulation  70,000,000  nickel  coins.  A 
brief  revolt  headed  by  General  Isidro  Val- 
dez  was  suppressed  on  Aug.  6. 

NICARAGUA— Diego  Chamorro  recently 
succeeded  his  uncle  as  President  of  Nica- 
ragua after  an  election  which  the  Liberal 
Party  declares  was  fixed  so  as  to  keep  the 
Presidency  in  the  family.  The  uncle,  Emi- 
liano  Chamorro,  went  to  Washington  as 
Minister,  and  on  his  way  north  was  stoned 
by  the  populace  in  Guatema1^  City.  The 
Chamorro  Government  is  said  to  be  ex- 
tremely unpopular  and  to  depend  on  the 
support  of  United  States  marines  in  Mana- 
gua. An  American  coterie  of  bankers  is 
also  declared  to  be  exploiting  the  country, 
having  a  strangle  hold  on  agriculture  and 


owning  the  national  railway.  The  finances 
are  administered  by  a  High  Commission 
consisting  of  one  representative  of  the 
Nicaraguan  Government,  one  representating 
the  American  State  Department  and  one 
American  employe  of  the  bondholders.  The 
Nicaraguan  Government  is  always  outvoted 
when  any  difference  of  opinion  arises.  The 
monopoly  of  the  bankers,  it  is  charged,  pre- 
vents other  American  firms  from  entering 
the  field. 

SALVADOR — A  grave  economic  crisis 
has  overtaken  Salvador,  owing  to  the  de- 
cline in  the  prices  of  her  products.  Coffee 
is  not  worth  the  cost  of  moving.  The 
mines  are  closed,  throwing  thousands  of 
miners  out  of  work.  Except  for  exports 
of  sugar  and  a  small  amount  of  hennequen, 
foreign  trade  has  almost  stopped.  Martial 
law  is  in  force,  but  robberies  are  increasing. 
Salvador  has  the  highest  import  duties  in 
Latin  America,  amounting  on  an  average 
to  125  per  cent.  Insurance  companies  are 
canceling  policies,  and  banks  are  calling 
all  loans  and  refusing  to  accept  silver  on 
deposit. 

PANAMA — Further  efforts  were  made 
by  Panama  in  July  and  August  to  have  her 
boundary  dispute  with  Costa  Rica  settled 
in  some  other  way  than  by  the  decision 
Secretary  Hughes  imposed  upon  her  to  ac- 
cept the  award  of  Chief  Justice  White.  In 
a  note  sent  to  the  State  Department  on  July 
25  Dr.  Narciso  Garay,  Panama's  Foreign 
Minister,  who  came  to  Washington  to  try 
to  settle  the  dispute,  asked  the  United 
States  to  submit  to  The  Hague  Permanent 
Court  the  question  whether  the  White 
award  was  within  the  terms  of  the  arbitra- 
tion so  as  to  make  it  valid  against  Panama. 
Secretary  Hughes  refused. 

Dr.  Garay  on  July  30  sent  another  note 
to  the  State  Department  calling  Secretary 
Hughes's  attention  to  the  fact  that  both 
Panama    and    Costa    Rica   were   bound   by 


CENTRAL  AMERICAN  AFFAIRS 


1079 


treaty  to  submit  their  differences  to  arbi- 
tration— said  treaty  being  that  of  Ver- 
sailles. No  reply,  apparently,  was  made  to 
this  note.  Panama  earlier  had  appealed  to 
Argentina  to  exert  her  good  offices  in  the 
boundary  dispute,  but  the  State  Depart- 
ment found  it  out  and  sent  a  communication 
to  the  Argentine  Government  indicating 
that  the  United  States  had  become  responsi- 
ble by  treaty  for  Panama's  fulfillment  of 
her  international  obligations  and  could  not 
admit  intervention  by  outsiders.  There- 
upon Argentina  gravely  informed  Panama 
that  she  was  not  able  to  lend  the  good 
offices  requested. 

Panama  on  Aug.  9  appealed  to  Chief  Jus- 
tice Taft,  objecting  to  suggestions  by  Costa 
Rica  that  he  name  two  Commissioners  to 
mark  out  the  boundary  in  dispute  on  the 
ground  that  the  convention  of  1910  had 
lapsed  through  Panama's  rejection  of  the 
White  award,  and  that  it  could  not  be  "  re- 
vived to  make  it  produce  juridical  effects 
in  detriment  to  Panama."  Such  appoint- 
ment  of    Commissioners,    Dr.    Gar  ay    said, 


would  be  a  "  direct  attack  against  the 
sovereignty  of  Panama  to  which  the  Hon. 
Chief  Justice  Taft  most  assuredly  would 
not  be  a  party." 

Costa  Rica  named  Luis  Matamoras  as  its 
member  of  the  engineer  commission  to 
mark  the  boundary,  but  Panama  declined  to 
name  one,  and  it  was  stated  in  Washington 
that  the  United  States  might  have  to  use 
force  to  effect  a  settlement. 

CANAL  ZONE— Washington  on  Aug.  5 
gave  out  figures  showing  a  total  of  11,599,- 
214  tons  of  commercial  cargo  carried 
through  the  Panama  Canal  during  the  last 
fiscal  year,  or  23^  per  cent,  more  than  in 
any  previous  year,  while  the  tolls  amounted 
to  $11,276,890,  or  32  V2  per  cent,  above 
previous  records.  American  vessels  carried 
45  per  cent,  of  the  total  and  British  32  per 
cent.,  Japanese  being  a  bad  third  with  7 
per  cent.  The  total  number  of  ships  pass- 
ing through  the  canal  was  2,892,  of  which 
1,212  were  American,  970  British,  140  Nor- 
wegian and  136  Japanese. 


WEST  INDIAN  TRADE  CRISIS 

Fordney  tariff  bill  is  declared  likely  to  cause  alienation  of  Latin  America 
from  the  United  States — Customs  union  between  British  West  Indies  and 
Canada — Cuba  driven  by  financial  stress  to  seek  American  loan- 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  1921] 


THE  West  Indies,  so  largely  dependent 
on  the  United  States  for  their  trade, 
owing  to  their  proximity,  have  been 
stirred  to  protest  by  the  provisions  of  the 
Fordney  tariff  bill.  Jamaica  is  alarmed  at 
*he  proposed  duty  on  cocoanuts  and  bananas 
and  the  Government  has  been  asked  to 
make  representations  to  Washington  in  the 
matter. 

Cuba  sent  a  special  mission  from  Havana 
to  protest  before  the  Senate  Committee 
against  the  sugar  and  tobacco  provisions 
of  the  Fordney  bill.  The  members  arrived 
on  Aug.  7  and  gave  out  interviews  show- 
ing that  the  two  principal  industries  of  the 
island  would  be  practically  ruined  if  the 
bill  became  a  law.  Herbert  S.  Rubens,  for- 
mer counsel  of  the  Cuban  Patriots,  sent  a 


letter  to  the  Senate  Finance  Committee  de- 
claring that  the  proposed  tariff  of  2  cents 
a  pound  on  raw  sugar  would  ruin  the  island 
politically  and  financially  and  would  be 
likely  to  lead  to  another  American  interven- 
tion or  to  enforced  annexation.  This  would 
probally  increase  the  antagonism  Latin 
America  feels  for  the  United  States. 

Both  Cuba  and  Bermuda  are  endeavoring 
to  halt  liquor  smuggling  into  the  United 
States.  Orders  were  issued  in  Havana  to 
search  all  vessels  leaving  port  and  confis- 
cate liquor  not  shown  on  the  manifest.  Ber- 
muda's colonial  legislature  passed  a 
law  fining  any  one  shipping  intoxi- 
cants to  American  ports  £25  for  a 
first  and  £50  for  a  second  offense. 
Bermuda  remains  wet,  but  the  Government 


1080 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


will  not  permit  ram  running.  The  seizure 
of  a  British  vessel  beyond  the  three-mile 
limit  without  protest  from  London  against 
the  action  of  the  United  States  revenue  of- 
ficials is  said  to  have  hastened  the  passage 
of  the  law  in  Bermuda.  Porto  Ricans,  al- 
though under  American  rule,  are  more  in- 
dependent, meeting  violation  of  the  prohi- 
bition regulations  by  the  lightest  possible 
fines  and  sentences. 

Ar  executive  order  was  promulgated  on 
July  30  in  Washington  providing  that  citi- 
zens of  Bermuda,  the  Bahamas,  Newfound- 
land and  other  British  Islands,  as  well  as 
Canada  and  the  French  Islands  of  St.  Pierre 
and  Miquelon,  may  enter  the  United  States 
without  passports,  identity  cards,  or  per- 
mits. 

JAMAICA — In  connection  with  the  pro- 
posed establishment  of  Port  Royal  as  a 
naval  station  on  account  of  the  strategic 
position  of  Jamaica  in  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
it  was  announced  in  Kingston  on  Aug.  5  that 
provision  was  being  made  to  coal  and  vic- 
tual British  ships,  especially  those  passing 
through  the  Panama  Canal,  thus  making 
Kingston  a  rival  of  Cristobal  in  the  Canal 
Zone. 

The  resolution  introduced  in  the  United 
States  Senate  inquiring  whether  Great 
Britain  would  consider  ceding  the  West  In- 
dies was  publicly  resented  in  the  Jamaica 
Legislature  on  Aug.  4.  At  the  same  time 
a  motion  favoring  federation  with  Canada 
was  voted  down.  Steps  were  later  taken 
to  send  a  deputation  to  London  to  urge  the 
necessity  of  a  wider  measure  of  representa- 
tive government  for  Jamaica. 

A  Canadian  naval  squadron,  with  the 
cruiser  Aurora  as  flagship,  received  a  cor- 
dial welcome  at  Kingston  on  July  14.  It 
left  four  days  lator,  homeward  bound  by 
way  of  the  Bahamas. 

Announcement  was  made  at  Kingston  on 
July  28  that  the  colonies  of  the  British  West 
Indies  had  decided  upon  a  uniform  customs 
tariff,  giving  preference  to  Canadian  goods, 
principally  flour.  Canada  will  give  prefer- 
ence in  return  to  West  Indian  products, 
principally  sugar  and  oranges. 

Meanwhile  the  trade  crisis  in  Jamaica  is 
acute.  Money  was  voted  to  aid  the  sugar 
industry,  but  is  said  to  be  inadequate.  Sugar 
estates  are  laying  off  a  large  percentage  of 
employes,  and  those  retained  will  have  their 
pay  cut  20  per  cent.    The  rum  trade  is  in  a 


critical  position,  prohibition  in  America  hav- 
ing been  followed  by  the  imposition  of  a 
duty  of  £500  a  puncheon  on  the  English 
market. 

PORTO  RICO— E.  Mont  Riley,  new  ap- 
pointee as  Governor  of  Porto  Rico,  was  in- 
augurated on  July  30  and  made  a  speech 
in  which  he  advised  against  the  movement 
for  the  independence  of  the  island  and  urged 
advocacy  of  Statehood.  As  a  result  Antonio 
R.  Barcelo  resigned  as  head  of  the  Unionist 
Party,  which  has  an  independence  plank  in 
its  platform. 

CUBA — The  Cuban  Congress  met  on  July 
18  and  began  consideration  of  means  to  re- 
lieve the  financial  situation.  A  deficit  of 
$45,000,000  is  estimated  in  the  Government 
budget,  and  a  loan  of  $50,000,000  was  sug- 
gested by  the  mixed  legislative  committee, 
which  holds  over  during  the  recess  of  Con- 
gress. The  loan  was  favored  by  General 
Crowder,  but  only  as  an  absolute  necessity. 
His  report  on  conditions  in  Cuba,  received 
in  Washington  early  in  August,  was  very 
discouraging  about  the  prospects  of  Govern- 
ment stability  and  the  financial  situation  in 
Cuba.  At  the  same  time  he  pointed  out  that 
Cuba  must  have  money  if  she  is  to  survive, 
and  therefore  recommended  that  the  State 
Department  approve  a  loan,  with  a  strong 
reservation  by  which  American  interests 
would  supervise  the  use  of  the  money. 

Senor  Gelabert,  Cuban  Secretary  of 
Finance,  came  to  Washington  to  urge  the 
State  Department  to  approve  the  proposed 
loan.  Secretary  Hughes  reserved  his  decis- 
ion. President  Zayas  in  a  message  to  Con- 
gress suggested  that  a  commission  of  three 
be  appointed  to  disburse  the  proceeds  when 
received. 

The  Cuban  Government  threatens  to  ex- 
tend Government  control  over  house  rents  as 
a  public  utility.  Unless  rents  in  Havana 
and  the  larger  cities  were  cut  it  was  said 
there  would  be  wholesale  evictions  and 
demonstrations  against  profiteering  land- 
lords. On  the  theory  that  high  rents  might 
cause  an  infraction  of  public  order  it  was 
argued  the  Government  might  step  in  to 
regulate  rents.  A  petition  for  lower  rents 
was  presented  to  President  Zayas  by  a  large 
crowd  on  Aug.  10,  and  the  President,  speak- 
ing from  a  balcony  of  the  National  Palace, 
promised  that  if  the  municipality  of  Havana 
did  not  act  promptly  he  would  inaugurate 
remedial  measures  by  decree. 


WEST  INDIAN  TRADE  CRISIS 


1081 


HAITI— The  United  States  Senate  on 
July  27  adopted  a  resolution  providing  for 
an  investigation  of  American  occupation 
and  administration  of  Haiti  and  Santo 
Domingo.  At  the  same  time  an  organiza- 
tion was  formed  in  New  York  called  the 
Haiti  and  Santo  Domingo  Independence 
Society  to  expose  and  correct  American 
maladministration.  Ernest  Angell,  its  at- 
torney, was  authorized  to  appear  before 
the  Senate  committee  and  demand  the 
punishment  of  Americans  guilty  of  atroci- 
ties. Oswald  Garrison  Villard,  publisher, 
and  Horace  Knowles,  former  Minister  to 
Santo  Domingo,  on  Aug.  3  gave  the  com- 
mittee an  outline  of  the  charges,  describing 
intervention  as  the  blackest  chapter  in 
American  history  in  the  Caribbean. 

The  body  of  Harris  Lipschitz,  a  natural- 
ized American  who  was  murdered  in  Haiti, 
was  expected  at  New  York,  accompanied  by 
the  widow  and  the  daughter,  Representa- 
tive Isaac  Sigel  announced.  He  had  heard 
from  the  former  that  natives  were  seizing 
the  land  held  by  her  late  husband.  Previous 
to  the  murder,  Lipschitz  had  charged  that 
certain  American  marine  officers  were  in- 
citing the  natives  against  him  and  that  he 
expected  to  be  assassinated. 

SANTO  DOMINGO— In  pursuance  of  the 
resolutions  passed  at  the  enormous  mass 
meeting  of  Dominicans  in  June  against  the 
conditions  of  withdrawal   sought  to  be  im- 


posed by  the  United  States,  including  a 
new  issue  of  8  per  cent,  bonds,  which  some 
claim  will  work  out  at  about  14  per  cent., 
the  Dominicans  organized  a  "  Junta  of 
Electoral  Abstention  "  to  express  their  dis- 
approval. The  American  authorities  pro- 
mulgated an  electoral  law,  and  on  July  14 
issued  a  decree  ordering  elections  on  Aug. 
13.  The  Junta  thereupon  issued  an  appeal 
denouncing  the  American  proclamation  of 
June  14  as  hypocritical,  because  it  sum- 
moned the  Dominican  people  to  surrender 
their  sovereignty  and  their  finances  to 
American  hands.  They  protest  against  the 
decree  ordering  the  elections,  warn  against 
any  one  becoming  a  candidate  or  an  elector 
and  against  any  local  officials  acting  as 
registrars  of  election  or  in  any  way  assist- 
ing it.  The  appeal  is  signed  with  the 
names  of  more  than  threescore  prominent 
Dominicans. 

Charges  that  American  marines  sent  to 
Santo  Domingo  committed  murders,  terror- 
ized the  people  and  burned  their  homes 
were  presented  to  the  Senate  Investigating 
Committee  by  Horace  G.  Knowles,  adviser 
and  assistant  to  the  Dominican  National 
Commission,  in  a  report  made  public  on 
Aug.  14.  He  said  that  the  marines'  pres- 
ence was  an  act  of  war,  that  private  rights 
were  invaded  and  personal  and  corporate 
property  destroyed.  The  administration  of 
the  military  government,  he  asserted,  was 
incompetent,  wasteful  and  extravagant. 


FILM  CENSORSHIP  IN  INDIA 


THE  censorship  of  films  in  the  United 
States  is  almost  exclusively  moral,  the 
object  being  to  eliminate  anything  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  censors,  may  poison 
the  moral  conscience  of  the  public.  A  sim- 
ilar censorship  has  been  established  in  far- 
off  India,  whose  dark-skinned  masses  flock 
to  the  picture  houses  with  keen  interest. 

From  the  report  of  the  Calcutta  Board  of 
Censors,  published  early  in  July,  on  the 
workings  of  the  Cinematograph  act  in  Ben- 
gal, it  appears  that  the  board  from  April 
to  December  of  last  year  examined  4,256 
films,  refused  certificates  to  fourteen,  and 
caused  alterations  to  be  made  in  nine. 
Though  the  board  explains  that  it  has  kept 
four  principles  in  mind — moral,  racial,  re- 
ligious and  political — it  is  quite  apparent 
that  the  censorship  has  been  guided  mainly 


by  racial  and  political  considerations.  The 
most  serious  criticism  made  by  the  board 
is  that  99  per  cent,  of  the  films  portray 
the  characters  of  white  people;  that  the  vil- 
lain and  the  villainess  carry  their  wicked 
deeds  through  most  of  the  picture,  and  that 
"  this  does  not  tend  to  uplift  the  prestige  of 
the  British  race  in  India." 

Even  so-called  propaganda  films,  whose 
purpose  is  reformatory,  come  under  the 
ban,  for,  in  order  to  accentuate  the  evil 
against  which  they  are  preaching,  they  ex- 
aggerate its  effects.  In  a  prohibition  film, 
for  example,  white  men  and  white  women 
are  shown  in  an  exaggerated  condition  of 
drunkenness.  "  Such  scenes  shown  to  an 
illiterate  Indian  audience  can  have  no  oth- 
er effect  than  to  lower  the  prestige  of  the 
white  woman  and  the  white  race  in  general." 


TRADE  RIVALRY  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 

Many  American  concerns,  underbidden  by  both  German  and  Belgian  agents, 
close  their  South  American  offices — Harriman  vs.  Stinnes  in  keen  competition 
— A  dangerous  Tacna-Arica  episode  pending  .settlement  of  the  dispute 

[Period  Ended  Aug.  15,  31)21] 


GERMAN  and  Belgian  agents  are  under- 
selling American  goods  in  South  Amer- 
ican countries  at  prices  ranging  from 
20  to  75  per  cent,  less,  and  many  American 
concerns  were  closing  their  South  American 
offices,  according  to  reports  made  public 
in  Washington  on  Aug.  1.  American  goods 
in  Argentine  warehouses  are  being  dis- 
posed of  slowly  or  returned  to  the  United 
States.  Extreme  depression  occurred  in 
Brazil,  and  five  important  American  houses 
were  closing  their  offices  in  Rio.  Peruvian 
importers  were  withdrawing  from  the  mar- 
ket, and  the  import  trade  in  Chile  was  very 
dull,  people  buying  only  necessary  com- 
modities. 

Commander  Fernandez  of  the  Argentine 
Navy,  in  The  New  York  Evening  Post, 
writes  that  the  Fordney  bill  will  do  much 
harm  to  commerce  with  the  United  States. 
"  Therefore,"  he  says,  "  our  commerce  will 
turn  again  to  Europe,  and  very  promptly  we 
will  say  farewell  to  America.  After  such 
great  ef foils  have  been  made  to  strengthen 
our  common  relationship,  it  is  a  pitiable 
thing  that  American  commerce  loses  a  mar- 
ket like  this  for  want  of  tact  and  a  well- 
conducted  commercial  policy." 

ARGENTINA  —  Keen  competition  has 
been  inaugurated  in  Argentina  by  Hugo 
Stinnes,  the  German  financier,  and  Ameri- 
can trade  represented  by  the  Harriman  in- 
terests. War  is  on  because  of  the  break  be- 
tween Stinnes  and  the  Hamburg- American 
Company,  due  to  the  operation  by  Stinnes 
of  a  fleet  of  ships  between  Germany  and 
South  America  in  competition  with  the 
Hamburg-American  vessels.  There  are  six 
steamers  in  the  service  under  the  Harri- 
man-Hamburg  agreement,  four  of  them  be- 
longing to  the  United  American  Lines,  Inc., 
and  flying  the  American  flag.  Stinnes  has 
six  ships  in  operation.  Both  plan  to  add 
others,  and  both  are  competing  with  Dutch 
and  Scandinavian  companies.  William  B. 
Ryan,  representing  the  Harriman  interests, 


arrived  at  Buenos  Aires  on  Aug.  10,  and 
Karl  Deters  of  the  Stinnes  forces  was  ex- 
pected. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Stinnes  was  reported  to 
have  twelve  outfits  boring  for  oil  near 
Buenos  Aires,  and  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany also  had  exploring  parties  out. 

Argentina  some  months  ago  began  tenta- 
tive efforts  to  learn  the  feasibility  of  a 
short-term  loan  for  $50,000,000  in  the 
United  States.  American  bankers  wanted 
8%  per  cent.,  and  the  loan  was  declared  off 
early  in  August. 

President  Irigoyen,  on  July  13,  in  a  spe- 
cial message  to  Congress  recommended  an 
increase  of  exports  and  a  cutting  down  of 
imports  to  adjust  the  adverse  exchange  sit- 
uation, dollars  at  one  time  rising  more  than 
50  per  cent,  above  par. 

Negotiations  for  the  exchange  of  wool 
valued  at  $30,000,000  for  locomotives  and 
railway  material  were  begun  by  the  Gov- 
ernment with  German  and  Belgian  banking 
houses. 

President  Irigoyen  is  at  odds  with  Con- 
gress. He  failed  to  apply  the  provisions  of 
the  Homestead  law  enacted  last  year  and 
Congress  asked  an  explanation.  He  replied 
in  a  sharp  message  on  Aug.  3  that  he  did 
not  recognize  the  right  of  Congress  to  ques- 
tion his  motives.  This  provoked  a  storm. 
The  Conservatives,  the  Socialists  and  eight 
members  of  the  Radical  Party  left  the 
Chamber,  blocking  all  business  for  lack  of 
a  quorum.  Political  observers  see  in  the 
situation  indication  of  a  combination  to  de- 
feat President  Irigoyen  for  another  term  at 
the  election  which  takes  place  next  March. 

Laurence  Ginnell,  on  Aug.  5,  requested  to 
be  received  by  the  Argentine  Foreign  Min- 
ister as  "  special  envoy  of  the  Government 
of  the  Irish  republic  to  the  Governments 
and  peoples  of  South  America,"  his  creden- 
tials being  signed  by  de  Valera. 

Dr.  Jose  A.  Cortej  arena,  founder  and 
publisher  of  the  Razon,  the  largest  after- 


noon  newspaper  in  South  America,  died  at 
Rosario  de  la  Frontera  on  July  25. 

BOLIVIA — Five  engineers,  representing 
the  Ulen  Contracting  Company  of  New 
York,  have  gone  to  Bolivia  to  construct  a 
line  to  link  up  the  railroad  systems  of 
Bolivia  and  Argentina,  giving  the  former 
a  connection  with  the  Atlantic.  It  will  be 
128  miles  long  and  will  shorten  the  time 
between  New  York  and  Buenos  Aires,  by 
way  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  Chile,  by 
two  or  three  days.  Work  will  start  in 
January  and  the  road  is  to  be  completed  in 
five  years. 

BRAZIL — A  new  steamship  record  be- 
tween New  York  and  Rio  de  Janeiro  was 
made  on  Aug.  8,  when  the  Munson  liner 
American  Legion  arrived  after  a  voyage  of 
twelve  days  and  twenty  hours.  Her  arrival 
was  made  the  occasion  of  festivities  by  the 
American   colony. 

Already  there  are  preparations  for  the 
Presidential  election,  which  will  take 
place  on  March  1,  1922.  The  Government 
candidate  is  Dr.  Arthur  Bernardon,  while 
the  opposition  candidate  is  Dr.  Nilo  Pe- 
canha,  who  did  so  much  to  induce  Brazil  to 
join  the  Allies  in  the  war. 

Work  in  newspaper  offices  in  Rio  Janeiro 
between  the  hours  of  8  o'clock  Sunday  morn- 
ing and  8  o'clock  Monday  morning  is  pro- 
hibited under  the  provisions  of  a  municipal 
ordinance  adopted  on  July  20.  As  a  con- 
sequence Sunday  afternoon  and  Monday 
morning  newspapers  were  discontinued. 

CHILE — The  Chilean  Cabinet  resigned  on 
July  25,  after  the  Senate  had  voted  disap- 
proval of  a  decree  granting  rate  increases 
and  certain  other  concessions  to  an  English 
railroad  transporting  nitrate  from  the  Tara- 
paca  Province.  The  Council  of  State  decided 
that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  conces- 
sion to  be  approved  by  Congress.  President 
Alessandri  confided  the  organization  of  a 
new  Cabinet  to  Hector  Trancibia  Laso, 
Radical  Senator  for  Antofagasta.  Ernesto 
Barros  Jarpa,  a  Liberal,  was  chosen  For- 
eign Minister. 

Senator  Malaquias  Concha,  founder  of 
the  Chilean  Labor  Party  and  one  of  the  most 
prominent  political  figures  of  Chile,  died  on 
Aug.  5,  aged  62.  By  his  death  Chile  loses 
her  foremost  social  economist. 

COLOMBIA— The  Colombian  Congress 
met  on  July  20.    It  was  announced  that  the 


TRADE  RIVALRY  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA 


1083 


Conservatives  would  name  General  Pedro 
nel  Espina,  former  Colombian  Minister  to 
the  United  States,  as  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent at  the  elections  next  year. 

ECUADOR — The  Ecuadorean  Congress 
opened  on  Aug.  10.  Jose  Julian  Andrade 
was  elected  President  of  the  Senate  and 
Juan  Martinez  Mera  President  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies. 

Arrest  of  an  Indian  chieftain  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Chimborazo  resulted  in  a  general 
rising  of  Indians  in  that  province  which 
spread  terror  among  the  inhabitants  for 
more  than  a  week. 

PARAGUAY— Several  thousand  Mennon- 
ites  from  the  United  States  and  Canada  are 
about  to  settle  in  Paraguay.  They  are  con- 
scientious objectors  to  military  service  and 
had  considerable  trouble  during  the  war  on 
account  of  the  draft  laws.  Fred  Engan,  a 
Minnesotan  Mennonite,  went  to  Paraguay 
some  months  ago  to  consider  the  proposed 
settlement.  Paraguay  passed  a  law  on  July 
22  exempting  sons  of  the  Mennonites  from 
military  service  and  granting  them  conces- 
sions of  5,000  square  miles  for  colonization. 
They  can  import  agricultural  implements 
duty  free  for  ten  years. 

PERU — An  American  mission  to  the  cen- 
tennial  celebration  of  Peru's  independence 
arrived  in  Callao  July  22  on  board  a  special 
naval  squadron  composed  of  the  battleships 
Arizona,  Oklahoma  and  Nevada.    The  mis- 
sion was  headed  by  Albert  Douglas  of  Wash- 
ington, who  had  the   rank   of  Ambassador 
Extraordinary    for   the  occasion.    The  cele- 
bration had  been  preceded  by  commemora- 
tion  of   the    anniversary   of   the    battle   of 
Arica     between     the     Peruvians     and     the 
Chileans,  and  a  memorial  was  presented  to 
President  Leguia  in  which  he  was  asked  to 
grant    parliamentary    representation    from 
the  "  unredeemed  "  provinces  of  Tacna  and 
Arica.     A   statue  to  Jose  de   San   Martin, 
liberator  of  Peru,  was  unveiled  on  July  24. 
National  spirit  was  running  high  on  July 
28,  the  actual  date  of  the  centennial,  and  a 
grand  banquet  was  given  at  Lima  at  which 
the  American   delegates  were  conspicuous. 
Mr.  Douglas  was  the  principal  speaker.    He 
touched  on  the  Tacna-Arica  controversy  and 
was    quoted   as   saying   that   Peru   did   not 
forget,  nor  would  she  forget,  that  "  in  her 
hour   of  trial   and   spoliation    she   had   not 
only  the   sympathy   but  the   approval   and 
respect  "  of  the  United  States. 


1084 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


This  made  a  sensation  all  over  South 
America.  The  Nacion  of  Buenos  Aires  de- 
clared the  words  indicative  of  a  deep-laid 
policy.  The  Peruvian  papers  were  delighted 
and  the  Chilean  press  was  furious.  Santi- 
ago inquired  of  Washington  what  it  meant, 
and  Washington  asked  Mr.  Douglas  to  ex- 
plain. He  cabled  back  on  Aug.  5  that, 
though  he  had  expressed  American  friend- 
ship for  Peru,  he  had  shown  no  partiality 
between  the  two  countries.  The  American 
Legation  in  Santiago  communicated  this  to 
the  Chilean  Government,  and  the  incident 
was  closed. 

Reports  were  current  on  Aug.  11  that  the 
Chilean  Foreign  Department  was  endeavor- 
ing to  settle  the  Tacna-Arica  dispute  by 
direct  negotiations  with  Peru.  The  Peruvian 
Government,  in  accord  with  Great  Britain, 
has  requested  the  Swiss  Federal  Tribunal  to 
act  as  arbiter  in  a  dispute  concerning 
boundaries  of  certain  petroleum  wells  in 
Peru  belonging  to  an  English  company,  and 
Switzerland  has  consented  to  act.  The 
Reparation  Commission  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  after  hearing  the  arguments  of  the 
Peruvian  delegate,  Commander  Aubrey, 
unanimously  decided  that  Peru  was  legally 
entitled  to  the  German  ships  seized  by  her 
during  the  war,  and  that  the  Allies  had  no 
right  of  requisition  over  them. 

A  revolt  broke  out  in  Iquitos,  capital  of 
the  Department  of  Loreto,  among  the  Gov- 
ernment troops  shortly  before  Aug.  13.  The 
uprising  was  caused  by  failure  to  pay  the 
troops  for  six  months.     Iquitos  is  eighteen 


days'  travel  from  Lima.  The  unpaid  muti- 
neers had  seized  £23,000  in  cash  held  by  the 
Peru  and  London  Bank.  Cash  contributions 
were  also  levied  on  commercial  houses,  the 
radio  station  was  occupied  and  a  censorship 
established.  The  Government  authorities 
had  ordered  a  battalion  of  Federal  troops 
from  Lima  to  restore  order,  and  the  Gov- 
ernments of  Colombia  and  Brazil  had  been 
asked  to  blockade  the  river  to  prevent  the 
revolutionaries  from  escaping. 

Census  figures  given  out  on  Aug.  13 
showed  the  population  of  Lima  and  the 
Callao  district  to  be  280,000.  The  largest 
foreign  element  consists  of  Japanese,  who 
total  4,600;  Chinese  come  next  with  4,400. 

URUGUAY— A  loan  of  $7,500,000  Uru- 
guayan bonds,  to  run  for  twenty-five  years 
at  8  per  cent.,  was  floated  in  New  York  on 
Aug.  8  at  a  price  of  98%.  The  bonds  were 
all  sold  the  same  day,  the  issue  being  over- 
subscribed. The  money,  it  is  understood, 
will  be  used  to  establish  a  telephone  sys- 
tem. 

VENEZUELA — Rumors  were  in  circula- 
tion in  Willemstad  on  Aug.  5  that  General 
Penaloza,  the  notorious  Venezuelan  rebel 
leader,  had  invaded  the  Venezuelan  State  of 
Tachira. 

The  Admiralty  Division  of  the  British 
Law  Courts  on  July  29  ordered  the  steam- 
ship Barrier,  formerly  a  British  gunboat, 
forfeited  to  the  Crown  for  being  equipped 
to  start  a  revolution  against  President 
Gomez,  dictator  of  Venezuela. 


LENDING   $5,000,000  TO  LIBERIA 


SECRETARY  HUGHES,  in  a  letter  to 
President  Harding  on  July  29,  1921, 
gave  his  opinion  that  the  United  States  was 
morally  bound  to  extend  a  credit  of  $5,000,- 
000  to  Liberia  in  accord  with  an  agreement 
entered  into  between  the  two  Governments 
on  Sept.  12,  1918.  Several  other  countries 
have  unexpended  balances  of  credits,  but 
Secretary  Mellon  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  advance  any  more  money  on  them.  The 
president   of   Liberia   came   to   Washington 


to  get  the  money,  and  President  Harding 
transmitted  Secretary  Hughes's  letter  to 
the  Senate  on  Aug.  1,  urging  the  moral  ob- 
ligation of  the  country.  If  Congress  re- 
fused to  sanction  the  loan,  it  was  stated 
in  diplomatic  circles,  the  result  would  be  to 
lower  American  prestige  and  hurt  American 
trade,  as  British  and  French  interests  are 
ready  to  lend  money  to  Liberia  to  get 
an  entering  wedge  for  a  railway  to  the 
interior. 


THE  CHILEAN  PRESIDENT'S 
ATTACK  ON  GRAFT 


WHEN  the  Chilean  people  last  year 
elected  for  their  President  Don  Arturo 
Alessandri,  a  triumph  for  democratic  ideals 
was  obtained  in  a  country  where  class  domi- 
nation has  ever  been  an  ingrained  tradition. 
Immediately  after  assuming  office  the  new 
President  published  a  program  promising 
reform  in  almost  every  branch  of  the  public 
service  and  greater  protection  for  the  peo- 
ple against  the  much-abused  power  of  the 
aristocrats,  the  plutocrats,  and  the  bureau- 
crats. 

At  the  time  of  the  election — or  rather  on 
the  occasion  of  the  revision  of  the  voting  in 
August,  1920 — the  leaders  of  all  parties,  in- 
cluding the  rich  men  of  good  family  who 
had  hitherto  held  the  destinies  of  the  nation 
in  their  hands,  showed  a  high  degree  of 
patriotism  and  good-will  when  they  pro- 
claimed the  triumph  of  the  people's  candi- 
date by  a  narrow  majority;  but  that  the 
President  has  encountered  tremendous  and 
almost  heart-breaking  opposition  on  the 
part  of  the  bureaucracy,  whose  inveterate 
grafting  proclivities  are  well-nigh  impos- 
sible to  eradicate,  is  conclusively  shown  in 
the  following  free  translation  of  an  open 
letter  addressed  by  him  this  year  to  an  un- 
named Deputy  who  had  solicited  political 
preferment  as  remuneration  for  his  aid  at 
the  time  of  the  election.  This  letter,  which 
is  a  document  of  notable  value  in  a  matter 
that  concerns  every  citizen  in  all  the  Amer- 
ican republics,  follows  herewith: 

Esteemed  friend  :   I  beg  to  acknowledge  re- 

reipt  of  your  letter  dated  ,  and  in  reply  I 

have  to  say  that  I  am  truly  grateful  for  the 
efforts  and  sacrifices  you  have  made  on  my 
behalf.  I  shall  never  forget  them,  but  I  ask 
you  to  believe  me  when  I  say  that  it  never 
occurred  to  me  that  the  hope  of  obtaining  a 
Government  post  was  the  moving  factor  of 
your   activity. 

I  have  plunged  into  an  honest  and  loyal 
campaign  for  the  vindication  of  principles 
and  ideals.  1  have  reecived  a  solemn  man- 
date from  the  nation  to  carry  out  a  program 
of  reform  vital  to  its  prosperity  and  great- 
ness. If  I  had  ever  thought  that  my  friends 
carried  me  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic 
only  to  be  an  agent  or  distributer  of  public 
appointments  I  should  not  have  made  the 
immense  sacrifices  and  gigantic  efforts  re- 
Quired  by  the  campaign,   but  would   have  re- 


mained quietly  at  home;  and  it  will  not  be 
surprising  if,  some  day,  I  am  led  to  adopt 
this  resolution,  seeing  that  my  conviction 
grows  continually  that  it  is  impossible  to 
govern  this  country  and  at  the  same  time 
work  for  the  public  interests.  Nothing  is 
thought  of  but  official  preferment,  and  ob- 
stacles are  placed  in  the  way  of  good  gov- 
ernment because  every  Deputy  or  Senator 
from  whom  the  appointment  he  desires  is 
withheld  considers  himself  justified  in  taking 
offense  and  in  abandoning  the  public  busi- 
ness which  duty  and  patriotism  demand 
should  have  his  closest  attention.  Under  this 
system  the  President  of  the  Republic  is  a 
mere  puppet,  tool,  or  intermediary  of  the 
will  of  others,  although  he  is  responsible  for 
the  acts  of  the  Government  and  of  the  func- 
tionaries whom  he  nominates. 

I  do  not  accept  this  situation,  nor  does  it 
conform  with  the  standards  and  doctrines  of 
a  party  founded  for  the  very  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  influence  of  the  Executive 
and  supporting  the  constitutional  preroga- 
tives of  the  President  of  the  Republic.  In 
conformity  with  these  standards,  and  in  view 
of  inevitable  party  disagreements,  let  us 
consent  to  allow  the  Government  to  settle 
these  matters  and  to  make,  once  and  for  all, 
the  necessary  appointments,  without  consult- 
ing anybody,  thus  putting  an  end  to  the 
shameful  spectacle  which  has  been  apparent 
in  the  matter  of  the  selection  of  Governors 
and  other  high  officials,  and  which  has  been 
censured  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  whole 
country. 

I  have  learned  with  much  regret  of  the 
letter  you  addressed  to  one  of  my  secre- 
taries, and  I  herewith  warn  you  that  if  you 
propose  to  bring  about  a  ministerial  crisis  on 
account  of  this  trivial  matter  I  shall  publish 
the  facts  of  the  case,  ask  for  a  vote  of  confi- 
dence in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  and  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  my  procedure  be- 
fore the  country,  as  I  am  determined  not  to 
accept  the  resignation  of  any  member  of  the 
Government  if  inspired  by  the  private  in- 
terests of  parties  or  individuals.  Any  such 
procedure  would  imply  senseless  relaxation 
of  parliamentary  rule,  and  I  will  resist  it, 
regardless  of  personal  Interests— frgnting  for 
the  re-establishment  of  those  doctrines  which 
cost  President   Balm&ceda   his  life. 

ARTURO    Al.ESSAXDRI. 

The  effect  of  this  letter,  published  in  all 
the  newspapers  of  the  country,  was  magi- 
cal, and  it  is  realized  on  all  sides  that  the 
President  has  struck  a  blow  at  corruption 
in  the  public  services  which  may  have  a 
far-reaching  and  beneficent  effect. 


THE  DEATH  OF  CARUSO 


ONRICO  CARUSO,  a  humble  Neapolitan 
J-^  mechanic's  son, who  became  the  greatest 
operatic  tenor  of  his  time,  died  in  Naples 
on  Aug.  2,  1921,  at  the  age  of  48  years. 
The  direct  cause  was  an  abscess  beneath 
the  liver,  supposed  to  have  been  due  to 
poison  remaining  from  the  pleurisy  which 
had  brought  him  to  death's  door  in  New 
York.  The  news  of  his  death  caused  uni- 
versal grief  throughout  Italy  and  the  rest 
of  the  world.  King  Victor  Emmanuel  ordered 
special  obsequies  in  the  royal  basilica  of 
San  Francesco  di  Paola,  a  famous  church 
in  Naples  resembling  the  Pantheon  at 
Rome.  The  ceremony  in  the  crowded  edi- 
fice, buried  in  flowers,  with  400  singers  in 
a  specially  constructed  choir,  was  solemn. 

Caruso  had  begun  singing  when  he  was 
still  a  boy  in  Naples,  where  he  belonged  to 
a  local  choir.  His  father,  however,  had  no 
faith  in  his  singing  future,  and  apprenticed 
him  to  a  mechanical  engineer.  This  work 
he  hated,  and  aspired  to  become  a  mechan- 
ical draftsman.  When  his  mother  died, 
Caruso,  then  only  15,  left  his  father's 
house  forever,  to  devote  himself  to  art.  He 
picked  up  a  meagre  livelihood  by  private 
singing.  At  18  he  was  called  to  do  his  ser- 
vice in  the  army.  One  of  his  officers,  Ma- 
jor Nagliati,  was  impressed  by  his  mar- 
velous voice,  and  found  a  singing  master 
for    him.      After    a    few    years'    study,    he 


made  his  debut  in  a  new  opera  at  the 
Teatro  Nuovo,  Naples.  Local  jealousies 
made  this  first  venture  a  failure.  The  fu-. 
ture  opera  star  was  undiscouraged,  and 
soon  afterward  appeared  with  notable  suc- 
cess in  "  La  Boheme  "  in  the  Teatro  Lirico 
at  Milan  (1898).  His  brilliant  career  then 
began.  He  sang  in  all  the  large  Italian 
cities,  and  in  most  of  the  capitals  of  the 
world.  The  late  Maurice  Grau  made  the 
contract  to  bring  him  to  America,  but  it 
was  Grau's  successor,  Heinrich  Conried, 
who  introduced  him  to  this  country,  where 
he  soon  became  a  national  celebrity. 

Caruso  left  a  fortune  estimated  at  about 
30,000,000  lire,  which  at  the  normal  pre- 
war rate  of  exchange  would  represent  ap- 
proximately $6,000,000;  at  the  actual  rate 
prevailing,  however,  it  equals  only  $1,263,- 
000.  He  enjoyed  a  large  income  in  the 
United  States  from  royalties  on  Victrola 
records,  which  he  made  under  an  exclusive 
contract.  His  first  records  for  the  United 
States  were  made  in  1911,  and  his  contract 
was  to  have  expired  only  in  1935.  His 
total  income  from  this  source  since  1906 
has  been  estimated  at  about  $1,500,000.  His 
regular  royalty  from  records  alone  each 
year  was  about  $150,000.  About  160  rec- 
ords were  created  by  his  matchless  voice, 
some  thirty  of  which  had  not  yet  been  re- 
leased at  the  time  of  his  death. 


MR.  HOOVER'S  REPORT  ON  BELGIAN  RELIEF 


rnHE  final  report  of  the  Committee  for 
-*-  Relief  to  Belgium  was  made  public  on 
July  16,  1921.  The  Chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, Herbert  Hoover,  who  signed  the 
report,  stated  that  $1,300,000,000  had  been 
expended  for  food  and  clothing  in  Belgium 
during  the  six  years  from  September,  1914, 
to  September,  1920.  Help  had  been  given  to 
10,000,000  people.  The  administrative  cost 
of  the  work  accomplished  was  only  .42  of  1 
per  cent,  of  the  funds  handled.  Profits  on 
outside  operations  more  than  paid  all  the 
board's  overhead  expenses.  The  report  con- 
tained a  full  survey  of  the  conditions  under 
which  the  committee  worked,  and  of  the 
devotion  of  the  people  who  worked  under 
it,  many  of  whom  drew  no  pay.  The  report 
says  in  part: 

No   set    of   accounts    or   figures   can    reflect 


the  intense  anxiety,  the  patience  and  skill  re- 
quired of  the  55,000  volunteers  who  toiled  in 
this  complex  agency,  defending  10,000,000 
lives.  Inspired  with  humane  sympathy  for 
these  people,  who,  having  .no  responsibility 
for  the  war,  suffered  most  from  its  hardships 
and  barbarities,  they  labored  that  this  service 
might  be  done  efficiently  and  with  economy. 
It  is  to  their  unflagging  devotion  that  we  are 
now  able  to  publish  exact  figures  of  ac- 
countability for  funds  and  to  trace  each  ton 
of  food  from  the  place  of  purchase  to  the 
ultimate  consumer  among  the  civil  population 
of  the  invaded  regions.  Surrounded  by  terror 
and  suffering,  this  multitude  had  but  little 
concern  for  the  bookkeepers  in  the  back  rooms 
of  the  4,000  branch  offices  of  the  relief  or- 
ganization. It  was  of  the  utmost  concern, 
however,  to  those  in  official  direction  not  only 
that  the  work  might  be  effectively  performed 
and  presented  to  the  world,  but  that  out- 
honor  and  the  honor  of  our  country  in  this 
trusteeship  should  never  be  challenged. 


BUSINESS  AT  THE  UP-TURN 

A  brief  survey  of  the  causes  that  are  gradually  overcoming  the 
forces  of  depression — Firm  grasp  of  credits  by  the  banks  a 
stabilizing  influence — Labor's  loss  of  faith  in  Bolshevism  an 
important  element — Some  interesting  figures 


TO  a  great  extent,  an  extent  much  greater 
indeed  than  business  men  themselves 
generally  realize,  the  condition  of  busi- 
ness is  a  reflection  of  the  country's  state  of 
mind.  There  is  a  feeling  that  the  turn  has 
come,  that  things  are  to  change  for  the 
better  and,  behold,  they  do  so  change;  busi- 
ness starts  ahead  with  renewed  vigor,  an 
atmosphere  of  optimism  becomes  as  dis- 
cernible to  the  senses  as  the  tonic  quality 
which  characterizes  the  first  Spring  breezes. 

In  just  the  same  way,  at  the  very  peak  of 
business  expansion  and  activity,  unexplain- 
able  apprehension  suddenly  dulls  the  zest 
and  keenness  of  industrial  enterprise;  new 
ventures  are  held  in  abeyance,  commitments 
are  curtailed,  the  sails  of  industry  are 
trimmed,  first  slowly  and  then  with  feverish 
haste,  and  the  craft  loses  headway,  misses 
stays  and  comes  to  a  shuddering  halt. 

Behind  these  states  of  mind  are  sound 
economic  reasons,  but  those  who  can  discern 
and  appreciate  them  are  few  compared  to 
those  who  only  sense  them;  and  even  the 
latter  do  not  sense  them  until  the  work  of 
these  causative  forces  is  almost  completed, 
and  the  turn,  so-called,  either  from  the  peak 
of  prosperity  or  the  trough  of  depression, 
is  close  at  hand. 

The  United  States  is  at  such  a  turn  to- 
day, a  turn  from  the  violent  business  dis- 
turbance which  began  in  May  of  last  year 
to  a  steady,  if  slow,  advance  along  the  path 
of  renewed  prosperity.  This  is  the  opinion 
of  those  especially  endowed  among  the  busi- 
ness leaders  who  base  their  judgments  upon 
a  study  of  economic  conditions,  and  reas- 
surance is  lent  to  their  view  by  the  fact 
that  business  in  general  is  beginning  to 
evidence  that  quickening  of  interest  and  re- 
newal of  optimism  which  always  mark  the 
shift  from  a  long  term  of  falling  prices  and 
slackening  business  to  a  resumption  of  so- 
called  normal  times. 


That  the  changes  which  have  taken  place 
and  are  daily  taking  place  in  the  business 
world  have  not  been  more  widely  recognized 
is  not  surprising.  On  the  contrary,  it  would 
have  been  an  occasion  for  surprise  had  they 
been  more  generally  or  sooner  appreciated. 
There  have  been  adequate  reasons  for  this. 
In  the  first  place,  business's  long  illness,  so 
to  speak,  has  chanced  to  terminate  in  the 
midsummer  period,  which,  even  in  times  of 
unusual  prosperity,  is  always  marked  by 
dullness.  The  crisis  has  been  reached  and 
successfully  passed  at  a  time  when  the  small 
evidences  which  disclose  this  condition,  at 
best  difficult  of  discernment,  are  doubly 
obscured  by  the  seasonal  depression  which 
has  gripped  all  industry. 

Then,  too,  business  in  general  has  been 
actually  misled  by  its  failure  rightly  to 
understand  the  credit  situation,  which,  so 
far  from  being  an  obstruction  in  the  path 
of  business  resumption,  as  so  many  believe, 
has  actually  been  the  means  of  smoothing 
the  path  along  which  industry  must  prog- 
ress to  renewed  prosperity. 

Not  a  few,  but  many,  firms  will  complain 
today  that  lines  of  credit  to  which  they 
believe  their  positions  entitle  them  are  with- 
held by  the  banks,  and  they  point  to  this 
as  a  paramount  cause  of  their  continued 
stagnation.  There  was  insufficient  credit 
some  time  ago,  and  some  complaints  of  this 
sort  were  doubtless  justified  then.  They 
are  not  so  at  present,  nor  is  there  any  short- 
age of  credit.  For  those  who  are  entitled 
to  it  there  is  credit  in  abundance.  The 
change  that  has  come  about  is  that  there 
is  no  longer  credit  for  the  mere  asking. 

On  the  authority  of  a  great  New  York 
banker  it  may  be  said  that  the  banks  have 
never  before  in  their  history  been  in  pos- 
session of  such  comprehensive  credit  in- 
formation as  they  have  at  present.     They 


1088 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


know  the  standing  of  their  clients  and  cus- 
tomers as  they  have  never  known  it  before, 
and  they  thus  are  enabled  to  employ  the 
credit  at  their  disposal  in  conformity  to  a 
program  designed  to  promote  the  national 
welfare  rather  than  the  less  important  for- 
tunes of  individuals. 

In  a  recent  confidential  chat,  this  banker, 
whose  name,  for  obvious  reasons,  may  not 
be  mentioned  here,  said: 

"  The  honest  banker  will  be  the  first  to 
admit  that  the  credit  situation  has  not  al- 
ways been  handled  wisely,  especially  just 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  great  war.  Nu- 
merous mistakes,  and  costly  ones,  were 
made  then,  but  it  is  due  the  banker  to  ap- 
preciate that  most  of  these  were  made  with 
honesty  of  purpose.  The  first  great  essen- 
tial seemed  to  be  that  a  panic,  like  those 
which  previously  came  upon  us  periodically, 
should  be  avoided." 

How  a  Panic  Was  Avoided 

To  insure  against  this  the  banks  strained 
their  resources  to  the  utmost  to  take  care 
of  the  business  world.  There  was  small  in- 
clination, and  less  time,  to  inquire  closely 
into  the  merits  of  each  individual  case.  The 
prime  object  was  that  failures  should  be 
avoided,  for  it  was  realized  that  business 
was  like  a  house  of  cards,  and  that  one  col- 
lapse might  wreck  the  whole  structure.  Con- 
cerns whose  inflated  inventories,  unwise 
commitments  and  inadequate  capital,  thinly 
spread  over  too  wide  fields  of  ambitious 
venture,  made  them  deserving  of  sympathy, 
perhaps,  but  certainly  not  of  continued  sup- 
port, were  enabled  to  keep  going,  them- 
selves not  realizing  that  ultimate  collapse 
was  inevitable,  because  the  banks  had  not 
time  to  gain  an  intimate  knowledge  of  their 
affairs  and  so  erred  upon  the  side  of  gen- 
eral safety. 

The  plan  was  effective.  Those  who  fol- 
low the  statements  of  the  number  and  vol- 
ume of  failures,  as  they  are  reported  from 
time  to  time,  will  recall  that  few  failures, 
and  these  of  no  especial  significance,  oc- 
curred in  this  period  under  consideration. 
But,  if  they  were  slow  in  these  critical  times 
to  act  upon  it,  the  banks,  nevertheless,  were 
busily  engaged  in  acquiring  the  information 
which  now  gives  them  complete  control  of 
the  credit  situation.  Today  they  know  the 
concerns  which  are  deserving  of  help   and 


which  ones  proper  help  will  enable  to  re- 
adjust their  affairs  upon  the  basis  which  a 
renewal  of  prosperity  demands.  And,  too, 
they  know  the  firms  which  are  beyond  help. 
To  these  latter  undeserved  assistance  will 
not  longer  be  extended,  and  to  the  former 
the  credit  which  they  need  will  be  forth- 
coming only  upon  the  assurance  that  they 
will  conduct  themselves  in  a  manner  which 
will  guarantee  their  future  self-sufficiency. 

In  plain  words,  those  in  control  of  the 
credit  situation  have  taken  it  upon  them- 
selves to  see  that  inventories  shall  be  writ- 
ten down  to  a  point  where  profits  shall  be 
made  on  real  values  only  and  that  the  in- 
evitable losses  shall  be  taken  where  heavy 
investments  have  been  made  in  plants  and 
equipment  at  inflated  prices.  What  is  aimed 
at  is  an  evening,  a  balancing  of  the  proc- 
esses of  liquidation. 

Much  of  the  trouble  with  business  today 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  course  of  liquida- 
tion in  various  branches  of  industry  has  not 
been  harmonious.  In  some  branches  it  has 
progressed  to  a  point  below  what  we  are 
accustomed  to  think  of  as  normal.  In  other 
branches  it  has  shown  only  a  trifling  reduc- 
tion from  the  peaks  reached  at  the  height  of 
inflation.  A  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a 
general  revival  of  business  has  been  this 
maladjustment  among  the  prices  of  im- 
portant commodities. 

It  is  apparent,  at  once,  that  such  a  condi- 
tion occasions  hardships  for  those  concerns 
which  have  liquidated  the  most.  The  pur- 
chasing power  of  the  owners  and  employes 
is  curtailed,  and  so  the"  hardship  which  the 
least  liquidated  business  thus  thought  to  es- 
cape is  passed  on  to  them.  The  circle  is 
completed  with  poor  business  for  all  and 
prosperity  for  none.  Equal  liquidation  on 
the  part  of  all  branches  of  industry  would 
put  all  upon  a  level  footing.  Buying  power 
would  return  to  normal,  for  it  makes,  at 
least  in  this  respect,  no  difference  upon 
what  price  level  business  is  conducted  so 
long  as  the  price  level  is  relatively  equal 
for  all. 

The  Harvard  University  Committee  on 
Economic  Research  recently  completed  a 
study  of  this  subject,  the  results  of  which 
are  well  illustrated  in  the  accompanying 
Table  A.  The  column  of  index  numbers 
consists  of  relative  numbers  based  on  those 
of  1913  equaling  100. 

The  average  of  these  index  numbers  is 


BUSINESS  AT  THE  UP-TURN 


1089 


INEQUALITIES    OF    PRICE    CHANGES 


TABLE  A. 

Commodity.  Unit. 

Corn,    No.   2  mixed,    Chicago Bushel 

Wheat,  No.   1  Northern  Spring,  Chicago Bushel 

Flour,    straight    Winter Barrel 

Cotton,  middling-  upland,  spot,  New  Orleans Pound 

Wool,   clean  basis,   Boston,    Ohio  fine  delaine   and   Ohio  % 

blood    Pound 

Tobacco,  Burley   red,   common,    short,   Louisville Pound 

Sugar,  96  degree  centrifugal,  duty  paid,  New  York Pound 

Cattle,  fair  to  choice  nativ   steers,   Chicago 100  lbs. 

Hogs,   good  merchantable,   pigs  and   rough  stock  excluded, 

Chicago    100  lbs. 

Pig  iron,   basic,   Valley  furnace Gr.  ton 

Steel   billets,   open  hearth,   Pittsburgh Gr.  ton 

Copper,  electrolytic,  early  delivery,  New  York Pound 

Lead,  pig,  early  delivery,  New  York Pound 

Tin,    New    York Pound 

Zinc,   prime  Western,   early  delivery,    St.   Louis Pound 

Coal,    bituminous,    run   of  mine,   f.    o.    b.   mine,   Fairmount, 

W.    Va '. Gr.  ton 

Coke,  furnace,   Connellsville,  at  oven,   prompt  shipment Net  ton 

Petroleum,    crude,    at   well,    Pennsylvania.. Barrel 

Cotton    goods :    Brown    sheetings    4-yard,    standard    prints, 

staple  ginghams,    New   York Yard 

Silk,'   Shinshiu,    No.    1,    New   York Pound 

Rubber,  Para,  up-river  fine,  New  York Pound 

Hides,    green    salted   packers',    No.    1   heavy   native   steers, 

Chicago    Pound 

Calfskins,   No.   1,   Chicago ,  .Pound 

Leather,   scoured  oak  backs,   medium  weight,  New  York ..  Pound 

Brick,   Hudson  River,   common,   New  York J-000 

Lumber,    hemlock,    Pennsylvania,    base    pr 1,000  ft. 


Price 

Price       : 

[ndex 

in  1913. 

July,  1921. 

No. 

$     .59 

$     .625 

106 

.90 

1.4075 

156 

4.52 

6.50 

144 

.127 

.1188 

94 

.55 

.62 

113 

.09 

.07 

78 

.035 

.0438 

125 

8.18 

8.10 

99 

5.49 

9.40 

111 

15.11 

19.00 

126 

27.00 

33.00 

122 

.1575 

.1238 

79 

.044 

.0455 

103 

.44!) 

.2775 

62 

.058 

.0425 

73 

1.04 

2.40 

231 

2.38 

2.85 

120 

2.39 

2.25 

94 

.061 

.101 

166 

3.65 

5.90 

162 

.93 

.165 

18 

.1825 

.13 

71 

.20 

.18 

90 

.45 

.55 

122 

6.88 

15.00 

218 

24.04 

38.80 

161 

117,  so  that  the  degree  by  which  these  vari- 
ous commodities  have  been  liquidated  may- 
be measured  by  a  comparison  of  the  specific 
index  numbers  with  117.  Corn,  for  instance, 
is  selling  below  the  general  average,  and  so 
has  undergone  undue  liquidation  in  com- 
parison with  the  general  liquidation  of  the 
twenty-six  commodities  considered,  although 
it  is  still  selling  for  6  per  cent,  more  than 
it  brought  in  1913.  Wheat,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  above  its  1913  price  by  56  per  cent, 
and  well  above  the  general  average  con- 
sidered. Most  striking,  of  course,  is  the 
showing  made  by  rubber,  for  as  much  can 
now  be  bought  for  18  cents  as  a  dollar  would 
have  purchased  in  1913.  At  the  opposite 
end  of  the  balance  is  coal,  the  price  of  which 
has  increased  131  per  cent. 

The  study  accompanying  this  table  in  the 
Harvard  circular  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  of  the  commodities  considered  "  the 
great  majority  are  either  raw  materials  or 
agricultural  products;  only  a  very  few  are 
finished  manufactured  goods.  If  a  larger 
number  of  the  latter  class  were  considered 
the  dislocation  of  individual  commodity 
price     levels     would     undoubtedly     appear 


greater  than  it  is  in  the  case  of  the  twenty- 
six  commodities  here  considered." 

Dislocation  of  Prices 

The  point  of  the  whole  matter  lies  in  the 
fact  that,  in  what  are  called  normal  times 
(here  considered  to  be  1913),  commodities 
bear  a  definite  exchange  relation,  one  to 
another,  although  this  fact  is  seldom 
thought  of  in  such  simple  fashion,  and  these 
relations,  subject,  of  course,  to  moderate 
fluctuations,  are  fairly  constant.  In  1913, 
for  instance,  a  ton  of  bituminous  coal  at  a 
West  Virginia  mine  cost  about  the  same 
as  a  pound  of  rubber  in  New  York.  Today 
it  takes  more  than  thirteen  pounds  of  rub- 
ber to  equal  in  value  a  similar  ton  of  coal. 
Most  of  us  deal  neither  in  coal  nor  rubber, 
and  certainly  none  of  us  ever  exchanged  a 
pound .  of  rubber  for  a  ton  of  coal  by  ac- 
tually handing  over  a  parcel  containing  the 
rubber  and  receiving  in  return  the  2,240 
pounds  of  coal.  Yet,  in  effect,  that  is  just 
what  all  of  us  are  doing  all  the  time,  and 
dislocations  in  these  exchange  relations  af- 
fect every  one  of  us,  the  more  so  as  we  are 
dependent  for  our  livelihood  upon  any  one 
of   these   individual   products.     The   rubber 


1090 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


dealer,  for  instance,  and  the  thousands  of 
persons  dependent  upon  branches  of  the 
rubber  industry  for  their  wages  or  divi- 
dends, are  under  a  severe  handicap  at  the 
present  moment  and  must  remain  so  until 
liquidation  in  other  lines  more  closely  ap- 
proaches the  liquidation  which  has  occurred 
in  their  own.  In  the  case  of  rubber,  of 
course,  there  have  been  contributing  causes 
other  than  liquidation  which  have  brought 
the  price  so  far  below  other  prices  and  so 
far  below  the  level  which  obtained  before 
the  war.  In  consequence,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected,  or  even  desired,  in  fact,  that  other 
commodities  should  experience  the  same 
shrinkage  in  value  which  rubber  has  suf- 
fered. The  distinction  is  one  of  degree 
only,  however,  and  it  is  none  the  less  de- 
sirable that  all  prices  should  move  har- 
moniously  from  level   to   level. 

It  is  this  condition  which  those  in  com- 
mand of  the  credit  situation  are  trying  to 
bring  about.  They  have  ready  assistance 
for  those  concerns  which  will  adjust  their 
business  to  new  conditions  and  seek  profits 
upon  a  level  where  business  can  be  done. 
But  credit  for  fresh  speculation  or  for  the 
further  withholding  from  the  markets  of 
speculative  stocks  which  have  so  far  proved 
a  disappointment  is  not  to  be  had.  It  is  a 
proper  use  of  credit  and  one  which,  were 
the  fact  only  universally  recognized,  cannot 
retard  the  resumption  of  business  activity 
but  must,  on  the  other  hand,  be  of  prime 
assistance  to  it. 

Much  is  heard,  too,  of  high  interest  rates, 
and  the  idea  seems  prevalent  among  many 
who  should  know  better  that  the  bankers 
fix  the  rates  in  accordance  with  their  own 
desires  based  on  some  arbitrary  notion  that 
loans,  should  earn  such-and-such  a  rate  of 
interest.  Interest  rates,  actually,  are  high- 
ly competitive,  and  no  banker,  however 
powerful,  has  the  ability  to  fix  them  above 
their  market  value.  They  vary  considerably 
in  different  localities  and  to  different  per- 
sons, but  in  every  case  the  law  of  supply 
and  demand,  the  supply  of  money  or  credit 
and  the  need  for  it,  determines  the  interest 
rate.  Thus  a  big  organization  with  banking 
affiliations  in  several  cities  places  its  loans 
where  it  receives  the  best  terms,  and  the 
banker  who  would  keep  his  funds  at  work 
cannot  arbitrarily  fix  a  rate  which  will  be 
cut  under  by  his  neighbor  in  another  bank 
or  another  city. 


But  it  is  not  rates  so  much  as  control  of 
credits  which  is  harrowing  those  businesses 
not  yet  ready  to  admit  that  they  will  have 
to  take  their  losses  and  readjust  their  op- 
erations. Nevertheless,  persistent  adher- 
ence by  the  banks  to  this  new  program  is 
having  its  result,  and  it  may  be  said  that 
price  stabilization  is  not  far  ahead.  The 
period  of  general  liquidation  of  the  raw 
material  markets  in  the  United  States  is 
pretty  well  over.  Irregularities  exist,  but 
these  are  due  to  conditions  of  supply  and 
demand  in  specific  lines  and  are  an  evidence 
or  normality.  Wholesale  prices,  too,  have 
been  generally  deflated,  and  the  tendency 
to  get  in  line  is  evident  now  in  those  busi- 
nesses which  have  most  vigorously  resisted 
the  general  trend  heretofore. 

Situation  Clearing  Up 

What,  then,  is  the  outlook  for  business? 
Certainly  it  can  be  only  for  the  better. 
Harmony  in  liquidation  will  result  in  quick- 
ened trading  upon  any  price  level,  and  har- 
mony we-  are  on  the  road  to  attaining.  For 
the  immediate  future  much  depends  upon 
the  crops.  The  farmer  has  undergone 
greater  liquidation,  perhaps,  than  any  other 
branch  of  industry.  He  bought  and  planted 
and  cultivated  in  the  era  c  .gh  prices,  and 
he  reaped  when  prices  were  falling  rapidly. 
He  has  taken  his  loss,  and  he  does  not  pur- 
pose to  take  more  if  it  can  be  avoided. 
Forecasts  are  not  for  bumper  crops,  and  it 
is  as  well  that  they  are  not.  Smaller  crops 
this  year  will  enable  the  agriculturist  to 
move  some  of  the  surplus  stock  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  farmer  will  come  into  the 
market  again  this  year  with  purchasing 
power  adequate  to  meet  his  needs.  He  will 
buy,  but  he  will  buy  carefully,  and,  it  is 
needless  to  say,  only  at  price  levels  in  keep- 
ing with  the  level  of  his  own  returns.  He 
should  be  and  will  be  a  great  factor  for 
stabilization,  for  the  farmer  represents  ap- 
proximately half  the  population  of  the 
country,  and  if  half  the  people  enter  the 
market  their  presence  will  be  felt  through- 
out all  industry. 

Abroad  the  situation  seems  also  to  be 
clearing  up  somewhat,  though  there,  too, 
improvement  is  slow  and  not  too  readily  to 
be  recognized.  A  study  of  conditions  abroad 
made  by  the  National  City  Bank  of  New 


BUSINESS  AT  THE  UP-TURN 


1091 


THE  FOREIGN  TRADE 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

TABLE    B 

(000  omitted) 

Imports  From 

Exports  To 

,— Month  of  June—, 

r- 12  mos.  ended  June—, 

(--Month  of  June—,      , 

—12  mos.  ended  June—, 

Grand  Divisions : 

1921. 

1920. 

1921. 

1920. 

1921. 

1920. 

1921. 

1920. 

Europe    

$54,784  $118,500 

$937,950 

$1,179,400 

$177,762  $296,133 

$3,408,390  $4,863,792 

North    America . . 

54,523 

211,799 

1,207,459 

1,486,250 

92,182 

175,315 

1,646,016 

1,634,193 

South   America . . . 

19,645 

81,166 

485,249 

860,944 

17,496 

46,255 

523,450 

490,898 

Asia    

48,437 

118,276 

815,445 

1,368,669 

36,787 

70,751 

547,247 

79S.216 

Oceania    

5,159 

13,792 

153,471 

157,891 

8,695 

26,143 

257,181 

193,229 

3,129 
185,679  S 

6,969 

54,871 

185,195 

4,033 

14,778 

134,029 

128,658 
£8,108,988 

Total .1 

^552,605 

$3,654,449  $5,238,352 

$336,958  $629,376 

$6,516,315  . 

Principal  Countries- 

Belgium    

$2,623 

$4,056 

$42,464 

$29,748 

$8,915 

$25,238 

$184,533 

$317,112 

Denmark    

286 

1,066 

17,179 

13,791 

3,686 

3,359 

63,005 

125,170 

France    

10,805 

16,164 

149,851 

172,022 

12,675 

36,800 

432,567 

717,568 

Germany    

6,975 

8,540 

90,773 

45,085 

30,795 

19,700 

381,771 

202,176 

Greece   

1,919 

3,037 

24,331 

22,229 

3,693 

1,918 

37,809 

48,672 

Italy    

4,945 

5,503 

59,096 

92,420 

22,742 

21,915 

302,140 

397,265 

Netherlands     .... 

2,965 

10,415 

61,315 

100,635 

13,838 

16,834 

250,830 

254,449 

Norway    

928 

1,340 

18,849 

15,025 

2,369 

6,590 

57,918 

115,332 

Spain     

1,603 

3,676 

32,154 

49,416 

2,744 

10,362 

118,568 

123,909 

956 
2,994 

2,052 
6,083 

27,921 
46,797 

21,616 
46,394 

2.815 
297 

8,525 
4,607 

76,615 
25,632 

129,179 
49,415 

Switzerland    

United   Kingdom. 

14,842 

50,955 

327,786 

525,400 

64,428 

120,154 

1,326,377 

2,151,115 

Canada    

23,238 

48,196 

529,355 

537,444 

49,171 

102,323 

789,051 

889,440 

Central    America. 

3,685 

7,238 

46,571 

58,981 

3,981 

7,490 

73,450 

73,207 

10,213 

14,055 

4,061 

18,447 

125,964 

16,852 

154,993 
420,399 
124,299 

168,278 
645,571 
257,783 

21,106 
12,302 

7,388 

10,553 
43,489 
13,586 

267,209 
403,285 
200,890 

143,788 
395,790 
167,146 

Cuba    

Argentina    

Brazil    

4,682 

3,682 

830 

25,718 

19,083 

2,900 

147,520 
77,854 
17,564 

281,217 

112,637 

52,118 

3,698 

1,487 

673 

9,683 
4,774 
2,077 

128,746 
49,745 
27,960 

115,020 

44,290 
27,805 

Chile        

Uruguay    

China    

10,200 

20,209 

113,193 

226,887 

9,205 

14,447 

138,282 

119,276 

British   India 

7,510 

10,704 

121,800 

178,951 

4,816 

9,232 

92,549 

79,143 

Dutch  East  Indies 

2,248 

7,207 

141,668 

95,801 

1,871 

4,290 

61,180 

45,647 

Japan    

,  20,252 

40,510 

253,210 

527,220 

17,057 

35,355 

189,181 

453,098 

Australia    

626 

3,099 

31,461 

56,771 

4,551 

13,008 

120,985 

85,785 

Philippine  Islands 

3,299 

6,758 

94,353 

72,962 

2,540 

8,793 

85,925 

71,009 

British  So.  Africa 

594 

1.357 

10,838 

36,513 

1,018 

5,571 

46,925 

48,698 

Egypt    

1,226 

2,185 

26,437 

105,872 

1,089 

3,214 

29,118 

27,129 

York  justifies  the  statement  that  the  out- 
look is  better  than  at  any  time  since  the 
war,  and  has  improved  very  much  in  recent 
months.  There  has  been  a  steady  improve- 
ment in  physical  conditions,  the  bank  finds. 
All  over  Europe  conditions  are  better  and 
the  greatest  gain  of  all  has  been  in  the 
spirit  of  industry  and  social  order. 

The  revolutionary  spirit  is  fast  disap- 
pearing, says  the  bank  in  summary  of  its 
finding.  The  revolutionary  element  has  had 
its  day;  it  made  the  most  of  the  confusion 
following  the  war,  of  Government  manage- 
ment in  industry,  Government  doles,  and  the 
vague  though  generous  sentiment  for  a  new 
order  of  society.  The  people  are  tired  of 
agitation  and  of  being  "  fed  up  "  on  ideal- 
istic theories,  conceived  without  any  work- 
ing knowledge  of  real  conditions.  Govern- 
ment management  of  industry  is  everywhere 


discredited,  and  the  people  are  turning  back 
with  a  feeling  of  relief  to  the  old  ways  and 
methods  by  which  they  know  how  to  get 
things  done. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  influence  of  ail  has 
been  that  which  has  come  from  the  calami- 
tous failure  of  the  Socialist  revolution  in 
Russia.  A  knowledge  of  conditions  in  Russia 
pervades  all  Europe.  The  labor  organiza- 
tions have  not  trusted  to  newspaper  infor- 
mation, but  have  sent  delegations  of  their 
own  to  Russia  to  learn  the  truth,  and  the  re- 
ports have  satisfied  them  that  however 
much  they  may  be  dissatisfied  with  what 
they  call  the  capitalist  management  of  in- 
dustry they  have  nothing  to  gain  by  ex- 
changing it  for  the  state  of  things  existing 
in  Russia.  This  information  has  had  a  far- 
reaching  effect  upon  the  temper  and  policies 
of  organized  labor.   It  has  tended  to  restore 


1092 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  authority  of  the  old  leaders,  which  for  a 
time  was  shaken  by  the  more  aggressive 
and  radical  aspirants  for  power  who  came 
to  the  front.  This  change  is  a  fundamental 
one.  It  is  the  most  important  thing  that 
could  have  happened  for  the  improvement 
of  the  situation,  because  no  recovery  could 
take  place  unless  the  stability  of  society 
was  assured.  It  affords  a  basis  for  credit 
and  encouragement  to  enterprise. 

Improvement  in  Europe 
In  France  the  railroads  have  been  com- 
pletely restored,  as  well  as  the  highways 
and  the  canals,  while  the  farming  land  is 
98  per  cent,  restored  to  crop-bearing  con- 
dition, although  probably  not  fully  to  the 
pre-war  state  of  cultivation.  The  industrial 
districts  of  France  are  restored  to  more 
than  50  per  cent,  of  pre-war  capacity. 

Best  of  all,  conditions  arc  quiet;  wages 
and  prices  have  been  on  the  downward  scale, 
but  there  has  been  no  serious  labor  trouble 
for  some  time.  This  is  the  more  gratifying 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  housing  situa- 
tion in  France  is  still  very  bad.  By  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  persons  are  living 
under  improvised  shelters,  and  this  lack  of 
home  comforts,  of  which  the  French  as  a 
race  are  especially  appreciative,  has  been 
anything  but  a  harmonizing  factor.  The 
housing  program  is  being  pushed  with  all 
effort,  however.  A  corollary  of  this  ef- 
fort has  been  the  attempt  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  restore  conditions  necessary  to  a 
revival  of  industry,  so  that  as  swiftly  as 
possible  the  people  may  become  self-sup- 
porting. Much  is  left  to  be  desired  in  the 
condition  of  French  trade  and  home 
finances,  but  even  here  improvement  is  to  be 
seen.  A  balance  of  exports  over  imports  of 
410,487,000  francs  was  reported  for  the  first 
five  months  of  this  year,  the  first  favorable 
balance  which  French  trade  has  experienced 
in  recent  years.  The  national  budget  is  not 
yet  balanced,  and  revenues  for  the  present 
year  are  not  equaling  the  hopeful  esti- 
mates which  were  made  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year.  Nevertheless,  the  paper  money 
circulation  has  not  increased  in  the  last 
year,  which  would  indicate  that  the  deficit 


has  been  made  up  out  of  savings  of  the 
people,  although  not  out  of  the  current  rev- 
enues of  the  Government. 

In  England  there  has  been  also  a  general 
clearing  up  of  the  labor  situation.  The  gen- 
eral strike,  which  was  threatened  in  April, 
has  been  successfully  prevented.  The  mining 
situation  has  apparently  been  solved.  Much 
was  dreaded  from  this  situation,  for  the 
miners  were  insistent  upon  nationalization 
of  their  industry  and  the  pooling  of  all  the 
mining  districts,  with  other  radical  changes 
which  it  was  thought  would  be  dangerous  in 
the  extreme  to  the  country.  The  return  to 
work  of  these  men  at  reduced  wages  is,  there- 
fore, of  the  utmost  importance.  Wage  re- 
ductions have  been  accepted  as  well  in  other 
fields,  and,  while  there  is  considerable  un- 
employment and  poor  trade,  there  is,  never- 
theless, the  beginning  of  that  feeling  of  op- 
timism which,  it  was  stated  earlier  in  this 
article,  usually  precedes  a  turn  for  the 
better. 

The  political  situation  throughout  Europe 
is  somewhat  more  encouraging  also.  The 
passing  of  the  Silesian  crisis  and  the  misun- 
derstanding resulting  from  it  between 
France  and  England,  which  seemed  ever- 
growing in  bitterness,  must  be  recorded  as 
a  tremendous  gain.  Even  the  attempt  at  a 
solution  of  the  Irish  question,  uncertain  as 
it  still  is  at  this  writing,  is  a  move  for  the 
general  good. 

Less  encouraging  is  the  foreign  trade 
showing,  especially  of  the  United  States, 
and  yet  it  is  apparent  that  the  record 
volume  to  which  our  trade  expanded  after 
the  war  could  not  have  been  maintained 
in  a  world  which,  outside  of  this  nation, 
is  strained  as  to  resources,  to  phrase  it 
mildly.  The  accompanying  Table  B  shows 
the  total  value  of  merchandise  imported 
and  exported  from  and  to  each  of  the  prin- 
cipal countries  in  June  last  and  in  the 
twelve-month  period  ended  June  last,  com- 
pared with  the  corresponding  periods  of  the 
preceding  year.  The  figures  are  the  offi- 
cial figures  of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  Department  of  Com- 
merce. 


CURRENT 


War  Plane  Record 

Revelations    That   Are    Almost    Incredible 

WOQDROW    WILSON'S    PLACE     IN     HISTORY 

GERMANY'S     RETRIBUTION 

KUKLUX    KLAN    REVIVAL 

Sinister     Order    Invades    the    North _^ 

MURDER    OF    LIEBKNECHT    AND    LUXEMBURG 
NATIONALIZING     INDUSTRIES 
LIFE     IN    A    TURKISH     HAREM 

THE    PHILIPPINE    ISSUE 

AMERICA'S    ATTITUDE    TOWARD    MANDATES 

$4  a  Year  Postpaid  Office    of    Fublicahon^New    York,    N.    Y.  Canada,   $4.50 

lered   as    second-class   matter,    Feb.    12,   1916,    at   the    Post   Office   in   New   York.    N.   Y.,    under   the   Act    of    Marcf