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THE SEMI WEEKLY JOURNAL
r ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST.
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THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL. Atlanta. Ga.
Effects of Lord Grey's Letter.
THOUGH a week has passed since the
publication of Lord Grey’s extraor
dinary letter, its effect on the
Treaty tangle is still beclouded. Well
wishers of peace and international justice
earnestly hope that the distinguished diplo
matist’s stroke may simplify if indeed it
does not sever those gordian knots which
the United States Senate so far has found
inextricable, and that a form of ratification
agreeable at once to the Senate, the Presi
dent and the interested Powers may speed
ily be brought to pass. But certain foggy
aspects of the situation remain to be clear
ed up.
At the very outset some onlookers are
moved to ask whether Hord Grey is speak
ing in fact as a representative of official
Britain and perhaps of the Allies as well, or
simply, as he himself says in the beginning
of hi's remarkable letter to the London
Times, as “a private individual” expressing
his ‘‘personal opinion and nothing more?”
Certainly the United States will need as
surances on this point before anything like
definitive and favorable action thereon can
be taken; a newspaper note is not a com
munication to the President, who under the
American Constitution is the responsible
negotiator of treaties.
Let us assume, however, that every de
sired assurance will be forthcoming in the
event of Lord Grey’s suggestions’ finding an
official welcome at Washington, and that
extra-diplomatic methods will be followed
by valid procedure. What then? Will the
European concessions proposed in the Grey
letter serve to reconcile the conflicting
views within the Senate and between the
Senate and the White House?
If it were merely a question of what Eu
rope is willing to take, the answer would be
easier and more certain. But there is also
the highly important question of what the
Democrats who are supporting the Treaty
and what the President who negotiated it
are willing to yield. They have contended
for a League Covenant that will prevent
wars of aggression and substitute open 'deal
ing for selfish intrigue. Wherefore they
well, might question the worth of a Covenant
which gave America no international power
and little influence against those very evils.
If Europe releases the United States from all
responsibilities in a League of Nations,
with effectiveness or consistency could
the United States object to any aggression
(save one against her herself) which a Eu
ropean Power or clique might commit? It
is easy to see why a Power motived as
Ilohenzollern Germany was should be very
glad indeed to have the United States enter
the League as a lay figure rather than as a
dominant force. To such a Power the more
drastic and sweeping Senator Lodge could
make his reservations, the more pleasing
they would be. But a Covenant formed after
that manner, whatever else it might be, cer
tainly v.’ould not be American. Indeed, the
most distinctively American provision in the
entire Treaty, the provision for which this
Republic’s spokesmen at the Paris confer
ence fought hardest, is Article Ten. (We
mean, of course, its intent and spirit, not its
verbiage.) And there are not many Ameri
cans, we fancy, who would feel proud of
their nation's slipping into the League with
out obligations and without power, howso
suavely Europe might assent. A
strange sequel it would be if reservations
purporting to “Americanize” the Treaty
should in reality de-Americanize it. It is
to be expected that the Democratic major
ity and the President will be vigilant on
that score.
At the same time the spirit in which Lord
Grey’s letter is written and the warm light
of good will which it sheds upon a none too
amicable situation is highly cheering. He
has given his own countrymen a happier
viewed the Treaty tangle in America; and it
is devoutly to be hoped that he has given cer
tain elements on this side of the water a
better understanding of the Treaty attitude
of Europe. lie has completely disarmed
(though they, of course, do not realize it)
those “Irreconcilables” of the Senate who
have bawled that the League of Nations was
a,British scheme to put the United States in
fetters. Let us hope, moreover, that the air
of reasonableness and good faith which
breathes from every word of this great Eng
lish Liberal’s letter will beget a like at
mosphere in the Senate and inspire more
workable relations between that body and
the White Honse.
AV hatever the obstinacies and errors of
the past, whatever the partisanship and the
prejudice, the time has come for self-for
getting effort in behalf of honorable and well
secured peace. The delay already has cost
civilization dearly; continued, it may cost
disastrously. The time indeed is “out of
joint,” and there will be no mending it un
til a genuine peace is consummated—no re
lief from feverish unrest, no assurance for
the future of business and human affairs.
The responsibility upon the Government of
the United States, both the Senate tuid the
Executive Department, is tremendoU&e It
is generally agreed that reservations tothe
Treaty must be accepted if it is to be rati
fied by the Senate. It appears equally cer
f— that those reservations must not be de
structive of the Treaty’s vitality if they are
to be approved by the President; and his
approval, be it remembered, is no less req
uisite than the Senate’s. No party to this
issue can afford to stand out for pride of
opinion or for academic doubts. No party
can afford to stop short of the limits of all
reasonable compromise to effect a speedy
ratification.
Lord Grey cut to the core of the matter
when he said: “Tfiose who have had the I
longest experience of political affairs, and
especially of treaties, know best how often
it happens that difficulties which seem most
formidable in anticipation and on paper
never arise in practice.” So it was, history j
reminds us, with the adoption and working
out of x>ur own country’s Constitution. So
will it be, we have good reason to expect,
with the Covenant of the League of Na
tions. The sensible and the right proced
ure is to give the plan a trial, thinking more
of its purposes than of its words. For if it
is just and workable in spirit, no textual
terms can do its members harm; and if it
be unjust or unworkable in spirit, all the
solemn oaths of all languages can ha* >9ld
: it together
" *
! ■ '
Go v ern ment Exp enditu rc a .
THERE are few dryer subjects than gov-
ernment receipts and disbursements,
so the announcement that members
of the House of Representatives last week de- i
I rived amusement from the discussion of so ,
dull a topic is a cause for surprise. Accord- :
■ ing to news reports, the House found enter- !
I tainment and instruction .in a speech deliv
ered by Representative Ramseyer, of lowa,
reviewing the growth of our national ex- :
penses.
To Representatives accustomed in these .
times to talking and reading and voting in j
billions, it is small wonder that Mr. Ram
seyer’s references to the finances of the na- ;
i tion in its infancy afforded comparisons that j
provoked amusement.
The burden of the speech was an appeal
for economy in government expenditures,
which was supported by figures showing in- :
creases in expenditures out of all proportion
with the growth and development of the
i country.
During the first administration oi Wash
ington, dating from September 2, 1789, to De
cember 31, 1791, the total disbursements of
the government amounted to $3,797,436. An
increase was noted during the second admin- j
istration of Washington, since the infant re
public then had begun to expand, but even so
the highest amount disbursed in a single year
i was only $10,435,069.
Mr. Ramseyer pointed out that during the
administration of John Adams the expendi
tures showed a slight increase, and that dur-
I ing Thomas Jefferson’s terms the upward ten
dency continued, when the top mark was
reached, in ISOS, with expenditures of $16,-,
: 764,584.
The war of 1812, under the administra
' tion of Madison, witnessed the record break
! ing expenditures of the republic’s history to
that time, but the disbursements of only $39,-
190,520 in a single year during this war
I justify the conclusion that war in those days
■ was far less costly than now.
Annual expenditures increased slowly from
j the administration of Madison to the date of
I the Mexican war, under President Polk, when
the largest annual appropriation for a single j
' year reached the figure of $59,451,177. The
j increase continued after the Mexican war un-
I til, in 1859, the annual budget amounted to
$83,-751,511.
The War Between the States witnessed the
first billion dollar budget. For the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1865, the expenditures
amounted to $1,897,674,224, which record
stood until the world war occasioned expendi
tures running into the billions. ’
There was a recession of disbursements
from 1865 to 1869, when the budget totaled
$321,490,597, yet this sum, small though it
now seems, was almost four times the an- J
nual government disbursements before the
War Between the States. Only once between
the years 1875 and 18 89 did the expendi
tures go beyond the $400,000,000 mark.
But, as Mr. Ramseyer pointed out, after
1889 there was a steady increase from year
to year, until in the three years preceding
our entrance into the world war 1914, 1915
and 1916 —the annual expenditures exceeded
$1,000,000,000.
And after we entered the war, the expendi
tures, according to Mr. Ramseyer,
$3,046,183,746; 1918, $21,813,356,508;
1919, $18,514,000,000.
Contentment on the Farm.
Assistant postmaster general
BLAKSLEE recently took it upen
himself to ascertain the measure of
contentment prevailing among the farmers of
the United States. He sent out 200,000 ques
tionnaires to as many farmers in all sections
of the country. Seventy-five per cent of the
questionnaires were disregarded, and of the
twenty-five per cent which were returned a
considerable number indicated dissatisfaction
with conditions.
Mr. Blakslee concludes, therefore, that
the farmers as a class are discontented, and
he argues that the condition is a menace to
the production of the country. He accepts
the pessimism of a smU.ll minority as reflect
ing the attitude of the whole, and in this
he is woefully mistaken.
What of the one hundred and fifty thou
sand farmers who paid no attention to Mr.
Blakslee’s questionnaire? Certainly their
silence cannot be interpreted as a manifesta
tion of discontent. The chances are quite
the reverse. The shiftless and unsuc
cessful generally accept every opportunity
to register dissatisfaction. The prosperous
and contented as a rule are too busy attend
ing to their business, enlarging their produc
tion and using and enjoying life, to
heed what they consider superfluous
questions. The questionnaire goes by default
with them.
It is a well-known and gratifying fact that
the farmers of the South were never in such
good circumstances. Indeed, the farmer is
the most favored class of an unusually pros
perous section in a season of unprecedented
prosperity. If there is any feeling of dis
content among the fanners of Georgia cer
tainly there has been no visible' manifesta
tion of its existence. Instead of grumbling
and complaining, they are busily engaged in
the improvements of their farms and mak
ing ready for the next crops. They are
studying advanced methods not only of in
creasing their yield per acre but of crop
diversification and the production of live
stock on an enlarged scale. They are invest
ing their money in modern farm implements,
and are co-operating in a-.spirit of patriotism
in the upbuilding of their communities.
Everywhere in the rural districts of Georgia
there is renewed energy, eagerness to move
forward and every evidence of satisfaction.
THE JOURNAL/S-LETTER BOX
Editor Semi-Weekly Journal: Allow me
a little space to write a few words of appre
ciation to the good old Atlanta Journal and
its distinguished writers. Wo have for
many years been a subscriber to your val
uable paper. We have been greatly benefit
ed by the many good articles written by
your contributors, and also the editorial
topics. The Journal is our favorite paper,
and will remain on its mailing list long as
we live and can get it. Now we enjoy read
ing the good letters of Mrs. W. IL Felton’s
so much we want to congratulate her on
her noble articles, and hope for her many
more years in her glorious work. In con
clusion will say, that we wish every one a
joyful and abunadnee of success dur
ing 1920. a. M. MEAD.
nc e^ v jHe, Ga., R, F. D. 5, January
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKIA’ JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1020.
NEW SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE DISCUSSES
WASHINGTON, D. C. —In answering ques
tions of newspaper men regarding means for
reducing the high cost of living, Edwin T.
Meredith, the newly-installed secretary of agri
culture, said last week that useless employes, no
matter in what line they may be engaged, must
be released from nonproductive work and
an opportunity to become producers upon the
farm or in the factory. If this is done and if
jobbers and retailers recognize the harm that
must ultimately come from profiteering on the
farmer and content themselves with a reasonable
profit, he said, the question of the high cost
of living will largely solve itself to the perma
nent good of all. But unless the whole coun
try—ail business and all labor —does recognize
this as a common problem and do the thi. gs
necessary to solve it, he continued, “less and
less will there be of farm produce to divide
among the whole people and higher and higher
will go the price of that which is produced.”
“1 am surprised,” said Mr. Meredith, “that I
should have received the numbei of messages
I have, particularly from daily papers, asking
what plans I, as secretary of agriculture, have
to reduce the high cost o' living, indicating
that the general feeling is that this is essentially
an agricultural problem. It is, of course, re
lated to agriculture, but no more than to many
other lines of activity, and I am tempted to be
lieve that the solution *of the problem lies
more in the hands of those interested in dis
tribution and non-productive enterprises than
in the hands of the farmers of the country.
GIVE FARMER SATISFACTORY CONDITIONS
“The farmers must certainly produce. They
have produced and will produce—that is their
business. They are on a piece measure b’sis,
so given satisfactory conditions they will do
their part, as the farmers of America have in
every situation or crisis that has faced the
country. But this question of ‘satisfactory con
ditions’ is a big one. it is not a satisfactory
condition for the farmer to receive reduced
prices for his pork, wheat, hides, while the
prices of his machinery lumber and shoes are
raised. It does not conduce to a pleasant frame
of mind on the part of the farmer or spur him
to greater production to be obliged to sell his
products for half or less than he later sees
them sold for at retail. The dairy farmers of
the country wonder if they are treated fairly
when they receive thirty-five to forty cents
for butter and see it retail at eight-five cents.
The poultry men wonder why, when they re
ceive from forty cents to fifty cents for eggs,
they retail as high as a dollar per dozen. The
hog growers wonder if they are not in a ‘haz
ardous business when they buy fencing and all
other supplies at greatly increased prices, and
then see their produce fall fifty per cent and
sold by them at an actual loss, in answer to
a demand on the part of the rest of the popu
lation for a reduced cost of living.
“The farmers of America,” the new sec.etary
went on, “are willing to assume their part of
the responsibilities as American citizens in
meeting any problem threatening the welfare
and stability of our country, but tfiis high cost
of living problem is a mutual one, and they ask
th:ft it be approached by all the people as a
common problem. They ask that those engaged
in distribution eliminate th lost motion and
not put so great a burden upon moducl n as
there is upon it today. In otht ’words, they
ask that there be an adequate number of pro
ducers of wealth, an ’ this includes property
and food of all kinds, and onb such number of
distributors as is necessary to perform the serv
ices required; They ask that the banks, rail
roads, wholesale houses, retail establishments,
factories, all of which are vitally necessary to
the farm and recognized by him as such, be
speeded up along with him, that the work now
done by three men may be done. if possible, by
two, and the burden of transportation and dis
tribution be thereby lightened. If the factory
executive will speed up his plant that there
may be two days’ labor in .he supplies, machin
ery, or what not, that the fanner buys, rather
than three days’ labor, the article will cost the
farmer that' much less, his ofit be increased,
and his production stimulated, more mefi'stay
on the farm, more men go to the farm.
PUT USELESS EMPLOYES AT PRODUCTIVE
WORK
“Business men must look to the Operation
of their establishments, no matter in what line
they may be engaged, and see that no useless
employe is retained to add to the cost of dis
tributing what the farmer now produces. Use-
INCOME TAX FACTS
YOU SHOULD KNOW
NO 10.
Tax returns are examined by the Bureau
of Internal Revenue as soon as practicable
after they are filed. If the amount found
due proves to be greater or less than shown
in the return, the installments will be re
computed. If it is shown that the amount
paid is in excess, such excess will be credited
against the subsequent installments, whereas
if the difference is in favor of the Gov
ernment, the balance is to be paid upon no
tice and demand by the collector.
When a return is made in good faith
and an understatement of the amount is not
due to any fault of the taxpayer no penalty
accrues, if the understatement is due to
negligence but without intent to defraud,
there is added 5 per cent of the total amount
of the deficiency, plus interest at the rate
or 1 per cent a month from the time the
tax was due. If the understatement is false
with intent to evade the tax, the penalty is
a fine of not more than SIO,OOO, or one
year’s imprisonment, or both, together with
the cost of prosecution, with an added as
sessment of 50 per cent of the amount of
deficiency.
HEAVY PENALTIES PROVIDED
For failing to make a return on time the
penalty is a fine of not more than SI,OOO
and an additional assestment 6f 25 per cent
of the amount due. “Willful refusal” to make
a return and pay the tax on time is punish
able by a fine of not more- than SIO,OOO,
or one year’s imprisonment, or both, togeth
er with the cost of prosecution. If a col
lector of internal revenue suspects that an
amount of income is understated in a re
turn, he may, on his own initiative, take up
the matter -with the taxpayer and, on be
coming convinced that the amount was un
derstated, may increase the tax, subject to
the right, of the taxpayer to appeal to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The
commissioner, without the intervention of
collectors, may exercise original jurisdiction
in cases of understatement.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue has at
its command innumerable avenues of infor
mation for checking up delinquents. Under
the information at the source” provision
of the act reports of payments to others of
SI,OOO or more during the year 1919 must
he made by all individuals, trustees, guar
dians, and other fiduciaries, and by partner
ships and corporations.
A separate return of each employee whose
salary for 1919 was SI,OOO or more is re
quired of employers.
The bill provides that whenever necessary
the names and addresses of the recipient of
the income shall be furnished by the per
son, corporation, or partnership paying, it.
lhe ieturns must show, whenever possible,
wh ether the recipient is single, married,
or the head of a family. >
Regardless of the amount. Information re
turns may be required in the case of pay
ment of interest upon bonds and mortgages,
deeds of trust, or other obligations of a cor
poration.
INFORMATION RETURNS
Returns of information must be filed
with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue
at Washington. Collectors of internal rev
enue are not authorized to receive such re
turns. Forms on which the returns must be
HIGH COST OF LIVING
less employes must be released from non-pro
ductive work that they may go into productive
work and add to the sum total that may be
distributed among all.
“Let us enjoy in America as highly developed
a system of distribution —and in this I include all
the professions, doctors, lawyers, teachers, as
well as retailers, transportation, etc.—as we now
have, but let us cut out the useless member, the
surplus one here and there and give him an
opportunity to become a producer upon the farm
or in the factory. Let us have six-tenths of our
people in production four-tenths in distri
bution, that there may be six-tenths of what a
man can produce each day for each of us, rather
than have four-tenths of what a man can pro
duce each day for each of us. To do this, con
ditions in production must be attractive, farming
must be remunerative and offer tc a young man
who engages in it an opportunity equal to that
offered him should he go into a bank, railroad,
wholesale or retail establishment.
LABOR MUST MEET FARMER HALF-WAY
“The farmer asks that the laborers in the
mines, the factory, and the mills, who are also
real producers along with the farmers, make an
effort comparable to his to see there is just
as little labor expense as possible in each ar
ticle turned out by their hands, thereby helping
the farmers of America, who in turn will help
the laborer. This is not inconsistent with the
views and desires of tl » loyal, intelligent la
boring men, who recognize the mutual advantage
to all in an honest, day’s work for an honest
day’s pay. Given this and the manufacturers,
jobbers and retailers taking a reasonable profit
and recognizing the harm that must ultimately
come from profiteering on the farmer, the
question of the high co:t of living will large'v
solve itself to the permanent good of all con
cerned.
“On the other hand, i: the whole country, all
business and all labor, does not recognize this
as a common problem,” the secretary continued,
“and do those things which give the farmer a
fair compensation for his efforts, do those
things which make farming remunerative, pleas
ant and as attractive as other lines of endeavor,
the conditions will not improve. On the con
trary, more and more will 'the young men
leave the farms, more and more will the older
men become discouraged and less and less will
there be of farm produce to divide among (he
whole people for their sustenance, and higher
and higher will go the price of that which is
produced.
ALL MUST STRIVE FOR CHEAPER DISTRI
BUTION
“Attention must be given by public-spirited
citizens to the methods which tend to quicken
and cheapen distribution of farm products, such
as better terminal facilities, easier transfers, in
land water transportation, back hauling and
round-about routes eliminated. We must all
interest ourselves in helping solve the prob
lems of the farmer and furnish him facilities
that will help him in his business. While such
facilities must be furnished, we find, on the
contrary, there is now being made an assault
on the Farm Loan Bank, which gives the farmer
money on favorable terms, without commissions,
without renewal charges, finances him. to carry
on the fund,-mental activity of our country, gives
him long time that he may plan ahead where
necessary. The assault is made by selfish n
terests, and their success would, in my judgment,
be a blow to agriculture in America and result
in ultimate harm to all in erests. But how many
business men in America l.ave recognized this
as their problem, or interested themselves in the
farmer’s behalf? Very f:w, and yet they could
well afford, in fact must, interest themselves in
this and other problems affecting the farmer, or
they will feel the reaction.
“The farmers of America are willing and
anxious to meet the problem of reducing the
cost of living as a mutual one. They -eek the
co-operation, support and sympathy of the busi
ness world, and receiving it they will do their
part and more. All of us working to this end
are strengthening and making permanent agri
culture, the very foundation of our whole struc
ture, and therefore doing well for our country
as a whole. Every person, no matter in what
walk of life he may be ngaged, should have a
sympathetic, helpful interest in agriculture, be
helpful to the farmer, and see he gets a fair,
square deal in all matters. Surely, such an at
titude is an expression of the highest type of
patriotism in peace.”
i WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH
AMERICA?
—« —
By Ur. Frank Crane *
Too much competition and not enough co
operation.
Too much party and not enough patriot
ism.
Too much labor union and not enough
labor.
Too much hate and not enough under
standing.
Too much oil stock and not enough
war stamps.
Too many silk shirts and not enough
savings bankbooks.
Too many promoters and not enough
school teachers.
Too much fight and not enough teamplay.
Too much fear of Bolshevik bugaboos and
not enough confidence in the people.
Moro government aid to hogs than to
mothers and babies.
Too much Ism and cult and movement
and not enough horse sense.
Too much national vanity and cockiness
and not enough national conscience.
Too much cursing of politicians and not
enough interest in politics.
Too much bunk about capital and labor
and not enough effort to get together.
Too much class and not enough democ
racy.
Too much money and credit and not
enough production.
Too much ultimatum and not enough com
promise.
Too much pessimism and not enough
courage.
Too many critics and not enough appre
clators.
(Copyright, 1920, by Frank Crane.)
A returned warrior was relating his experi
ences to a number of old friends in the village
■ inn. After exhausting his supply of tales, he
| was asked:
j “Did you use any high explosives over
; there? ”
“Well, 1 ain’t sure about that. But when
i our battalion was up the line once a shell
■ struck our dugout, lifting everything into the
i air, and when the sandbags came down they
I were all covered with snow.”
made may be obtained, how’ever, from the
' offices of collectors.
j Approximately 5,500,000 returns of infor-
■ mation were received by the bureau for the
; year 1918. In addition the bureau received
i 4,800,000 ownerhsip certificates revealing
, the payment of bond interest, dividends, and
: foreign items of income. Information re
turns, this year, at last, will be placed in
' the hands of deputy collectors of internal
' revenue for use in rounding up delinquents.
Revenue agents will visit every county in
the United States to assist taxpayers in mak
ing out their income tax forms for 1919. The
date, of their arrival and the location of their
offices will be announced through the press,
or may be obtained on inquiry at offices of
collectors of internal revenue, postoffffices,
or banks. The services of these experts is
offered without cost to the taxpayer. Failure
to take advantage of them, however, does
not relieve the taxpayer from his obligations
under the law r . In the payment of an income
tax, the taxpayer is required to seek the gov
ernment, not the government the taxpayer.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY EDITORIAL DIGEST
A National and Non-Partisan Summary of Leading Press Opinion on Current
Questions and Events
Ludwig C. A. K. Martens, representative
in this country of the Russian Bolshevist
government, is being grilled by a Senate
committee. This, thinks the BUFFALO
COURIER (Dem.), is a “strange, perplexing
performance,” since it gives Martens “an op
portunity to carry on his Bolshevist propa
ganda, having his utterances printed at the
expense of the United States government,
and sent broadcast throughout the country.”
The point which Senator Moses and his
committee are mpst anxious to clear up is
whether Martens is here as a propagandist
of “world revolution,” or merely, as he says,
as a “business representative.” To this
question he answers that the Soviet republic
“does not care what kind of government
other people have,” having engaged in world
revolution propaganda “only when it was on
the defensive.” and that now, when the
soviets are “strong enough to fight the
world,” such defensive propaganda is un
necessary.
“It all seems very innocent,” says the IN
DIANAPOLIS NEWS (Ind.), but “Ameri
cans have very good reason to think that
Bolshevism is a militant force, and they will
be slow to believe that missionary efforts
have been wholly abandoned.” The BALTI
MORE SUN (Ind. Dem.) thinks “an over
night conversion this point requires con
vincing proof," especially since the Bolshev
ists “teach that pledges given to the bour
geoisie are not binding.” The PITTSBURG
CHRONICLE TELEGRAPH (Rep.) also
thinks “Martens will have to do a good deal
of explaining to convince any sensible per
son that the Bolsheviki have any other pur
pose than the ultimate domination of the
world by their cruel tyranny,” and the SEAT
TLE TIMES (Ind.) regards the Martens tes
timony as “a frank acknowledgment that
Bolshevism as an economic system is dead
in Russia.” The MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL
APPEAL (Dem.) says it was “a much milder
and more discreet Martens” who appeared
before the committee, and it attributes this
“chastened,” attitude to the recent whole
sale deportations of radicals from this coun
try. Martens himself, the DAYTON NEWS
(Dem.) reminds us, “had been marked for
deportation—why Isn’t something definitely
done about this matter?” and the ALBANY
JOURNAL (Rep.) suggests that “to secure
all necessary evidence against Martens to
justify his deportation, let him continue to
talk.”
“A significant feature of Martens’ testi
mony,” remarks the CINCINNATI TIMES
STAR (Rep.), “was his reference to that
widely advertised $500,000,000 in gold which
the Soviet government took from the Czarist
government and from individual Russians.”
Continuing, this authority says:
“This half billion in gold is the bait which
the Soviet authorities have been offering to
business interests in the United States, in
England and in other countries. The bait
apparently has caught the eye of a few so
called big business men in New York.
“The same sort of people, ten years ago,
wanted unlimited immigration in order that
they might have cheap labor and big profits.
They are after the dollar which appears im
mediately before their eyes, and they either
don’t care what happens to the country or
they have not ihtelligence enough to see the
direction in which their short-sighted greed
is leading thejn.”
But those who picture the Bolshevist en
voy as a whiskered “terrorist” are disillus
ioned by the Washington correspondent of
the NEW YORK EVENING POST (Ind.) who
tells us that “the most striking thing about
his blond personality is his dispassionate at
titude. The hearing had all the atmosphere
of a diplomatic affair,” and the SPRING
FIELD REPUBLICAN (Ind.), thinks “his
testimony is worth emphasizing because it
gives the State Department a chance to re
cede gracefully from the uncompromising at
titude of nonintercourse which it unfortu
nately supported by an elaborate argument
just aa the allies were getting ready to take
down the bars.” The REPUBLICAN adds:
“When a revolution has reached a certain
point its leaders cease to desire new revolu
tions and want peace and quiet for the con
solidation of their power and the building
up a stable and orderly government. So
amazing has been the spread of the Soviet
system in Russia that this point may already
have been reached.”
“It may be,” thinks the HOUSTON POST
(Dem.), “that Lenin has come to the place
SIGNALS TO OTHER WORLDS—By Frederic J. Haskin
WASHINGTON, D. C„ Feb. s.—While '
some other yorld is supposed to be ■
trying to send us wireless messages,
some of our professors and scientists plan
communication from our end. One astrono
mer is going up in a balloon to observe the
planets more closely, and study ways of let
ting other w’orlds know that the earth is in
habited.
f Another professor has invented a multiple
charge rocket which will explode at various (
in its flight, thus providing additional I
motive power at each explosion. With this
rocket he believes that he can test the char
acter of the air two hundred miles above the I
earth; while a similar rocket, built .on a giant i
scale, to weigh say 1,200 pounds, would, if
properly directed, reach the moon.
Some wireless experts believe that we shall
soon be able to exchange wireless messages I
with such of the planets as may be populated. !
Five minutes was once set by an electrical j
authority as a reasonable length of time for a
radio impulse to flash between the earth and |
Mars. Compare this five minutes with the :
amount of time it would taken an airplane to |
reach our nearest neighboring planets. A ;
plane traveling steadily at 200 miles an hour I
could go almost 5,000 in twenty-four hours,
and could cover a mfllion miles in 200 days. ;
Venus is at its nearest approach twenty-five
million miles from us, and Mars is thirty-live ■
million. This gives some idea of the distance ‘
of space, and also of the speed of a wireless
that, it is estimated, could cross the void in
five minutes.
Whether some other world lias mastered
radio to a greater extent than the geniuses
of the earth is the merest guess work. But
this is not the first time that mysterious
signals have been received by' wireless opera
tors. Signor Marconi reported unaccountable
disturbances a year ago, and some years be-;
fore that another electrical expert had a j
similar experience.
That these w’ireless disturbances might pos- i
sibly come from the planet Venus is the opin-\
ion expressed by Dr. Charles G. Abboot, of
the Smithsonian Institution.
“We have not yet proved the existence of
life on Venus,” says Dr. Abbott, “but condi
tions there are more favorable for life than
on any of the other worlds except our own.” ■
“Mars,” he maintains, “is absolutely in- ■
capable of supporting life,-and therefore I
could not be the outside party trying to signal
the earth.”
Students of radio have attempted to explain 1
the queer sounds coming from some great
distance as messages from another planet.
As Mars has repeatedly been peopled by
Sovietism on the Stand.
where he believes it is more expwrent to at
tempt to set up peaceful relations with the
so-called ‘capitalistic’ governments than to
seek to undermine them by terrorist methods.
If he has determined on this course, it marks
him as less of a fool than he has been credit
ed with being.” The BIRMINGHAM AGE
HERALD (Dem.) thinks Martens “talked
like a man who had nothing to conceal, and
his evident straightforwardness is given ad
ditional weight by some facts we have re
cently learned about Soviet Russia.” We are
reminded, too, by the NEWARK EVENING
NEWS (Ind.), that “Sovietism is not merely
a political system, but is pretty nearlv q
ligion among its adherents,” and that, more
over:
“The Russian is naturally a Communist
and only understands that and monarchy.
Outside of the imperial and great private es
tates, Russian land has been handled largely
through the local communes. Russia is an
agricultural country, and these communes
are about all the political education in self
government the Russian has. He does not
know what you mean by a republic in our
sense. He does not know what you mean by
individual opportunity, because he never hail
any. In addition, through the association
of the other powers with Russians who he
thinks are reactionaries, he believes that the
democratic system means the end of what
he thinks to be his political and industrial
freedom. And in addition, we have just sent
over another shipload of missionaries to tell
him what a rotten place a democracy is, in
their opinion.”
“Whatever comes out of Russia will for
the time being be communistic in nature,”
the NEWS continues, “and the one way of
disproving its economic soundness is to put
it in competition with the industry of other
countries whose industrial systems have been
elvolved by experience.” The JOHNSTOWN
DEMOCRAT (Dem.) complains that while
“Britain and France and Italy may trade with
Russia if they please,” and “have been .doing
so for some time, Britain particularly,” yet
“American manufacturers are told they must
sit on the fence and watch their rivals across
the sea gobble up whatever Russia has to
offer.”
German Opinions of the Treaty and the
League
The BERLIN POST declares that “the
whole peace treaty is tainted with the policy
of revenge,” and that “the League of Na
tions is only an instrument of torture to
guarantee what the allied robber policy has
won.” An article entitled “At the Grave
of the League of Nations” appears in the
CHEMNITZ ALLGEREINE ZEITUNG, de
claring that “the League is dead —the only
thing that stands is the ‘vae victis,’ and
force, not justice, rules the modern world.”
The LEIPSIG TAG predicts that “the present
peace of violence will in the course of time
create such sympathy for Germany as will
help in obtaining a more moderate peace.”
Responsibility for the "scandalous treaty” is
placed by the REICHSBOTE upon the present
Socialist government, “with which the over
whelming part of the German nation has ab
solutely nothing in common.” The REICHS
BOTE ridicules the idea that the so-called
war criminals should surrender themselves
voluntarily to the Allies.
American Army Deserters in Paris
Deserters from the U. S. army in France
still make Paris a rendezvous and carry on
their nefarious thievery and criminal life to
the disgust of the French and the embar
rassment of their own country. There are said
to be no less than one thousand men of the
A. E. F. who quit their posts of duty and
since that time led a freebooters’ existence.
The patience of Paris is about exhausted.
Endeavoring to live through dishonest means,
these deserters have taken to all manner >of
stealing to earn a livelihood. Though court
martial has been handed out to many who
have been arrested, by far the greater ma
jority has escaped punishment.
It is difficult to understand what motive a
young man would have In yielding to a mad
impulse to give up his military duties and
lead the life of a brigand in a foreign land.
We wonder sometimes what kind of soldiers
these same young men made when they wore
the khaki and fought with the other loyal
troops from the U. S. A. Very little sympa
thy will go out to them In their recklessness.
They have broken a military law and should
be punished.—SPRINGFIELD (O.) DAILY
NEWS (Dem.)
' scientists and fiction writers, it is usually
■ selected as the planet most likely to be paging
the earth. This idea is all wrong, according
to Dr. Abbott.
“Mars,” he states, “is as dry as any desert
in the world. In fact, the Sahara would be
quite damp in comparisph, SJrJth the fields of
Mars. As water is essential to human exist
ence, this precludes the possibility of life
■ there.”
i The dryness of Mars is concluded from the
fact that there are no clouds surrounding it
!to create vapor. That there are no seas or
rivers on the dying planet was long ago de-
i cided by astronomers.
The idea of life on the planet was advo
cated through the discovery of the so-called
canal of Mars, in 1877. Some astronomers
i immediately deduced that the network of
straight lines discovered was a gigantic irriga
tion system by which an ingenious race of
| Martians supplied their fields with moisture
I in a last stand for existence.
| The source of the water supply, according
j to this theory, is the snow and ice fields at
‘ the poles. White circles are plainly visible at
! the poles of Mars at times, but astronomers
1 differ as to their character. Some say that
; they are deposits of frozen carbonic acid gas,
which idea spoils entirely the theory of a
i polar water supply. Others think that the
, white patches may be ice, but even so, there
' may be only a thin skim like frost, for it is
believed that a layer a quarter of an inch
thick would make the surface appear perfect
ly white.
Whether seas of ice form at the poles of
Mars or not, it is difficult to conceive of suffi
cient water being obtained to irrigate six
hundred canals, stretching over thousands of
miles. Imagine canals five or ten miles wide
dug from Boston to Mexico City, and from
i Seattle to Atlanta, and then, with this as a
I scale, imagine 600 such engineering projects,
and you have a vague idea of what you must
believe if you accept the Martian canal
; theory.
While we cannot get a definite view of this
■ mysterious and neglected planet, we know
that it is only two hundred miles less in diam
eter than the earth, and that its temperature
;is similar to our tropics. The cloud blankets
; reflect about seventy per cent of the sun's
! heat and cool the atmosphere, which other
wise would be much too hot for life. The
i clouds indicate water vapor, and therefore
both air and water conditions are favorable.
1 As these are the two main requisites of a
habitable world, Venus is coming to be re
garded as the possible younger sister of our
comparatively middle-aged earth.