davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
In CSecho-Slouakiu

Cnhappily, the Paris conference mas
not been able to adopt policy in
meeting this problem. Thus, in The
matter of Czecho-S -Slovakia, it has, with
complete unanimity. disregarded more
ethnic circumstances, where they CON
ficted with economic and strategic cir
cumstances, and thus included several
million Germans and Austro- Ger
mans in the new nation, recognizing,
Justly, that any other arrangement
would carry with it the doom OF the
state they were creating.
The same principle was applied sn
giving 10 Italy the purely German re-
gions south of the Brenner Pass, and
the Slovenian districts east and north
Of Trieste; but, by contrast, the prin-
ciple Of nationality was invoked in
Dalmatia, and the principle Of eco
nomic freedom In the case Of Tiumo.
But it Ia the Rumanian and Polish
problems which are Of most impor~
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
The Proud *Southpaw'

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The attached clipping, declaring
aat man was right-handed as long ago
as the Stone Age, Is taken from your
issue Of to-day.
Regarding "southpaws," I will take
you back some time prior to the Stone
Age and refer you to the Bible, Goth
chapter Of Judges, verses Is ard Is,
which are as follows
"And the children of benjamin. were
numbered at the time our of the cities.
twenty and six thousand men that drew
sword, besides the inhabitants Of
Gibeah, which were numbered seven
hundred chosen men.
Among all this people there were
seven hundred chosen men seft-hauded: :
every one could sling stones at hair
breadth and not miss
The last sentence is bit OF boost for
the "southpaw," and as | have three
year-old boy who insists on using his
left hand when he should use the right
one, think we shall not interfere with
his inclinations. J. c. d.
Morristown, N. j., Nov. 2l, 1919
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
On a Hot Scent

The extraordinary grand jury, ex-
ercising the general inquisitorial
powers grand jury possesses but
seldom uses, ventures to draw little
closer in it's Identification of the
"overshadowing crime" which it has
been trailing.
The locus Of the crime, it would
appear, is somewhere between the
City Hall and the Criminal Courts
Building. The jury declares it has
reasonable grounds for believing
that public officials have been
guilty of willful and corrupt mis-
conduct in Office" and formally re-
quests the Governor to designate the
Attorney General to assist in "a
general investigation Of the munich
pal officers and departments and Of
the Office Of the District Attorney of
New York County,"
Overshadowing curiosity arises as
to the precise nature Of the over
shadowing crime. The air is full Of
rumors. The weighted language Of
the grand jury, the fact that its pre-
sentiment is unanimously signed,
naturally piques interest. What has
been done and who did it? Obviously
a hot scent is being followed, but
whittier? To the office now occupied
by the promoter Of the Black Dia-
mond Company, or does it stop this
side? Is there q side path to River
side Drive?
1t is too early to give anything
like judgment, and suspicion, lively
because of divers queer doings, may
be unjust. That the innocent may
not suffer at the hand of rumor, as
we'll as that the guilty may be un-
covered, the jury's prayer for
speedy assignment Of assistance may
we'll be granted. And the public has
a petition to offer. Is there not some
way to make the investigation q
public one?
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
1he French Tie,n

the French, on the olher hand, see
clearly that unless there IS . strong Po-
land there VIII be no ally in the East
to aid them, as Russia aided them in
1914, il Germany attacks again. Both
the French and the Italians, moreover,
have strong material as we'll as senti-
mental associations with the Rumani-
ans. and deplore politics which will
drive the Rumanians straight into the
arms OF the Germans and transform
them from allies into dangerous enc
mics.
Therefore. stripped OF all unesse1-
tial details, French and italian policy,
which is, necessarily, determined by i'm
mediate Continental considerations,
demands that new states which may be
valuable allies shall be favored al
least within reasonable limits, while
the British and the Americans, hap
PLY free from Continental dangers,
continue to insist that the letter of the
law shall be applied against present
friends who can be potential allies and
in the interests Of recent enemies.
whether Prussian or Bolshevist.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Watchful Waiting

A large number of Americans,
especially as bite in the air warns
that December is nearly here, are
indulging in watchful waiting.
They are watching the diminish
ing contents of their coal bins and
trying to make an estimate of how
soon shovels will begin to scrape
the bottom; they are waiting to
see what leisurely conference at
Washington, which dozes from one
deadlock to another, is going to do.
Three weeks have elapsed since
the coal miners threw down their
picks. Most of them have not yet
picked them up again. The paprika
Of the injunction method has not
greatly stimulated the lifting of
coal, and the honey of fair words
has not induced the miners to trust
the Administration enough to work
while negotiations are in progress.
1t seems not to have occurred to
excellent Dr.. Garfield that so long
as the miners are out Mr.. Lewis
cannot be regarded as commander
in chief who commands and that if
he talks one way his army acts
another. Nor does Secretary Will
son say to Mr.. Lewis: "Whom do
you represent? If the miners, what
are your principals doing and not
doing?"
In September the miners c0nven-
ton gave notice Of purpose to
strike on November /. The Admin
istration watchfully waited. Not
until the newspapers began to sound
the toscin did any one in Washington
apparently know what was threat
ened. The public was assured that
all went well and that a strike could
not possibly occur. 1t did.
Then the wonderful discovery was
made that the way to settle an in
dustrial dispute was to start a law
suit. The Department of Justice
ignited its firecracker. Exhausted
by it's display Of energy, the depart
ment relapsed into torpidity and
since has watchfully waited. 1t
lad "passed the buck" to the De-
rartment of Labor. Why worry?
Watchful preparedness and
watchful foresight, watchful guar
dianship Of the stable door while
the horse is unstolen--these things
are heresies. The true doctrine is
to watchfully wait for a miracle to
occur. 1t is surely the most
extraordinary motto ever adopted
by a group of sentient men, and
diligently followed can be relied
on to make mess of any problem.
In the mean time the plimsoll
line of the coal bins approaches the
danger level. On No vember /
above ground, it was said, was fuel
enough to last 8 month, and three
weeks have elapsed.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Democracy
Well, Not Just Yet. Says Pesslms'ic
Observer of Class Rule.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: Such letters as that of can Amer
lean" arc mildly amusing in their will
full disregard OF the all too painful
fact that class diatinction exists and
that it's lines are rapidly becoming
more and more sharply defined. 1t
should be perfectly apparent to all who
care to see that on the one side we
have the moneyed powers, strongly or
gained; on the other we lnve the Ia
bor unions, likewise strongly organized,
Judging from current events, it would
seem that their interests lio not in
mutually serving the public but in
improving their own condition at the
public expense. If these two factions
essentially, ruthlessly selfish, are not
separate and distinct classes what in
the name of the sacred beard Of Karl
Marx are they?
And who is this public" which SO
magnanimously foots the bills? Some
times known as the common pee-pul, -
sometimes as the ultimate consumer.
he is, for the greater part, that un-
fortunate who has heretofore thought
OF the union as something beneath
him, something all very we'll perhaps,
for the manual laborer, but not becom-
ing TO a gentleman with clean white
hands and an appropriate sense Of his
own dignity And now he speaks of
organizing! Vaguely conscious that
all is not we'll with his world. he
seeks a remedy. What could be more
obvious? Ground down by TWO highly
organized powers because, individually,
he has no rights that they are bound
to respect, he must fight fire with fire.
No matter with which faction he
aligns himself No matter if he holds
aloof from both. The most significant
feature Of his awakening is that he has
at last realized that two men are
stronger than one.
Idealists of "America's" tvpe to the
contrary, we must face the undeniable
fact, however painful it may be, that
as long as the we'll known Golden Rule
remains "in the hole" the cards will
continue to be dealt from the bottom
of the deck. True democracy, with its
absolute equality and its elimination
OF classes, Is quite impossible with
human nature constituted as it is. The
perfect state Of the future will be ar
rived at only by the somewhat tedious
method Of making perfect people.
A rulership OF the moneyed class
perhaps; dictatorship OF the prole-
tarat-maybe; government by the
middle class-possibly, but democracy :
Not just now
THOMAS FINNERTY.
Brooklyn, N. Y, Nov. IS, 1914
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Not Yet Turkey

A truck driver reports to the
police the theft Of bale of tobacco
from his vehicle. He is told to re-
turn to the station house next day.
He does so and is arrested. He is
put into a cell at the station house,
under suspicion Of having committed
the theft himself.
While he is in custody the un-
fortunate man is severely beaten.
He says he was lashed with a
knotted rope, and photographs of
his condition two days later, after
his discharge in court, show his body
frightful mass of bruises. Two
physicians attest to the deep, raw
wounds he suffered, and one says
his hearing is threatened The truck
driver, never convicted Of any
crime, accuses two detectives of
having lashed him in an effort to
wiring a confession from him. He
tells his story to Leonard NJ. Wall
stein, counsel to the Citizens Union,
who makes personal investigation
and becomes convinced that the
driver tells the truth. So Mr..
Wallstein writes District Attor-
ney Swami and Mayor Hylan. Mr..
Swami, after few contcmptuous
words, refers the case to the magis-
trate's court, and the two detectives
are held in bail
Mayor Hylan has made no public
announcement on the subject 1t
is not clear he has even asked
his Police Commissioner to inquire
into the case. Why? There is no
need to await the outcome of the
prosecution of the detectives. The
Police Commissioner should without
delay determine if the two detectives
are to remain in the department.
Any violation Of the law by it's
guardians is bad enough, but when
an innocent mans flesh is torn away
from him as supposed test of
his guilt the last abomination is
reached. Turkish methods as an
aid to baffled police officers are in
tolerable. Had the truck driver
stolen and been found guilty, the
fogging still would be barbarous.
Sentiment within the Police De-
partment is outraged, for the de-
partment is justly jealous Of it's
fine reputation, and the few whose
acts besmirch it face the condem-
nation Of their fellows. The Police
Commissioner should give unmis-
taxable evidence of his own abhor-
renee Of third degree" barbarism.
This is not yet Turkey, and the
Commissioner does not rule vilayet
as pacha.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Wanted. a Government

From The Kansas city st9,J
Our Mexican policy has been vesg
clearly explained by Secretary Lansing'
who, in the illness of his chief. speaks
audibly sometimes. Our position IS that
unless outrages along the Mexican bo'r
der ara directly traceabie to some fsu'f
OF commission CT omission on ihs part
CT the cariauza government We esa
take no action toward adjustment Of
reprisal. This seems to clear The situs'
ton perfectly. We can do nothing bss
cause Mexico hasn't any government
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Attracting Reds"
Poor Salaries Hare Tt7eed
Our Teaching Forces

10 the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: Under "'Reds' IN Schools"
to-day's Tribune, Mr. Nomer GRAY cal
attention to some facts with which
heartily agree, viz, that there are Ger
tain revolutionary individuals WHO ars
so without reference to salary or it,
come. The successful business man ana
the idle rich furnish their fair share Of
extremists, as stated III Dr.. Hornaaava
article in the same issue.
But there IS phase of the salary
connection with the Red propaganda"
that l think was in the minds Of the
Lusk committee, that IS of great i.npor-
tance and which A1r. Gray seems to ie-
more or overlook Fifteen OF twenty
years back tho salaries In tae nigh
schools OF New York Citv enabled an
American 10 live and support MS family
IN the manner usual to him. This Is TO
longer SO, and for the last ten, and stiil
more for the last five, years such men
have not applied for entrance to the
system. except in rare cases Of rnissions
airy zeal for educational WORK.
On the other hand, those whose views
OF lie and government have been dis
torted by the hardest and darkes ccn-
ditions of life in all countries Of tas
world, blinded b. the brightness Of this
New World light, inevitably sac bu-
dimiy the pathway TO the highas- and
best, and in their eagerness for progress
70 the better conditions often follow tho
narrow side paths of those Of hks
cramped vision.
They are earnest, hard-workng feia
lows, whose habits of life enable them
10 have considerable freedom and liberty
on the small income Of a teacher. and
they are willing TO deny and sacriice
IN the future, as they have done IN ths
past, for this ideal. They Hocs o tas
schools and are the only onss a7ailabIs
because Of the deplorable salary condi-
SION There Is, therefore. very direcf
relation between low salaries aud the
increase OF extreme radicals IN the
teaching force Of our schools
The same error seems to have per
verted MIR. Gray's statement about ths
purpose Of the teaches union and ~
organ, The American Teachaf.7 That
they both have been too radica and ex.
IRENE and many other member fully
agree, and regret that SIR Gray and
others Of his earnestness md 'deAls
have not joined the union ard heipedt'
ballast and control its movemenls.
GEORGE DONALDSON.
Grantwood, n J., Nov %, 1919.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
The First "MoUic'
"A Frenchman's Patent Ante.
dating the Edison idea

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: In yesterdays Tribune thers
appeared letter signed by Mr. Frank
L. Dyer, under the caption "Tho First
Movie" in which Mr.. Dyer claimed The
credit for the originating OF the art
of producing moving pictures for M,.
Edison.
SO far as known, the real .rven.o-
Of the moving picture camera vas
Frenchman residing here in New York
whose name was Augussa l.
Prince Dir. LIE Prince applied for
United States patent on this Invention
November 2, 1886, and the patent was
granted TO him January 20, 1893 Mr
Dyer, in his letter which you printed.
quotes a statement made By Mr. Edison
himself, in which he claims 70 have
had the first mere idea Of thia inv4n.
ton some time in 1897. The ae uaf
records in Washington show, therefore
that the lie Prince invention vas iull,
described and claimed in papers fied
IN the Patent Office several months =.
least before Mr.. Edison even thoucb>
about the invention.
Nor was this merely "paper in
vention" on the part Of Mr. Le F-.nce
About year before he made his an.
plication-that IS to say. early fl 1898
or late in 1Ss5-Mr. Le Prince rad com
pleted a camera with which he took
moving pictures, and he had by ira.
time exhibited on a screen pictures o.
bird in fight, at the Deaf and Darh
Asylum, in New York, where he vas .
teacher at the time. have myself
interviewed the widow and the daugh
ter of Mr.. LIE Prince, as well as other
eyewitnesses Of these exhibitions. so I
know what I am talking about. Mr.
LIE Prince continued his experiments
and made such good progress cha.
shortly after fling his application D.
9ers IN this country he went to Eng
land, where he Interested capitalis5s
who backed him up in an anternriso
to take moving pictures Of bul ash-
IN Spain. On his way 70 srain, wi-h
this object in view, Mr Le Pr;sce sua-
denly and mysteriously disappeared.
have myself read his letters 70 his
wife written from England Just be-
fore his start.
Mr. Dyer says that the gist Of the
invention-as opposed to what We.
done before by Muybridge-wss the
taking of many pictures ali from tina
same point of view, just as a scene
might be looked at By the eye" We'll.
this is exactly what was done by the
lie Prince camera. and any one intel-
ested to verify my assertion has only
to send FIVE cents 30 the Comm issione-
of Patents, Washington, y C. and ask
him TO send copy Of patent to lie
Prince, No. 375247.
Fl. s. MACKAYE
New York, Nov. %, 1919.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Nation Building

But underlying claims based upon
history and ethnic considerations lies
Che much broader principle, viewed on
the political, if not on the moral side.
Of nation building. To put it badly: Is
1t the purpose Of the Allied nations.
who control st Paris 10 erect on the
foundations Of recently freed nations
states which will have chance TO en-
dure, which will possess good From
tiers, sound economic resources and
all the other details Of viable state
hood, or merely to attempt separa-
ton into ethnic groups of the crazy
quilt races in Middle and Eastern Fu-
ropel
This question has still another
form: Do the Western, states desire
to erect strong states in the east of
Europe, which shall be barriers against
Boshevism and Germanism alike, or
do they care only for O more or less
academic and purely transitory divi-
sion Of Middle Europe into racial frag-
ments without regard to economic or
strategic considerations?
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
The Jenkins Episode

Being an American consular Off
Ger in Mexico must be classed among
hazardous occupations. This fact is
emphasized in each new recital of
the woes Of William 0. Jenkins, our
consular agent at Puebla.
Mr.. jenkins has been twice kid
naped by Mexican bandits and twice
compelled to pay ransom out OF
his own pocket. His contract with
one of the most flourishing of pres
ent-day Mexican industries cost him
in the neighboThood of 100000. But
worse was yet to come. Since his
second abduction he has been twice
arrested by the Carranza authorities
on the theory that he was in collu-
sion with the local Raisulis and
plotted to be stolen.
The charge of conspiracy is a con-
venient alibi to cover the failure of
the Carranza government to give the
American consular agent in Puebla
a normal degree of protection. The
bandits entered the consular office
and stole United States funds on de-
posit there. According to Mr.. Jen-
kins's statements, they told him that
he had been selected as a victim be-
cause Of his official status. Simple
souls, they believed that he had the
wealth Of the United States Treas
ury back of him.
Our governments attitude toward
the Jenkins melodrama has been
puzzling The State Department left
Its representative to his own devices.
He bought his release with partial
cash payments and personal notes
/ for the balance. 1t was surmiscd
that the department would call on
Carranza to take up the notes and
to refund the cash. But Secretary
Lansing recently explained that no
such step had been taken and that
American officials, as we'll as ordi-
nary Americans living in Mexico.
could expect no greater protection
against lawlessness than was af-
forded by the local authorities to
other foreigners and to Mexican
citizens.
Washington probably would have
regarded the jenkins incident as
closed except for the peculiar
maneuvers of the Carranza govern
ment. Not satisfied with arrestiny
our consular agent on the charge of
kidnapping himself, it rearrested him
on the ground that he had made
threats against the poems who had
conveniently testified to his friendly
relations with the bandit leaders.
The State Department now has pro-
tested against this obvious persecu-
ton and warned Carranza that fur
ther "molestation'fof our consular
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Not d tiidebound American

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: For the dishonorable deed at Wash
ington you must take some of the re-
sponsibiiity AT every opportunity you
straddled the issue, trying to maintain
your standard as 2 partisan newspaper.
with your own belief that in the league
of nations we had the great hope OF
the world, and shat in the treaty
faulty as it was-lay the only method
of stabilzing and feeding broken,
starving Europe through the resump-
tion OF commerce and industry. The
despairing cry Of Jan Smuts this
morning is echoed IN the hearts of every
genuine American not hidebound by ma
tionalism. NJ. E. KNEVELS.
Now York, Nov. 20. 1919.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
Weakened Poland

Yet in the Paris Conference there has
been directed against Poland and
against Rumania most destructive
policy. Rumania has been denied the
right TO acquire the Rumanian dis
tricts which were historically q por-
ton Of Moldavia. until Russia annexed
Bessarabia in 1913, and Poland has
been refused both adequate access to
the sea on the German side and proper
elbow room on the Russian side.
The result has been 70 weaken the
Polish state immensely and to drive
Rumania into open hostility to the
Western Allies and absolute defiance
of the Paris Conference. Poland, seek
vism, and lighting desperately to check
the advance of the "Reds" toward West
ern Europe, has acted as the soldier of
Western civilization; but Western civ
ilization has steadily denied to Po-
land any rewards for the service, and
set its face against any restoration of
historic Poland which could insure a
permanently strong Polish nation.
This policy has been mainly British,
and in it the British have been, in a
measure, supported BY the United
States and strenuously opposed by both
the French and Italians. But in the
case Of Eastern Galicia the United
States haa joined the Continental
states, leaving Lloyd George isolated.
His hostility TO Poland seems TO rest
upon the conviction that Poland will
have to be supported NJ British and
French armies for many years; that
without this aid Poland viii succumb
to German attack at once, and the ap-
parent unwillingness to accept for his
own country any such burden.
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
The Only Success

1t is this fact which underles most
Of the recent crisis, notably, the Ru-
manian, the Polish and the Thracian,
where America stands lone cham
pion OF the Bulgars against the Greeks,
as Britain stands the sole opponent of
the Poles in Eastern Galicia. Only in
Che case Of Czecho-Slovakia has the
Continental policy been applied, with
the results that up to date this is the
only one of the new states which re-
mains grateful and still loyal TO the
liberating nations.
Copyright. 1919, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate)
New-York tribune., 1919-11-22
New Polish Complications
BY Frank II. Simonds

tance at the present moment, and they
stand together. Unless a strong Po~
land is erected, there will be no barrier
between Germany and Russia and no
possible obstacle to German penetra-
ton and exploitation, not alone Of the
economic, but the military resources of
essential to tho preservation of Euro
pean equilibrium and the prohibition OF
new German efforts to reconstruct Nit
teleuropa.