The Monticellonian., 1919-08-15
Bv EDWARD 3. CLARK.

I'd BY EDWARD 3. CLARK.
81 WashingtOn.-Was the CAPT
81 raj Of the United States. has been the
II scene of race riots While this city
# has been looked to in sense as the
" pulplt of peace for all people. its own
M citizens have been at one another's
ID throats. 1t is possible that Mexico
# and some of the far eastern countries
n will look at the spectacle with some
VI thing like ironic amusement.
n Scores of reasons have been adj
# yanced for the outbreak None of
III them seems exactly to fit the case but
III perhaps the sanest one is that the
II nerves of all the people are on edge,
n and that il has taken only II little
u noise to send them beyond control
u The riots began on Sunday night
u when the only weapons used were
N fists Comparatively little harm was
q done Some soldiers took part in the
initial disturbances, but discipline
soon took them out of the field The
II train had been fired. however, and
even in the face of military and police
authority men and women battled In
II the streets and alleys and even in
the houses Of this town which usually
is II place of steady habits.
There are men in Washington WHO
are in a position to trace the effects
to their causes who say that the re-
sentiment of the people against what
they have called too drastic punish.
ments for military and civil offenses
during the war has had its natural
result
The men who hold to this view say
that soldiers and civilians have been
led to believe that because of the tenn
Il per Of the people toward what they
1 call excessive punShments, some of
Il the soldiers of the service and some
civilians thought that hereafter only
light punishments would be meted out
for heavy otfenses. and that this feel
ing has made men willing 10 engage
In riots of the kind which have oc-
cured in the capital of the country.
Probably Due to Nerves"
There may be something in this. but
contact with the soldiers in the Amer
lean expeditlonary forces and with
those already returned to this country,
/ and also with the war workers in this
city. leads one to think that the real
cause of the trouble is SuperSenSitiye
nerves made SO by war conditions
which have produced an unnatural
atmosphere, and in which the soldiers
and civilians have been forced to live.
On the first night of the trouble
some men in uniform took part in
the disturbance. but military discipline
soon prevailed and the men who were
violating the law became later fore
most in attempts to uphold it, Under
the guidance and control of their of
ttcers they did fine work. The main
difficulty of the whole situation arose
from the fact that in the absence of
martial law under which citizens could
be kept in their homes. crowds of ctl-
roSity seekers numbering thousands
sought the scenes of trouble and be-
came the means of further disturb
anceS. Many entirely innocent per
4
1ured during the continuance of the
rioting. If these people had stayed ut
home the riots would have been re-
duced to minimum and probably
nothing would have happened after
the first nights occurrence.
No Chance for Adjournment.
The prospect is for continuous SEES
sion of congress until late in the sum
mer of 1920. Both Republicans and
Democrats in house and senate declare
freely enough that there seems to be
no chance to get away
OF course the present session must
end on the first Monday in next De
eember, but as another session then
will begin, the two In sense will
merge into one. This thing has hap
pened before.
What is the reason for the predic
tlon in legislative circles of one long,
driving session? There is not one rea
son, but multiplicity of them which
nave come together to make the pros
pect for a continuous session bright,
or black, as one chooses to view it.
The senate committee ON foreign re-
latlonS still has in its keeping the
covenant of the League of Nations.
The committee intends to study every
feature of the document down to the
mnnteSt item before rendering its re-
port To the senate
Debate May Last All Summer.
No one knows how long il will take
10 debate the covenant to finish on
Ve floor Of the senate. Some of the
leaders have said that snow will fly
Gefore the end looms in sight. Others
express the hope that the people will
rake their feelings in the matter felt
s" strongly one way or the other that
an earlier result may he reached. II
can be said however. that the major
lty of the senators. whether they are
for the league or against it, seem to
be convinced that they have a long
debating struggle ahead of them and
this feeling seems to be shared by the
administration, If one may Judge by
what its advisers say.
Another reason for the belief that