davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1919-07-20
CHAPTER VIII.
Belgium.

Belgium is the most thickly popu-
lated country in Europe. Its low lying
fertile fields are cultivated like gar
dehs, its country roads dotted with
houses until they look like village
streets, and over large section of the
country one is never out of sight of a
village or a city.
The Germans did horrible material
harm TO Belgium, harm that went be-
yond all military necessity, some OF II
seemingly done in madness in the
early days when Liege, Louvain and
Dinant were destroyed. Toward the
end of the war theirs was a destruc-
ton of Machiavellian cunning, a de-
struction designed purely to prevent
what might be left OF Belgian indus
tries from coming into early competi-
ton with German production.
The harm that was done in Belgium
was by no means entirely material; a
harm was done to the moral fibre OF
her people. Four and a half years OF
life in a territory occupied by such an
enemy, an enemy no ruthless in the
early days OF the war, was designed to
strike terror into every Belgian heart
Four and half years under such oc-
cupation, with the whole normal indus
trial life disorganized, when the Ques-
ton OF securing somehow ones daily
bread was the paramount question
and the bread was not to be secured ir
the sweat OF the brow but only BY
! doles and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. that sit
uation has been borne by people FOL
80 long a time an impression Of it will
be left that no terms that could b,
written into an armistice will remove
SO It is not surprising to find an ali
normal social situation in Belgium
! And still an observer who looked onl!
at the surface OF things would sec vel
titled fields, and cities presenting
| normal external appearance.
One could visit Brussels, Chen
Bruges or Antwerp and be pardone
II he left Belgium convinced that tn
war had left no mark and the countr
The sun., 1919-07-20

at the Spanish capital is more brilliant
than at any other court in Europe.
The shops of The cities contain every
thing for which there has been room
on overladen ocean tonnage to bring.
There are some fundamental de-
fects that stand out sharply 70 any
one making a study OF Spanish con-
ditions. Many of the problems that
other nations have in part, al least,
long ago solved are fresh and acute
in Spain to-day. The Government in
some particulars is bad and in many
ways inefficient. There still exists a
privileged class of mobiles, living for
pleasure and blind to the responsible
ties OF their position. Great land hold
| ings leave large sections OF agricul-
tural population little better than old
| time serfs. The level of wages is
/ the lowest wage scale existing in any
country IN Europe that l visited. The
common laborer in the cities receives
about 31s pesetas a day, about 70
cents. The wages OF agricultural
Iaborers are still lower while the in
dustrial wage scale is such that grave
Industrial unrest is inevitable.
Unrest In Catalonia.
Spanish industry in the main IL con-
fined to Barcelona and Bilbao. BARGE
Iona is historically turbulent. The
Province OF Catalonia, OF which BARGE
Iona Is the capital, Is inhabited by a
race that has chronological variation
from the general Spanish type. These
people speak a language OF their own
and think and act differently from the
other people of Spain. Politically,
Barcelona presents to Spain some
thing OF the same problem that ireland
does to Great BritaiA Their aspira-
ton Is for at least a modified home
rule, and the answer of the Cortes Il
that invariably has been measures OF
stern repression.
So there Is a political foundation foi
unrest in Catalonia that Is not fount
in any other province, but there Il
also a social phenomenon there far
more interesting and significant thar
anything that has its root in politica
differences. Barcelona Is the grea
manufacturing centre of Spain for al
most everything except iron, and {
!, great percentage of its population Fl
made up OF wage workers. The pro
. vincial characteristics of the Gaia
lonians their independence. their dis
. regard for authority. their progressive
ness, have all found play in creating
I what to me was the most menacing
, the most extraordinary. the most terri
) flying organization with which / hav,
ever come In contact. This population
. OF workers is dominated by Syndical
; lists, and in Barcelona learned TO
3 the first time. what Syndicalisn
,. really Ia.
= AS there exemplified Syndicalisn
= proposes no compromise with tn
Q present order Of society. 1t Is Boil
' shevik in its aspirations and 1t
. methods. 1t refuses to accept tn
present capitalistic organization OF so
e ciety and Is determined to overthrow
the present social order completely Il
order that 1t may build a socialist
n State on the ruins OF the capitalist
n State.
: Its method Of accomplishing this
!. through the agency OF a syndicate
q an organization which might In. on
The sun., 1919-07-20

vast population in Roman days where
now there are but villages, it is evil
dent that the land and the mines
yielded so amply that Spain might
well have been looked upon, as ii was,
as the favorite post of tax gathering
consuls.
| / was told by authorities whom !
am bound to believe that Spain has
the richest undeveloped resources to
be found anywhere in Europe; and il
was obvious that better agricultural
methods would further increase what
is already a very large agricultural
production. The conservatism of the
Church on the one hand and the ra-
pacity OF the mobiles on the other have
held back the undermining OF Spain
so that outside OF the principal cities
one feels as IL he had been transported
back into the social atmosphere OF a
century or two ago.
Spain has been blessed with an In
telligent monarch. Everywhere ]
heard good words said of Alfonso
XIII. I had the interesting experience
OF an hours conversation. with him
a conversation hampered by no cere-
monies of royal dignity. We talked
lover Spanish and European conditions
with the same freedom that one might
have talked with any intelligent
statesman or. ! think I would rather
say, with an intelligent business man
for his Majesty showed knowledge
OF business conditions, indeed a tech.
meal grasp OF questions OF exchange
and an understanding OF the principles
lnN ~
statesmen would be quite innocent Of
The King Is immensely popular with
the army but has to handle one of tho
most chaotic. turbulent and compiler
political parties to be found any
where.
Tests AIfonso's AstuteneN,
The fall of a Ministry in Spain II
but a summer days event, but now thu
process of forming coalition Ministries
has reached the limit Of even Alton
, SOS astuteness When Maun, VIII
was called upon to form n Ministr!
, following the fall OF the Romanone
, Government, was unable successful!
, to do this a general election was or
dered TO be held early In June.
| To-day Spain Is not only rich In nat
ural resources but rich in available
liquid capital; but her capitalists ar,
D not adventurous. They do not care L
I take the chance OF business or indus
trial investments, knowing perhaps to-
well the difficulties that enterpris
must encounter with Government cir
g cles on one side and underpaid. dis
n satisfied labor on the other. There ar
I in Spain the resources OF people, o
= agriculture and OF minerals to max
!. the country blossom with an era o
S great internal development and pros
perity.
The sun., 1919-07-20
By FRANK A. VANDERBILT.
CHAPTER XII.
Spain.


f1EttE lS Il corner OIL Europe,
cut off by the Pyrenees from
= a mixture of race or close
intercourse with other peoples. which
has been wholly outside most of the
baleful effects of the swar and which
stands to-day in a unique situation, a
position quite unlike that OF any other
European nation For century Spain
has lived her life much to herself.
Her great world ambitions were long
ago forgotten. The brief sway of Ma
poleonic influence made no lasting i'm
press and gradually she has relin-
pushed her unhappy grasp of far flung
colonial possessions ...
The great war brought 10 Spain al
most nothing but profit. She had an
unlimited market at very high prices
foreverything that She could spare. She
was outside the iron ring that closed
inrwith crushing pressure on Holland
and the Scandinavian countries at the
same time that II shut in the Central
Powers The result has been an era
Of material prosperity such as has had
no Counterpart in Spanish history in
comparatively little that 1t was possible
for her to buy because OF lack Of sup
plies and particularly because OF lack
OF transportation for those supplies,
she has been frugal in spite OF herself,
while- the warning nations have poured
into her lap golden treasure In eX-
change for what she could give them
The result is that there lie in the
vaults OF the Bank Of Spain in Madrid
great pyramids OF bricks OF gold and
long rows of sacked sovereigns and
eagles. There Is now piled in that
vault gold to a value OF $440, 0O0.0
more gold probably than Spain had
within her boundaries even in the days
when Spanish enterprise venturec
forth to- the Eldorado OF the newly
found Western Hemisphere.
Treasure CrudeIy Guarded.
In passing. it might be interesting
30 note that this great store OF gold
does not lie within doors OF armoi
plate, guarded by time locks such al
are commonly used to guard compar'
atiVely trifiing reserves in many ar
American bank building. I was taker
down TO the bullion vaults OF the Banl
OF Spain accompanied by four elderl,
guardians, each carrying massiv,
key. These four keys were stimuli
taneously inserted through the ancien
escutcheons and door which would
amuse some OF my Sing Sing neigh
bors IL they could note the ease will
which they might. unaided by an!
keys, pass through II was thrown
open on a view OF these piled masse
of gold.
The period Of prosperity which tn
war has brought to Spain has alread
been long enough TO stamp a visibl
impress upon the whole country
Fields hago been brought into agricul
turai activity that had long lain fal
low. One sees miles OF new, DIV
srchards planted With baby trees. no'
NO or three years old. intersperse
between groves OF olives. grown so oil
that their youth runs back to the tim
when Napoleon's ambitions for worl
domination were shattered.
More new building Is going on 1
any one OF half dozen cities in spai
Than elsewhere on the whole Cont!
nent Of Europe. Easily the finest he
tsl IN Europe Is in Madrid, Social III
The sun., 1919-07-20

quaintance in overalls at work in a
machine shop in Barcelona. obviously
there for the sole purpose Of dissent
mating German propaganda of unrest.
Five Russians had recently landed
at Barcelona saying they had been
shipwrecked and presenting every APP
pearance OF extreme poverty and dis
tress. 1t was discovered that they had
under their clothing a complete lining
Of Spanish pesetas. ! was told the
examination Of branch Of a German
bank located In Barcelona disclosed
payments of 100000 pesetas to the
Syndicalist representatives, and at the
time / was there the manager OF this
bank was presumed TO be in Govern
ment custody.
Governor Quits His Post.
The day after | left, the civil Gov
ernor, obedient to threats of assassi-
nation within twelve hours, threw up
his post and went 20 Madrid. One OF
the results was the fall of the Roma
nones Ministry. The day before that
/ had had a long talk with the Gov
ernor. and he had impressed me as q
man OF great force OF character with
sound, though perhaps not very lib
eral, views regarding social conditions
Opposed to this mysterious orRani'
zation Of workmen, there II growing
| up what he would term Vigilante'
| but what is called in Catalonia Som
atan. This Is now said to embrace
| 40. 900 citizens who are banded to-
gether to fight the sort of domination
the Syndicate stands for.
In Bilboa, the great Industrial iror
centre, there has been no outward
evidence Of much progress in the sor
of organization which has grown III
in Barcelona. In some OF the agri
cultural districts the Syndlcalists' pro
gramme has been propalgated an'
there have been some strikes time,
for critical moments in the agricul
tural seasons. But on the whole tn
agricultural phase of the Syndical
list movement did not appear to be IA
enough advanced to cause much ap
prehension,
In all OF Spain outside of Cataloni
there is an enormously potent infiu
III lhO
Visiting a Spanish cathedral. com
pared with a visit to cathedrals !,
other countries, showed an interestln
difference The Spanish cathedral wa
in every case what might be terme
an active, going concern. The dee
hold which the Church has on tn
people could be seen here. Nowher
did the churches seem merely monu
ments to something in the past, bu
rather the superb housing Of livini
ective, potent influence.
Europe nowhere presented a NOR
interesting field than Spain to watc
the play Of modern forces IN their re
action upon OLD World conditions
Spain is a storehouse OF natural .iche
have so often had travellers tell n
that Spain was but a poverty stricke
! country offering but the meagre'
returns from a poor soil to hard
working. ignorant peasant population
I cannot believe that such observer
have seen the true facts, and whe
one finds that there were cities
The sun., 1919-07-20
Vaults Are Piled
High With Gold,
Agriculture Ex-
pand S, Buildings
Spring Up, but
Politics and Syn
dicalism Hamper
Development
What Happened to Europe.

THIS is the. third of five in
staiments of "What Happened to
Europe" written by Frank A.
Vanderbilt. who recently resigned
as president of the National City
Bank and has long been recog-
nized. as one of the leading fnan-
ciers of the country. His account
of Industrial, social aud financial
. conditions overseas is based on a
three months personal and ex-
haustive investigation.
The sun., 1919-07-20

CoAtinusd on SistA PaoA
The sun., 1919-07-20

sense be described as Universal
Trade Union. Unlike the union, how
ever, the directing force Is Swallowed
in mystery. Somewhere back IN II
| there is presumably head or = com
mittee, but who composes that direct
ing force is kept n secret from even
the active workers in the organiza-
| ton. The method OF communication
is all by groups Of twos. Starting
with the central organization, what
ever IT is. 1t Is presumed that each
member has direct relationship with
two other members in the organiZa.
ton. In turn, each of these other
members has direct contact with two
additional members and so on in arith.
metical progression. This series has
been traced back by secret agents Of
the Government through fourteen diff
ferent strata and still the real leaders
have not been reached.
General strikes are called merely as
a sort of organization gymnastics
without any demands being made and
with no one put forward with whom
negotiation might he made TO end the
strike Such a strike may last day
riously as work stopped 1t will be re-
sumed. All this is done to impress
the public and to train the organiZa-
ten.
One OF the latest phases has been
! the censorship Of newspapers. The
newspapers were told they must sub.
init all proofs before publication and
that II they published anything I'M
authorized they would be fined. Tive
papers were fined 5000 pesetas eact
for printing official orders issued By
the Government. If they did not pay
the fine 30 levied. they were told
, their presses would be mysterlouslN
, destroyed. Even II they did pay thu
fine, as happened in one case. their
still was no relinquishing OF the Sc
verify OF the censorship. The result
| was that every paper in Barcelon,
: ceased publication and for fifteen day
prior to the time was there not ,
single paper had been printed and tn,
| only news OF the world which the tow
[ had came twenty-four hours old II
: the Madrid papers. Those papers. OF
, the other hand, were Government cen
4 sored, and as a news centre BARGE
: Iona did not present a brilliant front.
syndicaIist Methods.
The essence OF the Syndicallst meth
? DDS as exhibited in Barcelona is as
sassination. Up to the time wa
there there had been 70 employers O
Q industrial foremen mysteriously slair
, Not a single conviction had followe
this great number of murders. Usu
r ally. even no arrests were made,
a they were. witnesses and juries wer
terrorized. Judges were threatened an
/, justice totally miscarried.
q There Was clear evidence that tn
: Syndicate was receiving monetary al
q from Russian Bolshevists and fror
a German Socialists. The head Of a grea
: Industrial organization, an America
y who had formerly been a resident q
n Mexico, told me that In Mexico he ha
= known a German who was there
O man Of wealth and an organizer G
enterprises. particularly OF one whic
s for a time cut large figure in Ne
), York speculative circles Ny Amer
Q can friend discovered this German &C
The sun., 1919-07-20
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 1ZyMXIlWIX2XN1yI


was ready to go on with its national
life from the point where il was in
terrupted in 1914. That being so,
Americans must be warned against
accepting reports of their Countrymen
indicating normal state of affairs in
Europe. even though man may say
he believes what he sees with his own
eyes, and the things that his own eyes
actually see are apparently normal
occurrences OF ordinary life
Belgium has a population of $780,
900. l do not know what statistics
would give as the number Of industrial
workers prior to the war, but at a
guess, out of this population the in
dustrial workers would not have num-
bered much over n million. To-day
the Government of Belgium is paying
weekly unemployment dOles to more
than 100000 workers This is a fair
indication OF what has happened to
one OF the most industrious peoples in
the world.
But 1 do not think that this tells
the whole story. Outside of the few
cotton mills in Client. broadly speak
ing one might say that the industry
| OI beISluIl mas Ctdstu. VI
! the destruction has been so complete
| that It will be impossible to restart in
| dustry in anything like its full mo-
mentum for at least three years, il
there were not a single financial or
political obstacle in the way. Build
| ings In many cases must first be
torn down that they may be rebuilt
for they are shattered beyond use
fulness and cucumber the ground,
Machinery Is in every state OF
wreckage A very large part of II is
either completely wrecked or has dis
appeared into German factories
Practically none OF this stolen ma
chinery is worth transporting, for il
has been none too carefully used, anC
by the time it is reinstalled 1t would
be in such a condition that the factory
equipped with II would be hopelesslI
handicapped from the first blowing o.
its whistle.
Easy" Optimism.
Prior to the war. Belgium, to al
even greater degree than England
existed as a great factory community
importing most OF its raw material
exporting great amounts OF finished
goods and paying for imported foo'
ny the earnings OF its industries BEL
gian imports of foodstuffs had an aver
age value of $2OC,00OoO0 a year dur
ing the years directly preceding tn
war. The same amount of food woul,
probably now cost nearly double tina
sum in dollars, while the dollar, whicl
cost approximately Ave francs in tn
international exchanges OF the norma
prc-war days. now costs about 81,
francs and half The future relation
. Of the frame 10 the dollar no one woul
quite venture to predict. That rela
ton marks the inability 10 balance i'm
/ port needs with export capacity. Tn
future of the franc is not bright.
+, An easy optimism Is apt to answe
4 to this and to similar cases all owe
e Europe that it will all come right 4
Y time. the factories will eventual
The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-03-07
SIGN TALK FOR BOY SCOUTS.

Ernest Thompson Seton describes
his new book "Sign Talk" as "a uni
versal signal code without apparatus,
for use In the army, navy, camping,
hunting and daily life"
= Besides giving 1,200 signs In use
among the Plains Indians, Mr.. Seton
adds some of those used by the deaf
in Europe and America. and also
great many that all Of us use In every
day life, often without realizing 1t.
The American Plains Indian is un-
doubtedly the best sign talker the
world knows today. Mr.. Seton car
ried his manuscript from one Indian
tribe to another, seeking always the
best sign takers among them, verify
ing his work and collecting new signs.
always from first hand sources. Mr..
Seton further interprets the sign talk
with seven hundred drawings from his
own pen. General Hugh L. Scott
helped in the work Of compilation.
The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-03-07
DAN BEARD TO THE SCOUTS.

President Wilson has told the boy
scouts to locate all the black walnut
trees and also to save all the peach
stones and nut shells we can, says
Scout Commissioner Dan Beard. That
is easy, but look here, boys, don't for
get what the chief told you about
planting nuts. November Is the time
to plant walnuts, hickory nuts and
butternuts.
Let us emulate the example of dear
old Johnny Appleseed, the old pioneer
who planted apple trees all through
the western wilderness of the Ohio
valley. Johnny has monuments stand
ing to him still in SOME Of the apple
trees which he planted good many
years ago.
We will have monuments standing
for us in magnificent big black wal
nut trees, hickory nut trees and but
ternut trees which we are thoughtful
enough to plant this autumn before
all the big walnut trees are cut down
and the plant exterminated in order
to furnish gun stocks and propellers
for our flying machines.
Don't forget now, boys, each scout
should plant ut least five black wal
nuts.
The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-03-07
BELGIAN SCOUTS REBUILDING.

The Boy Scouts Of Belgium are
working to help rebuild their stricken
homes and cities. Robert Lutens, Sec
retary of the Belgian Boy Scouts or
ganization, who reached an Atlantic
port on q British liner, brought the
story.
"There were 5000 Of the boys in our
organization just before the war;" he
said. "Many were killed brutally by
the Germans In that CHASTITY first
month.
"They were shot down when they
served as stretcher bearers, and they
were shot on other occasions without
the slightest provocation. We have
got the survivors together and they
are trained for the reconstruction
work."
The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-03-07
CANCER HAS VARIOUS ORIGIN
Peculiar Customs, II Has Been Proved,
Are Frequently Cause Of Terri
ribie Disease.

In parts Of China where tile head Is
shaved by public BARRIERS the razors
used are often dull and full Of hicks,
and the irritation Of this scraping
often causes cancer. Chinese men suf-
fer from cancer Of the pharynx and
esophaghs due to their habit Of eat
ing very hot rice, which Is thrown into
the mouth forcibly with chop sticks.
Chinese women eat after their lords
and masters, when the rice is cold.
and they never have this kind of can
Ger. In India much cancer is caused
by the chewing of betcl nuts. In
Kurdistan, India, the natives wear
baskets filed with hot Goals across
their abdomens to protect them from
the cold. and more than so per cent
of all the cancer In that region forms
In the abdomen and groin, while in other
countries such cancers are very rare
Major w. J. Mayo, war department lee
lures.
The L'Anse sentinel., 1919-03-07
Sold Everywhere.
conquers ttia shyness.

A certain surgeon, who was very
young and rather shy. was invited to
dinner by lady. who was at least
fifty, but frivolous enough for twenty.
She imagined herself very clever
when making rude remarks. At din
ner she asked the young surgeon to
carve fowl and, not having done so
before, he failed lamentably. Instead
of trying to cover his confusion, the
hostess called attention to 1t pointed
ly by looking down the table, and say
ing loudly:
well, you may be n clever surgeon,
but IL wanted n leg Off should not
come to you to do it."
"No, madam" he replied politely, "but
then, you see, you are not chicken"
STRAY Stories.