The Washington times., 1920-10-20
Today
Perfect Letter Writers.
The Word "TriIlIon." 4
McSwiney's MemRy.i'
And the School Children.
BY ARTHUR BRISBANE.
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by Arthur BRISBANE
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= IAtsrssting reading In the letter
7. from Mr. Wilson. now In the
White House. AID the letter in re-
ply from Mr.. Harding. who win
be in the White Hesss Asxt
March.
Mr.. Wilson says: "WAat do
you mean, you, q private citi-
zen. by negotiating with the
French government.
Mr.. Harding replies: II didn't
negotiate with the French govern
msnt, and am not a private citi-
zen. am on the Foreign ksis-
tions Committee of the United
States Senate. and I'll soon be
holding your job"
The "kick" to Senator Harding's
answer comes in this part Of his
letter:
Official France would never
seek to appeal, over your high Of
fee Of our Chief Executive, to
the American people or any por-
ton thereof"
That's a reminder Of the many
speeches, appeals and promises
that President Wilson sddressed
directlv to the peoples Of Europe
over the heads of their govern
ments. ~
Mr.. Harding might have re-
piled to President Wilson: "You
thought you had the right to de-
liver this country to Europe, body,
boots and RICHES, without the
consent Of the Senate and in de-
fiance of the Constitution which
gives you INDIVIDUALLY no
power to make treaties. And you
boasted Of tying up the League Of
Nations and Peace so 'inextri-
cably' that the country couldn't
have one without the other. There
for, don't be so fussy."
Now, the word "trillion." Com
mon enough in astronomy, it
makes its first bow in finance in
the current number of the Amer
lean Economist.
Men used to gasp fifty years
ago at mention Of q million. The
war taught us to think in billions.
"Trillion" is new. Its use In the
American Economist occurs as fol-
lows:
I'VE have forty millisn wage
s1,5OO q year. That means annual
wages to our working men and
women of sixty billion dollars.
Sixty billion dollars Is per
cent of trillion dollars. That is
labor's capital. 1t il -four times
our national wealth, or what IL
knowh - the eapitshst's caSital."
A. C. Marks, jr., able young
editor of The Washington Times,
calls attention to the trillion de-
but. 1t is, however, only = baby
trillion, one Thousand billions. not
the big English trillion.
Some near-sighted and ignorant
think that sixty thousand millions
year is too much to spend for
labor. They ought to know that
to the Nation what labor earns is
the same as water and fertilizer
supplied to the farm. Only fool
ish. farmer would grudge water
and fertilizer to his fields.
If you want to know what low
wages mean. try to make a fortune
in China. You will hire men for
ten cents day, but you won't
make fortune.
A horrible story is told the po-
lice of man who beat his wife
into unconsciousness, then buried
her alive.
Dreadful as it is, the accusation
is interesting because of the hor-
ror it arouses. Only little while
ago burial alive was a compara-
lively mild punishment, not un-
usual.
Lord Mayor McSwiney, cour-
aeeous man, slowly dying for the
cause in which he believes, has
struggled against death by star
vation for sixty-eight days.
The Pope has referred to COM
mittee of cardinals the question as
to the nature of McSwiney's death.
If declared a suicide, according to
Father Vaughan, brother of the
English cardinal, McSwiney could
not receive the last rites Of the
church.
1t seams safe to assume that the
cardinals will decide in his favor,
especially as he could not now live
even IL he consented to eat.
In the founder of Christianity
MeSwiney finds his precedent.
Christ died, voluntarily. He could
at any time, by the exercise of His
all-povsrful will, have avoided
death. His Father would have
sent a legion of angels at His re-