The Washington herald., 1921-01-16
men And BUSINESS
; By Richard Spillane

In 1920 there were sixteen trolley
companies thrown nto receivership
against forty-eight the year before
and twenty-nine in 1918. The 1920
record in this respect was the best
in twelve years, with three excep-
tions.
Aside from Denver and Kansas
City companies, those that went
bankrupt were not of much size or
Importance.
There were eleven properties sold
at foreclosure. They had a mileage
of 224 and had s6,1S24OO of stock
and ss,315,52S of bonds outstanding.
This showing was the best in twelve
years.
A significant incident of 1920 was
the abandonment or dismantIing of
sixteen entire properties represented
by 267 miles of track and $6.23ll5c
OF stock and $5,971,57S OF bonds,
The Electric Railway Journal
ascrlbes the Improvement in the
year to two causes. Q) generalfy
good business conditions the coun-
try over, producing larger patron
age OF the roads, and (2) generally
higher fares. Even so. it saws. the
situation is not even moderately
satisfactory and many companies
are running so close to the bank
ruptcy line that it is a question
whether they can survive the bust
ness depression the country, as
whole is now experiencing"
one profession not overcrowded
is dentistry. Charles ]. Pilling. who
ought to know, says it is a fine field
and its opportunities are excellent
he says only twelve to fifteen per
cent of the population of the UnitNd
states are getting the attention their
teeth demand. Not only that. but in
the last year only 500 dentists got
diplomas, while 1000 died.
A good dentist makes a good in
come. The teeth play a very i'm
portant part in our general health.
J. Ellis Barker recently made a
tour of Germany. His findings arc
reported in part editorially in the
New York Tribune:
To my surprise and dismay." he
says, Il found that the people in
general were utterly unacquainted
with the wrongs suffered by the al
lies and with the crimes committed
by the German forces. Assertions
That Germany had begun the war
and carried it on with incredible
oaroarity were received either with
Wlde-eyed surprise or with emphatic
incredulity."
W n oh
ntormed-bankers, lawyers, doctors
and the like-taIked of the war as
forced on Germany by England
Frante and Russia. Germany had
oeen invaded in the midst of peace.
America had come into the struggle
from sordid commercial motives.
These men had apparently Mo
knowledge of the Lichnowsky reve-
lations or others of a similar sort
by their own countrymen. They
mad never heard of the massacres
Of civilians, the bombing of hospit-
ais and similar outbreaks of "Kul-
tur But they protested against
the inhumanity" of the treaty of
Versailles. Mr.. Barker found only
two Germans who were willing to
admit that Germany was wrong,
and they, he adds significantly, were
ostracized by their acquaintances.
This is profoundly serious. If the
Germans do not come to know the
truth about the world war they
Will, in their ignorance and bitter
ness, surely sow the seed for other
wars. Lincoln said: You can fool
some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the
time, but you cannot fool all of the
people all of the time" But all of
the German people will be fooled
Tor all time unless steps are taken
to enlighten them.
Incidentally, the Tribune errs gro
tesquely in saying Barker is. per
haps as well acquainted with the
German people as any one not
German can be-"
Barker is German born. His name
was Elsbacher until he Anglicized
II into Ellis Barker. He was born
in Cologne and educated in the Uni
'Versity of Cologne. He is among
the foremost of living historians.
HIS history of Germany or, rather,
of-the house of Hohenzollern from
the Mark of Brandenburg down to
Kaiser Wilhelm, is a mastery work.
lie knows Germany and he knows
England. He never has received
the recognition in England his great
talent warranted
Possibly 1t was because he was
German born. And yet no one did
more to Inform the people as to the