davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The Naval Ratios

The delegates of Japan to the
Washington conference have not
thus far taken tie. public into their
confidence concerning the reasons
impelling them to insist on 10-10-7
naval ratio.
On the basis of population to be
guarded or coast line to be defended
or wealth to be protected the ratio
10-10-6 which the Hughes plan con-
templates overnavies Japan. Great
Britain yields the most, the United
States next and Japan the least.
If the basis adopted is that of the
maintenance of the same relative
strength which has prevailed then
the Hughes plan is once more favor
able to Japan. Japan's naval
strength has not been go per cent of
our own. and has been less than 25
per cent of Great Britain's. The other
naval powers consent to a greater
degree of scrapping than Japan is
asked to consent to.
On the score of what may be called
national nervousness-that is, the
vague fears of the possibility Of at
tack without specifying whence the
attack may come-the sensibilities Of
one nation are Of course as much to
be respected as those of any other.
But if any scheme Of reduction is to
be rationalized then some formula or
ratio must be applied. On every test
Japan is favored if she deems it a
favor to be allowed to have capital
ships.
Finally, remote Japan, with neigh
bors which have no navies, seems to
have no reason to fear attack. Mill
tary and naval experts now say that
it has become practically impossible
to dispatch huge armies across the
seas, subject to attack as they draw
near their destination by bombing
airplanes and by submarines. With
Russia navyless and China without
modern ship and the Philippines
distant thousands Of miles from our
shores Japan has a bulwark of the
value of many battleships.
If Japan has any detailed argu-
ment by which she is able to justify
her objection to the Hughes ratio
she is unfair to herself by failing to
present it.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02

ton conference and leave it barren Of
results.
1t IS unfortunate that few critics
in Congress and at the Navy Depart
ment have sounded a iarring note in
the otherwise unanimous applause with
which the people of the United State
greeted Mr.. Hughes's plan. They ex-
pressed alarms that nobody else shares.
They are frightened because we have
no battle cruisers, no bases in the Pa
cific, etc, etc.l But these unhappy
sponsors for the burdensome and out
of-date 1916 program must be made to
realize that their offspring is dead.
No political or professional wake can
bring it to life again. 1t remains only
to inter it. They can act as pallbear-
ers, shed tears, cover its grave with
fowers-that is all.
II is gratifying to note that the
political element in this cotere of
critics has been silenced during the
last few days. And now it is announced
that ''navy officers have been quietly
advised from Administration circles
that their criticisms Of the proposals
of Secretary Hughes for limitation of
naval armaments will result in repri-
mands if they are continued, and posi-
bly, in more severe disciplinary action"
Those who led the United States into
a false position by a policy of apparent
aggressiveness and frightful wasteful
ness must now surrender tho leadership
to worthier and wiser directors.
There is one more disturbing fac
tor-the torrent of pessimism from
hundreds of frantic writer's who see
dangers everywhere and would lead the
world to join them in veritable night
mare of criticism, fear and distrusti
Verify the pen may be more deadly
than the sword, and ink may be more
poisonous than gas!
These battalions Of gloomy scrib-
blers should be encouraged to "cheer
up" as Admiral Sims says. If they
are frightened tho people are not. OPP
timism is in the saddle at the confer
cnce. The delegates will follow Mr..
Hughes in proving that I'VE have no
questions which mutual good will and
the processes of reason cannot solve"
They will find a just solution ard go
home to report "peace with honor"
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
A Soldiers s Sacrifice

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: 1t does not seem to me that
Colonel Whittlesey's tragic death came
because he was deranged in mind over
the sorrows and horrors of war, past
and present. His arrangement of his
affairs, both personal and official, does
not point to a disordered mind.
To me his death was sacrifice. He
saw the growing Indifference to the
needs Of the boys who survived those
awful months Of war. His death, per
haps, would como as q much needed
shock to spur us all who are left to
make it our duty now, not tomorrow
but now, to look after the lame, blind
halt boys who sacrificed so much that
we might live in comfort.
ALICE BRAINERD.
Bloomfield, N. j., Nov. 80, 1921.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
ny log jam Of the short session


ary log jam Of the short session
broken.
1T Congress should accept a rule
iorhldding amondn.erts increasing
appropriations the S. tuation would
be cased still further. With the Ad-
minlstration assuming complete ac-
countahility for what it spends, Con
gress can hereafter give it's time
more profitably to auditing cxpendi-
ture--a function which belongs logi-
cally to it rather than to the branch
OF the government which asks for
the. appropriations and then spends
them.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The First Budget

The first Federal budget will ap-
pear early next week. 1t has been
long time coming. Perhaps it would
not have come at all but for the enor-
nous war expansion Of Federal ex-
penditure and the resulting demon
stration Of the glaring need of curb
ing extravaganza and rationalizing
our accounting system. When Con-
gress began to pare down Treasury
estimates by the hundreds Of millions
the old method, with its farcical lack
Of coordination, was shaned into
giving up the ghost.
How does the new budget system
work? Formerly the Secretary of
the Treasury gathered up the csti-
mates made by heads of depart
ments and bureaus and passed them
along to Congress. The Secretary
was powerless to change them. In
the last days of the Wilson Admin
istration we had the spectacle Of
Secretary Of the Treasury chiding
Congress for creating deficits when
he himself was submitting to it
grossly inflated demands from the
heads of the War and Navy depart
ments. Virtue as we'll as charity
should begin at home.
Now the Director of the Budget has
been vested with complete authority
and responsibility. 1t is his duty to
wrestle with the Administration
spenders. No department or bureau
chief may consider his own desires
only and let the rest of the company
go hang. He must make his plans
fit in with the policy which the
budget bureau is enforcing. General
Dawes has taught the Washington
bureaucracy a lesson Of solidarity
and conscientiousness in operation
with which no one had ever before
troubled its dreams. Congress has
been acting for several years past as
dogged guardian Of the Treasury.
Now the Administration has a full
grown watch dog Of its own.
General Dawes is working in close
cooperation with Congress. He in
tends to relieve it of a labor which
should not be put upon it. Congress
is a legislative body. 1t ought not
to be obliged to give up so much time
to revising indefensible estimates.
1t has, in fact, remodeled the ma
chinery--in the House of Repre-
sentatives, at least-for dealing with
appropriations. A single appropria-
tions committee will handle all
money measures. Responsibility is
thus centralized both in the Treas
ury and in Congress. The appro-
priation bills will no longer be a bone
OF contention, with Administration
officials arrayed against economy
sentiment at the capital. They can
be passed easily and quickly. Before
long many measures now separate
may be consolidated and the custom
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
Making Germany Pay

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Thank you for the editorials
in this mornings issue "Artifcial Pow.
erty" and "The Soul of a Soldier"
During the war your paper strove
hard to keep before US the big issues
involved and uncovered hypocrisy and
trcachery wherever found. In view of
the present tendency to gloss over Ger
many's responsibility, your articles
this morning are timely and much
needed, "lest we forget" Ambassador
Pages letters, which are now appear
ing in magazine, are most interesting
and also serve as much needed re-
minder Of Germany's undoubted guilt
for which she should be made to pay
to the limit. A. w. It.
Chatham. N. j., Nov. 30, 1921.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
Sailing Stock

In the case of Ottinger VS.. Bennett
the New York courts considered
question closely related to that raised
in the case of the Interborough divi
dends. The issue was whether q d.
rector in corporation could be held
liable by buyer Of stock who as
sumed tho mere declaration Of a
dividend implied that the dividend
had been earned. The opinion of the
Appellate Court, which the Court of
Appeals upheld, said:
"A declaration Of dividend by a
going concern implies earnings from
4oh,ch to pay IT.; and the publication of
the fact Of such declaration is certain
ly calculated to induce the public to
believe that the dividend has been
earned and that the corporation is
prosperous. If, intending the public
to act thereon, the defendants had
made and published report ex-
pressly stating that the dividend had
been earned, there would be no
doubt of their liability to a person
thereby deceived to his injury. The
familiar cases of false prospectuses
need not be cited. Why distinguish
between a false affirmation and an
act calculated to have like effect, the
motive and the result in each case
being the same? Certainly the law
makes no such distinction. We have
had many illustrations in cases be-
fore us of the devices to deceive the
public employed by managing direc-
tors. who misuse their positions to
promote stock speculation, and the
payment of dividends out of capital
is familiar one. When that is done
to induce the public to purchase
shares Of the company and thereby
to create fictitious value upon
which the wrongdoers may trade
they should be held accountable pre-
cisely as though the like deception
had been practiced by actual mis-
statements"
This opinion does not lose in in
terest when the name of it's writer
is noted. 1t is Nathan l.. Miller,
then a judge, but now Governor of
New York.
The Interborough's dividends were
in theory paid out of surplus. But
was there any real surplus.
Whether there was a surplus Or not,
is there evidence that the motive of
the directors was to bolster up
stock speculation? If such was the
case and there was desire to un-
load holdings on gulled purchasers,
was the conspiracy Of such a char
acter as to bring civil or criminal
liability? What do the Interborough
stock books say as to this? But there
is yet no report that these books have
been sent for.
Instead of locking the doors of
rif1ed stables or wasting breath in
vain chasing after the merely scan
dalous, the business world will be
sanitated by the adoption of real
preventive measures.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
beautiful new

Oliver Onions has written a new
book, "The Tower of Oblivion" 1t Is
asking almost too much to expect that
the contents will live up to the excel
lence of the title. And that amt meant
as no slap at Mr.. Onions, neither
Baird Leonard in The Morning Tele-
graph.
Now you'll probably say it amt
meant as no slap at this here depart
ment, neither. But we got sensibilities
Miss L., just like anybody else.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The T'ower

1t is only five months or 80 too late,
SO why not? Must journalism always
be blightcd by tho strain after timcli-
ness? Well, then, why, in that tiresome
Panama Canal scene in George Whites
Scandals last summer, didn't they sing,
to the tune, of course, of "The Left All
Alone Again Blues" panama tolls
make an awful lot o. trouble-Panama
tolls" ETC.?
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The Starving Patent Office
Penurious Policy a Detriment tc
Everybody Concerned

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: I have read with interest your
editorial in to-day's issue entitled
"Thc Starving Patent Office" From
my own experience I can indorse all
that you say in favor of the passage of
the pending bill to increase the
salaries of trained force of scientific
examiners in the Patent Office.
The present delays due to resigna-
tions-for the greater part caused by in
sufficient pay-not only affect the in
terests of inventors, but tend to pref
udice manufacturers desirous of going
into new lines, for the latter possibly
may embark in enterprises in which they
may lose all the capital invested be-
cause of the subsequent grant to their
competitors of patents which turn out
to control their manufacture.
From every point Of view 1t is to
the interest Of the public, of the in
ventors and of those who invest
capital not only to have patents
granted as soon as may be after
they are applied for, but to have the
applications intelligently and thor
oughly examined in order to prevent
the issuance of patents with illegal
claims.
I trust that The Tribune will use it's
influence to secure what amounts to
but bare justice to the Patent Office
force, and thereby confer an indirect
benefit upon the public at large.
DRURY W. COOPER.
New York Dec / 1921
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The Final Eclipse
(rrom Tho Los Angeles Times /,

(From Tho Los Angeles Times)
The picture of the Kaiser has been
finally and definitely removed from the
quarters Of the German embassy in
Washington. William was turned to
the wall some time back, but now he
goes officially to the Junk. Nobody
seems even curious to remember what
he looked like.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
The Shop Crafts Decision

The Federal Railroad Labor
Board is pushing ahead with the
work of restoring normal conditions
in raisroading. 1t has had to repair,
step by step, the economic errors
committed by the Federal railroad
administration. Under government
operation political rather than eco
nomic considerations controlled. Mr..
McAdoo, and his successors created
huge deficits by refusing to increase
rates sufficiently to. meet increased
operating expenses. They kept on
initiating wages and reducing the re-
turn given by labor. They turned
back the roads to private ownership
impaired in revenues and credit and
tied hand and foot by uneconomic
working-condition agreements.
The roads, if they are to survive,
must make ends meet, pay interest ON
their debts and earn the modest divi-
dends to which the transportation
act restricts them. The McAdoo
plan was to run them at loss and
let Congress provide for the credit
ors and the stockholders. The La
Dor Board went along with the Fed
era1 Administration in theory when
it raised wages on July /, 1920. But
since then it has been brought more
directly in contact with the realities
Of the railroad situation. The re-
cent wage cut of IL per cent was
the first move toward the restora-
ton Of the economic balance. Now
comes the second important move
the modification of the extravagant
working-condition agreement i'm
posed on the carriers as the dying
act Of the Federal railroad man
agement.
The amended rules, which went
into effect yesterday, affect the rail-
road shop trades. They do away
with many extravagant limitations
put on the utilization of labor. The
national agreement subdivided work
to q minute extent and forbade
man in one narrow classification to
do anything outside it. Jobs were
multiplied and the cost Of shop op-
Grafton was inflated to such an
extent that many railroads were
driven to have their repairs made
in outside shops. AS an ex-
ample Of unreasonableness, common
laborers were not allowed to break
up old wooden freight cars. Quail
fed carpenters had to be used at
skilled labor rates.
The revised conditions put an end
to such absurdities. They are ex-
pected to save the roads $5O,O0O,-
900 year-a perfectly unneces-
eary burden saddled on traffic. Nom
union minorities with grievances
are also to be entitled to represen-
tation in negotiations with employ
ers, thus establishing an equality
Of status denied under the national
agreement. The goal now aimed at
in railroading is improved service
at more natural cost. Everybody
will benefit from this in the end.
1t is still the practice to assume
that in disputes over railroad wages
and labor conditions the controversy
is between the employees and rail-
road owners. This is misleading.
The collision Of interests is between
railway workers and railway pa
irons. For long time now railway
,.cyners have received only restricted
earnings. 1t follows that increased
operating costs fall on the public,
and, conversely, that it is benefited
by lowered operating costs.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02

the Bah, Baha'ollah and Abdul
BAHIA came upon the scene--nonc,
indeed, save the tcntmaker Of Nisha-
pur, through the medium of Fitz-
Gerald.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
All Our Fault
fFrons The Boston ryamscrss

lFrons The Boston TydnscrJpsj
Germany is quite sure sha could
make all the reparations payments IL
the United States would furnish sll
the money. 1t consequently is per-
fectly plain that If Germany does not
pay the United States is to blame.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02

yeu car purchase merchandise advertised fn THE
1HteUNE with absolute sstet--ter u dissatisfas.
ttea resuHs In ery cass THE TRIBUNE euaren-
sses to pay your uoasy back upon request No red
eaDe. No quihbiina. We make aeod p,cmptty II
the advertiser does net.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
Optimism at the Conference
All Obstacles VIII Be Overcome -Pessin7isn Silenced:
Success Assured
By Quarterback

Gle. Strictly European problems may
be discussed and then left to be set
tied by future conference of all the
nations interested. Many of them are
not represented in Washington to-day.
Viviani, who succeeds BRAND at the
conference, declares: 81 am sure that
for all great problems we shall be to-
gether."
Marshal Foch, at St. Paul, said:
mo one desires as much as France
that disarmament may become real
ity. earnestly hope to see disarma-
ment on land and sea as soon as that
may be possible" France will be with
the United States.
The statesmen, generals and ad-
mirals of Italy, as we'll as the people,
have strongly expressed approval of
the general principles Of Mr.. Hughes's
plan. The question of sea power in
the Mediterranean and the relations
of Italy, France and Great Britain with
one another are not for settlement by
this conference.
Japdn's altitude
Japan is decidedly in favor Of limi-
tatlon Of armament. She will not
force the retention of the Mutsu as a
condition of her acceptance Of Mr..
Hughes's plan. To do so would sub
ject her to severe criticism, if not sus-
picion. China, Corea, Siberia and Rus
sla have no Davies! Against whom
then, is it necessary for Japan to
build and maintain a formidable and
burdensome navy?
The United States does not menace
Japan. The demand that we shall dis
mantle our Notifications" in the Pa
cific is unnecessary. In the first place
these Notifications are weak and neg
ligible. They are not aggressive. They
cannot move. They, in truth, defend
nothing! A fort is like a battleship
that is moored head and stern. 1t is
as helpless as the Ostfriesland against
air attack-and it would quickly and
| inevitably meet the same fate. Sure
ly the statesmen and military experts
of Japan must realize that forts can
no longer defend a feet at anchor nor
can they resist attack from air forces!
They are not protected by armor over
head! Money spent upon them is in
| large measure wasted.
Shidehara and Kato
The most recent utterances Of Jan
anese statesmen and admirals dis
tinctly favor peace with the United
States and limitation of armament as
consequence.
! Ambassador Shidehara declares that
the three great naval powers can dis
arm because "none of the real inter
ests of one conflict vitality with the
other"
Admiral Kato exclaims: "Civiliza-
tion must end armament or armament
will end civilization"
1t is interesting to note that this
declaration of Admiral Kato is almost
word for word in harmony with the
sentiments previously expressed by
General Pershing and General Bliss,
of the United States Army.
Reviewing the utterances of respon-
sible statesmen and delegates, we find
overwhelming support for the Ameri.
can plan. The nations Of the world
hate war and long for peace. The peo-
pie of every country will condemn
those who would disrupt the Washing,
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The editorial which appears in
your paper this morning, entitled "The
Starving Patent Office" is timely and
hits the nail on the head. Tho facts
are even worse than you represent
them to be. There has been no sub
stantial increase in the salaries paid
to Patent Office examiners during the
last seventy years. The actual in
crease is only about 10 per cent.
In that time the Patent Office has not
been a public expense, but it is, on the
contrary, the ono department Of the
government which is operated at a
profit. 1t has to-day a credit balance
in the Treasury Of over $8,OOO,00O. 1t
is being starved by Congress because
it affords an opening to trained and
technically educated men only, and not
to political hangers-on.
J. EDGAR BULL.
New York, Dec. /, 1921.
New-York tribune., 1921-12-02
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