The Holly chieftain., 1922-04-06


number necessary according to the es-
Inmates Of the departments experts,
and which would force out Of commits
sion many craft that are positively
needed. 1t Is not likely, however, that
this crippling program will succeed,
because the "big navy men of the
house are prepared to combat 1t, the
majority leaders In the senate declare
they will not stand for 1t, and Presi-
dent Harding probably would veto the
appropriation bill If 1t came up to him
In that shape. When the bill Is re-
ported to the house this week, accord
ing to the plan, Rogers of Massachu-
sets will offer an amendment placing
the minimum strength at $4,000. II
this fails, as 1t likely will, Macarthur
Of Oregon will propose $4,000 as the
minimum.
MO LESS than the navy men, the
! army men are exercised over the
tendency toward what they believe to
be false and dangerous economy
shown by many members Of congress.
The house passed an army appropria-
tion bill which limits the army to 49,
600 enlisted men and 10000 officers.
General Pershing, chief Of staff, and
General Harbord, deputy chief, assert
ed such reduction would introduce
an unwarranted element Of danger In
our plan Of national defense" and that
an army Of 10000 men and 1900
officers is absolutely essential to the
nations needs at this time. At first
the bill carried a provision limiting
the Presidents right to determine the
size Of garrisons in the Hawaiian is
lands and the Panama Canal Zone.
This was eliminated when Anthony Of
Kansas said he had the promise Of
the War department to reduce those
garrisons, but Secretary Weeks indig-
nantly declared that he not only had
made no such promise but had no In
tention Of making the reductions.
General Pershing says the Hawaii and
Panama garrisons cannot be cut down
without violating the soundest princi-
pies Of security,
A S PASSED by the house, the army
"a bill appropriates about $2ss, ,0Q0,-
600 for the expenses of the War de-
partment, but the representatives
made their claim for genuine econo-
my look decidedly foolish by the adop-
tion Of an amendment increasing by
SIT, 100000 the amount carried as
lump sum toward continuation Of
work the coming fiscal year on river
and harbor projects.
The budget bureau and the appro-
priations committee Of the house had
recommended an appropriation of $27,-
100000 for this purpose, but the
pork barrel" forces, under the gen.
eralship Of Mann Of Illinois, insisted
upon the larger sum, and had their
way despite the earnest efforts of
Mondell Of Wyoming, Burton Of Ohio
and others. President Harding was
somewhat disturbed by this open def
ance Of the budget system, for he be-
lieves in the budget and intends that
It shall be given fair trial.
A 7 MIDNIGHT Friday operations
\ ceased in all the unionized btu
minous and anthracite coal mines of
the country, 595,OOO miners laying
down their tools. All efforts to pre-
vent the great strike were futile. Ac-
cording to some of the union leaders,
the walkout is likely to last about
sixty days. During that time, pre-
sumably, both sides will formulate
their demands and present their cases,
and 1t may be that these will result
In the negotiation Of new contracts.
The operators insist that wages must
come down In correspondence with the
decline In the cost of living, but they
have not yet revealed what percent
age of reduction they will demand.
The miners, in reply, say that the
stagnation in the coal industry is due
to wasteful methods Of production, ex-
cesslve profits, violation of the laws of
supply and demand In control of mar
kets and prices, and that costs of liv-
Ing In the mine areas have advanced
while wages remained stationary.
In some regions, as Pittsburgh,
southern Ohio and Kanawha, Va, the
operators have posted notices Of wage
reductions and hope to be able to run
their mines with nonunion labor. In
Illinois the miners, though not in en-
tire sympathy with the strike, stuck
by the international, and the Indiana
men did the same. Probably in both
these states separate state agree.
ments could have been negotiated, but
this was forbidden by the information.