The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-05-27
T oday
A Big Move. Railroads Are Soft. France Does Not Know. Good Old Witchcraft.
 h. AprutrU nDIcp AATE
By ARTHUR BRISBANE

By ARTHUR BRISBANE
 When the police entered their two room home yesterday. George Rei- her, 65 years old, was hanging by the neck and dead. and his wife. about the same age. was nearly dead from gas. She is dying in the hos pital. The ''homep was simply fur nished, one chair and a bed. The other furniture had been moved out into the yard. The old couple were to be dispossessed in the morning.
 They didn't know where they could sleep next night; he had been out of work. a little money had been given her to buy food. They decided to avoid the dispossess proceedings by making a real move.
 They hoped to find in that other abode no rent. no high cost of living. no foremen always saying; We don't hire old men"
 Apart from that routine piece of hIW hAtAC ASA Ai~StA " eS--f were soft. especially railroad stocks. Owners don't like the idea of getting only 5A per cent on their money. If they got only the actual value of the weI1-gutted railroads they would be holding receivers certificates instead of stocks. But we have a railroad government and 1t Is thought neces- sary to guarantee the profits of those that didn't build railroads or work on railroads, but get dividends from pieces of paper.
 Strange news from France. primi- tive republic. The government has tried Charles R. Crane of Chicago and sentenced him to 20 years iu jail. The charge. stirring up political trou- ble in syrdia. France gravely informs our government. and would like to have Mir. Crane imprisoned In Syria; he would sleep on the Jail floor and eat dry bread and olives.
 That jail will never know MT. Crane. for he is gentleman worth millions, and this noble republic does not convict or Jail gentlemen of that kind.
 In fishing, you throw the fish back if he is too small. It's the other way around in our courts of tustce. Ydu throw the fish back and set him free if he is too big.
 The other day . man was sem fenced to Jail for five years for steal ing five cents. Some distinguished citizens stole tens of millions in the war and everybody knows it. Do you notice any of them in jaii7 Quite apart from his prosperity. however. there Is no good American reason for disturbing Mir. Crane. If he thought that syrtans should boss themselves and Damascus, it seems to us he had q right to say so.
 A gentleman in Germany is locked up, his profitable trade destroyed. He sold pills guaranteed to inspire violent affection or bring back wan dering husbands. That trade, branch of witchcraft, Is one of the oldest. The Pharaohs had their makers of philters and magic pills. Saul. Ktng of the Jews, consulted the witch of Ender, T pray thee. divine unto me by the familiar pirit and bring me him up.. He believed what the witch told him. Perhaps that Is why he lost the battle and his life later. giving David his great chance In the Middle Ages men made wax fig ures of an enemy, stuck pins in 1t gradually day after day, cursing 1t. Finally the enemy was supposed to die.
 Science has performed miracles that make the old witchcraft seem very tame. But s5 per cent of us prefer the old witchcraft. It Is more easily understood and believed.
 There Is an interesting corner or a court room at Bari in Italy. Two iron cages are full. One, smaller. holds IS farmers, the biggest cage relds 1os other prisoners The Ital- ,ans carry out Justice dramatically Tigers and humans accused of killing they treat alike. An iron cage holds them. It seems barparous to us. On the other hand they never sen tence human beings to death, but give the murderers a monopoly of killing. The Italian state does not stoop to murder. That sets us good example that we need.
 Oicott, running on an anti-ku Klux platform, in Oregon, wins the republican nomination for governor by 4ss votes. That is pretty close. As previously stated, there is great deal of power in secret societies. Nearly everybody objects to them, ex- cept the particular one to which he happens to belong.
 The Pope tells the eucharistic con- gress that world peace Is not here. France confirms 1t. negotiating a treaty with Roumania to defend her against Russia. if bolshevism de- scends on Roumanian territory.