The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-30

long that the familiarity is having il
 Congress has been trying to find out how to make itself popular witt the people; trying to find out what the people want. The reaction tC this quest has been largely if not wholly negative. If 1t could be ex- pressed in a single sentence. Con gress could best please the country by adjourning. But that apparent ly Is the last thing in the congress sional mind at the moment. Already Senator Lodge, majority leader in the upper branch. has felt called upon to defend Congress from & "do nothing" charge. So Congress feels it must do something more before facing the people at the polls in No vember.
 A prominent midwest banker, a stalwart republican, in Washington this week. frankly told some of his political friends that he would not regard it as an "unmixed evir if the democrats should win the House this fall
 For that" he explained. would mean sort of legislative deadlock for the next two years, a legislative holiday-and that is what the coun- try needs"
 Can't Reduce Taxes
 The attempts of the present session have about convinced the people of the country that either there will not or cannot be any appreciable reduc- ton of the country's tax bill for a long time to come. Instead there is growing talk of deficits due in the next fiscal year and Likelihood of some new tax impositions.
 The republican leaders of House and Senate are prepared to show amazing figures to the electorate this fall--figures of governmental econ omy and saving. But the figures are likely to leave the people cold, for the old income tax collector called upon them for about the usual First. ir was said that France would withdraw from the conference. But she stayed. Next they declared that France would withdraw because of the Russo German treaty. She re- maine1 even though her withdrawal would have been amply justified Later they insisted that France would leave because of differences growing out of the proposed Lloyd George non-aggression past. Every day they have tried to make France responsible for failure whose only cause has been the inability of the British premier to understand the soviet purposes although the United States has comprehended them all along.
 What United States Rejected
 This latest Lloyd George proposal for a non-a aggression pact is substan tially what the United States Senate virtually rejected when 1t adopted the Brandegee reservation to the Pacific treaty. The purpose Is to substitute it in a calm, unobtrusiVe manner, for existing treaties. There has been thought of extending 1t providing that during the 10 years covered no penalties shall be im- posed even on account of violation of existing treaties. In short, 1t Is disarmament, but of a special kind: disarmament of those who honor their signature for the advantage of those who violate theirs.
 Amidst all this Premier Poincaires S speech has served only to redouble the fury of a certain section of the British press. To us Frenchmen the principal fault of this speech is that it seems to repeat word for word what Briand said last year in private that he would send a policeman If the sheriff failed to collect. etc. Lloyd Georges papers call it provo cative. We call it 'neffectual and say that it plays the game of our opponents. But that is an incident that need have no serious conse- quences. The Franco German prob lens won't be settled at Gesoa.
 For myself. I want to say that if Genoa dies. it's economic death is through the fault of the soviets and not, as many papers would try to have you believe. through having been assassinated politically by France. l think I have proven this. and that Is my whole purpose.