davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
A JAPANESE PROPOSAL

Admiral Ide, speaking for Premier Kato, told the Japanese peers that if France and Italy failed to ratify the Washington naval treaty, the United States, Great Britain and Japan might reach an agreement to carry out it's terms. As these three powers have already made start toward disarming, in conform ity with the naval treaty, such plan might be feasible, but that is not the kind of dis arming the world needs It is now conceded that the naval treaty did not go far enough and by placing no restrictions on smaller vessels, airplanes and submarines, permitted the race for naval supremacy to continue. It is not likely that the United States and Great Britain would look with much favor on an agreement to limit armaments which included but three powers, while the others would have the privilege of building as many ships as they wanted. The fact that naval competition has not stopped makes an other arms conference necessary. If it is called it should include all the world powers and most of the smaller nations. There can be no great progress toward dsarming ex- cept through some such organization as the League of Nations.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
PAPER FLOOD IN GERMANY

Germany begins the new year with na- tional debt which may fittingly be described as staggering" It is estimated that her paper money will exceed one hundred billion marks or, as one correspondent puts it., 100000 marks for every person in Ger many, including women and children one month old. Naturally the tax burden has increased the cost of living and it is dopbt- ful if Germany will ever be able to pay off her national debt. Viewing this vast ocean of paper money which covers Germany, with slight assurance that it will be redeemed by the government, 1t is small wonder that bankers do not look with favor on proposals to lend money to nation that is on the verge of bankruptcy and is subject to the penalty clauses of the Versailles treaty. Germany is in a bad plight financially, but it is chiefly due to the imitation policy she has followed. There can be little sympathy for a government that debases it's currency to evade it's obligations. Germany must institute financial reforms before she can hope for an international loan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
OUTLOOK FOR BUSINESS

Government officials, industrial and con- mercial experts, financiers and other ob- servers agree that good business conditions will prevail during the coming six months. The forecast is founded on the sound rela- tions existing between producer and con sunler, between the price of raw materials and the finished product, between employer and employe, buyer and seller. There is little or imitation. Stocks and bonds which made great advances in the latter part of 1921 and in the first six months of this year, have settled back to lower and seeming ly more reasonable bases. Iron, steel and cotton, which made advances this fall, were stopped before the danger point was reach ed The railroads have ordered an enor- nous tonnage of iron and steel for the manufacture of cars, rails and locomotives Building will keep building material men busy There is steady demand for approxi- mately capacity production of brick, cement, hollow tile, lumber, piping and hardware. The purchases of the railroads have been financed and equipment ordered by them will be paid for in cash. Farmers are more prosperous than in many years and their cooperative organizations have placed them on an equal footing with other business men.
 There do not seem to be any pronounced inequalities anywhere and there are no intrinsically weak spots. If the nation realizes the cause of the pres ent sound state of business and keeps it's head the forecast of the first half of 1923 will be fulfilled. The only danger
 is that manufacturers may take advantage of the increased demand for their products and raise prices to night points that will tend to stop buying and development. Whole salers might then raise prices to retailers, wage earners seeing these advances would seek their share of the higher prices, and the consumer, who has been prosperous the past six months, would become careless in buying for his needs. That would tend to re-establsh the vicious cycle leading to the period of deflation- Indications, however, are that the nation is still mindful of the effect of imitation and the lesson was driven home so deeply that it will not be forgotten soon.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
- -------=---=------ 7 SEEING THE LIGHT
I the Washington Post

IOln lIit W OSiiliiES sch o.pH'
 Premier Poincare's assertion that France is no longer forced to wait upon America for solution of the inter-allied European debts, which are closely bound up with the ques- ton of reparations, is encourag- ing to the extent that it indicates realization of the burden that IS upon his own nation and its allies to solve problems that are peculiar ly their own. At no time has there been any reason for delaying set clement of inter-allied debts and reparations because of Americas refusal to participate. The debts owed America are not logically in volved in the inter-alliod European debts, which, in their economic as pcct, are So closely tied~ up with reparations. If the French pre- mier's statement is to be construed as meaning that the governments lover there" are at last beginning to realize that America will not carry their burdens for them and have determined to carry their own loads, then real progress toward economic settlement in Europe is in sight. If such realization is now theirs, it should carry with it real ization of the need for that spirit of concession and compromise that is essential to adjustment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
ENFORCING THE DRY LAWS

Prohibition officials say New York had the driest Christmas celebration in its his tory. This is attributed partly to the vigi- lance of the "dry navy" in operating against rum-runners from the Bahamas, but whas- ever the reason, stricter enforcement of prohibition in New York may be taken as an indication of the progress toward enforcement being made throughout the country. President Harding, by his address to Congress, in which he call ed attention to the grave situation which faced law enforcement officials, and his conference with state governors, aroused sentiment for strcter observance of prohi- bition. There has been noticeable improve ment. Federal, state and city officials are carrying on more intensive campaign against bootleggers and they are receiving the moral support of the law-abiding people of the United States who believe that no distinction should be made between the eighteenth amendment and any other law.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
POISON PENS

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
 A young woman of Tulle, in France, has just been rined and sentenced to a month in jail for writing anonymous defamatory letters. She began in a small way, writing letters that seemed to vent the mutual spite of feminine rivals in love. Emboldened by the dismay and the chagrin these letters oc- casioned, she enlarged her sphere of opera tions till she had families and entire neigh borhoods embroied by her anonymous scur- riities. The court dealt leniently with her offense. For those who use the poison pen or the serpent tongue are public enemies. They do not have to sift and prove the ru- mors they pass on or set in motion. They take fierce, malignant joy in seeing the ranking wound a lie may deal. Their tri- umph is complete when they have destroyed or damaged good name with an inunendo. In Delaware of old they had ducking- stool on the stream-bank for the common scold. The punishment was cruel, but it was useful. The scold had muddied the social waters and defied the well of English ere they gave her this ruthless baptism. She was the bane of the settlement. She was avoided like the plague; but it was not possible to dodge the clinging muck she threw.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
EXCESS OF CHARITY

Reports from welfare organizations, luncheon clubs, fraternal orders and other agencies seeking to provide for the poor this Christmas state that arrangements were made to aid more families than were in need of help. This was the case in Birmingham. More than one organization failed to find the number of poor families for whom 1t intended to provide, the list of those in need being soon taken up. That is happy state of affairs. It shows that men have had employment at good wages, there has been comparatively little serious sickness and sobriety prevails among the workers of Ala bama It is, moreover, reflex of the in- crease in systematzed provision through the year for those who have been forced to call on community help The greatest charity is that which serves in regular and organ ized manner continuously, takes charge of needs in their incipiency, places men and women on their feet and re-establishes their earning capacity. The more society cares for it's wards in the beginning of their troubles the less need there will be for con- tributions at Christmas or on other occa- sons.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
TROUBLE AT LAUSANNE

The Lausanne conference resumed its sessions with the Turks apparently deter mined to wreck it rather than yield on the question of minorities. The protest made by the Turkish delegation against permit ting Armenians and Bulgarians to appear before the subcommittee on minorities again reveals the hostile and arrogant attitude of the Turks, who no longer mince words when addressing the allies. They object to the Bulgarians and Armenians being given a hearing on the ground that they are Turkish subjects and represent no government. On the plea that it would constitute an invasion of Turkish sovereignty they have consist sntly opposed the allied proposals for pro tecting racial minorities under Turkish domination.
 The Turk has proved himself unfit to rule
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27

line waterways of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys interrupted during the drouth of fall and summer" A summary of the business done via the Mississippi end of the Missis sippi-Warrior line last year, mentions 257 shipments to New Orleans, whose destina- tion was for export, the Pacific coast and the southwest. New Orleans has just com pleted it's ship canal, which is adding greatly to her shipping facilities. Alabama has the best inland waterway in the Warrior river and most superior port in Mobile, but there are other waterways and ports. Alabama will need more and more as time goes on all the facilities she can command for the maintainance of her trade territory and it's extension to meet the competition of busi- ness interest in other states. Chief among these facilities is her gateway to the world at Mobile
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
TURKEYS NEW CAPITAL

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
 Angora, a dingy and dilapidated Anatolian city of about 10000 inhabitants, is to re- main the capital of Nationalist Turkey. Con- stantinople, with nearly million and half a city of glorious traditions and of many present splendors, must be content with a position of secondary importance. It will remain the spiritual capital of Islam, the residence of khalif shorn of all tenn poral authority. But the government of Turkey will be permanently established in the dirty little city of the remote hinterland There are several reasons for this change In the first place, Angora is altogether Tur- kish, while Constantinople, the great city of the straits, must always remain cosmopol;- tan and polyglot. An even stronger con- sideration is the vulnerability of Constanti- nople to military and naval attack At An gora the government will be far beyond the range 6 the biggest naval guns. while without an army of impressive strength no nation will ever again venture campaign in Anatolia. With the nationalists fully recognized as rulers of Turkey and with the government definitely set up at Angcra there will be no clamor at European cap itals or at Washington for diplomatic sp- pointment to Turkey.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
 ROYALTY, BUT NO ROMANCE

From the New York Tribune.
 Princess Anastasia and her royal husband refuse to see anything tragic in their jour- ney from melting Greece to America. She is homesick and he wants to play golf. She denies that she has in any way played the pan of petticoated Zaharoff in Greek politics and he is not going into business or moving pictures. What dull, prosaic world we live in! Thrones have topped all over Europe, the proudest families have been laid low; yet out of all the world up heava has come only one great royal trag edy--that of the Romanoffs-whie Zita, the widowed ex-empress of Austria, is per haps the only figure now left to excite pop ular sympathy by the pathos of her fate.
 What have our times tosput in the scales of romance against the eagle chained and breeding on his lonely rock at St. Helena? Nothing but man living in the respectable dullness of Dutch country house, chopping wood, writing a useless book and remarrying in the most humdrum manner. Can popular imagination ever clothe the ex-Empress Zita with the mantle of the woman of sorrow Eugenie wore like her shroud at Christmas?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
A Timely Editorial
Back to Abraham

From the San Antonio Express.
 Last October the British air force relieved it's sister service, the army, from the work of guarding Mesopo- tamia, Eight squadrons took sta tion in Bagdad, where King Feisal of Irak has his capital, and are pa trolling the country with that city as their base. Two squadrons are equipped with troop-carrying planes and, feisalis cavalry helping them, will enforce the pax britannica" from the Turkish and Syrian iron tiers to the Persian gulf.
 This additional security for trav- elers and for explorers working amid the ancient ruins along the Tigris and the Euphrates, leads to the hope that the joint expedition of the British museum and Penn syivania university museum-now at. the site of Ur of the Chaldees-. will accomplish much before he hot season compels it to retreat to Bag dad. King Feisal quickly gave hls consent, as the scholarly party 5 second in command is Col. Thomas w. Lawrence, his chief of staff in the l917-18 campaign against the Turks. Vice Marshal Salmond cf the air force is furnishing the expt- dition with a military railroad and motor trucks, besides sending pa trols to watch for wandering Bo- douin bands.
 Thus the latest inventions are be- ing used to facilitate research into the mysteries of UT. Abraham trod it's lanes and lived within its walls for many years. The city was old even then, as it's first inhabl- tants were Sumerians, MongoEc people who founded it about 40OO B. c. The Akkadians, Semitic in va6ars from the north, gradually conquered the Sumerians and ab- sorbed them into the group of states that later became Babylonia. UT was the metropolis of the lower Euphrates valley for at least ten centuries and it's temple to Nan-nar, the moon god, still rises TO feet above the plain. The Semites chang ed the gods $ name to Sin-a and con- sidered the deity goddess. As god or goddess, Nan-nar or Sin-a was believed to grant men wisdom and light. Modern science will try to gain knowledge of history's dawn from the inscriptions at UT, which date at least from 5000 B. C., and perhaps thousand years before that. The enterprise thus is a strange mixture of the old and the new.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
A LIMIT TO BUDGETS

In their efforts to meet the financial con- dition of the city and live within the budget the heads of departments face task im- public service by the people. The city budget is an order of tho commission as whole and is binding on the heads of departments It should not be treated elastically on the presumption that stretching it will be ap- proved by the entire commission.
 The chief duty of heads of departments should be to promote efficiency. The for moro men to do the work than to devise systems by which the force which they have can be made more effective. In New York city several years ago the head of department thought he needed twenty-five additional clerks The city called in the municipal research bureau, which, after investigation, of the operations of the department, caused the clerical force to be reduced by fifteen, while the office was rendered moro efficient by installing new methods of work. The first procedure of the head of a department which is running behind should be to see if it is operating economically with the force in hand, and if the system employed is one producing best results on the outlay of money. More men and more money should be asked of the commission and revision of the budget sought only when department head is convinced that his deficit Is not caused by lack of efficiency or uneconomc administration.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
DIPLOMACY'S FAILURES

Addressing an audience of business men in London Lord Curzen said the small nn- tions of Europe show symptoms of life and energy" but the great powers, whether vic tors or vanquished in the World war, "are in a position of much greater dislocation and disturbance" Describing the economic troubles of Europe, he exclaimed: What an ambition it would be for the statesmen of the great powers to combine and survey this situation, to liquidate it, section by sec tion, gradually to take the various pieces of the jig-saw puzzle which are lying about and fit them in their own places and once more present picture of peaceful and united Europew
 That would indeed be an ambition worth while, but Europe's diplomats have failed repeatedly in their attempts to put the pieces of the iig-saw puzzle" together One futile conference has followed another without arriving at solution of Europe's problems, chiefly because the diplomats placed selfish considerations before the gen. eral welfare of all the nations concerned. Disinterested cooperation has been conspcs uous by it's absence from the conference ta- bles If these questions had been submitted to business men instead of diplomats anu politicians, more progress might have been made As it is, the industrial leaders. of Europe have taken practical steps to bring about a restoration of economic stability by forming international combinations which will eventually have far-reaching effect on Europe's industrial life and by wiping out national barriers will tend to prevent future wars.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
AN oNERoUs PROVISION

From the Mobile Register.
 An anti-shyster bill has been drawn by the Jefferson County Bar association for the regulation of practice so as 10 restrain "shyster lawyers and their runners" who solicit business for them on the percentage basis The need of curbing the operations of damage-suit attornews is well known. It is doubtful, however, whether the provision of the bill that reads that no personal injury case shall be settled within forty days after the injury occurred, or be agreed to be set tied within that time, unless competent court in open session finds that the amount of the settlement is fair and equitable, is wise. To require all claims for personal injury to go through court process, whether the parties wish it or not, does not appear to be in accord with public policy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
BERNHARDT RECOVERS

Sarah Bernhardt's indomitable will has once more triumphed over physical weak ness and the latest reports from Paris state that she is slowly recovering. There is some thing pathetic. and yet sublime, in her de- termination to postpone the inevitable end until she can die on the stage, in the exer- else of her beloved art. Old and lame and fully realizing that she cannot hope to defy time much longer, the Divine Sarah" would have fate ring down the curtain on her career, as she lived, an artist to the last
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
AN EYE TO BUSINESS

From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
 One morning little 4year-old Elwood was in the berry patch with his father.
 "Ewood," said his father, 'I'll bet you a penny can pick a quart of berries quicker than you can."
 In few minutes Elwood was quite en- couraged to find that he iaad finished pick ing his quart first.
 "Well, Elwood, do you want to bet a penny on another quart?"
 "No,' replied this business-like son, slet's bet nickel this time."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
roo MANY QUEENS
From the Chicago Herald and Ex

rom the (nlCdgo iiSAdiu anu LA-
 aminer.
 London reports seven queens, actual and theoretical as spending Christmas in that city. At the same time the mother of former Elm press Zita is suing for an increase in her allowance, which the vag- aries of the exchange have reduced to cent day. There is close connection between these items. Royalty is making itself too com mon. The divinity that doth hedge a queen, or an empress, is complete 4ly broken down. Think of being unable to throw stone in London streets without hitting a queen! No wonder the mother of an empress is reduced to poverty. Princess Anastasia is right to come to Amer ica with her prince. Over here there is less competition. When you are introduced to royalty in New York or Palm Beach you don't feel so much like yawning.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27

over non-Moslem people. That is the real stumbling block in discussions of racial mi norities at Lausanne. Unless the allies sue- ceed in providing protection for minorities in the Near East they will fail to accomplish one of the principal objects of the confer ence, B matter which, for humane reasons, interests the whole world and is viewed with deep concern by the United States.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
Adrift With the Times
No Reprets

Thrice blessed the man who, Tuesday morn, Leaped lightly out of bed And did not wear a look forlorn,
 Nor hold throbbing head. Methinks, in Christmas revelries
 There's happiness enough Without imbibing quantities
 Of health-destroying stuff.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
TO START THE BALL ROLLING From Everyhody's Magazine.

J
 A clergyman, taking occasional duty for a friend in remote coun try parish, was greatly scandalized on observing the old verger. who mad been collecting the the offersoEsy ,fisat Ey fore presenting the plate at the al tar rail-
 After service he called the old man into the vestry and told hin. with some emotion that his crime had been discovered.
 The verger looked puzzled for a moment. Then sudden light dawncd on him.
 Why, sir, you don't mean that old half-dollar of mine7 Why, I've led off with that for the last fifteen years!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
The Right of Way

New traffic signals I must heed And dodge the bright velocipede
 That good old Santa gave; But gladly will I step aside And let the youthful owner ride
 Full tilt along the pave. There was a time, some years ago, When I too felt impelled to show
 My skill on that machine; And in the happy-hearted throng That o'er the sidewalks sped along
 No brighter face was seen.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
Catching It

The row Will Hays stirred up by granting certain Christmas "pardon" is enough to convince him that extending executive cls- mency during the holiday season is all q mistake. PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
A Curb on Conversation

''Well, how did you enjoy the woman's meeting, my dear?" asked Mir. Calder.
 q would have enjoyed it much more," replied Mrs. Calder, If it hadn't been for what the chairman called parliamentary rules"
 Why, how was that?"
 ''They must have been gotten up by some man. They don't allow everybody to talk at once"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
Journalistic Feat

Occasionally you see something in a newspaper that is q credit to journalism" remarked Mr. Grumpson. "For instance, here is an account of young woman who has opened an office to practice law. Not once is she referred to as Portia."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-27
There was time, some years ago
Then They'd Scurry

City authorities say motorists get in the way of the police patrol wagon and thus de- lay retribution. If the patrol wagon were as large as a fire truck, with equal weight and motive power, that problem would soon adjust itself.