The Washington times., 1922-02-15
tcopyrishr. iss,.,

friend says, is going to buy two
more well-known automobile
companies, one of them among
the three best known and most
successful in the country. If
this goes through. he will man
ufacture four kinds Of cars. at
four different prices. This
friend explained that Mr.. Ford's
money is piling up In such
mountains of cash--he has one
hundred and forty millions in
> cash on hand now-that he must
find some way to spend 1t.
Omaha and Detroit are hav-
fng an interesting race in sue.
cessful municipal ownership.
Detroit's gas franchises termi-
nate soon. Mayor Couzens un-
doubtedly will take hold of that.
Omaha has done it already, and
most successfully. and. Incl
dentally, Omaha has cut charges
for electricity 80 per cent SIM
ply by proposing to start its
own electric plant. Omaha sells
ice to the citizens for 80 cents
a hundred pounds. pure, artifi-
cially manufactured: with the
profit It has paid off more than
three hundred thousand dollars,
the cost Of it's first ice plant,
and will now install another.
Mayor Couzens has put
through municipal ownership Of
street cars, adopting methods
that corporations themselves
usually employ. by saying:
"Do what ] tell you. or get
off the streets" It is surpris-
Ing what men and cities can
do if they MEAN 1T.
Wall Street is booming be-
cause the gentlemen there be-
lieve the soldiers won't get q
bonus, and there won't be any
disagreeable tax on stock sales.
The proposition was q ten
dollar tax on one hundred
shares Of stock. To outside
investors or spectators that
would mean nothing tenth
of point" but it would in
terfere with trading for
"eighths" or quarters" and
that is the life of the business.
Senator Boraheis afraid that
II "the scldfsr comes here and
asks Of the public treasury,
Others will come and ask"
They will indeed; they are ask
ing now. The New Haven
Railroad, wrecked by past in
competent and dishonest man
agement, asks a Government
loan of thirty-one millions, to
pay its debt in England, and
will probably get it from an
Administration that has moth
ing for the soldier. Railroads
have already had billions in
public money, but they are
"business," quite different
from young men that squatted
in the trenches.
Senator Borah thinks 1t isn't
patriotic in the soldiers to de-
mand a bonus. Well, the SOL
diers may not get their bonus,
but at least they are getting a
lesson in patriotism from Wall
Street, the Senate, and Gov
ernment.
British troops withdrawn a
short time ago from South Ire
land are now sent back from
England to the North of Ireland
and parade the streets Of Belfast.
Shippers are shooting at men in
the streets. And the ordinary
newspaper headline has become
"Civil War In Ireland" England
Is afraid to finish removing
troops from Ireland. Heads of
the new Irish government say
that unless the English troops go,
the new Irish government may
fall and the extremists under De
Valera restore former conditions.
It is still a distressful country,
and bitter war between Irishmen
may be the only>thing that will
settle its problems. Not only must
cIreland be Irish. but one KIND
of Irish. ...
In London, where workmen
have influence and government
considers them more important
even than big corporations, there
is an effort by labor to get con-
troll of the London county coun-