davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1924-01-20

question, he said. Of coalition Of fusion Of the
their views agreed in the field of social legis-
lation there could be fruitful cooperation
confidence will be carried tomorrow, that the
Baldwin government will resign on Tuesday,
date succeed to the power-that will be
event of highest moment 1t is apparently
Mr. Macdonald looks for remedy Of Britain's
ills; France is to be brought to book. British
asserted" yet without hurting the 'sucepti-
bilites' of France. To this end. "a very
1t is. indeed. to gild the pill being concocted
for French degluttion. No doubt certain refer
Mr.. Clynes furnish a good example of the
new method of dealing with France; at once
susceptblities Advocating recognition of
Russia rs it," he asked, because Russia has
withhold recognition? If the fact of not
undertaking or not actually taking steps to
reppesentatives t o of France 'a here?"-"f! am
perfect lady said the Queen of Hearts, and
clicked the royal equerry downstairs.
A strike of the $4,000 members of the Society
of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen is
threatened. If the threat is carried into effect
It will be kind Of outlaw 1n,n strike. being ii1
waymen (of which Mr. J. II. Thomas, who is
expected to hold portfolio in the coming
labor government. is political secretary and
hy the General Council of the Trade Union
Congress. 1t would be most embarrassing to
wages. The ministry Of transport is prepared
for the worst. having made arrangements for
stiles. By such means in 1919 it efficiently
handled much more serious situation
One hears that the coal miners getting
very restless. The project of round-the
world flight by American airmen, beginning
a handsome spirit Of emulation in Britain.
It is proposed that Squadron Leader A. S.
airmcn circle the planet clockwise, while the
Americans are speeding westward That will
hn m
the rivals to meet over mdocean, under the
light o the moon.
France-The French government has sub
mitted to the chamber bill calling for an
increase of 90 per cent in taxes of almost all
categores and for vesting the government
with authority to effect retrenchments in the
public services by decree. The idea is by
means of Increased revenues and through
economies to balance the budget of recover
able expenditure teuphemistic for expendi-
ture for reconstruction. theoretically recover
able from Germany, the deficit of which has
up to the present been provided for by interior
loans. The reconstruction budget is hence
forth to be merged in the ordinary budget.
Poincare shows honesty and extraordinary
courage the eve of general elections
Another government bill proposes to give
the government control of exchange opera
tons. Recovery and stabiization of the franc
should result from operation of these bills.
Poncare announces that he will make action
these bills question of confidence.
Grecce.-Venizelos succeeded. of course. in
forming cabinet. The British government
has recognized the new Greek government a
handsome thing to do so promptlv. Britain
Greece became independent, and. indeed her
achievement of independence largely due
Turkey the old adage was approved by the
behavior of the Lloyd George government
Evening star., 1924-01-20

small change. Here are the bills to
prove it,
Davis has one of those kind, smooth
faces that are so deceptive in poker.
He said that he would look into the
situation. He had built up an organf-
zation of railroad men who knew all
about railroading. They know about
maintenance, and accounting, and
law, and labor, and shops, and
freights, and requirements, and de-
preciations, and everything else. One
of the roads offered an itemized bill
which contained more than 100000
items. The condensed statement of
the average road was about as much
as a man can lift. Everything was
in those statements except the most
vital fact.
Davis men knew as much as the
railroads themselves did-or more.
He had spent SIS, 100000 or $4,000, 900
in getting facts. That may have
saved the government s600.000,000.
One by one the roads were asked to
send their handiest men in to argue
the case. When the experts got
through Director General Davis came
in and spoke.
How Davis Settled Matters.
"Well pay so much,' said he.
'tF-or what" screamed the railroad
men. go into details. What are you
offering to pay for: Itemize"
NO." said Mr. Davis. "I will not
itemize. I will give you lump sum.
Evening star., 1924-01-20

1t covers everything. Give ME
quit claim
He did not bother to tell the rail
roads why. But every one of them
would have fought every item. If
one got more than the others, all the
others would have died repeatedly on
his doorstep. The one that got the
most would have kidded it's unfortu-
nate brethren into palsy. To itemize
would have been to set the stage for
a battle that would have made Water
loo sound like a stick breaking under
water.
"And pay cash. said Davis. fYou
get your money today. Across the
table. Sign on the dotted line"
Cites Governments Mistakes.
That was what caught most of
them. The roads were poison poor
when the government returned them.
They had been solvent, and they
had ceased to pay expenses. Mr.
Davis thinks the government made
two mistakes in it's management of
the roads-one being the concessions
made to labor, so that one-man jobs
became three, four and five man jobs,
and the other being a refusal to per-
NIT the roads to increase their rates
to meet their increased costs. But
perhaps. on the whole. the roads
would have been worse off IL 1t had
not been for government management
during the war. He thinks SO. :.
One general counsel had known
Evening star., 1924-01-20
Industries Waste
Third of Their Coal

That the coal bill in many indus
about 25 per cent. Dr II. Foster Balm
has testified before the House ap
preparations committee. In some In
dustries as much as one-third of the
coal consumption is wasted, he said, in
reply to a question from Representa-
tive Louis c. Cramton of Michigan,
chairman of the subcommittee con-
Quoting the hearing.
Growing out of the United States
Coal Commissions work during last
year, there have been a good many
bills introduced on both sides of Con-
gress for additional work on the part
of the government. as relates to coal.
Probably some legislation will result.
and in that connection one of the big
possibilities is by increasing the eff
cheney with which the fuels are used,
to decrease the cost to the ultimate
consumer, and in that way get away
from the necessity of concentrating
so much attention on the wages paid
the miner. The latter are relatively
a small item in the hnal cost to the
man who uses steam In a factory or
to the man who heats his house, DR.
Balm says.
Additional studies and demonstra-
tions OF what is now possible are
some of the helpful things which can
be undertaken. and very likely before
the year is out Congress will be asked
to provide for these things, If the
efficiency in burning coal can be in
creased 25 per cent, as it can in many
Industries, that is equivalent to cut
ting the price by as much.
In a number of industries the bu-
reau of mines has already. demon
strated how one-fourth of the coal
can be saved in burning. which has
proved to be a great deal more than
any difference in wages paid to the
miner of that coal.
DR.. Balm told the members of Con-
gress that he believed it would be a
good work for the government TO
conduct a campaign to make such
savings general and to get the peo-
pie to do generally as the best en-
gineers do now, thus effecting a big
coal saving without even finding any
thing. new.
The man who burns coal in his
residence is interested in any saving
on that coal wherever it occurs" DR..
Balm emphasized. 1T does not make
any difference to him whether it IS
a saving at the mines or in the dis
tribution or in the burning-it is a
real saving TO him"
Evening star., 1924-01-20
Old Cancer Cure
Given in 1853 Star
To the Editor Of The Star;

To the Editor Of The Star:
The following, quoted from The
Evening Star of July %, 1853, may be
of interest to the present Evening
Star in behalf of the medical fra
ternity:
Remedy for Cancer-Col. Ussery of
the parish of De Soto informs the
editor of, the Caddo Gazette that he
fully tested a remedy for this trouble
some disease, recommended to him
by Spanish woman. a native of the
country. The remedy Is this: Take
an egg and break 1T. pour out the
white, retaining the yolk in the shell
put in the salt and mix with the
yolk as long as it will receive it !;
stir them together until the salve is
formed; put a portion of this on a
piece of sticking plaster, and apply
it to the cancer about twice a day.
He has tried the remedy twice in
his own family with complete sue
cess" MISS ELLA PLATT.
Evening star., 1924-01-20
STATES MAY LOSE SEATS
in ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Failure of Congress to Make Reappor.
tionment, Per Constitution, Re-
spOnsible for Situation.

! the Constitution provides in order
| that there might be true representa-
tive government.
| In that event the national House of
Representatives stands as it now is,
and the electoral college is the same
size as the House. There is no
power that can compel Congress to
act" says Representative Tucker,
with the authority of a half century
of close study of the Constitution.
"There may be a moral duty on Con-
gress to act, but no power to force it
to act. The presumption is that Con-
gress is going to act at the earliest
possible date"
Legislation Postponed.
Because there is pretty general
sentiment against increasing the
| present size of the House-435 MEM
befs-and at the same time strong
opposition from a number of states
that would lose memberships that
they now have II the House was held
| to it's present size, Congress has been
postponing action on reapportionment
| legislation.
, Southern states in particular are
opposed. claiming that the census of
| 1920 was not a true census, having
been taken at a time of serious dis
| turbanCe of the population, when
many citizens left one part of the
country temporarily to take employ
ment in some big industrial center.
At the same time several members
of Congress are persistently urging
! for reapportionment action, notably
i Representative Fairfield OF Indiana,
ranking republican on the census
committee, who in the last Congress
led the fight to hold the House at its
present size. and Representatives
MacLafferty of California. and Nc
Leod of Michigan. whose states would
get four and three new places. re-
Spectively. Representative Roy G.
Fitzgerald of Ohio has a bill and
resolution pending which would ere
store representative government" and
make reapportionment automatic With
the result of each decennial census.
Language Mandatory.
THE language of the Constitution
is just about as mandatory regarding
lreapportionment as ii is about the
census or other propositions says
Representative Charles l.. Faust of
Missouri. chairman of the House CEN
sus committee. whose own state. by
the way, even if the size of the House
were increased from 435 to 460 mem
bers, would still lose st at.
"The shift in population does not
relieve us of the responsibility of
making the reapportionment.' he
ADDS.
The language of the Constitution
has always been construed by Con-
Sress as mandatory respecting reap
portionment. because it never has
heen disregarded during 130 years
since the first decenn;al census until
now. So we have both the law and
the prophets" requiring Congress to
act.
Evening star., 1924-01-20

He learned the trick away back
issuing passes away from the rail-
roads. That hurt. Any one who was
any one in those days rode on a pass.
Not to have a pass was an admission
that one had no standing in the legis-
lative. journalistic or business world.
Congress also indicated that expense
accounts were to be handled with
rubber gloves. Any gentleman dis
covered hanging around state legis-
lature at an excessive cost to some
railroad automatically went under
suspicion. 1t began to look like a
cold winter to the railroads.
"They used to buy us, darn EN-"
said an Ohio legislator. But Well
show 'em. now"
James c. Davis had been a county
seat attorney in Iowa. He grew up
in a small town where every one is
known by his. first name. He stud
led law in an old-fashioned office
with a cannon stove and a sawdust
box. The best citizens used both
on cold days. He had worked out
a plan. of his own for the practice
of law. Instead of taking his clients
into court he coaXed them into his
office to face the other fellow. Nine
times out of ten the prospective liti-
gants got together
Believes Majority Fair-Minded.
eMost of us are fair minded" said
Davis.
When he became chairman of the
legal committee which represented
the Iowa railroads. shortly after
passes were forbidden, he tried the
same plan with the legislature. He
announced publicly that all the rail-
road swanted was a fair hearing in
open committee, with a right to file a
statement of facts to be printed in
the newspapers. The Iowa roads had
no trouble with the Iowa legislators
that winter His theory of human ma
ture worked. Most of us, after all.
are fair.
When he became director general of
the United States Railroad Admins
tration things were. to speak blunHy,
in a dickens of a mess. During the
war the government had taken over
all the roads of the United States.
Contracts were signed with 313 and
the remaining 219 were simply taken.
The understanding was that the gov
ernment would be fair. An agree
ment was made that the roads would
be returned to their owners in Sub
stantially" the same condition they
were when taken. When they were
turned back
Help said the roads. You owe
US S1,014. 100000, not to mention the
Evening star., 1924-01-20

as it seems to me, was to do all this
without a lawsuit. l asked about it.
Most people" he said, ARE fair
The railroads had padded the bills
presented to the government. That is
common business practice. if not good
practice They expected to have a
slice removed. When they discovered
that Davis and Davis men knew all
about the railroad business and pro-
posed to settle on a fair basis, they
played fair themselves. Daniel S.
Willard of the Baltimore and Ohio
sent on his bill.
"I'll take what you think is my
rightful due" said he. Another presi-
dent Of big road stormed and bel
lowed When he got through Davis
said:
Davis Advice Accepted.
You have not given us one helpful
suggestion. Think it over. Then
come back and talk to us again"
He did Davis feels that the gov
ernment in settling with the roads
has not been generous. but it has been
fair His job was to be fair. The
only case in which the government
was generous was in Minnesota.
There an enormous damage had been
done by a forest fire during a hurri-
cane. No doubt the roads We're re-
sponsible for some fires. but they were
not responsible for others, he says.
No matter. Under an act of the legis-
lature the government was compelled
to pay. Claims aggregating perhaps
$50, 900, 600 were settled for less than
S2O, 600, 900. 1t wasn't fair. Davis
thinks But it was assuredly gen.
erous.
He is tall, slender loose-jointed.
sixty-six years old. and doesn't look
/ fifty, plays a fair game of golf. talks
straight from the shoulder and car
ries a rabbits foot. The best rabbits
feet are those that are stolen from
negro murderers in the dark of the
moon. He had that sort of foot.
Carried 1t for twenty-five years. Had
the most implicit confidence in it.
How the Rabbits Foot Worked.
whenever we got down to the last
| S500,O0O," he said, I'D sneak that rab-
bits foot out of my pocket and put
my hand on the other fellows knee.
When ! began to feel the heart
thump l knew I'd got him.
Some one stole that rabbits foot
the other day. The final settlements
were about to be made. He hoped to
get out of office with no lawsuits and
with only a mess of little claims. COM
paratively, to be wound up. He was
already cutting down his force--of
employes-he could sec that the
money coming in would be INSULT
cient to pay the bills that might be
due-and somebody stole his rabbits
foot.
! Whereupon. walking through an
alley that he had never walked
through before in his life, he found
anoth foot. A finer foot. And a
foot that is found is better than one
| that is stolen. He says so himself.
| You can't beat a man with luck
l like that!
Evening star., 1924-01-20

organized labor. first to prevent in
fringement upon the civil. economic
and industrial rights of the wage
earners, whether exercised individu-
ally or collectively; secondly. to safe
guard and promote the welfare and
we'll being of the wage-earners and
of all citizens. and to prevent the
powers of government being used by
any one group for the exploitation of
another.
I'm undertaking to mass and direct
this potential political power the
American trade union movement
deems it of primary importance that
the economic organizations and power
of labor shall in no way be impaired.
Then, too, in our peculiar form of
quality of government an dtripartite
divisions of the powers of government
experience has demonstrated that any
attempt to mass and direct the poten-
tial and actual power of the wage
earners through any form of fixed
party scheme is to destroy that eff
cheney that comes from flexible mo-
bility of power to meet whatever
emergency may arise and from what
policy and practice of the American
Federation of Labor to be partisan to
principles and not to be partisan to
political parties has been fully justi-
fled by experience.
Weakness Has Developed.
THAT weaknesses have developed
in the application of this political pol
icy is unquestioned. These weak
nesses, instead of disproving the va
ltdity of this policy. emphasize its
effectiveness and indicate a proficient
method of improvement by extending
this policy into all primary elections
within political parties and by the en-
| actment of open, liberal and demo-
cratic election laws"
The report was strongly supported
and opposed in the debate, but was
adopted on a roll call vote of 25,O66
| TO 1896.
In this review of labor's political
activities and political position I do
not. mean to say that labor will not
achieve political organization. 1 do
not mean to intimate that a labor
party is far in the future. L am
| rather of a contrary opinion. But /
! do mean to assert that such a politi-
, cal party will not be organized over
4 night by the dreamers. nor will it
come out of an effort to promte self
ish or craft interests. When a labor
party does come it will be because
of leadership in that movement as
keen and whole hearted as the leader
ship has been that has built up the
, economic organization of labor.
It isstrue that developments in Eng
land are being watched by labor in
! this country and that they will pro-
foundly affect the movement here.
Copyright, 1924, by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.)
Evening star., 1924-01-20
Real Workers in the National Capital

Davis all his life. Davis calls him
Charley" and Charley calls him
Jim" When Davis told him how
much he would pay the general coun-
sells road Charley turned blue. He
leaned over the table and pounded.
II won't take it, he said. I'll
take you into court"
"Fine," said Davis. feeling his rab-
bits foot. Fine, I'm hungry for a
good lawsuit. I haven't had one for
a heck Of a while"
Railroad Accepts Offer.
Here's where you get one"'
stormed the general counsel.
rWhen you cool down, Charley"
said Davis, you'll come back and
sign
The counsel met the directors of
his road in Sew York the next day
ATadder than he had been the day be-
fore. almost apoplectic. he told them
| the sum that Davis proposed to pay.
"Cash?" asked the directors. He
nodded, being unable to speak. They
told him to take it. So he called
Dayis on the long distance.
I'VE accept your offer" he said
thickly. But I'm hanged if I'll go
over to Washington and tell YOU So"
The one big fuss was on the war
time inefficiency of labor. The roads
made a point of this. The Interstate
Commerce Commission handed down
decision supporting their conten-
ton. Davis stuck to it that railroad
| labor was no more inefficient than the
labor the rest Of us got and gave. In
| the end he won his point. the I. S. C.
reversed itself, and the roads settled
on his terms
Cases Incredibly Complicated.
! The 532 cases-for there were that
many separate properties operated by
1.-The goverrment-were incredibly COM
plicated. Two months after the gov
ernment had taken over the roads an
inventory was ordered. 1t had to be
traced back two months to get it
straight. Freight cars We're scattered
all over the systems, whereas the rule
formerly had been to keep them on
the owners line where possible. The
government bought 1000 locomotives
and 100000 freight cars and charged
the roads.
The working capital of the roads,
amounting to $362,000, 900, had been
taken by the government. This was
! not repaid in a lump, as it should
have been. 1t was Clipped in a little
at a time, as the government could
Ispare the money. Tough on the roads
| The government paid rents promptly
where the roads were small and suf-
tering Big, solvent roads were told
| to wait The government had no
money for them at a time when hun
dreds Of millions of dollars were be-
| ing handed out to Russia and Poland.
That made the computation more
complicated More than 500, ,00G, 900
| in admitted bookkeeping errors were
found. No wonder. If not the largest
it was the most intricate job of ac-
countancy ever handled
Didn't Have One Lawsuit.
! Davis was able to get away with it
because he had a one-man show. He
was boss. Congress could haul him
over the Goals and the President could
scold him, but neither has ever inter-
! fered. He had no politics in his or
ganization. He is republican. but he
! came to the work under President
Wilson. When banks were selling
railroad securities below par and CIV
| ing commissions he sold in the same
market the securities he had taken
from the roads at par and accrued in
terest. But the big thing that he aid,