Evening star., 1925-05-10
Story Week Has Told
Comprehensive Survey of Latest Events in United
States and Abroad.
BY HENRY ". BUM

his capital. Messed. with the Kohl.
Moor and the Peacock throne. And
today Persia may properly claim that
she has in her premier. Ria Khan,
one or the most notable Of living men.
RIza Khan of petty bourgeois origin
Joined the Persian army as a private
at the age Of Is and rose by merit to
be commander-in-chief at a.. In 1921,
at the head OF the Cossack division,
he enected the coup d'etat which
placed the reformer. the Seyyid Zia-u-
din in power as premier. Zia-u-din.
though man of fine ideals and ideas.
showed himself lacking in practical
capacity, and in 1928 Ria became
premier, retaining the command Of
the army and the gendarmerie and
| the portfolio of war. He has made
an efficient army of $4,000 men COM
pletely devoted to him. He has uni
| fed the country, producing due sub
ordination to the central authority.
establishing uniform conditions of law
| and order. The strength of his ad-
ministration is proved by the fact
that certain tribes which time out of
mind had refused to pay taxes are
now paying them.
Apparently he Is seriously opposed
| only by the more fanatical religious
element. This element, however, is
oust the Shah and set up a republic.
The craven Shah "beat it" for the
pleasure resorts of Europe, whereof
he has been for two years the CHIEF
ornament, leaving to his brother, the
crown prince, the defense or the
| throne. But the project of a republic
has been balked hitherto by the eX-
treme religious element. The present
status Is curious. In February OF this
hn a
Parliament, that the interference OF
| the Shah and crown prince was fatai
| to his program for the behoof OF the
country, and he demanded OF that
| body legislation which should end the
nterference-that is, reduce the
| throne to a symbol.
Such legislation not forthcoming he
would resign. That issue Is not yet
decided.
Whether or no Ria has 1t in mind
| to become Shah. himself (his proJeoH
ed republic having been conceived
merely as an Intermediary step), as
| his enemies charge, 1t is to see, the
charge seems plausible enough ana
| the idea is not offensive to sundry
astute observers, who think that
| Persia is not ripe for republican
polity and remark that the ka1ar
| dynasty is played out. that the reign
|
that Ria, If a Shah is still the
ticket" is the best material in sight.
At any rate. Ria is a real patriot
an out-and-out Persia -for-the-Per-
slams" man which is quite as 1t
should be- AS 1 observe he is one
of the most notable actors now per-
| forming on this queer planetary
stage --latest reports indicate that
Ria s enemies are making power
full bid for supremacy
| The League of NatiOns.-The Leagus
of Nations international conference
| opened at Geneva on May 8. 1t Is
proposed to draw up treaty aimed
at restriction of the sale of arms and
| munitions.
| Forty three powers, including the
United States and Germany, are rep
resented in this conference. OF this
important business more hereafter.
1t involves many delicate and intri-
cate considerations. The most ina =
plated is to give publicity to the
l 'nefarious" traffic. The conference
has as a substantial basis for its
work a draft convention produced by
! the league temporary mixed COM
mission on reduction of armament
The sixth assembly Of the League
Of Nations will open on September
Z. The most important item of the
draft agenda is arbitration, security
and the reduction Of ornaments"
| x = + y
MiscellaneOuS.-On a balance OF
gains and losses in the recent munic-
ipal elections throughout France it
would seem that the parties of the
| of ho6 eli nd to he
parties of the Right. The Commun-
lists lost heavily, but their loss was
the gain of the Unified Socialists $50
cialists proper) and the so-called
: radical Socialists.
Nearly 25 per cent of the popula
ton of Czechoslovakia are Germans
Trotsky has returned to Moscow
from his Caucasian exile. at the in
vitation of the great red triumvirate.
The annual increase by immigration
l(arrivals less departures) of the Jew
ish population of Palestine is about
10000.
4 The Duveens have purchased from
a Berlin banker Raphael's portrait of
Guliano de Medici, brother of Leo "
and third son of Lorenzo the. Magni-
ficent. 1t is the only one df the "a
recognized portraits by Raphael not
in public museum. Presumably il
will be sold to an American for en-
tombment in a private collection. The
painting has had an interesting his
tory. 1t disappeared" in the course
of the civil broils of Florence in the
late sixteenth century and reappeared
about % years ago in the possession
of the Grand Duchess Marie of Rus
isia. There seems to be no question.
as to its authenticity. The coloring
is said to be Raphael at his magni-
ficent best.
What a curious discovery, that Of
malaria inoculation as a remedy for
L no Sa-ic nd -othnx.