Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-24
WASHINGTON OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE

One Of the little ironies in the
Italian debt situation that may give
pause to opponents of ratification Is
that Uncle Sam will have to make
Mussolini a present of 100.000,000 liras
II the settlement is killed in the
Senate-that is to say, the day that
Signor Volpi and Secretary Mellon
signed the funding agreement-No-
vember IA, 1925-the Italians handed
over to the Treasury the equivalent
Of S. 900, 900 as the first insrallment
under the contract. Payment, how
ever, was to be regarded as binding
only in the event that the agreement
was ratified. The Italian understand
ing was-and is-that the money will
be returned II the arrangement falls
through. An unrecorded tit bit of the
Volpi- Mellon deal is that although 1t
was concluded in time for signature
on Friday, Novembe-13, all concerned
preferred TO escape the "hoodoo" of a
Friday and a 18th, 80 the pact was not
formally sealed until Saturday, the
14th.
President Coolidge has evidently
bombed all hopes Of expanding the
Air Service of either the Army or
Navy on the extensive scale contem
plated by bills now pending before
Congress. He refuses to believe that
Uncle Sam Is in danger in the sky,
either now or in the measurable
future, and accordingly declines to
OK. aviation plans contemplating ex-
penditure Of more than 100000, 900
during the next five years. The PreSi-
dent is bound to reopen the contro-
versy as to whether an ounce Of
preparedness is, or is not, better than
pound Of war. Our military and
naval authorities do not think exclu-
sively in terms Of the profoundly
peaceful present. They regard it
their duty to look ahead and envisage
future possibilities. The heavens may
be clear of war clouds today, they
argue. but may not be as devoid of
them tomorrow. or next month, or a
year hence. 1t is against the dread
contingency of the wholly unexpected
| that our soldiers and sailors desire to
build-ashore. af1oat and aloft.
\ X \ X
Mr.. Coolidge is filled with a very
earnest fear that competition in air
ornaments contains the seeds of war.
! He thinks that If our air generals are
given too many flying and bombing
| playthings they may be fired some
day by an irresistible desire to put
| them to use That theory is one that
American Army and Navy leaders
| frequently have to face and one for
| which they have ready reJoinder.
They point out. first of all, that Amer
lea Is additionally a peace-loving and
peace-preserving country. They ex.
plain, secondly, that the making OF
war by the United States ts the ex-
elusive prerogative of Congress, and
| that no war ever has been, or could
be, made without the sanction OF the
people acting through their chosen
representatives. So our service au
thorities resent suggestions that they
would arbitrarily abuse the weapons
| with which the Nations money sup
plies them.
| One of Gen. Pershing's almost daily
visitors at Walter Reed Hospital, ir
Washington, is Vice President Dawes
| The general Of the armies and the
presiding officer of the Senate have
been bosom friends for more than &c
years. Their intimacy dates from the
days in the early ninetles when Capt
| Pershing was military instructor al
the University of Nebraska in Lin
coin and Dawes was an inspiring
young lawyer in the same city. Wher
Pershing needed a practical business
man to bring order out OF chaos tr
the purchasing department OF the
kAmerican Expeditionary Force II
tTrance he drafted his buddie of early