Evening star., 1927-05-18

President Coolidges definite refusal
to convene Congress in special session
for Mississippi flood legislation is
based upon his determination to deal
with the situation from permanent,
rather than an emergency, point or
view When he tackles the problems
created by the disaster in the South
west, Mr.. Coolidge wants to proceed
along lines that will. as far as human
reckoning permits, prevent recurrence
of future calamities. The President
is Of opinion that any action Con-
gress might initiate noW-apart from
purely relief meaSureS-WOuld and
could be only half-baked action. 1t is
an open secret that both politicians
and engineers are of many minds on
the whole flood-control proposition.
At the White House the needs of the
hour are considered to be too far
reaching and deep-seated to be dealt
with as haphaZard in the hurly-burly
of a hastily summoned and hectic ses-
sion of Congress. BY the time House
and Senate come to Washington in
regular meeting next Winter, it is
President Coolidge's expectation that
the Government will have worked out
q sound, comprehensive scheme for
curbing the excesses of the Father or
Waters. That the Federal Treasury
cannot, and should not, be used for
financial flood relief-as to that, the
Coolidge view is firm and irrevocable.
* X n
The State and Navy Departments
have had an unusual opportunity this
week to obtain, at first hand, the
Japanese point Of view on limitation
30 CIR a.
taries Kellogg and Wilbur were in
conference with Charles MacVeagh,
the United States Ambassador to
Japan, and also had visits from Sadao
Saburi, the secretary general of the
Japanese delegation to the impending
three power conference at Geneva.
Both Messrs. MacVeagh and Saburi
convey the impression in Washington
that Japan is determined the reSpon-
sibility shall not be upon her shoul-
ders, If President Coolidge is denied
the qualification of his hopes for real
results. Ambassador MacVeagh is
timing his return to his post at Toxic
so that he will be there by the date
proceedings at Geneva begin. The idea
is that, fresh from his conversations
in Washington, Mr.. MacVeagh will
be able the more intelligently to trans
nit and interpret the diplomatic in
terchanges that America and Japan
will be having when the conference
is in progress
Senator J. Thomas Heflin, Demo
crat. of Alabama, is haranguing the
Hoosier multitudes in Indiana this
month on his favorite theme-the
iniquities of the Coolidge administra-
ton in Mexico and the nefarious ac-
tiVities of the Knights Of Columbus
in particular. The leather-lunged
spellbinder has already held forth in
Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, and is
scheduled to speak on Memorial day
| in Presidential Secretary Everett
Sanders home town of Terre Haute.
| 1t is noted as unique in the James
| Whitcomb Riley country that South
erner should have been invited to
commemorate a Union Army holiday.
| According to Terre Haute newspapers,
Heflin is appearing in that city under
the auspices of the local Ku Klux
Khan 'klavern."
X " " X
Silas II. Strawn of Chicago, who
was the American special commits
sioner to China in 1926 on customs
and extraterrito matters, made a
startling disclosure in a public speech
at Washington the other night. he
said that certain foreign consuls in
| China make habit of selling citizen
| ship to Chinese, who seek through its
purchase to escape the terrors of their
own judicial system. Strawn except
ed only the consular officers of the
! United States, Great Britain, France
and Japan from his sweeping indict'
ment, inferring that officials of prac'
| tically all other countries are traf-
| ticking in nationality rights. With
his charge the Chicago lawyer coupled
the intimation that Chinese who ac'
quire foreign citizenship from corrupt
consuls by the same act assure them
selves legal decisions in their own
favor, when they are pursued into
the jurisdictions that were bought
and paid for.
| X X X r
| An oxford professor of English law
certainly ought to know his way