Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-19
Stuart Chase Says They
Have Become Slaves of
Other Men.
PLEADS FOR SPIRITUAL
CHARACTER IN INDUSTRY
Believes Doctors and Housewives
Are Guardians of American
Integrity.
BY JOHN F. SINCLAIR.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

than bigger business seems to be the
slogan of Stuart Chase in his new book,
the Nemesis of American Business"
America. he points out. has all the
natural resources, mechanical equip
ment and superior technique for put
ting together the components of the
good life. 1t has the opportunity to
create civilization so fine and lofty
that from its heights Americans may
look down on the celebrated glorieS Of
Athens in the days of Pericles.
But, he adds, Americans have done
nothing of this sort. While they haven't
made themselves the slaves Of machines,
they have made themselves the slaves
of themselves and other men. Not
physically, Of course, but mentally and
spiritually.
Mr.. Chase describes the unbelievable
bondage Of the big American executive
whose every word, movement and ges-
ture is qualified by his public relations
counsel, the clerk who has degenerated
into yes man" and the politician who
is tossed from the horns of one group
to another, never daring TO strike back
Oddly enough, Mr.. Chase finds doctors
and housewives the greatest guardians
OF American integrity and spiritual re-
serves because Of their isolation from
the business system Americans have be-
lieved natural instead Of an unnatural
product Of q technical culture
Many will disagree in whole or In
part, and though Mr.. Chase may, with
the ardor Of protest writer, overstate
the case, there Is much in what he says,
for he is an expert public accountant,
as well as a business writer who has
the gift to dramatic the driest and
.dullest of economic subjects.
The Suez Canal.
With as much as so per cent of Brit
ish shipping idle in her harbors, and
the rest of the worlds bottoms at a
low tide Of activity, 1t is natural to ex-
pect sharp decrease in such key ma
rine highways as the Suez Canal. The
receipts for the first quarter sank over
81 100000 below those of the same pc
Rod last year. and totaled around 415.-
100000. The first 10 days in April.
however, raised. the income above that
of the same time year ago. Whether
this is a definite trend or not is dificult
to say. but toll collections on the canal
indicate the rise and fall of interna-
tional shipments to a large extent.
There Is q controversy among the ca
nal directors In Paris regarding the
wisdom CT lowering the rates to attract
shipping from less convenient routes.
Some think 1t would be better to leave
reduction would entail loss on the
reduced number Of vessels passing
through the desert waterway. Those
holding this view evidently feel that IN
sufficient support Could be obtained
from ships which might be induced to
use the canal at curtailed rates. This
last seems more realistic view, since
most heavy tonnage probably already
passes through it, rather than lose time
on longer routes.
French Trade With China.
For some time past France has been
regarded as has been" in the China
trade America, England, Russia, ia
pan and Germany were said to have
gnawed away her economic influence in
the Far East.
from Southern China that discredits the
theory that French trade with China
had dried up. From Hanoi, on the
northeast coast Of French Indo-China,
a railroad runs northwest through the
steaIi1fng jungles, between the enormous
crevfces of the mountain ranges, into
the river basins OF Yunnan Province,
where it terminates in the capital,
Yunnanfu.
For the past few years French trad
ers have rolled up their sleeves and
pushed business transactions with the
Chinese merchants of that province.
The French have so stimulated trade
there that they are also draining
Schechuan Province, to the north. the
produce Of whose densely populated
plain used to go down the Yangtse to
American and British merchants in
Shanghai
So it is apparent that the French
have cleverly used their tropical rail-
road as a sort of pipe line through
which the wealth of interior China is
being pumped out the back way into
French vessels, instead Of to British,
American and Japanese traders, who
have been waiting empty-handed out in
front.
Italian Oil.
The Italians are elated and European
oil circles interested in the unusual
flow from Italy's newest oil well, near
the city CT Parma. Experts OF the
government estimate its initial yield at
about 200 barrels day. All the other
wells in Italy produce only ITS barrels
daily.
It is a source of qualification to the
MusSolini government that a new oil
field has been discovered, for it con-
firms the belief long held that consid
cradle oil exists in this region Of Italy.
Should more be found, it will mean a
great reduction in Italy's imports from
abroad.
In the past Italy has sought 30 m
sure wartime supply by contracting,
as France has done, with the Soviet
government. Russia lies outside the
ring Of inter European conflict and
would be less likely to take sides. 1t
would give Italy greater parity with
France in navies, however, to md q
home oil supply, for France has just
acquired the next best s1bstt-
tute for that In q good share Of the
Ndosul oil, which will come to her Syrian
port Of Beirut on the Mediterranean by
pipe line.
Progress In Morocco.
Many people still think of Morocco
in terms Of wild desert sheiks, sleepy,
White7walled towns, studded with the
harems of fat polygamists and produc-
tive of nothing but picturesqueness. But
under French rule this North African
desert has been swiftly transformed into
and beautiful provinces.
Ribbons of asphalt and macadam
roads skirt the desert or lead through
the mountains. Rich manganese and
ead mines are being worked. Railroads
nave tied the principal cities together.
by air routes, which also
extend to Southern France. Large hoe
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