with which political partisans treat ncidents of comparative unimportance n the struggle for electoral votes. A listinguished Democrat, for instance, nnounces that he intends to vote or Harding or an equally distinuished Republican that he proposes to olt his party ticket and support Cox. OCTOBER 20, 1920 ganize the Government at Washington and put it upon an efficient basis, and that they cannot do this through the agency of the Democratic party. Mr. Parsons is of the opinion that the prime duty of the American people is to ratify the Paris Covenant of the League of Nations without any radical modifica tions, and that this can be done only through the agency of the Democratic party. THE PRESIDENT AND SENATOR SPENCER Whereupon the newspaper headlines A re magnified as if the fate of the Nation were at stake. Two weeks ago Mr. Benedict Crowell, recently Assistant Secretary of War in the Wilson Administration and one of the most efficient members of that Ad"ministration, announced that he would Support Mr. Harding's candidacy. Last week Mr. Herbert Parsons, a lifelong Republican, active in both the National and State councils of the party, for five years Chairman of the New York County Republican Committee and later member of the Republican National Committee, declared that he had decided to abandon his party affiliations and would vote for Mr. Cox. ال The newspapers treated these incidents as if they were unprecedented and epoch-making. On the contrary, such changes of political opinion are the ordinary occurrence of every political campaign. Mr. Crowell and Mr. Parsons have simply exercised the right of private judgment-a fundamental political right of every American citizen. Indeed, it is only because thousands of American voters do every four years what these two gentlemen have just done that the political pendulum swings now towards a Republican and now towards a Democratic President. Otherwise the only way in which a party out of power could obtain administrative control would be by increasing its birth rate. The really important thing about the action of Mr. Crowell and Mr. Parsons is not that they have exchanged party affiliations, but that each has stated clearly what he considers to be the primary issue of the campaign. Mr. Crowell believes that the first thing for the American people to do is to reor NOTHER tempest in the political teapot has been stirred up by a controversy between President Wilson and Senator Spencer, of Missouri. The Paul Thompson U. 8. SENATOR SELDEN P. SPENCER, OF MISSOURI Senator in a campaign speech asserted that the President in Paris had promised Rumania and Serbia that the United States would send her armies and navies to protect them if the League of Nations should be established. The President declared this assertion to be false, and a statement has been given out at the White House which gives the authorized text of what the President said during an argument at the Versailles Peace Conference, in which he was endeavoring to persuade Serbia and Rumania to abandon some of their demands which he regarded as unreasonable. In the course of the speech, in the words authorized by the White House, the President said: We need not close our eyes to the fact that in the last analysis the military and naval strength of the great Powers will be the final guarantee of the peace of the world. How can a Power like the United States, for example-for I can speak for no other-after signing this Treaty, if it contains elements which they do not believe will be permanent, go three thousand miles away across the sea and report to its people that it has made a settlement of the peace of the world? It cannot do so. And there yet underlies all of these transactions the expectation on the part, for example, of Rumania, and of Czechoslovakia, and of Serbia, that if any covenants of this settlement are not observed, the United States will send her armies and her navies to see that they are observed. In those circumstances, is it unreasonable that the United States should insist upon being satisfied that the settlements are correct? 7 It seems to us that the reasonable implication of these words is that if Serbia and Rumania will assent to a correct settlement of the Peace Treaty they may count on military protection from the United States. Nor do we understand why the President is so exercised over Senator Spencer's assertion that Serbia and Rumania were promised the military protection of America if the League should be established. For the President himself has 'said that Article X is the heart of the League and that under that Article the United States would be morally although not constitutionally bound to protect other League members against territorial aggression. Such protection, in the final analysis, must be military. It was Mark Twain, we believe, who settled the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy by saying that if William Shakespeare did not write the plays, then they were written by another man of the same name. If the President did not promise Serbia and Rumania military protection on the occasion to which Senator Spencer refers, he certainly made them that promise in Article X. We have called the matter a tempest in a teapot, for it is not of the slightest importance in this campaign what Pressident Wilson did or did not say to Serbia and Rumania. The important question is, Do the American people want to enter now into a formal mili tary alliance in an endeavor to preserve the peace of the world? Those who do will vote for Governor Cox. MR. HARDING'S RECENT SPEECHES IN N his Western tour the speech of Senator Harding which has attracted most attention was that at Des Moines, Iowa, where, according to the newspaper headlines, he was reported as having "scrapped" the League of Nations. It does not appear, however, from the text of the speech that he has abandoned the position he has taken heretofore; for in that speech we find the following: As soon as possible after my election I shall advise with the best minds in the United States .. to the end that we shall have an association of nations for the promotion of international peace, but one which shall so definitely safeguard our sovereignty and recognize our ultimate and unmortgaged freedom of action that it will have back of it, not a divided and distracted sentiment, but the united support of the American people. At Omaha Mr. Harding remarked: "Somebody wants to know if I am in accord with Senator Borah, or whether I have promised Senator Johnson to scrap the League." He answered: Well, it does not matter whether I am in accord with Senator Boralı or not. As a matter of fact, I am not in complete accord with Senator Borah. But as President of the United States I would be in one position and as Senator he would be in another, and I do not pretend that I will control the Senate of the United States when I am President. Senator Johnson and I have never said anything about scrapping the League. The President scrapped the League himself. At Kansas City Mr. Harding, as reported, made the following statement concerning Article X: This obligation assumed by the signatories of the Covenant is absolute and unqualified. Whenever certain specific circumstances arise, no matter how much we might regret it, we would have to keep our promise or sneak out of it. Let no one be deceived; the choice would be between two things-war and dishonor. Article X is not only the most dangerous provision in the Covenant, but, in its sinister possibilities, it is the most dangerous proposition ever presented to the American people. In his Oklahoma City speech Senator Harding paid, as was natural in an oil region, special attention to that industry, and remarked: Surely it must give pause to those of us who would like to take a reasonable, practical view of the actual facts in this world to know that, while our Administration has been trying to impose its own copyrighted style of altruism upon all the world, the other great governments have been engaged in something very much like a scramble for the control of petroleum resources everywhere. In one of his speeches the Senator, in reply to a question from a heckler, "How about the boys over in Germany ?" replied, as reported, "They haven't any business there." This statement would seem to mark an intention of abandoning our allies in their task of forcing Germany to respect the terms of her surrender. We trust Mr. Harding was misreported or will explain what he thinks America ought to do to see that Germany does not escape the just consequences of her war upon the world. MR. HOOVER AND THE DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION people have paid as high as thirty cents a pound." Among the responsibilities which will rest on the Republican party in the next four years, according to Mr. Hoover, are the reorganization of the business machinery of our Federal Gov ernment and wider vision in the constructive handling of great industrial issues. Mr. Hoover discussed a budget system, the recasting of Government departments, the handling of coal, transportation and power problems, and then named the three tasks of the Re publican party: 1. Peace and an association of na tions. 2. Reorganized administration. A FRANCO-ITALIAN HE French President and the Italian A7 on portant in Savoy. Their friendly attitude (as T Indianapolis, on October 9, Her- Bains, the well-known watering-place anapors, an address concerning the League of Nations. He stated that by its platform, by the action of its majority in the Senate, and by Mr. Harding's repeated statements the Republican party was pledged to undertake "to put into living being the principles of an organized association of nations for the preservation of peace." The Republican party, the speaker maintained, could do this better than could the Democratic party. The Republican party has "the skill and constructive ability in its membership" to meet the responsibilities of government, and "if it fails to provide peace on terms that establish an organized international association to prevent war it should ... and must pay to public opinion the same penalty for that failure which we demand should be paid by the Democratic party." For To have obstinately held up the peace of the world for eighteen months, with its fearful cost to ourselves and millions of helpless people, to have rejected the opportunity of amicable adjustment,... is the greatest failure of American statesmanship since the Civil War. . . . The "solemn referendum" is not on the League, it is on the failure of the Democratic party. As to that failure the speaker pointed out that the "total futility" of the Administration's methods was specially shown in the handling of the sugar problem. "Here is a commodity," said he, "in which the Administration could have supplied the American people... at a retail price of not more than twelve cents a pound. As a result of its failure in this single item, our shown in the illustration on page 312) signifies, we hope, a new feeling between the two peoples. Certainly the French can rely upon M. Barrère, their Ambassador at Rome to make M. Mille rand's efforts as efficient as possible. The French fear the Teutons. Hence they have tried to hem in Germany and Austria in every political and economic way. Certainly they do not favor a union between Germany and Austria. The Italians fear the Slavs. Hence they have tried to hem in Jugoslavia to her own hinterland without such a port on the Adriatic as Fiume, with its preponderant Italian population in the city proper, and without such less important ports as Zara and Sebenico with their Italian populations. As the French fear the Teutons, so they show corresponding favor to the Slavs. As the Italians fear the Slavs, so they show corresponding favor to any Power which will check the Slav wavenow to Rumania, now to Hungary, now even to Austria and Germany. Where the French, therefore, acted in resentment of German treacheryas in their occupation of the city of Frankfort they did not have 'Italian backing. When the Italians showed resentment-as at the failure of the Paris Peace Conference to give Fiume to them-they did not get French back ing (even if M. Clemenceau did publicly dissociate himself from President Wilson's extreme position with regard to that issue). Since the Paris Conference the two (C) Kadel & Herbert MEETING OF THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN PREMIERS AT AIX-LES-BAINS nations have been growing apart. The Fortunately for France and Italy, the men at the heads of the two Governments look beyond the things of the moment. They see a future of unrest, perhaps of peril, for Europe unless there is a good understanding between the two foremost Latin countries. Such an understanding, it is announced, was reached at the Aix-les-Bains interview between M. Millerand and Signor Giolitti. It is to the effect that, as to immediately pressing issues, France agrees to give Italy a freer hand as regards Fiume, and Italy agrees to "stay put" as regards Germany and Russia. THE ARMISTICE BETWEEN armistice is described by M. Joffe, of Under the terms of the armistice each All the indications are that Trotsky and Lenine have been anxious for peace on the Polish front, as they well may be, after the reverses of their armies following the brilliant Polish attack which drove a dangerous wedge through the Russian center. Under French military advice, the Poles have abstained from such an advance as would make their own line thin because of too broad extension. They hold an excellent position for defense and for striking at vulnerable Russian points. One danger of an armistice between Poland and Russia is that it leaves the Reds free to send reinforcements against HE armistice agreement between the General Wrangel in the Crimean re was signed on October 12, to take effect on October 18, and will presumably be followed by a peace treaty in agreement with the armistice terms. The cesses, including, according to a late gel. No doubt it is with that in mind that it is reported that France is send ing General Weygand to support and advise General Wrangel, while London despatches state that the British commander of Kut-el-Amara fame, General C. V. F. Townshend, is on his way to the Crimea with the same purpose. Neither France nor Great Britain can afford to see a collapse of the antiBolshevist effort in the East. A singular incident is the occupation of Vilna, the capital of Lithuania, by an outlaw" or insurrectionist armymade up of Lithuanian regiments of the Polish army (that is, as we understand it, Lithuanians by nationality but Poles by race) who believe that Vilna should belong to Poland or should at least have the right of self-determination. This was all but simultaneous with the Polish announcement that negotiations with Lithuania concerning an armistice and a line of demarcation between the armies of the two countries had been concluded. The situation at Vilna is in some ways comparable to that brought about by d'Annunzio at Fiume. THE ENGLISH PRIME MINISTER R. LLOYD GEORGE took the occa to speak very definitely on the Irish situ ation. He does not believe in Viscount Grey's Irish Dominion plan; he rejects the idea of complete Irish independence, and he declares: You cannot permit the country to be debased into a condition of complete anarchy, where a small body of assassins, real murder gangs, are dominating the country and terrorizing it, and making it impossible for reasonable men to come together to consider the best way of governing their country. What, then, is his constructive plan? He insists that the Home Rule Bill. now before Parliament will be carried through by the Coalition, and that it is the best and fairest programme available. Mr. Asquith may call it "a paltry compromise," but it gives the Irish people control of education, of courts, of licensing, of most taxation, of housing, of railways, of land receipts, and of much else. As to the Dominion plan, Mr. Lloyd George declared that Dominion Home Rule without power to have an army and navy would be a farce, and that an Irish army and navy meant conscription in England, for "you cannot have an army of 500,000 or 600,000 men in Ireland, commanded by Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, who vowed destruc tion to this country, and only an army of about 100,000 here." Ireland, he pointed out, was a serious peril in the World War. "And we are to trust to luck in our next war! Was there ever such lunacy proposed by anybody?" Nor could he find "a single Irishman who has authority to speak for his ath countrymen who will say that he accepts ed Dominion Home Rule." Much curiosity had existed, as to what the Prime Minister would say about the "reprisals " in Ireland. He made a scathing indictment of the murdering and wounding of 280 policemen in Ireland in one year, not in fair fight, but mostly from lurking ambush, and commented: "I never read or heard a word of protest from the Sinn Feiners in Ireland, not a single syllable." Without justifying reprisals, he asked, "Are the police in Ireland to stand up to be shot down like dogs in the streets without any attempt at defending them-. selves?" Mr. Lloyd George's address was brilliant, human, and moving. But we are afraid that it does not solve the Irish question. FAMINE IN CHINA L AST July a friend of The Outlook, traveling in China, reported a widespread drought. Throughout the populous provinces and vast plains of Shantung and Honan, as far as the eye could see, there was not a blade of grain in sight. The inevitable result has followed. Some thirty-odd million people are starving. There are a thousand deaths a day. Whole families, it is said, have been self-poisoned and children have. been sold to escape slow starvation. The condition is serious; the need of relief urgent. Japan will supply 500,000 bushels of rice, a despatch from Tokyo announces, to relieve the famine. China, it is added, will pay for the rice through a loan. But China can ill afford to pay for loans. She needs gifts. The Red Cross is the intermediary. It is taking immediate measures to relieve the famine. Mr. Crane, our Minister at Peking, has made the sensible suggestion that any funds contributed be used in promoting public works, thereby giving employment to many famine sufferers. International THE IRISH TROUBLES-REFUGEES LEAVING BALBRIGGAN, COUNTY DUBLIN, AFTER THE SACKING OF THE TOWN BY "BLACK AND TANS" AS A REPRISAL FOR THE KILLING OF TWO POLICEMEN in 1911 in accordance with the will of Miss Caroline Phelps-Stokes for The erection or improvement of tenement-house dwellings in New York City; and for educational purposes, in the education of Negroes both in Africa and in the United States, North American Indians, and needy deserving white students. The trustees have devoted two-thirds of the income of the Fund to the advancement of education and one-third to housing improvement. In education it has dispensed its philanthropy as far as possible through existing institutions of proved experience and of assured future stability. To this end it has made scientific and exhaustive investigation. Of Negro educational institutions alone it has; in co-operation with the United States Bureau of Education, investigated nearly seven hundred and fifty. These are supported by private charity to the extent of $3,000,000 annually; their plants and capital are estimated at no less than $28,000,000. And yet, says the report, "not a few of these institutions were found to be actually fraudulent ventures, while many were so inefficient as to be unworthy of support." be educated in private schools, but must be educated mainly in public or taxsupported schools." We quote from the report's conclusion: Among the good Negro schools are some which have achieved international fame for pioneer service in democratizing education. But the majority are following the traditional school curriculum with too exclusive emphasis on bookish studies. Democracy in the content of education demands that the curriculum shall impart culture through knowledge and practice related to the farm, the shop, the office, and, above all, the home. ... Education must be closely related to the actual life of those who have to be taught. It must take account of their instincts, experience, and interests, as distinct from those of people living in quite different conditions. Its aim must be to equip them for the life which they have to live. Hence the main emphasis must be put, not on a purely literary curriculum such as still prevails in many schools, but on training in such necessities of actual life as health, hygiene, the making and keeping of a home, the earning of a livelihood, and civic knowledge and spirit. During the war, so we learn, the officials of the Fund were constantly called on for help in solving educational problems connected with Negro troops (most of the officials of the Fund were in active war service); and that both during and after the war the Fund cooperated with the War Time Committee of the Churches and the War Work Council of the Y. M. C. A.; finally, that it was also instrumental in forming the Inter-Racial Committee, which has organized committees of white and colored men in many communities to co |