St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 22

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1930. PAGE 20 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Founded oy JOSEPH PULITZER December 12. 1371 FiifcJuiei hy The Pulitzer Publishing Company Tvctftfc Boulevard and Oliv Street THE POST-DISPATCH PLATFORM i a Ka fective reprisal from the Tribune or public opinion.

The time for the Tribune to lay down the law to the' traction crowd has passed. Once a franchise is granted, the milk has been spilt. Ml THE HTE COMMITTEE'S STATEMENT. Repeatedly the Nye committee (always excepting Senator Patterson) has denied the misrepresentation to which it Has been subjected by Mrs. McCormick and her press agents.

It now serves notice on the newspapers which have been printing Mrs. McCor-mick's charges that "future repetition of them will be regarded as willful and malicious libel." It also categorically and specifically denies that it has done the things of which Mrs. McCormick has accused it, in these words: We hare said and we repeat that these charges are totally and utterly false. No member of this committee whose name Is affixed hereto has been in any way responsible for such acts as have been committed. We have not at any time spied upon Mrs.

McCormick. We have not tapped her wires. We have not read her correspondence, either private or official. We did not rifle her files at Byron or elsewhere nor have we, or any one of us, or any agent for the committee, directed, approved or had any knowledge of such acts. eT FB I kff tkat tar retlreaneat will aaak aa dlttereaca la Ita eardlaal axiaelaleas that it will always fight tor yrrta aad reform, never tolerate lajnmtice or eorraptloa.

(Inar flatfct deanaaroapaea of all aartie. ever beloaa: to aa; party. alir7 paoae prlvtleiced claaaea aad pobll landerera. atever lack irnpatir with the poor, always remain de-Toted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely nrlatloa; news; always be drastically lade-- pendent sever be afraid to attack htois, whether by predatory plo-tocracy. or predatory poverty.

JOSEPH PULITZER. April 10. 1907. THE STOCK PANIC AND THE RECORD. Ex-Senator James A.

Reed charges the administration with responsibility tor the stock market crash which occurred a year ago. "The Federal Reserve Board." he says, tad vast sums which should hare been conserved for legitimate business diverted into speculative channels, and the President approved the policy and encouraged it by optimistic Mr. Reed thus calls public attention to one phase of the business recession which administration, spokesmen would doubtless prefer to have ignored. We do not mean to Imply that Government policy was the sole cause either of the speculative inflation of security prices or the drastic deflation which followed. Increased national Income and rising wages after the war, combined with the habit of Investing in securities which was created by the Liberty Loan drives, brought large numbers of new purchasers into the security market- Prices which advanced beyond anj conceivable amount justified by corporate earnings afforded an opportunity for large speculative gains.

Stock transactions assumed the aspect of another Florida land boom, and these dealings were financed. In large part, by agencies which the Federal Government was powerless to control. The surplus funds of corporations, the large resources of newly established Investment trusts, and the loans made by state and private banks, all served to support a speculative mania which would have assumed alarming proportions without regard to Federal Reserve policy or official optimism. The administration lacked weapons with which It might completely have prevented either the boom or the crash. But administration responsibility for the last year's debacle is, none the less, a heavy one.

During three years of soaring prices, every effort made by the 6 out Senator Patterson, who has no sympathy for the aims of the committee and for that reason does not deserve a place on it, is careful to dissociate himself from this statement. Senator Patterson is a regular Republican, so regular that even the spectacle of Mrs. McCormick's vast expenditures in Illinois does not move him. He is too much Interested in the success of the Republican ticket, regardless, to do anything which might jeopardize it. In this frenzied exhibition of partisanship he has now gone to the preposterous length of arguing market to return to normal levels called forth a pub publicly that the committee ought to investigate itself, to ascertain whether it has been spying on Mrs.

McCormick, but that it has no right to investigate the action of Mrs. McCormick in hiring private detectives to spy upon the committee. As a matter of LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE States' Rights and Prohibition. To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch. THE Democrat seem to be hankering for another fall if they believe they can win with a wet candidate on an out-and-out states' rights wet ptahk.

The average American may favor a wet candidate and a wet plank, but he will hesitate to sow dissension and discord between wet and dry states and wet and dry sections even where as Charles Evans Hughes has pointed out alarm exists over the way the Federal Government encroaches upon the rights of the states in many particulars. Whatever of wetness is to be had must be uniform throughout the nation. Even though the American people have had their fill of the "noble experiment," they will stand for only one law and not for 43 or more temperance laws by as many states. It will be easier for James A. Reed to stand on a solid, single wet plank fashioned for all of the states than for Gov.

Roosevelt to straddle many planks for the purpose of dispensing' good lemonade to dry states and fine liquors to wet states. It occurs to me that Justice Hughes may have been making a bid merely for the presidency as against the standpat wing of his own party when he made his states rights statement against Federal encroachment. Certainly he did not in fact. Senator Patterson is perfectly aware of the exhaustive inquiry which the committee made to determine whether any of its agents had been guilty of improper or over-real ous conduct; he knows that the result of that Inquiry was a complete and convincing lic statement by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of Commerce assuring the country that all was well. Of these the most notorious, perhaps, was the amazing pronouncement by President Coo-lidge on Jan.

6, 192S, that the record loans to brokers and dealers held by the New York Federal Reserve banks, $3,810,023,000, was not, in the President's opinion, a basis for unfavorable comment. An Associated Press dispatch of Jan. 7 said: vHe (President Coolidge) sees in the figure a natural reflection of business growth. Mr. Coolidge does not regard himself as an expert on the subject of broker loans, and is not prepared to give an opinion whether they are out of proportion with the country's resources.

The figures appear to him, however, to indicate the increase of business in the securities market and do not eonvey any unfavorable Impression." On the strength of that statement, professional op negative. He is aware, moreover, of the character "mm of the "evidence" which Mrs. McCormick offered to submit, and he knows something of how it was ob tained. It is difficult to think of another man in the Senate who would be willing to lend himself to such a disreputable piece ot business. Considering the vicious attacks made upon the com mittee by Mrs.

McCormick, its attitude toward her ha3 been extraordinarily calm and mild. It even postponed its hearings in Chicago so as to leave Mrs. McCormick free to make her campaign. But for that It got small thanks, since Mrs. McCormick would have the impression prevail that her fire" became too hot for it.

It would be less than natural. tend his position to be construed as advocating the doctrine of states' rights as a method cf settling the liquor question. The Chief Justice is too adroit for that. But Raskoh and his Tammany aids fell for the decoy and Franklin P.oosevelt "crosses the Rubicon." The stability of industry must not rest on the fickleness of voters. The states' rights idea would give a state the power to close in a subsequent election doors that the state had encouraged to be opened in a prior election.

Even distillers and brewers would hardly stand for that. To avoid chaos each state should be permitted to pass prohibition laws only within some limit set by a national measure. H. D. KISSENGER.

Kansas City, Mo. A GOOD SIGN FOR MISSOURI TOWNS. I South America: Continent of Dictators erators as well as the general public took renewed confidence in the bull market. The following day began another gigantic buying movement, and opening prices soared 51 to $9 over the levels of the preceding day. The Federal Reserve Board, too, played its part.

By drastically and rapidly advancing Its rate of rediscount, it could have shut off a large portion of the credit which supported the bull operations. But its increases were moderate and were made with evident reluctance, with the consequence that large funds were diverted from industrial activity into market speculation. Although, as we have said, Federal policy could entirely have prevented neither the boom nor the" crash, the fact remains that administrative wisdom could have kept the bull movement from going as fast as it did. Both for the fantastic height which Inflation achieved and the consequent severity of the reaction, the administration is clearly to blame. Today it is attempting to becloud the issue by large quantities of talk about world-wide depression, Soviet Russia and the blessings of prohibitive tariffs.

American opinion should not permit it thus to evade the consequences of its folly. Recent revolutions in South America laid largely to tendency of people to attribute their troubles to President; true cause of conditions, however, has been economic; North American bugaboo another factor in Latin uprisings; Argentine military revolt has made worse a condition that Irigoyen hoped to cure by resigning. WASHINGTON, Oct. 1. HE IS a very diplomatic-looking diplomat, tht man who Is comlne back to Wash From the Manchester Guardian WeeIv.

ington as Argentina's first Ambassador to Mv.i.tnr otiswa fian "Frtr Mall' 1 Joe Quinn. To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: IN reading Connie Mack's "Fifty Tears in Baseball." I noticed when he speaks of the Baltimore Orioles he omitted what we knew the same team considered the best second baseman that ever donned a uniform; namely, Joe Quinn. He was always credited with being one or St. Louis' best players. He is still one of St.

Louis' best and most respected business men. We cannot understand why Connie Mack could neglect mentioning the man that really brought to St. Louis fame and enthusiasm. B. HEMAN.

however, if the Nye committee remained silent under Mrs. McCormick's continued insinuations that the committee or its agents have been guilty of burglarious entry, wire-tapping and other penal offenses. Henceforth, such statements will be made at risk of penalties which is as it should be. a a IN WISCONSIN. A vacancy on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court has been filled with the appointment of Dr.

John D. Wickhem, a professor in the University of Wisconsin Law School. From his classroom on the campus hill overlooking Lake Mendota he will move across Madison to the State Capitol Hill where another La Fol-lette is soon to be Governor. Such an appointment states the spirit of government in Wisconsin. Not a politician for the Supreme bench or a second-rate Judge who could be pulled with political strings, but a disinterested expert, accustomed to seeking after the truth with all the facts on the table.

That is why Wisconsin has gone on. a a a A MESSAGE FROM AE. A distinguished visitor in America just now is George William Russell of Ireland, best known by his nom de plume, AE. Here is a rare versatile genius a poet who paints pictures, an editor with several plays to his credit, a mystic philosopher and critic, a leader In Ireland's literary renaissance and in her agricultural revivaL It is the latter of these varied fields that he considers most important, and farming Is what he will talk about in thi3 country. The cityward trend Is abhorrent to AE, although he realizes that scientific farming may make it possible to reduce the rural population to 10 per cent of the whole without impairing output.

But, just as he deems communion, with the earth necessary for human happiness, he sees the strength of nations VUU 1J .1 uel E. Malbran looks the part. Tall, splendidly built, with a strong faca and keen eyes. Ambassador Malbran ti cordial sort of person. No one, regardWa cf station, experiences any difficulty in talkies to him.

He likes Americans and admires tfce Inoriran can rt rioinsr thines. He lOVeS The German Reichstag contains 22 political parties. Maybe we could borrow one with a backbone for Missouri. bis home and perhaps Is happiest when in I LOOKING OVER THE EDGE. Too much time wasted on trivialities.

Too much talk about useless things like farm relief and the tariff. That's the trouble with Congress, according to Mr. Gustav Ebding, candidate from Ohio. But the impression shouldn't get around that Mr. Ebding is a destructive critic without a constructive program.

For City-Owned Natural Gas. To the Editor ot the Post-Dispatch: EGARDIXQ your editorial of Sept. 18, "ST Louis and Natural Gas." I If he goes to "Washington he knows exactly what he will talk The vital Issue, he says, is proving that the earth 13 flat. His campaign recalls the un fortunate experience cf Wilbur Glenn Voliva cf Zion City some months ago when he set out on a journey the company of his wife and his several chu-dren. While he is fond of entertaining.

fc prefers to do so in an informal, family fashion. He is an accomplished linguist-speaks English, French, Spanish and his own tongue with equal fluency." DR. MALBRAN is no stranger to Washington. Years aco he came here as secretary of the Argentine Legation. In l's-i he returned as Ambassador.

He remained only a short while in this capacity bfor was called to Buenos Aires. From that time until his appointment by the rew Argentine Government, the post has been vacant. He was only 2 years old when the drr of Doctor of Jurisprudence was confrrei upon him by the University of Buenos Aires. At 29 he was sent to Lisbon as secretary of his country's Legation. The profession of law almost claimed hits at one time.

He even went so far as to opa an office in Buenos Aires to look after his to the rim of ice mountains at the earth's edge. Traveling single-handed, so to speak, he was no wonder hy a wealthy city like St. Louid should sit calmly by and wait for some good "Santa Claus" in the way of some "benevolent" corporation or public utility to bring it natural gas. Why not have the cily build or run its own pipe lines to the gas fields? Around 5 cents per 1000 cubic feet is the prevailing price at wells, and in your editorial you say a pipe line company offered to run gas into Kansas City forll'ri cents per 1000 cubic feet. Time for a vote and bond Issue would not be necessary as a few wealthy, public-spirited St.

Louis men, having the interest of St. Louis at heart and ho would like to help the people of the city secure cheap gas for cooking and heating, as well as seeing a clean city free soot and smoke, could guarantee cost of pipe line and be paid back from first earnings. The gas could be offered to the Union as stemming from the soiL He advocates the best things in fa.rm efficiency, but he would build with It a "rural civilization" rather than a machine civiliza match for the unscrupulous navigators who defeated his purpose by traveling in a circle 1000 miles inside the globe's perimeter instead of taking him straight east. Thus from any stop it was still a long way to the jumping-off place. Perhaps Mr.

Ebding's issue should get before Congress. Why wouldn't it be a good plan to have an investigating committee settle by the fact that the people are educated and responsible members of a democracy whD can make their power felt at election times. But in South America the great majority of the population are at a very low level of civilization; their votes, as was recently demonstrated in Brazil, can easily be controlled or falsified. Naturally, therefore, when dissatisfaction Is rife, as it is during the existing economic crisis, it finds its outlet in revolution. There Is no redress except by the sword.

Although these arguments amply account for the revolutions in Bolivia and Peru, they apply with less force to the Argentine. Argentina has probably a longer record of unbroken constitutional government than any other South American republic Why has it now been Interrupted by a military coup d'etat? Virtually alone among South American Presidents, Irigoyen has pursued a policy of almost ostentatious independence of the United States: his rebuff to President Hoover at the time of the Pan-American Conference two years ago will he recalled. The common motive, then, of hostility to a President supposed to be unduly favorable to North America cannot here have been at work. Nor is the population of the Argentine, at least in the neighborhood of the capital, so politically backward that a revolution is the only means of changing the Government. Indeed, the leaders of the opposition, and especially the Socialist leaders, have been most Insistent that a revolution was the last thlngr that they wanted, strong1 opponents of President Irigoyen though they were.

President Irigoyen's rule, they rightly argued, was more "personal1 than befits a democracy, but it was not a dictatorship, or at the worst only a constitutional one. A revolution, on the other hand, would almost certainly mean an illegal military government. The facts have justified the forecast. Gen. Uribura has ousted President Irigoyen.

What has made the army revolt? One of the explanations offered ia that the military dissatisfaction Is the direct consequence of an effort by President Irigoyen to raeet the economic crisis by a policy of national economy. But, however this may be. it is clear that a military revolution has complicated and made worse difficult situation which seemed to be on the point of being solved by the voluntary resignation of the President. Because the Argentine is far more of a modern civilized state than the majority of the South American republics, this military revolution is far more unfortunate and demoralizing than those In Bolivia, and Peru. But because It is less natural, one may hop that It will also prove to be lees lasting.

the whole business? For chairman we nominate Ruth ratner anairs, out Diplomacy exercea stronger appeal. It was upon his father Hanna McCormick. IN the old days the poor peasants the Kingdom of Naples used to curse the King's favorites when there was lack of rain; no more rational but not less potent is the sudden reaction of the peoples of South America against the dictators who rule them. The revolutions which in the space of a few months have carried away first Dr. Siles, the dictator of Bolivia, then a week or so ago President Leguia of Peru, and now the veteran Hipolito Irigoyen, of the Argentine, have ail been economic in their cause, and in each case the blame for the bad condition of the country has not been principally the President's.

South America is a continent which depends on its exports for Its livelihood: Bolivia lives by Its copper, Peru must sell abroad its sugar, wool and petrol, while the Argentine is the granary and stock-raising area for many lands, of which England is not the least important. The fall In world prices, for which the unfortunate Presidents can hardly be blamed, has hit these countries very hard. Their population is in the main ignorant and unlettered; they seek a cause for their misfortunes and find it in the head of the state, who may in other ways have deserved ill of them but in this at least Is surely guiltless. There is another feeling that competes for mastery of their emotions when an economic crisis threatens their existence. The Monroe Doctrine, which once shielded the peoples of South America from European domination, has long served as a screen behind which North America has built up an economic control of most of the South American republics.

Thus South America comes, again mistakenly, to look upon the United States business men as the cause of their present distress, and as these business men have necessarily negotiated with the existing governments, this dissatisfaction with American influence adds fuel to dissatisfaction with the Presidents. The nature of the South American republics makes it almost inevitable that dissatisfaction with the Government should express Itself by revolution. The constitutions follow the North American model whereby the President, once he has been elected, enjoys almost monarchial powers. Usually he appoints his ministers, conducts foreign relations, is Irremovable during1 the terra of his office and, most important of all. he is Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy.

With the United States Constitution, the South American republics have taken over that unfortunate North American electoral custom, the spoils system. The newly elected President of a South American republic will reward his followers with the best positions ia the Army and the state, he will surround himself with a body of courtiers from whom he may expect to hear no whisper of any sentiment but flattery, and while he remains In office his power is absolute. When at last elections to Congress or to the Presidency have to be held, he is still ia a far stronger position than any of his rivals, for he can "make' the elections. In the United States the many disadvantages of the Constitution are mitigated Electric Light Power Co. with an iron death that he accepted the pest at Lisbon.

From there he came to Washington, remaining here until 1913. clad contract that it would be delivered a Discovery of a big deposit of radium in Ontario isn't a patchen to the discovery of a big deposit of spunk in the Nye committee. to domestic consumers at a fair airr low price, or the city could lay its own pipes. Every city, town and hamlet that DR. MALBRAN left Washington to become his country' Minister to Venezuela.

After service there, be was moved pipe line would pass through or -near would raise and guarantee its part of to the more Important post in Mexico, wbtrtf expense of pipe line. This plan is entirely feasible and could be put through in few months' time. GET BUSY. ST. LOUIS.

Mexico, Mo. Slow Street Sign Installation. To the Editor ot the Post-Diapsu-Ji tion. To found this social unit, he has backed the farm co-operative movement in Ireland, with farm communities resulting in which every individual has a definite place. The city worker, too, has a part in AE's economic scheme, for he urges the ntmost co-operation between worker and farmer so that each may fare better.

The United States, seeing its urban population Increasing in numbers over its farm dwellers with each succeeding census, and the plight of its farmers at the same time becoming less and less tolerable, may well listen to the philosophy of AE, Ireland's sage of agriculture. ZARO, A MIGHTY MAN. "Old Parr," who 13 said to have lived 152 years, arrived hale and hearty for exhibition at the court of Charles but the rich food he got there proved fatal. He succumbed to the gravest peril of seventeenth century English court life, for in those days more peers died of overeating than died in battle, and a feast at the royal board lasted for hours. Zaro Agha of Turkey, who says he is 136, is visiting New York and has just had an encounter with an auto, the gravest peril of twentieth century metropolitan life.

On Broadway the other night a car bowled him over, and he was picked op with bruises, contusions, abrasions and lacerations innumerable. Ilia friends thought he was dying, but now he is reported as recovering so rapidly that he wants to get out of bed and return to his normal life, which consists of answering questions and being photographed. Zaro's remarkable powers of resistance prove that he is worthy of being hailed as a mighty man Indeed. But' his recuperative ability is an additional argument for the scoffing scientists who doubt his reputed age. a a In the future we will see less cf Seymour.

HE humble author of this article A suggests and requests that you extend A BITTER JEST. A rather bitter jest has been perpetrated on the people of Chicago. A few months ago the Chicago Tribune was urging the people to turn the traction system over to the Insull interests under a terminable permit, another name for a franchise. The people, who did not understand the implications of the new plan any more than the Tribune did. voted the franchise by an overwhelming majority.

By that act, they divested themselves cf all power over their own traction system. It was understood that work should begin Immediately on the unification and modernization of the system, but one delay has followed another. Now the Tribune is complaining of the failure to put the plan into effect. It tells its readers, "Rumors that more time may be asked by the traction interests for settlement of differences are ominous. Delays on one pretext or another will be deeply and justly he remained for five years.

So successful was his diplomatic work there that the National University of Mexico made him Doctor Ad Honoris Causa, and the Industrial and Workmen's Association received an honorary member. In 1923 Dr. Malbran was sent to Chile-Argentina's first Ambassador to that country. There be remained for five year, until he was dispatched to Washington the first time. While in Chile he was th Argentine's delegate to the fifth Pa.n-Arr.er-lcan Congress.

Those who know him are not aware that he has any particular form of recreation or hobby. Those who served under him tn tt previous brief stay in Washington remember only his enormous capacity for work. He is SO years old. a helping hand ia the matter of digging up the facts as to the lethargic attitude of the incumbent administration concerning the installation of new street signs. If the dingy memory of this writer records and retains correctly, adequate money has been appropriated for this purpose, and from time to time within the past two years feeble efforts have been put forth by public officials in charge of this work.

But an hour's drive in various parts of St. Louis will resented, and the financial Interests should realize that their good faith and civic responsibility are prove that the city is acutely la need of the signs la question. The necessity of such signs, in regard to their benefit to any city, is so evident that it is un HIGH-MINDED CANDIDATE, from tim YaJ JJewa (Sew Harm. Conn.) IF there was ever an Intelligent, sagacious and high-minded candidate for Governor of Connecticut. Dean Croas Is the ma a.

Tale has lost a teacher, scholar and editor, an Intellectual leader. If Dean Cr is elected, ths people ef Connecticut wUI have gained an executive of whom they r-a seriously Involved." All of which is a mere slap on the wrist. Now that the franchise is safely stowed away in wise to waste any more space in this val NO FAD FOR FILM DOM. Tnta Puacb (London). SMART Frenchwoman has had the in-itials of her four successive husbands painted on her fin re mails.

An objection to the adoption of this fashion by Hollywood ia that no woman has more ah an Xt fingers. cable section of the paper enumerating the safety deposit box, the traction interests may logical and indicated reasons. DAILY SUBSCRIBER. take their own sweet time without fear of anj ef I be justly proud. We hope he is elect4.