Life — March 1, 1923 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“While there is Life there's Hope” Published LIFE. PUBLISHING COMPANY London Offices, Rolls House, Breams Bldgs., London, HE Unit- ed States would go Ag long dis- tance to help the world if the way could be opened to it. The disposition to help is very widespread: self-interest and altru- ism combine to favor the adventure. There are still some hundred per cent. hard shells who see no need of co-operation with the folks across the Atlantic, but nowadays they are few. They can make some noise but have not much power. The contrary disposition came out strong in the Lincoln’s Birthday speeches. Mr. Harding told an audience in Wash- ington that men to-day will save themselves if they will forget them- selves. Senator Pepper, who spoke in Portland, would have us “strike a note of service to a suffering world, but resolutely decline to enter inter- national combinations likely to in- volve us in war.” Whether we are less likely to be involved in war by declining than by combining, he did not discuss, but he did go on to say that if we are invited by disputants to intervene as a mediator, we may well feel called upon to act. “If,” he said, “in the interest of world stab- ilization, we are willing ourselves to make large concessions to debtor na- tions, we may well issue a call to conference. But as long as we think it proper to preserve our part of the cargo intact it would be futile to summon the other cargo owners and urge them to jettison their belong- ings to lighten the ship.” The inference is that Mr. Pepper would have us cancel a lot of claims if we could really help the situation by doing so. The disposition of the people is 598 Madison Avenue, New York right enough, but action to induce a reorganization of Europe has to be started mainly by the government, and our present government is un- commonly wary of starting anything. Perhaps if the British debt settle- ment goes through successfully and with a great backing of approbation showing in the vote, it will take courage and try to do the next thing that needs to be done. HAT may be to help settle the tangle in the Ruhr. It is a deli- cate matter to butt into but after the experiment has been more fully tried out, there may be a conference to which we may be inviters. The most obvious effect so far of the efforts of the Poincaré government to col- lect some money has been to per- suade observers that the situation needs outside help. There is no sign yet that the French will be able to collect anything at all worthy of the cost of the effort. There is an ap- preciation of French needs and Ger- man obligations but at the same time there goes on a development of sym- pathy with the Germans as people of whom more is required than they can do. The French, in going after money, power and safety, seem to have overlooked the moral values. They are doing for G.*many what Germany could not have done for herself, building up concern for her and alarm about her future. They are doing the same for France, mak- ing observers wonder if she is Hell- bent and whether she can be headed off in time. So now the best hope from the French invasion is that it will produce a crisis out of which will come a reorganization that will amount to something. There is cer- tainly no glory for France in the . 81. 2104 c. Ruhr and there is no sign yet that she can get much money out of it. Germany can pay France as much as she ought to if she develops the will to do it and has a fair chance to earn the money. Mr. C. F. G. Masterman, who has written a book about “England fter War,” tells what reduced income, high prices and the load of taxation mean there, but when he comes to talk about the poorest class he finds one great trouble with them to he the expenditure of four or five dollars a week per family for drinks. During the war England shut down consider- ably on rum. After the war the liquor traffic got its head again and there was an increase in drinking that was damaging to social conditions. lf the English are drinking too much, as appears, it may be necessary pres- ently to cut down their supply of stimulants, and perhaps we shall get some good points on how it ought to be done. If it can be done in (Great Britain better than it has been so far done here, so’ much the better. They will have our experience to study. HE latest jolt of that experi- ence is in the conviction and sentence of the La Montagnes. Ap- parently the four brothers will lave to go to jail in New Jersey for breaking the law in the effort to sup- ply their friends with cheering bev- erages. The inconvenience of guing to jail is considerable, but the worst of it is usually the disgrace, and in the case of these men that ingredient does not operate. Two classes of law-breakers are now prevalent: those who break the Volstead law and those who break a lot of other laws in trying to enforce it. Why not put them all in jail? Why play favorites? E.S.M comicbooks.com