Page:The New York Times, 1925-12-14.djvu/3

** WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 13.—Forced economy, Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur said in his annual report to the President, made public today, has benefited his branch of the national defense by eliminating extravagance and waste, by developing thrift and thoroughness, and in particular by developing the skill, zeal character of the navy personnel. The Secretary indicated, however, that it would be possible to carry economy too far and said that when ships became obsolete they should be replaced.

Secretary Wilbur, who declared that the morale of the navy was never higher, devoted much attention to air activities, including the tragic voyage of the Shenandoah, the attempted airplane flight to Honolulu and the activities of the naval airmen with the MacMillan Arctic expedition. He gave the highest praise to those who were concerned in these adventures.

In referring to the loss of the Shenandoah and the controversy which followed the disaster, Mr. Wilbur asserted that Lieut. Commander Zachary Lansdowne, the ship's commander, had complete liberty of action concerning the flight. With respect to aviation policies in general, Mr. Wilbur reiterated his belief that aeronautics should continue as an arm of the fleet.

"On Aug. 18, 1925," said the Secretary, "the chief of Naval Operations held his final conference with Lieut. Commander Lansdowne concerning the flight, at which time Lieutenant Lansdowne expressed himself as satisfied with the date and arrangements for the flight and expressed entire confidence in the ability of the ship and crew successfully to complete the proposed flight.

"At this conference Lieut. Commander Lansdowne was again reminded that in accordance with the established policy of the department he was authorized to defer the trip, change the itinerary, or abandon it altogether if, in his judgment, such changes were rendered necessary by weather conditions."

Valuable information, not only from the viewpoint of science and discovery, but in the interest of air operations under new and difficult conditions, would be furnished by the naval aviation participation in the MacMillan Arctic expedition, Mr. Wilbur said. He described the attempted flight to Hawaii as "another step in advance in the development of material and equipment for naval planes in long distance work over water." The PN-9 No. 1, he said, failed to reach her goal because the favorable winds were of a less intensity than had been expected, a fact which, together with rain squalls, accounted for the plane having insufficient fuel. "Great credit," he said, was due Commander John Rogers and his crew for their fortitude and resourcefulness.

Mr. Wilbur described the course in aviation instituted at the Naval Academy and explained that it was proposed to give more extensive courses to classes after their graduation. Discussing in detail the subject of naval aviation, he said:

"Aircraft operating with the other coordinate arms of the fleet are vitally essential to modern naval operations. The development of naval aviation has progressed during the past year with satisfactory results, in spite of the many difficulties inherent in the refinement of a new art.

"Naval aviation is a specialized problem. It involves not only the relatively simple problem of flight operations with aircraft, but also combined with this are the more complex problems of utilizing aircraft under the practical conditions of naval warfare. Planes must be used offensively and defensively in

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PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT I WILL not be responsible for any debts contracted by my wife, Kathleen M. Payne. GLENN W. PAYNE, 1,779 East 17th St. Brooklyn, N. Y.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT MR. Charles Field is no longer connected with the firm of S. Vlock & Co., 109 West 26th St., city; effective as of Dec. 8, 1925. S. VLOCK & CO.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO ALL creditors of Samuel Abel that he will sell his interest in Dairy Counter conducted by him at 2,191 3d Av. unto Samuel Haft and Isidor Kitrogad on Dec. 19, 1925.

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The New York Times exercises extreme care in the acceptance of all advertising, to avoid insertion of undesirable announcements.

LONDON, Dec. 13.—David Lloyd George says that public office holds no further charms for him. In a speech at Leeds urging adoption of land reform proposals which now are monopolizing his attention, the former premier took a fling at a Conservative newspaper which declared that, though he pretended to be advocating land reform, what he really wanted was to get back to office.

"That kind of stained and rancid gibe is unworthy of a reputable newspaper," he said. "I have had a longer stretch of office than any living man. I have served the Crown and nation in some of the highest offices of State. There's nothing an office can give me.

"If I now choose, in a more obscure and humble position, against many difficulties and amid many humiliations, to continue my task in public life, it is because I want to spend the rest of my days and what is left of my strength in serving the people from whom I sprang."

Mr. Lloyd George declared that wise and just administration of land in England, such as he proposed, was essential to the well-being of the nation. He reiterated his argument that land in England now is being administered by a monopoly in a way detrimental to the industry, prosperity, health and happiness of the people, and that the time had come for the nation to exercise more direct authority on the question of monopoly of land.

"Monopoly has all the vices of socialism, with none of its countervailing advantages," he said.

naval manoeuvres a thousand or more miles from a land base. They must operate from surface ships and must be closely coordinated with the plane and manoeuvres of the fleet organization.

"The provision for offensive and defensive use of aircraft along these lines involves problems of stowage, servicing and repair on surface ships—mechanical details of performance and reliability in operations over water; and above all, thorough training of personnel, both in the air and on the surface, to the end that the fleet may function as a cohesive unit.

"The navy has made every effort to standardize on types of aircraft which are best suited to the needs of the naval service. Planes have been developed and are now in service with the fleet which combine the functions of scouting, bombing and torpedo launching. Other types have been developed and are in use for observation and spotting service to the battleships and cruisers. Fighting planes will be provided with special reference to the equipment of airplane carriers.

"The combined operations of aircraft, submarines and surface vessels again proved the value of each type and demonstrated the interdependence of these three arms of the navy. The operations of the carrier Langley in the fleet manoeuvres demonstrated the value of this type and served to emphasize the needs of first line aircraft carriers in major fleet operations.

"In spite of the lack of carrier tonnage, the number of aircraft participating in fleet manoeuvres has increased each year since the close of the war."

"The remarkable success demonstrated with the electric drive on the battleships," says Mr. Wilbur, "has led to its adoption in the submarine, the first of which vessels has completed a series of exhaustive tests, and its operation has been successful."

The report declares that, save for a "serious shortage" of line officers, the number of commissioned officers now in the navy is adequate to meet the peacetime requirements of the fleet and the shore establishment. He goes on:

"Intensive training of all officers is being conducted in the fleet with the purpose of preparing them to assume the duties of positions of higher responsibility which they must immediately occupy in the event of the fleet being mobilized, and some progress has been made on plans to train in peace time the abundant and excellent naval officer material to be found in the colleges and elsewhere throughout the country."

Except that the authorized enlisted strength of 86,000 men could not be maintained in the last few months because of overexpenditures would have been the result, and the number was therefore reduced to 82,000. Secretary Wilbur reported that the personnel situation during the year had been "uniformly excellent." He continued:

"With the development of aviation activities new hazards have been introduced. In 1924 there were 78 admissions to the sick list, 1,578 sick days and 32 deaths resulting from injuries incurred in flying. There were 19 deaths in 1923 and 20 in 1922. These figures do not mean that flying is less safe than it was a year or two ago. On the contrary, * the risks of injury and death have been progressively reduced, but exposure to aviation hazards has increased. The figures are mentioned to illustrate the point that injury hazards for naval personnel are greater than they were a decade or two ago."

With the return to the city of Albert Conway, attorney for the Countess Salm von Hoogstraten, daughter of Colonel Henry H. Rogers, a further effort will be made today by Herman B. Goodstein, attorney for Salm, to serve the papers in connections with his client's suit for separation, Mr. Goodstein said last night.

The Countess is at Palm Beach with her infant son, and it is said, has refused to designate any attorney in this city on whom the count's separation suit papers can be served.

Mr. Goodstein said last night that he hoped to hear from Mr. Conway today and in the event that he was unable to serve Mr. Conway as the attorney for the Countess, he would ask the courts for permission to serve the Countess by publication.

The Countess went to Palm Beach some time before her husband arrived from Europe and since his arrival here she has refused to communicate with him or his attorney.

"Mr. Zero," in private life Urbain Ledoux, started his Winter campaign yesterday by opening "Tub No. 2" at 5 Christie Street. Like Tub No. 1, it is designated to feed the jobless at 5 cents a meal. A chilling forty-mile wind filled the new "tub" with customers.

"Mr. Zero" announced that he had leased a building at 23 Bowery and would start renovating it today for use as a lodging house, where the jobless may sleep for 10 cents a night. This establishment will be called the Hotel Comrade.

At the Bowery Y. M. C. A. and the Municipal Lodging House it was said that the number of jobless in the city did not appear unusual for the season. It was explained that not until the railroad extra gangs were disbanded, and other outdoor work was shut down would the unemployed be greatly increased.

LONDON, Dec. 13.—Official announcement from Moscow confirms recent reports of a strong anti-Soviet movement in White Russia, according to a report from Origa.

The Orgpu, or political police, at Minsk have arrested seven alleged leaders of a conspiracy which, it is stated, was headed by a teacher named Listopad.

It is also stated that the agitation was carried on among the peasantry, whom the leaders hoped to stir up so that they would overthrow the White Russian Government and establish an independent republic.

VIENNA, Dec. 13.—The announcement that the matter of a Balkan compact will occupy the attention of the Foreign Ministers of the Little Entente at its meeting in Belgrade on Dec. 19 only mildly encourages the hope that the peace seed scattered from Locarno by the great Powers is really taking root in the soil of Southeastern Europe.

There are still too many indications that the soil is poisoned with intrigues and jealousies while the atmosphere is becoming more chilled with uncertainty.

The proposed Balkan compact has the initial misfortune of having been proposed by Greece, being frequently known as the "Rentis plan," after the name of the former Greek Foreign Minister, who is fathering it. That arouses Yugoslav susceptibilities, for it is convinced that it is the strongest Balkan State and hence should enjoy the prerogative of taking the lead in all such matters. Naturally Belgrade does not base its opposition on this ground, but the existence of such feeling is significant of the extent of the national rivalry the Locarno idea encounters in the Balkans.

"We have nothing against the Rentis plan per se," one Yugoslav spokesman admitted to, "but do not think the time is ripe for it. Our policy for the present is rather to improve the Balkan atmosphere and to prepare public opinion so that when the compact is made it will have a chance of being more than a scrap of paper. We want to go slow, to build solidly."

What these words mean in concrete terms depends largely on what Balkan country interprets them. To Yugoslavia they mean that there is no reason for signing a compact with Governments so likely to be fundamentally changed at anytime as Greece and Bulgaria, nor is there wisdom in incurring liabilities from Rumania's Bessarabian question with Russia. Above all, Belgrade thinks that no compact should be solid until the Macedonian agitation is ended, and it is not believed that any BUlgarian Premier who agreed to check the Macedonian incursions would live to carry out his promise any longer than Stambulisky did.

In fact, the suddent end of the negotiations BUlgaria recently started for restoring the Stambuliskky-Nisch accord with Yugoslavia is ascribed to a warning Premiers Tsankoff received from Macedonian revolutionaries that he would meet the same death as his predecessor if he continued.

On the other hand, the Bulgars and Greeks interpret Yugoslav hostility to a Balkan compact as proof that Belgrade is nursing imperialistic designs against them. Bulgarian official circles fear that Yugoslavia is arming and encouraging the exiled Agrarian followers of Stambulisky to overthrow the present Sofia régime, with the ultimate aim being either to make Bulgaria a Serbian protectorate under Prince Paul or to include it as part of the Yugoslav kingdom.

The Greeks think that Belgrade does not want the Balkan compact to interfere with her ambition to gain an outlet to the sea at Saloniki, especially as this question is now in the acute stage. Yugoslavia now controls the railway from the frontier to Saloniki, having bought out the French owners, and demands extraterritorial privileges along the right of way, which the Greeks refuse. The French have suggested ending the dispute by them resuming 40 per cent. of the ownership of the railway, Belgrade retaining 30 per cent. and the remainder to be held by other powers, including Greece, but little progress is being made toward a compromise.

While Britain and France are encouraging the Balkans to follow the Locarno model, their influence is offset by Russia and Italy, both of which are generally considered to be actively fishing in the troubled waters. Whether or not the many suspicions they have aroused are well founded, the mere existence of doubt concerning their aims greatly increases the uncertainty.

Tuesday afternoon a well-dressed man about 40 years old stepped up to the desk of the Park Avenue Hotel and requested the room clerk to reserve him a room for Saturday.

"I want a room and bath, and I don't care about the price," he said, "provided it is quiet and has no connecting doors." He gave his name as Henry Davis.

Saturday evening Mr. Davis signed the register as living in New York. He explained to the clerk that he had "some friends staying at my home overnight and there's not room for me." He had no baggage and paid $5 in advance. At 8:30 yesterday morning a chambermaid knocked on his door, the last one off a long corridor. There was no answer. She opened the door with a pass key. What she saw made her slam the door and call Dr. J. A. Sisabaugh, house physician, who called the police.

The body of Davis was upright in a chair before a mirror. There was a bullet wound in the temple and a pistol lay on the floor. There was neither note nor any other means of identification. Both the shirt and collar were new, and the police believed that they were purchased so that no laundry mark would be found to aid in establishing identity. Late last night the police had received no inquiries from friends or relatives. Medical Examiner Dr. C. S. B. Cassasa certified the death as a suicide.

PARIS, Dec. 13.—Fascism in France is still in the throes of academic discussion, but even though its leaders have not judged that "the time for action" is ripe the present Government betrays considerable perturbation, if not anxiety.

Yesterday an order was issued by the Minister of the Interior prohibiting parades and marching up the Campus Elysees to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. This order was severely criticized by the greater part of the press this morning, as such pilgrimages are declared to be a sacred right not to be alienated because sometimes by members of political or other groups which oppose the government.

Remarkable synchronism is displayed in several press campaigns favoring a strong Government and national unity, in which the leading morning and evening papers are participating. The Journal des Débats explains the present-day situation as teh result of ignorance of the country's feeling on the part of the Left cartel leaders for the last eighteen months, and for several days has printed a "Program of Economy," showing that the State could save hundreds of millions of francs of useless expenditure. It criticizes M. Loucheur's plans as failing to include similar measures.

The Temps says it cannot be denied that the whole country ardently desires sacred union—in short, the burying of political hatchets which was agreed upon during the war.

"How can it be otherwise at a time when financial disaster threatens the nation in its very life and jeopardizes its future? the newspaper asks and then declares that "the partisan mentality of the present majority—its political fanaticism and the incredible blindness—is the source of the nation's reaction."

Other newspapers also print columns calling for national unity, declaring that no single party or group can work out the great difficulties facing the country.

The Nouveau Silècle, a newspaper of the Fascist groups—there are a score of organization working toward nearly similar ends—says it will not participate in the country-wide debates Fascism has aroused.

"Fascism is at once thought and motion," the newspaper says. "Its worth will be a matter of results. Men of all parties who are averse to parliamentarism feel the spirit of unity, although they still wear party colors, and the proof of this may be found in the program of the Camille Desmoulins political club, recently founded.

"The club demands, firstly, the immediate dissolution of Parliament; secondly, the putting of power in the hands of a limited group of men, deciding all affairs of State, assuming all responsibility and acting as a Committee of Public Safety; thirdly, the organization of a business ministry composed of technical experts and taking orders from the Committee of Public Safety; fourthly, the calling at an early date of the States General [representatives of capital, labor and all citizens not in these categories, in three numerically equal groups]."

The duties of this new organization of the country are as follows:

Firstly, through financial reform; secondly, the organization of syndicalism [different from trade unions in that it is designed to resurrect the pre-revolution guilds with greater concentration and less scope than the present bodies]; thirdly, administrative reform along regional lines; fourthly, absolute religious tolerance—France being considered as a positivist republic [a State free from religious officers]; fifthly, improvement of the conditions of workers and veterans by entirely new legislation.

It should be noted that French Fascists are in the majority republican and not royalist.

Meanwhile, although the troops and police have been held in readiness, several times recently the French Fascisti have made no attempts to seize power and continue their press and soap-box campaigns in all parts of the country, remaining fully within the laws governing freedom of press and speech and thereby making action against them practically impossible.

There is a distinction of form if not one of aims to be drawn between the Fascist program itself and the call for national unity voiced by non-Fascist newspapers. The former wants complete freedom from parliamentary control while the latter want a strong Government drawn from all parties and relying on the support of Parliament.

Meetings held today at Metz, Romans, Lyons and other cities were severely critical of the administration of the country since the fall of Premier Poincaré eighteen months ago and demanded the return to power of a Nationalist Government.

Other meetings of business men, farmers and wine growers at Nimes, Carcassonme and Lille attacked the financial plans before the Chamber. At Nimes the Republican Committee of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture voted a two-hour strike in protest and at Carcassonne a group comprising twenty-seven syndicates of commerce and agriculture solemnly decided to refuse to pay taxes to the State if the present bills were voted.

GENEVA, Dec. 13 (AP).—The League of Nations has been asked to do a lot of strange things by persons all over the world, but it remained for a New York business man to request action on the most unusual topic of all.

Announcement is made by the League Secretariat that it has received a letter from the New York declaring his opinion that "brain enslavement," otherwise known as spirit writing or receiving messages from the dead, is a cause of many evils. He said he wanted the League to stop this system all over the world, making the specific charge that the American courts of "so-called justice" are controlled by the spirit movement.

The American people, the letter went on, "need help form the whole world to bring an end to something which is really the greatest crime against civilization."