The Omaha Bee 1 M O R N I N G—E V E N I N G—S UNDAY THE BEE PUBLISHING CO.. Publisher N. B. UPDIKE. President BALLARD DUNN. JOY M. HACKLER. Editor ill Chief Business Manager MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press, of which The Bee is a member, esriusiveir entitled to the uae for republication of ell news dispute! es credited to it or not otherwise credited m this ns per. erd slso the locml news published herein. All rights of republiceti.on of our special dispatches are also reserved. , The Omaha Bee !• a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the recognised authority oa circulation audita, and The Omaha Bee's circulation is regularly .edited by their organisations. Entered as second-class mnttar May 28, 1908, at Omaha postoffico under act of March 3, 1879. BEE TELEPHONES Private Branch Eschsngo. Ask for s nr I 1000 the Department or Person Wanted. lanUC 1WM OFFICES Main Office—17th and Earnam Co Bluffs—IS Scott St. So. Sidc.N. W. Cor. 24th N. New York—World Bldg. Detroit—Ford Bldg. Chicago—Tribune Bldg. Kenaas City—Bryant Bldg. St. Louis-Syn. Trust Bldg. Los Angeles—Higgins Bldg. San Fran.—Hoilrook Bldg. Atlanta—Atlanta Trust Bid*. V---.---' OmalidVheiMhe^fest is at its Best WONDER WORKERS ON FINANCE. When Alice stepped through the looking glass, she discovered a wonderland indeed, but the things she met as she moved about with the Mad Hatter ‘and the March Hare were simple compared to some that are now being displayed by wizards who are straightening out the tangle into which the world : has fallen. Hon. Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin proposes, for example, that a simple way of securing money to pay the bonus is to compel France to pay her war debt to the United States. As an alternative to pay ing any, debts to anybody, the Berlin Vossische Zei tung proposes that gold be demonetized. This will destroy at once the supremacy of the dollar, and bring the war debts of all nations down to nothing, because there will be nothing to measure them bf. In the absence of a standard, the finances of the. world will come to tire same state of affairs as pre vailed in Russia or Germany, or Poland, where money meant absolutely nothing so far as value is con cerned. The experience of the former resident of Omaha . who went to Germany at the close of the war, and found that the price of the home he sold here has ijeen reduced to about a nlckle in real money through the magic of the printing press ought to teach something. * * * Mr. Berger overlooks the fact that the French debt owing to this country is carried as an asset to offset an equivalent portion of the general bonded in debtedness of the United States. One of the rea sons for not forgiving that debt is that it represents money loaned to the people of France by the people of the United States. It was not loaned on any pledge of German reparations, or security other than the honor of the French people, .^confident belief that the money will in time be repaid still exists, and this belief is supported by the unwillingness of the French to forego anything that is due them, not from Grrmany alone, hut from Russia, where ext«n sive loans were made before and during the war. "'bat. policy the new socialist government of Ferre may adopt is yet to he disrlnscd. .Ml that lira developed so far is that the left-wingers, who rre now in power, are not agreed among themselves, rnd their advent simply brings promise of further dispute and debate over what to do. Nothing in sight gives supnojrt to the thought that any change will occur in the American attitude, which is that France will be required to pay. Yet it would be an unwise step for congress to make any appropriation for any purpose against the French debt. France tried that policy, issuing paper rotes against, the expected payment of reparations, end has come to a very serious pass r.s a result. The^ Berger proposal, carrirfl on to its logical end would bring r.boll‘ a similar state of affairs in the I nited X>> n's*,rr bow sound our financial founda tion, it will not hr improved by any such experiment. * • • 'Bhp proposal of the Vossische Zeitung, that an international agreement to demonetize he made at once is, according to tjiat paper, directed at the dol lar and the pound sterling. With no fixation of the "xrhange rate in gold, the metal will depreciate as did silvpr at thp time of its demonetization. Thus argues the Zeitung. whose editor has learned nothing from the recent experience of Germany. His plan is not to pull the mark hack, but. to bring down the dollar and the pound. How that will help may be discovered from what ha« just taken place. With the gold standard set aside, gold will no longer be reeded for money, and there will be no international landard of value. The world will be back to the wildcat days, when n dollar issued by the bank at Florence wasn’t worth anything in Council Bluffs, and vice versa. The age of periwinkles or cowrie shells will be restored. Credit will disappear, for there will be nothing to rest it on. Debts will dis appear, for there will be nothing to pay them with. International commerce will go hack to the Phoeni cian days, when good* wore exchanged f^r kind, and barter was the rule. The people of the United States have twice had somp such experience. ' “Not worth a continental’* reminds us of the time when the currency issued by the Continental congress had reached the stage where it stood as the symbol of nothing at all when it came to value. Greenbacks, Issued" during the Civil war, went nearly as bad at one time, when it was seen that there was no gold and might be no government behind the issue. Other nations have tried similar experiments, and with similar results. * * • Fortunately, there is little likelihood of these wonder workers getting hold of international finance. Germany will proceed under the Dawes plan, which includes the establishment of a central bank of issue, its currency resting on gold. France will revive and pay the debts she owes as well ns collecting what Is coming to her. And over it nil and under It all will he the stability proceeding from the dollar, which ‘represents the power of the greatest people In the world today. Only on such foundation can any en during prosperity rest, and Americans are not ready to abandon it, because it involves everything they have, liberty included. A Georgia negro aged 82 ha* just been sentenced to 99 years’ imprisonment for a murder committed Jn 1882. Presumably he will know better than to do It agaiq after he serves h1s full term. Botullnus is a' dangerous bird, but succumbs to heat. Cook your canned atuff thoroughly, and be Mill TIMID TROTZKY IS WORRIED AGAIN. Tavariseh Trotzky is alarmed. He admits it. In an address to the comrades of red Russia he says, referring to the ambitions of the United States: “No one knows in what dreams the bourgeoisie of America is indulging.” He means no one but Leon Trotzky. He knows, every time, uncffingly. This time it is poison gas, whereby all good tavarischky are to be overwhelmed, and the loathsome brand of the boozhwah is to be once more imprinted upon their simple lives. Maybe, it will be on their backs, or their necks, but Trotzky knows what we are scheming for over here, behind our smoke screen of smug pretense of friendliness. However, if Tavariseh Trotzky will only pene trate a little deeper into the arcana of America, he will find the bourgeoisie over here so much en gaged in their own affairs that most of them have forgotten that anything like soviet Russia exists. It is only when some well meaning but over zealous person arises to tell us of what is being done by the emancipated millions of the old Muscovite em pire that we recall there is or was any such thing. Sufficient unto the average American is his own trouble. Between coal in winter and ice in summer, the ever present need for gas, to income tax and such other incidentals as go to make up modern life, our bourgeoise citizenry, sleek and fat and not much given to uprisings or the like, find plenty of occupation. A little first-hand knowledge of America would not hurt Russia, nor the other way round. Trotzky and his like thrive on keeping one afraid of the other. The bolsheviki have nothing to fear from America, and America has little to fear from the bolsheviki. Else were made a great mistake in letting William .1. Burns go. He was tht man who could unmask Trotzky in this country, just as Trotzky has unmasked us at Moscow. DEFINING A DEMOCRAT. Now, speaking about this matter of trademarks as applied to political parties, just how would you go about to classify a democrat? Is he one who wears the good old “16-to-l 1 brand, that W illiam Jennings Bryan had registered in the herd book back in 1805? Or does he wear the “Bar-X-Bottle” under which Tom Taggart gathered his hosts? Is it the old “Pluto” sign, or the “XX” that was handed to Alton B. Parker? Is a democrat one who shouted for Jud Harmon, or yelled his head off for James M. ( ox? Does Oscar Underwood symbolize the "party today, or William Gibbs McAdoo? Will he nestle under th# wing of Jake Thomas, who shouts for free trade in Nebraska, or John B. Kendrick, whose protected sheep graze on the highlands of Wyoming? If every party presented the appearance of a crazy-quilt or a hodge-podge, it is the democratic party of today. It has but one idea, one animating purpose, and that is to get back into power by hook or crook. It will be wet in New York, Boston, Phila delphia and San Francisco, and dry as Sahara in Omaha or Atlanta. It will favor the tariff in Ala bama and oppose it in Nebraska. Locally, it will follow Arthur Mullen and vote for Charley Bryan. Never in all its history has the party exhibited as many facets as it does at this tfme. Old Mo kanna’s philosophy never found better illustration: "That prophet 111 befits his holy call TVho find* not heaven* to suit th* wants of all." In the democratic bag of tricks are all sorts of heaven's but the one they hope to reach, that being the possession of power in the government once more. But how to accurately define a democrat these days is a difficult task for anybody. We pass. SOLUTION OF A SERIOUS PROBLEM. Whether the erow is a blessing or a curse is a moot question tkese days. A powder company has issued a brochure, "The Truth About the Crow,” and therein asserts that the crow it a curse to the farmer and little else than a menace to civilization. On the other hand, the United States Department of Agriculture issues a brochure on “The Crow in Its Relation to Agriculture,” and insists that the bird is a blessing, a devourer of insect pests and a terror to rodents. Rending the powder company’s pamphlet we feel likp ru' h'ng out and demanding a liberal bounty on crow scalps. We presume that crows have scalps, Reading the government’s pamphlet we feel like campaigning for a subsidy for crows. As it is, we have worried about the matter greatly, losing con siderable sl»ep and spending weary daylight hours trying to devise the Right Thing to Do. Comes now the New York Herald-Trfhuns with a solution so clear, concise and common sense that we wonder it was not conceived and brought forth long ago. It4>elng generally admitted that the crow's worst fault is a voracious appetite that is imfnense in Its diversity, thh Herald-Trihune suggests that we pro hibit the crow by statute from rating what it should not. Simple Indeed, and doubtless efficacious. Just enact the law and trust to luck for enforcement. That has been the plan with regard to other evils that menace. It ought to work as well in the rase of the crows as it has in most of the ,other$. A Nebraska newspaper is printing verses of scripture under the caption, “Moments With the Bible.” That's the trouble—moments with the Bible, and the hours with jazz orchestras and automobiles parked along lonely country roads. Hat. dealers have decided upon the date that straw hats may he worn. Presumably they have also decided the price the wearers must pay. Very careless of the republican stale committee not to adopt the program outlined hy the democratic strategy board. Homespun Verse —By Omaha's Own Pool— Robert Worthington Davie v_ _* THE OLD HOMt TOWN. Who lives and does Mot. cherish Tha old home town, and keep The haunts that were familiar In mem'ry'a vision deep? Who lives and does not linger With retrospection fins, While In the mental mirror The old town" street lamps shin' Who lives without close keeping To heart the old town scenes— The pleasant evenings yonder— The fervid, Joyous 'teens?— Years when was wrought the fuiu As youth went swiftly on, Years fading fast and faster Until play days were gone. Time can not dim the picture, Nor still the echoes. Age fteveaIs the mellow beauty Of life’s lost heritage; - And while the sun moves westward. And dews orvlusk come down. Who lives and does not wander Back to the old home town? t /--*J Letters From Our Readers All IHtm must ho ilcn^d, hut name will l*e withheld upon rraocftt. ( »m niiinlmtionN of 200 worn* and lf»» will bo Klrrn prrfrronro. V__—-' Why Not I’«y ili« Teacher* Massachusetts Inatltuta of Tech nology—To the Editor of The Omaha Bee: In a previously published news paper letter, the present writer pre dieted condition* in college* similar to those existing now In secondary schools- an exodus of men teachers and a deterioration of the teaching atalT. And .he indicated, aa one of the chief contributory causes, poor pay. A a for thla poor pay, he knew from personal experience how poor it can he and la in inatitutlons of rob leginte grade. And he knew how poor it is aald to be in secondary schools. But, knowing how the high school place has been regarded as a financial plum by the college in 'strut-tor, your correspondent was In dined to wonder if the high school teachers were really as badly off as they have been represented to be, and If their increases in aslary since the war had not greatly helped them, and put them in the claaa of self respecting because adequately paid wage earners. , An article in the number issued April 24 of School gives the answer Referring to a recent research bulle tin of ilia National Education associa tion ss its authority. It quotes figures, comparing the average of high school teat lists’ salaries with the salaries of government employe* of a comparable class, \rith results as follows; II omit tears six, seven Slid eight hecause unessential and for space saving!. Ttish School government T - her , Y*»ri. KmpioTA*. Avfirtgf «>»• . f 1.4ft* Twa . . J.lft# 1,70t» ThiM . *,?** 1 *00 four . I 2M l.fOQ Piv# . t 4«t •.**<* Mm . 1.4M ? 400 In view of the fant that government employes s re considered to be far from overpaid, a study of these post wsr t*hles makes us better understand the present position and the Justice of the complaints of even the high school teacher. Competent men and competent women will not continue Indefinitely to teach only for teach Inga' sake In a discredited profession. In view of these figures, all the fuss being constantly made ss In what and what not and how much yie child shall atudy anil when, conduce* to ennui. In the last analysis, the Mark Hopkins figure on the end of the log Is and always will be the school. Why bother about Ihs quality or the quan tity of the current, If it Is merely going to run up against a non con doctor? Why an carefully prepare a product and at the same time know inglv wreck Hi* transportation sis lain? Why not pav the leather* S F. BEARS. Mnc. Buch a lit!!* while Are ws here; V little work, A lilt!* play, friends- a few To cheer you, A Util* Joy, \ ilttl* Sorrow Always—there's l»i>»' u Oftentimes glad, Sometime* sad * Such * little 4 hllr Ate we here, That la I.lfe. - If. F. Hilbert. NET AVERAGE PAID CIRCULATION for April, 1924, of THE OMAHA BEE Daily .74,265 Sunday .77,999 I)mi nnt Include nhirm, Uh* nvart, santplaa nr paptri spoiled in printing and includes nn aparial ] aalaa ar fraa elrrulatlon ol any kind. V. A. BRIDGE, Cir. Mfr. Subscribed and awnrn to before mo tbU lOtb day of May. 1924. W. H QUIVEY. (Seel) Notary Fuhlla “From State and Nation” X__J The McNary-Haugen Hill. from ths tom r*!ls Argua Leader, f After months of delay and stalling 'around In congress the McNary Hau gen agricultural export bill Is finally due to come up for a vote In the house In the next few day*. It Is to be taId of this bill that it has groused more attention than any other farm relief scheme that ha* been proposed It hss won strong support from man} sjrrlcultural organisations and leader* and equsllypronouncedoppoeltlon from other*. The division of opinion extends even to-the president * cabinet, where it i* endorsed on the one hand by Secretary of Agriculture Wallace end opposed by Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce. Many agricultural writers have been agitating for It* adoption, while others, like Dante M. Pierce, publisher of the Iowa Home stead, have gone so far as to declare that they never heard of "a more cum beraome. Impractical, visionary, com plicated and deceitful measure." The Argua Leader has always been opposed to price-fixing measures In general, knowing that past exiverlence haa proved them to be unsound and dangerous, but in view of the con fusion which surrounded the McNary Haugen bill this paper refrained from inking a positive aland against It at the outset, hoping that the objections that had been advanced against It | might !>• met bef May 20. [I NEW YORK CENTRAL OMAHA OFFICE: 808 Woodmen of World Bldg. SUNNY SIDE UP! ^aJee Comfort, nor forget