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Show NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS Warren G. Harding Completes His First Year as President of United States. FALL AND WALLACE IN CLASH American Government Declines to Participate Par-ticipate In Genoa Conference Lloyd George's Threatened Resignation Fourteenth ' Canadian Parliament '' Opened Fiume Fumes Again. By JOHN DhCKINSON SHERMAN WAIUtEN G. HARDING at noon of March 4 completed his first year ns President of the United States. He was asked for an expression regarding the accomplishments of his administration administra-tion to date and authorized this statement state-ment : "The record of the administration speaks for itself; It would be a poor administration that required the executive execu-tive to spemk for It." At an entertainment by the National Press club In honor of the first official birthday the President said : "The long step toward getting back toward normal ways of government would seem to me to have been the achievement of the year." Representative Fess of Ohio, chairman chair-man of the Republican congressional committee, made In the house a speech setting forth in detail the accomplishments accomplish-ments of the year from the Republican .viewpoint. He dwelt on economies, actual and prospective. He said that the United States would be the only government in the world living within Ks revenues next year, If It could keep within the estimates outlined by the administration. , Reviewing the work of the anus conference, he said : "I challenge the record to produce a greater achievement In the history of diplomacy." Democratic members then proceeded to tear to pieces the Fess eulogy from their standpoint. Cordell Hull, chairman chair-man of the Democratic national committee, com-mittee, also took Issue with the Fess statement. His general position is that while the Republican congress has enacted en-acted a multiplicity of unimportant laws and the arms conference provided provid-ed for a limited program of naval reduction re-duction the Republican party has failed to carry out its major promises prom-ises mnde in the campaign of 1920. Now, In the house debate over the administration's statement of economies econo-mies Fess talked exactly as if he believed be-lieved everything he said and the Democrats talked back exactly as if tliey believed everything they said. And the taxpayer In the gallery' knew that everybody couldn't be telling the truth,, the whole truth ana nothing but the truth. The upshot was that Representative Rep-resentative Byms of Tennessee, ranking rank-ing Democratic member of the appropriations appro-priations committee, secured the passage pass-age of a resolution calling upon the President to Inform the house in what way fhe savings had been made, from whnt particular appropriations and In what specific amounts. Thereupon the President instructed General Dawes of the budget bureau to prepare a complete statement covering the entire en-tire situation. One thing at least stands out clearly: Nobody doubts that "II 1 and Maria" Dawes wi'J f've the facts and figures as they are. President and Mrs. Harding ieft Washington Wednesday evening t train for 8t. Augustine, Fla. The presidential pres-idential party incl..5ed Attorney General Gen-eral Daugherty, SpoiikM- Gillett, Undersecretary Un-dersecretary of Statt r'letcher, Brigadier Brig-adier General Sawyer, his personal physician, and George I. Christian, his secretary. Mr. Christian said the President would occupy his time in "rest and recreation," in Florida for a week or so. PITCHED battle between the Interior In-terior and Agricultural departments depart-ments which has long been watched by official Washington with absorbing interest lias now become "public" Ufcub a statement by Secretary Fall that he had protested to President Harding against the circulation of "vicious propaganda emanating from the Department of Agriculture." The battle, in brief, is over legislation, pending and prospective, which would transfer the forest service from the Agriculture department to the Interior department and practically turn over the development of the natural resources re-sources of Alaska to the Interior department, de-partment, with responsibility to the President. This battle Is not a petty quarrel between two departments. It Is a real battle between two cabinet members. Some of the old-timers take It so seriously as to predict the resignation resig-nation of one or the other of the secretaries. Moreover, the battle Is significant as indicating the difficulties difficul-ties that lie In the way of the proposed reorganization of all the executive departments. Until 1905 the -Interior department controlled all the public lands. The national forests were then created for the application of scientific lumbering lumber-ing and grazing and the forest service was established to administer them. The Interior department retained control con-trol of the remaining public lands and the ten national parks, established for recreational purposes. In the national forests the Interior department Is charged with the execution of all laws "relating to surveying, prospecting, prospect-ing, locating, appropriating, entering, reconveying or patenting of public lands and to the granting of rights of way amounting to easements." The national forests now number 168 In 21 states and territories and contain about 242,200 square miles. The national na-tional parks now number 19 and contain con-tain 10,859 square miles. The national park service was created cre-ated in 1916 to administer the national parks under the secretary of the interior. in-terior. The Agricultural department then began a campaign In print, and from the platform, for the transfer of the national park service to the Agricultural Agri-cultural department. It also set up the national forests as recreational rivals of the national parks. Then came the proposed reorganization reorgani-zation of the executive departments, approved by the President. Under this reorganization, the Interior department de-partment would become practically a public works department. One contemplated con-templated transfer is that of the forest for-est service from the Agricultural department. de-partment. On top of this came the concern about the plight of Alaska, which is not prospering. "Too much bureaucratic bureau-cratic government" was one cry that was raised. It is now proposed to take Alaska out of the hands of the many bureaus and hand it over to the Interior department for administration administra-tion and development. The secretary is already building the government Alaskan railroad and controls the oil and mineral deposits In the national forests. The two big national forests for-ests in Alaska are the Tongass and Chugac, containing 220,000 acres. Secretary Sec-retary Fall approves this disposition of Alaska. It has been announced that President Harding will visit Alaska Alas-ka this summer to get first-hand Information. Infor-mation. It was planned that Secretary Secre-tary Fall should be in the presidential party. Naturally the Department of Agriculture Agricul-ture is not pleased with this program. The American Forestry association has sent out much "literature" protesting pro-testing against it. Some of It is pretty pret-ty strong. The gist of it is that the transfer of the national forests means their exploitation by "private interests." inter-ests." Anyway, Secretary Fall r.iys he Is being held up ' to "execration, public abuso and private calumny." THE United 2;ates has formally declined de-clined the invitation of the allied powers to participate in the European ?jianeial and economic conference which is now set for April 10 at Genoa. The declination runs from Secretary of State Hughes to the Italian ambassador, ambas-sador, Senator Ricci. The document is a gem of purest ray serene. The language is friendly, the statements are plain, the meaning unmistakable. In diplomatic terms he says that the conference is not primarily economic but is rather a conference of a political politi-cal character in which the United States cannot helpfully participate. "Nothing doing. See you later. Wishing Wish-ing you good luck, I remain, etc." Is about the way it would read in the vernacular. Of course Europe is disappointed. dis-appointed. It is generally admitted that the absence of the United State will detract from the usefulness of the conference. But if Europe will not hold the kind of conference in which the United States can helpfully participate, par-ticipate, it must not expect us unnecessarily unnec-essarily to become Involved in European Euro-pean questions. Better luck next time, maybe, when things get down to brass tacks. T LOTD GEORGE resigning the Brit-ish Brit-ish premiership doesn't fit in with American notions of the little Welsh wizard. But either he had It seriously seri-ously In mind or he ran a gorgeous bluff. Anyway, he served an ultimatum ultima-tum on the Tory leaders of the coalition coa-lition party that unless he could be assured of loyal support and co-operation he would resign. Whereupon' all Britain buzzed like a disturbed beehive. bee-hive. ' Sir Arthur Balfour was named everywhere as the probable successor. But the coalition chiefs got busy at once. Sir George Younger, the unionist union-ist "die-hard" leader, was made to step back into the line; it was his speeches that had forced the Issue. Other leaders publicly voiced their confidence in the premier. Balfour, as a conservative leader, put the finishing fin-ishing touch by declaring emphatically emphat-ically for a continuance of the coalition coa-lition government and indorsing the leadership of Lloyd George, who he declared was incomparably the greatest great-est figure of the greatest age In British Brit-ish history. So the crisis has apparently appar-ently been passed though possibly only for the present. Sir Arthur, by the way, is very much in the British public eye just now. King George has bestowed upon him a knighthood of the Order of the Garter. His achievements at the Washington arms conference are universally acclaimed ac-claimed as regaining for Great Britain the world dominance lost during the World war. Anyhow, in declaring for Lloyd George he bowed himself out of the premiership. CANADA'S fourteenth parliament was opened Wednesday by Gov-nor-General Byng. W. L. Mackenzie King Is the first liberal prime minister minis-ter to hold the reins of government since Sir Wilfred Laurier was defeated ten years ago on his policy of reciprocity reciproc-ity with the United States. Premier King is a veteran of the Laurier ministry min-istry of 1911, In which he served as minister of labor. Rodolphe Lemieux of Montreal, selected by Premier King, is speaker. The government commands com-mands about one-half of the members of parliament. The official opposition group, numbering about fifty in a house of 235 members, is led by Arthur Ar-thur Meighen, the defeated premier. T. A. Crerar leads an unofficial progressive pro-gressive group of about 65, wbp are expected to support the government in most of Its policies, especially on the tariff. Both liberals and progressives progres-sives believe in customs duties "for revenue only," as against the conservative conserv-ative policy of protection. Who said "reciprocity?" FIUME is on the map again and seems to be trying io rival Vesuvius. Vesu-vius. The Fascisti and their adherents adher-ents have chased out President Za-nella Za-nella '.. the Free City governroat set up under the treaty of Rapallo between be-tween Italy and Jugo-Slavia. Gabri-elle Gabri-elle d'Annunzio has sent word that he supports tr-a 'uprising." The Italian parties have chosen Giovanni Giuri-ati, Giuri-ati, former chief of the poet-warrior's cabinet, as head of another provisional provision-al government for the Free State. The .Tugo-SIavs are rushing troops to the frontier, ostensibly to repel threatened threat-ened raids by the Fascisti. They are insisting upon observance of the treaty of Rapallo. Italy apparently intends to restore order in Fiume and enforce the Rapallo treaty. She also has moved troops forward. MAX says he Isn't marrying Ma-thihle Ma-thihle for her money. Mathikle began the romance at eleven by calling call-ing Max "Uncle." Max has taught Ma-thilde Ma-thilde the "Swiss language." Let the wedding bells ring out and the Swiss navy fire a salute! "Politics makes strange bedfellows" which is to say that the new treaty gives Yap prohibition, with Americans exempted. William Jennings Bryan, crusading against , Darwinism, says nobo.iy car make a monkey of him. Mr. Bryan is a self-made man. |