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Show NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS Republicans Struggling With Problem of Financing the Soldiers' Bonus. DENBY TRIES TO SAVE NAVY Asks Personnel of 90,000 and Appropriation Appro-priation of $350,000,000 General Strike of Coal Miners Impends Collins and Craig Coming Com-ing to Agreement. By EDWARD W. PICKARD NEARLY everyone is In favor of giving the ex-service man a bonus, but no one Is willing to help pay for It. Every plan so far proposed pro-posed for raising the necessary revenueestimated rev-enueestimated at ?350,000,000 annually annu-ally for the next three years has aroused determined opposition. Members Mem-bers of the house ways and means committee thought eight special taxes would turn the trick, but every element of the population that would be directly di-rectly affected by them raised an immediate im-mediate wall. Republican leaders appealed to President Pres-ident Harding to suggest something feasible, and he undertook to do so on Thursday. But what should his plan be but the same old general sales tax proposition which It has been admitted by nearly everyone cannot possibly get through congress ! Because this was his only plan, and because he also criticized the p' n of providing for the payments of cash bonuses in installments install-ments over a period of two and a half years, It was assumed by many in Washington that the President really wished the bonus legislation again postponed, though he hesitated to say so flatly. The situation was plainly uncomfortable for the Republicans, and the Democsats were joyously taking tak-ing every advantage of the discomfiture discomfi-ture of their adversaries. The leaders of the agricultural bloc In both the house and the senate reiterated their unqualified opposition to any kind of a general sales tax. Some of the Republican leaders strongly favored the passage of a house bill without any plan of financing. They thought the necessary money might be made available by further reduction re-duction of appropriations for certain departments, especially the army and navy. Mr. Mondell prepared a statement state-ment to show how nearly $300,000,-000 $300,000,-000 could be saved this way. But even that would not be sufficient, and many congressmen urged again the Issuance Is-suance of bonds. Of course the deficit, defi-cit, after the problematical saving of $300,000,000 In appropriations, could be made up by Issuing short term certificates cer-tificates of Indebtedness, which It was asserted the market would readily absorb. ab-sorb. Both the President and Secretary Secre-tary Mellon declare that a big bond Issue would seriously embarass the extensive refunding operations that must be undertaken during the coming year, causing an Increase In Interest rates and disturbing the Liberty bond market. Some other government officials offi-cials do not agree with them. SENATOR BORAH Is consistently opposing the bonus because, he says, It will Interfere with the care of the soldiers now undertaken by the government through the veterans' bureau. He predicts that 4ihln ten years the annual expenditure for disabled dis-abled soldiers will have reached $1,-500,000,000, $1,-500,000,000, of which no one will complain com-plain "so long as the appropriations are based on the necessities and requirements re-quirements of the disabled soldiers." Director Forbes of the veterans' bureau calls attention to the fact that the total government expenditure required re-quired fur disabled soldiers for 1022 Is $510,000.1X10. and thus sets forth ihe ways in which the bureau is using the money : Paying out $1,000,000 cash every day, including Sunday, directly into the hands of the ex-service man or bis dependents in compensation aP.ot-j aP.ot-j meats. i Providing, without cost, hospital can-j can-j and tn-.-it'iiient to 30.000 veterans. This care Includes board and lodging and represents an expenditure by the government of $00,000,000 u year. Giving vocational training, without cost to over 100,000 disabled ex-serv ice men at an annual expenditure for tuition tu-ition and supervision of $30,000,000. Mailing out 650,000 checks every month, representing $42,000,000. Conducting an Insurance business for over 000,000 ex-service men, without with-out cost of administration to them, at premium rates below that of private companies for like policies. Insurance In force $3,500,000,000. Conducting over 50,000 medical examinations ex-aminations every month. Giving outside treatment In cases where hospitalization Is not required to 20,000 ex-service men every month. Receiving 1,000 new claims a day In addition to the 1,200,000 already on file; employing 4,000 ex-service men and woman In carrying out the work. SECRETARY DENBY began last week a strenuous fight to save the United States navy from congressional action which, he believes, would destroy de-stroy Its efficiency and at the same time destroy the international naval relativity provided for In the pending treaty for naval limitation. He Is ably seconded by Assistant Secretary Theodore Theo-dore Roosevelt and Admiral Robert A. Coontz, chief of naval operations. All three of them appeared before the house naval affairs committee and argued for a minimum personnel of 1)0,000 men and 6,000 apprentices, and for an appropriation of $350,000,000 for the fiscal year 1923. At the outset Chairman Thomas Butler, But-ler, voicing also the opinion of other members of the committee, declared the amount asked by Mr. Dtnby was altogether too large, that the people would never support a vote by congress for three times what the navy cost in 1916 exclusive of construction. Admiral Coontz In his argument said: "The secretary of the navy has caded your attention to the expenditures expendi-tures of the naval establishment for this eor as amounting to $478,000,000. If we odd to this various other transactions trans-actions and moneys returned to '.he tr --:-ury, we will have practically a half billion dollar business. Its ramifications rami-fications extend all over the world. "The navy maintain.! communications communica-tions in the Intt-rlor of Europe as far east as Constantinople and Warsaw for the benefit of our country, Its commercial commer-cial interests and the American relief work. Our radio communications handle han-dle Pacific mattsrs, and, at the present time, due to the breaking of the midway mid-way cable, are handling practically the entire trans-Pacific traffic. The naval appropriation also provides the funds for the administration of our Island possessions, among which are the Virgin islands, Haiti, San Domingo, Do-mingo, Guam, and Samoa." ONE of the outcomes of the unemployment unem-ployment conference was up for discussion in the senate Wednesday and received some hard knocks. It was the bill Introduced by Senator Ken-yon Ken-yon by which the President would be authorized to postpone federal construction con-struction and Improvements In prosperous pros-perous times when jobs are plentiful and then order the work carried on at full speed when business stagnation appears. Senator New of Indiana based his opposition to the measure on the rather ridiculous reason that the Pharaohs were unable to discover a formula to solve the problem of recurring re-curring periods of plenty and famine in Egypt. He did not think congress could succeed where the Pharaohs had failed. WHILE the senate foreign relations committee was discussing the four-power Pacific treaty, the same pact obtained place on the floor of the upper house. Senator Hitchcock offered of-fered a resolution asking President i Harding to transmit to the senate ad-I ad-I ditional information and documents relating re-lating to its negotiation, asserting that little of this was contained in the re- port of the American delegates. Ad-i Ad-i ministration leaders said this was V-' V-' cause practically all the negotiations I were oral and few minutes or notes I of the conversations were kept. The resolution, however, was adopted. Q ECRF.TARY OF COMMEK-'F. j HOOVER wants to publish ii e j trade statistics gathered by trade as-suciations. as-suciations. so he asked Attorney Geu- eral Daugherty as to the legal limits within which such associations could operate. Mr. Daugherty in reply holds that their activities do not contravene con-travene the provisions of the antitrust anti-trust act unless In actual practice they suppress competition, curtail production produc-tion or enhance prices. They may standardize grades, quality and processes; proc-esses; furnish Information as to financial fi-nancial responsibility; handle Insurance Insur-ance and engage In co-operative advertising; ad-vertising; gather statistics of production, produc-tion, distribution and wages for tha. Information of the secretary of commerce com-merce ; and they may provide a standard stand-ard system of cost accounting, but should be warned to guard against uniform cost as to any Item of expense. ex-pense. IT APPEARS likely there will be a general strike of coal miners on April 1 unless it Is prevented by government gov-ernment Intervention. The United Mine Workers of America are In convention con-vention In Indianapolis and have received re-ceived the report of the scale committee com-mittee positively declaring against the wage reductions which have been demanded de-manded by the operators. Iudeed, some Increases are asked by the men, though they do not demand the six-hour six-hour day and five-day week. The report re-port says : "In event no agreement Is reached by April 1, we declare In favor of a general suspension of mining operations, opera-tions, such action being subject to a referendum vote of the membership of the United Mine Workers of Ameri-lca, Ameri-lca, such referendum to be held prior to March 31." RELIGIOUS factions In Belfast fought bitterly throughout the week and about two score persons were killed and many wounded. The British troops there took a band in the melee, making bayonet charges on both sides Impartially, but were unable to stop the sniping and bomb throwing. Michael Collins, head of the Irish Free State, went to London and after a conference with Sir James Craig announced that they had agreed upon the appointment of liaison commissions commis-sions from the Free State and Ulster that will patrol the frontier and prevent pre-vent bloodshed. He also said be had secured the release of the kidnaped Ulsterites. The evacuation of the Free State by British troops had been halted, but on Mr. Collins' representations representa-tions It was resumed. FROM Paris comes the prediction that the conference on the economic rehabilitation of Europe will be postponed until May, and shifted probably from Genoa to Rome, Milan or Verona. The reasons advanced are the delay In forming a new Italian government, the Insistence of France on a preliminary meeting to decide on the agenda, and the alleged fact that the United States will not determine de-termine the extent of Its participation until the senate ha9 acted on the Washington Wash-ington conference treaties. The German delegation to the conference, con-ference, which will be headed by Dr. Walther Rathenau, foreign minister, will be armed with elaborate arguments argu-ments to prove that the reparations clauses In the treaty of Versailles must be abandoned or radically altered If the financial salvation of ITvope is to be accomplished. Rathenau's Idea Is that the Interests of all will be best served if there Is almost a complete cessation of payments during 1922 and If Germany Is permitted to pay In goods and work Instead of cash. HUGO STINNES, Industrial magnate, mag-nate, learned on Wednesday that he Is not so much the master of Germany Ger-many as he thought. After a debate In the reichstag In which he and bis Peoples' party were bitterly assailed the government was given a vote of confidence. This was a victory not only for Chancellor Wirth but also for Doctor Rathenau and the Indus- j trial group that is opposed to Stinnes. j ANOTHER of the gangs of swin- ! dlers that prey on ignorant foreign j residents has been uncovered, this j time in Chicago. The victims were ile- frauded of millions of dollars by means j comparable to those employed by I l'onzi of Boston. Most of the mem- j I hers of the gang are under arrest ant. j the police are close on the trail of ilii others. |