THE TROUBLED PEACE CONFERENCE NEW periods during the whole session of the Peace Conference have been so critical and difficult as that comprising the last eight days of April. In those eight days occurred the issuance of President Wilson's ultimatum to Italy concerning Fiume and Dalmatia ; the consequent threat of the disruption of the Peace Conference by the retirement of Italy; renewed presentation of the difficulties involved in the relations of Japan to the Peace Conference with reference to China; the arrival of the vanguard of the German peace delegation at Versailles; the presentation of the report on international labor legislation; the publication of the arraignment of the Kaiser and the adoption by the plenary Conference of the revised Covenant of the League of Nations. That the controversy over the question of Fiume and Dalmatia broke out in public at the very time when the advance guard of the German delegation was coming to Versailles is due probably to the fact that it was no longer possible to continue the discussion of this question behind closed doors with the date for the conclusion of the drafting of the peace treaty approaching so near. THE FIUME-DALMATIAN DISPUTE Elsewhere in this issue we give an account of the parties to the Fiume-Dalmatian dispute and the questions involved in it, and on another page discuss the bearing of this dispute, and particularly the President's ultimatum, upon the project for a League of Nations. Exactly what happened to bring about a crisis over this question is a subject of disagreement. Just at the time when it was reported that the Italian delegates were prepared to make some compromise on their claims in the Adriatic, there was published here, as well as in Paris, a statement by President Wilson in which he declared himself and America as opposed to the assigning of Fiume to Italy and also opposed to the arrangement for the assignment of territory to Italy on the Dalmatian coast. The President's statement was in brief as follows: Italy's arrangement with England and France upon entering the war is no longer valid because the circumstances have changed. New Powers have entered the war. Austria-Hungary has ceased to exist, and some of the constituent parts of MAY 7, 1919 Austria-Hungary are now associated with The Prime Minister of Italy, Vittorio adoption of such legislation, and there is no proposal, as we understand it, to make conditions of labor a subject for international action. Any such proposal would be impracticable. It would seem perhaps at first sight that the plan of the Commission for International Labor Legislation provided for nothing that was not available now; but a little more careful consideration will show that the plan has great possibilities of usefulness. At present there is no means by which standards for conditions of labor that are universally regarded as desirable can be formulated in a way to make a world-wide impression; and certainly no arrangement exists by which measures that have the approval of the working people of the world can be brought authoritatively before the various national parliaments. Now, by this plan, conditions of hardship affecting large numbers of people will be studied, and remedies proposed; and the recommendations made will have the support of a public opinion of international extent. THE KAISER TO BE TRIED Largely counterbalancing the rather discouraging reports concerning some other matters in the Peace Conference comes the announcement of the proposed articles for the arraignment of the Kaiser. There has been in the Peace Conference a difference of opinion concerning the action that ought to be taken against those responsible for the war or for the offenses against humanity perpetrated during the war. According to one view there was no law or authority under which the German High Command could be held accountable. Those holding this view argued that the very purpose of the arraignment of the Kaiser would be to uphold law, and if action were taken without authority of law, it would be a violation of the alleged object of the action. Therefore, it was argued, any criminal action should be taken by individual nations in whose territory plain and clear violations of law occurred. According to the other view, there is a public law of nations, partly embodied in treaties and in written agreements, but also equally validly embodied in custom and practice. Those who hold this view regard it as important that if this public law of nations is to remain valid, international action should be taken avowedly under that international common law. It is evident that in the Commission charged with investigating responsibility for the war and in the Council of Four the second view has prevailed, for the very first of the articles submitted to the plenary Conference by the Council of Four arraigns William II of Hohenzollern, "not for an offense against criminal law, but for a supreme offense against international morality and the sanctity of treaties." It is therefore proposed that Holland be asked to surrender the former Emperor, and that the German Government be required to hand over to the Allied and associated Powers persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war, and to undertake to furnish all documents and information of every kind necessary to insure knowledge of the incriminating acts, discovery of the offenders, and "the just appreciation of the responsibility." There is nothing which the Peace Conference has to do more important than to carry out the provisions of these articles. THE NEW COVENANT OF Like a wise statesman, President Wilson has changed his mind regarding the proposed plan of a League of Nations. On March 4 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, in advocating the adoption of the first draft, he said: I must say that I have been puzzled by some of the criticisms-not by the criticisms themselves-I can understand them perfectly even when there was no foundation for them-but by the fact of the criticism. I cannot imagine how these gentlemen can live and not live in the atmosphere of the world. . . . I have heard no counsel of generosity in their criticism. I have heard no constructive suggestion. From thesame platform and on thesame occasion Mr. Taft said that he welcomed the criticisms, that some of them were constructive, and that debate and discussion would undoubtedly improve the Covenant of the League. Mr. Wilson has now come to Mr. Taft's view, and the result is that the Covenant has been amended and some of the suggestions which on March 4 the President felt were not constructive have now with his approval been incorporated into the revised version. In the amended version of the Covenant issued last week by the Paris Conference there has been some rearrangement of language and some clarification of expression. The vital and important additions or modifications are as follows: 1. The Monroe Doctrine is specifically recognized. 2. The right of member nations to withdraw from the League on two years' notice is stated. 3. Purely domestic questions are not to come within the sphere of the League's 4. No nation is to be made a trustee 5. New nations in addition to the original members may be admitted to the League by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly (formerly called the House of Delegates), provided such new nations give effective guarantees of their intention and capacity to conform to the principles and regulations of the League. 6. In order that decisions of the League may be made effective (except in cases of procedure, administration, and the admission of new members) they must be adopted by unanimous vote. In addition to these specific amend ments the new covenant names Geneva, Switzerland, as the capital of the League, and states that the following nations are the original or charter members of the League: United States of America, Belgium, and adds that these States have been in- Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, A significant thing about these lists is AMERICAN OPINION ON THE The general amendments to the Cove- Senator Reed, and the New York "Tribune." The "Tribune," in a very pessimistic editorial, thinks the whole thing is hopeless. It calls Article X (which guarantees member nations against territorial aggression or conquest) "iniquitous," and Senator Borah says it is a "breeder of war." The New York "Tribune" says that the Monroe Doctrine amendment “is plainly a fraud," and Senator Borah calls it "inadequate and inappropriate." Senator Reed says of the modified Covenant that," on the whole, the document is worse than originally drawn." We do not think these pessimistic views, however, are representative either of the Senate or of the country at large. Our own judgment is that, after an ap propriate amount of discussion, the Senate will probably ratify the amended Covenant. But intelligent men and women at home and abroad will not imagine that even a ratification by the United States Senate and the opening of the League's offices in Geneva are immediately going to bring about a millennium. The proposed League is a hopeful experiment, and we believe one worth trying. Its success or failure at the outset depends, if not wholly, at least in a very important respect, upon the character and ability of the appointees made to the two administrative bodies-the Assembly and the Council. The first Secretary-General has already been named. He is Sir Eric Drummond, of Great Britain, well known in English official life, although not a man of international reputation. He has since 1900 held various responsible positions in the British Foreign Office and is at present private secretary to Mr. Balfour, Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is therefore thoroughly familiar with diplomatic procedure and administration. THE BOLSHEVIKI ON THE DEFENSIVE Those who believe in the ultimate unity and freedom of Russia have been greatly encouraged by the reports last week of military successes on the part of the troops of the Omsk and co-operating Governments. Admiral Kolchak's Government, which has its seat at Omsk and controls Siberia, has evidently succeeded in organizing an army of considerable military efficiency. Its troops have been moving westward, and incidentally the Bolsheviki in the Archangel section are threatened with being cut off. That will simplify the situation in Archangel, where our troops have been all winter and from which they are now being withdrawn. It is said that the Czechoslovak and Allied forces have had no part in the western advance against the Bolsheviki. This means that the Omsk Government has become strong enough to carry on its operations unaided. Undoubtedly this fact will greatly strengthen the movement for formal recognition of the Omsk Government by the Allied Powers. POSTMASTER-GENERAL BURLESON The dissatisfaction throughout the country with the policies and methods of the Postmaster-General has become something more than a tempest in a teapot. Although fighting has ceased, the war is not technically over, and Mr. Burleson is therefore managing the telegraph and telephone systems of the country, as well as the transportation of mail, under war legislation which is still in effect. For the first time in the history of the telephone, we believe, a State-wide strike was declared in Massachusetts. It was so serious and got so far beyond the control of Mr. Burleson that the State officials of Massachusetts asked if the management of the telephone in that State could not be delegated to them. It has now been settled by granting all the demands of the employees. Why the demands were not granted in the first place by Mr. Burleson without going through all the turmoil of a strike has not yet been explained. There has been very general complaint that the efficiency of the Post Office has deteriorated. The last straw appears to have been laid upon the back of a suffering public by the suppression of some news telegrams offered for transmission by the New York "World." These telegrams contained criticisms of Postmaster-General Burleson, and the Western Union Telegraph Company would not accept them. The PostmasterGeneral now says that the suppression was done without his knowledge or ap proval, under a regulation which existed in the days of private management. It appears that there was a regulation a regulation against libelous matter; but criticism of public officials has not, until the present war period, been considered even by the telegraph companies as libel. Mr. Burleson has issued a tu quoque statement saying that the general criticism of his course is due to a conspiracy of the newspaper and periodical publishers, who object to the higher second-class rates and the zone system of postage, which he has advocated and introduced. He even goes further and attempts to shift the responsibility for the present unsatisfac tory second-class regulations to the shoulders of ex-Justice Hughes, who, he says, as chairman of a special commission, advocated an increase of second-class rates. He implies that advertising has become such a feature of American newspapers and periodicals as to be a detriment instead of a benefit to the public. In this connection it is a little interesting It may be said in reply that the ma- The chief dissatisfaction with the present administration of the Post Office Department has reached such a pitch that some influential members of Mr. Burleson's own political party have asked for his resignation. In contending that he has been a failure as a public official it is not necessary to prove that his administration of the mails, the telegraph, or the telephone has been either unjust or inefficient. His principles and theories may be as philosophically right as a mathematical demonstration, but the fact still remains that he has got the country still remains that he has got the country by the ears and has created everywhere a sense of extreme irritation. One of the important functions of a Cabinet officer is to manage the country as well as manage his own Department. No matter how upright the general manager of a corporation may be, if he irritates his workmen so that they strike, his office employees so that they cannot do their best work, and his customers so that they dislike to deal with the company, the President and Board of Directors are pretty likely to ask for his resignation. AN APPROPRIATE ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL A committee of women of the city of New York, whose work, beginning modestly, has now attained the dignity of a National movement, proposes to buy the National movement, proposes to buy the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt at 28 East Twentieth Street, New York, and the adjoining property, 26 East Twentieth Street, for the purpose of establishing a permanent Roosevelt memorial in the city of his birth. The house No. 28 will be restored so as to appear as nearly as possible as it did in Colonel Roosevelt's boyhood. He describes the house and his life in it in a very readable chapter of his autobiography. It is proposed to make this particular building a sort of Roosevelt Museum, with memorabilia and objects of various kinds closely associated with the life of this great citizen of the State of New York. But it will be much more is endeavoring to raise a fund of a million dollars, not merely for the purchase of the property, but to provide an endowment by means of which the two buildings composing Roosevelt House may be made, to use their own words, a center of citizenship activities, a living thing, a place where the boys and the girls of America-and the men and women as well, foreign born and native alike will come together in citizenship activities, in order that their understanding of America may become deeper and keener, and in order that the great ideal of practical service to our country, of indefatigable activity in its behalf, shall stir and move with vivid power all Americans that frequent or visit "Roosevelt House." The Association deserves success, and as it is composed of some of the most active and influential women of the city, who are going about their work in a practical and efficient way, it doubtless will succeed. Its purposes have the approval of members of the Roosevelt family. Those interested are invited to write to the Woman's Roosevelt Memorial Association, care of the New York Trust Company, 1 East Fifty-seventh Street, New York City. Full information about the project will be sent in reply. THIRTY-SEVEN NEIGHBORHOOD Thirty-seven neighborhood houses in New York City, including the College, Henry Street, Union, and University Settlements, Greenwich House, Madison House, and the Hudson Guild, have formed a union to act for all of them and to increase their influence. The office of the new organization, known as the United Neighborhood Houses of New York, is at 289 Madison Avenue, and this is to be made the center of information about the work of settlements and community houses throughout New York. Its plans include an appeal to city, State, and National authorities in cases where action is necessary to safeguard the public health, effort to promote improvement in public education, and work along lines which will make for the comfort, convenience, and good order of the community. A labor arbitration service is contemplated, and legislation is to be asked for and pressed. The constitution of the new organization provides that it may take steps to create a favorable publie sentiment upon any matter falling within the sphere of activity of community houses. The officers of the United Neighborhood Houses are: President, Mrs. Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch; Vice-Presidents, Judge Thomas C. T. Crain, Mrs. Cyrus Sulzberger, and Mrs. Max Morgenthau, Jr. Among the members on the Service Committee, which will be con cerned with the administration of this organization, are Professor Stephen P. Duncan, Mrs. Henry P. Davison, Adolph Lewisohn, and Mrs. Henry Morgenthau. The Council will consist of five representatives from each settlement, including directors of the institution, workers, and spokesmen for the people of the neigh borhood. The war-time period demonstrated the admirable work which the settlement houses are fitted to do. Owing to their close contact with the people in their respective neighborhoods, they were appealed to for help by the Red Cross, the Fuel Administration, the Food Board, the United War Work Campaign, and various other organizations interested in Americanization. This brought forcibly to the attention of the settlements their vast responsibility and opportunity, and determined them to form such an organization as would enable them to broaden the scope of their work and put it upon a sounder basis. With an enlarged neighborhood programme it has been proposed that a public health service be installed, whereby the city may be divided and health centers established to help in carrying out health propaganda and education. A club service; an arbitration board, whose object should be to assist in the impartial arbitration of labor disputes; the extension of the co-operative movement to a scheme covering the industrial neighborhoods of the city-these and many other instrumentalities, such as household economics service, Americanization, hospital social service, etc., are being considered. THE MUSIC SCHOOL The audience that came to Aeolian Hall, New York City, recently, to enjoy some good music were not disappointed in their anticipation. The occasion of the gathering was the twenty-fifth annual Spring Festival Concert of the Music School Settlement of 55 East Third Street. The success of the concert was evident from the enthusiastic applause which the players of the various numbers received. The Music School Settlement has four orchestras-the Elementary, the Junior, Senior, and Community Orchestras. Two of these took part in the festival, the Elementary Orchestra, conducted by Miss Fannie Levine, and the Senior Orchestra, conducted by Mr. Melzar Chaffee. The accomplishment and playing of these orchestras was a pleasant surprise to some who attended one of these Music School concerts for the first time. The music selected-by Bach, Beethoven, Grieg, and others was well adapted to the ability of the pupils, who apparently enjoyed the concert as much as their interested friends. One little girl about ten years old, much to the amusement of some of the audience, kept time with her little feet while her hands were engaged with her violin-a similar desire to do so being felt by some of her elders, which good form forbade them to indulge. The programme was concluded by the singing of " America " by the audience and the pupils. 66 The Music School Settlement is doing a unique and commendable work. A thousand children of various races pass in and out of this settlement school, and the teachers, a hundred in number, through their patience and self-sacrifice thus call forth from these young people the songs, so to speak, of many lands, which are enriching what we may call America's music. A love of music is the basis of the school, but its work is by no means confined to musical technique. Its influence is cultural, social, and ethical in the broadest sense. Like all growing philanthropic undertakings, the need of funds increases with the growth. Those connected with the Music School Settlement would like to enlist the patronage of interested music lovers financially well equipped. A little circular issued by them states that one thousand dollars will endow a scholarship, fifty dollars will give a child a scholarship for one year, and for one hundred dollars the giver will become an "Annual Patron. Checks may be sent to Frank H. Simmons, Music School Settlement, 55 East Third Street, New York. All praise and help are due the men and women in this work of placing in the possession of these young people the golden key of music which will open to them the doors of the other fine things of the soul. WHAT A HOTEL-KEEPER One of the most interesting letters of the many we have received on the prohibition question is the following from the proprietor of an excellent hotel in one of the largest cities of New York State: The other day I had luncheon with one of the greatest tobacco merchants of this country of ours. It was the day after the "booze" election in Michigan. If you recollect, a hotel-keeper was quoted as saying that the "Drys" had carried the election by fraud and the returns were false; my friend the tobacco merchant quoted this hotel man. I sent for the copy of your esteemed periodical containing "Keeping Detroit on the Water Wagon" [The Outlook for April 2] and read him what the Governor of Michigan, the Mayor of Detroit, and the Chief of Police of Detroit had to say on the subject. When I had finished, he said, "I am sold," indicating that I had made my point. The inclosed clipping [embodying a statement in the New York "Times" from the Association Opposed to National Prohibition, which describes an alleged crime wave in the District of Columbia after it went "bone dry "] is so manifestly unfair that it almost requires no answer, but the pro-German brewers and the distillers (German, Hebrew, and American) are making a desperate effort to save a business which through their grasping greed has brought the pleasures of alcohol down to the lowest possible point of degradation. When the social glass might have been served to us under proper regulations and restraint, they have dashed it from our lips. I sell "booze;" it is part of the hotel business. I make a good profit and take a certain pleasure out of it, but I do not believe that the intelligence of Americans should be insulted by any such false impression as the anti-prohibition crowd desires to leave. Yes, crime is on the increase everywhere, but I have no doubt that it is less in Washington, D. C., than it is in cities of similar size where booze is sold and the saloon runs rampant. In conclusion, I am not a prohibitionist, I am an Anti-Saloon Leaguer. I believe firmly that nature and nature's God has given the world all through the centuries alcohol in some form for the good of the world, but the American saloon cannot exist longer. It is a menace to health, public safety, and good citizenship, and I believe some time in the future we will return to our cups, but not under the present system. HOTEL-KEEPER. We know our correspondent and his hotel and believe he speaks as a competent and sincere witness of the folly of the liquor-saloon supporters who are now posing as defenders of beer and light wines. A GOOD EXAMPLE As a former Governor-General of Canada, and through his recent visit with Lady Aberdeen to the United States on a semi-official war mission, the Marquis of Aberdeen is well known to the American people. An article by him on his grandfather is to be found in this issue. The Aberdeen "Free Press" gives an interesting account of Lord Aberdeen's action in parting with a considerable proportion of his great estate in the north of Scotland. About thirteen thousand acres of the lands within which Haddo House stands will be retained. The rest of itabout thirty-seven thousand acres-are to be sold, with the approval of his heirs and with the sanction of the Court, whose sanction, as we understand it, is neces sary. What is especially interesting in this incident is the fact that the new proprietor "intends to give an opportunity for all the tenants on the lands which have been sold "to become owners of their holdings." If, as we judge to be the case, this purpose of the new proprietor has been one of the inducements which has |