THE UNITED STATES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3555, 2 May 1922, Page 22

THE UNITED STATES.

DANGER OF FOREIGN AGGRESSION

NEW YORK, April 25. Mr J. W. Weeks, Secretary of War, testifying before the Senate’s Appropriations Committee, declared that the chaotic state of the world's affairs and the creation of new balances of power, such as the new German-Russian Treaty, would make a reduction in the United States army below 150,000 an act of folly. The decrease proposed by the House’s Bill would invite aggression. « Mr Weeks continued : “While the Washinton Treaty banned the use' of poison gas in future wars, the uses of chemical establishments and the ease with which they can be transformed for the production of destructive gases are so well known that I think it would be fatal to abandon the experiments and investigations of the American army along this line.” WASHINGTON, April 25. General Pershing, in supporting Mr Week’s statement, declared that if the United States had had an adequate army it might have prevented the world war or at least would have saved America the humiliation of depending ori the Allies to hold back the enemy for more than a year before the United States was even partially prepared. SEQUEL TO COAL STRIKE. ‘'NEW Y T ORK, April 24. At the historic courthouse in Wost Virginia, where John Brown was convicted of treason in 1859, 200 miners, mostly mountaineer folk, are being tried for murder, arson, riot, and lesser crimes as the result of last autumn’s coal strike and mine war. More than ?5o indictments have been returned, but all the arrests have not yet been made. The prisoners in the court were chained in gangs. [John Brown, “of Oasawatomie” (18001859), was the hero of Harper’s Ferry. His action in inciting certain negro slaves to rebel in 1859 struck the note of alarm which resulted in the Civil War. His attempt to take the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry was defeated, and he was hanged, being afterwards regarded as a martyr by the abolitionists.] TARIFF DENOUNCED BY SENATOR.WASHINGTON, April 26. Senator Simmons, speaking m opposition to the Tariff Bill, said that if it were passed the indignation of the country would assume greater proportions than in the case of the Payne Aldrich Law. He added that in spite of increases in agricultural products farmers would pay five dollars in increased prices for every dollar they gained through the tariff. He denounced it as the worst Bill that had ever crossed the threshold of the Senate, and concluded bv saying that while the Treasury might gam 350,000.000 j dollars in duties those same duties would tax the people by billions of dollars.

PACIFIC CRUISE PLANNED. WASHINGTON, April 26. Senator Poindexter, a member of the Senate Naval Committee, announced that the entire American fleet will assemble in Pacific waters this summer for a practice cruise. He indicated that this action depended on getting the sanction of Congress and also appropriations for a Pacific naval base. DEATH OF AN AUSTRALIAN. NEW Y'ORK, April 21. Mr Albert Edward Langford, an Australian mine owner, was crushed to death between an automobile and a tramcar in Chicago. Mr Langford, who was on his way from London to Melbourne, wa.s accompanied by Mr P. F. Veely, his mining partner. Mr Langford, who was unfamiliar with the traffic signals, was instantly killed while trying to dodge the traffic. LADY' ASTOR. NEW Y'ORK, April 24. Lady Astor, who received a tremendous ovation on her arrival in America, and who has been warmly received everywhere, is suffering her first setback owing to Roman Catholic opposition. This is the result of a speech m which she advised the Church to keep out of politics, pointing out that while Roman Catholics were welcome to America, this country’s foundation was Protestant, and Roman Catholics must remember that. UNEMPLOYM ENT. NEW YORK, April 26. Official figures disclose that 3,500,000 men in the United States are out of work, including 700,000 coal miners. BRITAIN AND AMERICA. NEW Y'ORK, April 22. Sir Auckland Geddes, British Ambassador, in the course of a speech, said that international problems were once as black as thunder, but the clouds had now disappeared, and the outlook for the world’s peace was clearer. With oil and naval shipbuilding, and the Irish problems out of the way, nothing remained to affect the good relations between the British Empire and the United States. AN AMERICAN INVENTION. NEW YORK, April 22. Professor Newton Harvey, of Princetown University, has announced that after eight years’ experimenting he has produced a permanent heatless light. Tlie substance, which is named Luciferin, is secured from Japanese crustacean dissolved in water and chemically treated. Scientists agree, that if Professor Harvey’s discovery is developed it may mean a revolutionary change in providing permanent illumination.

A MUCH-MARRIED MAN. NEW YORK, April 26. John Lawrence Leclair, who Has been posing as an army officer, and who has j married eight women and promised mar- j riage to 78 others during the last four i months, has been arrested on a charge of bigamy. He had love affairs in nearly every State, extending from Maine to Florida. He passed bogus cheques in many towns. I GENERAL GRANT ANNIVERSARY. NEW YORK, April 27. At Pleasant Point, Ohio, President Harding attended ceremonies commemorating the hundreth anniversary of the birth of General Grant, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Troops in the Civil War, and later President of the United States for two terms. In a speech he said that the nations of the world, in their efforts to recover from the disastrous effects of the world war, needed more of the spirit of magnanimity with which General Grant welcomed victory at the close of the Civil War. WOMEN’S DEMONSTRATION. WASHINGTON, April 29. Several thousand women, including delegates from i the Baltimore Convention of the National League of Women Voters and pan-American Women’s Convention, staged a demonstration before Mr Woodrow Wilson’s home. The former President, leaning heavily upon a cane, appeared at the door and thanked the crowd. He expressed regret that he was not strong enough to make a speech. NEW YORK, April 29. The New York World prints the story of tho deportation of Hamilton Cleighton Radley and Charles Grant Lawson, who are “wanted” by the Scotland Yard autli ori ties on charges of fraudulent stock promotion. It reveals an extraordinary story involving Mrs Jane Lewis, a millionaire Australian widow, who was a member of a party of seven that landed at New York on a trip round the world. Mrs Lewis declares that Lawson and Radley invited themselves when the trip was arranged in Cairo, and alleges that during the voyage on the Adriatic they secured 35,000 dollars from her. Giving up hopes of recovering the money, Mrs Lewis decided to depart, homewards. GENERAL ITEMS. NEW YORK, April 29. All Court records were broken to-day, when 72 criminals were sentenced at one sitting to terms totalling 458 years. WASHINGTON, April 27. The State Department announced that . the United States recognised the new Egyptian Government. The Government has informed the Cuban Government that it must set its economic and financial house in order or United States financial intervention will inevitably follow. The Cuban Minister, Senor Cespedes, declares that all Cuba needs is a little more time and faith, and the cooperation of her friends in order to achieve the desired end.