THE RIFT IN THE LUTE

Anyone reading President Harding's speech over the bodies of five thousand war dead at Hoboken must have been impressed with the sincerity of his words. "It must not be again," he said, But the preventative he would apply is that of making the country to strong and powerful that no other nation would ever dare to involve it in a war. In itself, this statement is not unusual; other men before him have been moved to similar feelings in similar circumstances.

What is apt to cause comment, however, is the fact that on the same day the Senate succeeded in another attack against the new naval appropriation and opened a drive upon the supposed "armor ring". The Naval and the National Security Leagues were criticized, and the whole idea of building up the present strength of the navy was decried.

The country may favor this economy, as was claimed, or it may not. But no matter where it stands, there seems to be a rift in the lute of the administration's peace. Something has gone wrong, certainly, when two such widely divergent policies can be brought to light within the same twenty-four hours. President Harding may have been more strongly affected than he know by the sight of the coffins on the pier; or the Senate may have suddenly become over-enthusiastic in its efforts. Whatever it was, administrative co-ordination apparently does not work at long-distance range.