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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY DAYGeneral General Weather Forecast Rains will occur over the greater portion of this forecast district from AAisconsin and Illinois westward to the Rockies during the next twentyfour to thirtysix hours except that in the northwest the precipitation will probably turn to snow High temperatures will continue in the middle states but followed by cooler AVeduesday west of the upper Mississippi MississippiPresident President AAilson yesterday withdrew government control of the price of bituminous coal so that the 27 pen cent wage advance for miners recom ¬ mended by tin majority of the coal strike settle ¬ ment commission may be absorbed In the price the consumer will pay after April 1 The com ¬ mission estimated this wage advance nt 200000000 a year At the same time the President made public the majority and minority reports of the commission and wrote the operators and miners asking that they reach an agreement on the basis of the majority report alone as speedily as pos ¬ sible so that tlw uncertainty regarding the fuel situation might be removed I am aware said the President that at present as a result of tin shortage created by the coal strike and of the con ¬ sequent interference with transportation and as a result also of the exceptionally unfavorable winter the demand for coal continues active I desire to impress upon the coal operators the extreme im ¬ portance not only of their complying to the fullest extent with the laws againsc combinations in re ¬ straint of trade and against profiteering but also of their exerting themselves affirmatively to pre ¬ vent exacting of unreasonable prices for coal I am sure the public fully appreciates the desir ¬ ability where practicable of leaving commercial transactions untrammclcd but at the same time I am satisfied the public will find ways to protect it elf if such liberal policy shall appear to result in unreasonably high prices The President wrote the operators and miners that it was essential to the public welfare that tin agreements be con ¬ cluded at the earliest date practicable so that the uncertainty as to the fuel supply may be ended and that the consumers may be able to make contracts for their coal supply supplyThe The whole western industrial district of Ger ¬ many is held solidly by radicals and disaster is inevitable if the government troops try to interfere there according to information received at Copen ¬ hagen from Berlin yesterday by telephone to the Berlingske Tidende The Social Dcmokratcn learns that a purely workers government is on he point of formation without cooperation with the bonr goise parties A Leipzig telegram received last night says that fighting at Halle and in the neigh ¬ borhood of that place continues with undiminislied violence both the troops and the workers forces using artillery Hallo has been completely cut off from the outside world A dispatch to the Berlingske Tidende from Berlin says the communist army in Westphalia aggregates fully 10000 men who are equipped with mine throwers armored cars and machine guns The army is being con ¬ stantly reenforced It already holds about a dozen towns Strikes in Leipzig and Breslan have ended and postal and railway services are being resumed in both cities which are quiet according to ad viit s received last night AVork was resumed in the shipyards at Hamburg according to dis ¬ patches and a telegram from Kiel says that work ¬ men then have decided to resume their pots in the most essential public services servicesThe The petition of the Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company for a continuation of the present rates was granted yesterday by the state public util ¬ ities commission In the order issued by the com ¬ mission the present rate of Sli cents per thousand cnbie feet is to remain in effect until December 1 1920 unless otherwise ordered Tin rate was to have expired March 31 The petition was filed March 1 previous to the recent increase in wages granted by the company Officials of the gas com ¬ pany have intimated that u petition asking further increase in the price of gas may be made to thr commission in view of the added expenditure necessitated by the wage increase The present gas rale went into effect August 1 HUSK Tin rate was at that time raised from 70 cents per thousand cubic feet to 85 cents The increase was only temporary by the terms of the order and was granted largely because of increased costs of operations during the war At the same time the utilities commission started further investigation of the operations of the company The order was issued after an exhaustive examination of tin finances of the concern concernA A reduction in the fares on local elevated trains is a possibility according to Walter A Shaw a member of the public utilities commission Mr Shaw admitted yesterday that the commission has under advisement a ruling whereby I he present congestion on express trains will be materially lessened At present service on express trains is greatly impeded by the enormous traffic By the reduction of the fares on local trains an incentive would be given the patrons of the elevated roads to ride ill them A delegation representing the North Clark Street Business Mens Association is responsible for the suggestion which led to the commissions taking the reduction under advise ¬ ment The matter was at first only considered as between Belmont avenue and the loop but Special Assistant Corporation Counsel Cleveland said that if any ruling was made it would un ¬ doubtedly include reduction of fares on all local trains trainsThe The situation in Berlin is extremely confused at present according to advices to the French for ¬ eign office yesterday There i apparently a con ¬ flict between the military and the civilian members of the government General von Seecht the com ¬ mander of the government forces favors prompt and energetic action against the Spartacans in the Ruhr Aalley while the civilian members of the government are still seeking to assuage the trouble by compromise The foreign office dispatches re reniirt niirt novcrn it troops in possession of Ieipxig Ieipxigbut but that Halle is likely to bo captured by red Actual hunger may face a large proportion of the American people if Congress does not do some ¬ thing to readjust agricultural conditions in this country Senator Capper Republican of Kansas declared in the Senate yesterday afternoon in dis ¬ cussing the pending agriculture appropriations bill A landslide of farm labor to the industrial centers is threatening a growing food shortage which unless checked will render the farmers powerless to supply the food demands of the na ¬ tion Capper warned warnedThe The officers reserve corps and regular army re ¬ serve will not be called for training this year the War Department announced yesteday but indi ¬ vidual officers or reservists may take training voluntarily Department commanders were author ¬ ized to assign inactive reserve officers at their request but without pay to regular army organi ¬ zations for target practice practiceAllen Allen K Barker president of the United Brothcr liood of Maintenance of AVay Kmployes has re iignid according to advices reaching labor head piarters at AVashington It is understood that Bar ¬ ker resigned because charges were made against his landling of the recently threatened strike of his irganization irganizationBainbridge Bainbridge Colby was sworn in yesterday as Sec ¬ retary of State succeeding Robert Lansing who resigned six weeks ago There was no ceremony The oath of office was administered in the pres nce of 1ndersecretary Polk who has been in charge of the department since Mr Lansing retired retiredThe The general wage scale committee of the United Mine AVorkers yesterday adopted a resolution de ¬ claring against a walkout of anthracite miners on pril L pending negotiations for a new scale The resolution was passed with the proviso that the lew scale would be made retroactive from April L LA A dispatch to the Philadelphia Kvening Bulletin from Dover Del where the legislature met in pecial session Monday says ratification of the suffrage amendment by Delaware seems doomed inless something unexpected develops to influence nembers now apparently against such action actionThe The dead American soldiers are to be returned nun France as rapidly as their bodies can he cached in the course of operations of the Ameri an graves registration service according to a able received yesterday from Ambassador AVnllacu it Paris Jailer ParisJailer AVill T Davies died suddenly at the dichael Reese Hospital at 210 yesterday afternoon le hail been taken to the hospital from his home 102 Oakwoods boulevard at noon noonThe The Interstate Commerce Commission has granted he Pullman Company permission to file a petition or an increase of twenty per cent in Pullman car ates atesPresident President Wilson issued an executive order yester lay suspending on April 1 ail rules and regulations efative to the price of bituminous coal
