Current Events 
U. S. A. 
«JW ith the coal and railroad strikes affecting the entire industrial life 
of the country during the past months, the announcement by the United 
States Steel Corporation that the wages of day labor would be in¬ 
creased 20 per cent, beginning with September 1, had a tendency to 
stabilize the situation. As a number of independent steel mills "fol¬ 
lowed suit, about 400,000 men were affected by the raise. ^[Opposition 
to the foreign valuation basis of levying duties as proposed in the 
Senate revision of the Tariff bill instead of the House’s American 
valuation plan is the problem likely to postpone enactment of the 
measure beyond the November elections. CfThe sessions of the Insti¬ 
tute of Politics, held at Williams College, Massachusetts, from July 
24 to August 26 , proved highly enlightening and did much to clarify 
the European situation through lectures by leading men. The final 
lecture was by Philip H. Kerr, former private secretary to Lloyd 
George, who spoke on the need for a better understanding between 
nations. €JThe American Government was well represented at the 
opening of Brazil’s Centennial Exposition, September 6, when Sec¬ 
retary of State Hughes and a distinguished company arrived at Rio 
de Janeiro and brought the message of good will from President Hard¬ 
ing to the chief magistrate of the South American republic. <JThat 
the fiscal year 1922 will show a decrease of $ 1 , 140 , 191 , 429.99 in col¬ 
lections from income and profit taxes is the preliminary announcement 
of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The collections in 1921 
were $ 3 , 228 , 137 , 673 . 75 . ' tfJJames M. Cox, Democratic candidate in 
the presidential election that brought Mr. Harding into office, after a 
thorough investigation abroad declares that Europe would welcome 
Herbert Hoover on the Reparations Commission, since his work of 
relief and other qualifications have endeared him to the people of the 
countries now in distress. Mr. Cox has placed his suggestion before 
the President. ^[Twenty-four entries have been made for the Pulitzer 
Trophy Race, October 14 , at Detroit, Michigan. The race is in charge 
of the Detroit Aviation Society and is a feature of the Second National 
Aero Congress. €j[The National Merchandise Fair, held in the Grand 
Central Palace, New York, in August, proved a great success and 
prepared the ground for similar events with an even broader scope 
for the furtherance of business transaction, and the facilitating of 
buying. {JThe United States Government is interested in a new plan 
for a “World Association of States” submitted to the Institute of 
International Law, meeting at Grenoble, France, by Professor Alejan¬ 
dro Alvarez of Chile. The plan had been approved by the Twenty- 
seventh Commission of the Institute in executive session at Paris. 
