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She was playing, one day, with her toys on the floor

When an odd-looking fairy appeared at the door.

Her wings they were ruffled, her gown was awry,

She'd a scowl on her face, and a cross, frowning eye.

She bowed to the princess, then said, with a leer,

"I'm the fairy Disorder-an old friend, my dear;

You 've called for me often, and now I am here,

And I hope you 're delighted to see me appear!

"A charming surprise I have brought you to-day

A boxful of beautiful silks, bright and gay,

With some lovely gold bobbins on which you can wind, Very smoothly, each color, each shade, of each kind.

"AN ODD-LOOKING FAIRY APPEARED AT THE DOOR"

"With the greatest of neatness this work must be done,

And if 't is not completed by set of the sun,
Without any supper just hasten to bed,
And finish the task in the morning, instead.”
So saying, the fairy Disorder unlocks
With a tiny gold key a carved ivory box,
And, smiling maliciously, then disappears,
Leaving Princess Clotilla quite ready for
tears.

"TILL AT LAST, IN DESPAIR, SHE GAVE UP AND CRIED!"

She looked in the box, and 't was perfectly true

That the colors were lovely,-pink, yellow, and blue,

With green, and vermilion, and lilac, and white,

But oh, what a tangle! the snarl was a sight! The loveliest silks, but of no earthly use Until somebody's fingers could order produce!

The princess began, with the best of her skill, The skeins to untwist and the bobbins to fill; But worse grew the tangle, the harder she tried,

Till at last, in despair, she just gave up and cried!

Then, close at her elbow, a soft voice she

hears,

And, looking up eagerly, sees, through her

tears,

A dainty wee fairy, in silvery white,

With a star at the tip of her wand shining

bright,

Who said, "I 'm the good fairy Order, my

dear;

You were wishing to see me, and so I am here!"

"My ill-tempered cousin 's been meddling, I

see;

She always delights to make trouble for me;

And she loves to play tricks upon dear little girls

To rumple their dresses, and tangle their curls,

To mix up their toys, and their dollies mislay, And throw their books carelessly 'round in the way.

Don't cry any longer-I see what is wrong, And we'll have all this trouble set right, before long!"

Then a tap of the wand and a touch of the hand,

And the silks all unrolled at the fairy's command,

And straightened out nicely, each kind and each hue,

Till purple, and orange, and scarlet, and blue, And the rest of the beautiful colors, behold, All ready to wind on the bobbins of gold!

Then Order said, "Call on me often, my dear, And my troublesome cousin will never come near."

With a smile and a wave of the wand, she was

gone,

And Clotilla Rorilla was sitting alone

And winding the bobbins both quickly and well,

For the fairy had laid on her fingers a spell.

It is said she was ever thereafter so neat That she kept her possessions in order complete;

"DON'T CRY ANY LONGER-I SEE WHAT IS WRONG"

For the fairy was summoned so often, in short,

That she finally spent all her time at the court.

And the dollies were happy, and so was the queen,

For the fairy Disorder was never more seen.

And we 're sorry this story is all that we know Of the Princess Clotilla Rorilla de Bowe.

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WHAT MR. HARDING WANTS TO DO ON December 6, President Harding delivered his address to the new session of Congress. He did not offer a "program of world restoration," but indicated that each nation must solve its own problems, and expressed belief that America could help best by getting its own affairs in order. He spoke of legislation as largely a matter of compromise, and urged liberality and coöperation between the various branches of the Government.

The President spoke strongly about the bill requiring, as a means to encourage American shipping, that our commercial treaties with other Governments be terminated. The Wilson administration had not enforced the act, and Mr. Harding declared that to do so would cause great confusion in trade without gaining any advantage. He said that he was not willing to take such a step, and asked Congress to wait "a very few weeks," until he could propose a different and better plan.

Taking up the tariff, Mr. Harding asked for a "flexible tariff"-that is to say, a law permitting the President himself to decide, with the help of the Tariff Commission, when a rate was unfair, and to make changes in it. The power to fix rates belongs to Congress and to it alone, but the President argued that Congress could authorize him to act as its agent in this particular matter. It was suggested as an emergency plan, to be used during the term of the present unsettled conditions. It is hardly to be supposed that such a suggestion will meet with much favor. While the present system may be slow and clumsy, it is the one we have always been used to-and the suggested change involves placing too much power in the hands of the executive.

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"THE GREATEST EVENT IN NINETEEN CENTURIES"

THAT is what Lloyd George said the Washington Conference might be, and that is what it may fairly be said to have been, now that it is over. Even if, in the time between the writing of this and the time of its reading by the great WATCH TOWER family, the early promise of the conference should be seen to have been false even if, instead of a move toward world peace, its final effect should have been harmful, it would still be one of the most remarkable things in the history of mankind.

It is quite impossible to imagine such a fate for the negotiations so auspiciously begun. After the naval-recess program has been adopted, after the relations of the powers to China and of China and Japan to each other have been set on the road to friendliness, it is almost inconceivable that any

thing can be permitted to destroy the good results so swiftly achieved..

But the last week of December began with indications that it would be vital. The idea of bargaining began to appear, and of course that is a dangerous spirit for such a conference. There were disorders in Japan. The Anti-American Young Men's League sang a song of hate about America. But the very name of this organization shows that it existed before the Conference, and that the Conference was only material of the sort it desired. The outbreak in Tokio did not represent the masses of the Japanese people any more than we can

suppose that the powerful classes are unanimously for or against the policy of the Government. It was a serious bit of news, but there was no reason to doubt either the ability or the readiness of the Japanese government to take care of it; and as for the "Strafe America" song, surely America could afford to laugh at such futile nonsense as that.

International

own conference with the Irish delegates scored ahead of Mr. Harding's conference. When Great Britain made, and the Irish delegates accepted, the offer of a place for Ireland in the empire as a Free State, a quarrel centuries old was-not settled, to be sure, but brought to a point where it seemed almost inconceivable that anybody could be willing to return to the armed hostilities of a few months ago.

As this number of THE WATCH TOWER was written, the acceptance by the delegates of the Dail had not been officially ratified, and Mr. de Valera was opposing ratification

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ROOM AT NO. 10 DOWNING STREET, RESIDENCE OF THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, WHERE THE TREATY WAS SIGNED BY IRISH DELEGATES

The Conference had achieved, as this was written, a most admirable record of accomplishment. The fourpower treaty was made fun of by critics who could not see why, after turning down the League, we should enter upon such an agreement. Indeed it is difficult to see any great difference in principle between such an association and the League; but friends of the League had to welcome it as a step in the direction in which they desired to see us travel.

President Harding had a great advantage over President Wilson in having the representatives of the powers meet here in America, where such matters can be handled in a simpler way than is possible in Europe.

THE FREE STATE OF IRELAND MR. LLOYD GEORGE spoke about the possibility that the conference at Washington would prove to be the greatest thing in history since the birth of Christ; but as a step toward clearing away the clouds of hate, his

with all his might even going so far as to accuse the delegates of treason. But there was a very strong party in the Dail that stood stoutly back of the negotiators, and it looked as though the greater part of the people of southern Ireland were too well pleased at the prospect of peace with honor to permit the bitter-enders to prevail and reject the Free State offer.

Ulster, the North of Ireland, would have nothing to do with the Free State idea. It even accused Great Britain of dishonorable dealing, and the charge was made that Mr. Lloyd George had betrayed England's friends in order to obtain peace with its enemies. In case of rejection by Ulster, North Ireland was to retain its separate parliament and continue in its previous relation to Great Britain.

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