The Eastern Shoshone consider cannabis

In one of the many posts that I start and never finish, I had in my draft posts a item that was from the Irish Times on Irish physicians lamenting Ireland's headlong rush into legalizing marijuana use.  They were concerned as there's really very little in the way of study on its long term effects. What studies there are, we should note, are pretty negative.  The physicians were worried about what rushing into this uncharted territory would mean.

Well, perhaps their argument should have been to have the Irish just sit on their hands and see how things go in the United States.  Not that the Irish would have done it.  Ireland right now is one of the Anthony Kennedy's of nations, busy trying to be hip and cool and in the process coming across as just one more oldster who doesn't look hip and cool.  So they're going down this path no matter what.  If they did look, so far the results in the US don't look too good.  I've written about that in the past in regard to Colorado. Rather than repeat it all here, I'll simply link in what I wrote before:

And in an environment that's awash with dope, making it all the worse.

Now as every one surely knows, unless they've been living in a cavern within a cave, and hiding in a corner of that, Colorado has legalized marijuana.  There's been a lot of commentary everywhere about this. And a lot of the commentary really misses the point.

There's a common thread in these stories about how marijuana has been "good" for Colorado. Well, maybe, but it hasn't been good for Coloradans, or the drifters who floated in there, at least by my observation.  Indeed, while I tended to be of the view that the law shouldn't worry about marijuana before, even though I don't approve of its use (and I think most of the "medicinal" excuses people give for using it are a crock), seeing it first hand has really and strongly changed my mind.

Some of the ill effects of the drug I was aware of before, mostly by having been exposed to people who had become addicted to it.  To some degree, they may have been cognizant of the problems it caused, them, and to others, not.  The degree to which they became listless and lazy in some instances was notable.  The addictive nature of it was obvious, and probably most notable to me when a former soldier of mine from the Guard stopped me on the street, after he'd gotten out, and asked me for help to get him off it.  Now, at 22 or so years old and a college student, there wasn't much that I could do. That an older fellow, in his 30s by that time, would ask for help, because I guess I'd been his sergeant, made an impression.

Well, Denver has really made an impression.

And not a good one.

Since weed became quasi legal, and then fully legal in Denver, a giant social experiment has been conducted on its streets and the results are pretty easy to see.  They're overrun, downtown, with listless dirty addicts begging, often quite openly, for money for marijuana. No job, no prospects, no motivation, just a craving for the stuff.  Not pleasant.

The first time I really ran across it was just after or just before, I can't quite recall which, it was legalized fully and there was some sort of dopers gathering in Denver.  Now, admittedly, a convention of dope fans may present a skewed image of the stuff, or not.  But present an image, it certainly did.

I could describe it, but I think the best way to describe what I saw on that occasions, and subsequent ones, it to describe singular people.

On that occasion, the person who made the biggest impression was a girl sitting on the corner, back to traffic.  She was probably about 20, and had once been fairly pretty. Now she was dirty in that funky way that only the really ills, or the really stoned, get.  Not that honest sort of dirty that oilfield workers, for example, have.  No, dirty in a diseased way, probably something we note because in an earlier era our natures told us to watch out when we encountered it.

She was glassy eyed and had a sign begging for money.  On her lap was a Husky puppy.  The puppy was cute.

I almost gave her money, but would have extracted a deal that I got the puppy. That isn't very Christian of me, and I didn't do it, but money for drugs wasn't going to help her any, maybe somebody could have helped the dog.  But then, in her condition, I suspect, the dog was truly her only real friend.

Since that time situations like this have been really common.  I've heard panhandlers yell for money.  I've seen seen other glassy eyed dressed in bizarre mixes of discarded clothes rambling in begging appeals.  They're addicts. Marijuana is all they want.

"Radar plot depicting the data presented in Nutt, David, Leslie A King, William Saulsbury, Colin Blakemore. "Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse" The Lancet 2007; 369:1047-1053. PMID:17382831. For more information, see image. It contains not only the physical harm and dependence data like the aforementioned image, but also the mean social harm of each drug. This image was produced with the python plotting library matplotlib"

Now, I know, I'll hear the argument that "well, those are the exceptions to the rule" and "it's no more addictive than booze". Well, those are hardly good arguments. 

First of all, at least based on my exposure to it, its far from the exception.

Now, I'm sure there are occasional users of marijuana that suffer no ill affects, maybe.  But then this is the case with any drug of any type, so its not much of an argument.  The real question is whether it has a demonstrative ill impact on a significant percentage of the users. It clearly does.

Now, right away, the argument will be made that "well it isn't as bad as alcohol". That's a pathetic argument.

First of all, according to some studies, it is in fact "worse than alcohol" is some real ways.  The study printed above, in chart form, for example, would have it as causing less physical harm, a little less social harm, and causing a little more dependence.  That's hardly a sterling endorsement.  And that assumes that this is correct.  It probably has caused less social harm and less noted psychical harm, so far, as its' been widely illegal.  As it becomes increasingly legal we will likely be surprised to find, oh my, it causes harm.

Indeed, we're already learning that a bit.  A recent study shows that relatively little use amongst minors, including teenagers, causes permanent alteration in the brain.  Not good.  And I suspect that the impacts from smoking it will likely duplicate much of  the non cancerous impacts of smoking tobacco, none of which are very good.  Indeed, people tend to associate smoking tobacco's risks only with cancer, but in reality, there's a lot of other cardio vascular and respiratory damage that it causes.  I can't see a good reason why this would be different for marijuana.

Additionally, in regards to the oft made comparison to alcohol, it's worth remembering that the best evidence suggests that human beings have been consuming alcohol for so long that they have a genetic adaptation to it, varying by human population. This has been addressed here before, but the human tolerance for the poison that is alcohol is likely related to the fact that it was once safer to consume it than water.  But that doesn't make it safe.  The point is that we've been consuming alcohol now for thousands of years, probably tens of thousands of years, and we still can't really handle all of its ill and evil impacts.

If we can't really handle something that's been widely legal for maybe 200,000 years, what makes us think we're going to be any better at this?

I don't think so.

And what is going on, on a large level, that we seem to need to be numbed so much?

Alcohol, as noted, has been with us forever.  Marijuana has not doubt been around for some time, but not as long as an intoxicant, and certainly not in such a widespread manner.  But it isn't just these.   We have made real progress in tamping down some really dangerous drugs that were getting widespread circulation, but at the same time we seem to be in a full scale effort to numb ourselves as much as possible.  We still have booze (but not anywhere near at the consumption rate it was once at, in spite of what some may think).  But we are also numbing ourselves in all sorts of other ways.

Indeed, the pharmaceutical level of mind alternation is at an all time high.  Thousands of people have to take medication just to make it through their day, mentally.  And news came this past week of a new psychological ailment based on an addiction to computerized technology. That is, people so deeply into the fantasy world provided by the Internet that they cannot escape it.

I know that this isn't convincing to weed's fans.  Indeed, the post above is one of the rare ones here that not only drew a fair amount of attention at the time I put it up, it drew some really negative attention from Colorado marijuana fans.  But that's the way such things work.  I still recall hearing from smokers as late as the 1990s how smoking wasn't really bad for a person.  And there are plenty of heavy drinkers who deny that they're being hurt in any fashion.

That's going to be the history of marijuana.  We'll find out that it was hugely destructive, and at some point in the future we'll look back at this and be horrified and amused by how dense we were in this era on this topic, and a host of others that seem to be floating about in the confused era we've really slipped into.  But for the time being, we're charging ahead into marijuana like there's no tomorrow.

And now comes news that the growing of marijuana may be coming to the state, but without the state as the regulator.  The Eastern Arapaho are considering legalizing the growing of it on the Wind River Reservation.

This gets into a complicated legal situation that I'll forgot getting into in depth, but the two tribes on the Wind River Reservation are sovereigns, as are all similarly situated Indian Tribes.  Their situation is perhaps more unique in that the Wind River Reservation itself is shared by two sovereigns, which is not the norm and in fact may be unique to that reservation.  The Reservation has its own Law & Order Code, but in recent years the two tribes have acted independently of each other to a fair degree.  In September the Eastern Shoshone Tribe's General Council voted in favor of a resolution authorizing a group to study legalizing medical marijuana and allowing for hemp cultivation.  One of the goals is financial, as a spokesman has noted. stating "We’re trying to transition hemp and medical cannabis into Wyoming so our tribe can get financially stable.”

The group is frank about its goal being to get cannabis onto the Reservation, which of course means getting it into the state.  And their position in regard to hemp cultivation isn't any different from the state's itself, which has now legalized that and which is seeking to secure Federal approval for the same. Federal approval will come.

Hemp production definitely has legitimate uses, primarily for fiber production.  I.e., it makes good rope, and there are reasons that a natural rope may be better than one made with synthetics.  For one thing, it makes good hay twine as cattle can eat it, which isn't true of the orange synthetic twine that's currently used.

The overall problem, however, is that distinguishing between hemp and marijuana isn't really completely possible overall, as the difference between the two is somewhat like the difference between wolves and wolfy dogs.  Is that a dog, or a wolf?  It's hard to tell.  In fact, there's really no difference between hemp grown for rope and hemp grown to smoke, other than the name and the fact that marijuana has generally been cultivated for its impact on humans, rather than its fiber.  So they're two sides of the same coin.  It is true, as has been noted by others, that smoking hemp won't achieve much in terms of a "high", according to people who have studied it, but that's because the cultivation hasn't emphasized that aspect of it.  Like most plants used by humans in this "no GMO" world, almost all plants we use have been genetically altered through selective cultivation.

Where this really has caused a legal problem is in regard to transportation across state lines.  People get arrested and their fates are uncertain, for doing something that seems to them completely legal at the time they engage in it.  So, on this topic, both the state and the Tribes will have to authorize hemp, and Wyoming is in the process of doing that, lest there be a train wreck for somebody.  There still could be, of course, for those trucking out of the state in any direction other than south.

Beyond that, and finally, the Shoshone aren't proposing to legalize growing marijuana and they definitely aren't proposing to authorize it for any use other than medical use.  But keeping the lid on medical use alone has proven impossible nearly everywhere and the now commonly accepted concept that it actually has a medical use that isn't duplicated without negative effects by other pharmaceuticals is very far from proven.  Indeed, so far about the only really established medical use is for glaucoma sufferers and maybe for Parkinson's sufferers.

What the negative impacts are, and there are definitely negative impacts, aren't known fully.  They may be severe and they definitely aren't minor.  Study on this topic in the US hasn't been done as the FDA doesn't study illegal non pharmaceutical products.  Here, the study better start.

Legalizing marijuana is charging ahead everywhere it seems.  But this should be kept in mind.  At one time it was thought healthful to take a "bracer" of alcohol first hing in the morning.  Now everyone knows all that does is dull your wits.  You can find plenty of advertisements extolling what cigarettes physicians recommended, even after it was already known that they were killers.  Everyday on television you can hear dozens of advertisements from lawyers who are suing drug companies for drugs once considered safe by the FDA but which proved not to be.

This is dangerous territory.

Addendum

Since this was first typed out, its been made clear that the Reservation in general is seeking to establish to legalize the growing of hemp, not just the Eastern Shoshone.

The Scholars

I didn't hear any of the Constitutional scholars testify in front of the Judiciary Committee yesterday, as I was practicing law instead, but I would have liked to.

Fortunately, you can find transcripts that are done and this blog does it everyday.

Maybe I'll get time to read some.

In order to really know what they have to say, you really have to actually hear it or read it.  Otherwise, all you will get a is a news snipped and pundit commentary, neither of which is fully accurate or important. As an example of the latter, the news was all about how one scholar said something about Trump's 13 year old son (I don't know what), and the First Lady replied by Twitter (with I don't know what), and the scholar apologized. Whatever the deal was, it doesn't really matter.

If you are like most people, and don't have an occupation where you can watch impeachment testimony all day, NPR's Politics blog summarized the first day's hearings and I'm sure will summarize them all.  Basically, their take was that the first three witnesses, the Democratic witnesses, all testified on the history the impeachment provision and were of the opinion that President Trump's actions were impeachable offenses. The fourth witness, the Republican witness, had perhaps the most interesting testimony, apparently, as he agrees that the President's conduct was reprehensible, but he feels that the bar for impeachment is much higher and there were no impeachable offenses.  Apparently he did feel that President Nixon's conduct in helping to cover up the Watergate break ins would have been impeachable, and that President Clinton's actions in "lying about sex" was also.  I disagree in regard to Clinton's actions, but I'd tend to agree regarding Trump's actions. The proper bar, it seems to  me, should be quite high.

Holscher's Hub: Pentax: Built like a tank

Holscher's Hub: Pentax: Built like a tank:

Pentax: Built like a tank

So states a professional photography blog naming the Pentax K1 full frame one of the three bests cameras of 2019.



And they are.



The review also goes on to note that you could "dive off a board into a pool" with the K1, which isn't something I'd do for sure (it's not water proof) and that it shares its all weather characteristics with every other digital Pentax.



And so it does.



I've long been a Pentax fan and have lamented the absolute rise of Canon in the digital age.  Indeed, I've been glad to see the recent rise of Nikon come along and take some of the wind out of Canon's sails.



It's not that Canon 's are a bad camera. They aren't.  It's just that they aren't the only great camera and frankly they compare poorly to Pentax camera's in several respects, the rugged outdoor nature of Pentax being one of them.



That's always matter a lot to me, as I regard photography as an outdoor thing.  And so do a lot of other people. For that reason alone Pentax's outshine Canon's.  Pentaxians, as they call themselves, laugh with glee when Canon users run for cover in poor weather.  If your camera can't be out in nature, what good is it?



Pentax cameras also will take old bayonet lenses made for Pentax 35mm SLR film cameras.  That's something most DSLR users will tell you is impossible, and that's a major plus for people who were using those cameras prior to the digital revolution.



So why so little love?



Well, it actually is there, and not just from die hard Pentax fans.  The cameras tend to rise to the top when rugged use is a major issue and when objective reviewers discuss it.  A few years back, for instance, a compact DSLR of Pentax's was awarded the position of best camera of the year by a photography magazine because of its all weather durability. And a noted press combat photographer about that time was also noted as a Pentax user.



But that's all a type of press and word of mouth popularity.  Pentax's marketing department, frankly, sucks.



The Ricoh company has owned the Pentax line for some time and while it markets its copiers, it flat out does the worst job in the world in marketing its cameras.  There's simply no excuse for it.  It makes you wonder if they given any thought to marketing them at all.



Well, they do give a lot of thought to their cameras.  And as a company that's come out with a rugged full frame they deserve applause.

December 5, 1919. One Crisis with Mexico Diffused, another Occurs

Diplomatic officer Jenkins was released by the Mexican judicial system on this day in 1919, which was also the same day that Mexican bandits staged a cross border raid.  At least the release brought the two countries back from the brink of war.

On the same day, Laramie was looking at closing buildings due to the strike induced national coal shortage.

Electric

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What Harley-Davidson has to say about their 2020 Livewire

Their day has arrived.

Electric vehicles, that is.

I've predicted this for quite some time, but the sudden arrival surprises even me.  I frankly though that electric vehicles would really seriously start to come in, in about ten years, and their fully adoption take another ten after that.

I was wrong.

They're hear right now, and 2020 will really start being their year. 

A friend of mine who was in California last week reports seeing Tesla's everywhere.  Looking at their site, they commonly report their vehicles as having a 300 mile range.  Ford is introducing the Mustang Mach E as an electric vehicle next year, also with a 300 mile range. And Ford's introduction in that fashion is brilliant. The Mustang Mach I was the heavy duty muscle car variant of the Mustang, back when muscle cars were a thing.  The Mach E is a muscle car, albeit an electric one.  One that will be marketed like this based on its performance, and already is.

That's the same approach that Harley-Davidson is taking on its Livewire, which you can buy right now.  The heavy duty motorcycle manufacturer with bikes famous for their V Twin engine and sound are flatly claiming that the Livewire is the motorcycle of the future.  As a city bike, it remains fairly short range at 146 city miles, it boast impressive performance and looks like a Harley, and doesn't, at the same time.  On Harley's website the Livewire is the first bike you see.

It's also really expensive and none of the electric vehicles are cheap. But Tesla did manage to get their new truck down to the price that a lot of 4x4 trucks are, and their cars and Ford's Mustang are competitive.  My prediction on the Tesla truck is that it will go nowhere as it was clearly designed by people who don't know anything about actual trucks, but Ford is coming out with an electric F150 in 2020 or 2021.

Electric F150s will be city trucks at first, I suspect.  A range of 300 miles, which is about what the Tesla gets, is probably what it will get as well. But it's been designed by people who know a lot about trucks.  It'll be popular for businesses that use trucks in the city. The average plumbers truck, or light work truck, probably doesn't go 300 miles in an average day.  So it'll break in.

The remaining problem is range.  My diesel D3500 has a range of about 600 miles, twice any electric vehicle. But these are just breaking in and most people, most places, don't drive 600 miles in a day.  Within five years that 300 miles will be 400, and then higher, and then they'll rapidly start to overcome other vehicles.

At the same time, focus is really going to start to come on in regard to charging stations.  They're expanding now, and Wyoming's Senator John Barrasso pushed through a bill to fund charging stations nationwide, drawing the ire of some groups.  But beyond that, a visit to the Tesla site shows Tesla already marking options to convert your house into a solar powered, at least partially, charging station. That may seem wild, and any proposal to install solar powers on our roof, besides cost making it unfeasible, even though we have all electric utilities and heat, would meat with an objection from long suffering spouse, but that day is coming as well.

The Impeachment Reports released

This has been sort of an odd week in a way in that the public received two, not one, reports out of the House Intelligence Committee this week regarding impeachment.  One's a Republican reply, which came out before the Committee's actual report.  Because of the strict partisan divide, the House Intelligence Committee report is effectively the Democratic report.

The reports are large and available as pdfs on line.  I haven't read them and I'm not going to link them in here. They're easy to find.

None of which means that the process is actually over in the House.  Now the process is back in the Judiciary Committee.

Interestingly, it was taken out of the Judiciary Committee as it was originally thought that the process would be too hot, if you will, over there, but now people think that it may be more judicious in that committee. The Judiciary Committee is apparently going to hear from experts on Constitutional Law before determining whether or not to recommend a bill of impeachment.  It's going to make that recommendation, but the fact that its hearing from experts first on this topic should be, at least for legal junkies, really interesting. 

So basically, the way the process has worked out, Adam Schiff has played the role of prosecutor and Devin Nunes as defense lawyer.  Schiff is the last word in pompous jerk but he's overall done a better job in his role than Nunes.  There's even been some suggestion that he should be the prosecutor in the Senate, although that suggestion has so far been rejected by him.  Anyhow, this leaves the Judiciary Committee basically as the Grand Jury and the presiding Judge.   The speculation is that they'll approve a bill of impeachment by Christmas.

The renewed speculation is that it'll simply be dismissed in the Senate.  That seemed likely to me early on but then that speculation was reversed by the pundits.  It's their opinion, once again. The public, for that matter, seems to have become bored with the entire process.  Interest will resume once the Senate trial starts, but my prediction is it will quickly wane and this entire episode won't be terribly influential in the fall election.

Mid Week At Work: American trucks arriving in Kyllburg, Germany. December 4, 1918.

Mid Week at Work: Female lathe operator, 1918

Aramco IPO

That's today.

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, formerly the Arab American Oil Company, makes its initial public offering today.  It is calculated to be the largest IPO in history.

Bids become fixed today, so the IPO process has actually been going on for about a month.  It takes place, however, today.

Ford Motor Company will start selling an electric Mustang next year.

The Mustang Mach E.

It'll come with a variety of options, including all wheel drive, and be fully in their stable by 2021.

This will be a game changer.  Tesla will have real competition, and my suspicions are that Ford will be hard to compete with.

And this heralds the real establishment of the electric car.  It's here, and by that we mean everywhere.  For internal combustion fans, the meaning should be pretty clear, even if it'll be unwelcome.

And with a 300 mile range, while it may not be the vehicle for long trips (I'll often do 600 miles in a day), it'll do for most people most of the time.  And the ranges will be, I'm sure, increasing.

December 3, 1919. The Carlisle News Hits the Press. Bicycles and horses.

Banner headlines appeared in the local press on this day in 1919.

It was a sad end, as we related yesterday.

And already it was noted his wound was not fatal.

And so this phase of the story concluded.

Carlisle, of course, robbed trains, one of the three big means of terrestrial transpiration at the time. . . train, automobile, and horse.

The age of the bicycle, which had already come and gone in North America, but not elsewhere, was still sufficiently recent that these gentlemen turned out, on the same day, with their bikes.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, some well turned out horsewomen posed with their mounts.

A real winter

We're really getting one.

WyDOT interactive map of road conditions as of the time I posted this. Red is closed, orange is no unnecessary travel.

For years, old timers such as myself have been saying that sooner or later, we were going to get a real winter.  By that we mean one like used to be routine here.

I'm not going to get into it, but frankly the winters here did used to be routinely worse than they are now.  When I was a kid Thanksgiving Day was usually the marker for when the ponds may or may not be frozen up.  They've been frozen up now for some time.  An ice shelf has now frozen, thawed, and refrozen on the river.

More than that, we're into at least our fourth significant snow storm and they started early. . . or as early as they used to.  We had a snowstorm on September 27, and they haven't let up since then.  They highways have been closed frequently and its only December 2.  In late October that left me with a trans state loop that I've already written about.  This weekend it happened again.

Last week the University of Wyoming closed early for its Thanksgiving break so that students could beat the storm home.  My kids came home on Monday and arrived just before the storm really hit.  Yesterday, they went back just after the roads to Laramie opened up, a tense things for parents but they made it without incident.

There was no Tribune yesterday as the roads from Cheyenne were closed.  The Tribune, as has been noted here earlier, publishes now in Cheyenne.  When it started doing that it announced there would likely not be that many interruptions.  Well its sure interrupted now.

Not that it likely would have gotten to my doorstep anyhow.  Cars from residents who live right in the neighborhood, including all wheel drive cars, have been getting stuck right out on the street.

So far, it's been a real winter.

December 2, 1919. Bill Carlisle's luck runs out. Wilson sends a message.

It had actually run out some time ago.

He hadn't made to the Hole in the Wall, as people had been speculating, but he had made it relatively far from Medicine Bow.  Indeed, he must have fled on something like the Fetterman Road or the down Sybille Canyon or something to end up where he did, the mountains outside of Glendo Wyoming.

He'd been wounded in the hand his last train robbery when he disarmed a young man who attempted to shoot him.  That was minor in comparison to what happened this time.  A member of the posse that arrested him shot him in the chest on this occasion, causing him to have to be taken to Douglas on a pack mule.  He'd spend nearly a month there following surgery that saved his life.

That posse had been pursuing him so his last days of freedom weren't enjoyable ones.  His next month obviously wouldn't be either.  Following his recovery he was sent back to the penitentiary in Rawlins to serve another sixteen years.

The Union Pacific came out ahead, compared to 1916, when it had spent $15,000 searching for him. Relying on this occasion on local law enforcement, even though it complained about it, it came out cost ahead.

As the mystery of Carlisle's whereabouts was resolved, another one developed elsewhere, that being the mysterious disappearance of Canadian theatre magnate Ambrose Small and his secretary Jack Doughty.  Ambrose had sold his theatre holdings earlier that day and simply disappeared, never to be found.

Doughty was and was extradited for having stolen bonds that he cashed and deposited that same day. But there was no evidence that he was connected with Small's disappearance or that he knew anything about it.  Indeed, Small's predilections, which included gambling and affairs with actresses, and disappearances for brief periods of time, made determining what happened to him difficult.

Also on this day, Woodrow Wilson sent his State of the Union message to Congress. Still recovering from his stroke, he could not deliver it in person.  It was the first written State of the Union Message to Congress since 1800.

TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I sincerely regret that I cannot be present at the opening of this session of the Congress. I am thus prevented from presenting in as direct a way as I could wish the many questions that are pressing for solution at this time. Happily, I have had the advantage of the advice of the heads of the several executive departments who have kept in close touch with affairs in their detail and whose thoughtful recommendations I earnestly second.

In the matter of the railroads and the readjustment of their affairs growing out of Federal control, I shall take the liberty at a later date of addressing you.

I hope that Congress will bring to a conclusion at this session legislation looking to the establishment of a budget system. That there should be one single authority responsible for the making of all appropriations and that appropriations should be made not independently of each other, but with reference to one single comprehensive plan of expenditure properly related to the nation's income, there can be no doubtI believe the burden of preparing the budget must, in the nature of' the case, if the work is to be properly done and responsibility concentrated instead of divided, rest upon the executive. The budget so prepared should be submitted to and approved or amended by a single committee of each House of Congress and no single appropriation should be made by the Congress, except such as may have been included in the budget prepared by the executive or added by the particular committee of Congress charged with the budget legislation.

Another and not less important aspect of the problem is the ascertainment of the economy and efficiency with which the moneys appropriated are expended. Under existing law the only audit is for the purpose of ascertaining whether expenditures have been lawfully made within the appropriations. No one is authorized or equipped to ascertain whether the money has been spent wisely, economically and effectively. The auditors should be highly trained officials with permanent tenure in the Treasury Department, free of obligations to or motives of consideration for this or any subsequent administration, and authorized and empowered to examine into and make report upon the methods employed and the results obtained by the executive departments of the Government. Their reports should be made to the Congress and to the Secretary of the Treasury.

I trust that the Congress will give its immediate consideration to the problem of future taxation. Simplification of the income and profits taxes has become an immediate necessity. These taxes performed indispensable service during the war. They must, however, be simplified, not only to save the taxpayer inconvenience and expense, but in order that his liability may be made certain and definite.

With reference to the details of the Revenue Law, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue will lay before you for your consideration certain amendments necessary or desirable in connection with the administration of the law-recommendations which have my approval and support. It is of the utmost importance that in dealing with this matter the present law should not be disturbed so far as regards taxes for the calendar year 1920 payable in the calendar year 1921. The Congress might well consider whether the higher rates of income and profits taxes can in peace times be effectively productive of revenue, and whether they may not, on the contrary, be destructive of business activity and productive of waste and inefficiency. There is a point at which in peace times high rates of income and profits taxes discourage energy, remove the incentive to new enterprises, encourage extravagant expenditures and produce industrial stagnation with consequent unemployment and other attendant evils.

The problem is not an easy one. A fundamental change has taken place with reference to the position of America in the world's affairs. The prejudice and passions engendered by decades of controversy between two schools of political and economic thought,-the one believers in protection of American industries, the other believers in tariff for revenue only,-must be sbordinated to the single consideration of the public interest in the light of utterly changed conditions. Before the war America was heavily the debtor of the rest of the world and the interest payments she had to make to foreign countries on American securities held abroad, the expenditures of American travelers abroad and the ocean freight charges she had to pay to others, about balanced the value of her pre-war favorable balance of trade. During the war America's exports nave been greatly stimulated, and increased prices have increased their value. On the other hand, she has purchased a large proportion of the American securities previously held abroad, has loaned some $9,000,000,000 to foreign governments, and has built her own ships. Our favorable balance of trade has thus been greatly increased and Europe has been deprived of the means of meeting it heretofore existing. Europe can have only three ways of meeting the favorable balance of trade in peace times: by imports into this country of gold or of goods, or by establishing new credits. Europe is in no position at the present time to ship gold to us nor could we contemplate large further imports of gold into this country without concern. The time has nearly passed for international governmental loans and it will take time to develop in this country a market for foreign securities. Anything, therefore, which would tend to prevent foreign countries from settling for our exports by shipments of goods into this country could only have the effect of preventing them from paying for our exports and therefore of preventing the exports from being made. The productivity of the country, greatly stimulated by the war, must find an outlet by exports to foreign countries, and any measures taken to prevent imports will inevitably curtail exports, force curtailment of production, load the banking machinery of the country with credits to carry unsold products and produce industrial stagnation and unemployment. If we want to sell, we must be prepared to buy. Whatever, therefore, may have been our views during the period of growth of American business concerning tariff legislation, we must now adjust our own economic life to a changed condition growing out of the fact that American business is full grown and that America is the greatest capitalist in the world.

No policy of isolation will satisfy the growing needs and opportunities of America. The provincial standards and policies of the past, which have held American business as if in a strait-jacket, must yield and give way to the needs and exigencies of the new day in which we live, a day full of hope and promise for American business, if we will but take advantage of the opportunities that are ours for the asking. The recent war has ended our isolation and thrown upon us a great duty and responsibility. The United States must share the expanding world market. The United States desires for itself only equal opportunity with the other nations of the world, and that through the process of friendly cooperation and fair competition the legitimate interests of the nations concerned may be successfully and equitably adjusted.

There are other matters of importance upon which I urged action at the last session of Congress which are still pressing for solution. I am sure it is not necessary for me again to remind you -that there is one immediate and very practicable question resulting from the war which we should meet in the most liberal spirit. It is a matter of recognition and relief to our soldiers. I can do no better than to quote from my last message urging this very action:

"We must see to it that our returning soldiers are assisted in every practicable way to find the places for which they are fitted in the daily work of the country. This can be done by developing and maintaining upon an adequate scale the admirable organization created by the Department of Labor for placing men seeking work; and it can also be done, in at least one very great field, by creating new opportunities for individual enterprise. The Secretary of the Interior has pointed out the way by which returning soldiers may be helped to find and take up land in the hitherto undeveloped regions of the country which the Federal Government has already prepared, or can readily prepare, for cultivation and also on many of the cutover or neglected areas which lie within the limits of the older states; and I once more take the liberty of recommending very urgently that his plans shall receive the immediate and substantial support of the Congress."

In the matter of tariff legislation, I beg to call your attention to the statements contained in my last message urging legislation with reference to the establishment of the chemical and dyestuffs industry in America:

"Among the industries to which special consideration should be given is that of the manufacture of dyestuffs and related chemicals. Our complete dependence upon German supplies before the war made the interruption of trade a cause of exceptional economic disturbance. The close relation between the manufacture of dyestuffs, on the one hand, and of explosive and poisonous gases, on the other, moreover, has given the industry an exceptional significance and value. Although the United States will gladly and unhesitatingly join in the programme of international disarmament, it will, nevertheless, be a policy of obvious prudence to make certain of the successful maintenance of many strong and well-equipped chemical plants. The German chemical industry, with which we will be brought into competition, was -and may well be again, a thoroughly knit monopoly capable of exercising a competition of a peculiarly insidious and dangerous kind."

During the war the farmer performed a vital and willing service to the nation. By materially increasing the production of his land, he supplied America and the Allies with the increased amounts of food necessary to keep their immense armies in the field. He indispensably helped to win the war. But there is now scarcely less need of increasing the production in food -and the necessaries of life. I ask the Congress to consider means of encouraging effort along these lines. The importance of doing everything possible to promote production along economical lines, to improve marketing, and to make rural life more attractive and healthful, is obvious. I would urge approval of the plans already proposed to the Congress by the Secretary of Agriculture, to secure the essential facts required for the proper study of this question, through the proposed enlarged programmes for farm management studies and crop estimates. I would urge, also, the continuance of Federal participation in the building of good roads, under the terms of existing law and under the direction of present agencies; the need of further action on the part of the States and the Federal Government to preserve and develop our forest resources, especially through the practice of better forestry methods on private holdings and the extension of the publicly owned forests; better support for country schools and the more definite direction of their courses of study along lines related to rural problems; and fuller provision for sanitation in rural districts and the building up of needed hospital and medical facilities in these localities. Perhaps the way might be cleared for many of these desirable reforms by a fresh, comprehensive survey made of rural conditions by a conference composed of representatives of the farmers and of the agricultural agencies responsible for leadership.

I would call your attention to the widespread condition of political restlessness in our body politic. The causes of this unrest, while various and complicated, are superficial rather than deep-seated. Broadly, they arise from or are connected with the failure on the part of our Government to arrive speedily at a just and permanent peace permitting return to normal conditions, from the transfusion of radical theories from seething European centers pending such delay, from heartless profiteering resulting in the increase of the cost of living, and lastly from the machinations of passionate and malevolent agitators. With the return to normal conditions, this unrest will rapidly disappear. In the meantime, it does much evil. It seems to me that in dealing with this situation Congress should not be impatient or drastic but should seek rather to remove the causes. It should endeavor to bring our country back speedily to a peace basis, with ameliorated living conditions under the minimum of restrictions upon personal liberty that is consistent with our reconstruction problems. And it should arm the Federal Government with power to deal in its criminal courts with those persons who by violent methods would abrogate our time-tested institutions. With the free expression of opinion and with the advocacy of orderly political change, however fundamental, there must be no interference, but towards passion and malevolence tendine to incite crime and insurrection under guise of political evolution there should be no leniency. Legislation to this end has been recommended by the Attorney General and should be enacted. In this direct connection, I would call your attention to my recommendations on August 8th, pointing out legislative measures which wouldbe effective in controlling and bringing down the present cost of living, which contributes so largely to this unrest. On only one of these recommendations has the Congress acted. If the Government's campaign is to be effective, it is necessary that the other steps suggested should be acted on at once.

I renew and strongly urge the necessity of the extension of the present Food Control Act as to the period of time in which it shall remain in operation. The Attorney General has submitted a bill providing for an extension of this Act for a period of six months. As it now stands, it is limited in operation to the period of the war and becomes inoperative upon the formal proclamation of peace. It is imperative that it should be extended at once. The Department of justice has built up extensive machinery for the purpose of enforcing its provisions; all of which must be abandoned upon the conclusion of peace unless the provisions of this Act are extended.

During this period the Congress will have an opportunity to make similar permanent provisions and regulations with regard to all goods destined for interstate commerce and to exclude them from interstate shipment, if the requirements of the law are not compiled with. Some such regulation is imperatively necessary. The abuses that have grown up in the manipulation of prices by the withholding of foodstuffs and other necessaries of life cannot otherwise be effectively prevented. There can be no doubt of either the necessity of the legitimacy of such measures.

As I pointed out in my last message, publicity can accomplish a great deal in this campaign. The aims of the Government must be clearly brought to the attention of the consuming public, civic organizations and state officials, who are in a position to lend their assistance to our efforts. You have made available funds with which to carry on this campaign, but there is no provision in the law authorizing their expenditure for the purpose of making the public fully informed about the efforts of the Government. Specific recommendation has been made by the Attorney General in this regard. I would strongly urge upon you its immediate adoption, as it constitutes one of the preliminary steps to this campaign.

I also renew my recommendation that the Congress pass a law regulating cold storage as it is regulated, for example, by the laws of the State of New Jersey, which limit the time during which goods may be kept in storage, prescribe the method of disposing of them if kept beyond the permitted period, and require that goods released from storage shall in all cases bear the date of their receipt. It would materially add to the serviceability of the law, for the purpose we now have in view, if it were also prescribed that all goods released from storage for interstate shipment should have plainly marked upon each package the selling or market price at which they went into storage. By this means the purchaser would always be able to learn what profits stood between him and the producer or the wholesale dealer.

I would also renew my recommendation that all goods destined for interstate commerce should in every case, where their form or package makes it possible, be plainly marked with the price at which they left the hands of the producer.

We should formulate a law requiring a Federal license of all corporations engaged in interstate commerce and embodying in the license or in the conditions under which it is to be issued, specific regulations designed to secure competitive selling and prevent unconscionable profits in the method of marketing. Such a law would afford a welcome opportunity to effect other much needed reforms in the business of interstate shipment and in the methods of corporations which are engaged in it; but for the moment I confine my recommendations to the object immediately in hand, which is to lower the cost of living.

No one who has observed the march of events in the last year can fail to note the absolute need of a definite programme to bring about an improvement in the conditions of labor. There can be no settled conditions leading to increased production and a reduction in the cost of living if labor and capital are to be antagonists instead of partners. Sound thinking and an honest desire to serve the interests of the whole nation, as distinguished from the interests of a class, must be applied to the solution of this great and pressing problem. The failure of other nations to consider this matter in a vigorous way has produced bitterness and jealousies and antagonisms, the food of radicalism. The only way to keep men from agitating against grievances is to remove the grievances. An unwillingness even to discuss these matters produces only dissatisfaction and gives comfort to the extreme elements in our country which endeavor to stir up disturbances in order to provoke governments to embark upon a course of retaliation and repression. The seed of revolution is repression. The remedy for these things must not be negative in character. It must be constructive. It must comprehend the general interest. The real antidote for the unrest which manifests itself is not suppression, but a deep consideration of the wrongs that beset our national life and the application of a remedy.

Congress has already shown its willingness to deal with these industrial wrongs by establishing the eight-hour day as the standard in every field of labor. It has sought to find a way to prevent child labor. It has served the whole country by leading the way in developing the means of preserving and safeguarding lives and health in dangerous industries. It must now help in the difficult task of finding a method that will bring about a genuine democratization of industry, based upon the full recognition of the right of those who work, in whatever rank, to participate in some organic way in every decision which directly affects their welfare. It is with this purpose in mind that I called a conference to meet in Washington on December 1st, to consider these problems in all their broad aspects, with the idea of bringing about a better understanding between these two interests.

The great unrest throughout the world, out of which has emerged a demand for an immediate consideration of the difficulties between capital and labor, bids us put our own house in order. Frankly, there can be no permanent and lasting settlements between capital and labor which do not recognize the fundamental concepts for which labor has been struggling through the years. The whole world gave its recognition and endorsement to these fundamental purposes in the League of Nations. The statesmen gathered at Versailles recognized the fact that world stability could not be had by reverting to industrial standards and conditions against which the average workman of the world had revolted. It is, therefore, the task of the statesmen of this new day of change and readjustment to recognize world conditions and to seek to bring about, through legislation, conditions that will mean the ending of age-long antagonisms between capital and labor and that will hopefully lead to the building up of a comradeship which will result not only in greater contentment among the mass of workmen but also bring about a greater production and a greater prosperity to business itself.

To analyze the particulars in the demands of labor is to admit the justice of their complaint in many matters that lie at their basis. The workman demands an adequate wage, sufficient to permit him to live in comfort, unhampered by the fear of poverty and want in his old age. He demands the right to live and the right to work amidst sanitary surroundings, both in home and in workshop, surroundings that develop and do not retard his own health and wellbeing; and the right to provide for his children's wants in the matter of health and education. In other words, it is his desire to make the conditions of his life and the lives of those dear to him tolerable and easy to bear.

The establishment of the principles regarding labor laid down in the covenant of the League of Nations offers us the way to industrial peace and conciliation. No other road lies open to us. Not to pursue this one is longer to invite enmities, bitterness, and antagonisms which in the end only lead to industrial and social disaster. The unwilling workman is not a profitable servant. An employee whose industrial life is hedged about by hard and unjust conditions, which he did not create and over which he has no control, lacks that fine spirit of enthusiasm and volunteer effort which are the necessary ingredients of a great producing entity. Let us be frank about this solemn matter. The evidences of world-wide unrest which manifest themselves in violence throughout the world bid us pause and consider the means to be found to stop the spread of this contagious thing before it saps the very vitality of the nation itself. Do we gain strength by withholding the remedy? Or is it not the business of statesmen to treat these manifestations of unrest which meet us on every hand as evidences of an economic disorder and to apply constructive remedies wherever necessary, being sure that in the application of the remedy we touch not the vital tissues of our industrial and economic life? There can be no recession of the tide of unrest until constructive instrumentalities are set up to stem that tide.

Governments must recognize the right of men collectively to bargain for humane objects that have at their base the mutual protection and welfare of those engaged in all industries. Labor must not be longer treated as a commodity. It must be regarded as the activity of human beings, possessed of deep yearnings and desires. The busi ness man gives his best thought to the repair and replenishment of his machinery, so that its usefulness will not be impaired and its power to produce may always be at its height and kept in full vigor and motion. No less regard ought to be paid to the human machine, which after all propels the machinery of the world and is the great dynamic force that lies back of all industry and progress. Return to the old standards of wage and industry in employment are unthinkable. The terrible tragedy of war which has just ended and which has brought the world to the verge of chaos and disaster would be in vain if there should ensue a return to the conditions of the past. Europe itself, whence has come the unrest which now holds the world at bay, is an example of standpatism in these vital human matters which America might well accept as an example, not to be followed but studiously to be avoided. Europe made labor the differential, and the price of it all is enmity and antagonism and prostrated industry, The right of labor to live in peace and comfort must be recognized by governments and America should be the first to lay the foundation stones upon which industrial peace shall be built.

Labor not only is entitled to an adequate wage, but capital should receive a reasonable return upon its investment and is entitled to protection at the hands of the Government in every emergency. No Government worthy of the name can "play" these elements against each other, for there is a mutuality of interest between them which the Government must seek to express and to safeguard at all cost.

The right of individuals to strike is inviolate and ought not to be interfered with by any process of Government, but there is a predominant right and that is the right of the Government to protect all of its people and to assert its power and majesty against the challenge of any class. The Government, when it asserts that right, seeks not to antagonize a class but simply to defend the right of the whole people as against the irreparable harm and injury that might be done by the attempt by any class to usurp a power that only Government itself has a right to exercise as a protection to all.

In the matter of international disputes which have led to war, statesmen have sought to set up as a remedy arbitration for war. Does this not point the way for the settlement of industrial disputes, by the establishment of a tribunal, fair and just alike to all, which will settle industrial disputes which in the past have led to war and disaster? America, witnessing the evil consequences which have followed out of such disputes between these contending forces, must not admit itself impotent to deal with these matters by means of peaceful processes. Surely, there must be some method of bringing together in a council of peace and amity these two great interests, out of which will come a happier day of peace and cooperation, a day that will make men more hopeful and enthusiastic in their various tasks, that will make for more comfort and happiness in living and a more tolerable condition among all classes of men. Certainly human intelligence can devise some acceptable tribunal for adjusting the differences between capital and labor.

This is the hour of test and trial for America. By her prowess and strength, and the indomitable courage of her soldiers, she demonstrated her power to vindicate on foreign battlefields her conceptions of liberty and justice. Let not her influence as a mediator between capital and labor be weakened and her own failure to settle matters of purely domestic concern be proclaimed to the world. There are those in this country who threaten direct action to force their will, upon a majority. Russia today, with its blood and terror, is a painful object lesson of the power of minorities. It makes little difference what minority it is; whether capital or labor, or any other class; no sort of privilege will ever be permitted to dominate this country. We are a partnership or nothing that is worth while. We are a democracy, where the majority are the masters, or all the hopes and purposes of the men who founded this government have been defeated and forgotten. In America there is but one way by which great reforms can be accomplished and the relief sought by classes obtained, and that is through the orderly processes of representative government. Those who would propose any other method of reform are enemies of this country. America will not be daunted by threats nor lose her composure or calmness in these distressing times. We can afford, in the midst of this day of passion and unrest, to be self - contained and sure. The instrument of all reform in America is the ballot. The road to economic and social reform in America is the straight road of justice to all classes and conditions of men. Men have but to follow this road to realize the full fruition of their objects and purposes. Let those beware who would take the shorter road of disorder and revolution. The right road is the road of justice and orderly process.

December 1, 1969. The United States resumes a lottery system for conscription.

This is, frankly, a bit confusing.

The United States had resumed conscription following World War Two in March 1948.  It had only actually expired in January 1947, showing how a need for manpower in the wake of World War Two caused it to actually continue to exist in spite of a large reduction in force following the end of the war.

After coming back into effect in March 1948 it stayed in existence until 1973, but was then done away with following the end of the Vietnam War. By that time conscription was massively unpopular.  It can't be said to have ever really been "popular", per se, but it didn't meet with real resistance until the Vietnam War.

The resumption of a lottery system for the draft, in which each registrant was assigned a number and the number then drawn at random, was designed to attempt to reduce the unpopularity of conscription at that point in the Vietnam War.  Numerous changes were made to the system during the war including ending a marriage exemption and ultimately curtaining an exemption for graduate students. With the adoption of the lottery system also came a change in age focus so that rather than top of those in the age range being drafted it then focused on those who were 19 years old. The reason for this was that if a person's number wasn't chosen in the lottery as a 19 year old, they were not going to be drafted and could accordingly plan around that.

Because of the way that the draft worked prior to 1969, and even after that date, many men joined the service when faced with the near certainty of being conscripted. As a result, oddly, far more men volunteered for service than who were actually conscripted.  Additionally, the number of men who were volunteers for the service who served in Vietnam outnumbered those who were drafted, with a surprisingly large number of troops who served in the war itself volunteering for service in Vietnam.

December 1, 1919. The border arms, industry meets.

1920 was threatening to be a repeat of 1916, based upon the late 1919 headlines.

Mexico was reported to be rushing troops to its border in anticipation of the United States moving troops south.

Meanwhile, in Washington D. C. the Second Industrial Conference was meeting to discuss the post war economy.

Members of the Second Industrial Conference.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: United Presbyterian Church, Laramie Wyoming.

Churches of the West: United Presbyterian Church, Laramie Wyoming.:

United Presbyterian Church, Laramie Wyoming.

These are photographs of the United Presbyterian Church in Laramie.  I'm unsure of the age of the church, but it's a large modern structure with some interesting traditional elements.

Churches of the West: Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew states a reunion between the East and West is inevitable.

Churches of the West: Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew states a r...:

Note, because of its original Russian news agency source, some have been expressing doubt on the following story.

Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew states a reunion between the East and West is inevitable.

More than that, he essentially said there are no barriers to it.

This is unlikely to be front page news in the United States, but it is in fact a major development.  Patriarch Bartholomew is the Archbishop of Constantinople and the Ecumenical Patriarch.  In that position, he's regarded as the first among equals in Eastern Orthodoxy, although its also noted that the Pope as the Bishop of Rome is generally regarded as the First Among Equals in the church as a whole.

All this may leave Americans in particular a bit lost, as the United States, even with Catholicism being the single largest Christian denomination, is a Protestant nation and even American Catholics frequently have a poor understanding of Eastern Orthodoxy (or even of their own faith).  But this is a huge event.

The Catholic and Orthodox churches were separated in the Great Schism, which occurred in the 1054, was briefly repaired in 1453, and which has existed since then.  Efforts to put an end to the schism have occurred since the onset and in recent decades its been noted that serious progress was made in ending the schism permanently.  Mutual excommunications were lifted some time ago and a meeting within the past decade made a significant amount of progress before breaking down, which seems to have been over objections from members of the largest Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church.

Part of the process of healing the rift has been the realization that what seemed to be significant theological differences between the two churches often didn't really exist.  Now the Patriarch has stated that they don't exist.

Patriarch Bartholomew made the comments while taking part in the evening service at a the Catholic Abbey of Our Lady of St. Rémy in Rochefort, Belgium this past week.  He attended Vespers with Abbot Alexis of Xenophontos Monastery and Hieromonk Theophilos of Pantocrator Monastery on Mt. Athos in Greece.  While in attendance, Partholome sat upon the Bishop's Throne at the monastery.

The Patriarch, while at the monastery, reportedly held an unofficial talk with a collection of Orthodox monastics in attendance and told him, in his opinion, there was no longer any theological differences between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.  None of the Orthodox audience raised any objections to the statement but some took it emotionally and weeped upon hearing it.  He further indicated that the rift today reflects history, rather than theology.

The reaction of the other Orthodox clerics is significant as for some time the real opposition to a reunion has seemingly been centered in the rank and file level of the Orthodox clergy and the conservative wing of the laity.  Without going into it in depth, it is clear that nearly all of the supposed differences between the Orthodox and the Catholic churches has in fact been addressed to the point where the differences are hardly there.  There do remain some stumbling blocks, however, the principal one being the role of the Pope.  The Catholic churches uniformly regard the Pope as the monarch of the faith and above all other clergy.  The Orthodox accord him the position of the first among equals, but do not agree that he has a superior authority in that role to the heads of the various Orthodox churches.  Somewhat ironically, Patriarch Bartholomew has been involved, in his role as the Ecumenical Patriarch, in a controversy over the Orthodox church in Ukraine with his having recognized the autocephalus status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church there, which the Russian Orthodox Church has declared to be in schism.

That isn't the only reaming difference, there are some significant ones.  But many of the ones that have been cited as differences over the years are now gone.  A very strong protective instinct in the Orthodox community combined with Orthodox churches having traditionally been strongly identified with ethnicity has operated as a bar to reunion in recent years and it's my guess that this will slow it now, although its also my guess that a reunion is closer than people might think and in fact inevitable, as Patriarch Bartholomew has stated.  The Eastern Orthodox themselves have been fairly rapidly moving away from being ethnic churches in recent years and have benefited in that in the west from the conversion of disaffected Protestants who have been discouraged by the direction of their own churches.  With this evolution going on, the likely question will be how long it will take in order for the Easter Orthodox to come back into full communion with the Catholic Church.

My additional guess, at least right now, is that if that's in the short term, say ten to twenty years, which is quite possible, it will see some further schisms as some small branches of the Eastern Orthodox balk at the move and, more significantly, the Russian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox Church, might.  Long term the Russian Orthodox will return as well, but it has been the most resistant to date.  Perhaps ironically a large portion of it had previously returned before reversing directions, although that occurred centuries ago.

All in all, however, Patriarch Bartholomew is no doubt largely correct in his comments and his statements are encouraging.  Orthodoxy is the second largest single branch of the Christian world, making up 300,000,000 of the world's 2.4 Billion Christians.  Catholicism makes up 1.15 Billion, with Protestant churches combined making up the remaining 900,000,000 Christians.  Contrary to what is commonly reported, globally all branches of Christianity is growing and Catholicism is rapidly expanding in the third world and in areas of northern Europe which had been lost to it during the Reformation.  The number of Orthodox has doubled over the last century but, unlike Catholicism or the various Protestant faiths it has not seen an expansion outside of its traditional territories and in some of those territories in the Middle East there are serious threats to Christians which are resulting in their emigration out of them.  Countering that, however, as noted the Orthodox have seen a rise in membership in North American as disaffected Protestants have entered Eastern Orthodoxy.

If the Orthodox and Catholic churches were to reunite it would give a massive, and many would argue necessary, boost to the Eastern Rite in the Church. The Church has always retained the Eastern Rite and in recent years the Eastern Rite has been growing in North America as well, for reasons which are related to what is noted above.  But if the Orthodox were to reunite with the Catholic Church it would mean that overnight 1/5th of all Catholic would be members of the Eastern Rite, a much higher number than to today, and for the first time since the 15th Century the Church would have a large number of Eastern Bishops, whose absence has been sorely felt.  Likewise, a infusion of Eastern Rite cardinals would occur.